He Jests At Scars That Never Felt A Wound
Kerr awoke, surrounded by screens, most blown. The ones that still had power displayed only static. Her Opti had run its diagnostic and asked if she wanted to replay the elapsed time. Kerr selected no this time. Something was wrong and she needed to find out what.
Looking over herself, she found Mercutio still locked in her grip. She holstered her, silently thanking herself for selecting auto-lock instead of auto-release during the last firmware update.
The room had a bank of important-looking tech, all of it smouldering and sparking.
She doubted any of it could be salvaged, even if she did manage to get a crew in here.
In the centre, encased in plastic, she found a large red button.
Next to that, the statue of a woman in robes, but her face was a skull – almost like the Styx tags.
That’s why she was here. Kerr remembered one of them throwing her across the tunnel. Something behind her caved in and they both fell. After that, things were hazy. Someone must have carried her to safety, but with everything dark and broken, she didn’t feel particularly safe.
She drew Mercutio and checked the magazine. Four rounds left. Pulling the SmartTargeting chip from her pocket, she reconfigured her gun. Best to make her bullets count.
The door opened to a hallway. Smooth walls. Clean floors. An expensive-looking desk. Static played from what she guessed had once been advert displays. The lobby. This was the wrong way.
Kerr retraced her steps and found another set of doors. This one had a bright red sign that read No Entry Without Cryosuit. It had to be the Ruskov Chamber.
A blast of humidity hit her when she opened the doors. Kerr’s Opti recalibrated, adjusting to the even darker environment. The Doc Pod – open and still connected to the black tower, though none of the lights were on. The terminal too, was shattered. Model 2 was gone.
But past that, two figures huddled together. Lusa, she recognised. The other, laying supine in her arms, the most beautiful woman she had ever seen kissing the love of her life.
Kerr’s heart plummeted, along with her pistol. Lusa turned toward the clatter. Kerr covered her mouth and ran.
Alana arrived holding two RDC cylinders. “Is this the…”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Lusa yelled.
“You’re the one who told me to get these.” Alana made her way across the darkened Ruskov Chamber, two RDCs in hand.
“Not you. Her.” Lusa muttered angrily, bile rising in her throat.
“I don’t think she can hear you. Who is this and why is she naked? What happened to Kerr? I liked her.”
Lusa mumbled thanks and took the glucose RDC, holding it to the woman’s thigh. It hissed and discharged the contents into her bloodstream. “This is Mackenzie. She used to be Model 2. Then she kissed me. Then Kerr saw, dropped her gun and ran off.”
“That explains the nudity.” Alana handed Lusa the other RDC. “And why she tried to kill Kerr.”
“What?” Lusa pressed the second canister to Mackenzie’s thigh.
“She told Kerr to go stand near the entrance. If I hadn’t stopped her, she would have been killed in the first explosion.”
Lusa tossed the empty RDC on the floor. Its hollow clatter echoed around the room. “Would you be upset if I killed her after she unlocks the vault?”
Alana placed her hand on her shoulder. “You’ve known her for two days.”
Lusa’s temperature rose. Alana was back to being a bitch to her.
Alana pulled her hand away. “I’m sorry. I know how,” she paused, eyes darting around the room. “Intensely you feel things.”
It was a wholly insufficient apology for everything over the past ten years, but it was a start. Lusa could work with a start. “I know, it’s stupid. I shouldn’t care because she can’t know where we are. I’ve probably already told her too much. And I don’t belong here.”
“You don’t really belong at the Lake either.” Alana put her hand back on her shoulder. Lusa couldn’t remember the last time Alana had touched her.
Lusa wanted to be offended, but she knew Alana was right. Her and Talia were too much alike, but Talia had Sesi and Callie to temper her.
“I told you, she’s good for you,” Alana said. “Your uncle Cam was good for me. And neither of our lives turned out the way they were supposed to.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Alana breathed a laugh. “Typical. I don’t know where you got this idea that you have to choose to protect the Lake over being with someone.”
“Until now, who else was there to be with? And I do have to. Kerr can’t be a part of that.”
Alana shook her head “Just because your moms met and decided forever sounded good in two weeks doesn’t mean you have to. People date first. They get to know one another. You might find someone who fits you better than Kerr.” Alana swapped out the RDC canisters. “Though I doubt it. You’re a lot.”
Lusa let the jab roll off of her. Mostly because it was true. She knew her intensity had been the cause of her isolation and now, she felt lost. She had thought being social was trivial. Unimportant. Or at the very least, not for her. No-one had told her that there would be a test on it later.
“I know people date.” Lusa tried to cover her humiliation with indignance. “But I can’t do that with Kerr. She can’t come to the Lake unless she never leaves. How do you not see that?”
Alana took Lusa’s hand. Lusa flinched at the intimacy of the gesture from an adult that hated her until recently. Alana stared, boring into Lusa with her unnerving green eyes until Lusa relented and stared back. “You’re right. But you don’t have to stay.”
“I can’t leave them. They need me.” Lusa tried to look away, but Alana wouldn’t let her.
“We would have been raided and fallen apart a hundred times by now if you and Talia hadn’t helped us keep traders in check.
Of course they need you. We need you. But we don’t own you.
You can visit Kerr whenever you want.” Lusa didn’t know what to make of Alana’s sudden change of heart.
Was she trying to get rid of her? But she seemed too sincere.
“We don’t have the resources for that.” Her voice sounded wet. She couldn’t handle thinking of the heartbreak right now. They were on the cusp of getting Pinga back and Alana was cruelly dangling the possibility of being with Kerr in front of her.
“You’re not the only one who can’t find their person at the Lake. If we don’t do something, we’ll keep losing girls to trader boys. We’re not stupid. We always knew this plan was going to be a long-shot.”
Lusa wiped her nose on the back of her arm. She shivered, which, given her attire, wasn’t surprising. “Kerr ran away.” Lusa could feel herself placing new bricks around her heart. She had things to do. Important things. She wasn’t a knife for vegetables.
But annoyingly, Alana saw through it. “You’re right. You can’t go chasing after some girl you’ve known for two days when your sister is in trouble.”
Lusa’s heart ached hearing the words. Even though she had already thought them herself and steeled her resolve.
“But I can,” Alana said.
“What?” Lusa stared, incredulous.
“You get Model 2 to the rendezvous point. The back-up transport should be here within a day and you can explain what’s going on.” Alana let her arms flap to her sides. “Because God knows, I have no idea.”
Breathing became difficult. The possibility, however faint it might be, of everything working out in her favour agitated her nerves.
She needed to move, but Mackenzie wouldn’t budge.
“First, she kisses me without asking, now she’s having a fucking nap.
” Her legs cramped. Mackenzie continued to sleep.
Alana picked up the gun Kerr had dropped. “Tybalt or Mercutio?”
“Mercutio,” Lusa answered without hesitation.
“You’re in love,” Alana confirmed. “No-one else would know the difference.”
Lusa laughed wetly. “What is wrong with me?”
“A lot,” Alana said, not unkindly. “But as fun as this is, we need to go before more show up.” There was a note of panic in Alana’s voice – well hidden, but present.
“I can’t take all three of you on the bike. Or even Mackenzie unless she wakes up.” Remembering the awkwardness of moving Kerr with a concussion brought a slight smile to her lips.
Alana pointed toward the tunnels. “You think they all walked here?” Take one of their trucks. They have trackers, but once you’re outside of the city, they’ll be out of range.” Alana helped lift Mackenzie off of Lusa, leaning the surprisingly heavy woman against the wall.
“I had hoped to have Pinga back before now, but Callie is just going to have to forgive me.” Mackenzie started tipping over. Alana steadied her.
Lusa got to her feet and stretched her legs. It felt good to move again, but it did nothing to lessen her sense of urgency. “Why would she be angry with you?”
Alana took one shoulder and motioned for Lusa to do the same.
“Callie isn’t a fighter. At least, not like Sesi and Talia.
Or you.” They lifted Mackenzie together and walked her to the tunnels.
The destroyed lorry was no longer on fire, but the charred remains of Styx bodies still crackled, overloaded cyberware emitting the occasional spark.
“Remember what happened when Pinga lost her arm?”
“I got her a new one.” There was a hint of pride in Lusa’s voice, even though it could have ended a lot worse if her moms hadn’t shown up.
“Uh-huh, and when did your moms realise you were gone?”
Lusa remained silent.
“Right. Callie had the same idea you did and she would have burned all of Tyton if Talia hadn’t taken her with her.”
Lusa remembered Callie throwing herself at Piston out of nowhere. Being caught by the throat. Dangling helplessly. “She’ll get herself killed,” Lusa said to herself.
“Exactly.” Alana lifted Mackenzie over the debris at the door. “And if that happens, Sesi and Talia really will burn Tyton to the ground.”
Once Lusa had helped Alana seat Mackenzie in the cab of the nearest truck, she ran to grab a set of clothes from the bike. “They’re a bit large, but they’ll do for now.” Lusa’s face turned sour. Seeing Mackenzie in her clothes felt too intimate, but she had no other option at the moment.
She turned to Alana. “Find Kerr. Please? Tell her this isn’t what she thinks.” The desperation in her voice surprised her. She wasn’t supposed to be this vulnerable, especially not with someone who had been so cold to her growing up.
“Don’t worry about it.” Alana pulled her in for a hug, feeling her shoulder moisten. Lusa had been half this size the last time she’d done that. Alana pulled away first.
Lusa thought she saw a tear, but Alana turned too quickly. “Thank you.”