FicWad

It was over an hour before I heard anything else from my team. As I was beginning to wonder if I should summon another spirit and send it to check on them, I got a call from, of all people, Lucky.

“Yo, Songbird,” he said, voice crackling due to poor reception. “Alpha asked me to give you a call to let you know we’re alive.”

I sighed with relief. “What happened?”

Lucky chuckled. “Well, for starters, you saved our bacon. I don’t have any idea how you convinced a shadow spirit to serve you, and, frankly, I don’t want to know, but she, the beast spirit, and, most especially, that uber guardian spirit you summoned kicked some serious ass tonight. Geeked some Lone Star thugs, and scared away the rest. Then the guardian spirit carried Shark and Jazz to the van, and we got hell out of there.”

I frowned. “Carried? Shark and Jazz needed to be carried?”

“Yup,” Lucky said. “Frankly, I have no idea what happened, but both went unconscious when the lights and everything went out. That’s why we couldn’t contact you, by the way. None of our comlinks were working until we got out of the area.”

“Lucky-” I began.

“Hold up, Song. We’re coming up to some sort of Lone Star blockade,” Lucky interrupted. “Alpha’s going to need me. One way or another.” And the call ended.

I sighed. “Well, that explained absolutely nothing,” I muttered.

“At least you know they’re alive,” Ember said. “That should count for something.”

“It does,” I replied. “It definitely does.” Provided, of course, I could trust Lucky’s word. “So, what were you doing while you were gone? You said it had something to do with me?”

Ember glanced at me, amused. “Now you want to talk about it?”

I shrugged. “I’m not as worried anymore.”

“Not as worried?” Ember asked. “But you’re still worried.”

I nodded. “I won’t stop worrying until they’re all home safe. Something could still happen. But I’m calm enough to talk about whatever it is you wanted to talk about.”

Ember nodded. “Good. Now, you’re probably not aware of it, but there’s a sort of bar for spirits in the city. It’s called the Ethereal Touch. Obviously, most spirits can’t drink, but we can hang out, chat, and watch the entertainment.”

I frowned. “Entertainment?”

Ember shrugged. “Various stuff. Most spirits like music, and astral displays are always cool. Apparently there’s a task spirit who does puppets who’s a regular entertainer. And there’s a few other acts.”

“So you were hanging out at a bar? What does that have to do with me?” I asked.

Ember chuckled. “I wasn’t just hanging out. I was talking to the earth spirit who runs the place, Mama Geo. She’s always looking for new acts, and, when I described your singing, she was intrigued.”

I frowned. “I can’t perform, Ember. I wish I could, but I can’t.”

Ember frowned. “Why not?”

I sighed. “It will draw too much attention.”

“And that’s a problem why?” Ember wanted to know.

I was silent, wondering how much to share. And how would I explain everything, anyways? It was so complicated.

Ember looked at me thoughtfully. “In the car the other day, you mentioned a ‘family situation.’ Is that why you can’t perform?”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “That’s it.”

“What is this ‘family situation,’ then?” prodded Ember.

I sighed. “Well, for starters, my mother is Eva Kaur.”

Ember looked blank.

“She was the founder and head of Kaur Industries,” I explained, realizing he likely hadn’t heard of her. “It’s an AA corporation. Basically, one of the biggest and most powerful companies in the world. Only AAA corporations are bigger and more powerful. My real name is Sarah Kaur.”

Ember nodded slowly. “Are you hiding from her?”

I shook my head, blinking back tears. “No. She- she’s dead. I’m pretty sure one of the other members of Kaur’s board had her killed. And her private secretary, Handel, was pretty sure I was next.”

“Go on,” Ember encouraged, squeezing my hand.

I took a deep breath. “Handel thought the best way to protect me was to hide me, and set a high powered group of runners to protecting me. That’s where Alpha, Shark, and Jazz come in. They were originally my bodyguards, and they hid me well. While I was hiding, Handel was supposed to figure out who had my mother killed and deal with them.”

Ember frowned. “That’s a lot of loyalty for a personal secretary.”

I shrugged. “You’re right. I didn’t find out until after he died, but Handel…”

I remembered the last message I’d received from him, delivered to my commlink via dead man’s switch. “If you are reading this,” it read, “I am dead, and am no longer able to protect you. I have hidden funds enough for you, and the runners I hired, to have platinum docwagon contracts for as long as you live. If you ever die, the contracts will end. That should incentivize them to keep you alive. Unfortunately, I was unable to hide much by the way of funds for your personal use. You will have to do the best you can in that area.”

“I am not sure how to tell you this,” the message continued, “Or even if I should. However, I would like you to know. Around the time you were conceived, your mother cheated on your father with me. He found out shortly after you were born. That is why they separated. The three of us decided jointly not to do a paternity test. Your father already loved you very much, and wanted to be a part of your life. I wanted the same thing.”

A tear fell on my commlink as I continued to read. “Please, know that I love you, and that I am proud of you. I just wish I could have done more. Be safe, my daughter. And good luck.”

Back in the present, I continued. “Handel might have been my father.” I paused for a second to wipe the tears from my eyes. “He- he died. My team investigated, a bit, and found out that another runner team had killed him. Probably because he was trying to figure out who killed my mother.”

Ember nodded slowly. “And you’re worried that, if you draw attention to yourself, whoever killed your mother will find you.”

I nodded. “Yes.”

Ember snorted. “That won’t be a problem. Very few meatpeople know about the Ethereal Touch, and we spirits want to keep it that way. No meatperson will ever find out that you are performing there. And Mama Geo has promised that, if what I told her is true, she will pay well for your services.”

I frowned. “Let’s talk about it with the team when they get back.”

Ember’s brow furrowed. “But-”

“If you drop it, I’ll sing to you more,” I suggested.

Eyes brightening, Ember nodded.

*

Half an hour later, I heard the key turning in the lock for the front door. I hurried to the entrance of our apartment, Ember following behind.

The first one to stagger in was Jazz. She looked dazed and confused. Alpha, who appeared to be limping, gently guided her to the couch. Shark stumbled in behind. While his eyes were sharp, his movements were slow and clumsy. He slumped on the couch next to Jazz.

Lucky stood in the doorway. “Whelp, this is where I leave you,” he said. “I’ve gotta go.”

Alpha nodded tiredly, propping herself against the wall. “You do that. Take care of yourself, Lucky.”

Lucky nodded. “You, too.” He turned and limped away.

When the door shut behind Lucky, I locked it. Then I turned to the team. “What happened?”

Alpha sighed. “I’ll explain in a minute. Right now, I want to know how the hell you have a shadow spirit working for you.”

I blinked. “I, ummm… I’m frankly not entirely sure. I think she likes my singing?”

“I do,” an eerie voice confirmed as the shadow spirit materialized. “I want to be close to you. To help you. It is… A strange feeling.”

Alpha shook her head. “Ok, then. I suppose I’m not going to get a better explanation than that.”

The guardian spirit materialized. “It is dawn. I must depart.” He looked at me. “I hope we meet again, little one. Be safe.” With that, he faded away.

Jazz looked vaguely at the place the guardian spirit was. “He was nice,” she slurred.

Shark snorted. “He was nice because Song ordered him to help us.”

Jazz closed her eyes. “I guess. I’m going to sleep now.”

Alpha looked at her worriedly. “I hope that, whatever happened to her, it’s nothing permanent.”

Shark stroked his girlfriend’s hair tenderly. “I hope so, too.” He pressed a gentle kiss to Jazz’s forehead.

I looked from Alpha to Shark. “What happened?”

Alpha sighed. “Well, we blew up the building. That, at least, went as planned. However, as we were heading back to the van…” She shook her head. “Something strange happened. All the lights went out. Shark and Jazz passed out, and-”

“I did not pass out,” rumbled Shark. “I was unable to move.” He shuddered. “I haven't felt that helpless since...” He trailed off.

Alpha put her hand on her arm. “Hey, big guy. It’s over now.”

He frowned. “I hope so.”

Alpha turned back to me. “I think this was some sort of experimental weapon, one that turned off every electronic device in a certain radius. The only thing that worked was our guns. Even Lucky’s taser wasn’t operational.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

Alpha shrugged. “What could we do? I can carry Jazz, but we couldn’t lift Shark, and it was a dangerous neighborhood, so we couldn’t leave him. I was going to send Lucky to try to find the edge of this thing, so that he could call for help, when Lone Star arrived. They had us pinned down for quite some time, but we were able to keep them from flanking us. Eventually we started to run low on ammo. At that point, I was thinking of…” She bit her lip. “I was thinking of, of just leaving Shark, at that point. I’m sorry, big guy, but-”

He raised a hand to cut her off. “I understand. If anything like that ever happens again, and I hope to hell it doesn’t, but if it does…” He sighed. “Leave me. Get Jazz, and yourself, to safety.”

Alpha looked at him, eyes serious. “I’m not leaving you behind unless there isn’t any other option.”

He nodded. “I know. But, Alpha…” He looked down at Jazz. “I’d rather die than lose her,” he said softly. “Remember that.”

Alpha’s eyes softened. “I’ll remember.”

I swallowed. I’d come very close to losing, at the very least, Shark last night. If I’d waited a bit longer to send Paw…

“So Songbird saved you again,” said Ember, amused.

Alpha nodded. “Yes. She did. That guardian spirit was strong enough to lift Jazz and Shark, and…” She looked at the shadow spirit. “You scared the shit out of Lone Star.”

I could hear the smirk in her voice. “I know.”

Alpha continued. “After that, we made it to the van, which was luckily out of the blackout zone, and drove off. There was a short car chase. I had Lucky call you as soon as we lost Lone Star.” She sighed. “And then there was the blockade. I thought we were done. Fortunately, I can shapeshift, the van is a common model, and Lucky is a very fast talker.”

She shrugged. “Shortly after that, Jazz and Shark woke up, and then we got home.”

Alpha turned to the shadow spirit. “I can’t keep calling you ‘the shadow spirit.’ If you’re going to be following Song around, like Ember is, you need to give us something to call you.”

The shadow spirit made a thoughtful noise. “I’ve never worked with meatpeople before. Or, frankly, any entity that wasn’t another shadow spirit. Give me a minute to think.”

“How about Carmilla?” Alpha suggested.

“Why Carmilla?” I asked.

Alpha shrugged. “It’s a name with history. The vampire novella Carmilla predates Dracula, and is considered one of the main inspirations for the fifth world vampire genre. I thought it was appropriate.”

“I’m not a vampire,” said the shadow spirit, amused.

“You share characteristics,” noted Alpha. “You both feed off others. Actually, shadow spirits have more in common with certain vampire myths than modern HMHVV victims do.”

“How do you know so much about old vampire stories and myths?” I asked, curious.

Shark chuckled. “Alpha is a fan of fifth world fantasy novels. Particularly vampire stories.”

Alpha sighed. “It’s entertaining, ok?” She began to shift, her breasts becoming gradually smaller and her muscles more pronounced. However, as Alpha transformed into a man, his apparent ethnicity did not change. “Everyone needs a hobby.” He shrugged.

Shark, chuckling, threw his hand up over his face in the classic Dracula pose. “I van to zuck your blood!”

Alpha shoved him. “Don’t think that our recent adventure means I won’t kick the shit out of you.” He grinned.

Shark laughed, a full throated guffaw. “Like you could.”

“Just watch me!” Alpha said, trying to look fierce. His lips twitched up in an amused grin. “Just watch me.”

The shadow spirit looked between them, amused. “Carmilla works.”

Ember nodded. “Carmilla it is, then. Now, don’t you and Song have something you need to do?” He looked at the shadow spirit expectantly.

Her glowing green eyes blinked. “Yes. The binding. I must give you my true name, Songbird. And you must complete the ritual.”

She glided into my room. I followed. When Alpha started to follow me, I stopped him. “I think Carmilla would prefer if no one else knew her true name.”

Alpha nodded. “Makes sense.” He looked worriedly at Jazz. “I should probably give Jazz a medical examination anyways.”

As he knelt next to the unconscious Jazz, Ember drifted past me into my room, and I shut the door.

It didn’t take long to set up the binding circle. I’d never performed a true name binding before, so I had to look up how to do it on my commlink. Once it was done, I turned to Carmilla.

“You sure you want to go through with this?” I asked.

Carmilla nodded. “Yes. Provided you promise to never reveal my true name to another soul.”

“I promise,” I told her.

Carmilla’s true name was long and complicated. In some ways, it had more in common with a serial number than a human name. I wrote it in the circle, and added it to my notes for the ceremony. I would burn the notes afterwards, or, rather, have Ember burn them.

The ceremony took several hours. By the time it was done, it was late afternoon. I yawned, and handed Ember the notes to burn. “I need a nap,” I mumbled.

Ember chuckled. “Of course. You’ve been awake for over 24 hours, and a lot of that time was spent performing powerful magic. Rest, Song.”

I stumbled over to my bed and crawled in. Ember and Carmilla were both watching me, but I was too tired to feel creeped out. I was too tired to do anything but sleep.

*

When I woke up, Ember was gone, but Carmilla was still watching me. I blinked at her. “Have you been hovering there the entire time I was asleep?”

She chuckled. “Of course.” Her eyes glinted. “Fear never sleeps.”

I yawned. “Great. Where’s Ember?”

“He is talking with your leader,” Carmilla said. “I believe it is about a potential job as a singer.”

I got out of bed, sighing. “Wonderful.” I’d gone to sleep in my clothing, so it was all wrinkled. I started to change. “I’d better go referee.”

As I left my room, I could hear them arguing. “I am not letting you put Song and the rest of the team in danger!” snapped Alpha.

“It wouldn’t put anyone in danger,” argued Ember. “No one from the meat world would ever know.”

“How do you know that?” Alpha snarled. “How do you know no one will talk?”

Ember chuckled. “When is the last time you saw a free spirit tell a meatperson anything? We keep our own counsel. Song won’t be put in danger. I wouldn’t be suggesting this if she would be. And, by extension, neither will any of you.”

Alpha sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Let me think about it.”

Ember’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not your choice.”

“It kind of is,” I put in. “If Alpha thinks it’s a bad idea, I won’t do it. I trust his judgement.”

Ember looked incensed. “And not mine?”

“She’s not saying that,” Alpha soothed. “I just know this world better than you, so I am more qualified to judge the risk.”

Ember snorted. “Perhaps you know the material world better than me, but I know my fellow spirits. We won’t talk.”

“What if there’s another spirit hanging around with a metahuman?” asked Alpha. “Like you’re hanging around with Song. This spirit might mention it to their friend.”

Ember looked thoughtful for a second. Then he shook his head. “They won’t say anything. Talking about the bar without Mama Geo’s permission is against the rules. If she finds out, they’d get barred.”

Shark looked over from where he was warming up some soyburgers. “The first rule of Fight Club,” he rumbled, “Is that you don’t talk about Fight Club.”

Ember and Alpha looked at him blankly.

Shark sighed. “It’s a quote from an old movie. And I think there was a book?” He frowned. “Someone told me there was a book.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” wondered Ember.

Alpha snorted. “Nothing. As for what we were discussing, we can talk about it more later. Right now…” He turned to me. “How are you feeling?”

I shrugged. “I’m fine. How’s Jazz?”

Alpha sighed. “Still sleeping. If she doesn’t wake up soon, I’ll take her to a street doc.”

Jazz appeared in the doorway of her and Shark’s room. “I hate doctors,” she muttered.

Shark’s eyes lit up. “Jazz! You’re awake. How do you feel? Are you still woozy?”

Jazz shook her head. “I don’t think so. But I just woke up, so…” She shrugged, and then yawned. “I’ll be able to judge it better after a soycafe.” She trudged over to the fridge, and pulled out the carton of soycafe. Then she fumbled in the cabinet for a mug.

Shark pulled one out for her. She smiled at him. “Thanks.”

After sticking her soycafe in the microwave, she looked around at us. “What happened? One moment we were walking away from the warehouse after blowing it, and the next I was waking up in the van.”

Carmilla drifted out of my bedroom. Jazz shrieked and jumped behind Shark.

Alpha sighed. “It’s ok. The shadow spirit is bound by Song.” She looked at me. “She is bound, right?”

I nodded.

Jazz peered out from behind Shark, eyes wide. “You bound a shadow spirit? How?”

“I gave her my true name,” the shadow spirit explained. She looked Jazz over, seeming unimpressed. “So this is the technomancer?”

Alpha sighed again. “Yes. Her name is Jazz. Jazz, you can call the shadow spirit Carmilla.”

Jazz nodded, eyes still wide. “Ok.” She looked at me. “Song, you have officially graduated from kind of useless to really scary.”

Ember sniggered.

Alpha ignored him. “You wanted to know what happened, Jazz?”

Jazz nodded. “Yeah.”

As Alpha explained, I warmed up some food of my own. Then I joined Shark at the table.

Alpha finished with. “And that’s when you woke up.”

Jazz nodded, looking thoughtful. “Anything happen after I passed out the second time?”

Shark smiled at her. “We all got some rest.”

Alpha’s commlink dinged, and he checked it. “The client paid,” he announced. “I’ll send you each your shares now. Song, you’ll get a share too.” He snorted. “I know I said that you wouldn’t get a cut for this one since you weren’t going, but I think you earned it.”

I blushed. “The spirits did all of the work,” I mumbled.

Alpha shrugged. “Yeah, but you summoned and sent them. Without you, they wouldn’t give a damn about our sorry asses.”

“You’ve got that right,” muttered Ember.

Alpha glanced over at him, and then away. “So you get a share. If you want to spend it on something nice for Paw and Carmilla, that’s up to you.”

Carmilla sneered. “The meat world has nothing I want.” She turned to me. “You could sing to me, though. I’d like that.”

Paw materialized. “I’d like that too,” he piped up.

I smiled. “Sure, guys.”

Alpha looked at me. “You ready to go on that spell, Song?”

I nodded. “Yup.”

Alpha smiled. “Good. Fortunately, the pickpocket case is not particularly time sensitive, and neither is the run Stan’s got for us. I suggest we rest a few days.” He prodded his side, wincing. “I’ve got a few grazes I need to heal.”

Jazz frowned. “Do you think we’ll ever find out more about the weapon that was used last night, Alpha? The one that took down me, and all the electronics?”

Alpha shrugged. “No idea. We’ll have to just wait and see. With any luck, we’ll never have to deal with the thing again.”

“Sound like famous last words,” rumbled Shark.

Alpha frowned. “Yeah, I know.”