Page 14 of The Only Way Out Is Up

That leaves me with some work to do before nightfall.

Star’s thief body is a lot smaller and lighter than the Mark 3. It’s the same basic oval-with-limbs shape, but it has only four legs, plus two slimmer arms with small blades and fine manipulators. Without armor and sporting only flimsy weapons, it’s not much use in tunnel fights with Twisted. But the broad “feet” are made of threaded-fabric-wired BIND sigils, which can stick to any surface; this body can run up walls and hang upside down like a real spider. He also fits in an unobtrusive backpack, so I can carry him around without attracting notice.

When I get him wired in, he tests each limb in turn, then jumps up and does a skittering lap of the workshop. The thief body isn’t as strong as the Mark 3, but it’s so much lighter that Star is as bouncy as a kitten. He unfolds his manipulators and interlaces the fingers in a high-speed cat’s cradle.

[Assessment: you have managed to remedy the previous deficiencies.]

Thank you.

[Prediction: new deficiencies will become evident in time.]

I roll my eyes. Doubtless.

[Query: are we ready to go?]

I think so. My pack is half-full of my own gear. Everyone else should be asleep by now.

It’s no darker outside than ever, of course, but curtains pulled over the windows provide a semblance of gloom in the house. I creep out of my room, glancing to make sure Spike’s door is firmly shut, then pad quietly to the stairs. From Somi’s room on the ground floor comes the reassuring sound of his snores.

“Aha,” says a quiet voice.

I turn, just barely silencing an exclamation. Spike is in her nightshirt with her hair down, but her eyes are fully awake and already too suspicious to bluff. I glance over my shoulder, but the snoring continues from downstairs.

“You’re going out again,” she says.

“Obviously,” I mutter.

“Where?”

“Well,” I say cautiously, “there’s a girl who’d quite like to see more of me, and she suggested—”

“Be serious, Taj,” Spike hisses. Ouch. “You want me to wake Somi up?”

“Please don’t.”

“Then where are you going?”

I let out a breath. “You really don’t want to know.”

“It’s dangerous?”

I shrug. “Probably.”

“Are you taking Star with you?”

A small limb emerges from the top of my backpack and waves.

“That’s something,” she says with a thoughtful expression that belongs on someone twice her age. “But…”

I put on an offended look. “You don’t trust me?”

“I don’t trust you to look out for yourself, no.” She frowns. “Somi doesn’t, either. That’s why you’re sneaking out, isn’t it?”

“It just seemed easier.”

“Taj…” Spike bites her lip, and suddenly she’s young again. My scared little sister. “Just be careful, okay?”

“Hey. Come here.” She steps forward, and I wrap her in my arms. With her force of personality it’s easy to forget how small she is, skin and bones, all hard edges under too little flesh. She hasn’t been eating enough. “I’ll be back before you wake up. Promise.”