Twelfth Jump (Deus Ex: HR) Part 3

The Four Companions: Fia

            It was a few months after the events with Lina, which she did return to her daily schedule after the whole thing. It was quite nice of her, but after word she still continued to play that game fairly often and, while I was kind enough to check in on what she was doing in-game when she asked, I did not play the game with her as often. However, after those months had passed, well… one of her ‘episodes’ had struck her.

            Now, these… episodes… were times of each year, sometimes they occurred quite often and other times they occurred maybe once or twice every few months, where Lina seems to become much more energetic and wild in her behaviors. This time around I happened to be laid out across the couch, watching TV for the moment. Cierra and Fia were working in the kitchen, Celestian was sitting by the window with a book. I was unaware of where Lina was until she came out from one of the very few other rooms in the apartment with what appeared to be an easel, a palette, various paints, a few brushes, and a… sheet? Where she got said items, I personally have no fucking idea. She probably picked it up while I was asleep, but that meant that she was out shopping near midnight.

            “Tadek!” She called out with a long, drawn-out voice. Only Celestian really glancing over toward the two of us with a watchful, assertive gaze as if she was ready to step in, if required. Lina was moving from one foot to the other, apparently quite excited about something. “Mind helping me with something?” She asked and, at first, I glanced over to her and offered her a small, acknowledging hum. “Any chance that you might be willing to… Oh… Model for me?”

            I slowly sat up on the couch, one of my hands reaching out to pick up the glass of plain rum that I had poured for myself so that I could take a sip. “Hmm… Depends. What is the sheet for?” She glanced down toward the sheet, glanced back to me, and simply gave me a very discomforting grin that was just a hint too wide. Taking that as my warning, I quickly vaulted over the couch and made my way toward the kitchen. “You know… I would help you Lina, but, uh… Ah! We’re out of food.”

            “Out of food? But, we have plen- mmph!” Cierra asked as I stepped up and slipped a hand over her mouth to stop her. I glanced over toward Fia. “That and Fia assured me that we would go out grocery shopping together at some point!” Before she could really say anything, I quickly moved to wrap one arm around her waist and heave her up onto my shoulder. “But, I haven’t finished organizing the silverware! No! We won’t be able to find anything!”

            Those words escaped her as I ran off out of the apartment with her on my shoulder, managing to grab my coat on the way out as we went. Lina tried to leap toward me, dropping everything she had in hand to try and grab onto me. Thankfully, she missed and was left behind as we went along. “But, I was going to paint your body!” Crazy woman be crazy sometimes.

            Lina was a nice woman, but sometimes she could get very… odd. Once we had reached the elevator, I set Fia down and gave her a small pat on the shoulder. “Sorry about that, Fia… The last time I was around for one of Lina’s episodes, I ended up answering a psychology quiz of rather painful depth… She was not happy with my answers.” I commented, taking a moment to slip my coat on and straighten the fabric. Fia was currently straightening her hair and clothes before gently pushing one of the buttons on the elevator’s panel.

            I started to pull out a cigarette, but I soon found myself being assaulted by a rather upset scribe for a moment. “How dare you! I had a set schedule for the entire day! I even made room for a fifteen minute break after dinner!” She eventually let out a long whine while I simply allowed her to punch at me for a while until she tired herself out. “I apologize… How about I get you a milkshake and a movie while we’re out?”

            “That would be nice.” She stated simply as she tried to compose herself a little. I straightened out the cigarette I had in hand before slipping it in-between my lips. I, however, did not light it until we were actually out of the building and into open air. It was a fairly quiet day as we went from one local to the next, waiting till the very last moment to actually go grocery shopping. Around sundown we found ourselves sitting at one of the major parks in the city… Never thought any part of Detroit would look nice, even later on in years and within another universe.

            Fia was quiet… Which was normal for her, all things considered… However, she seemed a little more tense than usual. No idea why, honestly, but she occasionally glanced over to the pocket edition of one of her favorite romance novels every now and then… She was attempting to be stealthy, I imagine, but those sudden movements couldn’t get past me.

            It wasn’t until a small group of people, a mix of men and women, walked up to the both of us as I was working on a cigarette and speaking to Fia about the movies she had been watching. While she didn’t speak much, she seemed comfortable with listening to my comments. I paid the group no mind until they actually had spoken to the both of us.

            “Hey, clank! What are you doing here, hmm? This is for non-augs only.” One of the men stated firmly as one of the ladies of their group stepped up to Fia and began yelling in her face about hanging out with a cyber-head. I pulled the cigarette out from between my lips and, just out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Fia was reaching for something… Probably one of her knives, if I was lucky.

            “Fia, please don’t harm our guests… That will cause more trouble than it’s worth. Humanity First, right?” I asked, one of them reaching over to poke at my chest a little bit. Thankfully, a century of living had taught me patience, but it was still annoying me… Lina I have gotten used to, but a stranger is a stranger. “Damn right, bolt-leg! Your kind aren’t welcome here! This park is only for pure, wholesome people.”

            To my surprise, Fia reached over to give my sleeve a tug and a small look. “Tadek, let’s go… As you said, they aren’t worth the trouble.” With a small sigh, I slowly stood up and helped my companion up to her feet. “Very well. It’s really not that much trouble-ah!” A glass bottle came through the air and slammed into the side of my head. I had the majority of my physical abilities turned off except for what I had gained from this specific universe, meaning that the bottle itself actually did cause a hint of pain and draw blood despite my reinforced frame.

            “That… Was unnecessary.” The scribe that I had been spending time with quickly moved toward the direction that the bottle had come from, some random man running off. Before I could stop her, she had launched one of her electrified knives toward him, the blade sinking into his calf before he fell to the ground in a spasming fit. “Well… At least that wasn’t lethal.” The mob, however, did not take kind to such an action. They started to move forward… Well, I may have learned a little bit of patience, but I should still be a gentleman for my companions.

            There were five in total. I started at the closest with a quick, sharp fore-knuckle strike to the person’s jaw, right where it connected to the skull below the base of the ear with a wee bit more strength than I probably should have. A second turned around just in time to meet the palm of the same head underneath their nose, my hand moving forward to grab their head soon after and toss them into a third.

            My quartermaster friend stepped up, tossing another knife into one of them as she ran forward, following up with a quick kick to their hip. Her hands found their bicep and, as she pushed their hip away, she pulled their arm right out of the socket and pulled them to the ground. To my surprise, she actually stood up in time to catch the fist of the final group member between her arms and slam her hand straight into his throat before grabbing him by the side of the head and ‘guiding’ his head into the metal bench.

            “Hmm… I’m impressed. Always fear the quiet ones.” I commented as my own form of compliment as she took a moment to gather her equipment, a smug smile plastered on her face. “Thank you… I think. Shall we go get the groceries that you had dragged me out here for? You still owe me a milkshake.” She gave me a little glare and I simply reached over to set my hand on the top of her head for a moment, the quiet woman going silent for the moment. “Heh, you did good. No killing the civilians.”

            With that, we both headed off toward the grocery store and then back home. She was a decent bit chattier, mostly talking about the confrontation that we had had earlier, but the smile on her face was quite nice to see… Granted, the prolonged blush was kind of odd. Here I thought she was fit enough not to overheat.