Chapter 7: "The Last to Fall"

Hazel followed silently after Cybersix, Cyber24 and Data7. She waited patiently while they cleared the exits. At last they were in the courtyard. Hazel walked out of her hiding place. It was still night but dawn was well on its way. Hazel looked around and felt her stomach do a funny flip-flop. Standing in front of her, bathed in moonlight, were 15 Fixed Ideas, along with Quaren and Jose. Cybersix and the others were already in a battle position. Cybersix glanced over at Hazel as if asking her whose side she was on. Hazel also went into a fighting position.

The attack began almost immediately. As usual, Quaren and Cyber24 were at each other's throats, literally. Hazel turned and saw a Fixed Idea coming. She jumped into the air and back flipped over him, throwing him off balance. Another one received a punch in the face and a side kick in the stomach. Moving through the mass of Fixed Ideas was fairly easy, being that they were so slow. Cybersix seemed to be evening up the sides as far as Fixed Ideas were concerned anyway.

Hazel was tempted for a moment about running now. The urge was there and she wasn't quite sure what was holding her back. Yet. She turned and continued to fight alongside Cybersix and data7. A few minutes later, most of the fixed Ideas were piles of clothes and the rest were heading back to the lab at a good pace. Quaren and Cyber24 broke apart. Hazel started to head of into the trees. Cybersix and Data7 followed her. Hazel glanced back at them, worried about their motives, but saw Cybersix was gazing at the lab. Hazel knew she wanted to stop Von R and was undecided. Her aura showed hate, sadness and fear. She ended up turning around and heading into the trees with the others. Cyber24 stayed a little longer, but even she didn't want to be around after the Fixed Ideas regrouped. Glancing back at the lab, Hazel saw Quaren was still standing in the yard; she was not going to give chase, and her aura remained unreadable. They had not done badly as far as sustenance goes.

It was not long before Hazel discovered that she couldn't keep up with the others. Cyber24 was once again displaying incredible speed going off into the bushes alone and then reappearing moments later. Cybersix and Data7 were no slowpokes either. They soon saw she was slower than they were. Cybersix, mercifully, had them slow down: That worried Hazel slightly. By the time they got back to Meridiana. Hazel was panting. She did her best not to show it and to keep herself composed. Cyber24 and data7 were bickering with each other, which seemed to be annoying Cybersix, that Cyber24 could successfully bicker with someone who couldn't even speak.
"Yes?" she said when she saw that they were all looking at her, "can I help you?" With Cyber24 present Hazel still had an edge on Cybersix but in truth she really didn't want to have to use it.
"What do you plan to do now?" Cybersix asked bitterly her arms hidden beneath her cape.
"Well, first I guess I'd better cancel that order of sustenance from you and then I think I may leave Meridiana. Would that make you happy?" she inquired, knowing the answer. Cybersix didn't have to say it; there was relief simply dripping off her. Cyber24 looked like she was about to say something but was cut off when she added, "Of course I get to move around without trouble from you until I think it's time to leave, you stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours. Everyone's happy"
"Everyone’s happy huh?What if I'm not happy?" Cyber24 fumed. She moved closer to show that she still was a force to be reckoned with. Hazel however ignored her, which just made her angrier. Cyber 24 gave Cybersix a look of reproach, shot a glare at Hazel and then left, jumping off to near by roof. Hazel thought it might be a good idea to avoid her for the remainder of her time in Meridianna. Cybersix had to agree to her earlier proposal but in a tone that may have suggested that Hazel not dilly-dally in Meridianna too long. Hazel just smiled as always, jumped off building and in a blink of an eye had vanished.

The next night Hazel could be seen at the docks leaning against a wall in an alley. She had done one final look on her laptop to make sure there were no delays. The ship she was waiting for for days finally came into view. It wasn't a real large ship but it wasn't real small either. It docked and the men started to unload. A faint mist hung in the air. Hazel casually walked over to them. She climbed onto the boat like she was supposed to be there. She wasn't stopped. Tonight she had taken a leaf out of cybersix's book and had on a black trench coat over her usual outfit: she thought there may be something to it after all.

She waited until they brought the crate she was waiting for on deck. The men walked away from it but not too far. Hazel pounced. The humans went down easily, since there were only four to contend with at the moment. Hazel picked up the crate and began to run to the other side of the ship. People were climbing the gangplank to see what had happened. Hazel silently jumped up to the top of the cabin near the smoke
pipes, partially hidden behind one. No one seemed to know where she had gotten away to and how she had gone so quickly with such a heavy crate. Men pulled out their guns and began to search. The others went back to work. A faint noise was coming from the crate but that was all.

Hazel waited for the right moment and then jumped off the cabin and then off the boat. She ran off the dock, ducked into an alley, then leaped onto a roof and was gone. She had made a clean get away.


Hazel rapped on the door of Fredrick Kenetika's house a little later that night. He opened it after about the seventh knock and was not looking happy. Though he was surprised to see her standing there, no doubt he may have expected cops. The crate sat beside her on the step the sound still coming from it; she really wanted to unload it soon.
"I understand you run the pet shop on Oak Street" Hazel said before he could get in a word.
"Yes" he answered warily.
"I have some stock that you might be interested in"
"What ya got?" he asked now curious.
"Snakes, Pythons"
"How many?"
"150"
"How big?"
"Mostly 2 footers a few 3"
"I can't take them, don't have the room and anyway I don't like to store many at once in case of cops. For a price though I can tell you who might take them"
"What's your price?" Hazel asked crossing her arms.
"600 should be good"
Hazel held out the money: her funds from the bank robbery were getting a little low.
"Go down to the subway station at Queenscross, storage room number 4, 3:00am" he was telling the truth. She nodded, said "Goodnight" and left.

The storage room was were the guy said it would be. Hazel was there a little before 3. When she went in she was surprised at how large it was. The guy she wanted was talking with 2 other customers. She sat down on one of the crates lying around, crossing her legs. He came up to her "you want something?"
"No, I'm selling" she answered.
"What?"
"Snakes, Pythons, 150 of them"
"Lets see" she opened the crate easily.
"I'll give ya 50 000 for them"
"No deal they're worth more then that"
He looked at her, lighting a cigarette "70 000 then"
"100 000" she said firmly. She knew this type of guy and made sure she wasn't letting him off the hook.
He thought about it a minute and then said "all right." He called someone over to take the snakes. He gave her the money and she left. It had been worth it: she knew smuggling exotic animals was a big business and if you played your cards right there could be a good payoff.

She was tired by the time she got back to her hotel. She also found she really didn't want to leave Meridiana, at least not right away. She thought that she would stay for a least a few more months if not longer. She planned however to stay away from any Cybers. She thought this over as she took a drink from a sustenance vial. One of Cybersix's actually. It was close to dawn and Hazel wanted to get at least 4 hours sleep. She lay down in her bed wondering if she would dream again, she doubted it. Her heart rate started to go down, breathing less, her last thought before everything stopped all together was of the person she had to visit the next day.


The next morning hazel got dressed and headed for meridiana High School. Mr. Siedelman didn't seem too happy to see her back but didn't comment. As the last bell rang she headed down the halls to the Physics lab where all this had first started now that she thought of it. Outside Dr. Zach's office she knocked lightly.
"Come in," said a cheery voice. Hazel opened the door and looked around in the lab, seeing Dr. Zack sitting at a lab bench in front of an aquarium with a white board half immersed in the water, his back to her. A light source was attached by a magnet to the board, and shot out a narrow beam of light, which hit the water and was bent. Dr. Zack scribbled two numbers into a notebook and changed the position and angle of the light source, "What is it?" He asked.

"Hello Dr. Zack. Happy to see me?" she asked watching carefully.

Dr. Zack turned, saw that it was Hazel, sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Hello Hazel. Actually, I was hoping you'd recognize when you'd burned your bridges and had moved on to other pastures."

Hazel leaned causally against a desk. "Ooooh now I know I'm in trouble you're using metaphors"
"I should say so." he shook his head, "Cyber 24 has a long memory, is tenacious, and holds grudges. Although he can't speak his mind, Data 7 growls at the mere mention of your name. I have no idea what Cybersix is thinking: I tried to bring it up, but she cut me off rather testily. She's not in a good mood."

Hazel raised an eyebrow, "Yeah so I won't win miss popularity, what else is new? Don't I get points for coming through at the end?" she asked sweetly.

"Oh certainly!" Dr. Zack nodded, "Except, to figure out your final grade, I'd have to have an idea of why you double crossed Cybersix and handed her over to Jose, along with deductions for giving up an easy source of sustenance, as well as blackmailing her in the first place."

Hazel's mouth formed a small pout. She began ticking things off on her fingers, "First Jose had a good deal going and I never double crossed Cybersix. Second when I first started blackmailing Cybersix all I knew was that she was made by Von R and that was all. I'm shooting for a C: think I'm going to make it".

Dr. Zack shook his head, "If Jose knew you were blackmailing her, he'd be working YOU over to find out what you had on her. I'd probably assign extra points if I knew why you changed your mind and freed her. Did you need to get into their installation and get some information?"

Hazel sighed, "I know I'm going to lose points for this but I freed her because Jose double crossed me and there was no way he was getting away with his prize."

Dr. Zack began to chuckle, "He made a deal with you, and you believed he'd keep his side of the bargain?" He nodded his head, "You're right. You got points for freeing her, but lost more for being, umm..."

"Stupid" she finished for him. She smiled a little to herself, "I don't think I was being that stupid. Things aren't always the way they seem." Jose's tricking her had left a scar that would be there for a while she saw. If probably wasn't a great idea to drop hints about her ability but she couldn't help it, she had to defend the only thing that made her anything special.

"So what WAS the deal Jose was offering?"

"When we made the deal he said he would free me of sustenance if I got him Cybersix. At the time I knew he wasn't lying". She said.

Dr. Zack blinked, "Given their history, I thought it's rather obvious neither he nor Von Richter should be trusted at all." He thought a moment, then shrugged sympathetically, "Then again, I suppose the promise of being sustenance free blinded you?"

Hazel considered. "Perhaps" she said, "But he still wasn't lying," she said confidently.

"Did he change his mind, then?" Dr. Zack asked, obviously puzzled.

"No not exactly he...it's kinda hard to explain" she finished lamely.

He still looked a bit puzzled, then asked, "So why are you here? I suppose I wasn't clear enough explaining that I considered Cybersix the key player in holding Von Richter at bay? I thought you, of all people, would understand the kind of threat he poses."

Hazel took a breath running things off in her head. "Yes I did know what kind of threat he is and you did make the fact that Cybersix was the only thing stopping him quite clear. I suppose it was the force of habbit that made me continue blackmailing her." Hazel looked a little sad then smiled, "I came to clear a few things up"

He looked at her, a faint smile on his face, "You know I'm not the person you should be saying this to."

Hazel looked at him, "Oh no, not happening....well I'll think about it. Is there anything else you would like to ask or lecture me about?" she asked. She was by now sitting on the desk and looking quite relaxed.

He thought about it a moment, "Although I disapprove of you blackmailing Cybersix, I understand WHY you did it. I can only imagine what its like being dependent on a chemical so essential to your life and well being, and I hope I never will experience that first-hand. There's only one thing I DO want to ask you, though. Do you remember that vial I gave you at McDonalds?"

"Yes" Hazel nodded.

"What did you feel when I gave it to you?"

Hazel was a bit taken aback, "What kind of a question is that?"
but she decided to answer it anyway. "I was at first confused and I wondered if I could trust you. Then I saw that I didn't really have a choice in the matter. I also saw though that you had not lied to me yet and that you did not intend to hurt me in anyway." Perhaps that vial is why I'm here she thought. The doctor probably knew that too, damn him!

Dr. Zack's smile looked a bit sad, "I gave it to you because you not only needed it, but to get a friendship started. My experiences and friendships with Von Richter's runaways have, until now, been positive and beneficial, so I was looking forward to the same from you. Well, there were a few times in the last few days when I felt that it was a waste giving it to you, and that I was a fool for giving it." He sighed, "I suppose I should be glad you didn't think I was the latter."

Hazel looked on at him almost in a dream state her mood softened. "Are you expecting me to top that speech?" she sighed and answered her own question, "We are all playing the fool in my eyes." She played with a piece of pencil shaving on the desk and went on, momentarily dropping her guard. She knew she had to if she wanted to patch things up.
"I actually do have a reason for coming here. I'm sure you remember the night we met and you asked me if I knew anything about sustenance. Well I was going to give you permission to use me as a lab rat." She held up a hand before he could say anything.
"I know you know that this is also in my best interest, however everyone will benefit from this. You may or may not know this but I am not a Cyber but a Velvet." She put her hand down and let him speak.
Dr. Zack blinked, "That would be of great help to know how sustenance reacts in the natural state! As for being a different model, well I suspect that some of the basic systems are similar." He looked at her intently, "Are you sure? Cybersix is such a private person, I never dreamed of asking to examine her."
"Yes I'm sure," Hazel nodded slightly annoyed about him asking her twice. She wasn't looking forward to this as it was being a rather private person herself.

Dr. Zack glanced at his watch, then flipped the pages in his notebook to a fresh page, "This won't hurt at all, but will take some time and will very likely be very boring. Lay your hand palm up in mine." He held his left hand out, palm up.

Wondering Hazel laid her right hand in his.

"Now, just pretend you are very slowly strumming your fingers. Not fast, just very slowly."

He began gazing intently at her forearm. Every few minutes, he would stop, blink his eyes, write a note or draw a diagram on the page. Hazel felt a bit of power, and sensed a rise in his energy field.
" What are you doing?"
"I have a talent of being able to see microscopically, down to the atomic level. Its what's helped me become what people call THE authority in Quantum Mechanics." he glanced at his notes, "As I suspected, sustenance reacts within muscle cells, but the molecular contribution it makes is very complex."

Extended vision she mused just like me.

After about 20 minutes, he let her hand go, "It'll take a while for me to straighten out the notes and put everything in its place. Come back in a couple of days, and I'll explain what I've found so far." He smiled at her, "Thank you. If I ever figure out how to make the stuff, I'll make sure you'll never want for any. It also has great potential as a pollutionless gasoline substitute, so you'll have a share in any profits that I can eke out from its use."

Hazel stood and started to walk out then stopped. She turned and gave him a wicked grin, "You gave me that vial of sustenance as a sign of friendship. I hope you recognize my offer for what it is, my understanding and generous friend."

He nodded, "Indeed I do!" he said, smiling.

Her eyes glittered as if to say 'one can only run so far from her roots'. She tossed him a carefree wave and left, her usual smile firmly in place.

The End

Back

Back to Hazel Fanfics Page