I hadn’t seen that much color in one place since that one time I took acid and my eyes became shrimp eyes for a solid hour. Every single surface of every single prefab building in Oddington was covered in murals and pride flags of all kinds, and after the corporate grey and the rundown rust of Dusklight’s other districts it was like a sip of water after wandering through a desert for two days straight. As I turned the corner into it, Century pinged me through our link to check the rearview mirror. I could see an obvious police stakeout right across the street from the district entrance, the pigs waiting for anything to happen so they could bust in and clear out the place. But there was a stakeout of locals watching the cops back opposite the cops’ spot, the two sides in a cold war of daring each other to be the first to start shit.
“How long have they been trying to kick folks out of here?” I asked Joseph while pointing my thumb at the cops.
“A few decades, at least. RapidFrame Trendsetters want to gentrify the place but don’t want to deal with us queers.” Joseph was looking out the window, waving at a few passerbys. “Oh, hey, M, pull over for a second!” With a shrug I obliged, Joseph was already pulling down and leaning out the window before I stopped. “Yo, Tilda!” He was waving at someone who had their skin from the neck down replaced with flexible screens that were displaying kinetic tattoos, their hair and skirt as short as possible to display the work of art they turned themself into. They walked over. “Do you know if Auntie Murphy is still awake? We’ve kind of got a delicate situation and need her expert skills to help.”
Tilda bit their thumb in contemplation, humming. “I think Daisy was getting a check-up on her arms project at Auntie’s place.”
“Her whole turning into a biomechanical dryad thing?” Joseph asked, and Tilda nodded.
“Yeah, yeah, she figured out the material to make her skin look like bark, was running off to show it to Auntie.”
“Wired, thanks, Tilda, see you later.” Joseph waved and gestured for me to drive off, making sure to close the window.
“Custom bodymods, huh? How much do those go for?” Knowing the rumors about Dusklight made me start considering getting stun palms installed.
“You bring your own shit. Auntie Murphy just makes sure it works and installs it pro bono; she only makes you pay if she has to source stuff.”
“Shit, that’s generous. Wasn’t expecting that in Dusklight, only from Fused Journeymen.” I stopped the car in an alley next to the clinic; there were stairs on the side of it leading up to the first floor, stairs on which somebody was currently sitting, staring down at my car and sipping on a steaming cup of who knows what, probably coffee-flavored caffeine powder.
“Hey, Joseph, when’d you turn into a cat?” the person asked, their shiny chrome right arm reflecting all the neon light around us, as they watched Joseph drag the box out of my ride.
“You know, it was the weirdest thing, Sarah, here I am just shooting the breeze out in the Dust, and suddenly a tail pops out of my spine and my ears turn triangular and fuzzy!” Joseph, for the record, had neither of those features.
“Uhuh, why’re you parking a Rainforest crate next to my apartment?” Sarah asked, putting the cup down and getting up, taking the stairs patiently. “And who’s your friend?”
I was standing in front of the box, with Century resting on my shoulder. “I’m M, she/her; the gryphon is Century, or Cent for short, also she/her. And as for the box--” I opened it and immediately set it to reanimate its occupant “--we’re doing Railroad work.” Sarah whistled, leaning on the box and looking in.
“Liberating a clone, huh? Respect, M.” Sarah straightened up and offered me their hand. “I know Joseph here blurted out my name, but here’s a proper introduction. Sarah, she/her please.” I shook her hand quickly. Her chrome was cold on the surface from the night air;; I hissed a little bit in surprise. “Just be glad it’s not winter.” The occupant of the box stirred, opening their eyes and looking at the three of us.
“You lot don’t look like Rainforest Clone Reeducators.” They sat up and stretched, yawning. “And you don’t have me in cuffs, joy, what do you want?”
“Well, your story would be good.” I said, grabbing the blanket that had been sitting under the box during the ride and throwing it on the clone, before offering them a hand to get out of the box.
“I was supposed to be a custom order, a sex slave nurse for some rich eighty-year-old. But the labs still can’t account for personality development, and thus they grew a trans guy instead. In an attempt to ‘fix’ the manufacturing error--” they made air quotes around the word ‘fix’ “-- they were planning to have me reeducated, turn me into an obedient brainless husk. Everyone knows it doesn’t really work, but it’s still not pleasant, so thanks for stealing me. Zagreus and he/him pronouns, please.” He was unsteady on his feet, having barely gotten to use them in his short life by the looks of it.
“Rainforest really delivers anything, huh,” Sarah said, moving aside to let me and Zagreus pass.
The inside of the clinic was warm in more ways than just temperature, the seats were inviting, the color scheme wasn’t sterile, and the eyes of the older black lady sitting in the corner reading through a magazine, eyes that were hidden behind a pair of small oval glasses, looked for all the world that they never held any anger in them. “Joseph Gabriel Ernesto Sanchez, what trouble are you dragging into my clinic now!” She put the magazine down and stood up, two extra pairs of spindly, spider-like arms that were coming out of her back helping her get up.
“Auntie Murphy, don’t be mad; I picked up a clone that fell off a Rainforest transport, had M here help me smuggle him in, and M had some sort of idea to help him disappear,” Joseph was explaining as Auntie Murphy approached, standing inches from him now.
“I should have kept the magazine in hand to whap you with it, you dumbass.” She turned to look at me and Zag. “More hearts than brains on this one, I swear.” Auntie Murphy nudged her head towards Joseph as she said it. “Alright, come on, let me take a closer look at you, see what we can do. M, was it? Help him to my operating table.” She turned around, her original arms held behind her back as she waved with the top right one on her back, going behind a plastic curtain.
The difference between the lobby and the operating table was night and day, as while the lobby looked like what old images of grandmother’s house looked like, the operating hall looked like a tattoo parlor. “Sit him down, please,” Auntie Murphy requested, so I helped Zagreus onto the chair while taking the blanket from him. Century nudged a stool over that she jumped on so Zagreus had the option of petting her for comfort. “You got a smart companion there M, how’d you get it?”
“Her; her name is Century, and she’s my Daemon. It’s a Bonded thing.” I sat down out of the way, watching Auntie Murphy put on surgical garb.
“Wrestled an AI from the Depths and claimed her as your own, huh?” She stepped over to Zagreus, holding his head to look at its side.
“We claimed each other, it’s mutual.” Century chirped in agreement with my statement.
“Good for you.” She focused her eyes on Zagreus. “Well, kiddo, I’m gonna have to get rid of the barcode with a jack, if I just swapped the skin whoever built you would be able to scan the code on your skull. Anything else you want?”
Zagreus grabbed his tits. “These gone, as soon as possible; they made me grow them for the fuck who ordered me, but they feel like tumors to me. My body built to order for someone else, can you imagine how alienating that feels?”
Auntie Murphy laughed, and lifted her shirt to expose her stomach and its lack of a belly button. “They wanted to cosplay plantation owners and needed slaves for their LARPing.”
“And while I’m not a clone, I’m trans, so I know how detachment from your body feels,” I said, smiling sadly at Zagreus.
“Well, guess I’m glad I landed here then. How much will I owe you?” Zagreus asked, running his hand across his head.
“What’d they ram into that head of yours while they were growing you?” Auntie Murphy was marking surgery lines on Zagreus.
“Ten years’ worth of medical schooling, and a guide to oral.” He was counting on his fingers while Auntie Murphy looked through shelves in the back, bringing two vacuum sealed packs out.
“Three months working as a nurse for me then, for the top surgery, jack, and testosterone pumps, if you want them.” She was now prepping Zagreus for an IV drip.
“Oh hell, yes! Thank you so much.” Zagreus was grinning from ear to ear, then grimaced as the needle went in, and then passed out.
“Please leave the operating hall. And M, you should get some rest, looks like you need it.” Auntie Murphy wasn’t even looking at me as she said it, but me and Century nodded as we left the room. Joseph was talking with Sarah in the lobby.
“You should have seen her, she drove like the devil, like a knight facing a dragon, the car her steed!” Joseph was waving his arms around while telling the story.
“First of all, rude to dragons, they were the third most common Daemon among the Bonded. Second of all, how does you shooting them on my command fit into your metaphor?” I crossed my arms and Century jumped on my shoulders like usual.
“Ah, it... doesn’t, but that’s not the point! You were amazing out there!” He grabbed my shoulders, and I shrugged his hands off.
“I have space out there, I know how asphalt and sand and dirt feels, I know how to bend them to my will. But here? Everything’s so narrow here, so cramped, makes me feel claustrophobic just standing here.” I rubbed my arms, shivering for emphasis, as Century sent me a picture of her representation in a cramped box. “You too Cent, huh?” She chirped and nuzzled into my cheek.
“Are you planning on going back out on the road then?” Joseph looked a bit sad as he asked the question.
“Nah, there’s nothing for me out there, I’ll try and make a living here. First I need somewhere to crash.” I started making my way to my car, but Joseph grabbed my wrist.
“Hey, I know this is sudden, but want to be business partners or something? Do jobs together? And, well, my mom has a spare room you could use, no rent.”
I sighed, smiled and shook my head. “Sure, to both. Thanks.”
Happy he got a less shitty body ;o;
The daemon concept is going to be pretty interesting
I love this new world you've given us!
Great job dropping us in the middle of a world that really feels lived in!