#also simon you absolute trash rat

[its-a-rat-trap]

my huge fixation on the rats has come back again so out of curiosity, what are some of your favorite tracks, and why?

Oh man sorry it took me so long to answer this! It ended up being harder than I thought to narrow down a list of my favorite songs but here’s (some) of my current faves at least!

Lookin’ After No. 1 - A bit of a cliched inclusion but it’s still (imo) the best example of their early punk/post-punk sound, and you can really hear how well Garry and Simon meshed with their playing. Plus I’m an utter sap and it makes me very emotional to think of Bob going from writing “Don’t give me love thy neighbor / Don’t give me charity” to. yknow. putting on the entirety of Live Aid. 

(Also don’t eVEN talk to me about the Music Machine gig, every time I think of Bob singing “Don’t wanna be like you / Don’t wanna live like you / Don’t wanna talk like you at all / I’m gonna be like me” in the face of the neo-nazi skinheads who just punched him in the face I go INSANE)

Joey’s On The Streets Again - Look I know that if we’re picking “Top songs Bob wrote about the Ireland of his childhood” then Rat Trap is understandably always gonna be at the top of the list but consider: Joey is just a better song, especially the last verse of it.

Also the Self Aid Joey performance? SO FUCKING GOOD genuinely my favorite live performance of this song that they’ve ever done

Wind Chill Factor Minus Zero - The lyrics just do it for me. I feel like a lot of people don’t think of Bob Geldof as a great lyricist but he really is and this song is just full of little clever lines like “You start to laugh (No) / You say you’ve won (No) / It’s just I lost (No) / That’s not the same (No)” that just make it SO satisfying to sing!

Also gotta put a shout out to “Real Different” for the same reason, every time I hear Bob sing “I'll fill my pocket full of stones and I'll throw 'em at the light” I just go feral asldkfjals

The Elephant’s Graveyard - You know that quote about (I Never Loved) Eva Braun that describes the song as something like the happiest most upbeat song about Hitler you’ll ever hear? The Elephant’s Graveyard is exactly like that but for police brutality and the Rats fucking made it work. 

Obviously if we’re talking about social justice themes in their songs Mondays and Banana Republic are gonna top the list but listen. Listen. Bob wrote a song specifically about anti-black police brutality in Florida that calls out the double-standards of the US justice system (“Justice isn’t blind / It just looks the other way”), made the campiest beach-themed music video for it, and somehow they completely nailed the combination. 

House on Fire - IT’S JUST A FUCKING BANGER OF A SONG! Seriously between the brass instruments and Bob’s voice it’s just such a fun and funky song, and it’s a great example of the Rats playing around with their sound in their later albums in a way that just works perfectly for them. 

Also it has more good mouth-feel lyrics in it, like the line “Doing halo hula-hoops, executing loop-de-loops / Takes a lot of skill and bad taste” is just sooo satisfying to sing !!!

Trash Glam Baby - Obligatory COB inclusion alksdjfklas I almost went with She Said No instead but they really nailed that old-school rock sound with Trash Glam Baby and I absolutely adore it. I love the little references at the start of the song, I love the reprise at the end, the video absolutely fucks, this was everything I needed from 21st Century Rats and more!

Do The Rat / D.U.N. L.A.O.G.H.A.I.R.E. - Because I couldn’t pick just one, special shout-out to both Do The Rat and D.U.N. L.A.O.G.H.A.I.R.E. for being fantastic b-side tracks! I love that Bob and the rest of the band were having fun fooling around with their releases like this. I love all the puns in Do The Rat, and the little convo at the start of D.U.N. L.A.O.G.H.A.I.R.E. both makes me laugh and makes me a little emotional now that Garry’s gone.

#thanks for the question! #this was a lot of fun to think about! #paradise-theatre #ask #mine

[rejoiceinsilverlight]

Spoilers for Infinity Train Book 3!

Me: there’s no way Hazel is a passenger Infinity Train Book 3 ep 5: reveals that Hazel is in fact not a passenger Me: 

#infinity train #infinity train spoilers #infinity train book 3 #hazel #grace #simon #also simon you absolute trash rat #but i still love you #but you rat #that i love #i am so conflicted over how to feel #but so so excited for the next few episodes

[laylacooke]

Secrets Don’t Make Friends || Ariana & Layla

timing: Tuesday night (6/16) after Layla Hypnotize’s herself. parties: @letsbenditlikebennett & @laylacooke summary: Just a girls night out. NBD.

While it was becoming more and more apparent to people that there was something different about Layla, she had been trying to keep it from Ariana. She did promise her, after all, that she wouldn’t experiment with the fidget spinner, and Ari knowing what Layla had done would mean someone trying to take her freedom away. Instead, she decided a nice girl’s night out was the answer and invited her best friend to Quarter to play some games. Leaning against the door waiting, Layla flirted with a nearby guy who had been waiting for someone as well. However, when she saw Ariana, she stood up, put on a smile, and walked over to her friend, “Hey, I was wondering where you were. You ready for Girl’s Night Out?”

Ariana had no idea what was going on, but she was already sick of it. Ulfric made it sound as if something had happened. Even so, that didn’t justify how she had treated Blanche at all. She tried to keep Ulfric’s advice in mind, but she still had this gut feeling that she’d done something with the fidget spinner. From what she knew of Layla, she could even hurt a fly. Hell, she wouldn’t even eat a cheeseburger or drink a glass of milk. No amount of hurt would drive her to hurt others without reason. She needed to see for herself and try to reason with her. Whatever she was going through, she needed to lean on the people she cared for instead of taking it out on everyone else. She walked into Quarter, leather jacket on and scowl fading when she saw Layla. “Girls night, it is,” she said, looking her over carefully for any sign of something being out of place. She lacked a certain warmth she’d grown used to, but she was acting mostly normal. “Any favorite arcade games? I always love the basketball one since I’m really good at it.”

Since shit had hit the fan with Blanche, and the girl had blabbed to Ariana, Layla knew things were going to be awkward. She could see it in her friend’s face, when she entered the arcade. But it didn’t really phase the teenager. Causing a commotion had been fun, and when she pushed buttons and people pushed back, the redhead felt like she was accomplishing something, “Never been a basketball fan. Not after one of the team members from high school hit on my girlfriend. Was more a Dance, Dance Revolution type girl. Although tonight, I’m really feeling Street Fighter. Maybe we start with basketball and work our way back to some fighting?” The grin on her face was apparent, but there was something different about her eyes. They were almost hollow.

Something was decidedly off and Ariana really wasn’t liking this. She was in a Street Fighter mood? Was that supposed to be some sort of joke? Like punching Blanche and trashing her car hadn’t been enough of a fight for her day? She cocked an eyebrow at Layla, trying to fight off the annoyed look present on her face. Ulfric said she was going through a lot and she believed him, but this wasn’t okay. She was going through a lot, too, and she still had common fucking decency. She let out a huff of air and said, “Let’s go for Dance, Dance Revolution. Think I’d rather skip the Street Fighter. Plus, I think you had enough of that today.” Shit. She hadn’t meant for the pointed comment at the end to come out. 

Layla had been willing to play the game. Be the same weak animal that Ariana knew and loved. Arcade night was something the old Layla had wanted. Something to bond her to the people she felt probably didn’t give a rat’s ass about her. And when the other teenager was down for Dance, Dance Revolution, the redhead was willing to follow; at least until the comment at the end came out, “Huh? What was that, Ariana?” She had known exactly what was said, but she wanted to see what her friend had to say. Cocking her head to the side, she waited patiently for a response arms now crossed over her chest.

Ariana could feel her fists clenching as Layla cocked her head all coyly and asked her to repeat herself as if she didn’t have fucking werewolf hearing. Everything in Ariana was screaming that she had definitely used that fidget spinner. She wasn’t herself at all. She rolled her eyes and repeated, “I said I think you’ve had enough street fighting for one day. Which what the hell anyway? You’re not a violent person. You won’t even eat a damn omelet because chickens or whatever.” 

“That’s what I thought you had said.” Layla’s eyes shifted downwards to Ari’s clenched fists. Letting her gaze move back upwards, a smile remained on her face, “Oh, sweet Ariana. Ulf didn’t tell you, did he? Or Simon. I mean, Clifford, I can understand, because I asked him not to. Simon...Simon just blabbed to Salva. Which, it’s funny, I haven’t seen Daddy Dearest around lately. Might need to go pay him a visit soon, but I digress.” Glancing around, she noticed the arcade had been nearly empty, “Wanna know a secret?” She leaned in and whispered, “I killed somebody.” 

Everything about the way Layla was looking and talked to her just felt wrong. Ariana knew she could probably hear the spike in her heart rate if her clenched fists and red cheeks hadn’t given her away. Then she spoke of Simon and Ulfric not telling her something and the previously stony glare softened. That was why Ulfric told her not to push. She reached out but hesitated and brought her arms back to her sides. “Layla,” she started softly, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. Was it--” She stopped herself, not wanting to push too much. Knowing how hard it was still for her to talk about what happened on prom night and remembering the small gift Nell gave her of not making her talk about it. “You don’t have to tell me what happened, but you also don’t need to lash out at people. We’re here for you. We want to support you, it doesn’t have to be like this, Lay.” 

She was thriving off Ariana’s anger, but when she noticed that the girl had changed her demeanor, it confused Layla. Why wasn’t she wanting to fight her? She had killed somebody. Ripped them to shreds. When the fidget spinner had taken her conscience, any and all moral direction had gone out the door, but the look in Ariana’s eyes had angered the werewolf. She didn’t want to feel anything. Were the effects of the device wearing off? Surely not. She had hypnotized herself. That she could recall. But the way Frankie had left her mid conversation, earlier in the day, hadn’t felt good and those feelings were pouring into what was supposed to be an entirely different experience for her and Ariana, “Why aren’t you mad at me, Ariana? I killed a man. I ripped him apart. Limb from limb and listened to him scream and beg and plead for mercy.” Yes, Layla had done those actions, but it was before she had ever used the fidget spinner on herself. She didn’t like this. She just wanted to cause chaos and be what everyone had made her out to be; a monster. And without giving it second thought, she ran her fist through one of the nearby machines.

Her eyebrows knit together in confusion as Layla questioned why she wasn’t made at her. Ariana knew it had to be during the full moon. Something must have gone wrong with chaining herself up and she knew it was an accident. She knew how that had to weigh on her. She’d been so concerned with making sure she hurt no one and then to kill someone. Sure, she didn’t like how she was handling this, but it wasn’t something Ariana could relate to either. She’d killed someone who deserved it, who killed Celeste and intended to kill her, and she would do it again, except this time she’d do it before he ever got the chance to hurt Celeste. That didn’t matter right now though, Layla was clearly hurting, and she wondered if maybe she used the fidget spinner to help. “Why would I be mad? You didn’t do it on purpose, right,” she asked, hands fidgeting in front of her, unsure if reaching out would be welcomed, “Look, all we can do is make sure it doesn’t happ--” The sight of Layla’s fist plunging into Pac Man cut her short and she reached for her arm, trying to hold it in place. “I get that you’re upset, but you gotta chill with the property destruction before you get yourself arrested.”

Layla’s breathing was heavy. She was mad. Mad at the world. At her parents. At herself. But it just didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. At least it shouldn’t have, and then she remembered it. The fidget spinner that was lingering just in her pocket. Even in all the destruction she had caused, she didn’t want to be alone, and maybe she didn’t have to be. Jerking her hand away, refusing to listen to her friend, she pulled out the device, “Sorry, but not sorry, Ariana. It’s never fun when you have to play alone.” Holding it up, she flicked the toy with the hopes that she could hypnotize the other wolf, but she had to remember not to watch it herself or all her hard work would be for not.

Every suspicion Ariana had about the fidget spinner was confirmed when she spoke and pulled the fidget spinner out of her pocket. Absolutely the fuck not. She’d just barely avoided herself or Ulfric arrested for murder. She wasn’t about to be under the control of Layla and a damn fidget spinner. Her eyes immediately averted away from the spinner, making sure it didn’t draw her in, and she lunged on Layla, bringing her down to the ground. “I knew it,” she growled, trying to pin the other wolf down and grab the spinner from her hands, “Give me that fucking thing.” 

She kept her eyes clear fighting the urge to look at it, but when Ariana caught on and shoved her to the ground, Layla growled, “No!!!!” Gripping it tightly, while the other wolf tried to pull it from her hands, she fought back, “Let. Go. Ariana!!! This is the only thing I have giving me any fucking reason for still being here!” The words slipped out. Deep down in her heart, the day she did it, Layla was crashing. With the way Frankie had come to see her, and the feeling of never being able to get past killing a man, the fidget spinner had been a last resort, before thinking about other means. Refusing to let go, she gave Ari a good hard shove in hopes that it would get the young wolf off her.

Of course, she couldn’t make this easy. Ariana didn’t want to fight her for it, but it was looking like she’d have to. When Layla said it was the only thing keeping her here, Ariana felt a surge of both heartbreak and anger hitting her. She hated that Layla was going through all of this but running away from what you were feeling was never the answer. Plus, what she was doing was destructive and dangerous to others if Blanche and her car were any evidence. She growled as Layla pushed her off her and immediately lunged again, but missed and hit the pinball machine instead, sending it toppling over. “You think you’re the only one hurting right now? Come on, Layla,” she jumped up off the ground, adrenaline making her ignore the pain in her side, “You can’t just use this thing to run away from your emotions and take me down with you. Give it to me.” She did her best to back Layla into a corner, pushing her toward the back of the arcade where the security guard wouldn’t see them. 

When Ariana was off her, Layla scrambled to her feet, the fidget spinner tight in her grip. She wasn’t going to give it up. It was like a drug she never knew she had needed. However, the pinball machine hitting the ground made her jump back. With adrenaline racing through her veins, she was getting exactly what she had wanted; a fight with Ariana, but it felt different. It felt off. She had wanted to start some chaos. Not chaos with a purpose. But before she could even think of leaving, she felt Ariana pushing her away from the exit and towards the back wall, “But that’s just it, Little Wolf. I don’t feel anything. And you could have that too, if you’d just let me use-” Before she could say anything, she felt her feet get tripped up, and Layla went falling backwards into the Street Fighter machine, her head hitting the control panel pretty hard, along with her hand containing the toy. Unable to hold onto it, the fidget spinner flew out and slid under one of the machines nearby. In a daze, she slowly looked around for where the device had gone but couldn’t find it.

As much as she wanted to listen to Ulfric and try to understand, Ariana was fuming. Her features were etched in a glare and her fists were up, ready to continue fighting. Maybe having no feelings felt like the right answer for Layla, even though it clearly fucking wasn’t, but Ariana didn’t want her own feelings taken away. Already, there were so many days where her grief felt crippling, but it was hers and she wanted to feel it. And she wanted to feel the love, the anger, the joy, and the hope that life still had to offer. “No,” she retorted firmly, “I want to feel this. This and everything else. You can’t take that from me, and you shouldn’t be taking it from yourself.” Her eyes lit up as Layla fell back with her shove and dropped the fidget spinner. She propelled herself forward, using the advantage of her small frame to wedge herself between machines so she could reach for the fidget spinner. With it in hand, she intended on crushing it, but she felt herself being pulled out from the small space she squeezed herself into. 

Coming to her senses, she watched as Ariana squeezed into the space where the fidget spinner was. Scrambling to her knees, she reached out and grabbed the girl’s leg. Digging claws in, she made sure the grip on Ari was tight, but as the fidget spinner was on the verge of being crushed, Layla faltered feeling an immense amount of pain shoot through her head of all the guilt she was facing if the toy was destroyed. Letting out a howl, she knew what the other wolf was trying to do. Pushing through the pain, she yanked Ariana out and crawled up on top of her towards the girl’s hand. Without holding back, Layla produced fangs and bit down on the brunette’s arm to get her to release the toy.

Ariana let out a yelp of pain as she felt claws digging into her leg. “Bitch,” she grumbled, trying to fight being dragged out from between the machines and keeping her fist clenched tightly around the fidget spinner. The howl Layla let out definitely had the attention now on them. Fuck. Layla was on top of her now and she couldn’t exactly throw a punch without risking giving up the fidget spinner. Without a beat, she thrusted her head forward, colliding it into Layla’s face. It left her own head throbbing and Layla’s nose bleeding. She kept the spinner clenched in her left fist as she tried to crush it in her palms. The teeth sinking into her arms caused her to loosen her grip and drop the damn spinner. “Layla, stop,” she groaned, trying to grab the spinner before she could reach it again.

The headbutt came as a shock and left tears in her eyes and her nose throbbing fiercely as Layla released Ariana’s arm from her mouth, “You fucking bitch! I think you broke my nose!” Trying to shake off the pain, she could feel blood coming out of her nose leaving her stunned. However, through clouded eyes, she saw the light reflecting off the fidget spinner. Launching herself onto it, she grabbed the toy and felt relief come over her tense body, “I’m sorry, Little Wolf, but no. This is my only lifeline, and the only way I’m gonna survive.” There was an ounce of humanity in her voice, possibly as a result of the cracked device. Pulling her arm up to her bleeding face, she looked at the toy before looking at Ariana one last time. Slowly getting to her feet with the assist of a nearby gaming machine, she took off towards the front door.

With Layla heading toward the door and the guy running the prize counter quickly approaching, Ariana leapt off the floor, her leg still searing in pain from the wound Layla’s claws left. She rushed out the door, but Layla had been too quick, and she was beginning to feel lightheaded. The trail of blood she left behind her was indication that she probably shouldn’t be walking home or chasing anyone right now. She groaned and suppressed the urge to cry. She hadn’t loved that she’d been right or that Layla was still putting herself in danger with that thing. She hobbled away from Quarter in case the cops showed up and tucked herself quietly into an alley. She’d get Ulfric to pick her up. For now, she ripped part of her shirt so she could apply pressure to the bleeding claw marks on her leg. This girls’ night out had been far from successful.

#para: secrets don't make friends #letsbenditlikebennett #saga: the dark side #wickedswriting

[ohnomybreadsticks]

DBH AND THE WITCHER FOR THE FANDOM ASKS GAME!!!

(Ask Game here) Yes!! Absolutely anon, your enthusiasm has me excited :D For the sake of length though I’m gonna split this into two parts! DBH first in this ask, then I’ll make a Witcher one separately 

1. The first character I fell in love with: 

Surprising or not, Connor was the character who pulled me into the fandom! Even though I don’t write him as much any more he was absolutely the reason I fell in love with dbh! I just loved his dynamic with Hank, and how goofy he was lol.

2. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now:

Gavin lmaoooo, if you had told me before I started watching a dbh playthrough that I’d fall so hard for one of Cabbage man’s ‘bully’ stereotypes I would have laughed my ass off at you XD and now I can’t live without this rat man

3. The character everyone else loves that I don’t:

Hmmmm I dunno, I like pretty much all of the characters (except like, Zlatko and Ted lmao). I guess I don’t get too hype for Fowler, although I know he has a pretty excited fanbase. He’s cool! Just not the type of character I get obsessed over :)

4. The character I love that everyone else hates: 

Honestly I try not to get involved/look at any fandom drama, so I’m not too up on what characters are getting hate (thank god, please don’t tell me). But I do know there was a lot of drama around North for a while and I love her so much! I’ll be honest, I hate the way her character was handled in game but I adore being able to give her my own spin and the love and respect she deserves!!

5. The character I used to love but don’t any longer: 

Again I guess I’d have to say Connor? I still love him but I’m not like, obsessed and seeking out tons of Connor content the same way I was at the beginning

6. The character I would totally smooch: 

Oh this is a tough one!! I’d say probably fanon Nines (where he looks not like B Dechart but with a stretched out neck), or Simon!

7. The character I’d want to be like: 

I really admire Markus’ dedication to a cause and his ability to speak up for himself and others! And also Kara’s kind and caring nature. So I think I’d probably like to be like those two C:

8. The character I’d slap: 

Look we all know Gavin needs a good smack upside the head lmao. But I’ll hold true to my instinct and say I’d smack Dabbing Cabbage into the sun

9. A pairing that I love: 

Look ya’ll already know I’m Reed900 trash lollll, but I’m also a sucker for Allen60, Polycho, and Hankcon the old reliable

10. A pairing that I despise: 

Um....look, I really don’t despise pairings in general, if it’s not for me it’s not for me and that’s fine! I guess I’ve never really gotten too into RK1700? But again I don’t despise it, I just won’t seek it out

[ariadnelives]

Chapter 23 -- The Trail

[Missed earlier chapters? Go catch up here! Otherwise, welcome back! Oh, and make sure to join our discord server! Chapter can also be found @ ao3”]

The location of the Red God compound was surprising for only one reason: It was exactly where it had been the last time they had been there.

It would be reasonable to expect that a covert and very illegal facility would relocate after being discovered, especially if that facility was floating in space and had a very large rocket at the back which could very easily push it somewhere else without anyone noticing.

Two signals floated just outside of the patrolled borders of the system, as remote as it could be while still being towed through space by the Sun’s gravity. This seemed to confirm their suspicions that the clones were being kept in the same facility where ViLaz had been discovered.

After all, it wasn’t like the cult could remove or deactivate the implants to leave a false trail. For one thing, they had no way of knowing the pirates had reverse-engineered the signal to track the other implants, but more importantly, this was their means of controlling the clones. Removing the implants would defeat the entire purpose of having created clones in the first place.

There was, however, a third point on the map, close to the first two. Under normal circumstances, they would assume that this was the Zealot’s own implant. These were not normal circumstances.

“Bad news from downstairs,” Ariadne sighed as she walked into her quarters and found Pilar reading a book, “two weeks of decryption only to find that the third implant is coming from a relay and we can’t trace its real location”

“A relay?” Pilar asked, marking her book since she had immediately known she would not be able to continue reading.

“They aren’t sending a live feed, the Zealot must pre-record the visions he sends to the girls, beams them to a relay, and then the relay beams it to their implants. There’s a block smack in the center of the relay, so I can’t trace where the signal is sent from.”

“You, for the first time ever, can’t hack through a digital barrier?” Pilar raised her eyebrows.

“A digital barrier would be no problem. This isn’t that kind of barrier.”

“And what, pray tell, has you so stumped you can’t break through it?”

“I’d guess about five feet of empty space,” Ariadne said. “I mean, I can only guess about how much empty space, but we’ve been trying to break into their system for weeks, and one thing has become clear: the device that interfaces with the girls’ implants and the device that receives input from Dr. Simon have no connection between them. My guess is, he sends the visions to the receiver where they download to a removable drive, and then some lackey removes the drive and physically walks it over to the relay, where it interfaces with the implants.”

“So, we’re back at square one?” Pilar asked.

“Nowhere close. I can still trace the origin of the signal if I’m in the same room as the receiver. Luckily, the receiver is conveniently located at our next stop.”

“So then, we’re launching to get the girls?” Pilar asked.

Ariadne nodded. “We’ve got to make sure they’re safe onboard before we move on Dr. Simon anyway. If we finish him off, the acolytes will have no reason to keep them alive.”

“Their security is largely built around their remote location,” Pilar offered, “I don’t think they’re prepared to fight off attackers, they’re counting on the idea that nobody will stumble across them. Once they figured out where we were, Sasha and… Sweettalk… were able to break in undetected to rescue us.”

“Still not used to it, huh?” Ariadne asked.

“I just can’t believe I didn’t see it,” Pilar responded, “I mean, I think I came really close to messing up our relationship for good. My own sister, and she spent a year of her life thinking she had to hide her relationship from me?”

“I should probably apologize too,” Ariadne said, “I’ve known for weeks and I didn’t say anything.”

“No, I’m glad you didn’t,” Pilar replied. “I didn’t marry no narc, and besides, you’re family to Sasha. I’m glad she can tell you stuff without you worrying that you’re going to rat her out to her overprotective big sister.”

“You know, it’s funny, I never thought I’d say this, but it reminds me of—”

“No,” Pilar chuckled and cut her off, “that was different, she was just oblivious, this was being kept a secret.”

“I miss Flax some days,” Ariadne laughed. “I’d never met a lesbian with such terrible gaydar, and she was so easy to get a rise out of.”

“You know what really gets me, though?” Pilar brushed a hair out of her face, “Sweettalk drives me up a wall sometimes, but she’s absolutely perfect for Sasha. I mean, look how much that brash, impulsive girl has managed to bring her out of it despite my best efforts to keep her stuck in there.”

“I think she should come with us on the raid. Give you a chance to get to know her, and, uh…”

“Have her do the dirty work of tactfully explaining to two clones who don’t know they’re clones, that their religion is an actual scam, and that their father grew them as glorified organ farms without upsetting them so much that they refuse to leave with us?”

“Yeah, I really do not want to be in charge of that part,” Ariadne said. “Let’s pull together a smaller strike force to extract the girls and the receiver, and leave Fastwing in charge of rallying the troops for an assault on the Zealot’s location as soon as we have it. You, me, Deathsbane, and Sweettalk for sure. Ghostrunner is a must-have on a stealth mission.”

“Taryn’s been training as Deathsbane’s apprentice,” Pilar suggested, “She’s got a real flair for medicine and it’d probably do her some good to shadow Sasha in the field.”

“You mean Uprising, right? After all, she showed a lot of courage standing up to us.”

“You’re getting better at the names,” Spacebreather told her. “Yeah, bring Tar… uh, Uprising along too.”

“I’ll grab ‘em,” Ariadne said, “Meet me onboard the Thread in 20.”

***

“I just don’t really think it matters how far apart they actually are,” Taryn explained as they quietly filed into the airlock. Their helmets were internally soundproofed and linked by a communications system, so they could hear everything going on around them, but speak openly without fear of being overheard. “They could be six inches apart or 50 feet apart and it would still be just as impossible to hack.”

“Yeah, but if you had to guess,” Ariadne replied. “I say five feet, Pilar says two, Sweettalk four, Deathsbane ten, I mean, it’s a pretty straightforward wager.”

“If I say a number, will you stop asking me?”

“I think it’s pretty obvious that I will,” Ariadne responded.

“50 feet.”

“You’re not taking this seriously.”

“You said I had to make a guess, not that I had to care about winning the bet.”

“Ugh, fine,” Ariadne said, “What about you, Ghostrunner?”

There was nothing but silence on Ghostrunner’s channel.

“Ghostrunner?”

“I copy. I’m just not talking.”

“Seriously, just give her an answer, she won’t stop talking about how far apart these machines are until you do,” Uprising said.

“Five feet and one inch,” Ghostrunner replied, and her mic went silent again.

“That’s not cool,” Ariadne replied as she quickly set to hacking the access panel that would open the seal and allow them passage.

“Roger,” said Ghostrunner.

“Jesus, Prescott designed a shitty security system,” Ariadne said, “Someone with an eighth grade education would be able to find the backdoor he put in here! How did he ever sell one of these things?”

“You know an eighth grade education is all you’ve got, right?” Spacebreather reminded her.

“I’m saying!” Ariadne called back, “I just unlocked every door and disabled every alarm in this place and it wasn’t even hard.”

“To his credit,” Pilar shrugged, “He was the system’s greatest bullshit salesman.”

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to pour one out on his grave when we get back,” Sweettalk said as they drew their weapons and quietly moved through the seal and into the compound, “right into the catbox.”

“Catbox?” Uprising asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Deathsbane said flatly.

“Deathbane, Uprising, with me. Spacebreather and Sweettalk, watch our six. Ghostrunner, meld into the shadows and stay close, I don’t want to see you until we’re leaving unless the shit hits the fan.”

“Roger,” said everyone but Ghostrunner, who had already vanished without anyone noticing.

“That’s what I like about that girl,” Ariadne explained, “she takes pride in her work and she’s got great fashion sense.”

They stealthily moved down the corridor with weapons raised approximately chest-high, making sure to glance through the small glass window in each room to check for an immersion pod.

Most of the rooms did not have what they were looking for, and instead were full of red-robed Acolytes either poring over screens full of code or deliberating over something that looked important. If discovered, they would be wildly outnumbered.

The immersion pods would be in the last three rooms they checked, which only made sense because they stopped checking rooms when they found the right ones. At the end of the long corridor were three doors. In the spaces between them stood two boxy machines about the size of a regulation trash can, each of which had an antenna on top, one long-range and one short-range.

“Sweettalk, how tall are you?” Ariadne asked intently.

“Four foot eleven.”

“With the boots and the helmet, though, you’d be exactly five feet, yeah?” Ariadne asked.

“You’re about to make me lie down between these machines to see if they’re five feet apart, aren’t you?”

She was.

“Dammit,” Ariadne muttered, “Still three inches left over. Ghostrunner was closest without going over.”

Ariadne swiftly plugged a compact screen into the device with the long-range antenna, while Deathsbane and Spacebreather entered the first room and began to pry the pod open.

After a few seconds, they managed to get it loose with a satisfying hiss, and a girl who looked exactly like ViLaz, to the last detail, stood before them.

“You’re on,” Spacebreather said, and Sweettalk took off her helmet so the girl could hear her.

“Hello, ViLaz,” she said, and ViLaz looked incredibly confused. “It’s very important that you come with us, okay?”

“Who are you?” She asked, “are you with the church?”

Sweettalk considered this for a moment, and then decided there would be plenty of time for the truth on the ride home. “Yes, your father sent us, we’re here to take you somewhere safe.”

“Father says if I leave, the Red God will cleanse me from the universe with fire,” ViLaz replied apprehensively, and did not move from the inside of her pod. “I had a vision of the future, myself engulfed in flames for defying the Red God’s will.”

What she had actually seen was not a vision of the future, but a video recording of the past, when her identical sister was lit on fire, but as this girl was unaware she had a sister, and had been directly told the video was her own future, her confusion was understandable.

“Yes,” Sweettalk explained, making it sound as though she wholeheartedly believed every word of the lies she was telling, “of course that’s why we’re here. We’ve discovered a new holy site, and the Red God needs you there right away.”

The girl looked unsure, but too afraid to question it. She stepped out with them, and they ushered her out to the waiting crowd.

“This is our friend Dr. Sasha,” Sweettalk said softly, “before we go any further, she needs to check for, uh, purity of heart… in the… back of your head…”

This was not Sweettalk’s best lie, but it is difficult to hold that against her, given that it worked.

“This will only hurt for a moment,” Deathsbane said as she set to work applying a local anesthetic and removing the implant from the back of ViLaz’s head as quickly as possible.

Spacebreather and Sweettalk managed to get the second pod open, and roused the other girl, who also looked exactly like her sisters.

“Hello, ViLaz,” Sweettalk started in on the same story as earlier, and this ViLaz looked just as confused. “It’s very important that you come with us, okay?”

“Who are you?” She asked, “are you with the church?”

“Okay, that’s uncanny,” Spacebreather said through her comm.

“No time to chat,” Ariadne replied. “Get her out of there, now. We’ve got company.”

“Yes, your father sent us, we’re here to— HEY!” Sweettalk was cut off by Spacebreather pushing past her and scooping up the girl fireman-style over her shoulder.

“YOINK!” Spacebreather shouted, and made a break for the door. Sweettalk followed, and moments later, they were all running down the hall as quickly as possible, as the girl over her shoulder pounded on her back and yelled as loud as she could.

“I thought you said we had company,” Spacebreather said, panting heavily.

“We will,” said Ariadne, who also had one of the girls over her own shoulder. “Someone on the other end must have detected me before I could get the coordinates and alerted security, we’ll have acolytes on us in two minutes.”

“Especially with the racket this one is making. Did you get the chip out of her head?” Spacebreather asked Sasha.

“Yeah,” Sasha replied, “but I’m not gonna have time to operate on that one before we get on the ship.”

“Here,” Spacebreather said, and deposited the screaming girl into her sister’s arms. “You and Ariadne take the girls ahead and get on the ship, I’ll try to cause enough of a ruckus that they don’t realize the girls have been taken and light up the implant in her head.”

“You can’t be—” Sasha began, but Pilar jumped in.

“Yes, I can. I’ll be fine. Just get her to the ship and have it ready for when I get back.” Pilar quickly ran back the way she came and drew both her weapons.

Sasha turned to Sweettalk. “Watch her back, okay? I’ll see you soon.”

“I love you,” Sweettalk said to Sasha as she ran after Pilar.

Sasha, Ariadne, Taryn, and the two girls would make it back to the ship without interference, as Pilar and Sweettalk were able to hold off their pursuers for long enough that Sasha could safely remove the implant and save the third ViLaz from a fiery death. In fact, they held out for quite some time before being subdued and captured.

None of the crew actually wanted to leave without Pilar or Sweettalk. In fact, they very literally had no choice. Soon after their capture, the airlock simply disengaged from their ship on its own, and the entire station fled faster than the Thread could follow.

The morale aboard the Thread had never been lower. Sweettalk and Spacebreather were captives and for a moment, they thought they would have no way of finding them.

And then a message appeared across the ship’s main viewscreen.

“We’re fine. I am in control of the ship. Nobody can find me. Will keep Spacebreather + Sweettalk alive. Bringing the whole thing back to base. Sure hope the spiderweb still works. xoxox Ghostrunner.”

They had, in the confusion, completely forgotten that Ghostrunner had even come with them. She would not be insulted by this, after all, it was her job to go unnoticed, and she had performed it spectacularly.

Ariadne breathed a sigh of relief. “Set the ship’s autopilot for home.”

“I can get us home,” Sasha said, looking a bit frazzled, “I just need to—”

“No,” Ariadne said, walked over, and gave Sasha an overly tight but appropriately comforting hug, “the autopilot will get the ship back home in a few hours. The emergency teleporters will get us there now. We need to be ready for when the girls get home.”

“With a massive ship full of angry cultists,” Uprising pointed out.

“They should be so lucky,” Ariadne said, “they just captured Pilar Spacebreather and someone who matters to her sister. Do you know what Pilar kills for?”

“To protect the people she cares about,” Sasha muttered, thinking back to their conversation a few weeks previously.

“Exactly,” Ariadne said, “One handcuffed Pilar against a hundred armed cultists? They’re completely outmatched. You just wait, there will be three living people on that ship by the time it gets back home.”