Chapter 18 - Antisoc

Exiting the Restoration Point, I carefully stepped over the thick vine-like cables burying themselves below the grid surface. I approached the street, unsure of where to go next. I still had Crypt to spend but could just as easily catch another bounty. I was feeling confident. Energized.

A deafening roar and flash of lights sent me back up on the curb as a trio of motorcycles blasted by. Elongated, plastic-sheened cycles careening around the circular hub of the tower and off around a corner in a blur. Gone from view, but their engines reverberated off the buildings of the sprawl. The cycles moved so fast I couldn’t tell if they had actual tires or were somehow skimming above the ground.

I took a moment to bring my pulse back to equilibrium. I hadn’t seen any vehicles in this place besides Polizei drones circling overhead like vultures, the MAR bullet train, and that monorail snaking through the sundrenched skyscrapers of Royal Heights. Were those Volunteers out for a joy ride, or someone else? A couple other souls in the vicinity had turned to watch the cycles pass, but none seemed shocked by the sight.

Strange.

I made another attempt to cross, then froze. One foot on the curb, one foot in the road. Across, in the shadowy darkness of a sidestreet, two reflective eyes gazed unblinking in my direction. They were small. Nearly at ground level. Two glowing orbs in the night. Perhaps without my modest boost to Perception I wouldn’t have noticed them at all.

Cautiously, I materialized both my revolver and dagger. No more surprises, thank you very much.

I continued crossing the street in the direction of those eyes. As I neared, my vision adjusted to the shaded contours and I saw that it was… a cat. Aside from the arresting yellow eyes, its details were hard to make out clearly. Was it a black shorthair? The way the strange lights of the city played off its dark fur, it almost appeared to take on stripes at times.

Come to think of it, I had nearly stepped on a cat when I had first arrived in The Commons. Could this be the same one?

Here, pussycat.

I dematerialized my weapons and stooped to scratch it behind the ears. It quickly darted out of my reach, scampering further down the way. I was about to shrug it off, but the cat stopped halfway down the sidestreet, turning to stare at me once more. There was something uncanny in that gaze.

Are you looking at me?

Why was I talking to a cat? This was absurd. Nevertheless, it paused expectantly, head turned over its shoulder to watch me with those glowing eyes. I took a testing stride toward it and it moved off again, pausing to regard me.

Want some food? Or… I don’t have any food. Are you someone’s pet? Are you lost?

The cat merely stared, then continued its game of keep-away as I tried to close the gap.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Do you want me to follow you?

At that, I could have sworn the cat flashed a mischievous grin. Impossible. But there it was. I couldn’t imagine following this cat could lead to anything productive or, to be honest, non-horrific. But as I stated before, I was feeling confident. I had just backed up my data. What was the worst that could happen?

If you are an invasive entity, I swear…

I began to quicken my pace. The cat darted from shadow to shadow until it reached the far end of the sidestreet. I followed, watching it casually lick its paw until I closed the distance. Then it was off again, crossing over to yet another street and turning, leading me down a minor maze of alleys and backways.

Bright, often-animated billboards overhead lit our way.

Special Bod Mod Offer - 15% off the Prince Albert and Hottentot Venus packages!

Armory Deal - Buy Three Boxes of Ammo and Get One Free! - HURRY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

Free Testing for Digital Syphilis and Rez Dependency at the Clinic with New Premium Membership - THIS CYCLE ONLY!

KANA, KANA, KANA. HAKKLIHA! Get the MINCED CHICKEN you crave! Nostalgia Couriers will deliver delicious memories straight to your private domicile!

Are you doing your part to make The Collective sustainable? Ask at the information kiosk about your nearest data recycling ports!

Distracted for a moment by the barrage of promotions, I jogged around a corner to catch up, afraid I would lose track of the feline. I saw a bustling section lit by hanging lanterns and various neon signs. Volunteers bumped shoulders, passing between open air food stalls.

Wait, I recognized this place. This was near where I had started. Where I had been unceremoniously spat out of the Orientation by the so-called Concierge. Where was the cat? There it was. Winding between the shifting legs of the small crowd. The people seemed unbothered or even oblivious.

I hurried to keep up, pushing my way apologetically past the others. At last, I turned a final corner and found myself facing a dead end. A literal brick wall with little more than a rusty downspout for rain and a slash of graffiti. I had the cat cornered, not that such had been my intention.

What now, kitty?

With another eerie grin, the cat turned and walked straight through the brick wall.

You’ve got to be fragging me.

I went to the place where the cat had been moments before and reached out. The wall felt solid to the touch. But as I pressed harder against the rough brick, something started to give. And I slipped through the facade and into total blackness.

I was in some sort of stasis. I could see nothing, feel nothing, move nothing. It was like the sterile light of my first awakening, but inverted. A total empty void. Had I stumbled foolishly into a trap laid by that serpent gang?

Then - three massive faces appeared in the darkness, impossibly large in my field of vision. They appeared to be humanoid, but constantly glitching. Just when you thought you could make out a distinct feature, that piece of the image shifted. A patchwork quilt of compression artifacts.

I heard a heavily distorted electronic voice make a comment, but not directed to me.

>CHESHIRE PROTOCOL SUCCESSFUL. GOOD BOY, SCHRÖDINGER<

What!? What is this? Who are you?

A chorus of booming, vocoder synthesized voices responded in deafening unison.

>WE ARE ANTISOC<

>THAT IS NOT THE IMPORTANT QUERY<

>THE IMPORTANT QUERY IS WHO, OR WHAT, ARE YOU?<