Specter Protocol

by Eddie R. Hicks

  ‘Soviet shuttle crew alive after malfunction when leaving orbital habitat.’

  The subway’s AI called out the stop when it arrived, Ray and Theo stood from the seats and departed, stepping foot into onto a newspaper littered platform. Spray painted walls guided them to the surface. Ray felt the pistol hidden within his jacket shake with every step up the stairs. He wasn’t fond of the idea, conforming to social norms and walking around with a gun when in public. The district Ray used to live in was crime-free enough that you could leave your weapons at home. It had him wondering, as they left the subway station, how many individuals in the streets had concealed guns. And to think, this was the IW district, in addition to weapons, most of the people here were witches and warlocks.

  An awkward silence fell upon Ray and Theo as they moved across the lanes, entering a section of the district bathed in hot pink neon. Signs that had the words, ‘girls’ ‘hot’ ‘sex’ ‘XXX’ ‘ecstasy’ were common.

  “What have you guys been up to lately?” Ray asked him, breaking the silence. “Haven’t seen you in like a month.”

  Theo shrugged. “Still searching for your girl, man, and carrying out random missions from Nexus. Well, used to.”

  “Used to?”

  “Nexus has been silent for the last few weeks. No new creepy messengers paying us a visit means we sit on our hands.”

  “So, you’ve done fuck all since Estrella and I joined your crew?”

  “Eh, like I said, if we get a clue about Arianna, we follow up on it, her father too. Then there’s that fucking avatar project. So, no, we’re keeping busy, we just can’t do anything else until a messenger swings by and tells Piper what to do next, you know?”

  “I wonder if we pissed Nexus off.”

  “Why?”

  “Sounds like they went silent right after Piper told us the truth.”

  “Naw man, Nexus was pretty chill about that.” They stood at a four-way intersection. The ‘don’t walk’ sign held them up. “Nexus probably hit a dead end like us is all. Can’t tell messengers to give us new orders if there’s nothing to do, ya know?”

  “What about Nobuo’s superiors?”

  “Nothing new that we’ve heard.” The sign switched to ‘walk.’ Ray and Theo moved with the crowd of people crossing the road that looked like it was glowing pink from the lights. “Maybe when you and Estrella fucked up Nobuo and his goons, it made them throw in the towel. Can’t fight a war when all your men are dead.”

  “Or they’re reorganizing—”

  “Bro.” Theo cut in as they neared the Fox’s Den. “No more conspiracy shit. It’s time to look at some fucking pussy!”

  The Fox’s Den, like the other places in the area, had a neon sign at the top depicting a woman teasing passersby with her panties slipping down to her knees while holding onto a pole. A duo of warlock bouncers at the front door frowned at Ray. Theo vouched for him, granting the two access. The bouncers collected their firearms, tossing them into a box full of a variety of guns. Those leaving stood waiting to retrieve the weapons they’d had to surrender.

  The two dispersed into the club, a grin remained stuck on Theo’s face when he saw the strobe lights bathing the dancers on stage. Ray’s phone linked with his glasses, and the invisible digital world appeared over its lenses. His facial scanning software went to work, searching for John Ellsworth, and the reason they needed to find him to start with. The hacker, Obsidian, was mute on those details.

  The center of the establishment held a dance floor, the source of the beating music and a few drunken laughs. Around that were dancers suspended in the air on hovering platforms. The dancers were witches, so, unlike human dancers, they dazzled onlookers combining their abilities with erotic movement. One girl was adept with biokinesis and had a long fluffy fox tail and ears. Another had the tattoos on her body glow with light as she spun with legs spread around her dance pole.

  Ray couldn’t see anything out of the norm as his glasses fed him personal data of the patrons inside. A few warlocks made it rain with Alliance bills when biokinetic dancers gave an enthralling dance, their bodies changing to a variety of ethnicities in sync with the music. To the side were indoor hot tubs and the girls there put on a show for the guests that sat next to it. Those girls in the hot tubs were also biokinetic and changed their legs into a tail, mimicking the look of mermaids. They played and splashed about like happy otters and periodically floated up and fondled each other’s wet breasts. Dollar bills rained and floated on the bubbling water’s surface, the mermaid girls swam and collected them with smiles.

  Theo couldn’t stop grinning and took a seat near the bar. He yelled at Ray who remained standing and scanning the area with his glasses. “Malaka! Don’t fucking embarrass yourself!”

  Reluctantly, Ray sat with Theo at the bar. That too had dancers on top of it. The girl that caught Theo’s attention hands were glowing blue. As her dance continued, she made a tiny trickle of water rain down her body with her hydrokinetic powers. It was like she was giving a dance in the shower. Her drenched sensual body swayed back and forth, and voluptuous chest forced Theo’s eyes to move with it. The water dripped on the bar and rose to the ceiling, only to fall and drench her as rain. The floor never got soaked, her control over hydrokinetic powers was impressive.

  Ray’s glasses displayed the number of facial scans it completed since their arrival. None of the faces matched John Ellsworth. He and Theo arrived too early, he figured. It was still early in the evening. The real night crowd wasn’t due for another two hours.

  Or maybe it was a setup. Ray pulled out his phone and tried texting a message to Obsidian. Then cringed when he remembered the number they used auto deleted. All he got was an error message. Obsidian only spoke when they wanted to speak to him.

  Theo ordered drinks for them both, and Ray smiled when they arrived. He hoped he wasn’t growing an addiction for alcohol since drinking had him more excited than the dancers around, especially the hydrokinetic girl, whose hypnotic eyes in the personal rainstorm pouring over her wouldn’t leave his gaze.

  No! Just stop! Arianna, she’s the only woman’s eyes you look into!

  Ray shyly looked away from the dancer and nursed his drink. He grunted. “Waste of time.”

  “Malaka, seriously?” Theo pointed to the telepathic dancer on stage, making what little she wore fall to her feet with psychokinetic powers. She was naked, vagina exposed and breasts shaking as she danced. No hands were needed to get her to that point. “How is this a fucking waste man?”

  “Ellsworth isn’t here.” Ray didn't look away from the telepath. He couldn’t. She made the dollar bills below her rise and circle her form like leaves blowing in the wind.

  “You came to a witch strip club searching for a dude,” Theo laughed and sipped his drink. “You know how you sound right now?”

  “I sound like a guy that wasted his time coming out here.” Ray was still looking though.

  “Now.” Theo emptied the glass and slammed it on the bar. “Now, you sound like my fucking father. The guy was never happy with me, ‘you’re wasting time’ this ‘there’s no point’ blah, blah, fuck him. Never encouraged me.”

  “Neither did mine.” This time Ray looked away. Psychokinetic exotic dancing was something he only heard stories of. Now, he’d seen it for real.

  “My family got set up real nice in Athens with fake profiles after I met Piper. Back when I was younger, I thought being an S ranked IW was fucking badass. So, when Nexus sent those messengers to me and told me where I could train without detection and where to meet Piper, I took it. Guess who sounds like my father right now after he found out what I did?” Ray made a grunting noise. “Fucking guess who it is, malaka.”

  “Me…” Ray drawled.

  “Yep, that’s you, buddy.” Theo patted Ray on the back. “The messengers told me I could be a badass warlock and impress girls with my skills if I went with Piper, so I did. Now I’m here stuck babysitting the human that might break or fix the
world with the shit in his head, and he sounds and reminds me of my father. Just relax man, sit back, and look at these beautiful witches.”

  “This place reminds me of my father…”

  “The fuck? Your dad a dancer?”

  “No… My mom was.” Ray looked down, watching his fingers turn the half-empty glass around and around. “She wasn’t always. My father was from London, moved to LA when he got a job at Cyber Tech Systems. He met my mother there; they got married and had me. Life was good until fucking Yoshida came, bought out Cyber Tech, used its resources to improve RW cyberware, and fired everyone that didn’t have multiple skills. My mother and father included. And with the way things are, if you lose your job good luck getting a new one. The unemployment lines get longer and longer every year.”

  “Yeah it sucks; the law requires all jobs to give priority to those that’s been inactive the longest.”

  “Right, so when you’ve been jobless for two weeks, nobody gives a flying fuck,” Ray said and continued. “My father supported the family by drinking and raging out. My mother supported us by dancing, in secret. Dad found out one night and filed for divorce the next morning. He got custody of me because being a dancer in district three is not a suitable job for a mother according to the court. Fuck them. I hated him for that. So, while dad drank and drank, I learned how to hack bank accounts and helped pay the bills and send some cash over to my mom. But, depression’s a bitch. She never recovered emotionally when they took me away from her, adding to that, my fucking father exposed to everyone she knew what she did. She killed herself days later. As soon as I turned eighteen, I moved out, and never talked to him again.”

  “Damn bro, that’s dark.”

  “The world’s a fucking stupid place.”

  “I was joking about the shit about my dad! He was a chill person who supported me. But your dad, yo, fuck that guy. I wanna punch that cocksucker.”

  “Don’t bother, he’s dead too. Drank himself into a grave after I cut him out of my life. That’s why I loved Arianna so much; she found happiness in a twisted and dark world, somehow, and shared it with me. Now she’s gone, and I’m a wanted man.”

  The invisible demon that was depression sat with Ray and started whispering to him. It told him he needed another drink. He ordered one. When it arrived, his reflection on the glass shot back. For a moment he saw his father’s face. Ray cringed and pushed the glass away.

  “And that’s why I can’t enjoy the pussy,” Ray added. “It reminds me of the past. I got a lot of respect for the women that do this—”

  “Chill, malaka,” Theo interjected and pulled out his phone, swiping through his text messages. “I think you need to lay off the drinks. You about to have an alcoholic fit.”

  “I’m fine, man.”

  “Take up smoking or something.” Theo put his phone down and reached inside his jacket. His hands came out empty, he made a frown. “Fuck, I’m all outta smokes too. Yo, I’ll be back. Gonna buy some more.”

  Theo upped and left. He left his phone too. Ray saw him head for the exit, most likely to hit the small shop across the road. He was alone now, just his booze and the hydrokinetic girl ahead and the mesmerizing movement of her body. He went to work on his glass but stopped. The chime of a new text message drew his attention away from it. Anticipation around him thickened as he brought the phone to his face.

  An Unknown User had sent him a message. It was Obsidian.

  Unknown User: He’s here, did you locate him?

  Me: I didn’t see him.

  Unknown User: He just arrived two minutes ago.

  Me: Had my face buried in a drink.

  Unknown User: Then get your ass up and find him!

  He looked behind, having realized he wasn’t watching the front door when Theo had been sitting with him. The data outputting across the lenses of his glasses stated at least sixteen new faces had arrived, and one of them was Ellsworth. Ray paid for his drinks, Theo’s too, he even left a sizable tip, and a little something extra for the dancer. He had a role to play, the role of some guy that showed up for drinks and girls, and not a street samurai searching for a person of interest. Ray pushed deeper into the crowd of warlocks with eyes magnetized on the witches on stage or moving to get drinks. Nobody knew the glasses over Ray’s eyes were revealing all their personal data. A man sitting at a back table caught his attention. He activated his facial scanning software.

  Name: John Ellsworth

  Age: 39

  Species: Human

  Occupation: Regal Genetics employee

  Notes: Visits Fox’s Den nightly

  Ellsworth was here. Nothing about his profile seemed out of place, doctored, or would be a cause of concern. He was just a human corporate man using his money and power to enter an IW only establishment. Ray crept forward as the crowd was still thick enough to slow him down. He reached for his phone and typed a new message to Obsidian, hoping this new number was valid.

  Me: Found him, now what?

  His text didn’t bounce back. It was promising.

  Unknown User: Get him to leave with you. I’ll be in touch later.

  Unknown User’s number auto-deleted after that. Ray wondered if he was even speaking with the same person, or a group of people, leading him on a scavenger hunt. Or into a trap. There was only one way to know for sure, and that was to get Ellsworth out of the club, alive with every corporate secret he had in his head.

  Why else would he be a target?

  During the approach to Ellsworth’s table, Ray stopped to text Theo, his backup and bodyguard for the night. There was no reply. How long does it take to buy fucking cigarettes? Ray suspected alcohol was slowing Theo down, and come to think of it, it might hinder Ray’s ability. Neither of them made good judgment calls for what was at stake.

  Too late now.

  Ray was a minute away from Ellsworth sitting alone when two dancers approached with handbags over their shoulders. Their racy attire and thongs had him flushing. Ray’s phone beeped again, another new number he didn’t recognize.

  Unknown User: Did two dancers approach him?

  Me: Yes.

  Unknown User: Make sure they don’t take him out of eyesight.

  Me: Why?

  Ray’s last message bounced back. He clenched his phone hard like he was trying to crush it, and if he had been an RW he probably would have. Looking away from his phone’s screen, Ray resumed moving to Ellsworth’s table. He stopped. Ellsworth wasn’t there, and neither were the two dancers talking to him.

  They couldn’t have gone far! he thought.

  He searched the club with panicking eyes. He found two dancers leading Ellsworth into the private back rooms for a lap dance. Ray followed, his feet moving faster now that the area ahead was clear of the crowd holding him up.

  He was in the hallway leading to the private rooms, it was dark, its only source of light being the flickering strobe lights from the club’s main floor. Repeated messages to Theo were thumbed and sent, no reply. Theo must have stopped for a smoke break too. Ray was still alone, and he couldn’t risk waiting for Theo. Ellsworth might be gone by then.

  Ellsworth and the two dancers vanished behind a purple and pink colored door, and a holographic sign that flashed on stating the room was in use. The door was locked and used encryption that was heavier than expected. It’d take Ray a minute or two to crack its code, using his botnet. He selected the hacking app on his phone, and its progress bar moved from left to right, slowly.

  The surveillance cameras were easier to hack. Ray was inside their network in four seconds and it only took two seconds to find and hijack the camera in the private room Ellsworth got dragged into. It made him grimace. People getting private shows were being watched by security, and Yoshida.

  Ellsworth was still alive. He lay back on a soft sofa with his arms spread out across its velvet material. His smile widened as the dancers flaunted their enhanced bodies and then slipped their hands into the purses they’d been carrying. He expec
ted something sexy to come out, maybe handcuffs, and toys, drugs perhaps. Both dancers pulled small pistols and then hid them behind their backs. They faced Ellsworth with cute smiles and giggles.

  “Guess what I got?” one dancer asked.

  “Oh, me too, me too.” her partner chimed in. “Guess what I’m holding!”

  “Oh man,” Ellsworth said, then began rubbing his hands together. “Well, something big, powerful, and fits in your hand.”

  “And me?”

  “Something that runs on batteries and will make you shake.”

  “Close but,” The dancer duo drew their weapons, “you guessed wrong.”

  Ten

  Miyuki

  A cloud of mist obstructed Miyuki’s top-down view of back alleys and markets, smoke from the last puff of her cigarette. She flicked the butt away, and it tumbled out of sight, down from the roof and into the abyss below, a sprawl of footbridges connecting various buildings together in the multi-layered city. Faint police sirens wailed in the distance, their red and blue lights adding to the neon hue. She never realized until that moment Tokyo was nothing more than a maze of gridlock streets and shady alleys, where the walls comprised countless apartments and office towers.

  Miyuki turned away from the edge, giving her arms a quick stretch and heard the month old cyberware inside whirl. She still didn’t know what to call herself. She was a witch before her death, and just like humans who undergo the cyberware augmentation process, half her organic form had been ripped out and replaced with a machine. Officially, that didn’t make her an RW, but she wasn’t considered to be an IW anymore either. That and she didn’t have an AI in her, or access to utility nanites that all RWs had. The people that augmented her, the Specters, couldn’t secure the parts for that in time. Life support nanites flowed through her veins though. It made her feel less guilty about taking up smoking, she’d never get cancer, only burn through batteries faster.

  You’re a ghost now, she thought. Miyuki the witch is dead.