Ch. 5 The Legs, The Storage, and the Smoke Show

Orion and Zephyr scouted the city border for an hour before deciding it was safe to enter. If the TO were looking for them, then they hadn't caught on that they'd be returning.

"What do you even need at your school?" Zephyr asked, walking slowly alongside Orion. His face felt tingly as the gas mask Orion had gave him had now turned into a full mask, projecting different facial features so the two couldn't be recognized.

"My most special creation, without it we'll never find Jack... And the nexus thing.

Zephyr nodded, looking at the huge building that was Thorne Academy.

'Won't be the first time ditching class...' Orion thought to himself as the masks grew even more, enveloping their bodies and projecting school uniforms. 

To the naked eye, these were foolproof, but Orion knew there was one person in the school who would see through it.

"Orion? I see you have the time to talk to graduate students, but not enough to attend my class?" Professor Sterling said, glaring at the two.

"Ah Professor, I wanted to attend Advanced Quantum Mechanics, but I was just so... So sad from Jack's death I-" Orion choked up, looking away from Sterling as the older man's features softened.

"Ah... Yes I see, but you need to be returning to class soon, would hate to see you fall behind even more... And I'm sorry about Jack kid," Professor Sterling patted Orion's shoulder, walking past the two.

Immediately Orion stopped his fake crying, continuing on into the school building.

"So, is it an advanced locator, maybe some cool teleporter device?" Zephyr asked as they neared Orion locker.

"Nope, it's her," He said, pointing at Ash as she stood two lockers down from his, talking to a guy.

"Huh... Didn't take you for a romantic," Zephyr said with a smirk as Orion walked over, dropping the projection. 

"Leave," He said to the guy, pulling Ash by the wrist.

"Orion what the hell? He was cute," She complained, smiling as she allowed herself to be led away, followed behind by Zephyr.

"Who's this?" Ash asked, smiling as she leaned against the wall and looked at Zephyr. She looked Orion up and down as Zephyr eyed her as well.

"God… She's beautiful," The man whispered, earning an eye roll from Orion.

"Ignore him, Ash remember when I made your legs and Jack installed them for you?"

Ash nodded, standing up straight as she realized this wasn't what she originally thought.

"Sure I do, best day of my life… Why do you ask?"

"Welp, I'm sure you don't remember but I got in trouble for making high-tech prosthetics without a permit, so I was put on a probation… They tried to find my equipment but I hid it all."

Ash's eyes narrowed as she realized what Orion was saying.

"My legs?" She said incredulously as Orion nodded.

"I did some last-minute tinkering and made storage capsules in the joints of your legs, they have all of my tools and blueprints for my projects."

Ash scoffed, looking at Orion angrily. "So... What? You didn't think to mention I had contraband in my legs? Hell did you even give them as a gift or was it just to store your precious ideas?"

Ash seemed genuinely hurt, though Orion wasn't able to discern why.

"I understand hormones are high right now Ash, but it's time to focus up. Lay down so I can grab my things and then we'll leave."

Ash smacked Orion's outstretched hand away. "Leave where?" She asked, her tone curious but still holding the hurt she had expressed.

"Orion, we should hurry, if I know the TO, they marked your location the second you dropped the projection," Zephyr said, tapping his foot against the marble floors, looking around with increasing paranoia.

"Ash Fall, 001278," Orion said, and compartments opened up in Ash's legs.

She blushed, surprised at the sudden sight as Orion grabbed several small silver cubes.

"That's all of it," He said with a smirk, closing the compartments as he pressed on one cube.

"Store," He said simply, and all the cubes flowed into the slightly larger one, disappearing from sight.

"Huh… I see why they say Technomancy is a kind of magic huh?" Zephyr said before his smile dropped.

"Crap…" He muttered, a long blue knife appearing in his hand.

"What is this all about Orion!" Ash yelled angrily, getting up in the boys face.

"Now Orion, we need to leave!" Zephyr yelled, grabbing his wrist and yanking him out the empty classroom.

"No!" Ash yelled, grabbing his other wrist and stopping him firmly. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

"Found you boy," Andrews, standing tall in front of Zephyr, said as he pulled out a gun.

The students began to mutter silently amongst themselves, seeing the scene before them.

"Put that gun away," A voice said behind Andrews. Bereau pushed him aside, his left arm missing and replaced with a mechanical one.

"See this?" He asked, looking at Zephyr with pure rage.

"Yep, want another one to match?" The man said, muttering a few words as the silver knife glowed.

"Later," The adventurer said as he and Orion vanished.

Outside of Thorne academy, they reappeared. "Time to go Orion, I'm not sure how we're gonna find Jack, but we need to get someplace where we're not being hunted first…"

"Jack?" Ash's voice cut in. She was still holding Orion's wrist, so she'd been teleported with the two.

"Fuck…" Zephyr muttered under his breath.

"Let's go, we'll explain on the way," Orion said, yanking his wrist back as he and Zephyr ran off the campus, Ash following closely behind.

"She should probably stay buddy," Zephyr said as he lengthened his strides, hearing the sounds of Holo-Copters behind them.

"The agents saw her face, plus she'll be pretty useful…" Orion said as he turned, running backwards now.

"Inertia Mode," He said, smiling as the lights on the sides of Ash's legs lit up a silver color.

Ash burst forward, grabbing both Zephyr and Orion and holding them at her side as she burst through the city at hyper speeds, crossing the city border within a minute.

"Alright… I'll admit, that's useful," Zephyr said with a smirk as they continued.

"We'll find a place to rest once we're out of Aetheropolis…" Zephyr said, leading the two through the neighboring city of Etheridge, Verdelight

***

As this was going on, Orion's father sat in a room with one door and a one-way mirror, his face bloodied and bruised as two agents were on either side of him.

"We told you Howard," One agent growled in his ear, punching Howard Jenson right in his large gut. "To get rid of all the clones. Why is there a technomancer out and about? And just how did you hide him so well?"

Howard spit in the agent's face. "I raised that boy for 4 years before you told me to exterminate him, you underestimated the power of fatherly love…" Howard braced himself for another punch, but it never came.

"Well Howard," A man said as the door opened. The older gentleman from the cafe, Beraeu and Andrews's boss. "It's a good thing you spared him… Since we'll need him to find The Nexus for us."

Howard widened his eyes. "Seriously? You authorized that mission for the academy and sent my son to his death, now you'll do the same to Orion!"

Howard bit down on his tongue, his eyes flashing orange as the cuffs evaporated into nothingness, allowing him to jump at the man at the door.

"Please Howard, no need for things to get violent. After all… We're family, right brother?"

Howard flew across the room, choking against the wall as no one touched him. "Now... Where'd you hide that little tracker we had in all of our... Creations."