Chapter 60: The Hacker’s Reveal

Rachel was starting to like Astra’s way of doing things, and she still wasn’t sure whether the nurse was the mythickin or simply a computer program given life.

Tom and Barbara had been surprisingly calm and collected during the whole exchange, studying the hacker’s ever-shifting avatar and actions.

The general sat back in his chair. "If you’ve gotten into our network, I suppose that means you’ve tapped most of the other countries’ information feeds. What have your algorithms and spy network found?"

Astra grinned, devil horns returning as the avatar and voice turned more feminine. "The goddesses want you to go to the world tree. To accomplish that, they’ve given you the task of rescuing the little fairy, who happens to have citizenship in Ireland—right next to the UK border. Coincidence?" She held up an X sign. "I think not!"

Avatar changed to a male detective with a magnifying glass; a window popped up showing the security video of a haughty Maria and her gang at the back of the hospital.

"However, what does our chola unicorn have to do with her visions? Simply to save our big-eared protagonist from the scary poison she mentioned to her buddies? I think not, my dear Watson! In fact, it is my belief she is about to be kidnapped! Ho-ho, and by the same people that took our fairy. Hmm-hmm-hmm?!"

She got closer to the screen, studying the window as Rachel’s lips parted in disbelief. Two African American men appeared from nowhere in the center of the Mexican group, causing a commotion. Her ears shifted to the left as she followed the conversation that ensued.

"Aye! Who the—Marcus?"

"Tch. Yo, Bro," the other man groaned. "Why is it they always mention you first, huh?"

"Haha. Chill, Daran. I just got the looks. Hey, whoa! Maria, chica, is that you?"

All of Maria’s gang swiftly got to their feet, shifting uncomfortably as two tall men casually teleported into the center of their relaxation time. The unicorn’s guarded voice answered them as Spanish mumbles circled the gang.

"Shit... The hell are you two doing here? I heard the cartel was causing trouble in South Beach. What’s that gotta do with Little Havana?"

"Damn, girl," Marcus snickered. "Heh, the change made you white-white—I’d be pissed! Word is you turned into a horse, and bitch, you certainly got the curves now! Haha. Right, bro?"

"No cap. No need to be crude, though. We’re not here to start shit. I know TNS and us haven’t been on the best of terms recently, but Dad wants a word with the Mexican Queen. Ya hear? Hey, wait—if it isn’t the little bro, too!"

Daran moved to throw his muscular arm around the neck of Maria’s brother, making most of the Mexicans twitch with agitation. They looked at Maria’s tight expression for what to do, but obviously, she did not want to escalate anything with these brothers, showing how dangerous they could be.

The woman popped her tongue a few times, and Rachel saw her defensive posture, arms folded, keeping her gaze on her nervous little brother. Meanwhile, Astra gave the cliff notes in the short exchange as they watched.

"May I introduce Marcus and Daran Ellis—sons of Terrell Ellis—the middlemen between the Miami gangs and the Escarlata Syndicate! Our villains in this tale, who kidnapped our princess fairy streamer. Yikes!"

Marcus rolled around his neck, flexing his muscles a bit and grinning with all the attention on them. "Maria’s really brought your block up; acting as the couriers for TNS is making waves, boys. Respect!"

The unicorn straightened, nudging her head in a way to tell her men to relax. "What’s Terrell want; why not come himself? I’m not hiding. I heard something ’bout some yellow paper from Ballesteros, too. What’s that about?"

"Bah." Marcus shrugged. "We’ve heard TNS’ problems with Ballesteros. We’ll pay him a visit soon, but right now, Dad wants you. Comprende? Why not bring the bro—I got this Cheetah bitch—you got no idea what she can do with her tongue! Haha. Let’s go."

Maria huffed, stepping forward and showing a strong exterior, but Rachel could hear the inflections in her voice that said she didn’t want to go. "Naa. You know we’re Catholic, hombre. We cool. Aye, Carmen, take my bro to grab somethin’ to eat. I’ll be back in a bit."

"That’s a good girl," Daran laughed, stepping forward to throw an arm around the woman’s shoulders that made Rachel’s fingers twitch. This was a kidnapping, and the fact that the gangsters weren’t acting up said a lot about the influence these men had. "How does being a Catholic work with this change anyway?"

Marcus placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder, a honeycomb-like barrier flashing around them, and they vanished in a flash of color, leaving the Mexicans in an angry buzz. Astra flipped the screen away, now imitating General Dallas in a military outfit with a stick to point at various windows she pulled up.

"Now, soldiers, we have a search and rescue operation to plan!" Rachel’s jaw tightened as three new images popped up of mug shots or grainy pictures taken from a distance. "Our enemy isn’t just amped up with teleporters and shielders like the Ellis Brothers; our opponent has myths and legends of their own... I think you’ve already been warned about Relica!"

Tom breathed out a long sigh, rubbing between his eyes. "I’ve been briefed on the troubles in Miami Beach. Are you suggesting I test out Rachel’s powers and aptitude on this operation? A SEAL team was already dispatched to handle them."

A devilish smile returned; a shaky video came on the display of a group of heavily armed men shouting; machine gun fire went off, explosions sounding from the chaos on the comms as a bare-chested man barreled through a cement wall, laughing.

"Grenade!"

The man caught the item seconds before it went off, smoke clearing away to show him utterly unharmed while advancing on the cursing soldiers. Bullets struck his skin before harmlessly falling to the ground, and a still image blew up to show the projectiles undamaged, as if they hadn’t hit anything at all.

"Unfortunately, General, the team met an immovable wall. Two of the SEALs died to allow the rest to escape, but if they can’t get past the first obstacle, how can they handle the other three?"

Barbara put a hand on her hip, lips drawn in as she watched the looping videos. "Are you saying you’ll provide all of this intel for free and guide the operation? What’s your endgame, Astra? You don’t seem like the type to get involved unless something is in it for you."

"Entertainment," Rachel responded, gauging it from what she’d been able to gather from their interaction thus far. "From what I’ve heard, they get a thrill out of spying and getting into places they’re not supposed to be—a challenge—and they want to build a somewhat positive angle for something in the future."

Astra’s mischievous angel boy avatar flickered across the screen. "I will be entirely transparent. I’ve dabbled with the Scarlet Hand’s agenda in the past; of course, I didn’t know it was them at the time, but everything connects now. I’ve built quite the file on them in the past forty-eight hours..."

A smiling, unassuming woman’s face popped up on the screen with a man, likely her husband, by how they held each other’s hands. In between them was a grinning, black-haired girl—Scarlet.

"I can tell you this... Adele Johnson is no longer in FBI custody. She’s been replaced by a doppelganger courtesy of this woman—Relica, or, at least, that’s all I know about her since it’s her only known name and alias. She placed 7th on the FBI’s most wanted list of terrorists out of the Middle East, and she’s in your backyard! I do enjoy a good puzzle!

"Why is she here? Is it a coincidence that she saved our cultist housewife? Why bring her to the Escarlata Syndicate? Why would the goddesses be so frightened of this terrorist, and what divine being is backing her? What is her connection to the cartel and her purpose here? Does it have to do with the sudden internet blackout across all of Cuba? So many questions!"

Tom’s silent, dark expression deepened at Astra’s chiming tone. "I’ll have to confirm a lot of what you’ve shown us. I want you to meet Captain Barbara in person. I won’t deal with someone who doesn’t have a face or who won’t put skin in the game."

Astra’s digital avatar’s mouth drew in while swapping to a fancy suit and staring off to the side. "Hmm. That’s a poor choice of words for someone like me. Hehe. I don’t really have a solidified face; I suppose you could say...I always change my appearance. But...I guess I have come this far. I don’t know what good it will do, heh, but I’m confident you won’t try to snatch and grab me. I’ll be in touch! Oh, this is so cool—I’m an actual spy! Tootles!"

He waved at them, and Tom’s feed returned, showing a scowl. "I expected some hiccups...not that. What were your thoughts on our hacker, Rachel?"

A smile spread across Rachel’s lips as the nurse popped another bubble and stopped at a military vehicle in the parking lot with a cheerful hum, yet it was the male’s voice now, and one of the National Guard members greeted them in passing.

"Hey, Cole, I thought you were on vacation? When did you get back to Miami?"

"Bro! You have no idea. I was chillin’ on the beach in the Bahamas when my sister called and pulled me back—family trouble."

"No shit. Everything good with Katie?"

"Meh. It’s kind of private; I gotta make a run for some military big shot, though. Catch you tomorrow night for some drinks, maybe? I could use it!"

"Haha! For real. After all this? I’ll text you if I ever get some time off—this shit is crazy!"

"Sounds good, and for real! Later."