The woman shrieked as she hurried over to the two children in the garden. The boy was on his side, his small hands covering his face while he tried to use his arms to cushion the blows from the girl who continued kicking his stomach. His cries of pain and anguish echoed amongst the high glass walls that surrounded the inner garden.
A man rushed over from the other side; his hands slid under the girl’s arms and pulled her away, kicking and screaming as she struggled to break free from his grasp.
“Let me go! He hurt her!”
The woman knelt beside the boy, whose bawling started attracting more people to the garden.
“She broke his arm!” The woman cried out in horror at the man holding onto the silver-haired girl. She patted the boy reassuringly while looking at the little girl in the man’s arm, her face painted in shock as she returned her attention to the boy on the ground, gently guiding him up.
The man holding the perpetrator turned, easily tugging the kicking and screaming girl under his arm. He pushed through the few people who had crowded around one of the entrances to the garden and hurriedly walked down a corridor.
Sliding into an empty room, he put the girl down on a chair and knelt in front of her. His face was concerned, and his voice was stern yet warm.
“Please tell me why you did that. You can't go around breaking people’s arms, petitsa.”
She glared at him, her clear green eyes burning with anger as she crossed her arms.
“He hurt Anastasiya, and she ran because he threw a rock at her, and it made her bleed!” She vehemently glared at him, then at the crowd blocking her view of the garden.
He shook his head, took a deep breath, and his mind raced. It would take some strenuous effort to mend what had happened. A knock on the door pulled him out of his reverie.
“Richard?” The woman looked in, her blonde hair neatly resting on her shoulders.
“Yes, my dear?”
“I think you better come and talk to them; they are furious.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in a moment.” He turned his attention back to the fuming child on the chair.
“Listen, I’m going to talk to his parents and fix everything. But what have I said about you getting angry?”
The young girl pouted, her head sinking as she looked at him dejectedly, “I can’t go around taking it out on everyone who I think is wrong.”
“Yes. For the greater good, we have to use our senses. We can’t go around being angry and hurting those who hurt us, or it will always get worse before it gets better, OK?”
She looked up at him; her brows frowned as her mind tried to comprehend what he was trying to explain.
“But, Anastasiya…” she started to protest.
“We can go check on her. But she’ll be fine. You yourself said it was just a scratch, right?”
She cocked her head, then reluctantly nodded in reply.
“Hmm, alright, now, we both know you want to take care of your sister. Why don't you go and make sure she is okay? And I will try to talk to that boy’s parents. Deal?”
“Yes, Father.” She nodded.
He smiled and patted her silken silver hair before he got up. “Good, now run along. I will be over once I am done talking to his parents.”
She slid off the chair and hugged his leg before looking at him. “Thank you, Father; I’m sorry.”
“It's ok, Little Bird,” he patted her head again. “Sorry for?”
She bit her lip, her eyes widening as she struggled to find the reason for her apology. He chuckled as he pried her arms from his leg.
“When I come back, you, me, and Anastasiya will have a sit-down and talk, alright?”
She nodded. “Okay,”
As she watched him turn. “But if I didn't do anything, he would have continued what he was doing.”
He stopped, turned around, touched her head, and gently stroked her silver mane.
“Yes, sometimes you must do things to stop the bad people. But there is always another way. If you just hit everyone or everything… well... Remember, it's not what happens when you hit that matters. Most of the time, it's…” He paused “...what comes after that will tell.”
Her brows frowned again, trying yet again to comprehend what he was trying to say, and finally shrugged.
“Alright, look. We’ll talk later; I must talk to his parents now.”
“Okay, Father.”
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Noa sprinted down the staircase and reached the bottom when her HUD lit up. A sizable red triangle with an exclamation mark flashed up at the bottom center of her view, and she dropped down just as a spray of rounds hit the wall behind her.
Her HUD immediately highlighted those in the room, painting their figures red as she returned fire. She emptied the rest of the magazine into a figure on her left while she registered movement at her front. Without hesitation, she flung the spent weapon toward the figure and sprang toward the target, pulling her knife out.
Mosh froze as she saw the silver-haired woman moving at an impossibly fast speed. In the corner of her eye, she saw Pixie’s body flying back after being hit by the spray of rounds. She raised her weapon to fire, just as a flying automatic weapon knocked her aim clean off when she was about to squeeze the trigger.
Noa reached Mosh, her knife hand moved up swiftly, and her wild scream cut the air as the edge of her blade sliced deep and across Mosh’s neck, then sunk the blade into the side of her skull. She turned and glared at a smaller, scrawny man on his knees with his hands held over his head, trembling and muttering something in a low tone as Mosh hit the floor.
“You’re real quick, deserving of my personal touch,” a huge man grunted out, almost in approval, as she turned to face him.
Her HUD registered him, and his ID image came up. Law enforcement bulletins, a summarized crime list, and an active bounty tag appeared. “Thing,” she scoffed dismissively at him.
He discarded his shotgun and grinned menacingly. “Come to daddy, lil bunny.” He lunged toward her, swinging a large blunt weapon over his head.
Noa rushed forward and, at the last moment, fluidly side-stepped to her right and ducked under his arm, her blade pushing up toward him, only to be met with a loud clanging sound as the blade slid off his armored implants.
The hammer he swung crashed into the floor behind her while simultaneously she slid around his legs and spun around while her hand deftly took out her bladed baton from her belt as she sprung up behind him.
With a shrill scream, and both her hands grasped at the baton, she sunk the weapon deep into a small space between the armor on the back of his neck and his shoulder blades before she planted her feet and kicked herself off of his hulking body.
He grunted as the pain registered before he swung around with the hammer, only to see Noa landing away from him.
“You gotta do better than that lil bunny.” He smirked confidently as he moved toward her.
Noa stood up and smirked wickedly at him, shaking her head.
“Stupid fuckin lowbies,” she almost purred as a surge of electricity burst into his body, short-circuiting his implants and stopping his movement. His legs gave way, and he fell onto his knees, his arms slumped down to his side, the heavy weapon clanging loudly onto the floor as he looked up at her, pistol already in hand, aimed at his shocked face.
She sneered, held her pistol steady, and fired off two rounds before she holstered her weapon without a moment’s thought. Circumventing his hulking body, she looked at the cowering small man with what appeared to be something like a telescope from his left eye.
She darted a quick look at Anya, whose naked body was lying still on top of the metal table. Her heaving chest relieved her as she hurriedly stepped closer. Anya’s left arm was covered in her blood, the gaping wound her extracted nano-ink left was now darkened, and the scent of burnt flesh made her nose wrinkle.
“Noakins!” Anya's teary, pleading voice called out weakly at her, hoarse and trembling slightly, a hint of relief in it as Noa reached her. Her tear-filled eyes looked up at Noa as the latter gently stroked her sweat-matted hair. “I knew you weren’t far off.”
“Never,” Noa warmly replied, her lips bent in a reassuring smile, and she began pulling out the thin rods from her sister’s body.
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“Let’s get you back, Anyanas; we can’t stay and chat. More of them should be en route. Bunbuns has a gargoyle up to keep them busy, but that won't last long. Can you stand?” She gently patted Anya’s legs and massaged them carefully.
“Stims, gimme, I can.” Anya struggled to form the sentence as she replied softly, her voice cracking,
Noa turned to the cowering man on his knees.
“You, Stims, SimDs, where?”
He pointed toward a small metal trolley at the foot of the table. Noa reached over, picked up a few tubes, and injected them into Anya.
Anya slowly sat up, with Noa assisting her, and took a deep breath as she leaned her head back, eyes closed. She signaled to Noa, who pulled her onto her feet. Her knees wobbled as her bare feet gingerly touched the grimy floor, and her body swayed slightly before she leaned against the metal table as Noa helped her off it.
“Baton,” she panted out softly as her eyes focused on the man on the floor on his knees.
Noa walked over to Thing’s body, still sitting on his large metal knees, pulled out her baton, and passed it to Anya, who shakily nodded toward the scrawny man.
Without uttering a word, Noa grasped his coat behind his neck and pulled him closer to Anya.
“Please, mercy, I... I just work here; I didn’t wanna do it, really! I was just doing what they paid me for! please!”
“Hold him still, babe.” Anya looked up at Noa, the man’s pleading not registering with her.
Noa’s hand grasped tighter at the back of his neck and squeezed.
“We don’t have time… Doc… so I’ll show you mercy.” Anya leaned in toward him as she raised the bladed baton in her right hand, which shook momentarily before staying still.
Just as he opened his mouth to reply, she stabbed down, the baton’s blade piercing his skull until Anya’s hand stopped barely an inch over his head and then pulled her hand back.
As if she had spent the last of her energies, she fell onto her knees, the bladed baton staying in Doc’s head. Pulling it out, shaking the blood off the blade before retracting it, Noa replaced it on her belt, then knelt beside Anya and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Lie down, babe, I’ll get you out.” She gently led Anya to face down on the floor before reaching over to the trolley. Her hand rummaged through the pile of items, and her HUD identified each item.
She stopped rummaging when her HUD found the syringes in her hand as the pain meds she was looking for and proceeded to inject a couple into Anya. Having reloaded her pistol with the last magazine she had brought, she began to guide Anya onto her shoulders, who winced out at times as the pain shot past the pain meds she had just been given.
Making sure that Anya was secure on her shoulders, her right hand wrapped around to grasp at Anya’s flailing hand and checked her balance again.
“Bunbuns, status?”
“Med team arrived; Anya has quite the plan with them,” Bug Bunny replied, her tone indicating that she was somewhat impressed.
“I’ve got her, going street level; can’t risk the climb back up, front or other entrances?”
“The gargoyle and Med team have chased away the Hyenas, and they are parked at the front entrance.”
“Got it, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it, Noa. You need me for anything else?”
“Nope, thanks again, Bunbuns. Seriously, we should meet in the real.”
Bug Bunny chuckled softly. “Well, no promises, and don’t mention it. Buzz me if you need me for more; I’m cutting comms.”
“Will do.” Bug Bunny’s icon disappeared from Noa’s HUD as she slowly climbed the staircase from the basement, her pistol in her free hand.
She reached the front entrance and pushed the door open with her foot. The strobing lights from the Med vehicle greeted her. A single turret on its roof slowly turned, scanning the area.
Four highly armed and armored Med technicians immediately pointed their weapons toward her. With only her head in clear view, Noa’s form appeared as an apparition to them, only made less transparent with blood spatters all over her.
“Holster your weapon and lay down the patient on the ground,” One of them barked out without hesitation as he took a step toward Noa.
Noa smiled at him, holstering her pistol, and moved a few steps forward before gingerly placing Anya on the ground. Her eyes checked Anya’s breathing as she stepped back, hands up and out, indicating her passivity to the armed team.
Two of them continued to aim their weapons at her as the other two produced a stretcher and expertly guided Anya onto it before they carried it into the vehicle.
“See you soon, Anyanas,” she whispered to herself as the two backed away from her and entered the vehicle. The beefy-looking Med Transport's side ramp rose and closed behind them. The vehicle’s external propulsion adjusted to lift it off the ground before it flew away.
Noa stepped back, sat herself down on the curb, and leaned forward. She raised her head and briefly looked around. Spent casings littered the sidewalk, and the road, and several lifeless bodies lay about. She leaned back, and in the relative quiet, she picked up on the sound of a drone flying overhead that seemed to fly around in a set pattern, which made her smile.
“Angel on my shoulder,” she smiled and waved at the drone, which responded by jinking back and forth. She looked back down, trying to recollect the day’s events, when she realized that her com-suit was still in reflective camo mode. Her thighs’ top side reflected the road surface she was sitting over.
Custom Setting: ON. Confirm Option. Yes.
The suit's surface switched colors. The reflected road surface on the back of her hand changed into a matt black, with dark red lines intersecting throughout, outlining small hexagonal shapes throughout her com-suit.
She pushed herself up and turned around, facing the large building she had just exited. The anger inside her remained unsated. Anya’s blood-curdling screams rang in her mind, and this time, welled tears in her eyes as she felt her blood churn even more now that the effects of the combat stimulants had started to wear off.
She paused and looked up at the drone hovering over her. Bug Bunny’s communicator icon appeared as she sent her a voice note.
“Bunbuns, keep the drone posted, please; gonna go back in, get Anya’s things, and then see how I can blow this shit factory up. Gonna make sure these fuckers know what they get for doing what they did to Anya.”
She pulled up references to explosives she could cook up with chemicals she expected to find inside, her mind identifying ideal locations to plant the explosives she had in mind to bring the place down as she re-entered the building.
—-------------------------------------------------------------------
“...Witnesses claim that there were at least three persons unknown, dressed in the latest combat gear and supported with drones and what seemed like a tank, attacked the location late evening yesterday. More to come as investigators continue to scour the area. This is Patrick Mendez for ADNA-3 News”
Dima scoffed, emptied his pint glass, and raised it to the bartender, signaling for another.
“Did you see?” Vanya leaned forward; his hands nursed a similar glass.
Dima looked at him and shrugged. “I never believe these news types. They’re always up to something. What about our own sources? They have anything?”
Vanya gulped down some of the liquid and shook his head in response.
“Two things. One: what people don’t know can still hurt us. You heard what that kerb said. It’s just too easy to surmise that we had a hand in it. Two: nothing from our sources. They’re all hearing the same. Although…”
His companion leaned in, eyes wide.
“Our embeds in the Hyenas say that it was a girl who did it, someone on a bike who rode in.”
Dima scoffed, his hands waving up. “C’mon chuvak, a girl? A single, solo girl? No way; our embeds high or what? Now even the news sound real.”
He raised his finger and shook it as he continued: “We’re not the only group that uses drones.”
Vanya glared at his companion and shook his head. “That might be so, but everyone knows it’s our way: strike team supported by drones. All the fuckin’ time. It’s what keeps others out of our areas.”
A filled glass slid next to his hand; he looked up and nodded to the bartender in thanks before taking a large swig of his drink,
“I have to agree that the description of the attack makes it look like us, but you and I both know none of us have carried out anything like that.”
“I don’t… and how would you know? Are you the big boss now?”
Dima shrugged again and lit a cigarette; ideas popped up in his mind, feeding his rising anxiety,
“No, but have you heard of anyone going against what the bosses say we shouldn't do? Besides, we all know Hyenas are the biggest players; they just aren’t up to level with tech, is all. A strike on one of their top honchos would definitely have to be ordered from the top.”
Vanya scoffed. “Fuckers. We’re lucky our backers hold the powers in this region.”
He leaned back and crossed his arms, showing off the generous tattoos under his rolled-up sleeve. Bronze metallic lines embedded in his forearm gleamed in contrast to the rest of the ink.
“It stinks, chuvak; this will affect things in ways we both know aren’t good.”
Just then, messages popped up in both their communicators, making them look at each other gravely.
“Sooner than we thought.” Vanya finished his drink and stood up.
“Hyenas are like animals; they don’t think much. To them, it's almost always blood for blood, never mind the kind of losses you get.” He continued.
Dima nodded and slid his long jacket on. “I told you, right?”
“Shut up, kerb; we gotta get going.”
—----------------------------------------------------------------------
“I specifically told you people not to retaliate!” the voice rang out angrily from the small speaker on the table.
“We’re tired of your constant need to sit down and talk and of how you let them walk all over us. It’s been days since Thing’s place was hit, and we still haven’t gotten any detailed news about it,” a gruff voice replied, a large man sitting back on his chair, which creaked under the weight.
“Yea, who else would have that kind of tech?” Another man piped in. his tone less belligerent yet equally angered.
“This will spiral out of control! We are already getting calls from our backers. And we all know when that happens. It means they know what’s coming for everyone.”
The large man on the chair tapped his neck, cutting off the call.
“They killed everyone, Thing, Pixie, and Mosh, and we can’t even find their bodies.” He angrily turned to the other two in the room.
Satyr, the less belligerent one, nodded slowly. “Our people inside tell us that they can’t find any piece that’s larger than a fist.”
AardV, who leaned by the door, turned to look at the large man and nodded. “It seems whoever did it used the chemicals we used to process DVs and turned it into one mutha of a bomb. We’re finding traces of it everywhere at the site.”
“Have you recovered anything useful from the street cams?” the large man asked.
AardV shook his head. “We have, but the one that entered the building couldn’t register on the cams. All we see is a blur of where a person is supposed to be. Our diggers are trying to get through it, no dice.”
Satyr leaned back. “Are you sure it was just one man? That’s Thing’s place we’re talking about.”
AardV nodded, “Very sure. Security was light. Who would wanna hit Thing’s main hangout anyway? We’re asking the people around the area if they have seen anything else. So far, nothing solid. Although there is word that it's actually a girl, not a man, that they saw. Someone not from the area who came in on a bike.”
The large man scoffed. “The word of wasted junkies, probably whose brains are cooked from too many RaceVs, DVs, and everything else that they can get their hands on. You ask yourself, would one girl be able to do that to Thing’s crew?”
“So tell me if it was just one man. And our diggers can’t even get through whatever he has that’s fuckin’ up the cam feeds. No one else sports that kinda tech. Tell me I’m wrong about the Brotherhood.”
The two others looked at each other, then at him, nodding in agreement.
He leaned forward, his large hands resting on the tabletop as he looked at Satyr.
“Go and check on our sources at the local enforcement offices and see if they have dug up anything. No chatter on comms. Those damn Brotherhood fuckers have too long listened in on our chats.”
Satyr stood up and nodded, “Will do.”
“And you, check with that blud you’re keeping who works for the Brotherhood, see if she knows something from her end.”
AardV nodded, one hand pointing at the large man before he turned. “You got it.”
“Once you guys have finished your rounds, come back. I’m gonna call in the other heads and see how we can really hurt them back for this affront.”