1:3:7 Inspection (Part 1)

Enamoured. Destiny watched as Curve practiced, both of them partially intentionally, partially unintentionally ignoring the beeping of the ships communicators. She couldn’t take her eyes off of her; Curve’s movements were fluid, as though she were locked in an aggressive dance with an invisible partner whom Destiny simultaneously envied and pitied. Out of annoyance more than anything else, Destiny placed her hand in the wall and interfaced with her ship.
“The boys (and I use that term loosely) are coming back. Lore and Char must be doing their own thing.” Destiny sighed.
Curve joined her on the bed. “Do we have to? I wouldn’t mind a little more ‘training time’; It’s been so nice to let my hair down for once.”
“Oh yeah? You enjoying me watch you practice?” Destiny smiled. Curve nodded. “Go on then, I’ve locked the docking ramp down and they’re about five minutes away. I say we’ve got another ten minutes at least so practice on.”
Curve hadn’t even realised that she had Destiny’s hand in hers. She pulled away, smiling, before returning to her dance.
Destiny couldn’t help but feel proud of her student. She leant back over to the panel, selected a soft soundtrack and sat watching Curve.
Almost exactly ten minutes later, three extremely annoyed clones managed to brute force their way through The Destiny’s outer defences and nearly break through the door to Destiny’s room.
“Destiny! Destiny! You better be dying in there!” Ace’s fist dented the door.
“I don’t think she can die…” Magpie pointed out.
“Whatever? Look, Destiny, Lore needs us to infiltrate a UEP base so come on.”
Destiny looked at an annoyed Curve. “We’ll be out in ten.”
“That better be seconds.” Ace’s scowl could be felt through the door. “Actually, get yourselves ready for the mission first.” They huffed away.

Destiny finished downloading the patterns for her UEP uniform. She had wanted to wear Lore’s old inquisitor armour but Curve was able to talk her down to a Protectorate Commander. A fresh layer of human skin later and Destiny couldn’t take her eyes off of her reflection in the mirror. She was stuck somewhere between admiration and detachment.
“Which do you prefer?” Destiny looked at Curve’s reflection in the mirror.
“You look a little healthier with the skin but you’re not you.” Curve spoke honestly. Destiny flitted between her natural silver and her new, barely human and rather pale skin. “Bit vampiric but it works.”
“Do you think I should tan it a tad?” Destiny turned on the light above her, her skin reflected some of the light. “I’m nearly whiter than Lore.” A wave of pigmentation ran from her forehead to her toes as if her whole body had blushed at once. She was still reflective but nowhere near as much as before. “I’ve gone for Lore if they were a little less averse to the sun… And if they hadn’t been brought up in England.” She looked at her new skin, twirling in the mirror. She straightened her uniform and her smile, now sporting a serious straight face. Both she and Curve couldn’t hold it.
“That’s a lot better.” Curve smiled. “I best make sure I’m ready.” Curve bent down and retrieved her armour from the foot of the bed. She slapped her chest plate on and thanked Tolan or whoever came up with the idea for fitting magnets into the armour plating. It took her a matter of moments to almost fully equip her gear. “Ready?”
“I suppose we best go.” Destiny’s eyes flickered to match her human exterior before waving her hand at the door to unlock and open it. Behind the door was one, very annoyed, Ace.
“Seriously?” They allowed Destiny to pass but pulled Curve from the room. Ace slammed their arm into the space where the door would have been to slam it. “Come on!” They tried to maintain their angry demeanour but even they couldn’t deny the stupidity of their actions.
Curve shook her head as she and Destiny led the way to the cargo hold. Curve’s brothers were sat around the edges of the room waiting for her.
“Did they walk in on you two…” Magpie blushed so hard that he was scared his armour would change colour too. His giggling cut his question short but imparted the same information.
“Are you a teenage girl?” Curve gave him a funny look before sitting on the bench next to him.
“Says the one who took ten minutes to get ready. You’re wearing snap on armour.” Magpie shook his head.
“If you two would kindly shut it, Ace wants to start.” Midpoint’s sudden snap stunned everyone.
Ace was taken aback. “Thank you…” They tapped at their wrist. A holographic model of The Protectorate refinery filled the centre of the cargo bay. “Lore and Char will be approaching on foot from below but before they can do anything, we’ve got to clear out any civilians.” A smile grew on Magpie’s face. “No Mags. We’ll be going in quiet and no one will be getting hurt.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything about that… I was just going to point out that you’re going to have to let Destiny take charge.”
The others laughed. Ace didn’t. Destiny made sure to stand right next to Ace before starting. “You lot better change your armour too. Protectorate wear black and red not grey and blue.”
“Any particular shade?” Magpie held up his wrist with a colour wheel of various reds.
“Red one thirty eight and black triple zero.” Destiny moved over to the fabricator. “And throw these on your shoulders.” She handed each of them a small metal patch. It featured a four point star. “Just so we’re on the same page, you’re maintenance and inspection officers.”
“They give their inspectors armour?” Curve attached the patch to her shoulder.
“Not usually but, for missions like this, they won’t question it. Just as long as you keep your helmets off and wear respirators.” The clones looked offended. “Your armour will pass as theirs but the helmets look nothing like Protectorate standard issue.”
“Right then one last time: We go in, Destiny does the talking, we get any officers out, we wait for Lore then we’re gone.” Ace reiterated.
“You’re not in charge.” Magpie beamed. “So, Destiny, what’s the plan?”
“I guess what they said, just pretend I said it first.” She shrugged. “Oh.” She walked over to Ace and removed their insignia. She swapped it for Curve’s. “Curve’s my number one.”
“I’m sorry, what? First I get demoted to number two, now I’m number three?” Ace was taking full offence.
Destiny let them ramble for a moment before beginning. “I want Curve by my side helping me with the admin side of things while you lead the evacuation efforts. Curve’s just my arm candy, you’re in charge of Mid and Mags.” That brightened their face.
“Fair enough.”
“While I’m talking with whoever’s in charge, I want you down that mineshaft. Two of you to evacuate and cover while one of you helps Lore and Char through into the shaft. Or whatever works for you. Use your own discretion.” Ace, Midpoint and Magpie nodded in agreement. “Do whatever you can and use whatever they’ve got down there to connect those tunnels. Lore will have most likely decided to go around the Hydroxine so, if they need it, dig on the left.” Destiny walked through the hologram. “We all ready?”
“Not just yet.” Curve picked up a spare respirator and handed it to a confused Destiny.
“What’s this for?”
“Blending in… Humans can’t breathe in the smog.” She activated her own respirator and stood at Destiny’s side.
“And that’s why she’s number one.” Destiny chuckled knocking a reddening Ace with her elbow. “Let’s get going then.”

Compared to how long it took them to get ready, the journey to the refinery hadn’t taken that long. They left just in time to catch a tram from the port to the settlement’s outskirts meaning that they only really had half a kilometre or so to walk. They were fully prepared to walk that distance when it hit them: how would they explain arriving on foot and not by ship? They came to a stop and scanned the area; they were on the edge of the inhabited settlement with very little ahead but empty buildings being slowly eaten by the smog.
“That way.” Ace pointed to an apparently abandoned vehicle rental and taxi hub.
Destiny led the way. She halted the party just before they reached the door. “Sidearms ready. Set to stun.” She spoke in a hushed tone.
Curve and the others obeyed. Weapons drawn, Destiny allowed the clones to continue. Her prior order had set them on edge but Destiny walked through the shop’s door calmly and confidently. She closed it behind her. She had an idea of what to expect but when she turned around, two barrels; one pointed at her gut, one pointed at her head.
“You better keep walking.” His voice was gruff. “I ain’t taking to serving no Protectorate scum like you. Ministry rights.”
Destiny had intentionally stopped the clones from entering. They hadn’t yet seen the Rexian. Two automatic rifles, one on his hip and one sighted, both comfortable in his hands. “Right… First off, we aren’t Protectorate, we just kind of… Stole their look. We’re trying to break in to their base. We need a car.”
“You need to piss off. Last warning.” He ensured Destiny knew he had readied his weapons.
“No.” She barely got to savour her defiance before a series of bullets tore through her. The clones barged their way in, levelling their pistols on the Rexian. “We need a car.” She spoke calmly, the bullets apparently having no effect.
The Rexian shopkeep’s guns fell to the floor, as did his jaw. He found his tongue tied in knots around his stomach. His knees grew weak. Destiny ordered her clones to lower their weapons. They waited until he found himself ready. “how…” he whimpered.
“Don’t mind that. Please may we rent one of your cars or are you no longer trading?” Destiny acting like nothing had happened concerned the shop owner but eventually, he began to play along. “We have plenty of units.”
“What…What sort of vehicle were you looking for?” He turned and grabbed a tablet from his desk.
“Ideally, something official looking, enough seats for all of us, two in front, the rest in the back.” As Destiny described what she wanted, the Rexian began scrolling through his inventory.
“How about this?” He showed her a car reminiscent of a London taxi minus the wheels and signage.
“Perfect.” She smiled before holding out her arm. “Twenty thousand units should more than suffice.” The clones and the Rexian shared the same expression. “Glad we’re on the same page.” Destiny smiled.
He tried to counter that she was paying significantly more than the four hundred he was about to ask for but again, found himself unable to speak. He watched in awe as Destiny tapped at a holographic display above her arm, transferring the ‘agreed upon’ amount of units from an anonymous account to his.
“Will we need keys or is it more of a code thing?” She had been and remained the dictionary definition of nonchalant throughout the interaction.
Without saying a word, the Rexian walked behind his desk and unlocked a lockbox. There used to be more in there but only a couple of the hooks were warmed by keys. He took one of the larger keys and its duplicate.
“Something tells me I won’t be getting my car back.” He handed Destiny both sets. “I’m also guessing that I never saw you either?”
Destiny nodded. “Pleasure doing business.”
“I’ll bring it round front.” He vanished through a beaded door.
“Where did you get twenty thousand units?” Curve turned Destiny to face her and her siblings.
“I didn’t.”
“So what did you pay him with?” Ace began to fidget with their collar. Destiny took a moment to let them stew. “You have paid him?”
She couldn’t contain her smile as she watched them writhe guiltily. “I paid him… With Protectorate funds. Inquisitors never lose access to their bank accounts so I used Lore’s old bank account to pay.”
“Surely they can trace that though? Won’t they know Lore’s here now?” Midpoint had a point.
“Ah… I’m sure it’ll be alright. The Protectorate already have a base here, why would they send more people when they could just use the staff they already have?” Destiny shrugged. “Plus, I’ve only just done it. We’ll be gone before they can send anyone else.”
The clones all sighed in unison. “Two words. Time Travel.” Magpie made sure he was as patronising as possible to get the point across. The other clones just stood with their heads in their hands. Unexpectedly, Destiny began to blush in embarrassment. That colour didn’t last long as fear claimed it and her ‘human’ skin quickly closer resembled her natural silver.
Curve rested her hand on Destiny’s shoulder. “Car’s waiting out front sir.” The gentle shock back to reality was just what she needed.
The car looked a lot nicer than its surroundings. For its apparent age, it didn’t look nearly as beaten up as they had been expecting; it hovered slightly lower to the ground than most modern models but only an AI or vehicle expert would likely notice that if it hadn’t been pointed out. Destiny handed the keys to Midpoint. “You’ll be the driver, Magpie will navigate. Ace, you’re with me and Curve in the back.” The clones nodded. Ace opened the door for Destiny and Curve before they themselves got in. Magpie and Midpoint settled into the front.
“The refinery entrance should be at the end of this road, on the left.” Destiny called through.
“Everyone buckled in?” Magpie returned.
“Just drive.” Destiny was starting to get into character. She had decided she would be playing a no nonsense officer with a bit of a soft spot for her second in command. It was a role she was sure she could keep going, even under pressure. She looked over to Curve. The smile on her face reassured her. She wasn’t quite sure what they were to each other but she was looking forward to finding out.
“Are you sure you want me with you? With what we’ve been working on, I might be better off in the mines.” Curve tapped her gauntlet.
“No, no. I think it’ll be best you stay with me. Protectorate strategy for this sort of thing follows the same logic as a prison: have your armed guards on the outside, prisoners stay on the inside. No one can get in because they have to pass the guards and no-one can get out for the same reason. If I’m right, we’re the ones who are going to need the protection.”
“Then perhaps I had better come with you.” Ace chimed in. Destiny had nearly forgotten they were there.
“No!” She snapped. “We’ll be fine.” Ace backed into their seat.

The rest of the drive passed in silence barring the occasional bump when the car’s gravity generators faltered or the batteries failed and the car stalled. Despite this, they got there. Before reaching the main gates, Magpie got out of the car to give it a quick spot check. He kicked the front stabiliser until the tubing around the unit began to glow like the others before moving to the back.
He mimed lowering the window. Destiny obliged. “Are you ready?” Destiny nodded. “Alright then. Just need to check the other side then we can go. We should thank the gods that there’s one hel of a dirt track before we get there. Should hide some of the damage. Might even make the car look cleaner.”
“Hurry up then.” Destiny closed the window.
Magpie rounded the car, squinted at something, then continued his inspection. He got back in and poked his head into the back. “We might be able to pull this off. Car looks almost right.”
“Hold on then.” Destiny got out, looked for whatever Magpie squinted at, and painted a Protectorate logo over the imperfection. She also removed the licence plates and flipped them over, revealing a plain black painted surface. She reattached them then returned to her seat. She didn’t even talk, just nodding for Midpoint to begin their mission.