Lode

Deep breath. Her finger twitches. Let your lungs do their work. Her eyes flutter. Atta girl. She gasps. Dingy streetlights flicker out of her view and cast shadows onto the edges of a narrow space. It’s an alley. How ever did she get in an alley? Ah! She touches her side gingerly… blood. But I’m not surprised…why am I not surprised? It comes back to her, slowly and in pieces but the pain serves as a reminder. Face aches... punched probably. Nose? Oooh, that’s broken. She begins counting her fingers. 10. Well that’s the number they’re supposed to be, I think. Her head it seems is not smashed too terribly. She tries a gander at her side wound. There isn’t a pool of blood, just a stain. Count your blessings, I guess.

She lays there for a moment more as whatever haze she is in passes. Who is this girl? My name is Kaede. She reminds herself. She lists off the things she remembers before finding herself face-up in a piss-smelling puddle. I live in a shanty by the bay. She takes a moment to feel her pockets. There’s something there. Pulling it out she scrutinizes the thin silver band. It’s malleable and long enough to put around her wrist. She slips it on, a bright light pours through the air in a neat rectangle.

You have been unconscious for 2.5 hours.

Heartrate rate reached a dangerous low of 0 bpm.

Please locate local medical authorities immediately

So, she died it seems. A small blue icon blipped in the corner of her display. She reached for it and immediately recoiled at the sound.

“Lode!” shouts a tiny image of a robot in an electronic crackle. “You are alright!”

“Define alright, Uvii. I feel like death, which apparently isn’t inaccurate.” She clears her throat and covers her ear with her free hand. Do they have to be so loud?

“Detective Caisias’ injection worked then! Don’t you remember?” Uvii begins pulling up contact information maybe in hopes of jogging Kaede–or Lode’s memory. It works.

“It’s coming back to me, Uvii… where’s everyone?” As she asks the question Uuvii moves out of the display above her head and dances around where Lode hears movement. Bursting from the corner is a small team of trauma responders and behind them a young man with a neatly trimmed beard and haircut. She doesn’t recognize him. His face is set with a hard line on his brow and a kind of look in his eye that doesn’t bear good news.

“Get her stable and out of here, we need to leave yesterday.” His tone is gruff and urgent, but not aimed at Kaede. Something went wrong somewhere, she’s aware enough to read that much from the situation. From the look he’s giving her, her side of the plan might have been the only thing that went right. The trauma team gets to work moving her, a wise decision on her part to stay still a little while ago. As soon as they move her pain shoots through her system like an electric shock. She gives out a whimper but not more, exhaustion an immediate companion to the stress of it all. The team does their best to get her situated in the ambulance. Two ambulance attendants settle her in the back gurney and set her up with vitals and fluids. One takes the helm and places the HOV in hover. The young man in charge sits in the single rider chair across from the bottom of the bed, but that’s all Kaede can take notice of before a creeping blur to her vision takes hold.

“Stay with me, Lode.” She hears the man say over the commotion around her. “We’ve only just started.”

Kaede vaguely hears the EMT say a few words about her condition, none of which she understood. She knows her arm is stuck with some needles and the wound on her side is being patched up, her head feels a little bit lighter when someone puts a mask over her nose and mouth. She sees the EMT mouth something to her. Breathe, just take a nice deep breath. So she does, and the world fades to black.

Kaede wakes to a dimly lit room. A machine taps away to the rhythm of her heartbeat. What a day. No longer under an overwhelming sense of pain, Kaede chances moving into a sitting position.

“I wouldn’t get up just yet, Lode.” Says a familiar gruff voice. “Might pop your stitches.”

Kaede turns toward the source. The same young man from before stands at the window peering out of one of the slats. Casting a glance, Kaede could see he was quiet, not that he made no noise. He doesn’t move much when he meets her gaze, doesn’t blink or shuffle when he turns his head. His movements are purposeful, direct. He walks toward her with a stride well-practiced of a soldier rather than a cop. Maybe he was military. When he reaches over to turn on the adjacent light to her bed his face in full light is a different story.

His face is nicked with light scars, patchy skin, and a visible burn on the left side of his jaw, but Kaede is most interested in a faded tattoo just above his brow. Three horizontal lines. Two dots. Former Knightwraith. What is a former Knightwraith doing talking to—

“Triad girl, eh? Read up on your file, nasty stuff. Impressive. Caisia chose well.” Kaede perks at the name.

“Where is Detective Caisia?” It isn’t the plan that this man would be talking to her, whoever he is. But he has information, something Kaede desperately needs.

“Dead.” Well, that was unexpected, she thinks. And now it makes sense. The team was late because they were delayed. This guy is the secondary handler. Someone killed Detective Caisia. Plans have changed.

“Oh.” It really is all Kaede can say. She isn’t overly attached to the detective, but she is—was a friendly face in a world Kaede did not know very well. The guy sitting next to her now doesn’t miss a beat.

“Sergeant Rigs Marquez. I’m your new primary handler. As I’m sure you’ve figured out some plans have changed.”

He stays quiet, letting her take it in. The plan used to be she’d walk away from everything holding her to this place. This city, Neon Heights, was the hole she just couldn’t crawl out of. It seems like so many little rats on the street she’d die here…and stay dead.

“I guess shipping myself off to a colony isn’t in play anymore.” She muses. Her new handler only nods. Marquez, like Kaede, bore a little more weight on his shoulders. She didn’t know what relationship he had with Detective Caisia, but it was obvious her death meant he would shoulder more of the burden if whatever the new plans were didn’t work out. Kaede keeps silent, not wanting to know what other things she must do in this city, it takes everything from her and finds more to take. Marquez rises from the chair and in one fluid movement opens his console from his own wristband. A clean interface appears midair, and he swipes an icon toward her. Her own bracelet lights up, receiving the message.

“That’s my contact information. I figure today has been enough of an adventure for you. I’ll be back tomorrow, so rest up if you can. See you soon.” He leaves without another glance and strides evenly to the automatic door. Alone with her thoughts, Kaede can’t help but stare at the slat he left open while the rest blackened the room. Can’t see outside, but he lets in a little neon glow. Why does that seem like some kind of metaphor?

She presses close on the shutter controls on her bed then turns off the lights. Pressing on her bracelet, Uuvii greets her with a wave, or what looks like a wave as she wiggles a thin adapter on top of her small frame. She archives Sgt. Marquez’s message. Tapping another corner of her screen she brings up a new chat box.

L: plan worked on my part. Not dead. Handler dead.

C: L! Worried about you. Story’s over the Net. Gang involvement. Hit job.

L: Figured. Triad?

C: No. At least I don’t think so. Net says Triad, Knightwraith, even Night Market is spooked.

L: But you don’t think so.

C: No too clean. Professional.

L: F0x?

Kaede waits for a moment for Cnode to reply, but the pause tells her what she needs to know.

C: Did they say when you can get back?

L: No. C, take care. Tell more when I can.

C: You too, L. Please.

She closes the chat. If Cnode thinks it is a professional, it’s likely to be true. Detective Caisia’s death meant another player is part of her case. Wonderful…another deadbeat, another psychopath with a victory score. That psychopath is F0x, the Net’s boogieman. It’s unlikely she will sleep tonight. Opening another part of her screen, Kaede brings up a sound mixer and board. It’s the only thing that helps her relax. She checks the volume then turns it down to where only she can hear it and begins to play.