The sky shook with great rolls of thunder, quickly illuminated by the flashes of electricity. Bright neon glow made the downpour glow vibrant colors of pink and green, and the lightning was almost invisible behind the tall buildings. Loud roars of machines came from high in the air, the vehicles flying in long rows, racing after each other through the rain.
San Cameron was debatably beautiful. The lights were vibrant and hypnotizing, though looking at them for too long caused a dull pounding one’s head. And thick smog hung low over the city, surely causing the inhabitants to feel a strong burning in their lungs. The technological advancement of the city was a sight, but the toll it had taken on the world around them was… strangely terrifying.
The luminescent streets were barren, people stuck up in their homes and travelling in their flying machines rather than exploring the city; it perhaps took too much of a toll on their lungs to be outside for much more than a few minutes. That was typical for the city-life, the outside a distant memory to the people living there. A life long forgotten in the age of new technology; though it was a gift to the people, it had its tolls.
People had taken their riches, their technology and made monsters, made people into machines, and rather than improving the human race, they helped the now inevitable destruction.
It was what brought him to that alley, the hidden horrors that plagued the society; the monsters that went bump in the night.
He quietly crouched behind the dumpster, his hand placed on the ground beside his foot, rubbing against the ground, the dirt and grime rubbing off on him in return. He held his breath, listening intently. He wasn’t there to the naked eye, he was merely another shadow, barely perceptible.
Curses and grumbles of incoherent contempt came from farther down the alley. He looked back out to the street, his deep brown eyes coming across the form walking between the buildings on the other side of the street. His hand slowly travelled to his ear, pressing a button on the side of his earpiece.
“This has to be it,” he chided, careful to not inform the men down the alley of his presence.
“You said that last time,” a smooth woman’s voice returned in an almost mocking manner.
An indignant huff came from the man, his movements fluid as his retracted his hand from his ear.
“But I think so too… Should I proceed?” The woman asked after a moment.
“Yes.”
Silence came between the two. Lightning flashed once… twice more, and only seconds after, the loud calls of the heavens came in quick succession. The lights flickered and died out, the man faded farther into the shadows, moving quickly under the cover of the newfound darkness.
Cries of exasperation came from the end of the alley, though this time, it was easier to decipher.
“Damn!” a masculine voice said, “Can’t see a thing! Jess, Capri, get the kid outside, and Sky, light it up for ‘em! Don’t forget to retrieve the… the… What’s the word?”
A moment of stillness was all that answered him, without a light illuminating the alley.
“Sky?” the man asked, rustling gently with a crate. No reply came. “Sky, you-- you--!” Still, Sky didn’t acknowledged the group. “Capri, get your torch out, we need to see where that woman went.”
Again, the voice, assumedly the leader, replied to himself, “Capri...? Jess...?” the man’s voice was more meek, sheepishness infesting him like a virus.
“You fools! This isn’t--” the man was cut off, a large thump and a cry following it; a body fell against the cold, wet concrete.
“Aura, turn the lights back on,” the shadow-man finally spoke after his long silence.
“Alright,” and again, after much stirring, the neon lights started to flicker back on, and pink and green and purple graced the streets once again.
The forms of five people were slowly illuminated, one standing, looking slowly at his wrist, one lying on the floor, the others tied together with a dark cord, their mouths covered by a bright red electricity, obstructing any protests.
His wrist held information of the people now incapacitated, their faces flashing across a holographic screen. He dragged a hand through his thick curls. His eyebrows furrowed gently. A small grunt came from the tied up enemies, causing him to look from his wrist up to them, a small, almost cocky smirk came across his features.
“Guide me, Aura,” the man commanded of his companion, his dark eyes still locked on his enemies.
“Are you really going to boss me around, Fisher? I’m the one who makes this whole mission work, and if--”
“Please?”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
Fisher walked over to the door that was slightly ajar, peering into the warehouse. Its ceiling was spacious, reaching far above Fisher. There were only small boxes stacked in the corners of the room. There was small bits of clutter dotting the floor here and there; remenants of the mad rush to leave. The room was brightened by a deep purple, making the shadows dance in an odd fashion, and giving an unnatural feeling to all of it.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Well?” Fisher asked quietly. His eyes traversed the room, catching the corners where the shadows were more prominent. His enemies never rested, that much he knew.
“From the information I’ve gathered about this place, you need to go inside, and to your right there should be a door… Hidden. I think. You’re gonna need to do a very complex ritual. It starts with sacrificing five goats… ”
“Aura, please,” Fisher rolled his eyes, “this is time sensitive.”
“I know, I was just trying to buy myself some time to get more information.”
A drawn-out sigh came from the man, looking once more at his wrist. This time, as he swiped through, a girl’s face, no older than 14, was where he stopped. A look of pride and happiness came onto Fisher’s features as he regarded her.
I love you, was all he could think.
“Arlight,” Aura finally said, “there actually is a hidden door there, but you need to press on a hidden button.”
“No goat blood?”
“None.”
Fisher followed Aura’s instructions, the wall opening wide to swallow Fisher as he walked through the maze of hallways that had been unveiled. He was instructed down long hallways, a small handgun trapped between his calloused hands, his deep brown eyes searching.
“...and, according to my information, you should take the next door on your left, and that will be where they keep their… goods.”
“Strange, how you keep getting this information that's always correct…” Fisher said absentmindedly, strafing to the side of the door, his hand clamping on to the handle, his emotion baren, “Wonder where you got it…”
Fisher waited for a reply, his eyebrows raised, a small, smug grin coming across his features.
“I’m afraid that I can’t tell you where I got it, as--”
“It’s not completely legal?” Fisher finished Aura’s sentence. A small ‘mhm’ of confirmation came over the com. “Aura, since when do we go ‘by the books’?.”
Aura gave no return, letting Fisher stay with a cocky grin on his features.
With that, Fisher ripped the door open, his gun aimed at the practically empty room. The only light that entered the room was from the large monitor. The screen was vacant of any information, though it still illuminated the room slightly. All was still. All was silent. Except for the small sobs that came from the corner. The sobs were choked, and full of pain.
Fisher sheathed his gun, and he stepped carefully over to the corner, ignoring the boxes of illegal goods that lined the walls, the blue lights giving an aura of cold foreboding.
It was a small cage, the bars bolts of electricity that kept the animal caged. Or, at least what seemed to be an animal. The sounds coming from it were certainly not human.
“Is everything okay, Fisher?”
“I don’t know…”
Fisher stepped closer to the cage, kneeling down beside it, trying desperately to see what was making the ghastly sounds. His mouth was agape, his deep eyes widened with worry.
“The hell…”
The small thing’s eyes met his, they were bright blue and clouded with pain. It was only then that he could make out the features of it. It’s face was disfigured, blood dripping out from the plates that were installed into its head. The blood down oozed down its face, leading down the neck and shoulders to its arms, which were also covered in the same metal plates. It’s fingers, instead of flesh, were ingots. The forearms were where the flesh turned to metal, the skin scarred and torn, scabs and gashes covering the small amount of pale skin that was visible. Its fingers were wrapped tightly around its skinny bicep, causing bruises from its not knowing its own strength.
Another choked sob came from the tiny little thing. His eyes teared up at it, realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.
“It’s okay,” he soothed the tiny thing, “we’re gonna get you out of here, and you’ll be safe.”
“Fisher?” Aura questioned through the com.
“They did it.”
“You’ve gotta be more specific than that, hun…”
“They put the implants… they put them in a kid…”
“God…”
The sobs came again, but quieter and softer. Fisher ran his hand over the seams of the cage, trying the wires that kept the little child contained. “Aura, how--?!”
“Look for the source of the power and cut it,” she commanded, no snarky remark added.
Fisher did just as she asked, pulling the wires from where they connected to the wall. The electric bars shuttered off, the child now freed. Fisher grasped the child bridal-style, the warm blood soaking into his clothes. He hurried out of the warehouse, leaving the goods for later; the child needed help at that moment.
Rain pounded around him and the child after he ran out of the dreaded torture warehouse. “Aura!” Fisher shouted, “Come on!” Fisher laid the child down on the alley, his hands covered in dark crimson. Aura ran up to Fisher, the enemies from before that were still tied up long forgotten.
Aura stared down at the child. Her eyes were wide and teary. Aura ripped from her purse bandages, applying them against the plate that was screwed into the child’s head. Blood soaked the bandages as soon as they were applied. The child’s breath became more and more shallow. The sobbing almost non-existent.
“I don’t think that there’s--” Aura started.
“There’s gotta be something!” Fisher hissed at her, trying to stem the flow of blood with his own hands.
“Fisher…” Aura murmured gently, her hand placed on Fisher’s shoulder. The eyelids of the child had fluttered closed. The breathing had died out. The heartbeat was now absent.
“No…” Fisher whispered, his bloodied hands gripping against his tightly curled hair.
“We can’t save them all,” Aura whispered, “We can stop them from continuing this, though. The rest of the goods we can trash, and we can get all the information we can, take it to the news. This’ll all be--”
“What if it was Artisan?” he questioned hoarsely, “There’re parents out there who have been missing their daughter, and now they’ll never have her back. If we got here sooner, then we could’ve stopped it. We could’ve stopped this.” Fresh tears fell from his eyes, falling and mixing with the rain and blood on the ground.
“There’s nothing we can do now, Fisher. We can make sure that nothing like this happens in the future. That’s the least we can do for her.”
Fisher reluctantly nodded, standing shakily to his feet. “What do we do with…” he gestured down at the motionless child.
“Let’s get her out of the rain. The cops can deal with her body, they’ll return her to her parents. We need to destroy their goods, and get the information. Make sure they can’t do this again.”