by KT Belt
Ramses landed with a distinct thud, which made several people nearby gasp. But his prey, slender and nimble, could not be seen. She could be sensed, however, if imprecisely.
Artemis moved at a fast walk with an unabashed grin. If she’d known it would be this fun, she would have done this years ago. Ramses was right behind her but gained no ground. She slipped by people too fast for them to even register what she was and moved aside those directly in the way with a soft telekinetic thrust. She soon realized, though, that her handler quite easily followed in her wake. She grinned again as she thought of the optimum countermeasure.
It started with a rather large woman who was paying attention to nothing at all. Artemis telekinetically pushed her right in front of Ramses, and the two collided with a definite crash. The woman shrieked from the pain of touching his bioelectric field as she fell down, but she was otherwise unharmed. The scene caused several around them to run, though. All they knew was that someone was screaming around a Clairvoyant, which meant it had to be bad. Yet somehow their feet were redirected to run right into Ramses. He wasn’t a particularly powerful Clairvoyant, but he was a Clairvoyant. Agile and quick, he dodged the people coming at him from multiple directions, almost as if it were a dance.
“Artemis!” he yelled when it was done.
His voice was so loud that she could feel the glass of the superstructure vibrate. It only made her grin wider. She had reached the stairs that led to the upper levels. By this point, there was nothing she had to do to impede his progress. The main floor was complete chaos to the point that he had to abandon his chase and attempt to restore order. Several security guards, after realizing he wasn’t a crazed Clairvoyant, also helped, but it was futile.
“Ah,” she said softly when she reached the floor she wanted.
She knew exactly where she wanted to go since the beginning. Several of the workers of the dress shop were standing outside.
“What’s going on down there?” one of them asked her when she got close enough.
Then the attendant paused a moment. She had been so interested in the commotion on the main floor that she didn’t comprehend at first that she was talking to a Clairvoyant. Artemis paid it no mind.
“Nothing important,” she answered simply as she walked into the store.
It was near empty, as almost everyone was watching what was going on down below. She figured she didn’t have much time. She quickly scanned the latest fashions. Once, Ramses was nice enough to allow her a PDD so she could browse clothes for fun. That was, until he destroyed the device in front of her for some offence she could no longer remember.
She found her way to the Evonean section like a heat-seeking missile. Earth fashions were too conservative for her taste. She felt twenty years older just looking at them. New Earth wasn’t sophisticated enough. It was basic and functional but drab. Her eyes eventually found exactly what she was looking for. The dress was a deep purple and managed to keep the difficult balance of being provocative without being suggestive. She was never allowed to wear anything like it at the parties at the facility. But she was no longer allowed to go to them anyway.
She retrieved the dress telekinetically from the rack and laid it against her body as she looked in a mirror.
“Yes, yes, perfect,” Artemis said softly.
She heard Ramses scream something down below but ignored it. She was already heading to the dressing rooms. Her eye estimated almost perfectly; the dress slipped on as if it were made for her. She smiled, but the expression was dropped when she looked at her clothes from the facility. Dull and plain, they never fit her well. Sure, her dress would be torn to shreds in a fight, but what difference did that make? She left her old clothes and gave them no further thought as she walked toward the cashier.
“Clairvoyant?”
“Yes,” Artemis responded. “Please bill the facility. They owe me a lifetime anyway,” she said.
The cashier didn’t really know what she was talking about but nodded anyway. “When will you be returning the item?”
“On no, this isn’t a rental. This is to keep. Add on a fifty-credit tip as well.”
After a short pause to get over her shock, the cashier uttered, “Oh, thank you. Is that all?”
“No, not all,” Artemis said as she began to walk away. “It’s just the beginning.”
She left the store and went to her next destination, a chocolate shop right next door. It was a small store with only an elderly gentleman to mind the place. He swallowed hard when she entered but was able to force a smile. She smiled as well.
“How may I help you?” he asked.
She slowly scanned the store but didn’t see what she was looking for. “Do you have any Earth chocolate?”
“Yes, a new shipment just came in this morning. I haven’t had the time to put any out yet.”
Artemis licked her lips in anticipation. Unfortunately, she had no money, and she doubted the facility had an account with this store. The idea of just stealing the chocolate came and went almost as quickly as she could have killed him, if she so wished.
“I don’t have any money. Can I have a free sample…please?”
The man couldn’t manage to look her in the eye. She didn’t begrudge him that. She simply pleaded silently to the best of her ability.
“Oh, all right. I’ve got it in the back. Wait here.”
“Thank you!” she squealed, clapping her hands.
He returned with a small piece, which she popped in her mouth immediately. She let the chocolate slowly melt while she closed her eyes. She sighed blissfully when she swallowed. Though she didn’t fancy Earth-style clothing, their food was another matter. Having a several thousand-year head start on the Great Colonies helped.
“Thank you,” she said as she opened her eyes.
The old man nodded as she started toward the door. “Tell your friends about me,” he called casually.
Artemis stopped in place. She didn’t have any friends. She didn’t even have anyone who would talk to her without yelling. She figured that was all too much to explain, though, and simply nodded in response. Feeling slightly dour, she considered where to go next.
She heard Ramses calling for her. He didn’t even attempt to conceal the wrath in his tone. She sighed again, feeling the exact opposite of bliss. Then Artemis saw a makeup store two levels above her. She flew to it and, upon landing, let the dress wash seductively over her legs. She did, however, hold it in place telekinetically so that no one watching from any angle could get a glimpse of what they weren’t supposed to.
This store was quite busy. Scores of women buzzed about, excitedly arguing about and sampling lipsticks, perfumes, and other products from a dozen different worlds. Artemis had never tried makeup before. The lesson completely escaped Ramses’s attention. She smiled as she watched the women work, curious if she could ever get so interested in something seemingly so simple.
“May I…” the greeter started but then trailed off.
“Yes, I need help,” Artemis finished for her. The woman nodded slowly. Artemis didn’t think much of it as, compared to some, it was a relatively mild reaction. “I’ve never done this before,” she admitted. “…I’m going to need someone to show me how.” Her cheeks reddened as she realized how inept that made her sound.
The greeter nodded again, this time more confidently. She turned around. “We can do that, but—”
“I can wait my turn,” Artemis said. “Treat me like a normal person,” she added after reading her.
“Okay. We’ll be with you as soon as we can.”
She nodded and then began walking slowly through the store while she waited. Eventually, she came upon a young girl and her mother seated in front of a mirror. The girl was maybe seven or eight. The mother was ostensibly trying on makeup, but she was far more focused on playing with her daughter in front of the mirror.
“Mommy, I want to try that one,” the girl said.
“All right. Let me show you how.”
Artemis watched silently from a little ways away, just behind them. She could never imagine her mother treating her like that. At this point, she could barely remember her mother. They had so little contact that it was like she was a ghost. This girl’s mother put some glitter in her hair, which made her laugh. Artemis smiled drily. When she was that age, she was cleaning blood out of her hair.
“You!” someone yelled behind her.
She knew it was Ramses and didn’t even turn to look at him. The store went completely quiet.
“You fucking bitch,” he said. He moved to stand next to her, but she didn’t even glance in his direction. “Forget your interview. We are going back to the facility right now, even if I have to drag you, kicking and screaming, by your hair!”
Artemis took a few steps forward and then knelt to the girl’s level. “Aren’t you so pretty?” she said softly. “I wish I had a mom who cared about me like yours does. You’re very lucky.”
Ramses continued to rant. She ignored him. The girl looked at her but said nothing. Her mother, however, whimpered softly as she grabbed her daughter in a hug, worry and fear drenching every action. Artemis stood up and backed away. She didn’t intend to cause that reaction, and her eyes fell as she frowned.
“You will fucking acknowledge me, you crazy bitch!” Ramses barked.
Artemis’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t turn to face him.
“I don’t care what you are or what you can do. One week! You couldn’t last one week, you demented psycho!” he continued. “You are going back to your hole at the facility, and if it were up to me, you would never be let out! Feeding you scraps through the door would be too good for you! I remember what you are, Artemis. I remember you thanking me—thanking me with tears in your eyes when I came to collect you. It was pathetic.”
In one fluid motion, the young Clairvoyant turned and punched him in the throat, crushing his windpipe. Ramses fell to one knee and clutched at his neck as his eyes bulged and he struggled for breath. Countless people screamed. The greeter ran out of the store, shouting, “She killed! She killed him! She’s a monster!” over and over again. Most everyone in the store joined her, except the half-dozen or so people right next to Artemis who were too afraid to move a muscle.
She stared down at her handler as he died. “Why do you look so surprised, Ramses?” she mocked. “I’m crazy, aren’t I?”
He wheezed out an answer that no one would ever know. She took a deep breath, and it felt like hate was filling her lungs. She exhaled it bitterly.
“All I wanted was for you to love me. That’s all I ever wanted. You knew that ever since you took me from a horrible place and put me in a worse one. I would have done anything for you,” she said, her voice trembling.
Handler and charge looked each other in the eye for one long moment. She could have read his thoughts, but she didn’t. Then, at last, his eyes rolled into the back of his skull and he sank to the ground. She turned and saw the little girl, now screaming and crying into her mother’s quivering breast.
Artemis sighed softly. “…Shit.”
16
Darkened Future
Subject: Edge Age: 18 Status: Prerelease
“They’re letting her out. Edge, look! They’re actually letting her out!”
Carmen looked at her younger counterpart and smiled weakly. She was casually floating in the air with two other assets who were only a month out from their first flight. They often squealed about all manner of nonsense that wasn’t worth an ant’s attention, but this time their excited panic made Carmen moderately interested. She turned to look down on whoever they were talking about and saw Artemis staring back at her. The fellow one-percenter seemed none too pleased to see her, and Carmen was quite certain she saw her clench a fist. After only a few seconds, though, Artemis seemed to no longer care and paid her no further mind.
“Yes, it seems that they are,” Carmen said as she watched the girl at the gate.
Artemis had some sort of altercation there—really, she should have been named Altercation instead of Artemis—but it passed quickly. After that, she and her handler went on their way.
“Did you see the last time they let her out? She knocked what’s…what’s-his-name’s block off. She’s crazy, isn’t she, Edge?” the other one asked.
Carmen hadn’t been paying attention to them. She rarely if ever did. She was mere days—a week, really—from being released. She was only eighteen, but that made her an old lady, at least for this place. She had named these two Pip and Squeak. She couldn’t remember their actual names. For the past couple weeks, they became a constant if sometimes annoying entourage. A few of the other, more approachable, assets around her age had their own hangers-on as well. None of the handlers encouraged it, but they didn’t object either.
The two girls patiently watched Edge for a few seconds while she silently looked off into the distance. One of them coughed when it was obvious she wasn’t going to answer.
“Yes, she is crazy,” she said simply, content to leave it at that.
Everyone knew the two of them had fought once. It was practically a legend by this point. Everyone also knew it was a subject she wouldn’t speak of, and no one talked to Artemis. Pip and Squeak had learned the lesson mere minutes after they first met her. In any event, the girls continued on with some inanity she paid no attention to. She sometimes humored them, but not today. She was in no mood.
The finality of her impending release pounded into her skull like a nail. It was all she thought about every day and all she dreamt about every night. Her counterparts who were also about to be released said the same. They, however, all said they were going to join Space Force, a planetary self-defense force, or even do mercenary work. She was nowhere near as certain. The last punch she threw was in her fight with Artemis, and she preferred to keep it that way.
“Edge, Edge, Ed—” Squeak said with increasing volume. The name was well earned, as far as Carmen was concerned.
“What?” she spat, rolling her eyes. The girls shuddered slightly upon hearing her tone, and she rolled her eyes again. “Yes?” she asked more pleasantly.
Pip and Squeak glanced at each other with a sly grin before they looked at her. What is it now? she thought. But she felt a soft pinprick on her consciousness right when they opened their mouths. She raised a hand to hold them off and looked to see what it was. When she saw it, she smiled as well.
Carmen fell from the sky like a stone. She landed right in front of her handler and stopped short of hugging her.
“Thank you for rescuing me,” she said.
Kali looked at her charge with rising eyebrows until she saw Carmen’s entourage floating after her. She smiled evilly.
“Your prerelease interview is today,” she said.
Carmen nodded. “I know,” she said, not realizing the trap she just stepped into.
“Prerelease interview? Can we come?” Pip and Squeak asked together.
They were standing behind her and couldn’t see her eyes grow wide with horror at the question. It made Kali laugh lightly. Carmen mouthed, “No,” several times.
“I’d have to speak with your handlers to sign you out. But it could be a good learning experience…. Edge, what do you think?”
If there was any time Carmen ever seriously considered murdering her handler, it was now. “It will be pretty boring. I don’t think so,” she said.
“Oh, we don’t mind. Please?” Pip and Squeak said together.
“Well, girls, if you don’t seem to mind, I don’t see why not,” Kali replied.
Carmen felt like she was on fire. “I will kill you,” she spoke to her handler telepathically.
Kali laughed again. “Well, on second thought, it wouldn’t really be appropriate,” she said. “The interview is for Edge’s benefit and no one else’s.” Pip and Squeak were about to protest until she flashed them a look. “That’s final.”
The two girls shuddered, much like how they did earlier, and said n
o more. Kali motioned with her head, and the two started walking. When they were safely out of earshot, Kali stopped and turned to look at her charge.
“…Would you have really killed me?” she asked, curious.
Carmen folded her arms and stretched to her full height. “Sometimes handlers deserve it,” she said, punctuating the comment with a smirk.
Kali slapped her playfully, and they started walking again. Some commotion was going on outside the gate that could be heard even now. Carmen figured it was a protest of some sort. They were relatively rare, but she had been witness to a few on occasion. The gate guard paid them completely no attention.
“She was very snide, but not anything extreme,” he said to whomever he was talking to on the phone. Kali sighed and retrieved the appropriate paperwork telekinetically when it was clear he was too preoccupied to give it to her. “I asked her handler if he wanted me to call a suppression team, but he said it wouldn’t be necessary,” the guard continued.
“What’s going on?” Carmen asked.
Kali glanced at her. “I don’t know,” she said as she handed back the paperwork. The guard didn’t even look at her when he took it. “Let’s go.”
Carmen nodded, and handler and charge exited the facility proper. There wasn’t some sort of mass protest as she expected, just Clairvoyants waiting for the bus as they always did. They were, however, arguing amongst each other and quite loudly. She’d never seen anything like it before.
Kali stepped forward. “What’s going on?” she asked no one in particular. “What happened?”
The handler closest to them looked at her. “Artemis. Artemis is what happened,” he responded. Kali looked at him hard. “She threatened the bus driver,” he said after a sigh. “Now he and every other bus driver in the company is refusing to serve Clairvoyant passengers. The facility is trying to find another company to fill the contract, but this happened only a few minutes ago.”