Chapter 37: Esther X Jill

Esther yawned as she came back to the office. Though life had been fairly boring lately, the year as a whole had been so great she wasn't in much of a mood to complain. Something about those humiliating losses last year really snapped something in the Rainbow Shirts. Before it was always limited engagements against some redneck compound or the other in the middle of nowhere. No interest, no challenge, no point. Here Esther was always coming up with these great plans that could topple down seriously armed forces, yet the actual day by day operations of the Rainbow Shirts felt little more like babysitting, controlling unruly children in meaningless encounters with enemy forces.

But then Esther went to Dakota, and what did she find but highly drawn battles lines? Former soldiers of the old world were digging trenches, stockpiling supplies, and expecting a full-on siege. So a full-on siege was what Esther gave them. Taking careful stock of the generally useless augments possessed by individual members of the Rainbow Shirts, Esther sent out individuals as pinpricks, gradually terrorizing the enemy into submission. Esther took particular glee in personally surveying the captured prisoners of war, many of whom sincerely believed they were at war with literal ghosts.

Esther had felt a powerful sense of ecstasy as each wall came down and each new retreat was forced. Esther also greatly enjoyed interacting with the New American Indian Movement, who had no illusions about the redeemability of their opponents and were happy to assist the Rainbow Shirts in any way they could. Esther appreciated how the New American Indian Movement were fighting for their home, for the sake of material conditions, taking what they did and what advice Esther had to offer very seriously. But as far as her own people went, even in the face of success the Rainbow Shirts would not behave like proper soldiers. Esther had to use gimmicky plans to get the job done in part because she knew they could not be trusted to do boring legwork. They had to be entertained like imbeciles.

Still, these were the tools Esther had, and Esther had always been a master of making do with whatever resources were on hand. This attitude had served Esther well throughout the following campaigns. Esther led campaigns in the plains, the deserts, the swamps, the mountains...and with Oregon she was poised to strike in yet a new form of terrain- the forest. But then Homer had to go and call the whole thing off, saying something about how they were being manipulated somehow.

Whether they were being manipulated or not Esther didn't particularly care. But with so much excitement lately Esther figured she could take a break. Still, she was caught off guard by just how little there was to do. Working out at the gymnasium just didn't hold the same appeal for Esther anymore, having done so much actual field work. It was also getting increasingly difficult for Esther to find new training partners. Most of them were frightened by her. None of them had her endurance, even though Esther would turn off her augments as a handicap. Even augmented persons couldn't keep up with Esther.

The only exception to this rule was Joel, who Esther had become increasingly fond of lately. Joel was short, not especially athletic, and had a somewhat nasally tone of voice. But he was up for just about anything. Joel would endure a training session of squash that by all logical rights should have killed him, yet no matter how many times he collapsed from sheer exhaustion, Joel would just get right back up and come at it again. Esther had gotten to the point that she tried to avoid inviting Joel to physical training sessions. She was worried he would seriously hurt himself trying to keep up with her. Still, Joel would plainly express his desire for a physical workout every so often if they went too long without one. And Esther always had to force him to stop. Joel was completely unwilling to admit when he'd had enough.

Such thoughts swirled around Esther's mind in a distracted gaze as she took the stairs to her office on the twenty-third floor. Basic exertion, as usual. Esther hated elevators, mainly due to the tactical disadvantage they represented. But before even stepping into her office, Esther had immediately realized that something was wrong. Unfortunately this problem had to be solved without attracting attention. So even though it put Esther in a weakened position, she was very careful to close the door before turning on the lights and rushing her unwelcome visitor, immediately pinning her to the ground.

"You idiot!" Esther hissed. "How did you even get in here!"

Jill was squirming on the ground. Esther's treasured idiot baby sister. In Esther's office. In the headquarters of the literal army that was currently in the process of hunting her down.

"I can explain," said Jill, choking. "But I need to breathe."

Esther very took her forearm off of Jill's neck, allowing her to stand up. Esther was nonetheless furious and could not disguise her sheer contempt.

"I know this looks bad," said Jill.

"Bad doesn't begin to cover it," said Esther snorting through her nose, letting go of Jill and standing up. "Do you have any idea what would happen if they found you here?"

"It's important," said Jill, getting down to her knees, hands up in a pleading notion. "You have to help the people in Oregon. I'm begging you."

Esther stared at Jill for a moment, having difficulty processing the nature of the request. This was the first time in ages Jill had made any kind of reference to Esther's work. Of course, given her presence in Esther's office, that she knew about it was hardly a surprise.

"What do you mean help them?" asked Esther. "Aren't they the bad guys?"

"Not all of them," said Jill, nervously hiccuping. "Some of them are good people. I want you to help the good ones."

"The good ones being?"

"The ones in the prison riot," said Jill, tears starting to form in her eyes. "The ones who fought back against the ruling government. I told them you'd help. The same way you helped the other ones."

"I'm sorry, um," said Esther, tapping her fingers on the wall, facing away from Jill, blinking her eyes. "You think we're on the same side?"

"Of course we are!" said Jill. "Why did you think I was running all over the country? I was leading you to the bad guys."

Esther just stood there a moment, taking in the idea. She hadn't really put much thought into why the Rainbow Shirts were chasing her sister all over the country. To Esther, it was just an excuse for combat. And maybe on an ancillary level, a chance to keep Jill out of trouble in case they ever actually caught her.

"Wait," said Jill. "You actually believed it? That I was a fascist?"

"Well," said Esther nervously, biting her lip. "It's not really that important is it?"

"How could you!" screamed Jill. "Why didn't you say something to me! I would have listened! I would have told you everything! What was really going on! My own sister! My own sister I thought I was a monster!"

Jill was bawling. Esther was increasingly concerned that somebody might hear her. There was no good way to resolve this situation if they were caught.

"Shut up!" said Esther. "I didn't think you were a monster OK! Just calm down!"

"But," said Jill sniffling. "You're in the Social Justice Army. I thought you were fighting for social justice."

"It's a long story," said Esther, suddenly very concerned about getting Jill out of the building. "And we can talk about it later."

"No," said Jill, shaking her head violently. "You always gave me that excuse. Even during the Great Blackout, when everything was out of control. You always just said, you can explain it later. Well I don't want to talk about it later. I want to talk about it now. Why are you in the Social Justice Army? Why aren't we allowed to talk about it? Why didn't you let me join too?"

"It was for your own safety," said Esther, trying to keep her voice down.

"Hey, I'm not a snotty little kid anymore!" yelled Jill, suddenly gaining enough confidence to advance on Esther, standing up and pointing her finger in Esther's face. "And I wasn't back then either! I'm sick of this! The world's falling down all around us, and I thought you cared, but you didn't! And I'm not leaving here until you explain to me why I'm not allowed to see you anymore!"

The door opened. Esther groaned. The situation was as she feared. Before the interloper could see what was going on inside Esther very quickly and sloppily pinched a critical nerve near his neck with her left hand while giving him a mild concussion with her right hand. Esther would have just as soon gone for a regular concussion but she didn't want to hurt her own hand too much.

"No way of getting out of this one," said Esther, looking at Jill. "You need to hit me as hard as you can."

"What?" Jill said, giving Esther a perplexed look. "No way! I'm not going to hit you!"

"I don't think you understand the situation," said Esther. "We've been discovered. Somebody is going to notice that he's gone sooner or later. And that's assuming you don't scream again like an idiot. I'll need to explain that there was an intruder, and that I couldn't capture her because she beat me up and I was lucky she didn't successfully assassinate me."

"Are you crazy?" asked Jill, straining to avoid making too much noise. "I didn't come here for a fight! I came to turn myself in! I brought evidence! Proof of Jerry Shankar's plans!"

Jill proudly held up a dictaphone. Esther had difficulty reining in her condescension at that moment. Jill's entire thought process was too childish for words, but Esther couldn't risk openly wounding her pride again.

"Nobody cares about whatever you think you've caught Jerry Shankar doing," Esther whispered as harshly as she could. "As far as the Rainbow Shirts are concerned you're public enemy number one. Do you even understand that people doubt Jerry Shankar exists now? You're the mastermind."

"I don't care," said Jill stubbornly. "This is the right thing to do. We need to hash out all of our problems like adults or we're never going to stop...uh...whatever it is that Jerry Shankar's trying to do!"

As quietly as she could Jill sat herself on the ground locking her arms behind her back, grabbing on to the handles of a nearby filing cabinet. Esther recognized the technique Jill was giving, even if Jill herself obviously did not. This was what Jill did as a child whenever she had a tantrum. Esther's options at the time were limited. Esther too was just barely a teenager back then, and she didn't want to hurt her little sister. But times had changed. Like Jill had said, she was a grown up now. One who could take a little punishment.

Esther clenched a fist. Jill was defiant, even going so far as to turn the other cheek. She was not expecting Esther to turn that fist right around, punching herself upside the chin hard enough to let blood loose as Jill looked on in horror.

"What are you doing?" asked Jill. "Stop it!"

"This is for your own good," said Esther, wincing through the pain. The hit was brutal even at reduced pain levels. Of course, Esther dared not to lower the pain too much. This had to be convincing after all. Esther took another swing, giving herself a menacing looking bruise in the right cheek.

"Calm down!" Jill shrieked, forgetting the situation, standing up and rushing up to grab Esther's arms. Esther was ready for this move and gave Jill a backhanded slap.

"Stupid little girl!" Esther sneered, approaching Jill as she lay helpless on the ground. "You think you know what it takes to survive in this world? Do you expect pity? Sentiment? You don't have any idea what you're struggling against! You fight or you die!"

Esther punched into a wall and grabbed an electrical cord. As expected, the effect was menacing. The still crackling cord was warm in Esther's hands as she stretched it across Jill's left ankle. The abrasion was no doubt horrifically painful, but nothing permanently dangerous. Jill endured it through clenched teeth, determined not to make a sound.

"Not painful enough for you huh?" said Esther. "Maybe this will teach you a lesson."

Esther pulled back the cord, and grabbed some more from the wall. Because it had already been breached once, the second time her fists punched through more easily. All the same some more hideous but ultimately superficial wounds appeared on her hands.

"You don't have to do this," whimpered Jill. "We can solve this together."

Esther didn't listen or even make any pretense of listening. She started whipping Jill. tears were flowing from Jill's eyes, even as she struggled to avoid making any loud sounds. Esther knew that mere seconds of this abuse must have felt like agonizing minutes to Jill. The sheer speed with which Esther was abusing Jill was enough to allow them to maintain nasty pointed heating. They were even tearing through Jill's armor, leaving bloody, perforated skin exposed.

But the real important move was more subtle than that. Esther made sure she got sloppy. There were openings in her attacks, obvious patterns that Jill couldn't help but notice. At two minutes, Jill finally lost herself. She dove for Esther left thigh during one of these small breaks, and started wailing on Esther right in the face. In anger and frustration, Jill grabbed a knife off of her belt and left a nasty gash across Esther's left cheek. Immediately afterward, Jill's eyes widened in horror, and she broke down as she forced herself off of Jill.

"Why are you doing this? asked Jill, weeping. "I don't want to hurt you! You don't have to hurt me! We're sisters!"

"I'm...doing...this..." said Esther between strikes, until Jill finally gave up, breaking down completely and sobbing. "Because I love you. Maybe later you'll understand. Maybe not. But right now my goal is to keep you safe and alive. And that's only going to happen if you get out of here now."

They both were immediately keenly aware of rustling outside the door. Esther didn't think they heard any of that. Esther had made a point to keep anyone with hearing augments out of the building whenever she was around.

"Take the emergency exit to the garage and find the only car with manual handles," said Esther, whispering. "Hide in the backseat. "I have a plan to get you out of this."

Jill angrily shook her head no, but at this point even she could hear the deliberation outside the door. They weren't going to try to take her alive. Esther pointed to the emergency exit. It was just a laundry chute that had been repurposed. Not Esther's idea. No realistic situation where it would ever be practical or safe. But then neither Esther nor Jill were living in realistic times.

Tears still in her eyes, Jill mouthed I love you. Esther nodded in reply. Finally, at long last, Jill gave up her hope of reconciliation and alliance with her sister and made good her escape.