by Nathan Howe
Steve’s lips quivered. “But yours taste the best. The ones here just don’t compare.”
Jack tilted his head. “Really?”
“Yup, best around. Worth the pain and money.”
After I had left the tattoo parlor, it was late. With little daylight left, I went back to my place and crashed. When I entered my office, I hung my coat up and got something to eat, another frozen dinner for me. As my dinner was heating up, I went back to my last case where I needed to find someone. I didn’t like to think about the case, but I needed the information. While I don’t keep the best notes, if there is anything from a case that might help me out later, I write it down. For the Butcher case, I used a spell that helped me track people down.
The only problem was I needed a part of the suspect to do it, anything would work, even a piece of hair. Since I didn’t know anything about Cyberhex, let alone have any part of the hacker, I didn’t know if it would work.
The buzzer on the microwave went off. I went over to get my barely edible dinner. As I ate, I wondered if I could do it the spell over the internet as they hacked. I felt the hacker, during the last hack, maybe that was really a part of the hacker. I still don’t fully understand magic, but I believe casting a spell is like a fingerprint, everybody is different. With no other ideas, I looked over the formula, I still had all the supplies I needed. I finished my dinner and gathered the supplies. I wasn't sure if this would work, but it was the best I had at the moment. With a firmly established game plan, I went to bed.
The next day I headed over to the Phalanx offices in downtown and went straight to Drake with my theory.
“Is that the only way?” Drake asked.
“I know it’s not ideal, and it means waiting for another attack. With potentially more losses. But I can’t find Cyberhex without it. I’m not even sure it will work, but I think it will.”
“But you're a PI can’t you try something else?”
“I have, but Cyberhex is a ghost. I was attacked by a hacker for just bringing up the name. Nobody knows who Cyberhex is, not even the Coalition, all they know is the name.”
Drake didn’t look happy. “That’s reassuring.”
“I’m trying,” I said. “This isn’t my typical case. I told you upfront that I’m not a computer guy.”
He waved me off. “Yes, yes. I know. So, you’ll be here waiting until it happens again?”
I nodded. “I will. Right here with you.”
“Great,” Drake said.
It took several frustrating days for the next attack to happen. In many ways, it was a relief for Drake no attack happened, but he was in constant fear it would. I was pacing back and forward in the hallway outside his office, and a cold chill ran down my spine. I knew an attack was happening, Drake’s cussing aside.
I charged into his office, Drake’s head was down on his keyboard. I didn’t have much time as the attacks didn’t last long. If I don’t get to Cyberhex this time, I might be out of a job. Luckily, I was ready for an attack with all the ingredients mixed together in a bowl.
I grabbed the bowl and reached out to the hacker, my whole body became cold. Cyberhex was everywhere, devouring me. For a second I forgot what I should have been doing. I shook my head and seized part of the hackers magic, at least that is the best way I could describe it.
With Cyberhex’s magic in hand, I reached into myself as I had practiced, this was still new to me. I focused on the bowl and the feeling of the magic. It didn’t take long for me to sense the hacker. To sense her. I could tell it was a female, and she wasn’t far away, someplace in downtown. I jumped to my feet. “I got her.”
“You do?” Drake asked. He didn’t sound enthusiastic.
“I do. I’ll see you in a few. Hopefully, after I’ve dealt with her.”
I dashed out of the building and to my car. With each step I took, the feeling I had on her was stronger. It was the same as last time when I was tracking a client to save her from the Butcher.
The trail took me to one of the few residential parts of the island. It was extremely upscale, way more money than I’d ever have was required to live here. My car made me stand out.
Pulling into a modest house, I was certain Cyberhex was here. It was a small blessing she wasn’t in another city. If she had been way over in Azure City or something, I’d never have gotten to her before the spell wore off.
As it was, I stepped out of the car and went to the door and knocked. I could tell from the spell that she didn’t know anyone was coming after her because the knock came as a shock to her. A woman in her forties answered and as soon as she saw me, she sprinted away. I was trying to be polite, so I didn’t charge in, but I was kicking myself for not doing it. I entered the house and gave chase.
“Cyberhex,” I called after her. “I know who you are. You can’t get away.”
“That is where you’re wrong,” she said. Her face covered in anger. “I don’t need to get away, I just need to kill you. Nobody knows where you are.” She was right. In my haste to stop her, I didn’t tell anybody or the Coalition where I was. It was a bad habit that I should try to break.
With that the doors shut and locked, she had total control of the house. My only hope was she didn’t have weapons like Viper did. The blinds closed, and the lights turned off, making it hard to see. I grabbed my flashlight tattoo on my leg, pulled it out, and turned it on. She was nowhere in sight.
I looked around to see if I could find any rooms she may have gone into when the TV came on. A head wearing a porcelain mask painted with a cyber theme. “I see you figured it out who I was,” she said. “Why don’t you return the favor.” I didn’t know who she was I only just found her, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.
“Not going to happen,” I said. “You scare other hackers half to death. I don’t think I’ll give you a chance at ruining my life.”
“So be it,” she hissed. The TV went dead, then the house alarms sounded. Deafening. I fell to one knee and covered my ears. Then the fire system went off, drenching me in water. If I had to guess these walls were sound proof and nobody but me could hear the alarms. Luckily, I had a tattoo just for the occasion. I took off my left boot and on my foot was a pair of earplugs, I never thought I would need them. I pulled them out and put them in my ear while they weren’t the best it made the noise bearable.
With my senses on overload, I couldn’t pinpoint where she was. All I could tell is she was in the house. I figured if she was using alarms and rain she had no real weapons at her disposal. I started my search for her. The home was big, so there were many places to hide. I needed to make sure she couldn’t sneak up on me, she may not have any weapons, but a kitchen knife would still do me in.
I searched room by room, with the alarms still blaring I couldn’t hear if she were moving around the house. It was a cat-and-mouse game, and I wasn’t going to lose. After I checked the first and second floor with no luck, I headed to the basement. When I reached the door, I could tell this wasn’t a standard basement door. I knock on it, it was metal and most likely bullet proof. I went to open it, but I paused, I didn’t want to go down there as it could be a trap, but I looked everywhere else. I open the door and then I was hit in the back. I took a step forward but caught myself before falling, and I tried to turn around, but it was no use. I was kicked again and fell down the stairs.
I flip head over a couple of time before I hit the floor, this wasn’t the first time I was kicked down a flight of stairs. When I looked up, I saw her shutting the door. I stood up and dusted myself off and cracked my neck. I had enough of this woman I was no longer going to be nice. “Fuck this,” I said. I had sworn to be a better person not to kill people like I used to. Not to risk others, but this lady had robbed people, stole their personal information for who knows why, and now she was annoying me. I’ll admit, I let my temper get the better of me at that moment. It wasn’t my finest moment.
She had no clue who I was, so she didn’t know if I had any powers. She th
ought I was trapped down here, but that was not the case. I had many ways of getting out, but I wasn’t playing games anymore. I grabbed the C4 from my body and marched up the stairs. I set it up on the door and ran the wire down the stairs. Not caring if she got hurt, I set it off. I could hardly hear the explosions with my ear plugs and the alarms still ringing.
I walked up the debris-covered stairs. When I entered the main floor, I saw her on the ground crawling away from the door. She was far enough away that the blast didn’t kill her, but it sure did hurt. I headed over to her, and when I reached her, she rolled over.
“How?” she asked. “I scanned you. All you had was a flashlight. You shouldn’t have been able to do this.”
“That’s my secret,” I said. I took her mask and placed it in my pocket. She had a smile on her face as she passed out from the pain. The house went silent. “Thank god.” I checked her pulse, she was still alive.
I pulled out my phone and called Inflamed. She was technically my boss at the Hero Coalition. She was the local leader in Cynosure. She reported directly to the big guy.
“I have Cyberhex,” I said. “Come get her.”
I hung up and a short time later, Inflamed with her bright orange hair arrived with a fleet of Ardents.
Inflamed saw Cyberhex lying on the floor. “Did you kill her?” she asked.
“No, she passed out from the pain.” I didn’t want to tell her I used C4, she would find out, but that would be in a couple of days. “But It did cross my mind. She annoyed me. I'll have this headache for days.”
“You can’t kill people because they give you a headache,” Inflamed said.
“I didn’t. I wanted to, but I restrained myself. All I know is that she was hacking people and hurting them.”
“She was. Had been on our watch list for a while.”
“Well, then,” I said. “You’re welcome.”
I left the scene and drove back to see Drake and Ron. My clothes were still damp, and my head throbbed when I arrived. I walked in ignoring the receptionist and went straight to Drake’s office. I didn’t even knock.
He jumped up when I entered. “You’re soaking wet.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” I said. “I got her. The Coalition is taking her into custody as we speak.”
Drake sank into his chair, “Thank you.”
Jack burst out laughing.
“What?” Steve asked.
It had taken several minutes before Jack had composed himself enough to talk. “You didn’t do one bit of computer stuff on this.”
“And?”
“You stopped a hacker, without using a computer,” Jack said. “I find that absolutely hilarious.”
Steve looked at him quizzically. “I guess. It doesn’t matter. She is behind bars and not stealing from people.”
Jack stood. “Well, it was impressive. Thanks for the story.” He gulped the last of his drink. “I have to go. Meeting up with Ambrosine for a date tonight.”
Steve smiled. He was happy that his two best friends were hitting it off. Even if he was alone, and all he did was work. At least some people were out enjoying life.
Steve’s body ached, and the process of getting the tattoos hadn’t even begun. It was the anticipation of it. Knowing the pain of a thousand pinpricks piercing the body. It was a pain that Steve knew better than any person. He has had basically the same tattoos done on his body so many times he lost count.
“I swear,” Jack said. He was next to Steve prepping everything he needed. “You lose your tattoos on purpose. You like the pain.”
His body slumped in the chair as he looked over at Jack. “I do not enjoy this. It hurts like hell.”
Jack shrugged. “Could have fooled me.”
Steve grunted. “I try not to lose any, but when dealing with people like Cyberhex, it is tough. She can play some nasty tricks on you.”
Jack shivered at the thought of it. “I still can’t believe she escaped.”
“I can. The Hero Coalition at times is overconfident.”
Jack tilted his head. “I never seem to see them that way. They always appeared to be less confident. Look at Djinn Park. They seemed too reluctant to even try to fix it.”
“That is different,” Steve said.
“You’re right,” Jack said. “Where do you want me to start.”
“Swords on the back.”
“Okay.”
“I’m assuming you want to hear the story as you work.”
Jack laughed. “I do.”
I sat at my desk after finishing my workout for the day. Not more than a minute after I sat down my door burst open with enough force to knock the old thing off its hinges. It scared me half to death. No one ever entered my place that way. I was up on my feet and pulling one of the sig’s before I saw who it was.
Inflamed stood in the door frame with the most intense gaze I’ve ever gotten on her face. The anger and frustration were radiating from her. I replaced the weapon and sat back in my chair. Her body stiff, she stalked over to me.
She glared at me for a long silent minute. It was intense in the room, and the longer it went on, the more I hoped I hadn’t done something to get her this pissed off. If I didn’t know any better, she appeared ready to rip my head right off, and she had the ability to do something close to it.
“You have to come to HQ,” she said through gritted teeth.
I looked up at her. “Why?”
Closing my eyes, I tried to come up with a reason that I needed to. It made me anxious. I hadn’t missed any meeting or some sort of duty. Being a part time member wasn’t that bad. There were very few actual responsibilities, but it also meant I had to listen to her now. I glanced back up at her to see if she was still watching me. She was.
“Cyberhex escaped two days ago, and she is attacking us.”
I barely contained a nervous laugh. I should have been angry with them, but instead, it scared me. “You had Cyberhex for all of three days before she got free? That has to be a record.”
She nodded. “It is.”
I held back a smile. This was truly hilarious to me. But with an Ardent like Cyberhex, I needed to take it more seriously. She could hurt a lot of people. “And you waited this long to tell me, because?”
Her nose crinkled and her face turned red with frustration. “It wasn’t important to you, but now she is attacking us. You found her the first time.”
“I did.” The direction this was going frightened me.
“Then you can do it again.”
I shrugged. Dealing with Cyberhex again was something I wanted nothing to do with. It was beyond my normal area, and I still wasn’t comfortable with dealing with the computer side of the job. It made me anxious because she terrified me. “Do I have to?”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her coalition uniform was much like the others, it hugged her muscular body. She wasn’t an unattractive woman, but I would never tell her that. Her flame red hair and temper matched her outfit perfectly. “You don’t have a choice in the matter.”
I groaned. “Fine, but because you waited so long she could be anywhere now.”
“Let’s go.” Inflamed spun on the spot and started for the door. She was deliberately ignoring my last comment.
I didn’t immediately follow her. I had sat down at my desk with no shirt on because that is how I dress for the office. There wasn’t a big chance of unwanted visitors, but it was still a possibility. Rising, I walked over to my far wall where my trench coat hung and put it on. I liked to have some sort of coverage when outside. Yet, I still wanted access to my tattoos.
Inflamed stood impatiently at the door. “I’m coming,” I said and rushed over to her. Outside, a Hero Coalition jeep sat parked next to my old beat up car.
Inflamed glanced at my vehicle. “I can’t believe you still have that thing.”
I shrugged. “It gets me where I need to go.”
Inflamed smiled. “Slowly.”
“Yeah. Well, we all can’
t have a nice big monstrosity like you.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not a fan of these either.”
I had expected her to jump into the driver's seat, but she took the passenger side. It was then I noticed another person in the vehicle. In the driver seat was an Ardent I worked the closest with, Heldonhaft. I got in the backseat and leaned forward. “What did you do to get chauffeur duty?”
In the rearview mirror, I could see his dark face turn red, and his eyes dart to Inflamed and back to me. Inflamed snorted. “Steve,” she said. “This isn’t a punishment.”
I laughed. “Could have fooled me.” I wanted to figure out what he did and why he was so anxious.
Heldonhaft remained silent. The kid was the one who got me back into helping the Hero Coalition, but I liked him. I was old enough to be his father. That made me feel old, but only for a moment.
“So, kid,” I said leaning back, “You have anything to do with the lax security on Cyberhex?”
“No, and that isn’t why I’m here.” Heldonhaft kept his eyes on the road as we pulled away from my office. It was after the morning rush to work, making for light traffic towards the HQ. That still meant it was packed once we arrived on the island that made up downtown. The buildings rose into the sky, most of them tall and massive. Only a few parts of the island weren’t this way. Separate and not equal, the residential areas that only the richest of rich could live reflected their singular place in the world.
I had let it go for most of the trip. “I can’t take it,” I said. “Why are you driving her?”
Inflamed turned her head from the passenger seat. “Because he is one of the few members that actually like you. They didn’t want me coming alone.”
I tilted my head. “Oh, makes sense.”
Heldonhaft laughed. “I told you he wouldn’t care.”
“Why should I? I’m not like the rest of you.”
“You’re an Ardent. That makes you like the rest of us,” Inflamed said. “You are just a dick.”
“I know,” I said. Some would have been offended, but I didn’t feel any shame. I was an isolated Ardent for the most part. A lone wolf, by choice, in what I did.
