[Plot] Where's the Streetwise Hercules To Fight the Rising Odds?

[Narrator]

Nika was beginning to believe that the guards were never going to deliver her letter.

Nika was beginning to believe that the King was never going to come down and see her.

Nika was beginning to believe she was forgotten.

For someone used to fairly immediate service as the right-hand woman of the princess, being left alone in a jail cell was...unnerving, to say the least. It wasn't some medieval dungeon, and it wasn't like they were starving or chaining her to the wall or anything. Honestly, she probably had it better off than Katarina had had it at the tender mercies of Prince Alex. And Symkaria wasn't some backwater hellscape or something; she'd eventually get a trial and a chance to explain herself and all that. It's just that the King could put his foot down and gum up the works, and she was getting the distinct impression that her works were thoroughly be-gummed at the moment. It turns out, treason isn't something that gives you a slap on the wrist!

No visits from His Majesty; no visits from Katarina. Hell, no visits from a public defender or anything.

So, after nearly a week of being left to her own devices, it perhaps came as a surprise when a faint knocking sound could be heard, coming from one of the pipes running through the wall behind her cell.

[Nika Novak]

Nika is not an impatient woman, but even she gets to fretting eventually. Still, this is what she expected and if the powers that be decided that it's what she deserves then it is. She screwed up, she will accept the consequences. In the meantime she does what's done when you have a lot of free time in a jail cell. She works out and so she's in the middle of crunch 100-something when she stops, pausing to listen if the conspicuous knocking will repeat itself or if it's just pipes banging.

[Narrator]

It took Nika a moment or two to cut through the noise to figure out exactly what she was hearing. The knocking did repeat, and more than that, it repeated in code. A variation on a Morse-style code that should, in theory, only be known to the royal houses of Symkiara.

Code: Select all

D-A-N-G-E-R

It just kept repeating the code, and then pausing, as if the sender wasn't sure if the message was getting through or not.

[Nika Novak]

Pipes definitely don't bang in clandestine code, that's for sure. She wipes the sweat of her brow and sits on her bed to knock the side of her shoe against the wall.

Code: Select all

W-H-E-R-E

[Narrator]

Code: Select all

C-A-S-T-L-E

N-O-T-O-V-E-R

[Nika Novak]

Nika freezes for a second. Surely here, in the seat of her family's power Katarina would be safe.

Code: Select all

H-O-W

she taps against the wall.

[Narrator]

Code: Select all

H-E-L-P

Well, that wasn't an answer, but I suppose long, expository conversations are difficult at the best of times, much less through banging on pipes.

[Nika Novak]

The last time someone tried to help it was Doom and really, there's no reason to assume this is coming from anywhere else. But that alone warrants action. She's already in jail for throwing everything away, what's one more infraction for breaking out if the alternative is sitting idly by as someone in literally in the walls of Castle Karkov.

"прокляття!" she curses under her breath and picks up her pillow and tears it open on one side until she has a fabric of 2 by 3 feet or so. Her power works so much better on small, solid objects but she can still feel the rigid energy flow into the porous material of the spread out pillow casing. It's a bit like holding an empty bottle under water, constantly trying to eject the energy again if she lets her concentration slip, but she just needs it to hold once. Clenched fists begin shaking as she keeps forcing her power into the resistant object until she finally feels the click of it locking it in place. And with a completely unnecessary punch against the back of the spread-out pillow she sends it crashing into the wall and ramming it a good inch deep into the concrete, pulling it back and slamming it home again. The pillow just disintegrates under the stress of the second blow but still delivers the unyielding force of Nika's power into the weakened wall.

[Narrator]

This, of course, set of the prison's alarms, as Nika was not the first mutant-powered agitator they had to detain. So while, yes, she was able to punch a hole in the wall, the guards in the hallway around here did notice what she was doing, yelling at her to halt and drawing weapons.

Through the crack in the wall Nika had made, she did get a glimpse of someone standing nearby, as if they had been nonchalantly tapping at some pipes. They watched, a bit bug-eyed, as Nika's fist came crashing through the hardened wall of the prison, and then he took off, losing himself in the commotion.

[Nika Novak]

With the nonchalant person being the only lead she has for finding out what the hell is going on Nika dashes after them, using her power to clear a path from anyone who gets in her way by touching belt buckles, wristwatches, zippers, anything that's somewhat attached to a person and thus able to fling them out of her path and keep them pinned for at least a little bit.

[Narrator]

Gunfire rang out after Nika -- if she had been hoping for a pardon before, busting out of prison had put an end to that idea.

The man who had been tapping the pipes had disappeared into the crowd, but Nika knew which general direction he had headed in, and there were only so many alleyways or whatever they could have ducked into. The key was to keep going before they had time to blend in and be lost among the hundreds of thousands of people in the capital. If she let that happen, she truly would be lost.

[Nika Novak]

Fuckfuckfuckfucketyfuckfuck is roughly Nika's thought process as she muscles her way through the crowd, ducking and weaving when the gunshots ring out. Maybe, if she focused and got the timing exactly right she could catch a bullet with her power, but she doesn't have the luxury of sparing any attention to that. She has to catch that guy or she's done for. She might be anyway, but at least she's got a chance if she stays on his tail.

[Narrator]

It took a little luck and some blind guessing, but Nika stayed on the tail of her mysterious benefactor as he wove into an alleyway -- or at least, she did until it reached a dead end.

Before she could make another move, however, she noticed the edge of a manhole cover just ever-so-slightly off of center. With the guards barreling down behind her, she didn't have much time to make her move.

[Nika Novak]

While certainly not looking forward to it, Nika has no compunctions about diving into the sewers. She does take a moment to move the manhole cover back into place behind her and infuse it with her power to lock it in place for at least a little bit before following her target in slightly less of a hurry for now. Let him think she lost her and not splash around in the muck to alert him to her presence.

[Narrator]

Pseudo-welding the manhole in place is enough to at least temporarily get the guards off her back. Good! Getting shot was not high on her to-do list today.

Neither, for that matter, was mucking about in the sewers, but one does what one must. The acoustics in here weren't great, and footsteps echoed around the walls in such a way that it made it very difficult to pinpoint directions. However, the sound of a slamming metal door -- an access point? -- down the hallway was a bit clearer.

Coupled with the manhole being left slightly ajar, Nika would get the feeling she was being deliberately fed breadcrumbs here.

[Nika Novak]

She didn't break out of prison to not follow through now, even if there's a good chance she's walking into a trap of some kind. Maybe she already has, but either way the best path is through. She does slow down and move towards where she estimates the door sound came from more carefully, checking her corners and rear, on high alert.

[Narrator]

Nika crept down the corridor, on alert, which meant that she'd realize a moment before she was grabbed that she was about to get grabbed from behind, pulled into a room off to the side of the sewer system which almost certainly should not be there.

[Nika Novak]

She tries to spin around to try and defend herself if she has to.

[Narrator]

...and found herself face to face with the man who had attempted to communicate with her outside her cell.

"You are, without a shadow of a doubt, the most reckless human being I have ever had the misfortune to come across. Is England still standing? Is the rubble you left behind the reason the Princess came home to begin with?" he demanded.

[Nika Novak]

"You expect me to sit in a cell if the Princess is still in danger?" Nika shoots back. "I don't need a reminder of my failure in protecting her from being kidnapped in the first place."

[Narrator]

"Well, being actively wanted by the police after a breakout is likely to somewhat impede your ability to protect her, wouldn't you say?" the man groused.

"Well, the damage is done. We may pick up the pieces and move on."

[Nika Novak]

"Not as much as prison. What do you know about her being in danger? And who are you?"

[Narrator]

"Some of that is on a need-to-know basis. You are but a soldier; there are some things you need not know.

We are a group of concerned citizens who have learned that the plot to overthrow the Princess did not stop at the Sablinovas; that another one of the families is involved and has aims at the throne. And that this Friday, when the families gather, that action will be taken to remove the Princess from the line of succession.

Permanently."

[Nika Novak]

Nika flinches at the last word.

"That's a lot of very specific information for a group of concerned citizens."

[Narrator]

"We are very concerned citizens," the man deadpanned.

[Nika Novak]

"Right. This goes beyond House Sablinova then? Tell me what I need to know to stop them."

[Narrator]

"The ball is to be masked, and so you entering the palace should be a fairly simple matter, presuming you use the door like a peasant. We have the abilities and facilities to forge entrance credentials for you.

We do not, however, know which of the other families are involved. Or how many. Or how they intend to hurt the Princess. You will have to discover much of that on your own at the ball..."

[Nika Novak]

"Protect the Princess during a masquerade, uncover the assailants and all without being noticed myself?" she sums up and rather than making it sound like the daunting task it clearly is she almost sounds excited. "I might require a cape."

[Narrator]

"I will be honest, I felt more comfortable about this plan before I saw you in action," the man deadpanned. "Do you think you can go 45 minutes without exposing your identity and putting everyone in jeopardy?"

[Nika Novak]

"If people were straight-forward instead of this clandestine bullcrap it wouldn't have had to come to this." Nika mutters. "But yes, I can be subtle if I know what is going on."

[Narrator]

"Most criminals do not admit their crimes to the authorities at the first opportunity," the man simply replied. "They are generally a bit more subtle than that."

"This is your shot at at least partial redemption, Novak. If you screw this up, we can't help you anymore. Is that clear?"

[Nika Novak]

"I broke an oath. The only thing more shameful than that would be to not accept the consequences. I'm doing this for Katarina alone, not for me, not for you, not for Victor von Doom."

[Narrator]

"Then I wish you the greatest success possible. The future of Symkaria may be in your hands."