Chapter 8 - Kane
Kane goes rigid.
Rafael has never raised his voice. Not when kidnapped, not when threatened, not even when he was forced to stay. But now he’s yelling. He turns toward the nurse, whose pulse flashes red in Kane’s HUD.
>ID: RAFAEL GUTIERREZ
>CORTISOL: ELEVATED
His brown eyes are wide, fixed on the gun pressed against the girl’s chest, with a hand hovering in the air between them. He hoped never to see that fear on Rafael’s face again. But Kane’s hand tightens around the rifle, shutting the voice out.
“Please.” Rafael sets a hand on the stretcher. “Don’t—she’s hurt. She needs help.”
Kane shouldn’t care what he thinks. This is crew business, and trespassers face the consequences.
Yet his usual dismissal catches in his throat.
Rafael isn’t some soldier or a techie hardened by the Outer Districts.
He’s a corpo nurse. His first instinct is to heal, even when it’s some Natural Order cultist who’d rather die than let tainted hands touch her.
One of the fanatics who blames VitaCorp for the country’s collapse and won’t even carry a gun because it’s “powered corruption.”
“This isn’t about cruelty.” He keeps his tone measured. “Her people tried to burn down our territory—nearly killing one of our own. I need answers. How she got in. When they’ll strike again. That’s how I keep this neighborhood safe.”
He inclines his head toward the girl, trembling yet still sneering. “Because next time, we might not get there fast enough.”
“But—”
Kane cuts him off. “What? Have a better idea?”
“I…I don’t know anything about this,” Rafael admits. “Have you—” He sighs. “Never mind. It’s probably stupid.”
Kane’s jaw tightens. He’s not wrong. Rafael has no experience with interrogations. But watching someone so capable diminish himself stirs unexpected irritation. “Cut that out. I’ve yet to hear you say anything stupid. Tell me. What’s your idea?”
Rafael blinks at him. “Um—” His fingers grip the medical tool around his neck. “At work, when I need patients to cooperate…I try to find common ground. Offer them something they want in exchange. Like dessert privileges…”
Positive reinforcement is hardly revolutionary. It’s standard procedure that the lieutenants follow with new recruits. But when has Kane ever used it himself?
He thinks back. Since Rafael arrived, he’s offered patient explanations instead of sharp commands, allowed questions without shutting them down, and even made small concessions without demanding anything in return.
But that wasn’t conscious. The nurse isn’t from here or doing this by choice. Yelling at him would accomplish nothing.
This Natural Order girl intentionally snuck into their territory and started a fire, almost killing an elder from the neighborhood.
Her commitment is clear in the scars from her former implants and rough palms from wielding blades.
But this close, she’s smaller than he expected, barely eighteen at most. More recruit than zealot.
Maybe, just this once, he can borrow the outsider’s approach.
“We’ll try it your way,” Kane says, meeting his eyes briefly before lowering the rifle.
Rafael lets out a breath.
“But if she tries anything, we’re done talking.” Weapon at his side, he pivots toward her. She’s eased since Kane lowered his gun, but her sneer remains. “As for you, what happens if you return home without fulfilling your decree?”
She crosses her arms. “I fulfilled my mission. Your building has been cleansed.” Her voice is confident, but Kane notes the change in her pulse across his overlay.
He shakes his head. “Not well enough.”
Years of defending their border taught Kane exactly how the Natural Order brutalized its failed “brothers” and “sisters.” Often in the form of public beatings and humiliation, all to seek forgiveness to stay in the order.
“But…I could give you something to take back—proof that you infiltrated our territory successfully. Intelligence they’ll value more than a scorched building.”
The girl straightens in her seat. At her side, Rafael glances between them.
“All you have to do is tell me what I need to know.” Kane leans closer. “Right now.”
A scoff escapes her. “And why should I trust you? You could be lying about this ‘information.’ Why would you hand that over?”
“Trust is a luxury we don’t have right now.”
“Prove it.” The girl raises her brows. “Give me something before I say another word.”
Kane’s jaw clenches. This is exactly why he doesn’t negotiate with enemies. But her information is too valuable to waste more time on posturing. “I’ll give you intel on a supply run. One that could be easily exploited.” Echo will set up a decoy route that loses them only a few hundred credits.
Her mouth sets in a line. “Fine. Guess that’ll have to do.” She glances at her leg, still bleeding through her trousers. “But can I get this taken care of before I bleed out and die in your shitty HOV?”
Rafael tilts his head to meet Kane’s gaze, and he gives the nurse a nod.
“Fine. But I expect my questions to be answered.”
A slight smile crosses Rafael’s face as he rolls up her pant leg, using the same careful touch he’s shown everyone else. He sprays biocleanser over the wound, drawing a wince from the girl, then runs a dermal sealer along the gash. The device hums as synthetic tissue knits the injury closed.
Once Rafael peers up and gives a gentle nod, Kane doesn’t waste time. “How did you get past my border patrol and the holowall? And how did your people breach it before?”
“Don’t know about the first attack. Wasn’t there,” she answers with a shrug.
“But this time—it was simple.” Her smirk returns.
“We exploited a flaw in the holowall’s sequencing—just waited for the refresh cycle and slipped through.
As for your guards…they spotted me coming and going for days but couldn’t catch me. ”
Kane’s fingers tap the rifle. A few days before the attack, Coda mentioned that the drones had flagged movement along the border. He insisted on verifying the intel himself before making decisions. As he always did. Only a deal with Echo took priority.
“Who’s your current leader?” he follows up, shifting focus.
Her eyes dart around the room. “I…don’t know her real name…”
His teeth gritted together. “Appearance. Describe her.”
She hums. “Uh…blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin.”
The description could match several old members, but Kane narrows his suspicions to a select few. Still, there’s no point in pressing further. His overlay shows no signs of deception, and it’s clear she doesn’t know much about Natural Order’s leadership.
“We move synth from a dealer in South Marina every Tuesday evening,” Kane offers. “He takes a route from the old packing warehouse through the docks. It’s barely covered.”
The girl’s grinning, but his attention shifts to Rafael running the dermal sealer along the last of the wound. “Can she move?” he asks.
Rafael glances up, assessing her for a moment before nodding. “She’s stable enough.”
Kane holsters his rifle and grabs the girl’s arm, forcing her off the stretcher. She mutters a complaint under her breath but doesn’t resist.
When she’s standing, he glances over his shoulder and shouts, “Wren!”
The lieutenant appears at the back of the HOV in seconds. “Yes, Baron?” She glances between the three of them.
“Take her to the border.” Kane shoves the girl toward Wren, who catches her and snaps a pair of cuffs around her wrists.
The girl struggles, but Wren holds her tight.
“Coordinate with Viper on crossing the holowall. Make it look like an accidental return. Hand her wristlink to Coda for extraction and intel.”
“Hey! You never said anything about taking my—”
His sharp glare silences her. “You’re lucky you’re going home at all.” Kane jerks his chin at Wren. “Go.”
“Let’s go.” Expression hardening, Wren tugs her away from the truck. “And don’t try anything funny!”
Kane leans against the wall inside, but his mind won’t stay quiet. He shut down Echo last week for suggesting less aggressive tactics. Today, he let a nurse influence an interrogation. Even worse, the suggestion worked.
Across the truck, Rafael fusses with supplies, shoulders drawn tight. He stays silent, but his disapproval is clear.
It shouldn’t matter. The Chrome Baron doesn’t answer to anyone, least of all a corpo nurse.
But the words claw their way up before he can swallow them. “I was never going to pull the trigger.”
Rafael turns, and for a moment, something flashes in the nurse’s expression. Understanding, maybe, or at least the beginning.
He cuts off any chance of responding. “The threat of violence is usually enough.”
The tension in his chest eases when Rafael offers a small smile. “Thank you, Baron,” the nurse mutters. “For listening, I mean.”
There’s no fear in his words, only what sounds like genuine appreciation. It’s not something he sees every day, certainly not from a corpo nurse who should fear him.
Kane turns away before the moment can stretch into something else. “Hopefully, I won’t regret it.”
His eyes drop to his wristlink. Viper’s message about Wren sending the girl through the holowall flashes, but Kane can’t focus. Rafael’s words echo in his mind.
Thanking him of all things. It’s almost ridiculous. Then again, nothing Rafael does follows the expected script.
Though the nurse’s gratitude changes little. “You stay until the fire’s completely out,” Kane orders, tone sharp again. “Pixie will escort you back to the med bay.”
Rafael nods without protest.
This is when he should leave—end the conversation. Instead, Kane clears his throat. “A replacement should arrive by tomorrow evening.”
“Tomorrow?” Rafael blurts, the color draining from his face.
There’s no other choice. This is how things have to be. He owes Rafael no favors. Yet guilt twists in Kane’s gut as he continues, “You’ll return to the studio in the morning until then. No one will disturb your room.”
He doesn’t wait for a response, climbing out of the HOV.
Outside, the scene only reinforces his decision. Coda’s drones circle the building, snuffing out the last flames. Viper and his team march along the block while Wren’s squad speeds toward fleeing civilians. The neighborhood needs medical support, and Kane has no one else.
“Boss man, you there?” Echo’s voice crackles through his commlink.
Kane taps his visor. “Here.”
“Bad news.” Echo sighs. “Dr. Hayashi can’t make it tomorrow night. Needs more time than she thought.”
There goes his entire plan. Not that Kane can fault the doctor. She’s already risking enough by leaving her underground clinic, but he just looked Rafael in the eye and told him one more day.
His crew makes sacrifices constantly. But this feels a lot different from asking an enforcer to stretch a shift.
He forces the thought down. Leadership demands a hardened heart, even with outsiders.
“Understood,” Kane signs off before Echo can even respond.