Contacts [complete]

[Vigilante]

"Good question," Virginia said, looking at Keller in the cracked mirror. "I believe they're called Astral Demons, though I've never seen one that close up before.

"And never that many at once." She looked around the concrete room and empty stalls, feeling uncomfortable that one of those things was likely hovering around just the other side of the dimensional divide.

[Major Mackenzie Keller]

"Astral... Demons?" Kenzie said. The superstitious overtones left a taste in her mouth almost as bad as the remains of this morning's breakfast.

She coughed into the paper towels and wadded them up to throw into a wastebasket. The major had recovered her equilibrium, even though her face was still peaked and waxy. "Do you mean we were on the Astral Plane? I've read reports of it, but nothing officially corroborated..."

Kenzie rubbed at her forehead. Whatever that place had done to her, it had felt like an all-nighter with no sleep, the world's worst hangover, and waking up from the dreams you had with a fever of 104, all of them at once.

"I've never felt like that before," she said. "It was nothing like going into innerspace. You've jumped there before? You never reported anything like this."

It was hard to keep the note of accusation out of her voice. Virginia may well have saved both their lives, but it didn't help that she felt like hell.

[Vigilante]

Virginia raised an eyebrow. "I thought about trying to explain it in a report, but I barely understand it myself. Somehow I am able to teleport directly to the Astral Plane. Once there I can then 'port anywhere on the globe. Or," she shuddered, "possibly other places too."

She looked behind her to check for cleanliness, and then leaned against the wall next to a broken hand dryer. "I can only physically 'port thirty-three feet. I also need to be able to see where I'm going to end up, or have a good idea of what it looks like, to make sure I don't end up in a wall or a piece of furniture. But going into another dimension means a 'port that has no physical distance.

"And then 'porting out again is just another... sideways step." She grimaced. "See, it makes no sense. I don't know how I do it, just that I can. And we needed to get out fast. There wasn't time..."

Virginia shrugged. "From what I hear, going to the Astral Plane in the flesh is extremely dangerous. So don't start thinking I'm going to take people on field trips to it."

[Major Mackenzie Keller]

Kenzie straightened herself up and tried to roll the tension out of her shoulders. "I didn't even know going there in the flesh was possible. I'd assumed it was an altered state of consciousness, not a physical--"

She was interrupted by a squelch from the radio on her hip. "Sergant Dugan to Major Keller. Ma'am, are you okay?"

Kenzie snatched the radio from her belt and flipped on the two-way. "Keller here. Sergeant Hayes and I are fine. What's your situation?"

"Situation pacified. All hostiles have been neutralized and collared, and we have a clean-up crew inbound to take them away. Hawke and Sutters were injured, but they're both back on their feet."

Kenzie's face hardened at the memory of the SUV rolling onto a man's leg. It was a testament to the mutagen project that he could shrug off such an injury and jump right back into the fight.

"Glad to hear it. Finish up there, and I'll signal you to pick me up once I've found my bearings."

"Yes ma'am."

Kenzie replaced her radio and found Virginia watching her expectantly.

"It's a pleasure to work with Vanguard's finest," the major said. "Yourself included, Sergeant. Your quick thinking deserves a commendation. I can debrief you about your experiences in the Astral Plane later, but your current mission is still our top priority."

[Vigilante]

"I can't wait," she muttered, and took a deep breath. "I need to get back to my bike. Ginny has a dinner to get to in a couple hours."

Virginia paused. "The other personality - she is in... hibernation or something while I'm active?" She shook her head and held up her hands. "You know what, never mind. It all works, I don't need another headache trying to figure it out." She rubbed her temples.

[Major Mackenzie Keller]

"She's been conditioned not to question the gaps in her memory," Kenzie replied. "Well, aside from the most important one, that is." She looked into the mirror and pressed a few errant hairs back into place. "It's amazing what the mind will fill in, given the chance. Memory is much more a subconscious construction than most people realize."

With a bracing breath, she was herself again. She turned toward Virginia with impeccable polish. "I can give you another hour to return to your hotel room," she said. "Then I'll call you with the signal to wake her up. Good hunting, Virginia."

[Vigilante]

"Thank you, sir." Virginia saluted, and then 'ported out of the bathroom. The Astral Plane was thick with demons, much worse than she'd ever seen, and she didn't fancy using it to get to her abandoned motorcycle. After a few strung together teleports that used up most of her remaining energy, she wondered if it was worth the risk.

Then she remembered the scythe claw of the astral demon as it had passed just above her, and shuddered. Nope. She pulled out her phone and called for a taxi. Virginia waited in the minimal shade of a date palm, arms crossed and leaning against the rough trunk. Making contact with the Zero biotic was not going to be easy.

And no matter what Major Keller said, she wasn't sure she trusted a construct to be able to make the right decisions in a fight. Even if Ginny was still 'her', just a her that didn't really exist. Virginia rubbed her temples to ward off a tension headache. The next few weeks were going to be very interesting.