Christine Ch 5
#5 of Cadi, Volume 5: Christine
As time went on after the lockdown was lifted, things returned to something resembling the normal state of affairs from before it was imposed, which was a blessing and a curse all at once. The flow of new residents didn't slow down because of the lifting of the lockdown, and despite Parson's efforts, the inflow of supplies wasn't exactly on the rise, either.
Thankfully, between the farm, lake, and Cadi, they were able to keep everyone comfortably fed and clothed, but the one thing that was becoming an increasingly worrying point of no return was the housing situation.
"There's no two ways about it," Bailey said at one of the councils that the musketeers held with one another, with Cadi present and Parson on video call, "We're going to be left with very few options before long. Right now, we're at about five percent capacity for free housing. Either we're going to have to double people up, set up housing in the public lands, or we're going to have to scrap the farm in order to build some low-rise housing on the land. We've done everything that we can when it comes to building housing into structurally sound buildings, and demolished the ones that aren't."
Chloe sighed and frowned, "The awful thing is that I'm just not getting any luck bringing in resources to build higher-capacity buildings. At the end of the day, we need equipment that they're just not willing to provide, citing security concerns, and even if Cadi managed to produce it for us... that would just make them freak out that we're doing things that they 'haven't given us permission to do.'"
Christine rubbed her eyes as she leaned on her desk. "They really just want us to fail... even with you on our side now, Senator."
Parson was looking every bit as exasperated as Christine, leaning against his desk as he was carrying the weight of the moment as well. "I'm trying, Christine. I'm trying to expand the boundaries of the district, but no one is budging. The general consensus is that we have given you enough land. And no... yours isn't the only one starting to feel the strain."
Christine's temples were starting to pound, and she needed to rub them to try and get them to stop. "So... what? Do they expect us to pack them like sardines? We're going to have to start setting up tents in the park if things don't change, and even that will only last so long."
"Trust me... I know," the senator said, breathing deeply, "And, what's worse, the word is that the rate of people becoming furs is on the rise."
"What about the idea we'd discussed... getting some land to develop into an actual city?"
"That's a non-starter. No one is willing to give up enough land to do that. The federal government is even refusing to give up an inch of land... they make too much money by leasing it to companies. And yeah... I shared your idea about leaving all of the construction to your residents. That's not the problem, it's the land."
Cadi looked focused for a moment, taking a breath before she looked at Christine. "What about what we'd talked about, ourselves? Finding an island?"
Parson shook his head in answer. "We've looked into it. There are no islands that are just... free for the taking. None that any of us know of, and with satellites to map the surface of the earth... we're pretty confident about that."
Cadi was concentrating very intensely as she tried to think. "Isn't there... parts of the ocean that no country has a claim to? Maybe I could..." she paused, needing a moment to breathe before she continued, "Maybe I could make an island there..."
The senator looked at Cadi with concern. "That... sounds like it could be dangerous for you... are you sure you've got enough strength to handle that kind of thing?"
Cadi threw her hands up in the air in exasperation, "I don't know, but something has to work. Look, senator, if you can just get me a boat and let me find a place I feel like I can work with, I'll see what I can do."
That got a laugh from Parson "I think I could manage that. Smuggle you out of the district and get you onto a boat... hell, I'd loan you my personal yacht. And, heck, if you get something figured out, then there's just the legal battle to let the furs emigrate. I think that a lot of people like having you guys where they know you are and can keep an eye on you."
"We'll get that figured out, too," Cadi said, her expression one of mingled confusion and confidence... an odd blend.
Christine coordinated with Parson after that, making arrangements for the smuggling of their team out so they could get to Parson's yacht. It was a bit like a lot of those old heist movies, which didn't exactly fill Christine with confidence. Those things were so insane that it was hard to believe that they worked. Still, at the end of the week, she made sure that Kestrel and her crew were ready and waiting at the TOA offices, with Cadi and Dawn.
She dropped them off in one of the side rooms off of the loading dock, and locked the door on that side before she came around to the loading bay, where it was her official job to oversee the offloading of the money for the district either way. There wasn't a lot... and having to oversee the piddling amount every week felt more like she was having her nose rubbed in how little power and resources she actually had.
They went through the motions on that before she went over to the loading door to the room with the crew in it, unlocking it and letting everyone out. "Alright, you lot, your transport is ready. It's not... luxurious, but it's what we can manage," she said as she led them out to the armored truck. "Parson made sure to get sympathizers as the driver today, so everyone climb on inside."
"Sympathizers," an indignant voice said as Jim came around the side of the truck. Cadi looked happy to see him, "Brett's here, too, he's just behind the wheel right now. Your message hit home pretty well for him, Cadi, and he's been a lot easier going ever since."
Cadi grinned at that. "Wonderful... now I know we're in good hands," she said before she climbed into the truck, and Jim locked the door for them, taking a deep breath as he looked at Christine.
"Wish us luck, director," he said.
Christine smiled and bowed her head to him. "We owe you a great debt for this. Don't think I don't understand the danger all of you are putting yourselves in by doing this for us. So, I'm going to be wishing all of us luck."
They shared a laugh before Christine went back into the building, to continue on as though nothing had happened. The truck made it out of the district without a problem, though, which was the best that she could manage at the moment. She churned through her paperwork for the day, barely paying attention to any of it before she just... decided to call it a day early.
She went down to Briar's Cauldron, ordering the strongest stuff she could, making every effort possible to not watch the clock. She had memorized the schedule of this phase of things, and any awareness of time was just going to be her counting the seconds. Alcohol seemed like a good solution to this problem.
She was sitting at the main bar, arms folded on it and her head resting on them as she just tried to let herself float in oblivion when sirens started blaring through the district. That was a very bad thing for her, with the alcohol in her system, but she cringed and grimaced, sitting up as the announcement system kicked on.
"Attention all residents of The Midwest Transhuman District," the announcement started. Oh, that wasn't good. It was like a parent using a kid's full name. That was when you knew you were in serious trouble. "All residents are instructed to return to their places of residence immediately. All government employees are directed to return to the agency offices immediately. The district is on full lockdown effectively immediately. Any violators of this order will be detained."
"Detained..." Briar scoffed, grimacing, "Like we aren't already detained... but I guess that you'd better get going, Director," she said to Christine. She reached under the bar and pulled out a bottle of medicine, tipping out a couple of pills and putting them on a napkin for the intoxicated wolf. "You're going to want those, Christine. Cadi helped me make them, but it'll... really take the edge off, so you'll only have the government beating you up, not the alcohol, too."
Christine grimaced and sighed, taking the pills and knocking them back. She took a moment to breathe, closing her eyes and letting the feeling of the alcohol pass from her body. "Damn, you guys are good..." she said with a laugh before she got up and made her way toward the door. "Thank you, Briar. At least Cadi is out there."
She made her way back to the offices, her expression powerful and intense as she went. She had to find out what had gone wrong. Zack was waiting at the doors for her, looking relieved when she came into sight. "Director. Wonderful. Come on inside. You're the last one, and I've been ordered to lock the doors once you are inside," he said, his visible anxiety not filling her with confidence.
She thanked him and made her way up to her office, hearing the lock clicking behind her as Zack followed his orders. When she got to her office, she found that the top email in her box was an order for her to call her director as soon as she received it. She sighed and took a deep breath, placing the call, which was answered... way too quickly. He was waiting for her, and the expression on his face was furious.
The last two years hadn't softened her feelings about him or the overall sense of betrayal. His scowl said that, where he had once regarded her with begrudging respect for her abilities, his feelings about furs had soured much of the respect he'd once had for her. "I thought better of you, Christine. What the fuck is this stunt that you and Parson are pulling?
She kept her face as neutral as possible, not wanting to admit to anything that he didn't already know. "What stunt are you talking about, Director?" Where he'd used her name, she had used his title. His choice was to diminish her standing... her choice was to make it clear that she wasn't speaking from their old personal connection.
"You know what I'm talking about. The two of you smuggled a group of furs out of the district, and down to the coast." He actually smiled at that point, which made Christine's stomach clench. "We've got Parson in custody, along with all of the cronies that helped him. Even the pilot. And, honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that you're in the district, you would have been greeted by police officers the moment you got to the building. But, as it is, you're effectively already in custody, along with every other fur on the planet."
"We tried doing this the nice way, Christine. We tried giving you all somewhere to live that could actually be pleasant. But now that's going to change. If more capacity is needed, we'll be the ones building it. As cellblocks."
Christine stared daggers through the camera, and if she had been able to set him on fire through the intensity of her gaze alone, he would have been a ball of flames at this point. "Really? The nice way. By locking us up in the districts... starving us for resources, and now leaving us to pack in here like sardines, filling up every inch of space? You know damn well that at the rate things are going, we were going to have started needing to pack people in on top of each other."
He grinned right back at her, "Well, at least it isn't your problem to deal with anymore. We'll take care of it from here. Oh, and don't worry about your little 'team' of escapees, once we've tracked them down, they'll be in high-security cells right alongside Parson and his cronies," he said, the line going dead as he finished.
Christine screamed and would have thrown her computer across the room, but she needed that if Cadi called in. Instead, she settled for picking up a bust from the desk, throwing that across the room with all of her strength, only mildly surprised at how deeply it imbedded itself in the wall. Her anger at this moment was just that powerful.
She just let herself tear through a tantrum for a while, getting it all out of her system before she collapsed into her chair, breathing heavily as she consoled herself with his last comment. They didn't know where Cadi and the others were. They were still free.
They still had a chance.
Christine dearly wished that she could go back to Briar's pub, but knew that it was better that she couldn't. She would need her wits about her if anything happened. She even made sure to lock the cabinet that had the liquor in it and took the key to Zack for safekeeping, just to remove temptation. Not that she was the alcoholic type, but this was... an unusually stressful time.
She did her best to distract herself, especially from the clock. She burned through... she didn't know how many games of Solitare on her computer, and even used her pirated administrator privileges to look at the app store for other games to distract herself with. There were some interesting ones to be had, and she rather latched onto the escape room ones at the moment.
Still, as it got on toward evening, she was startled by the ringing of the satellite phone. She knew that it had to be Cadi. She answered it, giving it a moment to connect and put the picture through. When she saw them on the other side, she didn't mince words, "Please tell me that you've got good news..." she said, the desperation in her voice... not really hidden at all.
Cadi picked up on that fact but didn't mess around, either. She replied directly, saying, "We have good news. We've found an uninhabited island which is rich with resources."
Christine practically collapsed onto the desk, "Ohthankgod..." she muttered, taking a moment before she sat back up again. "And... you're going to tell me that you have a way to get us there, yeah?"
Cadi's reaction to that was almost answer enough. "No. Okay, Christine, tell me what happened."
Christine's expression wasn't far from Cadi's response to her question about getting them there. "They've arrested Parson. And everyone who helped you. What's more, the districts are on lockdown. No one in, no one out while they deal with this."
She knew Cadi wouldn't take that news well. "They... we have to help them... and get everyone out of the districts... I just... how..." she said, walking away from the phone while still staying in camera range. The cabin wasn't big enough for her to escape that. "I mean... it's not like I can just... open a door in mid-air..." she said, miming doing just that.
As she did, though, Christine saw the bright light as something happened before she saw the back of her own head through the video. She turned and looked at the door in reality, and the tigress standing dumbfounded in it. "So... that's... solved... I guess... Okay... so... can we do that on the island itself, not just the boat... and open up a bigger door in the park?"
"I don't see why not... but seriously, the fuck..." She sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Get the people moving... get on the horn to the other directors... get them to mobilize... we're getting everyone out tonight. I'm going to see what I can do about Parson."
Christine simply said, "On it," before the door closed and she stormed out of her office, shouting down the hall, "Zack! Musketeers! Office, now!" It didn't take them long before they were all assembled in the office, and Christine let out a breath, "Okay, good news, but we need to move quickly. We need to let everyone know that they need to be in the park with their most important belongings tonight. Do I make myself clear?"
Zack looked worried, his brow furrowing a little, "But... the lockdown... what are they going to do if we defy it like this?"
Christine looked at him, not angrily, but with all of her confidence and presence. "Zack, after tonight, they're not going to be able to do anything to us. Cadi's found our new home, and she's figured out how to get us there. All of us, not just this district. With how they've already reacted to this small of a security breach, none of the districts are going to be safe once we escape. I've already sent out an urgent push to the other directors around the globe... the kind that doesn't let them sleep through it. I'll apologize to them about it later, but we have to act quickly and decisively."
Everyone in the room nodded in response to Christine's words. She had made the situation clear to them. They got onto their phones, contacting people they could rely on all around the district, and even from her office window, Christine could see the lights of the buildings coming on. Meanwhile, she fielded calls from the other directors, some of them quite groggy, given where they were in the world. But, when she explained what was happening, that grogginess quickly faded, and they quickly signed off to get working with their residents.
When she was done, she pulled some of the junior staffers to help prepare the park for what was about to happen, making sure that the area was clear for people. They moved quickly and efficiently, clearing out the benches and chairs, some of the larger staffers even helping move some of the planters that weren't secured in place. Anything to improve the flow of people through the portal.
With ten minutes to go, Christine's heart began to swell as furs started to gather in the park. Christine had the staffers make sure people didn't stand where the portal would be, but everyone was coming. Well, except for Kestrel's family, but she had theories on that. They would be fine. She worried about their belongings, but whatever they didn't have with them... there was no reason to believe that Cadi wouldn't be able to arrange for them to be retrieved as well, once they were able.
It wasn't that she didn't doubt the governments of the world to be spiteful, but she at least expected them to be cautious enough to not simply... level the districts out of spite until they'd had the time to fully investigate them. The only problem was that they would only be looking for things that were reasonable and logical. They wouldn't be looking for illogical things, like magic. And that was why they would fail... hell, it was why they had failed to find Cadi once she was on the boat, she was sure.
She finally allowed herself to watch the clock on her phone, counting down the seconds before a light washed over the park as the portal opened just a foot or two behind Christine. She hadn't planned to stand that close to it... but... it's not like it had hurt her, so that's what mattered. She turned to look through it, feeling the warm breeze blowing through it into the park, and just could not help but beam as she saw the sandy beach and grassland behind it stretching out before them.
She couldn't help but beam at it, her ears perking high and her tail wagging away happily. She turned back to look at the furs in the park, who were all cheering. She waved her arm, urging them to come through. "Alright! Nice and steady, please! We have time to do this safely," she said as they all started to make their way through onto the beach.
She saw the other portals along the beach as the residents of the other districts started to filter out onto the flatlands. She saw the other directors and beamed at them, trotting over to the director of the next portal over, seeing the lovely Persian cat walking gracefully across the sand. She beamed at her, and held her hand out, "Director Goddard, so lovely to finally meet you face-to-face," she said with a laugh.
The cat pushed past the hand and embraced Christine, kissing her on one cheek and then the other, in a far more typical French greeting. "Director VanMartin, how lovely, indeed! C'est tres Magnifique!" She looked out along the beach, and couldn't help but laugh as she turned to look at the portal opening up in the water, a yacht leading a group of fishing boats through.
Christine recognized Kestrel's ship... The Sparrowhawk, wasn't it? She knew they'd not leave that one behind. "It really is magnificent, isn't it? Now the real work starts, though. But, it'll be by our own hands... to our own benefit, and without any busybodies who just want us to not exist telling us not to do it," she said with a laugh.
The directors worked to organize people to use the tents and help themselves to the food that the restaurant owners were already starting to provide, and soon enough, they were all winding down for a well-earned night's sleep.
In the morning, Christine was up bright and early to help as she could with preparations for the day. She couldn't help but smile as she watched the swarm of drones start whizzing about to map the area. It was really thrilling her... and then all of the resources that Cadi had summoned in for them. It really was amazing. And all of the supplies that Cadi had created for everyone! She felt like a kid in a candy store, which was a... fairly new feeling for her. At least compared to the last few years.
As she made her way around, she saw Cadi making her way toward the food stations, and walked briskly over to get to her first. "Cadi! Killer job on the upgrade last night! And all of these supplies... our only problem is going to be knowing where to start!"
Cadi looked... out of it, though. Kind of groggy. "Thank you, Christine, but it wasn't me... I learned something... interesting last night... about where my powers come from." She really did look out of it at the moment, and Christine looked at her in surprise at the news.
"Ah... gotcha... so... hmm... let's get some food for you two, and we can talk it over, yeah?" She steered them to where Carla's food station was, getting some good, hearty breakfasts for them before they found a spot to sit and eat while they talked. "Okay, so what's the story?"
Cadi told her about Nothing, and what he'd told her. Even shared her theory that he'd been celebrating a bit now that he had so much more energy to work with. Christine listened closely, but her mind was stuck on one of the details from the story. The part about the nodes, and the people that Cadi knew who would take responsibility for them.
She sat there with her brow furrowed as she said, "What I'm still trying to wrap my head around is what Nothing said about the... furs who would help with the magic of this island. I mean, how the hell are we going to find their nods, and all of that." Her expression was one of frustration, but... there was more to it than just that. There was a pressure pressing on the back of her mind.
Dawn interrupted her frustration, though. "I... think I'm kind of getting a feel for how all of this works... when you needed to make things in order to help people, you just did that... when you needed to... well mess with Parson and his bodyguard to get them to see what assholes they were, you just did that. When we needed a new home, you were pulled there, and were able to bring everyone here and feed them. Yeah? So... I think that when we need it to happen... the right person will just be in the right place."
Cadi was frustrated, but she was careful not to take it out on Dawn. As she thought through what she said, her frustration subsided a little, it seemed. "Okay... so... we just wait to stumble across them... about as good of a plan as any, especially since only the right person will really... trigger the node. As unsatisfying of a solution as that is."
While they brooded on it, one of the techs came up to the table. "Director, we think we've found up a good place to set up an administrative center. We'd been going over the maps, and this area really looks like the best spot to start building a city... and we've found a good spot for us to set up a central hub."
Christine sighed, annoyed that her train of thought was cut off. "Alright. I suppose we should get a look at it." She groaned and stretched as she got up from the table, buying the other two a moment to finish their food before they left to go into the jungle past the flatland.
As they walked... it was strange. There was a kind of whispering as they walked along that only Christine could hear. It bothered her on a certain level, but as she heard it, she felt a certain level of clarity coming over her mind. She started walking with more confidence, striding ahead of the tech who was supposed to be leading them to the spot. It guided her over to a small pool on the ground in a clearing.
It told her to touch the water. The old fear recoiled from that idea, but she slowly reached her hand out to it anyway. Suddenly, the water began to roil and rose up to surround Christine in a giant bubble. She felt the panic surge within her, but... it was strangely muted. There was a mirror-like reflection there in front of her. She saw a face in it that wasn't her own. It looked like a tiger... like Cadi. Only male.
"Christine... I'm so glad to get to meet you," it said. "I'm sorry about how badly hurt you were... in your heart that day all of those years ago. But you showed amazing bravery... and I greatly respect that... it is what drew my attention to you, even at such a young age.
She tilted her head, looking at the reflection. "You're not that... Nothing that Cadi was talking about, are you? If she only just got to this world, how could you be aware of me back then?"
He chuckled and smiled, shaking his head. "I'm not the Nothing that Cadi is connected to. This island... was meant to be our window into this world, just as it has been our window into many other worlds in other dimensions. But in this dimension, there was... no one here to help foster the magic. So... it seeped out into the nodes. Our presence here was... fragmented. Unfocused. We needed people to connect with. I don't know of the other three elements, I haven't been able to communicate with them, but you are the one that I have bonded with. I would imagine that the others have found their own people to bond with, too, but I can't be certain."
"So... what? You're saying that I'm bound to water? You do understand that I'm terrified of water, right?"
He laughed softly, smiling and shaking his head. "You were also terrified of leadership, and look where you are now. You will be alright. You already know that it wasn't the water you were afraid of. It was being abandoned, as you saw it. It was being left without anyone that you could rely on at that young of an age. But you aren't that small child anymore. You aren't bound by that fear. Water is a powerful element, and ever since you were thrown into the district, you have moved through it like a tidal wave... a force of nature. You no longer need to fear the water... you are the water... you are the force of nature... and you will use that strength and power to help the people of this island. Our people."
She smiled and sighed, nodding her head. "Okay. You've got me. I'm in," she said, reaching out to touch the mirror, feeling the energy flowing into her as the water crashed down around her. She was kneeling in a fountain, with a fully constructed town square around her.
Cadi was right there with her, touching her shoulder as she said, "Well... I think we found our first node..." She rubbed along her shoulders, smiling, "Alright there, hun. It's a hell of a rush, I know. But it would be good to get up." She laughed a little as she said it.
Christine gasped and stood up, shaking her head a little as she looked all around her. It really was amazing. She was kind of surprised that her clothes weren't soaking wet, but... that only reinforced what the water fragment of Nothing said. She walked over to the edge of the fountain, climbing down from it before Dawn just glomped onto her into a big hug, making her smile as she returned the hug.
"Thanks hun," she said, breathing softly before she broke the hug. "I've got to give it to you... you were right..." she said with a laugh, looking around the square, feeling the paving beneath her feet. She was blown away at what had just been created... out of nothing. "I guess we've got our first proper building..." she said, dazed, smirking as she shook her head.
She felt kind of bad for the tech when he said, "So... we were right... about a good place to start..." he said, laughing like he was having a small mental break. He took a moment to snap some pictures of the square, shaking his head and sighing. "I'll want to take these pictures back to the design team... I mean, it's not a bad look... and we can work with it, rather than leaving this surrounded by glass-slab towers... that would look horrible." He finished taking pictures and headed back to the beach.
Christine smirked as she looked around it, just taking it all in. "Well... it's definitely going to be pretty... and a lot nicer than the run-down shambles we were back in the district... and talking to other directors... none of them were really in any better situation." She couldn't help but shudder a little. "You don't want to hear the stories that came out of Russia and China."
Cadi looked more confused about that than anything, but she didn't really ask. If it mattered, she would learn. For now, Christine just pulled out her phone and sent a message to the Discord server for the directors, telling them to come to the clearing the techs had found, and the two of them just waited there for them to arrive.
"This place is really going to blow their socks off..." Christine said with a laugh, as she saw the first of the others arriving.
She wasn't wrong.