Discovery
"This place is built like ours was, but there are differences," Cassidy remarked as they walked down the long hallway.
Or rather, she floated while Lucy and Dawnie walked. Lucy eyed the small hover-platform that her friend was sitting on with jaundice. Cassidy hated exercise, but this was a bit ridiculous. Lucy wasn't going to be the one to point this out to her, however. She'd also noted the small drones that kept darting to the platform and then away. Something told her that she really didn't want to know what they were doing.
"What sort of differences," Dawnie asked, gnawing on a candy stick.
Lucy and Cassidy exchanged a look. Usually Dawnie was eating one of those bars they kept getting from somewhere. The candy stick was new.
"There are more exits," Lucy volunteered as they stopped by a half-opened iris.
Lucy peered into the room beyond. There was litter and debris as if a battle had occurred. She stepped back, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a pair of purple fingerless gloves and put them on. Cassidy sent her a quizzical look to which Lucy grinned. She reached out, fingers closing over the edges and pulled.
With a groan of protesting electronics, the iris slowly opened wider.
"And why?" Cassidy asked.
"Because this means that they searched this place already, but there was some sort of fight. Since there's no blood, that means that someone got away, and they gave chase." Lucy explained as she wrenched the iris further open. "However, this also looks like a lab of some sort, so we might get some clues if we look."
"Let me," Dawnie said, polishing off her candy stick. She pulled out a wet wipe and thoroughly cleaned her fingers.
Lucy shrugged and stepped aside. Dawnie disappeared from beside them in a whoosh of wind. Then she was back again, her eyes wide.
"I think this was Nile's lab. He dissolved someone with that stuff he likes," Dawnie said.
"Impossible," Lucy said, glancing from Dawnie to the mostly opened doorway.
"That extract was from Rena. He had to have run out by now," Cassidy agreed.
Lucy opened her mouth to add another comment when Cassidy floated into the lab. Lucy closed her mouth and ducked into the lab after her, Dawnie on her heels.
The lab was a mess of smashed electronics and burn marks on the wall. At the far end, two puddles of goo resided, one larger than the other. There was a pile of discarded equipment next to them.
"Well, if it was really Niles, he probably saved it up for this day," Lucy said doubtfully.
"That used to be an overlord. Who? I have no idea," Dawnie said, pointing at the larger puddle. "The piles don't have anything useful."
"It's probably not Pleja. We're just not that lucky," Cassidy muttered, peering at the puddles. A swarm of drones alighted on the pile of equipment, looking so much like bees swarming a hive. "Huh, now that's interesting," Cassidy said, turning her attention to a little screen that popped up next to her, hovering in the space between two drones.
"Does she know how much more scary she is than Court," Dawnie whispered in Lucy's ear.
"No, and let's not tell her," Lucy whispered back.
Dawnie walked through the lab, her brow furrowed. She idly fingered the burn marks and examined the splashes, looking back and forth as if measuring.
"Just what started this? It's not like he knew we were coming," Lucy said, sitting on a table and fiddling with a broken datapad. It sparked in her hands fitfully. "He can't have changed that much."
Dawnie paused in her search. She squatted down and brushed away bits of broken glass. Then she looked up at Cassidy who was still staring at her screen and murmuring and Lucy.
"I think I found the reason," Dawnie said, standing up.
The others came towards her. Then Lucy froze, staring.
Smashed on the ground was a simple baby rattle. It'd been made of cheap colorful plastic. The broken area was clearly larger than a guard's boot.
Lucy took a deep breath.
"That's what it was," she finally said. "The image wasn't a hoax to somehow goad us," Lucy continued with a grim look.
"Then the first place he'll go is the cylinders. He'll need help to get a baby out of here," Dawnie said. She glanced at the firmly closed iris and then back at the one they'd had to wrench open. "At first, they tried to get in to reclaim lost property but realized he wasn't there. So they organized search parties instead. They probably haven't considered the cylinders yet."
"Because they consider the cylinders escape-proof," Lucy finished for her. "They think San is firmly under their control, and most of the ones who could escape aren't there yet."
"So look for the cylinder room?" Cassidy asked, dismissing the screen next to her.
"As fast as you can," Lucy said. She swept her eyes over the destroyed lab. "There's nothing here we need. Niles wouldn't leave his research anywhere easy to access. We also need to find Jebediah. This happened recently. They might have put him back in a lab to get him to analyze just what Niles was up to. We can't let that happen."
"On it, boss," Cassidy said, drifting away to the side. Hordes of small drones converged on her for a second before darting away. "I should have something in a couple of minutes."
"Recon?" Dawnie asked, glancing at Lucy.
"Not too far," Lucy said. "If you glimpse a search party, return. They're still looking for us, too, after all."
Suddenly, Cassidy brightened up. A smile spread across her face.
"Found it!" She caroled, pumping a fist in the air.
"Found what?" Lucy asked as she tossed the datapad in her hand back on the table.
"You said you wanted Aarti to have a bow, so I got one," Cassidy said, her smile proud. "Got the best one available for her."
"You raided Themyscira?" Dawnie asked, an incredulous look forming on her face.
"I didn't raid anywhere. All supply depots are mine." Cassidy buffed her nails on her shoulder. "I just rearranged things to my satisfaction. The bow is on its way as we speak."
"Did you remember arrows?" Lucy asked, standing up. She brushed off the bottoms of her pants.
Cassidy froze for a second. Then she abruptly nodded.
"We should go find Aarti," Cassidy suggested, turning away.
"Still scary while working," Dawnie whispered in Lucy's ear before disappearing in a swirl of wind.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Tashady
Tashady There's actually a glassworker competition show on Netflix. What will they think of next?? ^_^
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