by Jace Kang
Ryu had noticed the blue glow when the fairies had tapped into their Core. He’d sensed them probing his Core and meridians. Had just one of them tried to disrupt his Qi, he wouldn’t have been strong enough to resist—unless he’d swallowed one of the Meridian Fortifying Pills in his stolen robes first.
They continued walking, past the portals.
Ryu pointed at the archways. “Aren’t we going to Kujo?”
Ken shook his head so fast, he might’ve generated the energy to propel a starship into the next galaxy. “No, there aren’t any portals there, and you don’t have the nanochip that activates them. It’s close enough to walk, anyway. We’re just cutting through the shopping arcade, and maybe picking up some clothes for you.”
It wasn’t a bad idea. The Peacekeeper jacket was chafing, and everyone was staring at his bare legs. They continued down a ramp, Ken practically skipping.
“You know,” Ryu said, “you are quite excitable. Take deep breaths. Focus your intention.”
Ken stared back for a moment before nodding like a dribbled basketball.
Did they still play basketball? Ryu chuckled, but froze again as they came to the shopping arcade.
If the pedestrians in their garish clothes had been eyesores, the rows and rows of the clothes, all so close together, were even worse. He had to circulate his Qi through his Liver meridians to fight off a migraine.
Unlike in his youth, there were no unrealistically slim mannequins modelling the clothes. Instead, as a young woman walked by a store, a hologram of her appeared in a gaudy outfit and made a polite greeting. “Anti-gravity cloth will make you feel like you’re walking on clouds! Temperature control will keep you a constant twenty-three degrees!”
The woman paused and looked, swiping her hands left and right. The hologram’s clothes changed. Beaming, the woman walked into the store.
Ryu’s stomach rumbled. He hadn’t eaten in the half day that he’d been on this plane.
“You must be hungry.” Kentaro looked him up and down. “We can get food down here in the arcade, but we need to get you some clothes first. Let’s go there.”
He hurried toward the indicated store, where jumpsuits in eye-splitting color combinations hung in the window display. Ryu began to wonder if it was hunger or disgust that made his stomach twist.
“Welcome, Kentaro!” An image of Kentaro appeared before the boy as they approached, and it spoke in his voice. It wore tight, stretchy shorts and short sleeves in a muted color scheme, which would better suit a cyclist with flamboyant sponsors in the Tour de France. In the store’s window, all the price displays changed numbers, while some of the more vibrant clothes rotated out in place of more neutral colors. The hologram leaned against the display, looking quite relaxed. “Might I interest you in casual wear? Self-cleaning and colorfast!”
Kentaro was about to keep going.
“Wait.” Ryu reached out and stopped him. “How come everyone but me is getting bombarded with sales pitches from holograms of themselves?”
“Do you want to?” Kentaro’s forehead crinkled.
“No. I’m just wondering why.”
“We all have an identity nanochip circulating in our blood,” Kentaro said. “All advertisements are customized to us.”
Ryu chewed on his inner lip. What was the term they used to use? It was the same used in the sects, but meant something completely different. “Big Brother.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind,” Ryu said. “How does the chip get power?”
“Bioelectricity.”
Like Qi. How fascinating. Ryu pointed to the price displays. “Is this in yen?”
“In what?”
“Or dollars?”
If the boy looked any more befuddled…
“That number is how much this godawful jumper costs, right?”
Expression brightening, Kentaro nodded.
“How come the price is lower than it was for the man who walked by a moment ago?”
“Oh! The store AI reads our chip and factors our occupation and social credit into the price.”
“And then deducts it from your bank account?” This was all starting to make sense. Everyone had a place in the world, just like sect members did in the World of Rivers and Lakes.
“What’s a bank?”
Ryu threw his hands up. “Where do you keep your money?”
“Money… oh!” Kentaro jumped up and down, as he was wont to do when excited. “That was where you used paper rectangles and metal discs for transactions during the Age of Greed, right?”
What had the world become? This, though, might’ve been for the better. Pursuit of wealth brought out the worst in mankind. Ryu followed Kentaro into a room not much more than twice the size of the maglift. Panels on the wall swiveled, revealing different kinds of clothes.
Hologram Kentaro materialized in front of them, dressed in a bright blue one-piece jumpsuit with a high collar. It would’ve been not too abnormal in Ryu’s youth, save for the flaring sleeves and pant legs. The hologram held a playful pose. “It’s raining outside! May we interest you in a suit with an evaporator?”
“It doesn’t cover his head,” Ryu said as the image changed poses.
“Oh!” Kentaro patted his hair. “See how I’m dry? These clothes have an emitter which generate an ion field that repels water. Then again, you’re dry, too.”
Ryu shrugged. “Path of Water. It’s effortless to stay dry.”
“Well, we still need to get you dressed.” Kentaro turned to the hologram. “My master needs clothes.”
The hologram ignored Ryu, and its outfit switched to a zigzagging grey as it flexed its muscles. “How about this style?”
“Oh no.” Kentaro bowed to Ryu. “You don’t have a chip, so the AI doesn’t even know you’re here.”
“What if you were buying clothes as a gift?”
Ken shrugged. “I’d have to know the recipient’s ID, which you wouldn’t have.”
“Does that mean I’m stuck in this?” Ryu tugged at the jacket sleeves.
Sidling up, Kentaro held his arm out against Ryu’s, and used a hand to compare their heights. “We’re not that far off in size. At least, closer than the XHumans.”
Bodhi materialized beside the Kentaro hologram, this time looking like someone had wrapped him up like an ancient Egyptian mummy, in purple, orange, and green strips of cloth. His eyes widened. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“Just shopping,” Ryu said. He turned to Kentaro. “Ok. Can we find something less…flashy?”
Kentaro gestured to his hologram. “We want you to blend in, so flashy is better.”
“And you don’t have that much time to decide,” Bodhi said.
Ryu buried a growl. “Fine. Just choose whatever.”
Bouncing, Kentaro turned to the hologram. “I’ll take what you’re wearing, in black.”
“Black?” the hologram shook its head with tangible scorn. “That’s very…27th Century.”
“I’ll set a new trend,” Kentaro said.
“A Purebred, setting trends?” Bodhi harrumphed.
Ken glared back.
“Would you like to add options to your purchase for an extra cost? Water repelling? Anti-gravity? Naked feel? Color—”
“No,” Kentaro said. “Place the order.”
“Order confirmed,” the hologram said. “Tailoring to your size and color preference.”
A whirr and buzz emanated from behind a wall. After several seconds, a panel swiveled, revealing neatly folded cloth. Kentaro hurried over to retrieve it, then proffered it to Ryu.
“Is there a fitting room?” Ryu received the clothes. There didn’t look to be any space for one.
“A what?” both Kentaro and Bodhi said in unison.
“Where I can see what I look like in these.” Ryu whipped out the ridiculous outfit.
Ken and Bodhi exchanged glances before the boy’s eyes widened. “Oh! The hologram shows you what you look like. Or rat
her, what I looked like. I already bought it. But the hologram will screen you off if you want a little privacy when you change.”
“Sure.” Not that Ryu minded.
“Changing screen,” Kentaro said.
A wall appeared between Kentaro and Ryu, while also cutting Bodhi in half. Ryu, however, was still visible to passersby.
“Oh,” Kentaro said. “Of course it would screen me off. How about if I just wait outside the store while you change?”
“Whatever.” Ryu wriggled out of the tight jacket before Kentaro could even leave, and then pulled the jumper on. It was still a little too short on the wrists and ankles, but not as outrageous. “All right, let’s go.”
“Thank you for shopping with us,” Hologram Kentaro said. “Visit our sister store two units down for the latest headwear!”
Ryu harrumphed. Thank every Immortal and Deity that he didn’t have to live on this plane.
Outside the store, Kentaro looked him over. “Food?”
Ryu’s stomach rumbled again.
With a grin, Kentaro pointed down the arcade. “There are food kiosks that way.”
“You don’t have that much time,” Bodhi said. “I’ve set every camera between here and Kujo Ward on a loop, and sent a hologram of you north. However, it won’t be long before the Peacekeeper Repairer AI realize what has happened and repair my hacks.”
“I’ll eat fast,” Ryu said. “I need to replenish my energy, and food will make this faster.”
If only they had spirit food from the World of Rivers and Lakes. He followed Kentaro as he skipped down the hall.
The aroma of grilled beef filled the air, and Ryu’s stomach rumbled again. He lengthened his stride, ignoring the multiple Kentaro holograms that popped up, trying to sell shoes, hats, every piece of attire under the sun…
Bodhi kept pace. “So effortless. If only…”
“Huh?” Ryu looked over his shoulder at the hologram.
“Never mind,” Bodhi said.
The open halls between the clothing stores gave way to tables and chairs. Dozens of people lounged around, popping bite-sized cubes of varying colors into their mouth.
Nothing resembled real food.
Lining the hall were food kiosks, all identical with a bar and four stools. The only thing different about them were the holograms where a sign would’ve been in the twenty-first century, displaying grilled meats, fresh-cut vegetables, and more.
His eyes locked on the image of raw, marbled steak, along with a bowl of rice and steamed vegetables. So nostalgic! He pointed. “That.”
Ken hurried up to the unoccupied kiosk, where the hologram of an Asian chef in twentieth-century clothes appeared and bowed.
“Steak set,” Kentaro said.
The hologram bowed in a style Ryu found familiar. A tray slid out of a slot in the wall, and glided to a stop on the counter. The colored cubes looked nothing like the image.
Talk about false advertising. Ryu just stared at it.
“Try it.” Kentaro gestured to what passed as food.
Ryu tentatively picked a cube up and flicked it into his mouth. He sunk his teeth in.
His eyes rolled back into his head. It was so delicious! It might not have looked like beef, but it sure felt and tasted like it. The rice and vegetable cubes tasted authentic as well. Still, he did not feel his Spleen and Stomach energies processing the nutrients like they would the real thing.
“This isn’t real meat.”
“No.” Kentaro shook his head. “It’s vegetable matter, with authentic flavors and all the nutrition you need. Well, all the nutrition I need, based on my nanochip’s analysis of my blood.”
Definitely not authentic. And while it might have nutritional value, it wouldn’t help much in fortifying Qi. Food was more than just vitamins and minerals, after all. Still, with his stomach rumbling, Ryu scarfed the rest down.
“Are you quite done yet?” Bodhi asked.
Still chewing, Ryu nodded.
Bodhi gestured for them to follow.
When they turned into a hall that led to restrooms—which Ryu really wanted to check out, for more than just curiosity’s sake—they were alone.
“The Peacekeepers won’t be able to find you for the time being.”
“For the time being?” Kentaro squirmed.
Bodhi turned to the boy. “You are the limiting factor. For now, I’ve deleted you from the footage, but it’s only a matter of time before eyewitnesses like Keiko remember you. When the Filers recompile the original data, they’ll identify you and track your chip.”
“Can you disable the chip?” Kentaro asked.
“If you could find exactly where it is…”
“That’s impossible,” Kentaro wailed.
“Exactly. Other than that, if you walked through a high-voltage electrical field, it would short out without releasing the neurotoxin.” Bodhi turned to Ryu. “I suggest that once you reach Kujo, you leave the boy behind.”
Kentaro’s eyes widened with panic. He shook his head. “Please, no. You’ve already started me down the path.”
Well, Ryu had taught him how to stand, and admonished him to breathe deeply to calm down. If Kentaro had started down a path, it was only with one toe. Still, the boy had helped him, and he did have potential.
And it wasn’t fair that he was a nobody in this strange society. “The boy stays.”
Shoulders relaxing, Kentaro blew out a breath.
“You’d risk being found?” Bodhi raised an eyebrow.
“Tell us how to find a high-voltage electrical field.”
“If that doesn’t kill him…”
Electrical fields. There might be another way, and Ryu had already started Kentaro down the path. It would be irresponsible to give up on a downtrodden caste now.
As for Bodhi, well, he clearly wanted something, but wasn’t forthcoming. And Ryu didn’t want to owe a debt he couldn’t repay. “Just what is in this for you?”
Bodhi looked down at his feet before raising his head. “I want to know how you cured your cystic fibrosis.”
Ryu almost gasped. It was a term he hadn’t heard in centuries, ever since he left this plane and crossed over into the World of Rivers and Lakes. “I needed to cleanse my meridians and fortify my Earth.”
“What does that mean? Can you teach me?”
Did Bodhi have cystic fibrosis? Hadn’t humans edited their genes to supposed perfection? If he did have it, it was a hell no one should ever have to suffer. Curse the Code, for insisting on helping the weak. And himself, for having a soft spot for the unsound and downtrodden.
“Meet us in Kujo.”
Bodhi’s expression lit up. “I will find a projector there!”
Ryu shook his head. “No. In person.”
Chapter 9:
The Hacker
A ya had stayed in the EtherCloud for longer than usual as Ryusuke ate. Her real lungs had filled well beyond normal, and now she had to jack out and hack up phlegm again. A sense of dread crept over her.
The only way Ryusuke would teach her how to cure her flawed body would be to meet in person.
Which meant he’d see said flawed body.
She could interact with people for about seven minutes of real time before the phlegm build-up became noticeable. Then they’d invariably react to her with disgust, just like everyone else. Her parents included.
She couldn’t bear to see that disdain toward her on Ryusuke’s handsome face.
Her gut twisted.
But no, if this could treat her lungs, it would be worth all the shame she’d have to bear. Then, she’d never have to worry about dealing with people ever again. With a feeding tube, she’d be able to spend a lifetime in the EtherCloud without ever having to jack out.
Of course, there was no guarantee he’d teach her.
But if she proved herself…
It was time for a heist, and she could hack just about anything Level Four or below.
Lungs clear, she jacked back into the E
therCloud. Donning the Sentinel Shell, she hopped into the Peacekeeper EtherSpace and headed to the surveillance partition. The cameras in the level three technology lab showed the three Elestrae mingling with the Peacekeeper scientists in a room filled with bright white light. They were convened around a white table with a myriad of unfamiliar instruments. At least two of the Peacekeepers were holographically projected into the room.
Her attention was drawn to a mannequin which wore a tactical suit. It looked similar to the ones worn by Keiko’s team, but the stitch design looked different. Could it be the prototype which engaged with the wearer’s motor nerves without internal wiring? The one whose combat AI program she’d copied?
“… bioenergetic for sure,” the golden-haired female Elestrae was saying as she fiddled with her jewelry. “In that, it’s similar but different to istrium.”
Istrium? The miracle mineral? Aya yanked her attention away from the prototype tactical suit and to the gathered Elestrae and scientists.
The female wore a particularly pensive expression. Not only that, she was holding a scanning device…which had an encrypted signal piggybacking Peacekeeper transmissions. Oh, to find out where it went.
“What do you mean, bioenenergetic?” a Peacekeeper scientist asked.
“It’s like…” The silver-haired male waved his hands. “Back in your twentieth century, your people used carbon-based fuels. Methane, petroleum, coal. They had slightly different chemical structures, so a machine that used one as a fuel source couldn’t easily switch to another.”
The second male nodded. “It’s theoretically possible we could channel its radiation, but we’re far more attuned to istrium. Likewise, your starships couldn’t fold space with it, at least not without modification.”
A human scientist was just about quivering with excitement. “But to think, if we could replicate this and adapt our technologies…”
