Beck

Wednesday, 14th of October, 198 A.C, 11:26

“Stop lugging around cumbersome technology in your pockets and bags. Get the handless phone today, and join millions of satisfied customers!” - Chipper billboard advertisement

Don’t… Fall… Asleep…

I resisted the urge to lay my head down on my desk. If I could just withstand the next… I glanced at the clock… 4 minutes of social studies, I would make it to lunchtime.

“... The vast majority of humanity was eradicated with the advent of the Calamity,” I heard the teacher drone. “Most nations became defunct overnight, scattered as their borders were across the newly formed supercontinent.”

I could feel sleep begin to take me, but I pressed on, determined to get through the class.

“Society didn’t stand a chance, really.”

No use, I was beginning to drift off.

“…But we are nothing if not tenacious, and … smaller, denser areas. We’ll … weeks studying … link between pre and post Cala … and … various ways … affects…”

The teacher’s voice trailed off as my head hit the desk.

I was jarred awake by the sound of a bell playing from my Chipper. I groaned, and wiped the drool off of myself and the desk. I still wasn’t used to the new PA system, apparently.

I tidied up my uniform, noting a new wrinkle in my shirt, and wrangled my hair into a somewhat presentable state. I caught a few glances from people who had noticed me fall asleep, and returned them with a groggy shrug.

Well, time for lunch, I thought, and slung my backpack on as I walked out into the hall.

Students milled about in the hallway as they made their way to their next class. I hummed to myself as I made my way to the lunchroom. Notably, it seemed that I was the only person nearby without at least one friend to make the journey down the hall with. *That* was something that had to be remedied.

My eye caught on another person walking by themselves. A thin boy, with sun-tanned skin and a mess of blond hair that was in dire need of a cut. He was an appreciable amount taller than me, though that didn’t mean much, all things considered.

I didn’t recognize his face, which meant he was likely new to the school, like me. Perfect! I sidled up to him and cleared my throat.

“Couldn’t help but notice you were walking alone,” I chirped, “Mind if I bug you for a bit?” I gave my most winning smile.

He glanced at me, caught off-guard by the sudden intrusion. “Sure, why not?” he said. “I’m just heading down to lunch right now. I’m Kai, by the by. You are?”

“Rebecca Hartmann, at your service!” I did a little courtesy as I walked. “Though, my friends call me Beck… or, well, they would, if I had any. Transferring schools tends to do that to you. Guess you’re the lucky winner in that department, then!”

I punched his shoulder, startling him a little bit. “By the way, I couldn’t help but notice your accent. Where are you from?”

“Oh, you noticed?” he said. “Born and raised in Frontier. Only moved here a short bit ago, in fact.”

“Really? That’s so cool!” Despite how dependent Spark and Frontier were on each other, it was rare to see someone from one living in the other. “So, you must’ve led a pretty exciting life down there, huh?”

“Not as much as you might think,” he replied, an expression of distaste spreading across his face. “Mostly just boring work and a whole lotta nothing every day.” His face brightened. “But here, in Spark? Holy cow, there’s always so much going on! Everyone and everything is connected, and you’ve gotta be on your toes all the time. There’s not a dull moment!”

I was taken aback. “You really think so? Seems ironic that someone from Frontier would think that way, considering everything that you guys have to deal with.”

“Well, the grass is always greener and all that. I do see what you mean though. if I-”

Kai, along with the rest of the students in the hall, had stopped in their tracks. Just in front of us, five inky pools had begun to form on the floor, a wolf-like being beginning to rise from each of them. Their forms were shrouded in a shadowy mist, the only thing piercing through being a pair of luminescent red eyes.

I swung my head around to see a surprisingly calm Kai. “Alright Beck,” he began, “worst thing you can do right now is panic. First thing we’ve gotta do is get away quick as possible.” I looked around and saw that the other students had already began fleeing.

“R-right!” I said, twisting around. We began to sprint away, but only made it about thirty meters before metal shutters slammed down from the ceiling, trapping the two of us in with the Psychons.

An announcement blared in my Chipper, “Attention students. The school is entering an emergency evacuation protocol. Please stay calm and get as far away from the school as possible, then contact administration to confirm your wellbeing.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I heard Kai mutter, “Mite bit tricky to get evacuated when we’re trapped in with a pack of lupi.”

Again, he was strangely relaxed as he turned to face the approaching threat, much more so than he had been just a few moments ago when we were chatting. “Have a weapon?” he asked, pulling out, of all things, a black and yellow yoyo.

I thought for a moment, then exclaimed, remembering that I did have something. I fumbled with my backpack before taking out a lightweight telescoping baton, the whole thing made of a pale blue metal. It was Dad’s trusty weapon from his days running courier jobs outside the city limits.

The weapon wasn’t technically legal for me to carry. This *was* Spark though. Most people preferred to have something on them small enough that the Watch wouldn’t likely notice.

“Stay alert, stay light on your feet, and only strike when it’s safe.” Kai instructed. He slid the loop at the end of the yoyo’s string onto his middle finger and readied himself as the Psychons, these ones were apparently called lupi, began to advance on us.

I swallowed my fear and held up my own weapon, preparing to evade the attack.

Just before the lupi reached us, we split. I took the right, and Kai took the left.

I ducked under a pounce, the lupus who missed slamming into the wall behind me.

I risked a glance at Kai. He seemed to be managing better than me, even though he had the attention of three of them, as opposed to the two after me. His yoyo was a blur of motion as he swung it at his foes, cracking it on heads and knees. One Psychon buckled, and he swung the yoyo around its neck. As the lupus struggled he leaped up and landed hard on its torso, yanking up on the string at the same time.

Rather than let out a deathcry or flail around, the lupus simply seemed to go limp. It lay still for a few seconds before dissipating into thin air.

Kai flipped his yoyo up into his hand and turned his attention towards the other two.

Watching Kai had come at the cost of my own concentration. I looked back at the Psychons chasing me just in time to edge out of the way of another lunge.

The dodge set me off balance, so I wasn’t quite fast enough to dodge the other one as it rushed. Pain shot up my arm as its fangs bore into me.

I lashed out with my baton in retaliation. The strike connected with its face, forcing it off.

I staggered back, a burning sensation added to the pain of the bite. I looked down and saw an acidic drool beginning to burn holes through the sleeve of my shirt and into my arm.

That’s probably not good.

The second Psychon lunged for me, but this time I dodged more nimbly, getting off a kick to its side that threw it off balance. Before I could double down on the advantage I was forced back as the first one came in again.

“These things - *huff* - really don’t let up, - *wheeze* - huh?” I panted.

“Sure don’t.” I heard Kai yell back. “Are you doing ok?”

“Good enough.” I called. “How are you - *pant* - not out - *huff* - of breath?”

Before he could respond the first lupus lunged again. The attack was off center however, and I easily skirted off to the left, leaving the second lupus, still recovering from my kick, wide open.

I swung down hard and felt the impact of my baton against the Psychon’s skull echo all the way up my arm. It was enough. The lupus slumped, and was gone entirely a few moments later.

I raised my baton arm up in triumph, letting out a small cheer. Maybe we could do this after all.

In my excitement, I had forgotten about the other lupus. I whipped around a moment too late to react, and it struck me full force in the chest.

I hit the ground hard, any remaining air in my lungs getting pressed out of me as the creature pinned me down. Drool began to drip from its mouth, burning my skin as it leaned in towards my face.

Fighting against the growing panic, I brought my hands up just in time to block a bite aimed at my face. Unfortunately, the lupus bit my already injured left arm instead. I opened my mouth, but there was nothing left in my lungs to scream with.

Frantically, I looked over to see Kai desperately fighting his way over to me. He had taken down another of the lupi, but even so there was no way he would make it to me in time. The Psychon continued to bear down on my arm, and bit by bit, was pushing closer to my face.

A deafening crack sounded to my right, accompanied by the shattering of glass and a dull smack. The lupus fell off of me, gone before it hit the ground.

I went limp with relief. Another crack rang out and I looked over to Kai to see a bullet flying straight through the skull of the lupus he was fighting. He didn’t seem too concerned with the Psychon at the moment, though.

I followed his gaze through the window, and saw a woman in a purple duster look up from the scope of a rifle.

The top half of her pale, though currently flushed, face was hidden behind a mess of metal strips that vaguely resembled a mask. Her left eye was covered by a red digital lens, her right in grey bandages that I assumed were more for aesthetic than necessity.

Under the duster I could see a faded red tank top, a slightly ripped pair of jeans, and a matching set of red combat boots and gloves. The ensemble reminded me of the ‘street elite’ style that had started getting popular near Central. The aim was to be hard to look at yet undeniably cool, the success of which tended to rely upon how much the wearer *owned* it.

My nerves, already fried, spiked up. My mind started firing off different ways my day could somehow get even worse.

Of all the people to rescue us, I thought, Why, *why* did it have to be a Veiled?

“Tha’ss a twofer!”, the woman slurred. She made her way through the now shattered window. She seemed oddly off balance, and almost fell over as she made her way in.

After recovering, she made her way over to us. “Ach, you can relax there, munchkin.” I realized that I had begun shivering uncontrollably. “I wouldn’ta let you get killed. Juss wanted t’ see - *hic* - see your skills.”

She looked towards Kai. “You’re pretty good with that yoyo of yours, aren't ya?” For his part, Kai was standing still, frozen from some combination of fear, awe, and confusion at the Veiled in front of him.

“Y-you’re not… You’re not gonna hurt us, are you?” I stuttered.

The woman stifled a laugh. “Hurt you? Nah, munchkin, I’m not about that kinda stuff. Actually, considering how good a job you did kicking the - *hic* - kicking the ASSES of those lupi, I might juss have a proposition for you. For now though, you’ve gotta get outta dodge. These weren’t the only Psychons here. My team’s goddit under control, but you’re not exactly in fighting condition. Lemme take you outta here, and I’ll get someone t’ look at those wounds.”

As I staggered to my feet, she added, “And you’re looking pretty tired there, munchkin. You might wanna have someone to help you make your escape.”

Kai and I looked at each other, and he shrugged. Didn’t look like we had much of a choice.

Against my better judgement, I followed Kai and the woman through the window. Or, well, I followed Kai through the window. The woman wasn’t as successful going out as she was coming in, and unceremoniously toppled face first into the ground.

“Forgive me for asking, ma’am,” Kai said, “But are you… drunk?”

“First, don’ call me ma’am.” the woman said. “I’m the Deadeye. Second, nah. I’m not drunk. I’m fuckin’ *hammered*.”