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.

By the way, I noticed between some of the latest posts that when they arrived, the narration say Coil was there with a Tattletale.

I think that might’ve been an error (Wildbow writing “greet us with a contingent”, then realizing he should mention Tattletale there too and not erasing everything he should before writing her name and continuing), but still, it’s a cute little touch.

“I’m afraid I don’t know standard treatment for bites of that kind,” Coil said.

Brooks stepped out of the crowd of nearby soldiers.  “Sir?”

Oh hey, it’s Brooks!

I suppose it makes sense that he would be familiar with that kind of thing, as a military medic.

“Brooks.”

“I’m familiar with the treatment for the more dangerous spider bites,” he looked at me, “It’s a protein-based venom?”

So the jerk is useful sometimes.  I hadn’t liked Brooks since Lisa had introduced me to him, but I could respect someone who knew his job.  “Yeah.”

Yeah, he’s not a great guy, but he at least seems to know his stuff.

“Seems I can leave it to you, then,” Coil said.  Brooks nodded.  Coil added, “Failing everything else, it might serve as incentive to cooperate.”

Hm, yes. “Hey, if you don’t cooperate, we won’t treat your rotting flesh.”

“Or cause to get desperate,” Tattletale said.  “She might do something stupid if she thinks she’ll die or suffer lifelong effects if she doesn’t get back to Bonesaw.”

Good point.

“She will be cavity searched and x-rayed to identify any hidden weapon or any devices Bonesaw or Mannequin might have implanted in her,” Coil spoke, after the doors were closed and the white noise was blocked out.

Close enough. I did think of the hidden weapon option, but I forgot about the possibility of sticking them inside herself, so I dismissed it because her remaining clothes didn’t give her a lot of places to keep them.

“Regent, we have a protective suit waiting for you.  In the event that she does acquire something she can use her powers on, or if she has concealed anything on her person that is small enough to avoid radiographic detection, the suit will shield you until you’ve finished.”

Good plan.

Regent nodded.

“She was bitten by brown recluses,” I said.  “I’d give her a full physical examination every thirty minutes, to be safe.”

Regent: “You just had to make my new toy start rotting, didn’t you.”

With our weapons trained on Shatterbird, we stood by while one of Coil’s soldiers reached into Genesis’s stomach and hauled her out.  She was chained to the ceiling with her arms stretched out to her sides, then divested of her costume, left only with a silk camisole and slip.

Her costume is made of glass, so it would’ve been a weapon if she managed to get past the radio static.

Coil’s people wheeled in an x-ray machine and a tank of containment foam.

What’s the x-ray machine for? Checking for broken bones after the battle, or perhaps Bonesaw implants that might cause trouble?

Shatterbird glared wordlessly at us until we’d exited the room and the heavy vault door blocked our view of her.

You lost, Shatterbird. Time to be a shogi piece.

Coil was there to greet us with a Tattletale and a contingent of armed soldiers.  We waited patiently as one of the soldiers scanned Shatterbird with a plastic wand.  He looked at Coil and shook his head.

Hmm. Metal detector, to check for mundane weapons?

“This way,” Coil ordered.

How did he set this up so fast?

Hm. Lots of manpower? Or maybe some shenanigans involving his power?

Shatterbird’s cell was large, twenty feet by twenty feet across, and the walls had the same textured black rubber soundproofing as the sound recording booths I’d seen in movies and on TV.

Nice!

I couldn’t see the speakers, but there was a noise similar to radio static filling the room, so loud I wouldn’t be able to hear if someone spoke.

In other words, good luck doing anything with your power, Shatters!

I wonder if doing something similar to Cherish’s cell would work, considering that her power manifests as sound to her? Assuming she’s alive enough to get a cell.

I don’t think it’s actually sound, though, just that sound is how her brain processes it, so I’m guesssing not.

We only slowed when we got to Coil’s underground base.  We parked the dogs and then headed for the series of barred and locked doors.

Wait, aren’t the dogs the main things moving Genesis and the two members of the Nine in her stomach?

Also, I like the idea of them actually parking the dogs in parking lots.

I glanced at Shatterbird and Cherish where they knelt in Genesis’ rotund body.  We weren’t really giving away information here. Crawler had apparently come this way, not so long ago.

I can imagine his tracks would be quite visible.

It was a fifty-fifty chance whether Siberian and the other Nine would come this way.  Cherish wasn’t around to give them information, but she might have provided details at an earlier point that Jack or one of the others could use to connect the dots.

Hm. Certainly possible.

We’d cross that bridge when we got to it.

Or when the Nine get to it.

“Get her!”

Bitch rode just to Cherish’s left, Regent rode just to the right, and Genesis rolled right over the girl.  Cherish caught like glue, suffered an unfortunate few seconds of being dragged over the road’s surface, and was then drawn into Genesis’ bubble of a body.

Shatterbird: “Ugh, I have to be in here with her?”

My bugs gave me a sense of the Nine’s locations, and my decoys gave them pause once or twice.  We could track them more easily than they could do the reverse, and we were soon far enough away that I couldn’t sense them.

Excellent!

■

Well, that was a success!