Collector's Gamble

Homura heard the distinct steel sound of a patrol's footsteps coming up the stairs just as she locked her case. She sighed, silently berating herself. A dead zone without any patrols? Homura, you know better.

She stood up and quickly assessed the room. The only exit was the stairwell the patrol was coming up. Well, she could count the wall of windows behind her as an escape, but she wasn't too keen about picking out glass shards from her hair again.

She sighed again and hopped up to sit on the edge of a desk. She had really hoped she'd be able to return early for once. She tapped the dusty magi-tech screen beside her. The building must have been an office before the war, judging by the magi-tech, useless here in a dead zone.
RF-tech computers were the rage now among the voiceless, ever since they'd cut ties with all things magic and built up their own technology. It wasn't bad stuff either - Homura found the geo-locator to be her second most useful tool while in a dead zone. She just had to keep it hidden while in town if she didn't want a lecture from one of the so-called "Enlightened."

She rolled her eyes and as if on cue, the patrol finally appeared in the doorway. There were three of them, all young with the same severe haircut and yellow armbands wrapped around the upper arms of their jackets. Must be new recruits, she thought. She watched them as they paused at the top of the stairs and slowly entered, their movements overly cautious.

She barely kept from rolling her eyes again. Definitely new. "Isn't it passed your bedtime?"

"Justice does not sleep, Melodist Homura."

Homura froze and gripped the edge of the desk to keep her balance. She swallowed as Lieutenant Jung's tall form appeared in the stairway, white armband glowing in the sunset.

"Well you voiceless have a sick view of justice," she spat out, buying time as her mind worked frantically to build a new escape plan. Three new recruits were nothing. But a lieutenant? She had to get out of the dead zone. Now.

"We can agree to disagree. But while you're on Bourdon land, you will abide by our laws and our justice."

Homura laughed without mirth. "You voiceless wouldn't even have this land if we hadn't helped you out during your damn civil war. And this is how you repay us? Locking us up for a collecting a few harmless plants?"

"They're property of the Bourdon government. Our laws state -"

Homura groaned and hopped off the table. "Spare me your lectures. I'm leaving." She turned her back on them deliberately, bending down as if to retrieve her case. But instead, she keyed a secret compartment and took out, in her opinion, the most useful RF-tech she'd swiped: a smoke bomb.

She eyed the reflection in the magi-tech screen to aim her toss just as the recruits started moving towards her. The blast rocked the floor. She launched herself towards the stairs, ignoring the stinging in her own eyes.

But out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shape hurtling towards her. She barely had time to put up her hands as the lieutenant tackled her into the wall.

Her head smacked against the wall and her vision flashed white momentarily. It came back to register the lieutenant's fist coming for her face. She ducked and his fist cracked the concrete.

Lieutenant Jung grabbed at her jacket but Homura was already moving. She wrapped her arms tight around his waist and kicked off the wall. They crashed to the floor. She scrabbled to get on top but he was too strong, forcing her to the ground with his knee crushing her chest. She tried with all her might to push his knee off but then his hands were squeezing her neck.

Panic surged through her. Move, move, move! She brought her feet to her butt and bridged as hard as she could.

It seemed to only move him an inch, but an inch was all she needed. She worked her arms and hips under him, ignoring the lightheadness.

Now! She felt his balance shift and she bridged again.

This time he toppled forward, hands sprawling above her head to fight for balance and giving her some precious air.

She gasped and grabbed his other leg and heaved, rolling him onto his back. She spared nothing with a solid kick to the groin.

There were yells from the bottom of the stairwell. Homura swore and grabbed the case. Guess it's the window after all.

She sprinted through the smoke, kneeing an errant shadow and grinning at the groan left in her wake. She grabbed one of the magi-tech screens and whipped it at one of the windows. Please be magi-tech windows.

The magi-tech broke through the window, the fragile magi-tech glass shattering into fine pieces without any magic to hold it together. She pumped her legs and jumped through the hole head first.

The rush of air hit her first, then surprisingly, a wave of magic as well. She didn't question it - she was out of the dead zone and that was all that mattered. Homura grinned as she twisted in mid-air, and sang.

A sharp tone brought up a shield just in time to ward off the lieutenant's gunfire. She started the melody of the crossroads portal, but coughed at the strain on her throat. Damn that lieutenant!

The ground was coming up fast. Homura took a deep breath and sang the melody. Relief filled her as she felt the portal form around her. Just before she hit the ground, it enveloped her completely, the last image being Lieutenant's Jung grim face.


*

Homura patted the money in her pocket as she walked down the steps from the apartment. Not bad for a plant. But a bout of weakness hit her halfway down the steps. She managed to grab the banister to keep her from tumbling to the ground.

She swore silently. It had only been two spells, but she could already feel the affect on her strength. I guess they weren't exaggerating, she thought, remembering the reports from earlier in the week. She made a mental note to double down on her conditioning. Last thing she needed was for her strength to give out while in a dead zone.

"Never thought I'd see my sister working with a traitor."

Homura gritted her teeth. What is it with people sneaking up on me today? "Traitor is a strong word, Itsuyo." She turned to look into a face that echoed her own, but slightly younger. "Dr. Lee is one of the best conductors in the islands."

"He's also supporting relations with the voiceless. That's the definition of a traitor, or did you forget now that you're a collector?

Homura rolled her eyes and started to walk past her sister. "All that matters is that he pays well. And if he pays well, we can pay off the debt and get the shop back. Isn't that what you all want?"

"You all? It's like you don't even consider us to be family anymore."

Homura snorted. "Me? Why don't you ask our parents."

Itsuyo reached out and gently touched her shoulder before she could pass. "Please come home. We haven't been all together for Sunday dinner for nearly a year now."

Homura paused, memories of their childhood when Sunday dinner had been warmth and laughter. But now ... She shrugged off Itsuyo's hand. "And spend the evening being told how blasphemous I am? No thanks."

"Homura -"

"Look. Let's just focus on getting the money."

"Then you'll come back?"

Homura said nothing and continued walking.

*

The drink slid down her throat, a warm fire that soothed her throat. She made sure her collar was up, wary of others seeing the bruise forming around her neck. Damn that lieutenant ...

A young lady came up to sit next to her, even though there were several other chairs open. Homura held in a sigh. She wasn't in the mood for haggling, but what she had said to her sister had been true. They needed the money, sooner rather than later.

Homura waited for her to start, eyeing the spotless cream-colored fabric. Certainly a lady, not someone she usually did business with. But in this business, Homura had learned to stop being surprised with who turned to her for collecting.

After several minutes of silence, Homura began to feel unnerved by the staring. "Something on my face?"

"You're not what I expected."

Homura quirked an eyebrow. "What were you expecting?"

The lady pressed her lips together in what could have passed for either a smile or a smirk. "Someone less pretty."

Homura's drink sloshed, caught off guard just as she was about to take a sip. The other woman didn't laugh but her eyes danced as if she were. Homura shifted her shoulders uncomfortably. "Did you have business to discuss or what?"

The lady took a sip of her own drink, eyeing her over the rim. "Normally I'd go with the "or what" but I'm afraid business must come first today. I need an item collected. It's in the town over so it shouldn't be too much of a problem, but I need it as soon as possible."

Homura shrugged. "Sleeping can wait."

The lady smiled. "Then we're agreed. This has all the details about the item and the drop off point." She handed Homura a thick packet. "And also a little extra for motivation." She said the last with a press of her lips that was definitely a smirk.

There were warning bells going off in Homura's mind. Any job starting off this smooth always meant problems. She opened the packet and eyed the bills inside the envelope.

She nearly dropped it. It was more than double the fee she usually charged.

The lady had already risen to leave but Homura found herself floundering to make her stay. "Seems like this is important to you."

She turned and gave her a tight smile. "Not just me. Let's say you'll be saving a lot of people's lives by collecting this."

This only worried Homura more, but the lady was already leaving. It wasn't until the door had closed that she realized she hadn't even gotten her name.

A few hours later, when she was staring down the barrels of a few dozen guns pointed at her, the "item" a young girl with lifeless eyes and glowing collar sitting behind her, Homura suspected it had been intentional.