All the Time to Lose (Wormverse)

Interlude 3: Answers too Late

My Tinker friend is grateful for the work and temporary company, not to mention seeing that I'm not only alive but making progress. She's perhaps the only person who believed me when I said that my daughter is still out there.

She specializes in alternative materials. It's why my visor survived as much as it did. Her previous repairs to it have replaced much of the silicon it originally contained. It takes her longer than most repairs, but now our electronics don't contain any silicon.

While we rest and refuel in Kansas, Faultline calls in a favor to get a guy to run the program that will age Rochelle 16 years. We end up leaving Kansas with no word from the man aside from him confirming that he received the picture.

It wasn't until a few days later that I get an email from the man with the picture the computer generated. If this is her...she looks so much like her mother. I print out the picture several times so I can keep the small picture with me no matter what I'm wearing or where I am.

While I'm doing so, Emily spots my screen and comments "Pretty. Who is it?" I smile a little as I tell her "It's Rochelle. One of Faultline's contacts used a computer to age her 16 years. This is what it came up with."

She smiles as she leans on my shoulder to get a better look "Nice. I'm guessing she got her looks from her mom?" I shoot her a mock glare and grin "Yes she did." I say, looking at the screen. Pretty soon, the whole group has seen her picture.

Shamrock asks for a copy of the picture so she can use it as a reference, just in case she spots someone who looks like her. I agree, and soon everyone has a copy of her picture. It's not a guarantee, but it is the biggest step I've taken in 16 years.

I smile to myself and send the picture to my other contacts, asking them to contact me if they see the girl in the picture. They all agree to keep their eyes peeled for her. I just hope it helps. The last thing I need is to find that this picture isn't accurate.

I am about to go to sleep when I find a new email in my inbox. I don't recognize the sender. I haven't saved anything incriminating onto this computer so I am safe to open the email. When I do, I don't know what to believe.

Anubis,
"Where did you get this picture and why are you looking for this girl?"

Attached is the computer generated picture of Rochelle. It takes me a bit to collect my thoughts and calm myself enough to type my reply.

"Who are you and why do you care?"

This person must have been looking at their email because I get a response in a matter of minutes.

"This girl is a person of interest in an ongoing PRT investigation. Any information you have concerning her must be turned over to your local PRT Headquarters, or you can send it in an email."

Raven and I never liked the investigations or the politics that came with her research. I still don't. I don't want to get my hopes up here...but God dammit this is the closest I've ever gotten. I take a picture of the screen with my newly fixed phone before replying.

"No."

"Failure to turn over any information you have will be considered obstruction, and you will face the full force of the law."

I chuckle at the thought of this poor hero or PRT official. They may know my cape name, but they clearly don't know anything about me. I take some time to think out my reply before typing my response.