The pillar to Heaven built in Hell

Cebra gets up and goes to the fridge, he grabs two beers then takes a seat at the kitchen table gesturing to Sam offering a seat. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes and places one in his mouth. He gets back up and opens a window and turns on a fan as to not cloud the penthouse in smoke. The tip of his finger sparks and lights the cigarette with a little jolt, he takes a haul then glances over at Jeannie for a moment. He looks back at Sam and slides the beer to her side of the table where he had gestured. He exhales and opens the beer taking a sip.

"I've tried that, on numerous occasions actually. Funny thing about corporations hm."

Cebra grins disingenuously.

"They'll do anything to survive. Place the blame elsewhere, frame a single person, bribe someone to take the fall, bribe law enforcement, bribe politicians and fuckin judges... It's God damn infuriating!"

Cebra bangs his fist on the table making an indent.

"Eh... sorry"

Sam observed the tin can for a moment. It vaguely reminded her of one of those exotic beers a acquittance had brought along from a trip oversea once. It had taken her a week to get the taste out of her mouth and even now she felt it returning just by thinking about the tin cane. She didn’t dare to reject it out if fear it might insult Cebra somehow. She opened the can and took a sip. It tasted even worse than the last one. She did her best to hide her disgust as she put the tin can down again.

“If all that didn’t work, then what are you planning?” she asked making no comment about the outburst. She didn’t condone his behaviour, someone with that kind of powers should always control his temper, but she was a guest here. It wasn’t her place to say anything about it. Should it continue, though, she would.

She took up the tin can, played with it for a moment before reluctantly raising it again, but made sure none of the liquor touched her lips again.

Cebra observed his new potential ally, it amused him a bit how she played with the can yet avoided drinking.

"You dont have to drink it heh, if you want something else there's a few sodas in there. Or whatever Jeannie hasn't hijacked."

His tone suddenly sarcastic as he casts a quick smirk towards Jeannie.

"Well now we've come to the point of all this mess. Well you see I tend to do regular surveillance on Orion's business and projects. Once in a while one of my contacts brings me some information about something big, usually rumors or encoded files with messages in code oy. Recently I received an e-mail from a friend who works at Orion but is sort of my double agent. The file was simply titled 'White bridge'. The details were something I guess one would call."

Cebra taps his cigarette and the ash falls into an ash tray as he takes another inhale.

"Shady? From what I was able to decipher Orion is planning a large scale project involving multiple specialists, construction, a whole core of security and the full resources of their energy development core. Needless to say if Orion's board members are moving these many resources then something big and dangerous is happening. They have multiple sites and facilities working on this project, it's still very hush hush but all the more reason to act now."

Cebra hands Sam a blueprint detailing some manner of tower with an antennae. It was linked on three sides by power cords to a generator like machine.

"This device here, I've never seen anything like it. All I can tell right now is it radiates intense amounts of ion energy. It's enough to level half a city."

‘Busted’, went through Sam’s mind when she put her tin can back on the table. “If it’s not too difficult, I’d rather have thee,” she told Cebra.

She listened carefully when Cebra unfolded his concerns. If even half of what he had previously told her about this Orion group was true, he had very good reasons to be concerned. When an organisation powerful enough to make governments dance started pulling its resources together, being afraid might even be more appropriate.

when Cebra handed her the blueprint, she looked at it. Not that it told her much. A tower was all she could make of it. One they wouldn’t be able to build overnight, judging by the size of it. Which wasn’t much of an observation, even a child could have pointed that one out. She didn’t have a clue about the strange device either. Technology wasn’t her strongest point, had never been so.

“Isn’t there anyone we could contact to help us determine its purpose?” Sam asked when she looked up from the blueprint. “Some third party we can rely on?”

Whenever she had questions about something technological beyond the mundane, she had always called in an expert, frequently professor Bolleboos, for advice on how to handle it. All too often said expert was also the creator of that particular piece of technology. That last one wasn’t much of an option in their current situation, but looking for additional expertise might be worth a shot.

“The only alternative I can think of right now is going to their construction site and have a look,” she continued. “But that might be dangerous if we don’t know what we’re up against.”

Cebra gets up and puts the kettle on, rather than waiting ten minutes he touches the kettle transfering a small amount of energy to make it boil fast. He checks the cupboard for tea finding only the generic orange pekoe, Cebra may have to go for groceries sometime later. He poured a cup and put it before Sam with a carton of milk and sugar if she liked it that way.

"Yes actually there is a woman I know who used to work for Orion before she was fired for... Well that's not important. I'm going to meet with her tomorrow at the docks but that's not the only issue. I have no idea where they are starting construction or any of there resources for that matter. In order to get an idea of where various things will be taking place I need information from one of Orions secure data compilers. That would require at least two people to sneak into a data compiler complex and hack in. One person would divert security while the other steals the data, if I were to be caught then the whole system would purge it's data and likely infect me with some manner of virus. You can see now why I need help, normally I'd go it alone. I... I rarely work with others, personal issues. But I dont have a choice now."

Sam gratefully accepted the cup of hot thee Cebra presented her and took a nip from it. The beverage had a pleasant citrusy taste, a much-needed improvement over the beer. The sugar and milk she declined. The thee was sweet enough as it was, and she never used milk in her thee anyway. The gesture was appreciated though.

“Thanks,” she said as she took another nip from her thee. Some people would let the thee cool down a little before drinking it, but she didn’t mind. She preferred hers when it was still hot. Why ask for a hot drink only to let it get cold before drinking it?

She finished her drink as Cebra continued. A burglary wasn’t something she had ever planned doing. Even the knowledge that they were breaking into what was essentially an enemy stronghold made it difficult to rationalize it all. But the knowledge was necessary, she knew that. She just wished there was a different way of getting it. One that didn’t involve endangering others.

This Orion group as a whole might be bad, but not everyone person working for it could be bad too. she figured a lot of them might not even know what they had gotten themselves in. And likely never would either. If a confrontation with these people could be avoided, she’d prefer it that way.

“Sneaking in isn’t exactly my speciality,” Sam spoke when she put her cup down. “There here doesn’t exactly spell stealth, you know.” She held up a part of her red cape to empathise it. “That’s more her field of expertise,” she continued, nodding at Jeannie’s direction. “All I could do is drop you off somewhere and burst you out if things get sour.”

"Oh no I wouldn't imagine you were going to do anything stealthy in that..."

Cebra takes a moment shifting his eyes looking for the right adjective.

"Unique get up."

He says with a cheeky grin.

"I actually thought with your ability to fly you'd take my place meeting my contact. She'll give you all the information necessary on a data cell, just got to bring it back safely. Jeannie and I can handle infiltrating the facility."

Cebra walks over to the computer and clicks on few folders showing the layout of a facility with the title "DCC-NW (7)".

"We're going to enter via the roof using a ventilation shaft, I'll drop a small yield EMP bomb to shut down the security systems. I'll make our way to the main terminal and neutralize the guards. Jeannie will be heading towards the power monitoring station and turn off all the security systems so they dont come back on and catch us. After that I'll need five minutes to download everything, Jeannie will have to cause a big distraction. I don't really know what but it's gotta be enough to keep the guards focus. When everyone is done we'll meet back here to see what we've found out... That is the plan at any rate, if we're lucky no one gets hurt and no one is the wiser."

Sam paid no attention to Cebra’s impudent facial expression when he agreed her costume would make it difficult to move around undetected. He could laugh about it all he wanted, this costume stood for something. Even if she occasionally wondered what it should represent.

“Yeah, I guess I could do that,” Sam confirmed when Cebra gave her a different task. “But will your contact give me the necessary information? I mean, to her I’ll just be a stranger. If she notices you’re not there, she might suspect foul play and decide not to show up at all.”

She looked back at Jeannie for a second. Creating a distraction was certainly something Jeannie would be capable of. And if she had to bet on how, her money would be on explosions. Perhaps she ought to be around when Jeannie and Cebra went in, just to be sure.

"No worries, I'll send her a message that I'm busy, she'll understand. I'll tell her I'm sending someone in my stead and she can trust you. That should be enough for her to give the information we need. My authentication codes are unique when I send a message so she'll know.

Cebra catches the look Sam gives Jeannie.

"... You worried about her? Or... are you worried about what she may do?"

If this person knew she was coming and could be trusted, getting the requested information shouldn’t be that difficult. Even if it was something she had never done before.

But Jeannie, that was a different story. Naturally Sam was worried something bad would happen to Jeannie. She had already ended up in prison once today, Sam didn’t like seeing her in a situation where it could potentially happen again. Or something even worse if this Orion group really was as bad as Cebra told her. Who knew what they’d do if they caught Jeannie sneaking around on their premises.

To say nothing about what Jeannie might pull off when out there. Sam still vividly remembered the explosions the blonde had caused during their excursion in the robot infested bunker complex. Or her trigger-happy behaviour with the rocket launcher she had gotten her hands on. Neither spelled subtlety very well and could doom Cebra’s infiltration attempt if done at the wrong time or place.

“A little bit of both,” she told Cebra. She didn’t want to add anything else to the subject. Because she didn’t want to gossip about someone, and because she knew Jeannie could overhear the conversation with her sensitive hearing and she didn’t want to girl to draw any wrong conclusions.

"You dont have to worry, Jeannie seems pretty capable. Also I'll be there to make sure things go smoothly."

Cebra looks at Sam with a sudden flash of guilt but hides it with a smile.

"She's uh... a good person, wouldn't feel right with myself if something went wrong and something happens to her. You have no reason to trust me but for now all I can give you is my word it will go smoothly. Frankly..."

Cebra puts out the cigarette with a quarter left then takes a sip of the imported beer.

"I've been programmed to do this sort of thing, espionage. I may not look like much but I am quite capable. I've taken on this company many times, I know how they think for the most part."

A thunder clap in the distance breaks Cebra's attention. He looks outside and see's the murky grey clouds above in the dark, lightning lit them up for a moment. A moment later the rain rolls in like a thick sheet nearly blinding any view beyond ten feet.

"Hmm... it is rather late isn't it? Now is as good a day as any for me to get some sleep. You're welcome to stay the night here, Jeannie as well. The couch folds out and there are blankets and sheet in the closet. Yeah even a cybernetic, organic being needs forty winks."

“I’m holding you to that one,” Sam said. Though it may have sounded casually, the underlying message was crystal-clear: If she gets hurt, you’ve got me to answer to.

The unexpected thundering caused Sam too loop up too. There shouldn’t have been any bad weather today. She sighted. To thing they had people running around who could do just about anything and still there was no one capable of providing a reliable weather forecast.  Some things would just never change, it seemed.

The reliability of the forecast aside, it was indeed getting late. Back at home it would be a new day already. Arielle would probably wonder where she was. But Sam didn’t feel like flying back home in a thunderstorm. The elements might not affect her in a negative way directly, it didn’t mean flying though the rain was an enjoyable experience.

“I’ll take the offer,” she told Cebra as she briefly wondered what he’d dream of. Cybernetic sheep perhaps? “By the way, is there a phone I could use? I’ve got to let the people at home know where I am. They’ll get worried otherwise.”

"Understood."

Cebra smirked at Sam's comment, not condescendingly but admiring her loyalty. In the darkest corner of his mind a bit of jealousy flashed, wanting to have that kind of closeness with someone. It was quickly struck down as Cebra put that steel wall between him and everyone back up. It was best for everyone that a living weapon remain alone until it could be properly dealt with, this was his method of thinking usually.

Cebra paused a second as he was standing up and heard Sam's question. He had one of those realizations, one of something so tiny yet so big. Cebra had never really used a phone in his life, he had no real need to. All of Cebra's communications equipment was internal making for easy and subtle communication. He stood stiff for a few seconds dumbfounded by his own realization, remembering a short moment later he had the blueprints for many telecommunication devices.

"You um... you might not want to see this, fair warning."

Cebra's eyes flash red as he opens his mouth and a stream of liquid metal emerges, the outline clearly visible in his throat. The stream of metal turns into a perfect sphere hovering above his hand. Cebra's head makes a few sudden twitches as his eyes are focused unblinking on the sphere. After a moment the sphere shoots out three tentacles grabbing at random objects and absorbs them. The sphere then begins to change shape, color and texture turning into a cordless telephone.

"This should work fine."

Cebra plugs it into the phone jack in the wall.

"Is there anything else you require? If not I'll be heading to my room now."

Sam wished she had heeded Cebra’s warning. She thought it was just a jest because he had a clandestine SIM card or something like that. Not that he’d create a phone out of what seemed to be some kind if metallic vomit. Just looking at him shaping the vomit into a phone made her feel sick. And she’d have to touch that thing in order to use it! A good thing she was carrying gloves.

As Cebra put the last hand to his phone, Sam made a solemn promise to herself. Next time someone would tell her she might not want to see something, she’d close her eyes right away and not open them again until a third party would tell her it was safe again to do so. She’d happily take the consequences of whatever bad thing might befall her while her eyes were closed as long as it meant she’d never have to see something like this again.

“Thanks,” Sam said when Cebra finished. “And no, that will be all. Goodnight.”

As soon as Cebra had turned his back, Sam couldn’t resist the urge to smell the phone. It smelled no different from any other phone she had used. Still the picture of how it was created remained vivid in her mind. She was sure it’d come to haunt her in her dreams before long.

Almost blindly she dialled Arielle’s number. The phone rang once, then twice, and even a third and fourth time. Perhaps she was calling too early? With the time difference Arielle was almost certainly still sleeping. And indeed, after the fifth time Arielle’s voicemail played, instructing her to wait until after the beep to leave a message.

“Arielle, it’s me,” Sam started when the beep was over. “Sorry I’m only calling you now. I hope you weren’t worried or anything.” She hesitated. It was unlikely Arielle would be worried this soon.  She had come back late before. But never stayed away for more than a day. “The thing is, I’ve got caught up in something big. I can’t tell you much, just that I might stay away for a day or more.”

Now came the hard part. Arielle knew she’d be away for a while, but there was someone else who needed to know too. “And could you let doctor Janssen know I won’t be back for a couple of days? Her number is on the list on the fridge door. Thanks, I owe you bigtime for this.”

When she rung off, Sam knew two people wouldn’t be happy tomorrow morning. Arielle when she’d learn she’d have to call the hospital, and doctor Janssen when she’d learn Sam wouldn’t be available for a couple of days. Arielle would complain, but ultimately forgive her.

Doctor Janssen would be a different story. She had told her before she’d need to set her priorities straight. It was either focussing on her studies, or being a full-time superhero. But trying to do both wasn’t an option. Even she wasn’t fast enough to manage that once successfully. Sooner or later she’d have to make the choice what she wanted to do with her life.

With mixed feelings Sam put the phone aside and prepared for the night. Hopefully one without any disturbing dreams that involved the creating of phones.

yay I like playing secret agent! huh distractions, oh I know I'll blow something up that always works kaboom! Jeannie excitedly listened to the plan.

huh yeah sammie's cape might get in the way for sneaking but for meeting your friend it'll help just tell her to look for the lady in the red cape

she giggles amused watching him make the phone that's gross and awesome at the same time she gets excited when Sam said she was calling Arielle, and pops up behind same and shouts so Arielle can hear her too hey Arielle it's me too! me and Sammie are going to play super spies! .

Sam looked up. “It was her voicemail,” she told Jeannie. “But I’m sure she appreciated you letting her know you’re here too. She’ll sleep better knowing I’m not on my own here.” Or sulking for not having the opportunity to greet Jeannie in person and worrying what this super spies thing was all about. No doubt in Arielle’s mind it would be something totally different from what it would turn out to be. Likely involving classy cocktail parties, fancy dresses and a lot of lovemaking but with a minimum of dangerous activities and the like. She was sure Arielle would tell her all about how it should have been when she got back home. Whether she wanted to know or not.

With a: “Anyway, it’s getting late and Cebra wouldn’t like having a partner sleeping on the job so off to bed with you.” she chased Jeannie to bed.