There was a certain sense of nostalgia that came with a home, even if it was an overpriced wreck smack in the middle of a slum. I could have said that I’d had good memories in this place, but that would be a lie. If there was something that could be called a nightmare den, that was it—the place I mostly went to sleep, and since sleep meant nightmares, I avoided it just as often. Still, it had been my nightmare den, and having to leave it felt like leaving part of me behind.

“Wow.” Summer said from the doorway. “Never thought I’d see you clean the place.”

“I didn’t,” I said, taking the charm mirror off the wall. Strangely enough, that was the only thing the thugs hadn’t broken. Probably had to do with one of the weird Earth superstitions. I’d long stopped taking count. “H-Sec did it for me. They even offered to pay my landlord for damages.”

“That must have been fun.”

“Yep. So much so that he refused to take it, then told me never to have anything to do with him again.”

“He’ll be fine. The land’s more valuable, anyway. And this way he’ll automatically be given a building permit. A true win-win.”

In real life, there never was a true win-win. Of all people, Summer had to know that. Maybe that was why she was so obsessed with the idea. At the end of the day, everyone was a slave to their obsessions. I had my nightmares to chase after. She had other things.

“Need any help?” she offered as I covered the mirror with a thin, protective layer of water.

“This is all I’m taking. Everything else is trash or taken.”

“Even the massacre files?”

“Even my massacre files.”

“I see… Do you need your memory crystal back?”

“No, keep it a while longer. I need to get settled first.”

That was one of the services that Summer offered. In addition to all the memory crystals she carried with her, she had several stashes to use when needed. Many would pay good money to have a copy of their secrets stashed away safely somewhere, in case something unfortunate happened. Her rates were pricey, more than I could ever afford. However, there were things we’d do for each other for free. When she had come to me to help her with something, I had agreed, no questions asked. When I had given a copy of all the information I had about my obsession, he had just taken it, without saying a price.

“So, where are you going?”

“No idea. Clayton found me a place in the metropolis area. Closer to work and safer.”

“Aren’t you rising in the world?” Summer teased.

“I haven’t seen the place yet. For all I know, it might be a bucket in H-Sec’s closet.”

“Well, it’ll be closer to work, and very secure.”

“Summer, shut up.”

I took one final look at what had been my home and walked out.

“Any news on the charms?” I asked as I walked out.

“Yeah. Some.”

I waited.

“Are you going to tell me, or do I get Clay to send you more cash?” My question was meant as a joke, but the way Summer’s expression soured, she didn’t take it as one.

“No, not Clay.” She looked away.

It didn’t take long for me to figure out why. Rather, I would have figured out if the answer wasn’t staring me in the face.

A top of the line aqua-limo was parked a few hundred feet down the road. Back in the day, the aqua vehicle industry was supposed to be the wave of the future—one of the truly unique technologies that this world had to offer. All that went by the wayside after the integration of charms and human tech. Now, the only people who owned aqua cars were collectors and those who wanted to make a point. And the head of the Blue Dock Syndicate was definitely someone who wanted to make a point.

“Starnight,” I whispered, more to myself than Summer.

“He wanted to have a meeting with you,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

I handed her the charm mirror—I wouldn’t need it where I was going and I didn’t want to give anyone excuses to shatter it.

“It’s okay. I understand.”

Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t blame her. There was one rule in the slums: never refuse Starnight. If there was something similar to the Earth equivalent of a godfather, Starnight was it. The syndicate he was head of controlled close to a third of the city’s docks. Strictly speaking, he didn’t own the facilities or the land they were built on. However, he made up for that by controlling the labor. If someone wanted to get something done, legal or not, they had to go through him. And since he was reasonable and strict when it came to the big picture, the city administration and the corporations were rather understanding. As long as he caused any disruptions of goods, they were content to let him do whatever he wanted. The reason why he had managed to remain on top for so long was that he never abused his authority. One could almost say that he was fair in all matters. The problems came when he thought someone wasn’t being fair to him.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

The drive to Starnight’s place was silent. The people he’d sent to fetch me weren’t in the mood for a chat, and I had no intention of giving them an excuse to start one.

The aqua-limo slid along the road on a layer of water. In ten minutes, it entered the docks’ district going along one of the unused piers, then continued along the sea to one of the offshore rigs. The closer we approached, the more I became worried. Regardless of the trouble I’d gotten into the past, I’d never been taken to the rig. Personally, I didn’t know any that were, at least not that openly admitted it.

“Take your wristcomm off,” the driver said once we had arrived. “You’ll get it when you come back.”

I pulled it through my hand without hesitation and put it on the back seat.

“Now, get out.”

Half a square mile of advanced fibersteel rose three hundred feet above the sea’s surface. At some point, it had been the start of a military installation. Never completed for some reason, now it was Starnight’s exclusive property, transformed into a giant garden. The grass and half the flowers I’d only seen in pictures.

A stone path led inwards to a small wooden shed. Near it was Starnight himself, tending to a rosebush. There also were a half a dozen uncharted seated on benches nearby. By the glances they gave me, I could tell that none of them liked me.

“They say you can find roses anywhere on Earth,” Starnight said the moment I got ten feet away. “You just plant them and nature takes care of the rest. Here I have to work to keep these alive for more than a month. I’ve tried charms, Earth imported soils, even got one of the new drone gardeners, and I still haven’t seen any last more than half a year.” He stopped what he was doing and turned around. The features of his face were dull—an indication of age. “Do you know why I keep getting new ones?”

“Because there’s no other hobby like it?”

“Because I believe that eventually they won’t let me down. Some say that I should give up.” He pointed the bush shearers in my direction. “Some say that I should give up on you. You’re extremely high maintenance and I’ve yet to see a return of my effort.”

“Look, I’m on my way to get you the money. I’ve this solid gig that will—”

He waved his hand, telling me to stop talking.

“Your life hasn’t been easy,” he continued. “We all know that. I know that. When you needed help, after what happened, I was there to give it. When you had problems paying me back, I gave you an extension. Most of the punks don’t know it, but seeing everyone around you die like that changes a person and not for the better. That’s why I constantly ignored the mess you made, swallowed your excuses, and kept tending to you. After all, you never planned to disappoint me. Isn’t that right?”

“It’s right.”

“That’s good. Your parents would have been very upset if I had to do something unpleasant to their child.”

In several of the few conversations we’d had, Starnight had told me that he knew my parents. Whether that was true, or just part of the act, I’d yet to know for sure. The way he treated me, though, suggested that there was something to that.

“I’ll pay you back. I promise.”

“I know you will, dear boy, and with interest.” He smiled. “Until then, though, you’ll be doing me a few favors.”

If it were anyone else, I’d tell them to fuck off. Here, I had to approach the matter carefully.

“H-Sec have their eye on me,” I decided to exaggerate things a bit. “The moment I make a turn, they’ll know about it.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” He shook his head. “Always so negative. I know you’re their jester now. Which is why I’m offering you this opportunity. Don’t worry, you’ll only be doing small things. Innocent things. I’m sure you’ll make it so they don’t even notice. For example, there’s a small package in the car, next to your wristcomm. All you have to do is take it across the waterline. Do that and you’d have done me a favor.”

Any sane person who has asked what’s in the package. Any sane person ran a risk of getting killed as a result.

“Gladly,” I said. “Where do you want me to take it?”

“It doesn’t matter. You can leave it on the street if you want. Others will take care of it afterwards. All you have to do is cross the line.”

This didn’t sound good at all. Slowly, I nodded.

“And just so you don’t feel used, I’ve found the answer to the question you’ve been asking. Yes, your victim did sell a few charms here and there. Not much, but enough to get my attention. Naturally, I instantly recognized the product, so I…” he paused. “Sent an inquiry to Ellcron on the matter. There’s plenty of room in the charm trade, no reason to get in an argument when it could be avoided. The thing is, they never intended to get into the business, not even internally.”

“Not even internally?” I asked out of habit. “Why not? With that, they’d corner the market. Their savings alone would be worth millions.”

Starnight laughed.

“It’s a good thing you never got into any sort of business. You’d have failed miserably. What’s the point in cornering a market that you don’t need? There’s no shortage of charms, there never will be. For the price of a charm, Ellcron can get a monthly supply, weekly if they feel like splurging. The whole idea was Kode’s. I never learned why he did it. I was just asked to make sure that the charms disappear from the streets, and those he offered them to got suitable replacements.”

“Where did he get them, then?”

The moment I asked the question I realized I’d gone too far. Starnight wasn’t one of my friends, nor was he some low-level informer I could joke about with. It was already a small miracle that I was still standing.

“That’s one of the things I always liked about you—your sense of curiosity. Terrible for business, but so amusing.” He went back to tending his roses. “He made the products himself. You were right about that. But it was never about selling them, but consuming as many as quickly as possible. How that’s related to the rest of your problem, you’ll have to figure it out on your own.” He waved over his shoulder. “Goodbye, Neptune. And don’t forget what we discussed.”

“Thank you, Starnight.” I quickly turned around and made my way back to the aqua-limo.

The package was there just as he said it would be—a small box the size of a watch case, all wrapped in plastic. Inconspicuous, it wasn’t. Thankfully, it didn’t matter where I dropped it off.

I unbuttoned the top of my shirt, then shoved the package inside. It was marginally uncomfortable, but nowhere as bad as last night’s attack. Once I was done, I put my wristconn back on. There was no indication of missed calls.

“Where will you drop me off?” I asked. Now that I was leaving the rig, I felt a bit more talkative. At least I knew nothing would happen to me in the next few days, provided I did as I was asked.

“Why? Need to be anywhere special?” the driver asked.

“C’s.” I leaned back. “I think I could use a drink.”