It's My Party

"Akiko first figured out how set up audio communications among the five library complexes we have access too. It was a tremendous increase in our abilities. Before that, we only had three satellite phones, and one of them is currently unavailable."

"Akiko! Way to go!"

Akiko blushed some more. "Lynn, it wasn't that difficult."

Jada continued. "And then she and Aggie and Emily figured out how to activate the elevator communications system, another huge improvement. And then yesterday, Lynn tapped our satellite phones into the elevator network. We can now make calls directly to and from our mobile phones to any elevator or library interface."

Lynn's eyes lit up in admiration. "Wow!"

Akiko meanwhile had turned a beet red. "Seriously Jada, stop. This is embarrassing."

Jada smiled in love at her new friend. "All right, provided you tell Lynn what you're working on now."

Akiko turned to Lynn. "The terminal store at the end of Green Mall is the Hilton Executive Conference Center."

Lynn nodded. "Yes, I know. We were just there a few days ago."

"Yes. Well, I believe it would be possible to route all our monitoring feeds through the elevator network. The conference center is designed to support ultra high density video reception. Our goal is to monitor anyplace in the mall from that one location."

Lynn saw the advantage of such a setup immediately. "Fantastic. Perhaps I could help."

The three chatted for the next half hour. Jada dimmed her displays a bit as their adversaries approached in the outside corridor. "Try to be still and quiet as they pass," she whispered. "When locked, these doors are superb sound insulators, but I still don't want needless risks."

The outside party walked past the Barnes & Nobel without pause. It was just one more store out of the thousands they had seen. Jada logged the time of their passing the store's portal as 8:07 AM. Lynn kept silent until they had moved almost another three hundred meters and were approaching the next sensor location where Bambino had spoken with Fatima.

Akiko glanced down at the diagnostic readout, spiral mark 7035 meters, and then back up at the people. She whispered, "Poor Cassie. Look how heavy her backpack seems. They must be forcing her to carry a lot of water. And they've brutalized her. Look at her face."

Jada was grimacing. "And her jeans, I'm sure that's blood between her thighs. It was more than rape." Jada felt almost ill looking at Cassie's condition.

"Is there any way we can help her?" asked Akiko.

Jada was pondering the same question. "I'm open to suggestions."

"It's our five pistols against their one. I'm assuming they have Bambino's firearm." Akiko twisted in her chair uncomfortably. "I'm not suggesting an open gun battle."

Jada was deep in thought. "At least they're in Green Mall. Our sensor network is excellent here... Look, you can see a pistol. Segundo has it… Akiko, if not a gun battle, what are you suggesting?"

"Well, we could bracket them, have two teams, each with a Leophone, one a kilometer out in front and another trailing them. Perhaps an opportunity will arise, a window for a quick rescue."

Jada considered the idea. It sounded like a very risky plan. It would require frequent communications with the tracking teams to keep them from straying too close. The cat and mouse game might last for hours, and the Leophones did not have the battery life for that. Unfortunately the satellite phones were brand new on the market and had unusual batteries. So far the group had not been able to find replacements in any of the stores they had searched.

And yet, Jada's conscience was urging her to do something. Her eyes were drawn back to the monitor, and she watched Cassie's suffering in silence.

Chapter 31.

Six hours later.

Time: Wednesday, January 23, 2019 2:17 PM

Ashley and Hannah pulled up to a nondescript lamp store with their bikes and two side-cars. Nondescript, that is, except for the flashing white light on the high sensor node. Ashley waved at the sensor just inside the locked door. The sensor responded with a red-blink-pause-yellow-blink. It was the signal acknowledging their arrival and a command to hold their current position. Ashley nodded and dismounted her bike to stretch.

What a fantastic find, and it was their new recruit Lynn who had made the breakthrough. The sensors had integrated microphones but no speakers. They were designed for monitoring, not two-way communications. But Lynn had postponed her medical treatment and to go through the Matrix technical specs manual. She found that individual sensors could be tested remotely. There was one set of diagnostic tests had the option of giving color-coded flashes upon completion. Voila! The flashes could be used as return communication, and it made to easy to communicate to the bike team where the sensor nodes were. Such a simple idea, but it had taken Lynn to come up with it.

The result was that Ashley and Hannah had been trailing Segundo's party for the last three hours, and their Leophone still had close to a full charge. The phones were essential in case their target suddenly changed direction while the women were biking between nodes. A phone call would then be necessary to tell them to back up.

The store entrance beside them was at spiral mark 36,836, just one node away from the Green Mall sky-bridge at spiral mark 37,540. The fact the Ashley and Hannah were holding at this position implied that Segundo's party was between the sensors at spiral marks 38,257 and 38.988. Their mission plan was to maintain a separation of at least two sensor jumps. The same was true for Ann and Madison out in front of Segundo. The two teams were almost identical, except that Madison was armed with a pistol.

Hannah frowned slightly at the feces and urine on the floor a few tens of meters in front of them. She couldn't really blame Segundo's party for this. They had no other toilet option, and the mall servos were not being given enough of a buffer to remain hidden and clean up the messes. Still, the wet puddles and turds were unpleasant to find.

Ashley picked up on Hannah's displeasure. "At least there's no more pink mixed in with the urine. Maybe Cassie has stopped bleeding."

Hannah grimaced and muttered under her breath, "The monsters, they're driving her to her death."

Ashley shivered in response. Four hours ago, she and Hannah and Emily had been near the hub area of Black Mall. There they found a horrific scene of chopped up pieces of sled and most of Bambino's torso. The mall servos had not had time to complete its decomposition or clean up the blood and other bodily fluids.

Interestingly, the servos had left a stack of water bottles alone. Emily commented that the servos had decided the bottles were a depot of supplies and not garbage, and thus had left them untouched. After a brief discussion, the women spent a few extra minutes opening a store and stashing the bottles behind a counter.

And now it was 2:24 PM, and Ashley and Hannah were still waiting by the lamp store. Segundo was driving his group hard, a grinding 6 kph pace along the spiral, hour after hour. Ashley thought their go signal should have come two minutes ago, and then finally there it was. Lynn had just verified the sensor's internal data buffer twice, producing two quick blue flashes. Ashley nodded at the sensors and took off with Hannah to their next station. This one would be impossible to miss. Lynn wouldn't even bother to white-flash the sensor. The next sensor node was the Green Mall sky-bridge, and it became more and more visible around the curve as they biked.

Simultaneously, at the 39 km mark of Green Mall.

"Fucking hell," thought Segundo. "Now my throat is sore, and whose fault is that? It's the fucking whore's fault. Fucking bitch!" He was walking a few meters out ahead of his group in an attempt to cool off, and it wasn't working. Hadn't Cassie learned her lesson back at the hub? This was the third time in less than an hour that he was screaming at her to speed up, and he had just finished by telling her in a raspy voice that this was absolutely her last warning. "Stupid, lazy, dumb bitch!" he had screamed. "You want more of what you got this morning?!" But the screams this time had made very little impact on her pace, made her steps more wobbly if anything.

Segundo looked ahead at the featureless and barren corridor, beginning the struggle anew with what he was doing. By himself, perhaps he would have turned back an hour ago, agreeing with Ernesto's assessment that there was no way Chico's party could have come this far this fast.

But was that strictly true? And how would Uno react to Segundo killing Bambino and disobeying Chico's order to return home? Would Ernesto and Geraldo stick with his story when they got back? Segundo had been hoping to catch Chico in a betrayal, making the point moot. Now though, hell, how much face would he lose if just gave up now?

Segundo heard a large thud behind him and then Ernesto started yelling. Segundo whipped around and was horrified to see Cassidy flat on her back, lying on her crumpled backpack, and there was water gushing all over the floor around her. Segundo became livid. "Fucking whore!" he screamed and he ran back to kick her. But Ernesto was in the way, frantically unhitching the backpack from her limp shoulders and trying to hold the crushed water containers inside upright. "Don't bother," he called out to Segundo who was circling around for a kick. "She won't feel it."

Meanwhile, on the second floor of Blazo's Art Gallery at the Green Mall sky-bridge

The crowd in the monitoring room was stunned by such depravity. Brandi was crying openly, Jada felt as if someone had just kicked her in the stomach, and the others were standing in shocked silence. Chico's face was like stone. Jada looked up and caught his eyes. He along with the other Party #5 recruits had been briefed on the new ability, and he accepted the contact and link.

Chico expressed a burst of raw emotional context, completely nonverbal. Jada barely had time to respond with the thought, "Agreed. I feel the same," when Chico hiccupped and broke the connection.

Jada looked down at her hands and tried to compose herself. "Perhaps Chico will fit in after all. I know his heart through the link. Mark was right, no lies can exist in such clarity. His detention in Green Mall might be very brief." Jada then gritted her teeth and created a conference call with both the away teams. In a few terse moments, she explained the situation.

"Is Cassie dead?" Madison asked from the 40.5 km spiral mark.

"I honestly can't tell," replied Jada. "She's lying about twenty meters away from the sensor. She was nonresponsive when Ernesto pulled off her backpack. He was quite rough with her and let her head hit the floor. There was no reaction at all."

"Jada," Madison answered, "if we're going to try a rescue attempt, it's got to be now."

Jada nodded. "I know. Ashley, Hannah, it's got to be you who extract her and bring her back to the sky-bridge. If she is alive, she'll never survive a bike ride to the terminal store. Madison and Ann, can you act as decoys and draw the muchachos forward? I've got a view of everything. I'll coordinate your approach."

Chico spoke up into the intercom. "Everybody, you should know that all four of our muchachos were all on the varsity track team back at Burlington. These guys are fast! Plan on them pacing three-minute kilometers for a long run, even with boots on, and even faster for a short sprint."

"Chico, how good is Segundo with a gun?" asked Madison's voice.

"I've never seen him fire." Chico thought for a second. Segundo was a man of very little patience, and Chico had often seen him make quick, jerky movements. "I would guess not great but I really don't know."

"Okay, thanks. Jada, I'm sure you can see us biking back. Tell us how far to go."

"I want to give you a 600 meter buffer. Go to mark 39.6. Ashley and Hannah, I want you at position 38.4. I'll guide you both for when to stop. Be sure to hug the inside arc near your holding points." Jada turned to Emily. "Go and open the door. Stand by for a quick re-lock." Emily nodded and headed down the stairs. Toshi turned and followed her.

A few minutes later both teams were in position. Ann had opened a nearby restroom and shower "store" at spiral mark 39,644, 88 meters beyond the sensor location at mark 39,732. She pushed the two bikes and side-cars inside. Meanwhile Madison ran forward along the inside arc an additional quarter kilometer. She was now four hundred meters from Segundo's party. "Jada, just give the word," she said calmly into her phone.

"The second team is in position. Keep the line open. I'll warn you if Segundo stops and tries to fire. Madison, be careful! You can't afford to slip and fall."

"Yes, I know. Jada, this is worth the risk. You're making the right decision." Madison took a deep breath. "Okay, here I go." She calmly walked across the corridor from the inside edge to the outside edge of the spiral, and then turned to the muchachos and started screaming and waving her arms.

Chapter 32.

Time: Wednesday, January 23, 2019 2:32 PM

Segundo and his team were just finishing draining the last of the ruined water containers into more durable canteens. With the extra canteens in their backpacks, he estimated their total water supply at eight liters, with more water about forty kilometers away where they had left Bambino's body.

Segundo took a moment to think. With three people, it was an adequate amount for two to three days, and he estimated that they were currently a hundred kilometers from the unlocked portion of Black Mall. Getting home would be no problem, but their reserves were very thin. It was blindingly obvious they should turn around now.

Segundo sighed and eyed the last remaining crushed water bottle from Cassie's backpack. It still held about two good gulps of water, and he reached for it to soothe his raspy throat. A flicker of motion down the long corridor caught his eye. Frowning, Segundo brought up his binoculars to take a look.

There was a young woman there, and she was waving frantically and appeared to be gesturing to somewhere further down the spiral, Segundo guessed to people he could not see. Then the woman took her binoculars and raised them, and saw Segundo watching her. Segundo saw her scream and run away.

"There they are! New people!" he yelled at Segundo. "Come on!" Geraldo followed at once, joining Segundo in his sprint. Ernesto paused for a second, wondering about the safety of their supplies. But he looked at Cassie. She was as pale as a ghost and he decided she would never get up again. Ernesto rose and ran after his teammates at full speed, not wanting to miss the fun of capturing a fresh bitch.

Jada was at first impressed and then alarmed at how quickly Segundo and his companions were running Madison down. Jada shouted to Maddy over the phone that there was no need to bait her pursuers, but just to get back to Ann as quickly as she could.

Segundo closed to within a quarter kilometer of Madison's position by the time she got back to the open store. For a few seconds, he thought of the option of stopping and firing at her, but he wanted the woman alive and besides, he knew hitting anything from such a distance would be pure luck for him. He was beginning to grin as he closed in on the fleeing woman, his mind just beginning to think how enjoyable the upcoming interrogation might be, when the woman suddenly turned and disappeared along the inside edge of the arc. Segundo howled in dismay and put on an all-out burst of speed.

Ann had pushed the door-close button a second before Madison entered the room, and as the door descended, the only remaining task was to insert the mushroom lock. But Ann's hands felt stiff and awkward from her nervousness, and as she worked the lock into position, she fumbled with it and it almost fell through the cutout in the door and into the corridor outside.

"Ann!" yelled Madison. Losing the lock in the corridor now would be a disaster. Madison moved to her side-car to retrieve her pistol.

"Don't worry! I got it!" Ann took a deep breath and then deliberately tried the lock again, inserting it and snap-twisting it home seconds before Segundo arrived. They were safe except for the several-centimeter gap between the lock and the cutout in the side of the transparent door. Segundo didn't seem to notice the opening. His two teammates caught up with him a few seconds later.

Meanwhile, 635 spiral meters away.

Ashley and Hannah pulled up with their two side-cars along the inside arc where Cassidy lay unmoving. Hannah worked to turn the two bikes around while Ashley leaped and knelt by Cassidy and examined her. "She's alive!" she said into her open line, and then she gave a soft cry at how brutally Cassidy had been beaten. She continued her examination. "Shallow breathing though, and shallow pulse. Jada, this is going to be close." Hannah joined Ashley, and together they placed the unconscious Cassidy into a side-car as gently as they could.

At the locked restroom.

Segundo briefly snarled at the unknown woman, but then his eyes locked on her cohort. Ann! She would know the fate of Santos! He had to get inside, he had to! Segundo looked around the door, his eyes not quite catching the small gap around the mushroom lock. His mind racing with the need of capturing the two bitches, he failed to consider the implications of Ernesto being with him.

Madison stood frozen in the hateful glares. "Just keep them occupied, just for a few seconds. That's all we need. Just keep them from looking back at Cassie." Madison's mind was racing as she stared at the three men glaring at her and Ann. And just how should she distract them? Her mind laughed as she thought of the obvious answer. Madison quickly unbuckled and unzipped her jeans, and then when she was sure she had the three men's attention, she turned around and pulled down both her jeans and panties, mooning the men in the corridor.

She turned around and faced them, her jeans at her ankles, and as she expected and hoped, three pairs of eyes dropped to her crotch. Her pubic fur was acting like a magnet for their eyes. On her head Madison had auburn hair with a rich reddish ting, and she had heard of the term strawberry blond before, but she was the only woman she ever heard of who had natural pubic fur the dark red color of ripe strawberries.

Madison remembered entering puberty and placing a ripe strawberry next to her new fur and marveling at the color match. And when she was in for a regular checkup, her doctor was even suspicious that Megan was dyeing her pubic hair, and later privately wondered if it might be a genetic mutation.

And now Maddy's natural fur color was serving her well, captivating the attention of the three men. "Boy, it's so amazing," Madison thought as she struggled not to laugh. "How thick can you get?"

She stuck her left index finger in her mouth and wetted it. Meanwhile her right hand went between her bare thighs and she parted the thick red fur. She displayed the closed outer lips of her labia and then separated them with her fingers, showing the men a bright display of pink in the center of the strawberry fur. Then her wet finger went down and pressed in and up above her vagina, lifting the protective fold of skin and popping her completely non-aroused clitoris into view. Madison giggled as she saw the men's eyes lock onto her tiny bullet-shaped button.

Ann got into the act and started to take off her shirt. She and Madison started to compete with each other, trying to see who could hold the boys' attention more. Madison turned and mooned at the boys again, and then did a deep forward bend, her head close to the floor, her bare rump very close to the transparent door. She then reached behind with both hands and spread her ass cheeks wide, exposing her anus for the boys' viewing pleasure. She saw Geraldo giving catcalls of appreciation through the upside-down view through her legs.