We are back! Sorry for the wait, i needed the week to plan and try to get an actual buffer going forwards. But alas now the wait is over.
(Pov Chloe)
Chloe leaned against the hallway wall. It had been weeks since the incident with the people who broke into Jason's house. She had been shocked when they let her go and practically chased her off, like how you might chase away bait you used for a predator. Or a sacrificial lamb. She had been more surprised when Julie pulled her to the ground, the woman decked out in body armor and carrying a fucking machine gun.
Then some stuff had happened. Most of it was still a blur, not that she was trying very hard to remember it. She eventually found herself looking down at Jason's unconscious body, covered in far too much blood. Not to mention the still mostly attached pieces of flesh that hung in chunks from his stomach. Though at that point he wasn't bleeding anymore, the blood was definitely his. She also heard the… screams. She never wanted to hear screaming like that ever again. It had sent shivers down her spine, no, her very soul. She had nightmares for days afterward. Though the rest of what happened certainly didnt help.
He had disappeared in a storm of people, as had the corpses from inside the house. Hell, there was barely a sign anything had happened at all after that. No more agents or whatever they were had shown up either. It seemed that their confirmation with Jasmine had some effect, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out how.
The fact that Jasmine wasn't human, well, not baseline human at least, was a major revelation. They hadn't spoken much since it all happened, other than Jasmine sending her updates of Jason's condition. She still wasn't sure how she felt about that; it certainly wasn't negative. But it seemed the woman was serious about keeping her in the proverbial and possibly literal family. Which was… good?
“Clarissa, can you please take this seriously, or I am going to sew your cunt shut!” Clearly her future sister-wife? Co-spouse? Girl, she was going to share a dick with? She didnt know which term was best. Either way, she clearly wasn't having a good time.
It took nearly another minute before the door opened. Revealing a Jasmine that looked somewhat more disheveled than Chloe had ever seen her. Which admittedly wasn't a lot, but the woman always seemed so thoroughly well put together.
“Hey Chloe, please come in.” She let her through, motioning towards the couch in her office.
It was surprisingly comfortable, all things considered. “So, though client?”
Jasmine chuckled. “Heard that, did you?”
“Only the part about sewing her vagina shut.”
Jasmine winced. “Well, Clarissa's a bitch, and she deserves it. Anyway, I am guessing that's not why you're here?” She sat down in one of the chairs opposite her. “Getting cold feet?”
It wouldn't have been a hard conclusion to reach; it wasn't like Chloe dropped by Jasmine, well, ever. Though it wouldn't hurt to try.”
“You're right on the first one, but no, I am not.” She drew a breath. “When the thing with Jason happened. I couldn't do anything about it. And I never expected anything like that. It's not like anyone would have expected me to. It just.”
She was really doing this, wasn't she? She was really gonna ask. Could Jasmine even help?
Jasmine motioned for her to continue.
“I wasn't… You could. Can you make me like you?” It was a shot in the dark; Jasmine was a noctian, so obviously she could. The real question was, would she?
“I could. If that's what you really want, then I can. But that won't play out like you think it will.” Jasmine leaned back in her chair.
“What do you mean?”
“I am slowly altering Jason so that I can get more out of his blood.” I am sorry, you're doing fucking what!? “It's how marriage works for us, and he can still stop the process and end it. But two noctains don't share the same person for long periods. It would kill the person in question. If you were a noctian, we would run into that issue very quickly.” Jasmine maintained an even tone, but it clearly took some effort. Like she was far more intimately familiar with the matter than she wanted to say.
Well shit. That would be a problem. The information, at least the first part, created a slew of new questions. But they would have to wait. Were her options either to remain as powerless as she was now, or lose him? Were those really her only options?
Jasmine held up a finger. “Don't get your panties in a twist just yet.” She got up and walked over to the small refrigerator. Pulling out a small box. As she sat back down, she placed it on the table between them.
“There is always this.” She opened the box.
“What is that?”
(Pov Sky)
Montana Helena, June 13th 2026
They had the votes; deep down in her core, she knew that. However much she knew it, doubt still clawed at her mind, like a desperate animal trying not to drown. The reason was simple: the proposition was illegal, seditious, and treasonous, and probably a million other things that carried very long prison sentences and even longer social consequences. Even if it passed, it would lead to a massive loss of life. Some of her colleagues and co-conspirators had somehow gotten the notion that Washington would accept the vote. Fucking imbeciles. There was no chance in hell that they would. They hadn't last time, though they hadn't fired the first shots of that war.
She did trust her… patrons? Though they were probably better described as co-conspirators. After all, the clans had managed to form hundreds of smaller civilian militias, train them, and somehow gain the allegiance of large parts of the National Guard across the entire northwest. She also knew several National Guard officers who had unfortunate accidents and were then replaced by loyalists. She doubted those were accidents, though the clans had never said anything. It wasn't like they needed to make the threat any clearer.
Though it shouldn't be said, the motion was unpopular. It had a lot of public support. Though, knowing her co-conspirators, she suspected their hands in that too over the last twenty-odd years.
She leaned back in her chair and looked over the Montana Senate. Of the politicians in the room, there was hardly a single person who didnt owe their rise to power to the aid of the clans. The same was true of the House of Representatives. Hell, it was true in every county and municipal position that mattered.
“Now voting on bill C-456,” the speaker droned as if it was nothing more than a zoning regulation. Not synchronized votes in four states.
Her hand shook slightly as she reached forward and pressed the button to vote in favor of the resolution.
It took only another half a minute before the speaker's voice rang out into the room again. “The motion carries 49 to 1.”
They did it; the thing actually passed. If Everything went to plan, it would take another five minutes before the house voted on it. Probably with the same result; at least it would pass, or heads would literally roll. Soon after, the governor would sign it. In less than an hour, the Northwest would have seceded from the Union. And, as the bill included, form their own federation. And Washington wouldn't stand for it.
She needed to throw up.
(Pov LM-2459)
The world exploded into color as LM-2459 looked out at the world for the first time. It wasn't very impressive; the insides of containers usually weren't. Not that LM-2459 knew or comprehended any of that.
LM-2459's body started to vibrate excitedly as someone flipped on its engine. It wasn't the most powerful of things, but it wasn't supposed to take her very far or very fast either, so that was fine.
LM-2459's camera briefly saw the lips of one of the entities working around it move, though that didnt matter. They weren't the target; the target was the goal. Only the target mattered.
LM-2459 saw greenery and blue skies as the hatch in the roof opened, sending her and a few others into the sky towards their targets.
It didnt take long before LM-2459 saw the first of her sisters explode. Hit by some means of air defense or another. It didnt matter; only the target mattered.
It was a matter of seconds before LM-2459 and a few of her sisters started the swan dive towards the old masonry building's roof.
Loitering Munition 2459's existence had been short, but as the roof collapsed, crushing the machinery and workers underneath, she had achieved the one goal of her creation.