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Chapter 18.5 - Introducing Athira

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Despite his near brush with the menu, Shift felt fairly calm.

Usually at this stage, his body would be surging with adrenaline, heart pounding it through his system to keep him on edge. It mildly surprised him, although he suspected it had something to do with the sleeper’s anaesthetic touch... and possibly just maybe a little bit Athira.

But just a little bit, he reminded himself. 

Her slim figure was outlined against the light streaming in from the windows. It made the confident way she held herself stand out rather well. She looked like she could be one of the Elites, though Shift wasn’t entirely sure that was the compliment it was supposed to be.

“Nice work,” said Raph, nodding to Athira. “First surprise mission not even an hour after joining the team.”

Athira’s hands found her hips. “Not like I’ve been doing anything too different the past few years. Just my operations weren’t so obvious.”

“I worry that you’re falling into this Colour role all too easily, Thira,” said Shift, shaking his head in mock-horror. “How are you going to be a good little villain now?”

Athira raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh?”

“Yup,” he said. “Don’t you agree, Raph? I mean, it’s her first day on the job and she’s already held up public transport and saved us all from having to be woken by true love’s kiss.”

Raph laughed, while Athira just rolled her eyes and flicked Shift on the side of the head. “You have no idea what I had to do to get this damned monorail to stop.”

“Didn’t you show them your rune?” asked Raph.

Athira held up the back of her hand. “Gone.”

Raph whistled. “How long did that take?”

“About thirty seconds,” said Athira, dropping her hand. “Without using my colour.”

“Super scrub for runes. We could market that.”

“Can it, Shift.”

“What? Maybe we can just draw the rune on with pen or something.”

That earned him another flick to the head.

“How did you end up like that, anyway?” asked Athira. “Having a race with the sleeper to see who can go the slowest, eh?”

Shift tried to retain his dignity, something made nearly impossible by the fact that he was still sitting on the floor. “I was doing fine until the brakes came on,” he said defensively.

“Using your colour didn’t occur to you?”

Shift sighed. “It wasn’t working. It refused to shift Raph’s colour, and didn’t shift anything when I touched Zoe either now that I think about it.”

Athira looked concerned. “How does it feel now?”

Shift flexed his hand experimentally, trying to gauge his colour. “It’s there, it’s just... slow? It feels like--“

“It’s burned out?” finished Athira. Shift nodded and she gave him an apologetic smile. “I think that might be my fault. Your body isn’t... designed to withstand the amount of colour you had to shift to get me out of Wi... well, the thing before. It probably just needs some time to recover.”

Raph coughed. “Ah, what’s this ‘thing before’ may I ask?”

“Explain later,” said Athira with a glance. “Not here.”

Shift frowned. “But what about when I was in that other thing before, where you accidentally took me?” He waited until he was sure she knew what he was talking about. “I shifted that other thing and it didn’t do anything like this.”

“Because it was in my mindscape,” said Athira. “Not reality. The rules are different there.”

Raph tapped a few keys on his wristlet, bringing up a screen for a second that Shift recognised as the Indigo’s member status profile.

“As far as I can tell, Zoe’s just up ahead, still dealing with passengers,” he said after a second.

Shift picked up on Raph’s hesitance. “What are we doing with the people the sleeper got to?”

Raph sighed and banished the screen back to his wristlet. “I’ve checked, no one back there is awake. They’re all alive, but I can’t wake them up. Same with the guards. I’ve called the Elites and let them know the situation, and they’re sending people over to pick them up at the next station.”

“I’d help if I could, Raph,” said Athira quietly.

“I know, but if you can’t, you can’t,” said Raph. “You okay to stand, Shift? We need to find Zoe and get this monorail to the next stop.”

“I think so,” said Shift.

He started to get to his feet when Athira offered her hand. He accepted the help as she pulled him up, noting with a smile how she kept her grip a few moments longer than necessary on his before finally dropping it.

A curious glance from Raph let Shift know he hadn’t missed the exchange, but he remained silent on the matter.

“Nothing left for us here,” he said instead, almost too casually. Shift could tell Raph was nearly bursting to ask. “Let’s go.”

When Athira turned around to leave the carriage, Raph’s casual gaze locked on Shift and morphed into an expression Shift could only describe as utter confusion. Shift tilted his head, feigning ignorance while Raph jerked a silent thumb at Athira’s retreating form.

Shift’s imagination got away from him as he shrugged. I don’t know what you’re talking about, he said in his head.

He translated Raph’s following accusing stare. Oh you know exactly what I’m talking about, Shift. What was all that about?

Shift once more launched into an exaggerated shrug, this time with raised hands as he followed Athira. Nope, no idea, Raph!

Raph’s evil eye continued, but he stopped flailing his arms about. Whether it was because he realised Shift wasn’t about to tell him anything or because he was afraid of Athira spotting him, Shift wasn’t sure.

Either way, he was left with a barely contained grin as they moved up the monorail.

The uproar of the crowd reached Shift’s ears long before his eyes could make out their individual figures. The sea of bodies seemed endless, too numerous to be just the people who were riding the monorail. For a moment, Shift thought he was about to get mobbed, but listening closer to the tone of the shouts, he realised these people were scared.

Zoe had created a choke-point, placing herself and what Shift assumed to be a monorail guard in one of the doors between carriages. Her own wristlet was alight with her yellow colour to activate it as she talked to someone who looked on the verge of collapse.

“Uh, uh I--I don’t remember, I really don’t!”

“I know, I know it’s hard, but please try to remember?” Zoe asked softly. “For me? I promise we’ll do everything we can, as soon as--“

They came up behind her mid-sentence. Zoe almost leapt off the floor when Raph placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Raph!” said Zoe. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. “Oh, thank god. It’s dead, then?”

“Athira made short work of it,” said Raph. “What’s the situation here?”

Zoe gave a quick glance over the crowd. “I’ve been keeping them up this end and trying to collect information from people about those that the sleeper attacked. I think I’ve got most of them.”

“All right,” said Raph.

He signalled for Athira and Shift to remain where they were and stepped past Zoe, into the crowd of people. Shift lost sight of him among the bodies but sure enough, Raph’s head appeared a moment later above the crowd about a third of the way down the carriage’s length.

“Monorail passengers, your attention please!” said Raph. “This is Raphael, leader of team Indigo! Your attention, please!”

It took a minute, but the noise eventually quietened to the point where Shift could make out Raph’s words with relative clarity. All heads were turned in Raph’s direction as he continued.

“There was an incident regarding a hostile being aboard the monorail but it has since been dealt with. We are not sure who is responsible for such an attack yet, but rest assured it will be our utmost priority to find them and bring them to justice.”

Murmurs broke out among the crowd, some louder than the rest.

“What about my friend? Where is she!”

“And mine!”

“Did you see that thing? What the hell was it?”

Raph silenced the crowd with his hands once more.

“Those attacked are alive, but appear to be asleep and cannot be woken. I’ve contacted the Elites and they have organised transport for the victims from the next stop to the nearest hospital where they will be placed under care until they awaken. If someone you know was attacked and you haven’t done so already, please make your way forward so we can get their details from you.”

Shift watched the proceedings with mild interest. It always fascinated him the way Raph seemed to be able to slip into any role like he knew exactly what was going on. Beside him, Athira sighed and leant against the wall, directing her attention at the floor.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“It worries me that the sleeper was in reality,” Athira said quietly after a moment. “Talon’s looking around for anything we could use, but so far he’s got nothing.”

She still looked troubled, the emotion breaking through her carefully maintained mask.

Shift took the wall space beside her. “And?”

Athira glanced up at him for a second. “And I can’t shake the feeling that Rathe has something to do with this Sleeper rising.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “My colour and it... they’re connected somehow. I just don’t know why yet.” Head back against the wall. “It’d be nice if there were just a book I could read and figure everything out from there.”

Shift dropped his hand against the wall where Athira’s fell. He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. A shy smile crept on to her face as her fingers curled around his.

“One step at a time, Thira,” said Shift. “Rathe’s still--“

A woman pushed her way out of the crowd gathered around Raph.

“There!” she said, pointing a finger directly at Athira. “That’s Indigo’s new purple colour!”

Shift glanced at Athira as she stiffened beside him. “You know her?”

“Remember how I said you didn’t know what I went through to get this monorail to stop?” she asked in a monotone. “She’s one of them.”

The woman ploughed towards Athira with a look that Shift instantly recognised as that of the paparazzi. She pushed her way past the monorail guard with a few quick words that Shift didn’t catch until she was standing right in front of them.

She gave Athira a smile no doubt intended to dazzle. “You still owe me a picture and a name for my trouble.”

“Deal with the devil, eh?” asked Shift, his amusement growing with every word.

“I wouldn’t exactly call it a deal,” muttered Athira. “More like forced involvement.”

“Oh come now,” said the woman, pouting her lips. “My name’s Lani, if that makes this less painful for you.”

The journalist paused, obviously waiting for a name. Instead, she received a stare that would drop any normal person cold. Much to Athira’s detriment, the journalists of Sirah were no normal people. They were relentless and possessed a stubbornness that would put a rock to shame.

It was an aspect that Shift was well acquainted with.

“She’s not a huge talker,” said Shift. “But her name’s Athira.”

Athira’s stare swapped to Shift. He was well aware he’d just thrown her in the deep end and he planned to enjoy every second of it.

The journalist brightened significantly. “Well then, Athira, was it?” She nodded to herself, making a note on her tablet when Athira, once again, didn’t reply. “Care to elaborate more on your powers? I’ve never heard of a purple able to move through solid objects before! What else can you do? Are you unique, like Shift? How about...”

As Lani fired off one question after another and Athira tried to avoid giving a straight answer, Shift stayed beside her. He remained silent except for a line or two of conversation when Athira came close to killing it. Somewhere in the middle of it, the monorail started moving again.

Raph and Zoe were off to the side, still dealing with concerned and distraught passengers. Shift watched as the group surrounding them halved, then halved again, until there was only one person left. Soon enough, they too had dissolved back into the crowd.

Meanwhile, Athira had gathered her own crowd. No longer was Lani the sole person asking questions as Athira struggled to keep up with the onslaught of words. Curious passengers and other journalists, much to Lani’s annoyance, had joined in as the minutes ticked by.

She’ll probably hate me after this, thought Shift as Athira tried to answer a question about ‘what additions she was going to add to her Colour suit’. But it’s good, in a way. Overwhelming, but good.

Upon seeing that Raph and Zoe were ready to leave, Shift decided it was time to rescue Athira from the den he’d thrown her in.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said smoothly. “But Indigo has to get back to base and figure out who put the monster on the train.”

“Wait!” said Lani, just as he’d started leading a dazed Athira off to Raph. “How about a picture before you two leave? For the article on Indigo’s new purple?”

Shift glanced at Athira, who was already watching him with a helpless expression.

“Of both of us, sure,” he said.

Lani shrugged and pulled up her tablet as Shift posed next to Athira. After the flash, he took Athira’s wrist and led her out of the people flocking around her.

A minute later, and they were watching the monorail pull out of the station beside Raph and Zoe.

“Should be someone to pick us up shortly,” said Raph. “We need to get back to base as quickly as possible according to Kione, so I figured it was better.” He tried to hide the smile on his face. “And Athira looks like she could use a break from people.”

“I hate you all,” said Athira.

“Who? Us?” asked Shift innocently.

“You especially, buddy. Forcing me to talk to people that want to know what colour underpants I have on.”

Zoe opened a screen. “Oh, geez. It’s barely been ten minutes and that photo of you and Shift is already being shared like there’s no tomorrow.” She giggled. “Shifthira. That’s cute.”

“What?” asked Athira.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” said Zoe. “No mention of the monorail attack yet though.”

“The priorities of the net strike again.”

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A/N -  PRANCE AND BE HAPPY, MY LITTLE ONES! <3