If Theo was wrong about this… Her fingers touched something metal nestled on top of a paper liner.
Up came the coin. “Yes!” She slung it into the nearest mud puddle, triggered her interface and hurled herself to the next location.
Hopkins paced back and forth between a pub and the fence near the street. He’d become a Rover because it’d sounded so amazing. Now he could be stuck here for life, however short that would be. Or get blown to bits. That’d really piss off his mom. She’d wanted him to be a dentist.
He slowly completed another circuit, conjugating one of his favorite swear words under his breath. Then again. A cask appeared out of nowhere.
“Oh God, Lassiter was right.”
~??~??~??~
Cynda propped herself up against a fence, exhausted. She’d hopped back five minutes to rest because her heart wouldn’t stop pounding. Once she caught her breath, she’d go after the remaining casks.
“Good job,” her delusion said.
“Thanks,” she wheezed. “I never would have seen that last one if you hadn’t pointed it out.”
The spider acknowledged the compliment. “We make a good team.”
“Got that right. Let’s just not do the umbrella trick for a while, okay?”
“Lassiter?” It was Hopkins. She’d never get used to those silent transfers.
He was staring at her, his face smudged with what appeared to be gunpowder. “Who are you talking to?”
No reason to hide the truth any longer. “I was talking with my hallucination. Don’t worry, you keep traveling and you’ll earn one of your own.” Or more than one.
“You actually talk to it?” he asked, incredulous.
“Sure. He’s been a great deal of help.”
The expression on Hopkins’ face said he thought she was over the edge. Your turn’s coming, kid.
“Did you get them?” she asked.
“Yes. The interface seemed to be able to sense where they were. Made it a lot easier.”
She straightened up. “I’m going to disarm Theo’s two, then try to find him. You go to Rotherhithe and help Keats. We have no idea if the bombs are already in place over there, or they’ll ferry them in at the last minute. I’ll join you as soon as I know the boss is okay.” Then it dawned on her Hopkins probably didn’t have a clue what the sergeant looked like. She fumbled for her pendant. “I have a picture of him.”
“No need. I studied the files before I came. Thought it best I know which Victorians you’d been interacting with.”
Smart guy. “See you sooner...”
“Or later,” he shot back with a grin, trading the old Rover joke between them.
They coordinated their interfaces and went their separate ways.