Let’s Eat - Naoma


    I eyed my coveted guilty pleasure song on my neurospace interface, my mind trembling with disgust and fearful anticipation. I thought about playing it, perhaps one last time, before it became tainted by my assignment. There was no use. It was already too late. All Deleon needed was for me to show the kid how to feed. Didn’t matter how or where we did it, so I chose a route that would lead us to a private enough feeding spot.


    Boyband grunted as my shoulders hit his.


    “Hey!” He scowled at me.


    “Sorry. You would have thought that by now, someone would have figured out how to make a smooth train ride.”


    “I’ve been on ones that aren’t this bad.”


    “Yeah, but any in the sky? How great of us to sacrifice practicality for novelty, right?”


    “What?”


    I smiled and shook my head. “Nothing.”


    “So, where are we going?”


    I looked at him, but he avoided me. If everyone hadn’t been staring at his indigo-laced clothes, I doubt he would have sat so close to me. I wasn’t worried about him just yet. After his first assignment, he would learn that his Bite made him a lot more powerful than anyone glaring at him on the skytrack.


    I pointed to the map above the windows across from us. “We’re on 3A.”


    “Where’s 3A?”


    “It''s not a place, it''s—oh, come on, kid, aren’t you familiar with the skytack lines?”


    He pointed to the indigo light on his jacket. It would burn out soon enough without his parent’s money to pay for it. “I don’t need public trains in the Indigo district.”


    “Right. Rich parents.”


    “Oh, so you think because you’ve had it tough that you are so much better than me? I lost everything. I know how hard life can be, and don’t call me kid.”


    You don’t know the least of it. You’ll get a taste of your new life at the end of this ride. Taste. I almost laughed at the sick joke. “How old are you?”


    “What does that matter?”


    “If you don’t want to be a kid, how old are you, buddy?”


    “Zeg you!”


    “Kid has a mouth on him, huh? Learn that now that you’re living with rough people like us? We’re just trash to you violet citizens, right?”


    “Indigo. We weren’t that rich.”


    Boy, you and I are worlds apart.


    “I’m nineteen.” He grumbled after a moment of silence.


    “Checks out.”


    “I’m an adult. How old are you, twenty?”


    I chuckled. “Twenty eight.”


    The sound of rushing wind beyond the cabin walls filled the pause in our conversation. The light on the map showed that we had a fourth of our journey left.


    “No kid, alright?”


    “Alright, Boyband.”


    He laughed and shook his head.


    I scrolled through my neurospace and prepared to tap into one of my five remaining socitabs. I would need to download more before we left for–zeg. Was Deleon going to send us into the heart of the Violet district to pursue the Entertainment politicians? Where else would we find Naoma? How did he expect us to blend in? How could we even get in? Boyband looked rich, but the Indigo residents were still worlds apart from the affluence of the Violet residents.


    Boyband pointed at the map, and I stopped myself from turning to a socitab to forget my concerns.


    “So where is 3A taking us?”


    “An Orange district.”


    “Why out there?”


    “It''s not too far from where we were in the blue. Deleon’s hub is on the western edge of Zingang. Take this line twenty minutes west of that and we are in an Orange district.”


    “But why? Just for some food? If I wanted to eat trash made by the poor, I could have found it in Zingang. I have before.”


    Food. Is that what you told him, Deleon? You sick shac. “You’re familiar with Zingang? I thought the Blue was too poor for you.”


    He shook his head. “Most of my schooling was in the center of Zingang.”


    I nodded.


    “I’ve just never been to the orange, let alone the green.”


    “Let me guess, your parents warned you about them? Told you the poor will jump you and steal any light they find on you?”


    “No, they were more liberal than most on that topic. I got into a couple of fights with them after telling them what my friends said. I hear horrible things about the Yellow, even worse about the Orange and Red.”


    “The Red district is terrible. I wouldn’t take you to Orange just yet, but Yellow isn’t too bad.”


    “You’ve been to Red?”


    Incarceration after crossing the border. A voice echoed in my mind. “Zeggin’ slav, if you don’t like it here we’ll toss you to the glowbones in the Red. Get it? One bad move and you’re their food.”


    “No, but I’ve been close.” I neither wanted to talk about that or his feeding, but I was caught between the two. “What do you think about Deleon?”


    “Why? Does he have something to do with the Red?”


    I wish I could toss him in there. I shook my head. “No. Just wanted to know how he treated you when he found you. Has he explained what we do here?”


    “He fed me, gave me a home after I lost mine. I kind of understand what we are doing here–not now, but with the ruling parties and all that. He didn’t explain much else.” He shrugged. “Seems like a nice person.”


    Seems like. That’s your problem. “But he put the Bite in, right?”


    “Huh?”


    I tapped the back of my head. “Hypothalamic implant. You’ve got one?”


    “Oh, yeah, that. Didn’t really explain that part, but he said it would help. I don’t know with what, but I felt like I had no choice. He took me in and–”


    A voice spoke over the intercom. “Now arriving: Old Trenton - Orange District East station. Please gather your belongings and prepare for your stop.”


    He looked at the worn crowd of laborers who neared the doors, then at me.


    I nodded and waved for him to follow me towards the exit.


    No one kept eye contact with me. I was glad. My distinct violet eyes tended to lead people to believe I was from Violet District, despite my similarly poor appearance to theirs. My sleek white athletic jacket had its fair share of cuts and burnt out light patches.


    I traced my hand along words cut into the wall by the doors.


    Zeg Farm.


    Poor spelling, but it made its point by speaking how we all felt. I heard their reign began with insulin, that was until diabetes was cured. New diseases somehow arose and their origin was too convenient to be considered a conspiracy. Medicine will find its income no matter what. I believed in the natural origin of techbone, at least. Perhaps the light gods were punishing us for cutting away our bodies in place of artificial constructs. Did the kid have any implants besides the bite? It was likely. I would have bought some at his age if I had the money, but I had other problems at nineteen.


    The flashing lights through the window slowed, becoming advertisements and buildings instead of blurs.


    “Arrived: Old Trenton - Orange District East station. Please mind the gap. Thank you for using Republic Skytrack.”


    I stepped ahead, looked side to side, then waved for Boyband to follow me to the left, away from the orange lights of the city’s center. Only a few of the commuters exited with us.


    “Where to now?”


    I checked back over my shoulder. Two people were behind us. Both of their heads hung low. The orange street lamps still glowed, even though it was midday.


    Deleon could have picked a better time for us to feed, but the kid would have to get used to day hunting eventually. He had grown shakier by the minute. He was already grinding his teeth. When the true hunger calls, delaying only increases the risks.


    “Don’t worry, you’ll feel better a lot sooner.”


    “I ate some 2-real sausage and a slice of bread before the meeting. I’m not usually hungry around this time.”


    Every second I delayed, I only made it worse. I clenched my fists, digging my rough fingernails into my palms. It would be better to break our prey’s jaw and lay the feast out for him before he could run away.


    I prayed to the light that his first feeding would go better than mine. If Keiro hadn’t been assigned to me, maybe Ralia wouldn’t have made my first target a kid just like I was. I never wished death upon anyone, except for Deleon, but maybe Keiro’s had been an act of the light’s justice. Life had been much better since he left us. Still, it struggled to believe that it was a life worth living.


    Deleon’s promise held me.


    Now, maybe giving this kid the best life he could have would be another thing to keep me afloat.


    “Pet?”


    “Only Ralia calls me that. Petya is fine. She’s a little too–she’s her own type. You’ll figure her out soon enough.” I turned back. Only one person followed us. “And don’t get too excited if she kisses you. That’s just who she is.”


    He laughed a little, his face slightly grimacing, though I couldn’t tell if it was from disgust or the growing hunger pains.


    As we neared a bench, I pointed to it and sat. “Wait here a second. I need to check something.”


    He nodded and sat next to me.


    I looked up as if staring into my neurospace, but kept the person behind us in my periphery, only looking at him as he passed.


    “Are you using a fix?”


    “What? No, who told you I–”


    “Deleon said you had a problem with them.”


    “I don’t.” By the light, I did. Those zegging socitabs pulled me away from the thrills of social contact. I told myself I was becoming better, but I knew that was just another excuse. “Don’t use them. Waste of money.” I held my next thought back. Even when you are tempted to escape our somber reality, don’t lose touch with it. I looked at the man down the street, trying to decide if I should pulverize his mind to make it easier on the kid.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    No, I couldn’t. He had to see it for what it was. The screams of our victim kept us in check. They were torturous to the psyche but taught us to always remember the cost of our labors. Never take a life for granted. I wondered if I would have eaten real meat if I had the money to do so. Maybe I wouldn’t, knowing that each pleasurable bite came at the cost of an animal’s life. There were other things to satiate the gut’s appetite. Teeth were the only choice for our implant’s hunger.


    “I’ve had plenty of them.”


    “What?” I looked back at him.


    “Fixes.”


    “Oh, yeah, right. So you weren''t a perfect child, huh?”


    “I’m nineteen. The guidelines only say that you should wait until eighteen until using. Still, I had a lot as a kid.”


    “So your parents were more lax on it than others?”


    “Zeg, no,” he chuckled. “Rich or poor, teenagers will live. They only rotted my mind a little.” He elbowed me.


    I smiled back at him. For a moment I forgot our feeding. His shaking hands quickly reminded me of our duty.


    “I don’t care for them anymore. Why live old memories while I’m in my prime? Why pump my mind with false feelings? They’re too distracting.”


    “I wish I was like you.” I was only a little sarcastic.


    “You can be.”


    Our prey crossed the street and entered an alley just after a foreclosed restaurant.


    I stood and waved for him to follow. We crossed with no cars in sight.


    The alley opened up to another busy street on the other side, but our prey still had time before he finished his shortcut. Trash littered the ground and luckily there were two large green dumpsters on the left side. A fire escape rose on the building to the right, with some light shining through the upper residential windows. If I didn’t have the kid with me, I would have climbed up to eat at the top. The alley wasn’t optimal, especially for a first feed, but I felt confident we could stay hidden. In the end, it was the Orange district. Two levels above the low Red, random acts of crime were common enough.


    A full set would keep him full for a couple of days if he didn’t spend too much Bite energy, especially if the teeth were clean. I would take a couple, holding me over until I could take out a quick target alone at a later point.


    “Where are we going?” he whispered right behind my shoulder.


    I stopped for a second. “Link with my neurospace.”


    He touched me and a request popped into my neruospace interface. I accepted it and sent a message.


    Petya: Don’t say anything. Follow me and do what I tell you. This is going to suck. Don’t freak out.


    I felt him stumble and cursed myself for intimidating him.


    Petya: You will be safe. This will help stop your shaking. But please, if you can’t stay quiet and by my side, we are going to be in big trouble.


    Devóne: What is happening?


    Petya: Baptism by fire.


    “Hey!” I shouted and ran a few steps forward. “Excuse me?”


    The man ahead of us turned back and spared a glance.


    “We’re lost. Can’t seem to find a restaurant.”


    “Did you look at your map?” he grumbled. He looked cleaner than most I had seen in the Orange districts. Still, his tie was loose and his suit had plenty of stains.


    Probably a hard-working husband off to provide for his family by what humble means he had. Zeg it. These are the kind of thoughts I had to keep out of Boyband’s mind.


    I continued to walk towards him. “The problem is, we don’t know any good ones. We’re from out of town and could use a suggestion.”


    He waved us away like the pests that we were. “Just jump on some neuroforum. I’m late as it is.”


    “I prefer a recommendation I can verify. I’ll send you a few lumens for your time.”


    He sighed loud enough to ensure that we were aware of the inconvenience. “What kind are you looking for?”


    “Just a second.” I acted as if I was pulling something from my jacket pocket as he approached. I kept digging, though I had nothing in it, until he was a step away from me.


    Petya: Don’t do anything. Just stay here.


    “Really, pal, I gotta–”


    I pounced on him like a rabid ape, throwing him to the floor with the speed of a lightrifle shot.


    He didn’t scream, but a choking sound came from his throat as he smacked against the ground. Blood pooled from behind his head.


    “Wha–what are you–”


    I grabbed Boyband’s arm before he could run away. “Stop and keep quiet.”


    I let go and crouched, relieved to see that the impact was enough to do the duty. I reached my hands into his mouth, turned back to nod at Boyband, then moved my prey’s head close to me as I broke his jaw wide open, away from the kid’s view.


    He let out a whimper as I lowered the silently screaming head back to its pool of blood. Strength filled my fingers as I burned the essence of my Bite. With a grip strong enough to crush a rock, I ripped the bottom molars from his skull and separated the gums from the teeth before offering them to Boyband.


    “Eat these.” I demanded.


    “What is zegging wrong with you, you sick bastard? Get that away–”


    I grabbed his arm, squeezing it tight enough to bruise before loosening my grip. “Your arms are going to keep shaking and you’ll pass out if you don’t. You wonder why I hate Deleon? This is why. That little thing in the back of your head? It made you one of us. You’re an Imp now. If you don’t eat teeth, you’ll die.” Worse would come before that, but I didn’t need to tell him.


    “What are you talking about?”


    I thought about slapping him, but I needed his trust. I put one of the molars into my mouth. It popped like a grape against my charged bite. Zeg, it tasted better than anything I had eaten in days. This man had taken care of his teeth. I tasted a cavity, but the enamel was well cared for.


    “The molars are the best.” I handed him one. “Just do what I did. Please, Boy–Devóne. Just do it and we can head back to the hub.”


    “Why the zeg would I want that? If Deleon is the shac that put you up to this, I don’t ever want to see him again!”


    His shouts were all too familiar.


    “I''m going to shove it into your mouth if you don''t. Wait any longer and you''ll lose your mind, killing anyone to eat teeth.”


    “You can''t be–”


    I didn''t shout but spoke with a distilled somberness as I stared into his eyes. After a few more days, they would be violet just like the rest of ours. “I am serious. This is it. This is your life now.”


    I grabbed his hand. He initially resisted but gave in and opened his palm. I dropped the molars in. “I''m begging you. Eat these.”


    He tried to force a mocking smile but lost it with a few gasps. His eyes welled with tears as he shook his head at what he held in his hands. “I–I can''t. My teeth will break. I can''t eat teeth.”


    I grabbed his hand and crushed the teeth with our grip together.


    “See that? Feel that?” I tapped the back of my head. “The Bite has changed you. Your teeth are stronger now, as is your jaw among the other muscles. Try the dust first, then I''ll pull out more for you to try.”


    His lip whimpered, but he sucked up the dust into his mouth.


    I crouched and pulled out some more molars as I heard his pleasured moans.


    “It''s good, right?”


    He tried to force a disgusted face, but his eyes shot to my hands with a hungry glare.


    “You want more? Wait until you try the real thing.”


    He snatched the three teeth from my hand before I could even fully open it.


    His chewing sounded like he was eating raw pasta. I took some of the incisors, only three to hold me over while I pulled out the rest.


    He acted like a hungry child, clawing at my hands for more teeth until he gave up on formality and ate the rest from the man''s mouth without even pulling them loose. The gums were not bad, but rather a distraction to the taste, like the pieces of lettuce in a salad without dressing.


    Boyband opened his mouth, contorting it with his tongue picking out any remaining pieces of teeth.


    Our victim’s mouth was a mess of torn flesh, but small bits of tooth roots remained inside. I crouched and picked them free, eating them like crumbs. “This is why we pick them out. You ate it like a child eating corn on the cob. Order in everything. If we take a life to satiate ourselves, we cannot waste a single piece.”


    “I was so zegging hungry. Once I started, I couldn’t stop.”


    I sucked the last few pieces from my hand and used the man’s tie to wipe his blood from my lips. “What did I tell you? You cannot let yourself get this hungry. The longer you wait, the less control you have over your appetite. Next time we’ll be sure to be a little more delicate.”


    “Next time?”


    “Yes.” I sighed and shook my head. “Zegging Deleon should have taught you to feed right after he put your Bite in. Come on, let''s head back.”


    I started to walk away, only stopping for a moment to wait for Boyband to catch up.


    He was staring down at our prey. I thought I heard him whisper an apology.


    “Come on, Boyband. It gets easier.”


    Though that was true, I hated its implication.


    All sin requires to thrive is the right amount of justification.


    He left an empty seat between us on the way back. I didn’t blame him. I had done the same with Keiro when he took me out to feed for the first time.


    I had a duty to the kid, one bound by my honor and not by Deleon’s assignment. Part of me wanted to avoid any attachment. Our business was not designed to lead us into a leisurely retirement. Regardless I could already see him becoming like a younger brother to me. The others were my family. Why not include him? He was cocksure and condescending, but everyone had their problems. Especially me.


    It was my turn to break the silence. He would have plenty of time to think about teeth, but now did not need to be that time. “Tell me about your parents.”


    He scowled at me, though I could see the sorrow in his protruding lip.


    I was a shac to bring up such a touchy topic, but I needed one bold enough to distract him from self-hatred. “Deleon said they were some anti-war social justice type of people. Is that right?”


    “Not like that.”


    My gaze passed between him and the floor. He was slow to blink and did not move his stare from the other side from the skytrack.


    “What kind–”


    “Do we have to do this right now, Petya?”


    I moved to the seat between us. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, but it will make it easier. The quicker you accept what we are, the easier it will be.”


    He wiped a tear from his eyes. “They weren''t like those… you know… they had a purpose.”


    I turned to him, and his eyebrows were arched.


    “What?”


    “They didn’t like your–the Medislavic–government.”


    I smiled and chuckled. “Glad to hear. They probably didn’t hate them as much as I did.”


    “You–”


    “A story for another day. But I would be glad to hear yours.”


    “You’ll tell me yours later?”


    I hesitated, then nodded. “Deal.”


    “Well, they were pro-Arabasia. They wanted the war to end through an Arabasian victory and utilized our influence in the Republic to support their side, especially in agricultural shipments, based on our farming monopoly. My parents visited the peninsula, had some meetings with the King. I wanted to go but had other obligations.”


    “Couldn’t take you on vacation? Must be tough.”


    “It''s not like that. I felt like I could have contributed. A lot of misinformation has skewed the public view of the war, which in turn harms the Arabasian stance. It''s tragic.”


    “So you are really invested, huh? Boyband, I think you and I might have some common ground.”


    “What do you know, growing up in the Yellow?”


    I glared at him, but he couldn’t hold back his laughter. We caught a couple of stares as we laughed together.


    “I’m glad you can take a joke.” he said. “You seemed gloomy on the way here.”


    I shrugged. “Now you know why. How would you act if you took a kid to–” I looked around, noticing our loud speaking had attracted a couple of stares. I softened my tone. “To do what we did.”


    He lost his smile.


    I gave him a moment before speaking. “What kind of ‘misinformation’? Stuff related to the war?”


    He raised an eyebrow.


    “Come on, Boyband. I want to know. This old Slav needs more reasons to hate his government. His old government.”


    “You? Old? Come on, we’re like the same age.”


    “A lot can happen in nine years.”


    He looked around, waiting until the people he stared at looked away. “You ever heard of ‘Neon Essence?’”


    I furrowed my brow.


    “If you listen to the news, any neurosocial forums, they say that the war is over Medislavia’s hold on Arabasia joining the United System Conglomerate. Is that what you were told when you were back in your home country?”


    I nodded, but it wasn''t as sure as I would have liked it to be. “My people were tyrants. That''s why I left. They had their excuses. I believed none of it.”


    “‘Power, control,’ yeah, they all sound like simple reasons to go to war, but that''s not it.”


    “How sure are you?”


    He shrugged. “I might sound like I know what I''m talking about, but this is just what my parents told me, or rather, what I overheard them telling other people.”


    “Fair enough.”


    “You know how the former United States conquered China and established a republic there?”


    I nodded.


    “That’s where we found the physical light. With that, we bought Chinese loyalty. That is why they came to join us in the Republic of Capital. Light is power.”


    “I’ve been in your Republic for quite a while now, Boyband.”


    “Yeah, sorry, what I mean is that the light was discovered in Asia. China had a lot, but I guess the substance in Arabasia is something even better.”


    “That Neon Essence you mentioned?”


    “Exactly. That''s what your people want.”


    Not my people anymore. “What makes it different from the light we have now?”


    “I don''t know.”


    “You don''t know? Did you ask your parents?”


    “I don''t know if they knew either.”


    I smirked.


    “What?”


    “Sounds like a conspiracy to me.”


    “Nah.”


    I shrugged, knowing it would antagonize him.


    “That’s what everyone said about the ruling parties back when they were mere corporations. I bet everyone that didn’t believe they were going to become the government feels stupid now.”


    “Life was nicer when all conspiracy theories weren’t so believable.”


    “Right, but this isn’t–” He swatted his hand in the air. “Nevermind. You don’t get it.”


    “No, I do. I’m just saying you need more information. If Neon Essence is related to physical light, it''s already beyond my comprehension.”


    “I guess you''re right. Why should we worry about some foreign war?”


    “Right.” It was easy to agree, but I knew I would never distance myself from it.