The Neverland Wars

Chapter 13

Peter

I'm just loading my shotgun into my holster when I hear the door to the weapons locker open and shut quickly. I turn, surprised to see Emma clad in her new mission suit: a custom-designed thermal t-shirt made to enhance her Electrobolt. The main material is black but contains thin, bluish fiber optic threads that emit pulses of electricity with her every movement. The fabric is meant to be heat-resistant while also deflecting any heavy damage she may take, firing it back at opponents in the form of static discharge. Her ensemble is completed with pants and boots, with a holster around her shoulders and a sheath for a knife on her right thigh. Her hair is pulled back into a tight bun away from her face.

"You look good," I say, handing her a pistol. She slips it into the waistband of her pants before grabbing a larger hand cannon from the wall, securing that in her holster. "Healthy, I mean. Strong."

"I feel good," she smiles, grabbing a 13-inch knife and sliding it into the sheath on her leg.

"A lot of firepower for a recon mission, no?" I raise an eyebrow at her.

She shrugs. "Just trying to be prepared."

In her hands, she produces her tablet, pulling up the file she's created on Rapture as her research has progressed. I see her pull up a few images of some sort of underwater vessel with a large, dome-like cabin made entirely of glass and surrounded by a metal frame.

"What is that?" I inquire.

"They're called bathyspheres. They're the primary way to reach the city."

"That thing is supposed to survive a trip all the way to the bottom of the ocean? Look at it. It probably seats, what, eight people?"

"Five."

"We're going to die out there," I murmur.

She chuckles, placing the tablet in her bag. "We'll be fine. Make sure you film everything."

She hands me a camera before slipping something else quickly into her bag. "You ready?"

"What was that?" I cock my head towards her bag.

"Nothing," she answers quickly.

"Don't lie to me when I'm about to risk my ass going on this mission for you."

This makes her gaze soften a little. She shrugs. "It's an escape plan. Should we need it."

Before she can react, I reach across the table and snatch her bag away, digging into the front pocket before producing a syringe filled with a glowing orange liquid. My jaw drops.

"Is this--?"

"Evaporate," she murmurs, biting her lip. "I stole it from my father's study."

"You're trying to get us killed, aren't you?" I run my hand through my hair, exasperated. "Why on earth would you need Evaporate?"

"Just in case."

"I don't want you splicing another plasmid, Em. You don't need to make that kind of sacrifice."

"That's why it's plan b. If we do find the city and we do get stuck in a sticky situation, I'll splice up and evaporate back to the hovercraft at the surface."

I gape at her. "You're actually crazy. You have a death wish."

"You know that's not true," she says, grabbing my wrist. The now-familiar tingling energy of her Electrobolt hums through her left hand and subsequently, into my skin. "It's just in case. I don't expect to find anything crazy out there. And when we get back, I'll put it back in my father's study. He'll never know it was gone."