Super

Chapter 70: Dragnet

Kate continued looking at Lou as he thought the request over, and Lex watching him nod once. "All right, I'll be right here."

"Good," Kate replied with a grin. "Try not to hurt them, or to get hurt, either."

He shrugged, tilting his head to one side as if to say that's what he intended, but anything could happen. Lex glanced at Kate then, who began moving down the hall. "Let's look at the open rooms first."

The second door to the left sat open a few inches, and when Kate pushed it, Lex saw the door swing wide enough to spot a couple of blankets rolled up in one corner and a worn backpack about half full sitting next to it, the room otherwise empty, quiet, and dark. Leaving the door open, the two of them moved to the next one that sat ajar, finding only a disturbed rectangle in the thick dust on the floor. After going through all of the open rooms on the left and right of the hallway, Lex pushed the door at the end of the hall open the rest of the way with her foot. Stepping back, she surveyed the large, empty room as it became visible, dust dancing in the sunlight from the windows that covered most of one wall.

"Maybe we could bring everyone back here?" Kate said, her voice a speculative mumble.

"It's worth a try," Lex replied, looking out the windows at the trees beyond. "How do you want to tackle the closed rooms?"

Kate remained quiet for long enough that Lex turned to glance at her friend. "Well," Kate said, her words coming out slow as she studied the wall, "maybe you could sing a song to get them curious enough to come out."

Lex closed her eyes for a moment as she let out a sigh. "Do you think that's a good idea with Lakshmi around and everything?"

"I know you've been really careful about what you do," Kate replied, meeting Lex's glance. "But don't you think that they already have some idea of what you're capable of? I don't think they would have dragged us back here for me. After all, they seemed pretty clear about what I could do before Victor and I hared off."

"There's no reason to give them confirmation, then," Lex said through lips that didn't want to move.

Kate shook her head. "Look, this place is quiet. I don't think the people here mean anyone any harm or they would have already come out to try to attack us, because it's not like we tried to be quiet. I'd rather not have this place turn into a scene from one of those police reality shows or something."

"All right, all right," Lex said after several uncomfortable seconds of silence, shooting a glare at Kate. "Riss, don't broadcast this, all right? Give me a few minutes."

Hearing no reply, Lex nonetheless felt confident that her message had been delivered, since Riss had insisted when they put the in-helmet communications system together that she should be able to monitor and interrupt it if need be. Taking a few deep breaths, Lex walked back into the hallway and stood in the middle before starting to sing.

She sang a half-remembered song from her childhood, making up words when needed, but the message she sent out along with the song let people in the area know that they didn't come to arrest anyone, but that they needed to speak to everyone right away. After stressing at the end of the song that they were not dangerous or violent, Lex opened her eyes as she finished singing, giving a start as she realized she'd been surrounded by people. A woman with a young child stood nearby watching her, and a group of teens who looked as if they hadn't bathed in several days stood farther down the hall, one in particular looking at the sliver of space between Lou's shoulder and the wall. As Lex looked in the other direction she saw a few more adults; a man standing near the last door on the right and a man and a woman leaning against one another caught her attention in particular.