by L. E. French
[Splice: Type 2-X nerve mesh]
[DocSoo: Those are illegal.] The moment I sent the message, I felt stupid. Obviously it would be something illegal. I still knew how to implant them. [I don’t have a workspace or tools.]
[Splice: You can use my workshop, and I can get you anything you need for a share of the fee. We can negotiate later and I can pick you up if you can get out.]
[DocSoo: Give me an hour? I need to find out what the gang is up to tonight.] Excitement pumped my blood faster. I wanted to do this so much it hurt. Granted, I would much rather go back to before that blow job, but this made a good second choice. Establishing myself as a surgeon of quality in DeeSeat was a good first step to getting out from under Misery’s psychotic thumb. Doing a favor for Splice was a good first step to getting her to take care of my wristband for free.
[Splice: You have half an hour before she walks.]
Half an hour meant I had to hurry. I thanked her and bolted the rest of my cereal. Snagging two latex gloves, I breezed out the door and beelined for number seven. Delusion answered when I knocked, which made me smile. This kid would be easier to deal with that Monster or Misery. He let me in without question.
“Is your mother around?” I asked, not wanting her to overhear me wheedling her son for information.
Delusion shushed me. “She’s still asleep,” he said in a low murmur. “Late night.”
Considering it was half past noon, I had no idea how to interpret that. “Ah. I should check on Phantom.” I scrambled for the best way to phrase a question so he wouldn’t suspect anything or report the conversation. At Phantom’s door, I paused and restrained myself from taking a deep breath. That would give me away.
“I wonder if you could help me with something? I’m trying to get into a rhythm here and never knowing when anyone is coming, going, or heading out for ‘excitement’ makes it hard.” The lies rolled off my tongue effortlessly, which scared me.
I remembered my mother catching me in a stupid, worthless little lie about cookies. Miko always knew when I made something up to amuse her. And, of course, Ai had figured out exactly when to walk into my office. She hadn’t been surprised when she caught me with Bunny, and she’d tossed the door open in the middle of my climax.
Somehow, I’d never wanted anything the way I wanted this. Or, at least, I hadn’t wanted anything this much in a long time. Maybe I could blame my emotion regulator.
“Oh, the schedule here is really flexible. There’s a drop every Thursday night, but other than that, it’s all pretty loose.”
Today happened to be Thursday, which I decided to rename Luckyday. “Is the drop dangerous? Should I expect to be needed?”
Delusion shrugged as he pushed Phantom’s door open for me. “Probably. They leave around midnight. I’d be surprised if they don’t want you along from now on.”
If I snuck out tonight, I had to be back by midnight. For the kind of work Splice requested, I’d need two hours at most, plus travel time there and back. “Thanks, Delusion. I’ll expect to be collected then. Sounds like a good plan to catch a nap beforehand. If anyone gets hurt, I could be up for hours.”
“Yeah.” Delusion nodded absently.
I approached Phantom’s sleeping form and messaged Splice. She promised to pick me up two blocks away at 7:30.
Chapter 10
At 7:03, I had one arm inside the sleeve of my new black windbreaker and my new combat boots on. Someone knocked on my door. I froze. Panic surged. I switched on my emotion regulator. My heart returned to its normal rhythm and I let out a breath while tugging the jacket off. I tossed it onto the kitchen counter and opened the door.
Monster gave me the warmest smile I’d seen yet. He offered me a bulging, black backpack made of flexible, waterproof plastic. “Hey, Doc Soo.” They’d all taken to calling me that already. “Present for you.”
I took the pack, finding it too heavy to hold up, but I could carry it. “What’s inside it?”
“Medkit for field treatment. Misery sprang for it, figuring it would make you more useful. I don’t know anything but the obvious about what’s inside it.”
Feeling guilty about my plans for the evening, I kept my gaze on the backpack. Looking at him would give me away. “Thank you. This is…unexpected.”
Monster chuckled. “I told her you’d like it. Do you want to have dinner with us tonight? We’re eating in about half an hour.”
“Oh. No, thank you.” I bowed to him, which made it easier to continue not to look at his face while I lied flagrantly. “I already had some of that canned stuff and I’m tired.”
“We gotta get you some real food. Anyway, have a nice nap.” He turned and walked away.
Shutting and locking the door, I wondered why he didn’t tell me about tonight’s planned outing and my role in it. Maybe they hadn’t decided yet whether to take me or not, or maybe he just enjoyed the thought of tossing me out of bed in the middle of the night.
I checked the time and grabbed my jacket. Twenty-five minutes to get outside, climb the fence, and jog three blocks. With the supply list I’d sent to Splice, I doubted anything in the backpack would help, but I brought it to the window anyway. On the off chance she hadn’t been able to get some of it, having this kit for backup might prove invaluable.
Standing on my bed, I peered out the window. Night had already fallen and a steady drizzle kept the potholes and pavement cracks filled with water. Yellow light from the nearby streetlamp glimmered in the rippling puddles and reflected off parked car windows.
As I watched, a car drove past, its headlights momentarily blinding me. More importantly, I noticed that Misery didn’t keep any guards outside. I slid my window open and popped the screen out, setting it on the floor. The backpack went through first, then I jumped up and wriggled myself out. My body flipped over in my zeal to hit the wet concrete feet-first and I landed on my ass with an unpleasant thump. At least it wasn’t my head.
I slung the pack onto my back and shut the window behind me, muttering thanks to my ancestors for my room being on the ground floor and not higher or lower. Not sure how to skulk correctly, I bent over and hurried to the nearest parked car. Keeping low, I ran to the end and darted to the next. This brought me to the chainlink fence.
In my youth, I once stood with a chainlink fence between me and a candy shop. My account had a small amount in it, provided by my father so I’d learn about fiscal responsibility. The pull of the shop drew me to the fence. I gripped it with my small fingers. And I stayed there, gazing through it longingly because I saw the fence as an insurmountable barrier. Good boys didn’t climb fences.
Good boys also didn’t kill their patients.
The cool logic of this thought reminded me that I’d switched on my emotion regulator. I switched it off and felt a surge of raw excitement. Standing on the precipice of doing something right and wrong at the same time, of betraying someone I owed no real allegiance to, thrilled me.
Climbing the fence proved easier than I expected, even with the backpack on. My hands and feet seemed to know what to do out of instinct, and in only one minute and thirty-seven seconds, I set my foot on the broken sidewalk outside the Nightmare Hotel. The building seemed smaller. I felt bigger.
My clock ticked in the corner of my vision. Turning my back on the place, I wondered if I could get Splice to pry off the wristband tonight. Would Misery hunt me down somehow to repay her for the backpack and medkit? I deserved to keep this stuff for saving Phantom’s life. Misery scared me though, and she’d made it clear that she considered me her property. If I didn’t get back by midnight, I had no doubt she’d jolt the fuck out of me until I crawled back, begging for her forgiveness.
No one hung around the Nightmare Hotel. One block away, I found people. Homeless men huddled in boarded-over doorways. One brave woman in a tight skirt leaned against a streetlamp, watching cars pass. Her gaze flicked over me, then she thankfully dismissed me.
A heavy bass beat thumped in my chest and the
stench of rotting garbage assaulted my nose. Keeping my head down, I avoided eye contact with anyone. I passed through a small crowd of people chattering outside a run-down warehouse with electric instruments screeching through the broken windows. Enough alcohol hit the air with their breaths that I could taste the cheap, crappy beer they all drank.
I hated DeeSeat for the low drinking standards and awful music.
Ahead, my salvation rolled to a stop at the corner. Splice stopped her bulky motorcycle and waved to me without pushing her goggles up. Yet another new experience for me today—riding a roadbike.
“Hey, Doc Soo.” She smiled and patted the wet leather seat behind her. “That’s not a spectacular name, by the way. You need something with more panache.”
With one hand on her shoulder, I swung my leg over the bike. “I have to be in bed by midnight.”
“Then let’s go, Cinderella. Hold on and try to relax. Message me if you need to say something.”
Uncomfortable with wrapping my arms around her, I settled my hands on her hips. The bike’s engine revved so quietly that I felt it without hearing it. We bolted from the curb and flew down the street in wind so fierce I had to hide behind her. Now I knew why she wore VR goggles on a motorcycle at night.
Watching the world pass by to her left, I saw more darkness than light. The bike swerved around cracks and debris in a street too damaged for cars, then we rocketed up a ramp and leaped into the air. One long moment of glorious free-fall ended with an unpleasant slap of my ass on the seat and my groin against Splice.
While I groaned, she slowed and turned the bike down a narrow alley clear of trash or squatters. The alley offered barely enough space for us to pass through, which made me cringe, anticipating a head-on collision. We turned within half a minute of diving down this tunnel of doom and I lifted my head to discover we’d entered a small room with a concrete floor.
The engine died, shutting off its headlight and plunging us into near darkness. Splice popped out the kickstand and stood while she leaned the bike onto it. “Wake up, Doc. We’re here. This is my place.”
I stumbled through an awkward dismount with her help. The door we’d entered through rumbled shut, cutting off the pathetic light outside. A shaft of bright light blinded me when Splice opened an interior door. I followed her into a room stuffed full of bins, boxes, tool chests, and a collection of screens set up on stands in a semi-circle resembling those at the mechanic I used to take my car to for maintenance.
Unlike that shop, this one had parts and tools strewn across every table. In the empty space where a vehicle should be, she had a raised cot covered with a plastic tarp. Beside it, a robotic arm held a metal tray full of surgical tools. Three black stands held spotlights high enough to shine down where the patient would lie.
“This is…wonderful,” I breathed.
Splice grinned. “Welcome to my shop.”
Chapter 11
“It doesn’t really compare to a nanosuite, but it’s more than I could have put together on such short notice.” A smile tugged on my mouth and pride swelled in my chest for my own skills.
Splice smirked. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“How did you find all this in such a short time?”
“Called in a few favors.” She toggled each of the three spotlights and adjusted them to shine on the cot. “I already had some of it, so no big deal.”
“You called in favors. For me.” Suddenly suspicious of her, I narrowed my eyes and watched her turn to her bank of screens. “Why?” After all, Misery did things for me too. I rubbed the wristband.
She slipped brown mesh VR gloves on and raised an eyebrow at me over her shoulder. “Because I think you’d be a good business partner. We can become a one-stop shopping spot for black market bodyware. Buy from me, get hooked up by you. We split the money, share the space, and throw off the shackles of our bosses.”
“Wait. You have a boss too?”
Splice snorted. “Everybody has a boss down here, Doc. Mine is a lot more pleasant than Misery, but he’s still a boss. This is his space and I do work for him for free or he breaks my kneecaps. But he’s only the boss because I can’t make enough on my own to set up a shop. Not enough business, no thanks to him scaring people off, choking my supply chain, and monopolizing my time. Working together, we can make enough to get our own place and just have a landlord instead of a boss.”
The picture she painted spoke to me. Two underground cowboys, bucking the system and making it work for them. I remembered the abandoned gas station and wondered if anyone claimed it. From the way Monster had hurried there and gotten us out, I had a feeling some rival gang considered it their property.
I approached the tray and touched the cool metal handle of the single scalpel. The last time I’d used one had been part of the worst twenty-four hours of my life. Only three hours before that, Bunny had come to my office. I’d wanted to talk about my family, about how Ai had kicked me out, but she took off her dress and poured me a glass of whiskey.
Thinking back, sex had been the last thing on my mind. It all went back to that blow job. Once Bunny did that, I felt like I owed her— No, I felt like I owned her.
Soft, blue eyes looked up at me. Her hands rested on my hips. She licked her ruby-red lips next to my zipper. I reacted like any man would.
Had I told her to do it, or did I only think those words? I couldn’t remember. But it wasn’t my fault. It couldn’t have been my fault.
“Doc Soo?”
“Hm?” I blinked until I saw Splice instead of Bunny. “What?”
“Looked like you were diving deep. You probably need that, but not now. Your patient will be here soon.” She handed me a small box. “This is the implant, that’s your table, those are your tools. Get comfy and let’s get this show clanging.”
“Right.” I stared at the box without moving, not sure what held me in place. “Can I ask you something kind of… I guess it would be personal.”
Splice flicked her fingers and the dozen screens in front of her flickered into life. “You can ask anything you want. I won’t answer if I don’t want to.”
I took a deep breath and directed my gaze to the surgical tray as an impartial, nonjudgmental participant in the conversation. Sort of. “Have you ever given someone a blow job without them asking for it?”
During the long pause that followed, I tried to recall more details of that encounter with Bunny. One part obviously stood out in my memory. How we ended up that way seemed fuzzy and vague, as if I’d made an effort to forget without realizing it. I couldn’t remember the moments leading up to her kneeling in front of me.
Bunny had come to my office to talk to me about her husband’s procedure. She didn’t understand it and wanted me to explain in detail, or so she’d said. I told her about hip replacement. Somewhere along the way, she had interrupted me and steered the conversation toward what a dick she thought Arthur was. And then she knelt in front of me.
“You’re right,” Splice finally said, startling me out of the memory. “That is kind of a personal question. Also? Not the kind of thing you usually ask someone you just met. I’ve been in your brain Doc, but not like that. Since you asked, though, I’m guessing that’s how you cheated on your wife and now you’re looking for some kind of validation about how awesome you are and how unfair the world is.”
Shame burned my cheeks. “That’s not— I mean—” My thoughts bashed around, smashing each other into incoherence.
She snorted. “You’re a doctor. A shit-hot doctor from what I understand. With a lot of money and prestige.”
“How did you—”
“Don’t worry, Dr. Tsukuda, your identity is safe with me. Misery let it slip and I looked you up. Your wife is fifteen flavors of pissed at you.” She sounded so offhand and flippant. I glanced at her and saw she had her back to me as she flicked her fingers to control the screens. Schematic diagrams showed pieces of what appeared to be a disassembled device.
“The po
int is,” she continued, “you and some woman in your office? It would take a lot of power on her part to make you equals, let alone superior to you. You were the top in that situation, so it was your job not to fuck her. Doesn’t matter what she wanted, what she did or didn’t ask for, or how good it was. You knew better and you banged her anyway. You’re the bad guy in that story.”
My mind whirled. I already knew this, didn’t I? I’d admitted it. Arthur Belton died because I killed him for Bunny, a brainless airhead I didn’t need for any reason at all. She’d been nothing more to me than a whim, a diversion. How did I go from dancing with Ai in a dumpy coffee joint to killing for a toy in my chrome and glass office?
“But I don’t want to be the bad guy,” I blurted.
“Nobody ever does. Best plan is to build a wall between you and that asshole. Rebuild yourself. Move on. You got a second chance, Doc. Grab it with both hands and run.”
My stomach roiled. I was supposed to be Miko’s hero. Instead, I’d become Ai’s villain.
“Yeah, there’s hope for you,” Splice said. “Stuff it down, Doc, because your patient is here.” She hurried to the front of the shop, peeling off one VR glove.
“Hope for me,” I muttered to her back, mocking the idea. “There’s no fucking hope for me.” I finally shucked the backpack and set it aside. Its weight lingered, dragging me down. Tossing my windbreaker on top of it, I looked up to see a battle-hardened black woman with a shaved head following Splice into the shop.
I switched on my emotion regulator.
Chapter 12
Like I often did after a surgery, I leaned against the wall with my arms crossed, staring at the once-again empty cot, and ran over the procedure in my head. Nothing had gone wrong. The patient had other bodyware and I took care of some scarring for her while I had her spine exposed anyway. The filaments laced through her nerves should run smoother after this.
It had gone well, but I needed to get back to Nightmare Motel. As much as I liked the idea of running off with Splice, the bridge to Misery would drag me down into the flames if I burned it now. Beyond the wristband, I didn’t know enough about how much power she really commanded yet.
