by Samantha Lau
Trying not to ruin his peaceful sleep (could anything, he wondered), he turned to go back to the bedroom.
“Can’t sleep?”
Wei turned sharply. Oren hadn’t changed position, but his eyes were open and the gold one seemed to shine. It was a very subtle effect. Wei guessed it was some strange reflection from the lights outside.
“No.”
Oren pushed himself up to sit, stretched like a cat, and with a smile that could melt butter, patted the spot beside him.
Wei looked around for a spot to settle on that wasn’t quite as close to him, but the kitchen chairs seemed too far for conversation, and he didn’t want to take up the computer chair. He went to the sofa after all. They sat quietly for a moment.
Oren was the first to break the silence – after a wide yawn.
“Ya hangin’ on ok?”
Wei looked back at him, then away. “I... don’t know.” He sighed. Wei had never been a great talker, and he’d always considered himself rather pragmatic in most matters. But ever since he’d crashed into this place things had just been... out of control. Without meaning to, he found himself babbling. “I was- I was supposed to go to my graduation. I was supposed to meet my parents- I...”
“Oh?” Oren interrupted, “Whatsa graduation?”
“What do you mean what’s a-?” Wei looked up, frowning. “Are you kidding? Because it’s not funny.” But Oren looked completely serious, head tilted slightly, watching him curiously. “It’s... when you finish your studies, and you get your title...”
Oren’s blank look hinted at him having no idea what a ‘diploma’ was, but he still said, “Oh! ‘s that what ya call it?”
Wei stared at him.
“Ain’t ya a lil’ old for studyin’?”
He twitched. “What do you mean? I’m twenty-two!”
“Well, we study readin’ n’ stuff at school but that’s low teens. An’ then we finish that n’ just go apprenticin’, ya kno’? How long you stay in school in Sky City?”
“Years. Early twenties, usually.” Wei supplied.
Oren whistled. “Whao. What all ya do there?”
Wei hesitated, unsure if he should explain it, or even how to, since it seemed Oren was completely unfamiliar with the idea. “Well,” he said carefully. “Your first years you study all the basic subjects... and then, you specialize in your career...”
The man tilted his head again like a puppy.
“Uh, your career, you know... what you’ll want to work as.”
“Ah!” Oren smacked his fist to his free hand. “So, like apprenticin’, gotcha! What’s yo work line?”
“Genetic engineering.”
Oren nodded his head and looked away briefly, seeming to get lost briefly in his thoughts, but then he looked back. “I’s a Runner.”
A runner? Wei rose a brow. “What’s a runner?”
“Someone who runs!” Oren grinned, flashing white teeth.
Wei glared. He’d been training his glare for years, it usually served in having people leave him alone, or stop being dumb around him. It did none of that for Oren, who merely snickered.
“We do odd jobs,” the orange haired man said with clear amusement. “Take messages ‘round when ya don’ wanna trust the network, fetch stuff, get info, put ya in contact with useful peeps. That kinda stuff.”
Wei eased at the real answer. That... was interesting, though he didn’t think such a job would ever flourish in Taizhou. Taizhou... he frowned again, looking down at the dirty floor. Was he ever going to get back home?
Oren’s hand rested on his good shoulder, squeezing gently. When he looked back up, he found the man smiling at him again, but the light furrowing of his brows indicated worry.
“Ya gon’ be okay, y’know. I’mma getcha home.”
Wei forced a little smile and nodded slightly at his encouragement, but he couldn’t hold the smile for long. “What are we going to do?”
Oren pulled back from that shoulder, scratched his wrist in an idle gesture, pensive. “We gonna record a message to yo’ folks. That’s gon’ be the safest way to contact ‘em. Gotta hack in from somewhere else tho, to upload it; don’t wanna be leading ‘em to me place.”
Wei nodded to this. It was a good plan. He’d really like to call home, say he was alright, ask his parents for help. Surely they’d know what to do. Surely they’d send someone. “But if it’s recorded, how will they help me? How will we know-?”
“I got a contact who can maybe help,” Oren interrupted, getting up. He flicked on the overhead lights and turned back to Wei. “Ya wanna be recording it now? Sooner the better.”
Wei’s fingers came up to run down his hair, hoping to tame the long locks some from having been tossing in bed. He realized what he was doing and stopped just as abruptly. How silly, to be feeling vain in a moment such as this. Yet when he looked back at Oren, the man didn’t seem to be judging him. He waited patiently.
“Okay,”
“Okay. Keep it short, just say ya fine and need help,” said Oren, tapping his temple, on the gold eye side. “I’s recording.”
Wei didn’t question it. The eye had looked like metal; perhaps it was gold, after all. It was clearly some sort of enhancement. Having a camera there was not beyond it given the modifications he’d seen in passing. Such things might be unthinkable in Taizhou, but apparently they were common here.
Wei shifted his weight at the intense gaze. He was tired, and it was awkward to be looking at this orange haired man and talking to him as if he were his parents... but he’d chosen to trust him, and so did it anyway.
“Mother, father; I’m fine. I- I’m not sure what happened. I’m safe... for now... But I need to get back home. I... I don’t know how to get back from here, I need help...”
Oren gave him a thumbs up and tapped his temple again.
“Was that good enough?” Wei asked, frowning. He didn’t know what else he could have said; truth was he wasn’t even sure of his current situation; all he could do was beg for help and hope it was heard. “I wasn’t sure what to say.”
“That’ll do,” Oren turned away to head for the bedroom. Wei could hear him rummaging, but despite being curious, he waited on the sofa. Oren kept talking from the bedroom, raising his voice a bit. “I ain’t very comfortable leavin’ ya all lonesome here but is probably for the best ya stay safe indoors while I get this out. Less chances of bein’ seen.”
Wei sighed, he reached up to feel his sore face, and winced as he pulled at the wound on his arm instead. He placed a hand on the bandage, pressing gingerly. Whatever that doctor had given him for the pain seemed to be wearing off.
“Ya hurtin’?”
Wei looked up to find Oren right before him again, leaning in to be face to face. He instinctively leaned back, having not expected him. When had he gotten there? Wei hadn’t heard him at all this time.
“I’ll give ya something for it.” Oren didn’t wait for a reply, fetching some pills and a glass of water that he held out to him.
Wei took them, eyeing the pills with some distrust. He knew better than to take random pills from strangers, but he figured if the man had wanted him hurt, he would have done so by now. He downed them without question, closing his eyes briefly.
“Do ya know how to use this?”
Wei opened his eyes again and looked at what the man was holding out for him now: a gun. It was an odd mix of new and old technology, similar to the shock guns security used in Taizhou, but not quite. “No... never had a need to.”
Oren bit his lip, then pointed at a little lever on the side. “This’ the safety. This way’s on, this way’s off. Keep it on unless ya hear somethin’. This end shoots, wise to point it at what ya want dead. This’ the trigger, squeeze to shoot. Ain’t nothin’ to it, just aim and squeeze.” He held it out again.
Wei looked at the gun with apprehension. He reached out, hesitated. Oren waited patiently, but when Wei didn’t take it, he gestured emphatically for him to grab it. With a si
gh, Wei took the gun and held it, uneasy.
Oren knelt before him. His hands were warm when he reached to touch his arms, mindful not to touch his wound.
“Lissen, chances are ya won’t need it. Ya stay away from the windows. Don’t open to anyone. I’ll ‘nnounce myself when I come back. If ya hear somethin’ that ain’t me, get right in the closet at the bedroom. There’s a switch on the left wall, toward the top. Ya press it and the wall behind opens. ‘S a thight passage to set of stairs, you go strait’ down and get outta here, ok?”
Wei nodded at once. Though he didn’t want to cry, he couldn’t help but sniffle slightly.
“Repeat it,” Oren asked gently.
Wei licked his lips. “Keep the safety on, if I hear something and it’s not you, run to the closet, press the button.... Top- top of the left wall. Downstairs and out.”
Oren smiled and lightly patted his arms. “You gonna be fine. I’ll come get ya, we’ll get ya home safe n’ sound.”
Wei could only nod again. He pulled back from his touch to leave the gun aside, and wrapped his arms around Oren’s shoulders, holding tight. “Thank you.”
The man patted his back in an awkward gesture and pulled back. “Be safe now. Keep that with ya, I ain’t gonna be long.”
Wei took the gun again and, with his pulse quickening and his stomach churning, watched him go.
Chapter 6
Oren closed his jacket as he stepped out on the streets, stuck his hands in orange pockets, and started on a brisk pace east. Despite the chill, his hands were sweaty, and this feeling of impending doom wouldn’t stop following him. He didn’t like leaving Wei alone, but what else could he do? Taking him to the doc, or having her called, was out of question. Not only would endangering one of the few good doctors they had be dumb, but she would not want to meddle in this. Her policies on the matter were firm. He could trust no one else with the possibility of them discovering who Wei really was, and it was clear by the way the man acted he didn’t belong here, so anyone he left him with would suspect right away. He couldn’t even bring him to Lee, either. The guy would blow his head off if he even got close while being tailed by West Tower.
He hastened his pace. The sooner they got the video out, the better. A few blocks down, he took a cab to the central district. The vehicle hovered fast along the busy streets, low. No flying vehicles were allowed in Dimian, after all. He paid for his ride and once again hurried on foot to his goal. The building he entered looked no different than any other. A tattoo parlor in the front, he went to the counter where a girl with bright pink pigtails and full sleeve tattoos was sketching on a clunky tablet. She looked up, white gaze falling on him, and a smile came to her equally bright pink lips.
“Ren! Finally gonna take me up on that new art?”
“Not today Dhani,” he said, smiling back. “Can ya unlock Jun for me? I got a job.”
The girl pouted and reached for the buzzer under the desk. “Fine. But someday, Oren, you gonna want some of my ink, and I’m not gonna wanna give it to you.”
Despite his anxiousness, Oren forced a little chuckle and leaned over the counter to kiss her cheek. “That’ll be a sad day.”
He headed for a mirror on the side, and pushed it to reveal a hidden door. Past it, a flight of stairs led the way down. The room that greeted him at the bottom was filled with various types of displays, from ancient bulky screens, to LED tech to glass and holographic. Each showed something different: code, various TV channels, more code, security feeds from around town... they were the only illumination in the room. A tall, slender man with pale skin and white hair sat on a mushy swiveling chair that looked quite comfortable. He turned to him. The man looked ever the sicklier with the odd lights from the screens reflecting on him; he looked old as well, and yet he was not yet past his thirties.
No longer entirely human, but far from a cyborg, the man looked at him with expressionless, silver eyes. He was a heavily modded human, but unlike the current mods with wireless or touch connection, most of the mods in this guy were old, crude, overly visible as they protruded from the skin, such as the old style jacks on the sides of his head – a physical connection to the virtual world. Cables were hooked to those jacks, attached to the back of the chair to keep them neat and unmoving; and in turn connected to various computers. To Oren it had always looked painful. He could never quite get used to the sight, no matter how often he visited.
Ever since Oren had first known Jun, the man had never moved from his chair. All he did all day long was spend his life in the virtual world. Dhani, his sister, cared for him. As a tradeoff for his sacrifices, Jun knew the ins and outs of the virtual world better than if it’d been his own home. He was the best hacker in all of Dimian, and also the least known person to the world. If someone could help him get to the Sky City system with as little trace as possible, that’d be him.
“’Sup Jun, I need yo’ help.”
“With?” Was the to-the-point question.
“The impossible. Gotta up somethin’ to Sky City, and I’s fairly sure we gonna get traced. Need you backin’ me up.”
Jun’s silver eyes seemed to glisten in the dark room, but it was merely a change in pupil size.
“Impossible,” he agreed, lips curving to a smile. “I like impossible.” He turned his chair away from Oren, back to the screens.
“Can ya manage a connection then?” Oren asked.
“I can do anything,” Jun boasted.
A display, much like those that read palm prints, lit up close to Oren. He placed his open hand over it and closed his eyes so he could focus on the connection. Though the connection in his enhanced arm was wireless, the contact with the touch surface allowed him to ground himself and route everything through Jun’s system; this way, if he was tracked, they wouldn’t trace it back to his personal identifier, but instead to the high-security of Jun’s, which could hopefully distract the tracers by sending them in all sorts of fake paths.
Within seconds the world changed from darkness to brightly lit code. He had only to think the code in the right way to execute the commands he needed. Guided by Jun, he found the one small line of information he was looking for, the police database; and accessed it. Breaking through the police’s security was so easy with Jun’s help, it was almost a joke. Trying to ignore the overly juicy information found there, information he could have sold for a pretty penny, he sought the link that connected the police’s system with the security checkpoint. Of course, the security for the checkpoint was a lot harder to break into. Interestingly, it was also an un-writable system. This meant that the brief thought he’d had about hacking Wei’s information there for secure passage would be too difficult and would likely attract unnecessary attention. No, he would try that after uploading the video, if they had time, to make sure nothing would go wrong. It’d be a good back up plan.
He followed the threads of code until he found the access point to the Sky City network. It was heavily guarded: firewall after firewall and trap after trap, Oren could deal with a few of them, but it was Jun who had to open most of the way for him, on a system well beyond his skills.
Just when they thought they had managed to break through with little notice, something in the code changed, a sort of alarm setting off, programs seeking to block their access. They knew they were there.
“I’ll create distractions.” Jun informed, always to the point.
Oren didn’t answer. Unlike Jun, who was used to living in the code more than in real life, he needed all his focus to secure this one connection. One wrong step could boot him out. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he desperately tried to find the right lines of code to reach Wei’s parents, before they’d be taken offline...
“Fuck! Someone else is here!” Jun’s voice again.
Oren tried to hurry. His breathing picked up, brow furrowing. Where was it? Where? He looked at line after line of code as quickly as he could... it had to be somewhere.
There. He’d found it.
&nbs
p; “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Just who are these people?!” Jun again, clearly in troubles. Oren had never heard Jun worry. The panic was contagious.
Focus, Oren thought, just leave the video in their inbox. Good, now-
Sparks flew. A sharp sting searing through his arm and up to his shoulder, like hot needles pushed up his veins. Oren cried out and pulled his hand away, palm red from the burnt he’d received. Jun also cried out. Screens went out. Oren’s eye display switched automatically to adjust to the now pitch darkness. He panted.
“Jun?”
Oren hurried to him, tripping on some cables along the way and ending up on his knees by the chair. Jun sat there, eyes wide open. The display in his eye lit up as he began a quick scan, his hand reaching out at the same time to try and find a pulse.
DEAD, the display read.
He was gone, the feedback from the machine had likely fried his modded brain.
Oren grasped Jun’s arm with a hand, frowning.
“Shit, Jun...”
He brought his hands up to his hair again, looking around. He had to get out of there.
Screams reached him from upstairs. Oren’s head snapped up. No- Dhani!
He scrambled to his feet and gave a first step towards the stairs. The sound of gunshots came next.
Shit! It couldn’t be. They couldn’t have found them so fast.
Shit, shit, shit. This couldn’t be happening!
A small, red light, came back on, drawing Oren’s attention to a back door.
“Jun...?”
As if responding, the red light blinked twice.
“Shit...” Oren was still not sure if it was chance or if that was really Jun, now living on the network instead, but just in case, he whispered, “Sorry Jun.”
The light blinked twice again, then went out with some sparks. Oren hurried to that door. There was no visible way of opening it. His hands pressed all over it and the wall in hopes of finding a hidden switch or panel. Failing to find it, he pried at it with his fingers until the damned door gave way and began sliding open, then pulled the opening wide enough to squeeze through, just as steps echoed down the stairs.