I sat up from the operating table, heart pounding and breaths fast. I shook the side rails.


    “Settle down, Petya.” Cut approached and tapped my wrist as he turned to look at my vital signs.


    Blood pressure: 100/60


    Heart rate: 40


    Oxygen saturation: 100%


    He nodded and removed the cords and electrodes from me.


    I swung my legs down as he lowered the rail. Cut’s associates were still working on Boyband on the table next to me.


    “Couldn’t Deleon have given me time to wake up on my own? I hate that adrenaline rush right after a nice nap.”


    He shook his head. “It is not restful sleep, anyway. Deleon requested your presence in his office while we finish with Mister Eclaine.”


    “What time is it?”


    He handed me my shirt in exchange for the gown. “Eleven PM.”


    “Will we have any time to sleep before he sends us out?”


    Cut stared at me with bored eyes. “You know well that I do not have that answer. I just–”


    “Work here, as do I. Maybe someday we can both make it out.”


    He raised an eyebrow and returned to his colleagues.


    Honestly, our circumstances were not even close. Even if Cut detested Deleon, only the five of us were victims to his Bites. Perhaps Deleon had other means of coaxing them. I couldn’t understand how anyone could work for the man, knowing what he had done to us and what he would do to rise in the Pharma market. Maybe the benefits outweighed the unethical methods. For all I knew, Cut was as much a criminal as our master.


    I shook my arms and steadied my breathing as I walked out of the laboratory to Deleon’s office.


    I entered to see him staring out the window overlooking the blue cityscape, as usual.


    He looked over his shoulder, then back to the city. He had a focused gaze, letting me know that he was not in the neurospace.


    “Everything went well, I presume?”


    Like you weren’t monitoring us as it went through Cut’s updates? I would never believe for a second that he turned back his surveillance on us when allowing his people to touch our most delicate hardware.


    I walked towards him but kept an unfriendly distance. “I suppose so.”


    “Can you feel the upgrade yet?” He walked towards me.


    I shrugged. Energy burning within me screamed for release, as if I had taken an energy shot before a workout, but that was expected with the rude awakening from my surgical slumber.


    “You will.” He turned on a spotlight in the center of the room with the snap of his fingers. He lifted my chin and looked into my eyes. “Indigo as sure as I can see.” He nodded, and the spotlight turned off, leaving us in the darkness of his room only lit by the city and subtle blue lights around the base of the wall.


    “What does that confirm?”


    “That they got the concentration right. The anti-spectrum is a delicate one. You’ll feel the difference soon enough.”


    “I’m afraid I do not understand.”


    “Forgot what I said before the operation?”


    I hadn’t, but it was convoluted and argued the laws of light.


    He smiled. “You are the antithesis of the known spectrum of light. I hope this shows you how valuable those hypothalamic implants are. Sure, they have a cost, but a small one compared to what you will become.”


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    There was no use in arguing with him. Anyone who can justify murder has thrown human laws out of their conscience.


    “Are you a–I mean, were you ever a fanatic of video games before your employment?”


    “I was born after the virtual era had passed.”


    “Yes, virtual reality was all the craze then, but you can still find them today.”


    “In nursing homes and among the poor who would rather live a virtual life than their sorry excuses for one?”


    “No need to dampen the mood. There is more than the old virtual reality.”


    “I never touched the ones in the neurospace, but I played some on screens as a kid.”


    He smiled as if to thank me for finally being willing to hold a conversation. It was difficult to bring myself to hold one with him but pleasing him was the best way to get what I wanted. “Role-playing games allow you to upgrade your character, correct”


    I nodded, thinking of the monster training games I still had a longing to return to if I had the privilege of leisure. Had seen glimpses of them in a few of the memtab experience I had.


    “Think of yourself as leveling up. The indigo, rather anti-spectrum indigo, now powering you grants you new opportunities, those inaccessible to the anti-spectrum violet level.”


    “Like what?.”


    “You will learn in due time.” He continued to stare at me as I held my attention on the cityscape. My peripheral vision seemed wider. Perhaps that was a new perk.


    “Now that we have some time away from the Eclaine boy, how do you anticipate he will fare with you Imps?”


    He’s a coward that lived too far above the poverty line to understand how vulnerable we all were when we joined. Cocky. Condescending. Na?ve.


    I liked the kid.


    “Young, but just as malleable as we all were when we joined. He struggled to take his first bite of teeth, but I couldn’t stop him once he started. He needs to learn control, but I don’t see a problem with him adapting to a tame appetite.”


    “I am glad to hear.”


    “Should I trust his admiration for his parents?” I wouldn’t trust Deleon’s opinion, but I had to see both sides. I never wanted to speak about the war. My poor life was an escape from my past. It was a sorry alternative, but one that could help resolve matters if Deleon held to his promise.


    “Awfully tragic, wasn’t it? I hate to capitalize on his loss, but it is too great of an opportunity. Regardless, his parents were radicals. Like the old hippies of centuries past that you see depicted in mindshows. They spend most of their fortune campaigning against the war rather than against our country’s involvement. If the war is ever to end, someone has to push one side towards victory. Enough of that. Business is our focus, not politics. Do you have everything you need for your departure?”


    Business is politics. I trusted Boyband’s retelling much more. Deleon’s impulsive change of subject concerned me, as if he was going to speak offense. He couldn’t be an advocate for Medislavia, could he? If Deleon wanted power in our government, why not support those who wanted the same on their side of the planet?


    “What do I need?” I had learned early on not to complain about the timing of his assignments.


    “Nothing more than a few personal items, not including clothing. I have that all taken care of. Living in the Violet district requires that you appear like a natural resident. I am sending you to the center of the Indigo district via skytrack. Once you arrive, I have a ride to take you to the Violet district to your temporary residence just outside of the entertainment hub. Jackson’s studio is a ten-minute walk from the station, though the other targets are not quite as close. I’ll relay all the information to you in a file after you depart.”


    “Do we have access to their skytrack or a bus system?”


    He scoffed. “You have a whole new world to awaken to. Even Devóne will be surprised by the gross wealth in the Violet district. Everyone you meet in the entertainment hub will be wealthy enough to buy their own district here in Zingang.”


    “Are the others in the Violet district as well?”


    “No, most of their targets are in the Indigo district or lower. We aren’t going to assassinate any figureheads while we can eliminate the key gears in their systems.”


    “I thought we were investigating the connections to jelly fiends?”


    “Oh, you are, but we won’t leave any trails. While the parties will notice if any of their key players are eliminated, the whole world will notice if a music idol or mindshow star is eliminated. The entire Republic will eventually see what is happening, especially when we are so tight to those connected to Firstlight, but our goal is to be above scrutiny by the time people begin to point fingers.”


    “Are you sure we can do this? None of us are detectives.”


    “Which is why your leads will be along with the other files. I’ve scrupulously researched these paths and only need someone to complete the course. Trust me, Petya. All is in good hands.”


    “Even if I do, we are talking about the whole Republic’s government and the leading Pharma party.”


    “I am more than just a single man with a discrete company. As you do what you are told, perhaps you will recognize how wide my reach is.”


    I nodded, doubting his confidence until I recalled his unknown associates in violet suits.


    “Read through the files, start with Jackson, and utilize the Eclaine kid’s coercion modification.”


    Scratching my eyes, I agreed.


    “I get it. You need some rest. Take four hours, the kid will have about three if he is not yet finished. Catch the 3:30 AM skytrack. It’ll have you in the Violet district at a good time to get to work and blend in with the traffic of the area.”


    “Thank you, sir.”


    “You’ll notice that you need less sleep now that you are on the indigo level of the anti-spectrum.”


    I turned back to see him looking over his shoulder.


    “Perform well, Petya, and I will see that you ascend to blue and beyond soon enough.”