"Can you pull up the roof feed and keep it on?" I asked Mez.
"No problem," Mez replied and his hands moved through the empty air in front of him. A moment later, all the monitors in front of him shifted to the same feed. Zenigra was standing on the rooftop, his arms crossed. An Aerodyne was landing in front of him, only a few feet away.
I watched as the Aerodyne powered down. The door opened and the helmeted, armored figure of Vic Lansing stepped out. He took a few steps away from the Aerodyne and spoke.
"I'm here. Where's the kid?"
"How much are they paying you? To bring him back I mean," Zenigra said.
"That's irrelevant. Unless you've got some dermal weave armor under those grafts my helmet isn't detecting, it's in your best interest to stop talking and get the kid up here." I watched as Lansing's hand drifted slowly down toward the gun on his belt. Zenigra didn't even flinch.
"Sure. He's on his way up now," Zenigra replied.
"That's my cue," I said to Mez.
"Good luck. You're going to need it if this goes bad."
"It won't," I replied, and headed out of the room.
It was only one flight up to the roof and I took the stairs quickly. I didn't like the idea of what Lansing would do to Zenigra if he was kept waiting. I slowed down as I got to the top, I didn't want Lansing to think I was in a rush or anything.
I walked out onto the roof with as much casual grace as I could muster. It wasn't much. Mez was right, this could all go very wrong and if it did, Zenigra and I were most likely dead.
I walked up and stood next to Zenigra. I was still dressed in my Du-Wear but I wasn't carrying a weapon. Zenigra and I had agreed that if we were unarmed we would look like much less of a threat.
"Get in the Aerodyne," Lansing said, his voice cold.
"First, tell me how much Skywatch is paying to bring me back to Miami."
"This is not a discussion. Get in the Aerodyne or I start putting holes in your friend."
"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. What's the harm in answering?" I replied.
"I don't discuss my contracts or fees with bounty heads."
"Even when it's in your best interest to do so?"
"Explain," said Lansing. His posture shifted slightly and I could tell that he was curious. That must have been an unusual thing for him. "If you're hoping to offer me more money, I seriously doubt that's possible."
"Tell me how much money and then I'll know."
"Five hundred thousand."
My mouth dropped open. "For me? What the hell could make me so valuable?" I exclaimed.
"That bacteria you have in your blood. It wasn’t random bad luck that you and the other kids caught it. They gave it to you. All of you. It was an experiment. Skywatch developed the bacteria to mutate human cells. It was supposed to make you stronger, faster. They tried to use it on adults, to make a better soldier, but the cells were too old. All their test subjects died.”
“So they decided to test it on children?” I asked, anger filling my voice.
“I suppose they thought younger cells would prove more versatile and apt to handle the change. But something happened and the kids started dying. Their ‘cure’ was to give you a nano-vaccine that prevented the bacteria from becoming fully active. Now that you’re old enough, they’re bringing you in for testing and training. They want to see what you can do and figure out the military applications. You aren’t normal, kid. You’ve got something special inside you. Now, since we can both agree you don’t have anything close to five hundred thousand dollars lying around. Come and get in the aerodyne before I feel the need to make you."
"Wait," I said, "You know Lucas, right? The one who said he would watch me until he was done with me and then turn me over to you?"
Lansing nodded.
"You're on retainer for his competition now."
"You're well informed."
Now came the gamble. Money paid versus money promised.
"What's more important? What supersedes what? Your contract to bring me in or your retainer?"
"Irrelevant. You mean nothing to them."
"I don't," I agreed, "but Lucas does. I know they're after him. He told me as much. The organization has suffered a lot with him as competition. We have him. We'll turn him over to you. If you leave me and the Snakes alone. Go back to Skywatch and tell them I’m dead."
I tried not to fidget as Lansing mulled it over, but I ended up scratching at my arm anyway.
"They don't have the money to pay me what he's worth anymore. They're barely covering my retainer as is. Even with Lucas out of the way, someone else would just step up and they would still be going out of business. No deal."
A pang of fear crept through me. This wasn't going as well as I planned. Still, I had an ace up my sleeve. I tried to make my voice sound as confident as possible when I spoke next.
"Do you know why Lucas needed me?"
"Is it relevant?"
"Yes."
"Then why?"
"He was so afraid of you and others like you, and of any decker getting into his system, that he took all his pay data and he put it on one chip. One single chip. And he implanted that chip into a person. Me. So that no one could get at it. Piner came close, but he's dead now. I'm offering to give you Lucas, and the chip. What's that worth to you?"
Lansing remained quiet for a long time. I suppose he was doing some mental calculation of how much money he could get out of Lucas' competition and comparing that to the damage his reputation would take if word got out that he failed to complete a job.
It all came down to money earned versus money promised. In the end, the promise of more money won out.
Lansing's helmeted gaze shifted from me to Zenigra and then back again.
"This boy must be very important to you for you to have risked your life for him."
Zenigra nodded.
"I saw what you did in Scantville. That town that got hit with Ebola."
"The people they had locked up and dying in that gymnasium deserved to live just as much as the rest of the town," I said, my voice growing angry.
"I agree. That's why I gave you as much of a head start as I did. You're smarter than you look, kid."
"Do we have a deal?"
"We do. I will tell Skywatch you are dead. Body unrecoverable."
And then, it was done. Lansing waited on the roof while I went back inside and walked down the stairs to the holding cell I'd been kept in only a few days before. I could have called with my comm implant, had someone bring him up, but I wanted to do this personally.
Lucas kicked, screamed, and begged the whole way up to the roof. The handcuffs and ankle chains kept him from running away. They didn't stop him from trying to bribe everyone we encountered as we made our trip up to the roof. The Snakes just laughed at him.
I pushed Lucas out onto the roof and Lansing stepped forward to take him.
"You!" Lucas said.
"That's right, Lucas," I said, "I guess you aren't so smart after all." And I handed Lansing the data chip that I had the Snakes’ cyber doc remove the day before.
After Lansing had stuffed Lucas into the Aerodyne and taken off, I looked over at Zenigra.
"Thanks for being there for me again, mano."
"Well," Zenigra said, "standing up to the likes of Vic Lansing? I'd have done that for free."
I laughed, and we walked back into the Snake base together, already discussing different schemes we could use to pay off our debts and move up in the world.
*
I woke up the next morning invigorated.
I walked out into the living room to find Zenigra sipping on a beer. He was sitting on the sofa, his feet kicked up on the table in front of him. He grinned at me.
"You ready to make some money?" I asked, raising my arms over my head in a stretch.
"It ain't gunna be easy, so don’t get ya hopes up," He said, finishing the last of his beer, kicking his feet of the table, and standing up.
&
nbsp; "Zenny, we make a pretty good team, you and me,” I stated.
“What we been through, can’t argue with ya there, Sev.” He said walking over to the door.
Cheerful as I was feeling, I knew it was going to be an uphill battle for Zenigra and me to pull our own with the Snakes. Still, with what we had survived with Lucas and the way we had handled Lansing, I knew we were both ready for whatever Boston had to throw at us.
I walked out of the apartment with Zenigra, feeling for the first time in over a year, that my destiny was back in my own hands.
***
Epilogue
I kick my feet off the desk as the door to the office opens and two armed Yakuza step in. They are followed by a towering brick shithouse of a man who somehow still looks like he is only in his forties. He has to stoop down and turn to the side to fit through the door. He is followed in by two more armed Yakuza.
My eyes flicker over to the guns in their hands as I round the desk, noting that their fingers are indeed on their triggers. I cross my arms over my chest and drum the fingers of my left hand against the hilt of one of the machetes strapped to my waist.
One of the two leading Yakuza steps forward and offers a bow that I don't bother to return.
"As ordered, Ecks-sama," he says.
I suck on my teeth for a moment before glancing over at Kousen. She kills the furniture act and steps up to my side, leaning in close to me.
"You know what you must do, and what will happen if you do not." She says in a clipped hiss that she probably thinks sounds sensual. "He must die. Forever die. For what he has done."
Her body language tells me everything I need to know. She's enjoying seeing me in this position. Brought low by the weight of a decision I'll have to carry with me for the rest of my life.
I hold up my right hand to silence her and turn my attention to the towering man before me.
"Zenny," I say with an upward nod.
"Sev," He replies with a smile.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brendan was born in the early 80s and is a web designer, game developer, and entrepreneur. He is a fan of cyberpunk, post-cyberpunk, dystopian fiction, and role-playing games including Sindome a realistic multiplayer text-based cyberpunk RPG set 85 years in the future (and part of the same universe as his book series).
He lives on Boston with his partner in crime/part-time editor Meg, and their cats Siete and Nueve.
He can be found online at http://www.brendanbutts.com/
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