Naoma brushed her lilac hair behind her ear and looked down. “So, I can just… stay here while they go into the city?” She looked up at him and tucked her hair behind her other ear.
The male Techvax rep grinned too widely for comfort.
Bank shook his head. “You’re not charming anyone. Anyone who matters, at least. You have nothing to worry about. You’ve got all of us here to protect you. The only threats to our plan are well under our control.” He glared at me. “Anton, is his messaging open to my neurospace?”
“Should be, give it a try.”
Bank nodded. “Check it now, skunk.”
The bleached line must have been wearing out, but it was still enough to grasp attention. It was a small hold I had on a distant childhood and a charisma lost to forced solemnity.
New message from user: Porpoise_0002787. Accept? Appeared across my interface. I felt bad that he was still seen as a number in society, but only for a second. All he had done to me had exhausted any pity I could offer. I figured Jackson would at least have a name for himself. While most Finians could be seen as lower beings, the most affluent and influential were exalted with Naoma and any other entertainment star. Where did Bank fall into this? He didn’t seem to be owned by Reef and it wasn’t typical for a Finian to be a part of a pharmaceutical company. Their value was in the Entertainment party, or high in their own society within ours.
I tapped to accept the message.
Bank nodded. “Now forward it to the kid when he calms down. If he compromises this, we won’t hesitate to eliminate him. We only need one of you here. Make us need both of you. Got it?”
“Yes.” My guard released the handle. The other group of Techvax members trained light rifles on us. “Give me his handle for a bit. I’ll keep him under control until he calms down a bit. Criminal or not, teenagers are difficult.”
Bank let out a genuine, airy laugh. “Let me do it.”
Boyband’s guard moved him and the handle towards me and I took it.
“Gotcha kid,” I whispered. “Just hold on for a bit longer.” We earned a few stares, but it wasn’t something I was not already accustomed to.
Boyband managed to speak, but he sounded like a junkie unable to concentrate as he limped through withdrawals. “What about weapons?”
“What about them?” Bank said with arms folded.
“If we''re going to walk out there, shouldn''t we have some protection? What if something comes after us?”
“That''s why you''re here. If you can heal from the cerebral plugs, you won’t have a problem out there. If you worry about anything, it should be radiation.”
“Glowbones aren''t radioactive,” I said.
He shrugged. “Whatever, I don''t care. Enough complaining. If you took out Firstlight, grabbing a few jellies shouldn''t be a problem. We don''t want you to kill them, anyway. If we gave you weapons, you would just be more of a risk to us.”
I smirked. “And we''re not already? You just said we were enough for Firstlight.”
“Shut the zeg up,” Jackson said from behind us.
“You ‘shut the zeg up,’ Anton!” Bank said. “Just go. The sooner you bring them back, the sooner we can leave.”
He walked up to us and secured a band around our right wrists. Each had a faint white ring around it with a small cylinder across. “These light rings will help you see a little better. Use the rod on top if you need to shine some more light on a particular spot.”
Boyband tried to look closer at his band, but his suit restricted the movement as I held onto the handle on his back. “Are the… things out there going to be bothered by the light? Isn''t it always dark here?”
Bank shrugged. “The pollution keeps it dark, so I figure they won''t be too keen to have harsh artificial light shine on them, but you''ll have to find out for yourself. I sent you the size requirements, now go. Take multiple trips if you need to. We didn’t bring anything for you to haul them back with.”
I checked the message on my interface. The measurements and weight requirements meant nothing to me, but he provided a link to download an optical measurement software. I queued it and skimmed further down the message. He wanted six fiends, which would be a cumbersome load for anyone without a Bite. I was strong enough at the base anti-violet level and figured it would only be easier in anti-indigo.
“We''re waitin’ on you.” Jackson kicked my shin, then grunted as it hurt him without phasing me.
I stepped forward, relieved to have control again, all the while terrified that I had to proceed into the unknown cityscape.
“Let me go,” Boyband said through clenched teeth. His breathing was louder than his harsh whisper.
“Prove that you can control yourself and I will. Just keep going a couple more feet.”
“I need to eat.”
“Yeah, I figured. I''m not that oblivious. Don''t worry, we''ll find you something.”
“Like what?”
I checked back over my shoulder. Everyone was still watching us from under their artificial light.
“Petya?”
“Jelly fiends don''t have any teeth and you sure as hell aren''t going to try to eat from glowbones. Find something else and it should be fine. Even animals can hold you over, but it''s like eating flour instead of a meal.”
“Why not glowbones? They have teeth.”
“Do you know what they are?”
“Radioactive skeletons that glow. Rejects of experimentation.”
“Nah, you’ve got it all wrong.”
“Who says? Deleon? Why should I trust him?”
“No, Cut told me.”
“The doctor?”
I nodded. Checking back to see them watch us as we walked into the red abyss. “He’s one of the good ones.” As far as I could tell, though, I held back my reservations for the sake of the argument. “Do you know how Haven Health made its way to the presidency?”
“Okrepinate.”
I nodded. “But why is everyone researching alternative solutions if we already have a cure?”
“It just helps with the symptoms, right? Or is it too expensive?”
“A little of both. Have you ever seen what happens if someone with techbone stops taking Okrepinate?”
“No.”
I pointed to a glowing skeleton in the distance. “You have now.”
“You''re zeggin kidding me.”
I shook my head. “Most cities have enough sense to deny a patient an Okrepinate prescription if their income is below a certain level, but that doesn’t stop greedy healthcare companies who would rather have all the light they could hope for while ignoring the consequences.”
“But how do they become glowbones?”
“Okrepinate is great if you stay on a consistent schedule. Miss a couple of doses, and your skin starts to rot. If you’re too poor to afford frequent treatments, it will fall off and a few of the organs will remain suspended in the skeleton. When people are on course for complete skin rot, district regulators will ship the sorry shacs here to become glowbones.”
“But why do they glow?”
“Cut told me that Okrepinate is close to the cure. Apparently the treatment involves doses of physical light, but not how Cut says it needs to be used for an elimination of techbone. The drug invests light into the bones and if the treatments do not keep them steady, they’ll try to generate their own light and corrupt the body. Seeing how they can still move as skeletons with very little connective tissue leads me to believe that the light is actually a living thing.”
I gradually let go of Boyband’s handle, and he continued to walk beside me. We proceeded onward, but I said nothing of it.
He watched the passing ground and shook his head. “So if Cut gets that, does that mean he is close to a cure?”
I shrugged, but he didn’t see it. “We’ll see, I guess. I would say as close as Techvax. We’ll see how theirs works.”
“Maybe it can cure us.”
“I think we have a more complex illness than techbone.”
“What are we then?”
“Parasites.”
“Please don’t say that.” His voice shook.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
I opened my mouth to ask him why but stopped myself. I knew. “You heard the voice too?”
He nodded, then looked up. “I would rather look at the beasts of this city than think about that. Maybe later, but not now.”
We both looked at the city. We had entered from the outskirts but now made our way onto central streets. My eyes were almost completely adjusted to the light. I looked back, seeing only a white square from the Techvax crew.
Broken glass littered the ground as well as burnt papers, and reddish viscous blobs that reminded me of the jellyfish I would see washed ashore back when I was a kid. Back before the ocean went black. I figured they had to be remnants of jelly fiends. Some even looked like flattened arms and legs, but were too small for our requirements, even though they moved.
The physiology of the jellies was a mystery. Even though Techvax claimed to have a cure for them, it didn’t make sense. They couldn’t restore lost bones. The medical field had become a battlefield of misunderstandings and ignorance as companies toppled one another to climb the research ladder to obtain power through market control.
Empty skyscrapers rose on each side of us, though the tallest had fallen, destroying others in their wake or leaving heaps and chunks of rubble in the street. Despite the evident collapses, the road had been paved enough for vehicles to drive through uninhibited. Why it had been that way or why anyone would need to was another question that I had to abandon.
Rocks moved and waste rustled to Boyband’s right. We stopped and moved closer. There was nothing large enough to hide any glowbones. They wandered the streets ahead. We were drawing close enough to see the dark sockets of their eyes.
The sound came from behind a broken metal fixture with colored wires sticking out. Wet gnawing and sharp scrapes.
I took a step closer. Boyband darted ahead, plunging my hand into the open orifice before I could reprimand his lack of caution. He pulled out a writhing rodent, bigger than a rat, but it did not look quite like a racoon. Before I could have a proper look at it, Boyband bit off the entirety of its muzzle. Two beady eyes stared out and the remnant of a bitten tongue flopped out. Boyband tossed it onto the cracked sidewalk before the running blood reached the cuff of his sleeve.
I grimaced as he chewed with moist crunches.
He wiped blood and fur from his mouth. “Do jaw bones do anything for the hunger?”
“Not that I’ve noticed. I get the occasional chunk of jaw when I’m as hungry as you are. I think other bones aren’t bad if you get a bit, but it''s like eating cartilage in chicken. The Bites need teeth and nothing else will work in their place.”
Boyband nodded. “These teeth are small and sharp, but I think they’ll do for a bit. I see what you meant earlier about human teeth. Animals are nothing in comparison.”
“Like drinking a jug of water to stave off hunger pains.”
“Let''s finish the job before it gets too bad. I’ll find something better when we’re done.”
I doubted they would give us any freedom, but kept my mouth shut. I waved for him to follow me back onto the main street.
He spat out bits of hair and wiped them from his mouth, then onto his pants.
“Is the aftertaste kicking in?”
He chuckled. “I was so blinded by hunger that I think I might puke if I went back and had a proper taste of those teeth now. It was like charcoal. The light only knows what it was eating.”
I offered a pitiful chuckle, mocking our circumstances. Charcoal was a perfect description for what we saw. The whole city looked as if it was coated in a black veil. Only the occasional shiny machinery or flickering, cracked screens broke away from the darkness.
“Have you tasted charcoal?” I asked. “I can’t say that I’ve ever touched it, but I’ve seen plenty of camping scenes in mindshows.”
“Never tasted it, but I’ve touched and smelt it. My dad and I went camping a couple of times.”
“Where? Did he fly you out to the west? Real humble.”
“He did, but–it''s not like that.”
“Like what? If I never had the luxury to do anything like that. Ever since I came here, I haven’t been able to escape the interconnected cities.”
“Was it like that back… in your old home?”
“Everything’s been modernized. Medislavia is no exception, but it''s not quite as bad as the Republic. If you want anything here resembling nature in its true form, you have to have the money to travel.” I kicked a broken piece of asphalt, regretting it as it left my foot. “Come on, let''s keep moving.”
We left the curb and continued on the main street. The signs of old businesses had been blackened out along with everything else. The only color besides the red lights was that of protruding tubes and wires from recently busted screens and fixtures. Even though everything looked the same, small differences in aged structural wounds told stories of more recent destruction. I ignored the damage, not wanting to entertain the idea of what kind of behemoth could cause so much damage.
We passed by some jelly fiends, but many of them were too small or damaged for Tachvax’s purposes. The highest remaining buildings were still ahead, along with the most intense red light that almost covered entire skyscrapers. We kept our distance from the surrounding alleys as we spotted a few lurking glowbones. I had no intention of learning if their walking corpses retained any humanity. The rumors opposing such an argument were enough for me not to risk our chances.
“Why did you come here?”
I raised my eyebrow. “What do you mean? I had no choice, just like you.”
“No. To the Republic. Why’d you leave Medislavia.”
“Politics beyond your care. Anyone that you knew who stood for one side or the other is an attention whore who doesn’t know the smallest thing about what is happening overseas.”
“I’ve heard plenty, but I don’t see why I should pretend to understand foreign politics when I don’t even understand our own.”
“You’re a smart kid. Let’s leave it there.”
“Try me.”
“Huh?”
“I won’t try to understand, but I want to hear about your side of the argument.”
“I told you before. I don’t want to talk about the past.”
“Come on, you’ll hear more about mine when we head back to investigate the SocStans.”
You still think we will? Deleon will be impressed with how we did here, diving into the Entertainment party. Right, kid? We are the peak of human performance and made it a whole few hours without getting captured. If only Deleon could see us now!
Zeg, I hated my increasing cynicism.
I looked around as if making it so no one else could hear. For years, I had grown so used to keeping up my shell of a recluse, only opening slightly for Ralia, that I had forgotten that I could talk about it. I held back a snide remark of denial and risked a chance on the kid.
“The Medislavians are every bit as greedy as people say we–they are. They are corrupt and manipulate the public with every bit of media and technology into thinking that the Arabasians are greedy and that if they associate with other powerful countries, that it is a threat to the existence of said countries. Pride. Manipulation. Corruption in its most vile form. If you are fine believing their lies, life is good. Question your authority and you’re a traitor.”
“And that''s what you did? Question their authority?”
“Question it, oppose it, protest it. All the above and I became more radical the more they threatened me.”
“Were you a politician?”
I held my hand close to Boyband’s back, ready to pull him away from any danger. He was slower to react to anything with his hunger draining his Bite. My reflexes were diminishing but would last for a few more hours unless we had to burn our reserves. I had to stay ever more cautious as the glowbones on the sidewalks turned to watch us as we passed.
“Yes? No?”
“Sorry. I guess I was as close as you can get to one without an official position, maybe even more influential for the general public. I was a social media influencer. Ran campaigns against the Medislavian war effort, continually posted, recruited. I even had a team that sabotaged the campaigns run by Medislavian radicals.”
I was waiting for him to ask, “Is that why you are so addicted to socitabs? Do you crave the adoration you once had? The attention from countless supporters? The constant online interactions?” His question never came, for I knew all along that the accusation was my own.
“Then you left?” He stopped and pointed to a body jelly fiend that moved through the gutter like a slug. Its eyelids hung open, but the eyeballs had since shriveled up. Limp hands stretched out and slowly pulled it forward. The arms bent in full arcs, no bones to restrict their movement.
I scanned it with the application. It was just a bit larger than their requirements. “First one of the day…night. I’ll take it. You can grab the next.”
He leaned over. “Let me help you pick it up.”
“Move!” I pushed him aside as a glowbones ran at us, only visible to me now that he had bent over.
He caught himself with a hand on the ground, but I continued past, ready to stop our neon green assailant. I had expected that I would hear any approaching, but the little tissue that remained on the glowing corpse helped muffle the creaking of bones and padded its feet. It ran with outstretched hands and looked easy enough to knock over. I had no idea what it wanted, for it surely could not eat us, but that didn’t stop it from attacking.
Neither of us had a weapon. Rather than risk touching it with my hands, I swung my leg up in an arch right before it reached me, catching its hunched neck with my heel, and slamming it to the ground.
With the accuracy and acceleration of my attack, I expected its bones to shatter against the concrete, but it was the ground that ended up cracked. It looked up in a slow daze and lifted its crooked smile to glare at me. The glowing bones remained intact, but the impact had jolted the jaw enough to tear the tissue holding one side of its jaw onto the skull. A violet pupil floating in its eye socket stared back with a feral anger that needed no eyebrows to convey its hunger for revenge.
Boyband stomped its rib cage against the ground but lost his balance as the intensity of his attack rebounded through the unbreakable bones.
It pushed itself up and stood with a hunched back. I was frozen in thought, trying to figure out how to end its horrid existence, for it no longer deserved to be called living.
Boyband tossed a chunk of twisted metal debris at its side. It rocked slightly but continued to quicken its pace towards me as I peddled back.
“What are you doing?” Boyband shouted. The glowbones fastened its hellish eyes on me.
“Trying to figure out how to stop it! I’m not running–I just–”
I stopped speaking as it mumbled and hissed at me. Without lips and a tongue, none of it made any sense.
Straightened to perfection and shining without blemish, except for the obvious neon glow, its gnashing teeth almost broke my enhungered will.
Boyband approached it from behind while I kept it held in front of me.
I swung my leg into its crotch out of instinct, thankfully never having faced such a creature. Its hands of bones and pale remnants of flesh held onto my shoulders with vice grips as it fell forward with my kick. I continued to press back on the shoulders as it relentlessly pulled its face towards mine to bite.
Boyband grabbed its legs from behind and tried to pull it off of me, but its grip was relentless. I leaned back and we both stretched it out wide.
“Keep pulling!” I shouted. Both of us shouted and grunted, only stopping as pops became tears and the skeleton split in two. I pried its hands free, hearing some of the bone crunch, and it fell on the ground, but continued to crawl towards me with mangled fingers.
“Zeg you, you zeggin’ skele-whore!” Boyband shouted and he jumped on the glowbone''s ribcage. He continued up and down, still no crack evident in the bones, but some of the tissue tore and the spine fell into pieces. His hunger fueled rage increased with each hateful stomp. If I couldn''t feed him soon, he''d go just as feral towards any human we met.
Part of me wanted to allow him to lose control with the Techvax crew.
He grabbed the few vertebrae still connected to the skull and drop-kicked it down an alley and stared at it as it rolled. His back was hunched, ready to prowl for his next prey. My heart felt like it was vibrating, but it slowed as his breathing calmed.
He turned back with a vile smile, one that told of violent cravings.
I looked around. A few glowbones had noticed, but none of them had started towards us. My back aches as I crouched and threw the jelly fiend over my shoulders. It was dead weight, but I could feel my Bite burning my reserves to lighten the load.
While we had to venture further into the city, the apparition within me warned of more malicious dangers ahead. I couldn''t see the swine''s face anywhere, nor did it speak, but I understood that we had to remain away from the city''s core. Staring at the incense red center with writhing shadowy tentacles. At least that is what I felt I saw. If I were to venture onward, I knew my descent to madness would only quicken. I killed my curiosity, recognizing that I was never meant to learn the secrets of the Red District.
Boyband was lost in a similar state. Our apparitions had acted together once again. I would ask him if he saw the humanoid swine but now was not the time. Our captors had an assignment for us to finish.
I patted him on the back and pointed ahead. “Five more.”