We clued Ethan in during the ride back to the precinct. Willow Lee, who was now going by Willow Starlight, had informed us that Nathan Ming was a fellow practitioner of the Neo-Luminaries until just a month ago. The group’s faith involved a philosophy of revering augmentations, considering those with extensive body modifications as closest to perfection.

Ethan already had something for us before we set foot in the precinct. Being a natural overachiever, he always worked fast. When I was a kid, I hated that about him; sibling rivalries, after all, are often bitter.

“About time,” he said. “I thought I was going to go grey before you made it back.”

Ethan was leaning against my desk, cleaning his glasses. I could feel his energy radiating off him from across the room.

“You look excited Ethan,” I observed. “Did you find something good?”

“Oh, did I,” he said, grinning. “You’re going to want to see this.”

After putting his glasses back on, he pulled out a small metallic disc from his pocket. I recognized it as one of the newer portable models. He pressed the indentation in the side with his thumb; instantly, it spat out a 3D image from its core. The hologram floated and spun in the air, displaying a short clip set to repeat on loop.

“Did you just come here to flex on us?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “But I do enjoy that. We get better toys than you guys do over here.”

“Please, not this again,” I groaned.

“Let the man cook,” Gabe laughed.

“Thank you, Gabe. At least one of you appreciates me,” Ethan said. “I didn’t want to have to show you this on that piece of junk your boss keeps around. The lag. The resolution. And don’t get me started on the compression–”

“Are you going to show us, or what?” I interrupted.

“Always so impatient,” Ethan scowled. “Fine, have it your way.”

The loop broke, and the rotating figures began to move. Angelic figures made of light danced across the screen. In what appeared to be a trust fall, they fell backwards until they floated weightlessly, arms and legs extended. Then an array of wires snaked their way up to the base of the figures’ necks. The figures faded away now, and a line of text replaced them. The phrase “The Next Level Awaits You” spun out and rotated around the outer perimeter.

“What is this?” I asked.

“It’s an ad for the Neo-Luminaries. Willow’s soap boxing isn’t the only way they recruit; they recruit both in person and in the digital space. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

He shifted the menu to the members tab. There were a few names listed next to portraits of hazy smiling faces. Zenith, with a gleam behind his eyes, was listed at the top. Two other men, one Hispanic and one Caucasian, with similar monikers were listed beneath him. And at the very bottom, our mystery woman, the sole female member, was unsurprisingly listed as only “Starlight.” Afterall, she had said that “Lee” was her dead name.

“Take a look at their limbs, even just from these snapshots we can tell that they’ve all had their arms replaced. That’s four in a row, five if you count our victim,” he said. “Do you think that’s just a coincidence?”

“I can’t imagine it is,” I said.

“No way that many people with heavy body mods just bump into each other,” Gabe agreed. “Especially the girl. What the hell does a girl like that need those arms for?”

Reaching out, I touched the image and attempted to scroll down further. The device buzzed and bounced me back to the top of the tab. After a second attempt, I realized it wasn’t just a fluke.

“That’s quite a short list,” I observed. “Is that really all their members?”

“Hard to say,” Ethan said. “But it’s certainly possible. I wouldn’t rule out more members just yet; some fringe groups can get quite dedicated even with only a handful of members.”

“Their group sounds like trouble,” I concluded.

“Yeah, and we’re going to find out just how much trouble they are,” he said. “There might be quite a lot that we don’t know about them yet.” He scowled, flicking through lines of code. “I should be able to crack through their firewall, but it’ll take some time. Whoever they got to install their security knew what they’re doing, with run of the mill encryption I would have broken through by noon.”

Ethan was going to have a field day trying out all the different angles he could attack their security. There was no question that he could do it; he was one of the best in his field. The question was how long it would take. We couldn’t sit around to wait for him, there was work to get done.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Sounds like we should leave you to it then,” I said. “Gabe and I can check that woman’s alibi.”

“I’ll send you her sisters’ whereabouts now,” Ethan said.

“Skip that,” I said. “Give us the address of the Blue Skies Karaoke Bar instead. I know that place. When I was in college, all the Asian kids went there. I guess it must still be trendy. The place is reservation only; if she was there, we’ll have hard evidence.”

“Not bad,” Gabe said. “It’ll save us some time.”

Our Irises pinged with the address, and we hit the road. Our cruiser was speeding downtown yet again, and it made me feel some sort of way. I hadn’t spent this much time in Chinatown since my mother died. In fact, I had only been to this karaoke bar once before.

Back in college, the Asian Student Organization was hosting a night out. I figured I might as well give it a go. It was ill thought out; I caught on how poorly I fit in when I towered over the entire group and intimidated the other girls. I don’t think they knew what to do with me. To their credit, neither did my mother.

Pulling up to the Karaoke Bar, it still looked more or less the way I remembered it. The difference was only a fresh coat of paint and new signs of heavy wear. The door creaked when we opened it and a stout, balding man came rushing up to us. He must have had a sixth sense for law enforcement officers.

“Welcome, welcome,” he said. “Officers, we don’t want any trouble.”

“Good,” I said. “We don’t have any trouble to give. I’m Detective Walker and this is my partner Detective Grant. We’re looking for somebody that hung out here last Friday night. Think you can help us out?”

The man pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at his brows. His button up shirt was growing damp at the pits. This man was not fond of us, perhaps his other interactions with law enforcement had been far less amicable.

“Oh yes!” he yelped and made a bee line for the back. We followed him down the way, eyes followed us as we walked. It was nothing new, but it was none the less unpleasant.

Patting his pockets, he retrieved a small key and turned the handle. The door revealed a security room. Small televisions were secured to the wall in rows. After all, there was no reason to splash out for the fancy stuff for something like this. Tapping vigorously into a control panel he pulled up the files for last Friday night.

“Who are you looking for?” he asked.

“Willow Lee and her two sisters,” I replied. “We believe they made a reservation here that night.”

He muttered to himself furiously under his breath, scrolling through a list, until he found her name in the registry.

“Yes,” he said. “I have your Willow Lee.”

“Show us,” I commanded.

The video was grainy. Surveillance footage was never the good stuff. Despite this, I caught Willow’s unmistakable metal arms, long flowing hair, and the flower crown atop her head. Two women with similar builds, absent modifications and matching crowns, were singing by her side. Her sisters I took it.

“Can you give us a copy…” I paused, realizing I hadn’t asked him for his name.

“Mr. Li,” he said.

“Can you give us a copy, Mr. Li,” I replied.

He nodded and a few minutes later we were the proud owners of a copy of their night out. We had made quick work of it, in and out the door in under an hour. Our cruiser was there waiting for us. Unfortunately, so was rush hour traffic. I tapped my fingers impatiently on the dash.

“Let’s get this over to Ethan so he can confirm it for us,” I said.

Ethan’s voice interrupted me.

“Gabe already beat you to it. I’ve already ready received and looked it over while you two were taking the scenic route.”

“I hate to break it to you, Ethan, but there is nothing scenic about smog and traffic.

He pretended he didn’t hear me.

“The woman’s alibi checks out,” he said. “Willow Lee was there with her sisters all night.”

I could have protested, but it wasn’t worth the effort.

“What do you have for us?” I asked.

“More than I can show you right now,” he said. “Let’s start with this clip. It won’t be the same experience through your Iris, but beggars can’t be choosers.”

It was a recording of what appeared to be a sermon. A seemingly young man was standing in front of a podium, addressing the audience. The limitations of our Irises kept us from making out his features.

However, from what we could tell, he was a disproportionately tall man with arms and legs far too long for his main torso. He looked like stretched taffy, topped with a head of shoulder length brown hair, and dressed in loose off-white robes and a long brown vest.

“This guy goes by “Zenith,” and he is the de facto leader of the group. He basically popped out of nowhere five years ago, at the same time the Neo-Luminaries did. However, I can’t find any records of anyone with that name matching his description existing outside of the group – no medical records, no schooling, nothing.”

“An alias,” I observed. “Do you think you can find us his real identity?”

“It’s only a matter of time,” Ethan determined. “I already found quite a bit of information on him. They’ve had five years to build up their online presence and there are hundreds of videos, thousands of photos, and even more in written text. I’m having my programs scrap and process it right now.”

“Gonna give us the good stuff, right?” Gabe asked. “I’m dying to find out more about this freak show.”

“Oh, I will,” Ethan confirmed. “I’m going to have a lot of fun with this one.”

***

That night I stood on my balcony overlooking the city. The light from the city fought against the dark. Even at this hour, the city buzzed with activity. I could hear the faint sound of horns that followed the hum of traffic. Lines of cars, small as specks, always had somewhere to go.

The city, like me, was still restless. It was nights like this that reminded me that this was the city that never slept. Each of those miniscule buildings held so many lives. Those buildings, that from my perspective were small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, practically held their own microcosm.

Neighbors could kill each other in the privacy of their own homes without anyone noticing until the smell became so overpowering from the street that someone called it in. The combination of overwhelm and indifference of the people and the limitations of the VCPD allowed a predatory group like the Neo-Luminaries to coast under the radar for five years.

It made me sick, but there were always bigger fish to fry and not enough manpower to go around. The Neo-Luminaries weren’t worth our time until a man turned up dead. Volare City often had crimes, lightly covered at best, or even openly flaunted, that were still never addressed or investigated. If there was a god who made us in his image, would this have been what he intended for us?