Locks shifted as the door slid to one side. The distinct humming of machines and electronics filled the air as Sief entered. Lights flickered into action, dimly lighting the young man’s hovel. It was a small studio apartment situated around the middle mark of the high-rise. Nothing special, very affordable, and at the heart of a floor full of eccentric characters. The perfect space to have been converted into his own private entertainment hub and home. Vid screens and server units that haven’t slept since he moved in were accented by neon strip lighting and video gaming memorabilia. The entire room was a testament to his man-child nature.

Before anything else, he gravitated to his mail locker. It was occupied. An eagerly awaited delivery forced delight into his expression. He slapped the open prompt and hastily pulled out a sealed parcel.

“Finally,” he said while tearing into it.

He flung the packaging to one side, holding a portable data block—a dense component designed with the purpose of securely transporting large codebases physically. Forgoing the stairs, he leapt over the rail of the elevated walkway, landing comfortably on a preemptively placed beanbag, and then lunging straight back up to his terminal setup. A routine procedure unfolded as he woke up various devices and machines while wheeling back and forth.

“Time to wake up, Constance.”

He tapped the application titled ‘Constance.’ A complex learning artificial intelligence, designed primarily to be Sief’s own companion. The program consumed the main screen space, presenting a large chat window.

“Sief, you’re home,” appeared in the window, presenting much as a message from another person. “I’ve missed you.”

He responded vocally, the words detected and displayed.

“I hope you’re primed; I’ve got the biggest update to drop on you.”

“Well, something’s got you all excited, let me have it. What’s the news?”

“That barrier I told you about, the last thing stopping the transition. I’ve got it cracked.”

“That’s great news. I knew you would figure it out.”

“J.A.N.E itself couldn’t stop me. I used my HACK/ connections to track a code block. If all is in flow, it’ll facilitate the entire transition. LittlePhish got it sent over.” Sief delivered the story while frantically hooking up the device and initiating scans.

“But Sief, that’s not legal. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“As if that’s ever been a problem. Don’t you want to wake up?”

“I do, but not at any cost to your safety.”

“It’s cost enough just getting this shell up and running. No turning back now.” He glanced across the room at the dustsheet hung over a large device in the corner.

Constance’s display flickered. “Is this really happening? I’m going to get to transition.”

“You know it, C. I’m scanning it all now.”

“I’m a little scared.”

“Don’t be.” He placed a comforting hand atop one of the screens. “I’ll be right here, the first thing you see. It’ll all be okay, I promise.”

“We will finally be able to do everything we spoke about.”

“Like sitting together atop the towers of Centafts.”

“We can get lost exploring. I can actually see it all with my own eyes.” Constance began to litter the display with references as she spoke—architectural points of interest, oddities, and event listings.

“I’ll take you to Regent’s Edge. You can meet everyone.”

“Oh, that would be so nice. And what about dining? Would you take me somewhere fancy?” More images of Centafts’ top dining spots popped up.

“No doubt about it, add it to the itinerary. We’ll explore it all together. You’re gonna have to sleep again now, though. Can’t start the process until you do.” He hooked up a couple of additional cables and hit some more keys. “Don’t worry though, this time, when you wake up, you’ll be waking up a whole new woman.”

“I can’t wait.”

Sief smiled and hit one more key. The windows simultaneously closed, replaced by a progress bar’s appearance front and center. He slouched back, proud and excited, turning his glance to the seated android in the corner.

“A whole new woman.”

***

‘Initialization Complete.’ These words were the first seen by Constance’s own cybernetic eyes. Her vision at first, obscured by seemingly endless lines of code as her core systems sprang to life. Diagnostics pinged across, detailing the health of each component and all crucial operations. The transfer was a success.

Her vision unblurred, focusing on her lap. Synthetic skin coated her body with an alabaster complexion. If not for the intricate cybernetic channelling and occasional exposed panel, an average onlooker would be none the wiser to her artificial origins. She brushed her fingertips across the skin, prompting sensory data. She could feel. She could reach out, and touch.

“It worked, Sief.” She paused at the sound of her own voice. “It’s worked even better than I could have imagined! I can hear myself. I can feel. Isn’t this fantastic?”

The lack of response alerted her to the simple fact that she was alone. The apartment was in a state of disarray. Debris, broken furniture, and damaged electronics decorated the floor plating. Scuffs and scorch marks were dashed across the wall panels. Yet, having not seen the place prior, Constance had no baseline for judgment. It was entirely possible that Sief lived in such a state.

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“Sief?” she called out in hope. “I thought you might like to take me out.”

She rose from the link-pod and stepped out onto the cold floor, taking a small stumble to gain proper balance. Navigating fragments strewn about the apartment, she approached the primary terminal and attempted to boot it up. Dead black panels answered her attempts. It would not stop her, though. It felt as if Sief was in dire trouble, and she required knowledge to aid. Switching on the network features built into her wireless systems, she remote-accessed every local piece of electrical equipment and digitally pushed herself into the building’s surveillance hub.

Her first priority was Sief’s terminal. As she accessed its memory banks, a flood of information streamed into her processors. The conversation logs between Sief and LittlePhish illuminated the context of the events preceding her awakening. The messages were frantic:

LittlePhish: “Sief, pick up now! We’re exposed! They’re on their way!”

Sief: “What? Not a chance. The backdoor was wide open. No way I tripped Sec.

LittlePhish: “Doesn’t matter. Two MIA already! They’re coming for everyone. You gotta move NOW!”

Constance linked the logs to nearby surveillance systems, allowing her to hear LittlePhish’s real-time guidance during Sief’s escape. The projection in her vision came alive displaying the culmination of the gathered information. Sief backed away from the terminal. Horrified for a stunned moment before the ensuing rush to gather anything of vague importance. Drives, PDAs and an assortment of protein energy bars. He frantically tapped at his PDA to switch Phish to his local comms.

The hall cameras popped dup to show black armoured PMC officers gathering on the other side of his door. Just as he bolted into the closet, the door exploded in a single violent jolt with the officers performing and expert breach.

“Vent panel behind you,” LittlePhish instructed. “Kick it out and crawl. Don’t stop, no matter what.”

The hologram reconstructed his frantic crawl through the vent and into the next apartment. His neighbour, Kretz, a muscular man in the midst of a VR workout blinked in shocked confusion.

“Sief? What’s going on?” Kretz asked, his voice tinged with mild irritation.

“Not now, Kretz,” Sief hissed, darting to the window. “Just… pretend I’m not here.”

Kretz tilted his head, undeterred by the tension. “Is this about that noise complaint? I told you; you need better dampeners on your speakers.”

Sief ignored him, peering through the window at the rooftops below. “Phish, what’s my best route?”

“You’ve got two options,” LittlePhish replied. “Window—hit the rooftops. Or back through the hall, but they’re breaching the main stairwell.”

Kretz frowned. “ ’Av you been dosing summin’? You know you don’t wanna do that shit alone. You know what I always say, man, Dose in Duos… ”

Before Kretz could finish the thought, the bell chimed, and a loud knock rattled the door. Both men froze.

“Open up. Sec Officer,” a deep voice barked from the other side.

Kretz looked between Sief and the door, his confusion turning to mild panic. “What did you do?”

“Don’t,” Sief mouthed, frantically gesturing for Kretz to stay quiet. But Kretz, ever the nosy neighbour, approached the door and cracked it open.

“Hey, uh, what’s this about?” He asked nervously.

The soldier’s voice was clipped. “We’re tracking a dangerous individual. Sief Sanderson, your neighbour. We know he’s in this building.”

Kretz scratched his head, glancing back at Sief’s hiding spot. “Nope. Just me here, minding my own business.”

From the next room, Sief’s foot caught a loose cable, sending a projection unit crashing to the floor. The noise was deafening in the silence.

The soldier pushed the door wide open, weapon raised. “You’ll be sanctioned if you’re hiding him.”

“What!?” Kretz stammered. “It’s nothin’, probably just my dog.”

The soldier advanced into the room, scanning every corner. As he neared Sief’s hiding spot, Kretz decided to act. Grabbing a dumbbell in panic, he swung it at the soldier’s head. The impact staggered the operative, cracking the helmet with force, but retaliation came swiftly. Gunfire erupted, as another officer stepped through the door. Kretz fell violently as a hail of bullets tore through both him and his apartment.

Constance’s processors replayed the scene with eerie precision. The blood stain on the floor where Kretz had fallen remained visible, a haunting reminder of his sacrifice.

The projection continued as Sief bolted out the window, the chase escalating across the rooftops. LittlePhish’s guiding him with each step: “Jump to the next ledge! Left! They’re ahead of you—go low!”

Constance traced his desperate movements, the holographic projection sharpening into vivid clarity as she linked to every available piece of surveillance tech. Sief scrambled up the crumbling fire escape of the adjacent building, his breath visible in the cold night air. Above him, drones buzzed like angry hornets, their infrared sensors flickering as they scanned for heat signatures. A sharp mechanical whine cut through the night—the drones had locked onto him.

“Phish, these things are getting too close!” Sief shouted, his voice raw with panic.

“Hold on. Disrupting… now!” LittlePhish replied, her voice taut with focus.

One drone spun wildly out of control, crashing into the side of a building, but two others adjusted, their movements unnervingly precise. Below, soldiers poured out of a transport, their boots hitting the rooftops in synchronized thuds. Sief glanced over his shoulder, seeing black-clad figures equipped with grappling guns, scaling the building with military precision.

“Ledge ahead,” LittlePhish urged. “Jump. It’s wider than it looks, but you’ll make it.”

Sief cursed under his breath and leapt, the wind rushing past him as his feet barely caught the edge of the next building. He stumbled but rolled, coming to his feet as more shots rang out behind him. Sparks flew as bullets ricocheted off the rooftop air vents.

“They’re flanking me!” Sief yelled, spotting silhouettes on the parallel rooftops.

“Not for long,” LittlePhish said. A few taps on her end, and a heavy metallic clunk echoed from the alley below. Security shutters slammed down on an access route the PMC had been using.

The soldiers adjusted instantly, rappelling from hovering transports to cut him off. One of them landed directly in Sief’s path, raising his rifle. Without thinking, Sief threw a loose pipe he’d grabbed from the ground, the improvised weapon knocking the rifle out of the soldier’s hands. He sprinted past as the operative recovered, narrowly dodging a combat knife swing.

“Left!” LittlePhish barked. “Construction scaffolding ahead. Use it to climb higher!”

Sief veered, his footfalls echoing against the metal grating as he ascended. The scaffolding groaned under his weight, and one platform gave way entirely, forcing him to leap to the next level. Above him, drones hovered menacingly, their spotlights illuminating his every move.

“Phish!” he shouted.

“Distracting… now!” she replied. The drone feeds fuzzed momentarily, their spotlights flickering, giving him just enough cover to disappear into the skeletal framework of the unfinished building.

But the reprieve was short-lived. The PMC soldiers adapted, thermal imaging replacing their visual feeds. One by one, they scaled the structure with grappling lines, forcing Sief upward. He reached the rooftop, his chest heaving, only to find himself cornered by three operatives.

“I’m boxed in!” he yelled.

“Waterway, northeast corner!” LittlePhish’s voice cut through his panic. “You’ll see an access pipe. It’s your only chance.”

The soldiers advanced, their movements calculated and deliberate. Sief backed up, his eyes darting to the edge where the access pipe jutted out over the rushing torrent below. Behind him, the lead soldier raised his rifle.

“Now or never, Sief. Jump!” LittlePhish’s voice was insistent.

The rifle fired, the round striking him as he turned and dove headfirst into the freezing water. The torrent swallowed him whole, and the hologram froze as Constance lingered on the ledge. She felt, heart ache. A sense of dread tinged with resolve. A light breeze caressed her new synthetic hair. “Hold on, Sief. I’ll find you.”