Alternia Comics

[Editor's Note: Apparently I posted the rough-rough draft of this chapter, without reading first to revise for place holders or general errors. Take this chapter with a grain of salt. --Karak]

   “You're sure you're alright to drive?”
   “Of course he is! The anesthetic wore off half an hour ago.”
   “The old man's right, Varrow. I'm fine. Mostly.” Em wobbled slightly as he walked across the room to his car. “Just a little off balance. It'll come back in no time.”
   Varrow looked doubtful, but trusted the car would keep her safe in a crash. Unless, of course, Em had sacrificed the safety features for all of his gadgets. She took the gamble and climbed in to the passenger seat as Em settled in to the driver's.
   “Take care Em!” Leff called as the lift brought them back to the surface.
   “Will do!”

   Once the lift brought them back to ground level, Varrow closed her eyes and logged on to the public wi-fi again. She made sure to stay shallow so she could still hear Em and direct him along Lindley and Sadhur's now hours cold trail.
   She also had two emails in her inbox from Bobby: “FOUND SOME MORE INFO FOR YOU” and “CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER” She decided to read them chronologically and started with the “More Info” message. It seemed fairly general at first, rehashing what she'd already seen skimming the light news. She skimmed through the page of information she'd already read and thought about scolding Bobby for the deluge, but decided too much information was better than too little.
   The second page turned up some interesting DarkNet results.
   The Lightnet had the story about 50% right: "Hacker steals equipment bound for orphanage hospital," that much was true. The DarkNet did more digging, unable to trust the Light especially when a hacker, someone they knew or not, was being dragged through the mud. If the Dark had a motto it would be something like "Truth before allegiance."
   The truth was a little more complex, not easily synthesized in to the tangy soundbites of the LightNet. Tizer hired Em to make sure the equipment got where it was going: a warehouse in Newfoundland. BridgeCo made a play for the truck and when the dust cleared only Em was left alive, barely. He had been seriously injured and managed to drive to a nearby hospital, with a wing full of orphans, in Montana. He passed out not long after bringing the rig to a stop on the front lawn. When he woke up in a hospital bed, with the nurses, doctors, and children thanking him for bringing them the much needed supplies, he couldn't find the cruelty in himself to take everything back and dash their newly risen spirits. He took what they couldn't use or didn't want, and finished the drive to Tizer's Newfoundland warehouse.
   Tizer, for their part, were understanding. They spun the official report of the incident until it resembled the story the Light news ran. But it took a few hours before the cooler heads prevailed. When Em arrived late, the dock foreman was already in a bad mood. Trucks had been delayed, teamsters had nothing to do but sit around for 25.50 an hour, and Tizer lost millions in sales for the lack of inventory.
   Em managed to get back in the cab of the truck before the foreman could have him shot.
   Tizer offically declared the inventory on the truck "missing" and unofficialy hired goons to track Em and bring the gear back by any means necessary.
The DarkNet was split on how the situation was resolved. Em certainly kept his head down and off the Tizer radar for a while, but whether they've caught and killed him, or he's still staying hidden, no one is quite sure.
Varrow tapped out a quick reply.
> Varrow@[domain]:
May have a lead on the Em v Tizer situation. See what you can find out about what more deets would be worth to whom. --V
She sent the response and opened the next email.
> Bobby@[domain]:
This just gets weirder and weirder, Boss. Seems Tizer's not the only corp lookin for Em. Teledyne just hired him. Word is he named his price for the job and they were willing to pay big. Whispers about data retrieval but no one knows for sure. One thing the Dark agrees on is the buzz about Em's return. Everyone wants him for different reasons; some want to help him, some want to hurt him, some just want to meet him and shake his hand.
   Varrow closed the message and let it sink in while she focused on guiding Em on Lindley's path. Before they had driven two blocks, Bobby messaged Varrow.
> Bobby@[domain]:
"It's worth big to Tizer. They're still lookin for him."
> Varrow@[domain]:
Find Tizer's fixer and give him my info. Tell him I've got Em if he's got the cash. Might be able to throw in Teledyne's data too.
   Varrow scanned ahead in the traffic cam logs and directed Em on a circuitous route through the city, stalling until the Tizer fixer contacted her.
   “I swear we drove past that coffee shop a few minutes ago,” Em muttered, mostly to himself.
   “Don't be silly, sweetheart. It just seems like we've driven past it because there's one of those shops on every corner. Take a left up ahead and park on the right; we're here.”
   “You're sure they're here this time?” Em pulled in to an open space and got out of the car.
   “Yes. They haven't been seen leaving this building in the last four hours.”
   “Okay, let's finish this.”