Knight in Cyber Armor

by Bard Constantine

  "Okay. First I get Mira, then I'll see what this kill squad is all about. Kill communications. They'll be scanning."

  "How do you know?"

  "Because that's what I'd do."

  The zip bike swerved, dipping into the darkness of the city.

  Ⓥ

  Ronnie jolted upright, confused and aching. Pain exploded everywhere, flaring across her limbs and chest. She tried to remember what happened. Something about being shot at. Then she crashed...

  A sizzling sound distracted her. Sparks and molten metal rained down from the tough outside with a buzz saw, cutting her way in. Other masked and hooded figures gathered around, whooping and shouting encouragement.

  Buzzsaw paused, tapping on the glass. A garish devil mask covered the woman's entire head, but cold eyes peered from the carved shadows.

  "You woke, pig? Dropped in the wrong part of town, didn't ya? No backup coming for you? Too bad. Gonna peel you outta there. Then we skin you like the—"

  "Sorry to interrupt, but you're boring me." Ronnie hit the window button and shot Buzzsaw in the chest with a heavy stun round. In the same flow of movement, she leaped out the spinner, tossed a sick bomb at the approaching gang, and ran the opposite way, holding her breath when it exploded and swamped the vicinity with nauseous gas. The sounds of uncontrolled vomiting immediately followed. She flung a flashbang explosive behind her just for good measure, turning the corner as it detonated.

  Destitute tenements made for good cover, a maze of overpopulated brick and mortar that housed residents by the thousands. Ronnie turned her jacket inside out, snatched a cap from an unconscious drunk and placed it on her head. She kept her head low and her firearm ready, though no one paid her any attention.

  "Isaac?"

  His voice buzzed in her datcom. "On my way to you right now."

  "Don't worry about me. Try to locate Nora or Mira. They're more important."

  "You're deep in the wild, Ronnie. I need to be there guarding your back."

  "I can take care of myself for a minute. I have to be close to the Hellrazor's first target, or they wouldn't have bothered taking me down. I'm taking a look around."

  "Be careful, Ronnie. Next time they won't be shooting at a vehicle."

  "I will. Call me when you find something." She pulled the badge from around her neck and flung it in the air. It went into drone mode, tiny thrusters pulsing as it went higher and scanned the vicinity. She slipped a thin holovisor over her eyes. The drone's data was sent to her screen, allowing a bird's eye view of the area. The rioting wasn't out of control yet on the island, but there were plenty of crowds out. Packs of predatory gangs roamed the streets, looking for trouble or rivals to battle. It was just that kind of night.

  Subtle movement on one of the rooftops caught her eye. She magnified the view. A man in tactical gear was positioned in the shadows, aiming a sniper rifle down a nearby street.

  Ronnie stepped up her pace, but the gunfire erupted before she could turn the corner. Screams rebounded off the walls along with more shooting. By the time she made it to the scene, the fight was over. A pair of soldiers in combat armor remained: A large man with features concealed by a helmet and a red-haired young woman with hard eyes. They stood over a half-dozen dead gang members.

  The man had a scanning device in his hand. "Okay. Shawn Bradley, aka Slim Muffuga, and Drake Johnson, aka Dizzee Shizzles, both scratched off the list. Leaves seven still unaccounted for."

  The woman gazed at the corpses. "We're getting a lot more bang for the buck, Big Top. If we gotta snuff six goons to get two every time it's gonna be a long night."

  Big Top shrugged. "Not a prob, Rosy. Their boys shouldn't have put up a fight if they didn't want to paint the town red. That's on them, not us. You know how these fools are."

  He put a hand over his helmet's receiver. "Hang on. We got company."

  Ronnie hissed, ducking back into the shadows. Big Top's voice followed her.

  "No point hiding, Agent Banks. Headshot has eyes on you from above."

  She cursed inwardly, stepping forward. Hands raised, showing no weapon. "Who are you people?"

  "Nice to see you made it out in one piece, Agent Banks. But once again, you're interfering in a legally sanctioned mission. Time to be a good girl and walk away. You're not on my hit list tonight, but don’t take that to mean you can't be penciled in."

  "All I want to do is make sure the wrong people don’t get killed."

  "You don't have say. I don't either."

  Her eyes narrowed. "Just following orders, that it?"

  "Yep. Just like you. You're an officer of the law. You know the drill."

  She took a step closer, trying to get a glimpse through the helmet's visor. "You sound familiar. Do I know you?"

  "Not possible."

  "Take off the helmet."

  Rosy pointed her weapon at Ronnie. "This cop is wasting our time, Big Top. Say the word, and she's out the picture."

  "No need to be crude, Red. Agent Banks doesn't mean us any harm." He tapped the base of his helmet, opening the mirror-coated visor. "Do you, Agent?"

  Ronnie could only stare, eyes wide and mouth open. The man's face was instantly recognizable. But that's impossible.

  "Jett?"

  Ⓥ

  Vigil couldn't believe his eyes.

  Mira was cornered, back pressed against the dead end of one of the maze-like alleys that crisscrossed the city. Frightened but angry, like when he first saw her. But that wasn't what gave him pause.

  It was the two familiar figures that approached her.

  One was overweight, his girth barely contained by the awkward body armor strapped to his body. Dreadlocks hung from his helmet, and his mouth sparkled with diamonds every time he opened it. The other man was tall with a chiseled face. Vigil knew the hair underneath the helmet would be cut into a bristly crew cut.

  Bozo and Jax. For a minute he wavered, awash in memories of the team he watched die so long ago. His friends. Dead. His friends. Alive. In front of him. How can that be? They should be dead. He should be dead. If he survived, then…

  No. It can't be them.

  Something glimmered in Jax's hand. Ontario combat knife, his pride and joy. He made quick work of his targets up close, swift and brutal, no flash or finesse. And he was nearly within reach of Mira.

  Vigil dropped a strobe and leaped down.

  The disorienting flickers of brilliant light stunned the two men. Protected by his visor, Vigil landed on top of Jax, crushing him into the frost-covered asphalt. A g-span blast knocked Bozo backward into the alley wall. Vigil followed with a charged shot to Bozo's jaw, knocking the diamond-coated grill out of his mouth. Bozo sagged and slumped to the ground.

  Vigil turned, kicking Jax in the chest as he rose and went for his sidearm. Vigil followed with a brutal uppercut before grabbling Jax by the harness straps and slamming him into the wall. His visor pulsed red as he activated intimidation mode.

  "Who are you? Why are you imitating the Hellrazors?"

  A confused look flashed across Jax's face. "What are you talking about? Who the hell are you, man? You think you know me? You don't know nothing."

  Vigil seized him by the throat. "I know what you are. A disgrace to Jax's memory. The real Hellrazors never killed kids."

  An electric current flashed from the g-span, shocking Jax unconscious. Vigil let him slump to the ground. He turned to Mira.

  "Mira—I mean, young lady. There's a zip bike on the rooftop. Hop on it. It will get you somewhere safe."

  She stepped forward, eyes wide. "You the new Vigil? That's so ace! Can I be your partner?"

  "What? No. I mean—you don't know me."

  "Oh, yeah…secret identity." She smirked. "Gotcha. Word of advice? You gotta change the way you move, yo."

  "How I move?"

  "Yeah. You stand the same. Walk the same. Evil eyes got gait recognition. Just a heads-up."

  Vigil pointed. "Rooftop."

  "Yeah, yeah. Chill with the
bitch switch." She nimbly leaped on top of a trash bin and jumped onto the fire escape. Halfway up, she paused.

  "Thanks, yo. For coming after me."

  "I don't know you, little girl. Now get out of here."

  She grinned, scrunching up her face in an exaggerated wink before clambering to the roof and disappearing. A few seconds later he heard the zip bike's fusion thrusters activate as it lifted off.

  He turned to the bodies on the ground, scanning them with lasers from his g-spans. "Proto, give me a full body and DNA readout. Please tell me these guys aren't real."

  Proto's voice buzzed in his ear. "I'm a digital assistant, not a philosopher, Vigil. Defining reality is a concept beyond my parameters."

  "But sarcasm apparently isn't. You know what I mean, Proto."

  "Initial readouts indicate synthetic humanoids, or synoids as they are called. I can't trace the manufacturer, but the work is pristine. On the level of Maximillian Industries models."

  Vigil heaved a sigh of relief. "Synoids. I knew it. I knew they couldn't be real. Are they…conscious? Self-aware?"

  "Synoids are created to be indecipherable from humans in appearance but can be detected by any device programmed for that purpose. Their spinal cords are filled with nanofluids that control and repair their biological functions, and their brains are much less developed than a human, programmed with inserted personalities constructed from memories."

  "Memories from what source?"

  "I don't have the data to supply that answer."

  "Never mind. I already know." Vigil's fist clenched. "Golding. My team died in his facility. I don't know how he did it, but somehow he harnessed the memories of my squad."

  "William Golding, the benefactor that supplied your stasis?"

  "He's not my benefactor. I don't know what he is." Vigil shook his head. "No time for this. Call Agent Ronnie Banks."

  The call went through immediately. "Who is this?"

  "It's me, Ronnie. I got Mira to safety. What else do you need?"

  "Jett?" Her voice sounded nearly frantic over the line.

  "What's going on? Are you okay?"

  "No, I'm not okay. I'm looking right at you."

  Vigil froze. "What?"

  Chapter 20

  Agent Ronnie Banks backed away. "You're not Jett. Not the real one."

  He tilted his head, looking in every way like the Jett she knew. But in his combat armor, Big Top looked more dangerous. Lethal. But his eyes…his eyes were flat. Emotionless. Dead.

  "And who told you that, Agent Banks? Your partner buzzing in your ear? The more important question is: how do you know my name? Did you RCE clowns actually manage to get spies in the Haven? I want answers, Agent. I want them now."

  "You want answers? So do I. Like who's giving your orders? And why are you wearing another man's face?"

  "I won't ask you again, Banks. You're alone out here, and I'm running out of patience."

  Her holoband pulsed. She smiled and looked up. "Actually, I'm not alone."

  A body fell from the rooftops, landing with bone-crunching force on the pavement.

  "Headshot!"

  Big Top and Rosy leaped back in defensive positions, weapons firing at the large figure that leaped down toward them. The rounds ricocheted off of Isaac's alloyed shell as he landed in a cloud of dirty snow.

  Ronnie jumped to the side as Big Top and Rosy covered their retreat with strategic barrages. They were gone before she could draw her firearm.

  Isaac glanced at her. "We pursuing?"

  "No, we're not pursuing. Not openly anyway. I thought I told you not to come after me."

  "Not on your life, Banks. We're partners. We do this together or not at all."

  She smiled despite herself. "All right, partner. I have eyes in the sky tracking them. The priority is finding Nora Brewers before they do."

  "What about the other girl? Mira."

  "Jett found her. He says she's safe."

  Isaac's metallic face was unreadable, but she heard the skepticism in his voice. "You working civilians now, Ronnie?"

  "I didn't have a choice. Chief won't budge, and we're all there is. Jett knows the girl, and I trust him."

  "Without cause. We don't know anything about him."

  "He was like us. He upheld the law."

  "He was a soldier. His unit was disbanded. They were guns for hire after that. Not exactly heroes."

  "How would you know?"

  "Research. You know I don't sleep. So I spend my free time investigating stuff. Things got ugly in those days. Really ugly. No telling what he did at the end when all hell was breaking loose. It was every man for himself."

  "Then he froze for three hundred years and got a clean slate, Isaac. You really want to have this discussion now?"

  "No, I guess not."

  "Good." She glanced down at the body. "This their sniper?"

  "Yeah."

  "Jesus, Isaac. You took out a duly-sanctioned HC operative. There's gonna be blowback."

  "What are they gonna do, unplug me? I've got nothing to lose, Ronny. Besides, these guys aren't human."

  "Are you serious?" Ronny flipped Headshot over with her boot. Electric-blue fluid leaked from a gash in the back of his neck, glowing against the murky slush on the ground.

  "Synoids? You gotta be kidding me."

  "The most advanced I've seen. Had to run a scan on the guy to verify it. Couldn't tell just by looking."

  She knelt, examining Headshot closer. "Yeah, the uncanny valley look is gone. Still can't put life in the eyes, though."

  "That's not all. Speaking of your buddy Jett, these are clones of his old team. The Hellrazors. The last surviving members before the Cataclysm."

  "That explains why I was looking at a carbon copy of Jett." She shook her head. "That was bizarre. I was really knocked for a loop until Jett called me. I thought maybe he had a secret life or something."

  "Scab worker by day, kill squad leader by night?"

  "Yeah, crazy. I know." She paused, staring at the direction the Hellrazors left. "This guy seemed a lot harder than the Jett I know. You know—dangerous."

  "Maybe you don't know him so well. How does a synthetic copy of Jett walk around without his knowledge?"

  "Let's find out." She tapped the datcom in her ear. "Call Jett."

  His profile flashed on her holoband, but no visual projection. Just like the last time.

  "Are you all right, Ronnie? What's going on?"

  "Where are you? Why isn't your holo on?"

  "I'm trying not to be tracked, so I'm sticking to audio. You said these guys are pretty rough."

  "Right, good idea. Look—you said you found Mira?"

  "Yeah. I'm taking her underground until things blow over."

  "You think that's safe?"

  "I know the sewers like the back of my hand. Trust me, there are all kinds of caverns no one knows about."

  "Where are you now?"

  "Headed away from the riots. Going to lay low until the coast is clear."

  "You didn't see anyone else from the hit squad? Anyone you might…recognize?"

  "No. Mira says someone took out the guys who were chasing her."

  "Someone like who?"

  "I don't know. Things are crazy out here. Can we talk about it later?"

  "Yeah. Get somewhere safe, Jett. I'll check back with you when this is over."

  She cut off the connection and glanced at Isaac. "Can you track his signal?"

  He blinked, electric eyes glimmering as he stared at a readout she couldn't see. "Yes. Looks like he's heading home. Why the interest?"

  She shook her head. "I don't know. Too many questions right now."

  "Well, the answers are out here. And right now they're getting away from us."

  "You're right." She flipped over to the tracking screen on her holoband, where Big Top and Rosy were displayed via feed from the probe tailing them. "I think we gave those two enough time to think they got away. Let's pick up the trail and see where the
y lead us."

  Ⓥ

  Incognito buzzed over. "I have a bead on two more squad members, Vigil."

  Vigil hesitated, dreading the thought of another encounter with the synthetic ghosts of his past. Damn you, Golding. Whenever he caught up with the man, he'd make him pay for what he did. He imagined Golding somewhere in the Haven. Watching, a dry smile on his face. Somehow Vigil knew he was watching. The city had eyes everywhere, and Golding Enterprises was responsible for most of them.

  Put it behind you, soldier. Nothing you can do about it right now. Focus on the mission.

  "Where are they?"

  "The Breaks. I'm tracking them through the city security cams. Sending the location."

  "Okay, I'm close by. Trying to get the hang of these boot thrusters."

  "Push off when you jump and when you land. The rest will come to you."

  "Got it." He tapped the boot icon on his g-span op screen as he leaped off a rooftop. The sensation was like a trampoline jump as the thrusters hit and lifted him three times further than normal. Another tap when he touched down prevented a hard landing. He staggered, regained his balance, jumped again. And again. And again, until he sailed between buildings like a sleek metallic bird, leaving glittering trails of ice and vapor in his wake. Passing unnoticed by the shouting, violent masses below as they clashed with robotic Peacekeepers and one another.

  "They're in the next alley. Big fight going down."

  Vigil never slowed, dropping straight down after another assisted leap. All he saw was a mass of heaving bodies before he landed right in the middle, bowling over several as he landed. Everyone wore masks and baggy black ensembles emblazoned with silver scythes, marking them as members of the Grim Reaper Posse, rivals of the Crimson Kings.

  Vigil struck hard and fast, using the charged g-spans to deliver electrifying punches left and right. In the middle of the wildly shifting attackers, he nearly missed the two other assailants fighting from the other end of the mob. But unlike him, they were killing people, mowing them down without mercy. His heart sank when he saw them. One was large and muscular, firing a heavy machine gun in tight, methodical bursts. The other was small and lithe, firing handguns with lethal accuracy. A ballistic mask completely obscured her features, but he knew her face as well as his own. He knew both of them. Or had, when they were alive.