Tailspin, page 56
Roe pulled the shower head off and, making herself as tall as she could, she rinsed me off. “You’ll catch your cold even if the water’s warm, and I’ll catch a court martial for letting you stay in here so long. Water’s expensive, you know!”
She hung the shower head back up, then looked me up and down. “You’re cute,” she said. “But not that cute.”
“Ugh.” I let out a long-exasperated sigh. “I hoped the scarring would help with the ladies.”
Roe laughed, and stepped out, grabbed a towel she threw it at me.
I caught it, and this time she raised an eyebrow and winked.
Little minx. The towel was fluffy, but itchy. I didn’t want it on my skin for long. So kept it tight against me while we walked the short distance back to my room and I dressed.
“I’ll be gone by the time you get back from testing.”
Her face said it all, and she couldn’t look at me again. I stepped to her, wrapped her in my arms this time, and hugged her.
“Thank you,” I whispered to her.
Roe put her hands to my chest. “Look after Niko, and please don’t come back here.”
She meant for treatment, but it had that extra connotation. “I’ll try.”
***
Jim took me for a small ride the other side of Rise. I was quite shocked to see all kinds of training rooms and facilities. I guess in Aug-World you could have anything you wanted; the large open spaces here could be turned into various field exercises.
Aug-World enveloped the both of us while we stood at a blank field. The trees, the sky, even the target at the other end pixelated and formed. Always amazing to witness. Even though you knew it was fake, you couldn’t tell when it finished. Not really.
I struggled with the weapon he gave me. “You’ll need to hold it like this,” Jim said, and demonstrated for me. “You’ve not trained much with guns. You don’t really need to as DP, but it’s good to see the differences in your higher functions and focus with the X16. You’ll feel the nites you both have exchange orders. They will tell yours what they need exactly and yours will comply. The X16, when you look through the lens, will see what they need, nothing more. This is a specific gun for a job on your helo.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Yet.” Jim smiled. “You think Malaki will be without a given helo for long?”
I had to laugh at that. “Oh, I have no doubt she has her sights on something. Then she’ll get to upgrading it.”
“With you alongside it.”
“And herself, I hope.” Though that thought was very flippant. Surgery, hospital for her was even more a bad memory than for me.
Jim turned the gun toward me, and I took it gently from him. The exchange with the nites was instant. Not something I could dissect into a conversation. But it was done.
My eye was already flooding with nites, and they looked for what they needed to without me asking. The tech lit up everything in my sights with a clarity I just couldn’t put into words; the tiniest detail was perfect even the other end of the range.
“Ugh.” My stomach flipped as my right eye went one way, and my left stayed looking where I had been.
In the next moment I’d had to let go, and I ran for the nearest something, anything, to throw up in.
“It might take a while for you to get used to doing that.”
“How long is a while?”
“The more you practice, the better, as with anything.”
“Yeah, I get that.” I wiped my mouth and asked the X16 to look right while I focused on Jim.
This wave of nausea wasn’t as high, but the world moved in a way my brain…
Apex?
I have to get used to processing lots of things too. It also takes a while.
Then don’t stop.
I won’t. I feel like we’re finally getting there.
With a shove, I pushed myself up, stood, wobbled, and took a few steps forward. The floor moved in two directions. Ugh. I wasn’t going to get used to this any time soon. But the more I walked, the easier it was to get back to Jim and the gun. I put my hand to it once more, settled into a pose, then looked through the sights with the X16.
The clarity was something else.
Though, I also realized it was a simulation for actual fire.
“Targets will pop out. You need to locate and shoot.”
“What are you testing with this?” I asked him, waiting for the first popup, the target reticle focusing in and out, also waiting.
“We have results from you when you were with Trevor, and they took down the skellies.”
Shit. I wanted to say it wasn’t me. But I didn’t. I wanted their elite team to think it was me. Not that my tech really had taken over for us all.
I told you then, it wasn’t something I would usually do.
No, but you did. We might be dead if you hadn’t.
That’s the point. If I have to in any really bad situation, I will give you the option.
The more tech I am, the more you can take over? I also recall you at least owning my vocal cords after the eye operation, maybe more.
No, that is not how it works. Usually. You have to give me the control. I can’t just take it, take you over.
On the inside I did a little phew.
When the popups started, I was slow. Nothing like tracking something with one eye and letting the other do what it wanted. I locked onto a target. My left eye would focus and fire, the X16 was off looking for the next one, and they were coming faster and faster.
Then they were gone.
Just like that.
I let go of the trigger and took a step away, straightening myself up and stretching my back out. “That position was a little awkward.”
“Lots of jobs you will do are going to be like that, if you let them.”
“Only one I want,” I replied.
Jim pulled out a data pad. “You’ll be fine in a few days with anything you attempt. Speed’s a little slow, but you have just had a major operation. Let me know how you’re doing in a day. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll come poking.”
“Sounds good.”
Malaki and Niko picked me up after lunch. Alba cried, per usual, and I couldn’t help myself. I promised I’d message even if I didn’t get a chance to talk to them much again. I would message, especially about my training, the insides of me.
Jim pulled me to one side when Alba had trundled off, head low. “She’ll be okay,” he said. “If she had her way, though, she’d have kept you.”
“I’m not a puppy.” I laughed.
“No, but you looked like one when they brought you in here the first time. A very lost and alone puppy.” I didn’t know what to say to him this time. “Don’t.” He put a hand up. “As much as I want you to promise you won’t come back, you might. You might need me out in the fields. If you do, I’m there.”
“Thanks,” I said. “It means a lot, knowing you three are here.”
Jim nodded. “As it does to all of Artem, knowing there are people out there like you who protect them.” He pulled me to him in one full on manly embrace, then he chased off after Alba and left me standing alone.
“Come on,” Malaki said. “We have a helo to catch.”
“Catch?” I said and walked to meet her halfway. “Not fly?”
“No, we’re just passengers. You still need to rest a little. Get ready for the next operation.”
I let out a sigh, my nerves twitching in my stomach again like this morning, but for different reasons.
I reached Malaki. “Ewww,” she said. “How am I ever going to get used to you doing that?”
“What?”
“Looking at me with one eye and looking somewhere else with the other!”
“Shit,” I said. “It really looks like that?”
Niko got out of the car, too and glanced. “Yeah, it is really creepy, Rus.”
I had to force my eye to look back where the other was, at Malaki. And it took a whole other moment for me to get used to them being in the same place again.
Malaki took my arm in hers. “Come on, if I have to mollycoddle you for the next week, though, you’re buying me some burgers.”
“Burgers?”
“No, no,” Niko said. “Burgers aren’t good enough. You need Alamanti desserts.”
“Oh, gaaawd.” Malaki let out a groan. “Would you?”
I didn’t answer, checked her daily report, and noted her weight to muscle ratio. “Looks like you’ve never let up on food or training,” I said. “I’ll buy you some desserts, even if we both have to train harder that day.”
“That’s a deal. I’ll mollycoddle you all week then!”
Niko took my other arm in his, and with a crick in his back, said, “Help the ol’ man out here. He needs some extra padding for winter.”
67
Malaki really had meant she’d mollycoddle me. I mean, I wasn’t unhappy with the care, but still by the time it was over, I was ready to escape, and I meant escape anywhere. The trip for the TAP couldn’t have come any sooner. My mind and my body were awash with emotions.
“You ready for this?” she asked and put a hand on my leg. We’d made our way deep into parts of Artem I’d never heard of, let alone ever seen before, and I was sure she’d seen the escort following us. I mean, I’d not even seen them till I saw her extra glances behind us.
We’d taken a helo from Ocean Oil Fields to West Shamrik. The two extra passengers behind us just seemingly acted normal.
Now we were waiting for a tram or train, something to take us further down towards South Leviathon. I caught her watching the two guys and tried to distract her. “Never been anywhere this side,” I said. I paced on the spot. My eyes never stopped watching the locals, and they never stopped watching me.
“You’ll be fine. Stop acting so damn nervous.”
“Think they can tell?”
“Yes, they can tell. Everyone can tell. You stand out like an idiot.”
I forced myself to not bounce and sucked in a deep breath. “This kinda means everything to us.”
Malaki put a hand on my arm and squeezed it gently. She stepped in closer and I stared into her eyes. “I know,” she said. “Hence, I’m here.”
The track vibrated, and I looked around the side of her head. The train rattled into view, its long, pointed metal snout sticking out in front of it. “Never been on one of those, either.”
“Faster than some,” Malaki said. “It will get us right down the other side of South Leviathon today.”
The train grew closer, close enough I saw there was no driver as it passed. It pulled in beside us a few cars down, the brakes hissing loudly.
Malaki got on first and I followed, making our way down to a set of seats in the middle. She scooted in and I did the same, sitting opposite her. No one else joined us, and I rested a little easier.
“I’m going to dig a little on who we’re meeting.”
“Shay?” I asked knowing full well that TAP wasn’t for me, and I was getting something better, M-Corp grade.
“I believe he’ll have dropped it off and be long gone.”
“Never got any word from those you hired to help?”
“Only that he was safe, the job was done, and no one would know what happened.”
“That good?”
“That good.” She smiled. “I’m just nosing around Laronda and in general, I have questions that don’t add up, and I’ve never been here. Their scientists are supposed to be on par with OOF’s, even Rise, my father said.”
When her eyes glazed over, I put my head back and closed my eyes. I’d been up on and off most of the night. Now this late in the day, I was exhausted.
“I’ve found a few things,” Malaki said a while later and nudged me. “And yes, about the kid too, Shay.”
I opened my eyes and rubbed them. “You had to wait till I was asleep, didn’t you?”
“Sorry.” She frowned. “Here, I’ll share it.”
When she flicked me the files over, I accepted them. “What am I looking at?”
“Open the first one. There’s a couple of videos,” she replied.
I did as she suggested and opened the first video. “Janet Lester,” I said. “Reporter?”
The news reel played for me. Janet was pretty, average height and build, and yet wow, her voice was super smooth. Just something about it, I could listen to her all day long. Her tech stood out as it glinted in the sun, not the best nor the worst I’d seen, but her face was partial metal, and it looked red, angry. Infected?
“What is this?” I asked, as the camera panned back over what looked to me like a war zone.
“Miss Lester tends to go wherever the biggest stories are,” Malaki said. “That looks like some of the farms on the west side; we know there’s been critter attacks there. They’re taking some heavy damage, and she’s been keeping up to date on it, interviewing farmers, et cetera.”
“That’s where the Black Bears had been. ‘Some damage,’” I croaked out. “That’s a bit of an understatement.” Destroyed buildings, fences, walls, potholes the size of cars, smoke and fire.
“Watch.”
I did. Janet carried on talking through what was going on around the area. In the background were people, many people. Then machines moved in.
“See?” Malaki smiled. “They might have had a heavy hit, but look how fast they start to clear up.”
I watched for a moment, amazed at how everything started to be smoothed out. Diggers filled the holes, and heavy-tracked vehicles ran over it all, flattening it out
“Yeah,” I said. “That’s something else. Those machines, never seen anything like that around here, either.”
“I would imagine there’s still tons of things we’ve not seen,” Malaki said. “You’re not alone there.”
“At least you weren’t shocked by what goes on out by the wall. The living conditions.”
“Knowing it and seeing it are two very different things.” She pointed back to the screen. “Wait, wait till you see the big truck come in behind her.”
I did. The large truck came in and several people hopped out. Including a couple of kids. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be noting here.”
“The kids, which one stands out the most?”
“The young lad,” I said. “Has some kinda critter on his shoulder, right? You hardly see him.”
The kid also moved to Janet’s side for a moment, and she leaned down, whispered something to him, and he shot off.
“Interesting. You’re saying what about him?”
“Nothing really. He’s a runner paid to move products around Artem to whoever bids the highest,” Malaki said. “I’ve tried everything to figure out who else he could be, tracked all over. But from every source I’ve got, that’s Seamus Xion, AKA Shay.”
“He’s so young.”
“Indeed,” Malaki said. “According to his records, and I had to dig for them, he’s been on the run quite some time, and he’s ten, almost eleven, but still…”
The next couple of reports off of Janet started. They were following up on the attack, the critters that had struck out. She also put out a call to arms from M-Corp. One that would bring in many levels of soldiers, warriors, anyone to help cull the monsters out into the farmlands.
“She’s good,” I said. “She can really rally everyone together.”
“Yes, she is. The more I watched, the more I liked her.”
“I can see why.” I let the videos finish and looked out the window, my stomach twisting. “Are we almost there yet?”
“Not far off.” She stretched out and I cringed when she popped her neck. “You did have a sleep. I’m glad.”
“It’s been a tough week,” I said. “But you already know that.”
“I do. I don’t think these next few weeks are going to be easier, either.”
“The TAP, you mean?”
Malaki nodded and shifted from her seat in front of me to sit beside me. “I’m worried.”
I put my hand on hers, laced my fingers into them. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For caring,” I said honestly. “For being you.”
She leaned on my shoulder and sighed. “I couldn’t be anyone else around you.”
I breathed in the slight smell of perfume on her hair and closed my eyes again. Her gentle breathing and mine had me dozing off in a moment.
I wished, wished my mom was here, that I could talk to her or even Tsomak.
***
The hiss of brakes sometime later woke me. I jumped slightly and so did Malaki. “Sorry,” I said.
She wiped drool from the corner of her mouth. “It’s okay. I guess we’re there?”
“Yeah.”
Malaki stood and made her way off of the train and I followed out onto the track at Tinto Station.
There were a few others about, but not many. “Where do we go from here?”
“Short walk, then a car’s meeting us.” She looked lost.
I took the lead, and followed her directions up out of the station, then out into the area we’d alighted. “Not a bad area.”
“No.” She looked around. “It’s actually pretty nice, much nicer than I thought it would be.”
The car was waiting, and what a car it was. “I wasn’t paying for any of this?” I said. “Just the operation, right?”
“As far as I’m aware, yeah.”
The door opened, and an extremely well-dressed man got out. I traded glances with Malaki.
“Ruslan Korolyov?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered him. “That’s me.”
“I’m Jax, the public face of Laronda, and one of M-Corp’s representatives.” Jax motioned towards the car. “I’m here to escort you and get you up to speed on your operation before you get to Laronda.”
“Oh.” On the inside I went more like thank fuck.
The car ride wasn’t great, though smooth. Sweat ran down my back, my shirt soaked. Malaki listened to Jax as he talked through the TAP.
“We had some difficulties in obtaining it, even from the sources we had. It cost a fair bit more than expected.”
I brought up the mod details again inside my HUD and noted the M-Corp stamp on it this time.
