From the Ruins

by Keith Silvas

  He pushed through the curtain to a chilling sight: Maria sat on the floor, gagged and hands tied. The fat man, her old client who had hit her, was seated just behind her on the bed. There were two other faces in the room that he knew: Mullet and Caterpillars, the Boss’s Men. He didn’t quite have time to wonder where Candy Apple was when he heard the words, “Welcome home Bolts,” accompanied by something hard striking his head. Electricity crackled, and sparks showered from the site the blow had landed. His vision flickered a few times but luckily did not falter.

  Raymond turned to see Candy Apple, raising a metal pry bar for a second strike. He flicked out his antimatter blades, ready for combat, but was stopped cold by a muffled yelp of pain from Maria and an “Ah ah ah,” from the fat man.

  Raymond turned to see the fat man pressing the tip of a knife against Maria’s carotid artery. Even with his augmented speed, he knew he could not hope to reach the fat man before he could make that fatal cut. He froze, eyes fixed on hostage and captor, hardly noticing the second blow from Candy Apple, which almost knocked him off his feet.

  “What do you want?” Raymond asked as Caterpillars and Mullet grabbed his arms and tried to force them behind his back. Raymond assented to the maneuver as well as the metal restraints they tightened around his wrists.

  “It’s funny, after our little run-in the other day, I got to thinking: the old hairstyle, the super strength, something wasn’t right. Then I realized that all the misfortune I thought I’d suffered was really just Lady Luck giving me a little kiss, because I’d found the Boss’s missing metal man.

  “When I told my friends here what happened—well let’s just say that suddenly I had a lot of people interested in just where I’d last seen that metal man.” He turned and snatched the cigar that Candy Apple had just lit from between his teeth. The fat man puffed heartily, inhaling some of the smoke and blowing a cloud of it in Raymond’s face. He looked the cigar over, turning it in his fingers, never for a moment removing the knife point from Maria’s throat. He took one more long puff, then put it out on the skin between Maria’s shoulder blades. She inhaled sharply.

  “I’m a wealthy man. A hundred thousand bits is nothing to me, but thankfully we were able to work something out. These days I prefer to deal in favors, and the Boss of this city is someone I very much like owing me a favor.”

  Chapter 8: Raymond’s Run

  The six of them walked toward the Complex. The fat man, who the Boss’s Men called Cen Throdd, had handed the knife to Candy Apple who now walked Maria forward. Raymond wondered why they had put the restraints on his wrists. Did they truly believe such a small amount of metal could hold him? The thought puzzled him, but he couldn’t decipher any other reason for the act. He decided not to disprove their apparent theory just yet; better to keep the element of surprise in case it came in handy later.

  He looked at Maria, feeling sorry that she had been upset with him just before all of this. He would do whatever these men commanded in order to prevent harm from coming to her, even if that meant returning to Nexus’ service or even being deactivated. He hoped that would be enough to keep her safe. As he went over the possibilities in his mind, Maria met his gaze and winked.

  “Once the Boss has our metal friend, I’ll be taking this girl.” Cen Throdd said, “I like what she’s done to her hair, makes her look fresh and innocent.” He chuckled, and Raymond felt a mixture of disgust and fear creep over him. He was powerless as long as Candy Apple kept that knife to her throat. “I was rather fond of her,” Throdd continued, “And I had considered taking her as one of my house pets before this one came and attacked me.” He indicated Raymond with a flick of his head.

  She glared at him, and he said to her, “You won’t mind Gree—I s’pose I’ll have to come up with a new name for you now. I already have a Pink, but we’ll figure something out. There’s plenty of food and all of my girls get time in Euphoria, if they behave.” He turned to address Candy Apple then, “Anyhow, before we part ways, I’ll need one of you to break her ankles so she can’t run from me. On second thought, one of you come with us to my house and do it there, so she doesn’t have to be carried all that way.”

  Raymond listened, horrified as such twisted ideas passed so easily between the men. Nothing Throdd had said, seemed to bother the Boss’s Men, and indeed they seemed agreeable to his request.

  Suddenly a train thundered by, hammering them with a gust of wind. Maria seized the moment, slamming her head back into Candy Apple’s nose. She dropped out of his arms and to the ground as he recoiled, clutching at his nose. Blood was gushing through his fingers. That split second was all Raymond needed. He snapped the restraints off his wrists and with three deft cuts, the heads of the Boss’s Men were rolling in the street, mouths gaping and eyes blinking in surprise.

  Meanwhile, Cen Throdd had bolted, surprisingly quick for one of his massive girth. He had made for a shadowed alleyway in hopes of ducking out of sight before Raymond finished off the other three. This hope was never realized. Raymond caught him by his coat just as he tried to round the corner into obscurity.

  “No, please don’t kill me—-” The blade slashed deep through his belly, spilling fat and entrails on the ground.

  “I warned you before,” Raymond said, releasing his grip on Throdd’s coat and letting him slump to the ground to bleed out.

  Maria had already cut through her wrist bindings on a jagged corner of crumbling wall, and was removing the gag from her mouth. “We need to go!” she said, but it was too late. A surveillance drone overhead had already spotted the carnage and was whizzing through the airspace above them, transmitting all of the details of the scene.

  Maria took the bitpurse from Throdd’s jacket pocket, and then they ran, ducking under awnings, through building lobbies, and crowded streets, but every time they looked skyward, they saw more drones with lenses fixed on their every movement. The billboards began to change, showing live feed of the two of them running with commands to detain them, and rewards being offered for their capture. People whom they passed glanced at them, then up to the boards, making the connection. Raymond wondered how long they could run before people started to mob them for the reward. He wondered how many people he would have to cut down, how many he would be able to. Boss’s Men had picked up their trail and begun pursuing them as well. He heard them shouting to one another.

  Maria pulled him into a narrow alleyway. “I have a plan,” she whispered into his ear, and held up the velvety bitpurse she had taken from Throdd’s pocket. “Follow me. When this is over, meet me at Scintillate.” Raymond knew the dance club to which she was referring, although he had never been inside. It was in the buildings on the northern side of the market. They were not far from it now.

  They made a break for it, through the alley and towards the market. Raymond wondered how going to Scintillate would help them in their current situation, but there was no time to ask about the details of Maria’s plan. When they reached the market Maria surprisingly did not lead him toward the northern buildings, but instead bolted straight for the clothing sellers. They stopped at a booth well stocked with the long hooded jackets that were a fashion staple in the city. Maria threw a handful of bits at the clothing seller and started filling up bags with as many grey jackets as would fit. She loaded him up with four of the bags, and carried two herself. The scene reminded him faintly of going shopping with Jennifer so long ago.

  The Boss’s Men had been closing in on them, and he had to shove past a couple of them as he and Maria began their flight once again. She led him down the steps into the Underworks then and they made straight for the red-light district. The drones whirred above, never breaking line of sight with them for a moment.

  They reached the red-light district and, as they passed the denizens there, Maria flung bits at their feet and held up the open purse to show its contents. “There’s more. Come to the Trash Yard!” She shouted again and again. The Trash Yard was actually an old factory building that had partial
ly collapsed on itself years before. After it had been evacuated, the residents of the Underworks had taken to using the space inside for garbage and burying corpses that became too offensive to ignore.

  With nearly thirty prostitutes, both male and female, in tow, Maria and Raymond hurried to the Trash Yard. They all gathered inside the building and rolled the overhead door shut. Raymond kicked a drone that attempted to dart under the door at the last instant, sending it shooting back out like a soccer ball.

  With all of them looking at her expectantly, Maria briefly explained the situation, “The Boss’s Men are after us. All these bits are for whoever puts these jackets on, hoods up, and walks out of here with us.” She dumped her two bags of jackets, and Raymond did the same. He understood her plan now and it was brilliant! Maria had done well to choose grey jackets, because it was quite the popular color. Perhaps a third of the population of Omega Seki, up above and in the Underworks, wore grey at any given moment.

  The mixture of free bits and the hatred of the Boss’s Men was enough to inspire most of their audience. A few put up their hands and backed away, but there were still well over twenty who were willing. Once they had all put on the jackets Maria went to Raymond, kissed his cheek and whispered into his ear, “Scintillate” once more.

  She distributed the bits as evenly as she could by dumping them into outstretched palms in a steady stream. Raymond guessed that each person there had made two days wages or more. Maria tossed the empty purse and slid the door open. They all flooded out at once, hooded and dressed in grey and disbursed as quickly as possible. A couple of Boss’s Men who had decided to come down after them were pushing through the slow-moving crowd in the streets. They accosted some of the grey-jacketed prostitutes, but only shoved them aside once their identities proved unfavorable. They shouted for everyone to stop, but that only made everyone run. No one wanted to be caught by an angry Boss’s Man.

  There were at least seven drones in the airspace above, but seven was not enough to follow all of them. The grey jackets spread out and melded into the crowds and shadows, killing any chance of Raymond or Maria being traced.

  ∆∆∆

  Raymond ducked his head, and obscured his face with his hand, feigning a headache and massaging his temples with thumb and fingers. He stepped quickly past the bouncers through the doorway of Scintillate. Once inside, he kept the hand up for what concealment it might offer, and scanned the room, hoping he would not be recognized. Maria was nowhere to be seen among the gyrating bodies. The beat was so loud that he felt it vibrate his frame with every pulse. The lights strobed and changed colors often. The conditions, he realized, were not ideal for human sight and facial recognition, which helped him to relax slightly.

  Now where was Maria? She had certainly named this place twice. He pushed through the crowd, making sure to scan the faces of the room’s farthest inhabitants whom he might have missed in his initial visual assessment. She was not in the main part of the club. He checked the bar, but found no sign of her there either. Finally, he resorted to checking the bathrooms and was pleasantly surprised to discover her hiding in one of the stalls. She pulled him in and locked the door behind him.

  She had cut her hair, he noticed. There were gobs of it in the toilet and on the floor, and she now had a short pixie cut. She was holding another bag from which she presented him with a change of clothes. There was a hooded vest with a collar high enough to hide most of his face.

  As she drew pieces of her own new outfit from the bag, a small bottle fell to the ground. Raymond picked it up inquisitively and found that it was hair colorant. When she had finished changing, She put on plastic gloves and began to generously apply the colorant, a bright silver, to her hair. When she had rinsed and dried it in the sink, she then put on a pair of orange glasses with thick silver rims.

  Their work complete, they stood side by side, looking at themselves in the mirror. It was like two strangers looking back at them. No one would recognize them now.

  Raymond approached the food stand nervously. The young man was there, helping a customer with a bright smile on his face. Maria had discouraged this plan, but with enough valid arguments from Raymond, she had thrown up her hands and told him to do whatever he wanted, muttering something about always doing what he wanted anyway and questioning whether androids ever actually obeyed their masters.

  The young man finally finished with his customer and looked up to meet Raymond’s gaze. Raymond saw the recognition in his eyes, and he cast a quick glance up at the billboard-sized image, featuring Raymond and Maria’s faces, that overlooked the market.

  “Everyone is looking for you,” he said in a hushed tone. “Did you really kill those four men?”

  Raymond nodded solemnly. “I need your help—she needs your help.”

  The young man glanced back at his coworker, obviously his father by their age gap and resemblance. “Meet me over there in four hours,” he said, pointing towards a hookah lounge on the northeast corner of the square.

  ∆∆∆

  The young man took the hose to his lips and inhaled deeply, blowing a cloud of fruit-scented smoke into the air. Raymond took a drag from his own hose and alternated between blowing the smoke out of his mouth and nostrils, the way he’d seen actors do it in the movies in times long past. They were seated across the table from one another in a high-walled booth with cushioned seats.

  “I knew she wasn’t your daughter, and I knew I’d seen you somewhere!” the young man began, his voice in a whisper. “You’re the android everyone’s been talking about.” At a hard stare from Raymond, he quickly explained himself. “I’m not going to tell anyone. I’d never do anything to help the Boss or his men. Part of me wishes I could join the Sons of Freedom, but I know my parents would kill me. Still, if you want my help, you should tell me what’s going on. I’m Xetza, by the way.”

  “Raymond-tz48, but please just call me Raymond.”

  “What you did was amazing, Raymond. I don’t know anyone who could kill three Boss’s Men like that.” Xetza’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “This is crazy to see an android here. My parents bought into some of the old data collections so I know a little about the 21st century before the Cataclysm. You must be over five hundred years old!”

  “Keep your voice down,” Raymond said. “The reason I came to you, is that I need a safe place to hide her until… Until I sort things out with the Boss and his men. She is in grave danger now. They want me, and will use her as leverage to get me. I know that you care for her. Will you help me protect her?”

  “Of course I will,” Xetza, said. “What’s her name anyway?”

  “Maria.”

  “That’s an old name, just like yours. You must’ve given it to her when you met. I bet she only had a serial number before that, because she was an orphan.”

  “I’ll leave it up to her to tell you about herself,” Raymond was saying, when Xetza interrupted him.

  “I know who she is, Raymond. I could never forget her eyes, the sadness in them. I remember when I first saw her with her green hair, I thought ‘That’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen!’ My parents caught me watching her one time and told me to stay away because she was a prostitute. I didn’t even know what that word meant until they explained it to me—sheltered I know—but it didn’t make me think bad of her. It just made me sad. I just wanted to help her, and show her what real love is. I wouldn’t have listened to my parents, but I rarely saw her after that and, when I did, she avoided me.”

  “You’ll be glad to hear that she isn’t in that line of work anymore,” Raymond said with a smile. “And never will be if I can help it.”

  “That’s good news. Thank you,” Xetza said, then began cracking his knuckles nervously, one at a time. “I’ll tell you something, if you promise not to laugh,” he said without looking up. “I always told myself I’d make enough money someday to where I didn’t have to rely on my parents anymore. I’d start my own business so they couldn’t use my income to
control me like they do now. After that, I said I’d go find that green-haired girl, wherever she was, and ask her to marry me. I know she’s been through a lot, and she’d probably just laugh at my ideas of love, and maybe she wouldn’t want me because of my missing arm. But, I don’t know…

  “Please don’t tell her any of this, just know, I’d do anything for her. I’ll hide her in our warehouse. There are places upstairs that no one ever goes. My parents don’t even have the keys anymore, but I do. I used to use them as my military bases and underground bunkers when I’d play make-believe as a kid. Maria will be comfortable there, with all the food she wants, and definitely safe.

  “Thank you,” Raymond said. “And Xetza...”

  “Yes?”

  “She doesn’t mind the arm. She likes you too. Just don’t tell her I said so.”

  Xetza showed them to the warehouse and the space upstairs where Maria would be staying. It had two windows that overlooked the streets and let plenty of light in and, most impressively, its own bathroom. He had furnished the place with a cot, a small table with two chairs, and a sofa. She thanked him awkwardly as he handed her and Raymond both copies of the key to the door. He warned her not to go out unless it was after 11 p.m. “My parents are never awake after then,” he explained. “I’ll come every day before work to bring you food and see if you need anything.”

  Raymond nodded with approval. “I will return later,” he said, taking his leave of the two of them and descending the stairwell. Outside he looked up at Maria’s window once more, then started off toward the Complex.

  Chapter 9: The Arrow Rises