“Nami, Hitomi, get to the car! It’s parked two blocks away from here in an abandoned garage. Just follow this path you won’t miss it!” Caiden instructed while pointing in the direction of the car.
“What are you gonna do? Aren’t you coming?” Hitomi nervously asked.
“I’ll catch up. I’m gonna make sure he doesn’t follow us,” Caiden said, throwing them the keys.
“But your arm!”
“And he’s gotta gun!” the twins exclaimed in succession.
“Don’t worry about me, I'll be there in less than five minutes! Go!” Caiden commanded.
The twins reluctantly followed Caiden’s instructions and they took off into the night toward the car. Caiden checked his surroundings and found a small corner covered in darkness and quietly slipped from sight. He could hear Slavo’s footsteps. They were dragging a bit; most likely due to the side effects of the Mania.
“You fucking assholes! You couldn’t’ve gone far!” Slavo slurred as he shot a round into the air.
The gunshot was followed by deadly silence. It was quiet enough to hear the small pebbles of gravel roll underneath the soles of Slavo’s shoes as they dragged through the dim lit alley. Slavo switched the vision mode on his visor from night vision to infrared.
“Once you’ve been marked by Chimera, you’re as good as dead, fuck face!” Slavo nervously yelled.
He was completely overcome by the temporary psychosis, unable to determine the readings from his visor. Caiden, still hidden in the shadows, observed Slavo, patiently waiting for the right
moment to strike. As Slavo turned away from Caiden’s direction, Caiden rushed from his hiding place. He bolted across the alleyway at full speed, and sent a powerful thrusting kick to Slavo’s back. The force of the kick sent Slavo’s head jerking backward then crashing face first into the adjacent brick wall of the building. As he bounced off the wall, Caiden grabbed Slavo’s shoulder, whipping him around and swung of the shock baton at Slavo’s face, aimed at his visor.
A stunned Slavo lost grip of his gun as he fell to the ground. The powerful attack broke Slavo’s collar bone instantly, leaving him doubled over from the tremendous rush of pain. Slavo’s visor was damaged from the fight, flickering in and out, showing scrambled visuals. Caiden kicked the gun away from him, and took off toward the alley where the car was located.
As he turned the corner another shot rang off. He turned and saw Slavo on his stomach with the large while pistol in his hand. The bullet grazed Caiden’s shoulder, but he kept running. Persistent bastard! Caiden thought. When he made it to the car, he saw that the twins were elated to see him.
“Oh my god, you’ve been shot! We need to get you to the hospital!” Nami yelled.
“It’s okay! Hospitals are the worst place we can go right now. Strap in! We’re getting' outta here!” Caiden replied.
The car peeled off, speeding away from the brothel. Caiden checked his rearview mirror to see a staggering Slavo appear at the end of the alleyway, far behind them. Caiden stepped on the gas as Slavo raised his gun to aim, but he collapsed instead. The twins looked back. Tears were in their eyes, and they were overcome by grief and relief, altogether. They’d finally escaped The LoveMaars, once and for all. This had been the furthest they’d ever been away from the building in over a year.
Though his arm and shoulder were still tender, Caiden willed himself to use both hands to drive. He was constantly checking his rearview mirrors, ensuring no pursuer was giving chase. The further away they drove from the brothel, the more the tension in the air dissipated. Nami and Hitomi finally seemed to relax, and they both stared off into the night sky as they drove.
“Hey, you holdin’ up okay?” Nami asked
“It's just a flesh wound. I’ll patch it up once we get back.”
“And where is ‘back’?” Nami replied
“I’m taking you to Darkside,” he said.
“What? Why there of all places?” Hitomi exclaimed.
“Just trust me, I have a place there. I got you this, far right?” Caiden said confidently.
The twins had good reason to be fearful of that area. Darkside was rife with gang activity, so much so, that the Psi-Corp military police actually disregard the neighborhood due to its instability, as quoted by the fearsome Psi-Corp military police General, Vladimir Cain. Most people did well to avoid this neighborhood, whereas Caiden found it to be the perfect place to set up shop. It was close to midnight. Activity on the streets of Darkside was beginning to pick up. The twins sunk in the backseat of the car as they nervously peered out the window at their surroundings.
“What’s going on here?” Hitomi asked.
“Late night Bazaar,” Caiden replied.
“I heard stories about it before we got kidnapped, but I never wanted to find out if it was real because Darkside is so damn dangerous,” Nami stated.
“Yup, only happens at night once every few weeks or so. This area is a barren wasteland during the day, mostly to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. But come night time, the hustlers and dealers set up shop, and openly sell premier items that they’ve acquired for a pretty penny,” Caiden replied.
“Seems pretty festive here,” Hitomi remarked.
“They make a sort of party out of it. It's pretty intense, though, being that all the rival gangs in the neighborhood gather to sell the products they have. But it’s been the one time and place where violence doesn’t occur between them. Money conquers all here,” Caiden continued.
The neighborhood phenomenon took place in a large area comprised of a partially finished roadway that stretched up to a quarter of a mile. It was a straight road, with no significant buildings around it. It was an ideal site for the Bazaar. During the night of the festival, merchant tents filled the road. Makeshift stages and booths, and retail carts the size of trucks were hauled in out of nowhere to set up shop. There were many special tents called ‘shadow booths’ where big money negotiations took place between top teir sellers and high rolling buyers. These shadow booths were also used for even shadier purposes, mainly dealing with drugs or sex in one way or another.
Even though the Bazaar only ran for eight hours, up to twenty-five thousand people would pass through on any given night. Despite Darkside being economically separated from the rest of the city in many regards, the Bazaar usually netted the neighborhood a monthly earning of around thirty million Creds in one night. This economic occurrence was only made possible by the fierce reputation the neighborhood had for its dangers, and the subsequent lack of Zonos and Psi-Corp interference.
The late-night Bazaar tents were bustling with activity. Hustlers, con artists, street merchants, and dealers made up the bulk of the sellers at each tent. Some of the tents were run by rival gangs. There was an occasional fight here and there, but money rules all, even above taking unnecessarily violent risks when everyone could be making a financial killing at the bazaar. Most of the items on the strip being sold were either stolen and illegal. The items varied from spare cybernetic parts, energy cell units, weapons, to a variety of uniquely packaged drugs, clothes, and apparel, even home grown produce like fruits, vegetables, and meat. There was music, sideshow attractions, live sex exhibitions, prostitutes, and heavy drug usage, too. It was rumored that a large percentage of home developed designer drugs originated from the bazaar. The custom designer drugs had been transported from as far as Liberty Port, on the other side of the continent.
The Darkside neighborhood was once a bustling centerpiece for technological manufacturing during the earlier times of Neon District’s history. The factory complex was originally called ‘Neo Ray Factories’. It had long since become a series of abandoned buildings, both large and small, and was spread across a two square mile landscape on the easternmost side of the Black Light District. Due to the city’s expansion westward, Zonos officials decided to relocate to new grounds and build a newer, larger industrial facility. Soon after, the industrial complex became something of a pseudo-lawless sq
uatters’ zone, where many criminals and homeless people began to take up residence. It was rumored that some people even illegally syphoned power from the main energy grids of the city to power their homes. Others used outdated cell battery technology and portable generators.
Due to the high demand for power sources in the area, many people enlisted those they called ‘Gunners’ to illegally extract power cells or re-route power from the city’s many abundant power grids back to the neighborhood for a fee. Most of the Gunners were children, between the ages of nine to twelve, that were deemed nimble and limber, as the job required them to squeeze into small areas to infiltrate the plants. Gunners were typically led by a figure called a ‘Controlman’ who often had a stable of Gunners that they rented out.
The essential abandonment of government assistance had forced this unique neighborhood into a self sustained stranglehold. The residents showed their resilience by cleverly using their apparent lack of resources, developing an innovative system for a niche economy for itself with the help of the Bazaar and energy syphoning.
In an ironic twist, despite the violence between rival gangs in the neighborhood, Darkside had achieved something that the rest of the massive Neon District could not; coexistence. More specifically, all the rival gangs in Darkside had members who were Purebred and Hybrid within their own ranks. The apparent isolation from the rest of the city had aided in keeping Darkside residents from buying into the ideology of hatred between Hybrid and Purebred the way the rest of the city perpetuated society’s standards.
The trio eventually pulled up at a rundown building in a secluded part of the neighborhood. Caiden drove the car around the back. It was a winding, confusing road, especially in the dark. When they came to a stop, it looked like the area was completely inaccessible by foot or vehicle, because four large boulders were blocking the path. Caiden pulled out his holo-watch and initiated an encoded sequence. A hidden door emerged from under the boulders. It was a hidden driveway that led them under the rundown building. Caiden drove into the building as the secret gate closed behind them and blended back in with the environment. Caiden breathed a huge sigh of relief.
“Oh my god. What is this? Are you some sort of secret spy or something?” Hitomi asked.
“No, I’m just paranoid,” Caiden casually replied.
“What did you do to get this? How did… Where did you get the money? Wow, just, wow!” Nami exclaimed.
“Let’s just say, the money I make as a black hat hacker allows me to live outside the standards this society imposes on its people,” Caiden said.
The garage interior was accented by white marble floors with clear, white halogen recessed lights on the ceilings. Caiden grunted in pain as he got out of the car and walked toward a door with a blue LED lit panel. He showed his eye to the panel and the air locks on the door unfastened and opened. The twins were amazed at what they saw. It was one thousand five hundred square foot of fully functioning modern living space. Caiden referred to this secret apartment of his as ‘Home-base’.
It has white marble floors and soft blue polygonal light fixtures in the ceilings that illuminated the room. It was an open concept floor plan. No walls separated anything in the main living area save for the back wall of the kitchen. The kitchen had silver steel appliances, with precision cut granite counter tops and the cupboards were a stylish dark grey graphite material. The kitchen wall had a translucent backsplash which beautifully reflected the blue lights above. The sink was part of a large island in the middle of the kitchen which doubled as a breakfast bar and dining table. The island was flanked by two translucent stools for sitting.
Across from the kitchen was the living room. The step down that led to the living room was embellished by a soft white light that stretched across the length of the solitary stair. There were two large black leather sectional sofas. In the middle was a custom-made media apparatus, built to project a holographic screen in the middle of the room for watching television. Adjacent to the living room was a ceiling height LED display that ran the entire length of a wall, that was actually a live security feed, displaying everything outside the hidden condo. Beyond the kitchen was a short hallway which led to a master bedroom with an attached bathroom.
“I don't even know what to say,” Nami uttered.
“This… This is the first time anyone has ever seen this place,” Caiden said, grimacing from the pain.
“Oh my god, we have to do something about that wound!” Hitomi exclaimed.
“Follow me downstairs,” Caiden directed.
Down the hallway that led to the bedroom, was another door on the right-hand side with another blue lit LED panel. Caiden put his eye to the panel and the door opened to reveal a short staircase. Below, was an even larger area. It was a full blown multifunctional open concept space. To the left upon entrance, was a large control center of sorts. It housed a massive one-hundred-and-fifty-inch curved flat screen panel that was translucent when turned off. But once it was on, it could house more than twenty individual display screens if needed, to perform multiple tasks at once.
In front of the massive computer screen was a fully customized computer chair with a small rack for Caiden’s NeuraVisor and other accessories. The chair was accompanied by a sizeable crescent shaped control desk. The control desk housed a twelve-inch panel that generated the holographic keyboard for the computer. It was there, that Caiden worked his most complicated hacking requests. The entire network for the whole apartment was protected by an advanced system of dummy access points and a powerful firewall. The access points constantly provided fake Net Code addresses when surfing the web or accessing the wi-fi. He added to this by using a VPN service and international servers. This allowed him to search the internet and do what he would normally would do free of worry, since there was no one single source to trace.
Further along, was a miniature science lab setup, equipped with state of the art medical monitors, test tubes, microscopes, ultrascopes, a lab table, a medical bed, and a half dozen closets filled with equipment and other experimental accessories. The opposite side of the room consisted of a large training area with an extensive dumbbell set, training gear, a treadmill, two striking dummies, and a heavy punching bag. There was also a designated space for a small Zen area with a bonsai tree, indoor plant beds, and a mat on which to meditate. There was a larger space in the corner, allowing him to run through his martial arts exercises.
Caiden attempted to head toward the medical bed but couldn’t maintain his balance. Before he completely lost his footing, the twins caught him and helped him to the bed. “Thanks. In the second closet there’s rubbing alcohol, gauzes, and stitching material,” Caiden grimaced.
The twins rushed to get all of the materials together. “Are you ready?” Nami asked with the rubbing alcohol prepared.
“Yes,” Caiden said. He took a deep breath as Nami began to pour the alcohol into the wound.
“Shit! That burns like hell!” Caiden exclaimed. Hitomi cleaned the wound on his shoulder, and nervously began to stitch it up. “Ever do something like this before?” Caiden asked.
“Never. But it's not so unfamiliar. Our mother taught us how to sew when we were younger.”
“Yeah, we hated it, but that was one of those minor things we learned while growing up back home,” the twins replied.
“Where is back home for you guys?” Caiden asked, wincing.
“Rune Village,” Hitomi replied somberly.
“I’ve heard a little of it. Neutral nation, right? I know Zonos, Inc. has a serious issue with them, fucking Zonos bastards. Always sticking their noses where they shouldn't be,” Caiden said.
“Our homeland is a strange place, but it has always maintained a peaceful approach to world affairs as far as we know,” Nami stated.
“Exactly, and that’s what the Zonos officials don’t like. It’s just another nation they’re unable to manipulate and control,” Caiden replied. “Speaking of strange, I heard Rune Village is covered in some k
ind of mystical protective barrier of some sort? I heard it glows at night, but its invisible during the day. How true is that?” he continued.
“The barrier has been around long before even our great grandparents were born. We really don’t know much about it,” Nami replied.
“Hmm, I wanna see it someday,” Caiden said with an adventurous smile. Hitomi was just about finished stitching the wound closed. She applied a gauze and bandage wrap around his shoulder and upper arm.
“How about your arm? Is it okay?” Nami asked.
“It’ll be fine. It’s actually feeling better already, to be honest,” Caiden replied.
“After all that voltage you absorbed in your arm, it's a surprise it didn’t fall off!” Hitomi exclaimed as the three then exchanged laughter.
“I know right? So. How did you end up at The LoveMaars, of all ungodly places?” Caiden asked. The twins’ facial expressions changed.
“It’s a long story,” Nami said as she stressfully ran her fingers through her platinum blond hair. She and her sister were clearly traumatized by an extremely painful memory.
“We’ve got all night,” Caiden replied.
“Okay,” Nami started. “Well, we lived in Rune Village until we were fifteen years old. Our father was the village derelict. In our culture, anyone who strays away from ‘the path of the power within’ is looked down upon. Our people… We're different, to say the least. The customs of Rune Village are unlike anywhere else. But humans are still humans, and boy did we find that out early on."
"That is true," Caiden said. "That must've been really tough to deal with, huh?"
“Our fellow villagers weren't really the problem. Our Dad was abusive, manipulative, and selfish. He terrorized us, and after a while, Mom decided she’d had enough,” Nami said.
“Nevertheless, we were avoided by a lot of the people from the village because of him. That’s when Mom decided that we would move here to Neon District. So that we could start fresh and escape the madness there. The journey here was dangerous. We almost died a couple of times traveling through that wasteland of a desert,” Hitomi added.
Neon District: ALPHA (The Neon District Trilogy, Book 1) Page 6