A voice told her that attacking Ricardo might have been a mistake. She’d still be in Buenos Aires if she hadn’t, close to family and friends, with the ability to mourn the loss of another correctly. On the other hand, Ricardo was going to keep telling lies to Yoshida that Estrella wasn’t worth the fees he was paying for service. He always viewed RWs as trash, untalented and uneducated people that couldn’t make it as anything else in life, not even as a sex worker.
With the call over, Estrella flicked away the screens with Piper’s flawless smile, the last images she saw before nodding off. She knelt before the pile of her stuff dumped from the moving boxes, still a mess all over the floor, ignoring the heat from the sunlight shining on her bare back, and long black hair sticking to it. She had Geoffrey remotely activate the radio. It was the only form of entertainment until she found a place to put her TV.
Sifting through the comic books, she looked for several items of importance. She couldn’t start the day without them. The first item was found after a minute, her toothbrush and paste. The second item was found in the fourth box she dumped out for Piper, an unused battery.
Standing up, Estrella reached behind, parting her long dark hair, searching for the set of data ports above the small hatch for her battery. She pulled out the old battery, throwing it no place in particular, and replacing it with a fresh one. She felt the life-support nanites swimming in her blood move up to the back of her head, like hungry fish in a tank during feeding time. The battery sent jolts of energy to nanites that linked up with it inside her, recharging their internal cells. RWs that couldn’t supply energy to their life-support nanites didn’t live very long, cyberware also needed power too, and the battery gave it that.
The cyberware in her body produced harmful toxins as a byproduct, the nanites worked to cleanse the body of that. They also prevented cells from making the body age, conducted maintenance, and prevented what little humanity RWs had left from rejecting the implants and genetic enhancements.
Some argued it was a gimmick Yoshida developed to keep RWs loyal. Only Yoshida provided the replacement batteries. If an RW went rogue, they’d be dead in a day or two without a new battery, and no RW would risk sharing theirs. Yoshida made sure to only deliver enough to last a week at best, further reminding RWs who was truly their lord and savior. Throw in utility nanites, which also sapped energy life from the battery when injected into the body, and RWs during combat situations could find themselves burning through battery power faster, pleading to Yoshida for more.
It was a drug made of technology to control and prevent RWs from rebelling as IWs did, and Estrella was addicted, and had been the day she sold her humanity for the almighty Alliance dollar. She couldn’t get agitated about it, that’s what the rule book said, and she knew it when signing up for this life. There was another reason she couldn’t get agitated about it; she was focused on brushing her teeth.
She was in front of the bathroom mirror at that point, still half-naked in front eyeing the augmentation done to her body, and the scars left on it from her past, her breasts shook slightly with each stroke of her toothbrush. The bullet holes in her body were long gone, and not a mark was left on her tanned skin. The existing scars would never be healed, however as she received those during her days as a human. The nanites could only heal new wounds received as an RW.
A holographic black cat leaped on the countertop as she finished spitting out the mint-flavored foam from her mouth.
You seem ill, yet I detect no signs of viral or bacterial infections, nor any allergic reactions.
She cupped a stream of running water in her hands from the tap, splashing it upward, washing away the lingering toothpaste foam from her lips. Just not looking forward to patrolling jobs. Thought we’d be doing what we do best, keeping IWs in their place.
There is a strategic value to this. We can now gain a better lay of the land and the population. Such data and experiences may become valuable when we are finally able to, as you put it, keep IWs in their place.
My aunt thinks I’m already doing that. Every day that we do patrols, I’m lying to her and my family back home.
I’m sure they will be proud of what you’ve achieved regardless.
No, they wanted me to move on up. They were all cheering me on when I became what I am. And now I fucked up and ruined it, I couldn’t protect Yumi when she needed me to, and then I ended up socking Ricardo for it. And so far, it looks I’m on a train to fuck this last chance Yoshida’s giving me.
It is my understanding that you were made a victim to the Bald Skulls, correct?
Yeah.
So, isn’t this a move up? Isn’t this something your family could be proud of? They took you in after you were rescued from the gang and raised you the best they could given the physical and psychological trauma you were forced you to endure.
With her teeth brushed came a much-needed shower. It was easy enough to do that, just slip out of the panties and leap in. It was her first time showering alone since she met Yumi. The thought made her chest hurt. When she was finished washing away the survivor’s guilt and sticky sweat from her body, and cooling it down with chilly water, she left the washroom and didn’t bother to dress up. There was a reason for that. She motioned joyfully, looking down at the pile of her belongings on the floor near the fourth box she emptied.
Oh, hey, Geoffrey?
Yes, Estrella?
Possible I could get, uh, some privacy?
I’m part of you. You know there is no true privacy. Furthermore, I am simply an AI.
Just, drop the cat image for a bit.
As you wish. May I ask why?
She found the reason why, a pink tubular-shaped object. I got a hot date with my vibrator.
Estrella didn’t get far with the toy, the radio playing the news distracted her thoughts, and killed the desire to relieve stress, the real way, not the forced relocation way. Upping the volume on the radio allowed her to take in the words of the news broadcaster. They talked about the aftermath of the Bald Skulls assault on the apartment. She wasn’t happy to hear her name get dragged through the mud.
Some hacker named DigiSamurai69 posted proof on their blog that the Alliance Star’s report on the attack was fake news. She had no idea where her vibrator had tumbled off to. A fit of rage clouded her thoughts when she learned the hacker posted proof that an RW, her, melted the wall away, and then later the family of three was found hiding in the vacant neighboring room.
There was no mention that the family of three were unregistered IWs. She was in the clear for that. Still, learning that this hacker had all the intel Piper shared, had Estrella fuming enough to smash her hand on the table ahead of her.
That’s how Piper got the intel.
Hmm?
Didn’t you listen to the news?
You asked for privacy, so I went to idle mode.
Well, you can get out of it because I’m not getting off anytime soon, not after hearing that shit.
Piper wasn’t at the scene, therefore the hacker was, physically. Estrella thought back to that night, thinking of every face she saw on her way out. One of those faces shouldn’t have been there. It wasn’t Marcus, he got shot with her. The EMTs? The other cops? They didn’t look suspect. Who could it be?
Estrella gritted her teeth. Ray Partington.
The Alliance Star reporter?
Yeah, he was snooping around and then left.
I believe it was you and Marcus that left him.
The Star was also the first publication to report on the attack too. Fucking Partington must be the hacker.
And, therefore, he knows that the family was indeed at home at the time of the attack, unlike what the Star is reporting.
The radio report continued. “A bald warlock bearing a similar description to the gang that was slain by Rodriguez yesterday, was reported to have been seen taking part in an armed kidnapping early this morning—"
“Fuck off!” Estrella blurted, drowning the address the k
idnapping took place at as the radio reporter continued to talk.
“… police are asking any witnesses to the attack to come forward with information.”
She ran her fingers through her hair, frustrated, and fearful. The gang’s return wasn’t an isolated incident. More were back, and operating in LA, still kidnapping people.
Did you catch that address?
I did. Geoffrey revealed. She exhaled with relief. It is not far from here.
As in, it happened in the IW district?
That is correct.
The gang was targeting IWs, no questions asked, something that worked against their MO. Why? Estrella didn’t know, but she had to find out. She had to prevent others from going through what she experienced, witch or not. She went searching for clothes, having realized she was still naked.
Estrella went for something light as it was only going to get hotter when the afternoon rolled by. Black tank top and shorts for the time being, after that, she slipped her right hand into her NC gauntlet, stored a pistol inside her synthetic arm with spare mags and a fresh batch of nanotubes.
Geoffrey, call me a taxi, she asked while moving to the exit.
I presume you’re taking it upon yourself to follow up on the kidnapping?
There’s no fucking way I’m sitting around knowing someone else out there is about to experience the pain I did. We’re tracking that motherfucker down, and we’re doing it now.
She stopped before the door, her hand hovering just above the handle. Looking back, she saw where the pink vibrator had fallen. She blew it a kiss goodbye. “Sorry, maybe tonight.”
Estrella left her pad. She hoped to have the answers why the men that murdered her parents, then raped and cut her weren’t in the ground where she put them, by the time she returned.
Fourteen
Ray
A taxicab brought Ray from JFK International Airport to his hotel across wet roads reflecting neon. Looking back, he smiled warmly knowing that the love of his life would be flying in from the EU soon, landing at the airport he’d just left. Ray sent her a message informing her he switched phones. He kept multiple phones on him, one for each area code. Being a seeker of the truth with hacking skills carried risks. Piss off the wrong person, or enter places you weren’t meant to be in, and they’ll come searching for you via tracking your phone. Having six different phones kept people guessing where Ray was. Few people knew about his New York only phone.
After checking into the hotel, Ray got ready for the trade show Yoshida was hosting. They gave him a media pass which he proudly clipped to his business suit and entered the show. Any media kits Ray wanted, he got, if he needed to cut ahead in line to an exhibit, the staff made it happen, no questions asked. The media pass was godlike.
High-tech robots were on display, showing off their abilities to create items out of thin air with nanites. Other robots were part of a line of automated construction equipment. Yoshida showed off their next generation of assault rifles and pistols the military contacted them to produce, along with new TEK suits for infantry soldiers.
The updated TEK suits had multiple jets slapped to the back, hands, and feet, enabling users to fly or hover for prolonged periods of time. It was going to be a game-changer in the theater of war. It made him cringe, bringing in weaponized IWs was supposed to be a game-changer in war. All it did was change the world and not for the better.
A new update to IW tracking devices had crowds of onlookers swarming the Yoshida sales representatives. Everyone loved tech that kept a firm leash on IWs, almost as much as RW tech, which was on display at the adjacent booth. Two RWs stood like fashion models, one male, one female, flaunting off the new designs of the NC gauntlet, and several other new nanotechnology abilities that could be deployed to combat high ranking IWs refusing to cooperate with the police.
Ray had enough of the show floor. He had an article to write, a bias one that went against everything believed, in order to keep his job. Most men that lost their jobs ended up as RWs. There wasn’t much demand for male dancers or escorts.
He came to sit in a crowded presentation theater. The lights and murmurs of the crowd dimmed when Yoshida’s CEO took the stage, a woman the world only knew as Lady M. Nobody was ever able to get her actual name out of her, not even facial scans, they were all edited to display what she wanted them to show. Yoshida, after all, was the company that developed the back-end technology behind it.
Some argued Lady M wasn’t even a real person as she rarely appeared in public, and when she did, it was a holographic projection, just like the one on stage giving a presentation to the media. This led to speculation and rumors Lady M might be an AI or just a clever ploy developed by the corporation. It’d explain her flawlessly smooth skin that never seemed to age, and her long dark shiny hair that seemed to remain the same length year after year, same style too, long and loose with strands of it covering the top of her shoulders from the strapless gown she wore.
Between her fingers was a long, vintage cigarette holder, the same kind women back in the 1920s used, white smoke rising away from its red glowing tip. With M being a projection, nobody could smell it.
Lady M delivered a touching speech about Yoshida’s rise to power over the years since the Great War ended, complete with holograms illustrating the words she spoke. She praised the humans that donated their bodies to become RWs, which had led to fewer crimes committed by those that wield IW powers, as they captured or killed IWs that went living for years unregistered and untracked with the GPS devices the company developed.
People with IW powers were a threat to the survival of humans, she argued. It generated loud applause from the audience full of members of the press and suits. Ray’s hands remained idle. Only the advance nanites and cyberware found within RWs could provide an effective and safe counter to deal with that problem, and Yoshida was the corporation that would see to the preservation of humanity and the new challenges it faces.
Ray cringed at the statement as he noted it in his pad. He’d have to write a news report on this soon and make Lady M look like the savior of human society when, in reality, it was corporations like Yoshida that created IWs. Ray knew better than to call them out on that. His job depended on it, same with his humanity.
When the show was over, they moved Ray to the back press-only area. He had a scheduled one-on-one interview with Lady M, inside one of the rear rooms. What he saw when he arrived were suits, way too many of them standing around. Some had finished interviews with members of the press, and others were flipping through notes on handheld tablets. Ray found one suit who didn’t appear busy, with dark shades covering his eyes. Strange considering they were indoors. They must have been smart glasses with the tint setting on maximum, turning them into shades, and hiding the holographic overlays that would have been made visible to those watching.
Ray approached the suited man, grabbing his attention with a wave. The man’s face remained neutral, and the tint on his glasses never changed. He couldn’t read him at all.
“Hello, uh I …” Ray said.
“Yes?” The corporate man said.” May I help you?”
“My name is Ray Partington, Alliance Star news.” Ray flashed his press badge. “I’m here for the interview with Lady M.”
“Ah, Mr. Partington,” the corporate man drawled. “I should have recognized you. We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Recognized me? I don’t even know you.”
“Victor Ashford, Yoshida CFO,” he said with a half-smile. “Arianna speaks highly of you Mr. Partington, she’s even registered you as a significant other in the corporate database.” Ray couldn’t tell if there was more Ashford wanted to say but opted not to. “Lady M’s interview you said?”
Ray nodded. “Yes.”
“Right this way, Mr. Partington. I’ll take you to it.”
Ashford escorted him to one of the private interview rooms. Ray took a seat ahead of the enigmatic owner of Yoshida. He saw her body flicker three times as
she adjusted her gown to sit. It was still the projection he was going to talk with. A pity, if he had met with the real Lady M, if she even existed at all, it would have been quite the news exclusive.
He put his glasses on, tapped the side panel on them, setting them to record and auto transcribe the words the two would speak. Tiny displays appeared showing the transcribed text in the left lenses of the glasses. A record icon flashed on the top right corner.
“Fantastic presentation your company has put together tonight,” Ray said.
“Why, thank you,” she said with a smile. She puffed her long cigarette stick elegantly, holding it between her index and middle finger, exhaling the mist at him from her red glossy lips shaped into an ‘o’. Every sense in his body told him to brace for cigarette smoke, smoke that wasn’t really there.
Ray glanced at his pad and asked the first question he noted on it. “I wasn’t aware that there we so many RWs in active service around the world. Exactly how many are there currently?”
“We’ve produced approximately forty-four thousand units which provide IW suppression services throughout the Alliance, EU, and African Dominion. While we don’t provide RWs for the New Soviet Union or Pacific Federation, we have sold cyberware needed for those nations to create their own.”
“Is it really necessary to have this much power over IWs?”
“Yes,” she said firmly, then puffed her stick and elegantly released the smoke, this time upward. “World War III saw the rise of the first imaginary witches and warlocks, or IWs as we all like to call them. Nobody knows which side created them first. All we know is after a few months of fighting, the New Soviets, China, before it controlled the Pacific, and the former United States and its allies had weaponized IW soldiers on the frontlines.”
“Right.” Ray vividly remembered those details from his history lessons in school. “Humans with magical powers from old legends.”
“Only they weren’t legends.” Her voice became condescending. “And I wouldn’t call them humans, nobody would.”
Cyber Witch Page 11
