They finish packing up, silently, and then without otherwise communicating nod at each other. "Okay, we're ready."

<argylecape> Okay, going.

And off to the subway station she goes, staying underground for most of the trip.

Penny starts talking at her father, trying to sound as cheerful as always, while her father is as grim and tense as always. Then they leave the apartment and the building.

The men in suits notice, and start surreptitiously following them, always out of sight.

As expected.

She gets on the train.

And they get on the next one.

And that's when Denice gets an email from Hollister:

Hey! So I managed to convince the DoS to run some tests. When should we do this?

She reads it, but doesn't answer yet.

She focuses on the subway station as it gets closer and easier to hear: anything suspicious?

Nope, nothing she can detect.

<argylecape> Clear.

She gets off and heads for the tunnels.

And they get off, too. Penny stops chattering to text.

<PennyLane> Where should we go?

<argylecape> North three blocks and west two.

<argylecape> There's a hallway to the bathrooms in the food court, go through the door past the bathrooms and about halfway down that hall there's a door to a stairwell, I'll meet you at the bottom.

<argylecape> You can eat first if you want, I need to write that email to Hollister soon anyway, he emailed me.

She giggles like she's just read something funny, then types,

<PennyLane> Okay

<PennyLane> We'll eat, for appearances.

<argylecape> See you soon.

Next, to the internet, to look at obituaries and news reports of cases where people died: what's something plausible for her to run afoul of around here?

Pretty much the normal things. Domestic accidents are more common, because people stay inside more, but car accidents still happen pretty often, especially at the Pileup Intersection.

And there is, of course, cubism.

Not cubism. The idea is to make them think she died, not make them freak out about the possibility of a cape Picasso.

How about gangs, any gangs around with particularly scary reputations?

Several, especially at the edges of the City. There are scavenger gangs that specialize in grabbing and hoarding then selling resources before the government can annex and redistribute them, and turf wars are uncommon but not unheard of.

She looks for one with a particularly violent reputation and composes an email saying that the tests will have to wait a couple days as she's met someone whose house was broken into by them and she's busy trying to get their stuff back, making it sound like she barely knows the gang's name. Then she composes one to Sadde, with the same story but mentioning that this is for the friend she mentioned earlier.

Do not, do not engage, these people are very very very dangerous!!!!

She receives a similar email from Sadde, with a side of an offering of help in case she really really really wants to go through with it.

Yeah. Sorry guys. (She turns off email notifications on the phone.)

The Yates have soon finished eating.

<PennyLane> Okay, what now?

she asks as she starts following Denice's instructions from earlier.

<argylecape> I assume we're not going to be able to get back to the subway right away.

<argylecape> So I've found some hiding places to hang out in while they're looking for you

<argylecape> And once they give up or leave us a path, we can go back and go to your dad's place.

<PennyLane> Okay

<PennyLane> It's not actually possible to reach the Suburbs by subway, you need to go by car

<PennyLane> We'd thought of getting a taxi

<argylecape> Okay

<argylecape> That probably makes it easier

<argylecape> I thought he meant someplace in the city, though, are you going to be okay?

She sighs heavily.

<PennyLane> Yeah, it'll be fine

<PennyLane> It makes sense, really