Rowan slowly peeled the white glove from her dark brown skin and pressed the key in her left hand and closed her fingers around, letting it soak into her memory. Bee barked softly at her side, eyes flashing green.

  “What is that little thing?”

  Rowan smiled. “That’s Bee, my sidekick.” She passed the key back. "Thank you Linda. You've been a great help, but I'm sure you're busy. I'm just going to take a look around and then I'll see myself out, alright?"

  "Good luck." She gave a small smile before leaving.

  Rowan waited a few moments before heading to the elevator, Bee trotting quickly behind her. She pulled the metal gate open, letting Bee leap inside, before she fought to lock it back into place. She hit the proper floor button and winced as a hiss of steam bellowed below her as the engine clanged to life and the elevator creaked up the three floors. The gate had to be forced open and then Rowan stepped out into the hall. She counted the rooms, fifth door on the left, Mr. Perry’s room. She looked left and right before pulling the glove off her hand and closing her eyes. Slowly her hand began to shift, shrinking down and sharpening into the skeleton key she'd held earlier.

  The hand key slid easily into the lock and the door clicked open. She yanked her hand back, shaking it to return it to shape as she eased into the room. It didn't look like it'd been cleaned yet. Nothing looked out of place, no blood, no signs of a struggle, nothing was knocked out of place or shifted. She groaned and rubbed the back of her head as she and Bee stepped inside. She shut the door behind them. “Alright, Bee, sniff around. Do your thing.”

  The little robot barked and began working its way around the room, moving around the perimeter and then slowly inwards. It paused at the edge of the bed, barking as its eyes lit up green.

  “Yes, well that really clears it up.” Rowan sighed. “Guess that’s just confirmation that something superhuman happened here.”

  Bee barked again and hurried over to the door, scratching at it. Rowan opened it and Bee took off down the hallway. “Dammit, Bee!” she hissed, closing the door and darting off after the little dog.

  Bee clattered down to the end of the hallway and began barking at another door, clawing against the old wood. "Shh!" Rowan hissed, shoving the robot from the door, before she cleared her throat and firmly knocked on the door. "Housekeeping?" She knocked again before letting her hand slowly shift back into the shape of the key. She haltingly unlocked the door. Bee immediately pushed inside and Rowan hurried after her.

  A pale blue lace dress hung in front of the window, still dripping wet. A luggage set full of clothes sat open, with shoes and petticoats spread across the floor. Makeup was scattered over the countertop alongside a hairbrush with a few long strands of red hair.

  Bee barked, eyes flashing green as it ran around the room. "Okay, I get it. Just shhhh," Rowan hissed. "Bee. Silent."

  Bee stopped barking, jaw clanging shut as eyes kept flashing. Rowan started digging through the bag, finding a small name tag inside the bag reading 'Ada Witson' and an address. She jotted it down, before grabbing Bee and carefully putting everything back in place exactly as she found it. She held her breath as she left the room and crept back down the hall to the elevator.

  Rowan gave a curt wave to the receptionist, heading through the lobby and back to her bike. She started to load Bee into the leather carrying bag when its eyes began to flash red and green. It barked, leaving its mouth open and suddenly Lila’s voice came through loud and clear. "Rowan, we've got another body."

  "You what? Did you phone me on the dog?"

  "Handy feature isn’t it? Now I need you to head over to the Atlanta Bank on Peachtree. We found another body, looks like the same M.O. It's a banker in his office.”

  She groaned. “Alright, I can be there in twenty. I didn’t get anything at the hotel.”

  “Just get here.”

  “On my way.” She tapped Bee’s jaw and eased it closed before plopping her into the carrying case. She kicked the bike upright and revved it to life, speeding into the twilight of the city.

  *****

  Police were already swarming the area. When Rowan got off the bike, she tucked Bee under one arm and held her badge out with the other. She had to flash her badge every few feet just to get inside. She finally made it to her commander's side. "What do we have?"

  "Preliminary reports say the same thing as Calvin Perry, found dead just around noon. We've got a lowered body temperature and what looks like frost bite on his chest and neck. His body's this way." She led Rowan into the man's office.

  He was slumped against the back of his chair, head dropped forwards, jacket folded neatly onto of the desk. Behind his left ear were four dark brown dots in the same pattern as Calvin Perry’s markings. “What are these?”

  “Hm? Some kind of birth mark I guess.” Lila made a few marks on her notepad.

  “Calvin Perry had these exact marks on him.” Rowan looked over the desk and asked, "What's missing?" She set Bee on the floor, letting the robot sniff around.

  "Nothing."

  Rowan looked up. "It's a bank and there's nothing missing?"

  "No, it doesn't look like anything was taken. Not even anything from his office and we haven't found anything from anyone else either."

  "So, what? He froze to death in the middle of his office during an Atlanta summer?"

  "You know what this was Rowan, don't give me attitude." Lila looked down as Bee began to flash green and bark. "Looks like your partner knows, too." Her supervisor crossed her arms. "What do you think right now?"

  "Right now, it looks like we've got a potential superhuman serial killer. Someone with ice powers likely, maybe weather based, but probably limited to ice. And whatever those marks behind their ears mean is what connects them." Rowan walked around the office and Bee followed after her.

  "Since there doesn't look like any sign of a struggle, he likely knew the victim. Probably someone he trusted." She looked at her supervisor. “At the hotel, Bee caught trail of something and we found a room where an Ada Witson was staying.”

  “Have an address?”

  Rowan nodded. “Yeah, it’s just outside of the perimeter, right by the Northern Spring train station.”

  Lila put her hands on her hips, looking over the man in the chair. “Go check it out, see if you can get a statement from her. Nothing else. I’ll send someone to give you back up once we finish here.”

  “You got it.” She gave a mock salute before grabbing Bee and darting back for her bike. She poured a little more water into the engine as Bee climbed on top of the seat and hopped into the carrying pouch without help.

  Rowan grinned. "You're a smart little thing."

  She kicked up the stand and secured the trunk latch before giving the starter a hard punch and climbing on board. The engine rolled to life with a low, rumbling hiss. Steam poured out from the old engine as she roared onto the roads and began north. The late night roads were nearly empty and aside from startling a few old horses on drawn carriages, the ride was uneventful.

  The house looked like a small, quiet place though everything was dark in the dead of night. "All right. Quiet," she whispered to the robot as she crept from the bike toward the front door.

  She took a deep breath and pulled off her gloves before she knocked hard on the door. "Police!" Her hand shifted into a solid brick shape to bang against the door, rattling the old metal hinges.

  A light flickered on inside and began moving through the house towards the door. Rowan braced herself, arm at the ready to defend herself; Bee pressed against her leg, warm and solid.

  The door opened a crack. "C...can I see your badge?" A woman’s pale face peered out through the barely open door.

  Rowan held her badge up and a few moments later the door opened fully. "Come inside, officer."

  "Thank you." Rowan let Bee walk in first and trailed after the robot.

  The woman at the door held up her old oil lantern. "I know why you’re here, but I didn't kill anybody."

  "You were at the hotel."

  "I was." She nodded and motioned for Rowan to follow her to the kitchen.

  She put the lantern down and started a kettle for tea. The water sloshed onto the floor as her hands shook before the kettle settled over the flame. "But I didn't hurt Perry."

  "Then why were you there?" Rowan circled around the woman, Bee behind her, eyes bright green.

  She sagged into a carved barstool. "We were working out the details of a deal." She tucked some of her hair behind her ear, pulling it back far enough to show an identical set of four brown dots against the flesh. "I left his room for the night. He said he had company."

  "Those marks behind your ear. What are they?"

  She touched the spot and exhaled. "There's an organization called Four Corners, we all worked for them. Perry, William, and I were all a part of it. Perry would organize the train delivery, I'd pick it up and get it to William and he'd take care of selling it off."

  "Smuggling? What was the product?"

  She sighed, running a hand through her messy red hair. "Yeah. Just opium. And now…" She jumped when the kettle screamed.

  Rowan pulled it from the stove and poured the water into the small tea pot. She set it and a matching tea cup in front of Ada. "Now what?"

  "Now, they're both dead. And I know there's someone after me. My house was broken into just this morning and I—I'm frightened."

  Bee barked, nudging against Rowan's legs. "Bee, shh,” she shushed the robot. “Don't worry Ada, we can get protection for you."

  "What is that?" She looked down at Bee who barked again.

  “This is my partner Bee. She helps me find things I might miss."

  Ada licked her lips. "It keeps you safe?"

  "Oh no, she’s strictly for finding things. Don’t think she’s got the ability for any kind of combat, but we do. We can keep you safe from whoever's after you."

  She shook her head, "What's hunting me isn't human."

  "Is it something like Bee? A robot?"

  "No, it wears a human shape, but..." She poured a cup of tea, adding a sugar cube and offering it to Rowan.

  "What is it then?" She took the burning hot cup and quickly set it down.

  "I don't know, but it does things no human should be able to do. You saw how it killed them." Ada poured herself a cup of tea, sipping on the boiling-hot drink. “What do you think it is?”

  Rowan leaned back against the counter. “I think it’s someone who has powers over ice.”

  Her lips twitched faintly. “Like the weather?”

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  “And you think you can protect against something like that?”

  “Ada, we can protect against that. We have a division that—“

  "You what?"

  "I know it's a lot, but we have a division that just handles things that are outside of most human's abilities. We call them superhumans. We can protect you, I promise."

  "Are all of these superhumans dangerous?"

  Rowan offered a reassuring smile. "No, not at all. Most of us are friendly, just wanting to help people. We have a whole team who can-"

  "Most of us...so you're one of them?" She got off of the barstool and stumbled back several steps.

  Bee barked and stepped in front of Rowan. "I am a superhuman, but I'm not going to hurt you, Ada." Rowan held up her hands. "Bee, get back." Bee steamed faintly, but stepped back behind Rowan.

  "What can you do? Show me."

  Rowan hesitated, before nodding, "Okay, I'll show you." She took a breath and focused, feeling her hand slowly begin to crunch and shift into the shape of the skeleton key, then into a hammer, and then into a flat shield.

  “You can turn your arm into anything?" She stepped a little closer.

  "Just things I've touched and can remember."

  "That's incredible." She took another step closer. "Could I...touch?"

  Bee barked again and Rowan ran her hand through her coarse hair. "Yeah. You can."

  She held her breath as Ada's pale white hand press hesitantly against her dark skin. Her touch was warm, almost burning. Rowan winced and tried to pull away as Ada's fingers circled around her wrist and the burning pain crawled up her arm.

  "I didn't think the ‘I'm such a scared little woman, help me’ act would work on another woman. Guess I can still be surprised." Ada smiled and tightened her fingers around Rowan’s arm.

  “What the hell are you?” Rowan gritted her teeth, trying to kick at Ada, but the fire burning through her body immobilized her.

  “Just like you, only my arms don’t turn into anything.” She smirked. “Hate to say you were wrong about the ice powers thing. What I do is so much simpler. I just control temperatures of liquids. Do you know how much of the human body is liquid?”

  Another flash of pain brought Rowan to her knees as the flesh on her arm bubbled like molten metal. Her chest started to prickle and all her skin felt suddenly too tight.

  "Did you know that blood can boil? That you can watch it steam like red clouds from your pores?" Her grip bore into Rowan’s wrists. "That blood can freeze in the heart and stop it pumping in just a few seconds?"

  There was a bark and then Bee was biting at Ada’s leg. Her grip loosened for just a moment. Rowan forced her bubbling flesh to shift into a hard mace head and she swung, slamming into Ada’s gut, knocking her backwards. Rowan rolled backwards from the kitchen, ducking behind a doorframe, shaking her arm back to shape. Her heart thudded in her chest and she took a rough few breaths.

  Bee gave a shrill bark before there was a loud hiss and steam filled the kitchen. Rowan peered around the doorframe, watching as Ada squeezed Bee's throat, water boiling violently from the small robot as it kicked uselessly. Rowan gave her arm another shake and felt it shift into shape again, forming her favorite pistol. She aimed and fired.

  The bullet ripped through Ada's arm. Bee hit the floor and steam burst from its metal chest, filling the room.

  Ada grabbed her arm, clamping over the bullet wound and growling softly. The flow of blood slowed and then stopped, the blood turning to an almost slush, freezing along her skin. Her eyes locked with Rowan's as the officer aimed again and fired. Ada dropped down at just the right moment: the bullet clanged against the walls. Ada sprinted from the kitchen and out the front door.

  Rowan darted to Bee. The metal body steamed and sparked as Bee whimpered softly, gears clicking out of place. Rowan pulled off her lace jacket and carefully wrapped Bee in it to pick her up. "Come on." She laid Bee out on the counter and looked over the cracked and twisted gears.

  She swallowed hard, letting her hand shift into a small screwdriver and trying to shift everything mostly back into place. The gears protested, scrapping against metal and grinding back into proper alignment. She grabbed the tea kettle, filling Bee's water tank back up with the hot liquid and then, ripped pieces of the lace from her jacket to start tying it around Bee's chest cavity to hold the ruptured metal plates in place.

  "Bee, can you track her?" Rowan asked, carefully setting the robot back on the ground.

  Bee's bark sounded higher pitched than before but the robot began limping towards the front door. Its back left leg dragged along the ground, but Bee didn't let it slow her down at all. Rowan followed close behind the little dog, rubbing her wrist and trying to work past the lingering burning sensation that crawled over her bones.

  A few drops of nearly frozen blood led in a haphazard path through the street toward the train station, closed for the night. The gate blocking off the train yard was pried open and Rowan ducked though it, having to stop to help Bee get free when the lace jacket ribbons snagged on the old wires. She pulled the robot through and let Bee take the lead again.

  One of the old engine train cars lurched, its lights flickering on and steam bursting from its engine and whistle. The wheels started turning, rapidly picking up speed and rushing down the tracks. Bee growled and ran toward it as fast as it could; Rowan passed the robot, her hand shifting into a vice grip as she jumped, hooking onto an old railing at the back of the car. She pulled herself onto the back platform, keeping her hand hooked firmly in place as the engine picked up speed.

  "Bee! Call Lila and report what's happened! Give location!" she yelled as the dog struggled to run after the train.

  Another scream of the whistle and the little robot disappeared from sight. The engine plowed forward, steam billowing from the front as they approached the closed and locked metal gate.

  Rowan ducked down low, putting her free hand over her head and tightening her grip on the pipe as the train barreled into the gate, ripping it from its hinges. Metal wires and poles cracked and rushed over the train car, tearing the whistle from its base. The remains of the gate scratched across the top of the car and crashed onto the tracks behind, barely missing Rowan. She looked up, spotting bits of pale blue fabric and petticoat caught along the edges of the debris. She took a deep breath and got back to her feet, letting her vice grip loosen and release the pipe, trying to make her way into the train car. Red hair flickered in front of her, Ada holding firmly to the water reservoir, arm still bleeding and half of her dress ripped away by the metal gate with several deep cuts along her calf.

  "I know you're there," Ada called, glancing toward Rowan. "You aren't exactly subtle."

  "Yeah, well neither are you." She growled, tightening her grip and managing to swing closer to the door as the train began to push uphill into the mountains of Northern Georgia.

  "Surrender now, Ada." Rowan held firmly onto the doorframe, bracing herself against the sharply tilting train car.

  She laughed, "And how do you intend to make me do that? You let go of that frame and you fall from the train. I let go of the engine and the train falls back down this hill. Looks like we're at a stalemate."

  "I only need one hand to hold on," Ada growled, wrapping her fingers around the doorframe and letting her other hand shift into the gun. "Give up or I shoot."