“I knew there was something fucky about you.” Bear’s laughter echoed around the empty coliseum. “I just knew it in my bones, one look at how you squished those things, it just… agh! Fuck, you got me good. Did Vesp put you up to this? Pretend to be a guy? Is there some sort of chest-wrap with nano-makeup going on over there? Even this close, I can’t see any flaws in the costume.” She moved closer, reaching out to my naked chest. “What sort of-”

I slapped the hand away. “I am a guy,” I said, flatly cutting her off.

“Oh c’mon. The cameras are away, no one’s listening.” She waved me off.

“I am a guy,” I said again, this time frowning. The thought of insisting I wasn’t a meguca was also there, but clearly she’d sensed something to have reached this conclusion. “And I’m not trans either.”

Bear gave me a once over. “You made my chains rattle just now, trust me on this, you’re a meguca.”

“I-” Taking a long breath, my shoulders slumped. I was exhausted, the whole fight had been a constant push at giving it everything I had. The fact that I’d gotten punched pretty hard did not help either. “Does it matter what I am?”

“Yes.” Bear’s brows furrowed, crossing her arms. “You’re Shadow’s target, which is the sort of shit-show that could get the grannies involved.”

“The who? Wait, no, this…” I rubbed the bridge of my nose, trying to process what she’d just dropped. “Falsely claiming to be a meguca would get anyone into a lot of trouble.”

“Worse than dying?” I had no arguments that could stand up to that, and she knew it. “Let’s settle this mess. Part of the bet was that I’d get you two to talk, right? I’m Calling her in.”

The situation felt like it was getting out of hand, and I wasn’t sure how to reign it in. Could I even trust this? There didn’t seem like I’d have a choice. My hackles rose as I felt something in the air, something that moved closer. Head snapping in the direction of the source, my eyes widened as I saw the shadows coalescing into the form of a meguca.

I hadn’t known what to expect, but it sure wasn’t her—a young woman, sharp and severe in a jet-black business suit that seemed to swallow the light around her. She looked like a piece of chalk drawn too thin, almost brittle, her frame so delicate you’d think a gust of wind might snap her in two. She couldn’t have been more than mid-twenties, her pale skin almost translucent, her black hair pulled back so tight it seemed to stretch her features. But what froze me, what truly held me in place, were her eyes. They were nothing. Not the black of night or shadows, not even pitch-black cosmetic eye-augs. They were voids.

“Bear.” She glanced at the fellow meguca, voice cold yet soft. “You are close to overstepping.”

“You’re about to kill a meguca.” Bear replied flatly, pointing at me.

Only then did Shadow turn to acknowledge my existence, my feet rooted in place, a sense of dread washing through me. Something inside of me stirred. It was a mix of nervousness and confidence at the same time, I wanted to run both towards the meguca, fists raised, and away from her. Instead, I managed to step forward, offering a hand. “Shadow, I presume?”

The lack of pupils made it impossible to tell where she was looking other than the general direction being towards me. I got the impression she was focused on my hand for several moments before, finally, reaching out and shaking it. Though her fingers were long and thin, calloused and scarred, yet warm. “Yes, I am Shadow.” She answered before quickly pulling her hand away and turning to face Bear. “He is not a meguca.”

“The fuck he’s not.” Bear stated matter-of-factly. “You saw that fight. If he’d been borged out, that’s one thing, but he took a serious punch and didn’t turn to paste.”

“He has powers. But he is not meguca.” Shadow’s voice remained cold and even, and I couldn’t help but wince at the feeling of something harsh and sharp underneath. “My contract was to kill Doctor Moreau.”

Bear rolled her eyes. “And what does that have to do with him? Moreau’s too big-fish for him. Hell, she’s a big-fish even for second-district gucas.”

Shadow nodded in acknowledgement, turning to look at me, expression unchanging, an emotionless mask that felt like it was urging me to answer Bear’s question. The silence that followed only increased the pressure as Bear glanced my way too. “The Doctor brought me here from Frontier City 02.” I declared after a moment of hesitation. Why wasn’t Shadow just telling Bear about everything? I couldn’t fathom a reason for her silence in this… what use would it be for her? If she revealed I was the shush-monster, then wouldn’t this be settled?

“That is true.” Shadow nodded. “I believed he could lead me to the doctor. The situation changed.” She turned to Bear. “My contract was condoned by two elders.”

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Bear’s eyes widened. “Fuck me, what the heck did she do to get two of the grannies to agree on something? All I’d heard was that she killed some upper management dirtbag, but even that wouldn’t have gotten the crones involved.”

Rather than answer, Shadow reached into her blazer as she put herself between Bear and me. The meguca pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over to me. “This is the victim in question.”

It was the picture of a corpse, but one that was wrong. The body lay twisted, swollen, as if it had been mangled under some immense force. Blue scales shimmered on patches of its skin, an alien texture breaking through the malformed flesh. Misshapen, half-grown limbs jutted out at unnatural angles. The only part that looked even remotely human was the upper torso, where a jagged hole punched clean through the chest. And then the head—its face twisted in agony, the back of the skull caved in, as if crushed from within.

Like it had been killed half-way through transformation.

I felt as if I’d swallowed a rock.

Shadow snatched the picture out of my fingers, tucking it safely back into her blazer as I stood there, eyes wide. My brain tried to run through… everything. The realization that Moreau had lied about not knowing what was happening to me. The fact that I wasn’t even her first test-subject. I was flooded with questions, doubts, and hesitations. I could only stare blankly at Shadow as she stared back.

“What? What is it?” Bear frowned.

Shadow did not answer.

If there was a taboo in this world greater than killing a meguca, then whatever it was that Moreau had done was even above that. And I’d been the product. The fact hit me harder than any of Bear’s punches, my legs wobbling a little. It didn’t matter whether the guy in the picture was turning into a monster or was in a situation like my own, some… freak… caught in some awkward limbo. Were anyone else in my shoes, I wouldn’t have hesitated to call for the destruction of everything involved.

But it’s not “anyone else”. It’s me. I swallowed the lump on my throat, looking up at Shadow. “Does anyone know?”

The meguca shook her head, leaving me with the distinct impression that she meant divulging details was not part of her contract. I grit my teeth, hands clenched into fists. “Just doing your job.” I hissed out, mouth clamped tightly. “You’re going to kill me, because it’s your job.”

If I tried to pull a card, to falsely claim I was a meguca, then the ones who’d sent her would turn their attention to me and get involved. It was like looking at a stack of dominoes and knowing exactly the steps. If these elders had the sort of authority and resources to send Shadow to hunt for someone, then what hope did I have? Except I didn’t need hope.

I needed a plan.

“It’s not personal.” Shadow kept her voice cold, calm.

“The fuck it’s not!” I lashed back. “It’s my life, that’s as personal as it gets!”

Bear had taken the prospect of my death as a given, to be milked for views and ad-revenue. Shadow spoke of my death as if it were nothing more than an item on a checklist. And Moreau had been treating it like nothing more than a test-subject.

Well, I could play that too. It looked like the hit on Moreau had required permission from higher authority? “Elders”? Maybe that was my out.

“Either I am the result of something Moreau did, or I am not,” I said, glaring at Shadow. “If I am not, then I might as well call myself a meguca because I don’t know what other box I’d fit in. I saw the three moons, I saw the green sky, I saw the purple shimmering sea and the behemoth thing that swims in the deep!” Shoulders squaring off, I was fighting the shaking in my voice. “And if I am…. If I am artificial, if I am the result of something the doctor did, then wouldn’t that mean she could make more of me? To bolster humans in a way no cybernetics or bioware could!? What grounds would you have in murdering the one person who might prove the most valuable asset in this war!?” I stomped closer. “Shouldn’t these ‘elders’ be made aware of that!?”

The silence that stretched after that felt like an eternity.

My mouth tasted like vomit. I hated every moment of this, I wanted to punch Shadow, and I definitely wanted to punch Moreau. I hated that my survival relied on whether the doctor was an assassination target or not.

Shadow’s carefully trimmed brows furrowed ever so minutely.

But Bear spoke up first. “I’m vouching for him being a potential meguca.” She waved at me. “An untrained one at that.”

“Two elders condoned this contract.” She parroted, apparently entirely unwilling to bend.

“A contract that didn’t involve honorary megucas being targeted.” Bear pushed.

“That’s not a thing.” Shadow snapped back, showing the first sign of annoyance in her voice. Her frustration appeared to mount for a moment before sharply turning to look at me.

For a split second, I felt as if I was about to be bisected, taking several steps back almost on instinct.

“Forty eight hours,” she said. “I will have confirmation from the elders then.”

Showing more courage than I felt, I straightened out. “I’ll be where we met last time.”

The next moment, she was gone.

Seeing I was not dead, the exhaustion and adrenaline caught up with me, my legs giving out under me, I fell on my ass with a huff. For a long minute, I just focused on breathing, trying to calm down the shakes. Talking to Shadow had been like having a neck on my throat that refused to leave. “Fuck me.” I rubbed my eyes, trying to focus and failing. “All that, and I barely bought myself a few more hours.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Bear declared. “If just one of the elders chooses to put her foot down, Shadow’s not going to have any ground to stand on.”

“Just one?” I chuckled dryly. “Do you know any of them personally?”

“Do I look like I shit gold bricks?” She snorted. “Look, just… I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks.” The meguca just nodded, leaving me to my thoughts as I tried to cope with the fact that I’d just asked for the assassin’s metaphorical manager to be put on the line. “Fuck me,” I said again.

I needed to have that call with Kali.