ManaNet

by Hancock, Thomas H.

  “Either way, she’s still dead, and she wouldn’t be if she hadn’t gotten involved with us.”

  “That was her choice. We took her in off the streets. She wouldn’t have made it through the winter pickpocketing.”

  “I’m as upset as both of you about Izzy,” Matt said, “but discussing blame brings us no closer to taking vengeance on the people who did kill her.”

  “Matt’s right. We owe it to her to bring these people down,” Victoria said. “Owen, finish explaining exactly what happened.”

  “You’re right. After the explosion, they gave me a direct connection to Victoria. They’d hooked up some kind of device to shut her down, forcing me to finish my work to be able to bypass the device and activate her.”

  “Does that mean they have your algorithms now?”

  “I deleted everything I possibly could, so I’m pretty confident they don’t. I also scrambled Victoria’s ID again so we’re back to the old routine. If she activates, they find us. But they shouldn’t be able to take control.”

  “That’s fine, I just won’t activate,” Victoria said. She turned to look at Damos. “What were you saying about Pike Street and Nexus?”

  “Lily and me went back to see Kadan. We got him to give us the location of the mercs, and I paid them a visit. I forced one of them to show me the message ordering the attack. I traced it, and it came from the Nexus outpost on Pike Street where Lily was hiding. It was signed off with a Y.”

  “That’s strange,” Owen said. “The order requesting our most recent hit also came from there.”

  So when I went back to Nexus after Damos attacked me in the hostel, I was running straight to the people who wanted me dead, Lily thought. God, I can’t believe I’m here.

  “So they came from the same person?” Matt asked.

  “It would seem so.”

  “But why would they want me dead? What have I done?” Lily said.

  “You spoke to your friend before he died, right?” Owen asked.

  “Yes.”

  “There you have it. Your friend-”

  “He’s called Ethan.”

  “Sorry. Ethan had the disc, so he undoubtedly knew more. You spoke to him, so you’re a risk.”

  “But he didn’t say anything! Only that I had to stop ‘him’. I didn’t even find out who ‘him’ was!”

  “Isn’t it obvious? ‘Him’ is the project leader. He, let’s call him ‘X’, must be trying to rebuild the supersoldier project and Ethan found out.”

  “But why would Nexus be involved?” Victoria asked. “They want equality for Gifteds, they don’t care about X and his soldiers.”

  “Yes, that’s what doesn’t make sense about all this. I can see why X would use external channels to cover up his trail. He doesn’t want anything to be traced back to ManaCorp. At the same time, Nexus can’t be seen killing Gifteds, so they hired us. But why Nexus at all? Why would they care?”

  “I think it’s obvious what our next move is,” Matt said. “X is basically untraceable, but a member of Nexus shouldn’t be too difficult to track down. Lily, you must have met some while at their outpost?”

  “Yes, I met a pair of them, but they wouldn’t be involved in something like this. I could feel that they were genuine.”

  “Your powers aren’t infallible,” Owen interjected.

  “Izzy was an exception, Owen,” Matt replied. “She’d spent years practising deception. I doubt two Nexus gangsters could do the same. Even if they aren’t involved though, they might be able to lead us to other people who are. What were their names?”

  “Jackal and Weasel,” Lily replied. She realised how ridiculous it sounded as she soon as she said it.

  “Nexus use animals as codenames,” Owen explained, calming Lily’s nerves and wiping the confused look from Matt’s face.

  “Maybe we can track one of them down?” Matt said.

  “Wait,” Lily said. She recoiled back as all eyes in the room turned to her. “There was someone else,” she continued quietly.

  “Go on,” Victoria said.

  “Jackal and Weasel, they took me to see her after finding me with Ethan. She asked me about him.”

  “What did she ask?”

  “Whether he’d spoken to me, and whether he’d given me anything.”

  “She was looking for the disc. What did you tell her?” Owen asked.

  “I told them what he’d said, but I lied about the disc. Something about the woman didn’t feel right.”

  “What was she called?”

  “Yi… Ya… I can’t remember. Something beginning with a Y. Not an animal though, it sounded made up.”

  “She must have sent the messages. Her name suggests high rank; the upper levels of command have mythological codenames instead of real animals.”

  “It’s settled then,” Victoria said. “We need to determine the identity of Y, and from there X. Damos, go and check out the outpost on Pike Street, see if anyone or anything is still there.”

  Damos stood up and made for the door, clearly pleased to have something to do.

  And potential people to hurt, Lily thought.

  “While he’s out, we have some things to do,” Victoria continued. “Owen, give Matt’s leg a check over and make sure it’s healing right. Lily, follow me.”

  “Where?” Lily asked.

  “Next door. You’re going to learn how to defend yourself.”

  “From what?”

  “Other people.”

  “Okay,” Lily said with shake in her voice.

  “We’ve booked two rooms,” Victoria explained as she led Lily next door. “The boys will have that room, while you and I will share this one. Is that okay?”

  “I guess so,” Lily said.

  “It’s for your own safety. If X or Y do locate us, I want someone there to protect you.”

  Victoria swiped a keycard and the lock buzzed and opened. The room was similar to the previous one, if slightly smaller. Victoria walked up to one of the two beds and effortlessly tipped it up against the wall.

  Oh my goodness, she’s strong, Lily thought as Victoria did the same with the second.

  Having cleared some space, Victoria led Lily through a set of warm ups. By the time they’d finished, Lily was thoroughly out of breath and her muscles already ached.

  “Right, onto the actual self-defence,” Victoria said. “The most important thing, which you must always remember, is that you are not trying to defeat your attacker. They will be stronger and better trained than you, and they will kill you if they get the chance. Your aim is to surprise them, cause them pain, then run. Understand?”

  Lily nodded.

  “Good. Let Damos and I handle the fighting, you need to just stay clear.”

  Victoria stepped closer and reached up to Lily’s arm.

  “In the case where that’s not possible, there are two parts of your body you want to use, the elbow and the knee. With your elbow, you’re aiming for the chin, but if that’s too high, go for the torso. As for your knee, the groin is best, but again the chest can work if you can wind your opponent.” As Victoria spoke, she guided Lily through the motions. “Got that?” she asked.

  Lily nodded.

  “Show me,” Victoria said, stepping back.

  Lily jumped forwards and swung at Victoria with her elbow, aiming for her ribs. Victoria instantly grabbed her arm and pulled it away.

  “On the air. You don’t want to hit me,” Victoria said, lifting up the bottom of her tank top to reveal a series of metal etchings which seemed to trace her bottom ribs.

  “Sorry,” Lily said, stepping back.

  “It’s okay. Now, show me.”

  Lily darted forwards, swinging her elbow with some speed.

  “Good, and the knee.”

  Lily lowered her arm and threw her knee up.

  “Don’t lean back, it’ll throw you off balance. Again.”

  The exercises continued for some time. At some point Victoria must have noticed Lily getting
tired as she started giving her breaks, but even with them Lily was completely worn out.

  “What was the first thing I taught you?” Victoria asked after a particularly long bout, taking Lily by surprise. After a moment, Lily replied.

  “Don’t fight. Surprise, pain, run.”

  “Good. That’s all then.”

  Thank goodness, Lily thought, collapsing into an armchair. Its soft leather creaked as she sat. She watched as Victoria tipped the beds back.

  “Come on, we should check how Matt’s doing,” Victoria said, nodding at the door. “He puts on a brave face, but having any body part replaced can have serious psychological implications.”

  Her whole body crying at her, Lily forced herself out of the chair and followed Victoria into the other room. Inside, they found Owen still lying in bed, his holographic keyboard in front of him. Between the beds stood Matt, hobbling up and down. Lily noticed a faint whir as he stepped, his leg flexing like a regular one would.

  “I told you not to activate it,” Victoria snapped upon seeing this.

  “And I ignored you,” Owen replied. “I checked it over like you asked and the healing process is further along than you thought.”

  “It’s still high risk. If he leans on it awkwardly or twists it, the whole thing could tear itself off.”

  “Don’t you think I’ve thought of that? I’ve patched his firmware so that the leg will brace the joint if it undergoes shock. I’ve spent a lot of time studying prostheses; I know what is and isn’t safe.”

  “I’m fine, honestly,” Matt said. “The pain’s dulling and I’m getting more used to it.”

  Victoria took a deep breath. “Very well, I’ll trust your judgement,” she said, although Lily could sense that she wasn’t happy.

  “Anything from Damos?” Victoria added.

  “What do you think?” Owen replied.

  “It’s not that far, he should be back soon,” Matt said. “How was self-defence?” he asked, looking at Lily.

  “Tiring,” Lily replied, before collapsing into an identical chair to the one in her room.

  “That’s to be expected. It is important though. We don’t want you getting hurt.”

  “Any clues about Y?” Victoria asked.

  “Nope. I’ve done some research but nothing’s coming up,” Owen replied, changing the wall display to show his findings. “Nexus has very little presence on ManaNet. Mostly it’s just news articles about the things they’ve done. Did you know they were responsible for that fire at Kelly’s?”

  “Aw, I loved that place,” Matt said.

  “Yeah, I know. Apparently the owner was openly anti-Gifted so they torched her place.”

  The group was interrupted by a buzz as the room door unlocked. It swung open and Damos entered.

  “Anything?” Victoria asked.

  “It’s been cleared out.”

  “It was worth a try,” Matt said. “So what now?”

  “We need a way in,” Victoria said.

  Owen laughed. “Good luck with that, Nexus only recruits Gifteds.”

  “We do have a Gifted,” Matt said, turning to look at Lily.

  What? I don’t want to join Nexus, Lily thought.

  “Don’t be stupid. Nexus ordered us to kill her. We can’t send her back in,” Victoria said.

  “Sorry, yeah, I’m being stupid,” Matt said. “It’s not like we need to ‘sign up’ or anything though, we just need a contact. There’s an area in the East District with a large Gifted community. I’d bet credits there’s a large Nexus presence there, so it wouldn’t be hard to find someone.”

  “And then what?” Owen asked.

  “We try and get some information out of them?”

  No, not again, Lily thought, remembering Damos’s encounter with Kadan but imagining Weasel on the other side of the abuse.

  “You can’t beat more information out of people!” she exclaimed.

  “Woah, I never said anything about beating,” Matt said. “We may be contract killers, but we’re not inherently violent people. We just need to talk to them, try to get them to let slip what we’re looking for.”

  “And who’s going to do this talking?” Victora asked. “Lily can’t show her face. Damos is far too blunt. You and Owen have leg injuries and you know that people are uncomfortable around me.”

  “I’ll go,” Matt replied. “I can at least walk. You and Damos can come with me just in case, but remain distant so it doesn’t seem like we’re together.”

  “There’s a bar in the area you’re talking about which sounds promising,” Owen said, looking up at the screen. “Lots of dodgy accounting, and the Knights like to steer clear which is always a good sign.”

  “What’s it called?”

  “Karma Core. Could they be any more obvious?”

  “Sounds like a good bet.”

  “I agree. We’ll head out this evening,” Victoria said. “In the meantime, Damos and I will acquire some new equipment to replace what was in the flat. We’ll only be a couple of hours, after which we can plan in detail. While we’re gone, Owen, hack into their security and scope out the place.”

  “And what should I do for the other hour and fifty-five minutes?” Owen replied.

  Victoria ignored him, walking over to a drawer and pulling out a pair of neatly folded garments. One was a hood which hung low over her face. Lily could just make out the ring of light from her eye in the darkness it cast. The other was a shawl which she threw around her body in such a way that the long side covered her tentacles. Were it not for the slivers of silver running down her real arm, she would have looked almost normal.

  “Come on,” she said to Damos as she made for the door. Damos turned and followed her out.

  “That’s going to be a fun trip,” Owen said as the door slammed. Lily looked quizzically at him. “Damos hates authority, or hadn’t you noticed yet?”

  “I hadn’t noticed anything, other than that he seems to like hurting people,” Lily replied.

  “It’s not the pain he enjoys, it’s the power.”

  “That doesn’t bother you?”

  “He’s efficient. I can appreciate that.”

  “We’re all a bit messed up here,” Matt said. “But you have to look past that and see the human being underneath.”

  “But I can’t see what’s underneath. I feel everyone’s emotions like they’re my own, except his.”

  “You can only feel what’s there,” Owen said.

  “But even so, he’s still a person,” Matt interjected. “You may not be able to feel anything, but somewhere, locked behind a traumatic childhood, his emotions are there. I’m willing to bet on it.”

  Maybe I was too quick to judge him. Growing up as a Gifted in the city might have been tough, but it must be nothing compared to what he went through to end up like he has.

  “Would he mind if you told me what happened?” Lily asked.

  “I wish that we could. He doesn’t talk about it. The only thing we know for certain is that he was orphaned at a very young age when a Gifted went rampant and butchered a whole street. Someone found him in a box a day later. It’s where he gets his name.”

  “Damos?”

  “Dynamic Access ManaNet Operating System,” Owen said. “It’s the original system for using ManaNet to store data as well as transfer power. Apparently it was printed on the side of the box he was found in, and it stuck. None of us know his real name. I doubt even he does.”

  Lily felt sorrow well up inside of her. She looked from Owen to Matt, before realising it was coming from no one but herself.

  Chapter 14 - Trust

  21:33, Karma Core, East District Border

  Matt glanced at Damos and Victoria. They were stood leaning on a lamppost across the street from him. Above him hung a glowing sign: ‘Karma Core’. He took a moment to compose himself before entering. The music hit him at once, an oppressive bass-heavy piece which made his ears ring. All around people were shouting and yelling over the volume. />
  I’m going to have a sore voice tomorrow, he thought.

  “God, what’s that racket?” he heard Owen say through an earpiece.

  “Someone’s bad taste in music,” Matt replied.

  “Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Give me a second to tune out the background.”

  I wish I had that option, Matt thought as he made his way to the bar.

  “Okay, try again,” Owen said.

  “Pint of Weavers please,” Matt said, holding out a card to the bar tender.

  “Coming right up,” the bar tender replied, grabbing a glass and placing it under the tap with a flourish.

  “Much better,” Owen said. “I can see Victoria and Damos entering now as well.”

  Matt glanced behind him to see Damos stride through the door, followed by Victoria in her veil and shawl. They causally walked up to the bar and stood a short distance away. Matt ignored them. The bartender returned with his drink and scanned his card.

  “Cheers,” Matt said before taking a sip, savouring the feeling of the cold liquid flowing down his throat.

  Ah, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a good cider, he thought. Placing the drink back on the bar, he turned to look back into the room. People were sat and stood all around, engaged in furious conversations. To the side a group of people danced atop a flashing floor, lights blinking all around them. On a stage behind them stood a DJ, his head bouncing up and down to the rhythm of the music.

  “Take your pick,” Owen said. “There’s no way of telling if any of them are Nexus.”

  “On your right hand side,” Matt heard Lily say through the same feed. “Sat in the second booth from the door.”

  Matt looked to see a tall, well-built man sitting at the table. His black hair was cut short, with three stripes shaved into the side. Two drinks sat in front of him, even though he appeared to be sitting alone.

  “I recognise him,” Lily continued. “He’s Jackal, one of the men I met.”

  How convenient, Matt thought. I guess we were right about this being a Nexus hotspot.

  Grabbing his drink, Matt headed over to the table.