Chronicles of Earth-USB: Taylor
Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2025 8:36 pm
Little preliminary message. This story is a lot shorter and less ambitious than other projects. Consider it something akin to an appetizer, before the main saga resumes.
This tale is a prequel. The events take place before the beginning of the main "Marvel Saga". Chronologically, this story takes place shortly after Taylor breaks Sarah out of compound XLR-6, a few years before the beginning of the main saga, and gives a bit more hindsight on the core members of the main villainous team of uniform stealers.
A huge shout-out and huge thanks to meditions, who's the whole reason behind this story, since it all started with a scene he proposed with Taylor, Sarah, and an unlucky guard named Maegan. This story is dedicated to you.
**************
Why are you doing this?
The apartment was small and dingy, but its greatest strength was its secrecy. Being on the run from the government, even in a country supposedly as quiet as Canada, still required logistics.
Why are you doing this? Do you think it’s some penance? Do you think it will make up for the people you killed?
Taylor stopped studying the map of the warehouse she wanted to infiltrate in the outskirts of Vancouver, and looked at the two young women she had taken in.
Sarah was sitting on the couch, her thighs pressed against her breasts. She was wearing casual clothes – a far cry from the hospital blouse she had been clad in for years. Her hair were concealed by a beanie, her lower face by a scarf. Charlotte was busy searching the drawers for sugary treats, while humming a merry little tune to herself. She and Taylor had already infiltrated several government buildings together, yet she hardly seemed to realize the dangerous situation she was in now that she was an enemy of the State.
Both were completely lost in their own world. Both were unfit to survive in the real world, each in their own way. They made Taylor think of stray lost kittens.
Why did she take them in?
Taylor took a breath. No time to dwell on pointless questions. Cold logic dictated they had to flee the city first.
Not to the United States though. At least not yet. Their pursuers were expecting it. Distance between Vancouver and the border was a mere 32 miles – not even one hour of driving. Secret services would be watching every access – sea, land, and airport. It was best to not leave Canada for now. To go to Montreal or Quebec. Taylor had a few contacts there. Charlotte too. The government didn’t know Charlotte’s true identity yet – shape-shifting powers were neat in that regard. It was their best shot. Plus, they may be able to take advantage of the frictions between the Federal Government and the Province of Quebec…
“I must infiltrate one more building before we leave.” Taylor announced to catch the attention of the two younger women. “There’s a warehouse nearby. CSIS is using it. They deemed it low-risk, so security is lax. But I can still use it to access their database, and erase all traces of us there. But I can’t leave you here unsupervised. It’s too dangerous. You’ll come with me.”
Of course, Charlotte raised her hands triumphantly. “Woo-hoo!”
Sarah stared at Taylor. “Did you find news about my parents?”
“Nothing yet.”
Taylor couldn’t bring herself to tell her she suspected they had been silenced permanently. They had tried to uncover the truth behind Sarah’s ‘hospitalization’… and paid the price. Not yet. Not when she wanted to flee town as fast as possible, and couldn’t afford to deal with Sarah breaking down.
Sarah didn’t press on the subject. She simply curled up on herself some more. But Taylor suspected she knew she was being fed nice lies. Sarah could sense emotions after all…
It didn’t matter. As long as she could follow her pace, it was good. Taylor would deal with everything later. Sarah’s grief. Her own feelings.
Later.
**************
The building looked like a random warehouse. However, it was used to store some goods Canadian secret services wanted to ship discreetly to the rest of the world. Not ‘ultra top secret’ material, but still things they didn’t want to advertise publicly.
Though Taylor wasn’t interested in the warehouse itself – only in the small administrative building nearby.
The administrative building and its computer connected to the server she wanted to hack into.
It was Friday night – cleaning night. Taylor laid in ambush in the backyard, hidden with Sarah and Charlotte behind some dumpsters. She was waiting for the janitress to come out and take out the trash.
Since the warehouse wasn’t deemed a major security risk, there weren’t security cameras. Maybe in hindsight it was an oversight, but then again the only thing of value here was the computer connected to the central server. Only a rogue secret agent had the knowledge to hack into it. Before Taylor, nobody was fitting the bill.
Canadian secret services were too complacent. They were so convinced Taylor was going to flee the country with Sarah after breaking her out, they hadn’t even envisioned the possibility she’d infiltrate behind their lines.
Taylor tensed up in anticipation when the backdoor of the building was opened.
The cleaning lady taking out the trash was a mousy-looking woman with auburn hair, blue eyes, and a light skin. Her haircut was a medium ponytail. She was wearing a light green button-down long-sleeved blouse and light grey thick-cuffed trousers, brown safety shoes, and a grey rimless cap. Her name tag read Rita.
Taylor instructed Charlotte and Sarah to wait hidden behind a dumpster.
Silently, she sneaked behind her prey, walking in the woman’s back.
When Rita threw the trash bags and closed the lid of the dumpster, Taylor rushed. Just as the janitress was stretching her back, Taylor wrapped her arms around the woman’s exposed neck. Rita squeaked when Taylor tightened her chokehold, cutting off her breath.
Woodward, I’ve never seen a recruit as fast as you! Trust me, we will make something out of you!
Taylor snorted bitterly at the memory of her instructor. Something… Yeah, they had made her some ‘thing’ alright…
Rita struggled, moaned, and cried in fear. Taylor wasn’t moved by her pleas or her terror.
Compassion is weakness, Woodward. We’re not supposed to be good people. We’re supposed to get the job done.
Rita’s body became limp. Lack of oxygen made her pass out. She slumped onto Taylor.
Taylor loosened her grip to allow the unconscious woman to breath.
Woodward! Work on your neck-snaps! They’re the quickest way to dispatch a sentry! Dead bodies can’t sound the alarm.
Her training was still ingrained in her mind. It would be easy to snap the girl’s neck. More convenient too.
Taylor knew herself. She knew she wouldn’t mind killing Rita. She’d feel mild disgust, but she wouldn’t mind.
After all, secret services had made her some ‘thing’...
Then why wasn’t she doing it?
Maybe because Taylor knew… she knew Charlotte and Sarah were hiding nearby, waiting for her.
Did she want to bring a corpse to Charlotte, who still thought stealing clothes was a fun adventure? Charlotte, who could barely grasp concepts like guilt, danger and death?
If a girl’s dream must die, at least it should die gently.
Did she want to bring a corpse to Sarah, whose empathy made her cry even when a dog was in pain?
Taylor released the unconscious woman’s throat, and began dragging her out of sight. She still needed to take the time to strip the woman. She had zip-ties. She had a ball-gag. Binding and gagging Rita would only take a minute. It was the night, and nobody would walk the backyard and hear her before the change of shift – in two hours. The difference with killing her was minimal.
Turning around the dumpster, she found Sarah sitting balled up on the ground. The blonde was hiccuping between sobs. Charlotte was standing awkwardly next to her, with a contrite facial expression, as she didn’t know how to react – didn’t even fully grasp why Sarah was feeling distressed.
Taylor laid the janitress on the ground, and took a knee.
“Are you okay?”
“I could… I could feel her fear…” Sarah whispered in-between choked sobs. “I bet she thought... she was going to die…”
“She’s not dead. This hold is designed to render them unconscious with no lasting side-effect.”
Sarah wasn’t listening. “Unbearable… Fear is one of the worst… worst emotions... to sense…”
Taylor didn’t have the time. The janitress would wake up soon. Yet, she still put a hand on Sarah’s shoulder.
“I’ll make the next one quicker.”
Her word calmed the young woman a bit – maybe because she could sense Taylor was sincere.
Taylor quickly stripped Rita off her outfit. She began by unlacing and taking off the safety shoes. Next, she unbuttoned and pulled off the blouse, then she loosened the belt and shimmied the trousers down Rita’s legs. She left the cleaning lady clad in striped white-and-black socks, blue and white-striped boxer undershorts and a white seamless t-shirt bra..
When the janitress began to wake up, Taylor wasted no time. Rita’s fear and confusion would hurt Sarah if she had the time to collect her thoughts.
Taylor swiftly lifted Rita’s upper-body and laid it against her lap. She then moved the girl’s head to expose her Vagus nerve. Rita was still barely conscious – her limp body was as unresponsive as a rag-doll. Taylor grabbed the Vagus nerve and pinched. The half-conscious janitress shivered briefly and moaned feebly. Then she slumped onto Taylor’s lap.
You could have used your powers. she thought to herself.
But Taylor hated those powers. From beginning to end, she had always been a fraud because of them. She'd never have been able to become field agent of the CSIS had it not been for them. Even more than the secret services, they had made her who she was.
Some ‘thing’.
Having bought time, Taylor quickly restrained Rita. One zip-tie for the wrists, an other for the ankles. The ball-gag to silence her. Rita wasn’t a fighter. She didn’t have the training to break free of her bonds.
Taylor stashed the janitress inside the dumpster, onto the bags of thrash. She’d be found in two hours, during the next change of shift. At least it would be before garbage collection… She’d be a bit cold – it was Summer, but Summer in Vancouver was still cool – but she’d be found long before hypothermia would kick in.
Taylor used Rita’s key to unlock the back door. Then, she helped Sarah get back on her feet, and motioned her and Charlotte to follow her inside.
**************
The administrative building was empty. In hindsight, stealing the uniform of the janitress had maybe been superfluous. However, Taylor thought they were better safe than sorry.
Indeed, while the normally loud Charlotte was surprisingly quiet and sneaky when she was infiltrating a place, it was crystal clear Sarah wasn’t trained for infiltration. The blonde didn’t know how to suppress the sounds of her footsteps, and kept making rookie mistakes such as not glancing across each corner before walking in sight. Taylor hadn’t chosen to infiltrate the building while it was empty for nothing…
The former government spy in her saw the irony of the situation. Sarah’s empathy would make her a perfect infiltrator. Too bad she was absolutely NOT suited for the work of a secret agent…
Checking around the corner, Taylor motioned her teammates to stop walking and stay quiet.
The corridor was leading to a small hall. A young brunette female guard was standing outside the room their team needed to access. She was as cute as a button, with brown eyes, a pretty face, and a soft white skin. Her haircut was a low bun.
Her stance was terrible. Taylor could easily deduce this young woman was a new recruit. However, the gun strapped onto her belt wasn’t for show. Even a rookie could be lethal with a lucky shot.
She was wearing black safety shoes, dark blue uniform trousers, a grey belt, a white t-shirt, a dark blue thin uniform jacket, and a black baseball cap with the words SECURITY written on it with white letters.
Taylor glanced at Sarah. “I will have to neutralize that woman.” she warned the blonde.
Sarah shivered.
“You don’t want to feel her fear.”
The young woman nodded.
Taylor glanced at her hands. She could feel the little jolts of electricity coursing through her fingers. Then she glanced back at Sarah. “Use your powers. Lull her feelings. I have a way to knock her out instantly.”
**************
Taylor approached the brown-haired guard, hoping being disguised as a cleaner would fool her. However, the guard, not recognizing her face, stiffened and got a bit nervous.
The brunette opened her mouth to ask about Taylor’s whereabouts.
Sarah was hiding just around a corner and that was her cue to act. She began manipulating the woman's emotions. She relaxed her and made her less concerned about not recognizing Taylor.
The brunette blinked several times. She closed her mouth, opened it again as if to say something, but stayed quiet. Her mind was telling her there was a potential breach of security. But her emotions were whispering things were fine, she didn’t need to worry.
With the woman's emotions overwhelmed by Sarah's manipulation, Taylor casually walked up to her, stood directly in front of her, glanced down at her ID badge and said: "Hello Meagan". She then reached out towards the unresisting brunette's neck and as soon as she touched it released her charge.
Meagan winced and cried out "ahh" as she felt the initial jolt of pain. She then went silent, stared blankly into space, and stood completely still as her body had been paralyzed. The charge overloaded Meagan's senses and in a short time her brain shut down. Her pretty brown eyes rolled back. With a soft sigh she began to collapse to the floor unconscious. Taylor caught her under the shoulders.
She then realized the lock required a retinal scan. Hoping it worked, she turned the unconscious body around, thumbed the eyelid back, gently moved the eyeball and put the woman's pretty face up against the scanner. She was rewarded with a beep and green light. The door slid open and Taylor dragged the body inside. Charlotte and Sarah followed her.
At the other side of the door, there was a plain-looking office room. An outsider would have thought a retinal scan and a guard were too much protection, but Taylor knew the true value of the computer on the desk.
As Taylor was searching for what they came for, Charlotte immediately began stripping Meagan's uniform off her, humming to herself all the way through. Baseball cap, weapon belt, uniform light jacket, t-shirt, safety shoes, and trousers were all removed to the sound of a merry little tune.
Taylor let her do it. She wasn’t sure the uniform would be needed, but at least it kept Charlotte busy.
The unfortunate Maegan was thus left clad in her matching light green sports bra and boyshorts. Charlotte even stole her black socks. (Taylor and Sarah didn’t comment on that. Charlotte just had weird whims sometimes.) Then she slipped into the security guard uniform.
While Charlotte was having fun, Taylor sat behind the computer, and wasted no time hacking into the server. It was almost insultingly easy.
She found Sarah’s files first. She smiled harshly when she deleted everything. Years of research vanished in a few seconds. She was aware some people probably had copies – like William Jefferson. But it still felt satisfying to hinder them.
Then she deleted everything they had about Charlotte. Or the “rogue shape-shifter” as they called her. They still didn’t know her name. Apparently, they also hadn’t found out yet she was from Quebec. Still, better safe than sorry...
Finally, Taylor came across her files.
Taylor Woodward. Agent of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Best student of her year. Passed with flying colors. Best field operative. Currently holding the record of most numerous successful missions.
Taylor gritted her teeth. So many successful assassinations as well.
Missing in action.
Taylor raised an eyebrow. That one was interesting. Officially, she hadn’t gone rogue. She was “missing in action”. Her higher-ups probably didn’t want to admit to the government she had sabotaged one of their most promising long-running operations.
When it came to delete her files, Taylor’s fingers lingered briefly.
Then she entered the input.
One by one, the files were erased. In a few seconds, Taylor Woodward, best field operative of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, vanished from the face of the Earth.
Taylor exhaled, allowing herself to be briefly emotional.
She had done it. CSIS field agent Taylor Woodward didn’t exist anymore. How was she feeling? Sad? Relieved?
Why are you doing this?
Of course, Charlotte had to ruin the intensity of the moment.
"Sarah, your power is awesome. That girl went like a moth to a flame..." she was commenting as she adjusted Maegan's uniform
But for once Taylor was glad Charlotte was ruining the moment.
The shape-shifter’s facial features contorted and began to mimic Maegan's – albeit chubbier.
"You better not be thinking of nicknaming her "Moth-Catcher"." Taylor warned her evenly.
"I wasn't."
"Yes you were."
“But we need a cool nickname. What about “Venus Flytrap”?”
“It sucks.” Sarah whispered.
Charlotte was left speechless. If Sarah was voicing her disapproval, then it meant it was REALLY bad.
“I’ll find something else.” She looked at Taylor. “What do we do now, Tazer?”
“You know I supplexed you to the floor last time you tried to give me that nickname.” Once again, Taylor’s voice was even.
Charlotte blinked. “What do we do now, Taylor?”
“Since you stole the guard’s uniform, we leave through the front door.”
Knowing their infiltration from this point forward would be quick, and knowing Meagan would not be waking up for at least an hour and probably much longer, they didn’t bother tying her up.
Knowing also the real janitress wasn’t in the position to discover the half-naked Maegan, since she was trussed up in a dumpster, they simply left the brunette concealed under the desk.
Once they were back at the apartment, they could ditch the uniforms, and finally flee the city.
**************
Taylor was driving away from Vancouver. She’d go north first, then take a turn to the east later.
She briefly observed in the rear-view mirror the two young women sitting in the back of the car.
Sarah was dozing on her seat. Charlotte was bouncing on hers.
Why are you doing this?
Taylor looked at the road in front of her.
She knew the answer. She had found it when she was deleting everything about her old life.
I’m doing this because I’m free.
I’m doing this because I want.
This tale is a prequel. The events take place before the beginning of the main "Marvel Saga". Chronologically, this story takes place shortly after Taylor breaks Sarah out of compound XLR-6, a few years before the beginning of the main saga, and gives a bit more hindsight on the core members of the main villainous team of uniform stealers.
A huge shout-out and huge thanks to meditions, who's the whole reason behind this story, since it all started with a scene he proposed with Taylor, Sarah, and an unlucky guard named Maegan. This story is dedicated to you.
**************
Why are you doing this?
The apartment was small and dingy, but its greatest strength was its secrecy. Being on the run from the government, even in a country supposedly as quiet as Canada, still required logistics.
Why are you doing this? Do you think it’s some penance? Do you think it will make up for the people you killed?
Taylor stopped studying the map of the warehouse she wanted to infiltrate in the outskirts of Vancouver, and looked at the two young women she had taken in.
Sarah was sitting on the couch, her thighs pressed against her breasts. She was wearing casual clothes – a far cry from the hospital blouse she had been clad in for years. Her hair were concealed by a beanie, her lower face by a scarf. Charlotte was busy searching the drawers for sugary treats, while humming a merry little tune to herself. She and Taylor had already infiltrated several government buildings together, yet she hardly seemed to realize the dangerous situation she was in now that she was an enemy of the State.
Both were completely lost in their own world. Both were unfit to survive in the real world, each in their own way. They made Taylor think of stray lost kittens.
Why did she take them in?
Taylor took a breath. No time to dwell on pointless questions. Cold logic dictated they had to flee the city first.
Not to the United States though. At least not yet. Their pursuers were expecting it. Distance between Vancouver and the border was a mere 32 miles – not even one hour of driving. Secret services would be watching every access – sea, land, and airport. It was best to not leave Canada for now. To go to Montreal or Quebec. Taylor had a few contacts there. Charlotte too. The government didn’t know Charlotte’s true identity yet – shape-shifting powers were neat in that regard. It was their best shot. Plus, they may be able to take advantage of the frictions between the Federal Government and the Province of Quebec…
“I must infiltrate one more building before we leave.” Taylor announced to catch the attention of the two younger women. “There’s a warehouse nearby. CSIS is using it. They deemed it low-risk, so security is lax. But I can still use it to access their database, and erase all traces of us there. But I can’t leave you here unsupervised. It’s too dangerous. You’ll come with me.”
Of course, Charlotte raised her hands triumphantly. “Woo-hoo!”
Sarah stared at Taylor. “Did you find news about my parents?”
“Nothing yet.”
Taylor couldn’t bring herself to tell her she suspected they had been silenced permanently. They had tried to uncover the truth behind Sarah’s ‘hospitalization’… and paid the price. Not yet. Not when she wanted to flee town as fast as possible, and couldn’t afford to deal with Sarah breaking down.
Sarah didn’t press on the subject. She simply curled up on herself some more. But Taylor suspected she knew she was being fed nice lies. Sarah could sense emotions after all…
It didn’t matter. As long as she could follow her pace, it was good. Taylor would deal with everything later. Sarah’s grief. Her own feelings.
Later.
**************
The building looked like a random warehouse. However, it was used to store some goods Canadian secret services wanted to ship discreetly to the rest of the world. Not ‘ultra top secret’ material, but still things they didn’t want to advertise publicly.
Though Taylor wasn’t interested in the warehouse itself – only in the small administrative building nearby.
The administrative building and its computer connected to the server she wanted to hack into.
It was Friday night – cleaning night. Taylor laid in ambush in the backyard, hidden with Sarah and Charlotte behind some dumpsters. She was waiting for the janitress to come out and take out the trash.
Since the warehouse wasn’t deemed a major security risk, there weren’t security cameras. Maybe in hindsight it was an oversight, but then again the only thing of value here was the computer connected to the central server. Only a rogue secret agent had the knowledge to hack into it. Before Taylor, nobody was fitting the bill.
Canadian secret services were too complacent. They were so convinced Taylor was going to flee the country with Sarah after breaking her out, they hadn’t even envisioned the possibility she’d infiltrate behind their lines.
Taylor tensed up in anticipation when the backdoor of the building was opened.
The cleaning lady taking out the trash was a mousy-looking woman with auburn hair, blue eyes, and a light skin. Her haircut was a medium ponytail. She was wearing a light green button-down long-sleeved blouse and light grey thick-cuffed trousers, brown safety shoes, and a grey rimless cap. Her name tag read Rita.
Taylor instructed Charlotte and Sarah to wait hidden behind a dumpster.
Silently, she sneaked behind her prey, walking in the woman’s back.
When Rita threw the trash bags and closed the lid of the dumpster, Taylor rushed. Just as the janitress was stretching her back, Taylor wrapped her arms around the woman’s exposed neck. Rita squeaked when Taylor tightened her chokehold, cutting off her breath.
Woodward, I’ve never seen a recruit as fast as you! Trust me, we will make something out of you!
Taylor snorted bitterly at the memory of her instructor. Something… Yeah, they had made her some ‘thing’ alright…
Rita struggled, moaned, and cried in fear. Taylor wasn’t moved by her pleas or her terror.
Compassion is weakness, Woodward. We’re not supposed to be good people. We’re supposed to get the job done.
Rita’s body became limp. Lack of oxygen made her pass out. She slumped onto Taylor.
Taylor loosened her grip to allow the unconscious woman to breath.
Woodward! Work on your neck-snaps! They’re the quickest way to dispatch a sentry! Dead bodies can’t sound the alarm.
Her training was still ingrained in her mind. It would be easy to snap the girl’s neck. More convenient too.
Taylor knew herself. She knew she wouldn’t mind killing Rita. She’d feel mild disgust, but she wouldn’t mind.
After all, secret services had made her some ‘thing’...
Then why wasn’t she doing it?
Maybe because Taylor knew… she knew Charlotte and Sarah were hiding nearby, waiting for her.
Did she want to bring a corpse to Charlotte, who still thought stealing clothes was a fun adventure? Charlotte, who could barely grasp concepts like guilt, danger and death?
If a girl’s dream must die, at least it should die gently.
Did she want to bring a corpse to Sarah, whose empathy made her cry even when a dog was in pain?
Taylor released the unconscious woman’s throat, and began dragging her out of sight. She still needed to take the time to strip the woman. She had zip-ties. She had a ball-gag. Binding and gagging Rita would only take a minute. It was the night, and nobody would walk the backyard and hear her before the change of shift – in two hours. The difference with killing her was minimal.
Turning around the dumpster, she found Sarah sitting balled up on the ground. The blonde was hiccuping between sobs. Charlotte was standing awkwardly next to her, with a contrite facial expression, as she didn’t know how to react – didn’t even fully grasp why Sarah was feeling distressed.
Taylor laid the janitress on the ground, and took a knee.
“Are you okay?”
“I could… I could feel her fear…” Sarah whispered in-between choked sobs. “I bet she thought... she was going to die…”
“She’s not dead. This hold is designed to render them unconscious with no lasting side-effect.”
Sarah wasn’t listening. “Unbearable… Fear is one of the worst… worst emotions... to sense…”
Taylor didn’t have the time. The janitress would wake up soon. Yet, she still put a hand on Sarah’s shoulder.
“I’ll make the next one quicker.”
Her word calmed the young woman a bit – maybe because she could sense Taylor was sincere.
Taylor quickly stripped Rita off her outfit. She began by unlacing and taking off the safety shoes. Next, she unbuttoned and pulled off the blouse, then she loosened the belt and shimmied the trousers down Rita’s legs. She left the cleaning lady clad in striped white-and-black socks, blue and white-striped boxer undershorts and a white seamless t-shirt bra..
When the janitress began to wake up, Taylor wasted no time. Rita’s fear and confusion would hurt Sarah if she had the time to collect her thoughts.
Taylor swiftly lifted Rita’s upper-body and laid it against her lap. She then moved the girl’s head to expose her Vagus nerve. Rita was still barely conscious – her limp body was as unresponsive as a rag-doll. Taylor grabbed the Vagus nerve and pinched. The half-conscious janitress shivered briefly and moaned feebly. Then she slumped onto Taylor’s lap.
You could have used your powers. she thought to herself.
But Taylor hated those powers. From beginning to end, she had always been a fraud because of them. She'd never have been able to become field agent of the CSIS had it not been for them. Even more than the secret services, they had made her who she was.
Some ‘thing’.
Having bought time, Taylor quickly restrained Rita. One zip-tie for the wrists, an other for the ankles. The ball-gag to silence her. Rita wasn’t a fighter. She didn’t have the training to break free of her bonds.
Taylor stashed the janitress inside the dumpster, onto the bags of thrash. She’d be found in two hours, during the next change of shift. At least it would be before garbage collection… She’d be a bit cold – it was Summer, but Summer in Vancouver was still cool – but she’d be found long before hypothermia would kick in.
Taylor used Rita’s key to unlock the back door. Then, she helped Sarah get back on her feet, and motioned her and Charlotte to follow her inside.
**************
The administrative building was empty. In hindsight, stealing the uniform of the janitress had maybe been superfluous. However, Taylor thought they were better safe than sorry.
Indeed, while the normally loud Charlotte was surprisingly quiet and sneaky when she was infiltrating a place, it was crystal clear Sarah wasn’t trained for infiltration. The blonde didn’t know how to suppress the sounds of her footsteps, and kept making rookie mistakes such as not glancing across each corner before walking in sight. Taylor hadn’t chosen to infiltrate the building while it was empty for nothing…
The former government spy in her saw the irony of the situation. Sarah’s empathy would make her a perfect infiltrator. Too bad she was absolutely NOT suited for the work of a secret agent…
Checking around the corner, Taylor motioned her teammates to stop walking and stay quiet.
The corridor was leading to a small hall. A young brunette female guard was standing outside the room their team needed to access. She was as cute as a button, with brown eyes, a pretty face, and a soft white skin. Her haircut was a low bun.
Her stance was terrible. Taylor could easily deduce this young woman was a new recruit. However, the gun strapped onto her belt wasn’t for show. Even a rookie could be lethal with a lucky shot.
She was wearing black safety shoes, dark blue uniform trousers, a grey belt, a white t-shirt, a dark blue thin uniform jacket, and a black baseball cap with the words SECURITY written on it with white letters.
Taylor glanced at Sarah. “I will have to neutralize that woman.” she warned the blonde.
Sarah shivered.
“You don’t want to feel her fear.”
The young woman nodded.
Taylor glanced at her hands. She could feel the little jolts of electricity coursing through her fingers. Then she glanced back at Sarah. “Use your powers. Lull her feelings. I have a way to knock her out instantly.”
**************
Taylor approached the brown-haired guard, hoping being disguised as a cleaner would fool her. However, the guard, not recognizing her face, stiffened and got a bit nervous.
The brunette opened her mouth to ask about Taylor’s whereabouts.
Sarah was hiding just around a corner and that was her cue to act. She began manipulating the woman's emotions. She relaxed her and made her less concerned about not recognizing Taylor.
The brunette blinked several times. She closed her mouth, opened it again as if to say something, but stayed quiet. Her mind was telling her there was a potential breach of security. But her emotions were whispering things were fine, she didn’t need to worry.
With the woman's emotions overwhelmed by Sarah's manipulation, Taylor casually walked up to her, stood directly in front of her, glanced down at her ID badge and said: "Hello Meagan". She then reached out towards the unresisting brunette's neck and as soon as she touched it released her charge.
Meagan winced and cried out "ahh" as she felt the initial jolt of pain. She then went silent, stared blankly into space, and stood completely still as her body had been paralyzed. The charge overloaded Meagan's senses and in a short time her brain shut down. Her pretty brown eyes rolled back. With a soft sigh she began to collapse to the floor unconscious. Taylor caught her under the shoulders.
She then realized the lock required a retinal scan. Hoping it worked, she turned the unconscious body around, thumbed the eyelid back, gently moved the eyeball and put the woman's pretty face up against the scanner. She was rewarded with a beep and green light. The door slid open and Taylor dragged the body inside. Charlotte and Sarah followed her.
At the other side of the door, there was a plain-looking office room. An outsider would have thought a retinal scan and a guard were too much protection, but Taylor knew the true value of the computer on the desk.
As Taylor was searching for what they came for, Charlotte immediately began stripping Meagan's uniform off her, humming to herself all the way through. Baseball cap, weapon belt, uniform light jacket, t-shirt, safety shoes, and trousers were all removed to the sound of a merry little tune.
Taylor let her do it. She wasn’t sure the uniform would be needed, but at least it kept Charlotte busy.
The unfortunate Maegan was thus left clad in her matching light green sports bra and boyshorts. Charlotte even stole her black socks. (Taylor and Sarah didn’t comment on that. Charlotte just had weird whims sometimes.) Then she slipped into the security guard uniform.
While Charlotte was having fun, Taylor sat behind the computer, and wasted no time hacking into the server. It was almost insultingly easy.
She found Sarah’s files first. She smiled harshly when she deleted everything. Years of research vanished in a few seconds. She was aware some people probably had copies – like William Jefferson. But it still felt satisfying to hinder them.
Then she deleted everything they had about Charlotte. Or the “rogue shape-shifter” as they called her. They still didn’t know her name. Apparently, they also hadn’t found out yet she was from Quebec. Still, better safe than sorry...
Finally, Taylor came across her files.
Taylor Woodward. Agent of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Best student of her year. Passed with flying colors. Best field operative. Currently holding the record of most numerous successful missions.
Taylor gritted her teeth. So many successful assassinations as well.
Missing in action.
Taylor raised an eyebrow. That one was interesting. Officially, she hadn’t gone rogue. She was “missing in action”. Her higher-ups probably didn’t want to admit to the government she had sabotaged one of their most promising long-running operations.
When it came to delete her files, Taylor’s fingers lingered briefly.
Then she entered the input.
One by one, the files were erased. In a few seconds, Taylor Woodward, best field operative of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, vanished from the face of the Earth.
Taylor exhaled, allowing herself to be briefly emotional.
She had done it. CSIS field agent Taylor Woodward didn’t exist anymore. How was she feeling? Sad? Relieved?
Why are you doing this?
Of course, Charlotte had to ruin the intensity of the moment.
"Sarah, your power is awesome. That girl went like a moth to a flame..." she was commenting as she adjusted Maegan's uniform
But for once Taylor was glad Charlotte was ruining the moment.
The shape-shifter’s facial features contorted and began to mimic Maegan's – albeit chubbier.
"You better not be thinking of nicknaming her "Moth-Catcher"." Taylor warned her evenly.
"I wasn't."
"Yes you were."
“But we need a cool nickname. What about “Venus Flytrap”?”
“It sucks.” Sarah whispered.
Charlotte was left speechless. If Sarah was voicing her disapproval, then it meant it was REALLY bad.
“I’ll find something else.” She looked at Taylor. “What do we do now, Tazer?”
“You know I supplexed you to the floor last time you tried to give me that nickname.” Once again, Taylor’s voice was even.
Charlotte blinked. “What do we do now, Taylor?”
“Since you stole the guard’s uniform, we leave through the front door.”
Knowing their infiltration from this point forward would be quick, and knowing Meagan would not be waking up for at least an hour and probably much longer, they didn’t bother tying her up.
Knowing also the real janitress wasn’t in the position to discover the half-naked Maegan, since she was trussed up in a dumpster, they simply left the brunette concealed under the desk.
Once they were back at the apartment, they could ditch the uniforms, and finally flee the city.
**************
Taylor was driving away from Vancouver. She’d go north first, then take a turn to the east later.
She briefly observed in the rear-view mirror the two young women sitting in the back of the car.
Sarah was dozing on her seat. Charlotte was bouncing on hers.
Why are you doing this?
Taylor looked at the road in front of her.
She knew the answer. She had found it when she was deleting everything about her old life.
I’m doing this because I’m free.
I’m doing this because I want.
