by Gideon Mills
“You’re welcome.” The man stood and exited the room.
When he returned, Amita was with him. She had been modified. To Sam, Amita appeared different. It wasn’t just her eyes that made her seem altered. It was the way she held herself.
“Sam, I’m sorry.”
“It is okay. You saved me.”
“But they messed you up. They did this to you.”
“But you saved me.”
Amita hung her head in shame and remorse. A withdrawn look was on her face. “Only by accident.”
That didn’t matter to Sam. “Accident or not, you did.”
All that mattered to Sam was that she was saved, and that she had been found by her friend. That made her happy. That made her ready for the next step.
“True.” Amita looked at her with a smile. “We are fighting the Mara Corp. Starting a revolution.”
Sam smiled. Hearing that elated the young woman. “I’m in.”
Act Two
Altered Assignments
31
Back home
Amita stood in her apartment. In her time here, she hadn’t thought such a large place could feel so small or that this vast room could be so lonely, but without her love, it was. Marcus was in hiding. Him not being here with her was depressing.
Because of Marcus, Amita had moved to level three, worked on level four, and traveled out of the city limits to free slaves.
Amita had expected that to do more for the city and the people. Freeing so many people barely made a blip on the Mara Corp. A few people had joined the Resistance to stop the oppression.
Keres enslaved people and experimented on them. To make matters worse, she was plotting more. The modifications on people that lived in the upper levels were controlled by a microchip, one that might or might not help Keres mind-control the people.
That was a terrifying thought, and Amita tried to push it back. The last person she wanted to have control her was her evil mother. Any woman who forced her child to live the way Keres had wasn’t good. Keres had lived a life of luxury while Amita had to pray and hope to find a meal. Amita had to worry that the druggies would attack her for meal rations.
How could one do that to a child? Keres wasn’t human, not entirely. Keres Mara was the vilest woman on the planet. Amita didn’t care if she was her biological mother or not.
As Amita left her apartment, she wore a dress in the bright sunny morning. Not that she actually knew if it was sunny or not. The levels made it bright all the time. Except on the street one, they made it dark and nasty to hide the filth since they didn’t clean the roads there. The droids scrubbed up here.
One went past Amita, sweeping the sidewalk clean. She knew the droid well since her job at the factory had been to make them. That felt like a different life. It was, in many ways, and Amita was a different person.
Her lengthy brown hair flowed down her back. Amita kept her hair long, even though it made for more work. It highlighted her face, one that Marcus said was stunning. It made Amita blush every time he told her how beautiful she was. That her eyes penetrated him in ways that he couldn’t explain. That her backside… Amita let the thought go.
Amita’s ride was here, and she got into the car. The car was small, much like Amita was. She was only five feet tall and barely a hundred pounds. Well, before the mods. Amita avoided the scale since then. Her leg and arm had been upgraded, along with other parts. Some ribs had been replaced. The upgrades made her stronger and faster. It was rather amazing, and Amita enjoyed testing her limits.
The car drove itself from Amita’s third level apartment to the fourth level office building where she worked with a member of the Mara family who wasn't too bad. William was Keres’s nephew. He was about Amita’s age and had a beard. It made him look like a president of old, back when this land was called America. That was a very long time ago, before the war that formed the New Republic. They had been told that life was better now. That the new ways were for their safely, to help them evolve and stop wars and oppression.
All of that was a lie fed by the elites of the New Republic on the bidding of the Mara Corp. A lesson Amita learned the hard way.
Amita exited the car and entered the building. The office that she worked at was on one of the upper floors. She arrived, and William was already there. He was standing in the doorway of his office. There was a good chance he was waiting for her.
“Good morning,” William said. Her boss had a concerned look on his face.
“Morning,” Amita said. Even though she knew that William wasn’t a fan of Keres, and Amita’s mother didn’t like him, Amita still was hesitant around him after the whole thing with Marcus.
William and Amita had this whole routine down for the day. Technically, Amita was his secretary, but she didn’t really do much. For most of the day, they just talked about how awful his aunt was or that the world was a complete and total lie.
Today was the same to start. Then, about halfway through, he turned to her. “You talk to Marcus recently?”
Amita’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. This wasn’t the first time he’d asked her after the attack, once Marcus was placed on the Security Force’s Armed and Dangerous list. That made him one the most wanted men in New Detroit. But he sounded different this time, like he wasn’t going to take no for answer.
“No,” Amita said.
She talked to Marcus every night. They video called. It was the best they could do. Ihor and Marcus both were good coders and made it secure. The two said that it was entirely safe. Amita was still worried about it being hacked by the Mara Corp. Worrying was what she did, and that was never going to stop.
“For some reason, I don’t believe you.” He glared at her harder than he had ever before.
Amita shrugged. “If I did, it would be better for you not to know.”
William nodded. “Be that as it may,” he said. “I want to make sure my friend is all right and offer him help. Offer you help.”
Having a Mara on their team might be useful, but Amita didn’t know him well enough. She’d have to ask Ihor and Marcus. Maybe even Cynthia to see what she thought, but Amita had learned a lot about William and knew he was anti-Keres.
Later that evening at her apartment, Amita ate a small meal. Since the attack, eating was just a way to survive. It was that way before she was upgraded. For a brief moment after Amita first moved here, food was different, and she missed that. Everything was different with Marcus by her side. The food was more flavorful and richer. Unlike the bland dry food of the street level.
Amita sat in front of her video call screen, waiting for her prearranged meeting time. This was her favorite part of the day, the only part she enjoyed. It wasn’t as good as holding him, feeling his arms wrapped around her, but it was better than nothing.
The screen flashed, and Marcus appeared before her. His body had been massively upgraded by his brother when they had captured him. Both of his arms and legs were now enhanced, along with one of his eyes.
Mara Corp had enhanced the eyes of Amita’s friend Samantha as well. They had taken her up and changed more than just her eyes; they altered an arm to test what they could do, and once done, they had planned on killing her. After each test was completed, they removed the subject and made sure they were never seen again.
That building was still in place. Amita had wanted to free all the people but just didn’t have the manpower to do it. Hopefully, the Resistance soon would.
“I love you,” Marcus said.
“And I you.”
Amita’s smile was large and growing. Marcus made her so happy, so excited. All she wanted was him.
That wasn’t really true. They both wanted to rid the world of the Mara Corp, to correct the injustices being done. But Marcus was the person who drove her, made her tick. He understood her.
“You look well,” Marcus said. “I miss you so much.”
“I miss you too. William asked about you today.”
“About time he asked again.” Amita
could tell he was joking, since William had asked a few times. “What type of friend is that? Waiting so long to check in on me. What did you tell him?”
“I lied. William knew I wasn’t telling the truth, and he made an offer to help you. Us.”
“Interesting. William does hate his aunt. Out of all the people I knew before you, he’s the one I would have thought would be willing to join something like the Resistance.”
That news made Amita happy. She had the same thoughts about William.
“So, should I reach out to him?” she asked.
“Not yet. Need to talk to the others.
“Okay.”
Marcus looked around the room. “Do you want to?”
Amita nodded.
32
Some fun
Marcus was alone in the room with Amita. Or as close as he could with her. They hadn’t done this a lot, but both of them grew to need each other in both mental and physical ways.
The first time they did this, both of them had to talk each other into it, but now they were going to have phone sex. Or video sex.
Marcus unzipped his pants. Thankfully, this was one part of his body his brother didn’t mess with. He still had his dick, and the desire to fuck, or make love. Most of his body had been altered otherwise.
Amita was doing the same on the screen. Marcus was able to take in her dazzling body. Her perky breasts, and toned body. It was hot, and made him hard as a rock. It wasn’t like actually making love to her. But it helped ease the pain of not being able to actually touch her.
She was playing with herself, and he was too.
Marcus never knew what to say as they did this. For now, just watching each other was enough. Letting them know that they were both watching each other and climaxing together.
Once both reached the peak, they peered deep into each other’s eyes. Panting with the intensity of it all.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you too.”
They had to go. As much as Marcus wanted to do this all day, he couldn’t.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said.
“Miss you.”
“Goodbye.”
Marcus ended the call with Amita. She was the most fantastic person in the world, and she made him happy. The young man had given up trying to understand why she did and just enjoyed the ride.
And it was a damn good ride, one that Marcus hoped lasted forever and always. He feared in a world controlled by Keres that it wouldn’t. He was on the run, forced to live in hiding. It was his own fault for getting captured, but there had been no way to avoid it. Marcus did it for Amita. Everything he did was for her.
Taking a deep breath in, Marcus stood to go see what the others were doing. He lived with his mother, Ihor, Nickolas, Samantha, and Jonathan. That wasn’t all of the Resistance. More were scattered throughout the city and the New Republic, but this was the inner circle so to speak. Not that Marcus was truly part of it, nor Samantha. They had needed time to recover from the experiments done to them by Marcus’s brother, Jameson.
Before that, Marcus had thought his brother was a pure man. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Marcus might have seen some rough edges to his brother, but everyone had them. The same could have been said for Marcus, but clearly his brother’s edges were much rougher than he thought. Both his dad and brother ate from Keres’s hand. They lapped it up. They were lost causes.
Out in the central part of the building they lived in, Marcus walked over to Ihor, who was talking to Samantha. Currently, they lived on level two. This was the third place they called home since Marcus woke up.
It pained him to not tell Amita they steadily moved, but it was for her safety. Keeping the background and lighting consistent during the calls had been tricky. Marcus wanted to explain everything to her. This one thing pained him and frustrated him to no end.
“You look like hell,” Samantha teased.
Marcus had learned fast why Amita liked her. She was fun to be around even after all she had gone through. The young man had told only two people about all that Jameson had done to him, Amita and Samantha. Sam had needed to confess to someone, and Marcus wanted to help her.
After Sam had opened up, she was friendly to the others. Now Marcus was fairly sure that Ihor and Sam might be developing a thing. Or it just could be his imagination running wild. Marcus wanted everyone to find what he had.
Not that it was possible with the world they lived in. A world like this meant that a great many people would never find their true love, their soulmate, or twin flame. Whatever a person wanted to call it.
“I just miss her.” Marcus smiled.
“Me too,” Samantha replied. To Marcus, it was clear that the two had a bond. “Hopefully, it won’t be too much longer.”
“Fingers crossed.”
Ihor sat typing away, not paying any attention to them.
“What’s he up to?” Marcus asked.
Sam shrugged. “Ignoring me. I keep trying to get him to go for a walk with me.”
Marcus smiled. Going for a walk would be ill advised, but Marcus would love to walk around for a bit. To hold Amita’s hand. Kiss her. That would be a great night.
“We can walk,” Ihor said. “Well, not you and I. Sorry, Sam. You know I would enjoy it. I could show you how to better use the mods.”
Sam patted him on the shoulder. “I know.”
Definitely a little flirting. Marcus was pleased by that. “Okay. Not you two. So you and I? Oh before I forget, Amita said William implied he wanted to join the Resistance.”
Ihor rubbed his chin. “Interesting. I’ll tell Jonathan and your mother. See what they think.”
“Okay. What you working on?”
Ihor smiled. “I found a place to scout out, one that might be secure enough for a few more to join and for us to stay at for the long term.”
Marcus liked the sound of that, though he doubted his long-term and Ihor’s would be the same thing. Might be a month, two max, but that was better than a week or less.
“Let’s go,” Marcus said with enthusiasm.
For the most part, he hadn’t been allowed to be one of the people to leave to scout or get supplies. That task typically fell to Nickolas. He was the best fighter in the group and had the mods for it.
Marcus hadn’t tested out his new mods and wasn’t sure that he really wanted to. What they did could be anything, from fighting to healing. Such a wide range. They felt different than his first one. That was still there.
In the time since he gotten them, Marcus hadn’t even scanned a person. With that thought, he scanned Ihor.
Ihor Smith: Programmer Mara Corp
Stats:
Intelligence: 8
Strength: 4
Cunning: 3
Speed: 2
Modification: ten fingers, other
Nothing had changed in the way it displayed for him, or the data. It was a thought.
Thinking about the mods sent a chill down his body and made him remember the pain. The torture of it all. His brother had been smiling as he had worked on Marcus. He hadn’t knocked Marcus out. No painkillers to speak of. He had let the pain get so great that Marcus’s body had shut down. Marcus was sure he was going to die. That his last thought would be of pain and his brother. Not of Amita. Or of the good things in the world. It was in that moment Marcus knew that if he lived, he’d do whatever it took to bring Mara Corp down. That was all that would matter. That mission, and Amita.
Every time his brother would bring him back, and do it all over again. That was the norm there, if both Marcus and Sam were examples. Jameson tested on both of them. The same way. It angered Marcus that his brother did that to her as well.
He had expected it as Jameson worked on him, but to do it to her, that was inhumane. His brother needed to be stopped.
“Be ready in twenty,” Ihor said.
“Roger that.”
Outside in the cool night air, Marcus stood with Ihor and Nickol
as, a man on either side of him. Nickolas was grizzled in his appearance. He had been in many fights, and it showed on his frame. A few scars lined his face and his body. He was modified nearly as much as Marcus was now, but Nickolas knew what he could do. He had been tested extensively like everyone was when done the correct way.
They had three motorcycles out front. Marcus smiled. He loved riding. It was the freest way to travel in New Detroit. Not just because the wind blew around you in the open, but because there was no auto drive for motorcycles yet. Unlike the cars, where no one was able to control the vehicle.
That was one of the many reasons why Marcus loved the motorcycle and rode it regularly. The other, if he was being honest, was because his family disapproved of it, and he found that amusing. His father more so than his mother.
“Where to?” Nickolas asked.
“Follow me,” Ihor said.
“You even know how to ride?” Marcus asked. “I distinctly remember you being anti-motorcycle in college.”
Ihor shrugged. “I was, but I had to learn for the Resistance. I’m not the best on it, but I make do.”
Marcus nodded.
The three men donned helmets and their bikes. The engines roared to life, and half a block away, the rodents stirred. The bikes were that loud. Many people didn’t realize that the noise a motorcycle made was for the safety of the rider. It let the cars hear the bike coming.
That was still the case even today. As safe and smart as the self-driving cars were, from time to time, they had glitches and would get into accidents. That was a death sentence on a bike most of the time.
They rode from the second level up to the third and through the streets to the opposite side. They even went within spitting distance of Amita’s apartment. So close yet so far away. It pained Marcus.
As they rode, it was clear that Ihor was driving around just to make sure that no one was following them. Something the Resistance did a lot. One of the many reasons why Marcus wanted Keres removed. No one should have to continually check for tails.