Little China

April 7th

2069

Misty Olszewski

Misty sighed as she rode the elevator down to the ground floor. For some reason, she hadn’t been able to sleep, so she’d been stargazing up on the roof into the early hours of the morning. The soft ding of the elevator heralded her arrival and she stepped out into the small alleyway behind her store.

As she moved towards her shop’s back entrance, she heard a soft sound. If not for the quietness of the area, she wouldn’t have heard it at all. “That sounded like it came from Vik’s? He’s pretty early today. I wonder if he couldn’t sleep either? I’ll go say hello before I set up for today.” She turned, making her way over to the stairs leading to the clinic.

As she looked down the steps, she froze, her breath catching in her throat. Slumped against the door to Vik’s clinic, was a figure who looked like some grotesque art installation. Misty flew down the steps towards them, quickly noting they appeared to be female.

Misty gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. As she stepped closer, her stomach churned at the sight of the severed arm lying nearby.

“Oh, god,” Misty whispered. Her first instinct was to call for help, but the streets were deserted and the stillness remained unbroken except for the occasional sound of passing traffic. She quickly pulled up Vik’s contact and rang him.

The line buzzed twice before a groggy voice answered.

“Misty? It’s-it’s late. What’s going on?”

“There’s a, uh, girl outside your clinic,” Misty stammered, her voice shaky. “She’s unconscious, barely alive. And she’s absolutely covered in blood. Her arm’s gone, Vik! It’s just… lying there.”

“What?” The sleepiness in Vik’s voice disappeared instantly. “Alright Misty, calm down. I need you to do a few things before I get there. Can you carry her inside?”

Misty glanced at the girl. She wasn’t large, but the dead weight of unconsciousness would be a challenge. Still, Misty nodded. “I’ll try.”

“Good,” Vik said. There were faint sounds coming from his side, presumably the ripper’s rush to get ready. “Once you’ve got her inside, find the first-aid supplies. They’re on my desk. Use gauze to wrap anything still bleeding. If she’s not breathing right, let me know immediately. I need to hang up so I can focus on driving but I’ll be there soon.”

He ended the call, leaving Misty kneeling beside the girl. Even up close, she couldn’t see past the thick layer of blood. The odour of it was one of the most pungent things the older girl had ever had the displeasure of smelling. However, all that mattered to her at that moment was the small, barely breathing figure.

“Alright, sweetheart,” Misty murmured, slipping her arms under the girl. “Let’s get you inside, out of the cold.”

She grunted with effort, staggering slightly as she lifted the girl. Her weight wasn’t overwhelming, but the awkward angles of her limbs and the constant awareness of her injuries made the task difficult. Somehow, Misty managed to get her inside, nudging the door shut with her foot.

Inside the dark clinic, Misty laid the girl carefully on Vik’s surgical chair. She flipped a switch, allowing the bright overhead lights to illuminate the girl’s body. With the better lighting, she could better see the extent of the damage; the severed arm that had been removed cleanly, along with the hastily applied tourniquet. Her clothes were scuffed and damaged in places and her chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths.

Misty’s hands shook as she grabbed the first-aid kit from the desk. She found gauze and antiseptic, as Vik had instructed, but realised she couldn’t see where all of the wounds actually were. She found an old towel and a bottle of water. Wiping the girl down with the wet towel allowed her to remove some of the blood, revealing pale skin and a number of gashes and bullet wounds.

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“You’re gonna be okay,” Misty murmured, though she wasn’t sure if it was true. The blood loss alone seemed catastrophic. Now able to see the damage, she cleaned the wounds with antiseptic and wrapped them in gauze. She did the same for the stump where the girl’s arm had been severed, tying it off with trembling fingers.

Her interface lit up, displaying an incoming call from Vik. Misty answered on the second ring as she did her best to turn her patient into a mummy in order to stop the bleeding.

“I’ve got her inside,” she told Vik. “She’s breathing, but just barely. I’ve wrapped the worst of it, but there’s so much blood…”

“Good. Next, check her pupils. Are they responsive?”

Misty leaned over, gently prying one of the girl’s eyes open. The pupil constricted slightly under the bright overhead light, though the motion was sluggish. “They’re slow, but they’re moving.”

“That’s a good sign,” Vik said. “She’s still in there. Now, there should be a vial with a special medicine for stabilising blood loss in the first-aid kit. It’ll help keep her from going into shock. Inject it into her neck.”

Misty’s stomach twisted. “I-I don’t know if I can…”

“You can,” Vik said firmly. “It’s just like any other injection. Do it, Misty. I’m almost there.”

With a shaky nod, Misty found the vial and a fresh syringe. Her hands felt clumsy as she filled the needle and positioned it against the girl’s neck. She hesitated, her breath catching.

“I can do this, I can do this. It’s to help her,” Misty whispered to herself, and then she pushed the needle in. The girl didn’t react, and Misty released the stabilizer before pulling the syringe away.

The sound of heavy footsteps outside signaled Vik’s arrival. Misty nearly sagged with relief as he burst through the door, his medical bag already open.

“How is she?” he barked, though his eyes immediately landed on the girl.

Misty stepped back to give him room. “I cleaned her up a little and gave her the stabilizer.”

Vik moved to the table, his eyes scanning the girl’s injuries. His expression darkened as he recognized her. He sighed deeply.

“Dammit kid,” he muttered. “I thought I told you to be careful.”

Misty blinked. “You know her?”

“Met her once,” Vik said grimly. “Back then I’d hoped something like this wouldn’t happen but I guess that was wishful thinking.”

He set to work immediately as he began assessing the damage. Misty watched silently, her heart pounding in her chest. She didn’t know who this girl was or what had happened to her, but the sight of her small, broken body filled her with an aching sadness.

“I need your help to get her out of these clothes. I can’t work on her properly with them in the way.” He paused, remembering something, “and don’t be too surprised by what you see.”

Misty looked at him questioningly but he ignored it as he gently sat Sophie’s body up, removing the armoured plate carrier from her body. Afterwards, he tugged the zipper on the netrunner suit down. He pulled the top of it off and Misty let out a horrified gasp.

“Misty! Get yourself together! I need you to pull the suit off.” She shook her head, realising that it wasn’t the right moment to get emotional. With a struggle, the pair managed to remove the suit, including all of Sophie’s weapons.

Doing so revealed the mess of scarring that covered the small girl’s body. While Misty was lost in thought, Vik grabbed an IV pole and pushed a needle into the girl’s remaining arm.

With the doctor busying himself, the older girl found herself looking between the scarred girl and the significant number of weapons she had been carrying on her body. I wonder what kind of life she’s lived? I should ask Vik later.

“She’s tough,” Vik said after a moment, as if reading Misty’s thoughts. “She wouldn’t have made it here otherwise.”

“Will she be okay?” Misty asked softly.

Vik didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he focused on stabilizing Sophie’s wounds. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet.

“If she pulls through tonight, maybe. But it’s gonna be a hell of a fight.”

“Is it that bad?”

“The severed arm is definitely the worst injury but whatever happened to her, she’s been put through a lot. Most of her ribs are broken, she’s got a pretty severe concussion and that’s not mentioning the bullet wounds, scrapes or internal bruising.”

“Ho-How is she even alive with all that? It doesn’t look like she’s got any chrome.” Misty asked curiously while the doctor worked quickly.

“Well, she’s got basic subdermal. I installed that myself,” she felt a flush of anger and she almost started berating him, which the man obviously realised. “Wait! I didn’t have much choice. If I didn’t do it, she’d have gone somewhere else. But I think the main reason she’s still alive is that armour she was wearing. Well, that and an immense amount of willpower.”

“Willpower?”

“Yeah. Truthfully, she should be dead. Even with the basic subdermal and armour, this isn’t the kind of damage someone can walk away from when they have no chrome. She got here from wherever this happened fueled by sheer will.” He paused, then spoke quietly. “Though after experiencing whatever gave her those scars, maybe that’s to be expected.”

Misty didn’t reply, lost in thought as she stared at the unconscious girl. “If she survives, I want to be her friend. I think she needs someone to care for her.” Vik looked over his shoulder at her.

“I agree. I think I’d like to be a friend of hers as well. At the very least, I’d like to be able to prevent this kind of situation again. But it'll take time to get past her walls. We'll have to be patient.”

“Mhm. It’s decided then. Now you better get to work saving her. Can I do anything to help?”

“Y’know, there actually is. I need you to grab a box from the back. It should be labeled ‘arms’. Her biological arm is too damaged to be reattached.”