As Paige left Haley and Sierra behind, racing through the woods on a borrowed motorcycle right behind the one Irelyn was riding, she tried to tell herself that this was the right move. They’d needed to split up, it was the best chance they had. She and Irelyn could cause a distraction while the other two got inside that place to warn the Adherents about what was going on before it was too late. Yet the further she got from what was essentially her twin sister, the more nervous she was about the whole situation. With everything that was going on, it just--it made her anxious to be separated from Sierra like this. Which was a very strange thought to have after the way their relationship had started. So much time locked in incredibly intense combat inside her own system. Sierra had been created to kill her, to take over her body and then kill her friends. Cassidy. She had been created to kill Cassidy. That was the thought, the fear, that had made Paige resist her for so long.

  But now look at them. They were sisters, in every real way. And leaving her behind to go into that place, to possibly face that guy in the power armor and his entire army, it just--it made Paige feel funny. And not in a haha sort of way. In most cases, she was barely aware of the orb that made up who and what she really was, inside the Biolem body. It wasn’t too unlike the way most regular humans didn’t think too much about how much of who they were was inside their brain, she assumed. Yet now, in this moment, she really felt like a small metal orb controlling this body. Mostly because it--she kept feeling like the orb part of her was about to rip its way out of that body and go flying back to where Sierra was. She really did not want to be separated from her.

  But no, she had to put that out of her mind and focus on what was actually happening. The best chance Sierra had when it came to safely getting into that place was if Paige and Irelyn caused enough of a distraction to pull as many of those people away as possible. So that was what she would put her efforts toward. They had to create a big enough ruckus that whoever was in charge here, probably that guy in the armor from the sound of things, would be convinced they knew where that entrance was and send as many of his mercenaries after them as possible.

  “I know it’s hard!” That was Irelyn, apparently reading Paige’s mind without even looking over her shoulder at her. They didn’t actually need to shout that much, given how quiet the hybrid motorcycle engines were. “But this really is the best way. Believe me, I’m not happy about leaving them behind either! We just have to do everything we can to get as many of those guys away from that lake as possible. With any luck, once the Adherents are warned, they’ll be able to pull in help and shut this whole thing down before things get even worse. I mean, whoever these people are, they can’t be blocking communication from that side. That island complex where the Adherents live, wherever it is, must have its own methods of calling out to the mainland. As soon as they’re warned, they’ll call in reinforcements and tell them to come out here to put a stop to this.” She paused briefly as their bikes jumped over a small ridge between a couple trees, sending a spray of dirt and pebbles back behind them. “This whole thing could all be over within a few minutes after Haley and Sierra make it into that place!”

  “Are you convincing me, or yourself!?” Paige called back, even as the bikes dropped into a narrow ditch-like crevice between a thick stand of trees. Going by the quick description Haley had given, they were just a little over halfway to the small ghost town village she had mentioned. She sent a quick message through her connection with Sierra to let the other girl and her own companion know where they were, and that everything was totally quiet on their end so far. Thankfully, Sierra was smart enough to know not to drag things out or tease her in this sort of situation, so she simply confirmed that they were still hidden and hadn’t seen any sign that the people there knew about them. Paige reminded her that it would take a little time for Irelyn and her to actually draw enough attention to pull those mercs off the lake, and that she should not, under any circumstances, get impatient and start going in anyway just because it didn’t happen immediately. She may have underlined and bolded some of those words in their chat system.

  As for Irelyn, the woman still hadn’t responded to Paige’s question about who she was actually trying to convince that this could be over soon by the time they had ridden all the way through that ditch. They made it back up onto level ground and looked around for a moment before getting their bearings and heading toward a particularly large tree that stuck out above the others around it, far in the distance. Apparently that wasn’t actually a tree, but a disguised radio tower. It wasn’t actually a functional tower, having been stripped for parts quite a long time ago. Not that it would have worked past the blocking anyway. But it was supposed to be the best landmark to reach the unused cabin village place they were looking for. And, once the mercenaries’ attention was drawn that way so they gave a closer look at that area, they would register the radio tower’s presence. Which would, with any luck, help convince them that this really was the area they were looking for. That was the idea, anyway. And another reason this was the best place to draw them toward.

  Finally, once they were headed the right way, Irelyn called back, “Okay, maybe I’m trying to convince both of us! But that doesn’t change anything, this is still the best plan we’ve got!” Her hand left the handlebar to point at the girl. “And put the helmet on! I know, I know, badass Biolem with the real important part not even in the head and all, but I’d rather these guys didn’t get a good look at your face. Besides, it’s actually a pretty good head, and it’d probably be a bad idea to crack it open like an egg! Especially if we can’t let a doctor take too close of a look at you!”

  Paige gave a grunt of agreement as the two of them pulled alongside one another, squinting together toward the disguised antennae even as she obligingly picked up the attached helmet with its reflective visor and put it on. Then she pointed. “I think the dirt road Haley was talking about is right over there, see that line between those trees? That looks like the right area to me.”

  Revving her bike’s engine a bit, Irelyn nodded. “I think so. I’d have to take out the binoculars to make sure, but I’ll take your word for it. You’ve got some pretty good vision.” Her gaze shifted that way before she added, “I guess that’d be the Biolem thing. Pittman wanted you to be perfect.”

  “Somewhat close to it, anyway,” Paige muttered. “It wouldn’t really do that much good for his plan to sell people on the idea of uploading their minds into Biolem bodies if they still needed to get glasses.” Her voice darkened somewhat. “I was supposed to be the floor model for his project to change the world and become the unchallenged god of a whole new civilization of nothing but Biolems of all shapes and sizes. You know, once he got over the fact that his first attempt to turn his real daughter immortal didn’t work out the way it was meant to and started thinking bigger.”

  Irelyn winced, glancing that way as their bikes drew alongside one another again. “Roxanne Pittman, she was hurt in an Abyssal attack, you said? But she didn’t die. Not right then anyway.”

  Letting out a heavy sigh, Paige grimaced before answering. “Yeah, but she would have. She was poisoned by Beithir. It was a small enough dose that she lasted for longer than most, but still. No one survives that sort of direct injection from one of Beithir’s spines forever. She was on a ticking clock from the moment she was hit. Benjamin knew that, and he was… well, let’s just say he was pretty desperate to find a way to save her. He used his new power to come up with the Biolem plan. Her body couldn’t be fixed, not by any healers in the world. But if he could just build her a new body and make a perfect upload of her mind, it was--it was something. He thought it was the best chance she had. He already lost his wife, her mother, but he could save Roxanne.”

  By that point, the two of them had reached the road in question. It was only a short ride from there into the empty village. But they didn’t need to go straight to the village yet. What they needed was to draw some of the searchers that way. So, Paige and Irelyn flipped the bikes around to head in the opposite direction down that dirt road. It was supposed to lead to the main, paved highway just a bit outside of the town proper, and there they could definitely get attention.

  On the way, Irelyn asked, “His plan to upload his daughter’s personality to save her that way, it didn’t go the way he wanted it to, did it? She didn’t… uh, survive the process.” Even as she said that, the woman was visibly grimacing, making it clear she wasn’t sure she should have been that direct about it. “I mean, you’re here, but he thinks--thought that you weren’t enough of her.”

  Paige made a soft, barely audible snorting sound before replying as she squeezed the motorcycle handlebars even more tightly. “That's the thing. She was already doomed to die, but when he put her through all the stress of copying her brain, it accelerated the process. She would have lived for at least another couple of months, until he put her through all that. His work did enough damage that she didn't make it all the way through the process. He was still learning as he went. The whole thing should've taken about a week, but she only made it through four and a half days. He did his best to keep her alive, but it didn't work. He had just a little under three quarters of her personality and all that uploaded when she was too far gone to get anything else. He did his best to fill in the blanks with bits from other children around her age. And no, I don't know how he got them. Nor do I want to. I know there were multiple samples so that he wouldn't do too much damage to any more children, but still. He used those bits to make a full brain pattern, but he never thought she was his real daughter. He just couldn’t let the work he did, the work that ended up killing her faster than she was already dying, end up just being for nothing.”

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  “So he took what was supposed to be his grand plan to save his daughter’s life and slid it right into making all of humanity immortal with himself at the very top of the heap,” Irelyn finished for her. “Only the problem was, he couldn’t look at you, the pinnacle of his project, without constantly remembering his dead daughter, and the fact that he failed to save her. Not only failed to save her, accelerated her death. That’s why he treated you the way he did. He couldn’t get over his failure.” She went silent for a moment, staring ahead as they reached the paved road before muttering a vicious curse. “Fucking bastard piece of shit. He still had you. Yes, you weren’t a perfect copy of his daughter’s mind, but you were still his daughter. Just… a different one.”

  They had pulled onto that paved road and slowed down, but Paige didn't respond at first. Her eyes narrowed as she looked ahead at a few indistinct forms in the distance that seemed to be some sort of roadblock. “Well,” she finally pointed out, “he's dead now. So there's no use in worrying about it. It's not like he can come back and change what he did. So let's just focus on the problem in front of us that hasn’t already been killed, dissected, cremated, and thrown out.”

  It was very clear that Irelyn wanted to talk about that some more, but she knew better than to push. Especially since they were rapidly approaching the roadblock ahead. “Well,” the woman announced instead, “here goes nothing. Let’s put those drama classes to work, shall we?”

  Both of them fell silent for a few seconds as the roadblock quickly drew closer. They could see three vans parked across both lanes, with a handful of men milling around, watching them. It was clear that they were expecting to see a couple of their own troops coming to check in, and weren't too concerned. But the moment they actually saw Irelyn in her Flea costume, as well as the fact that the girl next to her very clearly wasn’t one of them despite wearing one of their helmets, the shout went up. Then the guns came out. Paige brought her bike to a skidding halt, snapping a panicked, “We’ve gotta tell Saunders it’s blocked that way too!” With a squeal of burning rubber, she peeled out once more, back the way they’d come even as the shooting started. But that shooting stopped almost as quickly, as the words she’d said actually penetrated those skulls. With Irelyn right behind her, the two bikes went screaming toward the dirt road, while the vans behind them started up. The mercs had taken the bait and were actually chasing them. Which meant they would be calling it in, letting their boss know that they were following two of their quarry right back toward Gilbert Saunders, otherwise known as the Rocket Man, the one behind Galileo’s Adherents. If anything was going to get their attention, it was dropping his name.

  There was another reason for why they had gone very close to the ghost town before heading out to the main highway. Not just because it was the best way to get to the dirt road that led there, but also because anyone who chased or searched for them would see their bike tracks leading down that dirt road and would be more likely to believe they had really come from that way. At least enough to maintain the illusion for a bit and convince them that the whole thing was real, anyway. All they needed was for the guys on the lake to be pulled away long enough for the other two to slip inside. Then, maybe, just maybe, this whole thing could be finished without getting worse. True, Paige wasn’t going to bet on that, but she could hold out some faint hope.

  By the time they were halfway back up the dirt road, the sound of approaching drones filled the air. As did a very noisy assortment of engines from both behind them and the side, coming from the direction of the lake. With any luck, that meant those guys had been alerted and were on their way. So step one of the plan was a success, they had their attention. Steps two and three revolved around keeping it long enough to draw them all the way to the ghost village so they’d waste all their time searching it, and then getting away from that search without being caught.

  At least they definitely had plenty of the mercs’ interest. Already, there were two jeeps, a lone motorcycle, and an ATV coming from behind them where the roadblock had been, and even more vehicles, mostly a mix of ATVs and motorcycles, coming from the left, where the lake had been. It had to be those guys. Not only was it the closest area where that many of the troops had been, but Sierra had finally sent a quick confirmation that almost all the mercs had cleared out aside from one boat. They could get past one boat, hopefully. This plan was actually working.

  Even better, though they had the expected pursuers from behind and to the left, there was no sign of anyone ahead or to the right, leaving their way wide open. At least for the time being.

  Just to make sure that their pursuers wouldn’t lose interest, Paige drew a small pistol from its holster attached to the side of her borrowed bike. As they hit a slight incline that sent the bikes several feet into the air thanks to their speed, she turned a bit, took quick aim, and fired several quick shots toward the nearest drone. The thing was small and fast enough, barely the size of one of Cassidy’s skateboards, that even with her Biolem-enhanced aim, she missed with the first couple. But the last one nailed it right in the camera and sent the thing careening through the sky. Three shots to hit one fast-moving drone. She almost wished Cassidy was here for this. Their aim would have been perfect from the first shot. Not to mention, well--it was Cassidy, there were very few people Paige would rather have watching her back right now. But hey, at least one of the other people at the top of that particular list was on the other motorcycle right beside her.

  Speaking of whom, Irelyn shouted something sidelong toward her about not stopping. Which confused Paige briefly, until she saw the other woman gather herself before springing backwards off the damn motorcycle. She jumped right from her seat, back through the air, flipping over in the process before landing on the hood of one of those jeeps that had been pursuing them. As Paige glanced over her shoulder, she had just enough time to see Irelyn drive her sword through the windshield, cutting through something that made the jeep go careening off to the side. Then she leapt forward once more, managing to jump far enough to not only catch up with Paige, but actually land back on the same motorcycle she had just jumped off of before it could finish falling over. It was that quick. She had leapt backwards, covered about fifty yards or so, landed on the jeep and cut into it, then jumped forward once more and landed right back on her bike before it could finish falling over. If they hadn’t been in this specific, very intense situation without any time for being distracted, Paige definitely would have just sat there and stared at the woman.

  But no, there was no time for letting her processor gush over how absolutely amazing her older, adopted sister was. On the other hand, at least she could do that these days without worrying that the woman would reject her as soon as she knew the truth. Or that there was no reason for her to care in the first place. Irelyn did care. She accepted her. She knew the truth and wanted her around anyway. Not just her, but Sierra too. They were actually turning this into some sort of--

  The village. They had finally reached it. Just as Haley had described, the place was definitely falling apart. There were about six scattered buildings surrounding what looked like a central gathering place with a place for a bonfire and a few metal camp stoves. Five of the buildings were two story cabins, while the sixth was a larger place that looked like it was where the kitchen and supply room were.

  They were there, the pursuers would be close enough to not only see the cabins, but detect the radio tower and realize the place had higher technology than it should. That would keep them--

  Irelyn shouted some sort of warning, just before leaping off her own bike once more. That time, however, she threw herself into Paige, knocking her off as well before twisting around to land on her feet with the other girl in her arms. The momentum sent her skidding through the dirt, Paige clutched protectively against herself while the bikes--exploded!?

  The concussive wave and heat washed over Paige along with the shower of dirt and pebbles. Then the source of the explosion landed. The guy in the power armor. He had been flying over their heads, aiming rockets at them, apparently. He hit the ground amidst the rubble of their bikes, turning to face the two of them. “Heh. Guess it’s time for a conversation, isn’t it?

  “Well, after I kill one of you just so the other one’s thoroughly encouraged to tell the truth.”

  Joke Tags: "Her Power Is Super Jumping? How Dangerous Could She Be?" - Everyone In That Jeep Just Before Irelyn Landed On Their Hood