by Chucho Jones
“That striped goon,” she said out loud. She looked for scraps of clothing on the side and covered her perfect synthetic body. “Four of my nine senses have been neutralized. I wasn’t able to feed our coordinates to HQ. We need to keep a low profile. It’s not safe out here after curfew,” she added. Leon did the same as her and covered himself in rags. An echoing alarm resounded all through the slums.
“Citizens of Prime city, daily eight-hour curfew is now in session. We advise you to stay indoors until five hours of the a.m. Thank you, this has been a message by Enlumacorp, the light of your future,” the monotone voice stopped after a shriek. A fanfare resounds, meanwhile the odd couple remains in the shadows. Leon looks both ways, his heart rate increasing, all he can think about were about his younger years, and how at every underground facility F.A.M.I.L.Y. had hidden both him and Laura, all through the years of the second great war.
Floating mechanical behemoths zoomed through the streets. The Yellow hulking vessels seemed like a tank with side cockpit’s and two mechanical arms on each side. Leon couldn’t take his eyes off the parading machines. The vessels held corpulent humanoid and animal hybrids of all variety ready with power tools and utility belts. One after the other the machines marched along the streets going their way, escorted by smaller high-impact vessels with red and blue lights.
Leon moved in close to the maiden’s ear and began whispering.
“What’s this rubber soul?” he asks.
“It’s a construction convoy, Enlumacorp’s legacy has been constructing monoliths for over a century.” She said as she gazed at Leon’s scoundrel-esque features.
“Why do you do that?” she asked.
“Why do I do what?” he replied with a removed expression on his face. The maiden gazed deeper into his eyes.
“Call me names? Rubber soul,” she asked with a firm stare. Leon shifted his sight towards the construction convoy.
“Well, I don’t really know. It’s just something I do,” he replied. Suddenly he felt self-conscious. He looked back at the synthetic girl and half grinned.
“You seem legitimate enough, but you look made out of rubber. It’s harmless.” He reassured her with a smile.
“I think it’s annoying. You can stop the foolishness and you can call me Connor instead.” She said with a firm tone while accentuating a tight smile.
“Connor? like a boy’s name?” He said with a smirk on his face.
“Connor is a unisex name, not unlike Eleanor which I believe is your first name?” She replied in a sharply condescending tone.
“Geez, alright don’t get so revved up silver pipes, people call me Leon,” he replied. A hum interrupted their childlike discussion, a sudden spotlight singled them out in the empty streets. Leon saw a floating round silhouette with four mechanical tentacles through the blinding light he gripped his bat and struck a blow, only to hit thin air.
“Citizens out after curfew must be submitted. Please refrain from any physical activity.” Connor took a chance and stretched her arm to attack the menacing machine. The floating robot countered her attack and gripped her lassoing arm. She kicked the machine from below turning her foot into a shard and stabbing the machine. The robot’s immediate reaction triggered its laser weapon systems, it shot in Leon’s general direction. Leon froze at the sight for a millisecond.
“Quick get behind me,” yelled Connor. Leon reacted swiftly and duck rolled behind her to safety. She provided to dismantle the machine into its mechanical components, only this time she did it with her bare hands. Leon was a bit shocked, yet he couldn’t help to sense a tingling feeling running through his spine at the sweet maiden’s aggressive display. As the last pieces of the guarding robot fell to the ground, she took the laser gun from it and attached it to her morphing forearm, the weapon’s systems activated.
“I said you can call me Connor and I prefer to address you as Worthington. Are we clear cadet?” She said as she handed a phatasfa off the ground from the robot guard’s broken pieces.
“I believe you are well-enough proficient with a phatasfa. We need to get to sector three so that I can contact HQ. Try to keep up, I believe you’re not quite at your potential level yet.” She covered her head with the rags and ran across the street guns blazing until the next safe zone.
“Come on Worthington, I’ve cleared a path,” she said as she waived him to get over. Leon took a second look at both sides and ran across, He couldn’t help but feel emasculated in the shadow of the rubber beauty.
They turn on a corner only to find a patrolling vehicle coming to a halt. One of the officers remained in the vessel while other one checked out the alleyway across from Connor and Leon. Leon saw the chance to single out the walking officer and lured him as he banged his phatasfa to a metal wall. The husky humanoid in armor approached them.
“Quick, get in front of him and distract him.” Said Leon to the beautiful maiden.
“What are you proposing?” she replied.
“Are you kidding me look at yourself! Take your robe off and do that little light show you did before so I can get him from behind,” said the young man with his confident gaze. She rolled her eyes in disapproval of the ridiculous idea.
“Because of who you are, I’m going to entertain this primitive sentiment of yours,” she said in disdain. She gracefully walked towards the husky officer.
“Excuse me, officer, I was on my shift and got locked out before curfew,” the maiden said in a slurry yet poppy tone. She took her robe off and crossed her wrists again and placed them in between her eyes. The titling light show glowed intensely but not as intense as before. Leon moved up to tase the husky humanoid not before taking a glance at the lighting beauty. He rolled his phatasfa and shocked the pig-faced officer to the ground.
“Quick, take his gear, you need to stay in cover,” she said as she kept glowing.
“Are you kidding me? This square is like three times my volume,” he cackled at the glowing lady.
The commotion called out the second officer. The humanoid’s slender figure approached the luminescent lady, like a moth to a flame. Leon took a chance to tase him, but the humanoid turned at Leon just in time. The officer parried the scoundrel’s attack and began to engage. Leon saw the hesitation on the half-dog half-man creature in front of him.
“Human,” the officer yelled, with his left arm he reached for a comm link on his chest.
“Officer Oliger Boyle, we have a 4-2-2 in sector six outer limits.” The man-dog said out loud. Leon took a second chance and charged the man with all his might, this time he swung at him with his lucky bat. He struck the man once, twice, three times, before it fell and then two more while on the ground. He was enraged with every single blow he took. Leon swung once more but Connor’s firm grip stopped his strike.
“That’s enough rage for now. We seriously need to work on your etiquette.” Connor said to Leon.
“Right, I’m sorry, I’m still on edge,” he replied – a shroud of shame in his tone.
“Come on, let’s get to sector three,” said the maiden as she rushed to the vehicle. Leon geared himself up with most of the officer’s uniform and followed Connor to the vehicle. The couple got into the unmanned patrol and took off.
Leon couldn’t believe the interior of the vessel. The oval shape designs of the interior decked with a sleek chrome cover peeked Leon’s creativity. For some time he was fascinated by the engineering of the vehicle. A curved shape panel displayed an array of holographic displays that read various conditions about the vehicle, the environment, and other screens that showed mug shots of various mutants. A holographic traveling banner read: PCCP.
For a quick second, Leon confused the sign with the word poop until he realized it was an acronym for Prime City Curfew Police. The revolving mugshot display came to a halt at a hologram with a pictureless file, a beeping alarm gave an introduction to a monotonous voice.
“Attention all units, the chaotic rogue knew as the Mime has been causing destructi
on on the upper levels of section’s Two and Three of the Prime Citadel. Last time he was spotted he was carrying the body of a minor in Sector Four. All dispatches stay alert for the suspect in the area.” Said the monotone voice. A second screen showed some of the destruction the rogue left in its wake. Footage of the chaotic interloper destroying the airship displayed on a second screen. A graphic exposition of Oliver flying out of the airship’s back door followed by Leon’s pod free falling into the city played over a third hologram.
“Was that me?” Leon asked. He saw the striped man launch himself towards Oliver in a jetpack.
“He took Oliver, we need to go after him,” he said in a rush. He kept looking at the hologram. Quickly after the striped man fled, Connor jumped into a free fall without hesitation after the pod. It wasn’t difficult for Leon to connect the dots after. The metal exterior that protected his pod’s free fall was Connor, the Omnimaiden. He took a second to appreciate her synthetic beauty, after all, not many women had ever done something so bold for him as to save his life.
“We will need a solid plan if we are to retrieve your nephew. We need to get to the headquarters to get an upgrade, this body is decaying. I don’t have much time,” she said in a demanding tone. Leon felt a little intimidated as he knew she could overpower him.
“What’s wrong with you? Was it the fall?” He asked as if entertaining the matter and showing concern for his savior.
“The Mime shocked me with a virus. He prevented my body from connecting to the motherboard back in HQ. If I don’t take this body back I’ll lose any new information I’ve acquired since I connected last. That means this whole mission’s briefing would be in jeopardy and I won’t be able to record the events properly. I need to take this body back,” she said in a condescending yet soothing tone, as she kept her eyes on the road.
Leon shrugged his shoulders and made a grin.
“Wait, what do you mean? You’re expendable?” he replied with a semi-confrontational tone, he felt confident how to turn the conversation around.
“I’ve seen what you can do, I’m sure between the two of us we can take that goon out. Plus, in the heat of battle, the kid can surprise you. Come on we can do this,” he said. The maiden looked at him with endearment.
“I truly applaud your enthusiasm. I understand now that your wishful thinking is what makes you persevere, but the reality is that he’s a trained tactician who understands every aspect of his enemies, and I’m not expendable, I can transfer my consciousness into multiple electronic devices, that includes this biomechanical mesh,” she replied with a face that showed a shroud of shame. Leon felt guilty about putting his foot in his mouth.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” he said tactfully, trying to be upbeat about it.
“I’m a person. I evolved into energy, a nano-virus keeps me in link with F.A.M.I.L.Y.’s network, this body is busted. I was once expendable but it’s been decades since I’ve had to switch between three different bodies. I’ve already lost one. I’ll be down to my last one. We don’t stand a chance right now,” she said in a trembling tone. Leon’s guts revolted. He wanted to get sucked by his seat and spit out of the vehicle. He felt too deep into the conversation to back down now.
“Come on lady, we gotta leave some of it to chance. I’m sure you can find it in your heart. Please, what do you say? My sister must be going crazy right now, she might even set out to find him on her own. Help me out on this one, you said you had a family,” he said with a warmth in his tone that made his words all that sincere.
Connor looked out the window into the ancient slums of what once was Auroville. Her liquid silvery face showed a subtle smile. She seemed touched by Leon’s enthusiasm – Leon saw her breathing rapidly, her eyes glittered.
“No one had ever said…” she began. The moment was quickly interrupted by a gliding shadowy figure that interrupted their trajectory.
“Pump the breaks!” Leon shouted. Connor was able to dodge the black blur just in time. The thing was quickly followed by a small group of red manta drones. She hesitated, then with a swift maneuver turned the vehicle and followed the red swarm.
“Who are they?” Leon asked.
“They are Mr. Light’s hired scum. They always go after the scraps we’re trying to protect; we’re running out of time waiting for you. He basically runs this part of the world now with the construction of sector one Monoliths,” she said in an aggravated tone.
“Mono what?” Leon asked confused.
“Never mind that, we cannot have master Hawke in jeopardy. There are six hours remaining on the curfew to which this body can survive five of them I don’t plan to entertain the mercenaries much longer,” she said in a tone of anger.
“Master Hawke?” Leon whispered confused.
“That’s cool. That’s cool. As long as we’re going for the kid,” Leon replied. He adjusted his oversized gear and grabbed on to the sides of his seat. He couldn’t help but feel accomplished by touching a machine’s heart. He gazed at her once more as her demeanor turned to overwatch.
The patrolling vehicle flew by low and fast, chasing after the black blur and the red swarm.
5
Chapter 5
The wind felt crisp and made rushing speed of a free fall even more difficult. The adrenaline rush of the uncertain safety kept the voices quiet, the rushing sensation of seeing someone else in pain kept him calm. The chaotic rogue lit his jetpacks and launched himself towards Oliver, something inside of him compelled him not to let the kid die.
The mysterious man approached him, and the young boy was afraid. The Mime took a strong grip of Oliver. The grasping jolt made Oliver lose his breath, and a rushing sensation overcame the stranger. He stretched his left arm and shot a grappling hook to the side of a building. The man took the swinging leap, Oliver gagged at the tilting sensation of swinging through the heights at sundown. Despite the fact he was hung upside-down the site of tomorrow-days seemed to mesmerize the child. The chaotic rogue released his grappling hook and took a tighter grasp of the child as they fell towards a high terrace. He ducked, rolled, and protected Oliver from the fall that broke part of the floating terrace attached to the golden high rise.
A massive ENLUMACORP projection rested to the side of the building – the last thing Oliver saw before he dozed off. The alien arm lit up in its creases, then a pulsating red light emanated from the round indentation of the back of the hand. The mysterious rouge took notice of the event and realized that Oliver burnt in fever. He took a quick second to get a better grasp of the child. He feared the alien contraption might be making the boy sick. He scoped the skies for a handle or grip, looking for a way out. His eyes caught a glance of the elusive elegant man behind the high windows looking down on him. The Mime ignored his observant gaze and leaped off the building, down into the lower sectors of the city.
As they descended the familiar difficulty of breathing became a nuisance, increasingly, as the air got thicker and warmer, and scratched the Mime’s throat. The humidity surrounded every corner of the streets and all the shining gold and silver from the citadels above contrasted in relation to the mechanical understructures of the city, covered by metal and rust. The chaotic rogue made his way to the ground. He knew it would become difficult for the human child to breathe. The man in the striped armor took his mask off. Almost human, his pale white skin reflected the neon red and blue of the street lights, he placed his mask on the child and activated the filter. The boy began to breathe properly.
His slender sharp ears pricked up at the sound of a clank around the alley. His narrow eyes went from red to black as he stared into the darkness. His wide nose clinched, but caught no threatening scent. He quickly tied the child behind his back and carried on, forward. He cocked his gun and walked on the dark side of the streets, they turned around the corner, where a massive concrete wall read Sector Four in big orange letters. He came close to what resembled a trash disposal with neon lights. He reached down with his arm and
grabbed a set of dark rags. He covered himself and the boy with them and proceeded into the darkness of the devastated ruins of the old city. An alarming sound resounded on the broken streets.
“Citizens of Prime city, daily eight-hour curfew is now in session. We advise you to stay indoors until five hours of the a.m. Thank you! This has been a message by Enlumacorp, the light of your future.”
The Mime looked back at the concrete corner. He saw a group of floating drones with tentacles. He knew curfew had no grace to that particular side of town. The drones immediately turned towards Oliver and the Mime, and the chaotic albino grabbed a disk from his belt and threw it at the drone to the center of the group. The blue disk attached to the floating machine, and with a twist of his right wrist the drone got shocked and exploded. The blast created enough destruction that left only two remaining drones in the air. His bare feet glowed an indigo sheen. He overran the chasing drones in haste with the kid on his back.
The albino man ran and leaped through the broken alleys of the old city’s ruins at a tremendously fast speed. One of the drones stretched its tentacle and grabbed the Mime by his rags. He shook them off and turned to shoot the attacking drone – setting him back several feet. The man took the chance to run. His human captive was exposed, he needed to get home even faster.
