Moving as a group, we eventually reached the edges of Redfield Corp. Ramirez got there first, landing on a building across from it. His insectoid wings snapped back into his body as he watched us approach. Rather than joining him, Cherie parked far back on the building, the light blue glow of her hoverbikes floatation rigs fading away where they couldn’t be spotted by the building's security. I landed next to Ramirez a bit harshly, Layla joining us with more elegance.

Ramirez eyed us while Cherie parked and Poy began typing at his computer. “Huh. Thought those things were illegal. Too dangerous or something.”

He was nodding towards our lines.

“They are. But so is this,” I noted.

“Besides, they’re fun!” Layla said with a grin.

He seemed amused by that. Poy came over to us. “I-I can’t get a hold of our person inside.”

Ramirez snapped his eyes onto him. “What? They’re supposed to be ready.”

Poy swallowed. “I don’t know what to tell you. They just… they aren’t answering man!”

Ramirez snapped out a curse.

“What now?” Cherie asked. Her fingers tapped at the sword on her waist. “Abort?”

“No, it needs to go down today. Now. We need to break in,” Ramirez said softly. “Poy. You need to get closer.”

“Clo-closer?” he squeaked.

“On top.”

“On top… On top of where!?” I winced as his already squeaky voice became almost piercingly high.

Ramirez scowled at him. “Of the damn building.”

We all looked over at it. 12 stories high, industrial and blocky in design. Besides the wheeled trucks going into the bottom, there were openings in the top floor. A single floating cargo-ship flew in from the east and entered one of those openings. Even with the sunlight pouring down, the building looked foreboding somehow.

“You can’t expect him to land on the building in broad daylight,” Cherie said.

“I absolutely can,” Ramirez stroked his chin. “We need him to. If he can get on top, he can access the wiring there. Then he’ll have an in with the building's security, even a way to contact our person inside.”

“None of which matters if he gets seen being carried over there,” Layla pointed out, looking around. “There aren’t any buildings around here tall enough to let me swing over without getting caught. And if they’ve got Pnuema detectors it doesn’t matter if we get seen, we’ll get detected anyways. I bet everyone here but Yun has some kind of Pnuema running through them.”

Ramirez frowned. “Nothing in me. But my armor does.”

There was nothing he could have said that would have surprised me more. A guy with power armor that expensive didn’t have any chrome in him? What?

“We should wait,” Cherie had been watching the building calmly. When we looked over at her, she had a hand to her chin. “They’ve got security, but I bet that we can hop a ride on one of those flying cargo trucks. Sam’s footage showed a normal route for them. One of the bigger ones will fly below us soon. If Yun goes in with a piece of Poy’s tech, he can make a direct link that way. Pneuma detectors won’t track one of those, right?”

Poy swallowed when we looked at him. “N-No. My stuff is pure electro. Only way to run as a hacker honestly.”

“Yun can’t attach to those things though,” Layla said. “They’re non-ferrous. You know, so people can’t try what we’re doing.”

“Doesn’t matter from here though,” Poy pointed out. “He can drop down from here. I’ll shut down the cameras, he swings on top of the building, and we have a man inside who can talk to our person inside… man, that was an awkward sentence.”

“Then we wait,” Ramirez said, giving Cherie a smile. “Good idea. Once one of those things comes in on their route, you hop on top. Poy, make something basic that will let you into the system.”

“I’ll put together a SD,” he said, sounding more confident. Poy moved into a sitting motion, and somehow stayed that way in mid-air. It took me a second to realize he had one of those wearable chair things under his pants. Or inside his legs. ‘Chairless Chair Exoskeleton’. Useful for someone who had to work at computers all the time.

Poy took a cord from his tablet and pulled it up to attach to a port in his spine. His eyes flashed red as he seemed to lose track of his environment.

“I’d have no clue where to plug it in once I got there,” I told Ramirez. “And I’m not exactly stealthy.”

“We’re improvising,” he said, looking out at the building. “Make it work.”

I wanted to hit him. Instead I sat down on the roof to wait. He wasn’t wrong. It was the situation. Best to work with what we had.

Layla drifted off with Cherie, the two soon talking. While they were far enough that I couldn’t hear them, as I watched Layla mimicked a motion like she was swinging a sword. Cherie stepped forward and adjusted her hand a bit. The two grinned and Layla tried again.

“Girlfriend?” I looked up at Ramirez. He nodded towards Layla.

I grimaced. Gross. “No. Sister.”

“Ah. Got it,” he continued to stand, eyes going back to the building.

“...Your suit. It looks expensive.”

“Unlike yours? What are you wearing under those clothes, tin foil?”

I didn’t rise to the teasing tone to his voice. “Most guys I know who can afford that kind of hardware don’t need jobs like this. And have chrome.”

“Chrome? Oh yeah, that’s what you slumdogs call cybernetics. Charming,” he rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to explain why I don’t have it. Are you?”

I didn’t answer. He finally scoffed, looking down at me. “You have a problem with me?”

“I don’t know you. Sam put you in charge all of a sudden. I’m not sure why. I know his usual suite of trusted folk. But for some reason, he put you above Cherie in leadership.”

“Probably cause of my incredible charm and good looks,” despite his light tone, there was a hint of something beneath his voice. Something dangerous. I was right then. There was something strange there.

“Let’s go with that.”

He scowled at the building. “Just follow my orders. All goes well, you’ll never see me again after this.”

“What a shame. I was just beginning to like you.”

A laugh barked out at that. He grinned down at me. “I thought you were too stoic for sarcasm.”

“No one is… You know how to fight.”

“Is this where you ask me what style I use?” he sounded more amused the longer we spoke. “I can always say ‘style of fighting without fighting’.”

“There’s no boat around here for you to send me adrift.”

“I’m honestly shocked you watched that movie.”

“One of the greatest men in history starred in it, of course I watched it.”

He hummed under his breath. We were both quiet for a bit before he spoke again. “I know the basics. The very basics. That’s it.”

What a terrifying set of words. The very basics could have meant anything.

“How about you?” he asked. “I don’t care about style. But we might have to brawl in there. Can you handle it? It won’t just be some mook on the streets.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said simply. “If I die, my family is alone. So I won’t die.”

“What a refreshing take on things,” he responded, chuckling. “So that’s why you're doing this? For family?”

The way he said that drew my gaze. “You sound like you don’t approve. Why are you doing this?”

“For a greater world,” his eyes met mine. “I won’t explain beyond that. But what I do today is going to make us all better. I guarantee it.”

He looked almost fanatical. Not quite. But there was a tinge of belief in his words. I went to speak, but he scoffed.

“Why do people ask that so much in this city? What style do you use? And all the martial arts battles in the streets. I feel like I’m back in Africa.”

I noted the final portion of that idly, but only addressed the first. “Everyone in the city is a fighter. That’s all.”

“But you people are obsessed. Outside of Tengen Match folks, I’ve never seen it to this extent. Fighting is a means to an end. Not a lifestyle.”

“...I believe that fighting is at the core of humanity's soul.”

He looked down at me like a crazy person. I continued. It was a theory I’d had in my head for some time. I didn’t share it with anyone. Even Layla. But it was easier to share it with Ramirez. After all, he was a stranger, one who would leave my life. Who cared what he thought of this?

“I think fighting, battle, strength. They have been a part of us in every way since creation. In prehistory, we fought to the death against the environment. We built social structures to keep each other safe, and we fought. Every society in history was built on the backbones of warriors.”

“How dismissive,” he scoffed. “What about the great scientists who brought us to new heights? Or the farmers, builders, salt of the earth men and women who kept those societies fed?”

A challenge. Not full disagreement though. After a moment of thought, I continued.

“Science elevates us. Labour aids us. But in the end, strength is the first virtue. Honor, kindness, all virtues are ephemeral without strength to defend them, to make them real and give them action. I believe that it is a mark of a society when that strength can be turned to the aid of others. When soldiers go from conquering lands and subjugating them, to protecting families and keeping cities safe.”

“But savagery is the core.” Ramirez finished.

“Savagery is the core,” I agreed. “When you look at history, civilization is not something that comes purely off of peace. The opposite in fact. Peace is what follows when people have become strong enough to force it.”

I scratched at my chin. “I think everyone in this city understands that. If we want to follow our dreams, we have to be willing to fight for it. To understand battle in an intrinsic way. All humans feel that. Some run away from the fight, some towards. But we all know it’s there, and that surviving it gives you a chance for something greater.”

“...And what about people who are weak?” Ramirez was glaring down at the city below. “What about those who don’t fit your fun little idea of strength?”

I hummed to myself. That question came with more heat than I expected. “I’m not sure. I’m considered pretty weak myself. I’m just trying to get stronger too. Succeeding as well, I like to think.”

“You’ll fail.” When I looked up at him, he was still glaring at the city. “I’ve seen it. Time and time again. This city. Many others like it. It swallows up the weak. Worse. The strong will force them to drown. To put them under the waves and tell them they need the water. Then they’ll sell them oxygen at a premium.”

The vehemence in his voice. It was almost… toxic. I tried to think of something to say, but what came out seemed almost weak. “So what do you suggest?”

“Change the situation. Force things to become better.”

“That’s not a real answer,” I noted. “I’m really not sure what you’re trying to say, honestly? I thought this was just a conversation about why people in the city like fighting.”

He scoffed, losing his seriousness. “You really are a meathead. I’m done.” Ramirez crossed his arms, his armor clanking with the movement. “Just keep an eye out.”

And that was that. Silence filled the air between us then. Finally he walked off, leaving me. Layla and Cherie continued speaking. Poy finished up his work and stood, walking over to hand me a black SD.

“That looked tense, huh boyo?” he asked as he popped a squat next to me. “What’d you do, insult his armor?”

“Worse. I think he was trying to be mysterious and I wasn’t picking up on it.”

Poy nodded sagely. “The blue boy does have that mysterious edge thing going to him.”

“Hn.”

The weasel-faced man chuckled, moving his tablet forward. As he did, I noted the small video playing in the corner of it. A cute blonde anime girl dancing as she sang. “Is that Bella?”

At my question he glanced up, then seemed embarrassed. “Yeah. She’s uh, my favorite streamer. You uh, follow streamers?”

“Not like I used to,” I shrugged. “I used to watch them while I worked out and stuff. I didn’t have time for games, so it was a good way to enjoy them. Or listen to music.”

“Huh. I didn’t take you for the type,” Poy rubbed the back of his neck. “Last time one of Sam’s guys found out about it they made fun of me.”

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

I rolled my eyes. “They’re idiots. Enjoy what you want to enjoy. If it’s not hurting anyone, then what does it matter?”

Poy seemed to cheer up a bit at that. “Yeah… yeah. Hey, you wanna listen together? She’s doing some old school songs?”

I thought about it. Well. It had been a while. “Sure.”

He turned up his tablet and continued typing. As he did, the clear sound of Bella’s voice filled the air.

“-wait for you to come clear the cupboards

But now you're going to leave with nothing but a sign

Another evening I'll be sitting reading in between-”

That was a familiar song…

----------------------------------------

After a few songs, Cherie and Layla joined us. The armored woman sat next to us to look over the city, while Layla walked along the edge of the rooftop, using it as a balance beam and doing different tricks along the edge.

“How long on a truck?” Layla asked Poy, doing a quick flip along the edge.

“No clue. Flying cargo is expensive, you know? Only stuff that is either expensive or secret gets transported that way. Keeps idiots on the ground from stealing it.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Layla stood on her hands for a moment, balancing there. “I wish I could fly.”

“You already kind of do,” Cherie pointed at my sister’s magnet line.

“Noooo, that’s not flying,” my sister hopped up and landed on her feet. “I mean real flying. Like Parvati!”

“The ‘Goddess of War’?” Poy asked.

“She doesn’t like being called that,” Cherie said.

“...You know the Goddess of Wa-!?” Poy coughed and stopped himself when he realized he was yelling.

“Yes, and I know her wife,” Cherie continued. While he took in that information, Cherie continued. “You know her wings are pretty expensive, Lay.”

“I know,” my sister grinned. “I want to fly though, and she’s got such cool wings! One day I’ll be able to get a set like them. Or even better.”

I found myself smiling a bit. “Maybe after this job we can buy a set. You just need a license right.”

“Aren’t those licenses more expensive than a house in the burbs?” Poy asked.

“I’ll get it,” Layla grinned. “Dreams are supposed to be big, you know? How about you guys? You have anything you want?”

“To buy my ancestral home,” Cherie said. Her smile was soft. For a moment, I felt like she wasn’t looking at the city before us. “I’m close to getting it. And when I do, I’ll rebuild. Maybe teach.”

“You are a good teacher,” Layla said warmly.

“I’m buying my own VR suite,” Poy looked excited at the though. “One of those high class ones. I can do my work from home in there, play VR games, just vibe in fake jungles or ancient castles! And even load some sex-” he stopped, eyes widening. “Uh… um.”

Layla squished her face in disgust, while Cherie chuckled. I decided to save him.

“I’m going to take care of Layla and my parents.”

I laid down, resting my head in my palms. Poy spoke up, sounding a little disappointed. “That’s it? No fancy cars, no big houses?”

“Some people fight for what’s ahead of them. Some for what’s behind. And some for what they already have.”

Poy sighed. “Lame. Kid your age should want cooler things. AR glasses or something.”

“Those would be nice. Good way to train.”

Layla laughed, presumably at Poy’s face. Poy chuckled. “You know, you guys are a lot more friendly than Sam’s usual guys. How’d you get caught up in that?”

“Same as anyone like us does in this city,” I said. “We needed money, and he didn’t care we were underage.”

“...How old are you two?”

Layla and I didn’t answer. Cherie looked uncomfortable. Poy coughed when it became clear no one was speaking. “Okay. In that case, if you guys ever want to meet some guys I know who are in this biz, come downtown sometime. We can meet at Shedded Grace.”

“The bar? Like Jane’s?”

He laughed. “No way man. Jane’s is cool, but Shedded Grace is where the big names meet up! Hell, Claire Koenig and Tate Cairn first met there! At least, that’s the stor-”

“Look alive,” Ramirez interrupted, finally moving to join us. “Here it comes.”

Finally, the time came.

A truck approached. It flew over the maze of pipes and streets that made up the industrial zone like a whale, ponderous and graceful all at once. I rose up to my feet.

“Poy,” Ramirez said. “Walk him through it.”

“Anywhere will work,” he said to me quickly. “Just as long as it’s a terminal or PC connected to the network. Can you sent me footage from your HUD-”

“I don’t have a HUD.”

“Oh. Uh, right. Then, just talk to us over the secure link and I’ll let you know when you’re good.”

I watched the truck fly up. It was a few stories below the building we were on. Poy was tapping at his tablet. “Don’t jump onto it yet. I’m taking care of the cameras on it.”

Closer and closer. It was moving faster than I’d thought. Big things are like that. Slow until you really get up to them. The truck was shaped like an upside down pentagon, giving me a good flat platform on top.

“Yun…” Layla said warningly.

“I know.”

It was going by. If I didn’t go soon, I’d have no way to safely land on it. The truck would pass the zone of buildings around Redfield Corp, leaving me with nothing to magnet line to if I fell. I’d not only be a sitting duck, I’d be a wingless one. My window was closing. Move now, or I’d have nothing to swing to.

“Poy.”

“Just hold on!” he spat out, shifting through programs on his tablet quickly. “I need to loop in old footage of the last time it took this route. Just a sec!”

I turned and walked away from the edge, licking my lips just a bit. Then I spun around and started sprinting.

“Hold on, hold on!” Poy screamed. I jumped. As I felt gravity grab me, he screamed again. “Got it!”

Then I was at the mercy of the wind. I fell dozens of feet, aiming for the truck as best as I could. My magnet line stretched out and attached to the building, catching hold and swinging me upward. I felt my stomach drop. Too far. At the apex of my swing, I wouldn’t be able to reach the center of the truck. I pulled back my line and stretched a hand out. The truck passed beneath me.

I reflexively wanted to fire my line. But like Layla said. The electromagnet on the end would find no purchase. I stretched further out, trying to will my arm to go further, to dislocate itself if it gave me even one more inch. My hand caught the back of it. I felt pain as my fingers rubbed at the rough industrial metal. I wanted to scream, but held it in.

Before I could fall down and get us caught, I barely held on. My arm screamed, muscles in my shoulder and bicep pulling. With a heave, I pulled myself up and grabbed onto the edge with my other hand. Another heave and I was on the truck, breathing quickly. Damn. That was… insane.

I moved to the center of the moving vehicle, laying down flat on the truck. My heartbeat was steady and strong, pulsing in my chest against the metal under me. I watched the building approach. The Redfield Corp logo, a set of chains forming a sword, shone a bright red.

“Keep calm,” Poy said in my earpiece. “Cameras shouldn’t be on in the top floor. Cargo from these trucks are always confidential. Don’t want competitors finding out the ingredients to some new tech, so they don’t film them.”

I mumbled my words, knowing my earpiece would pick them up. “I’m more worried about getting caught inside. Camera’s are easier to trick than human eyes.”

“Only marginally,” Ramirez said back. “And we knew that we’d have to fight at some point. Just knock them out or kill them.”

My steel staff was resting on my back as I slowly breathed. Every job was like this. Nervous energy, waiting for things to happen. Then, when the job actually started, I started to… well, not calm down. Too much calm was dangerous. But it was like a fight. Once things actually got into motion, I felt much better.

The truck approached the opening ahead. The hangers, I guess. The one the truck was headed for looked empty. A run of questions went through my head. What if there were camera’s? What if Poy was wrong? What if a worker showed up there? What if-

I shut down those questions in my mind and focused myself, breathing calmly. Meditation was never something I was good at, but it helped before a fight to release the mind of useless thought. What happened would happen. Until then, I’d just do what I could.

The truck began to enter. Even laying flat, I felt the top of the door brush the top of my hoodie as I passed, pulling just a bit before I was through. I twisted to face the ceiling, looking around tensely. The whole hangar was around the size of my apartment's courtyard. Automated machines shaped like forklifts attached to computer monitors were going into the other trucks, pulling out pallets of materials and other items before zooming out.

“I’m in,” I mumbled softly. “What do they make here anyways?” I asked, watching as another machine pulled out a pallet stacked high with what was labeled as sodium chloride.

“Uh, let me think,” Poy mumbled. “Computer chips, biodegradable containers, AR glasses, power armor, nanomachines. They’re a big up and comer, so it’s more like what don’t they make.”

“You get caught yet?” Layla asked me, teasing but also sounding worried.

“If I do, you don’t get my things,” I slowly approached the edge of the truck. “There’s a bunch of automated drones.”

“You’re safe then,” Poy sighed in relief. “Costs too much to upgrade their software to see intruders. Companies don’t really invest in that kind of thing.

“No cameras on these other trucks either?”

“Like I said, they turn them off once they land. So you need to move so a new one doesn’t film you as it approaches. Just drop down and find a terminal. You see one?”

“In the back.”

It was the most obvious structure in the cement floored space. A large steel and glass square room, with a set of panels all along the inside of it, each panel covered in all manner of buttons and screens.

Goal in mind, I got up and hopped off the truck, landing in a roll and jogging forward. My steel staff bounced lightly on my back as I moved to the room and noted the door handle. I jiggled it briefly. Unlocked…

I held in the thought that this was too easy as best as I could.

Entering the room, I looked around. “I’m in some kind of security room, or control room. Where should I hook this thing up?”

Poy hummed to himself. “Find a port you can slot the SD into. Should be sized for it.”

I walked past a large steel container set into the back wall, heading over to the middle panel. It took me a sec to find a port to place the SD into, plugging it in.

“Okay, give me a second,” Poy chuckled. “Man, lucky they don’t security in that room, huh?”

“...You thought there would be? And didn’t say anything?”

“U-Uh, well, by the time I thought about it, it was too late?” I didn’t say anything. Poy stuttered. “Oh hey, one second, I’m getting a phone call!”

As he pretended to take a call, I looked around. Security. Security. No cameras. So then what-

The container I’d walked past hissed. A panel slid open.

I reached for my steel stick, stepping back.

“Good news, our contact on the inside got back to us!” Poy said, sounding relieved. “I mean, it’s good you got me a line into the system, but they can get the rest of us into the facility. Guess you didn’t have to go in, but at least nothing went wrong!”

“Do you have access to control over the droids in the facility?”

“No? Why?”

I watched steel, ceramic, and hardened plastic unfold over and over as it stepped out of the container. I looked up at it, it’s eyes two feet above me. The Talos Mech shone white and black in the harsh light. Armor crafted to take the appearance of a Roman Centurion was set over bones of metal. Obsidian fists clenched. One hand clutched a two-foot baton.

A whole host of sarcastic biting comments pointed at Poy, at Ramirez’s impatience, at myself, filled my mind. But I didn’t have time to say anything.

“Intruder Spotted.” The robotic voice echoed. And the fist flew at me.