The van rumbled down the dirt road, vibration shaking through me as the wheels thumped onto the start of the route eventually leading to the city. My eyes remained unfocused as the looming lights from Goldarch slowly grew brighter. I felt… spent.

“We’ve been on the road for five minutes, Gunquake, and you haven’t even asked what we’re doing. Should I be worried?”

I blinked and turned my head to the techie. Given it was just us two, I had the rare opportunity to sit up front. She did look rather concerned.

[Apologies, I am fine.]

“It’s been a tough day for you, but I didn’t expect you to exit your impassioned rendezvous with Rockslide looking even more traumatized.” She wrinkled up her face. “I’m almost hesitant to make any guesses.”

[Our heart to heart session was remarkably revealing. She told me about her ex and her cancer.]

“Ah.” Clara was quiet for a moment, the sounds of the van filling the silence. “Things are pretty serious between you then.”

[I assume she keeps that information quite close to her chest.]

“Took her a few years to tell me. Her family doesn’t even know.” Her green eyes glanced towards me before back to the road. “I hope you appreciate what she has trusted you with is more dangerous than a Sanguine stake, Gunquake.”

I didn’t need it spelled out for me. The super had eased me in to her insecurities, and I had been accepting and understanding throughout them all. Although she mentioned it in passing due to the context of how terrible her ex was, if she didn’t trust me, she would have skirted around it. This was a matter as close to her heart as possible.

[Don’t worry, I understand fully. It’s no wonder you weren’t a fan of…]

“She didn’t tell you his name, did she?” Her fingers drummed on the steering wheel. “I’m sure you can guess why.”

[I am a very efficient assassin who would murder anyone who hurt either of you in cold blood and probably get away with it.]

“An attractive trait. Although my trust in you is unfaltering, Gunquake, I will not defy her wishes and tell you his name.” She was silent for a moment. “If we ever come across him, I will point him out so you can kick him in the balls, however.”

[I will polish my boots daily, ready for the opportunity.]

Clara smiled, as the first street lights started to wash over the vehicle in passing. “I am usually indifferent to most people, but this individual I actually hate. Some… guilt resides within me for not trying harder to get Rockslide out of the situation. I tried to advise her, but by the time she could see my point of view, I had drifted away.”

[Matters of the heart are difficult to navigate. I assure you she is comforted to have you close again.]

“Feels like we are teenagers once more. You’ve really been a panacea for us both, Gunquake.” She raised an eyebrow. “I know she lets me wind her up. She’s always been able to read me like a book and see through whatever I say. We can all have a little fun because we are on the same page… but her ex wasn’t like that. Petty and vindictive.”

[He insulted you?]

“Yeah. I’ll not fuel your grudge, however. You have your own past to worry about before you start unearthing those of others.”

[A fair point.]

Not that I wanted to do anything to her ex. It was natural I’d have some anger for anyone who hurt the super, but it wasn’t really my business to get involved in. Had enough current problems to deal with. Was avoiding.

[She also told me that she loved me.]

Clara was silent as we turned a corner. Drew up to some lights that then turned green, and we took another left. I started to wonder if I had actually said that out loud - or she was taking it differently than I had expected her to.

Eventually, her brow furrowed. “What did you say in return?”

[I told her the truth.]

“A vague answer. Somehow I doubt you are steeped in romance tropes too heavily, Gunquake. Give me something more succinct, please.”

[My response was that I loved her too.]

Her face remained neutral for a handful of seconds, before a wide smile grew on her face. “Good. You are an amazing match for us. Her, I mean.” She shot me a glance before turning down another road and pulling up to the curb.

[I’m thankful to have your blessing.]

The techie turned to me and placed a hand on my gun-arm. “If you two ever need a surrogate, then I’ll bear your fruit, on condition I get to name them.”

[That’s… possibly the worst idea I’ve ever heard.]

“The night is still young, Gunquake.” She gave me a wink and sat back in her seat. “We’re a little early.”

[I suppose I should ask what we’re doing here.]

Clara closed her eyes, the faint green glow painting her side of the van fading away. “Recall how I always say that I trust you? You’ve had a tough day, so I got you a little gift.”

Given that she had said we were going to commit a crime, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I narrowed my eyes and waited for her to explain further.

“As I don’t have the appetite of my sister, my gift isn’t a covetous act, but still something that you really, truly want.”

[Are we going to murder someone?]

She opened her eyes and turned her head to frown at me. “No? I mean… we could do that. I’ve never killed before, but if that is what will make you happy? We’d need to draw up a list of targets and-”

[Forget I said anything. No killing, please - but clue me in a little more to what’s actually going on.]

The look on her face told me that she would probably go through with a little murder, which was partially concerning. It had been a while since I had a job like that, but I wasn’t keen to ruin my chances with the League with a little off-the-clock vigilantism. Not when I was so tired, anyway.

“Remember how I keep telling you how I trust you? After you had that bout of paranoia, I went and ordered an even better security system for the area. We’re here to pick it up, and I needed a chaperone.”

[So the crime mentioned…?]

“Perhaps you need to get me in a bubble bath to extract all of my secrets, Gunquake.” Her eyebrow raised as she looked out to the empty street. “The security system is coming from a third party seller, so I need your protection. The gift is actually a second package the group happened to have, which will remain a surprise until you can open it yourself.”

Sounded like the third party had acquired the items in question through less than legal means. I could read between the lines. While I wasn’t keen for the techie to start scouring the black-market for things… I would hold off to see what she was actually able to get. I was willing to take shortcuts to the top if they were safe enough.

If she did truly have secrets or was just needling me, was something else entirely.

My brain was unable to handle it today.

[You could have let me know beforehand. I could have armed myself properly, or at least put something more appropriate on.]

“Your cybernetics do all the work, Gunquake. I’m sure you’ll look threatening enough in a plain t-shirt and… slippers.” Her brow furrowed. “I did say we were doing crime. I’m not sure why you thought those were appropriate?”

[I didn’t think you were entirely serious.]

The expression on her face softened into a smile. “This isn’t a test, Gunquake - but I’ll be straightforward with you. Becoming your sidekick will occasionally put a target over my head, and short of living in a bunker, that means danger. While I do not doubt you would move the heavens to protect me, it would comfort me further to see it with my own eyes.”

Perhaps the van was better than a command center in some ways. At least she would be within sprinting distance if anything ever went wrong. Even if I could fly, it would take too long to get from the city to our house. Not without something that could at least protect her for long enough for Roxy to turn up.

“I don’t expect or want any violence tonight,” she added. “It’s been a long day and we are burning the candle from both ends lately. I’d advise we take some real downtime the rest of the week and just focus on the workshop and being the best of pals.”

[Weren’t we going to see Belle?]

“I’ve run through that scenario a dozen times.” She tilted her head and looked at the time on the dash. “All of them resolve in a way that is detrimental to your relationship with Rockslide, so I propose we approach that situation differently.”

Seemed as though Roxy was correct. Clara wouldn’t put us in a position that ran the risk of actually upsetting the super. If the Church gathering was indeed some manner of couple’s night, I could only imagine the awkwardness of us two having to pretend to be together, or what we’d need to do with others to fit in.

“Let’s make a move, Gunquake.”

With a nod, we exited the vehicle and moved around to the back doors.

[At least we won’t have the awkward conversation of proposing the idea to Roxy.]

“Oh, I already asked her, Gunquake.” The techie popped open the back doors and dragged a box of ammunition to the edge. “She even gave me a list of pre-approved actions we are allowed to do together. Here, fill up your selectloader as you see fit.”

[She… didn’t mention anything to me.]

“That’s because she trusts you’d do the right thing already.”

I ran my finger along the assorted shells. Six shots weren’t much against who knows what. Priority if things went sour was to get Clara out of the situation, but often the best defense was a short, sharp offense. Probably a bad idea to go in blazing from the outset, even if that made things easier. I hated tension. Eyes went from my selection and over to the techie.

[Could I see the list?]

“Absolutely not. I suggest you keep your mind on the task at hand.”

Stolen novel; please report.

We maintained eye contact for a few seconds before I rolled my eyes. At least with her still trying to wind me up, I believed that she didn’t want any violence over the transaction. Six shots in, selectloader was full. Van closed, and she led me off. We walked along the sidewalk before turning a corner, crossing the street, and then down into the mouth of an alley.

The smell of rotting mulch and damp, the typical overturned trashcans and discarded cardboard boxes. Dim lighting that was both comforting and unsettling at the same time. The five figures waiting around for us didn’t help with the atmosphere.

Each in dark clothing, light degrees of tactical gear, but it looked well used and off-market. Sunglasses and headwear. Two near the back with submachine guns on slings, closest one with a shotgun, the other with an assault rifle. Ringleader at the front had an eyepatch, sour expression on his heavily bearded face, and a holstered pistol.

“Who’s the muscle?” he asked immediately, narrowing his one eye at me. Odd accent that I couldn’t quite place. Not a Goldarch native.

“As a single woman, I don’t make it a habit to frequent dark alleys filled with armed smugglers alone.” Clara crossed her arms. “A bit overkill, isn’t it?”

“Valuable product requires protection.” He shook his head.

The techie smiled. “Exactly why he is here.”

“Fine. He tries anything stupid and you’re both dead.” The man gestured to one of the covered goons, who nodded and dragged forth a wooden crate. About three feet square, looked old and any markings on the wood had long worn off.

I chose to remain silent, partly because this was Clara’s rodeo and I allowed her to take the lead. The other reason was my psyche was acting up and the four armed goons kept flickering to resemble parts of my old squad. Nothing too detailed. Just… with better tactical gear. Helmets with mounted lights. Balaclavas.

Best I not try to get involved, as I had an itchy trigger finger. Or whatever was equivalent.

“You know,” the leader said, as his companion stepped back away from the produced crate, “they say Thissden women have the most beautiful eyes. Shame yours have been replaced by simple headlamps.”

Clara raised an eyebrow. “They also say you soil yourself when you die, but I’d have trouble telling with you because you already reek of shit.”

The man bobbed his head gently before a wide grin formed. “Good. I was concerned you were a little green for this kind of gear. We also have the other package requested.”

Goon returned with a second box to place on the crate, this one metal - about a foot long and half that wide. Also had some age to it.

“Sixteen grand.”

The techie shook her head. “We agreed on fourteen.”

“Fifteen and a date?”

Clara rolled her eyes before shooting me a glance. I wasn’t sure if that meant I had to kill these people or not. Maybe to look at her diary to see what times she had free. Suggest a good restaurant or… hmm, I might be losing some of my marbles.

“I’ll do you one better, smuggler.” She smiled. “Fifteen and a business relationship. Priority over certain items if they fall into your hands, and a financial incentive to find some obscure items on my wishlist.”

“Shrewd.” The man looked between his guards, who didn’t seem to move or give him any indication of anything. “Alright, little lady. You have a deal. We don’t often have repeat customers, but if the credits are good, we’re game. You can call me Snake.”

“My alias is…” her green eyes narrowed as she exhaled through her nose. “Mr Cock.”

Snake nodded. “That explains the rooster profile picture, I suppose.”

“Perhaps it is more professional to call me Rooster, then.” Clara maintained her gaze, trying to avoid even having me in her peripheral.

“As you wish, although you’re much more of a… Peahen.”

The techie deflated slightly, finally turning to look at me with tired eyes. “Could you kindly make the transaction… Brian?”

[Yes, mistress.]

I had the pleasant feeling that she regretting dragging me out this evening, which I partially found some humor in. Of course, here I was in an alleyway full of armed black-market dealers in my slippers and signing off a chunk of money for who knows what. She made a fool out of us both, which was… well, I didn’t hate it, actually.

Nice to have a result where hubris didn’t end in me having a bloodied and broken body for once.

Snake held out his wrist, and a digital transfer request popped up as a hologram. Fifteen-thousand on the dot. Swiped my own wrist over it and with a gentle beep the transaction was complete and confirmed.

His eye looked me up and down. “Interesting outfit for a bodyguard.”

[I do as the mistress asks, nothing more or less.]

“I see.” He looked past me at the techie. “Even more interesting and alluring.”

Was close enough to smell the rum on him now. Some sort of mechanical grease or old oil. Close enough to kill him before any of his lackeys could raise their weapons. I paused momentarily as the shadows flickered around the alley, drawing me in like a whirlpool. Eyes blinked it away, and I gave the man a brief nod before turning away and returning to Clara.

“Alright, lads.” He jerked his thumb back. “Looks like drinks are on me tonight, courtesy of Mr Cock.” Snake grimaced and glanced back our way. “Until you next need me, Peahen.”

My hand tensed and relaxed on repeat as the group turned and left down the darker end of the alleyway. They kept one pair of eyes on us all the way until we lost visual and their footsteps faded to nothing.

Almost a shame I hadn’t killed anyone or gotten beaten up. Felt… unfulfilling.

[Well…]

“Don’t even, Gunquake.” The techie sighed and rubbed at the bridge of her nose. “I made the account when I was a teen, and it seemed like a good way to hide my identity, even if crass.”

I stood in silence. Not really in judgement, I was just exhausted. Had taken a lot of willpower to just watch and not allow the shadows of my past to empty out my selectloader into our new business partners. Which… I wasn’t sure how I felt about having an illegal smuggling ring attached to us, but part of me could see her angle.

Not just the shady supplies we couldn’t get elsewhere, but the potential to find out about my odd tech more. Where it came from and why.

“Let’s just get these boxes back to the van. Despite my inability to taste, I am not a fan of eating humble pie.”

So we did just that. Didn’t take us long under the cover of awkward silence to move the pair of containers back around the corner and into the back of the vehicle. Back in the seats, she started it up and we began our journey home.

A handful of minutes passed, nothing but the humming of the van filling the silence. Lights washed over us as we turned through the dark streets. I had never been so eager to get in bed and switch my brain off. Still, some questions remained.

[Looks like you have a new admirer.]

“As if.” Clara pulled a face. “If I wanted to roll around with a man with an aura made of newspaper soaked with piss, then I could do a lot better than that living ashtray.”

[That’s quite the admonishment.]

“Out of ten, he was already in the negatives as soon as he brought up my heritage.” She shot me a glance. “Sensitive spot for me. There’s one of my secrets for you, Gunquake. Didn’t even have to take any clothes off for that.”

[My geography is rather poor. Thissden is from off-continent, correct?]

“Correct. My parents immigrated here when they were young and in love, for all the good that did them.” Her eyes dimmed. “Sorry, it’s not something I like to talk about.”

[No pressure, Clara. It’s fine.]

“Thank you, Gunquake.” She tilted her head and gave me a soft smile. “I promise you’ll get the full story one day, when I’m ready. His comment was because Thissden natives have iridescent eyes that often shine brightly between two or more colors.”

I nodded politely. It was rare for people to travel across the continents, ever since the Weather Wars. My knowledge was spotty. Either because I couldn’t remember what old me knew, or because I hadn’t cared to learn much during my hitman years. Something had happened long ago that was the cause of all the land between the megacities to be the wasteland, and travel across the oceans was difficult and dangerous.

[I’m willing to ignore the fact that you’re dealing with criminals in the dark-system if you tell me what exactly you just had me buy.]

“Peace of mind should be priceless.” She indicated and took a left turn. “Are you familiar with the Krell Civil War?”

[No - oh, could you pull in to this supermarket for a second?]

With a furrowed brow, she did so, turning into their car park and stopping the vehicle. I gestured for her to continue her explanation.

“Most don’t, as it was almost a decade ago, and didn’t affect Goldarch in the slightest. Occasionally, their unused tech shows up on the gray markets. So after your brief bout of paranoia, I went and found us a new security system.”

[What does it do differently than our current one?]

“Oh, so much.” She turned in her chair, energy filling her eyes. “Not only does it detect movement, but it also monitors for heat signals, changes in temperature, pressure, carbon dioxide and other gases, sound vibrations, and displaced photons.”

[That… is impressive. Should cover most natural, tech, and super-powered stealth. What’s the range?]

“Safely… a little smaller than our current motion detection.”

[And unsafely?]

“Up to a mile if you don’t mind bleeding out of your sinuses and living five years less.” She grinned.

[Are you able to set a toggle so it switches between the modes when we aren’t at home?]

“Barely an inconvenience.”

I went into the market solo to buy the ingredients necessary for my cooking attempt tomorrow. Roxy was right to question my ability to cook, because I didn’t exactly have a lot of experience. Like… any at all. This wasn’t some secret innate skill I was bringing forward from my past life. I just wanted to do something normal for a change, and hopefully not poison them both.

Got a few odd looks in the store, but thought nothing of them. My casual clothing certainly helped make me look like I belonged, even if the gun-arm and gasmask stood out.

Back in the van and Clara insisted that I would find out that her actual gift - whatever was in the metal case - was something I could have when we got back home. I told her I’d stay outside while she set up the new security machine to be safe, which she appreciated.

And one rather gloomy ride through the darkness, and we were doing just that.

Crate out onto the gravel just beside the garden. Metal box on top of it and the techie beamed at me. Gestured for me to open it.

Left hand popped the metal clasps, and I removed the lid. Moonlight picked up the edges of the small squares within. I gingerly grasped one and drew it up into the air.

[These are… stims?]

“You’re lucky, Gunquake. Turns out the Krellians also had the same port structure as you use as their default. I practically screamed when I saw these pop up alongside the security system.”

I looked back down and ran a finger across the edges of them. There were… a lot in there. Maybe forty, eyeballing it. Enough for months of rough combat - longer if we had a break now and again.

[Worth every credit spent, then. You know the ingredients?]

“They are specifically for combat. The usual painkillers, adrenaline, performance enhancers. You know how you occasionally broke your old stims to flood your system with an overload? These have a last-ditch function built in. Two, in fact. One to keep you fighting, and one that focuses on post-battle healing.”

[I am impressed, Clara.]

“Here, let me put one in for you now.” She took it from my hand and I turned my head so that she could get at my neck. “I only gave you a hard time earlier about it because you do need to be smarter with your mortality, Gunquake.”

[There’s a lot more for me to live for now, isn’t there?]

She plucked the old stim pack out and held onto my arm so that she could lean closer and get the pins of the new one lined up. “You die and break Rockslide’s heart, and I’ll find a way to bring you back to life so that I can kill you myself.”

[Couldn’t you just bring me back and keep me alive and then everyone would be happy?]

“I was just assuming I’d be an insane, evil scientist at that point.” The pack clicked into place, and she closed the clasps over it before moving away.

A residual amount of the magical liquid entered my system, and I sighed, relaxing.

“Although you didn’t get injured today, there is still a lot of internal damage you are recovering from. These should help with that.” She smiled and tapped her hand on the top of the crate. “Now watch over me while I set this beast up.”

Either the exhaustion from the day, or the soft feeling of the painkillers numbing me slightly, made the process go by quickly. I kept as good an eye as I could on the surroundings, but at night time I might as well have had my eyes closed - which would be nice.

Could see Roxy’s bedroom window, or… our bedroom window, and the light was on. I was eager to get up there and pass out beside her.

“All done, Gunquake.” Clara stepped back from the device, which was a red box with five sharp legs dug into the ground, and a whole host of buttons and dials that she covered with a flap of metal. “I have set your bedroom, the bathroom, workshop, and the basement as normally having varying increases in body temperature and carbon dioxide. Rest of the house is low or infrequent change. Just for alarm purposes.”

[Oh. Workshop for when you start fabricating things and using machinery?]

She held a blank stare for a few seconds. “Sure.”

Good enough answer for me. I nodded and gestured for us to go inside. Escaping the fresh hum of the old machine, I escorted her into the safety of our home. At the top of the stairs, she thanked me for humoring her this evening, which I quickly waved off so that I could escape to the bedroom. Door closed, and I looked over at the super.

Bedside table lamp on, she was lying on the bed in pajamas, a laptop resting on her and illuminating… rectangle glasses sitting on the end of her nose.

[Reading glasses?]

“Idiot, I can’t read.” She stuck her tongue out at me. “Actually, it’s even worse. I don’t need them, but wearing them while I go through my social media posts gives me a false sense of superiority so that I don’t feel the need to get upset and reply to all these assholes.”

[That bad is it?]

“I swear, Dubs. If I have to read ‘muscle mommy’ one more time, I’ll… do some violence.”

I removed my shirt and slippers and got on the bed beside her. Glasses came off, and she gave me a series of kisses along my shoulder and chest. My eyes narrowed as I squished into her so that I could read some of the messages.

[Does it give you the information on where these people live?]

She smiled and pushed me away. “You’re not going and beating up everyone who makes a disparaging comment about me, Dubs.”

[Not tonight, no. It’s been… a day.]

“Sure has.” Roxy closed down the laptop and slid it down the side of the bed. She turned back to me, holding up the shotgun cozy. “Better wear protection, huh? ...Kinda a weird joke to make after what we discussed earlier.”

[Thank you for sharing that with me. I know it wasn’t easy.]

“I think beating you to death was probably the most difficult thing I’ll ever do, emotionally. Being open with you kinda pales in comparison to that.” She gave me a soft smile, covering my weapon with the soft case. Once complete, she drew me in closer for a hug. “We’ve been going non-stop for days. Let’s just be lazy as fuck tomorrow, yeah?”

[A day off sounds like bliss. We should take the time to enjoy the fruits of our labor and plan our next steps.]

“I’m going to… enjoy spending time with you.” Her fiery eyes closed.

[There is just one problem, however.]

“Hmm?” The super didn’t open her eyes, but moved her face closer to mine.

[I’m going to cook everyone breakfast tomorrow.]

“Oh,” she whispered. “Oh no.”