“Welcome back to Stories with Hart. DocWagon 19 and I were pulling into the Gaeatronics Bellevue campus to rescue a Super-Platinum client known as Portex. A personal friend of several members of the team, especially the combat mage Odder, the team was determined to get him out at all costs. SIMaeon had been under attack, but was functional once more. We resume with team leader, Takeshi, ordering SIMaeon to call in an airlift for their client.”
Simone gestured to the camera. “I must warn my viewers. Some of the images you are about to witness are not appropriate for children and may be disturbing to those with a sensitive constitution. It was a very difficult and dangerous situation to be in.”
The screen fades to black, superimposed with large, blinking red letters:
THE FOLLOWING CONTENT MAY BE DISTURBING TO VIEWERS UNDER THE AGE OF 15.
PARENTAL DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When the scene returns, it is to the interior of the Citymaster. SIMaeon is back in his fireball form and is flickering in and out of existence as he floats in front of Takeshi. Odder has her eyes closed.
“Call for backup,” Takeshi says. “Stallions for a possible airlift and cover fire. This is most likely an extraction, but with the Gaeatronics data, it might be an assassination if extraction isn’t possible.”
“Roger that.” SIMaeon’s voice is mechanical, devoid of his usual personality. His physical body twitches within his seatbelt restraints and there are smears of blood on his face and hands as if he has wiped at a bloody nose.
“Time to location?”
“Sixty seconds and counting.” Gunther’s voice is smooth in contrast to the Citymaster’s jerky turns and swerves and obvious uphill tilt.
Takeshi pulls up a schematic that appears on Simone’s smart glasses and highlights two locations. “We’ll come in here. Last known location of the client is here.” He marks the interior of three low, foliage-covered buildings. “We’ll stop here. Odder, Matilda, and Hey Jude will lay down cover fire while I retrieve Portex through the top of this building. Clear with Gaeatronics on moving him up there. Simone will cover from the ambulance.”
“Client’s vitals showing signs of extreme distress.” Hey Jude is calm, watching out the front of the Citymaster.
“Got Gaeatronics security and employees as friendlies on the IFF. Everyone else is the enemy.” SIMaeon’s voice, still mechanical-sounding, is menacing as it adds, “I’ve found their hacker. Going silent.”
“Lock him down.” Takeshi stares at the wireframe schematics. “Enemy on Building One. Focus cover fire there. Gaeatronics has Building One locked down from the other side. The only way they can move is toward us. Make sure that doesn’t happen. Try to minimize the collateral damage if you can, but do what you need to do to get the job done.”
Matilda slows to a stop and the gull-wing door opens. Like the experienced team they are, Takeshi and Odder hold back long enough to let Hey Jude get out before them. The sounds of Athena and Matilda’s guns firing fills the air as Takeshi and Odder, both encased in glowing, arcane armor, follow suit.
As Simone takes a covered firing position in the Citymaster, she glances down at her shaking hands to see them glowing with arcane armor as well. She looks up and takes stock of what’s happening ahead of her. She holds her weapon, the Ares Light Fire 75, in the approved two-handed Weaver grip, but pointed at the ground.
Simone sees three foliage-covered buildings. The two in the rear are about two stories high, while the one between them is only one story. However, all of them are covered in vines, trees, and flowers, camouflaging the buildings and making them look like small hills on top of a larger one. Building One, on the left side, has three people—a troll and two humans—on it. All of them are firing at both the DocWagon team and Building Two, on the right side. Building Two also has three people on it—two Gaeatronics security people in full gear and helmets masking race and gender. They are flanking a third person lying on the rooftop.
Hey Jude and Odder stop about ten meters away from Matilda. Hey Jude lays down cover fire as Odder pulls up an arcane five by five meter glowing wall of protection. Hey Jude fires, then ducks behind the wall’s protection, then leans out to fire again.
At the same time, Takeshi sprints at a supernatural speed toward Building Two. He makes an incredible leap from the ground to almost the top of the building, grabbing vines and climbing the rest of the way up.
A flying drone that looks like a modified MCT Nissan Roto- Drone comes in from the left, firing at Hey Jude. Even before the ork can turn and shoot at it, another drone, an MX-3 Killer Bee, zooms in from over Matilda and engages.
“I got this,” Gunther says over the comms.
The squat Nissan charges the faster Killer Bee, firing a small caliber projectile to no avail as the Killer Bee all but dances around the enemy drone. Hovering above and to the left of the Nissan, the Killer Bee lets off a three-round burst from its mini-gun into the Nissan’s side.
As the Nissan wobbles, recovers, and then takes off, the Killer Bee gives chase and drops down from above, using its six articulated limbs to tangle the Nissan’s roto-blades. Three of the Killer Bee’s legs are ripped off in the carnage of metal, but the Nissan is no longer able to fly. It drops down out of site behind a building, with the Killer Bee diving after it.
“Bringing him in,” Takeshi says over the comm. Simone turns to see what the DocWagon team lead is doing. Focusing and zooming in on Takeshi reveals he has Portex over his shoulders in a modified fireman’s carry. A moment later, Takeshi rappels down the side of the building as the two Gaeatronics security personnel give him cover fire. He lands lightly on his feet and disengages the rappelling rope. By the way his arms and blurred head dangle and bob, it’s clear that Portex is unconscious.
“Smoke.” It’s the only word Odder speaks, and Simone glances at her. Hey Jude responds with two grenades—one is tossed about three meters in front of them, one is lobbed at the enemy rooftop. The first grenade explodes with nothing but smoke. The second is a flash-bang that makes Simone’s glasses go dark for a moment. When her vision clears, thermographic smoke fills the air, masking heat signatures. She turns to look for Takeshi.
She finds him, running toward Hey Jude and Odder…and then she sees a figure closing in behind Takeshi. He’s human, with tattoos and glowing skin.
“Tash! Behind you.” Simone’s voice is loud and panicked, but it does the job.
Takeshi throws Portex’s limp body toward his teammates with a hard command, “Heal!” He whirls just in time to dodge the enemy adept’s first strike. The two men square off, sizing each other up.
Takeshi is the first to attack with a series of flashing fists and low kicks. The enemy fends them off and then presses his own assault, striking Takeshi with powerful blows that push him back.
The DocWagon adept leaps over his opponent, kicking him while in mid-air and pulling the enemy away from his team and the downed client. The two physical adepts continue circling, feinting, and striking each other.
Portex lands hard, his body contorted into hard angles like that of a discarded doll, and Odder gestures to him. A creature that looks like falling rain in humanoid form manifests, floats to Portex, hovers over him a moment, then sinks into him. Portex’s body starts to glow with a blue light that is reminiscent of sunlight on water. Portex’s twisted body straightens and bruises heal. There is no way to tell who he is through the blurring that masks his features, but the way the elf’s body relaxes, the healing from the water spirit worked.
All the while, the arcane barrier is peppered with projectiles. Some get through, diminished, and the holes they leave behind close up as Odder sustains the barrier spell.
The enemy adept harries Takeshi, moving in and out of range. Takeshi conserves his energy, not falling for the enemy’s feints, but attacking when the tattooed man is within range. He’s clearly luring the enemy away from the unmoving Portex with careful backward steps and offered openings that he shuts down as he is attacked. Both
adepts strike and defend with glowing fists and superhuman speed.
Hey Jude keeps firing short bursts to keep the enemy pinned down. Suddenly she yelps, “Incoming!” and dives behind Odder’s arcane barrier. A fragmentation missile explodes on the other side of the glowing wall. The force of it knocks Odder back a couple of steps, but she sustains her magic. Hey Jude launches two more grenades toward the enemy on the roof.
Simone looks back at Takeshi and the enemy adept. They are still dead even; both bruised and bloody with torn clothing. Neither one is glowing anymore. Takeshi takes two steps forward, glances up, and then backs off.
As both Simone and the tattooed enemy look up, a short round burst of fire comes from a Gaeatronics security person on the roof. The adept dances the dead man’s dance and collapses.
Takeshi turns, sprinting toward Portex. “Round it up!”
An explosion to the left draws Simone’s attention. Gunther’s drone hangs above the smoke and flame, beside another drone too damaged to identify. Next to the downed machine is an armed troll.
“Incoming, 3 o’clock!” Gunther’s voice is calm but ragged, like he’s been running. The troll raises his pistol and fires.
Odder’s cry of pain reveals his target. Simone glances at her. The arcane barrier is down. Hey Jude steps in front of the mage, using her body as a shield.
Odder looks at Takeshi. “Save him,” she says as she holds her chest where the bullet passed through.
Simone is suddenly moving, running toward Odder, but is pointing her pistol at the troll. Her focus is high and tight on the troll’s face as he aims his pistol. Simone shoots just as the troll shoots. Her shot strikes him in the eye, and the troll gasps with his mouth open in a small “o” of surprise. Simone fires again, hitting him in the mouth. The back of the troll’s head splatters open, and he falls over.
She’s still running toward Odder, heedless of the incoming weapons fire from the rooftop with the trapped enemy.
Takeshi stands over Portex for a moment, looking between Odder and the client. He picks up the client and sprints past Simone, shouting, “Odder’s down! Round. It. Up!”
Simone tucks the pistol in a pocket as she reaches Odder. Grabbing the wounded mage under the arms, she starts dragging her back toward the ambulance. Her view is blurred through her tears. The elf lies limp, her head lolling, leaking blood from her back, chest, and the unmistakable bullet hole to the forehead.
Hey Jude stays between Simone and Odder and the enemy on the rooftop. She has to switch from her Ares Alpha assault rifle to an Ares Predator II pistol. She shoots once for every step she takes, measured strides that always keep her within a meter of Odder’s feet.
Gunther shouts over the comm, “Grenade!” There is light and sound, and then nothing but blackness for a moment as Simone’s smart glasses react to the blinding flash.
The scene reappears, and is now from the point of view of Simone’s knocked-off smart glasses. The screen flickers between the image of Simone sprawled on the ground, eyes closed, bleeding from the face and neck—to Odder’s open but unseeing eyes, the headshot visible in gory detail—to Hey Jude on the ground but getting up. With Hey Jude the only moving thing, the smart glasses remain focused on her feet as they stomp toward the camera.
Then there is darkness.
“I’m hungry,” an ork teenager complains.
“You’re always hungry, Jase,” his Japanese buddy says.
The ork counts his nuyen. “I’m hungry and I don’t have a lot of money. What’m I gonna do, Tsun?”He looks distraught at the thought of no food.
The Stuffer Shack logo appears over their heads, bouncing in time to the Stuffer Shack jingle.
“Stuffer Shack! Stuffer Shack!
Buy what you need! Eat it all! And come right back!
Stuffer Shack! Stuffer Shack!
It’s your go-to stop for a snack attack!”
The two teenagers look up at the logo, then at each other for a moment, then grin and shout, “Stuffer Shack!” They leap off the couch and race for the door.
A voiceover begins as the two teens arrive at the local Stuffer Shack in short order. “Whenever you have a need, Stuffer Shack is there. Hungry? We have food.”
The boys walk by aisles and aisles of snacks, filling a cart.
“Thirsty? We have drinks.”
The boys fill huge cups from available fountains.
“Need the latest NERPS? We’ve got that, too.”
The boys slowly walk by a couple of giggling teenage girls as they look at hair clips. They shyly wave at each other.
All four teenagers leave the Stuffer Shack together, eating, drinking, and having a great time.
“Stuffer Shack. We always have what you need!”
The studio returned with Simone’s solemn face centered in the frame. The studio lights highlighted her healing wounds for a moment before she spoke. “Harah “Odder” Vonvara lost her life in the line of duty, rescuing DocWagon VIP client Portex. We send our heartfelt condolences from myself and the entire team at Stories with Hart to her family and loved ones.”
Simone paused a moment before continuing. “I had been knocked unconscious and injured by the grenade that had just gone off nearby, but what happened next was not lost to the armed Hughes WK-2 Stallion that arrived to provide cover fire and to extract the client if needed.”
The scene returns, now an aerial view of the fight. The footage is completely silent. Smoke and fire obscures some of the landscape, and the video of the fighting is from afar, speaking of the distance between the Stallion and the Gaeatronics campus. Tiny figures run around the screen. The enemy adept is gunned down by the Gaeatronics security man as the enemy troll runs forward and shoots Odder in the back. The arcane barrier falls as the elf falls to one knee.
The camera image shifts as the tiny figures grow larger. Simone bolts out of the Citymaster toward Odder, who has turned around and is holding her chest.
As Simone fires her first shot, the troll fires his second, and Odder rocks backward, then collapses. Simone fires her second shot as she passes Takeshi, who has thrown Portex over his shoulder. The troll collapses into a lifeless heap.
The Stallion closes in on the firefight, the draft from its rotors blowing the smoke away. Simone drags Odder off the field, with Hey Jude covering her.
An explosion lights up the night, and the three women go down. The Stallion fires at the enemy, who fall or flee. Hey Jude climbs shakily back to her feet and runs at Odder and Simone. Scooping them up, one under each arm, she runs back and dives into the Citymaster.
The gull-wing door closes and the DocWagon ambulance takes off, with Gunther’s damaged Killer Bee drone following.
The scene shifts to Simone looking up at the ceiling of the ambulance and Hey Jude, who’s administering to her. The video stream is clearly from HAL, her ocular implant.
Simone looks around and sees Takeshi’s back. He’s working on the client, whose face is blurred, but the red hair is readily identifiable.
“You’re one of the stupidest people I’ve ever met.” Hey Jude’s harsh words clash with her care as she wipes gore from Simone’s neck. “What the hell made you get out of the ambulance? In the middle of a firefight no less? Don’t you have any brains?”
“Odder…?” Simone’s voice is soft, weak.
Hey Jude shakes her head. “Dead. Even before you got to her.” She pauses, looking down at Simone. “But you got the bastard that murdered her. Thank you for that.”
“Why?” Simone looks at Takeshi’s back before looking back up at Hey Jude.
“Why what? Why did Takeshi save the client over her? He was doing his damn job. Why did she use everything she had to save Portex? Why didn’t she save even one fraggin’ spirit to heal herself if she got hurt? Because she loves him. Loved him. They meant everything to each other once upon a time. And that’s not the kind of bond you forget.” Hey Jude rubs her face, her eyes shining wetly. “He was hurt real bad.”
; Simone tries to sit up, but Hey Jude’s large hands gently push her back down. “None of that. You stay put. If you gotta talk, talk to me.”
“Or me.” SIMaeon fireball appears, floating above her.
Gunther’s voice comes over the comms. “Or me.”
Simone looks at Takeshi’s back. Hey Jude shakes her head. “Not him. Not now. He’s got to focus on the client. And his grief. He and Odder were close.”
“Did she join DocWagon because of him?”
“No.” SIMaeon bobs above her. “Me. I asked her to look into doing something here. To get out of her more dangerous job.”
Simone looks between SIMaeon and Hey Jude. “More dangerous? What is more dangerous than this? She wasn’t Knight Errant, was she?”
For a long moment no one speaks. Then Takeshi’s voice, hard and raw with emotion, is heard. “Tell her. You might as well tell her. And tell her about Reel2Real.”
Simone looks at his back. He doesn’t turn around. It is clear that, despite their hushed voices, he’s heard everything they’ve said.
“Shadowrunner,” Hey Jude says. “She and Portex were shadowrunners a long time ago.”
SIMaeon bobs back and forth. “I knew them, too. They were young and needed the nuyen. They both wanted to make it on their own, away from their nice, neat, safe lives.”
Hey Jude shrugs. “Teenagers are ten meters high, immortal, and bulletproof. At least, that’s how they ran the shadows.”
“I resemble that remark.” SIMaeon’s voice is so cheerful it’s brittle.
“Young and stupid, but talented. They got out and went their separate ways. Obviously. Both are…” Hey Jude pauses, struggling for the right words. “They became good citizens.” She pauses again. “They tried to make up for their past. He went into business and she into medicine.”
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