Chapter 319 Operations.

Chapter 319: 319 Operations.

"D-don’t mind me," the massive warden sniffled. "It’s just... it’s so incredibly romantic!" she sobbed, bawling loudly into the tiny lace handkerchief.

Khonsu shifted awkwardly beside the hulking woman, looking deeply uncomfortable, and tentatively reached out to pat her solid steel shoulder.

I rolled my eyes and looked back to Chamelea. Despite the heavy metal gauntlets locking her wrists to the table, I reached over and gently squeezed her hand.

"I’ll fix this. I promise you."

"I absolutely know you will, sir," she said smoothly, keeping her voice pitched to Glacia’s formal cadence. "But... perhaps do it as quickly as possible? The cells aren’t exactly the most comfortable accommodations. And... the warden," Chamelea continued, her voice dropping into a conspiratorial whisper, "she has been very... explicit in her ongoing questions about you."

"About the league’s operations?"

"Actually, she keeps aggressively asking if I have any unauthorized nude pictures of you I’d be willing to share for extra commissary credit."

I groaned, burying my face in my free hand.

"Of course she is."

"Not to mention interrogating me about your personal hobbies, your favorite foods, and your preferred vacation spots. And there have been many, many detailed questions regarding your general stamina and performance in the bedroom.

"Certain... favors have been heavily promised for every single bit of actionable information I provide. Extra recreation hours. Premium ice cream. Unrestricted television privileges. And I’m honestly not sure, sir," she added, a slight, teasing glint entering her icy blue eyes, "exactly how long I can resist the chance to upgrade to a more comfortable mattress."

Blackmail? From my own mimic? Really?

I rolled my eyes and patted her hand again.

"Just hang tight. I’ll get you out soon."

"I believe you, sir," she said with a soft, genuine laugh. "Truly. I do."

I nodded and rose from the metal chair, looking back toward the doorway where Lilith was currently vibrating with barely contained energy.

"All yours, counselor."

"Ooooh, wonderful, darling! Simply wonderful!" Lilith crooned. She practically skipped over to the table and slid into the cold metal chair I’d just vacated.

She dramatically fluffed her thick fur collar, wriggled her tail into a more comfortable position behind her, and then flashed a brilliant, wicked smirk directly at Jane Doe.

Despite her completely blank expression, the government spook noticeably stiffened, seeming distinctly more uncertain with an actual demoness suddenly sitting on the other side of the interrogation table.

"Now then, Sweetie!" Lilith cooed brightly, leaning forward across the table, her golden eyes glowing and her fangs glinting under the harsh fluorescent light. "Shall we have a super-fun little chat about a silly little thing called police brutality and procedural misconduct? Hm?"

I shook my head, leaving them to it. The heavy steel door hissed completely shut behind me, sealing the room and leaving me alone in the sterile concrete hallway.

I let out a long, heavy sigh, sticking my hands deep into my jacket pockets and rocking back on my heels.

I only had about thirty seconds of peace before the door hissed open again and Jane Doe slipped out into the corridor to join me.

I gave her a surprised look, glancing past her shoulder into the room.

Khonsu and the cybernetic agent were currently trying—and completely failing—to professionally quiz Lilith and Chamelea before the door clamped shut again.

"Mister Mitchell," Jane said, her voice a flat, bureaucratic monotone. "Do you have a minute?"

"Not really," I replied, not remotely in the mood.

"Yes," Jane said firmly, stepping directly into my personal space. "You do."

"...But I suppose I can make some time," I continued reluctantly, taking a step back.

"Your... employee has been involved in a very high-priority, highly classified incident," she said, her head tracking slightly back toward the sealed interrogation doors.

"I noticed. It was on the local news."

She tilted her angular head, her cold, dead eyes peering at me from over the rim of her V-shaped glasses.

"Indeed. But it should be noted that the United States government is, of course, highly interested in keeping things moving... smoothly in this sector."

"Is that right?"

"Very," she said.

I bet they were. But I didn’t trust absolutely anyone who represented a three-letter acronym.

And even though I had absolutely no idea just who or what shadow department Jane was actually working for, I knew perfectly well they could make my corporate life a living hell if they really wanted to.

Of course, they’d have to be complete, suicidal idiots to actually do that.

"You all have to have noticed by now that this entire case is total bullshit," I said, keeping my voice low. "You must have interviewed the actual civilians who were in the bank and gotten completely conflicting reports of what they physically saw versus what was digitally broadcast on the screens."

"I can neither confirm nor deny the specific nature of the evidence currently gathered," Jane recited perfectly.

"Then why are we even having this conversation?" I asked.

She gave me a completely unreadable look. I gave her a flat, unimpressed one right back. We stood there like two closed books in a dusty shop, just silently staring each other down.

At last, she turned her head away, staring blankly at the wall.

"Matters of active national security are taken very, very seriously," she said.

"Then you’ll drop the federal charges?" I asked.

"We will not. A licensed, sponsored hero has been violently killed on camera. That... severely complicates matters for Washington. Especially in an occurrence with such a strong, volatile public interest."

"Then what actual good are you doing standing here?" I asked, my patience fraying.

She tilted her head my way again, glancing at me over her tinted lenses. Her eyes were as dark and completely blank as the glass shielding them.

"...Some time ago, during our first encounter, I explicitly asked you if you’d been approached by... unusual individuals who are not entirely human."

"I remember," I said defensively. "And I told you yes. Every goddamn day. This is Metropolis. Sometimes they even have a highly polite chat with me before trying to melt my face off with radioactive hands.

"But you weren’t actually asking about the standard mutants back then, were you?" I said pointedly, narrowing my eyes at her. "You’re after someone very specific. Who?"

"I cannot answer that."

"You’re really bad at your job, aren’t you?"

"Such casual rudeness is highly ill-advised, Mister Mitchell."

"I kind of have significantly bigger corporate issues at hand right now."

"Such as Jester actively approaching you to work for The New Order?"

I glared at her, not exactly surprised she already knew about the funhouse ultimatum. If she was tracking the deepfake, she was tracking the motive.

"Jester is the specific one you’re after?"

"I didn’t explicitly say that."

I sighed, aggressively massaging my forehead. Dealing with feds was worse than dealing with sword guys.

"Alright. What can you tell me?"

"Absolutely nothing more. Unless you explicitly agree to work as a federal asset with us."

"And what exactly do I get out of that corporate merger? You already told me you can’t get ’Glacia’ off the hook. And even if you magically could, my independent career would be completely over if I was outed as a federal snitch."

"We have... highly lucrative alternate opportunities for a man of your specific logistical talents."

"Like what? The witness protection program in Ohio?"

"A distinct possibility."

I glared at her, my jaw setting.

"I’m not working for the federal government," I said firmly. "I’ve seen exactly what your black-ops supers do. I know what you make them do in the dark."

"I’m quite sure I don’t know what you’re talking about," Jane replied, her face a perfect mask of innocence.

I genuinely laughed at that. They were fantastic propaganda props, and they genuinely dealt with major global menaces independently, so the arrangement mostly worked out for the public.

But there absolutely were vastly more clandestine things going on beneath the surface.

Hell, half the time a new hero or villain was violently "created," it was actually the direct result of some shadow-government weapons program, psychological experiment, or unstable super-soldier serum.

Working for a nameless federal agency would honestly be significantly worse than working for Jester.

At least with the clown, I might actually get to do standard, transparent villain-type work. But who the hell knew what kind of sketchy, black-ops wet-work I’d be forced into doing for Jane Doe?

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll try handling this hostile takeover entirely myself," I said.

She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could get a word out, the heavy steel door hissed open again. Khonsu and Lilith walked out into the hallway, the moon avatar looking visibly, deeply displeased.

"How’d it go?" I asked, already having a pretty good idea.

"Your villainess was highly uncooperative," Khonsu noted, his jaw tight.

"Ooooh, only because she absolutely wouldn’t admit to a single thing without proper cause, darling! Only because of that!" Lilith crowed smugly, her tail swishing happily. "And my absolute favorite kind of federal witness is a deeply hostile one! It’s just so much more entertaining in the courtroom. It brings on wonderful amounts of theatrical drama!

"Simply marvelous amounts! Oh, but don’t look so horribly cross, darling," she cooed, patting Khonsu’s muscular arm. "The federal case against her was super well built! I mean, completely aside from all those highly inconvenient little facts—like the civilian witness testimonies not lining up at all with the video, the massive, glaring break in the forensic timeline.

"And the indisputable fact that the way No Whey physically fell and the angle of his injuries are entirely inconsistent with the alleged icy murder weapons. But otherwise? Just a total smash hit, darling! Simply a prosecutorial slam dunk!"

Khonsu looked both intensely annoyed and deeply, fundamentally tired. He let out a long sigh and turned his attention my way.

"Further forensic evidence will be gathered by the authorities until a formal trial can be organized," he stated professionally. "Until then, Glacia will unfortunately remain here in federal custody."

"No chance of bail?" I prompted.

"A very strong argument was made by the prosecution that she is an extreme flight risk," Khonsu said.

Well, fair enough. The real Glacia could literally fly. Though the whole thing still seemed a little excessively, maliciously pigheaded. Even for notoriously prosecution-happy district attorneys.

I glanced back at Jane Doe, who said absolutely nothing and whose rigid expression was as inscrutable as a blank piece of paper.

"Now then, we mustn’t stay too long in this dreary place, Milesyyyyyy," Lilith said, happily sweeping up to me and grabbing my arm to turn me around. "We have a super big night ahead of us tonight, do recall! A very big, big night! And oh, what incredible fun it will be!"

"A big night?" Khonsu said instantly, his posture stiffening with deep suspicion.

"Nothing big," I lied smoothly, keeping my face perfectly neutral. "Just a private corporate party."

The hero glared suspiciously at my back, but Lilith and I were already walking away down the concrete corridor.