19 – A Trip to the Clinic

When Tony returned from the gym the following day, he was surprised to find the pawn shop still dark. Bert hadn’t risen with the sun to open things up and brew the coffee, so Tony did. He unlocked the front door, turned on the lights, and woke up the point of sale terminal. He doubted customers would be in so early, but Bert always opened the store when he was up and about, so he figured the old guy would appreciate it. While he sat at the counter, sipping his black coffee, he opened the package for his new eye.

It was a used model, of course, but the sales guy at Dino’s Chrome Warehouse—a middle-aged bald guy with half a dozen visible cybernetic parts—had sworn up and down that it had been fully refurbished and was backed by a guarantee. Addie seemed familiar with him, and she’d nodded along encouragingly when Tony bought it, so he figured it was probably okay to take a risk, especially at the price—only eight hundred bits.

He hoped the eye had been lightly used before Dino’s got ahold of it. The fact that it still had its factory clamshell packaging was encouraging. When he opened the box, a thin, folded pamphlet with a few coffee stains—he hoped—fell out, and he unfolded it, giving it a once over:

Welcome to the OptiView MK-IV – Reliable Vision. Rugged Performance.

Congratulations on your fully enclosed ocular implant purchase!

The OptiView MK-IV is designed for users who demand dependable performance in a wide range of environments. This versatile model delivers precision optics and advanced functionality at an accessible price point.

Features and Specifications:

* LED Iris Display: Adaptive visual modes with status indicator.

* Enhanced Zoom: Up to 4x magnification for detailed focus.

* Low-Light Vision: Superior Clarity in dim conditions.

* Impact-Resistant Housing: Built for durability and daily wear, suitable for any occupation.

* Interface Compatibility: Seamless integration with standard data ports, neural links, and AUI systems.

Recommended Installation Practices:

1. Certified Installation Required: Ensure a licensed cybernetic specialist installs the OptiView MK-IV to guarantee proper alignment with orbital socket bone grafts and neural pathways.

2. Bone Graft Preparation: For optimal fit, the orbital socket must be cleaned and prepared for the titanium alloy base.

3. Calibration Process: Post-installation, run the included Opti-Optimize program to fine-tune focus, iris response, and neural integration.

4. Healing Time: Consult your physician for guidance specific to your condition. In most cases, the eye implant is expected to be fully functional and free of discomfort within 72 hours following proper installation.

There was another section about maintenance and care, but the overall gist was that the eye should be fine with an annual inspection from a “licensed cybernetic specialist.” Tony snorted, wondering if Doc Peters fit the bill. Somehow, he doubted it. He set the pamphlet aside and lifted the foam packing cover to reveal the implant.

He’d seen a hundred guys with similar pieces of tech over the years. It wasn’t anything special—a dull, silvery housing with a smoothly rotating metallic eyeball at the center. The front part of the eyeball was made of some kind of specially treated tempered glass, and, if the pictures on the package were any indicator, some LEDs were housed within. It was a true “chrome” eye, not a pretty, life-like, fancy piece of biotech like Tony’s other one. Still, it was an eye, and he’d lose his annoying blind spot once it was installed.

He chuckled softly, wondering what Doc Chavez would think. Tony had paid that asshole nearly a hundred k for his designer optics. “Well, at least Eric left me one.” Shaking his head, Tony closed the box. He was hoping to head over to the chop-doc’s clinic, but he’d wait to see what was up with Bert and Addie first. He also hoped Maisie would stick to her promise and swing by with his money from her uncle. Tony had no clue how much it would be, but he hoped it might be enough to get him a cheap data port.

Hi sighed and sipped his coffee, watching the languid traffic outside the front windows. Maybe it was a “Boxer Day” thing; maybe everyone was hungover on cheap beer, and the local businesses had a late start. Heck, for all Tony knew, Boxer gave everyone the day off. He doubted it, though, corpos being what they were. The bottom line was king. The thoughts brought his mind around to the celebration the night before, and he found himself smiling, thinking about Addie and how she’d tried to fish the details of his past out of him.

She was pretty cute, that was for sure—cute and surprisingly naïve for someone who’d grown up in a district like the Blast. How could she not have known she was a spark? The question made him frown as he tried to remember everything she’d told him. Had she meant to tell him more? Had he acted interested enough? When she talked about the magician guy and how he’d pegged her as “at least a spark,” had he said anything more? Tony couldn’t remember if Addie hadn’t wanted to elaborate or if he’d just been too self-absorbed to ask any follow-up questions.

“I do that sometimes,” he muttered, forgetting his old PAI, Ashley, wasn’t there for him to bounce his thoughts off. She’d been a pretty damn clever piece of tech—even had a psychologist package. He kept talking anyway. “I get lost in my own issues, expecting people to be interested in my business but not taking the time to really think about what they’re telling me.”

Of course, Addie chose that moment to push the back door open and walk into the shop. She stared at Tony briefly, then let her eyes drift around the empty store. “Were you talking to someone?”

“Myself.” Tony shrugged. “Good morning. Something up with Bert?”

“Good morning to you, and yeah, his gout got worse—probably because he walked all over the district last night and drank way too much beer. He broke down, though, and asked me to go ask Doc Peters for his meds.”

“Gonna pay the full price, huh?”

“Yeah, poor Dad. His toe is like a purple sausage.” She stuffed her hands in her jeans and shrugged. Tony thought she looked kind of cute in her close-fitting T-shirt advertising a band he’d never heard of, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She looked fresh and unbothered by things like makeup and accessories, though he didn’t miss that she wore lip gloss and had done something around her eyes to make them stand out a little more than usual. He realized she was still talking, “…wanna come with?”

“Oh, um—” Tony gestured to the empty storefront. “—don’t you think someone ought to be here?”

“He’ll come down. He’s just moving slowly. No one will be out shopping this early after Boxer Day, and if they come here and we’re closed, people will understand. Half the stores in the district won’t even open today.” She looked at the front door, saw the bright red neon of the open sign, and flashed him a quick smile. “Pretty cool you opened up, in any case. It’ll make him happy.” She leaned against the counter. “So? Coming?”

Tony wanted to say yes. He was eager to get his new eye implanted, but he wanted to get his bits from Maisie. He was also afraid she’d expect to hang out, which would probably be awkward if he planned to go to the clinic with Addie. He opened his mouth but hesitated. Part of him wanted to be honest, which was his baseline response to anything, and part of him wanted to spare Addie’s feelings, even though he didn’t know how she’d react. He was saved by the bell—literally—as the door opened, setting off the little chime sound behind the counter.

They both turned to the door to see not Maisie but her burly uncle in his gang jacket. Addie folded her arms and stepped to the side as he approached, tracking him with a narrow-eyed glare. Troy ignored her, his eyes fixed on Tony. He held up his fist, and Tony guessed he had something tucked within that ham-sized appendage. “Yo, Tony. Maisie said I could find you here. Got your bits.”

“Oh?” Tony raised his left eyebrow—he’d rebandaged his right eye at the gym, hating how the puckered, empty socket full of new flesh looked. If he weren’t about to get a new eye installed, he’d probably order some eyepatches or something.

“Yeah. She wanted to bring it by, but I needed her to watch the twins.” He slapped a bit-locker on the counter, then glanced at Addie, narrowing his bushy gray eyebrows at her glaring countenance. “We good to talk for a minute?”

Tony chuckled and slid the bit-locker closer to himself. “Yeah, we’re good.”

“Seven-fifty on there—your cut. Look, the boys were pretty impressed with how you handled yourself last night, so if you wanna make some more money, something a little more serious, we could talk about it, yeah? I asked around, and it sounds like you’re a free agent, right?”

“Yeah, I’m…unaffiliated.” Tony grinned at the stupidity of it all.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Well, if you wanna change that, I already owe you one, and the boys have seen how you fight, so I don’t think it would be a problem—” He stopped short as Addie cleared her throat and walked behind the counter beside Tony.

“You think he should join the Black Jades? Seriously? He just got here, Troy, and the last thing he needs is to make enemies with half the district!”

“Ah, Adelaide Jones. You never change, do you? Beating that old drum just like your mom used to do.”

“Leave my mom out of this!”

Troy held up his hands, palms out, as Tony shifted toward Addie. “Hey, easy, I don’t mean anything bad by it. I just think it’s a lost cause, you know? The gangs are here—have been and always will be. The corpos don’t give a rat’s balls about how things work on the streets. We keep the peace. We keep shit from going from bad to worse, and you know it. If it weren’t for the gangs protecting their territory, you’d have chaos out there; the only safe place to live would be in Boxer’s apartment stacks.”

“Talk about beating the same old drum. We’ve all had this argument before. Anyway, Tony’s not a banger; he worked as an operator before he came down here—”

“Addie, I can speak for myself.” Tony tried to keep his voice even. He wasn’t trying to rebuke her in front of Troy, but he didn’t like to have people putting words in his mouth, either. He also wasn’t sure he wanted people in the district to think of him as an operator; he was a long way from his solo days with plenty of gear, cash, and contacts. Even though he didn’t exactly snap at her, Addie looked up at him with reddening cheeks, then stuffed her hands in her pockets again and stalked around the corner toward the stock room.

Troy chuckled, shaking his head. “Hey, I didn’t mean to stir up any trouble. I get it; you’ve got a comfy little job here with some nice folks, but you ain’t gonna get ahead helping Bert out around his shop, and you don’t look like the kind of guy who’s gonna apply at Boxer. Even if you aren’t interested in pledging, we’re always looking for an extra hand here and there. I put my contact info on that bit-locker. Hit me up if you decide you wanna make some more scratch.” The big man held out his gnarled, scar-covered fist, and Tony knocked his knuckles against it.

“Sounds good.” He held up the bit-locker. “Thanks for bringing this by.”

“You got it.” Troy turned and shuffled toward the door, the chains hanging from his leather jacket jangling softly. When he pushed the door and the chime sounded, he turned toward Tony. “Hey, tell Adelaide I didn’t mean anything bad about her mom. She was a great lady.”

Tony nodded. “Will do.” He watched the grizzled old banger leave, and when the door closed, he turned, intending to find Addie, but she was already there, leaning a shoulder against the wall at the end of the counter. “Hey, sorry if—”

“Don’t worry about it. You were right; who am I to speak for you? I hardly know you, right? Maybe you do want to join his gang. I mean, they’re pretty tough, and you can see from looking at Troy that they have a better-than-average life expectancy. I’m sorry I ran my—”

“Oh, come on. Cut that out. You were right, but I just—well, I’d prefer to deal with guys like Troy in my own way, right? Anyway, he said he didn’t mean anything—”

“I heard.” She nodded toward the door. “Well? Are you going to come with me, or was I too annoying?”

Tony smirked and held up the package containing his eye implant. “I’ll come, but only because I want this thing installed, definitely not for the company.”

“Oh,” she growled, “you’re lucky you smiled when you said that!”

Tony laughed. “That’s the spirit. Should we turn the sign off? We should, right?”

She nodded, once again shrugging her shoulders high as she looked at the door and the glowing sign. “Yeah, we’ll lock up in case my dad takes a while. He was soaking his foot in Epsom salts when I came down.”

Tony snatched up his new eye and followed her out. Addie turned and looked into the little iris scanner, and the lock clicked home. “C’mon,” she said, turning to the right instead of crossing the street and angling for the alley that would take them directly toward the clinic, “let’s go this way. Better chance to avoid Randal and his boys.”

“Randal?”

“Beef.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Tony tucked his hands into the pockets of his second-hand jeans, easily catching up to Addie’s shorter strides. After they’d walked a little way in silence, he bumped her with his elbow. “Hey.”

Addie looked up at him, arching one of her thick, dark brows. “What?”

“Was there more you were wanting to tell me about that magician guy?”

“Zane?” Addie’s voice rose an octave as she said the name. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, that sounded like a big experience to you, and I didn’t ask you anything about it. Did it freak you out when you saw the dust?”

“Oh!” Addie chuckled softly, shaking her head. “Um, no, not really. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to see it. I mean, I thought it was part of the act.”

“So you’re cool with being a spark, then?”

“I wouldn’t go that far!” This time, Addie bumped him with her elbow. “I haven’t really thought about it all that much. Honestly, last night, I slept better than I have in a long, long time.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?” Tony paused as Addie peered down an alley. He guessed she was ensuring no Helldogs were lurking near the dumpsters.

“C’mon, this one’s good.” As she led him through the minefield of broken electronics, soggy, torn furniture, and overfull dumpsters, she said, “This part’s a major secret, okay? Don’t mention it to my dad.”

“Oh?”

She turned to lock eyes with him. “Promise?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Well, since I was a lot younger, I’ve been having weird things happen to me at night—parts of me would disappear.” She laughed. “Oh my God, that sounds nuts. It’s true, though. First, it was a finger, then more fingers, and now it’s my whole hand. It just disappears, and then, after a while, it comes back. I was convinced I was turning into a fade.”

“That’s pretty freaky.” Tony couldn’t imagine what that would be like for a kid. “Wait! You’ve thought you were turning into a fade since you were a kid? You never told Bert?”

“Yes, and no. When it first happened, my mom’s death was still fresh. My dad wasn’t himself. Well, honestly, he was just getting better, and I couldn’t risk sending him over the edge again.”

Tony frowned. Bert seemed like a damn rock to him. He’d been on the “edge?” He supposed grief did awful things to people—Tony could attest—but it was still hard to imagine Bert hadn’t always been a damn near perfect dad. He gave Addie an appraising look, this time from a new perspective. “That must have been hard. So, before yesterday, you thought you were slowly dying?”

“Yeah. I guess so. Last night, for the first time, I watched my hand, waiting for it to happen, and I wasn’t filled with dread. I wasn’t afraid of what would happen next.”

“So, you’re sure it’s not…dangerous?”

“Not totally sure about anything, but Zane said something similar happened to him. Oh, I should have started with this: he can make himself disappear!”

“Okay, yeah, that was the missing piece of the story.” Tony chuckled. “So, you’re thinking you’re going to be able to do that someday?”

“I don’t know, but yeah, it’s a lot more fun to hope for that than to fear the…other thing.”

“That’s cool, Addie. Happy for you.” At his words, she looked at him again, peering up at him with those big blue eyes, and he could see she wanted to ask him something. Maybe she remembered the tension last night when she’d pushed a little too hard, or maybe something in his expression backed her off, but she just shrugged and smiled, nodding toward the mouth of the alley coming up.

“Almost there. Excited to have your eye back?”

Tony reached up to gently probe the bandage over his eye. “Yeah, damn right.”

“I’ll wait if you want.”

“Ah, you don’t have to—”

“No, actually, I better get Dad’s medicine back to him. I’ll come back, though.”

“I mean, really, you don’t have—”

“No, it’s not that I feel I have to. I want to get your help with something.”

Tony snorted, matching her quick jog as she crossed the street to the clinic. “I should’ve guessed. What is it?”

“There’s a funeral home I want to visit, and the neighborhood isn’t the best.”

“Funeral home?”

“It’s a lead—from Jamal.”

“Ah, shit! Another thing I should’ve asked you about!”

Addie paused outside the clinic’s doors, turning to face him more fully. “It’s okay. We had a fun time, didn’t we? You had a lot on your mind, and don’t forget you had your head pounded a few times.” She must have thought his expression was amusing because her eyes crinkled at the corners as she laughed and stepped into the clinic. Tony followed, shaking his head.

“I didn’t let him hit me that hard,” he muttered. Addie was already at the reception desk, talking to the girl there. Tony scanned the waiting room, glad to see that only a couple of patients were waiting. He’d thought maybe the clinic would be overwhelmed, considering all the partying the night before, but maybe hangovers trumped injuries. Addie walked over and nodded at the check-in terminal.

“I’m signed in, thanks to JJ, but you’ll need to use the terminal.” She lowered her voice to a near-whisper. “I tried to talk Beth into letting us slip through, but I guess the folks ahead of us have legit emergencies.” Tony nodded and walked over to the terminal. Addie followed him, leaning against the flimsy partition while he put in his information again. “So, you’ll come with me after the Doc’s done with you?”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, of course. Unless Bert needs something.”

“Haven’t you learned yet?” she asked, leaning her chin on the top of the partition and peering at the terminal. “If it’s to keep me safe, my dad’s going to be in favor of it.”

Tony playfully held his hand on the edge of the terminal, blocking her view. “Seems like you’re taking advantage of Bert’s concern for his offspring.”

“Offspring?” Addie laughed. “You’re an interesting guy, Tony Santoro.”

“Hey!” Tony tilted the ancient crystal-glass display so she couldn’t see the screen. “This is private info, ma’am.”

“Jimmy,” the receptionist called, “Doctor Peters will see you now.” Tony glanced over his shoulder to see one of the two other patients stand and limp toward the door. He had a black plastic bag zip-tied around his right foot.

“Damn.”

“Oof,” Addie winced. “Looks sore!”

Tony finished the check-in process and looked at Addie. “Why are you worried about this funeral home?”

“Something is going on there. Jamal saw a bunch of different gang enforcers come out of there, and, according to him, they’d been meeting with a ‘fancy’ lady.” She frowned, tapping her chin. “I think he said ‘fancy.’ It might have been ‘fine’ or…” She shook her head. “It’s not important, but I’m just afraid maybe the people working there will be less than happy to see me, let alone answer questions. I guess I’m just a little nervous about…disappearing. Coffins and a cremation chamber make the prospect a little easier to envision, you know?”

Tony nodded. “All right. I’ll watch your back.” He held up the package containing his eye. “Hopefully with two eyes.”

“Thanks, Tony!” Addie smiled and gave his shoulder a playful punch, then stood. “I’ll be back before you’re operation’s done.”

“Wait! What about your dad’s meds?”

Addie pulled a slender vapor pen from her pocket. Then, she held a finger to her lips and winked. “Beth let me skip the line. Don’t tell!” With a mischievous smile, she slipped out of the clinic, and Tony stood there, staring after her, trying to figure out why he felt like he’d just been taken advantage of.