Lilith's Shadow Omnibus: Volume 2, page 39
She confirmed your suspicions when I met her. Worse was how she talked about you. She spoke like you were objects, tools, or toys, to be used and discarded at a whim. She told me that she pushed us together because she didn’t want to babysit me, and that she forced you away to make me find out what it was like to be betrayed. It was… horrible, hearing it like that. But it confirmed everything that you suspected, and that’s important. Hopefully it helps you with your treatment.
I should add, I refused to do what she demanded. She wanted me to become what she wanted, and I told her no. I have been cut off from her resources, but I should be able to live my life adequately, so please, don’t force yourselves to worry about me. You have enough things to be concerned about, and you should focus on healing, not on contacting me when it could hurt your recovery.
As that’s the case, I believe that I should bid you farewell. I care about you even now, but you should not have been hurt, violated, the way that she did. Goodbye to both of you. I enjoyed our time together.
Sincerely,
Lilith Carpenter
“That…” Gina whispered, staring at the email in shock. She couldn’t continue, as she felt her emotions roiling inside her.
Gina’s emotions weren’t behaving the way she would have expected. The raw emotion in the email was obvious, and even if she didn’t feel the way she once had where Lilith was concerned, she could practically see her grief. They’d been together for long enough for her to know that much. The confirmation of what had been done to her sent a solid spike of anxiety into Gina’s hindbrain, as did the confirmation that Shadowmind was alive. Yet there was an odd confusion to her emotions, like something was missing, and it was driving Gina to distraction.
“At least she has a degree of integrity, unlike that—” Madison began, then stopped, glancing at Gina and Rachel for a moment before handing the phone back to Rachel. She continued after a few seconds. “It will help, yes. Though I do feel sorry for her. If she’s correct, she had nothing to do with any of this, and she’s been injured as well. Nothing good in any of this.”
“Yeah,” Rachel said, rubbing her forehead as she sighed, then nodded. “I’ll have to reply in a bit. After dinner.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Gina agreed, though she found she’d lost some of her appetite. Not that she was going to make that obvious, so she picked up her fork.
It was time to see why this was something Rachel liked so much… and it would give her time to compose her thoughts where Lilith was concerned.
Chapter 51
Friday, August 22nd, 2031
Guardian Compound, Paragon City
The door slid open with a hiss, and Lilith ignored the way lights flashed behind her. The reporters were annoying, but she’d long-since learned that getting annoyed at them didn’t help at all, so she did the next best thing and ignored them. It was so much easier than adding to the pile of anxiety and depression she was trying to fight off. She didn’t know how she was supposed to deal with the loss of even Circe, since she hadn’t realized how much she’d relied on the constant presence of the AI. That was part of why she’d gone out, and had carefully ensured that she didn’t have anything which Amber could monitor her through. She hoped not, anyway.
“Hey, Lilith!” Decarin said cheerfully, standing on the other side of the door, and he looked her over, then glanced at the reporters wryly before he gestured. “Why don’t you come in? I’m not used to having this much attention when we have a visitor.”
“Yes, but the media considers me to be an important subject right now,” Lilith replied dryly, stepping inside and waiting until the door had closed before continuing. “I suspect it would be bad enough if it were just the events from the convention, but when Gina and Rachel left and were seen in London within days, it threw them into a feeding frenzy. At least, that’s how I’ve seen it referred to online.”
“I believe it. When Morgan came over and talked to us, we were in enough shock afterward ourselves. And that’s with us knowing at least most of the story. I can’t imagine how it looks to outsiders,” Decarin replied, shaking his head slowly. “You have my sympathies, Lilith. It must be a really hard time for you, and here I am, asking for your help.”
“No, I can use the distraction. It isn’t like you’re going to have an easy time of things, with what’s coming next week,” Lilith replied, smiling back at him as warmly as she could manage.
The news that Ivanova Cheresk was coming to the city hadn’t really registered with Lilith at first, or at least it didn’t really mean anything to her. As far as she was concerned, it was just another famous woman, but that was mostly because she hadn’t initially connected the name with Dracula’s wife. Dracula’s Bride was quite possibly the single most powerful healer on the planet, able to regenerate a person as long as pretty much any single cell of their body was still alive, which was beyond simply impressive. Yet it wasn’t until she saw the reactions of everyone else that Lilith had realized there was more to her visit than she’d expected.
First Emily had been forced to beg off on a dinner, to her obvious frustration, as she was doing additional patrols of the city. Then Lilith had seen the news reports indicating that a host of heroes had arrived in the city, along with more villain activity, and that LANCE was stationing a full reaction team in the city for the duration of Ivanova’s visit. That was what had made Lilith realize just how big of a deal this was, especially when the news anchors began speculating on who might try to kidnap Ivanova this time, and had gone over several disasters that’d occurred during her previous visits. No matter how badly they’d failed, some villains never ceased trying to get their hands on her.
That was part of why Decarin had called Lilith, asking if she’d be willing to help him put together more secure comm sets, so that the various super teams that were willing to coordinate with the Sentinels could all be on the same network. While she’d love to help more directly, there was no way for Whispering Darkness to get her a suit of power armor in time. He’d been rather apologetic, especially since he’d pointed out that her physical abilities exceeded the armor she’d designed by a good margin. He’d offered her a suit of light armor, which Lilith had accepted, but it was still in transit.
“Fair enough! If you want to come this way? I think Shade and the others are still hashing out schedules with a couple of other reps,” Decarin said, gesturing down the hall, and the man ambled down it at a sedate pace. “I’m glad I’m not part of that discussion.”
“Why do you say that?” Lilith asked, her curiosity roused.
Decarin laughed, glancing over his shoulder at her as he grinned. “I don’t know if you know, but there are a lot of high-powered supers visiting, and I really don’t want to get involved with some of them. I’ve heard that Daemonia is as prone to getting in trouble as you, and some of the others… look, we’ve even got Portus here! If he’s here, that means we’re one portal away from getting Destiny and Frostfire on the field, which would give us four class S heroes at a minimum. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get caught up in that sort of fight.”
Lilith winced, thinking about the sheer devastation a single class S hero or villain could wreak, then considered what four of them could do. Still, the sheer number of supers in the city made her hesitate for a moment, and a question occurred to her.
“If that’s the case, I’d think there would be plenty of other inventors or gadgeteers who would be willing to help you. Why me? I’m a mundane engineer at best, and I don’t even have a certification, degree, or anything of the sort,” Lilith said, frowning as they reached a door labeled ‘Tech Lab’.
“You’re not an inventor, which is a major qualification. Also, while I don’t have confirmation on your skill level, I saw you adjusting the settings on your armor, and I also heard about your comments regarding the power armor for the police that Whispering Darkness is building. He shared specs shortly after your video went live, since tons of people were making inquiries, and if you managed to design that, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders,” Decarin replied, opening the door to reveal a large laboratory with machinery all around the edges, but which primarily had a pile of parts sitting in bins on a central table. “The thing about inventors is that they’ll try to improve the designs, and I don’t have the time to argue with them about the comm units. I need about two hundred of them, and I don’t trust pre-built ones. They have too many opportunities for a villain to screw with them.”
“Ah, that would explain it,” Lilith replied, relaxing slightly as she stepped into the laboratory and looked around. “You have a very nice lab.”
“Thank you! I spent a lot of time designing it to be just the way I wanted… then I built it, and realized how many ways I could’ve improved it,” Decarin said, chuckling under his breath. “Ah, the price of being an inventor. You’re never done.”
Lilith laughed in response as amusement managed to make it through her inner apathy, and she nodded. “I think I understand. I’ve come up with several ideas for improving the armor that’s being built, but I’ve resisted the urge to constantly update Whispering Darkness. Instead, I’ve been creating files with how it could be improved and will just share them for new models. He’s doing the expensive part of things, after all. Anyway… why don’t you show me how these are put together?”
“Sure thing!” Decarin agreed, moving over to the table and hit a key. An instant later a diagram of a compact communicator sprang to life above the table, and he started explaining. “So here we’ve got the outer casing and earbud, which is mostly self-contained, but you’ll have to…”
The explanation didn’t take long, but Lilith listened closely, taking mental notes of all of the points that seemed most difficult. When he finished, they both sat down and got to work putting the devices together. Decarin was a lot more efficient than Lilith was, but that was to be expected, if he’d designed them to begin with. Still, there were plenty of connections to make, so each took a few minutes of work, and Lilith did a few internal calculations. Assuming that each of them took five minutes, at twelve an hour… for two hundred comm units, it’d take one person over sixteen hours to finish all of them, and that was if they could keep going constantly without any breaks. That explained a large part of why Decarin had wanted help, she realized. Then she snorted in amusement.
“Hm?” Decarin murmured, glancing up from his work.
“It’s too bad Spark can’t help with this, as fast as she is,” Lilith replied, smiling at him as she slid a last connector into place.
“Heh, you’re right about that. Sadly, she’s about as quick as I am when she’s got her electricity suppressed, and if she doesn’t have the device on, well… I’d rather not have to build ten times as many components, you know?” Decarin said, grinning. “Besides, someone has to be available for when there’s an incident. She’s showing the flag, as it were, so that people aren’t thinking we’re laying down on the job with so many other heroes in the city.”
“Ah, I didn’t know that. I thought she was that fast with or without the electricity,” Lilith said, a little surprised by the revelation.
“Nope. Every super has their own quirks, much like you can’t turn off your ability to draw attention,” Decarin replied easily, putting together the last pieces of his current comm. “Most of us don’t draw attention to them, of course, but Spark’s are reasonably well-known. I’m surprised you didn’t notice, honestly.”
“She wasn’t trying to race around when she visited,” Lilith replied, shrugging as she focused on her work.
Decarin nodded, then settled into a companionable silence as they worked on assembling the comm units together.
After almost an hour had passed, and Lilith’s fingers were starting to hurt a little, the door behind her hissed open, and she paused, glancing back just in time to see Archon in full armor, a sword at her side, and with a distinctly unimpressed look on her face as she looked at Lilith, then at Decarin, her eyes and hair like flames moving in an unseen breeze.
“You invited her over for this?” Archon asked skeptically, looking at Decarin, and the man flushed.
“I needed help, and she’s good enough to not break anything,” he protested.
“Besides, the distraction is welcome,” Lilith said, smiling nervously as she replied. “Hello, Archon. Are you doing well?”
“I’m annoyed by politics, but otherwise fine,” the angelic woman replied, then beckoned Lilith closer. “Come with me, we need to speak.”
Lilith opened her mouth to protest, but the heroine simply turned away to leave, and Lilith looked at Decarin. The man sighed heavily.
“Go with her. She must have something to say in private,” he said, his voice resigned. “I’ll see how much I can get done in the meantime.”
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Lilith told him, standing up while making a note of where she’d been with the device she’d been assembling, then moved to follow Archon.
She had to admit, she was just a little nervous about being alone with the heroine.
Chapter 52
Friday, August 22nd, 2031
Guardian Compound, Paragon City
Lilith had never been to the upper floors of the Guardian Compound before, so everything she encountered was new. She found herself a little surprised by just how spacious the elevator was, at least until she looked over at Archon and realized how much space she took up with her wings. It explained so much, but Lilith didn’t speak, wondering why Archon wanted to talk to her.
The elevator chimed, then the doors slid open quietly, revealing a hallway that was significantly different than the lower floors. Instead of the gleaming, relatively sterile hallways, this one looked… lived in. There was carpet on the floors, while sconces shed warm yellow light. On one wall Lilith saw a framed picture of the team standing together, all but Shade showing smiles, which only made sense with how his face was covered, and in the background she could see the Guardian Compound under construction. That surprised Lilith a little, and as she walked down the hall, she saw a large door to the right with Archon’s name on it, opposite a door with Decarin’s name. Past them were two more doors for Shade and Spark, and Lilith realized after a few seconds that this must be the team’s living quarters, though she’d heard that Shade lived elsewhere.
Archon passed the first set of doors, and Lilith considered, then finally spoke up, asking softly, a trace of nervousness coursing through her. “Are you upset with me?”
The heroine paused for an instant before continuing. When she spoke, her voice was filled with a mixture of amusement and regret. “Upset with you? No, of course not. I am… annoyed, but that isn’t your fault.”
“Oh, good,” Lilith replied, relief washing away much of her concerns. She’d been half-afraid that she was about to get kicked out of the building. “I was just… worried. It’s been a difficult week for me.”
“More for you than for me. I should have considered that, but—” Archon cut herself off abruptly, opening a door at the end of the hall, which revealed a room which was almost like a balcony, Lilith thought. The main difference was that it was enclosed with one-way glass and had a roof, giving a commanding view of the city and had several chairs and sofas around the room. A table near one chair had several books and magazines sitting on it, which gave a lived-in appearance. Once Lilith was through the door, Archon continued. “My apologies, Daemonia always strains my patience.”
“I… may I ask why? I don’t know much about Daemonia, other than the fact she’s from Los Angeles and is class S,” Lilith said, though she internally admitted she had admired some pictures of the woman. She looked a lot like a demoness, and flaunted her figure, which some people claimed made her look like a villain.
“Daemonia is flirtatious, forward, and has virtually no understanding of the concept of personal space,” Archon replied, growling under her breath before continuing. “She also thinks that ‘having fun with an angel’ is a lovely idea, when I’ve been very, very blunt about not being an angel. Spending two hours in a meeting with her should qualify as torture.”
“I… had no idea. I mean, I heard about the incident where the news cut to a reporter, to find Daemonia making out with him, but… well, I didn’t expect that,” Lilith replied, heat rising in her cheeks. “You have my sympathies.”
“It’s just aggravating. I could have chosen not to attend the meeting, but then she’d have tried to ride roughshod over everyone else,” Archon replied with a grimace, walking over to a backless bench near the window. “And no matter what I may think of her manners, Daemonia is one of the more powerful heroines I know of, and despite her… eccentricities, I think her heart is in the right place. I just wish she’d stop trying to seduce me.”
“I think I can understand that,” Lilith replied, finding herself growing a little amused by Archon’s attitude despite herself. She really shouldn’t find it that amusing, but the reminder that even the most powerful supers in the world had problems of their own was oddly comforting.
Archon sat on the bench with a soft clanking of metal, but the bench didn’t creak or sag at all, which reassured Lilith enough that she was willing to sit down next to her. For a minute the other woman was quiet, which caused Lilith’s anxiety to start spiking again.
“We spoke to the other heroes about what you told Spark,” Archon said at last, staring out at the city. “The confirmation that you met Shadowmind caused a degree of panic. No one is entirely certain what to think of it, when there’s confirmation that the body from SuperMax was hers. It brings all sorts of worries and panic to the surface, especially since a few of them know a bit of what’s going on with Morgan and Warden. A lot of them don’t trust you. They think you might be in league with her, or even that there’s some huge conspiracy going on, using Shadowmind as a threat.”
