“That’s springtime for you. Mud and near constant rain. Hurry, let’s get you inside and dry.” She started walking.
Adrien took my hand and we made our way forward through the woods. My feet suctioned and released with every step. The trees and foliage all blended together, and I didn’t understand how the woman could move so sure-footedly. She weaved around trees and over logs as if she knew exactly where she was going even though everything around us looked the same to me. The rain started to come down harder until little rivulets ran down the faceplate of my helmet. I reached up a hand to wipe the water away, but I only smeared it around and added some mud from my glove to the mix.
I stumbled on a thick root and pitched forward. Adrien tried to catch me, but I took us both down. A long ripping noise filled the air as we fell.
The suit.
I held my breath even though I knew that wouldn’t really matter. With my hyperallergies, any skin contact with the air would trigger a lethal attack. I looked down frantically, but I could barely see a thing through my smudged faceplate. “Is it ripped?”
Adrien immediately started searching my suit. An agonizing minute passed before he breathed out and held up my forearm where the outer suit material hung almost completely off now.
“It was just the two top layers that you’d already ripped. The underlayer is still safe. That was too close,” Adrien said, his eyes wide. He reached up and wiped my faceplate clean with the sleeve of his tunic. His hair dripped with water.
“It’s okay,” I said, my heart still thrumming in my chest. “I’m fine. Let’s keep going and get you out of the rain.”
He let out a slow breath and nodded. He interlocked his fingers tight in mine as we started forward again.
After a few more minutes, Jilia announced that we’d arrived.
I looked ahead and frowned. I didn’t see a building. Just more green. “Where?”
Jilia laughed. “Right here.” She reached toward one of the trees, but when she touched it, it rippled and moved like a cloth surface. What had looked like a three-dimensional forest was actually a painted curtain.
“It doesn’t work close up, but we’re deep enough in the forest that it’s camouflaged from any random flyovers. The material’s like the tarp I used on the duo, it covers heat signatures so thermosatellite scans don’t detect us.”
She gestured for us to step in, and I nudged Adrien ahead of me. I was kept dry by my suit, but he was drenched. I followed him inside to a softly lit, small interior room. Rain spattered loudly on the roof and the walls.
Adrien’s wet tunic clung to him. His shoulders seemed wider than when I’d last seen him and his wiry arm muscles more sharply cut. But he looked thinner too, and when he turned I could see just how ripped-up his back was from the chute.
“Your back!” I said. His tunic hung in tatters and blood had dried from a couple of deep gashes below his shoulder blades. Deep bruises were already starting to bloom.
“Oh right, I forgot about it,” he said. He turned around so Jilia could see. She immediately reached out a hand.
I winced when she touched him, placing her hand on the worst of his injuries. Then as I watched, the lacerations wove themselves shut under her touch. I looked back and forth between the now smoothed skin and Jilia’s face, feeling my eyes widen. “You’re a glitcher?”
“Yep,” she said. “First generation, like Adrien’s mom.”
“Can you heal anything?” I asked.
“I can only heal minor wounds, knit tissue and sometimes bones back together, that kind of thing.” She saw my face drop and smiled apologetically. “I can’t deal with anything at the systemic cellular level, like allergies.”
I moved closer. Within a few minutes, the skin of Adrien’s back was completely smooth. Even the bruises were gone. His muscles rippled under his skin as he rotated his shoulders and breathed out a sigh of relief. “Good as new. Thanks, Doc.”
“That’s amazing,” I whispered, still staring.
“Have you had a lot of traffic lately?” Adrien asked.
“Busier than ever,” Jilia said. “A whole safe house got cracked last week, so our beds were full up. Most of them have moved on.”
Adrien must have seen my questioning glance. “The Resistance uses mobile tent compounds like this one for way stations.”
“We try to set them up outside all the major cities for travelers,” Jilia said. “Or so Rez operatives heading into the city on raids have a base station, or if a situation gets too hot for our people living in the city and they have to run.” She looked at Adrien. “But I can’t remember when it’s ever been this bad.”
Adrien’s face darkened. “It’s gotta be because of Underchancellor Bright. She’s got access to Rez prisoners now, and she can force them to tell her anything she wants. Safe house locations, encryption codes, anything.”
Something passed between them, a quiet communication of dread, before Jilia turned to me and smiled. “Come on, let’s get you inside. Tyryn was cooking up something that smelled delicious when I saw the duo beacon and came to meet you.”
“Tyryn’s here?” Adrien asked, his face breaking into a smile.
Jilia nodded. “And his sister Xona. You remember her?”
“She was just a kid the last time I saw her.”
Jilia’s face soured a bit. “She’s not little anymore. Tyryn brought her up here a few weeks ago. She’s been getting into fights with the other Rez kids ever since their parents died.”
“I heard about that.” Adrien’s voice was quiet. “Her mom and mine used to be friends.”
“Anyway, let’s get you cleaned up, and then you can say hi.”
I looked down at my suit. Spattered mud covered my legs, and, in spite of the oxygen constantly circulating, I could smell how sweaty I was. Everything had been happening so fast, I hadn’t stopped to wonder what came next. “So I guess I stay in this suit till we can get to the Foundation where I can change into another?” I asked uncertainly. I looked at the muddy, ripped outer layers.
“Oh no, no, I’ve got a new suit for you,” Jilia assured me quickly. “We shipped some here just in case. It’s much thinner and more flexible. It’s made of polysurtrate, a new tribond blend that won’t tear or even cut easily. And it allows a far better range of motion than the old model. You’ll love it. It’ll fit like a second skin.”
“But how do I get from this suit,” I pointed down at myself, “into another one without being exposed to the air?”
Jilia smiled. She pushed through a tent flap in front of her and gestured at us to follow. “One of the benefits of a portable research facility. This is the bathroom, normal shower and toilet on one side—” she pointed to one curtain partition covering the left half of the room, “—and this is the three-chambered, all-enclosed allergen wash-down station.” She pointed to a long, rectangular container on the other side of the room that was about seven feet tall and four elevator pods wide.
“And just in case, here’s an epi infuser.” She handed me the thin, stylus-sized device.
“Great,” I said weakly, my heart thumping at the thought of having to use it.
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Jilia said quickly. “Let me go get your new suit.” She turned and pushed through the flap at the far end of the room that must lead to another tent chamber.
Adrien stepped closer and put a hand on the small of my back. “You okay?”
I didn’t answer, just leaned into his chest. He wrapped his strong arms around me, pulling me in tight. Even through my thick helmet, I could hear the steady beat of his heart. He dropped his chin on top of my head and rubbed my back in gentle circles. I melted against him. I was exhausted, and his arms felt so good around me, I thought I might fall asleep right there.