“They’re screwing us, Dad!” Colin slammed the hotel room door shut.
“No luck on renting out shop space?” Luther lay on the bed. The left side of his body was a ruin of scorched metal, exposed wires and broken gears. The left sleeve of his shirt hung loose without the mechanical arm, as did the left leg of his pants without most of the mechanical leg. “I figured…”
“Naw, that wasn’t the problem. I went to a dozen different shops. They all would’ve rented us time and space, but they would’ve charged us both arms and both legs. Funny thing was they all said the same shit. Pricing was the same. It was like I was having the same conversation a dozen times.”
Luther nodded.
Gears whirred and power sources whined as he shifted slightly to relieve some of the pressure the hard sections on the left side of his torso placed on his fleshy parts.
“The slavers came by when you were gone. Same offer. We join up and swear an oath to the king they’ll give us whatever we need to get me fixed up.”
Colin cursed. “Ain’t no way we’re signing up with slavers. No self-respecting Black man would.”
“I told them as much, like we did before. Second offer was to rent us space and equipment, plus sell us what we need.”
“Did the price go down?”
“Motherfuckers actually raised the price,” Luther sorted. “They tell me that if we can’t afford it then it’s no problem. We can buy what we need on credit.”
“That’s a new one. Let me guess? Twenty percent interest rate?”
“Higher.”
“Bullshit! They trying to do a debt trap.”
“We’re running out of options. I figure we have until the championships are over to get me fixed up enough that we can walk out of here and survive the trip back home. After that…” he sighed.
“They’ll stop asking nicely,” Colin agreed. “Sorry, Dad. Coming here was my idea.”
“Not your fault. It was worth the risks. Winning two fights got us the same amount of Universal Points we got this year doing the usual. I got a couple of free stat points and you got a few levels and a bonus Skill. I got stronger practically over night.”
“All that’s worthless if we end up in those collars. We can’t become slaves to these bastards.”
“What if we just play along until I’m fixed up? What’s stopping us from just walking away?”
“Don’t think that’ll work. They’ll want you for fighting and me to maintain and upgrade you while I level. I’ll be stuck here, probably under guard for the rest of my life while they send you out to kill monsters or capture slaves. They’re insisting on an oath to the king. I’d bet my left nut that’s a Skill. Enforced obedience even without a collar. We’ll be stuck here doing shit for these bastards until we die,” Colin said. “Hell, I’d bet my right nut that they’ll want me to make more people like you.”
“Maybe it’s time to consider what she suggested.”
“The woman with the monster eyes? The one that put us in this position in the first place? That one?” Colin scowled.
“I signed up for the fight. She followed the same rules as me. She was just way out of my league.”
“True, but fuck her. She didn’t need to cripple you and you want to listen to her?”
“We’re out of options,” he sighed.
A knock on the door.
“You order room service?” Colin said.
“Nope,” he grabbed his pistol off the nightstand.
“Slavers don’t come twice a day,” Colin nodded.
Luther moved into a seated position.
The damage caused by the mage with ten monster eyes caused gears to click and grind, power sources and motors to struggle and whine. Faint light glowed underneath his shirt.
“What do you see?” Colin drew the pistol tucked into the back of his pants.
Luther’s mechanical left eye whirred as he focused on the door. “Big guy. Lots of heat. Electromagnetic signals mixed with magic energy.”
“Doesn’t sound like the same guys,” Colin said.
“Be careful, son.”
Colin cautiously approached the door with his pistol pointed forward and slightly down.
Luther’s arm was steady as a statue as his son gingerly looked through the peephole.
Colin moved out of the door’s center line and nodded back to him.
“What do you want?” Colin said.
“Um… hey… this is gonna sound weird, but I’m here to maybe help you guys out,” the big man said.
Luther nodded to his son.
“Alright, but drop those bags and step back against the wall with your hands up, palms open facing me,” Colin said.
“Okay… just don’t shoot me. It’ll cause problems.”
Colin opened the door.
“See… no weapons in my hands,” the man said.
Luther couldn’t see past the doorway.
Colin pulled the door open all the way, keeping his pistol trained at the man’s feet. “What do you want?”
“Can we do this inside? I don’t want the slavers knowing about this and I don’t know how long they’re going to be blind and deaf.”
“Bring him in, son,” he said.
“Can I grab my bags?”
“Yeah, whatever, but one shady move and I’m blasting,” Colin said.
His son backed into the room followed by the man.
A big man, about the same height and frame as Colin, but in better apparent shape.
His son was stout and carried extra weight around his midsection, which was deceptive.
In the old days, Colin was just starting his college ball career as a lineman when the spires ruined everything.
Colin moved around the man while Luther covered him.
The door slammed shut.
“Talk,” he said.
“Yeah… so, you’ve talked to the old lady with the monster eyes, right?” the big man said.
He nodded.
“I’m the help she was offering.”
“Sounds like bullshit. You showing up just at the right moment,” Colin said.
“I know, but I was told to come here at this time and no, I can’t say by who.”
“‘Whom’,” Luther muttered. “Truth gem?” he eyed his son.
Colin pulled a small diamond out of his pocket.
“You with the slavers?”
“Nope,” the big man shook his head, “fuck those guys!”
The diamond glowed a bright white.
“Uh… is that the kind that lights up at the truth? Or a lie?”
“That was true,” Colin nodded without taking his eyes of the man.
“What do you want with us?”
The big man seemed relaxed despite having two guns pointed at him.
“Like I said, I’m here to help you… if I can.”
The diamond glowed.
“Yeah, that’s what you want to do, but what’re you hoping to get out of it. In my experience people don’t just show up offering the world without wanting something just as big back,” he said.
“Fair question. Let me think… uh… basically, I’m gonna try to help you regardless of what you say to the ask. Bottom line, we don’t want you guys getting enslaved,” the big man shrugged.
“How the fuck are you even gonna help us?” Colin snapped.
“Check the left bag,” the big man suggested.
“Go ahead, I’ve got him,” he said.
Colin tucked his pistol into his pants before taking the bag and heaving it on the other bed with a grunt. He opened it and his eyes widened as he pulled out a metal tube. “Is this titanium?”
“Yeah, don’t ask me where it came from cause I don’t know for sure. That is to say, the actual material. I know, vaguely, how it got machined into those parts in there.”
“Fuck me… Dad. These look like just what we’d need to get you moving,” Colin said. “How’d you get the specs?” his eyes narrowed at the big man.
“I don’t know.”
The gem on the other bed lit up.
“You’re gonna have to do better than that,” he said. “We ain’t trusting some random good Samaritan.”
“Like I said, again, you don’t really have to. Worst case scenario is I just leave that stuff and you guys can fix… yourself… and take your chances getting out of this city,” the big man shrugged.
“Best case?”
“I lend my magitech expertise to possibly make you better than before and I’ll even through in a few surprises for the slavers when you attack them.”
“That’s your price? A suicidal attack?” he laughed.
“No. Definitely not. There’s a plan. It’s just that only one person has the whole thing. You and me, we’re just waiting on instructions.”
“That’s stupid,” Colin said.
“It’s been working so far.”
“What sort of plan?”
“Basically… end slavery permanently, so that means getting rid of this place’s power structure. Your role in that is to be determined later, from what I know… but, you can also just take the stuff we made for you and do whatever you want.”
The gem glowed.
“Thoughts?” he eyed his son.
Colin grimaced. “I’m pretty sure this stuff will put you back into optimum condition. But that’s only one part of the problem. We’d still be trapped in the middle of a city where everyone is going to do what they can to keep us here. It’s long odds that we’ll be able to get out.”
“Well, the whole ending slavery thing might help you out with that. It’ll be easier to slip out in the chaos,” the big man said.
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“And if we help you out, it’ll add to the chaos. Your best case scenario means that we won’t have to fight our way out. If you win? Free the slaves and kill all the higher ups…”
“Solves most of your problems,” the big man nodded. “You’ll also do a good thing and there’s this massive multi-section Quest attached to the whole thing. Huge rewards. I’m talking huge! If that’s the sort of thing that moves your needle. Me personally, I’m happy with putting an end to slavery.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Colin nodded at the glowing gem. “Dad, this might be our only shot at staying free.”
“What do you want and be exact?” he regarded the big man.
“I’m just repeating what I was told, by the person I can’t answer any questions about. Basically, you’ll probably be asked to hit slavers and maybe fight the Gold Division competitors that took the king’s offer. At some point you’ll get instructions and it’s gonna be weird and out of nowhere, a voice in your head. If you’re willing all you need to do is listen to it,” the big man said.
Luther nodded.
That didn’t sound too weird.
Sure, it would’ve sounded insane before the spires, but he had seen plenty stranger since then.
Colin shrugged.
“We won’t be doing no suicide missions,” he said. “And if we don’t like the instructions we’re taking our chances and getting out of this shithole.”
“Fair enough,” the big man shrugged. “Before I can help you I’m gonna need to ask about your classes and how this…” he waved a hand toward Luther, “… actually works.”
“Biomechanical Engineer. Most of my shit is devoted to making sure my dad works properly. Otherwise his body would reject all the parts I built,” Colin said.
“I don’t have a class. I had a couple, but when… this… happened they went away,” he said.
“Thank you for sharing. I guess I should introduce myself before we get started, I’m Jake from… not here,” the big man grinned.
“‘Luther Collins’ and that’s my son, ‘Colin’. Also not from around here.”
“Did you come up with ‘Gearlok’?” Jake said.
“It was that or ‘Steamborg’,” Colin said.
“That was all the slavers’ idea. For marketing purposes according to them,” he said.
Jake raised a brow at Colin. “So, you’re ‘Colin Collins’?”
“It was funny for about two weeks whenever I had to change schools,” Colin said. “I’m a grown-ass man, so it ain’t funny no more,” he said flatly.
“Only if you don’t have a sense of humor,” Jake said. “But you do you.”
“I don’t need your help installing these parts,” Colin said.
Jake eyed the old, damaged parts on the desk. “That looks like mostly steel. Hard to tell with all the scorch marks. The new stuff is probably heavier. I don’t know what you’re using as a power source, but there could be issues there.”
“It’s proprietary. My own design and build. It’s basically a battery, chargeable through nearly anything, solar, electric, kinetic,” Colin said.
“Cool, cool,” Jake nodded. “Good thing I brought mana batteries to power the surprises. Neither of you have any mana, so you’ll have to find someone to recharge them when they run out or you can let the ambient mana in the environment soak into them, though that’ll take a very long time. I’m talking months, if not a year or two.”
“What are these surprises you keep talking about?” Colin frowned.
“Magitech… that’s sorta my deal, spells cast through technology. You want to shoot a lightning bolt out of your hand, I got you. You want a magic shield, I got you. You want to speed yourself with a Haste spell, I got you too. Plus a few more. I saw your fights. You’re all conventional weapons. I can give you magical ones, if you want it?” Jake said.
“There’s one huge problem you haven’t mentioned,” Colin said. “The slavers ain’t going to standby and do nothing once they see my dad walking around. As far as they know he’s jacked up and they’ve made it impossible to get him fixed.”
“Don’t ask me to explain, but I have it on good authority that all the surveillance they had on this room stopped mattering as soon as I walked into this hotel.”
Luther stole a glance at the glowing truth gem.
“And once we’re done… well you’ve got pants? You’ve got shirts with long sleeves? They’ll see you walking around they won’t be able to do anything without attacking you outright. We figure they’ll want to hold off on doing anything like that until after the championships are over,” Jake continued. “You need ammo? I’ve got a place you can go to.”
“What else can you do for us?”
“Well, Luther, I’ve go ceramic plates to cover the titanium limbs if you want. I don’t have anything for your cheek and jaw, but I did bring a magitech 3D printer,” Jake opened his other bag and pulled out a small device. He placed it on the dresser and pressed a button. It whirred to life and unfolded. What had been small enough to hold in one hand now covered three quarters of the dresser top. He took off the glove covering his right hand and wiggled artificial fingers. “I’ve got a lot of experience with prosthetics. And not just any prosthetics. It’s almost as good as the real thing. Sometimes I forget. I’ve replaced dozens of limbs for people over the years. Fingers, hands, feet, entire legs.”
“Holy shit!” Colin blinked. “That’s fucking awesome!”
“I’ll share what I can in the limited time we’ve got. And, assuming we all make it through this, I’d extend an invite for you guys to come over to California. I think if we work together,” he nodded at Colin, “we might be able to improve on the cool stuff you’ve already done for your dad.”
“Let’s get started. I’ve been laying in bed for too long,” Luther said.
----------------------------------------
“Oh my god! You’re her! You’re Rino! Can I have your autograph!” the little girl grabbed a card from the shelf, realized she didn’t have a pen, ran down to the end of the aisle, tore open a pack and came back out of breath.
Rino shrugged as she took the card and pen and scrawled her name.
When was the last time she signed her name?
She had to do reports for her official activities, but she just initialed those.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You’re so cool! Everyone is going to be so jealous! Can I take a picture with you!” the girl held out a fancy-looking phone. The kind that folded in the middle of the screen.
Those had just been starting to come out back when the spires had showed up.
That was the thing about magically refilling stores.
It created a kind of stasis for human society of the early 2020’s.
You could get sixteen year old technology, brand new!
All you needed was the right person with the right class and Skills to get the thing to start working. That wouldn’t be too hard to do in a place like the slaver kingdom and its 1 million population.
“Sure! She’d love to take a picture with an adoring fan!” Kare stuck her tongue out at Rino while taking the phone from the girl.
“You just have to touch the square on the screen!” the girl beamed up at Rino.
She sighed bending down so that her head was level with the girl’s.
“Okay! On three. One, two, three, cheese!” Kare’s shit-eating grin triggered Rino, but she forced herself to ignore it.
The girl smiled.
Rino smiled… barely.
“Hmmm… you can do better than that, Rino,” Kare tutted. “One more time.”
Her smile promised retribution.
The girl didn’t notice.
She was thrilled at the chance encounter.
Who would’ve thought she’d run into one of her favorites from the Freedom Championships while out grocery shopping with her mom?
“Thanks so much!” the girl hugged Rino around the waist.
“Uh… yeah, thanks… uh… be good,” Rino said.
The girl skipped off, clutching her phone and autographed card.
“You signed a condolence card,” Kare said.
“That fits. I aim to cause some deaths,” she growled.
“You think that girl’s family owns slaves?”
“Don’t know. It was probably in the info packet the boss gave us.”
“Hmmm… approximately one million total population. Roughly twenty-thousand enslaved people. Half that as soldiers in their army. You figure the rich nobles own a disproportionate number of enslaved. So, unless that girl was a noble, then odds are her family doesn’t own any.”
“Bad luck for them then,” Rino shrugged. “We’ve seen plenty of enslaved working everywhere. All the stores, restaurants, shops, whatever. It’s like five to one.”
“Depends on who owns the place. Small business owner or the king, like this place.”
“All I know is what I see and that’s people in collars manning the registers and the hot foods section. They don’t need to be doing any of that.”
“They have to create work to justify the need for essential workers,” Kare’s pretty face twisted.
“C’mon, let’s get what we need and get back to the cart,” Rino pulled her hood over her head and put her head down. She didn’t want to get recognized a second time.
They found the liquor aisle and grabbed an armful each of champagne and wine.
She’d rather have a beer, but orders were orders.
They followed their noses to the vegetable section where they met up with rest of their grocery shopping band.
Del stared at the floor with head bowed and shoulders hunched.
She smelled the sadness coming off the man.
He had better get it together soon.
Being depressed in the middle of enemy territory weeks away from action would get him and others dead or worse.
Rebekah and Alexa consulted the list as they debated over the merits of one potato versus another while Oscar leaned against the nearly full cart with his chin resting on his hand.
The young man looked bored and angry.
That was something Rino could address.
She snapped her fingers in his ear. “You’re not only here to push the cart and carry bags. You’re here to fight if you have to. So, wake the fuck up and pay attention to your surroundings.”
“Sorry,” Oscar straightened and immediately oriented himself toward the front of the store.
“Hey, Del!” Kare skipped next to the man. “What’s going on with them?” she whispered with a nod toward Rebekah and Alexa. “They look like they’re having a serious discussion.”
“Huh? Oh… I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Something about what kind of potatoes we need. It doesn’t really matter anyways. We’re making fries and roasting them.”
“But I thought some potatoes are better than others for certain things?” Kare said.
“Probably, I’ve never really noticed,” he sighed.
“They need to hurry it up. I don’t like being out for too long. It’s giving them openings,” Rino scowled at the man as she strode past him. She wanted to tell him to get his shit together, but she knew that’d only drive him deeper into the hole he had jumped in. “Yo, ladies. It’s potatoes. Just pick one and grab a bunch or grab a bunch of both, whatever, let’s just get this done so we can get back. I don’t like splitting up like this. We’re exposed. They’re exposed back at the hotel.”
“That’s what I was saying,” Rebekah frowned.
Rino bristled at the implied challenge but tamped down on the feeling.
Rebekah had done it instinctively not intentionally.
“I said we should just grab whatever,” Alexa rolled her eyes.
“Fine, then let’s do that,” Rino grabbed a five pound bag of potatoes and flicked it over head.
“Got it!” Kare caught it in one hand before placing it in the cart.
“What about the mini potatoes?” Alexa said. “They’d be good for roasting.”
Rino grabbed two bags and flicked them back to Kare who leapt to snatch them out of the air.
“We done?”
“Yes, Rino, we’re done,” Alexa said.
She narrowed her eyes at the other woman’s flat stare. “I’ll check for ambush outside the store and make sure our ride isn’t compromised,” she grunted.
She passed the little girl on her way out.
The girl waved excitedly.
She forced a smile and waved back, but didn’t stop.
She sniffed the air and strained her ears.
Outside was clear of potential threats.
She marched right up to their slaver issued SUV and driver.
She smelled the young man’s fear as she approached the driver’s side window.
It slid down.
“Ma’am… uh… what can I do for you?” the young man gulped.
He was obviously a spy for the Slaver King, so she didn’t show him any regard.
She stared at him, unblinking.
The driver’s eyes darted to anywhere but her own.
After what must’ve felt like an eternity to the driver she grunted. “Unlock the back. They’re coming out with the supplies.”
“Right away, ma’am!” he squeaked.
She continued to stare at the driver until the rest of her team emerged from the grocery store and loaded their purchases.
She took shotgun and continued to stare at the driver until they made it back to the hotel.
“You scared him so much,” Kare said.
“He’s a spy. If he’s terrified of me then he won’t be paying as much attention to the rest of us.”
“Oh, I know. I was just making an observation. Hmmm… where are you going to spend New Year’s Eve?” Kare said.
“I’ll stay with the Watch. They’ll need me more than Doran in case the slavers try something.”
“You think they will?”
“They did that surprise inspection for a reason,” she shrugged.
“Hey, um…” Oscar ventured, “can I get some help with these?”
The young man was burdened with most of the heavier bags as the other three had already made their way into the hotel leaving him at the curb.
“You know, cause, you guys are, like, superstrong.”
Kare growled at him. “That’s not very gentlemanly of you to ask two ladies to carry heavy groceries, hmph!” she spun on her heel and flounced into the lobby.
“You paid attention?” she grunted.
“Er… we had a car following us. Beige. Don’t ask me what kind. And there are people watching us from, like, two of the cafe’s across the street. And that guy reading the magazine in the lobby hasn’t turned the page the whole time we’ve been out here.”
“Good enough.”
Rino lightened his burden, but only just enough.
The young people these days had to stop looking to people like her to carry them.
She wasn’t going to be around forever.
Before she followed Oscar to the elevator she detoured toward the man reading the magazine.
“Tell your bosses I don’t like being watched,” she growled.
The man stammered a denial.
“Don’t bother with the lies. I can smell them.”
With that she stalked down the lobby and into the elevator that fortuitously opened with perfect timing.
“Uh… not that I’m questioning you… but what was the point of that?” Oscar said.
“I’m angry.”
“Okay…”
What she didn’t say was that it was mostly because of the collars.
Intellectually, the enslaved should’ve been miserable, hopeless, angry and so on at the situation they were forced to endure.
They didn’t smell that way. They smelled happy, content.
Even the ones where she could see and smell the abuse they suffered behind closed doors.
The dissonance bothered her to her core.
This place was fundamentally wrong.
An aberration that needed to be cleansed from the world.
And as the days went on that urge grew stronger.