Chapter — 3

Rei stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She had the hint of bags beneath her eyes from the night's poor rest. Traumatizing memories more akin to nightmares was not conducive to good sleep.

I look like shit.

Upon first seeing her reflection in the mirror, Rei felt some shock, coupled with the faint buzzing of static in her mind, as both her pasts tried to align with her new appearance.

She didn't look anything like she'd done back in 2040 as Agnes; that was no surprise. What did surprise her the most was that, ignoring her now emaciated form, there were some notable differences compared to what she remembered of her appearance. It was almost as if there had been subtle shifts to blend Rei's original appearance with that of Agnes' digital avatar.

It's not that apparent, but some of the bone structure seems to have shifted slightly. It's no longer as angular, but only barely. Are my cheekbones a little higher?

It wasn't as if there was a conspicuous difference; otherwise, someone would have undoubtedly commented on it. What was a noticeable difference was Rei's hair.

Gray? Really? Did the nanites just blend the original black hair with Agnes' avatar's stark white? Or was this a result of the coma's stress upon my body? Unlikely. At least it doesn't have that 'elderly' look to it, being more uniform in shades.

It was cut short and looked a little rough. It was barely long enough to be tucked behind her ear. She chalked it up to the hospital's staff not having time or desire to care for a comatose patient's hair, especially when it became too long and tangled.

Rei suspected that her hair had begun to shift to gray early into her coma, which had given Miyo and anyone else time to adjust. She still felt it odd that no one had mentioned it to her.

Well, the doctor only seemed keen to get me out of there, and it wouldn't surprise me if 'advice on cosmetic changes' would require one to buy some additional health package.

Another change was her cybernetics. Rei had never used overtly visible cyberware before her coma, the only exception being her eyes, which had sported black irises with pink sparks dancing in them. Practically everyone used cybernetic eyes, though, needing them to sync up with the brain-machine interface, also known as a Neural Link.

Rei's current eyes were a dull blue, nothing like the vibrant and luxurious sapphire they had been when she was younger, and their family was still whole. She looked at them in the mirror for a few seconds. She was a bit disappointed that the hospital had only replaced her old cyberware with the bare minimum civilian models, but something was better than nothing.

Don't wanna go around without eyeballs, after all. Speaking about the civilian models...

Rei twisted her head as much as she could, her eyes going to the industrial-gray and plastic-looking cyberware inlaid into the back of her neck, slightly to her right side. It was her Neural Link. She moved her right hand — the limb trembling with fatigue — up to feel along it. She guessed its asymmetrical placement was for ease of access to the data ports placed into its surface.

It wasn't cool to the touch, and the texture felt better than expected. It also felt oddly flexible yet sturdy, and moving her neck didn't feel odd even as she saw it bend and flex. She wondered if plugging something into the data ports would make her neck feel strange or stiff, but she quickly dismissed the concern as unimportant.

It's so ugly... If only the gray was more in tune with my hair. Hmm... Do I actually like my new hair color?

After shifting her focus back to her hair and inspecting it with a critical eye, she found that she did. It was a bit of a surprise, as she'd never been particularly partial to gray in either of her lives.

I suppose gray hair is fine for now, but this industrial-gray cyberware will have to go when I eventually switch it out. What colors should I pick instead?.. Eh, I'll figure it out.

A few minutes earlier, she had changed out of her hospital gown into a simple white T-shirt with a black bamboo shoot on the front and comfortable woolen-like sweatpants with Miyo's help. Rei felt some chagrin that neither of them had bras that fit — both sisters had been of somewhat similar bust size before the coma. Luckily, her undies still fit, if a bit loosely.

She'd told her elder sister she wanted some time alone in the bathroom. Miyo had acquiesced, perhaps because both of them had seen her thin figure as she'd changed, and Miyo thought she'd needed some time to recover emotionally.

That was neither true nor false. Rei felt a bit self-conscious about her body, especially compared to her sister's, but it was more because she'd wanted to inspect her face in the mirror without someone hovering.

"Miyo! I'm done!"

Mere moments after she'd called out, Miyo opened the door and walked in with a slightly forced smile. She strode behind the wheelchair and rolled it out into the living room.

Was she waiting just outside the whole time?

Rei felt a glimmer of warmth in her chest at that realization but didn't comment on it.

She wheeled Rei to the long couch in the middle of the room before she plopped herself down into it, not far away from the wheelchair.

"Want to watch some TV? I've already ordered some takeout, but it should be a few minutes before it arrives." Miyo said.

Rei felt her stomach rumble loudly, and she blushed as Miyo covered her mouth to hide her silent laughter. Her shoulders shook, though, and Rei shot her an unimpressed half-glare before composing herself.

"I am famished, not gonna lie. But takeout? Can we afford it?" Rei saw Miyo's mirth collapse, and she went on, "I don't want to be a burden any more than I already am."

Their efforts in keeping me alive for this long have already incurred a debt I'm unsure how to repay...

Rei saw Miyo's eyes moisten, and before she could react, Miyo pulled her into a fierce yet soft hug. The wheelchair made it a bit awkward, but she somehow managed it.

"Nu-huh. Don't you dare call yourself a burden!" Miyo separated to look into her eyes as she went on, her expression unyielding, "I don't care how much credits it cost us to keep you alive. Nor do I care how much help you'll need to get back on your feet. This isn't up for debate."

She pointed to herself with one finger — the immaculate green fingernail glinting from the overhead circular light — before shoving it non to gently into Rei's chest.

"We're family. Family doesn't abandon one another — at least not ours. That's what Okaa-san and Otou-san taught us growing up. I will hear none of this self-incriminating again. Crystal?"

Crystal? Does she mean like 'crystal clear'? And I wasn't really self-incriminating myself. Rei denied silently.

Yet, she nodded quickly, feeling her neck cramping at the sudden exertion.

"Good." Miyo looked a bit happier at her acquiescence.

Rei, though, wouldn't let the issue lie just like that. It wasn't just because of the twinge of guilt she felt at being only partially the sister Miyo and Ichiro had spent all those credits to keep alive. No, she also needed to know because this was now her life, and not knowing one's financial situation was just stupid.

"Still, I want to know. Can we even afford takeout? I don't remember how much it costs, but from what the hospital staff said..." She let the sentence hang as Miyo turned away to stare out the window.

After not receiving an answer for a few moments, Rei joined her in looking out the window. It wasn't particularly large, and the view left much to be desired as it only went as far as the next building across the street. It seemed to be another apartment complex above stores located on the ground level as she could somewhat make out blurry figures moving and shifting the light in some uplit apartments.

There was also a sizable holographic advertisement in view, circling between a video showcasing some sort of nutrient supplement and what had to be a brothel ad. Rei almost blushed at the provocative imagery.

Just the fact that such ads are displayed in full view of children tells a lot about the future in and of itself. I don't know if it's tragic or liberating.

Eventually, though, Miyo turned back to her. She didn't frown or smile. Her face was more impassive than anything.

"I won't lie. Our situation isn't the best at the moment. At first, things were fine financially. The initial cost to save you from that virus wreaking havoc on your body and mind was quite steep, but nothing we couldn't handle with our savings.

"When it became clear that you wouldn't wake up for a while, we set you up in a recovery room at the hospital. Since the root of the problem was never fully understood nor eliminated, just disappearing, we were afraid of moving you out of the hospital. Who knows if the virus somehow reinfected your new replacement cyberware and made things worse again? The hospital couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't happen, so moving you back here to wait for your recovery wasn't reasonable."

Miyo seemed to sag as she thought back to the decisions they'd made, her voice a bit quieter as she went on: "The initial fees for keeping you healthy and under surveillance as you recovered weren't too steep, but as time went on and the costs of keeping you there increased, we eventually went into debt."

"Hold on," Rei interjected, "Why would the costs increase? Did I get worse sometime during my coma? Neither you nor the doctor said anything about that."

Miyo looked a bit confused before a lightbulb seemed to go off, and she explained, "Keeping long-term patients in the hospital grows more expensive with time. It's a gentle curve, but still an exponential increase in cost."

"Why?!" Rei was taken aback at this revelation.

"It's normal? You must have forgotten this since it's basic knowledge." Miyo's eyes returned to look out the window, the neon brothel ad's light flickering across her face. She fell into silent contemplation.

Eventually, she continued: "There are always more people in need of medical assistance, and if everyone with some sort of long-term issue stays in the hospital, it would swiftly get to full capacity. It just isn't feasible, hence the increasing costs to either force people to move out or get euthanized and disposed of."

Euthanized? Disposed of? Is this what the doctor talked about when he said Miyo and Ichiro were against taking up their offer of disposal during my coma? She speaks of it so casually, but this is honestly quite fucked up.

Rei was almost immediately convinced that this was just a ploy to milk their patients or their relatives dry. There was no way the hospitals couldn't expand to admit more long-term patients. There might have been other issues with that line of thinking that Rei wasn't aware of, but she honestly didn't care.

Corporations were greedy. That had been the case in 2040, and from what she could remember, time hadn't made it less so, only worse.

"Anyway, " Miyo said, her face turning back to Rei, "We went into debt and did what we had to. Due to our relations with the Fangs, we could take out a loan from them to cover the costs. Going to a loan shark wouldn't have worked either, as their fees are outrageous more often than not. I don't think taking a loan from the Fangs would have been possible if you weren't so close to Wolf-sama."

Rei's mind stirred at those words, and vague recollections of the past resurfaced. She remembered meeting the enigmatic leader of the Cyber Fangs by pure happenstance and him taking an interest due to her tinkering with a cyberdeck, trying her best to become a Meshmagi. The flashes of memories after that were even more distorted by static, but she knew he'd taken her on as an apprentice of sorts.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The apprenticeship had not been altruistic and came with heaps of strings attached, but it had still been an enormous boon. Rei hadn't been his only apprentice, either. She vaguely remembered two senior sisters and a senior brother, as they liked her to call them, and all four of them worked as Wolf-sama's assistants during his forays into the mesh.

The Mesh... I think I recall that being the common term for the internet these days. I don't remember why, though.

As if pulled from the depths of an endless ocean, Rei heard a voice in her head, a voice she somehow recognized as belonging to Wolf-sama:

"As you know, Meshmagi, or just Magi, refers to people who directly interface with the mesh, the digital space underpinning all of the modern world. This digital space is where we Meshmagi, well, work our magic.

"Bad metaphors aside, a Magi lives and breathes the digital. Some prefer to deep-dive into the mesh, leaving their physical bodies behind as they travel the digital landscape searching for valuable data, creating programs, building mesh architecture, hacking into corporate servers, or whatever else.

"Others prefer to stay in meatspace, that is to say, the physical world. Meshmagi belong in the mesh, but even if they don't deep-dive, they never truly leave it. A Magi in the physical can interface with any device or cyberware on a much deeper level than ordinary people, giving them an edge over most. That is if they're not trash, but you won't be trash. I'd never stand for having someone apprentice under me be trash, you hear?

"Anyway, most Meshmagi are a combination of these two, staying in the digital landscape as much as in the physical, but there are, of course, exceptions to every rule. And don't forget, even if someone isn't a dedicated Magi, it doesn't mean they don't know some of our ways. No one high up in the corporate world is ignorant of the ways of the mesh, you feel me?"

Wolf-sama seemed to be one of those who stayed almost entirely in the mesh from what Rei could remember. Her and the other apprentices' tasks had been oriented around helping him with that. She vaguely remembered that her apprenticeship had slowly shifted into more of a formal position as she became more of an assistant, her income from working with Wolf-sama and the other apprentices growing to allow her better and likewise more expensive cyberware.

And now all that cyberware is gone...

It was a bit of a depressing thought, but at least she was alive. And by the sounds of it, it was thanks to both her siblings for their refusal to let her die and to her employer's — master's? — generosity in allowing them a not-so-predatory loan.

Having mulled things over, Rei refocused on her elder sister. Miyo was playing with a lock of hair as she looked apprehensively at Rei.

Why does she look so apprehensive? She literally saved my life. Rei thought, and she wanted to express that sentiment out loud.

"Thank you, Miyo." Rei smiled genuinely.

Some tension seemed to leave Miyo's shoulders, and she smiled back, "Of course, Imouto."

"I'll pay it all back. No matter what it takes." Rei stated with conviction. And she meant it.

Miyo shook her head, still smiling.

"You need not worry about that now. Ichiro has already relayed that you've woken up to Wolf-sama, so he knows our loan won't increase. Now that you're out of the hospital, Ichiro and I can start chipping away at the debt with our income while you recover."

Yeah... Fat chance that I'll allow either of you to bear that expense. I'll pay it back. No matter what.

Rei had always been independent. The thought of someone shouldering so much for her made her feel warm inside, yet ignited a drive to shatter those imaginary shackles. She didn't want to be a burden. No, she couldn't stand it.

She didn't say any of this to Miyo, though, merely nodding as she brought the topic in another direction.

"So, where's Ichiro anyway? Still at work?"

Miyo sighed, "Yes. Apparently, it was quite a mess. Someone stole something expensive from one of the Fang's warehouses from the sound of it. It took some time to track down the culprit, and it seems to have been a rat from another gang who snuck into our fold."

"Did they infiltrate the Fangs just to steal something? Sounds convoluted."

It sounded stupid even to Rei, who couldn't remember much of gang culture. Her remaining memories spoke about heists where gangers stormed cargo vans and gunned the opposition down before scampering off with their spoils.

That does sound like something from a movie, though. Perhaps covert action is more common? Nah, I somehow doubt it.

She shifted a bit in her wheelchair with an enormous effort just to sit more comfortably.

"Yeah, Ichiro hasn't said much, but they'd have to be a real squeak to do all this and still get caught."

Rei blinked at her sister and tilted her head, "Squeak?"

Miyo also tilted her head to the side, mirroring Rei, "Yeah, you know. Squeak?"

"What? Like coward? Because they squeak like a mouse?"

Miyo let out a tiny snort before shaking her head.

"No, not 'coward' — at least not as I understand it. I have no idea how you could forget such common slang, but it refers to the sound made if someone polishes their smooth-ass brain. You know, it squeaks?"

"Pfft," It was Rei's turn to let out a snort-like laugh, "So 'Squeak' refers to an idiot?"

"Yeah, or fool."

"What's the opposite then? There has to be an opposite insult to someone who's a smartass, right?" Rei said jokingly.

"Wrinkle."

"Wrinkle? As in, their brain is wrinkly, hence a bigger brain?" Rei's face couldn't have been more blank.

Miyo burst into giggles and nodded, tears in her eyes, "Yup. Wrinkle."

Rei couldn't help but join her sister in bursts of giggling. She hadn't been serious, but apparently, someone had thought of an insult to match 'Squeak'. It was honestly so stupid, but Rei couldn't help but somewhat like the derogatory terms.

In the middle of their mirth, Miyo's eyes suddenly flashed silver, the metallic color swirling like she'd seen before, and she turned to the window. Rei followed her gaze and saw the window retract into the wall, letting in the city's noise and all its smells.

There was overlapping music, voices from people, and sounds being broadcast through advertisements; there were also a couple of distant gunshots. The scent was of smoke, chemicals, food, and whatever people in large crowds brought into the mix.

She didn't have long to "appreciate" it, though. Only a few seconds later, a small drone that looked like it could really use some love from a technician zoomed in through the open window and deposited a package on their coffee table. It twirled once above it and let out a distorted, trilling squawk like a bird with a kazoo stuck in its throat before taking off again, the window closing automatically behind it.

Rei just stared, slack-jawed at the absurd event.

The fuck?

Miyo snorted at Rei's expression. "What, Imouto?"

Then she began to unwrap the delivered package as if nothing was wrong.

***

As Rei's trembling arm brought another mouthful of noodles to her mouth with the cheap-feeling chopsticks — at least they came with the takeout, "free of charge" — and began to slurp them up, the door to their apartment beeped and started to open. In a flurry of movement too fast for her to follow, a man was suddenly kneeling in front of Rei.

With the chopsticks still in her mouth, Rei choked before swallowing, her gaze focusing on the worried face of her elder brother, Ichiro.

Before she could even begin to remove them, the chopsticks were forcefully sent clattering to the faux-wood flooring as she was enveloped in a firm hug — too firm, in fact.

I can't breathe! Rei thought, her pupils dilating as she frantically sought Miyo's face.

Miyo, quick on the uptake, bonked Ichiro on the head, "Let go of her, you squeak! Can't you see you're strangling her?"

As quickly as the hug came, it released, and Rei took in a sharp breath of air, feeling her ribs aching.

Damn, how strong is he?!

"Sorry, Miyo. Sorry, Imouto. I..." Ichiro sounded contrite, his deep voice hushed yet clearly audible.

Rei took a few breaths to regain her bearing and once again focused on Ichiro.

He was a handsome man, Rei had to admit. His square jaw, covered by a neatly trimmed beard and sharp eyebrows set over two blazing red cybernetic eyes, gave him a fierce and stern look. The smattering of scars visible across one cheek, temple, and beneath one eye added further to the impression.

From what Rei could see, he was clad in some sort of tactical-looking dark-gray gear, a rifle slung across his back and a pistol at his hip. He also wore what she recognized as the Cyber Fang's typical black katana at the other hip — a red fang hanging from the tassel.

Both his arms, now holding each of her shoulders gently as if scared of shattering them, were fully cybernetic. They were made from what looked like matte-black plasteel, with red highlights glinting from within and around each joint's articulation. Rei couldn't see his legs, which were covered in thick, heavy-duty pants — his boots tipped with steel-like claws hiding his feet. From how fast he had moved, though, she had to guess at possible augments to those limbs as well.

"Imouto, what's wrong?" Ichiro sounded concerned.

Rei refocused, shaking her head slightly, "Sorry, Ichiro. I, I was just overwhelmed there for a second."

He let out a sigh, sounding relieved. Rei caught the scent of raspberry and lemon on his breath and something else. Sniffing in confusion, she crinkled her nose.

What is that tangy iron-like smell?

Taking another look at Ichiro, she found the answer. Though muted, she saw the evidence of bloodstains on his gear, especially on the katana. Tiny droplets slid down the scabbard from the hilt and dripped on the not-so-pristine flooring.

"Are you bleeding?" Rei asked, her tone a bit nauseated with the barest hint of worry.

"What?" Ichiro looked down on himself, "No. Sorry, this is from someone else."

"You know the rules, Ichiro, " Miyo stated, "You get blood on the carpet, you clean it up."

"But I'm not even standing on a carpet!" He said, sounding slighted.

Miyo huffed but ignored his retort. Ichiro took that as permission to refocus on Rei.

His words came out in a rush as he began: "How are you, Rei? I came as fast as I could. I didn't know you'd be out of the hospital today. Are you sure it's alright for you to be home? I hope Miyo explained why I didn't come earlier. I wanted to. I really did. But things got a bit out of hand, and I had to-"

"Chill, Ichiro!" Rei exclaimed, a bit exasperated at the rapid-fire questioning and apologies.

She struggled to free herself from his grip on her shoulders. He had begun to squeeze more and more as his words spilled out in a torrent. He thankfully got the point and let go, albeit with seeming reluctance.

"Miyo already told me, and considering your gear and... bodily-fluid coverage... I can understand why you didn't arrive until now."

Rei was a tad surprised at his concern and seeming relief upon seeing her up and about.

But I suppose I shouldn't be. I mean, from what little I can recall, he used to be somewhat of a prick — to me and to everyone else. But from the sounds of it, he's been shouldering my medical costs along with Miyo for all this time. Seeing me awake and being relieved shouldn't come as a surprise.

"So, you're alright?" He reiterated — eye laser-focused on her.

"I mean, I think so?" Rei shrugged, or at least tried to. It was quite the effort, and her shoulders barely moved.

Ichiro breathed out again in relief before collapsing backward and sitting on the coffee table. He was awfully close to her half-finished packet of noodles, and thinking of some droplets of blood getting in there made her shoot a disgruntled look at him.

He didn't seem to notice and started questioning Miyo about what had happened at the hospital and what they'd done once they'd gotten back.

Miyo answered all his questions, even when he tried to ask Rei about something for which she was thankful. Rei was kind of zoning out of the conversation, her social batteries already running low due to her inherent exhaustion from her recent coma.

She was trying to remember things about Ichiro when she was suddenly brought back into the conversation. As her social energy had somewhat recovered, she welcomed the distraction. She hadn't been able to remember much about Ichiro other than some rather traumatic memories from her childhood. Besides that, she mostly recalled him being relatively high up in the hierarchy amongst the Cyber Fang's enforcers.

"So, Rei. How do you feel about doing some of the rehabilitation exercises? I've gotta run soon, as there's still some work to be done back at the Fangs," Ichiro said.

"Huh?" Rei blinked away the fog clouding her mind, "Rehabilitation exercises? And what do you mean you've got work to do?"

Ichiro ran a tired hand across his face, the metal appendage leaving tiny trails of half-dried blood along its path. With a suddenly horror-struck jolt, Rei looked down at her white T-shirt and saw, to her chagrin, that a few spots of red now covered her shoulders.

Miyo also seemed to notice it at that moment, scowling at the elder brother and crossing her arms.

"As I said, there's still work to be done. We still aren't sure if the rat only stole because of opportunism and overconfidence or if what he stole was an actual target of theirs. My superiors aren't telling us lower grunts what was stolen, and as they're being cagey about it, we all have our doubts."

So he's not that high up amongst the enforcers then...

"We've got to ask some questions to the ones who may or may not have leaked info on the stolen goods, and your senior sisters and brother will look through whatever camera footage we have."

Even though Rei wasn't too big on socializing, she still felt slightly disappointed that Ichiro had to depart after such a short time. They were family, after all, and for all her siblings had done for her and their evident care for her well-being, she felt obligated to spend some time catching up — at the very least, to reassure them of her recovery.

Ichiro soon left, getting numerous assurances from Rei to be careful, not strain herself, and take it slow and easy. He also told Miyo to take care of her until he could return, which Miyo only responded to with an eye roll and a muttered, "Of course."

As he exited their apartment, Miyo picked up her packet of noodles and began to eat once more, urging Rei to do the same. Rei glanced skeptically at her portion before shrugging and following suit.

"It's good that you can at least eat by yourself," Miyo said between bites, "I wouldn't have minded feeding you, but I know you'd bristle like Sally if I'd tried."

Miyo's lips formed into a half-smirk as she saw Rei scowl into her noodles.

"Where is Sally anyway?"

"Eh, she's probably in my room. She doesn't like Ichiro much and tends to stay away from him."

Rei gave an understanding grunt.

"Sooo..." Miyo began, dragging the word out, "About those rehabilitation exercises..."

Rei slurped up the last of her noodles and looked back at Miyo, her eyes suspicious.