Cassius, Stevens, Madison [moboreader txt] 📗

He pulled out his phone. There were tracking and public records sites, but he didn’t know anything other than her name. It might be hard to zero in on her without at least one more piece of data, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. He didn’t have a lot of other options.

CJ tapped her name into the search engine. He furrowed his brow when a huge number of hits popped up.

“Videos? Huh?”

CJ brought up the most popular video. He didn’t even need to start it to answer his own question. A stylized cartoon version of Kendra waved over the colorful title, clearly proving it was the same Kendra Champion.

Aloha and Mahalo: The Roving Champion Takes On A Course In Paradise! Hawaii OCR Challenge!!!

He checked the dates, wondering if she’d been there during their mission, but they weren’t even close. Some coincidences were too much.

The realization was a relief. He didn’t want to worry about her being a Ouroboros spy.

“Wait a second,” CJ mumbled. “What is all this really?”

He scrolled, looking at the titles for video after video. Each of them featured Kendra or her and some other athlete, all apparently taking on athletic challenges, mostly obstacle courses or climbing walls, but occasionally something different.

Brrr: The Roving Champion Takes The Polar Bear Plunge And Swears off Cold Water Forever!!!

“She’s a damned internet star.” CJ laughed and shook his head.

A nearby old woman eyed him before muttering under her breath. Her voice was easy to pick out with his hybrid hearing despite the traffic noise nearby. “The handsome ones are always crazy.”

CJ found a nearby brick wall to lean against, ignoring the flow of pedestrian traffic as he continued to scroll through the videos. Kendra’s reaction made more sense now. Her entire life was obstacle courses and climbing walls. She must have thought he was challenging her skill rather than trying to maintain a low profile with his last few statements. No one liked to have their efforts dismissed.

He brought up the most recent video and grinned. A man didn’t need to be Julius to collect intel.

Road to NYC Glory: The Roving Champion’s Prep for the Knickerbocker OCR Assault with special thanks to David of Walls and Falls Climbing Gym in NYC!!!

The video had been posted the night before. CJ stuck his phone in his pocket. He’d passed Walls and Falls during his recon jogs. He’d not thought much of it, given that it wasn’t the only gym in the area.

Now, he knew who she was, why she was in NYC, and where she might be. It wasn’t bad for a few minutes of work. Not all background checks might be as easy, but he’d worry about those in the future.

“Huh. Next time I’ll just check the internet first.”

* * *

CJ wandered beside David as the man rattled on about all the equipment available. Some of it sounded interesting, but a lot of it didn’t lend itself to the kind of training a member of Alpha Squad was used to. That didn’t make it bad, just different.

Tactical necessity was a different beast than athletic necessity. Genetic enhancement and constant training made the hybrids able to conquer most raw physical challenges, but unlike the other people there, they’d always need to consider combat applicability.

People choked the gym, lines of eager would-be athletes at many of the walls. The weight room was filled, with every machine and bench taken. CJ looked around slowly for any sign of Kendra in the jostle of the crowd.

He could have been wrong. Just because she’d been there didn’t mean she’d come back.

“Is it always this busy?” CJ asked, interrupting David in the middle of an explanation about payment plans and different pricing tiers.

“Uh, no.” David chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Not going to complain when business is booming, though. I remember when I first started this place. I was lucky to have a single person in during the day. Went through some lean times, but now my future’s secure.”

“It’s a good sign.” CJ shrugged. “It means you’re doing something right.”

“It’s the effects of good advertising.” David leaned forward and lowered his voice, a sly look on his face. “Maybe you haven’t heard, but Kendra Champion is training here before her next event. She mentioned my place on her channel. I was doing decent before, but now it’s crazy.”

“Really?” CJ tried his best to sound surprised. “The Roving Champion herself, huh? I didn’t know that.”

He tried not to smirk a little. Despite what Julius thought, CJ could lie when necessary.

“Exactly.” David whistled. “She’s as friendly as she is beautiful. Great climber, not just a pretty face. I always wondered if the videos were staged to make her look good, but she’s the real deal. I know she’s won competitions and stuff, but you always wonder when it’s someone famous, but after seeing her move, I can’t doubt her anymore.”

“Interesting.” CJ hadn’t doubted her abilities, but he didn’t know she was a minor celebrity when he met her.

David inclined his head toward one of the larger bouldering walls. “She hit one of our most difficult problems like it was nothing. But you’re not here about her training, you’re here about your own.”

CJ nodded. “Sure.”

David looked him up and down before scratching his cheek. “I’m glad to see you here. There’s a myth out there that big guys can’t climb.”

“I’ve heard that,” CJ lied. He didn’t know anything about sport climbing. Alpha Squad had their own training walls, but they were more nets and camouflage than brightly colored holds and safety lines. “But it seems like it’s great exercise.”

“It is. Climbing’s for everybody.” David flexed a bicep before looking over at CJ’s arm and barely suppressing a grimace. “The thing is your body type doesn’t matter. Sure, reach and leg length helps, but at the end of the day, no matter your shape or size, you can become good at climbing. Somebody like Kendra who is more compact might have an easier