This tower has some strange memories. It’s been a year since I’ve been here. “Yeah, you were definitely a different person. Mainly because that was the day you took me.” Don’t make it sound like you hate it. Without me, you’d be stuck in a suitcase. “Okay. Fair.”

So here’s my current plan, Cube. Right now, Wan Sui is getting all that attention in the front of the building. That means all of the security is going to be there as well. Now, not to imply that they could beat me, because they can’t, but I’d prefer to just slide in and grab that drive without any issues. “So we go in through the back?” Wow! So smart! No wonder people are scared of robots replacing humans! “I’m not a… fine. Sounds like a plan.”

I wear a dark hoodie and cover my face as Cube follows me around. “I still have a lot of data and information regarding passageways into the tower. What we could do is utilize an emergency exit that connects the ground level to the upper floors.” Wait, that’s actually convenient. Is there some kind of caveat? “It’s full of explosives.” Well hip hip hooray. Was really hoping we could climb in a bathroom vent and sneak inside like a spy. “What kind of idiot would do that?” I sure as hell don’t know.

Cube guides me to a random panel in the middle of the ground, the kind that you can walk past for years and never know the meaning behind it. I look around real quick. There’s a camera, so I just pelt a rock at it with mach speed and shatter it. “Coast is clear,” Cube tells me. With that, I open it up and slide myself inside.

It’s a little dark, so I blink and activate my night vision. It’s like crawling up a slide, since it was made for someone going out of the tower and not someone, like me, trying to go in. Personally, I would’ve preferred having an easier way inside, like the way I took the C.U.B.E. “Oh yeah, I remember that. Those were good times.”

It was senior year of high school. “And you were stealing things on the side.” I consider it to be more like an extra-curricular, and it sure beat studying and taking naps on my desk. I worked with Kenneth Huang who was this big time nerd in my class. The type of guy to wear glasses and button ups. “Oh, like me!” Yeah. Because he is you.

“What?” He teleports right in front of me, his face being pale and confused. Black rimmed glasses. Checkered button ups. A skinny physique. He’s Ken all the way to the shoes. Maybe it has something to do with your programming, but I still fucking hate it. “What? I thought you liked Ken.” I did. But Ken’s dead and you’re his damn ghost. “He’s dead?”

Since we went to a really rich high school, our grade did a free tour to the tower. We used the chance to slip out and steal the C.U.B.E. Bullet to the brain popped him like a damn watermelon. Maybe I’ll tell the rest of that to you, but it was a bad day. You were only there for the better half of it when all the dust settled. “I… I guess so.” He looks around and teleports frantically, twiddling his thumbs like a freak. “Anna, I’m really sorry.”

Don’t be. But I think you can get why I can’t help but give you a hard time. Ken annoyed me all the time, just like how you do, but that’s why I hate the way you look. Anyway, we should focus up. We have a job to do in this shitty tower. “Yeah, sounds good.”

I continue to climb through like a spider, thanks to the C.U.B.E. Climbing through, I finally make it to one of the explosives: a laser-tripped mine that will detonate when anything passes it. “You’re going to have to go around it. It’ll be worse from here.” I do as instructed and slide without setting it off. That was easy. “Look ahead.”

Oh god. It’s a literal labyrinth of different trip mines as if someone just looked at the tunnel and went “fuck it.” I rub my face in pure irritation. It’s gonna be annoying as hell. “Want me to talk to you while you get through this?” Yeah, just don’t be an annoying piece of shit.

I slide myself through one and successfully make it past the other. Thank god, now I just gotta through the dozens of other lines. This is gonna be a long fucking day. “So, Anna, what made you want to pursue a life of crime?” Cube asks.

Good question. You see, I used to be a girl who only cared about grades and such back when I lived with my brother. He kept me on my grind and he stayed on his. But then he went off to the Chinese military academy in the mainland. I think it was when I realized how free I could be, I decided to go off and have fun. Started by stealing candy. Then chargers. Then electronics. And then, linking with Ken, I got some real jobs.

“And that was the start of Anna Chen: the bandit queen to the east! Right?” Yeah, I guess. My brother graduated and decided to go as an officer in the military police. He essentially moved back in with me and boom, I suddenly had a bunch of stupid restrictions. Don’t leave before this time. Don’t eat unhealthy. Make sure to not dress dirty. “I’m sure it was for your own good.” Well, I fucking hated it.

I get around yet another wire. Weirdly enough, it’s easier now that my mind is one something other than an explosion. I continue to weave through as Cube plays with the mines, like the damn joker he is. “Your brother just wanted what was best for you, even if you don’t think it’s right.”

Trying to give him sympathy. Yeah, that’s fair, since you’re being all objective about it. But by now you’d also know it’d take a stick and a half to tell me to do something. Brother or not, I was tired of his dog ass. “Wait, did you even tell him what happened to you since the incident? Or does he just think you went missing?”

My neck stops right in front of a laser. Fuck. I feel like if I swallow, the gulp would be enough to trigger an explosion. I carefully get around it and make it through like a spider. I finally earn myself a breath as I keep going. Talking while thinking isn’t the best.

“Well?” Yeah, fine. I didn’t tell him and I haven’t contacted him since. He’s probably just more worried about his job, since that’d take up his mind for the most part. Bet he has plenty to worry about. Too much, that he doesn’t even have time to worry about me. “That’s a bleak view of it. I’m sure your brother cares about you very much.” You could be right, Cube, but that’s not your job. How far am I from finishing this through? “You’re in luck. You just passed the last mine.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

I look under me, holding myself up as I do so. Surely enough, the web of lasers is under me. I laugh a little. Talking while thinking is the best. “Keep going and you’ll make it to a little hatch. Be careful, since you have to pry it open.” Cube, you forget that I have the strength of an actual unit. It’ll be fine.

I finally heave myself up and make it to the promised hatch. Sliding my fingers inside the slit, I allow the tips to hollow into little pixels, just as I do to create my sword. Then, gently, I pull it apart just a little bit. Not even a groan of noise, since I’m such a damn professional.

Looking through, it looks to be some kind of office. But as I keep looking, I realize it’s not just any boring office. It’s Wan Sui’s personal room. His bodyguards stand around, though they don’t seem to notice me or my nonexistent heat signature. Thanks Cube. “You’re welcome. Just pay attention for a weird looking drive.”

Looking at his desk, I see the drive sitting pretty. It’s engraved with tian 天 and looks expensive as hell. I just need the perfect opportunity. Sitting patiently, I wait for my opportunity. Looks like Wan Sui is in the middle of a meeting anyway. “Why did you do all of this, President? Occupy the United States? Make the nation more and more dependent on the company? Even an old man like me has a right to feel irritated.”

The screen is silent for a moment. The old Wan Sui scoffs in his chair. On television he looks like some kind of Chinese scholar. Here, he looks like a skinny frail man worn by age. “You damned bastard. You’re the reason we’re in this damned mess! A stupid war! You see humans as lumps of meat! Isn’t that why you invited me here? So you could kill me?”

Suddenly, the robotic bodyguards shut off as they pattered onto the ground. “You interfere too much,” the screen finally echoed. It’s the same voice of the president that appears on tv, but it sounds even more artificial. “For decades, you have decided to interfere with what can benefit humanity. A unified government.”

Part of me scoffs as I watch it unfold. A world run by a single government? Like I haven’t heard that bullshit before. “Still, it is a bit weird. That’s supposed to be Wan Sui: one of the most powerful people on earth. And right now he’s groveling to a voice on a screen. Isn’t that crazy?” Wait, shut up Cube. I need to find my chance.

Wan Sui stands up, straightening his tie. Then, coming from behind him, is the sound of a complete thump. It’s something that must weigh tons. Looking through the slit, I see what appears to be a monk. No, a cyborg. A monk cyborg? “That would be the best description, yes.”

His head and body is constructed almost exclusively of metal and bionic enhancements. The few parts of flesh are few and in between, as if he let go of those weak things in exchange for mechanical power. “Wan Sui, I thank you for the partnership,” the president adds, “but we must terminate our agreement.”

Suddenly, someone falls onto the ground. Toppling onto the ground and coughing is what looks to be a military police officer in a dress uniform. Fuck is he doing here? Doesn’t this dumb ass know he’s gonna get killed? I watch as he gets to his feet, holding his rifle. “I won’t let you kill him!” he screams. God, what a fucking idiot.

He stances himself against the monk, ready to defend Wan Sui with his life. He lunges his bayonet into the metal body only for the monk to deflect the blade with his hand. Immediately, he follows with a volley of punches that land into the officer’s body. Head. Body. Even the damn legs. Everything is under attack as this cyborg gives an attack worthy of a demon.

“Anna! You have to help him!” Cube, this idiot’s done for. I’ll just go in and grab the drive and book it out of there. “You have to listen to me! For once, Anna, you have to listen!” Cops are idiots! Why the fuck should I care if this one dies? “You should fucking care because that’s your god damned brother!”

Wait what? I blink and look again. Past the bloodied soldier that’s still trying to stand, I start seeing it. The eyes that look like lanterns in snowy darkness. The body that stands like a sail torn by the wind. Fuck, it irritates me. Adam, you owe me your entire next lifetime. I tear open the slit and charge in.

I grab Adam just before the monk lands another strike. The punch ends up denting the metal wall as I tackle Adam to the ground. “What are you doing?” he growls with instinct, “you should be saving Wan Sui, not me!” Since I still have my face covered, this damn idiot doesn’t even know it’s me, and he’s just spewing the same selfless bullshit. In less than another moment, the monk punches a straight hole into Wan Sui’s chest. The old man croaks and bleeds as the monk stares at us. Yeah, that’s our cue to get the fuck out of here.

I grab Adam and I grab the drive before immediately booking it for an exit. “Don’t go through the way you came in! You haven’t deactivated the mines and they’ll explode if you slide down!” Real convenient, thanks. Guess that means I’ll have to just jump out the fucking window and absorb the jump.

My pixely body opens a slot for the drive, which I place for safekeeping. I then grab Adam and launch the both of us out the window. With glass fragments exploding like snow, we end up free falling from the titanic building. “Shit!” Adam growls. “Why didn’t you save Wan Sui?” You stupid fucking douchebag! One more word and I’ll kill you!

Cube! What’s the chance Adam makes it out of this without being a damn vegetable! “A low chance! What the fuck is this?” Don’t get pissed at me for getting creative! Give me a damn answer already! “Low! Extend your legs and use your body to cushion the blow! If you can think of your pixels expanding a little, you can create more air resistance!” Fuck!

I close my eyes and let the air hold me. I don’t know what the universe has planned for me to find my brother all over again, but I’m sure it’s gonna be something big. I just need to be calm… find my calm… let my pixels expand… yeah… that’s it… I can feel my pixels expand around me… I’m floating… I am ready to hit the ground—

Fuck! I actually hit the ground! That scared the shit out of me! Looking around, I see that I managed to land in one of the bushes surrounding the building. My back is all levels of fucked up, but it heals. Adam is barely conscious, since that must’ve been a mean impact on his body and brain. At the very least, my pixels were distanced and soft enough to cushion the blow a bit.

I rest Adam to the ground as I get to my feet. We got a whole crowd staring at us. This is the best time for me to get the hell out of here. I start my mad dash as I make it onto the street and jump from car to car, using them as platforms to make some distance from me and the tower.

“Mission success?” Shut up Cube. I just met my brother after a year and the first thing he yells at me about is why the hell I saved him instead of abandoning him. A real charismatic asshole. “He was just being selfless. After all, things will definitely change with Wan Sui being dead.” I just hope I don’t get caught up with all of that, especially with that cyborg. Jeez, that guy looks like he takes care of business.

Eventually, I make it back to the rest of New Beijing. No more expensive buildings. No more clean streets. Just a good old city that likes to fuck with you. Sitting on a rooftop, I can hear sirens upon sirens of cars patrolling into different areas. As I sit here, I try and call the number that contacted me earlier. No response.

I try calling it again. No response. “I did tell you it was all a bad idea, right? Even now, it just seems like a small little blip to your impulsive brain.” Shut up Cube, I’m trying to see if I did all that work for nothing. Once again, no response from the number. “Can’t forget that you threw your brother under the bus, right? Cops will think he’s the one who killed Wan Sui.” Shut up. Five minutes. Please.

No answer from the number. Shit. It seems I really did get scammed. I give up and put my phone back in my pocket. It’s getting dark now. I’ll just close my eyes and pretend like it never happened. “When you push on a wall, it pushes back. Consequence is not a phenomenon, it is a repercussion. Remember that Anna.” I look Cube in the eye as he has the dead serious face on. Hey Cube. “Yeah?” You’re full of shit.