Everyone was always bigger and stronger and scarier than Noel. That’s why she ran. People who are smaller, weaker, and less than scary have to survive somehow.

The weather was nice when Noel started out. She was slow, hindered by the remaining aches and pains of her recent exploits. Hanging out with Hades was always a challenge. It was also always a hazard. Intervals, then. Run some, walk some.

She had plenty of things to mentally chew over as she jogged through the streets near her current hideout… errr home on loan. And when she walked, Noel fiddled with her spiffy new spy phone.

Everything was on the cloud these days so it hadn’t taken but a moment for her to set this thing up. She just hadn’t explored all the functions. And, seriously, who was the carrier? Was this some kind of satellite thing? It was fast like it was always connected to the internet.

The best way to check was by opening her notification app. If she was on her hideout’s network, it showed all the devices connected. Now?

”What’s Joutsen?” She clicked it and a push window popped up.

Add message and press send

She had access?

Hey, Jousten. What’s up?

There. If someone was on the other end of that machine, they’d get a message. And if it was one of hers at home, she’d see it when she got back.

Her running app blipped at her. Oops! Time to run again. She gripped the phone and picked up the pace.

Hey, Jousten. What’s up?

In the children's section of the library, a blonde boy startled in his red school chair. The librarian looked over at him, but he just as quickly returned to his picture book. It was younger material than the woman would expect a seven or eight year old to be interested in, but at least he was reading. So many of the children dumped in her section were glued to mom or dad's smart phone screen while their parental unit went to use the library computers. As Margery had complained to her fellow librarians: This is a library, not a daycare. The blonde boy had been left here a little longer than most, but he was well-behaved, and he was reading.

Panu settled back down, his heart beating unpleasantly in his chest, so it beat against his ribs. He had maybe been doing too many things at once, because one of the things he had been doing he had not known he was doing. He had put himself on the network.

He had been trying to make himself a free wifi point. People liked free wifi, they connected to it and then he did not even have to try and get into their phones because they opened them up like candy boxes and shook all the treats out where he could read them. He was Jaager's Muninn now, it was his job to go out and learn everything he could, ever rumor and whisper, so that he could tell them to the man. Mostly it was a lot of people complaining about their work or their girlfriends or boyfriends, but it was good practice at filtering the data for interesting things.

He had also been trying to read this book, which was harder. He had taken it as camouflage, so that the librarians would not bother him when he sat down, but it was also good practice for his text translator. Text translators could be strange, and he wanted to get better at reading English quickly so that people would not think he was stupid. But this book might be too hard. It was by a Dr. Seuss, so maybe it was too smart. Half the words were translating as nonsense.

What he was not doing was making himself visible. Joutsen was a name of terror, if people saw it on their networks, that was their warning sign to run because Tuonela was close enough to touch (Pesää had been very angry at him for doing this the first time, she had not liked him warning people, but Perämies had laughed and laughed at everyone fleeing and more importantly so had Keräilijä, so it had been okay).

...In America, no one was running.

Hey, Jousten. What’s up?

This indignity had been sent directly to his mind by the impertinent SuperSecretSpyPhone. The owner did not know, did not understand, that they should be terrified. Panu could delete all the things and and... well, mostly just delete all the things. Because he was alone in a library, and Jaager probably did not care that a random phone knew where he was.

Still. He must retaliate, must show this SuperSecretSpyPhone that one did not come into a swan's nest and leave without being bitten. He would--

The phone lurched into sudden movement, and ran out of his range.

--he would sit here and do nothing.

His text translator helpfully contributed: Then one terrible day, a very rude Zook by the name of VanItch snuck up and slingshotted my Snick-Berry Switch!

He did not have access to the phone itself anymore. But he knew its number, and sent out a text from Joutsen.

Super Secret Mission for SuperSecretSpyPhone. Take right at next block, then right at next, then run two more blocks and stop. Wait for next instructions.

This would put it back in his range. He would definitely have instructions then.

Not that anyone would listen to random directions sent from a random number. But it made him feel better to try.

A text? Or maybe an alarm she'd set for herself. Noel slowed, even though her interval wasn't through, and read the message. She couldn't just let it go, that was the whole point that she made alarms like that for herself.

Except, this wasn't from her. Wha-?

She stopped running altogether, even turning the phone around in her hand to be sure... what? That there wasn't something taped to the back? That the camera wasn't being weird?

It was a text message, but it definitely used the device name. And... knew where she was?

Noel turned all the way around in a circle as she looked around. She didn't feel the immediacy of threat, but there were some definite creepy vibes going on here. Onlay, nothing was obviously out of place. No trenchcoat men. No Davronskis. Was Hades playing a trick on her?

She tapped out a quick reply.

Ha ha. Very funny.

NO.

She read and re-read the instructions, trying to decipher why someone would want to lead her that way. Wasn't that near the library? Noel walked that general direction, but circled around wide just in case.

The blonde boy readjusted his hood, and did not reply to the person's text. It was a stupid text and it did not need a reply. He tried to refocus on his book. He'd hung a digital camera around his neck like he was a very gaudy tourist, and this is what he was seeing through. The library had some eyes, but they were not very well positioned--mostly they watched the doors and the parking lot, and not the children's area. They were not even mounted so they could turn: they were stuck in one position, like horses with blinders on.

“We’ll dress you right up in a fancier suit! We’ll give you a fancier slingshot to shoot!” And he ordered the Boys in the Back Room to figger how to build me some sort of triple-sling jigger.

...This was a very stupid book. The author had spelled 'figure' wrong. Panu was beginning to doubt that Seuss was a Doctor at all. He was on the verge of googling the man when SuperSecretSpyPhone crossed back into his range.

The owner was walking again, and their path would keep them inside his range for some time at this speed.

Contacts Messages Apps Photos Saved-Map-Locations Bookmarks Email Calendar Data Data Data, all was his. For the next few minutes, at least. Unless the owner ran again. He skimmed through files and settings, like flipping pages in a book. This was a person who lived off their phone. But at the same time, it was not a very old phone. A new upgrade, maybe. Very nice specs. It would be so, so sad if all their settings were in Mandarin, or every text was auto-replied to with a message from their email's spam, or their phone was convinced that it had 95% of its memory full no matter how many apps they deleted. Very sad. Or their calendar, so meticulous, so detailed--if entries were deleted or no wait this was WAY better if they were all set to repeat so that the calendar had fifty entries every day for things already done a year ago.

(Over at the desk, the librarian smiled to herself to see a boy enjoying Dr. Seuss so much. The eight year old was clearly holding in a laugh, and his smile was a joyful thing to see.)

No no that was too obvious, they would just clear things (though it might be easier for them to delete their entire calendar and start from scratch by the time he was done). If he wanted to really be clever than he should only do a few things. It seemed like this person had itemized every day. So he slipped in a few new reminders, for next week and next month and next year.

Pick up dog from groomer, 4PM, 9/12/2015. (He did not think the person owned a dog, that was the joke.)

Throw eggs at blonde woman as she enters Faust Pharmaceuticals, 8AM, 10/30/2015
Note: HIGH PRIORITY [picture attached]

Breakfast with Phil, 9:15AM, 11/18/2015
You remember Phil.

Avert Apocalypse, All Day, 12/31/2015
If you have made it to 12:01AM, you are safe.

He grinned at his own cleverness as the entries continued. Some simple, like things she already had, some very very crazy. Now it was okay, now she could leave his range. His revenge was most excellent and complete.

...But it was no fun, no one knew he'd done it, he would be nowhere near when the phone's owner started discovering his gifts. Maybe just one more. For today. So he could see the look on the person's face.

Super Secret Mission, 5PM, today
Instructions will be texted. Follow them.

Then he texted again.

The time has been moved up. You have already accepted the Super Secret Mission, will you back out now? The package is in the library.

She had to stop walking because now, she was feeling more confused that usual.

What the-? Noel had been reading the alarm notification that popped up when yet another text came through. It was uncanny, but sometimes she was able to predict things for herself like that. Only... she was pretty sure she didn't know how to set up texts to send to herself. Where would she even start going about that kind of thing?

Who is this?

And the library? It didn't seem like anything too dangerous would be in a library, and if it was dangerous, she should probably get it out of the library.

Yeah. It was total social responsibility that had Noel walking through the front doors of the library.

Your employer. Remember, the second payment will only come after successful delivery.

The phone was getting closer, closer, (he did not think it was a SuperSecretSpyPhone at all, it was just a normal phone with a pretentious name), closer--

There! It was at the library doors, and the only people showing on the entryway cameras were a large black man going out and a small white woman coming in.

SuperSecretSpyPhone was not very tall. She was wearing jogging clothes, and looking around as if she expected a box to be hiding on every shelf. Her hair was crazy long and braided and he wondered if she could spin around and whip people with it. But as SuperSecretSpyHair went, it was not very good, because it was very easy to spot and remember and use in descriptions. Unless it was a giant wig and she was actually bald? Then it was very clever.

The package is in the children's section. If you accept the Super Secret Mission, go pick it up. Instructions will follow.

Her employer? Did Noel go and get a job and forget to tell herself? The brunette stepped to the side and out of the way so she could check through her phone real quick. Hm. No. Not in her personal dossier. No alarm notes that looked out of place except... there was a suspicious entry into her calendar about picking up a dog.

Did she get a dog and forget to tell herself?

She opened a new note to herself and asked herself to investigate these questions.

At least, she would have, if the next text that her "employer" sent hadn't been so alarming.

Children's section!? She set off at a jog despite the side-eye she got from the front desk clerks. God! What if it was a weapon? Surely this wasn't a bomb threat. Should she be calling emergency services? Noel skidded to a hault just inside the arch way to the kiddie books. Again. Nothing looked out of place.

She checked her phone. C'mon further instructions!

The woman looked down at her phone for a very intense moment. Then she ran in a library, which was maybe not against any rules but it might be after today.

"Excuse me," the librarian in the children's section whisper-hissed, like an angry goose who was obeying library quiet signs. "May I help you?"

Panu sat very quiet at his small plastic chair, and turned another page to look like he had not seen her, though he was done with trying to read this crazy nonsense book. This so-called doctor should go back to university and major in Making Sense before he wrote any more books. Probably that is why this book looked so old and beat up, everyone probably felt like hitting it when they were done reading.

The blonde boy is the package. He answers to 'Panu.' Remove him from the building by the side door. Do not fear, the rest of your team is in position, they will divert followers.

This was much much more fun than reading.

Someone was talking to her, but Noel's phone had just gone off again. She held up a finger to whoever was talking in that irritated tone and read again.

The package was a boy?

"Blonde kid. Boy. Answers to Panu? " Did someone give him something dangerous? Noel scanned past the librarian who must have taken Noel's panic as the panic of a caretaker who'd lost her ward. There was some disapproval in her tone, but since Noel couldn't really place its full meaning, she decided to ignore it. She was only here for this "package" anyway.

Nobody visited libraries anymore.

"He's been reading quietly this whole time. An angel, really."

Noel followed the woman's gesture. The kid was young. This was no Disney Channel "teen" that was really mid 20's, wearing pigtails, and trying to pass. Headphones, Dr. Seuss, and a camera around his neck? Or was that a phone? That was probably her real target. Dangerous crap could be held on hand held devices these days.

She approached him slowly so she wouldn't scare him and squatted so she could give the kid eye contact. "Hey, Panu. What do you say we put down the book and we go get Gelato?" She glanced at the title and wrinkled her nose. "Dr. Seuss' a crock anyway."

She could try to grab the camera... but she probably needed to wait until she was out of the library. That fussy librarian was watching and Noel didn't feel like getting arrested today.

Eye contact. Why did everyone always want eye contact. The blonde boy aimed his gaze somewhere near his lap, like he was shy. He made sure to face the woman, though, so that the camera around his neck could see her.

She had many many many many earrings. Probably he would have to make a program to count them all, there were so many. Otherwise she was not so special, which was good for a SuperSecretSpy. Her eyes were brown-green and even though her hair was like a giant braided horse tail if she cut it than it would just be brown. Brown and black were very common colors in this city. Everyone was darker here, in hair and eyes and skin.

She wrinkled her nose (it was a hook nose, though probably it would look better as a button nose, hook noses did not wrinkle properly), and then she said two things that made him mostly forgive her: Gelato, and astute literary criticism.

"He is very a crock," the Fin agreed. He shut the book, and slid out of his seat. There was a little cart nearby for returning books to, probably because most children were bad at putting things back in the right order. Panu had seen many books that were mixed around, it had irritated him. Libraries were such good places, they were like perfectly sorted lists, and then people came in and ruined them item by item. Maybe he would be a librarian when he was older. He could put things in the best order, and find books very fast if people needed them.

But probably they would expect him not to take out all the Dr. Seuss books and burn them, so maybe he would be a bad librarian.

The book stowed neatly away, he stepped back to the woman's side. His small found hers. He kept his gaze towards his feet.

"I am Panu. You are courier?"

He felt very small next to her. She had many muscles, for a woman. But it was okay, because he was the one in charge.

Interference spotted. Other team moving to intercept. Move out.

Probably in a real mission there was no time for gelato. But she had offered, so he would make time.

The accent was unexpected. It shouldn't have been. She'd made an assumption because it was a kid with expensive looking headphones and tech around his neck. Her phone buzzed again. It only reminded her that she really shouldn't be expecting anything. They had to move. NOW.

Were there people after this kid? His phone? They had to get out of here and ice cream was a universal lure.

"Courier? No. I'm Noel." WAS SHE KIDNAPPING AND DELIVERING A CHILD SOMEWHERE? If she didn't want to be so obvious, she would be pulling her hair out right now. She didn't offer the kid her hand. He wasn't so young that he would get lost and he seemed to be expecting this.

Her brain hurt.

"After you, Panu. I need my hands free in case things go bad." Luckily she didn't see any scuffles between the children's section and the doors. Outside the doors, there was a sketchy looking mime. Sheesh. She wished she had a gun or weapon of some kind. The best she had was a super quick draw on her phone. Which she did and used her Gelato-dar app to find the closest and best rated gelato place.

"West two blocks west of here." Even if she got more instructions, they were getting gelato first. Noel needed some answers.

"Noel," the boy repeated, with a nod to himself. Probably her parents liked Christmas very much. Or she was born around Christmas? Or maybe conceived. (Panu had the internet in his head, he knew where babies came from.) "It is good to meet you, Mrs. Noel. Thank you for coming."

This was way, way more fun than sitting in a library and scanning people's boring phones for boring adult things that maybe would be useful to Jaager but probably were not. Maybe he should not do this--it was more like playing than like working. He was supposed to be Muninn now. Playing children were stupid and wasting time.

...But he could read more phones if he went more places. And besides, he had to determine if the SuperSecretSpyPhone belonged to a real spy. And the only way to test a real spy was with a real spy mission.

>> "After you, Panu. I need my hands free in case things go bad."

Panu obediently tucked his hands at his side. It was a familiar thing to do. He should be small and quiet, and follow the adult who could do real damage.

Real damage against imaginary foes. Probably this was going to be fun (even if he was not playing, not playing at all.)

"Goodbye. Thank you," Panu said softly to the librarian on their way out.

Noel was looking around like a good bodyguard. She was suspicious of everything. He followed closely and a little behind, not so near that he would impeded her movements if she went on the offensive, not so far that she could not defend him.

Was she hiding a weapon? She talked like she was. Nothing was visible, but there were many places to hide weapons. She could have a gun, or maybe she was a hair-mutant, and her braid was weaponized. Or a metalmaner, and she could shoot her earrings off and impale the enemy, probably into their brains and then they would be dead before they even knew what had happened.

...

Remember, this is a non-lethal mission, came the next text. Followed quickly by:

Interference rerouted. Head west.

The young Finnish boy following her did not ask where they were going, and did not lift his gaze from the ground, either.

Her phone buzzed again before she could put it away.

West. What. A. Coincidence. That was the way she was planning to head whether her phone had told her to go that way or not. In fact, part of her wanted to go the opposite direction until after she'd talked things through with Panu.

But... gelato.

They went west. The kid was a curios. Noel kept her in her awareness, part of her visual sweep. Was he a robot? She didn't know any kids this aware of how these kinds of things went down. Of course, she also just didn't know any kids. He also kept his head down. Scared maybe?

"What flavor do you like?" It was a short walk so maybe he could forgive her awkward attempt at allaying his fears. New York did boast some bizarre flavors, though. And, yes, she did make it her business to keep up with gelato trends.

The shop was smaller than she'd expected so she walked right past it. The only reason she didn't get further was the guy that barreled out the door phone in one hand, gelato in the other and his brain up in outer space. It was Panu he nearly steamrolled.

Nearly.

"Watch it, pal." Noel had extended a mom arm in order to clothesline the yuppie. All women had it, though usually it did not emerge without a minivan: that arm that caught a person across the chest right before an unexpected, sudden stop. He was caught between outrage and apology as he bobbled his phone and dessert.

It was just a guy. Not a real threat. She guided him away from the young man she'd been escorting with a smile and apology and he went on his slightly miffed way. The memorymancer spared a glance for Panu.

Non-lethal, her phone had said. Not that she would have killed a guy for being unobservant.

"I think this place has a double chocolate brownie chunk." And it was calling her name. Noel motioned for Panu to lead the way inside. She was looking for a good opportunity to nab that tech from around his neck, still, without scaring the child too much.

Panu was somewhat startled as she asked what flavor he wanted. He was not used to adults asking silly things like his preferences.

"Anything is okay--"

But wait, she was not just an adult. She was working for him. She listened to her phone, which meant she listened to him, which meant... she was his employee. And it was not strange to ask her boss what he wanted. (Even if she did not know he was her boss.)

The boy squared his shoulders. "Strawberry. Or green with chocolate in it. Or both?" Maybe that was pushing it. A boss couldn't get too crazy.

Lost in these thoughts (and a little blinded by the sun's glare off the glass door, so that his camera struggled to find its light-dark balance and he could not see through to the inside), Panu was almost maybe turned into a Finnish pancake by a large American man. But he was saved by SecretSpyArmAction.

He did not hide that he was impressed. Good bosses let their employees know when they had done well.

"You are very good at this. You are hired often?"

Panu was lenient with the steam-rolling man. He only ran through the man's contact list and changed each phone number by adding one to the last digit. It would be easy to fix once the man knew it had happened.

>> "I think this place has a double chocolate brownie chunk."

"That is like chocolate and chocolate married and ate chocolate the night they made a baby. Maybe too much chocolate?" The boy tried not to look skeptical as he walked into the shop. If his employee wanted chocolate with a exponent of four, that is what she could have.

She let him in the shop first, so he made sure he was first at the counter, too, so he could pay for them. Money was easy to get in a city with so many ATMs, so he had several twenties in his hoodie, folded neatly. This was his treat.

He liked having an employee. It was like having a helicopter but it took you for walks.

Hold position, her phone said, so that they did not have to rush. Ice cream was good to eat slowly, so probably gelato was, too.

"Green with chocolate...? Oh. Mint chocolate chip. That's a classic." Panu went first and insisted he pay which was equal parts cute and disturbing. He acted very grown up for his size and age. He also had a fat stack of cash. Like drug dealer on TV big.

> "You are very good at this. You are hired often?"

"Well, it is my job." Noel's mouth watered, a reaction to the sudden sour taste that her confused-truth set off. Well, it had been her job. Back when she had one. Except wait. Wasn't this her job now? "I like protecting people and bodyguard work." There. That was undeniably true.

Also true: "I'm not sure there is such a thing as too much chocolate."

Her phone buzzed again and Noel frowned at the screen. How did they know? Were there cameras? Her long braid snaked back and forth as Noel craned her neck to check the surveillance out. The timing was too perfect. But she didn't have time to mentally digest that thought, it was her turn to order.

Noel made sure Panu was settled in his seat and set her small cup of mocha brownie chunk with walnuts with whipped cream down. She didn't move to sit until she'd plucked the little bit of technology from the boy's neck. She'd had to come at it from behind since it was on a string and she both hadn't wanted to strangle him and hadn't wanted him to have time to object.

"Don't mind me. Eat up."

She took her seat while she flipped it around in her fingers, pressing buttons and testing what it was that she'd really been sent to pick up.