What you are about to read is the rough translation of Humanity Chains. Original version is in Italian.
Many readers have asked me when a physical English version will be available on Amazon.
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This version will always be free for you to enjoy. Just "tread softly because you tread on my dreams".
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CHAPTER 1
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK
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****log01****cntrlexec.dat******b575bff481a6eb4c67441f84mef013hile one step at a time I walked down the dark corridor of the abandoned skyscraper.
Baby you know how it feels the first time under scrutiny, right? When you know that a bunch of top dogs connected to your symbiote AI is scrutinizing you to give you a score. At your age, my own back then, I thought that that score was to determine how valuable you were as a human being. So, as a fool, in wanting to go all out, I soon found myself completely isolated from the rest of my team.
My instincts had led me to check a side corridor off the planned route and this had already cost me a big reprimand via the net. I screwed up but I could still get a few extra points.
The main team of the operation, named Alpha 5, was getting ready to break into the room where, according to the operations room, the guys we had to arrest were gathered. The detour had brought me close to that very room, in defiance of the boring secondary mission assigned to my team.
There were just silence and billions of dust particles dancing in the half-light to keep me company, whose quiet discretion allowed me to hear in my ears the beating of my heart and the vibrating of my diplocardium.
From the scabs on the walls and the rot on the ground, I could imagine the musty smell and
mold even with my head firmly sealed inside my helmet.
I walked up to the faux-wood door and stopped to listen. My symbiote AI amplified the sounds my tactical helmet could pick up through the surfaces and made me hear them: someone was still fighting violently. Mixed with the noise of the argument I could also hear with my real ears a soft cry. I didn't like that at all, something in there was taking a bad turn.
- Devil are you covered? -, asked my co-op from the ops room directly inside my head.
"Sure", I replied in a whisper. "I can break in whenever I want. How many are there?".
- Don't get any ideas, cowboy -, replied the voice. - Alpha 5 will start the party, you'll come in later. Just cover that side for now. Don't make your situation worse. The commander of
your team is furious, you know very well that you should not be there alone -.
Suddenly I heard a gunshot, followed by an expletive in French that even I could catch. The crying I had heard before was gone, swallowed up by the bang.
"Holy shit", I jerked, swallowing. "Matt, those guys shot! It wasn't Alpha 5 was it?".
- Easy Devil! No, they're not in yet...-.
My partner didn't have time to finish his sentence that I was already kicking the door open wide. "Halt!", I shouted in an artificially distorted voice to the men in the room. I fired a few shots in the direction of the windows in an attempt to scare them. A moment passed and the second door swung wide open.
"Hands above your head!" a shadow shouted, emerging from the darkness. The imposing man was dressed identically to me in a black and gray camouflage suit, ballistic protection everywhere and a full black helmet with no visor. He promptly turned on his weapon's flashlight to glare at one of the men who was earlier arguing inside the room, a small living room with rough, unplastered concrete walls with a plastic table in the middle with a couple of folding chairs around it.
On that table were black briefcases stacked one on top of the other and a strange machine with an unknown function that might remind one of something medical.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a figure on the ground: I fired and the man who had been blinded before fell down dead in front of my colleague in black, who pointed his rifle at the other man, who, terrified, immediately raised his hands and got rid of a small gun.
"FMP! Get on your knees and hands above your head! Forward! Now! Move!", I ordered.
"Inhibit him", ordered the officer in charge of the Alpha 5 unit.
Two other shadows emerged from behind him: the two were dressed in the same way, but from the look and the insecure and hesitant ways they seemed younger or at least two inexperienced, just like me. One of them stepped forward and immobilized the guy on the ground who, with a grimace of anger, agreed to have the handcuffs and AIQ (Artificial Intelligence Quencher) placed under his left ear where the ULS door is.
The team commander bent down over the girl on the ground, connected a cable to her AI using the same connector and pronounced her dead. Then he turned to look at the guy I had knocked out.
"Idiot! Did you have to shoot him?" the team leader yelled at me.
"I thought it necessary, sir", I replied candidly. I had just screwed up, but at least I had avenged that poor girl.
"You fool! Twenty cents less Devil, let that be a lesson to you! Run and rejoin your unit, by now the whole building must know we're here! And, mind you, I don't want any more incidents, when operations are over report to Alpha 1!". - Support, update the operators on the new targets -, he then ordered communicating via network to the other teams. "And you two there, what are you waiting for? Move!", continued the man who, followed by the other two and the arrested man, disappeared behind the door he had entered. The room became deserted except for a couple of corpses lying on the floor. I wasn't too moved by the poor bastard I had killed, on the contrary. I looked at that poor girl again, wondering who she was. Big mistake. I felt anger, I tried to calm down. I shouldn't have lost my mind. It wasn't healthy to stare at those bodies and after a deep breath I resumed my movement as quietly as possible, walking backwards along the corridor I had come from.
I ran holding my breath, casting virtual glances at any shadow that might resemble a human
silhouette. I stopped suddenly and crouched beside a wall, about ten meters from an automatic door. I then advanced silently and slowly until I was about four meters from it. I could hardly tell a faint, suffocated and suffering sob.
- Devil, I'm online. Delta 4-2 are you there? -, suddenly said the usual voice inside my helmet.
"Got it. West area, zone 15, main corridor 112th floor", I replied. "Still haven't found the rest of my unit".
- Your SAI knows exactly where they are. Why do you keep messing around? You should clearly see the path of reunion. Listen carefully, I am detecting heat sources inside a room about ten feet to your right. There are three, two small and one large... negative, there are four, two large and two fainter. It is possible that they are hostages or wounded, hold on -.
"Roger that", I unwillingly obeyed and stood waiting hidden in the half-light. The combat suit was completely closed and insulated but I couldn't help but shiver with each high and low of adrenaline.
I could still see that dead girl imprinted against my retinas.
- Brother -, resumed the voice in my BRAIN after a couple of minutes, - they obviously tell me that you are out of your zone. Ignore the door and move to zone 12. I will guide you to your arrival point. Delta 6 and Delta 4 are in position, they will be waiting for you to continue securing the floor -.
"Just say them there is at least one civilian inside the room".
- They know but Alpha 5 and Alpha 3 will take care of it. Come on buddy, move it and get back with your team before someone thinks it's best to exclude you from the mission -.
"Alpha this, Alpha that, how come Dunn gets all the scoring? Delta was only given shitty jobs!", I complained.
- It's not really the case to make an issue of it right now... -, wisely replied my partner.
An agonizing scream leaked through the door. It sounded like a child's scream, followed by another, weaker but a more terrible and threatening one. I heard a slap-like pop, then silence.
"Violence in progress, I will proceed with the raid", I said agitatedly. "They've already killed one, I can't have that...”.
- Negative! I repeat, negative! Don't fuck around down there, you hear me? Devil, Alpha 3 are coming. They'll be there any minute, followed by Alpha 5. You are not cleared to proceed, proceed to your assigned area now! -.
"Are you guys stupid? Something bad is going on in there!", I retorted sharply and cut off the
communication. I took a breath, removed the safety catch from my weapon and stood in front of the door. I stepped forward and the door opened by itself via sensor. "Fuck!", I cursed in surprise and found myself backing away uselessly moved by instinct.
"Who is it?", a man inside the room asked startled. His companion looked at him in amazement. I had lost the surprise effect and decided to break in.
"FMP, you're under arrest! Drop the…”, I shouted authoritatively but didn't have time to finish the sentence when I was repulsed by a hail of bullets. A couple of rounds reached the bulletproof before I managed to throw myself to the ground and open fire at random.
Three more people came out of nowhere. I heard a scream and a thud, a sign that I must had hit something. I resumed firing almost blindly and heard more bullets shatter against my chest. All five fell to the ground, lifeless.
I quickly recharged, shaking with adrenaline, and inspected the room from where the other guys had come: it was dark inside and using the instruments on my helmet I couldn't detect anything, neither heat nor sound. I turned on the flashlight under my weapon and illuminated the darkness in front of me.
Under a heavy greenish tarp were moving what must have been the hostages we were looking for.
With caution I first pulled off a corner and under it I found some very young girls, tied up and
terrified. One of them found the strength to speak. "There are others”, she said in an exhausted voice, "all under the blanket!".
I rested the weapon behind my back and struggled to remove the heavy drape. That special cover was meant to fool our instruments, which signaled the empty room. In all, those bastards were hiding a dozen hostages. I smiled thinking about the heart attack the guys in the operations room were getting seeing a crowd pop up where we thought it was empty.
I noticed a rather curious fact: the hostages were all females. Girls between fifteen and twenty years old with more or less similar characteristics, dark complexion and black hair. A beep sounded inside my helmet. It was time to enjoy the success.
"Fuck you and Alpha! Matt, you asshole, did you see that hit?", I exclaimed triumphantly.
- I'm Carter, Lieutenant -, a different voice answered me than I expected, much deeper and
sterner.
"Yes sir, sorry sir. I thought it was…”, I justified myself as I freed one of the girls from the
ropes that bound her hand and foot.
- We are in official operation and although encrypted you address your control by proper
name? I'll make sure you review the procedures, Devil. Instruments indicate a high number of heat sources at your location. I'm asking you now, what the hell is going on? -.
"They were under a shielding cover, sir. They had blinded us. They're the hostages, a dozen or so”, I explained, trying to set the tone.
- You count them better -.
"Yes sir”. I finished helping the first of the prisoners, then handed her the knife I was using. "Use it to free the others”, I told her naively as I finished the count. "That's fourteen hostages, I think all of them female. There are no doubt underage girls among them”.
- Do you need an urgent medevac? -, the major asked.
I asked the question again and none seemed to require it. "Negative sir, they are scared but quite unharmed. Maybe some in mild dehydration, they will have been here for several hours”.
- Well, it looks like you just fell on your feet. Hold your position until further notice and protect the hostages. A high and a low, see to it. Enough crazy shit, Devil.
"Roger that", I sighed relieved. It was over. Now the rest of the fun was up to the other cadets, intent on hunting down the few remaining hostiles.
As the hostages freed each other, I left the room to check on the condition of the criminals I had shot: they were all dressed in ordinary clothes and unfortunately all five had been killed. I was bending down to feel the pulse of one of them, when suddenly something struck me violently in the back of the head. The helmet cushioned the blow but I lay on the ground stunned for a few seconds. I looked up and saw that one of the hostages was running away from me and taking the door unceremoniously.
- Hostage on the run leave current location to pursue -, I communicated to control as I already gave chase.
- Negative Devil you have been ordered to hold your position! -, Matt replied.
"The area hasn't been cleaned, if that one gets caught, they'll kill her! I'll go get her, I won't be long!".
- Ah, but what did they assign me to your control to do... you always do what you want you frrz... -, I lost the final insult as I interrupted the communication.
Running with that heavy equipment was tiring and keeping up with her was a real challenge. I kept a tight rein on her all the way down the floor until she took a service staircase, going down two floors and jumping the ramps instead of running up them. She was very agile, but I managed to keep up with her until she could take a working elevator. The doors closed for good just as I was about to enter and I ended up slamming into them, bouncing and falling on my butt.
"Oh yeah, huh? You want to play rough? Tough game, bitch!", I exclaimed in frustration. I charged and fired a single explosive round at the doors, which parted like they were made of paper. Less than ten seconds had passed since they had closed. I dove in without waiting for the smoke from the blast to clear. I made a serious miscalculation.
The cabin had already come down a lot, more than I expected. I fell like an idiot a dozen meters into the void, headfirst, and fell backwards onto the roof. It was the helmet that saved my life.
But the external sensors were gone, my SAI could only show me a few frames each instant,
making my every action slow and awkward. I opened a trapdoor underneath me and jumped
blindly into the elevator, in tremendous pain. Before falling to the ground, I managed to grab the girl by the vest in an attempt to block her, but she was so agile that she managed to slip it off and run away quickly.
I took off my helmet and threw it furiously to the ground, finally seeing with my real eyes again, coughing from the breathlessness and shock of the fall.
I stood up with a prolonged groan and cracked my sore neck a couple of times before exiting the elevator car with my tail between my legs and a vest between my fingers, heading for the tower's entrance hallway.
I looked at myself for a moment, reflected in a broken mirror hanging on a wall of the lobby that had been bare and unused for years. A seventeen-year-old boy should not have looked like that.
My sweaty, disheveled brown hair, shaved only at the sides, fell over my pale face, and the dark circles under my gray eyes testified to how early my alarm clock had been that morning. I saw myself as far too thin for some reason, even though my five-foot-eight inches by eighty-odd pounds of mostly muscle suggested otherwise.
I drew a couple of deep breaths, went back to picking my helmet up off the ground and prepared, one step in front of the other, to cash in on what I had earned.
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"I don't know what kind of training you Seattle people go through, but it sure doesn't conform to normal rules of common sense and discipline!" the camouflaged FMP colonel mauled me as he furiously greeted me outside the skyscraper. "Lieutenant Deit Lester! You had...”.
"It's pronounced Dàt, sir”, I corrected him.
"I don't give a damn about pronunciation! You have disobeyed two precise orders! In the first case you allowed us to find the hostages, so good or bad you could even turn a blind eye... but to provide a cutting weapon to one of them? Abandoning the position of defense of the same exposing them to danger? Not to mention that you have deliberately damaged private property by opening an elevator in two and irreparably damaged a 3000 credits tactical helmet! Lieutenant, you are an idiot! And I am not going to gloss over the raid in area 18, where you fired without authorization, risking hitting your colleagues in crossfire!".
"Sir, that hostage sucker-punched me before he escaped. She could have been an accomplice and..”., I tried to say in my defense.
"And who had their backs to them, huh? Not a word more! I'll report to your commander, he'll see to it that you get some sense in you! And now get lost!" he yelled.
"Yes! Sir...”. He had slaughtered me for good. I left the entrance of the skyscraper with a low
morale and a vest in my hand, heading towards the small square in front of it, cordoned off and forbidden to civilians. The operations were over, the arrested had already been taken away and the dead or wounded taken to the hospital. Nothing more to see meant, if nothing else, that there were no more curious onlookers to observe my sad scene. Instead, there were a few police aircraft waiting for the last of the soldiers to be transported to the police station. I boarded one of those and we took off for the station. Although I was exhausted, I still had enough energy to be impressed by the strange city.
The reconstructed Paris was embarrassing for humanity to the point that it did not even have the prefix New in front of its official name. The legal population still lived in the towers of the center dating back to the fallow while the illegal, violent and ghettoized, lived in the suburbs or in the abandoned buildings left standing after the war.
"First time seeing them, Lieutenant?" the driving FMP officer asked, perhaps noticing my rapt gaze.
"Yes”, I confirmed as I observed the false lines of light that the neon signs and augmented reality signage projected into the perpetual twilight between the clustered buildings. I activated the AD-Block that was the privilege of my military AI and my vision lost color but I gained, if nothing else, peace of mind.
"We have the world record you know? City with the most skyscrapers in the world! If you happen to pass by and see the Eiffel Tower, it looks like a piece of plastic in a glass ball with snow now that there is the Tour De Gaulle next to it, 1400 meters of weatherproof steel and transparent aluminum, it takes your breath away!".
"I'm not here to be a tourist”, I said, dampening his enthusiasm.
"Are you kidding? With such a cloudy day it's even better, the top disappears into the clouds, it's postcard worthy! Humanity did things big here after the war, how can you not be fascinated?"
"Were you a tour guide before you joined the Federal Military Police?" I complained.
"I beg your pardon Lieutenant”, he said, turning serious again. "No, I'm not even French. I was assigned here, but I fit right in. Our city has so many problems, drug dealing, prostitution, illegals everywhere... It's part of my wanting to make things better to push visitors to discover the beautiful things in Paris as well”.
"I'm more of a country guy”, I replied, showing apathy. "I hate these concrete monsters”.
Today's operation was proof of that degradation: after days of investigations, the long series of kidnappings uncovered by the FMP finally began to have those responsible and a place to start looking for the kidnapped girls. What they wanted to do with them, however, was still unclear and I, with my excessive violence, had certainly not helped the police, who were in need of prisoners to interrogate.
When I arrived at the headquarters, a square building completely covered with rectangular
mirrored windows, I went to the locker room where I could clean myself up and get dressed in my beloved cadet uniform. Each military academy has its own specific uniform and, in my case, being at that time a cadet at the Seattle Military Academy, I was wearing black pants in TW 80, (tactical wearing, a special ultra-light, heat insulating and anti-splinter fabric. The number indicates the IP or Protection Index of the fabric) and a black short-sleeved jersey in TW 50.
As you know baby, every cadet, even children, is allowed to carry arms. It has never been a real obligation, but rather a tradition dating back to the early days of the founding of mankind, when in the midst of chaos, even children were armed. Tradition of which cadets usually live without to save themselves headaches.
For yours truly, however, my hands were itching all the time and above all I had a real passion for antique firearms. I carried two real leather holsters under my armpits, which held a pair of old Walther P99s. A treat for true collectors, almost unobtainable in 2278.
I know what you're wondering, baby. Two guns? Really? Well, I can only admit that I thought it was pretty cool at the time. I can picture your face, go easy on me.
However, when I finished arming myself, I put on the true hallmark of my academy: a long and elegant dark brown raincoat with a red-trimmed lapel that went down almost to my ankles. On the left shoulder there was sewn a patch with the flag of Humanity and on the lapel were pinned military ranks. The fabric of that coat was even a TW 90 and although bizarre to see, its thermal insulating power made it ideal to wear even in June.
I strapped on my amphibians and left the locker room, heading for the hotel where I was staying.
Outside the police station, I found a group of cadets dressed the same way I was, some of whom, after recognizing me, burst out laughing. Reluctant, I was forced to approach them, as they were standing near the only exit from the station.
"Hey Little D”, one of them greeted me tauntingly, "I heard you caught a dangerous vest.
Congratulations! How about next time among the dead and fugitives you leave a few who can talk?".
"Looks like the urge to kill runs in the family", said another looking at me with disdain.
I ignored them. For who knows what reason, I still had the chick's garment right in my hand.
"Do the world a favor Dunn, shut up”, shushed another for me, who took to following me.
"What do you want Matt?", I asked him.
"I'm going back to the hotel with you, of course. I can't wait to get out of this insulting uniform”, he replied.
"Have respect for your uniform”, I scolded him.
"Yes, sir”, he replied wryly. "Just so I know, what got into you down there? Your pair at the control didn't get it anymore!".
I looked at him annoyed. He was slightly shorter than me, with an elongated, laughing face, clear eyes and straight black hair cut short. Although he was thin in build, he still had a well-developed muscle: his tongue. I had been stuck with him for almost two years as a companion and had given up on the idea of killing him. Over time I had learned to ignore even his nonsense.
"Hey Daith, listen to me!".
"But what do you want from me?", I asked annoyed.
"You totally disregarded my instructions up there! Why?".
"Because they were stupid".
"Daith this isn't working. If we don't cooperate, we both risk getting in trouble every time! ".
"Look, it went smoothly, didn't it?".
"Not so much. A lot of people have been complaining to the command, and in the next few days you're sure to be called in! Carter will kill you".
"Maybe".
"Ah be sure of it. And he'll enjoy it like a pig! Oh yes”, she giggled, moving her hips.
"Fuck him too”, I cut in. Carter, commander of my class and a colossal troublemaker. He was so caught up in his own voice while berating someone, he didn't even realize if he was being heard or not.
"And your service record doesn't matter to you? You'll finish the academy as a private if you keep this up... ".
"You all come out lieutenants in the end anyway”, I reminded him. The internal grade assigned to cadets is a very relative thing. You can graduate with higher grades, but all those who finish their studies and decide to remain in the forces of humanity are guaranteed a minimum.
"Let's change the subject, shall we? The day after tomorrow we'll probably all be at the Moulin Rouge for a little party! End of mission, you know? You'll be there, right?" he asked hopefully.
"What do you think?", I asked back assuming he knew me by now.
"Okay, then I'll make a reservation for you, too".
"No Matt I won't be there", I declined shaking my head disconsolately.
"Come on, we'll have fun…".
We arrived at a main road and I started looking for a terminal to call an air cab. As soon as I read the words waiting time: 33 minutes, I decided to walk. I lit a cigarette and hurried to dismiss Matt. "Look, I'm never getting dragged into one of your adventures again, got it? Remember two years ago? Besides, we're still underage how are we going to get into Moulin Rouge?", I asked puffing a wave of gray smoke at him.
"You're only doing that because you just got them from a woman!" he mocked, coughing out the smoke.
I puffed more smoke and looked at him crookedly. The sight of the hostage who had died just moments before still wouldn't let go of me. I didn't want to appear weak, so I stayed on topic. "That bitch must have hit me with a hammer at least. Never seen anyone run like that”.
"By the way, accept this file”, he said pointing to his own head with his index finger. My SAI alerted me to an incoming video and I opened it, threatening revenge if it was some nonsense or porn.
With my BRAIN I saw a surveillance camera pointing, albeit marginally, to the exit of the
skyscraper where we had carried out our operations. I could glimpse the cordon of police officers behind the barriers, keeping some civilians at a distance without too many problems, conversing cordially with them but always keeping them at a safe distance.
From the doors of the hall, a girl came out running very fast and jumped up the flight of stairs
leading to the entrance. The agents had just enough time to raise an arm and place their hand at their side to grab the gun when she had already jumped the barriers and entered the alleys, getting lost out of the frame. "Damn, that was fast”, I commented out loud as I returned to seeing the real world.
"Yeah, a cute little bolt”, Matt echoed. "Those losers didn't even try to chase her”.
"Maybe she was in a hurry to go to the bathroom... well, fuck her too”, I concluded shrugging and walking away. "I'm going to throw this in the first bin I find", I said looking at the vest.
"Throw it on the ground then, for what this place is worth. But... are you going to walk?".
"Sure. I don't feel like waiting. The time it takes an air cab to arrive is the same time it takes me to get to the hotel for free. I'm in no hurry anyway. I'll see you later", I greeted him, already on my way. Matt obviously preferred to wait.
It was more pleasant to walk in that area, and strolling might have helped me dilute the memories and emotions of the operation that had just ended. The skyscrapers allowed a little light to reach the level of the Seine River, like the bottom of a canyon.
That overcast morning was bustling and cackling along the river. A crowd of spendthrift tourists wandered between stores, cafes, and couture ateliers. It almost felt like another city. The streets were crowded with people on foot or aboard a variety of micro electric vehicles from common unicycles to the more expensive gravity-powered hoverboards. In some places on the banks of the Seine had even been recreated some tiny artificial beaches of yellowish sand, overflowing with deck chairs and colorful umbrellas, that day still closed. It was late June and hot.
I walked slowly with my hands behind my back and that damn vest under my arm, looking at the various ruins of the old buildings with a disinterested air, wondering what foreign tourists felt when they saw a pile of crumbling stones.
I ran into a boy with very fair skin, platinum blond hair and blue eyes who stopped me and smiled far too cheerfully even for an enthusiastic tourist. "Would you hold up the mirror for me? I’ll do some quick looks!", he asked.
He shoved the rectangular mirror into my hands and struck a pose. "Actually I..”, I faltered without realizing that all I had to do was allow him to see himself in the reflection so he could memorize and digitize the image of himself for a selfie.
"Thank you!", he said taking the item back and walking away passing me so close that I was forced to back away a step. I hadn't even had time to think it through properly and I thought I had just been pickpocketed or something.
It was so distracted that I didn't hear the sound of a small bell behind me. When my sixth sense made me turn around, it was too late. The impact with something that hit me hard in the stomach threw me to the ground. Again.
Angry and dusty, I jumped up and looked up. I suddenly fell silent, almost as if I had lost the power of speech. The object that had fallen into my belly was the headlight of nothing less than a real bicycle, very old and battered and in some places even rusted.
The person driving that old-fashioned banger was a girl I wouldn't have given even twenty years old to, with olive skin and very black hair a bit shaggy, straight and roughly cut just above the shoulders, more for convenience than choice.
She was wearing a black tank top with white flowers printed on it and a pair of short tan shorts, which covered a slender gymnast's body. In her mulatto face she had set two beautiful green eyes of a shade and a brightness that I had never seen in my life before. The features were all too perfect, as if drawn with care and harmony by some talented artist.
"Je suis vraiment désolé”, she apologized in a soft but at the same time worried voice, "T'ai-je blessé?". I remained silent and it took me too long to realize that the expression on my face musthave been rather silly. Too much information, feelings and emotions had suddenly crowded into mymind, too much to decide anything. I also didn't understand a damn thing he was saying.
"I-I…”, I stammered. My AI took the wise initiative to go into translator mode and I began to
understand a few words of French, albeit with a few seconds delay. Back then, simultaneous
software wasn't as efficient as what you're used to.
"What's the matter, can't you understand me?", she asked slightly anxiously. "Today just isn't my day! I'm sorry, but I still have to get the hang of this thing! I'm really sorry about that! Vous avez besoin d'aide? Need help?"
"No, no. It's okay, I don't have anything”, I finally managed to say. "But did I…?”.
"Hey Deena!", an old shopkeeper from the opposite side of the street who had witnessed the confrontation recognized her. "Tu as toujours ce vieux tacot?".
"Unfortunately monsieur, those who are poor must be happy just not having to walk!", she smiled back at him.
"Be careful! Don't run over tourists!", the man recommended to her before returning inside his store.
"If it's all right, then I'm going”, she replied, getting back on the saddle. "And excuse me again", she repeated one last time before starting off again, staggering a little to the right and left with uncertain pedaling and quickly disappearing into the crowd.
I shook off the dust but not my amazement at my total inability to act. I shook my head several times thinking about my stupidity. Then I realized something was missing. I retraced my steps and picked up my vest. I was frozen, petrified, totally motionless. "It can't be”, I thought out loud.
"There's no way it could be…". I folded the garment and ran towards the store run by the guy who had greeted the girl a few moments before. He worked in a souvenir store. I approached him unobtrusively and pushed him into the back of the store. "I absolutely need information", I said getting to the point.
"What kind?", he asked visibly nervous. "Easy monsieur, no need to be abrupt".
"The girl who hit me a few minutes ago. I need to know everything you know about her". The man squared me from head to toe, taking on an even more uneasy look.
"Here sergeant see...".
"I'm no sergeant".
"Ah, oui mon capitaine... if you want compensation I'll offer to pay for your laundry. I've been a soldier myself, how much they value formality I know well".
"It's not about the accident! You called her first name first, didn't you? Miná or something! ".
"It's pronounced Di-nà!", he ran at me with typical Parisian snootiness. "C'est une bonne fille, she didn't do anything wrong!".
"Di-nà... I'll remember that. Last name? Address? It's for her sake that you need to tell me where I can find her. She might be in trouble".
The man seemed undecided but then was finally convinced to speak, "If I tell you then you won't do anything bad to her will you?".
"Anything bad? I'm the bad guy now, you idiot? I just need to do some investigating, identify her and see if she's in any danger. I've been looking for her since before she rear-ended me, we could say she was lucky to fall back into my sights".
"I don't want anything to happen to her, though. She just helps out, you know? She tries to survive; she works a little here and a little there...".
"I'm not interested in who she is or what she does. I'm interested in some of the people who might hurt her. It's not her I have a problem with, okay? Does this look like an FMP uniform to you?".
"Looks like a cadet uniform to me”, he observed puzzled. "Aren't you practically students?".
"You don't know shit about it! I'm not here to explain it to you! Just talk!", I chafed. Her hesitancy seemed to hint that she wasn't exactly an angel, that Deena.
"Allez, bien. Bite, there are nicer ways to ask for help kid".
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What the chances of meeting just the right person among the millions of inhabitants of a
metropolis like that? I thought back to two years ago, when Matt and a few other guys were
escaping from the academy at night to try to crash a strip club in Seattle, and we found a group of officers in the club in full swing. Misfortune, unlike luck, saw us very well that night and perhaps the same had happened to her that day.
I was more and more of the opinion that this guy had played me. He had sent me to one of the most infamous corners of the city, or at least that's what everyone I asked for directions had told me. There was a reason why the air cab had dropped me off two kilometers before my destination.
The skyscrapers were finished and in that area there were only four or five-story condominiums, all rather run down and old. I walked down that semi-deserted avenue arriving at a dilapidated house with only three floors that could match my information. It was surrounded by a grassy courtyard, all in all well-kept, in which there were children's rides, as the merchant had described them to me. In front of the entrance gate to the courtyard was parked an aircraft that looked too expensive for that neighborhood.
I crossed the threshold of the small garden looking around me with caution, deciding before
entering to make a tour of the outdoor area, thus bypassing the condominium and arriving at the backyard. It was there that I witnessed a strange scene.
I saw a tall, blond, well-dressed man having an animated discussion with another guy, perhaps one of the inhabitants of that block, much less well-groomed in appearance. After a while the less tall one lowered his gaze, accepted a credit card and went back into the house. Luckily no one noticed me. I decided I wanted to know more, so I retraced my steps and looked out of a ground floor window.
In the room where I could peek I found the girl I was looking for; she had changed clothes, she was wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a simple red T-shirt, wrinkled and too large for her. She was sitting on a bed as if intent on assisting a sick person under the covers, perhaps a child. She heard a knock on the door, went to open it, and was confronted by the man talking earlier in the courtyard with the tall guy.
"Salut monsieur Dumas", she greeted him warmly. "Fever is down".
"Wonderful", he replied in a low, sad voice. "Come with me, I have someone to introduce you to".
I guessed he was taking her to the backyard from earlier. I laid my vest on the window sill, then opened my raincoat and pulled out one of my guns. I left the safety on.
She followed him without making a fuss and once they were out as I had planned she seemed to get scared at the sight of the person waiting for her.
"Who is this man monsieur Dumas?", she asked intimidated. I removed the safety catch.
"He says he wants to meet you... so he just...", he said sadly. "Now... you're going to have to go with him".
"He just... what? Paid? ", Deena asked torn between anger and fear.
"He just donated a lot of money to the orphanage. He says he can provide a plausible identity and give you a roof. He certainly doesn't lack for money.... ".
Deena was shocked. "Connard! Don't pretend you don't understand what you're doing! Would that be a pimp?".
"Millions of kilometers to every corner of Sol and I've never been called a pimp", laughed the blond guy, speaking with a curious accent, signaling to one of his buddies whom I hadn't noticed to block the girl's escape route through the building. Another man came out of nowhere and approached the poor girl.
"Stay where you are or the kids in here will pay the price", said the man behind him, blocking the door. He had thick, long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail that went down to his shoulders, dark, piercing eyes and an unkempt stubble that barely covered a scar on his chin. His physique was agile but strong and imposing at the same time. He wore black amphibians and pants in a blue camouflage pattern, perhaps that of the regiments stationed in the Domini, but otherwise they were ordinary clothes. The young woman looked for help with her gaze turned towards that monsieur Dumas but when he lowered it in total helplessness, she understood that she was alone.
"Tu m'as vendu! To a man whose name you don't even know!", she screamed in shock. "Is that all you raised me for?".
"Grown up? Now let's not exaggerate. I don't even remember when you appeared here", he replied with surprising coolness.
"Stop wasting time! Come here", said the pigtailed one again, fumbling with a pair of handcuffs for a while. "Did you see her eyes boss? Maybe we hit the jackpot!".
The girl was about to give herself up, when the man fell to the ground emitting a muffled groan. A stone rolled a few inches away from him. I had hit him squarely.
"So, you people have a lot of nerve. Thugs of your caliber would need a better antagonist than an unarmed and defenseless girl”, I said as I emerged from the corner of the apartment building, holding the gun in my right hand.
"Look, one of the kids playing war!", commented the other of the three, less tall and bigger. He spoke in a tone that was anything but alert, his half-dazed gaze skipping from point to point.
"Shut up and stand still. You are under arrest", I ordered them.
"Don't worry, hero, I'll be still”, said the blond one mocking me. As I held them at gunpoint, I ordered my SAI to contact via Starlink network the FMP to request some patrols.
The girl didn't seem at all relieved to see me, as if she considered me as bad as those scoundrels.
She seemed to be considering to escape, but finally decided to trust me and made to approach me, while the man knocked unconscious by the stone began to recover. Suddenly, a familiar hissing sound made me turn my head away: a laser gun shot me in the back. It was being held by a fourth man, who had been hiding in case of any unforeseen events. I fell to the ground with my back on fire from the pain, moaning and cursing the attacker that I couldn't even see. The leader, after congratulating his partner for the intervention, approached me and kicked the gun away from me.
The gun fell back to the ground and exploded a shot, the sound of which echoed far away because of the canyon of buildings all around.
"Asif, grab her and let's get out of here", the blond man ordered. Asif was the big, woozy one, he pointed his weapon at me and threatened to kill me if she didn't turn herself in.
She surrendered disheartened and the man I had stoned off guard grabbed her by the waist and dragged her towards their aircraft, amidst the screams and insults. As soon as they had gone far enough, I got up and picked up my gun. The coat had done its job, and I had only gotten a painful sunburn on my back. I watched helplessly as their aircraft lifted off the ground, gaining altitude to blend in with the others that crowded that stretch of sky in neat rows.
My SAI immediately set to work and, on my orders, began to follow the aircraft, taking advantage of its privileged access to the network that monitored city traffic. "Why isn't the FMP already here?", I asked myself. The AI brought up the answer, with a twenty-minute wait time for the crime I had reported. 'Life in the suburbs,' I surmised bitterly. "A shitty day!", I yelled angrily black. I went up to the guy who had given up the girl to the kidnappers and slapped him in the face. "Asshole! Do you have a car?".
"A... I… ".
"Come on you half-wit! You know what a car is, right?".
"O-Oui I have a car but... ".
"Open it! Enable me to the driving! Quick!", I ordered him. "I'm going to get it back so she can finish beating you, loser!".
He nodded his head, perhaps regretting his actions. He pointed to an old dull green aircraft a few feet away from us whose door opened by itself. I slipped inside and gave chase.
The hijackers were driving clean so as not to be conspicuous, so I was able to catch up with them quickly and leaning out of the window I fired, leaving my SAI in charge of the aircraft.
It was pretty hard to aim on the move, I couldn't keep it up or risk hitting the hostage.
So, I had a thought of mine. I pushed the aircraft as far as I could until I almost touched the rear bumper of my prey, then I kicked out the windshield. Regardless of the wind or the height, I climbed onto the hood.
From the car in front they stared at me in shock. I jumped on top of them, grabbed the spoiler of the aircraft by the skin of my teeth and pulled myself up onto it. Dumas's aircraft suddenly lost power and I was left with my legs dangling in the air. Bullets shattered the rear window glass and I heard them hiss as they passed close to my ears.
The AI had left the aircraft I had requisitioned completely to its own devices and now it was
plummeting to the ground with its nose inevitably pointing towards the ground. The explosion
seemed to originate in the middle of a deserted road but the impact was devastating for me
anyway. Carter would have wanted my head.
Ignoring the gunshots, I mounted the roof of the vehicle, amidst the jolts, screams and threats of the five occupants scandalized by my madness. I noticed where we were going and that they were reducing their height, perhaps to face me on the ground. I decided to risk even more: I shot at one of the aircraft's thrusters, so that the speed of the vehicle halved to about seventy kilometers per hour.
By now they would have expected anything but a raid. I raised the wing door upwards, took the girl by the arm and dragged her downstairs with me.
While we were falling and the girl was screaming, I fired a shot into the rear of the car's two
gravitational repulsors, so that the car reared up and began to rise into the sky, out of control. As I tried not to let the hostage escape with my left arm, I holstered my pistol and hugged her tightly, after which I prepared for the plunge.
The impact with the river was inclement against my already burnt back and the cold water made all my muscles contract at once. I grabbed some plants on the bank and pulled myself hard until I hoisted both of us into the dry. Despite the fact that the embankment was artificial, it was inevitable for me to get properly muddy.
The adrenaline was still pumping and the heart was pumping like never before. I felt like the king of the world, I felt unbeatable. If nothing else, I had recovered the escaped hostage.
I turned my gaze to the girl, unconscious from fright. The wet clothes made me linger for a moment on the shape of her body. I could spy her shapely breasts and her belly slightly furrowed by her abs. A great catch.
"If the details of the capture don't come out, I'd say redemption is complete”, I concluded, chuckling to myself. With little delicacy I gave her a loud but harmless slap on the cheek. The girl made a grimace and a scandalized sigh, getting up from the ground and sitting down.
"Don't worry, Miss”, I reassured her by putting on airs.
"Bite!" she snapped back. "It’s cold! Et toi?"
"I'm the guy she stunned while being held hostage, who she ran over on her bike and who just saved her life".
Disoriented, she tried to piece together the flashes of that terrible day: "En otage? At the tower? I have... invested... But where are we? Am I... soaked?". She noticed that her shirt had become transparent and embarrassed she covered her breasts by crossing her arms.
"You're welcome", I said increasingly irritated. Besides being trouble she was also ungrateful. "We're on the outskirts of Paris. The chase has taken us quite a distance from the city”.
"Oui, I know where we are", she said looking around and getting up from the floor, wiping off his muddy pants with pats on her legs. "You're… welcome? I don't owe you any thanks! Let me get this straight! You're the cop who chased me to the tower? And I ran you over in Saint-Merri? Was I really that lame?", she asked distressed, holding her forehead with one hand and moving her soggy hair from her face. "Quelle journée".
"Riding a bike near the FMP headquarters, you may run into some cops. You got lucky after all”.
"Ah oui, how fortunate to have fallen from the sky into the river! I didn't ask you to save me or follow me! To tell you the truth, it's your fault that... ".
"Very well, and now if you will follow me miss”, I interrupted her.
"What do you want? I’m not following anyone", she said looking at me intimidated.
"Cut it out. I am an officer of Humanity and therefore you will do as I command".
"You can dream about it, Yankee!". As she got up from the ground, she had secretly picked up a stone not much bigger than a golf ball, which she threw at me with force and precision, striking me in the neck and hitting the ULS door squarely. SAI's hardware is located in that exact spot, and the blow was strong enough to send it into a tailspin.
You've probably figured out by now, baby, where you get your little temper from, haven't you? This Deena is so different from the one you know, but on balance not so different.
That little street rat damaged my symbiote so much that it even paralyzed my peripheral nervous system. My vision was full of error messages and my limbs contracted from the conflicts and system errors. I glared at her but couldn't do much more than blurt out something unintelligible.
"Je suis désolé”, she said as she approached me. "To me, you or them makes no difference. Stop following me".
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