Chapter Eleven
OuroborosChapter Eleven
“Alright, row it forward a bit more.”
Rounding the corner the boat slid to the mouth of the channel. Further inland approximately in the middle of the channel there was a bridge with a man lounging on it, back lit by the moonlight and the city lights far beyond along the coast.
“The bridge is guarded, as I expected,” Dahyun whispered before her and Chaeyoung gently lapped their oars over the side, pushing the speedboat past the channel onto the edge of the main island.
They had arrived close to Poveglia in no time at all, but once the faint dark outline of the island could be seen they turned off all lights and motors on the boat and rowed in the rest of the way arriving at the northern smaller island after a good ten minutes of hard work. Sweating incredibly but filled with a drive like no other, they had gently guided the boat along the north east edge of the island down south. Even though driving motorboats was a completely new experience to Dahyun and Chaeyoung they had years of experience from rowing boats. That was something they could do very efficiently.
Although the concrete pier only stretched along the southern edge of the island where the front entrance was, the embankments of the islands all around had been shored up with large stones at a steep angle which would make the disembarking and tying of the boat easier. Closing in on the northeast corner of the main larger island, they had to try and approach the embankment and get close enough without scratching the bottom of boat and causing a huge ruckus.
Chaeyoung slipped off her shoes and rolled up her jeans as they closed in on the embankment. Using an oar to assist her she dropped herself gently into the water without an audible splash, the autumn Mediterranean Sea water sending slight shivers down her spine as the cool bit around her leg. Quickly stepping up a few rocks she placed the oar as flat as possible between the rocky embankment and under the boats spine as Dahyun pushed the boat closer in with the other oar on the boat. This was to prevent the bottom of the boat from scratching on the rocks as they brought it close to the embankment. Eventually Chaeyoung felt the pull of the boat on the oar knowing that was as far as they could bring it and she pulled the oar out, quickly stepping up the embankment and tying the line to the nearest tree. They had managed to get on the island unseen or heard.
“Alright Nayeon, remember what we told you?” Dahyun asked as she prepared to disembark the speedboat with the few long spanners they had found on the boat. They would do well as striking weapons if it came to it.
“Yes, if I hear someone shout ‘Nayeon, turn on the engine’ at any point, I will turn the power of the boat on from here, turn on the engine from this key and then use this button here to drop the motors into the water to a ninety degree angle,” Nayeon replied while motioning at each step with her hands going through the mental note and list in her brain.
“Very good. This is vital okay? Be sharp, stay hidden and low and only if you hear that shout turn the engine on. We will need any head start we can get on our escape. You’ll do great!” Dahyun smiled giving a small pat of encouragement on Nayeon’s shoulder before she deftly and silently leapt onto the embankment, handing one of the long spanners to Chaeyoung.
As the first of the two figures disappeared into the trees of the dark island Nayeon waved to them and received what she thought was a thumbs up from Chaeyoung, whose already shrouded silhouette completely disappeared into the night forest leaving Nayeon alone crouching in the speedboat, silently psyching herself up. She was listening to every single noise in the night and was amazed how Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s steps in the forest created no sound. They had completely vanished.
Their steps barely disturbed the undergrowth as they approached the first of the buildings. It was pitch black at this point and although their eyes had now gotten accustomed to the night and the moonlight faintly illuminated the area, it was difficult to see within the forest itself. Only the outlines of far off lights and the buildings painted blurry silhouettes of the trees the two were trying to avoid.
It was only a distance of hundred metres and they slowed down as the first building closed in on them, its single tall tower visible against the night sky. Stopping a few metres away before the brush ended they listened to the sound of their surroundings focusing on everything. There were gentle steps and movement further out in the courtyard, the water gently lapping against the docks and rocks, a hushed conversation over by the east but otherwise all quiet. They didn't have an exact idea where their friends could be. The GPS signal had been on top of the cluster of first two buildings in the north east.
Chaeyoung stepped out of the brush first to hug the northern buildings wall while Dahyun stayed back for a moment longer to secure the rear. With a distance of about ten metres between them they slinked along the side before peering in through the windows to see if there was anyone there. Nobody could be seen from the windows.
At the first corner and edge of the building Chaeyoung stopped and dropped low before taking a glance around the corner to the right. There was nobody by the door and after Dahyun caught up Chaeyoung slipped into the first building with Dahyun following suite, guarding the rear and being a lookout. Silently the two skulked through the dark building and it was soon evident after clearing all the rooms that this building was empty and abandoned.
The next and longer single building with the tower was to their right and they moved through the light brush arriving by the wall. Although faint and deep in the building on the second floor, Dahyun picked up on the light that bounced from the walls within the building; someone was up there. As the two hugged the wall they could hear sniffling and coughing. With a quick peek through the window they were over and in the building in silence, like two thieves in the night. They had honed their skulking and sneaking skills over the lifetimes they had lived and although the body they inhabited was always slightly different, the fine tuned motor skills that passed on in their rebirth quickly adjusted to whichever character they played in this life.
Creaking steps were the bane of everybody’s existence but somehow Chaeyoung and Dahyun were able to perfectly distribute their weight and step in silence, avoiding the steps that creaked. It was an impressive thing to witness and they were soon up at the top by the edge of the room with the light source.
Using a piece of glass she had picked on the way Dahyun peeked around the corner with it to see what they had to contend with. Only one guard crouched over a faint light sitting in a rickety wooden chair. To the far end of the room a tiny lone figure of a woman, both gagged and blindfolded, completely demoralized. Yeri.
“Yeri is in there. Only one guy. I sweep, you make him sleep,” Dahyun whispered to Chaeyoung who nodded back, ready.
The only sounds within the next few seconds were the faint crunch of gravel, the screeching of a chair leg, a surprised gasp and then raspy breaths. Dahyun had with incredible speed swept into the room when the guard was looking elsewhere and run right behind him sweeping the chair from under him in a single motion, and before the guard managed even a proper shout of surprise he was on his side on the ground and Chaeyoung’s thighs were wrapped around his neck. The choke hold was extremely effective and within a few seconds Chaeyoung had deprived the guard’s brain of blood and oxygen, rendering him unconscious.
Quiet whimpers echoed from the corner of the room and Dahyun was already there immediately taking the blindfold and gag off. Yeri looked up to see a stranger’s face before in the background she saw Chaeyoung rushing over and embracing her as Dahyun untied her hands with her pocket knife.
“Are you alright? Hurt anywhere?” Chaeyoung asked as she pulled back from Yeri and held her face in her hands, inspecting her for any head trauma or otherwise.
“I’m okay, I’m not hurt. I… didn’t know if I believed anybody would come. Sana said you would but I…” Yeri sniffled as she stretched her arms and held her wrists as they were released from the bind.
“Where’s Sana?” Chaeyoung asked while Dahyun got up to rifle through the guards pockets for anything useful. Phone, wallet with money and cards and a handgun she didn’t recognize. She would have to study later figure out how these modern pistols worked, how different they were from the revolvers she had used.
“They separated us and took her to another building, I didn’t see which one but it was that direction at least,” Yeri explained.
Dahyun looked over at Yeri and Chaeyoung, “Time is of the essence. We should go now, we don’t know when they are going to check up on this guard.”
Chaeyoung nodded helping the still rather shocked Yeri stand, who was still shivering from relief, and the three made their way towards the direction that Yeri had pointed. A few rooms beyond they arrived at a portion of the room where the floor boards had given way so there was an open drop to the floor below with only a few floor beams spanning across.
Stepping on one of the beams that looked the sturdiest Chaeyoung placed more of her weight on it, hearing a gentle whine from the wood, however it seemed to hold. She would go first and help Yeri over after. Second and a third step over the beam seemed stable, until the loud crack.
Leaping across the whole beam and rolling over to the other side Chaeyoung made it just as the cracked beam fell down and with it brought a portion of the wooden floor cascading into the floor below. Dahyun pulled Yeri back who had been ready to follow Chaeyoung over the beam, pulling her into the back of the room with her away from the edge. The crashes were loud and must have echoed through the whole island. Guards would be here soon.
“,” Chaeyoung whispered to herself as she looked up at the worried wide eyed face of Dahyun on the other side.
The risk of being found out was too great. She could attempt to jump to span the gap but the edge would probably give way, and the sound had already attracted the attention of the guards; they could hear the thumping of their boot steps on the stone floors closing in. Besides, they still had to find Sana.
Chaeyoung motioned for Dahyun to leave with Yeri, the latter understanding perfectly her message and then flung the pocket knife over to Chaeyoung; she would be needing it. Getting Yeri to safety first was the most important immediate task and Dahyun gave a nod of assurance and confidence to Chaeyoung coaxing Yeri along whispering directly into her ear, “We need to go, Chaeyoung will come around another way don’t worry.”
At first unwilling, Yeri saw Chaeyoung’s hand waves and agreed to move, allowing herself to be led by Dahyun out of the building in silence holding her hand. The moment she saw Yeri vanish into the stairwell opposite Chaeyoung turned around to get a sense of where people were coming from.
Making it out the way they came the they slipped into the forest before the shouts of guards reached them, the silence of the forest all encompassing. With the assistance of Dahyun even Yeri was able to sneak about without alerting anyone. They reached a thicket of the forest closer to the shores and Yeri accidentally rustled the bushes as she attempted to push through. A few branches had snagged on her shirt and made the surrounding branches sing.
Nayeon peeked her head above the speedboats edge only slightly. The rustling had definitely come from the forest. Soon she heard it again and her eyes darted around the dark tree line, trying to get a sense of where it was coming from. The rustling grew louder and louder as her trembling hand slipped around the ignition of the speedboat, ready to dart. Soon two dark figures emerged from the brush, their very faint dark silhouettes barely visible in the faint moonlight.
“Nayeon, it’s me. I’ve brought Yeri,” Dahyun whispered as she stealthily approached the speed boat Nayeon recognizing the faint outlines of her face as she approached. Yeri huddled and crouched behind her hurried along and when she saw that Nayeon was in the boat, she was filled with joy and relief. She was really being rescued and about to escape.
Almost jumping into the arms of Nayeon, Yeri was in the boat and fully embraced by the former, the two hugging in relief and happiness for the safety of her friend. It was then that Nayeon noticed that Chaeyoung was not with them. “Where is Chaeyoung?”
“She went on to track down Sana, I will go back to help them. Stay ready and vigilant Nayeon,” Dahyun said and without warning she had once again disappeared into the shadow of the forest, becoming one with the night.
-----
Having managed to dodge the first two guards that ran past her to observe the ruckus caused by the falling beam, Chaeyoung once again listened to her surroundings heightening her sense to all the sounds she could. She was now underneath the large main tower of the long southern building with the octagon docks of the island to her left, the water lapping against the pier. The distinct thumping of a boat against the dockside caught her attention as well and she looked over to see a speed boat parked right in the middle of the tiny canal that the octagon and the main island formed. There was one person in the boat right now appearing to be filling the tank and performing basic checkups and maintenance on it.
Off further into the building she heard faint talking; a commanding voice saying something in Italian. Chaeyoung began making her way closer to the source of the sound while keeping an ear out for any errant thumping of guard footsteps. The speaking voice grew louder and louder, faint light finally flickering into view behind a corner.
“Sì, sì, so che questa è la seconda notte di questa settimana, ma non posso farci niente, il capo è molto severo.”
Peeking into the room that the sound was coming from Chaeyoung noticed the man standing by the doorframe across the hallway, his back facing her. In the room in one corner she could see a bound female figure, quiet. She looked surprisingly calm, as if focusing hard on something. It must be Sana.
With the guard distracted now was her chance. Chaeyoung snuck up behind the guard who was still blabbering into his phone attention completely taken. He was a whole head height taller than Chaeyoung so she would need to knock him down a peg.
“Sì, naturalmente. Ti amo cara. Ciao!”
Before the guard could tuck his phone away and regain his attention he was forced on his knees as Chaeyoung kicked hard from the back behind his knee sending him down. With her hands she assisted the fall and as soon as he was on his knees Chaeyoung’s arm was wrapped around his neck with a choke hold. Just like moments earlier, the guard had only enough time to let out a raspy breathe and gasp before his mind went blank.
In the corner the woman stirred her attention completely taken by the weird thumps and the raspy breathing, all which had lasted for a mere second after the phone call. She looked in the direction of the sound even though she had blindfolds on and waited for further sounds. A few seconds of silence set before she felt soft hands by her temples that yanked her blindfolds off seeing a short haired blonde Asian crouched in front of her. “Sana I presume? I’m Dahyun’s friend I’m here to get you out.”
Tears welled instantly in her eyes from the relief and she was on the verge of sobbing before pulling herself together. There was time for that later; they weren’t out of this yet. “Thank you so much. Where is Dahyun?”
“She took Yeri to the boat and is waiting for our arrival,” Chaeyoung said as she slipped the bindings off Sana helping her up. “We should hurry before-”
“Hey Dio, dove hai messo il- Hey, cosa stai facendo?!”
Chaeyoung ducked and spun around, grabbing a loose piece of brick off the ground in the spin and releasing it at the guard that had just appeared from the way she had come. The guard’s hand was smashed by the brick as he was pulling out his weapon and while he was still reeling from the impact Chaeyoung had dashed across the room jumped, grabbing the man from his head and kneeing him straight into his chin. The guard was knocked out in an instant and he fell down on the ground with a great thud, his handgun clattering onto the floor.
“Matteo qual è il problema laggiù?”
The shout came further in from the way she had come and footsteps were closing in. Chaeyoung grabbed the handgun off the ground before running to grab Sana. “We need to find another way out, quick follow me.”
As they skulked from room to room finally finding a set of stairs to take down they heard the first shouts of alarm from the guard who must have found the two unconscious men. They didn’t have a lot of time.
They made it down the steps before a general alarm and shouts were crisscrossing across the floors and space. Chaeyoung pulled Sana out the back of the building and into a dusty and overgrown alley between two buildings barely wide enough for them to sneak through. Full of spider webs, insects and other unsavoury articles, Sana squeezed and eyes shut covering them with one hand and doing her best not to squeal at the disgusting feeling. She was being dragged and led by Chaeyoung through until they reached the edges of the building and the waterfront.
Popping her head out of the alley she noticed that she was close to the speedboat. The man who had been doing maintenance on the boat earlier had now been alerted and he dropped what he was doing wobbling his way off the boat.
Just as the man disembarked the speedboat and made his way towards the shouting of his comrades, Chaeyoung released the hold of Sana’s hand and rounded the corner with a reverse side kick right into the man’s sternum, her big black boots finding solid purchase and sending the much larger man flying onto his back. Chaeyoung quickly followed up while he was still in a daze and jumped upon him taking him out cold with a quick hit to his temple with her elbow. The guard didn’t see any of this coming.
Ruffling through his jacket she found the keys to the speedboat and his wallet. Looking back she saw how Sana was peeking from behind the corner and she motioned for her to follow. Without a second thought they were on the boat and Chaeyoung at the wheel turning the ignition on. The large twin motors of the boat roared to a start and Chaeyoung was certain that their pursuers knew exactly where they were and what their plan was.
“Hold on!”
With a loud roar she turned the boat out of the minor dock and off to the open bay taking a heading to the south. She was glad that she had managed to try the handling of a speedboat on their way in to Poveglia giving her at least a sense of how to handle one, although this boat was a much more powerful machine than the one they had come in with.
Even through the powerful roar of the engines the two heard gunshots ring out and they ducked low in their boat. The guards were shooting blind into the darkness based on the sound of their engine alone. The shooting stopped soon after; they must have realized the futility of the exercise.
In complete darkness without lights on the boat sped forward towards the distant twinkles of Chioggia. There was no way to see any sand banks or rocks without lights but getting as far away as possible in total darkness was priority.
“Isn’t this super risky?! You can’t see where you are going!”
“Yeah it is. Hold on and pray,” Chaeyoung shouted back to Sana, picking up more speed as the boat flew across the water. Sana had strapped herself in and grabbed to the ledges as hard as she could. She didn’t know this person that had helped her escape other than she was Dahyun’s friend somehow. Was she also a part of the mob, a fellow Venetian mafia family member?
The noise of their own boats motor was too loud for Chaeyoung to hear whether they were being chased close by and she couldn’t see if Dahyun, Yeri and Nayeon had made their way out and escaped. For now all they could do was hope for the best and make it to the rendezvous point.
-----
The island had been ringing with shouts for barely a minute when Nayeon and Yeri heard as a not visible but very audible massive engine speedboat roared past the southern tip of the island racing far away from the island immediately followed by gunshots; which to their relief soon died down. The two had instinctively ducked low into the boat upon hearing the shots. Not fifteen seconds later Dahyun emerged from the tree line startling the two, gentle meeps and squeaks escaping both Yeri and Nayeon’s mouth.
“Nayeon engines on now, we need to go, go, go!” Dahyun whispered loud enough for both of them to hear as she immediately went to untie the boat from the tree. Turning the power on and dropping the engines into the water Nayeon started the engine just as Dahyun jumped into the boat having untied it. “Hold on.”
The engine roared as Dahyun banked the boat hard to the left and drove straight east towards Lido and away from the escaping speedboat of Chaeyoung and Sana that continued to disappear down south towards Chioggia. She needed to confuse the pursuers as well as lose herself into the coastline of Lido. The kidnappers hadn’t seen their faces yet so they wouldn’t recognize them. She needed to give the other two escapees a better chance to get away.
They crossed over to the coast within a minute or two and Dahyun turned the boat north attempting to cause more distraction and misdirection, trying to confuse the pursuers of where they were trying to escape. For a few minutes she drove relatively fast along the coast before further out she noticed the lights of a public pier. Slowing down she looked for a good spot to park the boat, one that was in relative shade and cover in case they needed to disembark with haste.
-----
Faint twinkles in the distance had grown larger and larger and soon enough the individual lights and window openings were visible to them. Chaeyoung began to hug the coast a little closer and reduced her boat from its top speed to increase her chance to avoid a collision now that she wasn’t in quite as much open water.
They passed the southern end of Lido in the night and continued along the edge of the San Pietro in Volta and finally Pellestrina at a reduced speed to blend in with the local boat traffic that still raced in the evening under the light of the residences of the coast. At the reduced speed she could hear other boats besides her own, and the two gently coasted along reaching the waterway that lead to the open sea before Chioggia.
“Where are we going?” Sana asked as she undid her seatbelt and stepped over to sit next to Chaeyoung at the bow of the boat. The adrenaline and loud pumping of her heart beat that had been ringing in her ears earlier receded and she was able to take her surroundings in, enjoying the more casual boat ride along the nightly coast of Venice and its surrounding islands.
“To our rendezvous point, in case we split up. We’ll go and wait there to meet everyone, we aren’t far from it now,” Chaeyoung replied glancing to her side at Sana who was focusing on the lights of the coast up ahead. To her surprise Sana appeared rather calm and focused with little signs of being rattled by the events that had just unfolded. Considering what Dahyun had told her had happened the day before, maybe Sana was quick to learn and was able to keep a cool head.
“Are you also part of the Venetian mob family? Is that how you know Dahyun, how you know how to fight?”
“Family,” Chaeyoung glanced over at Sana with a little surprise at the sudden weird question. Being part of the Venetian mafia must have been the lie that Dahyun had told Sana, “Yeah you could say that. We are family.”
“Well, thank you. For rescuing me. I’m glad Dahyun didn’t have to do it alone,” Sana replied with a great big smile as she turned back to look at Chaeyoung.
“Of course. Dahyun’s friends are friends of mine.”
Soon enough they arrived at their rendezvous point, a little pier alcove that connected with the water locks that ran through Chioggia, and Chaeyoung turned the boat in parking it in what looked like a free spot. She wouldn’t have to worry about returning this boat to anybody since it belonged to the kidnappers.
Getting up from the boat with all their equipment in hand, the two sat down by the church they had designated as a meet up point and waited.
What in reality was no more than half an hour felt like an eternity and Sana had been pacing back and forth in front of the San Michele di Brondolo monastery while Chaeyoung sat by the pier next to their boat. Even though her face was a sea of calm the tapping of her boots against the wooden planks betrayed her composure; she was worried.
The rumbling of a boats motor once again diverted both of their attentions to the river. There had been a few boats to pass them and each time they held their breath waiting for their friends to drift into view and bring relief to their anguish. The sound got louder and louder a boat eventually drifting into view, and instead of driving past them it turned into the little pier by the water locks.
It wasn’t them.
Even Chaeyoung was beginning to worry at this point although there wasn’t much else she could do but wait. Then her mobile phone rang; it was Dahyun.
“Dahyun, where are you? We’re at the rendezvous point,” Chaeyoung answered the phone in hushed tones.
“Sana is there with you? Thank heavens. When the gunshots rang…” There was a pause in the call; Chaeyoung could hear the heavy sigh that Dahyun let out in relief of the knowledge that they were safe. “Well, it seems the kidnappers picked up the sound of our boat as we escaped Poveglia and are patrolling the coastline of Lido, so we are stuck in Lido for now. We’re safe and hidden.”
“Damn… what do you want to do?”
“Get yourself to Ravenna first and we’ll see what we can do here. Let’s keep in touch via text. We might have to set an alternative meet up and pick up point.”
“Alright then. Stay safe, you hear? All of you,” Chaeyoung said almost as a command.
“Yeah, you too. See you soon.”
Chaeyoung ended the call as Sana stood by her having perked up as Chaeyoung answered the phone call.
“We’re moving to Ravenna first. They are all safe and we will meet up later. Let’s get going while we still have darkness on our side,” Chaeyoung said walking past Sana to the boat, the latter following her a little anxious that Dahyun wasn’t with her and that they couldn’t see each other now like they had originally planned.
No more than fifteen kilometres north on the island of Lido, Dahyun guided Yeri and Nayeon behind her. They walked through back alleys and little roads towards the few locations that Dahyun knew from her past life of Lido. She hadn’t visited the island many times, only ever really visiting when their family came over to her uncle’s place in north Lido.
There was a lot of boat activity now along the coasts and even within Lido police had begun patrolling; no doubt the gunshots had roused a lot of people awake and alerted them. They had to both avoid the Cult members and the police as they had no clue if they could trust the local authorities.
Dragging their luggage across the cobbled road towards the Lido Ferry piers, the three would have to spend the night out and wait till morning before they could take a ferry out of here. They would have to find an alternative route out of Venice.
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“Damn it!”
Quickly searching for a rag to clean up the spilled Sunkist soda on the desk that risked flowing onto her laptop and hard drives, Seulgi got up from her comfortable position and hastily dabbed her desk. Her setup was a lot more primitive than she was used to but it was good enough for her purposes.
Managing to save all her electronics from the sticky end of a soda drink, Seulgi threw the rag away and finished the dribble that was left of her soda in the bottle. No matter how long she had been doing this kind of work she still hadn’t learned to not bring her drinks to the computer desk. It was far from the first time that she had spilled like this.
Seulgi had bought a laptop, external hard drive and fast internet access for herself. She had been preparing for a little something special while spending the last day finding her way into her own private server so she could begin data mining further and find out more information on the current status of the Cult.
Looking around her room once over she made sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. She had already packed almost all of her things ready for a move as what she was about to do next would require her to seek another safe location. She had already found and paid for it in advance; a much different situation than the one she had been in less than a week earlier when her soul had reawakened. In the little empty floor space she had in the room there were Calla Lily’s scattered on the ground, a sign of Seulgi having performed the meditation rites to search for her Sisters. She had found out just how scattered most of them were, just how far away everyone was.
Focusing back on the task at hand she checked the script another time manually to make sure there weren’t any glaringly obvious mistakes in it before running the compiler to see if there were any bugs or syntax errors. Finally it all came out clean; she was ready to proceed with her plan.
Since leaving the hotel the day after stitching her gunshot wounds shut, Seulgi had gone to the store to buy all the electronics she needed to access her own server and spy on the Cult. She had then left Suwon to a more remote town further south, Yangsan close to Busan. The proximity to Busan was important in case she wanted to try and smuggle herself out of Korea via sea.
Having arrived in Yangsan at her apartment hotel, she first performed the meditation to see where all her Sister’s and the Lock were. Most of them were gone from Korea and this meant it would be difficult to establish contact with them all. As a result, after accessing her server to continue the research on the current Cult’s activities, on Sang-hyeok sunbae and especially Chief Eonyeong, she began thinking of a method to contact everyone around the world. A sure-fire way to get their attention.
If there was one thing that would get anybody's attention no matter where in the world they were it was through news networks and making something viral on the internet; and that was what she would do. Ever since accessing her private server she had been writing code for a virus and worm that would dig inside a website and then on a given day would override the front page of said website with her message. Specifically she would target the major news networks around the world. That way she was certain that she would make the news and even get the message on TV.
Seulgi wanted to be as candid as possible in her message so she wrote it in the script of their ancient mother tongue, a language that had been long forgotten in history and buried deep into the soil. Even then she wouldn’t say things outright in the message, but make references on where to meet and how to contact that only her Sister’s would understand.
The only one who could naturally read their mother tongue script was Adhabu, although she was fairly certain that many Cult members were taught this script to ease their chase of them and reading any clues they left for each other. However, even he wouldn’t be able to crack their triple layered encrypted message as they had established a rotating key years ago which would change upon each cycle, a key that was required to crack open the encryption and one that only they knew and wasn’t written down anywhere only etched into their eternal memories.
Sending this message was a risky move, but it was the most efficient way of informing all of her Sister’s and the Lock of what was going on, where to meet up and how to keep in touch with everyone. She had made preparations to move to a new town after sending the first message, as the risk of her being tracked down was great even if she managed to mask the message through multiple IPs. She shouldn’t get cocky.
Her bags packed and everything ready for departure, she sent the worm that would burrow itself into all the major news websites around Asia and Europe in two days time infecting the machines to hijack the front page and display her message to her Sister’s and the Lock. She was certain they would see it, it would become a global issue.
Soon they could all gather.
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