Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[siobhancan99]

Monica moved back to the sliver and retrieved her laptop from her bag. She hooked a spare usb cable from the laptop to the nanny cam, then after laboriously downloading some software was able to pull the files off. She put the giraffe back in place after deleting the footage of herself walking around the apartment, and turned the camera off, then headed back to the sliver to review what was on the footage she was able to retrieve.

 

[Halcyon638]

There appeared to be footage dating back about a week or so. Pulling up the previous night’s footage, Monica found that the camera had been turned on around 4:30 PM.

Around 7:00, Kelleher and Randle entered the apartment. Though at times the positioning of the nanny cam cut off their head, the nature of their relationship became evident right away, as their hands were all over each other from the moment they walked into the door. The sound quality was poor, though Monica could make out the occasional flirtatious phrase or seemingly innocuous reference to some office politics. Several hours passed as they moved off-camera, presumably to the bedroom and/or kitchen.

At 10:36 PM, Randle appeared on camera again, dressed in what was presumably one of Kelleher’s long-sleeved shirts and her own leggings, situating herself on the couch and pulling on a blanket. A few minutes later, yawning and putting something on the TV, she pulled up her phone and began scrolling idly.

At 10:52, with the couch perpendicular to the balcony window, Randle seemingly spotted something outside the balcony. The portion of the screen nearest the balcony became all pixelated now, obscuring for Monica whatever the 20-something was seeing. She attempted to make a run for the bathroom, presumably as it was a shorter sprint from there to the bedroom. The sound of shattering glass could be heard along with an unnerving whirring sound, like that of a rather large insect’s wings.

Blood spurted out of her legs as she fell to the ground. The pixelated portion of the screen seemed to follow her, getting anywhere from 7 to 12 feet away, possibly. Randle held her hands up, and appeared to be pleading, her voice drowned out by the whirring.

A moment later, more bullet wounds appeared, ending Randle’s life. At that moment, the pixelated portion of the screen moved away, seemingly back toward the window as if preparing to exit the building. Kelleher emerged from the bedroom then, appearing to spot his lover’s dead body before making a run for the apartment’s entrance. One spray of bullets quickly ended his attempt as he grasped at the bookshelf and fell. Just a minute or two later, the pixellation effect disappeared, leaving just the two bodies.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica regarded the footage with a sigh. It certainly didn't indicate a motive or a perpetrator. It did sort of support the notion it could be the wife. Or ex wife. She resolved to check when she got back from New York to see if he'd been divorced. She also briefly considered the possibility of the councilman not being the target. The girl was hot, maybe some jilted tech-bro assassinated her. She figured while she was on the trip she could check the girl's socials to the extent they were public. That might provide a lead. She also wondered how to get in touch with hot cop, to tip him off about the nanny-cam. He might as wwell get credit for some things. She'd have to warn him to not say the tip came from her though. The Imperial had eyes in the department probably.

She then considered the possibility, based on the pleading and whirring that this wasn't a drone at all. maybe some guy in an insect suit. That would not be fun as she couldn't fly. She prayed it was a drone and turned off the footage, heading home to get some sleep for the trip.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica was piloting the Sliver toward the outskirts of the university when she heard a series of distant pops. A few seconds later, the sound was repeated. She was almost certain now that she had just heard gunfire coming from a few blocks to the east of Prospect City University.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica steered the sliver towards the sound of gunfire. it was close to campus, and she couldn't ignore that. The campus area had to be a priority. Rocketing over to the area, she listened again to see if she could hear more shots.

 

[Halcyon638]

As Monica steered the craft onward, she heard another burst of gunfire, then a car alarm sounding. The sounds brought her to a 5-story parking garage. Veering closer, she ascertained that the blaring sound was coming from the 4th floor.

The Sliver was now about 200 feet away from the building. Exiting the fourth level of the parking lot were two black drones roughly the size of large hawks, each propelled by twin rotors and possessing what appeared to be mounted guns of some kind. They resembled small helicopters except with a sleeker, more streamlined nose. The two vehicles were flying in tandem about 20 feet apart from one another.

On the Sliver’s cameras, they appeared as a pixelated blur. The drones were traveling at a good clip, but the Sliver was capable of going much faster than their current speed, at least.

 

[siobhancan99]

If Monica could get a drone she could turn it over to the cops. If she could get two drones she could keep one maybe for herself by pretending to only have gotten the one. That was the plan, but one had to be a priority. she pulled in behind the drones and opened the sliver, using her grappling hook she attempted to pull one in.

 

[Halcyon638]

As Monica piloted the Sliver closer to the two drones, they started to adjust their flight patterns, swerving and putting more distance between themselves as if in reaction to her presence. Still, she was able to steer the vehicle near enough to lower a hook in an attempt to snare one of the machines.

The hook was on target, but the drone swerved at the last minute with an agility not found in standard commercial drones, evading the hook. Both vehicles then flew in opposite directions at somewhere between 50 to 70 miles per hour. The Sliver at its max speed could still easily close the distance, but it would be necessary to choose one to pursue, at least for now.

 

[siobhancan99]

Somewhat nonplussed, she drove after the leftward one. This meant even if she caught one she'd have to give it to the cops. maybe. maybe she could just grab it and have someone look at it first. there was giving it to the cops and then giving it to the cops. She made the attempt to close, focusing on the one.

 

[Halcyon638]

Setting the Sliver to autopilot, Monica opened the hatch and prepared the grappling hook again. Her second attempt with the grappling hook went wide, foiled in part by a sudden gust of wind.

The drone made a graceful turn now, adjusting its positioning so that it was facing her, then closed the distance between itself and her quickly. There was a sudden crackling sound and the automaton shot an electric stun gun blast at her.

She was able to pull herself back inside the vehicle to avoid it as the drone continued to hover near by.

 

[siobhancan99]

In for a penny, in for a pound, she threw the grappling hook again. It was becoming somewhat personal that she couldn't even nab a fucking drone. An insult to her superiority as a Centauri, really. It was the old man and the sea, except not boring and awful.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica managed to steady her aim despite the 60 miles per hour or so at which they were traveling, still feeling the gusts of wind as they flew about 80 feet from the pavement below. Her toss was on target this time, but the drone responded with a hairpin, split-second turn, displaying impressive dexterity. It was clear it was cutting edge tech.

A few seconds later, the machine zipped up above the open hatch, again unleashing a jolt of electricity. Again, she avoided the attack, ducking down again but feeling her hair rise slightly beneath her mask.

They were fast approaching a dilapidated building of about 9 to 10 stories.

 

[siobhancan99]

MOnica bore down on the drone with the sliver, hoping to keep the operator's attention on her, then at the last moment veered right to avoid the building in the hopes the drone would smash into the side and she could at least collect the pieces.

 

[Halcyon638]

The nose of the Sliver made contact with the robot, pushing it forward with the full momentum and speed of the aircraft. The drone attempted to adjust in mid-air, for a moment, pulling away before being propelled again by the Centauri-engineered vessel.

The apparent gun mounted on the black metal began to whirr to life, aimed directly at the not-quite-bulletproof windshield of the Sliver.

Only to die when the drone smacked into the building hard, bringing an array of sparks as the rotors dug into the walls and shattered. A moment later, Monica felt a hard jolt as the Sliver itself clipped the side of the same structure. Not being strapped in, she was tossed hard against the controls, though managed to put up her arms defensively to blunt the impact somewhat. As a small explosion erupted from the drone and pieces of the automaton went flying, the Sliver was thrown onto its side as it continued its airborne trajectory.

Alarms sounded from the instrument panel as the vehicle began to abruptly descend. Feeling a radiating pain in her right elbow where she’d taken the brunt of the impact, Monica attempted to regain control as the aircraft dropped quickly.

About twenty feet from the ground, the Sliver responded to her commands once again and avoided a second, potentially deadly, impact.

 

[siobhancan99]

"just had to go out one last time before you went away" Moncia gritted her teeth at the feel of her bruised elbow. Getting the sliver in shape was another concern. she could set it to head home under cover of darkness and maybe dad could work on it. For now she gently set it down adn hopped out, looking for the fragments of the drone.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica finally had a bit of good luck, in that the majority of the drone that had survived the impact and small explosion had landed on a fire escape below. Elbow still throbbing, she was able to gather up the nearby wreckage.

When she returned to the Sliver, she found the controls still beeping at her, but less insistently than before. The windshield was spider-webbed with cracks, though, and there was a herky jerky quality to the flight that was more than a little unsettling.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sighed as she looked over the sliver. She'd definitely have to have dad look at it while she was in new york. She got back in and took it to an abandoned part of town, then emailed her father pictures of the wreckage to a secure email. She also took the time to disconnect any batteries from the wreckage of the drone so its location couldn't be tracked and secured it as well.

 

[Halcyon638]

Getting a closer if cursory look, the sophistication of the tech became even more evident, though there were clearly places where it had been modified in an ingenious-if-somewhat-DIY fashion. Even the battery looked next gen. A closer inspection might yield additional results, but the clock now read 11:17 PM.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica packed everything up and headed home, wrapping her elbow and icing it when she got back to the apartment. She looked over the parts of the drone, making sure to take out the batteries etc so it wasn't giving off its location, then set about packing for the trip the next day.

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi was asleep, airpods in, sitting up on Monica’s bed. As the older girl took a closer look at the remains of the drone, she determined it was almost certainly First Line handiwork, though again, modified in certain ways to make it even more efficient and effective. Some of the pieces that were grafted on had their serial numbers scratched away. She isolated the device that was most likely responsible for the scrambling of video systems, though it was damaged. From what she could tell, it had been a custom addition, meaning it could have been the invention of the drone’s operator or a device created by another corporation or organization fused with First Line tech.

Monica had a sudden memory of sliding her arms around Tom’s firm torso as he worked to repair the drone they’d assembled together after he’d ordered the parts. She could smell the intense odor of the mostly empty paint cans in his parent’s garage as she looked over his shoulder. “You know, this isn’t really helping,” he said, not sounding the least bit disappointed as she pressed her body against his spine.

Tom had stood and puzzled over the thing for another few minutes, unconsciously rubbing the very tip of his nose between his right thumb and index finger as he often did when deep in thought, looking impossibly dreamy, before Monica told him the Electronic Speed Controllers’ voltage was most likely out of whack. “You must be feeling pretty damn smart right about now,” he said, turning toward her with his magnetic grin, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her into the air. “So, how’d the smartest and prettiest girl in the world end up in fucking Cottersville?”

Monica finished packing without waking Gabi. The alarm they’d set to wake them up for the trip to the bus station went off after what seemed like only a few fleeting moments.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica felt a huge pang, the loss of Tom was still hard, though the moments were less and less frequent. She inhaled, then closed her eyes. She felt guilty to still be hanging onto him when she had Gabi but in times like this, when their shared passion for electronics and robotics was right there, well it was hard. She shook her head, dispelling the vision, then packed her bags. Arm aching, eyes bleary, she made her way to the bus with Gabi and immediately dropped into a seat when they got on the bus. She curled up, resting her head against Gabi's shoulder in a fog. She wanted to tell her about the night before, but the bus was 100 percent not the place to do it. "So we're staying with her mom or something?" Monica had left travel plans to the others.

 

[Halcyon638]

“Yep!” Gabi said, giving Monica’s shoulder a quick squeeze excitedly. It was the first time since the incident with Thalmer that she seemed back to her old, perky self. Checking her phone, she added, “She’s on her way.”

Two minutes later, Hadley climbed onto the bus, her hair black with a cotton candy-pink swath down the middle. “Hey, hey,” she said, surveying the seating situation around the girls before deciding on the seat across from them, where a young woman sat staring out the window. “How are you feeling?” she asked Monica. It took the engineering major a moment to realize she was referring to the excuse Gabi had given why Monica hadn’t attended the protest with them.

Hadley leaned across the aisle once the bus got moving. “How do you feel about Korean food? There’s an amazing place literally 5 minutes from Vincent’s place. My mom’s fiancée. If that’s going to be too brutal on the ole GI system, we can figure something else out. Also, Vincent’s son is staying there right now, so…kind of crowded. We won’t spend a ton of time in the apartment, though, so it’s not so bad.”

After about a 4-hour drive in what proved to be fairly chilly mid-April weather, flurries flying as they sped down the highway, they could see the world-famous, massive skyline of NYC rising up above them. Gabi gazed out in wonder while Hadley nonchalantly read a dog-eared copy of Sophocles’s Antigone. “So, I may be staying in Prospect with this guy from the theater program this summer and we’re trying to figure out another roommate. Are you guys going home? Staying?”

 

[siobhancan99]

"we havent really decided" Monica knew Gabi would probably need to return home, both for monetary purposes and to mollify her parents "My dad is in a new relationship and I'm not sure I can handle coming home and hearing him crank some 90s power ballad to cover the sound of his lovemaking. I'm guessing you can relate to that huh?" She shifted a little, working her arm to see if it was bruised or sprained or broken. "Korean sounds good. we can do mandu and get some kimchee and rice. Maybe some bulgogi." she leaned back in the seat "so dad's cool with you cohabiting with a boy? did he run a background check?"

 

[Halcyon638]

Hadley laughed at Monica’s remark about her father. “Oh my god, my dad, like, needs to find a girlfriend fast. Or a hobby. Anything to keep him from bumming me out 24/7.” Her tone was light despite the subject matter.

“He still not doing that great?” Gabi asked.

“Nah, he’s improving. Just driving me a little crazy at times. Parents.”

The bus sped along one of the routes into the city. When asked about the living arrangement, Hadley smirked. “Ha, no fingerprinting or anything. I honestly think that he’s just kind of relieved that I’ll still be in the city and not here with Mom this summer. Another tiny, sad victory in the never-ending battle for my affections. It’s a hoot.”

“Must be tough,” Gabi said.

“Honestly, things have been better between us—me and Dad—since the injury.”

Hadley’s mother’s fiancé’s apartment was located on the 10 floor of a 15-story building. As the three women hauled in their luggage, they were greeted by Emily and her fiancé, Vincent. Emily looked more like Hadley’s older sister than her mother, with lovely dark eyes and wavy, chestnut hair, while Vincent looked to be significant older, with a receding hairline and salt-and-pepper beard that skewed more to the salt side of the equation.

Of the two, Vincent seemed more gregarious, while Emily was polite but seemed reserved as they went through the introductions. Vincent was chief of surgery at a prestigious hospital while Emily was a painter and professor of fine arts.

Afterwards, Vincent offered to help the three carry their belongings, but the three of them politely declined. “Ta da,” Hadley said flatly as she flicked on the light of the room in which they’d be staying which sported a queen-sized bed. The room looked to already be occupied; a MacBook was sitting on a desk, a hoodie was draped on the back of a chair, and a pair of beat-up sneakers poked their laces out from under the bed.

Seeing the confusion on Gabi’s face, Hadley said, “I hope this doesn’t smell too much like dude. This is where Aidan—Vincent’s son—has been staying. It’s the only queen except for my mom’s bed, so I hope it’s cool for you to sleep here. He was supposed to switch out the sheets and clean up and everything.”

“Are we kicking him out of his bed?” Gabi glanced at Monica momentarily, a nervous expression on her face.

“It’s fine. It’s not his bed; it’s the guestroom. He’s just been crashing here. Anyway, he offered to sleep on the couch,” Hadley said, pulling back the covers and taking a sniff while still maintaining a safe distance as if the smell might be contagious. Monica didn’t notice any odor. “If it’s a problem, you can have my bed and I can grab the couch, but it’ll just be a little snug. Though I guess you’re used to it with the apartment.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica grinned "we sleep on a full size at the apartment. Just another reason I'm glad i'm with short little Gabi instead of that hulking brute Austin" she laughed "also she smells better and cleans her sheets." She wrapped an arm around Gabi "I do feel bad about exiling your stepbrother or... you know. whatever that relationship is." She rested her head on Gabi's shoulder, still keeping her injured arm away from her girlfriend so as not to set it off. "I'm sure its fine in here and if it isn't we can do a quick load of laundry ourselves." She looked over at Hads "so what's your agenda for us this week? anything we have to see? any friends of yours that you really want us to meet? we're sort of in your hands here."