I fished the comm card out of my pocket. It really was old school, the lettering shiny and bright in the streets low orb lights.

On it, I read:

Captain R Michaels - WIO and AHS

I had no idea what the letters meant. I knew the captain part, obviously. He had some rank in the military, presumably part of M-Corp like Tsomak had been. I thought then to Tsomak’s military career. I’d never really known anything. I’d never even asked. I was an asshole. He’d brought me up, taught me all he could, and I’d never asked him anything about himself. I’d heard Michaels’s name many a time, but when I walked in, Tsomak had clamped up. It drove me wild, and in the end, I just forgot all about asking him, talking to him.

I slipped the card back inside my pocket. First, I’d make it to Bail’s. His sister was a nurse at one of the local clinics. She might be able to help or, at the very least, get me some pain relief. Daisy hadn’t meant her word “out,” not like it sounded anyway. We needed each other, all of us. Even more so now.

I walked for another hour, the thumping in my head growing louder and louder, and my arm hurting more and more. By the time I reached Bail’s block and knocked at his door, I could barely see. My vision was swimming. I needed serious help, and I knew it. It took Bail a long time to answer.

“You shouldn’t have come,” he said, peeking out from the side of the door.

“Didn’t get much choice,” I replied, showing him my battered and bloody hand.

“Fuck,” he said. “Bad?”

“Tsomak fixed my shoulder, but there are breaks and my hand’s fucked. I need someone to watch over me tonight while I try to rest.”

“I can’t,” he murmured.

“What?” I almost couldn’t believe it. “Allie home?”

“No, she’s working a shift at Macie’s. She’ll be on all night.”

“Then you can let me in,” I said.

“No,” he said, standing taller at the door. “Look, Rusty, I’m sorry. Dimi called the authorities. They’re already tracking us. Watching me. If I take you in, they’ll clock us all as at the races. I can’t have that. My mom, my sister.”

“But—”

“But nothing. We lost everything, Rusty. That was every penny both Daisy and I had, gone. Sean and Sal, too. We’ve got nothing left. Any of us.” He turned away. “Go, please.”

“Wait, how about something for the pain?” He went to close the door on me, and I put my foot there to stop it. “Please, you can’t leave me like this.”

He scanned over me, dropped his eyes. “Give me a minute.” He left me standing in the doorway.

When he returned, he held out his hand. Four pills. “These are seriously enhanced corpo-drugs. Just one at a time, every six hours at least . . . no sooner,” he instructed. “These will knock a horse out, got it? They are stronger than strong.”

I took them, immediately popping one into my mouth and swallowing it. I gagged slightly, but I knew I needed it to work quickly. “Thanks,” I mumbled and turned to leave.

“Rusty,” he called after me, but I didn’t turn back. “I’m sorry. I don’t have a choice . . . I don’t.”

He wasn’t sorry; neither of them were. Not really. If they were sorry, they’d have helped me more. They would have done something, even if it was just to make sure I didn’t pass out and die tonight.

Walking grew more and more uncomfortable, and I found myself stopping more and more often to hike my bag up. The pain, though dulled, was spreading everywhere. I needed somewhere to sleep, somewhere that was off the street. I checked my balance. I only had two credits left, and that wouldn’t get me anywhere. I needed to keep my online time.

The streets around me changed, not so busy anymore. From beautiful planted walkways to row upon row of plastic advertising stands. Eventually I found a doorway of some old rundown shop. I had no clue where I even was anymore. Broken in agony and lost. Putting my bag down, I managed to tuck into it and rest my head a while. My stomach woke me. This wasn’t just hunger; this was pain, burning and agonizing pain, a lot of it. Something was going on down there. Bleeding? Internally? I tugged my shirt up, managed to get a half baked look; my skin was black, red. It was much more than bruising, bleeding. Fuck, this didn’t look good for me at all. Was I going to die?

I didn’t want to die, not yet. I wasn’t ready. I wanted to do things, see things. Many things. I was meant for more than this shitty life.

My mind swam. I pulled Captain Michaels’s card out once more and tapped it to my wrist. His ID flagged up. Airman number, of course, but I had the option to send him a message.

I didn’t know what the hell to say, to type. Anything is better than nothing, I guess?

I started tapping not even knowing how to address him:

Me - Tsomak Koloity gave m—

I tabbed back and added his rank abbreviations, just in case.

Me – WO Tsomak Koloity gave m—

That was as far as I got. I woke up sometime later. The icon still blinked at me, but the partial message had been sent. Fuck. I shivered. The cold was setting in now.

“Mom,” I called into the darkness. “Mom, I need you.”

My mom, of course, wasn’t there.

No one was.

I was alone.

“Mom.” I sobbed.

I tucked my hand into my coat, tried to move, and couldn’t. Let the warmth through to my fingers, then I fished out another pill. I had no clue how long ago I’d taken the first; I didn’t care. If I popped them all, was it enough to OD?

My mind drifted to all the things that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. The running, Tae, Velas, my mother’s hope for a better life, all of it just gone. The fact that a broken arm meant I couldn’t work, couldn’t race, meant I had no way of supporting myself.

I heard a soft whump-whump in the background, and then there were voices. “Who is it?” a woman asked.

“He’s just a kid,” someone else added. “Chuck him a blanket, some food and move on. We’ve not much left.”

“He’s in a really bad way. He needs a hospital.”

Something wrapped around me, but I couldn’t focus on the voices. They were in and out, my eyes blurry.

“He needs a hospital,” the woman repeated.

“He’s as high as a kite,” the man added. “Can’t take him anywhere. He’d just be sent to the food mines, that is if he survived the night.”

The mines, fucking food mines. I wouldn’t last long there at all. Not even a few days. Not much use for anything like this.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

The voices faded, and eventually I woke as the sun started to rise, but I couldn’t move again. Painkiller number three went down without a drink of water. My mouth was so very dry. That’s when I saw the bundle before me and recalled the warm blanket. I tugged it off my shoulder, then wrapped it back around me, burying my face in it.

I scarfed the food down a while later when I’d woken up again. The surrounding city was waking now, too. People were milling around, walking to the bus stops, talking about work, the Duan Leeatre. So I wasn’t that far from home. There was no way they’d take me up there today and I wasn’t even going to try.

My HUD flashed an incoming message. With no name tag?

Stay where you are.

I mean, what else was I going to do?

I tried to trace the message, but I got nothing. There was no origin point.

I put my head down once more. Sleep seemed to be the best thing for me.

There were voices again; this time they were a much older gruff one and a younger man. I felt another injection going in my arm. What they hell were they giving me? More nites? More drugs? Surely not. I felt sick. Blackness to my vision swirled around me, it was everywhere.

A data pad was shoved in front of my face. “Are you Ruslan Korolyov?”

I looked at the details on the data pad, read them over fast. It was me all right.

Identification: Ruslan Koroylov

Species: Human

Bonus: None - Dying

Mod Capacity: 17 *with mods*

Mod Capacity in Use: 4

Stat

Current Points

Description

Mods

Quality

Dexterity

11

Governs agility and movement.

Right Arm Mod: 0

Cost: 0

Mental Power

8 = *10*

Governs swiftness and fortitude of the mind.

Brain Mod: 2

Cost: 2

(+MP 2)

Basic

Perception

12 = *14*

Governs an individual’s senses and connection to the world around them.

Brain Mod: 2

Cost: 2

(+ PER 2)

Basic

Strength

8

Governs physical strength and damage dealt.

Left Arm Mod: 0

Cost: 0

Toughness

9

Governs the body and internal fortitude.

Basic Organelles:

Cost: 0

Additional Information

Primary Education: Basic

Higher Education: Advanced

Special Training: Top Rope Runner – Level 7

Extras:

Last Chance Nanite Life Pack Triggered by Life-Threatening Injuries

Brain Mod

Tier: Two

M-Corp’s V - Verity - model is a basic model for cerebral enhancement, providing an expanded storage capacity, capable of housing a Class 5 RI or Class 2 AI, additional processing power to run those facilities, and a full management suite.

This model is primarily geared towards construction and high-profile jobs, including Rope Running and vehicles; it provides additional tracking and evaluation enhancements.

Warranty: 12 months

Durability: 100/100

Slot Cost: 4

There was more information on me than I’d ever seen. I could click the page, but the man before me pulled it away.

“Yes,” I said. “I’m Ruslan.”

Ruslan really was my name, even if my friends mostly called me Rus or, because I’d stood on a rusty nail one day and ended up in hospital, Rusty. I caught a glimpse of the man’s face, with its graying salt-and-pepper hair and five o’clock shadow. His deep, dark brown eyes were framed by a scar on the left side of his chin. He was wearing a crisp blue uniform with golden epaulettes, and when our gazes met, I could see nothing but concern in his eyes.

“I need you to sign this,” he ordered, and he pushed the data pad in front of me again with a different screen on it.

I tried to focus on it, but I couldn’t. I shoved it away. “I can’t, not a lefty.” I threw a glance at my right arm, which was still hanging limply at my side.

“Any scrawl will do, just to say I can give you basic medical help.”

“You want to help? Are you—”

“Not Captain Michaels,” he said and puffed out his chest somewhat. “I’m Lieutenant General Michaels now. You sent me part of a message to my private comms last night. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it at all, till I managed to track you down.”

Fuck, he had really moved up the chain. “Painkillers,” I struggled to say. “I feel sick.”

“I understand,” he replied. “Please sign something, anything.”

I lifted my hand up, managed to scrawl something with it, and he handed it back to the young man with him.

“There are no strings to this,” he said and nodded to the young black man to his left. “First Lieutenant Bryd here will take you to Macie’s and get you looked over properly. If there’s internal injuries or broken bones, which it looks like to me there is, they’ll fix them.”

“I’ve no money. Nothing.”

“I know, they’ll get you set right. I need you to be completely of sound mind when I talk to you next. Understand?”

I nodded at him, then watched as he pushed himself up, stood and straightened his uniform, spoke to the young man with him, then walked away.

There was a helicopter at the end of the street? Couldn’t be, could there? I was seeing things.

But the wind plume that it kicked up and the freezing cold blast that came with it as it took off told me I wasn’t seeing things.

“Car’s incoming,” First Lieutenant Bryd said. I couldn’t place his accent; I’d never heard it before, and it was a struggle to understand. “I’ll get you to Macie’s and wait with you for the results.”

It was just as much of a struggle to get me up off the floor, even with First Lieutenant Bryd’s help. He wore a very different uniform than LG Michaels. It felt slippery to my skin. An all-in-one leather padded suit, it showed only his face and neck, above which his tight afro was cut close to his scalp. I swallowed my last pill. I didn’t care. I needed it.

The hospital was busy; it always was. Macie’s was mostly volunteer work, family of sick people, or those who needed a hot meal. But they paid their night staff and doctors well. Hence, Bail’s sister, Allie, would have been there. I didn’t think she’d still be there now, though. But as soon as the staff saw the FL’s uniform and me, they rushed straight over. It was Allie that scanned my ID and then his clearance to pay. “We’ll get him checked out, don’t you worry.”

“Reports come straight to me,” Byrd said.

Allie shot me a look. “That’s quite unusual . . . First Lieutenant Bryd.”

He straightened himself up and smiled. Damn, that was such a nice smile, too. “First Lieutenant Jarmal Bryd.”

Allie wasn’t taken in by it. I saw her roll her eyes. “You think telling me your given nam—”

“I know, Allie—it’s okay,” I said. “They have my permission. They’re paying.”

“Okay,” she acknowledged. “Come on in, both of you.”

Carefully, Allie led me out the main corridors into a side room, sitting me on a bed. “I’ve never seen you look so high,” she said. “Bail told me what happened and that he took my pills to give you.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

Allie started to undress me, but I cried out. It was just too much, all of this. I wanted to ask her to call my mom, but I couldn’t. I had to do this on my own. I was on my own. They needed to keep going to their new life. I’d hold them back in more ways than one and I didn’t need my mom selling her liver or something to pay this medical bill. In the end, Allie got her scissors.

“Not like it’s worth anything,” she said and proceeded to cut my leathers off.

This was the first time I’d seen the rest of my flesh, my bruises. Fuck. I was black and blue from my shoulder down to my wrist, which hung oddly, the bones obviously very broken. But the color. Black. Blue. I glistened in multicolor.

“No wonder my pills aren’t lasting,” Allie remarked. “I’ve never seen anything so bad, Rus, I’m so sorry.”

“Not your fault,” I still mumbled. “Not at all.”

“Don’t talk too much,” she said. “It looks like you’ve fractures to your face, maybe the helmet . . . your jaw.”

I knew I had a helmet on, but I couldn’t recall what happened to it exactly, only that I’d kicked it. Allie helped get the rest of the suit off; it pulled at the back of my head. “We’ll need to do a full MRI,” she stated. “They’ve asked for it, anyway.”

When it came to taking the suit the whole way off, I cringed. I’d put old underwear on, and they weren’t exactly the cleanest.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you some clothes out of the lost and found,” she said. Her eyes were kind and her voice soft.

“Thanks. I’m glad it was you here.”

“Bail’s really upset,” she said. “Please don’t think badly of him.”

“I won’t.” I promised her, but I did, at least for now.

“You think you can stand?”

I stood as best as I could and stepped out of what was left of my suit. She helped me out of the room and into a corridor and down towards another room with a specialist and a rather large machine.

“Just stand in the center of that spot.” She pointed to it, and I obliged.

The whole room vibrated, and my legs wobbled, but I stood as still as I could. A few moments later, she returned with a wheelchair.

“I’m not getting in that,” I groaned.

“You will.” She pointed at it. “You did good. Come on, I’ll take you back.”

I got in the seat and let her wheel me off. She made a slight detour at one point, running off for a moment before returning with a bag of clothes and putting them on my knee. “These should fit.”

When she got me to the bed, I got up and sat down on it; she pulled a blanket up over my legs and then tied a tourniquet around my good arm. “Blood,” she said. “You’re not squeamish, are you?” I shook my head, and she took several vials of blood.

“They’re going to see the drugs, though, right?” I asked.

“Yes, I can’t hide that from them. There’s nothing else I should know about?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Okay, I’ll get these off to the lab and be back in a minute. Rest your head. I’ll take you for a shower, then clean you up some more.”

She cleaned up, and then off she whirled. With my head on the pillow and a blanket keeping me warm, I was soon gone again as the darkness, pure darkness, swallowed me.