As the crowd caught sight of Shuqba’s Neandertal features the insults and laughter began. They didn’t lower their voices or whisper. They didn’t care if she heard. Behaviour wasn’t controlled in the Demi-Settlements in the same way it was in the city. The Demis didn’t have as far to fall as Citizens did. They thought their quips were so original. They obviously didn’t realise she’d been told every day in the cloning orphanage and at the SF academy that she was a member of an inferior, uglier species, only fit to do the jobs Citizens didn’t want.
She silently ran through facts about the Demi-Settlements. Water is provided to Demi-Citizens from the recycling of their own wastes. There is one LeaderCorp Hub per approximately five thousand Demi-Citizens. There are ten hubs in total. Weapons made from metal scavenged from the suburbs are common in the Demi-Settlements. Nano-printed weapons, though uncommon, have been seen in the Demi-Settlements. The last facts didn’t help with her growing sense of physical vulnerability.
She fell into a rhythm scanning wrist chips. The line was already long, twisting through the disordered streets. No ruler-straight planned grid system out here. The Demi-Settlements had grown organically, uncontrolled. She glanced down the line, avoiding eye contact. Eye contact could lead to confrontation. Demis were such an angry group. Shuqba was starting to understand why. The deformities and diseases she saw; the blackened teeth, ulcerated skin and twisted limbs. The dirty, dusty streets. The odour of death and excrement. The ramshackle shelters with very little protection from the elements. The way they lived out here wouldn’t be believed by Citizens jacked in to their cosy realities behind the city wall.
A young female, skinny and short as most of them were in the Demi-Settlements, with curly black hair tumbling messily under the hood of a SunSuit, moved sideways out of the line and smiled.
Shuqba huffed. She hadn’t meant to engage and the last thing she’d expected was a smile. The female approached, her posture relaxed and no sign of weapons on her person.
‘Can I help you, ma’am?’
‘I just wanted to welcome you to the neighbourhood.’ She stuck her hand out.
Shuqba looked at the hand.
‘Hey, I’m waiting here,’ grumbled a bent-over man at the front of the line.
Shuqba turned and continued scanning wrist chips. ‘Thank you for the welcome, ma’am, however, I have a job to do. You’ll have to step back into line.’
The female held up her hands. ‘No worries. Just wanted to let you know we aren’t all savages out here. My name’s Alida, by the way.’
Shuqba tried to keep her expression serious, authoritative; still, one side of her mouth bent upwards. It was the friendliest anyone had been to her since her arrival in the city. She glanced up from the wrist she was scanning to watch Alida resume her position in line.
Soon Alida and the small girl clinging to her legs reached the hub gate.
‘Will you be here regular?’ Alida asked.
‘I go where I’m sent.’
‘This is my little sister, Graycie.’ The child smiled shyly from behind Alida’s hip. They collected their rations and waved to Shuqba as they walked away.
Shuqba scanned wrist after wrist. She had been trained to be hyper-alert to her surroundings, but the sensory information in the Demi-Settlements was overwhelming.
Two motor scooters hooned past the hub. Shuqba glanced up to see one of the riders launch a projectile. Something wet, brown and fetid splattered against her chest before she got her shield up. Further brown splatters coated the shield. The people at the front of the line moved back into a cluster, some of them hurling additional faecal bombs at her and the android.
The android guard followed the motor scooters, electropacifier extended, for a metre or two calling, ‘Halt!’
The attackers fled, lost in the labyrinth of cardboard, canvas and metal. The android returned to its post, programmed against being lured away.
Faeces dripped from the wire diamonds of the fence. Shuqba expected she was the target, as most of the excrement was on her shield or the ground around her. They couldn’t possibly have known that she, a Neo-Neandertal clone, was going to be on duty at the hub that day.
‘Reports of attacks on the other hubs are coming in,’ the android said.
‘Other attacks?’
‘Yes. Attacks have now been registered at ten out of ten hubs. Rotten produce, rocks and faecal matter have been employed as projectiles. One Sapien Security Force Officer has suffered a head wound and two androids have suffered minor cosmetic damage to their outer shells.’
Shuqba stepped back from the gate, shook her shield and leaned it against the fence. An organised, coordinated attack on LeaderCorp’s presence in the Demi-Settlements was likely to be motivated by more than the Demis’ hatred of Neos. Although it didn’t seem as though the attacks had achieved more than creating a nuisance. Unless it was a distraction. She looked down at the brown smear on her shirt, right over her heart. The knowledge that her shirt was bulletproof was only a small consolation.
‘Headquarters has ordered a retreat to the hub until we can safely evacuate,’ the android said.
Shuqba nodded and took a look around for further danger. Alida, the young female who had spoken to her before, came rushing forward.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Step away from the Security Force Officer,’ the android commanded.
Alida raised her hands and fell back. ‘Do you have something to clean that ick off with? I can find you some rags.’
The android moved between them and locked the gate. ‘We must retreat to the hub and await further instruction from headquarters. Please move away from the LeaderCorp Hub, Demi-Citizen.’
‘Yep, sure. I don’t want any hassle.’ Alida crouched to let her little sister climb onto her back.
An explosion vibrated through Shuqba’s body. Her insides turned to water and her ears rang. A wave of heat rolled in from the road behind them.
‘Take cover.’ The android grabbed hold of Shuqba’s collar and dragged her towards the hub.
Outside the fence Alida grabbed the child from her back and shielded her with her body. The android keyed in the security code and opened the door.
‘What’s happening?’
‘Six explosions have been reported in the Demi-Settlements. I am awaiting further information.’ The android locked the door behind them and activated a sonic weapon.
On the live-feed screen Shuqba watched Alida, the little girl, and any Demi within a one hundred metre radius of the hub stagger away with their hands over their ears. Three separate columns of smoke were visible from Shuqba’s vantage point.
Shuqba chewed her lip. All of LeaderCorp’s wars were being fought on distant shores. The attack could have come from a domestic terrorist group such as the Sapien Enhancement Movement transhumanists, a Neo rights group or one of the militant anti-tekker cults such as the Rewilders. Commander Rayne had said the Demi-Settlements were a powder keg and they had ignited on the day of Shuqba’s first shift.
CHAPTER 14
Ferrassie scuffed her boot against the smooth metal of the city wall. Armoured trucks and vans rumbled past. The Neo coppers working the nearby gate looked almost as anxious as she felt. It had only been two days since slummies had attacked LC hubs and supply trucks. LC’s official word was that they were in negotiations with some slum kingpin and the roads were safe for armoured vehicles once again. The food factories were reopening too. Not that Ferrassie would ever again have to set foot in the cricket factory. Not now she’d been offered a screen test for a new Neandertal reality tube program by the creators of Keeping Up with the Cavemen.
She took deep breaths to calm her nerves. Amud had been on at her about how risky it was to meet up with some dodgy littlebrain who’d contacted her on CorpNet. She’d told him to fuck off. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
She knew in her gut it was gonna work out. Ferdinand, the casting director, had organised her transfer from her labo
uring position to his entertainment company. He wouldn’t do that unless he was certain she’d be right for the tube. She’d be pissed off if they rejected her.
A truck pulled into a nearby parking bay and a large bloke, his shoulders even broader than Ferrassie’s, got out. Bull horns jutted from his forehead: a transgene punk.
‘Ferrassie?’ The bloke came towards her.
‘Ferdinand?’
‘Yes. A pleasure to meet you.’ He grasped her hand and pumped it twice. ‘We’d best be on our way.’
Ferrassie’s mouth went dry. ‘Come again? Where we going?’
Ferdinand peered left and right, leaned in and whispered, ‘Our headquarters are near the Keeping Up with the Cavemen secret location. We do all our business from there. If we have time you can take a peek at the cast.’
‘Oh.’ Ferrassie wasn’t keen on travelling outside the city while things were still a touch dodgy in the Demi-slums. The truck was armoured though, like the bus she took to work – used to take to work.
Ferrassie climbed in and Ferdinand drove them to the gate.
‘What’s your business outside the city?’ A Neo copper held out an OmniScreen to scan Ferdinand’s retina.
‘Delivering nano-waste to manufacturers.’
Ferrassie frowned. Come again?, she wanted to say. Ferdinand winked.
Another Neo copper waved a scanner wand over Ferrassie’s tattoo. She cringed, waiting for the alarm. Neos’ movements were tightly controlled and unless Ferdinand had got her work clearance, she wasn’t supposed to leave the city in anything other than the bus to the factory. The scanning wand gave a benign beep. Ferdinand had come through. It was gonna be fine.
‘And you, clone, what’s your business?’
‘She’s my new employee,’ Ferdinand said.
‘Right then. Have a good one.’ The Neo coppers retreated from the truck and the metal gate slid into the wall.
‘Why did you, um … lie?’
Ferdinand shook his head. ‘Trust me. There are spies everywhere trying to discover the location of the Cavemen set. It’s worth a lot of cash to the paparazzi. If I told the guards where we were really going they’d call it in for a reward and someone would send a drone after us.’
She supposed that made sense. Folk were insane when it came to celebrities.
The truck left the city, heading in the opposite direction to the food factories. Other than the smooth dark patches of tarmac where blast holes in the roads had been filled, the Demi-slums looked as chaotic and filthy as ever.
After twenty minutes the Demi-slums gave way to the remnants of the suburbs. Invading plants held together the rubblefilled carcasses of buildings. Ferrassie pictured the layers and layers of human relics and remains buried beneath the ground, telling a story that crumbled into shards and dust the further back you went. All the way back to the Neandertals and the ancient ancestors who had come before them. One day City 1 would be just another buried layer.
The burbs seemed to go on forever. Ferdinand didn’t yak much. The silence made her edgy. If Amud hadn’t got all high and mighty and forbid her from meeting up with Ferdinand she might have been more cautious about the whole thing. She’d had to take this chance though. The other responses she’d got on the chat board had been erotic dancing and Neo fighting. Her ultimate aim was to be a recording artist, and being on a reality tube could open the right doors for her.
‘Can you tell me more about this tube you’re casting for?’ Ferrassie asked.
‘Not right now. I’m doing some work on my IntelliEnhance while I drive, so I won’t be able to speak.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Well, that sounded daft and dangerous. She stared out the window and hoped they wouldn’t crash. It would be fine. Ancient Neandertal skeletons showed they’d lived through heaps of injuries. They’d been lords of the earth for hundreds of thousands of years; they were tough genetic stock.
The truck cruised along, putting the city further and further behind them. Ferrassie hummed and daydreamed about what life would be like when she became famous. She’d get to meet all the other celebs, little-brain and Neo. She might even get some littlebrain action. She’d always been curious, even though they had ugly mugs with puny features and dodgy round-shaped heads. They were all so alike it was almost as though they were the clones. She smirked to herself at the idea of snapping the hips of some little-brain when she wrapped her muscular thighs around him. Although fame wasn’t only about folk adoring her. If she showed the little-brains what she was capable of, then they might treat all Neos with more respect. Plus the only time she was ever truly happy was when she was singing. And she never, ever wanted to see another cricket. Unless it was ground into flour and she was eating it.
After a while the house carcasses thinned and they entered the industrial zone where all the complexes were shrouded by high razor-wire fences. Two ragged-looking men standing by the side of the road jeered as the truck passed. The wilds beyond the cities were like the bottom of the ocean, full of life that no one really knew much about.
Night had fallen by the time Ferdinand turned off the highway onto an unlit, unsealed road. The truck headlights bounced off neck-high grass and weeds. Out of the undergrowth appeared a rickety weatherboard house surrounded by rusted-out vehicles. Light oozed from the windows.
‘This is your headquarters?’ Ferrassie had pictured something more professional, well lit and surrounded by a chain-link fence and private coppers.
‘It’s a work in progress. We’re about to begin renovations.’ Ferdinand led her up the creaky, rotting steps and through a shredded flyscreen door.
Streamers of wallpaper hung from the walls and the house smelt dusty and mouldy. The floorboards were buckled and faded.
A tall lady with bucky teeth came down the hallway. She took Ferrassie by the shoulders and smooched her on both cheeks.
‘Welcome. I’m Peony. You must be Ferrassie.’
Ferrassie nodded, words stuck in her throat. This whole thing was dodgy. Crap, fuck. Amud was right. This was a mistake.
CHAPTER 15
Alida tugged a hairbrush roughly through Graycie’s tangled hair.
‘Ow, that hurts.’
‘Well, you went and got your hair all knotted. What did you do at Magda’s creche all day, rub your head around on the ground or something?’
‘No … ow!’ Graycie tried to pull away. ‘I don’t want my hair brushed.’
‘Don’t even try it. Get here.’ Alida grabbed Graycie by the collar. ‘If I don’t fix this hair you’ll look like nobody loves you.’ Now she really sounded like Mum.
‘Why are you so mean?’ Graycie broke free and wedged herself in the corner of the shack.
A wave of dizziness overcame Alida. She collapsed onto her bedroll. ‘I’m real sorry, Gray. I’m … just … so … hungry.’ Alida’s hands trembled. She reached behind her and grabbed the bag of nutrition bars Fairy Godmother Zaneela had given her and counted them for the bazillionth time that day. There were still only two left.
Graycie scooted over as soon as she heard the bag rustling. ‘I’m hungry too.’
‘How can you be hungry? You had one of these for breakfast and Magda would’ve given you some grub at creche.’ Alida hadn’t munched anything for nearly twenty-four hours. She had zero dosh left and the hubs were closed after the attacks so they couldn’t even collect their Nutri-Shake or water rations.
‘But that was hours ago,’ Graycie whined.
Alida grit her teeth and gave a bar to Graycie. Her guts seethed with an empty nausea. She held the last bar in her hand. She had no clue when the hubs would reopen. Graycie would need the last bar tomorrow.
Alida took a sip of water. Their water stash wouldn’t last them the week. Her mind stalled and her limbs felt heavy. She had to eat something. Soon. Their dosh would have lasted longer if Zave hadn’t kept asking for handout after handout.
Graycie ate her nutrition bar in two gulps. ‘Did you bring me any presents from the burbs?’
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Alida pulled the head of a doll – its face all drawn on and its scalp covered in clumps of plastic hair with bald patches – out of her scavenging bag. She’d spent nearly all day in the burbs with Zave, hoping he’d get it through his dimwit skull that she was skint. They’d trekked for nearly two hours before they reached houses that weren’t totally picked over.
The burbs used to be fun for Alida. She once liked to walk around the ruins of houses and imagine what it was like for characters who lived back in the fossil fuel times. This time, though, it hadn’t been worth the water and energy they’d needed to make the trip. All they’d found was some cutlery and a couple of ceramic pots. They hadn’t even been able to flog them. With the hubs closed everybody was saving their dosh for grub.
‘Gray, you have to stay here while I go see Freel.’
‘Are you gonna get us some grub?’
‘I’m gonna try, but there’ll be zero for you if you make a fuss and get Odeene or whoever over here. Got it?’
‘Uh-huh.’
Alida put on her boots and a SunSuit. She had zero other options. After a day of walking the burbs with an empty belly, the last thing she felt like doing was making the half-hour trek to Freel’s joint. Her legs were rubbery and her head light. To top it all off she had her monthlies.
She was hot, sweaty and thirsty in minutes. Cramps thudded through her pelvis. All she wanted to do was crack the sads and curl up in Mum’s lap until Mum told her to pull herself together because crying was for littlies. But Mum would never say that, or anything else, ever again. Hell.
By the time she reached the main road her pubes, which were growing back after the Fairy Godmother had banished them, itched like mad. She put her hand under her SunSuit and scratched.
The road out of plastic-land cut through the Demi-Settlements and then over the burbs like a shiny black ribbon stretched over a rotting gift. Trucks zoomed past. Some of them beeped and the jerk drivers shouted nasty comments. She could have made some quick dosh right there on the edge of the road. She also could have ended up dead or chained up in some empty building. She gave them all the finger instead.
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