Huh. I did not expect that to be the final line. Fair enough!

“And your other bargaining chip?” Trickster asked.

“Grue.  I can sense him with my power.  I can also sense my team.

Well, at least that means he’s alive, for now.

They got their hands on darkness boy.”

…for now.

Not that I think he’s going to die, but this is still bad news.

I swear my heart stuttered mid-beat.

Cherish smiled, but her glare didn’t fade in intensity.  “My teammates and I already talked on the subject of Jean Paul, aka Hijack, aka Alec, aka Regent…  You got Shatter, and you got me.  We’re compromised.

Dammit, of course she would’ve informed them on that.

No way they’re going to accept us back with open arms.  They’d kill us first.  So no, don’t get your hopes up.  My teammates aren’t going to agree to a hostage exchange.”

However, the Nine don’t necessarily know where Shatterbird went. It might be possible to convince them that she got separated from them and couldn’t… nah, fine, that’s too much of a stretch given the likely existence of a predetermined rendezvous point.

Though maybe they could get Cherish to tell them where that is.

“There goes your bargaining chip.”

“I’ve got more,” Cherish said, her chin rising a fraction.

Lying?

“Do tell,” Coil said, dryly.

“Certain teammate of yours paid me a visit.  Imp, I think her name was?  So hard to remember.”

Oh, more bargaining chips. I thought she was talking about explosives. 😛

So are the others going to remember Imp? I suppose Tattletale would.

“What did you do to Imp?” I asked.  Grue is going to freak out.

Alright, they do.

Cherish smiled, “She decided to help me get back at the Nine.  They’re planning on inflicting a fate worse than death on me, you see.  There was a reason I pretended not to notice you were all waiting in ambush.

Called it!

Thought maybe the brat passed on word somehow, until you used that sucker-teleport on me and shot me.

Yeeah, she hasn’t been back, as far as we remember. Do you know anything about that? The “somehow” seems to suggest you wouldn’t expect her to get word back to them by now.

Suppose you’ll have to give me medical attention and keep me alive if you want the rest of the story.”

Dammit, she really does have a bargaining chip with this. Not just over the Undertravelers, but over the audience.

“Can’t have that,” Tattletale said.  Changing the topic, she asked, “You like computers?”

The more information she can talk out of Cherish, the closer she can get to extrapolating the combination.

“Computers?” Cherish startled.  She seemed to intuit what Tattletale was doing.  “Not saying.”

Probably too late.

“Clever girl, but even that’s enough of a clue.  Let’s see… four, five, four five.”  Tattletale tugged on the lock.  “Nope.  Three, seven, three, seven.”

Looks like she’s at least figured out a pattern to it.

The lock popped open.  Cherish’s eyes opened wide.

Yeah, pretty good power, right? 😀

“He’s resistant to her power,” Tattletale said, “But that goes both ways.  Don’t know how well he’d be able to control her.  She might break free.  Benefits of being family, I guess.”

Kind of, yes.

“Then I would suggest, as Trickster said earlier, ‘letting her go’.  We execute her and remove her from the equation,”  Coil stated.

I looked at Cherish, and her eyes narrowed.  She knew exactly what we were saying.  Killing someone in cold blood?  A little different than killing someone on the battlefield.

I like the use of “stated”. It really helps to emphasize the coldness, the way that’s just a completely value-neutral thing to say for him.

“Not giving you the go ahead,” I said.  “But I’m not about to stop you.  I’m washing my hands of this.”

“I don’t fucking care anymore, do as you please.”

“The intent was to remove individuals from the Nine before they could conduct their round of tests, yes?  This seems to be the most expedient route.”

“Not disagreeing,” I said.  “But I didn’t sign up to be an executioner.

Fair points on both sides.

I manage my district and I help defend your city from outsiders, right?”

Those were the terms, weren’t they.

“Quite right.  No, I think your service this morning has been exemplary.”

Uh oh. Careful, Taylor. I think he might be trying to raise your hopes of freeing Dinah from the dead.

I only barely managed to avoid bringing up the deal about Dinah.  No, it was premature, the wrong people were listening, and I was worried he would point out the fact that my territory had been torched by Burnscar.

And it’s working.

I mean, sure, it might not be the entire reason he said that. He might be genuinely complimenting her. But I don’t trust that that’s the entire reason either.

Seriously, I wonder where Imp is. Is she right here, considering stepping forward with her information? Is she off somewhere else, watching her mom again or something? Is she lying sliced in twain in a burnt-down building (I doubt it – too little narrative influence so far to be killed off off-screen at this point in the story after being upgraded to main cast)?

We approached Cherish and Genesis. Cherish knelt in the small pile of glass shards that sat at the very bottom of the bubble.  Her hands were pressed against the inside of the stomach, causing it to bulge like a small child in a womb.  She was awake, but bleeding severely.

How you doing in there?

And is the only reason you haven’t tried using your power the deal you made or tried to make with Imp?

Coil gave the order, “If anyone acts out of character, take them out of action as swiftly as possible and shoot the girl.”

Harsh but necessary. OOC is serious business around Cherish.

There were nods all around.

Cherish’s mouth moved, but the sound didn’t reach us.

“I did not expect her, and I did not take measures for containing her,” Coil said.  “Keeping her on the premises may prove exceptionally dangerous.”

Unfortunately there aren’t many better places to keep her.

“The alternative being?” Trickster asked.  “Letting her go?”

“In the euphemistic sense.  Her value as a captive is minimal and we have no way to secure her until Regent can finish using his ability on her.”

I mean, if she cooperates, she can be pretty useful, and I do think she has reason to cooperate.