Inside the Red Palace
Neo-York
23:15

All was quiet. The lights were dim, and even the impossibly soft footsteps of the trio made hints of echoes on the pristine white marble floor.

“I wonder, do you think, if she has enough space?” Mina whispered.

The others remained silent, giving the slightest of nods.

They came to the end of the elongated foyer and were greeted by a pair of large ornament doors, also white. A lock hung from the handles.

“What’s the security on this?” Mina asked softly.

Ava-1 scanned the doors with her cyborg eye. “Nothing. Just this one deadbolt. Old-school. Hang on a nanosec.”

Ava-1 removed her left pinky finger and adjusted the settings on the laser. She aimed the red beam and began burning a hole in the lock. “This should take approximately ten seconds.”

“It would take one second if I used my katana,” Saito teased.

“What was that about silent entry?” Ava-1 clapped back. “Or was that only relevant outside?”

“You’ve got me there,” Saito admitted.

Ava-1 finished with the lock and reattached her pinky. She and Saito shoved the doors open.

The Negotiators found themselves in a great hall, Big Sister and her inner party posed before them.

“We’ve been expecting you,” Big Sister said. She put her hands to her boney hips and smiled at her guests. The green of her skin created a startling contrast with the scarlet gown she wore. To her right was Dorian Gray. To her left was Oliver Twist. Standing to the side, a look of apprehension on his stately face, was Major Tom Jones.

The Negotiators stood their ground, Sparky and the other reprogrammed androids flanking them.

"My Junior Spies captured footage of you," Big Sister went on. Her smile became malicious as her green lips twisted. "The three of you are so very conspicuous by appearance, after all. My dear Mr. Twist did some reconnaissance, and voilà! You are the infamous Negotiators I’ve heard so much about. And to think, I always thought you were an urban legend. Happy to be proven wrong.”

“Happy to prove you wrong,” Saito said, his voice steady and calm.

Neither Mina nor Ava-1 betrayed the slightest bit of emotion.

"'Big Sister' is but a ruse," Mina said. "A mask behind which you hide. We are inside your palace now. Are we not past such garish pretenses?"

"Your point?" Big Sister prompted.

"What is your name?" Mina asked. "Your one true name?"

The witch shrugged. "What can it hurt? I am called West."

"West," Ava-1 repeated. "Kind of anticlimactic."

West ignored her jab. “Before my inner party dispatches you, I'd like to know one thing: who hired you?”

“If you think we would give up the name of our client, you are truly a fool,” Mina stated.

West shrugged in a way very unfitting of her self-proclaimed dictatorship. “It might have bought you some mercy. You are ‘negotiators,’ after all.”

“We don’t negotiate with those who have proven they can't be negotiated with,” Ava-1 retorted.

"Philosophically profound, that," West quipped. She arched a carefully groomed black eyebrow. “If that is so, then you’re of no use to me. Dorian, Oliver, Major Tom, you have my authorization to eliminate these intruders by any means necessary.”

Ava-1 laughed. "The three of them? By themselves? We have thirty-five of your androids on our side. And if you use that chip in your palm — yes, we know about that — to summon more, they will fight for us, too. We have the upper hand."

"Oh, please," West said with a haughty toss of her obsidian hair. "What kind of amateur do you take me for? The chip in my hand has more than one function. It doesn't only summon the droids." She held her hand aloft. "Allow me to demonstrate."

She triggered the chip and instantly all the androids in the room broke into pieces and collapsed to the floor.

"It's a kill switch," Saito said in realization.

"Naturally," West said. "Everything electronic can be corrupted. And broken. I've always been ready for a coup like this. You see, I don't like sharing my toys. If I can't have them, no one can. And I feel the same way about Neo-York. This city is mine."

West turned her back on the trio and began walking away.

“You won’t stay and fight us yourself?” Saito baited.

West turned around. “Is that your idea of a joke? Of course not. Why would I?” She waved her hand at the members of her inner party with impatience. “Well, get on with it!”

Without a backwards glance, West sauntered from the great hall via the doors at the back.

The Negotiators exchanged sidelong glances.

"Three of them, three of us," Ava-1 pointed out.

"But it's a distraction," Saito whispered so that only his comrades could hear. "We'll lose West. Mina-san, can you get around Major Tom and give chase?”

Mina considered. “I feel I can reason with Major Tom.”

“Fine,” Saito agreed. “Do it.”

“I’ll handle Pretty Boy,” Ava-1 offered in delight. She cracked the knuckles on her right hand.

Saito nodded. “Then I’ll take the child. Though I have qualms about fighting one so young.”

"Do not underestimate him," Mina warned.

"I will not," Saito said. "I only—" He hesitated as an odd sensation rippled across his waist. He looked down at the sash of his hakama trousers, only to find his short sword, Masayoshi, was no longer at his side.

"Looking for this?" Oliver taunted from across the great hall. He held Masayoshi up above his head in triumph.

"How did he do that?" Mina gasped.

"I did not see or hear him move," Saito said.

"Silly Sammi," Oliver called in a sing-song voice. "I may be leader of the Junior Spies, but I'm a pickpocket by trade. The greatest there ever was! Bet you can't catch me!"

Before Saito could reply, Oliver spun around on his thin little legs and took off at a sprint, Masayoshi clutched snuggly in his hands.

Saito darted after the orphan.

Then, as if inspired by his cohort, Dorian Gray did a strange thing. He, too, ran. Through a door on the far left side of the room, laughing and shouting over his shoulder as he went, "Give chase, if you dare! Ugly hybrid!"

Confused as she was, Ava-1 shrugged at Mina and sped after Dorian into an adjacent room.

Mina watched Ava-1 go. Retreat did not seem likely for these persons loyal to Big Sister. To West. It was entirely possible that Saito and Ava-1 were, at present, being lured into traps. But Mina could not dwell on that now. West was her priority — her comrades could handle themselves.

"You have not moved to attack me," Mina commented. She turned to face the only other person left in the room. "Why is that, Major Tom?"

The Major stood at ease, his posture rigid but his hands behind his back. "I have no desire to attack you, Madam. Certainly not on West's behalf. I imagine you could kill me in an instant, if you wanted to."

Mina felt no threat from him. She approached him with caution, and he paled a bit but stood his ground. His full silver mustache bounced beneath his narrow nose as he sniffed in discomfort.

"I am no threat to you, Major Tom," Mina murmured in her most soothing voice. "Nor are my comrades. You’re a good man. I am well aware that you are cooperative with West only due to the dire situation of your wife."

Major Tom's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Yes. Iman, my wife, suffered a terrible injury. It was my fault. She's in a cryo recovery pod that I cannot begin to afford on my own. I can't let her die. No matter who I have to serve. I have to keep Iman in that CRP until she wakes."

Mina gave him a sad smile. "I would do anything to see my late husband open his eyes one more time," she said. "I understand. Believe me. With whom the fault lies, well, I disagree with you. But I can promise you this: West will not survive the night. Her hold on you is at an end. Please step aside and allow me to pursue her.” 

Major Tom looked down at Mina with raised eyebrows, but nothing betrayed his composure. “Her reign is over? You give me your word?”

“Yes.”

The Major hesitated.  

Mina touched his shoulder and said, “For your heroics with the Space Oddity, how many people owe you their lives? I am certain we can arrange for a donation fund to keep your wife in her CRP. I will see to it myself if need be.”

Major Tom stared at Mina for several seconds, as though worried these words might be a farce. But he saw something in her blue eyes that dashed any doubts of her sincerity. "Thank you, Madam. I think I will visit my wife tonight." He turned and pointed to the doors through which West had escaped. "Through these doors you will find a series of rooms leading toward the back of the palace. Up a flight of stairs is West's throne room. You will find her there."

"Thank you, Major Tom."

The Major made no verbal reply, but offered her a gracious nod. With militant up-right posture, he marched toward the front entrance.

Mina watched him go for a moment, knowing in her heightened senses that he would not be back.

She then exploded into black mist and zoomed through the doors at the back of the great hall in pursuit of West. The witch was nowhere to be seen, but the distinct odor of her blood lingered in the air, and Mina followed it like a trail of bread crumbs toward a great prize.

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