Resistance Read Online Free Page A

storming a base under heavy fire. He has seen, in shaky handheld footage, clusters of Tias turned to dust by RPG fire, replicating and reforming from survivors without falling out of step. He knows what she is capable of, and spares himself the effort of trying to overpower her. He sits down on his bunk instead.
    “Where are you taking me?” he asks.
    “I’ve kidnapped you, darling. I’m new at this, but I do know I’m not supposed to tell you where I’m going to hold you.” Tia giggles. “That said, I don’t plan on holding you anywhere, but there are other Tias nearby who are much more liberal than I am. And you’re wearing a kilt, too.”
    Norio suppresses a smile. “I’m hungry,” he says.
    “You poor thing.” Another Tia emerges from the first, and walks out of the cabin.
    Norio blinks in astonishment. Watching Tia replicate on a screen was easy, like watching any other piece of technical wizardry, but in real life there is something disturbing about the ease with which she steps out of her own body without a break in conversation. He wants her to do it again, to see her new body flow out of the old. He can’t take his eyes off her.
    She sits next to him on the bunk, uncomfortably close, and looks keenly at him.
    “First of all, apologies. Tried to get through to you in less, you know, dramatic ways, but your secretary… Bodyguard? Butler?”
    “Associate.”
    “Very cute, by the way.”
    “And an excellent detective.” Norio yawns and stretches. “She will be with us soon. I’ve been kidnapped before. It only ever ends one way.”
    “She has no idea where you are, love,” chuckles Tia.
    “Wait and see,” says Norio.
    “You don’t have any tracers on you either. I checked while you were asleep.” Tia grins lecherously. “I checked very thoroughly.”
    Norio shrugs.
    Tia rises. “I’m not a kidnapper, Norio,” she says. “I just have a few questions for you.”
    “First, I have a request,” says Norio. “If we are flying at this moment, I want you to promise me we’re not going through any known charged zones. I have a lot invested in not turning superhuman.”
    Tia looks surprised, then amused. “This is a submarine,” she says.
    Another Tia enters and sets a tray of food on a table near Norio.
    “Indian,” she says.
    Norio grimaces.
    “I feel like I should give you a feedback form,” says Tia-on-the-bed. “How has the experience of this kidnapping been so far, compared with your other kidnappings?”
    Tia-by-the-table grins, and walks over to the bunk bed.
    “Above average? Good? Excellent?”
    The Tias merge. It’s the strangest thing Norio has ever seen, all sea monsters included, but he looks on as if two gorgeous women blending together is something he sees every day. He crosses over to the table and starts wolfing down the food. Rice, lentils and fish curry, very simply prepared. He would die before admitting it, but it’s very tasty.
    “To business, then,” says Tia.
    “Are you planning to kill me?”
    “No.”
    “What do you want to know?”
    Tia wrinkles her nose in distaste at the question she is about to ask, but goes for it.
    “Are you a supervillain, Norio Hisatomi?”
    Norio laughs out loud. “No,” he says. “Anything else?”
    Tia gets up, and paces about the cabin.
    “Now I think you’re a good guy, Norio,” she says. “And I’m a big fan of team ARMOR.”
    “I have nothing to do with team ARMOR,” says Norio on autopilot.
    Tia smirks. “You’ve certainly done a lot of good work, both as Goryo and as Norio.”
    “See previous answer.”
    “Sure. Anyway, this isn’t about ARMOR. This is about your other life, the celebrity billionaire playboy Norio bit. Even there, as far as I can see, you look good. Saved people from supervillain attacks, lots of charity work, lots of funding to superhuman research. No involvement with Utopic’s dirty bits. But I get the feeling that there’s a lot that’s missing.”
    “This is our first