Resistance: Divided Elements (Book 1)

by Mikhaeyla Kopievsky

  “Rehhd’s a bit of an enigma,” Seth says. “She makes friends with everyone but is close to no one. Kaide is probably the closest to her, even though they’ve never been involved. They’ve shared a few battles together. Kaide was the one who saved her from bleeding out after a Peacekeeper attack a few years back.”

  Anaiya realises her grip has tightened uncomfortably on Seth’s hand and she releases it quickly.

  “Bad memories?” Seth asks quietly.

  Anaiya opens her eyes and shakes her head. “No. That’s not it…” she says. “It wasn’t that bad in the Eastern Area.”

  “What do you mean?” Seth asks, rolling onto his side and propping up his head with his hand.

  She stares up at him, a dark shadow beneath a dark sky. “Just that it never got that bad where I was from. There were no clashes between Fire and Air Elementals. No Peacekeeper attacks.”

  The words are acrid in her mouth. Peacekeepers do not attack. Peacekeepers enforce. Protect. Her thoughts ring loud in her head, but hollow.

  Seth looks down at her. “You’ve never seen Fire violence before?” he asks softly.

  Anaiya shakes her head.

  “Tonight was your first encounter?”

  Anaiya looks up at him confused. But there was no violence tonight.

  Seth’s eyes don’t move from hers and under his scrutiny she replays the events of the night. Replays the encounter with Jenna and the other Peacekeeper. It was calculated. And it was clinical. But was it violence?

  “Is it always like that?” she asks instead.

  She watches as he rolls back down to lie flat beside her.

  “Sometimes,” he says. “Usually it’s worse.”

  “What does worse look like?”

  “Unprovoked. Targeted. Unjustified. Excessive…”

  The words wrap around them like dark spectres.

  “Tonight wasn’t that. Not really,” he says. “Peacekeepers are easy to provoke – show them the slightest hint of Unorthodoxy and they’ll jump into action.”

  Anaiya’s fire flares at the insult, but she ignores it and forces her body to stay still.

  “In some Peacekeepers, the fire burns hotter, it seeks out the fight. And in some Air Elementals, there is a lust to spark the flame, to engage in the dance. Eamon’s like that.”

  Eamon. The Elemental who had gone down to Jenna’s restraint serum.

  “He probably called for the Peacekeepers’ attention. And no doubt they were all too happy to oblige.”

  “Is Rehhd like Eamon?”

  “Yes…No…” He sighs. “Mostly, I guess,” he concludes reluctantly. “Rehhd loves the thrill of the chase, loves the attention. In that way she’s a lot like Eamon and Cress. The three of them love finding the drama, rather than waiting for it to find them. But Rehhd doesn’t chase it just for the thrill. The thrill is a definite bonus in her eyes, but it’s not the only reason she does it. She’s damaged. She suffered, and she’s changed because of it. Plus, she doesn’t have to look as hard for the thrill as Eamon and Cress. Trouble loves finding Rehhd – it’s attracted to her past. It makes her a target. She caused some real headaches for the Peacekeepers up here. They don’t forget easily.”

  Seth falls silent and Anaiya is grateful for the pause. Jagged-edged thoughts are grating along her synapses; her mind struggling to make sense of Seth’s words, faltering under their weight and fracturing under their impact.

  “Real Peacekeeper violence comes from a darker place.” His voice pushes its way into her already too-full consciousness. “It’s unpredictable. Unmerciful. Invincible.”

  EIGHTEEN

  ANAIYA DOESN’T REMEMBER how long they stayed lying up there on the recycler in the dark and silence afterwards. There were no more words left in either of them. Only when the sky above and the concrete below had completed a full circle of numbing cold, fully enveloping them and their dark thoughts, did they wordlessly shift and commence their descent back to terra firma.

  They don’t hold hands on their way back through the Edges, suffering through their own torment alone and without comfort.

  Anaiya’s torment takes many faces. The distorted reflection of a Peacekeeper seen through Seth’s eyes. The hints of personal experience with Peacekeeper violence. And the difficult acceptance of an unimagined possibility – that it could be true – that Seth’s ‘Peacekeeper violence’ is just another name for the hot, mutated, undisciplined fire in Heterodoxy-affected Fire Elementals.

  The silence accompanies them right up to the boundary streets of the precinct. The purple bruise of light in the East announces the darkest part of the night is over, that the curfew is lifting and another day is being thrown at Otpor.

  Seth turns his back to the light, taking a step towards the east.

  “I’m this way,” Anaiya says, nodding her head towards the south.

  Seth pauses, glancing between the two paths to be taken.

  “Want some company?” he asks.

  Yes.

  “No, I’m good,” she replies.

  His face falls, but he recovers quickly. “OK…”

  “OK…” she repeats.

  They both are stalling, unwilling to accept the end to the night.

  But, there is nothing left to be said and so she pulls at her reluctant feet and starts towards Rue Leibniz.

  “Hey Anaiya?”

  She turns around. He still hasn’t moved.

  “Yeah?”

  “A few of us will be at Soylent tomorrow night. For a Sound event…”

  “Soylent?”

  “This izakaya on Rue Dayroses.” There is a question in his eyes and the tilt of his head. “Every Fourth night they hand control of the amps over to Elementals with a Music Competency who are working on new sounds. Sort of lets them beta test it to a live audience.”

  He pauses again, seemingly uncomfortable with Anaiya’s lack of response. “So, anyway, if you’re interested…It would be good to see you there.”

  It is an intriguing invitation, and an excellent opportunity to gather more intel on Rehhd and gain exposure to her network.

  And to see Seth again.

  She brushes away her limbic brain’s accusation with a frown.

  “OK…” she replies hesitantly. “Maybe I’ll see you there.”

  A small smile plays across his features. “Great. I’ll keep an eye out for you.”

  Another heavy pause settles between them and, for a moment, Anaiya expects him to say something else. A strange sensation takes over her body – an unfamiliar tension, an unexpected anticipation. It sets her heartbeat to an unsteady rhythm and stretches time like pitch succumbing to gravity.

  The smile broadens on his face. And then it is just her, watching him as he turns and walks westwards, setting the path for the sun.

  * * *

  IT IS late afternoon by the time Anaiya wakes. Her eyes spring open and her heart clenches in a sharp state of panic. She swipes at her wristplate with urgent fingers, trying to locate the inevitable demand from Niamh. The messages scroll past in a blur as she flicks her fingers upwards and then downwards, skimming, and then more thoroughly scanning, the contents of her inbox.

  Slowly she sits up. Her heart rate slows to a more measured beat as her mind works to make sense of the puzzle.

  No doubt Jenna would have reported the run-in from last night. Niamh would have avoided messaging her while she was likely to be in the presence of a target.

  She glances at her wristplate again. More than fifteen hours have passed since the encounter.

  What game are you playing, Niamh?

  Her fingers hover over her wrist, phantom strings pulling at them to send the proactive communication. She knows it is a test. That Niamh is deducing all kinds of conclusions from the time it takes to contact him, from the amount and type of information she presents to him.

  What will I tell him?

  It is a question without an answer. What can she tell him? That she spent an entire night with a known
associate of Rehhd, spent a large chunk of that night with Rehhd herself, but has no information on either of them that will help to uncover or dismantle the Resistance. She knows the questions he will ask, the results he will demand. And she knows that she is unable to answer or provide them.

  For now.

  It is the motivation she needs to put aside the messy, limbic-dominated thoughts that cloud her mind when she remembers her time with Rehhd and Kaide. And Seth. Forcing her brain to compartmentalise her memories and desires, she buries her newfound Air tendencies and sharpens her Fire instincts.

  She needs to gather useful intel immediately – something she can pass on to Niamh that will excuse her late reporting. Conversations of the night before tickle at the back of her mind, resisting her attempts at forcing them into focus. Snatches of dialogue and random phrases filter through her brain, none of them presenting a useful lead.

  The room is becoming oppressive, its vacant walls mocking her inability to find the answers she needs, that Niamh expects.

  Enough.

  She dresses quickly and heads out into the streets of the Northern Cardinal Area. Unable to run, she sets a brisk pace, losing herself in the rhythmic slap of her feet and simple pleasure of exercising. Her mind wanders in an unfettered stream of consciousness, looking for a solution somewhere in the mess of chaotic thoughts and emotions.

  Wide streets shift into narrow laneways; hidden arcades widen and stretch into broad avenues and boulevardes. Food stalls and meal kiosks dispense pre-packaged synth food parcels to waiting customers, a cluster of Air Elementals here, an impatient Border Watcher there. Earth Cleaners scrub at building windows and wash down dusty coordinate plates.

  The air cools as the brown sky darkens and a new wave of activity washes over the precinct. Coloured lights emerge and windows are flung open to eject stale warm air and a hundred individual soundtracks. Air Elementals begin their evening pilgrimage to various entertainment hubs and Anaiya finds herself caught up in the procession.

  Ahead, she spies the familiar entrance to the Ravignan Strip and peels off towards Veritas, the izakaya where she first ran into Rehhd. Inside, the space is busy without being crowded. Younger Air Elementals dominate the izakaya, filling the tables and lounges scattered around the performance space. A few older Elementals, faces gaunt with the inevitable synth toxin buildup, stake out solitary places at the bar.

  Anaiya finds a spare stool at the bar and takes a seat. An Earth Server wanders over to take her order, but she waves him away. A few minutes later the tall Air Elemental Anaiya has been watching wanders over.

  “Anaiya, right?” Yve says, running her hand through short, spiky hair. “What can I get you?”

  “I was thinking of trying a new concoction – any recommendations?”

  It is a simple strategy to keep Yve around, get her talking.

  “I’m working on a sour-based alcohol with a slow-release enhancer, a kind of cross between a jaydeedioxy and a genemoly. Interested?”

  Anaiya has never heard of the synth alcohols mentioned. “Sounds great.”

  Yve turns her back and busies herself grabbing various bottles and vials from behind the bar. The silence between them grows and Anaiya lets it stretch.

  “Heard you had a rough one last night,” Yve eventually calls over her shoulder.

  Anaiya smiles. At least in some ways, Air Elementals are predictable.

  “Yeah, too many tequilas,” she replies.

  Yve laughs and returns to the bar with Anaiya’s drink. “The organic stuff is a bit more potent.”

  “I hear I have you to thank for that.”

  Yve shrugs, but her smile lingers.

  Anaiya unravels her lifeline and reaches for the payment terminal, but Yve waves it away.

  “On the house,” she says, pushing the tumbler of clear fizzing liquid towards Anaiya.

  “Thanks,” Anaiya replies, taking a long sip from the frosted glass. “So, how was Rehhd afterwards?”

  “Amped up,” Yve says with a laugh. “But then again, she’s always amped up with Eamon.”

  “He was the one that the Peacekeepers…dropped?”

  Anaiya stumbles over the Air colloquialism, but Yve doesn’t seem to notice.

  “Yeah, not his first time,” she confirms. “What about you? Have you been dropped before?”

  Anaiya shakes her head, abruptly stopping when she realises the implications of her answer.

  “Me neither,” Yve says. “I prefer to keep my Fire relationships all about business. So, how did it feel?”

  “Disconcerting,” Anaiya replies.

  Wait. Something is not right here.

  The thought comes too late, her words already unleashed. She stares down at her glass, the tumbler close to finished. That the enhancer is a disinhibitor is no longer in doubt, but Anaiya has never come across one as strong or as rapidly acting.

  You said the enhancer was slow-releasing…

  “You were lucky Seth was there to look after you,” Yve says.

  Anaiya has picked up on Yve’s pattern and knows a question will follow. “How long have you known him for?” she asks, cutting in before Yve gets a chance to continue.

  “Rehhd and I started to connect about six months ago; Seth and Eamon seemed to come with the territory.”

  The timeframe is interesting, but Anaiya needs to keep Yve talking lest she start asking more questions. “Six months. Things getting serious?”

  “Why?” Yve’s voice turns sharp. “You looking to cut in?”

  Anaiya recalls Rehhd’s words at their first meeting.

  Yep. That definitely is a jealous streak.

  Anaiya raises her hands in submission. “No, no, no.”

  Yve narrows her eyes briefly, but eventually relaxes.

  “Rehhd doesn’t do serious,” she finally concedes. “Unless it’s work.”

  Anaiya hears the tightness in Yve’s voice and is surprised when she finds her thoughts softening in response.

  “You want another one?” the bar owner asks, looking down at Anaiya’s empty glass.

  The opportunity for more intel is tempting, but the risky chemical concoction is already causing her problems. And she can’t afford to let anything slip so early in her mission. Besides, she has somewhere to be. “No,” she says, standing up from the stool. “I’ve got work of my own to do.”

  * * *

  THE WALK to Soylent is an easy one. Anaiya constantly glances at her wristplate, checking as her vitals return to sobriety, seeking out any new communications from Niamh. The lack of intel gathered from Yve compounds the anxiety that rushes over her every time she thinks of him waiting for her call.

  Ahead, the neon green lettering of the izakaya casts a garish aura around the Elementals nearby. Anaiya looks around for Rehhd, finding her in a group of unfamiliar Air Elementals. As she walks towards the group, Rehhd looks over. A scowl briefly appears on her face, but it quickly fades, replaced by a brittle plastic smile.

  “Anaiya.” Her voice is a glucose-covered barb. “I didn’t know you were coming tonight.”

  It sounds as an accusation, and a reprimand. Anaiya frowns, but doesn’t bite. “Seth invited me.” The words are out before she can reconsider them. Inwardly, she cringes at the sound of her explanation, her deference.

  “Did he just?” Rehhd counters. “How very cordial of our Seth.”

  “Did you expect any less?” Seth saunters towards them, stopping next to Anaiya. Grinning, he winks at her before turning his attention to Rehhd.

  “Not at all,” Rehhd says, her smile still tight.

  “How’s Eamon doing?” he asks.

  “Not as well as Anaiya,” she replies, a shadow of her scowl reappearing. “He’s still recovering, but he’ll bounce back soon enough.”

  “No doubt,” Seth says. “He always does.”

  The words seem to hang in the air. Rehhd opens her mouth as if to say something, but closes it with a sigh.

  “Did he say how it all starte
d?”

  Anaiya’s question draws a sharp look from Rehhd and she wonders, not for the first time during this encounter, what has happened since their first meeting to draw this newfound ire.

  Seth interrupts, drawing her attention away from Anaiya. “What was he doing out there, Rehhd?”

  She shakes her head, seemingly exasperated. “Nothing official. By his account, he was just heading to Scythe’s when he saw the Peacekeepers.”

  “No provocation?” Seth asks.

  “Of course not,” Rehhd snaps, her frustration clearly showing now. “He may be reckless. He’s not stupid.”

  Doubtful. “What restraint charge was recorded?” Anaiya asks.

  It’s an answer she would already have if she had spoken to Niamh. She glances surreptitiously at her wristplate. Still no communication.

  “It doesn’t matter what they recorded,” Rehhd seethes. “With Eamon’s history, they could have uploaded any charge and he would struggle to challenge it.”

  She’s right. Challenging a restraint charge is difficult enough in ideal circumstances; Elementals with long Unorthodoxy records have almost no chance at being granted deletions. But Peacekeepers do not record false charges. They might err on the side of caution when assessing intent, recording a murder instead of a manslaughter. Or they might pre-emptively restrain Elementals based on an association with known perpetrators or an imminent threat to Orthodoxy…

  As a Peacekeeper, it had all sounded so rational. So necessary. Now it sounds hollow, hinting at a wrongness that sours her memories.

  “What did they record for you?” Rehhd asks.

  “Interfering with an enforcement action,” Anaiya replies, recalling the offence she would have been charged with if her restraint had been real. It is a low-level charge, a common slap on the wrist applied in most misdemeanour situations.

  “Really?” Seth asks, frowning. “That’s all they gave you for rushing a Peacekeeper?”

  Rushing? I didn’t rush Jenna…

  And then she sees it as he would have. An Air Elemental running to confront an on-duty Peacekeeper in the middle of a restraint action. She had rushed Jenna. And just as quickly, she realises that her interference charge is too lenient. “Maybe because it was my first charge? Or my hypoxia?”