Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Hellena Vexus and Jinx)

When Jinx returned to the room that Queen Chell had provided for her, she snatched up her laptop and stuffed it into her Hello Kitty backpack. She flung it over her shoulder and added a white furry scarf around her neck and headed out of her room. Bounding down the stairs two at a time, Jinx left the villa in Rome. The day was as perfect as if it was planned for a photo shoot. She borrowed a scooter by the simple expedient of starting it with a mere touch.

Half an hour later found her in a small café, using a translation program to order a cappuccino and some bread and cheese. She and the waitress laughed at Jinx’ poor pronunciation while the waitress’ English was nearly flawless. Once settled with her back to a wall so her laptop screen couldn’t be seen easily, Jinx placed her fingertips onto the keyboard, but didn’t actually type out anything. Files opened and searches began under her brightly curious gaze. She bounced the searches all over the planet as she normally would. “OK, Mr. Paxton. Where’s your money coming from, first of all?”

Helena Vexus had been sent off to the secret location where Elena's Quantum computer was located in order to further guard it. No precaution was too extreme at this point, she could not afford losing her greatest asset, even if it was the cost of one of her greatest creations. Elena was personally on her way to France, so her time was currently occupied though she was still in complete contact with Helena. On her way to the computer, Helena had ben instructed to check on the Clones that Vexus had placed around the world in order to keep the signal from her powerful computer strong wherever she was. There was one in Rome, Italy which is where she was on her way to. Vexus had picked Rome because it was a crowded place full of tourists and al kinds of people. It would be near impossible to pick out a single person.
Once Helena arrived at the city, she was dressed as a regular tourist with her hair down in a braid off to the side. She carried a backpack with her that contained her ring blade that was in a collapsable form making it much easier to transport. Although, high up in the skies, Ms. Elena Vexus had picked up some vicious activity in Italy. Someone had began searching for everything they could find on Adam Paxton. Literally everything, and fast too. Faster than any human could search the planet for information. Vexus began to triangulate where the activity was coming from to get and exact location in order to send Helena on the hunt. If this person found information it could jeopardize their whole operation. She needed to be removed, whether she had learned anything or not
Helena, I have activity in the Rome area. Someone is digging too deep for their own good. Find and remove them. Dead or alive. I am sending you the location now. Complete this task as fast as you can."
Without the slightest hesitation, or even response, Helena set out to search for the culprit. She turned corners and ran down ally-ways, sprinting in every which direction heading towards the general area from when the signal is coming from. After a few minutes of running around she finally received the exact location and made a B-Line to the Cafe where this individual was located. Once she reached the small store, Helena returned to a calm walk as to not be noticed. Walking in she was scanning the room relaying the information and picture to Elena, unfortunately there were a number of people using computers so she could not lash out quite yet. Vexus was working harder up in the sky and Helena casually ordered a coffee and sat down at a table and pulled out her phone to look busy, placing her backpack on the table with a bit of a thud. Elena locked on to the internet signal that was being given off by the Coffee Shop and found exactly which computer the information was being flooded to. Vexus accessed the web camera on the computer and got a quick image of her which she instantly sent to Helena. Her phone beeped and she look up to the back wall locking eyes with the girl. She stood up from her table and went into her bag, no one around her paid any attention to her but if the girl saw the look in Helena's eyes she would know that she was in a lot of trouble. She pulled out the collapsed blade from her backpack and jerked it forward causing all the parts to connect with a loud clink. The crowd in the Cafe now started to become concerned, some even getting up and quickly leaving, and for good reason. Helena's eyes narrowed at the girl as she threw her Ring Blade full force at the hacker like a frisbee aiming to decapitate. The weapon would lodge itself deep into the the wall of the cafe, whether it be wood or a brick wall. Helena was strong, build and programmed to kill. There was no way this poor individual would be getting out of this unscathed...

Jinx sat at her table in what she thought was complete anonymity. Her eyes scanned the files flowing through her laptop’s screen almost too fast to even follow. To anyone around her, she was just another tourist in clothes too brightly colored to have any hope of blending in to the rustic old stone the café had been constructed from several millennia ago. Her lips quirked upward at the corners as she deftly dodged the clumsy attempts of Paxton’s own troop of programmers tried to shunt her out of their system. “Heh, take that! And your little dog, too.” Jinx chortled under her breath. She was quite enjoying the game.

While she sat at her table, playing cyber hide and seek, a tiny tingle shimmied down her spine, though Jinx barely took notice of it. Had she looked up at that moment, she might have noted a girl with fun blue and white-gray pony-tails saunter casually into the café and sit at the small table a few yards away. Other than approval for the girl’s hair, Jinx might not have noted anything else on such a casual first glance because she was so involved in the game taking place on her be-stickered laptop.

And then Jinx’s laptop did something it should not have; her camera flashed ever so briefly. That instant was when she knew she was in trouble. Her dark eyes lifted in wide panic to flash around the café looking for… Well, she wasn’t entirely sure what she expected. Not until she saw the girl with the great hair stand and take out a segmented blade from her own back pack. The appearance of the blade made some of the more aware patrons stand and scramble to get themselves out of whatever was about to happen. The more clueless just began to take pictures with their phones and tweeting.

Suddenly, the girl across the café threw what looked sort of like a chakram from hell directly at Jinx. “”Holy shit!” Jinx squeaked in panic. She snatched up her laptop and dove for the floor while the ring blade imbedded itself into the ancient wall right where her neck had been mere microseconds before. Jinx tried to grab for her backpack so she could stuff her computer into it to effect some sort of escape when that tingle made itself felt once more. The girl was…she was mechanical! The only way Jinx could take advantage of that was to close her eyes and concentrate on the incredibly sophisticated programing that made the girl up. And Jinx was definitely not closing her eyes.

“Uh…hi…” She bit her lower lip, “Love your hair.” Jinx added lamely while scrambling from under one table toward another. “Can we talk about this? Have a latte, maybe?” Jinx was stalling, she was desperate to connect with any portion of the girl’s systems or programing that she was already familiar with that she could use to slow her down or even knock out entirely. That’s when she sensed it; the girl’s motion. Her joints. If Jinx could lock up the joints, she could get closer and really hose her up….yeah. Right.

Helena's eyes narrowed when she saw that this girl had evaded her new age version of a guillotine. People were yelling and screaming, running in every which direction and taking pictures like the tourists they were. Her target was smart enough to take her computer with her as she began to make a run for it. However, instead of running for her life she tried to engage Helena in conversation. Complementing her on her hair and even asking if they could have coffee, a nice gesture yes but Vexus was aiming to kill her. Such a response was confusing at the least. Besides all of that, Helena ignored all of her conversation attempts and started to head over to retrieve her weapon from the wall. On the way she took out one of the straps of her back pack and tied one end of it onto the wrist of her left hand and just letting the rest of it hang down for the time being.
Helena tore her ring blade from the wall causing come debris to fall on the table. Using her foot, she flipped the table up into her left hand, spun, and threw the table at the hacker. Following quickly behind she was going in for an attack with her blade. She could tell the poor girl probably couldn't fight back too well so her movements were not currently calibrated for high intensity fighting. Up in the sky, Elena was monitoring Helena's progress and thinking on who this girl might be. What interested her in Dominus' actions? Granted Paxton's speech was broadcast all over the world, and there were some powerful organizations that undoubtedly caught wind or watched it unfold first hand. If she was part of any of these organizations Vexus did not know, but would be sure to find out. If anything, she could not be left alive if she decided not to come quietly. Looking back on her search history she had already dug up more than she needed to know and such information cannot fall outside of the Dominus circle. However, the information that he had obtained was impressive. Information that had been locked away, no ordinary human would be able to access it even with the second most powerful computer on the planet. Elena was aware of every single trick of the trade, every code, bypass, and security measure that was around in the hacking game, so it would be impossible to outdo her. Unless of course she had a 'knack' for that sort of a thing. An ability even. That's all what it boiled down to, this girl had to have a power of some sort relating to technology. Exactly what she was capable of Elena would have to wait and see, but it would be best to play it safe for right now...
"Helena, she most likely possess some sort of technology based abilities. I am unable to pinpoint exactly what the extent of the abilities are, though I reccomend you try and keep your distance for the time being. If she does not come quietly for interrogations then kill her. We don't need that sort of information running amuck..."

Jinx kept scrambling under the tables, heading in the direction of the many espresso makers that still hissed and steamed behind the counter. Behind her, Jinx heard the girl wrench the odd blade from the stone wall throwing a little debris as she did so. Before Jinx knew what was happening, a table came flying at her, crashing through the one she was currently hiding under and pinning her temporarily. Several slivers of the wood skewered her skin leaving little rivulets of blood on her arms, legs and cheek.

Shrieking in terror, Jinx managed to get untangle herself from the remains of the ruined tables. She ran toward the heavily built counter and the bank of espresso machines. Ducking behind the counter, she lifted her hand and turned on all of the nozzles throwing up a covering cloud of steam that hid her from the assassin’s direct line of vision.

Jinx, however, didn’t need to see to sense the girl as she approached the counter. Jinx couldn’t identify any of the girl’s major systems, simply because she’d never encountered anything like it in her life. Not even in her best fantasy dreams. But, the assassin’s more peripheral systems, like the mechanics of her joints and very minor computing routines were pretty straight forward. Jinx waited until the girl came within 10 feet from her before she reached out her hand and tried to lock up the assassin’s knees, hips and shoulders. If she could stop the girl from moving, she could attempt getting out so she could ‘lay on hands’, so to speak.

This little girl was a slippery one. After she launched the table at her and pinned her momentarily, she was able to wiggle herself free and hide behind the coffee bar. Helena hastened her pace to close the gap and take care of business properly. Though while she was approaching she used one of the coffee machines to create a wall of steam between herself and Vexus temporarily obscuring her vision. By the time her systems adjusted to see, the girl had gotten closer to her and Helena felt something happening to her programming. The hacker was accessing her systems, Elena could feel the intruder but was too far away to do something instantly. It would take more time set up a defense against her style of coding. Helena's shoulders, hips, and knees locked up and she fell backwards into a chair and watched as the girl made a run for it. Using what limited movement she had, she grabbed onto the strap of her backpack that she tied around her left wrist and dislocated her arm at the elbow. She tried to swing it around like a lasso to get some momentum since she would not be able to properly throw it in her current condition. Once she got a little rotation on it she threw it at the hacker girl hoping to catch her by, well, anything that she could grab because once she had her hold she would not be letting go. There was no way she was going to fail er master again.
She may have been rebuilt but she still remember what had happened the first time that she had not completed her task properly. Elena had left the memory there as a reminder of what she was capable, what she expected from her servants and the consequences of failure. Granted Elena did plan on wrecking this petty Dominus organization one way or another but it was more so her reputation that was at stake. If there was one thing on this planet that she cared about it was what other people thought of her. It is one of her great weaknesses more than likely. Though Elena monitors everything Helena does so it would be impossible for her to share such secrets. Helena did have some form of free will, but it was mechanical, programmed and extremely limited. Vexus did not like dealing with humans due to their habit of thinking freely. It is what starts wars, this one for an example. Because Adam Paxton likes to be an individual and not follow what should simply be accepted in the world as the norm and just looked over he capitalizes or the benefit of his own organization. He was scum. Along with all these other free willed creatures. Vexus' ideals were radical but it would bring her own image of peace to the world. Peace under her rule.

Jinx’s desperate plan to slow the blue-haired girl down worked as her knees and hips locked up and she toppled over. Locking up the girl’s shoulders was only moderately successful because the assassin dislocated her own arm. Even though Jinx knew the girl was pure machine, she still reflexively winced at the action. Does she feel pain? Jinx wondered irreverently.

Rather than making a run for it, Jinx bit her lower lip and actually approached the downed girl. If she could just touch the girl, she’d be able to analyze her systems and be able to do more. Besides, her inherent curiosity, even in such a situation simply couldn’t be overridden, even if she’d wanted to. As she tentatively approached the assassin, Jinx saw too late the dislocated arm being swung in her direction.

Squeaking, she tried to jump over the arc of the swing, but she was too late and the improvised grappling hook took her feet right out from under her sending her crashing onto the café’s floor causing her to release any hold she had on the assassin’s joint systems up to that point. It didn’t stop her mouth though. After a string of very colorful curses, some of which simply made no sense at all and involved a parrot doing unspeakable things to a walrus, Jinx kept up a running line of dialog as she tried to get back to her feet, “I mean, it should be flattering, right? You’re the coolest thing I’ve ever seen…other than the trying to kill me part. Who programmed you? I have GOT to meet them and you know, pick their brains for all it’s worth. The sophistication is so subtle and so advanced…” Jinx paused and thought. “A Meta, huh?” She guessed. “That’s cool.” She swiftly added. “I mean, I got nothing against Meta, or anything.”

The entire time, she was back-pedaling to get as much distance as she could between her and the assassin girl-robot. If she could just make the door, she thought she could make a run for it.

Helena felt the hold on her release and stood from the chair she was in. As she approached the girl she reeled back in her arm and reattached it to her body with a mechanical clicking noise. Following was the sound of a fews gears winding and spinning pulling and locking her arm properly back into place. Helena's target was trying to put distance in between them, if anything trying to make it to an exit to try and make a break for it. All the while she kept running her mouth pointlessly. Still unable to get over her design, how she was 'so cool' and her programming was advanced. Of course this was all flattering to Elena up in the sky and so a little insight to her creation would most likely be in order.
"I was created by Elena Vexus, however she is above the state of 'Meta' that you claim she is. Her powers extend far beyond the imagination of a lowly human as yourself..."
After her brief explination of her origins, she began spinning her ring-blade around her wrist occasionally letting it scrape the ground causing deep cuts to appear or even sparks to fly up. She began moving forward again, her target would not be able to escape her. Even if she did reach the exit it did not seem as if she would be able to out run Helena seeing how she is only clumsily moving backwards on the ground. The robot's face acquired a twisted smile when she moved into range of her target, there was nothing obstructing her path as her weapon spun faster and faster on her arm. Loose papers and other light objects actually began moving around from the slight gust the blade was making. Suddenly, Helena let out a grunt and threw the blade forward at the girl like a circular saw. Since Elena needed to at least find out some information from her, she figured it would be ideal to keep her alive for the time being. Helena had aimed to sever an arm or a leg, if she connected, the girl would probably pass out from pain or blood loss or both. However she would be quickly relocated and operated on so that whatever that had been detached would be reattached and at full working capacity.
Though, where ever she woke up at would most likely not be a pleasant place. She would be completely restrained, possibly a couple needles poked inside of her in a room with a one way mirror. Elena herself unfortunately would not be able to attend however Helena would be there as well as a droid of Elena posing as Helena's master. Although if Helena missed, again, the chase would continue and she would get ever the more closer to this girl...