No abnormality detected, nothing serious. The clinic found me to be in perfect shape aside from the few bruises and damage on the dermal level. I may not have expected it to have been used in that way and circumstance, but the bioware did its job perfectly. I was glad to have splurged on its recovery fee.
I was humming to myself, pleased as I boarded the night train to district 4. I managed to snag myself some treats and chocolates for Auntie Kon on the way back from the ‘district of glamour and business’. Everything in district 1 was more expensive, but the quality reflected the price so I couldn’t complain, a thank-you gift was cheap for what could’ve happened had Auntie Kon not been there at that exact moment. I shuddered at that thought.
The sun was starting to set. I mused as I absentmindedly stared at the powerlines crisscrossing and trailing across the rooftops and concrete habitats. It was a strange sight, to see such old tech haphazardly running along the sleek architectural angles of the new-80s. I rather liked the fusion.
“Please sir! I didn’t mean-” came a yelp, muffled and small. Yet I could hear it all the same. I turned to look at the direction of the sound. It was coming from another train car next to the one I was in. I managed to get a good look at the commotion. It was not a good sight.
A small gang of teens huddled around an old man wearing a green vest and helmet- like the ones used by the Fooder staff. He bowed low. His hands were outstretched offering a plastic bag with the logo “Tammy’s Takeout's” to a teenager wearing yellow- scratch that, all of the teens were wearing yellow polos with blue shorts, reminiscent of a uniform.
“Please sir! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be late, I got on the same train as you as fast as-” The man was interrupted by a furious shout.
“I ordered this at 4! Now it’s 6!” More shouting.
Do not get yourself involved. You’ll regret it. I took a deep sigh. Things like this happened. It wasn’t uncommon.
“S-Sir! I know I was late but-”
“Look at it! It’s cold! That’s not what I paid for!” The voice rose in pitch. Louder than I thought was possible. The teenager then roughly shoved back the package, almost spilling it onto the train.
I breathed. Just mind your business. Do not. Get involved. They were kids, kids do stupid shit all the time.
“I’m so so sorry Sir! Please accept the package” he once again went into a bow, this time even lower. His elderly frame shook this time.
“This again. Can you even look? Are. you. dumb?” The teen then slapped the top of the helmet, enunciating each word. That’s it. I had enough. The spirit in me roared.
I’m gonna regret- nope. I’m doing it. I shut off all thoughts about the possibilities. What mattered was what I saw happening in front of me. Yesterday’s event flashed in my mind. I breathed in deeply, pushing the dislike down.
I made my way through my desolate train section to the commotion. They didn’t even notice me entering.
I planned to de-escalate things. Feelings were running high- I could feel it in its rolling waves of itchiness. So I approached them coolly, they were just teenagers afterall- I had to be the bigger person, show ‘em to relax a bit.
“Yo.” I offered a friendly wave, trying to connect to the teens, cool and composed like the movievids I saw.
Still, I must’ve made quite the impression. The way they straightened their backs told me so.
At this point, I managed to take a good look at the gang that stood in front of me. Two boys and two girls. They were still in their school uniform, though modded to the ‘street-style’ it may be, I could still recognize it. Essen International School. It was a small but accredited school, one I saw on my way home yesterday.
The tallest boy however, didn’t notice me as he kept on showering the elderly delivery man in insults.
I managed to take hold of his hands before he could do anything else. “Look, I know you must be tired and stressed. It’s exam season right?” I slipped in between the boy and the elderly man, using my large frame to create distance between the two. “Now, now… There’s no need to insult others like that.” I gently reminded him, keeping well to not antagonise the teen. He turned to look away from me, though embarrassed, he was still fuming.
“But-”
“If you’re still really hungry, there’s a really good hotpot shop I know near here. My treat even! I used to go there when I did my IB exams!” I cut him off, distracting him from his line of thought, making sure to flash my KIAT student card. I could see the gears turning in his head, his previous anger dissipating, making way for confusion. Strike while the iron is hot. I put a hand on his shoulder, and gave the best smile I could muster, hoping it would show through my mask.
“Now, what time is your cram school?” To even have a decent chance at a decent university you needed to go to cram schools. From the looks of it, They were in their senior year.
“8PM…” He murmured.
“8:30!” “Same here!” I could hear the other highschoolers say.
“Then you’ll have plenty of time for a meal before your cram school, yes?” I asked.
“No-” “Yes!” Before the boy could decline, a girl pushed him aside and nodded frantically. Her stomach made a growling noise, which made the highschooler flush in embarrassment.
I merely gave them a smile and turned around to check on the elderly man, ‘Quan’ he told me. He wasn’t shaking anymore, but I made sure he was alright. He wasn’t talkative but he did give his thanks. That was more than I needed.
Mr. Quan got off at the next stop. I even managed to get the teens to apologise to him before he left. Suffice to say, he was very grateful for the gesture, albeit finding it awkward.
While waiting for the final stop, to fill in the awkward silence, the other boy wearing a mask asked if I could give them tips for their essays. I obliged. They’re good. I mused. They might’ve looked rough and rebellious but the results showed they really put effort into their studies. A few of their essays were even better than mine.
This continued even as we got off the train. With me giving verbal advice after reading the AI-summarised version of the essays, marking where I believed they could improve.
Just before turning to the corner where Auntie Kon’s hotpot was at, our session was interrupted. I could hear hard footsteps pounding towards us.
At the other end of the street, there was a girl in glowing neon pigtails, around the same age as the teens next to me. She had a long white coat that reached her ankles, it was reminiscent of the classic “Japanese Delinquent” seen in the ancient 80s (1980s that is).
“OI! YOU COCKSUCKING CORP-RAT!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. She pointed a finger at me. “If you think you can just fucking come here after what you did then you’re mistaken!” She started to hurry her approach to me. Stomping angrily. I could see that her eyes were red and puffy.
I snapped out of my confusion to hurry and explain-
I didn’t even get to finish my thought as a punch went flying my way. Instinctively, I raised my hands up to defend myself. It wasn’t impossible. The girl in question was short, then again, I was designed taller than others. Less thinking, more action. I tried my best to cover my head as she kept on throwing the punches.
I couldn’t hear my voice, but I was certain I made sure to tell the highschoolers to steer clear, lest they found themselves in any stray punches. Still, the boy with the temper tried to help by pulling her hair… which served only to make the ‘delinquent’ even angrier. He received a quick knee to the groin. Ouch.
Still. I focused and thought back to the MMA freeware I had downloaded in my head a month prior. It was more an instructional manual informing what I can do and can’t do, than combat software but it helped. I was able to do rudimentary blocks to cover myself but my body wasn’t used to it. I felt sluggish. It was only a matter of time before she tired me out.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Which was exactly what happened.
Seeing that I was ‘successfully’ blocking, she aimed at my sternum first with her jabs, then when I went to block her “next move”. I ate a full right-handed knuckle sandwich with my jaw.
In hindsight, the “fight” only lasted a couple of seconds, less than a minute, but here I was, put on my ass by a little girl. Damn.
She mounted me and raised her fists high, intending on giving me a beat down. That is… until she found herself in a lock and was then proceeded to be lifted up in the air in a full nelson.
“Yana! Calm down!” A loud booming voice filled the street.
“Don’t you tell me to calm down Camille! The fucker came back! He-” the ‘delinquent’ yelled back tearfully. Her legs kicked helplessly in the air.
I could hear a soft “I’m sorry Yana…” before a buzz of electricity silenced the thrashing.
With a painful grunt, I sat myself upright to see the ‘delinquent’ being carried on a woman’s shoulders like a sack of potatoes. A hand reached out towards me pulling me up. I could still see the static electricity receding back into her palms.
I made sure to check up on the other kids. Except perhaps a certain boy’s pride, they were relatively fine.
“I’m so so sorry about that. I’m Camille." She gave me an apologetic smile. “Sorry it’s been a rough week and this troublemaker here mistook you for someone else with horns.” She explained. “Of course, it still doesn’t make what happened right.” She gave me a full bow, somehow still balancing the delinquent on her shoulders. “I sincerely apologise for not handling my charge here, I beg of you to forget what happened” At that she bowed even further. It was the most formal bow I had ever seen.
I was stunned. A part of me felt a bit satisfied, but mostly, I just felt awkward, it was weird to see someone around your peer bow themselves so. “Don’t worry about it, I won’t press any charges, I get mistakened for others often” I tried to laugh it off. Rubbing the sides of my jaw. It was gonna bruise. My bioware couldn’t heal on the dermal level.
I did not know why, but she still kept bowing. So I had to physically assure her that I was not going to retaliate in any way with the most sincerest smile I could give. Not that I could even anymore. The horns on my head represented the backing of a megacorp. Said megacorp no longer existed. Sad, but it was a common tale in modern business.
I could see the ill-tempered highschooler open his mouth in retort, “Hpmh. I would’ve-”
“No offence taken!” This time the other boy jumped in, hands covering his mouth. “Ow! You didn’t have to bite me gonk-brain!”
“Then don’t shove your damn hands in my mouth dumbass!”
“You!-”
I chose to ignore the commotion behind me to properly thank Camille for her intervention.
“We’ll get out of your hair then!” She once again gave me an apologetic look and another formal bow as we went our separate ways. Eh. I’ve been through worse. I shrugged inwardly. Plus, I could tell the ‘delinquent’ was in a miserable state and wanted to lash out, her actions and appearance told me as much.
Grumble grumble. I was… very hungry. Without another thought, I chose to wipe my memory of the event and so, I continued to march my procession of yellow ducklings towards Auntie Kon’s.
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“Omygosh-this is so good!”
“Hey! Mateo stop hogging the plate you skull-socket!”
“Oi!”
I left the highschoolers to their own booth as I made my way to thank Auntie Kon with the gifts I bought earlier. She gave me an amused look.
“Ya know, my foodshop isn’t a clinic, same corp-punks?” She threw me an ice pack over the counter, which I caught. She then took a look at one of the tin boxes containing goodies. “Aumardillan Chocolates? I haven’t seen these in a while!”
“I’m glad you found them good Auntie Kon” I smiled. Finding myself sitting on the stool near the counter, ordering a synth-salmon taco bowl. Nursing my bruise. “No, not them.” I shook my head “But, I’m thinking on doing something about it, the SCPD isn’t as reliable as I thought and I’d prefer staying alive rather than become a forum’s subject”
She hummed in thought as she delivered the bowl. “Me? I’d say pack some irons. Nothing wrong with reliable heat.” She gave me a wicked smile, gesturing to her hip where I knew her revolver was. “But then again. Ammo’s the problem.”
I cocked my head to the side, asking her to continue. She did. “Sure, domestic Saigonese 9mm is on the security market, but for iron like mine? None. After the ‘Krash’, shipbots stopped coming in port, that means anything imported and bigger than 9mm will only last for so long” she gave a sigh.
She then went back to the kitchen and returned with a wrapped piece of cloth. “Look kid, I like you. You’re my first customer and you don’t sure as hell act like those high-suits.” She gestured for me to unwrap the fabric. I was nervous about the legality of it but, What the hell? Looking ain’t a crime yet. So I did.
It was a strange contraption of sorts. It was a series of rings connected by thin wires all winding up at a thick strap. “HKPD shock-units. Modded to hell from your average taser unit. SGPD and Glasglow-Yard banned these a few years back” She explained. “Though, don’t go thinking you’re tough shit now. Cause you’re not. That’s how you’ll find yourself at the bottom of the Mekong.” Her eyes spoke from experience, grave and solemn.
Without missing a beat, she then picked it up and demonstrated how to properly wear the device. “Still, these things will give you a chance to run like hell, and that’s it. Now, this pair is special, it’ll go through class 1 electrical shielding- but, I hope to lord you don’t piss off any full-borgs anytime soon. Go on, try 'em on.”
She passed me the ‘gloves’ and I slid each of the rings into the segments of my hands finding them to be a good fit. “Socket it into your wrist dock, set up the software and from then on it’ll activate to your sync.” I did as was instructed and like a natural limb, when I merely thought of activating the shock-unit, it did. A humming buzz of electricity leapt on from one finger to the other.
“Sweet!” I couldn’t contain myself. I kept activating it and reactivating it.
“Ha! Ain’t it so! Reminds me of my troubleshooting days!” Auntie Kon chuckled.
Shocked, I stared at her. “Auntie Kon, You were a Troubleshooter!?” I asked in awe.
In response she only smiled at me slyly. No words were needed to understand the implicit meaning.
“Ahem! Remember to charge and wear it often!” She reminded me. I still couldn’t keep the smile off my face as I wolfed down my taco bowl.
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I decided to head home early leaving the highschoolers to enjoy their short break. I wanted a shower. It had been a long day. Shitty cops, triads and moody highschoolers, what have my life come to? I mused.
Generally, children born as company property- legacies, would receive company education and tutoring on breaks. That or high-society socialising. They were to be groomed into leading the company into success, wholly devoting their loyalty to the company that bore them life.
But I didn’t find myself disliking freedom either.
Suddenly out of nowhere. The feeling of itchiness once again came, overwhelming, raising the hair on my body- everywhere at once- to its ends. Then the itchiness turned into pain, like tiny razors scraping my body. Not debilitating, but enough for me to sit down for a moment.
“Oooo! This sapling can feel us!” I heard something say, it’s eerily cheery voice bouncing off the wall of the street.
“Ooo! Then it can play with us!” A different voice this time, shrill and delighted, directly above me.
I tilted my head upwards to see what it was.
No. I must be dreaming. I must be going crazy. I thought to myself. Maybe this is some kind of new novel experience. Maybe a TL sim? Maybe I was drugged, Maybe-
“Hehehe, it's confused sister! I like it!” The Thing, with the size of a pinky, flew and landed on my face, matching my eyes with its beady ones.
“Ughhhh but it has metal!” Another Thing appeared next to Thing #1. It was like a human but… not. There were wings, insectoid, butterfly-like. Sure, some people- legacy children included, modded wings onto themselves- but it wasn’t ‘Functional’. These things. flew and floated with them. But that wasn’t right either, wing’s didn’t work like how they used it.
It was like time froze. I did not know what to do or how to make sense of what was happening as the entities bickered amongst themselves.
“-But sister, all the other ones we’ve seen have more metal anyways! I’m sooo bored” Thing #1 enunciated the last word.
“Fine. I’m bored too! And this one looks fun!” at that, Thing #2 seemed to shine.They both then chittered and shimmered as if they were ecstatic. Then, in an instant. Both stared deep into my eyes deeply with a predatory look. Like owls swivelling their heads.
I could see it clearly. Row on row of serrated teeth. I tried to swat them off my face but it was no use. They lunged towards my eyes. Climbing inside.
“AHHHHHH!” I screamed and screamed. I could feel them wriggling. Oh god. I couldn’t even blink- I couldn’t think. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.
From the tearful blurry corner of my eyes I could see people dashing towards me. Lotus Claws. I tried to scream “Help!” but I couldn’t hear myself. It was too painful.
There was nothing else I could do but let the black take me.