Clarity's Edge: Technopaladin, #1

by Elizabeth Corrigan

“Very well, then.” Dr. Rowan walked over to one of the safes in the loading dock and entered the combination to open it. She pulled out a bottle of syrup and handed it to Clarity. “Now, if that’s all, I would appreciate your departure.”

  Clarity turned and started back out toward the street. Before she got very far, she glanced back at Dr. Rowan. “I meant what I said. I won’t tell anyone what you’ve done. But you should turn yourself in before you get any deeper into Garrett’s debt. There are worse things than going to jail.”

  Dr. Rowan harrumphed. “Spoken like someone who’s never been in danger of going to jail.”

  Oh, how I wish that were the case. By failing to report Dr. Rowan, Clarity was at least putting herself in danger of severe reprimand. And if Steadfastness Hughes ever found out she was about to visit the Azure District for the second time, she’d lose her place in the order for sure.

  Cass was worried about Clarity, and he didn’t particularly like the feeling. He tried to convince himself he was simply angry with her for leaving him out of the exciting portion of the mission, but as he kept envisioning all the things that could go wrong at the clinic and in the Azure District, he had to concede he was afraid. He knew she could take care of herself physically, but her current mission called for subterfuge and deception, neither of which she had shown any evidence of possessing.

  Even more than he didn’t want to be worried, he didn’t want to think about why he was worried. Until a few days ago, he would have told anyone who asked that he despised Clarity. Once he interacted with her, though, he had to concede that his hate had been misplaced. He could---and did---still resent warriors like Valor and his father for trying to make him into something he was not, but none of that was Clarity’s fault. He was finding, of all things, that he liked the girl.

  If Cass went back to his office and worked on the mundane tasks he had set for the afternoon, he would spend most of the time thinking and feeling about Clarity. He needed something else to do, and his mind went back to the project he had started on the day before---trying to figure out what was causing the shadows Endurance had described two nights previously. He had hit a dead end searching the public footage, but maybe with a little creative thinking, he could get more intel.

  Instead of heading back to the office after lunch, Cass meandered over to the main guard station, which among other things housed the security cameras for the Citadel and their footage. Cass had never set foot in the building, but the directory screen near the front entrance directed him toward the observation room. I hope those directions were keyed to me. I’d hate to think the way around the guard house was open to any random passerby. Though I suppose most invaders wouldn’t make it this far against a veritable army of paladins.

  The door to his destination room was open, and he knocked on the door frame as he took in his surroundings. Monitors covered the walls, showing every portion of the Citadel, or so it seemed. The fact that every few seconds one of the screens shifted to display a different angle indicated that perhaps some segments were missing.

  Seated in the room, studying the cameras with an intensity only a perfect warrior paladin could muster, was that guard who had interrupted him and Clarity the other night. Endurance, Cass’s mind supplied, even as he told himself he didn’t care what the guard’s name was. Endurance looked up at Cass’s knock and appeared startled, presumably to find someone so un-warrior-like in this bastion of defense.

  “Hey,” Cass said, sounding about as friendly as he felt, which was to say, not very. “They told me I needed to get copies of the camera footage for the last two weeks. Something about holes in the security they want me to develop an AI for.” He hoped Endurance didn’t ask who “they” were, since he would be hard-pressed to come up with a plausible name.

  He needn’t have worried. “Oh, really?” Endurance said. “They’re finally listening to us then? We guards have been complaining about shadows for weeks!”

  Endurance was apparently the kind of noble paladin who couldn’t fathom someone coming in and lying to him. No wonder he wanted to ask Clarity out. They’re apparently perfect for each other, Cass thought with a twinge. Then he told his brain to shut up, because the whole reason he was here was to stop thinking about Clarity. “I guess,” he said, feeling somewhat guilty. He was looking for the security holes Endurance had alluded to, but no one higher up had expressed any interest in the problem to him. He also wasn’t sure how he would communicate his findings to anyone, should he find anything.

  Cass realized he hadn’t brought anything to store the files on, and the files would be too large to send digitally. The bright side was, he was a personal storage device. He opened the interface on his mechanical arm with a cringe. He didn’t mind having the artificial limb---in fact, at times it was pretty useful---but he’d heard enough cripple cyborg jokes in his school days to hesitate before using its less arm-like features in front of someone new.

  Endurance, though, simply stood up to allow Cass access to the data jacks. “Thank you so much for doing this,” Endurance said again. “I’ve been worried about the security of the Citadel, but I know things will be okay if we get the tech team on it.”

  Cass grunted, not wanting to engage the warrior in any further conversation. Endurance, for his part, seemed to get that and stood back to let Cass do his work. As the files transferred, Cass looked around at the screens and started planning how to build an AI to look for holes in the images. He was thinking of compiling a time-lapsed, 3-D rendering of the Citadel, and he found a smile forming on his lips as he thought about the details. This is going to be fun.

  Chapter 15

  As Clarity headed into the Azure District, she looked for guards on either side of the gate, and as with her previous visit, she found none. The main thoroughfare bustled more than it had the other day. People moved in and out of shops, and street vendors sold wilting produce to passersby for copper pieces. Every so often, she spotted someone in the well-kept suit that marked them as one of Garrett’s enforcers, but most of the people wore dirty, threadbare clothing and had shoes with holes in the toes.

  In her bright purple bodysuit with its glowing armor sheath on the chest, she looked out of place in the district, and she suspected everyone could tell she was a paladin. A small child stopped and pointed at her, and the mother was too busy glowering at Clarity to remind her child pointing wasn’t polite. Or maybe paladins don’t warrant manners here.

  As she turned down the side street Archer had led her down only a few days before, she hoped she remembered the way to Evelyn’s house. She thought she recalled the route, but worries about getting lost echoed in her head, and she couldn’t count on the locals to be friendly enough to give directions.

  Footfalls sounded behind her as she headed a little further down the street, and she glanced around to see four men in tattered brown clothing shuffling toward her. They appeared to be sneaking up on her---or at least trying to do so---and if they meant her harm, they had the advantage. She might have been able to race Cass over a long distance on crutches, but over this short of a stretch, they would catch her. In fact, as soon as they realized she had spotted them, they ran at her.

  Clarity swore under her breath and spun around to face them. She dropped her crutches and prayed her foot had healed enough for her to put some weight on it for the next few minutes. She didn’t want to have to stay in the cast any longer than necessary, so she couldn’t kick. She’d have to hope her hands would be enough. She crouched into a fighting stance and prepared for the onslaught.

  One assailant reached her ahead of the others. “Paladin scum!” he cried as he threw a punch at her. She blocked the blow, then followed it up with a slam from the ball of her hand against his jaw bone. The ease with which she dodged and countered answered the question that hadn’t quite sprung to her mind. These men were not trained fighters, just a few local toughs who thought they could show a paladin who was boss.r />
  Still, she wasn’t foolish enough to underestimate them, given their superior numbers. A second man had come up behind her and grabbed onto her ponytail, pulling her head back and exposing her throat. She cupped her left hand over her right fist and forced her elbow back into the grabber’s gut as hard as she could. When he let go of her hair and doubled over, she followed up her attack by landing her elbow on the back of his neck. He slumped over, unconscious.

  By this point, the remaining attackers had caught up, and one of them had pulled out a small switchblade. Clarity mentally adjusted to the new stakes of the fight. She had no intention of killing these men, but she had to accept that they might lack the same respect for her life. She didn’t have time to think about what would happen if she were found dead in the Azure District---not, she supposed, that the paladins’ reaction would make much difference to her---because while she had focused on the knife, the fourth man’s hands had gotten dangerously close to her throat. She thrust her arms up between his, then pulled them apart with as much force as she could muster. His hands fell away, but she left her abdomen defenseless. The first assailant placed a well-timed kick to her stomach, and as she stepped back to keep her balance, she tripped over the body of man number two and felt herself falling.

  Knowing if she stayed on the ground for more than a second she’d be in serious trouble, she rolled back onto her shoulders, then made an arching leap onto her good foot. She had some concern about landing the acrobatic stunt with only one good leg, but she managed it all right, even staying up when the two unarmed attackers landed punches on her at once.

  “Die, paladin bitch!” yelled the one with the knife, running at her and aiming at what appeared to be her eye. “Your kind doesn’t belong here!”

  Arguments flitted across Clarity’s mind---she was here to save lives, crossing the border wasn’t a capital offense---but she didn’t bother making them. She focused on the hand approaching her face and timed her movements so that she smacked her hand upward at his wrist, dislodging the knife from his grasp. On her hand’s way back down, she grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back. With her other hand, she caught the descending knife and held it to his throat.

  Breathing hard, she turned an intimidating glare on the other two men, one of whom had a bruise forming on his chin. Since she had time to think, she realized her attackers were not the only witnesses to the scuffle. A number of people from the main street had come to the entrance of the alley and watched in what appeared to be silent horror.

  She took a moment to catch her breath before speaking, and in the interim, the former knife-holder found his voice. “You can kill me if you want, paladin, but it won’t save you. All these people will avenge my death.”

  “I’m not going to kill you,” she said, surprised at how steady her voice was. She spoke louder, addressing the crowd as she repeated, “I’m not going to kill him.”

  “You should,” he said. “Because I’m certainly going to kill you if you let me go. You have no business here.”

  “You may be right,” she said, quietly enough that only her attackers could hear. “But my motives are pure, and you’ve already demonstrated you can’t kill me.” She raised her voice and addressed the crowd. “He says I have no business here. I say I am here only to provide medicine to a sick child.”

  “So what if you are?” the first man said. “We can’t have you waltzing in and out of our district, consequence free. You don’t belong here.”

  Clarity considered his words. She had wanted to do more in the Azure District after she had given Evelyn the Dovexin. She wanted to provide medicine to all the sick children. She wanted to make life better for the people under Garrett’s rule. But she had to accept her own limitations. She couldn’t get more of the Clement’s Disease treatment, and the Azurites didn’t want her here. “Let me deliver this one course of medication,” she said. “Then I shall leave and never return.”

  The man in her grasp growled as if starting to disagree, but the slowest of the four spoke first. “Wait. Medicine for the disease that’s affecting the kids? That Clemmins Disease or whatever?” As Clarity nodded, a murmur rose from the crowd, and the man continued. “Hey, my wife’s nephew had that. He got better, but it was rough for him. One of his friends wasn’t so lucky. We ought to let her go, Sam.”

  As the first attacker nodded, Sam grunted. “Okay, fine. But you better mean it when you say you aren’t coming back.”

  Clarity released him and waited for him to turn around to face her before nodding. “I won’t come back.” Without waiting for her assailants to respond or for the crowd to disperse, she picked up her crutches and turned to hobble away. Part of her expected an attack from behind, but no assault came. She thought she heard the sound of footfalls moving away from her, but she couldn’t be sure given the noise of her own retreat.

  She took longer to get to Evelyn’s house than she had on the motorcycle, but she did remember the way. Not usually one for fear, she nonetheless stood outside the door for longer than was necessary. After about three minutes, when she realized people were staring, she found the courage she needed to knock. When she didn’t hear anything immediately, she felt her heart rate increase. What if she’s not here? What if I promised this would be my last visit to the Azure District, and I can’t do what I came here to do? I should have figured out how to call ahead.

  Relax, she told herself, focusing on her breathing to slow it down. You couldn’t have called ahead. Even if Evelyn had tech---which I’m not sure she does---there’s no way I could have gotten her information. And if she’s not here, you’ll figure out another way to get her the medication. Maybe send Cass. She didn’t like the idea of Cass in the Azure District by himself, though. He might not look as much like a paladin as she did, but he definitely had the shiny look of an outsider. She didn’t think he’d fare as well against thugs as she had.

  Right when she was about to give up hope of completing her mission that day, the door opened, and Clarity found herself face to face with Evelyn, who appeared even more haggard than she had the other day. Clarity had been so focused on getting the medicine to Kimessa, she had forgotten the mother didn’t like her, but when Evelyn’s green eyes flashed, Clarity remembered the impediment the girl’s mother provided.

  “What are you doing here?” Evelyn’s voice was, if anything, more hostile than it had been the other day.

  Clarity wanted to hold up her hands in a gesture of innocence, but she couldn’t do so and hold her crutches at the same time. “I just want to talk.”

  “Talk?” Evelyn spat the word. “About what? I have nothing to say to you, paladin.”

  “Grace brought me here the other day, and I realized…” Clarity trailed off, glancing at her surroundings. “Look, can I please come in? Just for a few minutes? I don’t want to have this conversation in the street, and you don’t want everyone to see you talking to a paladin.”

  Evelyn’s expression said she wanted to solve the problem with Clarity’s departure, but she stepped back and gestured with her hand. “After you.”

  Clarity navigated her way back into the kitchen, and Evelyn followed behind. “I, uh, don’t suppose I could sit down?” Clarity asked. She’d done a lot of traveling that day, and her good foot felt it.

  “I suppose you want me to offer you a drink as well.” Evelyn crossed her arms. “You can stand. You won’t be here long enough for it to make a difference. Now, what do you want?”

  Clarity hoped she could stay for more than a few minutes, but she had to acknowledge she was here on Evelyn’s sufferance. If the woman insisted she leave, she would, though not before giving her the medicine. She had wanted to talk to a citizen of the Azure District first and try to understand her perspective, though she wasn’t sure where to start. “I visited you the other day, and it was a bit of a revelation for me. I’ve spent almost my whole life as a paladin, and I’ve always been t
aught the Visionary selects the best and brightest people to lead Corinthium with righteousness.”

  Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes. You’re the chosen people, as everyone knows. Was that all you came to tell me?”

  “I’m trying to tell you I’m not sure I believe that anymore. I come from a place of wealth and privilege, where everyone has everything they could possibly want. We have our petty problems, it’s true, but nothing like what I’ve seen here. Our children don’t die of curable diseases. I thought they must not know what you suffer here, or they would do something about it. So I asked, and I found out they do know. They know, and they have the power to change it, and they do nothing.”

  “We don’t want you coming in like some saviors on white horses throwing gold among the masses,” Evelyn said. “You want to see yourselves as high and mighty champions, but that beneficence has a cost, and that cost is too high.”

  “I understand you feel that way,” Clarity said, choosing her words carefully. “I did some research on the origins of the Azure District and discovered the long, contentious history of our people. As long as there have been paladins in Londigium, there have been people who feel as you do.”

  “So you understand?” Evelyn didn’t sound any less suspicious. “A couple of days of reading, and you realize that paladins have no business taking people’s children and freedom, then calling themselves the heroes of the story?”

  “Oh, no.” Clarity stifled a humorless laugh. “Not at all. I think you are very wrong. In order to live in a society, you have to sacrifice some freedoms, and you don’t always get to pick what those freedoms are. We take children, yes, and if you think it’s easy for us to do, you’re dead wrong. But those children are not mistreated. They’re given a first-class education and an opportunity to make the lives of everyone better.”

  A dark cloud settled over Evelyn’s face. “That’s easy to say when it’s not your child.”