Reintegration

by Eden S. French

  Another brief silence. “And where are the others?”

  “We’re not sure, sir.”

  “Then subdue her and find out, please. Just don’t harm her.”

  The agent standing above unclipped a pistol—a stun gun, judging from its odd, squat shape—while the cautious agent took a nervous step closer, baton in hand. “Stay back,” said Lexi. “I’m serious.”

  “You’re bluffing,” said the agent in her grasp. He lunged for her neck.

  Lexi set his thoughts ablaze. His memories evaporated, spiraling out of the burning rupture Lexi had gouged into his mind, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

  The female agent aimed her stun gun. A shot rang out, and she jerked, fell and slithered down the steps. Amity stood behind her, a wisp of smoke rising from her pistol. She fired again, and the baton-wielding agent crumpled, a bloody hole in his forehead.

  “Holy shit,” said Lexi. “Was that necessary?”

  “They could have chosen to stay home.” Amity glared down the stairwell. The remaining agent—the kid—stared back at her, apparently unable to move. Amity took aim.

  “Fuck, Amity!” Lexi jumped to her feet. “Don’t shoot him.”

  “Pity is a weakness. One we can’t afford.”

  Lexi looked down at the dead agents—strange to be standing over the bodies of people who’d been talking just seconds ago—before placing a hand on Amity’s forearm. “Executions aren’t my style. This kid isn’t planning on doing anything stupid. Right, shut-in?”

  The young man nodded, and Amity lowered the pistol.

  “Run home, okay?” Lexi said. “Before she changes her mind.”

  The agent fled down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Lexi scooped up his fallen mobile-comm, winked at Amity and pushed the button.

  “Hello,” she said in a suggestive purr. “Is this the sex hotline? I have shameful, naughty urges.”

  “Who is this?” Lachlan didn’t sound amused. “Alexis? Is that you?”

  “Call me Lexi. And I’ll call you Lockie. I’m not one for formalities.”

  “What happened to my personnel?”

  “Two are dead. One had a little memory lapse, and the other—well, never mind that. The point is that you fucked up, son.”

  “You’re a sadist. Those were good people.”

  “I agree, it’s a tragedy. Next time, send bad people.” Lexi began climbing the stairs, and after nudging the comatose agent with her toe, Amity followed. “I hear you’re a pretty nasty piece of work yourself.”

  “I suppose Kade was responsible for smearing my reputation.”

  “Fucking paparazzi, am I right?”

  Lachlan sighed. “If I’d known you were so enamored of your own wit, I would never have accepted this assignment.”

  “You should’ve sent a hot femme fatale after me instead. Think of the sexual tension. Of course, she’d eventually fall in love with me, and you’d have to kill her. She’d die with betrayal in her eyes and my name on her lips. I’d avenge her and then carry her corpse into the sunset.”

  “You’re quite deranged, Lexi. Are you really coming to the rooftop?”

  “Certainly am, Lockie. Sorry to say that Kade isn’t with me. I get an intuition that you two have been close in the past. How close, I wonder?”

  “You do have a prurient turn of mind, don’t you?”

  “Not sure. I’d have to find out what that word means.” Lexi turned to Amity. “What’s prurient?”

  “It’s you,” said Amity tersely. “Can you please stop bantering with the enemy and focus on the task at hand?”

  “I need to go, shut-in. But I’ll see you soon.” Lexi dropped the mobile-comm over the bannister. “Why the scowl, Am?”

  “You’re treating this like a game. Reed isn’t someone to be toyed with.”

  “This is my chance to meet the guy who’s hunting me. I’m glad for it. If you’re angry with me, sweetie, you can always punish me later.”

  “Don’t adopt that tone with me. Don’t think that what happened between us means you can take such liberties.”

  “No liberties. Understood. Just promise we get to do it again.”

  Amity blushed. “Of course it won’t happen again. It was a moment of madness. I was confused, upset.”

  Even now, it was impossible to resist flustering her. “Felt good, though, didn’t it?”

  “Will you abandon the subject if I admit that it did? In any case, this isn’t the time. We still have agents unaccounted for.”

  “And new friends to meet. I can’t wait to see you kick this guy’s ass.”

  “I have much worse in store for Lachlan Reed.” Amity spoke with such coldness that Lexi’s smile faltered. “And no more moments of pity. If any opportunity arises to kill him, take it.”

  “Not so quick. If I read his mind, we’ll know what they’re planning, and I can’t read a corpse.”

  Amity nodded. “True. But once you’ve done that, I’m killing him.”

  * * *

  By the time they reached the door marked Roof, Lexi’s legs felt as stretched and limp as old rubber bands. She emerged into insipid morning light and a cold, persistent breeze. The helicopter sat twenty meters away, its blades still. A huge, impassive man in a black uniform waited beside it.

  Amity drew her pistol and fired twice. Lachlan ducked aside, Lexi froze, and the windshield of the helicopter shattered. The pilot convulsed in his seat as a spray of blood misted the glass.

  “What the fuck!” Her insides squirming, Lexi took a quick step back. “Jesus, Amity!”

  “Now he can’t escape.” Amity gave Lachlan a disdainful smile. “This is your reckoning, traitor.”

  Lachlan gaped at the bloodied glass and the slumped shape behind it. He ran his palm over his greased hair before meeting Amity’s pitiless gaze.

  “Hello, Amity. If I’d known Nikolas had sent his rabid dog, I’d never have let that poor man wait in the helicopter.”

  “Draw your gun. Let me see it.”

  Lachlan unholstered the pistol at his hip, an inconspicuous little weapon with an oily black gleam. “And now what?”

  “And now—”

  Lexi interrupted. “And now you give both those nasty things to me. They’re dangerous, and you two have proven you don’t play nicely.”

  “Fine.” Lachlan placed his pistol in Lexi’s hand. “Your turn, comrade.”

  Unpredictable, Kade had called him. It seemed an understatement. She tried to penetrate his glittering brown eyes, but he was another one of those frustrating impervious types. “Aren’t you afraid she’ll shoot you?”

  “No. You want to use Project Sky on me. It’s no use on the dead.”

  “She could shoot you in the knees, though. I mean, she’s capable of it.”

  “Trust me, I know. But she’s a very smart woman. She’d be hesitant to subject me to any pain that might make your task difficult.” Lachlan’s broad lips formed a knowing smile. “I take calculated risks, Lexi. It’s the nature of my profession. I’m sure you understand.”

  Fascinating. A professional manipulator with an excess of arrogance, a talent for bullshit and a healthy amount of brazen audacity—how very familiar. “I think we’re in the same trade, you and me.”

  “An amusing comparison. Codism is certainly much like a drug, though I prefer dealing to partaking.” Lachlan eyed the distant stairwell. “Where are your friends?”

  “Let her read you,” said Amity. “Or I’ll make your death painful. I have no reservations about leaving you gutshot.”

  “I’ve no doubt. I was very sorry to hear about Ash, by the way.”

  “Don’t you dare say her name.”

  “But it’s a genuine tragedy. Your best friend cut down in her prime. Did you cry for her? Or have you forgotten how?”

  “I’ll shoot you, Reed.”

  “Do you know how a reflex implant works?” Lachlan tapped the back of his neck. “It’s like a little brain devoted to keeping me alive
. The chip monitors sensory stimulus and computes it in a nanosecond. Should something like a bullet come toward me, the chip forces a reflex action, and I move out of the way. It’s rather like being on auto-pilot.”

  “He’s exaggerating,” said Lexi. “It doesn’t always work. If you get attacked from behind, for example.”

  “Granted. Surprise attacks are something else.” A metallic object shot from Lachlan’s sleeve, hissing while it flew, and Amity grunted. A flechette quivered in her right shoulder. “I’m very good at them, as it happens.”

  Amity’s fingers twitched, and her pistol fell to the ground. “Lexi, I can’t feel my arm.”

  “I do apologize. But I have a healthy respect for your ability to tear a man, augmented or otherwise, into countless bloody pieces.” Lachlan grinned at Lexi. “Now it’s you and me. Shall we?”

  The attack came sudden and swift—not the undisciplined lunge of a street brawler, but the precise strike of martial artist—and Lexi ducked just in time. He may have been built like a bruiser, but Lachlan was one fast motherfucker.

  Lexi fumbled with the gun in her hands. Before she could do more than flick back the safety, Lachlan lashed out and struck her with the side of his fist. A single point of agony drove from her forehead to the back of her brain.

  “Fuck!” Lexi dropped the pistol as she clutched her aching face. “You fucking asshole!”

  “I hope I haven’t damaged your looks. I suspect you’re proud of them.”

  Lexi glared at him through her fingers. Her head still throbbed from the impact. “Amity, are you okay?”

  Amity was fumbling with the flechette, but she seemed to be struggling to pull it free. “Going numb. Hard to breathe.”

  “Fucking hell. Lockie, I thought we were going to talk!”

  “No, you were going to interrogate me and then kill me. I chose to play along with your ruse, but you’re still the dishonest one, not me.”

  With frightening abruptness, Lachlan grabbed Amity and drove his knee into her chest. She gasped and doubled over. “That’s for the innocent lives you took today,” he said. “You haven’t changed a bit, have you?”

  He pushed Amity away. She staggered before dropping to her knees. Paralyzed though she seemed, her eyes remained bright with fury.

  “Leave her the fuck alone,” said Lexi, focusing through the biting pain. “You flew out here for the chip in my head. Why don’t you come and get it?”

  “You should have ended that taunt with ‘motherfucker.’ As in, ‘come and get it, motherfucker.’ It would have added a little more punch.”

  “Given who I was addressing, I thought the motherfucker was implicit.”

  There was a quiet thump as Amity fell forward and landed on her face. “Shit,” said Lexi. “Tell me you didn’t just kill her.”

  “She’s not dead.” Lachlan walked toward Lexi with a patient, measured stride that suggested he had plenty of experience in beating ass. “I wouldn’t dream of killing an old friend.”

  “Something tells me she was never your friend.” Lexi made a wary retreat while evaluating her enemy. Lachlan was a head taller, probably fifty pounds heavier and—worst of all—a fellow cyborg. Not great odds.

  “Fill me in,” she said. “You want to capture me. Then what? Dissect me?”

  “It may be as insignificant a process as taking a blood sample.”

  “But if you had to take a brain sample, you’d do that too.” Lexi raised a hand. “You come any closer than that, and I’ll wipe you.”

  Lachlan stopped. “Will you now?”

  “You know I’m capable of it.”

  “In that case, I’d better take you down quickly.” Lachlan rushed her, and his full weight crashed into Lexi, sending her toppling. She landed with stinging force on her butt. “I’m sorry, did that hurt?”

  Lexi scrambled to her feet, propelled by anger and panic. “You fucker.” She unleashed a clumsy combination of punches. He laughed as he effortlessly evaded each one. The smug cybernetic bastard.

  “I see you have no real martial arts training,” Lachlan said. “You’re completely reliant on your augmentations.”

  “I’m a sophisticated person. My hands are meant for finer things.”

  “You’ve had a good run with that undeserved implant, but it’s over. Accept it gracefully. You’ll likely live through our experiments, and even diminished, I suspect you’re smart enough to continue in your career. In fact, given your ability to maintain order between the gangs, perhaps you could do some work for us.”

  Lexi glanced at Amity. Her eyes were closed, but their lashes fluttered as if she were still trying to force them open. “The moment you lay a hand on me, I really will wipe you. Think of me as radioactive. The nearer you come, the more dangerous I am.”

  “Then I won’t lay a hand on you.” Lachlan took a short black rod from his belt. A baton telescoped outward from it, and he gave it a quick swish through the air. “Far subtler than our standard issue.”

  He took a purposeful step closer, and Lexi tensed. Now that he had twenty inches of steel to keep her at bay, she really didn’t stand a chance. Better to find Kade and Callie so that they could fill Lachlan with lead.

  “Later, Lockie.” Lexi was a decent runner, and urgency propelled her forward. Her boots beating out a rapid rhythm on the cement, she ran between a pair of striped barriers and descended to the level below.

  How the hell had she ended up going this alone? Hadn’t she boasted an entire posse just this morning? “Callie!” Her shout echoed back to her. Fuck, where was that fucking smuggler? “Help me out, you bitch!”

  Behind her, Lachlan chuckled. Her very own arch rival. What a treat.

  Lexi hurtled down a ramp and skidded around a corner. From this height, the view of the district gave the clearest sense yet of its devastation. Neglect and street warfare had reduced the suburb to a grid of ruined streets, collapsed bricks, and exposed metal, all laid out in the morbid pretense of a neighborhood. If this was going to be the last thing she ever saw, she wanted a refund.

  “Kade!” Shouting wasn’t conducive to conserving air, but it was better than dying with full lungs. “I need you, asshole! Come on!”

  She flagged sooner than expected, already worn out from the stairwell climb. By the time she neared the next downward ramp, Lachlan had closed the gap to only a few meters. No gloating smirk on him now—his face was set in serious concentration.

  Halfway down the ramp, Lexi stumbled and regained her balance only by flailing her arms. Her feet were aching, tired of being slammed against hard cement, and sweat had left a salty trail on her lips. She was fucked.

  Engines growled in the distance. Lexi faltered to a stop.

  Two bikes zoomed around the corner, one little more than a scooter, the other a big hog with tattered rags trailing from its handlebars. The riders—both men, both leather-clad, both as unattractive as a dog eating its own shit—whooped, and one loosed a bloodcurdling howl while whipping a chain above his head.

  Behind the bikes, a rusted, graffiti-covered pickup bounced on its suspension as it tore across the parking level. A heavyset gangster sat behind the wheel, wearing a smile just about as pretty as a scar, while another gang member lolled in the seat beside her, playing with a knife.

  Standing in the bed behind them, her black mane wild around her stern face, Rusalka looked like an Amazon having a bad day.

  The bikers shot past Lachlan, accompanied by more hollers, before skidding to a halt. Lachlan stared up at the truck as it braked beside him.

  “Hey, shut-in,” Rusalka said. “I didn’t give you permission to be in my district.”

  For once, Lachlan seemed speechless. A moment to treasure.

  “You’re late,” Lexi said, trying to conceal her shortness of breath. “I already took out most of them.”

  Rusalka gave her an amused look. “You were running in our direction, Lexi Vale. Not his.”

  “I didn’t want you to miss out, that’s all.”
>
  “This is Code business.” Lachlan brandished his baton. “Make yourself scarce, and I’ll forget I saw you.”

  “Forget?” The truck’s driver leaned out of the window and spat. “You’re about to be dead, shut-in. You better believe you’ll fucking forget.”

  Rusalka jumped out of the bed, and the bikers dismounted. “I decide who lives and who dies around here,” Rusalka said, approaching with a sinuous gait. “Should’ve stayed behind your wall.”

  “Be careful,” said Lexi. “He’s a cyborg.”

  “Cool,” said the biker with the chain. “Always wanted to meet a cyborg. Why don’t his eyes glow?”

  Rusalka paused beside Lexi. “There’s a bruise on that pretty forehead of yours.” She cradled Lexi’s cheek in her hand. “Did he do this to you, my clever little broker?”

  “Yes,” Lexi said. “Now it’s time to show everyone what happens when someone is hurt while under your protection.”

  “Oh, I will.” Rusalka drew the knife from her belt. She was taller even than Lachlan, and the way he maintained a careful distance suggested he wasn’t immune to her intimidating presence. “How do you want to die, shut-in? We can cut you. We can shoot you. We can drag you.”

  One of the bikers snickered. “Maybe we can mix it up. A little of each.”

  “Lexi, this is enough,” said Lachlan. “Call them off. We’ll talk, just as you wanted.”

  “Sorry, Lockie,” said Lexi. “You’re just not my type.”

  Rusalka and the bikers closed in. The chain whistled as it lashed Lachlan’s back. He spun and drove the tip of his baton into the biker’s eye, and the man reeled, clutching his wounded socket.

  “That’s one,” Lachlan said. “I trust the rest of you aren’t so expendable.”

  Rusalka executed a snakelike thrust. Lachlan pivoted, knocked the blow aside, and smacked Rusalka in the face with his free hand.

  Without even flinching, she jabbed again. Lachlan easily twisted away from the flashing blade.

  “He’s fast for a big guy,” said the truck driver, who apparently believed her role was to provide commentary. “No wonder you were running, Vale.”

  “Can’t you just shoot him?” Lexi said. “You must have a gun.”