by Gideon Mills
It was true, but that didn’t make him not a person. He was, and so was Amita. They were just from different places in life.
“He's a man. Nothing more,” Amita countered.
“We are freaks to him. Something to stare at.”
The man had said it was a dare, and it broke her heart that one of the upper-level people did think the Streeters worthy of being stared at, and he had agreed to it. But that didn’t mean they had to live up to his expectations. The Streeters were better than that.
“It doesn’t matter. We are people. He is too.”
A set of arms grabbed Amita and tossed her to the ground. “You defend him. Then you can take his place. You are worse than him. How can you defend this modified scum?”
Amita smashed onto the cold hard ground. Its filth smeared itself on her. Amita cringed at the stench. The beating was slow at first. One person kicked her back and taunted her.
“It’s your fault, mod.”
Amita looked up at the guy. He stared at her and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
It hurt but not too much. Amita did her best to deal with it. Another kick came, in the ribs. She held back the tears that wanted to come. The kicking and punching increased.
Blood flowed from her mouth, her ears, her arms, legs. Cuts opened up everywhere, and fluids flowed from them all. Every pore of her body ached. Amita screamed in agony. It hurt so much. The pain consumed her, overwhelmed her. The world around her blackened, and Amita could barely keep her eyes open. Stay awake.
Amita wanted to pass out, to die. For it to be over. No person should ever have to endure this. Her own people were doing to this to her. It was too much to handle. They were supposed to protect her against the mods, not kill her for defending them.
She exhaled one last breath before the darkness overtook her.
3
Alive
Marcus's body ached more than it ever had, even more than after his right arm had been removed and upgraded. That had hurt for months, but this was worse for him. Much worse. And it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, thanks to the petite girl who had stepped up for him.
Marcus couldn’t believe how brave she was. It amazed him that she had stood up to the horde of people who had surrounded him and assaulted him.
He had been stupid to come down here. That much was clear. Why he had taken the dare and done it was beyond Marcus, but he had.
Now here he was, bruised and beaten, staring at the woman who most likely had saved his life. She was on the edge of dying herself. Marcus had to do something. She didn’t deserve to die.
The group had dissipated just as fast as it had formed. Marcus was thankful for that. He looked around. The area was covered in a layer of filth, some of it his own blood. And that of the young woman. Along with discarded food and drugs. A few people remained in the streets, giving him a wide berth. The young man wasn’t able to do much for her, but he needed to. He reached to his cybernetic arm and used it to call the Security Force.
They would have his location and arrive in no time. While Marcus waited, he scanned her.
Amita Cullen: Assembly line Mara Corp
Stats:
Intelligence: 8
Strength: 2
Cunning: 2
Speed: 1
Modification: None
It was no surprise she had no mods and was a worker for the company. Almost everyone was, and she was no different, but there was something slightly off with her stats and info. The system had a slow reaction to her. One that Marcus didn’t understand. He let it go for the time being. He needed to help her.
The people who had attacked him had known he could do that and had made sure he didn’t. Or they had just gotten lucky and had struck him every time he tried. It wasn’t clear or not if they knew what he could do. They didn’t seem too knowledgeable about how it worked.
They seemed to think he was impervious to pain. Marcus now wished that was the case. It would make life so much better. His whole body ached. He wanted nothing more than to lie in a bed for a week.
A minute later, a member of the Security Force departed the elevator from level two and dashed to Marcus.
“Mr. Ward,” he said. He was modified even more than Marcus was. All the Security Force members were. Some were barely human, most of them being completely cybernetic. “Are you okay?”
Marcus shook his head. “I’ll live, but I’m beat up. So is that lady.”
The member paused and scanned her. “Amita Cullen. Nonmodified. Resident of Section One Thousand. She is of no importance.”
He saw all that Marcus had seen, and decided she wasn’t worth his time. That angered Marcus. The SF member’s view was furthest from the case for Marcus. Amita was extremely important. Anyone who saved another person was. It didn’t matter that she lived here or that she was considered beneath Marcus and the rest of the city, the country. Marcus didn’t care what the New Republic thought of her. She was special and needed to be saved.
“Save her,” Marcus said.
The Security Force member stared at Marcus. “She is beyond saving.”
“What do you mean?” Marcus scanned her and saw she was alive, and in this day and age, almost everyone was savable. They hadn’t solved dying, but injuries weren’t a problem.
“She needs to be modified, and she doesn’t qualify for it.”
Marcus gritted his teeth. They had rules about who could or couldn’t be travel on the levels. It was based on many things. Top down; those on the first level weren’t allowed up, unless for work or unusual circumstances. That didn’t mean she couldn’t be saved, just that Marcus would have to cover it, and it would cost lots of credits.
“Take her to level four,” Marcus said. That was where all the modification happened.
“I can’t.”
Marcus reached for his arm and transferred the credits. His family wouldn't be happy, but that didn’t matter. His father would understand, might actually thank the young woman. She had saved him. Of course, he’d curse Marcus out for even coming here.
“Take her,” Marcus said again.
This time, the security officer nodded. He would have seen the credits arrive. “Mr. Ward, you are wasting credits. Filth like this isn’t worth it.”
The member picked her up and helped Marcus stand. Security Force members were stronger than most. Their mods allowed them to pick up more weight than most others, even modified people.
“She saved my life,” Marcus said. “That makes her worth it.”
“If you say so.”
The walk to the elevator was slow, given how much pain Marcus was in. The Security member was talking into his helmet, letting them know they had an extra person and to prep the area for an emergency modification.
Inside the elevator was cramped and sterile. It shot up to the second level. This was the only one that didn’t go to all the distinct levels of the city. They had always told Marcus that it was for security. Part of him now understood that, what with the hate he had seen down here.
But he also realized that they had instilled that hate with the way they sectioned the bottom level off. It made them feel like separate cities. It was part of the same town, but it wasn’t. It might as well have been a different one. He was miles away from his own home. It was so foreign to Marcus. He couldn’t believe his eyes. When he had first stepped off, the litter on the streets had shocked him. The smell was terrible. Nothing in his life had prepared him for that.
Marcus wasn’t the smartest person, but he had a feeling the people who lived there didn’t trust or like the upper levels and rightfully so.
They stepped off the elevator at level two. The air was clean, fresh, with no more stench in the air. It still was not as pleasant as the top level with the sun and the purest of air, but better. A car waited for both Marcus and the Security Force officer, who carried Amita.
They jumped in and rode to the access points for the upper levels. It wasn’t far. Marcus had walked between them earl
ier, but this was better, considering how his body hurt.
Before they went up to level four, the SF member looked at Marcus. “Are you sure? Last chance to back down. I can take her back.”
“I’m sure.”
“Very well.”
They entered the lift that was designed for cars, and it took them up to four. The point of no return.
4
Saving a Life
At the hospital, or modification center, the staff of doctors and nurses rolled Amita in on a stretcher.
“A fresh one,” a doctor said. It was obvious that he scanned her. “Don’t see many of these at her age.”
Marcus sighed. The first and second level of the city had more unmodified than modified. The first time Marcus had been down to level two, he had been surprised. And level one had been even more shocking. Clearly, the doctor didn’t venture to different levels of the city
“Is she going to be all right?” Marcus asked. He rode in a wheelchair next to her. They wanted to check him out as well and make sure he'd suffered no internal injuries.
“Tough to say,” the doctor said. “She’s young but not healthy.” He examined her and then scanned her with a tablet or some kind of device. “Oh. A section one thousand. Don’t think I’ve ever worked on one of those. This should be interesting.”
It baffled Marcus’s mind. She was a person and no different to him. He failed to see how it would be interesting. The people here suddenly didn’t seem the same to Marcus. The world had shifted.
“We’ll save her,” the doctor said.
They entered the hospital, and Marcus was taken to one part as they carted Amita to another. Marcus wished he could watch. They occasionally allowed people to view the procedures. Marcus had watched his younger brother, Jameson, get his leg changed. It was gruesome to watch, but this time, it would have been different.
He felt a connection to her that he couldn’t explain. It might be because she had saved him or that she was stunning. Or brave. Any number of things.
They wheeled Marcus into a sterile room. It was a typical examination room. He’d been in that type more than once. Might have even been in this one before. Usually, before any mods were done, they checked the person out a half dozen times. Didn’t matter if it was the first time or the tenth, the doctors wanted to make sure every person survived. As far as Marcus knew, no one had died getting an upgrade, though he wasn’t naïve enough to trust everything that the Mara Corporation said.
A Mara Corp doctor walked into the room. “Mr. Ward,” she said. “I see you took a beating.”
Marcus nodded. “I went to the street level.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “Can I ask why?”
Marcus hated to admit it. Loathed it, now. “A dare.”
“What a stupid dare.”
“Agreed.”
A doctor went through the paces to make sure Marcus was okay. A few x-rays and diagnostics on the arm. Marcus told him about the kicks and punches. They doctor triple-checked him from head to toe.
It all came back clean, but he’d be sore for a few days. It would be best for him to stay off his feet. Marcus would do that, but first, he wanted to check in on the girl.
“Is it possible to see the girl whose mods I paid for?”
The doctor shrugged. “I’m not sure. You have to ask Keres Mara.”
Keres was in charge of the country. Not in title, though. That was President Winston, but everyone knew she was the one in charge.
“She is here?” he asked.
The doctor nodded. “Not often that a section one thousand is modified and paid for by a Ward.”
The Ward family wasn’t as powerful as the Maras, but it wasn’t that far behind. Marcus’s dad worked directly under Keres and was in charge of the droid division of the company. That made him powerful. And in turn, Marcus was too.
“Okay,” Marcus said. He stood from the chair in the room. “Where can I find her?”
“Observation room six.”
“Thank you.”
Marcus left the exam room and walked gingerly over to the observation area. Why would Keres Mara be there? It was on the far left of the building and about as far as it could be from where Marcus was.
It took him several minutes to arrive, and when he did, his whole body ached. The next few days were going to be long. He was definitely going to follow the doctor’s orders and relax in bed.
When he arrived, he knocked on the door.
“Enter,” a husky voice said.
Marcus entered and saw only Keres standing in front of the window, watching the procedure below. She turned to face him. “I figured you would show up.”
“I wanted to make sure it was going well.”
Keres smiled. It wasn’t the most pleasant one in the world. To many, it was terrifying. Most thought she didn’t smile. Marcus had seen it more than a regular person. He happened to agree with most. It didn’t fit her.
She was an intimidating woman, taller than most, with luscious blond hair. If she had been younger, Marcus might have found her attractive. He would never admit that to anyone, in fear of her killing him for it.
That was one the many rumors Marcus had heard about her. Once she'd taken over the company from her father, who had died mysteriously, she ran it with an iron fist. Everyone knew not to step out of line.
Marcus now worried that he was going to get into trouble for paying for Amita. With Keres Mara being here, that was a concern. She might make him vanish. Marcus gulped.
“She is doing well. The young woman is surprisingly strong.”
Marcus liked to hear that. He grinned from ear to ear. “She is strong.”
“I heard part of the transmission. I think you said Amita saved you.”
Marcus nodded. “She did. I went to the ground level. Luke and William dared me to.”
Keres rolled her eyes. Luke and William were her nephews. Keres didn’t have time for a family. Luke always talked about how he’d take over for her when she died, though he’d never say that to a person who would mention it to Keres.
“Of course they did,” Keres said. “Neither of them likes to even go to level two, let alone ground level.”
As far as Marcus knew, neither did she. She rarely left level four or five. They were the top two levels and home to the most important people. The Maras all lived on five. Every single one. Marcus did too.
He walked over next to her and peered down into the room. They had replaced one of young woman’s arms and a leg. God only knew what else. She was going to be profoundly altered. Marcus hoped she wouldn’t hate him for this. Many of the people who had attacked him undoubtedly would.
Amita had to be different. She had to have been, from the way she jumped in.
Marcus scanned Amita, and her stats were different, as she was in process of being modified. Marcus was glad to see that.
“They are changing a lot. Is that all necessary?” he asked.
Keres nodded. “She took a severe beating. Being so small, it was worse for her.”
Marcus wasn’t sure if size mattered or not, but he let it go. So long as she lived.
The procedure went on for hours. Marcus sat in one of the chairs and watched with Keres until it was over. Many doctors came and went, working in shifts to get it done as fast as possible. It would be a miracle if her body could handle it. Marcus prayed it would.
5
I’m Different
Amita woke up with a gasp. The last thing she remembered was being kicked and punched, being completely overwhelmed by a group of people Amita might have called friends. Or at least something vaguely like that.
The room she was in was foreign. It was filled with equipment and sounds Amita had never heard before. Her body felt different; like it wasn’t her own.
“She’s awake,” a voice next to Amita said.
Amita turned her head to see the guy she had saved. He was attractive, now that he wasn’t covered in blood.
He stood a
nd walked toward her bed. “Hi, Amita. I’m Marcus.”
Amita smiled. “Amita.” Her voice was dry and raspy like she hadn’t spoken for days or even weeks. “How long have I been out?”
Marcus cringed. “A week.”
That couldn’t be possible. Amita was going to lose her job. The Mara Corp wasn’t known for being lenient. She was sure they had already replaced her. The line for a job was long every morning. Most were rejected. For a moment, panic set in. Then relief. Amita hadn’t liked the job in the first place, but it was her income. It let her have a home.
“My job,” Amita said.
Marcus smiled. “You won’t be working at the factory again.”
He smiled at her losing her job. What a jerk. How was Amita supposed to eat? Afford her apartment? It wasn’t much, but it was hers.
“I’m screwed. No job. No way to live.”
“Look down,” Marcus said.
It was then that Amita noticed her body and why it felt different. Amita had been modified. Her left arm was cybernetic, as was her right leg. Amita felt her torso. Some of the bones had been replaced as well. At first, Amita was scared, terrified of what had been done to her. She lay thinking about it. She had been changed, and she was going to belong in the upper part of the world. Her anxiety lowered, but still fear consumed her. Would she fit in? Would she be liked?
Amita was happy to be alive. Thrilled to be modified, even if she hadn’t asked for it, but she still was frightened of the future.
“How much of me?” Amita asked.
The door opened, and a team of doctors walked in. “Glad to see you survived. It was a small miracle,” a tall, lanky doctor said. He had cybernetic eyes and arms.
The doctor proceeded to scan her. It was strange to think about. Not that Amita could tell he was, but the way he was looking at her made Amita feel like it. Amita wondered if she could do the same, and turned her focus to Marcus.
A readout appeared: