by Tracy Korn
“Where are they? I can’t see anything,“ Pritchard said after walking a few minutes. “Ryder?“ Panic laced his voice when I didn't respond. Even though we were close, we were just outside The Citadel boundaries, the docks in The Grind near the outer gate that closed off the narrow bay in front of us.
“I’m here. Just keep the case steady,“ I said, picking up a piece of pipe from the ground and putting it in the back of my waistband, just in case. I didn’t trust anything in the fog.
The suits were waiting when we got to the docks. They were always in suits—all of them black like the villains in every bad movie ever made. There were three of them this time, but I’d delivered enough of these cases to know that for every three you saw, there were ten more you didn’t.
“You must be Knox Ryder,“ the black suit in the middle said, looking me up and down and raising his palm as he studied me, seemingly fascinated. “Please, please, take your time. I would like to observe your cadence.“
Here we go again. Another stranger who knows about my legs, I thought. I gave him a flat smile. “Are you Zhang or what?“
Pritchard growled a warning at me under his breath and gave me the case. My heart started pounding in my chest again.
The man stepped into the light and extended his hand for the case. I put my other hand in the air, per the protocol.
“I am Zhang, yes. And I have been advised the contents this time are reformulated?“ he asked, looking down the flat planes of his broad, pockmarked face at me. “I am told there will be no more…Ferals.“
Ferals? I thought, but I pushed it out of my head when he started eyeballing my legs again. I took a step back. “They said to tell you not to expect any problems,“ I lied, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. This is a re-delivery? I wondered. Then who delivered the first case to Zhang?
“We’ll see.“ Zhang handed the case to one of his flunkies, another pinched-faced man who punched a code into the briefcase’s number plate. It didn’t open, so he tried again.
The sound of the crashing waves behind Zhang and his crew fell out of sync with the pounding in my ears. Zhang’s eyes scanned my legs again, and after several minutes, he shook his head at me.
“Is there a problem?“ I clipped before I could catch myself. Pritchard thumped the back of my shoulder just where Donovan hit me with the syringe, and a fresh wave of heat shot through my whole body. I braced for a punch or a pipe to the stomach for my tone, but Zhang just gave me an oily smile instead.
“It is almost like being a god, isn’t it, Knox Ryder?“ He looked at me for several more seconds, long enough for me to notice the rapid, unnatural dilation of his eyes. “Everlasting performance, no deterioration. And more.“ He scanned my legs again and grinned in approval. “Ah, expansion titanium, I see.“
Before I could respond, the pinched-faced man got the case open, checked the contents, and nodded to Zhang before closing it again.
Zhang’s lips curled, his wispy eyebrows pitching as he gave me a long side-eye. His assistant handed me another briefcase, then disappeared into the fog with Zhang and the rest of his entourage.
Pritchard and I stood in silence for several seconds before the aftershock of adrenaline hit my bloodstream, and I started shaking. I clenched my teeth to keep from accidentally biting my tongue.
“Well, that went well,“ he said into the night as Zhang and his fellow black suits disappeared into the mist. “You see his eyes? Did he x-ray you back there?“
I blew out a breath, but something broke in me. Something I couldn't put back together. And I knew this was the last time I’d ever stand there like some kind of exotic zoo animal for people who were obsessed with living forever.
I shoved the case into Pritchard’s chest. “I need to get out of The Citadel.“
He laughed as we started walking back to the car. “All that time trying to get in, and now you want to get out?“
“I still know people in The Grind. We could make it.“
“And do what? Risk more of your life operating as an Unauthorized medic?“ Pritchard sighed. “The Grind is a war zone, man. Especially for you.“ I shot him a glare, but he just raised an eyebrow and glanced at my legs. “The scavengers? They’d tear you apart once they found out about your…enhancements. Besides, Don doesn’t want to leave. You heard him.“
I stop walking and turn to Pritchard. “Hit me.“
“What?“
“Hit me. I need to see Nyssa again.“
“I’m not going to hit you.“
“Damn it, Pritchard, either hit me or I’m going to throw myself out of the car on the way back to The Citadel.“
“Do you understand the years you’re putting at stake for both of you by getting Unauthorized medical treatment again. We don’t have any credentials yet, in case you forgot.“
“We have bigger problems now. Zhang said Ferals are being produced from whatever was in the last case. What if that’s what’s going to happen to Donovan? What if going wild, or whatever Feral means, is a side effect, and that’s what’s attacking people? We have to tell Nyssa what happened and find out what was really in those syringes.“
“Oh, so you’re trying to get her killed then? Because they won’t send her back to The Grind if she gets kicked out. And you know what, they probably won’t even charge her with giving you Unauthorized medical services. She knows too much now.“
I squinted at him. “What, then? We just wait for Don to go Feral? We just keep being part of this chain that leads to people dying? That’s the exact opposite of what a medic does!“
Pritchard sighed. “You don’t even know if that’s what’s happening. Let it go. We’re free and clear in two weeks. Nyssa too.“
“They’re never going to let her out of that lab, Pritchard. She had two guards with her tonight. They escorted her like she was some kind of prisoner.“
“Even if she is, she’s still better off at The Citadel than in The Grind.“
“I used to think that before they locked her up in there.“
“Look, I understand, OK?“ Pritchard held out a hand for emphasis. “But we’re done with these internships in two weeks, man, and then we’ll have social percentage—we can buy back all our years!“
“Why am I even talking to you?“ I shook my head, picking up my pace to get Pritchard out of my wake. Donovan flashed the headlights for just a second in the distance, and I turned toward them.
The black car emerged from the fog like an animal in the night, creeping forward just as quietly. Why did it always feel like something was hunting us next to this stupid water? I thought as I got in the front seat and Pritchard got in the back.
“You got the payment?“ Donovan asked me as he pulled away.
I jerked my head over my shoulder at Pritchard in the backseat. “We drop off the case, and then we’re going to see Nyssa.“
“Why? What happened?“ Donovan asked, darting glances at me.
“I had an accident.“ I started hitting my right knee with the pipe as hard as I could.
“Hey! Hey!“ Donovan swerved and abruptly stopped, making me fly forward and hit my head on the dashboard.
Pritchard yanked the pipe from my hand. “Are you crazy? Yeah, you’re both crazy! Oh and great,“ he added, leveling a hand at my face. “Well, there’s your accident.“
I tasted the blood in my mouth and felt more trickling down from my forehead.
Donovan swore at squinted at me. “Why the hell did you do that?“
“Just take him to Nyssa,“ Pritchard said.
“What about turning in the payment?“ Donovan scanned the rearview and side mirrors as he pulled out again.
“I’ll take it to Wu this time.“ Pritchard sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, then let his head fall against the backseat.
***
We drove in silence the rest of the way to the interior gate of The Citadel. Donovan slowed down long enough for the scanner to read his eyes, and we waited for the red gridline gate
s to disappear in front of us.
The narrow streets were deserted like they always were at this time in the morning—too late to go to sleep, too early to wake up. We pulled into the administrative block, where Donovan stopped to let Pritchard out with the case.
“Take Ryder to Nyssa before he has another great idea,“ Pritchard said. “If Wu is still waiting, I’ll say we had some interference on the way back from the deal.“ He leaned down on a forearm to glare at me through Donovan’s window. “Tell her to check your head while you’re there. And I don’t just mean the part you whacked on the dash.“
I gave him a mock salute, and he pounded on the top of the car a few times.
Donovan stepped on the gas. “So… what the hell was all that about?“
“Zhang said their last case produced something called Ferals when he asked if the contents were fixed this time,“ I answered.
“Does he mean the attacks?“
“You tell me, Don! What did Kira say when she gave you the code?“
“Nothing about Ferals.“
“How are you not losing your mind right now?“ I asked. “Hell, I am and I just got a dud! Don’t you see that whatever Nyssa’s people put in those syringes must be what’s causing the attacks? What else could Ferals mean?“ I wanted to keep trying to pound this into Donovan’s head, but I felt fluid leaking down the back of the synthetic skin on the side of my calf. That’s probably not good, I thought.
“You worry too much, Ryder. We’re about to start earning social percentage. Wu even upgraded your legs. We get a whole day off every few weeks to deliver a briefcase…an hour’s worth of work, tops. Oh, and I’m probably immortal now.“
“You think this is some kind of joke? What if you turn into one of the Ferals—whatever they are?“ I almost shouted as the car slowed outside Nyssa’s unit.
Donovan sighed. “Look, I’m sorry you got the dud syringe, but I feel better than I ever have in my life! Who cares about what else they’re doing? It’s not affecting us. They won’t just send us back to The Grind if you blow this, Ryder—they’ll kill us…Nyssa too, and it will all be for nothing.“
“I’m not going to blow anything. I just need to know if Wu is behind the attacks. I need to know if we’re part of it.“
“There’s no relation! The attacks were happening before we ever took these jobs, remember?“
I didn't answer, and Donovan just shook his head as he parked the car in the alley next to the high-rise. It was dark and empty, but a careful glance at the blinking cameras embedded about twenty feet up the concrete walls reminded me that we were never really alone. Not in The Grind. Not in The Citadel.
“What if there were others delivering the cases before us? Wu never said we were the first,“ I whispered, opening my door.
“Stay there. I’ll come around to your side. Ugh, you got brake fluid or whatever all over the carpet!“
I put my feet on the ground, but the sensors in my right leg didn't register in my head, and it felt like I was just dangling my foot over a ledge—no ground reception.
Donovan offered an awkwardly large arm.
“I got it,“ I said, bracing against the car.
He grabbed my arm anyway. “Yeah, because you’re planning to hop up there?“
We moved as nonchalantly as we could to the front of the building. The street was abandoned with the exception of more cameras mounted on the streetlights like a bunch of one-eyed vultures scanning for prey. Donovan pushed the intercom button for Nyssa’s dorm once we get to the door.
“What happened?“ she asked almost immediately. “Why is he bleeding? Wait—Donovan?“
The camera next to the intercom turned loudly to focus on us.
“Little accident,“ Donovan said. “We can’t go to the hospital.“
“OK, hold on.“ Nyssa punched something into the keypad on her side, and a second later, the door buzzed. “Come on, come on!“
My foot dragged along the slate tiles all the way to Nyssa’s room at the end of the hall, and I still didn’t feel anything. Panic started to radiate in my chest.
We didn’t even have time to tap on the door before Nyssa slid it open. She waved us in and turned quickly back into the room.
“Thanks for—“ I started, but stopped when I noticed how small the space was. Just a little, straight-lined couch with a bunk bed above it, and a table crammed into a tiny kitchen, which took up half the space in the dorm.
“Were you attacked? There were three more reports…“ Nyssa started to ask without looking back at us. “Lie down here. Come here…“ She pointed me to the kitchen table she’d pulled out from the wall, but then blanched when she turned and got a good look at Donovan in the light. “What…?“
“Nyssa, just listen,“ I said quietly.
Donovan helped me over, and for a second, I saw a flash of the last time I was hauled into Nyssa’s place in the middle of the night, bleeding. Only last time, it wasn’t a closet-sized dorm room in The Citadel. It was a dilapidated flat in The Grind.
“I need to get the car back to the garage,“ Donovan said, looking at his watch. He smiled, taking a second to admire the new vascularity in his forearm.
“You’re not going anywhere until you explain…uh, yourself,“ Nyssa said, looking him up and down.
Donovan just bounced his eyebrows at her and smirked, pulling the empty bottles out of his pocket to show her. “I gotta get these back too…“
“Those are from my lab,“ Nyssa almost whispered, shaking her head in disbelief when she saw the last few drops of colored liquid in the bottles. She suddenly sobered. “Don, no. Listen, there have been…problems with the formulas.“
“No problems here, as you can see,“ he said, quickly kissing her cheek. “I gotta go! Ryder, we’ll cover for you tonight and swing around to get you in the morning. Keep your queue on.“ He smirked again, then showed himself out the door despite Nyssa’s disjointed protests.
“What did you do? What happened?“ she demanded, bewildered. “Knox, what did you do?“
“He did it. Kira gave him the bottles full of fake liquid and the code to the briefcase. He was in the backseat with it all, and before I knew it he was sticking me with—“
“He injected you too? Oh, no, Knox… Which one did he use?“
“I don’t know, blue I think?“
“But nothing happened? There could be a delayed onset. Do you feel the same?“
“It was hot for a while, but that’s it. Something would have happened by now, right?“
“Usually,“ she said unconvincingly.
“And the…problems? They would have happened by now too?“
Nyssa sighed. “I wish I knew more.“
I searched her face, feeling like there was something she wan't telling me. I was about to ask her again when I felt a tickle down the side of my leg again. “Uh, sorry—sorry, your rug…“ I said, pointing to the dripping reddish brown fluid.
“Put it up here.“ She lifted my foot and reached for a pair of scissors. I must have looked confused because she rolled her eyes at me. “Your pants?“
“Oh, right.“
She cut a line straight up the front of my pant leg. My shin was a wash of colors from bruise-green to black in places and dark red in others. Gouges in the synthetic skin around my knee oozed more rusty colored fluid, and my ankle was encircled by a blue ring.
“The nerve belt is severed…“ Nyssa shook her head and blew out a breath. “All right, Knox. What happened tonight?“
“I had to see you.“
She squinted at me. “You did this to yourself?“
“Well, not this part,“ I said, trying to keep the laugh out of my voice as I pointed to my head. “Donovan did that when he almost crashed the car.“
“Knox!“
“I’m sorry, I just knew you wouldn’t see me unless…you had to.“
“That’s not my choice. You know nobody in my lab is allowed to socialize. They don’t want us talking about our
work.“
“I know, I’m sorry. I just had to see you.“
Nyssa pulled in a deep breath and closed her eyes in a long blink. “Just tell me what happened while I find my old student issue kit because I have a feeling if I’m not fixing you, I’m going to kill you.“
She pinned up her blonde hair in the back, then pushed a few missed strands behind her ear as she rifled through her cabinets. She gave me one more side-eye blue glare before crossing back to the table with the instrument set they gave us at the beginning of our internships.
“Is it true, Nyss?“ I whispered, looking at her hard, willing her to read my mind so I didn't have to come right out and ask her about the briefcases. “Did you know?“
“Did I know what?“
“About what we’ve been delivering.“
“I have to rebuild this entire knee. Do you know how long that’s going to take with this old kit, Knox?“
“Long enough for me to convince you to tell me what’s happening? Is it true?“ I started to ask again. “Zhang said something about Ferals tonight. Is that what’s behind the attacks? Nyssa, listen to me. Are you making something that is turning people into…monsters?“
She stopped threading wires and looked at me desperately for a second, but then quickly reached for a set of small clamps.
“I know not to ask questions,“ she answered, stiff-lipped.
“Nyssa…“
“Stop being stupid, Knox. We have two weeks left of these internships.“
“You know there were three more murders this week?“ I asked, ignoring her comment. “The feeds reported three new animal attack stories the day after we delivered the last brief—ow!“
She glared at me in warning after hitting a nerve in my knee. “I heard about them.“
“Did whatever was in those syringes create the animals, Nyssa? Are those animals the Ferals Zhang was talking about?“
“I don’t know.“
“Because if so, it’s as much our fault as Zhang’s.“
“I don’t know!“ She almost shouted as she stopped poking around in my leg. “Maybe, all right? The only thing I can tell you is that the syringes are longevity cocktails. When they work, they all add years to your life, some, more than others. At least they’re supposed to. I overheard the chemists saying something about there being a rogue strain, but I don’t know what that means.“
