arthur got away despite a body plagued with known and unknown injuries.
"Huh? What are you trying to do?" Gwen quirked an eyebrow.
"You just said you work for the Rising Tide!"
She nodded.
"You're responsible for that attack yesterday morning at the Corporate District?"
"Oh, I wasn't on that mission."
"That doesn't absolve you of anything! You're allied with religious terrorists!" Gwen scrunched her nose briefly before laughing, with the laughs reverberating throughout and puzzling him. "What's so funny?!"
But all he got was Gwen waving her hand up and down. "Calm down. Calm down." She wiped a tear before asking, "You fell for that media garbage?"
So arthur tried saying something but closed his mouth before finally deciding to say it: "Were they lying?"
"Oh, no, we did attack the Corporate District. That doesn't make us a religious organization, though. No one in the Rising Tide is religious. They try to push us into the same fold as those Oum guys or those weirdos that live in Ya'juj and Ma'juj."
"B-But why—"
"Why what?" Gwen's face sharpened but She allowed arthur to get up and distance himself. "Those corpo fucks don't give a damn about anyone. The rich eat the poor. Or is the reason you're defending them because you are one? Is that why you didn't shoot post?"
And while keeping his distance, which She tried to close, he said, "I'm not a corpo!"
"Then what the fuck was that bullshit back there? What's that gun, and why didn't you shoot post? Why did you have the chip, and are you in a suit?"
So arthur tried crafting a response, but the words kept lodging in his throat from the scrupulous stare, for this was less chit-chat and an interrogation. Soon he gathered his thoughts and said, "I don't know."
The aftermath could be summed up with one word: quiet. Then Gwen let out a boisterous laugh so loud and abrupt that it caught him off guard and put him on edge.
"You're funny!" She wiped away some invisible tears.
"Wait…She isn't crying from—"
It was fast. So much so that before he knew it, he found himself in another precarious position. he was lifted off the ground and slammed on top of the crate in the supine position and heard the crate crack, but it somehow withstood the blow and hands wrapped themselves around his throat before succumbing to the strength exerted.
"I'm not fucking around! Who do you work for?"
So arthur grasped her hands but wasn't able to budge them. "How is She this strong? Am I just weak?" Circuitry ran along her pupils with pure hate mingled with predatory sensibilities—a stare one wouldn't forget. "I'm—" The lungs were trying to scrounge for air but were roadblocked by cybernetic-enhanced hands. "—telling the truth."
But Gwen responded with a deep stare. Whether She was trying to sift a lie or how to proceed was unclear, so a mental deliberation ensued and her features faltered. "Ugh~~" Then her grip loosened.
arthur fell to the floor—cough—rolling and slowly massaging his throat.
"Don't think this means we're done. I can't question you while you're suffocating." She leaned against a nearby wall.
And arthur propped atop the crate and looked at his warden. "You can go to my apartment and verify that I'm not a corpo. You saw my apartment!"
"Going to your apartment is useless. Not only is it blown up, but cops are swarming it by now. post is also keeping an eye out."
"Are you sure? He was blown away—"
"If you think that's enough to put him down, then you know nothing about him." She didn't speak with hesitation. "post is one of, if not the best, mercenary in Sodom—if not the world. There's only one fucking mercenary giving him a run for his money and he ain't on this fucking rock. A grenade won't be enough to kill him…fucking bastard. That shit cost a lot of money, too. I'm gonna have to pick up some more…"
"There's more than enough evidence to prove He killed someone. Why can't we turn that over to the police?"
Gwen laughed and barely got out, "Yeah, you aren't a secret corpo. Even they'd come up with something better than that. CORPORATIONS OWN THIS CITY! Why don't you think they were around when post blew up the building? I'm pretty sure everyone and their mothers were dialing nine-one-one. he works for the corps, and so do the police. They're two sides of the same coin."
"Having someone like him on my trail…" he sighed and remained beside the box he'd laid on earlier.
Then Gwen sauntered over after seeing the depressed look and offered, "You can stay here or come with me. But just know, this place might get raided soon."
"Why?"
"It used to be a Rising Tide base, and the opps run through these places like a kid in a candy shop."
"I thought you said this place was safe?"
"I said it's pretty safe…for now. Anyways, what the hell is your name?"
"It's arthur." he shook his head and asked, "Why are you helping me?"
"I don't know one hundred percent if you're an enemy, but I'd rather have you on a short leash. Keep your enemies close and all that. That's all."
"Are you planning on fighting Post?"
"That's not the goal, but if he keeps getting in the way, I have no choice."
So conflicted feelings overtook arthur's heart, for he wanted nothing more than to ensure Gwen's safety but didn't want to leave his— "Mom!" he shook his head and stood up, even taking Gwen by surprise. "I have to check up on her. I usually visit her once a day."
"You can't go anywhere that you usually go to. post will be scouting."
"How would Post know about my Mother being in the…" Then he asked, "Could Post track the coin?" he raced out, fighting against an aching body with a destination in mind.
"Hol'up, you idiot!" Gwen, in blind caprice, followed.
●
"YOU'LL HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT, YOU CHROME DOME MOTHERFUCKER!!!" A short, rotund male stood before Post.
And the centerline of his chest rose dark and wafting smoke while the spot concaved slightly so onlookers could see silver underneath the peeling skin.
Then Post rose and towered over them, ignoring the yapping and staring at his surroundings.
For humans within pods strewn with cables and circuitry lived vicariously through experiences unfelt and afar and completely unaware of true reality. But it was the fear and groveling that caught his attention. Everything irked him.
"Did you hear me, chrome dome? You ruined my store! First, I had those NineLine motherfuckers ransack my shit and wheel out a sap who couldn't handle a hard-on, and now this. Either pay up, or I'll get my moots on you!"
So Post looked down and saw a short mustache reaching over a lip that twitched at every word and picked him up by the scruff of his collar while his legs dangled freely. Then, armed males shuffled in by the dozen. "Are these your so-called moots?"
"Don't shoot, you idiots! I'll get hit!" The shopowners' feet scrambled from under him and he could slowly hear the shirt's seams tear apart from being held.
"Puny flesh." Post analyzed each with his neurallink. They were more flesh than machine and still dared to fight.
Incoming Call from thaddeus black
The shopowner heard a growl from Post before answering.
"Mhmm."
"Did you retrieve the chip?"
"Not yet. There are some complications."
"I'm not paying you to run into complications. I chose you because you're supposedly the best."
"You'll receive your chip. Stop calling."
"Watch your tone."
Rip—the shopowner fell ass-backward from Post's hand with just a button-down shirt left in his grasp and being greeted with a belly hanging over a belt buckle.
"Ah shit, my ass!" The shopowner didn't squander the opportunity. So he tripped, but managed to move behind the guards whilst massaging his ass and ordered: "Fire on that douchebag!"
"Give me a minute."
"Make it quick."
Soon bullets rang and screaming customers rushed from the store. Even those within the pods have left. No one besides Post, a hurricane of calm capability, was serene.
But saying it tickled would be generous. TIC-TIC-TIC. The rounds made contact and fell compressed to the floor, like a fast-moving car careening into a cement barrier. "Why use those pathetic weapons when you have dreck cybernetics?" Post extended his arms and invited them. "Come at me one-on-one or all together. It'll make no difference."
"Cocky old bastard!"
"You mocking us? You chrome dome freak!?"
"Cyberpsychosis kicking in, ain't it, you old geezer?"
"Shut up! One of you call the cops!" The shopowner moved to get a glimpse at the mercenary. "Bullets aren't working. Use your cybernetics and kill him to get the store up and running!"
So they did. Some had mantis blades swinging from their forearms and others had electric knuckle dusters with flying arcs while another stepped back and knelt and intently stared at Post with a hand on the wall.
"That's more like it." He looked at the challengers as they swarmed him. But it was useless. For the knuckle dusters made contact but were absorbed and their mantis blades bounced like swords on steel. Soon they fell one by one. It wasn't a fight—it was a massacre unlike any other.
But before the last few could meet their demise, Post abruptly stopped and involuntarily spasmed and twitched and looked short-circuited. Terrifying to most but not Post, who already knew where this came from. "Coward." So He pushed and extended his arm to the room's corner and from it, a mini rocket fired upon the assailant.
"Fuck—" They couldn't even finish before the rocket hit and blew them and part of the store. Whatever was there was gone, body and all, with an explosive fury of flames that licked everything.
"MY STORE!!!" The shopowner fell and grasped his head. So large was the hole in the wall that it revealed the outside world.
And He looked where the hacker once was and thought deeply—but not so much, for He whisked back to reality with a—Whack! Then, He faced the opposite direction with his eyepatch falling and a laceration extending from his cheek to his chin, followed by blood.
A male mantis blade user stood with a smirk. But it turned to horror when he saw what the eyepatch was covering. "W-Wait! Y-You're him…Post! Post the—" He punched through his head and exploded it across the room, followed by the body.
"Hu-hu-hu…" The storeowner crab-walked back, for he witnessed a singular individual wipe his entire security force. "W-Where the hell are the cops!?"
Post picked up his eyepatch and put it back on with huffs and gruffs.
"Is your 'complication' taken care of?"
"Not yet."
Then He pulled and pointed his handgun at the fleeing shopowner and fired. He shot him in his flucuating brain that sloshed over the side of his head with memories and wants and desires, from his store to every dollar in his account, was splattered across the backdrop of a wall in the form of brain matter that went insofar as tumbling upon the bullet's protrusion.
He shot one more time. This time the gun was louder, so loud and strong that the shopowner nearly disappeared. No red mist or body parts.
"It's done."
"They say you're more machine than man. But if I didn't know any better, I think you like these 'complications' you find yourself in."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"No matter. You know Pandemonium, and you know how my boss can be. Finding that chip will save both of our asses. That cache has sensitive information."
"Only yours. I have no part in that. I'm only doing a job."
"Oh no, you're too deep into this now, Post the Full Borg."
The call ended. "Corpo fucks."
It was true. You'd have to dig pretty deep to find the human within the machine, for almost everything was filtered through robotic eyes and soon the little humanity left would be culled out like the weakness it was.
So Post stood for a few seconds before opening his neurallink:
INDICATOR CANNOT BE LOCATED AT THIS TIME.
The interface between the tracker and chip had been lost. So, brushing debris off his body, He prepared a return visit to the hospital.
●
Going into the hospital was already agonizing, but moreso now.
"You already know the truth, so just face it." "she's dead." "she's gone just like your dad."
he didn't let the Voices in and ran and ran, even with his lungs and legs festering with hate, for they were irrelevant. It was all irrelevant until his Mother was safe. The heart wouldn't allow it any other way.
Then sweat and steam rolled off until his breath finally caught up. But it never did, not that it mattered since he entered the hospital anyway…and nothing was different. he didn't know if this was a good or bad thing. he half expected a massive explosion and a series of police cars alongside the road with a roadblock and all he got was one ambulance and cop car. Both commonplace.
The air ice bath didn't falter arthur this time when approaching the front desk.
And off to the side were three Cops huddled and speaking in subdued voices while holding tablets with a black bag on a gurney in one corner of the lobby.
But he didn't gawk and got to the front with no hassle with a Nurse he hadn't seen before on the other side of the desk shuffling through papers like her predecessor. She was currently occupied with a frantic Man.
So arthur waited while fidgeting with his hands.
"So~~, let's say, hypothetically, of course, a cylinder, a little over five inches in length and four and a half inches in girth, was stuck in a tube filled with butter and microwaved mashed banana; how would someone go about unstucking that cylinder?"
"A pretty small cylinder if you ask me."
"The cylinder is of average length, thank you very much, but you're a nurse, so please help me."
"Did you try relaxing this cylinder?"
"The cylinder hasn't changed size in approximately three hours."
Then She looked at the Man who got all red in the face and sighed before looking down and saying, "Go wait in the lobby and I'll have a doctor check on you shortly."
"Thank you!" He waddled from the front desk and made it a point not to look at anyone while leaving.
"Hello, Ma'am," said arthur while nearly jumping over the front desk from anxiousness.
"If you're here for anything mental health related, we're backed up. What can I help you with?"
"Is it actually the same Nurse?" arthur thought.
Then She looked up. "Ah, mr. pendrake. Our frequent visitor." She then looked him up and down. "Uh~~, you got something on your suit…anyways—are you here to try to reassign your mother to our care? You'll need to pay off your delinquent balance still—"
"What do you mean by reassigning?"
"Reassign as in bringing her back to the hospital for continued treatment."
"I never took her out!" arthur sprinted toward his Mother's room and entered to a Nurse refurbishing it. "Mom!"
The Nurse, startled, asked, "sir! Are you okay? How can I help you?"
"Where's my Mom?!"
"The last occupant was released, sir. I'm fixing the room up for the next—"
"How was She released when I'm the only emergency contact? Only I can sign off on her release."
"Well…since her account wasn't in good standing, she technically was no longer in our care. So when someone offered to take her—"
"Are you serious?!" His fists clenched and whitened while a step removed from bleeding. "Where's Nurse Joy?"
And with her name uttered, the room—no, the entire hospital—became quiet. All the air was sucked out and the Nurse was downcast and unresponsive while arthur's heart burned like a furnace. Soon several security Officers lined the hall before more information could be milked.
"Nurse! Is this man bothering you?"
She didn't respond before the present Guard shooed her away and two others entered the room and ordered, "You're coming with us!"
"Breathe. Breathe…breathe…" So he acquiesced and returned to the lobby with a dozen Guards in tow until a familiar sight greeted him at the front desk.
"There you fucking are! How could anyone run that fucking fast?!" With crossed arms, Gwen asked, "What happened?" She saw his pronounced and pulsating jugular vein. "Was she not there?"
"No," he shook as something within his heart attacked. he knew what it was but didn't want to feel it. So he ignored it and moved past the Guards and walked toward the gurney with Cops surrounding it. arthur needed confirmation on something.
"What are you doing, dummy? They'll shoot you." Before Gwen could stop his advances, the Cops beat her to it.
"Back away!" The Cops nearly pulled their handguns. They went tight-mouthed and almost sullen with their shoulders back and moving forward defiantly.
But arthur raised his hands and said, "I may have information as long as you'll let me see who's in the bag."
Then they looked at each other until one nodded. "Only on the condition you don't disturb the body. Forensics took pictures but the coroner still needs to do their thing."
So he agreed and turned to Gwen and signaled he'd be fine. So She backed away reluctantly while he approached the Officer, who unzipped the body bag and revealed the deceased body of Nurse Joy.
"This is your fault!" "Your fault!" "Your fault!"
"We already know the name and suspect foul play. Can we get your name, relation to the victim, and what information you may have?" Silence. "sir? We need your information to put into the report. This isn't a request," arthur continued looking at the person he once knew, for beauty was there, but something pivotal was stolen within those distant eyes. No life or dreams or aspirations. All of it and more was snuffed. "sir!"
Soon arthur was jolted by cold-faced, gruff Cops up on him.
"Are you failing to comply with a lawful order? We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. I'd rather not track you through NCIC." One Officer said while reaching for cuffs and the others radiated glowing cybernetic eyes with intense fierceness.
"No, I'm sorry. I just spaced out," he sighed and answered: "My name is arthur pendrake and I'm twenty. Nurse Joy looked after my Mother." The Officers listened and documented everything on the tablets. Then, the following information dropped: "I think a man named Post killed her, and I think He kidnapped my Mother."
So the tablets turned off and the Officers looked at one another with fear and nervousness couched within them. "Ah…w-well, I think that's all we'll need. Dontcha think, guys…" They agreed and wheeled Nurse Joy off with gawky chuckles.
arthur was left with an outstretched arm. "W-Wait…"
Soon a slap on the shoulder from Gwen raddled him. "Told ya! You know post did this, right? It wasn't all a coincidence."
"It doesn't make sense."
"What doesn't?"
"Why wouldn't they help?"
"Because they're only protecting and serving their wallets."
Then his eyes burned with resolve and he asked, "Do you know where Post is?"
"Let's get the hell out of here first."
●
arthur picked up a water bottle with a few drops and threw it in an overflowing trash can before compacting it. And he tried getting more, but Gwen walked so fast, She might as well be dragging him. How much longer until they arrive? They walked past an outlet and alleys and descended stairways.
Soon they walked by an alley with 'Free Hugs' and a Cool S graffitied by the entrance. Other warped lettering was drawn, but was far too unintelligible to read.
"Um, are we there yet?"
"Almost." She didn't look back or elaborate and continued. "Why are you moving so slow? Didn't you sprint to the hospital, and now you're here moving three miles a year?"
"Well, I'm kind of tired now, and I'm not that far behind."
Honk!-Honk!-Honk!
Then he looked down on the overpass, for underneath was a highway with cars parallel and atop one another that looked like long trains inching slowly forward like some industrial conveyor belt with barely enough room for a passerby to cut across. Dozens of flying pods were also traveling above and bypassing all traffic.
"It's just up here." Gwen pointed at a derelict store with a gambrel roof and stucco walls where transients and vagabonds with tattered clothes shook and scratched at themselves while wandering directionless and without purpose and scarcity in their hearts. And the midden road was pothole-infested as if an anvil dropped repeatedly and any driver would need new tires and suspension. Even light posts and stop signs were scarce.
"Is this another hideout of yours?"
"You could say that."
But arthur was askance on the response and that's when he cut his eyes toward another alleyway, yet this one was different. It was newly paved and people had blankets with items on top of them, and further down, he saw swaths more picking out items from the back of trucks. "Gwen…what's that place?"
So She looked back and toward the direction he was staring. "Don't. It's nothing you need to worry about." Then She looked forward and kept walking.
"Is it a market? But why out here?" The buildings lining each side made the path artificially dark and opaque and when trying to see further, he couldn't, like it were filtering the very light out of the air.
Soon, this was crushed when his arm found itself in the mounded valley of a blonde Woman's breast to cushion the cajole and asking, "Hey there, sweet thang. Want to book a good time with me?"
"Um…" he went red and flustered while She undulated his arm within her gently sloping cleft chest and gave long, lolling drags to a lollipop before giving a suzy smile. Some of the Homeless in the area grew aware and tumescent with anticipation and lined the sidewalk like statues.
"Get the fuck out of here." Gwen walked toward arthur after realizing he wasn't following along.
"Oh? I didn't know you were taken. I try not to step on other cats' territories. Bye-bye, good-looking." She blew a kiss and smacked his backside while the lollipop rattled within her mouth like a child's toy.
"Give the idiot back his wallet while you're at it."
So She stopped and cursed under her breath.
Then arthur checked his back pocket—"How?" he didn't even feel the slip.
"Ah~~, please let me have some cash, sweetie. Slickbad won't like it if I'm empty-handed. He'll hit me with his guided pimp hand."
"Too bad." Gwen walked off but said over her shoulder, "Get your wallet and let's get going. We don't have time to fuck around or someone will find out." She didn't walk fast or far though.
"Um…" arthur scratched his head while looking at her pleading face. "Um, you can have it. Just be careful and don't do that trick on anyone else."
"Oh, thank you!" She looked at the wallet and pulled out his ID and handed it over. "I don't need this." Then She hugged him and the lilac and citrus perfume brushed and bent his nose with an arrested sneeze. "Are you sure you don't want fun time?"
"Um~~~," arthur's face reddened even more if that were possible. "I'm sure! Thank you for the offer, though."
"Alright, your loss. If you ever change your mind, I prowl around by The Scene looking for fresh meat." She gave a seductive rawr alongside a claw motion before heading off with a pep in her step, making it a point to avoid the gawking crowd of Homeless.
But that wasn't the end, for a cantankerous homeless Man then grabbed his arm and didn't brush against it—thankfully. He possessed a level of strength that made wiggling out of the hold hard. So arthur held his breath and heard him out. "Gots change on ya?" Flies swarmed around and his mouth opened black as coal with rotting tartar teeth and a breath of filth. An inch of smegma encrusted his face and eyes like boogers, with his other hand holding a ketchup packet He was sucking.
"Um, I'm sorry. I just gave that Lady everything I have." arthur rubbed the back of his neck with his other free hand. "Can I help you with something else?"
"Selfish bastard! Are ya holding out?"
"No, Sir. I can try to help you with—"
"Do ya have blow on ya?"
"Huh?"
"Get lost!" Gwen snapped and was beyond pissed. "Take your friends with you."
Then they all swarmed to protest, but once Gwen's eyes flashed an ominous color from the circuitry, "the bitch got cybernetics!" they absconded and some raced into the cut leading down.
"Holy fuck, dude. Are you some needy magnet or something?"
"Why'd you do that? They needed help."
"Well, that answered that. And the only thing they needed your help with was another fix. They're far too gone. Let's get going before more fucking time is wasted," he watched her walk to the store and kick the door with the plywood flying off. "You coming?" She wasn't concerned whether he'd follow and entered the building.
And the few people around were gone as the surrounding area died. So lines upon lines of dead buildings and ruined roads extended infinitely to the overture of a massive, bright glass wall that drowned out natural light and physically cut the city like a blade. It stood like the antecedent of all.
Looking at the mesmerizing mirror made him lose himself within its infinite poignance. It made him small and fragile upon the cold expanse. Or was that just the feeling reflected? The feeling projecting and returning?
The longer he looked at it, the astigmatism grew beautiful.
he never got the name of the massive wall. he didn't need to. It persisted day in and day out, for it was a certainty like the moon. It's the home of the rich.
It took a minute to recollect himself. he felt renewed, almost like he'd been meditating the entire time. So he shook his head and looked around. "This is a good place to hide out, I guess." Besides the Homeless and the conspicuous road of Merchants, no one—including cameras and surveillance—was around.
Then he cursed for frittering away time.
Soon arthur entered the building, and those who say never judge a book by its cover would make an exception for this place.
"Surprised there aren't any squatters."
"Guess living outside was a better alternative." arthur looked around and surmised: "I can't blame them."
"Hey now, beggars can't be choosers."
arthur pinched his nose the further he got, for the air was part dirty sock with a souring agent and part stagnation and ornamented with occasional creaks that threatened their feet with a surprise fall. The wooden floor was varnished and lacquered with fruiting bodies and—"Is this…dust?" A plume rose from each step and irritated his nose even while pinched.
So he knelt and touched the lingering silky dust that fell between his fingers while dust bellowed and stung with tiny needles on the sclera. Every breath grew heavier and heavier from weighty lungs filled with metal that also settled in his mouth and tongue. "Gwen—" coughing roughly, "—is this place safe?"
She managed to hear him between his coughing bouts. "Don't just sit there breathing that shit in, you idiot!" She pulled him to his feet. "You don't have a filter apparatus?"
"No—cough—do you?"
"Hell yeah! It's a must-have in Gomorrah. That place is smogged the hell up. A total shithole." She looked forward and said, "Just hold your breath till we get to the back. We can turn on the fan to get some ventilation."
So arthur followed behind her.
Then they entered a storage area where goods were shelved. It was cleaner than the rest of the building, almost untouched by time and well-lit. For everything needed to survive was neatly stacked: rations, water bottles, clothes.
"How?" A thought that turned into words which fell from his mouth, being beholden to the place.
"The Rising Tide would use this as an outpost. We'd come through the back entrance and avoid all that fuckery. But I need to be cautious."
"Was as in—"
"As in the Rising Tide no longer exists."
Soon his eyes widened. "How is that possible? Yesterday—"
"When you were in your beauty sleep—" Gwen ignored arthur's sigh and continued, "I called in but got no response. I checked every outpost and shelter, but zilch. They're nowhere to be found."
"Maybe they're lying low. They did attack the Corporate District."
"Or maybe they're dead." She let the statement ride the silence. She exhaled and said, "Davis is smart but suicidal. So no use holding my breath. I'm not going to keep you in suspense. I brought you here for a reason, but first, let me grab something." Then She told him to sit on a bucket while approaching a trunk on the table's far side and opening it to pop three green balls into her jacket pocket before sitting on the table to continue. "I have no one left to continue my mission with. I didn't go out of my way to steal a chip from a massive corporation for shits and giggles, although that would be funny. I need something on this chip, more specifically, someone. I joined the Rising Tide since our goals were aligned. Now that they're gone, our goals are aligned."
But he went dumbstruck and said, "I think you have it confused. I'm not on a vendetta against these corporations. I don't agree with them, but I refuse to attack them."
"Oh? You parade around like a knight in shining armor, but when offered the chance to defeat the dragon, you fuck off?"
"Two wrongs don't make something right. I want my Mother back. That's it."
"Uh-huh." Gwen looked him up and down but kept her thoughts to herself. "It doesn't matter. I wasn't offering you the position to take down these corps. Although I want them wiped out, my primary goal is to track someone. And surprise fuckface, you're in the same boat." She clapped and hopped off the table and grabbed two water bottles from the rack. "Want one?"
And he caught the bottle and asked, "You know where my Mother is? Where Post took her?"
"Yes and no," he gave a questioning look which prompted further explanation. "post was hired to return the chip." Gwen took the coin from her pocket and brandished it with the glint never dulling, even from the weakened light above. "Those people are Pandemonium and they're trying to keep the thievery hush-hush."
"Yeah, because they're in a cold war with Morningstar and Hades."
"Exactly." She took a swig of water before continuing. "So post was hired by Pandemonium. Since I double, triple, and quadruple-checked that the tracking device on this bad boy was cut, post can't find it. Meaning—"
"He took my Mom to lure me, and I'm assuming He thinks we work together, so by extension—"
"Booyah! You aren't as dumb as you look."
he stared but was ignored while She paced around the room. "If that's true, you're saying Post took my Mother to Pandemonium's headquarters?" he kept his gaze while his eyes went side-to-side like a pendulum.
Then She stopped midstep and said, "No. Pandemonium's headquarters are in Gomorrah. But there is a branch HQ here in Sodom."
So he hung his head and thought, "How am I going to get her back?" he punched his knee and thought. "Think! Think! Think!"
"You won't get her back." "You're useless, and your mother is gone." "Just give up!" But the Voices sat like glass shards, making it impossible to form ideas.
Soon this pervasiveness crossed the demarcation with rotting grief raking anything good while casting a pall of dreariness. "Lighten up." She went over and kicked his bucket lightly and said, "I have a plan that'll bypass most of the security. First, I need to analyze this chip to see if the bastard is there."
And arthur raised his head while sighing. Any possibility or idea was enough—well, for him that is.
Then Gwen sat and took the coin out while fumbling and examining every crevice with her cybernetic eye. "Interesting…"
And his attention was arrested and straightened on the mission. "What is it?"
The circuitry circled her iris and gave it a robotic glow as her pupil shot around like a pinball machine. "There's some insane stuff lined up on this coin. I'm talking about all sorts of ICE and bloatware that's throttling my shit."
"Yeah…" he thought back to first seeing it. Any layman would've thought it was a hunk of metal, but even his rudimentary cybernetics said otherwise. "Whoever made it knew what they were doing."
"It was heavily guarded when I jacked it."
"How guarded?!"
Then Gwen looked up and quelled his mind as if reading it, "Calm down, will ya! It's not a weapon. Rising Tide's report says it's just a chip with employee information, freight manifests, logistical layouts, shadow accounts, and all that jazz. That stuff could be more dangerous than a weapon, though. No wonder they sicced post on us."
"How much security did you need to get through to steal this!?"
Soon putting a finger on her chin and with an unsure tone said, "Maybe fifty or so?"
"You beat up fifty people!?"
Pfffh—some spit flew out, attempting to stifle a laugh. "I wish!" Almost with a knee-slap, She responded, "You think I'm post or something? I managed to nab it during the whole nerve gas attack. A lot of confusion and stealth did the trick." arthur was about to say something, but was stopped with a hand raise. "Just give me a minute to gather information from this thing."
So he acquiesced. But nothing happened while She hunched over and stared at the coin like before with a dagger-like gaze from her illuminated eyes that could burrow holes.
Then a few minutes passed and concern mounted.
"You still there?" he got closer and waved. "Is She sweating?" It dropped from her face profusely with an inordinate amount that would only make sense from eating the hottest peppers in the world back-to-back.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The drops fell like rain while the vascularity in her neck and head was pronounced—one particular vein was touchable. But it was her eyes that concerned him. They shook and were tunnel-focused. he didn't think She realized he was even there.
A few more minutes passed and then—
"Fuck…" A sharp exhale hit him and swore it was steam. "Damn…"
"Are you okay?" arthur tried to catch her.
"I'm fine." She stopped falling while her breathing remained labored for a second before catching it. "T-That…was a hell of a trip…"
"What happened?"
"Woooh!" She raised her head and grabbed a water bottle by her chair and chugged while unfazed at how much leaked from her mouth. The bottle and her body crunched in on themselves and battled for supremacy until no water was left. "AHH…" And She wiped her mouth and began drinking arthur's bottle and finishing it and said, "The amount of bullshit on this chip. It was an obstacle course trying to gather fucking information."
A foreboding draped him—a chip from a mega-corporation with anti-hacking properties, while guarded by dozens, and sending a world-class mercenary to retrieve it. Truly, nothing good will come.
"It's as bad as you think it is." She stretched while he waited with bated breath. "I couldn't get much since going any further without the right equipment would've killed me. But I was able to find enough to get the ball rolling. An interesting thing that the Rising Tide might've wanted was shipments from Gomorrah and Admah to Sodom. They'll be inbound in a few days."
"So you found out where Post is?"
"No, but I found my guy, and where my guy is, post would be there."
"You know this…how exactly?"
"Because thaddeus black, the man I'm after, is the head executive of Pandemonium here. This chip, besides the logistical stuff, also detailed his plan to take over the company from luce, the CEO."
"A corporate coup?"
"Pretty much and it's in the works, not fully fleshed out. And if this chip got into the hands of someone who isn't supposed to see it—" She tossed and caught the coin before saying, "—it could mean a shit storm." With another water bottle lifted and chugged greedily, She breathed and said, "thaddeus hired post to get this chip since he doesn't want anyone else knowing his plans."
"If a coup was the shallowest thing on the chip, what is hidden behind the firewalls and ICE?"
Gwen shrugged and said, "I have what I needed from it. That's all I care about. For now."
"Why are you looking for Thaddeus, if you don't mind me asking?" The question murdered the room. "I probably shouldn't have asked that." Just before he could shove his question back down his throat—
"It's none of your business. Just know thaddeus is a piece of shit, and he'll get what's coming to him." Venom hung off every single word.
Then he stepped back and his stomach sank and lurched all at once with whispers from his body and mind repeating the feeling of facing hate so great it burned and quaked, for the facial expression was that of a crazed person—pure, unadulterated hatred, even moreso than before. Hate personified. What Gwen showed was the closest. No dilution for this sprung from the heart of hearts—a deep-seated resentment surfacing like molten lava.
Gulp—before he confronted this revelation, a notification popped into his neurallink and reminded him of unopened messages:
Reminder: You have ten missed calls.
And around the same time—Knock Knock Knock. The bangs erupted from the heavy-duty rolling steel door a few feet away.
The duo looked at one another with concern ebbing.
"Should we see who it is?"
"No, you idiot!" Gwen moved toward the wall's far side while arthur dovetailed behind. "It's probably those corpo fucks that are knocking out every Rising Tide outpost."
"Why would they knock though?"
Knock Knock Knock
"I don't fucking know." She stared past him and said, "We've got to find a way out, but they've probably got the place surrounded."
Knock Knock Knock. But something accompanied the knocks this time: "Arthur! Are you in there?!"
So Gwen immediately pulled him and, with a dangerous tone, asked, "Who did you snitch to!?"
"No one, I promise!" he raised his hands placatingly and said, "You were with me the whole time."
And the reasoning quelled her doubts, but the question of who was on the other side still lingered.
"Could it be…" he wanted to confirm his suspicion and opened his neurallink and ran through the call log while Gwen walked to the rolling door.
"To hell with it." She stuck her hand toward a console directly left and it lit green. The door rose and She pointed her gun and waited for the slightest hint of hostility.
"It's…" arthur saw the name pop up ten times in red within his log.
"Arthur?"
Then the two locked contact with one another as he uttered, "Gawain."
And as the silence settled, "Who the hell are you!?"