Mai was surprised at how easy it was to slip away when she needed time to herself. The rebels had mostly been busy with their day to day tasks or creating new beds for themselves. No-one had been bothered about what Mai had been doing.
As soon as she was out she retrieved a bio-mass booster and decanted some of the precious liquid into an empty water bottle. She had an idea that BIOMASS boost was going to be very damned helpful over the next couple of hours.
Moving to an elevator, she blink-clicked One Mile, going for a mid-point level. She almost cancelled the selection at the thought of what she was doing. One Mile. One Mile was legendary. One Mile was a living hell never mentioned by polite society.
She’d heard of people going down to One Mile on guided expeditions. They were beyond expensive, far more than she would ever have been able to afford in her past life. But the stories that the ‘adventurers’ had were always fascinating.
Then there were those that went down there on their own, or as part of a dare. According to legend they rarely returned. She hadn’t known anyone to be so stupid as to actually try going to a One Miler level. Plenty had talked about it, but they also talked about trying to get into the Celestial Court, and everyone had known it was just that. Talk.
Now she moved through a darkened part of the city. It was night-time, but in a city which rarely slept it shouldn’t have made that much difference. As ever though, where they didn’t need to provide proper lighting the Celestial Court didn’t bother. And need was subjective. The lower you got, the worse the facilities. And One Mile was as low as you could get, both literally and figuratively.
Lights flickered ahead, and the bright neon advertising sign cast a myriad of hues across the floor. A pleasure palace, offering every type of entertainment possible. Blushing, Mai blink-clicked a filter so that the advertising was blocked by her retinal monitor.
But the flickering of the other lighting was still disorientating to the point that she activated her STREET SMARTS. Most of the signs were broken in some way which meant that the light they cast wasn’t uniform. The whole effect made her feel somewhat sick and off-balance. It was the perfect place for Cullers to hole up. And the perfect place for someone to ambush her.
As she hadn’t accepted a mission, she didn’t have a guideline to let her know where to go, nor how close she was getting to them. She just knew that they were somewhere on the One Mile.
Hopefully they’ll be busy shooting at someone, I can just follow the sound of guns.
It was a morbid thought considering the fact she was supposed to be rescuing them and a battle would make things a lot more complicated. It would also mean yet more killing.
Why can’t it have just been a damned courier mission? She mentally groaned to herself.
She hadn’t been on a level this low before, and she was appalled at the state of the hab blocks. If you fell this far in society and managed to stay out of debt it was a miracle. Walls sagged and peeled, there was a heavy downpour of condenrain from the higher levels and waste was piled up in every nook and cranny. Cracks spider-webbed their way along the walls, some of them larger than her fist.
It was as if the environment was matching the spirit of the people forced to live here. Despair practically oozed out of the buildings surrounding her. Shivering, Mai wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to shield herself against the spiritual miasma surrounding her.
Looking up she tried to see where the next level was, but the condenrain and perma-mist was too thick for her to see. It was as if the whole of the level was engineered to keep people down, preventing them from ever thinking they’d be able to escape their lives.
Realising she was actually bending forward, rounding her shoulders under the perceived weight of the city above her. Trillions of tonnes pressing down onto the rotting One Mile. And her subconscious has picked up on it.
“Miss, excuse me miss, but you don’t want to be out on the streets right now,” whispered a voice from the shadows of a door. It was a young voice, but tired in such a way that Mai wanted to steal them away from this life.
She blink-clicked through her retinal monitor’s visual spectrums until she selected the low-light setting.
Gasping, Mai looked at the little girl huddled in the shelter of the doorway. She was wrapped in what amounted to nothing more than rags and her hair was falling out in clumps. None of her skills had helped her to spot the girl. Either they were failing, or the little girl was very, very good.
The girl smiled, and Mai bit down on her revulsion. Her teeth were a mixture of blackened stumped and yellow teeth. Boils and cysts covered any of the skin that Mai could see. They were the sort of thing that someone in the higher levels would have thought nothing about getting them healed. Those with enough BIOMASS would have merely blink clicked them away.
It was clear from her gaunt skin that the girl barely got enough food, let alone enough BIOMASS to be able to heal herself. All of this was seen in less than the blink of an eye.
“Thanks for the warning. Why’s that?” she knelt so that she was at eye level with the girl. Not wanting to tower over her.
I suspect that she’s all too used to people larger than her trying it on, she thought, memories of a fight she’d had with a larger boy coming to mind when she’d found him trying to take sweets from Li.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Organ drones are out and about,” the girl raised a shaky hand to the sky. Mai immediately tried to see what she was pointing at. Chills running down her spine at the knowledge there was a threat in the high grey.
“Organ drones? What the hell are they?” she whispered, not wanting to be overheard by the as-yet unseen threat.
“Harvesters,” whispered the girl in tones of such dread that Mai’s hackles rose. “They’re sent from higher up to nab organs for people who have the money but not the nanites to get fixed.”
Mai’s mouth dried instantly as she looked back up into the dim sky. She still couldn’t spot a thing. Wiping her sweaty palms on her trouser legs, she tried to calm her jangling nerves. Everything about her surroundings seemed to be made to break her emotionally.
Drones that steal people’s organs? Anger flooded through her at the thought of the people on this level being farmed for their organs.
As if their lives aren’t bad enough!
“You’re a Culler?” gasped the girl, slowly reaching out as if afraid that Mai would disappear. Despite her revulsion at the dirt and boils covering the hand, Mai let her touch her.
It’s probably the first human contact she’s had for a long time. Where in the Emperor’s name are her parents?”
Mai moved closer to the girl, gently forcing her to remove her hand, and crouched down beside her.
“Yes, I am. I’m looking for some Cullers who are hiding. Do you know where they are?” Her voice pitched low, not wanting it to carry.
Nodding, the girl raised a stick-thin arm and pointed down the pedway.
“They’re about six hundred paces that way. I saw another group heading that way too. Don’t think they were friends though, ” the girl said. “They looked like they were hunting them. Are you going to rescue them?”
Mai was still thinking about how to answer the girl when a prompt came up.
RESCUE THE TRAPPED CULLERS
DO YOU ACCEPT YES/NO?
Sometimes, Mai thought, it’s as if the Gods are bloody watching. And sticking their fingers in when they want.
She pressed YES, glad that she wouldn’t have to hunt around the One Mile looking for the Cullers and attracting yet more unwanted attention.
Mai opened her backpack and pulled out some of her supplies. They wouldn’t do the girl much good, but at least they would give her some enjoyment. And if she could get her BIOMASS to one hundred per cent, perhaps her passive HEALING would kick in.
That’s if she even has HEALING as a skill. Are One Milers prevented from having this sort of thing as well? The idea appalled her, because if it was true, it truly meant that One Mile was a living hell. Which hell, she didn’t know. Perhaps the Priests and Monks of the One Million Faiths hadn’t been able to put a name to it, or perhaps it was just One Mile. After a moment’s consideration she realised that such a name was apt.
“Listen, you don’t have to stay here,” Mai flicked her minimap over to the girl with the general location of the rebel base. “Make your way there. I’ll meet you once I’ve spoken to the hiding Cullers. You’ll be safe.”
Snatching the food from Mai’s hands the girl ripped a cover off and started eating as quickly as she could, cramming the food into her mouth so quickly that Mai feared she’d choke.
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The sight of a child so desperate for food that she was willing to risk choking just to get it down was heart-breaking.
Then the girl paused, cocking her head like a lizog listening for prey.
“They’re coming!” eyes wide she stared up into the sky.
Mai blinked-clicked a pair of double-barrelled SMGs so filled with adrenaline that at this point she never even registered any pain from the transition. Adding suppressors, for a total of nineteen per cent biomass, she pushed the girl as far back into the recessed doorway as she could.
BIOMASS – 81%
“Don’t move. I won’t let them get you.”
DEFEND THE CITIZEN AGAINST THE DRONES
DO YOU ACCEPT YES/NO?
Despite her surprise at a mission appearing in such a way, essentially receiving it from a child, it was the easiest choice she’d ever made. A counter appeared, showing the number ten. Whether that was going to be a countdown or indicated the number of drones she’d have to fight she neither knew nor cared. Nothing mattered aside from saving the girl from such a gruesome end.
She could hear them now. A light trilling as they zipped through the air. There was a blood-curdling scream further up the pedway which cut off with a finality that could only mean one thing.
A laser beam lanced through the sky, then widened into a scanning pattern. Following it, Mai could just about make out the drone. The condenrain and grey sky hid it well. With a sudden burst of inspiration she activated SPOT HIDDEN.
And as if it had been struck by a ray of sunshine the drone was revealed. It was blood chilling in its appearance. Blood-covered appendages hung beneath its belly, whilst what looked like pastiglass containers filled with blood protruded from the top of its shell. She hated it upon sight.
“Got you,” she muttered as she laid the sights on the droid. She was glad she’d created the suppressors as there was no point in making too much noise. Not only might it draw Cullers, but there might also be One Milers who would think nothing of killing her and taking everything she had. Which was admittedly not much.
She fired a three-round burst from each SMG.
HIT!– 10%
Activating her SMG skill, she fired again as the drone started to take evasive manoeuvres. Every third round was a tracer, which allowed her to see where her shots were going. It was as if fire bugs were flying through the never-ending miasma of One Mile.
“Slippery little suckers aren’t they?” she muttered as she fired and missed again. The drone made a lazy circle, then a barrel dropped out from underneath it. A laser lanced through the air, the gun tracking the laser’s movement as it centred itself on her.
“Shit!” Mai created a shield just in time. The drone’s gun burped, sending a high-velocity stream of flechettes their way.
SHIELD SOAK 13%
PINNED!
Damn, they pack a punch against shields! Mai kept the shield in place and pumped bio-mass into making it thicker, buffing both its protection and durability.
“Don’t let them get me miss!” pleaded the girl, tugging insistently on Mai’s jacket. It was a distraction she didn’t need.
Time for something different.