I entered the kitchen in silence, my body wrapped in a large brown towel. Another towel kept my hair from dripping everywhere. I walked past Alpha, Shark, and the newly awoken Jazz with a nod, and bent over to open the freezer drawer. After selecting a meal, fettuccine with dairy free alfredo, I popped it in the microwave and started it heating. Then I pulled a generic cola from the fridge, popped the tab, and took a long swig. Caffeine and sugar. Just what I needed to boot up my brain.
I turned to the kitchen table where Alpha, Jazz, and Shark were sitting. Jazz was wolfing down something that looked like chicken. Shark was nursing a hot, black coffee, his one vice, and Alpha was busy on her comlink. She had it plugged into her datajack and the screen off, so she could be doing anything from tapping contacts to surfing Jackpoint to beating her high score in Jelly Bear Rumba. Given the situation, I hoped that it was one of the first two, or that she was trying to get in contact with our employer.
Our employer for the job that had gone bad was the mysterious 8-Ball, a fixture in the Dallas runner community. An information broker and fixer, 8-Ball seemed to know everything, but no one knew anything about them. If you needed hard to find info, you went to 8-Ball, provided, of course, you could pay the price.
The mysterious 8-Ball seemed to use most of the proceeds from their business for charity runs. Funneling medical waste to ghouls, taking down certain gangs, that sort of thing. Some of the runs they commissioned were a bit weird, though. Before I joined them, 8-Ball had commissioned the team to clear out and burn down an abandoned factory. They’d paid extra to ensure that, while the plant itself was burned to the ground, no other buildings caught fire.
Because 8-Ball seemed to know everything, most of the shadowrunning community was convinced they’d hacked security cams and surveillance satellites. Alpha said she doubted the answer was that simple.
Jazz looked up from her meal. “Alpha, I’ve been thinking,” she said.
The corner of Alpha’s mouth turned up in a amused smile. “Isn’t that my job?”
Jazz snorted. “Very funny. Alpha, 8-Ball is usually pretty reliable when it comes to information. I’ve never known them to miss something as important as… Whatever those things were. Do you think they set us up?”
Alpha shook her head. As she did so, her hair, now unbraided, shortened and darkened, turning into a black crew cut. Her small breasts flattened, her shoulders broadened, and her musculature became more pronounced. Soon she was obviously a he. His eyes shifted to a brown so dark it was almost black, and his skin darkened, too, from latte to milk chocolate. Blue tribal tattoos traced their way across his dark skin, and his ears became more pointed. Soon, where there had been a pretty human woman, there was a rather intense looking, and obviously elven, man of african descent. “No,” Alpha said. “Why would 8-Ball do that? We’ve been reliable. Swift. Reasonably priced. There’s no reason for them to betray us.”
Jazz shook her head. “I hate it when you do that.”
“What? Poke holes in your ideas?” Alpha smiled.
“No. Shift all of a sudden like that,” Jazz replied. “You know it creeps me out a bit.”
Alpha laughed. “Last time I shifted privately, you almost shot me.”
Jazz shrugged. “I didn’t recognize you. For all I knew, some strange elf had wandered in off the street.”
I hadn’t been here long, but I’d already heard this same tired argument play out several times before. I tuned out the friendly griping and peered into the microwave, watching my meal. The microwave beeped. I opened it and poked a finger into the creamy sauce. Too hot. I jerked my finger out and put it in my mouth.
The subject turned back to the mission. “If 8-Ball wasn’t setting us up,” Jazz said pointedly, “Then why didn’t they warn us about the… things?”
Alpha cocked his head thoughtfully. “I don’t think they knew. I think the facility was a blind spot on their radar, and they sent us in to correct that. They didn’t know it would be as deadly as it was.” He unplugged the datajack. “I think they’ll pay us for the information we got, even if we didn’t plant the bug.”
Alpha was correct. When he checked his bank account, he found that the payment has been transferred, with a bit extra. According to the memo on the transfer, the extra payment was for unforeseen dangers, and 8-Ball hoped that the run wouldn’t affect their professional relationship with the team.
“You already informed them?” I asked.
Alpha shrugged. “That’s what I was doing when you walked in.”
“Quick response,” Jazz said, eyes narrowed.
Alpha shrugged. “8-Ball is generally on top of things like that.” He scrolled through his messages. “Now, we’ve got a few messages about jobs. One is from a Mr. Johnson we’ve worked for in the past. He wants us to…” He blinked. “Blow up a warehouse. Ok. That’s a new one.”
He paged through his emails. “There’s job from Stan. You remember? The fixer, has connections in the black market antiquities community. He says he’s got a job that would be ideal for our talents.”
Shark sighed. “More smuggling?”
Alpha shrugged. “Maybe. Then there’s… junk mail… junk mail… ah. Here’s another one. It’s from a different Mr. Johnson. Apparently he’s had problems with a pickpocket.”
Jazz snorted. “Call the police.”
“I’m betting whatever got stolen is illegal,” Alpha said. “You can hack police files, Jazz, see if there’s been any other pickpocketing in the area. Fourth job is from the fixer Ginger… It involves killing hellcows. Apparently a meatpacking plant has become infested with them.”
“Infestation? How many are we talking about here?” Shark rumbled, sounding dubious. “Those things are hard to kill.”
Ember, who was leaning against the kitchen door frame, snorted. “Not a problem. Hellcows burn like everything else.” His eyes flared red. “You’d burn too. If I wanted.”
Jazz looked at Alpha. “Do we have to keep him around?”
Ember chuckled. “You could try banishing me. I guarantee it would not go well.”
Jazz eyed him. “Song would be the one banishing you. You wouldn’t attack her.”
“I am perfectly capable of knocking her unconscious without doing serious harm,” Ember told her. “And I’d just kill anyone else who tried.”
Alpha raised a hand. “It’s a moot point. He’s staying. He’s useful, if only because he’ll protect Song.”
I made a face. “And I kind of suck at banishing, so…” I shrugged.
Ember smiled at me wickedly. “Good.”
Alpha scanned the list of jobs. “Hellcows first, I think. Tom says it’s pretty urgent, and if we don’t contact him today he’ll hire a different team. The others are giving us a few days to decide if we want to take the job.”
Shark frowned. “You sure we can handle the hellcows?”
Alpha shrugged. “Hellcows don’t tend to hang out together. We can take them out one by one, and we can always spread the fights out over several days if we can’t take them all in one run.” She looked from me to Shark to Jazz. “Any objections?”
Shark grunted. “Sounds good to me, Alpha. If you think we can do it.”
I nodded my agreement. Jazz shrugged.
Ember frowned. “Do I get a say in this?”
Alpha shrugged. “Technically, you’re not part of the team, but, if you don’t like it, I will take that into account.”
Ember looked thoughtful. “Money is a necessity for material beings, yes?”
Jazz snorted. “Only if you want to eat, and stay someplace with a roof. So yeah.”
Ember looked thoughtful. “This shouldn’t put Songbird in undue danger. I give my approval.”
“I’m so glad,” Jazz said dryly. “Whatever would we do if you didn’t approve?”
Ember’s eyes narrowed. “I’d kill you right now if you weren’t Song’s friend.”
“I wouldn’t call her a friend,” Jazz told him. “More a necessary irritation.”
Flame gathered around Ember’s hands. “Then maybe I should-”
I stepped between him and Jazz. “Please don’t!”
Ember lowered his hands. “As you wish.”
“While we’re on the subject, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t kill anyone unless I ask you to,” I told Ember. “Or set stuff on fire.”
Ember stretched, and leaned back against the door frame. “As you wish.” His eyes glittered. “But don’t think you can dictate everything that I do.”
I took a step back, nodding nervously. “I understand.”
“Jazz, you should sit this one out,” Alpha said, picking up her commlink. “Last time I checked, hellcows don’t use the matrix.”
Jazz glared at her. “I can shoot shit too, you know.”
“Not very well,” Shark rumbled. “And you aren’t that good at defense.” He gave her puppy dog eyes, which he was surprisingly good at for a huge troll. “I don’t like it when you get hurt.”
Jazz sighed. “Ok. For you, Shark.”
“Be available on commlink. Just in case,” said Alpha.
Jazz rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you might need me to unlock a door, or something.”
Alpha sighed. “Jazz, please-”
Jazz raised a hand. “I’ll be online if you need me.”
Alpha nodded. “Thanks. I’ll tell Tom we’re taking the run.”
Nightfall. The sky glowed orange as city lights reflected off the smog, and a distant siren pierced the sounds of late night traffic. My room was as dark as my ancient blinds could get it, which wasn’t very dark at all. I was use to Dallas’s bright, noisy nights, though, so the environment wasn’t what kept me from sleeping. It was Ember. The spirit had taken his normal, fiery form and was hovering in the air above the foot of the bed, stretched out lengthwise as if reclining, and staring down at me.
I considered asking him to slip into astral space, but the idea of him staring at me invisibly was just as creepy as his current position. I could tell him to go away, but he had no reason to listen to me and an apparent desire to keep me in view.
I sat up, sighing. “You said you can’t leave me alone. What’s that like? Is it like a leash? A binding? Maybe if we can figure out what’s keeping you here, you can leave.
Ember frowned. “It’s not really either. I left not long after sunrise, and I didn’t plan to come back. I got pretty far away, too, but, the entire time, I couldn’t… I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
“Thinking about me?” I asked. “What sort of thoughts?”
Ember sighed. “I was mostly wondering about what was happening to you. If you had woken up yet. How your injuries were healing. If you were safe…”
I frowned. “Sounds like some kind of compulsion. Or… Like you have some sort of crush on me.” I shook my head. “But spirits don’t get crushes.”
Ember drifted to the floor and went dark.
I stared blindly into the sudden dimness. “Ember…?”
After a moment, my eyes adjusted and I could make out Ember’s human form. Another moment, and he began to speak. “It’s not what humans call a crush. Not really. It’s…” Ember shook his head. “You have so much potential. So much, almost all of it unrealized. I saw that, when you summoned me. And then… And then you were dying. All that bright, beautiful potential, and it was fading as I watched. Guttering like a candle in a high wind.”
He sighed. “Seeing that… It left a mark on me, I guess. Not like a human crush, but just as strong, and just as irrational.” He shook his head again, looking away. “I didn’t realize it until now, but that’s why I need to be near you. To protect you.” Ember smiled wryly. “So, the compulsion, or whatever you want to call it, it’s not anything you did. It’s who you are, who I am, and what happened between us. And there’s no changing that.”
Ember sat on the edge of the bed. “Get some sleep, Songbird. You need it.”
I yawned. “Can you not stare at me? It’s kind of creepy.”
Ember looked away. “Of course.”
After that, I drifted off to sleep fairly quickly. If Ember watched me as I slept, I did not know.
I sighed as I renewed the glyphs covering the walls of my magical lodge, aka my closet. It was time to bind my first spirit. I looked over my shoulder at Alpha. “Do we really need more spirits? Isn’t Ember enough?”
It was Ember who answered. “I am more than enough. However, Song, now that I’m here, I’d like to enjoy the material plane a bit.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, if I leave you to your own devices, you’re likely to get yourself killed. You need another spirit, one who is, at the very least, capable of fetching me should the need arise.”
I adjusted the hang of the deer pelt on the wall. “Any opinions on what sort of spirit I should bind?”
Ember said, “Fire,” at the same time Alpha said, “Beast.” The two looked at each other, annoyed.
“Beast spirits can control animals,” Alpha told me. “That might be useful with the hellcows.”
Ember shrugged. “He has a point.”
Jazz peered in at us through the doorway of my room. “Or she could summon a task spirit. Get this dump cleaned up.”
Alpha sighed. “Pretty sure task spirits aren’t part of Song’s tradition, Jazz.”
I blinked. “What do you mean they aren’t part of my tradition?”
Alpha frowned. “Mages can only summon the 5 spirits associated with their tradition. You’re Sioux, right? That means your spirits are beast, plant, fire, air, and guardian.”
I shook my head. “My dad was Sioux, but he and my mother taught me as a basic shaman. Neither one wanted me raised in the other’s tradition, so…” I shrugged. “Shaman was the only tradition they both found acceptable.”
Alpha frowned. “Pretty sure fire spirits aren’t a shaman thing.”
I shrugged. “I’ve definitely summoned more than 5 types of spirit. Maybe you’re remembering your magic stuff wrong?”
From the doorway, Jazz said, “She’s right, Song.” There was an odd look in her eyes, something almost like respect. “Most mages are limited to 5 types of spirit. Shamans are beast, water, earth, air, and man. I just looked it up on the matrix.”
Ember snorted. “Song can summon anything she wants. She’s special.”
Alpha laughed nervously. “I guess so.” He shrugged. “Could be useful. Now, Song, do you want privacy while you do this, or should I hang around in case you need backup?”
I shrugged. “Either works. Remember, though, the binding will take a few hours.” I closed my eyes and began the summoning.
A form began to take shape in the center of my magical lodge. In a few seconds, a large animal was standing in the center of my closet.
It looked a bit like a cross between a bear and a crocodile. It stood on its huge, clawed hind legs, and it was covered all over in brown fur. Its tail was croc-like in that it was almost as thick at its base as the body it was attacked to, but it was as furry as the rest of the animal. Black, crocodile- like ridges traced its spine, continuing down the tail to its thin tip. It had the ears and eyes of a bear, but a croc’s toothy snout. Oddly enough its front paws were almost like hands, if you ignored the razor sharp claws, the thick coating of fur on the back, and the heavily calloused skin as black as pitch.
The creature yawned, and sank down to all fours. Where before it had towered over me, now its head reached no higher than my chest. “Hello, mage,” it mumbled through a menacing mouth full of teeth. “What can I do for you to-” Suddenly, its voice cut off. It blinked at me. “Wow. You’re…” The spirit rose again on its hind legs. “So pretty…” It leaned closer to me, deadly mouth agape.
I tried not to freak out. No matter how scary this spirit looked, it was currently on my side. Right up until I used up my last service, and then all bets were off. I swallowed.
I heard a low rumble from the spirit. At first I thought it was growling. Then I realized it was purring, like a cat. A giant, scary cat.
The spirit dropped to all fours again and circled me, alternately peering at me with its big, brown eyes and rubbing its side against me, again like a giant, scary cat. When it touched me, I could feel its rumbling purr deep in my chest.
Suddenly the spirit withdrew. “You’re frightened. What’s wrong?” I could feel it examining my aura.
Ember chuckled. “I think you’re scaring her.”
The spirit drooped. “Oh.” It looked up at me plaintively. “Sorry.”
Over in the corner, Alpha struggled not to laugh.
“I wouldn’t hurt you,” the spirit told me, brown eyes wide. “And not just because you’re my summoner. I like you. Your aura is…” The spirit shivered. “It’s nice.”
“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Ember said. He stretched, and then leaned against the wall. “I’m Ember,” he told the new spirit. “That,” he said, nodding to me, “Is Songbird, or Song for short.”
The spirit nodded. “That’s appropriate. Song… Your aura is so beautiful. It’s almost like music…”
I shrugged, suddenly self conscious. “I chose the street name because I like to sing. Not because of what my aura looks like.”
Alpha shrugged. “No offense, Song, but I’ve never thought your aura was anything special.”
Ember glared at her. The new spirit sniffed. “Well, I think it’s special.”
“Do you have a name,” Jazz asked, rolling her eyes, “Or do I have to keep thinking of you as the bear-croc thing?”
“Call me Paw.” Paw looked her up and down, unimpressed.
“Prefered pronoun?” Alpha asked.
Paw blinked. “Pronoun…?”
Alpha sighed. “Are you a guy spirit or a girl spirit?”
Paw frowned. “Not really.”
Alpha cocked his head. “So your preferred pronoun is they?”
Paw wrinkled its nose. “Of course not. That makes it sound like I’m a whole pack of something. I’m just me.” It frowned thoughtfully. “‘It’ works.”
Alpha stared a Paw incredulously. “It? Your preferred pronoun is it?”
Paw shrugged, looking self conscious. “I don’t really care that much. Language… It’s not terribly important, really. Saying ‘it’ gets the point across better than anything else I’ve heard.” It sniffed. “Getting hung up on gender is so… meatperson. In the worst possible way.” Paw flinched. “I mean no disrespect to you, Miss Song.”
I blushed. “It’s just Song. Ummm… I kind of summoned you so I could bind you. Is that ok?”
Paw smiled a toothy grin, and then looked down shyly. “I was hoping you would.”
The binding took six hours. Paw seemed… Somehow more relaxed afterwards. Eyes half lidded, it rubbed against me. “What next?”
I yawned. “Now I take a rest, to heal some of this drain.” Alpha and Jazz had wandered off a long time ago, so it was just me, Ember, and Paw. I sat down on my bed, and pulled out my commlink. “Either of you know how to play backgammon?”
After a few games of backgammon, and zonking out to an episode of ‘Gardening with Plant Spirits,’ I felt much better. I messaged Alpha on my commlink, and the team got together in the kitchen. It was… A bit crowded. Even with Ember lounging in the doorway.
Alpha sighed. “Paw, you mind slipping into the astral?”
After a quick glance at me for confirmation, Paw vanished. Its musky smell still hovered over the room.
“Ok, here’s the game plan. Ember and Song go into astral-”
“While who is watching Song’s body?” demanded Ember.
Alpha sighed. “While Shark and I are watching her.”
Ember’s eyes narrowed. “And you’ll be watching her? You won’t wander off?”
Alpha sighed. “Read my aura. I care about Song. So does Shark.”
“It’s not just that,” Jazz put in. “As long as Song is alive, the team has Super-Platinum Docwagon contracts. A gift from her departed mum. They didn’t activate last night because we were on corp property, but if we’re anywhere else and one of us goes down, we’ll have armed medics there to help within 10 minutes.” She shrugged. “It’s a powerful incentive to keep Song alive. Not to mention, we won’t be on corp property while Song is scoping out the place. Her body will be fine.” Jazz smiled crookedly. “The question is, do we trust you to protect her on the astral?”
Ember’s eyes narrowed. “I can protect her just fine.”
Alpha sighed. “I’m sure Song will be fine in both the physical and astral planes. Now, the game plan involves Song and Ember locating the hellcows on the astral. Hellcows don’t tend to move when there is food in reach, and they consider everything food, so odds are they’ll stay put while we pick them off one by one. I’ll engage the hellcow in melee while Shark and Song shoot it. Song, I want you to keep your magic in reserve unless someone needs healing. Ember, I’d appreciate it if you would help, too. If we get into trouble, Song can call on Paw to distract the hellcow while we retreat. Scan?”
Everyone nodded.
Alpha nodded decisively. “Good.” She looked around at the five of us. Six, if you counted Paw. “Anyone got any ideas on how we’ll all fit in the van?”
