Criminal Core

by Nick Broad

  “I hope someone will explain all this to me some time,” I said, shaking my head.

  “You really should,” Shay said, provoking a warning glance from Meiko. “I’m not judging you, Meiko! But he deserves to know everything. You and I both know he’s not going to kick you out. Not now. You’re one of us. To my continued to confusion, things like that seem to matter to Noah quite a bit.”

  “Your confusion,” Meiko said with a prideful glance at me. “Not mine.”

  I’d heard more than enough. I wanted to know what the hell Meiko’s deal was, but more than that, I wanted to put a fucking win on the scoreboard for a change.

  As if summoned by my thought, Chirrup’s alarm flickered.

  “They are finishing now!” she informed us brightly. “The large one with the eyepatch has pulled out and is ejaculating all over the female’s-”

  “We heard you,” I said, cutting her off. “Alright team, time to move. Hands in the circle.”

  I stuck my hand out into the empty space between the four of us. All the women stared at it.

  “What are we doing?” Shay asked.

  “Just put your hands in the circle,” I snapped, brimming with irritation. One after another they did so, fingers clenched on top of mine. “On three, we yell ‘go team’ or something like that. Then we throw our hands in the air and get to business!”

  “Oh,” Ruby said, pressing her palm against mine. “Why?”

  Huh? I swallowed hard. “It’s...it’s a ritual. Like a sports team. Pumping everyone up.”

  “Oh, we’re a team,” Ruby said, her eyes glittering. “We need a name, then, don’t we?”

  Shay scoffed. “We’re the crew, right? That’s what Noah’s been calling us all this time.”

  I met each woman’s eyes in turn. When I reached Meiko, she had a sly look on her face, her lip curled up at the corner.

  “Well, we’re all criminals,” she said with a wicked little look at Shay. “If we weren’t before all this started, we definitely are now. Right?”

  Shay blanched. “I suppose,” she muttered. “But I have plausible deniability!”

  “Nah, you’re as fucked as all of us,” I said with a laugh. “What do you think, Meiko?”

  She smiled. “We’re Criminal Core,” she said, a little grin flickering across her face. “Three criminals and a Core. Unless you’re a criminal too, Noah?”

  She meant it as a joke, but it just made me think of the Forbidden List. Of the fact that I might be someone very different than the person I always thought I’d been - that I could be some kind of monster and not even realize it. Had I brought these women together and made them into my harem for good reasons, or was this the sort of thing I always did? Was I just keeping all the power and the women to myself, building a base so I could take control?

  I thought about it - and decided I didn’t care. Even if I was on the Forbidden List, that didn’t mean I had to be a bad guy. My genes didn’t define me - only the choices I made.

  When I looked up into Meiko’s eyes, I realized something else. She knew exactly what I was thinking - she’d been thinking it, too. And she agreed with me.

  “On three,” I said, my face splitting in a savage grin. “Go Criminal Core! Let’s give those Tigers a welcome they won’t ever forget!”

  “And then party like porn stars,” Shay added, batting her eyelashes at me. “Daddy.”

  “One!” Ruby screamed. “Two!”

  Meiko’s eyebrows shot all the way to her hairline. “DADDY!?”

  I tossed my hand into the air. “Three!”

  Nineteen: The Second Jailbreak

  It was quiet in the West Loop. Too quiet.

  I’d expected Shay to fight me somehow over which side of the Loop went to which one of us, but she’d just planted a kiss on me and sauntered down the hall, confident in her own ability to kick ass. So I was leaning against the wall, watching the curve of the station as we slowly rotated through space and waiting for the Red Tigers to show themselves. Or for Shay to tell me she was being attacked.

  My nerves were on edge. I didn’t like waiting. I needed action.

  “Ruby,” I said, speaking into the commlink at my wrist. “Status report.”

  “The Tigers are making their way through the tether,” the fairy said, her voice more serious than I’d ever heard. “They’ve finished copulating and are making their way into Alpha Spire.”

  Shay’s voice crackled through the speaker, joining the channel. “How messy is the girl? Should I keep a couple steps distance from her while we fight, or did they clean all the cum off her fur?”

  Ruby let out a shocked laugh. “They’re clean,” she said. “Well, clean-ish.”

  “Great,” Shay said, laughing through the comm. “You ready for this, Noah?”

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said, squaring my shoulders.

  “Remember,” Shay said, a jaunty little bounce in her voice. “Don’t be afraid of them. They’ve got weapons, but you’re an android. Don’t think like a human, Noah. You can take a lot of punishment before you go down.”

  I felt the blood drain from my face. “You mean they’re going to shoot me?”

  “Probably.” Shay sounded almost gleeful about the fact. “Don’t worry - if either of us get blown to hell, I’ll resurrect us. I’ll download your Core into a new body.”

  “Gee, thanks,” I said.

  “Of course,” she purred. “I need my Daddy, after all.”

  I knew she did. So why was I suddenly so on edge?

  Because, I thought, staring down the hallway, uploading Shay to a new body is easy - she’s got spares. For me, she’d have to build a whole new one. And that takes energy. Energy we don’t have...

  If I went down during this fight, it could be years before I’d be back on the station. Years of waiting, unconscious, inside of my Core. Years where the coalition I’d built between Shay, Meiko and Ruby could fracture and break up, until the crew I’d built disappeared and the station went back to being a ghost town.

  Would they stay together, without me? For years?

  No, I realized, shaking my head at nothing. They wouldn’t. Shay and Meiko would be at each others’ throats in a week. Ruby might wait for me, maybe, but by then it wouldn’t matter...

  Everything I’d worked for could go completely to hell if I died here. It sharpened my senses, made me hyper-aware of my android body. I could absorb a lot of punishment, just like Shay said - but I’d better not take too much.

  “Alright,” I said, shrugging it off, “we’re about to make contact. They won’t have a clue what’s coming. Final check-in, guys - everybody where they need to be?”

  “I’m right here,” Ruby said. “Along with Chirrup, I guess. As much as she’s anywhere in the station-”

  “I’m waiting,” Shay said, cutting the fairy off. “Been too long since I’ve torn anyone apart - looking forward to getting these hands bloody.”

  “I hope you’re not joking,” I said. “Meiko? You in the launch bay?”

  Silence.

  “Meiko?” I tapped the commlink. “Can you hear me? Ruby, are you picking up Meiko on the sensors?”

  There was a pause while the comm filled with the sound of Ruby tapping keys. “No,” the fairy said, sounding shocked. “She’s just...gone. Where did she go!?”

  “Meiko!?” I yelled at my wrist, getting frantic. “Meiko, say something...!”

  “She got cold feet,” Shay said, sounding disappointed. “Damn it, after all that time up on her high horse she fucking bailed on us!”

  I couldn’t believe it. “No, she hasn’t,” I growled. “The commlink is fucking broke, is all. There’s no way she’s abandoned us...”

  Whatever clever comeback Shay said next I didn’t hear. Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed through the hall. They grew louder, closer, and I flattened myself against the wall.

  “Shit, they’re coming!” I said into the comm. “Shay, they picked my side of the loop. Get ready!”r />
  They came around the corner together. All three of them were jogging, not going full-tilt but not walking, either. Maybe they were invigorated by the hot, sweaty fuck Ruby had tricked them into, or maybe they were just looking forward to getting back into outer space. Either way, it didn’t matter.

  Time to be a hero, I thought, jumping into the middle of the hallway. Let’s get these fuckers...

  They didn’t see me until they were practically on top of me, which gave the attack an element of surprise. I went for the third guy who was closest to my side of the hallway, and smashed him across the face with my arm. It was meant more to knock him off-balance than to wound, and that’s exactly what it did. He went down, and while he was on the ground it was a two-on-one fight.

  I liked those odds.

  Eyepatch Guy and Tiger Girl goggled at their limp friend for a moment, then turned to me. Tiger Girl dropped into a fighting stance like it was second nature, with Eyepatch Man just behind her.

  “You,” Eyepatch Guy said, pointing. “You were the one with the little door trick. I remember you!”

  I took the offensive and charged. Right into Eyepatch Man’s gun.

  He lifted it as I sprang forward, getting it off a second before I was on him. A blast of red energy struck me across the chest, sending me gasping against the wall. It felt like a thousand angry wasps were stinging me over and over again, but I was still on my feet. Shay had been right. Lasers hurt like a bitch, but they wouldn’t kill me. Not without a lot more blasts, in any case.

  “Get Taro to his feet!” Eyepatch Man roared over his shoulder. “I’ve got this!”

  The Tiger Girl bent over her downed comrade - Taro, apparently - and started shaking his shoulders. I was watching it, staring at her curves - big mistake.

  Eyepatch Man hit me in the face.

  I staggered backwards, the wall against my back. Eyepatch Man raised his gun and fired, aiming for the face this time, but I was too quick. I twisted away, trying to get in close.

  “My face!?” I roared, tossing myself at his bulk. “Aiming for my face? I’ll be sure to give you just as much respect, asshole!”

  The key, I told myself, was to stay in close. Pummel away with my fists, go absolutely berserk. I clenched both hands together and brought them down on top of Eyepatch Man’s head, hard, before he could get away from me. He howled with pain and anger, dropping his gun.

  The two of us grappled. He was strong, but I was stronger. I could see the shock on his face as he realized it - realized that I was about to pin him. The leverage was on my side, even as cords of muscle stood out on his shoulders and arms.

  “Got you, fucker,” I hissed, spitting in his one good eye. “Get down on the ground like your friend-”

  The world exploded in a haze of pain.

  I lost my balance, tumbling over. My vision went bright red, the stinging sensation back and worse than ever. When my vision cleared, Eyepatch Man was stumbling backwards towards his weapon. Tiger Girl was covering him, her own gun held straight at me.

  “You shot me in the fucking face,” I grunted, wiping the sweat away. “You’re next. Gonna kill you, you bitch-”

  Tiger Girl grinned. Taro was on his feet next to her, and he had a gun, too.

  Shit. Not good.

  “You have one hell of a body,” Eyepatch Man muttered. “But I’m guessing all three of us can blow enough holes in you to get you to stop moving.”

  He had me there. I put my hands up, eyes traveling from one of them to the other. “Why don’t you fight like a man?” I spat at Eyepatch Man, baring my teeth.

  “Because you’re not a man,” he said, his laughter a rumble. “You’re pathetic, you know that?”

  The words hit me in the gut like nothing else had. It hurt worse than the lasers.

  “What?”

  Eyepatch Man grinned. A trail of blood worked its way down his chin, coming from behind his eyepatch. Had I hit an old wound?

  “When you showed up, I thought maybe you’d actually gotten this place working again,” he said. He was gloating, and I hated it. “But you’ve failed. Just like you failed to stop me last time.” His grin grew wider. “You’ve got spunk, whelp, but you’re feeble. You’re no threat to the Red Tigers. This station has no energy, and without it, there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

  All three of them laughed cruelly, guns held at the ready. I really was about to discover how many blaster bolts I could take before I ended up back in my Core.

  There was a flash of motion behind the Tigers. My heart jumped into my throat.

  “I don’t need energy, asshole. I’ve got people!”

  He had about a half-second to process it before Shay jumped onto his back. She kicked, and his gun flew out of his hands and skidded across the floor. Right into arm’s reach.

  “Grab that and help me!” Shay yelled.

  Taro and Tiger Girl opened fire. I ducked, the heat raking my back, and picked up the gun. I’d shot BB guns before, but never something this lethal. Even if I had, this was the future - no recoil, no reloading. Was I ballsy enough to use it against humans?

  Without a moment’s hesitation, I pointed it at Taro and fired. He fell to his knees, clutching his shoulder. I’d winged him, but he wasn’t out of the fight. Another shot would do that.

  I aimed again - and a flash of claws tore the gun from my hand.

  “Human,” Tiger Girl growled. Her claws were extended, her fangs bared, and the remnants of her shipsuit made her look less instead of more human. This was a primal animal in front of me, something deranged and deadly, and one look in her eyes told me she wasn’t going to stop until I was dead.

  “Tigress,” I said, smirking. “Saw you being a bad kitty on the monitors. You ready to see how a real man treats a pet?”

  She sprang forward, pushing the offensive. Her claws flashed again and again, each time coming so close to me that I could feel the air move over my shipsuit. The look on her face grew more confident as she realized I wasn’t fighting back - it took everything I had just to stay out of the reach of her attacks.

  Backwards, then backwards again. Until the fight between Shay and the Eyepatch Man was around the corner, and we were alone.

  Tiger Girl paused mid-strike and glanced over her shoulder, realizing for the first time that I’d led her away from her friends.

  “Oh yeah,” I growled. “One on one, bitch! Come on!”

  Her eyes flashed with pure hate. I’d hurt her friend - or the guy she’d just been fucking, at least - and that had to sting. She gave herself over completely to the attack, her movements more and more animalistic as she struck out at me.

  Claws raked my shipsuit, tearing it at my chest. I felt hot blood run down and knew there wasn’t much more retreating I could do before she’d be on me. If she got me pinned, I’d be lucky if she killed me quick - she was more likely to rip my face off and play with it a bit.

  What she didn’t know was that I’d been here before. This was the spot where I’d tried to ambush the Red Tigers with a drone the last time they broke out of the station. She didn’t know, because she hadn’t been there. I’d been leading her to it all along.

  There was something hidden in the wall. The same Combat Droid I’d failed to activate last time.

  Inactive, of course. But she didn’t know that.

  My back hit the wall. There was nowhere left to run, and she knew it. She raised both paws in a huge strike, trying to take me down with one hit. They flashed in the light, hanging over me for the briefest moment like the blade of a guillotine.

  In that instant, I rolled to the side and reached for the button.

  It made her pause. She knew that the station was shut down. Her leader told her, and all the evidence showed the truth - that I hadn’t gotten a thing in the Oubliette to start working again. But she still hesitated, expecting a trap. Not realizing that that one moment was the trap.

  Halfway to the button, I twisted. My fist connected with her gut, socking her s
o hard she doubled over in sudden pain. It wasn’t a noble or an honorable hit, and I didn’t feel terribly good about punching a member of the opposite sex.

  But when that member of the opposite sex is a half-tiger convict trying to kill you, I was willing to make an exception.

  Before Tiger Girl could get back up, I hit the button for real. It didn’t work, of course - like I said, the Combat Droid was dead.

  But it still came rolling out of the alcove, the wall dropping beneath it like a ramp. Right on top of Tiger Girl.

  Her eyes widened as the shadow passed over her, then she was gone. The massive Combat Droid came spilling from the wall, lost its balance in an instant and tipped head-first onto the floor. It pinned Tiger Girl to the ground, the wall slamming over her legs at the same moment.

  I stood over her, blood rushing in my ears. It would have been easy to finish it - to hammer my foot into her head until it was pulp. I almost did it.

  “No,” I grunted, shaking my head. “She’s out. She’s not going anywhere.”

  There was no way she could get out from underneath all that. She was down. And Shay still needed me.

  “Shay!” I yelled into my comm as I ran back down the hall. “Tiger Girl is down! I’m coming back to help you-”

  I came around the corner and stepped into the remains of a battlefield. Blaster burns covered the walls, the smoke from the shots filling the corridor. There were streaks of blood on the floor - long ones. It looked bad.

  Taro was dead. His body was burned by several blaster shots and he had several gnarly wounds all over his face and chest. It wasn’t immediately clear what had finally done him in. I’d only spent a moment checking when I realized that the curled-up body next to his wasn’t Eyepatch Man.

  It was Shay.

  She’d fought valiantly. And she’d fallen. Her lithe body was torn and bleeding from a dozen places. Her already-pale skin had gone stark, horrified white, her eyes closed and her expression blank like she was sleeping. Only she wasn’t.

  “Shay!?” It came out as a strangled cry. “Oh fuck, Shay, no! No, please don’t be dead...”