Extensis Vitae: City of Sarx

by Gregory Mattix

  ***

  Marcus sat on crumbling steps below the ruined national capitol building with his chin in his hand. His mind was racing as he debated whether or not to inform Rin about Ayane. He had gone back to his quarters but was too restless and bothered by what he had witnessed earlier in the day to stay put, so he had gone out for some fresh air.

  His two bodyguards, whom he had nicknamed Beefy and Taciturn, loitered obtrusively a short distance away, their eyes scanning the mall for signs of any threat. They displayed their SMGs in plain sight to ward off anyone foolish enough to get in their way. The two men were clearly cut from the same mold: both hulking, stern combat skins, one with blond hair, the other dark. Beefy was the blonde and was slightly bigger and more talkative than Taciturn, but that wasn’t saying much. Neither man had grunted more than a few sentences in the week they had been assigned to Marcus.

  The sky was gray, and the wind chilled his bare head. Marcus clutched his coat tighter and turned his collar up. He studied the crumbling hulks of buildings that had fallen into ruin along the National Mall. A perfect setting for my mood today.

  Decades before, the marble buildings had begun falling into ruin when the central government of the USA had collapsed. The corporate powers that replaced the democratically elected government had run the country from their sleek corporate headquarter buildings, not deigning to venture out of the comforts of their business parks and into the overcrowded city center. The National Mall had slowly been engulfed by the spreading District Sprawl and eventually became the home of vagrants, vandals, and violent gang members. The Cataclysm twenty years past had nearly leveled the place beneath the tsunami that swept across the Delmarva Peninsula and drowned the National Mall beneath ten meters of water.

  The area was still part of the Sprawl although it was tamer during the daytime, when people interested in history braved the environs. His eyes fell on the massive marble blocks of a toppled obelisk on a small knoll in the distance. Government of the people, by the people. That didn’t work out so well when the country fell apart under crippling debt and ideological paralysis. It still sounds like an improvement over government by the corporation for the shareholders. Although, Thorne Industries no longer has shareholders. It’s so big and powerful it has no need for them.

  He thought back to earlier that afternoon and how the small town of Planter’s Ridge had been callously exterminated, dozens of decent, hard-working people slaughtered. I’ve become a pawn in this. And so is Ayane. If there’s some way I can help her get out of this, then I will do it.

  Marcus gauged Beefy’s and Taciturn’s positions as they stood a respectful distance away. They were out of earshot, but he knew they could dial up their augs if they wanted to listen in. He knew he was safe from corporate eavesdropping out here but was unsure about his bodyguards. I don’t know if either of them has been put in place to spy on me or not. They could be eyes and ears for Bethany or someone plotting to cut my legs out from under me and feed me to the pack of wolves that would love to have my job. I’ll just have to assume they are spies and keep this conversation as general as possible. With his mind made up, Marcus called Rin through his Datalink.

  “Hello?” Rin answered immediately.

  “Hi, this is Marcus. We met a couple weeks ago.”

  “Yes, hi Marcus. How are you?”

  “Uh, I’m doing all right I suppose.” Marcus shivered as the breeze picked up again. He glanced at the two bodyguards again, but they paid him no attention. “I was calling about that matter you asked me to look into when we last spoke…”

  “Yes? Do you have some news for me?” Rin’s interest was apparent in her voice.

  “I do. I came across the, uh… item you were interested in,” he stammered. Item? What the hell… I’m an idiot.

  “That’s good news.” Her voice was steady as she seemed to pick up on the fact that Marcus was possibly being monitored. “What is the item’s condition? Is it available for me to pick up?”

  “Um, no, the availability is still limited. Its condition is… better now, I think. I was able to help make a small improvement.” Marcus winced at the awful dialogue. “I will see what I can do about getting the item to you, but the situation is complicated right now.”

  “I understand. Please keep me posted when you know more.”

  “I will. I’m doing what I can.”

  “I believe you. Thank you, Marcus.”

  “You’re welcome.” He quickly cut the connection and looked around nervously, expecting a squad of CorpSec enforcers to come charging out of the shadowy ruins and snatch him up and drag him off to the detention center at his treasonous thoughts. Either that, or Beefy or Taciturn would just shoot him on the spot. I’d just be another anonymous body left here in the Sprawl with no one left to give a shit about. Well, Bethany would, I guess. She’d just miss her pet though. It wouldn’t take her long to find someone else to mess with.

  The bleak mall was still relatively deserted, and his bodyguards were staring holes in a vagrant that was wandering aimlessly nearby, staggering slightly as if drunk or injured.

  Marcus got to his feet and walked toward the nearby limo; his two bodyguards appeared to flank him as swiftly and silently as shadows, belying their bulk. He collapsed into the plush backseat and poured himself a drink. As the limo hummed silently away from the curb, he felt his tension easing. Although he was still afraid of being found out, he felt relieved that he had made the right decision. I just wish there was more in my power to do to help Ayane. Perhaps there is, but it will come with a high risk.

  Chapter 18

  “I have much work for you to do, and having a weak, crippled sister is not acceptable.” Seijin poked at her frail, useless legs under the blanket with distaste. He stood over her, frowning down at her thin form lying in the hospital bed. “The men respect strength, and that you shall have…”

  I might have once been a cripple—that is true. And I have yet to regain my honor—that is a work in progress. But weak… oh no, he was greatly mistaken there. I was never weak. Not even then.

  Rin pushed aside the memory as she clenched her fist and studied the veins that stood out against the hard muscles in her forearm. The skin was deeply tanned from years under the harsh sun of the wasteland and marred by numerous scars from what seemed a lifetime of fighting. I’m a survivor. That is what matters now.

  The hypersonic cruiser slowed as it entered the crowded airspace around Sea-Tac. It broke through the thick cloud bank, revealing the glittering spires of Sea-Tac in what seemed perpetual twilight during the daytime. The cruiser banked sharply, the g-forces pushing Rin deeper into the comfortable leather embrace of the seat.

  Moments later, she stepped out onto the landing pad on the roof of the Shiru International headquarters building. She wore respectable clothes for the first time in years: black slacks, a white blouse, and heels. Her katana was in her hand. A light, chill drizzle fell, but she enjoyed the cool water on her skin even though it threatened to soak through her blouse. It was a nice change from the blast furnace of the wasteland. The menacing shapes of anti-aircraft cannons surrounding the building were barely visible through the rain. Those are new.

  “Lady Takahashi, your return warms my heart,” an elderly gentleman called out to Rin. “Welcome home!” He stood under the overhang outside the elevator door. Shoda Yakoto had served her father for decades and had stayed on to continue serving the family even after her father’s retirement. Rin was surprised her brother had kept him around, but she knew he was concerned with loyalty, and she couldn’t think of anyone more loyal than Shoda.

  “Shoda, it is good to see you as well.” Rin returned the man’s bow and gave him a warm smile. “You needn’t have come all the way up here—I still remember my way around. You’ll catch cold out here.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t not greet Haruto’s only daughter in person.” The old man smiled. “Your brother awaits you in his chambers.” Shoda walked with a slight stoop, his back no l
onger as straight as it had been, but the old man was as spry as ever, easily matching Rin’s stride in her heels.

  They rode the elevator down a couple floors and got out in a lobby tastefully decorated with black marble floors, a large silk-screen mural on the wall, and vases displayed at regular intervals along the perimeter of the room. A short hallway led off the lobby and ended at a carved bronze door guarded by a pair of Yakuza enforcers dressed in traditional black suits.

  Just as Rin and Shoda crossed the lobby, the door opened, and Taro Rikuto stepped out of Seijin’s suites. Taro had been reskinned like most of the family: he was whip-thin with a narrow face that gave him an untrustworthy look and had crimson highlights in his longish, spiky black hair. He wore expensive clothes with flashy jeweled rings on his slender fingers.

  When Rikuto saw them, his mouth sagged open in obvious surprise at Rin’s reappearance. Seijin hasn’t told his wakagashira of my return—interesting.

  “Well met, cousin,” Rin said. She approached slowly, heels ringing loudly on the marble floor.

  “Rin,” Taro finally said. “It is… good to see you are well, cousin.” He gave her a bow that was almost an afterthought, which could have been taken as a slight, but Rin chalked it up to his surprise at seeing her.

  “Nice to see the operations have been in capable hands while I was away. Congratulations on the promotion.” Rin returned the bow.

  Taro visibly swelled up in pride. “Yes, thank you. I’m sure your brother is anxious to welcome you back.” He hurried away, glancing back at her while he waited for the elevator.

  Rin wondered what Taro was thinking since her return jeopardized his newfound position of power. Shoda had remained silent during the entire exchange. Rin thought that odd since the old man had always been close to the Rikuto side of the family.

  The guards respectfully bowed as one when Rin and Shoda approached. Rin returned the bow, and one of the men swung the door open. Shoda bade her good evening and departed.

  Seijin’s suites were styled in the traditional wahitsu style, which Rin had always found odd. Her father had always loved the traditional style, and she did also, but Seijin had scoffed at the old ways. Maybe he’s gaining appreciation for how things used to be done. She kicked off her shoes just inside the door, and it closed behind her with a quiet boom.

  “Come in, sister,” a familiar voice called from behind a shoji screen door that glowed warmly from the light within. An epic samurai battle was portrayed on the washi paper.

  Sliding the shoji open, Rin stepped onto the tatami mat and closed the door behind her. The room was lit in a soft glow by a number of candles spread throughout the space. Her brother, the man who had once been named Kenji but now called himself Seijin, came around the low table to greet her. Seijin, saint. Ironic since my brother is anything but a saint.

  “Ah, it’s good to see you again, Reiko.” He surprised her by pulling her into a rough hug. Holding her at arm’s length, he looked her over. He was smiling.

  “Brother, you are looking well,” she said, returning the smile. Her brother was a tall, well-built skin with close-cropped jet-black hair and eyes as hard as flint. He was wearing a black-and-gray kimono. Even now, his smile never reached his eyes. Although Rin was sure he had been reskinned more than once, he still seemed older, his face lined with worry. Perhaps losing a sister, daughter, and best friend does that to you.

  “You’ve seen hard times,” he said as he studied some of the scars on her arms. With his thumb, he smoothed out some of the fine lines forming around the corner of her eye. Not even the finest genetic engineering could fight off the effects of years spent in the sun and wind of the wasteland forever. “I’m sorry for what you’ve been through in service to me. I can only imagine…”

  “It’s been a trying couple of years, to say the least. You’ve aged as well, brother. The weight of duty can be as great as a mountain, they say.”

  “Indeed it has.” He took her katana and slid the blade free, holding it up to inspect the blade. “‘Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is victory over lesser men’,” he quoted the inscription on the base of the blade. “Musashi. A good quote from a very wise man. I sense your katana has drunk much blood over these past years.” He angled it so the candlelight blazed down the folds in the alloy.

  “Yes, it has. Its thirst is not yet quenched, however.”

  “A fine blade, for a fine warrior.” He resheathed the katana and smiled as he returned it to her. “Come, join me for tea.”

  He snapped his fingers, and a young serving girl appeared instantly with a platter. Rin and Seijin knelt at the table, and the servant disappeared after leaving the platter behind. Seijin poured her a cup, and she savored the bitter taste of the green tea.

  “I have news of Ayane,” she said, anticipating Seijin’s questions. “She is being held in a Thorne facility and is doing well, according to my source. He will be in touch with more details, and we can mount an operation once we know more.”

  Seijin nodded solemnly. “That is good news. I miss my daughter dearly. Did this source of yours elaborate on her condition any more?”

  Rin shook her head. “He obviously believed the conversation was being monitored, so he had to speak in very general terms, but he said he was able to help her condition. I assume he meant the paralysis.”

  “That’s unfortunate if she is suffering from the disease. Perhaps it will make her stronger, as it did you. Who is this man?”

  “A Thorne biotech engineer I met in the wasteland. He is a good man—I believe he will try to look out for her as much as he can. Nonetheless, the sooner we are able to move, the better.”

  “Yes. This stand-down order is not good for the morale and readiness of my soldiers and enforcers. Before we discuss this plan you are making to depose that cowardly, honorless cur that runs Skin City, tell me everything that has happened over the past two years, when you and my daughter were kidnapped and Ryu killed.”

  Rin sighed and took another sip of the tea. This was the moment she had been dreading for a long time. She had related most of the story as soon as she got back to the surface, but not all the details. It was time to tell him everything.

  “Ryu and I were seeing each other,” she began. The words came slowly at first but then began to tumble out as if they were caught in the torrent of a rushing river. Her brother’s emotions ran the gamut from sympathy to outrage in response.

  ***

  Barefoot, Rin stepped out into the estate’s traditional Japanese garden. She wore a white kimono with turquoise trim and had her blond hair neatly pinned up with a red-flowered kanzashi. A bodyguard bowed respectfully in her direction before resuming his vigilant watch over the peaceful scene.

  The estate was a short flight into the country from the Sea-Tac bustle, nestled in a valley in the Cascades. The garden was immaculately maintained: white crushed-marble paths wound amongst neatly trimmed hedges and under a canopy of cherry trees. A small waterfall spilled into a pond filled with koi.

  The grass was cool beneath her feet as she made her way across the lawn toward a hunched figure seated on a bench. She had always loved playing in the garden as a young girl and had often sparred with her brother with their bokken under the cherry trees.

  Memories came rushing back of the last time she had stepped foot in the garden. The sun had been shining down; the cherry trees were in full bloom, the pretty blossoms falling in her hair and all around as she and Kenji clashed on the lawn. Ryu watched with his crooked grin and eyes sparkling in amusement as he cheered her on. The whole time, Kenji grew angrier by the minute at being unable to best his little sister.

  Rin smiled sadly at the memory. It had been a good day that had taken a bitter turn. Other memories surfaced: Kenji’s face twisted in rage as he snatched up her katana, the ivory marble path stained by the pool of blood from the unfelt wound in her leg, the shock as she realized her life would never be the same after discovering she would become crippled f
rom the disease that would eventually steal her mobility.

  She shook off the ghosts of the past. Her life had changed unimaginably since before the sparring match with her brother many years before. The sky was now a steely gray filled with low clouds threatening to dump raindrops. The cherry trees’ leaves were a dull orange, about to shrivel up and be snatched away by the wind.

  Haruto Takahashi’s narrow shoulders were hunched against the chill in the air, and Rin nearly gasped in shock at how gray and sickly his face looked. His eyes glanced at her face but showed no recognition.

  “Have you brought me some tea?” he asked, his once-strong voice ragged with age. “It’s growing cold out here.”

  “Of course, Father.” Rin quickly called for a servant to bring tea. She sat down next to him on the bench, watching the graceful waterfall bubbling into its pond. “It is good to see you, Father. I’ve missed you these long years.”

  “Suki?” He blinked and squinted at her, face slightly puzzled. “Oh, Suki, I didn’t see you there. Have you seen my slippers?”

  Rin was crushed at discovering how serious her father’s condition had become. He was mistaking her for his first wife, who had died before he had married Rin’s mother, his second wife. She knew about the diagnosis, and her father’s refusal to be reskinned since he was old fashioned was no surprise, but she was shocked at how quickly the dementia was setting in.

  “No, Father, it’s your daughter Reiko. And you’re already wearing your slippers. Do you remember me? I haven’t seen you for over two years.” His dark eyes were watery and confused as she studied them.