Cherie Brefutan

Ramirez, Cherie, and the Redfield Employee had just escaped and went back to the building they'd been waiting on originally when the last of the police arrived. Cherie helped Poy up to the roof and turned with him to watch.

"The kids?" Poy asked her.

"Layla swung off with Yun. They'll be okay." Cherie lied.

They'd been seen on cameras. Soon, news reporters would spread their photos across the city. After that, police would start investigating. At best, the kids might have to escape the city. At worst, they'd be imprisoned and take the fall for everything.

Corps, any corp, couldn't allow their reputations to be tarnished. They had to be seen as unassailable. If that meant claiming two punk kids were caught stealing from them rather than a group of professionals escaping them, they'd do it.

Yun and Layla were done.

Cherie forced that dark thought down. Focus. Move forward, get the job done. "Get on my bike. We're leaving."

Poy swallowed, looking over at the building and gathering news crews. "Yeah. Sure. I don't do well with crowds."

He jumped on behind her, and Cherie pulled back on the controls of her hover bike, pulling into the air after Ramirez.

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Sam was in a VR Club when Ramirez, the employee, Cherie, and Poy met him. The clubs were common in Machitou, used for everything. This one was famous for being used by the rich, the kinda place where privacy was a guarantee.

Cherie was worried about that. They were often used for sexual things, and Sam was infamous for that kind of action.

Thankfully, today, he was watching hockey.

They stepped through the doors of the VR suite he'd rented out, and into a screaming crowd. The audience was made up of people both real and virtual. Cherie glanced down at herself, noting the hazy look of her body interfering with the environment. To any of the people actually at the game, they'd only see them as hazy lights in attendance. Fairy lights, they were called.

VR Rooms were tricky. They could simulate environments the size of a city with a room no larger than a house, through a combination of holograms, moving platforms, and in the most advanced rooms, moving programmable matter. Among the consultants to make them possible were stage magicians. Experts in tricking humans into seeing the impossible even without holograms.

Cherie didn't understand it, but she could admire it.

Ramirez led the way to Sam. He was leaning back in a simple floating platform, with a clear view of the rink below. Cherie glanced at the game.

Men and women were skating through a city of ice, concrete, and steel. They were dueling within rooms, fighting past obstacles, destroying the various robotic obstacles. A woman and man, the woman biologically enhanced to be a muscular and tall behemoth, the man that seemed to be robotic except for his jarringly handsome face, were approaching a goal. The woman smashed into the goalie, while the man destroyed one of the robotic drones to pieces, then shot the puck into the goal with surprising finesse.

"Gotta admire it," Sam said to Ramirez as they entered, the group sitting around him on the large sofa around the edge of the platform. Sam didn't take his eyes off the game though. "The first record of hockey is from 1773. The sport would be nearly unrecognizable now. But the core tenants. Skillful skating. Quick goalies. Powerful fighters. All of it remains."

"Gotta point to make there?" Ramirez said sarcastically.

Sam scoffed. "Not at all. I'm sharing my love for one of the oldest surviving sports in the world."

"How wonderful."

Sam clenched his jaw, then forced himself to smile. He looked around. "The brats?"

"We had to leave them," Ramirez calmly. Too calmly, in Cherie's opinion. She clenched her fists tightly.

"Ah. Then they'll take the fall. More money for the rest of you," Sam chuckled. "Thank god. Never liked Yun. Kid was too damn perceptive. And Layla was too cheery for a gutter rat."

"Sam," he looked at her. Cherie stared him in the eyes. Her hand played along her sword's hilt. He noted it with a quick flicker of the eyes. Ramirez smirked off to the side. "They did their jobs. That should be enough. Stop."

After a tense moment, Sam shrugged. "Fine, fine. Show us the goods."

The employee, still unnamed, took one of the bags Ramirez and them had carried out, and handed it to Sam. He opened up the zipper and placed it on the floor between them all. When he pushed aside the odd material within, Cherie let out a gasp.

Her HUD lit up at the sight of the vials laying there, neatly side by side. With a single bag, enough power to keep Machitou lit for… she couldn't even imagine how long, had somehow been hidden from her eyes. The fire within the vials was yellow orange, so bright that it couldn't be looked at for long. The VR room shuddered, and Sam quickly shut the bag again before the ambient energy could interfere with the electronics around them.

Even that moment had recharged all of Cherie's cybernetics and actually threatened to overload some of her mechanics. She had to divert power through herself, bleeding it into canister batteries in her right leg and left arm, breathing deeply.

"What the fuck?" Poy whispered. "That was pure aether. I've only heard stories."

"It's real. Real damn expensive," Sam said, sounding just as awed. "This stuff is everything. And if we didn't have cybernetics, this stuff is also mutative."

"What?" Cherie asked, stunned. "What do you mean? What the hell is pure aether?"

"You don't need to know," Ramirez said firmly. "Jobs done now. Sam, pay everyone out."

"Already done," Sam said, Cherie's HUD notifying her as he said it. "Same deal as always. None of us are to do any jobs for the next month. Live off that fat paycheck I just gave you. And if anyone asks about Yun or Layla, you never met them."

Cherie nodded slowly, still feeling sick to her stomach. Layla was just a kid, damnit. Prison would kill her. And the kids' parents. Bloody hell.

She got up and forced herself to walk out. The job stunk heavily. But at least it was over. Layla and Yun would be arrested, but they'd live. She had enough cash to start the next part of her project. Cherie had to move on-

Another notification hit her HUD. A pair of fresh bounties from one of the boards she frequented. The number for each person made her freeze, staring. Who the hell was the bounty for Cherie's eyes widened at the names, turning back and looking at Sam.

"Did you know?" Cherie asked, voice harsh.

"Know what?" Sam said back. Cherie swiped her hand through the air, sending the bounty messages to him. Sam's eyes flickered. For some reason he looked at Ramirez in shock, then turned back to Cherie. "Well damn. That's a lot. You going after them?"

"That's your takeawa-" Cherie cut herself off and turned around. "Never mind. If you don't realize it, I'll let you figure it out."

Cherie left Sam to his confusion. She had to get to Claire. Before Claire got to her.

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Poy

Poy watched Cherie walk off and swallowed, looking back at Sam, Ramirez, and Vergil. Of course he knew the employee's name. He'd learned it while fighting the system. Poy wasn't sure if he wanted to reveal that though.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Sam. Do you still want me to-"

"Yes, you idiot," Sam snarled, glaring at him, then at Ramirez. "Go. Then never speak to me again, asshole."

Ramirez eyed him. Then he reached out and grabbed Sam's arm.

"What are you-GAAAAAH!" Sam screamed when Ramirez flexed his power armor enveloped hand and shattered Sam's arm.

"HOLY SHIT!?" Vergil screamed, leaning away from him, while Poy stared in horror.

"Let me make something clear," Ramirez said, ignoring Sam's whimpering as he pulled the fixer closer to him. "I don't stand for disrespect. So if I need you again. I'll come back."

Sam cried out when Ramirez squeezed down on his hand. In the gaps between Ramirez's fingers, Poy could see flesh, blood, and metal from Sam's cybernetics. Which had somehow shattered as well. How strong was Ramirez?

"Do you understand?" Sam desperately nodded. Ramirez frowned and squeezed harder, twisting his arm. "Answer. Verbally."

"Yes! YES I UNDERSTAND!"

Ramirez let him go and rose up, grabbing the bag of pure aether as he left. "Poy. Come on."

Poy barely hesitated, following. He glanced back at Sam, who was glaring at Ramirez's back, before they exited the VR room, Vergil breathing quickly next to Sam.

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Poy followed Ramirez, trying to keep calm. They headed to the rooftop of the VR club. There, Ramirez looked Poy over. "How much do you weigh?" Before Poy answered, Ramirez shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Direct me to the dropsite."

"What do you- GAAAAAH!" Ramirez grabbed Poy under the shoulders and took off into the air, his power armor flying him into the sky with Poy in tow.

"Stop, stop, stop! I'm scared of heights!"

"So am I," Ramirez said casually. "Just send me the directions."

Frantically, Poy mentally sent the GPS code to Ramirez. The armored man zoomed over the city with Poy in his hands, eventually bringing them into the slums. The building they were heading for was one of those ones that were perpetually under construction, with open floors, concrete, steel, and plastic covering it. It had been around for as long as Poy remembered. And it was their destination, the pair coming over to the top floor.

When Poy landed on the rusted steel rooftop, he gasped, falling to his knees and coughing painfully. For a moment, he wanted to scream at Ramirez.

An image of Sam's broken arm flashed in his mind, and he swallowed instead.

"Here," Ramirez tossed the bag of pure aether into Poy's arms. "Set it up."

Poy hesitantly opened up the bag and looked over at Ramirez. The other man was looking down at the slums below, his eyes hard. Poy looked as well.

Same as always. Dirty, smelly, and full of way too many people for the small space. The building was surrounded by makeshift homes, with some tents set up on one side. But it was home. People shopped at open stalls, cooked food, played games, hung out with busted VR headsets.

Poy took his gaze away from the familiar site, lowered to a knee, and took out his pad, typing into it. In seconds, he accessed the programs of the tubes holding the aether. "What do you want?"

"Set them to open up in fifteen seconds."

Poy hesitated. "Open? This is unstable stuff. If I open it, there's no telling what effect it will have on us. Plus, I thought you wanted to sell it."

"Don't worry. I'm going to make sure no one gets their hands on it."

Seriously? What was he, some kind of eco warrior?

Poy pushed his skepticism away. This guy might be crazy, but Poy wasn't getting paid to be his therapist. Fine. Throw away the valuable material.

Still, he backed well away. Ramirez watched him get to a safe distance before Poy sent the code over.

"Okay. Fifteen seconds."

Ramirez nodded. Then. Before Poy could do anything.

He picked up the back and dropped it. Into the streets below.

"What the fuck!?" Poy rushed forward, dropping to his knees to stare at the bag as it fell. In his HUD, he could see the seconds counting down. "Why did you do that!?"

"I told you," Ramirez said coldly. "No one will get their hands on it."

No. Poy watched the bag, chill filling him. It seemed to happen in slow motion. The vials within began to fall out as the bag twirled through the air. His code finished its job. The lids on the vials opened. Liquid fire spilled out. Below them, the orange-white flame spread out into the air as it fell.

Poy could see people looking up. Then fire came down upon them.

The screams followed. Vehicles, computers, VR headsets, all became overloaded with power, exploding apart. The energy was a living thing, leaping into people even as they were torn apart by the explosions. It burned them. It covered the streets below. Children, men, women, gone.

One little girl was in Poy's sight, crying in her mothers arm. Her gut had been ripped open from a car exploding near her. "Mommy, mommy, owie, it hurts, mommy-"

The mother was screaming, clutching at her girls stomach, ignoring the other horrors mirrored around them.

Poy felt the hot liquid dripping off his face as he stared into the carnage. "Wha-"

He didn't have words.

Ramirez sighed. "Believe me. This is all for the best."

Poy swallowed. Then he rose to his feet and faced the taller, stronger, armored man. He instinctively tried to hack the other man's armor. Nothing. Ramirez had shut down his electronics. To keep Poy out. He'd planned ahead.

The small man, often compared to a rat in appearance, breathed deeply. He wiped away his tears. Then he shakily tossed his pad aside. "You're going to kill me."

"I have to."

"No. You don't." Poy didn't snap out the words, but they seemed to hit Ramirez hard. "This was wrong. You're a monster. And I don't care what you say to justify it."

He squared his shoulders, swallowing again. "Fine. Do it."

Ramirez hesitated. Poy hissed, glaring at him. "What!? Now you have regrets!? You killed them!" Poy pointed at the streets below, the blood and fire that soaked the streets. "And if you don't kill me, I'll let the whole world know!"

Ramirez stared at him. His face hardened. Poy smiled. There it was.

He felt a boot smash into his chest. Poy fell off the building. He kept his eyes on Ramirez. With every last emotion he had, he tried to make sure Ramirez would never forget him.

Falling off that building, Poy sent out his last. He fell into the fire, his last sight being Ramirez in blue armor surrounded by orange-white flames…

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Yun-Seong Kaneda

When I woke, I was on a slab of brass metal. My eyes hurt. So did my chest. I tried to move, but couldn't. Something was holding my arms and legs down.

A voice was speaking from somewhere. "-numbers are still coming in, but it's believed that over a thousand people have died, with many more injured. Those without implants are the most devastated, with our contacts reporting on violent mutations, some of them becoming aggressive. We take you now to-"

The voice kept speaking. I finally opened my eyes, blinking against the light that shone above. A black man I didn't recognize moved over to me. I felt pain from my right arm. When I glanced down, he had pressed a needle into me.

My arm was also tied down by a pale white band. All my limbs were. Fresh panic filled me. I tried to move, but he put a hand on my chest.

"You're fine. You're fine. Just a precaution. You were shaking while you slept. Couldn't operate while you were trying to hit me."

Like I was going to trust that. I was going to try and pull my arms out of the band, but he reached to my left arm. Before I could say anything, he opened the band there, releasing it. When I stared at him, he smiled.

"See? Now relax," he pulled the needle out of me, blood filling the syringe attached. "You're showing some strange symptoms."

"Layla." I said before I could think. "Where-"

He gestured with his head to a place towards my left. I looked over.

My sister's chest was open. Inside, her metal lungs breathed calmly, nestled within her organs. Her throat, lined in silver, had lights going through it. A man was working on her, using tools to adjust a variety of things inside her. Her fingers twitched lightly as she was operated on, eyes staring unblinking at the ceiling.

I reached out, grabbing her hand. Her fingers still twitched, but I imagined they calmed slightly.

"What happened?" I whispered, trying to get through the pain that filled me. I felt like I'd been beaten, then cooked from the inside.

"Where do I start?" The redheaded man working on my sister grumbled.

A robot came up to him, holding a tray full of a combination of power tools and medical implements. The man took a wrench off and worked on my sister's spine, ripping out one of the metal vertebrae and tossing it aside with such casualness. I wanted to hit him. "You fucking kids are public enemy one now."

"Zgura," the black man said. He was taking a look at my blood through a machine that showed it on a large screen. "Gentle."

"Gentle my ass, Arne," the man, Zgura, growled. He took a new vertebrae off the tray the robot was holding for him and with surprising speed, placed it into my sister. "It's the truth."

He glared at me through his monocle, then pointed to my right. When I looked, I saw the television, a beat up flatscreen. "See that. That's all you."

Death. The kind I hadn't seen in years. People in the slums, some bleeding. Cars exploded. Crying children and devastated looking adults. Paramedics, police officers, and firemen, trying to help.

I'd seen it before. But never here. And it was here. I recognized those streets. Machitou. And I recognized the fire.

It was everywhere. That energy, the one that had seemed to fill me. That I could almost feel inside me still. It covered buildings, people, the streets. A news reporter on the scene was speaking.

"-pure aether still fills the streets, forcing all rescue personnel to stick to only low-tech options, severely hampering their efforts," the woman with pale white fur across her face said, a lagomorph nose twitching in distress. "Any technology is quickly overloaded by the ambient energy, sometimes with explosive results. The sibling terrorists responsible, Yun-Seong Kaneda and Layla Kaneda, are still at large, but the bounty on the pair has increased to-"

"We didn-" I shut my mouth. No point. The pair wouldn't be operating on us if they thought we'd done it.

"We know," the black man, Arne, said, confirming my thoughts. "You were here when the first report came on.

"But no one gives a shit," Zgura snapped, bringing up an image of my sister's skeletal system. "They gotta blame somebody. And you two did steal that shit."

Oh…

I laid back, staring at the ceiling. Terrorist. They called us terrorists. And a bounty. A huge one. The kind that I knew would make every person with half decent skill at fighting in Machitou turn their eyes on us. The kind I'd never seen before.

I clenched my hands, trying to breath. Arne looked over at me. When I looked back, he sighed, turning his eyes back to the zoomed in image of my blood.

On the screen, my cells were bursting apart. Well. That was good to add to the rest.

"We're dead," I whispered.

Zgura chuckled, tossing another section of my sister to the floor. "Well hell, kid. That's the kind of pessimism that I love."

I closed my eyes and tried to think. We needed to leave. Immediately. Before hunters found us. Before the police did.

Oh god. The police. Our parents. They were in trouble.