Chapter 41 - The Erin Express

Day 31

Afternoon

"No." Erin's tone was firm, unwavering in the wake of the arguments Clint was making. Cutting her hand horizontally, "With Sydney and I gone, we need your unit here defending Middletown."

"You have no idea what Hawthorne could have in waiting, Erin." Clint pleaded, "You should have backup. People who know the terrain you're walking into."

Erin shook her head, "You've made this argument several times, and I'm not convinced. None of your people can keep up, and they immediately become a liability."

Clint chuckled, "Everyone is a liability when trying to match you on the battlefield."

Erin turned to her right, grabbed Sydney's hand, and squeezed, "Not everyone."

"Okay, but two people do not make an effective unit. If she tries to give you overwatch, you're both exposed. If Sydney moves in with you, both of you run the risk of stepping into the same danger."

"If you have anyone else over level one hundred that can keep up with us, I'll entertain your suggestions." Erin's voice was slightly mocking.

"You already know there are no other combat effective units close to your level." Clint shrugged, "I've offered people you could take outside the wire to train up."

"People I don't trust." Erin said a bit too aggressively.

Clint raised a hand to object, but Erin preempted him by adding, "Yet."

"Plus, we don't have the time. I'm not leaving Noah in the hands of that psychotic asshole any longer than I can help."

"Language, Ttarai." Eun-ha contributed to the conversation in a quieter voice so as not to draw too much attention.

"So you would risk walking into a completely unknown enemy stronghold?"

Erin stared at Clint for a moment before asking, "What has you so concerned? What are you not telling me?"

Clint recoiled at the implied accusation, "Nothing, Erin. I've been 100% open and honest, but Hawthorne has mad scientists and mad engineers. Who knows what he's cooking up."

Erin leaned back, feeling like he had just made her point, "Exactly why we shouldn't bring wildcards along that could end up dead."

"God dammit." Clint looked at Anderson, "Talk some sense into her, George. Please."

Anderson chuckled knowingly, "From the moment I met this woman, I knew she was strong, stubborn, honest, and loyal to a fault. The fact that she's willing to take Sydney along is a big step for her." Shaking his head, his way to dismiss the ineffective ideas suggested so far, Anderson added, "No, I think Erin and Sydney should be more than sufficient for whatever bullshit Hawthorne has cooked up."

"Thank you, George." Erin said, nodding at the man.

Clint threw his hands in the air, "Is it something in the water? Does Middletown have any windmills, I'm feeling like a less quixotic mission than trying to talk sense into you people."

"As it stands, Sydney and I will be training ourselves on the biggest monstrosities we can find on our way there. Monsters that you avoided with your entire unit, despite all of your tech."

Clint frowned, "That's not entirely fair. We had a mission, and we were on a schedule."

"And you acknowledged that a fight against just one of those creatures would have wiped out half your unit." Erin countered, "But you're asking us to take just a couple of your people? They'll be dead in seconds if one of those creatures breathes on them wrong."

Letting out a heavy sigh, Clint finally let acceptance show on his face, "Fine, fine, you win."

"I need you and Anderson to work on securing the town from external threats while I'm gone." Erin said, changing the topic, "Noah's bots seem to be continuing deployment of the wall posts and securing town exits, but we don't even know if that will continue until completion. For all we know, the bots will stop working at some point."

"We have some people guarding the hole his kidnapper made down to his lair," Anderson said, "But at some point we may have to ask ourselves a hard question."

"Should we enter and try to communicate with Sky." Erin said, stating the question as a statement.

"Why are we waiting?" Clint asked, "A superintelligent AI could be a game changer."

Sydney jumped into the conversation, "Noah specifically advised us that he was segregating Sky from humans until she reached sapience. Something about contaminating her, which could lead to a homicidal superintelligent AI."

Clint stared at Sydney for a moment, then looked to Anderson, "Is that…actually what he said?"

"Yes," Anderson said, "Noah setup control mechanisms to prevent Sky from doing anything without his explicit approval as well, so even if we could talk to her, there's likely little she could do to help."

"God dammit, how is this town still intact with all of this crazy?" Clint stared at the wall for a moment, then said, "Alright, I say we seal up that hole for now, which will free up people for other tasks."

Nodding in agreement, Anderson said, "We'll talk ideas. For now, we should prepare for the ladies to depart as soon as possible."

"We'll be back here in the morning for final prep before we leave." Sydney said.

There were nods all around, signifying an end to the meeting for now. They all had things to do, and time was still a luxury.

Turning to Sydney, Erin said, "I've got that meeting shortly with my students. Care to join me?"

Nodding with a smile, Sydney said, "Promised I'd stay by your side, didn't I?"

Erin smirked, "Well, to be fair, that was for the funeral, but I'm not complaining if it becomes a regular thing."

"Oh, it's already a regular thing." Sydney laughed.

"Alright, let's go say bye to my mom first. She's making some things for us to take on our trip"

Sydney followed Erin into the kitchen, where they found Eun-ha diligently juggling multiple tasks, using her System equipment to make food for Erin and Sydney.

"Oh, you nearly gave me a heart attack, Ttarai." Eun-ha nearly jumped as Erin approached.

"We're heading out, but we'll be back in the morning." Erin said, pulling her mom in for a hug.

"You're not coming home tonight?" Eun-ha looked a bit disappointed, "Where will you two be all night?"

Sydney answered this time, "We're going to crash at my apartment tonight, after we discuss some plans for the mission."

Eun-ha smiled coyly, pulling Sydney in for a hug, "You two have fun then, and I'll see you in the morning." When she pulled away, Sydney and Erin both had a bit of extra colour in their cheeks.

"We're going to head out now, love you Eomma."

"Love you too, Erin." Eun-ha said as Erin and Sydney left the kitchen.

Heading outside, the two women drew looks from soldiers milling about, as they wrapped an arm around each other and launched into the sky.

Outside Gumiho Dojang

When Erin and Sydney came down on the sidewalk in front of the Dojang, they were overwhelmed with the sounds of cheers from a very large crowd. Erin recognized many of those in the front rows, wearing the Gumiho uniform, but there were a lot more people behind them who looked like regular citizens. She even recognized a few soldiers in the crowd, probably off duty and checking out downtown when everyone started gathering.

Once the cheering subsided, Erin prepared to speak, but she was interrupted by a collective bow from her students.

"Sabomnim Moon!" Rang out loud enough to echo off a few buildings.

A gentle slap on the arm from Sydney brought Erin out of her daze at the display. Part of her still felt weird about being in charge of these students, but she wouldn't dishonour Zack's memory by reversing the work he put in convincing her to accept her place.

"Thank you everyone for meeting me here." Erin started, "I…it means a lot to me that you have trusted me with your training, and believed in me enough to continue following my lead." Erin looked out at the crowd of students and regular people, "While I fully intend to continue your training, and work to make you all strong enough to withstand the trials of our new world, I must ask forgiveness, as I need to put my part in that training on hold."

There were murmurs throughout the crowd, but no one interrupted her, allowing Erin to continue her speech.

"Someone important to me has been kidnapped, and I cannot permit that to stand. I will not permit it to stand. For that reason, Sydney and I will be leaving in the morning. We're going to travel east, we're going to locate the enemy's base, and I'm going to teach them why you don't miss with Middletown, and why you don't mess with Gumiho Dojang."

Whoops, cheers, and yells of joy erupted from the crowd, bolstering her spirit. Not just from her students, either. Before long, a chant grew in volume, taken up by everyone present.

"GU-MI-HO! GU-MI-HO! GU-MI-HO!"

Her smile grew, and Sydney fed the crowd by grabbing Erin's hand and raising it up in the air. Playing to the crowd, Erin cheered with them for a minute, before patting the air to quiet them down.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm. Now, just because I'll be gone, it doesn't mean you can slack off. I expect everyone to listen to their seniors, and work with their peers. Practice your forms, and train hard."

A chorus of Yes, Sabomnim came from her students, alongside a deep bow. Erin didn't stick around for more though, grabbing Sydney around the waist and lifting off. Erin angled them deeper into downtown, only traveling a short distance. When they came down in front of the Sheriff's Station, Sydney's face scrunched up in concern.

"What's wrong?" Erin asked.

Sydney didn't immediately reply, cupping her eyes as she looked through a window for the attached garage. Finally she went to the door as Erin watched, unsure what to expect. When Sydney tried pulling on the door, it wouldn't budge.

"It's locked." Sydney finally said.

"Okay, so we missed him. He's probably out helping someone around town."

"Except," Sydney said, "The soldiers have been helping everyone out, and last I heard Logan was basically living out of the station."

"I mean…we could break the door down if you want inside that badly." Erin tried to sound like she was joking, but she wouldn't have any qualms about doing it.

"No, if he was here, it wouldn't be locked." Sydney put her hands on her hips and tapped a foot in thought, "Screw it, I'll leave a message with Anderson tomorrow. I'm not chasing him around town."

"Works for me." Erin said, wrapping an arm around Sydney, then taking off again.

As they came up on their destination, Erin slowed and lowered down closer to the ground. Letting Sydney point to the correct balcony, she flew over and set them down gently.

"Last time we left here, I couldn't fly." Erin said, following Sydney into the apartment, "That was only three days ago, but it feels like a lifetime. Too much keeps happening too fast."

Sydney spun, a bit of guilt on her face, "I'm really sorry about jumping you on the couch a few nights ago."

Erin was caught off guard. While they had mentioned talking about that night, a lot of things had gone down since then. Things had changed between them as well. Something else that has happened quickly, Erin thought.

The lack of immediate reply from Erin prompted Sydney to continue, "I…umm…I don't know exactly what came over me, and the crazy thing is I've never been attracted to women, but we developed a friendship, and then we seemed to be connecting on a deeper level and then there was the alcohol, and I guess…" Sydney was rambling at a quick pace by this point, but she stopped when Erin put a finger on her lips.

"Sydney, I was surprised, that's all. I've never been kissed before. I've never dated, and I had never been attracted to women as far as I knew." Wrapping her arms around Sydney, Erin continued, "We've become friends, and we have connected on a deeper level, and I realized something as I lay in bed moping over my grief."

"Oh?" Sydney asked, not wanting to ruin a good moment, but wrapping her arms around Erin as well.

"At first, I just didn't want to be alone, and I appreciated my friend being there." Erin was making sure to give Sydney ample eye contact, "But as I pulled you onto the bed I could feel the shift nearly in real time. I didn't just want you to be there, I wanted you to hold me."

Sydney smiled at Erin, affection evident.

"You've been there for me, you've trusted me, you've stood up for me, and while a friend can do those things, I don't also want to kiss my friends."

While Erin was willing to initiate, she was inviting Sydney to take the lead with those words. The woman didn't disappoint, leaning forward and capturing Erin's lips with her own. While the passion was at least equal to that of their first kiss, there was no pulling away this time. Both women were giddy, eager, and willing to indulge things before they left for unknown dangers the next morning.

That being said, it was only the afternoon, and they had plenty of time together, so a bit of pacing was in order. Breaking the kiss, Sydney said, "Can I offer you a drink, Ms. Moon?"

Pushing the woman so she fell onto the couch lengthwise, Erin crawled on top of Sydney, leaned in and said, "I'm good. I've got what I need right here."