Night 57: Mission #2 [Rapunzel and Nakatsukasa Tsubaki]
[From here]The first thing she noticed upon stepping through the door: the pile of hair in her arms was suddenly a lot heavier. "Whoa! Ee!" Rapunzel nearly fell over forward, dropping several lengths of hair before she regained her footing. Her eyes widened once she had it. It was all back - every single ounce of hair she had lost since coming to
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"I'm a fast learner?" was all she could come up with to save them from a potentially awkward silence. Somehow, it still didn't help very much.
She let out a breath, lugging her hair a little closer to the looming metal vehicle. "And yeah, this is what I look like normally, and there's a reason for that. A big one... You see, until, like..." Rapunzel raised her fingers to count off the days "...a little less than a week ago? I had never left home. I mean literally, physically never left. I lived in a tower. Day I was born up to now - I never, ever set foot outside it. And I was never allowed to cut my hair, either." But they could get into the reasons for that later, once they were moving.
"I did pretty well for myself after getting out, though. I'm not going to be a burden to anyone if I can help it, especially not for something like this," she said with a little more determination. "I'm more capable than some people take me for, anyway."
Rapunzel couldn't help a glare into space at that. Great, now she was thinking about her again...
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As Tsubaki listened to Rapunzel explain a little more about her background, she started to get a picture of the other girl, one that she hadn't seen before, and one that made her eyes widen with the significance of it.
"Oh... oh, gosh... and you've only been outside the tower for a couple of days?"
There could be a lot of reasons involved, and doubtlessly a lot of things about Rapunzel's life and world Tsubaki couldn't begin to guess at, but when she thought of a lifetime in a tower, the first connotation that came to her was imprisonment. And the way Rapunzel talked about it didn't disprove the thought, either.
"It's okay," she said after Rapunzel's assurance that she was capable. "No one's a burden. We'll be okay. We'll figure this out together. First of all... is there anything else we should know about each other before we start out?" Being a demon weapon mostly dependent on a meister, Tsubaki's natural position was one of support, not leadership. But in this instance, if they needed one voice to steer their direction, she could do it. Clashes in personalities and decision-making weren't going to be a problem. Or if there was a chance of it happening, it couldn't be, for both their sakes. "And..." She pointed to the military vehicle. "Are you at all familiar with what we're going to be doing? I understood the file, but maybe the place you're from is different from the one I'm from."
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But more than that, she was absolutely relieved that Tsubaki understood the file, and was willing to explain it to her. She let out a big sigh and smiled more, laughing a little to break the tension. "Um, yeah! I have absolutely no clue what some of this stuff is, so I'm glad you do!" She nodded toward the vehicle. "Like, what is this? Is it like the things that take us to Doyleton? Is it the 'hummer' or the 'GPS'? What does the other one of those things do, and what does it look like?"
She knew it was a lot of questions to ask at once, but she figured it was better to get all that stuff out of the way at once so that they could just get going, get done, and get gone. "I get the basic idea, at least - that we're supposed to transport something to a base somewhere. But the specifics? Yeeeeeah. You're gonna have to explain those to me as we go."
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"Luckly enough," Tsubaki replied, because there was no telling if understanding how the assignment's equipment worked was even a requirment for the military. If neither of them could figure out the vehicle, traveling on foot was always an option. The soldiers didn't exactly seem interested in making things easy for their captives that way.
Resisting the urge to clutch at her collar, she looked to the Hummer with Rapunzel and continued by saying, "This is the Hummer, yes. It's going to help us get to our destination faster, just like the buses during the field trip." And hopefully a lot faster than the buses. At the moment, Tsubaki didn't see a way out of doing what the soldiers wanted--for all she knew, they were monitoring hers and Rapunzel's progress. There weren't a lot of options but to make use of the military-grade vehicle and take it to where they needed to go, which was... somewhere in this unknown desert area they'd been dropped off in. If this was in the same universe as the hospital, Tsubaki couldn't even say.
Despite her serious misgivings, the reassuring smile she sent Rapunzel's way didn't waver. She had to keep it together. With her background, Rapunzel was also depending on her in ways someone familiar with the technology (and maybe other parts of this world) wouldn't have to.
"Don't worry, I can do the driving. Hopefully all that's left will be the navigating--that's what the GPS is for. It'll be inside."
Or so she... yeah, hoped. There was a lot of hoping with this mission.
Popping open the driver's side door, Tsubaki at once noticed the case sitting on the passenger seat and the keys dangling from the ignition. Okay, so they could drive. And the other thing had to be... the sensitive information they were supposed to be transporting. While she drove, maybe Rapunzel would have to hold it? Everything about this particular mission revolved around it--their safety and the prisoners' safety, too. Leaning across the seats, she opened the passenger door and gestured Rapunzel around.
"Will you be okay fitting your hair inside?"
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She hauled her hair around to the other side of the Hummer. The seat was a little high up to climb into with just a step, apparently, and pulling herself up would be awkward with the sheer volume of hair she had on her hands. That didn't stop the girl who was used to life in high places, however. She eyed the top section of the passenger seat, squared it up, and with practiced ease, Rapunzel slung the end of her hair at it. As expected, it looped itself around for a secure hold. With a quick pull on the hair-turned-rope, Rapunzel hauled herself herself up into the seat, lifted the silver case onto the floor at her feet, then quickly un-looped her hair and dumped the majority of it behind her in the back seat.
Rapunzel knew she probably could have just tossed her hair up over the seat and into the back to start, but hey: who ever said she couldn't be a little showy if it wasn't hurting anyone? She gave herself a little self-satisfied grin at that.
"Yeah, I think there's room," she said with a laugh, brushing hair out of her face and straightening her hat. With that, she went back to the case, pulling it up into lap. "So would this be what those 'discs' we're supposed to deliver are in, then?" she asked, eyeing the latches on the front of the case.
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But there wasn't much choice. At least her legs were long enough that she could reach the pedals without fear of the dashboard looming high above her head. Still, she felt like a little girl in a very big car.
As she slid behind the wheel, something long and golden lashed around the headrest next to her. Was that--? Oh, it was. "Wow, your hair really is unique, isn't it?" she said, watching with some curiosity as Rapunzel managed to pull herself up on it without it seemingly putting her in pain or breaking under her body weight.
And there was a lot of hair, to be sure.
As for the briefcase... Tsubaki couldn't help staring at it, too. "I think so. It sounds like sensitive information." The military's information, the hospital's information. And they were supposed to bypass their enemies' efforts and deliver it to another branch of the military. How likely was it that the information was about the prisoners'?
More so, how likely was it that it'd be used against them some day?
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Rapunzel fiddled with the latches on the case, trying to figure out out they were supposed to work. "How would you get information on a disc anyway? Wouldn't it get awkward to write in circles like that?" she wondered aloud, startling herself when she got a sharp click from the latches. "Oh! There we go..."
She lifted the top of the case open to reveal a few small stacks of thin, shiny discs in clear, square containers. There were five total, though the file hadn't specified how many they were supposed to have. To her confusion, though, nothing was written on any of them. They just had empty, reflective surfaces. Rapunzel made a face.
"Hey, these are just blank!" she said, showing Tsubaki. Had they been tricked? What was the deal here?
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Despite herself, she was particularly curious about what they were transporting; she followed Rapunzel with her eyes as the other girl lifted the lid. Was it all right to open the case? It wasn't locked, obviously. But tampering with anything to do with the military's "information" would likely constitute a failure to follow the mission rules. Right? How could they not be curious, though? The soldiers were putting the very information they wanted into their hands-and forcing them into a dangerous delivery without telling them a single thing.
Before she could say anything else, however, Rapunzel expression became quizzical. She blinked when Rapunzel turned the brief case around so that Tsubaki could see for herself. Blank?
Oh… Those were computer discs, all right.
"Yes, they look blank, but-I think those are pretty standard for carrying information. Um, they must have info. on them, but you need to put them in a special device to know what it is. The machine reads them.”
Which begged another question: were they just regular old computer discs?
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Besides, she ended up for more distressed about their discs being empty of information than any sounds the hummer was making (Is that why the thing is called a "hummer"? she thought as an aside). At least, until Tsubaki explained them (sort of). Rapunzel was still confused. So there wasn't anything on them, but there was? How could a machine read something that wasn't there?
"What does it even read? I can't see anything," she mused aloud, opening one of the containers and lifting the disc up to see in the moonlight. Maybe she was missing something here? She squinted at it, turning it and watching the rainbowed reflections shift around the centre.
Whatever, she thought, putting the thing back after a moment. "If you say it's okay, I guess it's okay," she said, giving Tsubaki a still-confused but sincere look. "Maybe we should just get going, then. We don't want to waste much time tonight, right?"
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Being able to understand why the military was using storage discs didn't help in explaining what was on them, though. Tsubaki could relate to Rapunzel's curiosity, perhaps a little too well. If only they could just pop open the briefcase locks and read whatever the military wanted to pass on! But without a handy computer around (and probably some kind of password or security clearance or something), the chances of being able to get to the bottom of the mission while they sat here was slim to none.
"That's my best guess," she went on, nodding, an attempt to put Rapunzel more at ease with the unfamiliar technology. She nodded again, more strongly, at the girl's mention of the time.
We'll have to think as we go.
She reached back for her seatbelt and latched it over her chest before looking to Rapunzel. "You should put yours on, too. This could get bumpy and it'll help keep you safe." If they needed to bail quickly, there was the chain scythe at her side; she could slice through them if need be. Then there was the matter of being so poorly prepared for the environment... There was hardly anything in the vehicle besides the briefcase and what she guessed was the GPS device sitting on the dashboard, so she did the only thing she could and flipped on the heat.
And finally, the direction of travel.
The GPS was a small, handheld thing that made it easy to carry, and as she picked it up, she searched for the right button to activate it. It seemed simple enough. Relatively speaking.
"Okay, this is the GPS... It should tell us where this checkpoint is." After one last look at Rapunzel, she steeled herself and put the Hummer in gear. "Let's go."
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So, she nodded when the other girl did, and looked over her shoulder to find a thick strip of fabric with a buckle on it, the same as what Tsubaki had on her side. Huh, that was a smart idea, she thought. These vehicles could move fast sometimes, judging from the Doyleton buses. She knew from watching Eugene that coming to a sudden, violent stop without any protection was not fun, either. How come the buses didn't have these? She had to wonder how much General Aguilar valued their well-being if he wouldn't even do that much for them on trips.
"Right, thanks," she said, pulling the strip over her chest and snapping the buckle into place, copying Tsubaki's previous motion. She kept an eye on the little device in the other girl's hand as she did so. A little picture lit up on the thing after Tsubaki pressed a certain button, and Rapunzel's gaze lit up with it. "Ohhh, neat. So it's like a little magic map... That's pretty handy!" She leaned over a little to get a better look at it, wondering how it (heck, how everything) worked.
She nodded after that, giving Tsubaki a nervous, but determined smile. "Yeah, let's. I'm as ready to go as I'll ever be for something like this."
And with their course set in the GPS, the girls set off into the desert. Rapunzel was a little loathe to admit it, but she was the tiniest bit excited. She was still more afraid than anything else, but as with Doyleton, the opportunity to see new landscapes and people was still something Rapunzel could only have dreamed about in her tower. Deserts were something she had only ever read about; would there be camels here? Jack rabbits? Lizards? Maybe they would find one of Pascal's distant cousins here. She almost laughed to herself at the thought.
A little ways into the journey, when all the basics of the start of the journey seemed out of the way, Rapunzel felt it an appropriate time to bring up the last big thing she needed to tell Tsubaki. "Soooo." Rapunzel twiddled her fingers in her lap, glancing sideways at Tsubaki. "There's probably one more thing you should know about my hair. If we're going to be roommates, I mean. Er, well, and partners too." She paused, putting a hand to her chin. "I guess friends, really. That pretty much covers everything, right?" she said with a smile.
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Tsubaki understood how the map system worked well enough like she did with computers, but she still kept glancing at the GPS where she'd propped it up on the console, as if afraid it was going to jump up and run away at any second. Partly it was the desire to ensure she didn't stray off course, since she wasn't keen on turning on the headlights to help guide them unless she absolutely had to. But another part was, well...
She'd failed plenty of Shibusen missions in the past, and the risks as well as the consequences were dire in their own right. This kind of mission, however... The stakes were so much higher. And risks so much more vague.
Her ears were trained on the engine and the sounds of tires crunching over grit when Rapunzel spoke again, and the sound of the other girl's voice jarred her a little, even if her only reaction was to turn her head in Rapunzel's direction with a glance to show she was ready and listening. Silly reaction. Of course there was going to be talking during the trip. There were far more nerves involved in this venture than Tsubaki's was comfortable with, and sharing in conversation would help burn them off for both of them. Besides, they were virtually strangers.
Still, the darkness out here was different than it was back at the Institute. They both concealed dangerous things, but the desert night felt like a gaping silence, swallowing everything into itself, conversation included. It was a cold feeling, at least until Rapunzel punctured it.
Roommates, partners, friends. At the very least, they had that to help them, didn't they?
She smiled, too, a flash of certitude in the dim lighting. "Right. I don't see why we won't be very good friends. If it's something you don't really want to share right away, that's fine, too."
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"Well, friends or not, it's something I should tell you about, 'cause it's proooobably gonna come in handy if anything bad happens," Rapunzel answered with an awkward laugh.
And speak of the devil: something bad happened right then and there.
A far-off noise that sounded like a small explosion. Then
KA-PANG
Rapunzel jumped with an undignified yelp, her whole body tense. Something had just hit the side of the hummer, something loud and dangerous-sounding. Rapunzel's head whipped around to the right, where the sound had come from. In the moonlit distance, she could see the vague shapes of people keeping low atop a rock formation. Were they even people, or was she seeing things? It was too dark and too far away to tell.
"What was that?!" Rapunzel asked with a nervous squeak in her voice. "Is someone attacking us?"
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Tsubaki still had one eye on the road and one on the other girl when the shot came, an audible impact against the Hummer's shell. Gunfire!
"Get down!" Instinctively, she jerked the wheel, making the vehicle swerve a little before she could obey her own order and even the vehicle out. If someone wanted in, bulletproof glass could only do so much to protect them, and she kept her center of mass hunched out of sight of the windows, peeking up just enough to scan the direction the shot had come from and at the same time ensure she didn't drive them into something.
"That's gunfire. Rebels?"
"Rebels" had been the ones who'd made hand delivering information necessary, right? How long had they known the two of them were out here?
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"Gunfire?" She struggled to picture what Tsubaki was talking about. Rapunzel swore she had read about things called "guns" in passing (the word "flintlock" was coming to mind in association, whatever that meant), but nothing that ever described them in detail. All she knew was that they were dangerous, and now she could clearly see why.
She yelped again and held on to the seat as the vehicle swerved sharply. She could hear more gunfire whizzing past behind them, some bullets making loud "paf" noises in the sand. Were some of the people trying to attack their wheels, get them to stop?
Rapunzel wanted to ask who the rebels were, but now didn't seem like the time. "How fast can this thing go?!" There, that sounded like a much more urgent question. She tensed as a pair of bullets hit them in succession, one on the shell near the bottom, and one just glancing off the side of her window.
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The attackers clearly had a lock on the vehicle. How many of them were out there!? She kept glimpsing figures moving on the rock outcroppings, disappearing amongst the rocks only to reappear somewhere else. They blurred into the landscape almost as well as the shadows, and from a distance she couldn't tell if she was seeing the same person twice or a new person each time. Counting was pointless. So was the idea that they could get out of this peacefully.
Because of the collars, they couldn't signal to anybody that they meant no harm. The collars... and also because of the container Rapunzel had. If this was about the delivery, and it doubtlessly had to be, then the two of them were in an impossible spot since they were dressed in the military uniform, and they were driving a military vehicle, and they were moving the military's information. It would look bad to anyone who was trying to stop the military of other Landel's personnel.
On the other hand, if the people currently raining bullets down on the Hummer were aware that there weren't soldiers inside, they weren't doing a lot to soften their blows. Worst case, Tsubaki couldn't get the Hummer under control the next time it lost what little traction it had and they rolled. Best case, a tire blew and they were brought to a stop...
She didn't want to finish that thought. She didn't have a good feeling about what would end up happening to her and Rapunzel if the armed men caught them.
Tsubaki didn't scream, but both her face and the fingers clenched tight around the steering wheel were white. Nonetheless, battle-ready calmness settled over her, steeling her for what lay ahead. Their best option was to keep going and hit the flatland, where there'd be no option for sniping. "Hold on!" she warned. "We have to get out of range!" If the Hummer was like any other high performance vehicle, then it could go a lot faster.
She slammed her foot down on the gas pedal.
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