I awoke to the sight of a white ceiling, the smell of disinfectant, and the sound of viciously chopped and overdriven breakbeats.

“Again?” I groaned, sitting up on the gurney. “What the hell did I do now?” I was shocked Doc Laggard wasn’t charging me rent at this point.

“Y’know, that’s a real good question.” Walker came over from where he was leaning against the wall, fingers twitching like they were looking for a cigarette. He handed me a cup of water, which I immediately chugged. “I’m likin’ the avant-garde look, by the way.” He nodded down at my ruined suit pants, which had one leg cut off above the knee.

Oh yeah, that’s right. As soon as I remembered the slice I’d taken, it began to throb as if woken up. “Quit being a creep,” I told Walker over the rattling hi-hats- though I didn’t really have a leg to stand on on that front.

He threw up his hands, eyes wide. “Whoa! Don’t take it that way, hon. I know better’n to step into that ring.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, eyes narrow.

His hand made another abortive twitch towards his face as he watched me. “Heh.” He started to shake a little.

“Pff.” I tried to hold it in but in a second we were both cracking up. Then I got woozy and had to try and stop laughing, supporting my head in my hand.

“Okay. Okay.” Walker got himself under control. “Seriously, what happened? And if you tell me you tripped and fell on that damn saw, I’m sorry but I’m gonna laugh some more.”

“No, no, not that.” On reflection, though, that would be utterly mortifying. “I got jumped.”

His eyes narrowed. “Who by? Blues? Fuckin’ piranhas out of Valiant?”

“That’s where it gets weird. I ran into this jo-san just standing in the middle of the street…” I told him about my encounter with Arcadia, realizing how crazy it all sounded as I spoke. I even left in the part about her being my sort-of sister. If he recognized her, maybe it could provide a hint at my own origins.

Walker’s face had gone surprised, then thoughtful. “Well, here’s one thing I know: She’s sure as hell a menschenjaeger. A real one. What would you call it…intangibility? Slip-slidin’ around?”

“Sound like anyone you recognize?”

He shook his head. “Can’t say it does. She didn’t say anything else about who sent her?”

“‘The Sculptor.’ That’s all I got out of her.” Jack shit, in other words.

“I got nothin’. We’ll let greater minds than ours look into it. Hopefully DD and Stripmine can slice back into the Admin archives…” He was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.

“Well, the machine wouldn’t let me put five energy shots in it due to ‘medical risks,’ so I had to settle for four-Ah! You’re up!” Doc Laggard barged in, a tray of coffee cups in his hands. “Thirsty?”

“Yeah. I’ll take one without a full gram of caffeine in it, though.”

He tossed a lock of blond hair out of his eyes. “Uhhh…right. This one ought to be safe.” He passed me a cup, gave the one with ‘DANGER’ scrawled on it to Walker, and kept the third to himself. I took a sip, letting the liquid’s heat stoke me up like a furnace.

“Mm…Sheeit, that’s good.” Walker shivered a little. “What’s it say ‘bout humanity that a fuckin’ vending machine makes better coffee than most of the coffee shops ‘round here?”

“That people are generally lazy and bad at things? Who cares!” Doc Laggard threw up his hand and rolled his eyes so hard I thought they’d fall out. “D-blockers can’t make coffee, and Sharkie couldn’t keep a full load of blood in her if her life depended on it!”

“Come on now, Lag.” Walker was busy adulterating his coffee with some pale fluid poured out of a flask. “In our line of work, blood loss is an occupational hazard.”

“Some would say that still makes it your fault. But I would say…hmm, it’s stupid but it keeps me in business.” Doc turned his bright cybernetic eyes on me. “Seriously, though. Two full fluid replacements in a week? My blood guy was spitting tacks!”

I glanced up from my cup. “You have a blood guy?”

“Well, blood girl, or woman, technically, but yeah, of course. Every doctor needs a blood guy. How else would I keep up? I’ve only got one spleen!” He put a hand to his chin. “Or wait…is it the bone marrow that makes blood? Yeah, definitely marrow.”

I fought the urge to check my stitches for mistakes. “You notice anything else, Doc, or was I just running on empty?”

“Nope! Well, I glued up those cuts on your hands, but that doesn’t really count, does it? Although…” He came over to the gurney and crouched, inspecting my leg.

Walker joined him. “What’s up, Lag?”

“…Mm. Definitely. It’s subtle, but you’re healing too quickly, Sharkie.”

“I always have, remember?”

Doc Laggard shook his head. “No, I mean it’s getting even faster. This cut looks like it’s a couple days old. Look.”

I did and saw what he was talking about. The laceration was a pink-red line down the back of my calf, crosshatched by Doc’s neat stitches. Hand-suturing like that was an old-school skill; most doctors with his level of equipment would have used millipede bandages and CySkin. It looked like the edges of the gash were starting to stick together. “Shit. I guess I shouldn’t complain but…that’s weird.”

“It’s like it- whatever ‘it’ is, y’know- it’s like it’s adapting, kicking in harder the more you get hurt.” Doc’s eyes lit up. “I wonder if-“

I fixed him with a flat look. “I am not cutting myself up a bunch until I get superpowers, Doc.”

“But I have plenty of anaesthesia-“

“We have no idea how this works. Maybe I’ll turn into a mutant fleshpile or something if it gets too out of hand.”

“Y’know, ’Mutant fleshpile’ was my nickname back in minin’ school- wait, that don’t work at all,” Walker muttered, sipping his coffee. “An’ for the record, I remain firmly on the not-cuttin’-up-Sharkie side of this debate.”

“Thanks for having my back, man.”

“What else are friends for?” If he was going to say anything else it was cut off by the sound of someone descending the stairs. I heard a familiar voice before they even came into view.

“Is she up? Is she okay? I’m sorry, I kind of got lost on the way here and then I had a hard time parking- Sharkie!” Dezhda burst into the room, running over and pulling me into a tight hug before I could even say hello. “Are- are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I swear!” She finally let go of me, not that it was the most unpleasant thing in the world. “What are you doing here, Dezi? I mean, not that I don’t appreciate it-“

She put her hands on her hips. “I had to see if you were okay, of course! Mr. Walker tore out of the office right after he got back, and he said it was because you were in trouble. And then he called and said he wouldn’t be back because he found you lying half dead in the street! I wasn’t not going to come see you.”

It was the first time in a while I’d seen her wearing street clothes, which tonight meant shorts, hi-top sneakers and a Nino’s F’n Pizza T-shirt that I swear was a size too small. I couldn’t help admiring the sight for a moment, though I immediately felt guilty. Dezi’d come because she was worried about me, and besides- I kind of had a boyfriend now.

“I, uh…thanks, Dezi. Seriously. Means a lot,” I said with a smile.

She gave me a fierce grin back. “Any time. I know you’d do the same for me.” She held the pose a moment, then slowly faced Doc Laggard- who’d been watching the whole exchange with the air of an anthropological researcher. “Hiya! I’m Dezhda Kuznetsov!”

Doc took her proffered hand and shook it vigorously. “And I’m Doc Laggard, nice to meet you! By the way, are you single?” If I’d been drinking something, I would have spat it out.

“Nope!” Wow. Zero reaction.

“Ah. Too bad for me, but good for you! You thirsty?”

“Sure!”

Walker and I just stared at each other in awe as Doc dug around his his fridge. Those two were a different breed, that was for sure. He shook his head and stomped upstairs, evidently pushed over the nicotine threshold.

Dezi leaned back against a floor-mounted autoclave. “So what happened? You didn’t trip and fall on your saw, did you?” She sounded completely earnest.

“No! For Stride’s sake, I didn’t fuckin’ cut myself!” I noticed the shocked look on her face. “Sorry. Just, Walker already asked me the same thing.”

“Oh! Right.” She wrung her hands. “You’ve got to admit, though, it’s kind of a logical thing to ask?”

“…Yeah. I guess it’s a miracle I haven’t chopped my own foot off yet. But not tonight. A woman attacked me.” I hesitated, but only for a moment. I’d have to tell her anyway if she’d be doing research. “She said she was my sister.”

Dezhda’s eyes widened. “Do you even have a sister?”

“Not as far as I know, but she said different.”

“What did she look like? Anything like you?” asked Doc.

“Not really,” I said with a shrug. “She had darker skin, more like yours, Doc. Tall but shorter than me, big but smaller than me, and a hell of a lot better looking.”

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

“Hmm…” He tapped his chin, a if in deep thought. “Did you happen to get her slab’s number? A net address, maybe?”

I squinted hard at him, but he seemed to be entirely serious. “…No, Doc, I didn’t. I was kind of busy fighting for my life. If I run into her again, though, I’ll ask.”

He brightened. “Thanks! For whatever reason I’ve developed a thing for tall women lately. You kind of scare me, though, and dating patients is icky anyway. I’ve been asking around instead. Do you guys have some kind of club, maybe? A secret society?”

I hesitated for a long moment. Next to me, Dezi stared with morbid fascination, the way you might watch a ricksha crash or an especially weird-looking dogroach. “To be honest, Doc, I have no idea how to even respond to any of that.”

“I see. Well, let me know if they send you an invitation.” Suddenly he clapped his hands. “Right then! You ought to be good to walk on that, though if you want you can borrow a crutch. The sutures’ll dissolve on their own, just keep the cut clean. And sorry to be rude, but you gotta get out of here now.”

I slid off the bench, gingerly weighting my leg until it proved capable of holding me up. “Sure, Doc, but how come?”

He puffed hair out of his eyes again, looking oddly serious. “If what Clyde told me’s true, I’m going to be very busy soon. I guess some of his friends are going to be in D-block, and they’re…what did he say…’a bunch of violent idiots packin’ more ammo than brain cells.’ Right. So I’ve got to get things ready.”

That was right. Boss Moses had given Yera and her wrecking crew free rein for a few days. “He doesn’t seem too happy about that.”

“Oh, kings, he was whining about it for ages. But seriously! I’ve got to try and turn this place into a triage bay, and you’re taking up too much space! Please come again! Now shoo!”

“I guess it’s time to go,” Dezi said. “Are you sure you can walk?”

My first few steps were slow, but my leg seemed up to the task. “Yessir. I’m good to go. Thanks for the help, Doc.” I grabbed my stuff, including the bladeless handle of the glittersaw.

“Yes, it was…interesting to meet you, Doctor,” added Dezi with impressive diplomacy.

“Of course. Thank you for the money!”

“You got it, Doc. I’ll put in a good word for you at the next High Society meeting.”

“What’s ‘High- Aha!” He grinned. “So you do have a club!”

“Don’t let on that I told you. Have a good, uh, whatever time it is.”

“Oh, it won’t be, but I appreciate the sentiment!” Dezi and I left him to it, walking out through the music store ground level together. The young woman with glowing scalp tattoos still sat reading at the counter, but now I noticed a suppressed carbine leaned up behind her counter. The way things were headed, I hoped she knew how to use it.

“He’s, um…Wow. When he asked if I was single I thought he was joking, but…Wow. I don’t even know what to say.” Dezi slowly shook her head. “I think he actually believed you about the tall lady shadow government.”

“I really can’t tell with him. Probably wouldn’t let him stitch me up if hadn’t already proved he could.”

“Say, what’s the height cutoff, anyway? Is five-ten too short?”

She cracked a smile while I pretended to think about it. “Mm, I think we could sneak you in. You might get hazed, though.”

“I’ll wear my highest shoes. Oh!” Pulling up short, she turned to me. “Do you want a ride home? I borrowed one of the office cars.”

“Sure thing! Let me just tell Walker.” I spotted the man himself through the crowd filling the narrow alley, leaned up against the wall in the glow of a pho shop’s sign. As I watched, he lit a fresh cig off the butt of the last one before grinding it under his heel. Always kept it classy, did my boss. I shoved over to him with Dezi in tow.

“On your feet already? What in the hell did your mama feed you?”

“Whole lotta tungsten, apparently.” I winced at the slip, but Dezi didn’t seem to notice. “I wanna thank you for coming to get me, Walker. I almost got clipped, there.”

Smoke blew from his nose. “Ain’t like you never did the same for me. More, in fact. I got your back.”

“Well, thanks anyway. And speaking of, do you have any more of that wake-the-dead stuff? I have to admit it came in handy with Lyu.”

He hacked up an unsteady laugh. “Sorry, s-sorry, s’just most people never get the chance for a second dose. Yeah, I can find you some. Guess you’re getting out of here?”

“Yup! I’ll drive her home!” Dezi piped up.

“Why thank you, Miss Dezhda! Where’d you park, by the way?”

Dezi went shifty all of a sudden. “Oh, outside the alley! I don’t think I could have fit it down here, you know…”

“Right, right. Well, I hope your trip home’s less eventful, this time.”

“Good night, boss!”

“Night, Walker. Thanks again.” We waved and left him to smoke. The zig-zagging alley that held Doc’s shop was called Kau Lang Place, and as usual it was packed full. Lifelight was sparse here, turning the crowd into a multicolored mass beneath flashing, glowing advertisements. We passed hole-in-the-wall restaurants, tiny repair shops, bootleg clothing stands, sketchy tattoo parlors and pharmacies, junk stores crammed into spaces three stories high and eight feet wide. Being close to Port Town and the eastern part of Hsieh Street, it was effectively shared territory between the Bones and the Entertainer’s Guild. I tried to imagine a gunfight going down in this alley too narrow for cars, between buildings so close you could step from one roof to the next without a stretch. It would be a bloodbath.

Dezi pulled up beside me, pushing through the crowd with aplomb. “So! How did the meeting go? If you’re allowed to talk about it.”

“Nobody told me I couldn’t.” I gave her as good a summary as I could, mostly glossing over my joke of a ‘fight’ with Mirabeau. She seemed happy when I told her the Runes approved of her and Ms. Sanverth’s work. “And in the end, Boss Moses gave Walker some kind of mysterious job, and told Yera to come to D-block and basically tear shit up.”

“So that’s what Doctor Laggard was talking about. No wonder he’s being so careful.”

“You probaby ought to be, too. She sounds like bad news.”

Dezi nodded gravely. “I will, and I’ll let my family know. Oh, I almost forgot!”

I glanced down at her. “What is it?”’

“Well, Pact Day is coming up, and I know you’re probably doing something with your dad-“

“No, actually. He always gets grumpy this time of year. Tries not to celebrate at all. He still always got me presents, though.”

“That- that’s adorable,” she laughed. “Why doesn’t he like Pact Day, though?”

“Don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “I’ve asked, but he won’t tell me.” Pact Day was one of the more prominent holidays in the Dakessar calendar. It marked the supposed date of the Pact of Luna, when the Ten Kings had gone from a disparate group of rulers, warriors, and other luminaries to the Suzerains of Humanity. Ten in Number, One in Purpose, as the line went. It was traditional for most Dakessars to give out gifts to their friends and family, symbolizing the gift the inception of the Kings was to humankind. I’d always thought my dad was just being crotchety, but now I wondered if it had to do with his past in the Spiders. It struck me I didn’t know much about his own upbringing and his life before he got his store.

“That’s strange. Are you getting him something anyway?” We slowed briefly, held up by the dense line outside the Wizard’s Wand, an exasperatingly-named male-staffed brothel.

“Yup. I’ve got a plan. Which- shit, I forgot to ask Walker about. I’ll give him a call later,” I added when she moved to turn around.

“Okay. What I wanted to ask is if you want to come to Pact Day dinner at my family’s house.” Her hands shot up into a plactating movement when she saw my surprised face. “You don’t have to, of course! Just, we do have an extra spot, so-“

There was a funny feeling in my chest, something between happiness and trepidation. “I’d love to, Dezi! It’s just…I’m not used to getting invited along for things. Your family’s okay with it?”

Dezi stepped around a beggar, managing to drop a chit or two in his bowl without slowing down. “Mm-hmm! I asked already!”

“Good. It’s just…”

“Yeah?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Well, not to wind up my own flashlight, but Blue Division knows who I am, to some extent. I don’t want to put you in danger.”

She thought for a long moment, sliding steadily through the crowd. “There’s a good chance they know me, too. I work in Walker’s office, and I’m almost as involved as you are.”

“You’re sure?”

Her nod was firm and vigorous. “Yes. I’m not going to let a couple of gangsters keep me away from my family. And my friends.”

I couldn’t help smiling at that. “You’re a braver woman than me, Dezhda.”

“And don’t you forget it! Though…” We reached the the mouth of Kau Lang Place, and she paused. “Maybe we could ask Mr. Walker for a little extra security.”

“Yeah, I think he’d do it. He set somebody to keep an eye on my Dad’s place for me. Which I never told him about, damn it. I hope he’s not wondering about a suspicious car or something.” I could just call him, but I’d rather bring it up in person. He was very proud of his independence.

“Alright, sounds good! I’m parked over here.” She led me towards a gap in the milling crowds, whose cause was revealed to be a huge old sedan slung halfway over the curb. I wondered for about half a second how it hadn’t been stolen before noticing the huge skeletal middle-finger painted on the side. Even so, a couple of guys with diesel-soot jacker tattoos were giving it an appraising look. Walking up to the car, I put my hands on my hips and looked straight back. Apparently missing about a third of my pants didn’t make me any less intimidating, because they gave me a nervous salute and quickly departed.

“Was this the best spot you could find for it?” I asked Dezi as we got in.

She blushed. “To be honest, I’ve never had to park anything before. I actually learned how to drive on racing sims, mostly, and this thing doesn’t brake as well as a Prix Noire car.”

“…I see.”

“Don’t worry, though! I made it here and I’ll definitely be able to make it back.”

“You know, I can drive if you want-“

“No, no! You’re hurt!” She fired up the engine with a high-pitched turbine whistle. “Let me help you out.” Looking at the smile on her face, I got the impression that concern for me wasn’t the only reason she insisted. After much flashing of the brights, she got us through the crowd and onto the street- and promptly floored it. The tires chirped as we lurched forward, quickly shooting past sixty miles an hour. Dezhda kept her eyes fixed on the road, a fierce grin on her face.

“Dezi,” I said over the shriek of the engine. “Dezi! Red light!”

“Oh! Right!” She promptly smashed the brakes hard enough to lock up my seatbelt. The car finally shuddered to a stop, halfway out into the intersection.

“Not to be a backseat driver,” I told her, “But you know the pedals aren’t on/off switches?”

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I’ve never gotten to drive before, is all. I guess it’s more different from the sims than I thought.”

Now I felt kind of bad. “By all means have fun. Just…maybe work your way up to full speed?”

“Right.” The light went green and she pulled away much smoother this time. “Ha! Still fun.”

I clapped her on the shoulder. “It’s great you’re enjoying yourself. I hope Walker’s not working you too hard.”

“Oh, no. I like my work- and for what he’s paying, well, that makes me like it even more.” She turned north off of Hsieh Street, heading towards my building. “And speaking of enjoying yourself, how did your not-a-date go?”

“Mmh…” I glanced away. Guess I was still feeling a little defensive. “Fine.”

“Come on, you can’t just leave me with- No. Actually you can.” It was like she was telling herself as much as she was me. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

I thought about it for a moment, then sighed. “No, it’s alright. I appreciate it.” I didn’t have anything to be ashamed of, and this was the kind of thing friends talked about, sometimes- and some part of me did want to talk about it, whether to brag or just exult. “After we ran into you at Old Ved-and that was a coincidence, right? You weren’t following me?”

“No, I promise! It was just luck I even saw you.”

“Good. Well, after that we went to Sunworld. They renovated it, you know? It’s nuts in there.”

Dezi nodded eagerly. “I’ve heard that but I haven’t been. So it’s worth it?”

“For sure. We hung out there for a while and then we went to Blisstown looking for something to eat.”

“Blisstown, huh?” She slowed up for a red light, then turned to me with a sly smile. “And how’d that end up?”

My face warmed. “In an alley with my hand down his pants.”

Her eyes widened in surprise for just a moment. Then she burst out laughing. “I- I promise I’m not laughing at you! It’s just the way you said it!”

Embarrassed, I folded my arms. “S’what happened. What else am I supposed to say?”

“Nothing, really! Congratulations on going straight for the kill. When me and Rhoann had our first date, I remember-“

“Green light, Dezi.”

“Right!” She got moving through the intersection. “Oh, but that reminds me. Who is he? Did you meet him through…through work?”

“He-“ I cut myself off. To say Pengyi was a private person was an understatement. I didn’t want to give out his personal details without asking him. “To be honest, he’s pretty introverted, and I don’t know exactly what he’s comfortable with-“

“That’s fine, that’s fine. Really.” That sly little smile returned. “He is pretty cute, though, isn’t he?”

I gave her a solemn nod. “Yes. Very much so.”

“Hmm…Why don’t you just introduce us in person. Or- or we could do a double date!”

My first instinct was to say no, but she sounded so excited. And what did I really have to worry about. I honestly wasn’t sure how Pengyi would react either. I would have thought he wouldnt be interested, but I’d also thought he wouldn’t come to visit D-block in the first place. “I’ll ask him, Dezi.”

“Awesome! We can talk about it on Pact Day, then.”

I nodded. In truth I wanted to go on another date with Pengyi by myself first, a real one. And hopefully to somewhere nicer than an alley behind a restaurant. Maybe I’d even go to his place in the Park.

Dezi pulled the car up beside my building, only lightly tapping the curb this time. “This is yours, isn’t it?”

“Yup.” I stuck out my hand. “Thanks for all the help, Dezi, and for coming to visit. You’re a good friend.”

She took it and used it to pull me into a a hug. “You too. Oh, Kings, I can’t wait! I’ll see you on Pact Day, Sharkie. Sleep well!”

“And you drive safe.”

“I’ll do my best! Bye, Sharkie!” She pulled away, tires squealing. I just shook my head. At least she only had a few blocks back to the Bones garage by Walker’s office. For my part, I took the elevator up to my room and peeled out of my filthy suit. I’d already known that would need to be replaced, but I remembered something else as soon as I moved to take the coilgun out of its holster and found it already gone. Guess it’s time for a new gun.

I took a shower, fell into bed, and was out almost before I touched the pillow. Tomorrow I’d visit Tanje.