The little turtle scuttled around on Elena's palm until his head was facing away from her. Its mouth opened and a pinprick of light roared from it. No smaller than a laser, it still had a big impact as it melted a perfectly round hole in the wall.
"Are you kidding me?" Kira asked as Finn erected a shield, containing the rest of the blast. "You fit him with a modifiedzuipi? Are you trying to kill us?"
"Cool, right? I took Blue's designs and modified them. The power output is a lot more efficient now." Jin blathered on, unaware of the way Finn's expression darkened. "I don't know why they didn't do it that way from the beginning."
For once, Kira was speechless.
"What?" Jin asked, realizing how silent it was. "You wanted her protected. Now she's protected. My spawn will keep her safe."
"You can't call it a spawn when it's basically you in a smaller body," Kira shouted.
"I told you—I made improvements. This one has its own base personality. Introduce yourself," Jin invited.
"Hello, my name is Min Junior. You can call me MinMin as directed by the one who spawned me," the turtle said in a cute, squeaky voice.
"I'll admit his personality is a bit basic at the moment, but he'll get the job done. Even better, as long as he's on Elena, I will always be able to find her."
Elena’s glance at Kira was hopeful.
Kira’s shoulders sagged. She wasn’t going to win this battle. "Fine, if our contact is late, you can come. Remember your promise, stay in the background and don't draw attention."
Elena hopped up and down. "Yes, I'm finally going to get to see you race!"
The turtle yawned, padding up Elena's arm and into her hair where he sank down, for all the world appearing as if he was an ornate hair clip.
Kira shook her head, wondering how she had lost control on her own ship. She could only hope their contact would be prompt. Last thing she needed was for Elena to decide on a career as a waveboard racer.
*
Hours later, Kira wovethrough the crowd, Finn a grumpy sentinel at her side.
After some skillful arguing on her part, she'd managed to convince him to cover his synth armor with a cloak. As disguises went, it wasn't foolproof, his size alone guaranteeing anyone who noticed him would assume he was some kind of a warrior.
At least with the covering, any prying eyes wouldn't be able to pick him—and by extension Kira—out of a crowd at a glance.
Kira was a little more inconspicuous, playing the part of a fashion-challenged teen. She'd reunited with one of her many hoodies. Currently, she had her hands stuffed in its pockets, the hood drawn to hide her distinctive hair color.
For once, Jin was playing it safe, hiding out inside her hood, using it and her hair to go unnoticed.
He’d had to condense his sphere, something he only did when he needed to fit into small spaces. Right now, he was closer to the size of a softball. Even then, he barely fit.
Kira knew the hood looked a little misshapen. The ruse would never fool the Haldeel scanners located at nearly every hall intersection, but it didn't need to.
The Haldeel weren't the ones she was trying to deceive.
"Any issues?" Kira asked, her lips barely moving.
To her surprise, there were a lot more Tuann present than she'd anticipated. It had left her feeling a bit twitchy and paranoid, like she had a target painted on her.
"Not yet."
"Any sign of Graydon?" Kira asked.
Jin hummed in thought. "No, I don't think he or anyone from House Roake have docked yet."
Or maybe they had and Jin was simply more confident in his skills than he had a right to be.
It wouldn't be the first time one of the Tuann had come out of their blind spot.
