The elevator’s doors silently slid open to reveal a jarringly mundane office floor. Rows of beige cubicles occupied the majority of the room, while the left and right walls were lined with obstructed, lightless windows. In the far wall was a lone door; the rest of it was mirrored, giving the room an eerie depth. Above, LEDs emitted a sterile white light, and below the brown low-pile carpet was scratchy against my paw pads.

I wiped my hand on my pants anxiously, wondering whether it had been necessary to stab that guy. I hoped it didn’t take him long to get to a clinic. Either way, my hand was literally soaked in his blood. I hid it into my pocket before wading cautiously into the sea of cubicles.

In the first cubicle was a tired-looking man sitting at a desk, his eyes locked onto a holographic display. I couldn’t understand the numbers and symbols he was studying, but every so often he would type something into a keyboard, before returning to intently staring at the images.

“Um, excuse me?” I tried meekly.

I noticed the briefest of twitches in his expression, but he ignored me well enough that I decided to move on to the next cubicle.

This time, the worker looked both bored and tired. Their keystrokes were sluggish, and their eyes focused on me briefly, but again, they refused to acknowledge me.

I moved on, going from cubicle to cubicle until I spotted an oddity among the genotypical faces: a woman with feline ears, and a drooping feline tail. She was just a modder, unlike me, but at least she was less like the genotypicals.

“Can I help you?” she asked without looking up from her screen.

I looked over my shoulder, not quite believing she was talking to me. “Uh... yes, I...” I stammered.

Her eyes flicked away from the screen for a brief moment. “Are you new here or something? You’re late.”

I shook my head. “No, um...” The words echoed through my mind: help me, save me, a stranger is trying to get me. When I opened my mouth, the chaos felt so far away, and I was embarrassed to speak them. “I’m lost,” I said in a meek whisper.

She pressed her palms to her forehead frustratedly. “Oh for fuck’s sake...” she mumbled. A chime sounded from her work station, and her attention snapped back to the hologram in the form of a venomous glare. “And now my pay is docked. Look, I don’t have time for this. Just get the fuck out of here!” another chime sounded from her work station, and she turned scarlet with fury. “Volume infraction? Are you kidding me?”

I backed away quickly, right into a solid form behind me someone. Strong hands gently gripped my shoulders. “What’s all the hubbub, guys?” asked a gentle, gregarious voice.

I ducked away from her grip and turned to face the towering terran woman. She wore a suit and tie, and her auburn hair was neatly restrained in a tight bun. She was smiling disarmingly.

I slowly lowered my guard, running a hand over the fur on the back of my neck soothingly. “Um, I’m sorry to intrude ma’am-” I began timidly.

“Oh please, call me Carla!” she insisted warmly. “Why don’t we go speak in my office, let the worker bees pollinate in peace?” She shot me a conspiratorial wink.

“Uh... bees?” I echoed blankly, but she was already away. I glanced back at the lift behind me, then followed close at her heels through the beige grid to the lone door in the mirrored wall. She ushered me into her sparsely appointed office, then indicated to a small chair in front of a huge wooden desk. My eyes did a lap of the room as I took a seat, noting an assortment of posters featuring seemingly random images accompanied by vaguely motivational words, a bowl of colorful hard candies, and a wall of glass looking out into a sea of workers in transparent cubicles.

“So!” Carla clapped, and the door shut heavily. “What do we have here?” she asked with a kindly smile.

Focus. This woman can help you. Be strong. “I was... attacked. In your basement.” The words fell limp as they left my lips.

Carla nodded encouragingly, her brow knitted with worry. “Well I’m awful sorry to hear about that!”

Hope flickered in my chest. “Really?”

“Oh sure! Just one question, kiddo. Why were you in our basement? As we all know, company property is private property unless you have a purpose. What’s your purpose?” She maintained a tone as sweet as syrup.

“I...” I hesitated. “A man brought me here. I think he was trying to sell me, but a scary-looking woman... shot him...” My voice wobbled as I remembered the sensation of it beneath my bare paws.

“Well that’s just terrible, hon. Would you like a candy?” She passed the candy bowl across her desk to me.

“What?” I shook my head. “No I don’t want candy! Aren’t you hearing me?”

“Well there’s no need to get snippy, little mister,” Carla chastised gently.

I stood up from my chair, the momentary calm that had hypnotized me falling away. “Someone is trying to kidnap me!” I declared forcefully. “I need help!”

“Oh now don’t be so melodramatic, sweetheart! It sounds to me like your friend the delivery man had a pay dispute, so he had to be fired. As I like to say, we don’t make the rules, we just live with ‘em!” She shrugged affably.

I slammed my hands down on the desk. “He was delivering me to some...” I paused when I noticed her focus was on my bloodstained hand.

“Not yours, I hope?” she asked with concern.

“Uh... no?” I replied cautiously.

“Oh thank goodness!” A chime sounded from her desk, and she beamed. “Oh good! My office please!”

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a pair of tall, burly, four-armed men with two eyes between them stomping towards us. Across the broad chests of their blue shirts was the word “Security.”

I searched Carla’s face carefully as I backed away from her desk and towards the door. “Are they going to help me?” I asked, a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Carla nodded earnestly. “Oh sure, that’s what we do here at Aiyu Logistics! Please, sit back down and have a candy. We’ll get you where you need to go soon!” The smell of her perfume was making my nose burn.

“I... I think I should go,” I whispered, lunging for the door controls.

“Have a seat, I insist!”

There was a three digit pin to unlock the touch screen. “Thank you so much for the uh...” I stammered as my shaking fingers ran through every single-numbered combination in a desperate brute force attempt. One one one? No. Two two two?

Her chair creaked as she stood up. “You shouldn’t be playing with that, young man! It’s not a toy.”

The pad lit up green for triple sevens. “Great meeting you, bye!” Before the door was finished sliding open I bolted into the cubicles.

The walls of the cubicles were too tall; I couldn’t see over them. I picked a direction and ran, turning down sidepaths until I was good and lost. I ducked into one of the cubicles, hoping I was far enough away that they wouldn’t find me. Suddenly the grids of grey walls turned clear as glass, and I could see to the walls in every direction.

“There you are, dear!” Carla boomed, her voice echoing eerily around the room. She hadn’t dropped an ounce of cheer.

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Not a head turned from their work.

I scanned the room as I ran, looking for something, anything that could save me. Instead I slammed face first into one of the security guards. His body was like a brick wall. My eyes watered as tumbled back onto my butt.

“Got somewhere to be, girl?” he grunted.

I scooted backwards, but found myself up against the other’s legs. “Please...” I whimpered.

His meaty hands grasped my shoulders, and I found myself longing for Carla’s gentle touch. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the pain.

“Oi! Who says you get to grab her?”

“She’s closer to me ‘sall. Don’t throw a Timmy over it.”

“Me throw a Timmy?”

The hands suddenly released me, and I dropped to the floor. I didn’t look back at the fighting giants as I crawled past them, then got to my feet again and ran for the elevator. I stumbled to a stop, arms pinwheeling as I tore around a corner to find myself face to face with Carla once again. That unsettling smile still clung to her cherry-red lips. Only now did her superficially friendly demeanor falter, exposing a glimpse of the malice lurking beneath.

I took a deep breath, pulled my bag around to protect my front, then charged at her. At the last moment I slid beneath her grasping hands and pushed off the wall, turning instead to the wall of windows. Glass shattered around me, and I flew out past the concrete walls. There was no moment of stillness before gravity yanked me down face first towards the pavement.

I twisted in midair, trying as as best I could to right myself. My tail instinctively helped correct my fall, and I landed feet first below, then rolled forward onto the bag. I felt a sharp pain in my ankles, and my knees and elbows were scraped, but otherwise I was unharmed. I looked back up to the broken window thirty or so meters above me, and couldn’t help but laugh.

“I thought cats were supposed to land on their feet?”

I looked up at a fresh batch of strangers loitering in the alley. Like most everyone else on this moon, they were terrans, but unlike most of them, their bodies were augmented with an assortment of mods. While they seemed to favor simple color shifts and animal features, a few also sported cybernetic limb replacements. The one who had spoken had jet black hair teased into spikes, glowing red eyes, and a thin, spaded tail. His worn attire was decorated with metal spikes and colorful paints.

My knees shook as I got back to my feet and dusted myself off. “I did, kinda,” I replied, only slightly delirious with adrenaline. When I looked back up from my dirty clothes, I was surrounded by a semi-circle of strangers with only concrete behind me.

“What’s in the bag?” The spiky one demanded.

I hesitated, but another look at the man revealed a pistol grip peeking out from the waistband of his pants. I slowly unzipped it to reveal the precious metals and gems within. “It’s yours if-” I began.

“It’s ours, and,” he corrected firmly.

I gulped. “It’s yours and... can you please help me get offworld?”

The crew of modders broke into uproarious laughter until their leader waved his hand, then fell intimidatingly silent.

“Good one! How about, it’s ours and...” the leader pulled a blade from his pocket, and slashed it across the bottom of my backpack, spilling its contents across the ground. “So are you? It’s not often we see an honest to void bastard around here, and seeing as you came from up there you must be garbage.” His breath reeked as he forced me back against the wall, pressing the knife to my throat and running his slimy, forked tongue across my cheek.

“‘Scuse me gentlemen, but that’s my garbage!” Boomed a chillingly familiar voice from the other end of the alley. “Back the fuck off!”

I looked between the mercenary woman and the lowlife. I had watched the former blow her own colleague’s brains out, and the latter’s first impulse was now pressing insistently against my thigh. I didn’t feel like trying my odds with either of them..

“Listen up, bitch, this is our-”

There was a high-pitched whine, and I felt the fur on my arms stand on end as a bolt of purple energy lanced through the air. The scent of scorched flesh joined that of ozone as it splashed across his back. He crumpled to the ground without hesitation.

“Anyone else?” the mercenary asked, then casually blew smoke from the end of her pistol.

I was pushed roughly out of the way as they all drew weapons from pockets and belts and waistbands.

“Oh fuck me!” the bast groaned before diving for cover under a hail of projectiles.

I tried to run, and my ankles screamed in protest. I ran anyway, limping out of the alley as fast as I could. I headed in the rough direction of the elevator in the center of the city, the closest thing to a goal I had.

Within this part of Port City, the tall grey buildings were adorned by graffiti and advertisements, the latter made mostly from neon, which blurred into unreadable streaks of color in my haste. The sounds of gunfire cut out suddenly behind me, but I didn’t dare pretend I was safe.

Finally, I came to a clearing in the buildings around the city center, where upon a raised platform rested two ascenders, guarded by an imposing figure in matte white armor.

A paladin. My heart soared as I approached the steps at their feet. “Excuse me!” I called out. “Um... brother? I need-”

“Who said you could approach the spire?” Their helmet turned towards me, but otherwise they remained at attention before the ascenders.

“Sorry!” I quickly raised my arms above my head to show that I was unarmed. “I need help! There are people who are after me and-”

“Were you separated from your parents?” the paladin interrupted.

“My parents? No, you don’t understand, there’s someone after me! She already murdered at least two people, and I think she wants to kidnap me! Please, sir, isn’t your mission to uphold order in the galaxy?” I pleaded.

The paladin stared at me through their faceless visor. “I’ve not forgotten my oath, mutant,” they answered.

From behind me shouted a voice that gripped my heart with dread. “Brother! I see you’ve found my bounty!”

I whimpered softly, my eyes pleading with the towering Paladin.

“Elaborate,” they commanded, folding their alloy-plated arms.

I slowly turned to witness the confident swagger of my pursuer, a nasty smirk plastered over her muzzle. “This boy has lost his way; he’s supposed to be safe in Goldmeadow. His parents sent me to fetch him for them. I’m sure you’ll find that my permits are in order.” She stopped a few metres from where we stood, and nonchalantly tapped her metal wrist a few times.

The paladin paused, seeming to weigh her words. “Your permits are in order. Go about your business, mercenary.” They spat the word ‘mercenary’ with the same venom as ‘mutant’.

“She’s lying!” I shouted. “You have to believe me, brother!” I tried to flee up the stairs, but they lunged forward and seized me by the wrist. I cried out as a searing pain spread through my forearm, made more intense as they lifted me clear off the ground.

“So you did not run away?” The paladin asked, dangling me by the wrist before them.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, and my response came out as a whimper.

“Speak!” the paladin barked.

“I’m sorry I ran!” I sobbed. “Please, you’re hurting me!”

“Pain is a side effect of weakness.” I felt another surge of agony as they threw me down the stairs before the woman who was to take me away.

I rolled to a stop at her feet, my vision blurry as I looked up at her.

“By the will of the void, brother,” the bast said, bowing low before the paladin. They couldn’t see the vindictive look she gave me, promising that the pain I was in was only the beginning. She pulled a pair of metal cuffs from her belt and slapped one side shut around my injured wrist, eliciting a shriek of pain.

It was as if time slowed as pressure built in my skull. The pain, the betrayal, the fear, the rage swirling in my mind became like a whisper. One thing was clear; nobody was going to save me.

I gritted my teeth and yanked my arm back, sending the mercenary woman stumbling forwards. She lost her grip on the cuffs as she tried to maintain her balance. I took the moment to roll to my feet, teeth bared as I stared her down.

“You slippery little...” she hissed as she made another grab for me.

She was fast, way faster than I was thanks to her mods. She seized me by the back of the neck with her metallic arm, titanium claws piercing my flesh.

I felt the pain, and moved past it. I didn’t have time to cry yet. I lashed out with my own claws, raking them across her forehead then dragging them down over her organic eye. The sight of its deflation as its vitreous fluid oozed through ragged wounds seared itself into my mind’s eye.

She released me as intended, staggering back a few steps only to trip and fall onto the steps.

The paladin’s laughter was like the twisting and tearing of metal. It didn’t make a move to help either of us.

The mercenary shook with fury, one hand over her popped eyeball and the other on her weapon. “I’ll fucking... screw the money!” she pulled the pistol from her hip. Heat shimmered around its ported barrel as she leveled it at my chest.

The laughter stopped suddenly, and in its place the paladin spoke. “Your permit does not include operation of firearms on corporate grounds, mutant.”

She spun to face the paladin, briefly pointing her weapon at it. She realized her mistake too late; from the paladin’s gauntlets slowly grew a matte white kite shield and wrist blade, the latter of which began to glow red-hot. “Fuck.” Her voice was low and even, her remaining eye wide with dread.

I backed away slowly, watching bolts of plasma disperse harmlessly against the Paladin’s shield. Their sword swung just a fraction of a second too slow, slicing off the tip of her nose and cauterizing the wound. The paladin’s laughter continued as it gave chase back into the city streets.

The moment I was sure the pair’s attentions were completely on each other, I made a run for the empty ascender. Every step brought a fresh surge of pain, and as I collapsed against the control panel the anesthetic of my focus had worn off. I palmed the blue ‘door close’ button, then the green one marked ‘ascend’. The sudden acceleration brought me to the padded floor.

I could only hope they couldn’t remotely recall the ascender.