by T. G. Ayer
Nerishka shook her head. Lyra seemed to only be making things worse.
Lyra said nothing as Nerishka watched the progress of the red dots on her HUD, tapping her sandaled foot on the cold floor. The security team searched from room to room, drawing ever closer. Nerishka stilled as one of the men reached the freezer door, but then she let out an involuntary shiver.
Lyra sent the sound of a throat being cleared and Nerishka sensed the AI was far more worried than her almost-cheerful tone implied. The pitch of Lyra’s tone began to rise as she continued,
Nerishka stiffened. Usually, when a mission approached a point similar to this one, when her personal disaster category reached its peak, she’d entertain a moment of shock—the literal ice-in-one’s-veins type of shock. Quite understandable, of course.
But, as Lyra’s words sunk in, Nerishka found herself too cold to react. And then, just when she was about to take her icy frustration out on the AI, she stiffened, cocking her head to listen to the space around her. A soft whistling steadily filled the room.
Lyra let out a soft groan.
Nerishka crossed her arms—she wasn’t entirely sure if the action was for warmth or self-control.
FREEZER BURN
STELLAR DATE: 10.05.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Fletcher Technologies, Eshnunna
REGION: Anahita, Ayra System (Independent)
If Nerishka weren’t so cold she could have pulled off a legitimate snort. In the end it merely sounded like she’d choked on a sneeze. she said via the Link, not trusting her numb lips.
Lyra responded with an eye-roll, though tempering it with a rush of contrition.
Nerishka paused at the thought.
Nerishka was beginning to lose patience. Probably because she felt like a walking human iceberg.
Their banter was playful, and had barely spanned a few seconds, but at the same time their voices held an edge of urgency. Perhaps having a smart mouth had its benefits.
Maybe it was Nerishka’s imagination, but Lyra seemed to have been taking far too long with each of her security breaches at every stage of the mission. Picking up Fletcher had gone well enough, but the security issues were a concern. She wanted to ask her AI about it but was worried about offending Lyra.
For all her cool, business-like approach to her tasks, Lyra had already revealed a sensitive side; one Nerishka had to take care with. She had no idea how long the two of them would be paired. Wouldn’t pay to piss off the other person in her head. Especially when her life would often lie in that person’s virtual hands.
Nerishka walked closer to the door, digging into the portions of the network she was able to access via Lyra’s connection.
Nerishka let out a grunt and stared around the freezer room. The walls were lined with steel cabinets, the clear plas doors slowly frosting up. The containers, filled with a variety of liquids, were beginning to frost over, cracks beginning to form on many of them. Nerishka cycled her vision to read the labels on the bottles and let out a soft squeal.
Nerishka replied.
Nerishka didn’t want to ask, but knew she had to.
Nerishka groaned.
Lyra asked, once again sounding like she was only partially paying attention.
Nerishka sighed, shivered and then shook her head.
Nerishka shook her head,
Lyra grunt
ed.
Nerishka shivered and began to pace again. The nitrogen gas was making her lightheaded, which meant she might pass out before Lyra got her thing done.
Suddenly the room went dark and red lights began to flash.
Nerishka shivered and nodded.
Nerishka eyed the bottles which appeared to have ceased cracking.
She scanned the passage outside. Even though her HUD showed the security team had left, she wanted to be sure. Stealth armor was a real thing, and depending on how advanced their tech was, there was a chance IR wouldn’t pick up anyone who lurked outside in stealth gear.
Thankfully, the route appeared clear and Nerishka hurried out into the hall.
Nerishka considered those options then gave a nod.
Lyra laughed softly.
Nerishka shrugged as she ran to the window. The corridor ended with a view to the city in the same style as the other two she’d passed. A plas bucket-seat sofa in iridescent black and an unnaturally green plant provided the only décor—though Nerishka doubted anyone took advantage of the garish seating arrangement.
She hurried to the glass and stared outside, calculating the height of the building and her possible route to the ground. Then she nodded to herself and sent out a passel of microdrones toward the window, setting them to work carving a hole large enough for her to fit through.
The large circle began to etch into the glass and grew deeper, until, at last, it popped out, sailing off in the wind that whipped around the building.
This many kilometers up, the air was far thinner than inside the building, and Nerishka triggered her lungs to gather more oxygen with each breath as the air in the corridor surged past her and out into the night.
Nerishka reached for the wall to steady herself as Lyra said,
Nerishka nodded and moved into the hole, grasping the edges as she gazed out into the night and the city far below.
With a curt nod, Nerishka turned and ran back down the corridor where she stopped and drew several deep breaths, oxygenating her bloodstream as much as possible.
“Don’t say I never show you my wild side, Lyra” she said aloud before sprinting toward the hole and leaping through.
Nerishka activated the small pair of a-grav units tucked on the inside of each of her hips and sailed through the air, reveling in the feeling of weightless flight.
Right up until a wind-shear grabbed her and pulled her higher, then threw her back against the building.
Her shoulders slammed into the glass and she bounced off, the momentum getting her around the building and out into clear skies.
The a-grav units weren’t strong enough for any sort of real flight, but they could move her forward and slow her descent. Lyra highlighted another nearby building in line with their current trajectory, and Nerishka steered toward it, praying no one was looking out a window at Fletcher Technologies. A woman with a sparkling—and unfortunately high-slitted dress—would be all too visible in the night sky.
Nerishka hadn’t been questioning Lyra’s abilities—at least not at that point. Still, she was glad the AI had thought of the cams. Of course, there were also those of all the other buildings around them.
Lyra was going to have her work cut out for her, scrubbing their highly visible exit from the various surveillance systems. A minute later, Nerishka touched down on the roof of her target building, a kilometer lower than from where she’d first jumped, and almost seven hundred meters away.
She skidded to a halt on the ungainly heels, grasping an antenna guy-line to keep from toppling over. Once stabilized, she walked to the edge of the roof and looked out over the city.
Lyra dropped a map of the city onto Nerishka’s HUD.
This mission is not going at all to plan, Nerishka thought as she sailed off the building’s rooftop, catching an updraft and disappearing into the night. What’s a little more recklessness at this point?
DINNER AND A SHOW
STELLAR DATE: 10.05.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: West District, Eshnunna
REGION: Anahita, Ayra System (Independent)
Nerishka strode through the busy streets of Eshnunna, head held high as though she knew exactly where she was going. She’d hopped buildings until she came to a low apartment block where she’d descended the last hundred meters down a fire escape.
Once in the dark alley below, she’d used her nano to fix a tear in her dress before adjusting the color of her hair, adding a few strands of pink and softening the blue.
She stuck out like a sore thumb on the busy streets where the night seemed to have only just come alive.
As she’d expected, Lyra didn’t respond to her complaint, and instead said,
Nerishka obeyed and entered a street which housed a night market of sorts. Vending stalls lined the sidewalks, men and women hawking their various wares, and Nerishka made a beeline to a clothing stall selling a multitude of cloaks in darker jewel tones.
This was the first time since Nerishka had begun her research on the planet that she’d appreciated a garment they had to offer. She selected a cloak of a rich bronze fabric that shimmered as it adjusted its length to suit her height. Thick and velvety soft, the cloak bore patterns of swirling gold sc
rollwork. She paid the hawker and threw the cloak around her shoulders, tying the velvet ribbon around her neck.
Pulling the hood over her head, Nerishka hurried out of the market and towards the brightly lit restaurant avenue. The ridiculous heels she was unable to do anything about, and so she continued to curse at them as she walked. She didn’t mention it to Lyra, suspecting the AI was a little troubled about her performance in Fletcher Technologies’ lab.
Though Nerishka wanted to talk to her about it, she didn’t need the distraction and decided it would be best to wait until they’d reached a modicum of safety.
The Black Lion purported to offer traditional Eshnunna delicacies not available anywhere else in the Ayra System. After finding a table at the furthest end of the restaurant, Nerishka selected the Ishtar’s Tit—chicken stewed in cream and stuffed with dried fruit—an order she managed to request without smirking.
Nerishka snorted.
Lyra giggled but didn’t reply. Nerishka left the AI to her scans and settled in to wait as she sipped a tall glass of a cinnamon and rosewater cocktail called Fiery Eye. And a moment later found herself blinking away tears as she swallowed that first fiery sip.
Lyra chuckled.