Once injected into her bloodstream, the Silvered Stream seared through her synapses. Kano sighed and sunk into her chair. Made of crude hide stuffed with rags, it was hardly worth calling a chair. But in that moment, it was perfect.

She stared up at the ceiling riddled with holes from neglect and gunshots and wondered what life was all about. Was there any meaning to her daily struggles? She always ended up back where she’d started, only worse off each time. Was it her fault? Was she too flawed to reach greater heights? No, that made no sense. She was unmatched in both intellect and prowess.

If anything, her surroundings were to blame. Her surroundings, and perhaps those she surrounded herself with. Lolling her head toward Nove, she stared at her companion’s great scaled back and tried to come up with something hateful to say. Normally it would have been child’s play, but in her drug-addled state, nothing came to her. Maybe Nove wasn’t so bad.

Kano knew she didn’t need her, that she could get along fine on her own. But maybe she was just doing Nove a favor. Nove certainly needed her. Probably be face-first in a pile of garbage if not for me, Kano thought to herself, snickering.

Intending to tell Nove that she wasn’t so worthless, Kano tried to get to her feet. She pushed against the ground, but somehow the ground refused to help her, and all she accomplished was sliding lower in her seat.

Unperturbed, Kano picked up another of the slender shards of Silvered Stream beside her. The sharp edge nicked her finger, drawing blood, but she didn’t pay it any heed. Instead, she sunk it deep into her thigh, only removing it once the shard had lost its sheen, fading away to a dull gray. The second dose hit her even harder than the first, and she went numb.

Existing in that tiny sliver between unconsciousness and consciousness, Kano wondered why she ever left this wonderful place. Why brave the cold, unforgiving world when she could take a trip to heaven whenever she wanted? All it required was for her to catch a trip on a shooting star, dyed a brilliant silver.

In her benevolence, she even considered sharing these wonders with Nove. Glancing at what she had left, she discovered she was already down to three shards. Well, no matter; Nove seemed happy enough as it was. She didn’t need to partake. It wasn’t like she’d be able to appreciate it properly. Not the way Kano could. In fact, Kano thought with rising anger, why was anyone else even allowed it? She was the only one who could understand its true value. It was wasted on everyone else.

Grabbing her remaining shards and giving herself some new cuts in the process, she clutched them to her chest. These were hers, and no one could take them away. Muttering for everyone to keep away, Kano drifted off to sleep.

In her dream, bursting with inexplicable colors and sounds, she was spun and pulled every which way. No matter how hard she fought, she couldn’t break free. The unseen forces around her intensified until she broke apart. The pieces of her scattered, losing all cohesion, until she was nothing at all. Bemoaning the cruel treatment, Kano’s form snapped back together.

She awoke with a jolt, feeling as if her consciousness had been rammed back into her body.

“What?” she demanded of her immediate surroundings. But the alley, full of decaying biomatter, had no answers to offer. Not for how she’d ended up here, or why she was naked. Patting herself down, she confirmed her body was at least intact. But she realized with a surge of rage that her new bracelet was missing. Fine. If that was how the world wanted to treat her, then she wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Recognizing the alley as being the one beside the den of ill repute she’d been in earlier, she summoned her force field. Created by a generator inside her chest, a biological core that was already heating up, it appeared around her. Shouting incoherently, she smashed her way through the wall, glowing fists presented before her in case anyone took issue with her means of entrance. She searched the room for Aru-Aru, the owner.

Spotting his faded suit jacket among the crowd of people fleeing from her sudden entrance, she was off after him like a shot. Kano dragged the overweight man to the ground as an adult would a child.

“Where are my clothes?” she shouted, clinging to his back.

“I-I,” he stuttered, double chin wobbling.

Flipping him over, Kano shook him by his lapels. “Spit it out,” she demanded.

“I don’t know,” he got out at last.

“Don’t play dumb,” Kano said, grasping him by the throat. “I was in here just before, and now here I am again. But naked. I do not wish to be naked. At least not right now. And either way, I want my stuff back.”

Aru-Aru raised his hands as if trying to ward her off. “Please, I really don’t know anything. The last time I saw you, you had all your clothes. But that was at least twelve hours ago.”

Twelve hours? Kano scratched her head. Had it been that long? She couldn’t remember when she’d returned to Shorinstown. Had it been day or night? She blinked and shook Aru-Aru some more. “What was I doing when you last saw me?”

Aru-Aru licked his jowls. “I-I dunno, staggering out the door? You were with some guy, didn’t recognize him. Don’t think he was a local.”

A guy who wasn’t a local? Kano’s brain kicked into high gear, and she realized that meant he must not be from around here.

“What was I doing with him?” she asked.

“How am I supposed to know?”

“So you don’t know?”

“No!”

Kano stared into his gray eyes. He didn’t seem to be lying. “Well, what did he look like, then? You must know that much at least.”

His back against the ground, the fat man tried to shrug. “He was tall, wore uh, a red leather jacket. There wasn’t that much about him that was worth remembering, he looked like just some nobody. No one I’d expect you to associate with.”

“Why was I with him, then?”

“I already said I don’t know.”

“Oh,” Kano said, releasing him, “right. Guess I’m done with you, then. But let this be a lesson to you.”

She left without another word, walking out of the now empty establishment. The crackling blue field surrounding her faded. Now then… where to next? She scanned the cramped street of dingy shops, the others even dingier than Aru-Aru’s place. Other than a cadaver leaning against a wall, missing half its head, the street was empty. Wait… Kano thought. She recognized that cadaver.

“Hey, Virtur,” she called.

As he pushed off from the wall and sauntered over to her, Kano felt a sense of dread. Even if she was at her wit’s end, why, why, did she think to talk to him?

Virtur licked his withered lips. “Hey yourself, little lady. You’re looking particularly fine today. How about you and I go somewhere more private?”

Kano shivered, disgusted. “Nah, I’m good.” It was too late to back out now; she may as well try to get some information. “But I do need to know if you saw me leaving Aru-Aru’s a while ago with some guy.”

Running his hand along the exposed brain on the right side of his head, Virtur grinned. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. What’s it to ya?”

Kano’s field appeared around her, shrouding her body in blue energy. She put one hand on her hip and pointed at Virtur with the other. “I don’t have the patience to mess around with you today. Just tell me.”

“Why do you have to be like this?” Virtur asked, frowning. “Can’t we just talk like civilized people?”

Kano hissed. “I never claimed to be civilized. Tell me what you saw.”

“What makes you so sure I saw anything?” Virtur replied, tilting his head.

“Don’t play dumb,” Kano said, jabbing a finger in his direction. “You always hang out here. And don’t pretend like you weren’t watching me.”

Scratching his chin, Virtur’s face broke into an embarrassed smile. “You noticed that, huh? I thought I had a little more subtlety than that. But I suppose you—”

Kano grabbed him by the chin.

“This is your last warning,” Kano spat, their faces close to touching. The field bit into his flesh, where it made contact, drawing blood. Despite that, Virtur continued to smile.

“If you’re going to be so rude,” he said, “I’m afraid I have nothing to offer you.”

Clenching the fingers on her free hand into a clawlike shape, Kano swung it at the insolent man’s head. They tore through flesh and bone with ease, but as she withdrew her hand, she could see he was already healing. By the time she released him, other than the fresh bloodstain, there was nothing to show she’d struck him at all.

Virtur sighed. “What are you doing? This is pointless.”

“Even if it accomplishes nothing else,” Kano replied, “using you to vent my frustration is more than good enough for me.” She cracked her knuckles. “Fight me like you mean it.”

“If you insist,” Virtur said, and licked his lips. “But I won’t be held responsible for what happens to your body after you lose.”

Kano rolled her eyes. “Like I’d ever—”

A thin blade of bone shot out from Virtur’s skull. Were it not for the field surrounding her, it would have gone right through Kano’s eye.

“Lose to an idiot like you,” she finished, catching hold of the blade and snapping it off. She swept her hand in an arc, removing his head at the shoulders. It fell to the ground, withering away to dust before her eyes.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Virtur said, tapping the still-exposed brain of his new head. “I can do this all day. Can you?” Long flexible strips of bone extended from his arms, and he lashed out at her with both in tandem.

Not bothering to avoid them, Kano stepped toward him. The bone whips shattered before reaching her skin, and she laughed at him. Sweeping her arms in from both sides, she bisected his torso. The pieces were turning to dust before they even hit the ground.

Despite Virtur’s boasting, Kano figured there had to be some limit to his regeneration. It hardly seemed fair otherwise. Not giving him a chance to reform, she kept up her assault, mutilating him into an unrecognizable mass of flesh, over and over again. Losing track of time, she butchered the annoying man until the generator in her chest was burning hot.

She realized her field was flickering and switched it off to conserve what energy she had left. However, its absence did little to deter her. She could no longer cut through his flesh with ease, but she was still more than capable of pummeling him into mush. Or so she thought. She beat him down the first few times, but his regeneration outpaced her ability to injure him. Before long, he was standing before her unharmed.

“Well,” he said, clearing his throat, “that took longer than I expected. But surely now you see how futile this is.”

Kano’s fist shattered his jaw with a spray of disintegrating teeth. “I’m still not convinced,” she said, following up with a kick to the groin, “but I am getting bored.”

Uncrossing his legs and straightening himself up, Virtur said, “Then perhaps we can resume our discussion.”

“What is there to discuss?” Kano asked, crossing her arms. “You already know what I want. Just tell me what you saw.”

Stroking his chin, Virtur paced back and forth in the narrow confines of the alleyway. “I suppose it is a simple enough request. I’ll tell you what: If you’ll admit that I was the winner of our little scuffle, then I’ll tell you what I know.”

Kano scoffed. “You must be kidding. There’s no way I’d agree to something so ridiculous.”

Virtur dragged his fingers down along his cheeks. “Then I guess you’ll never find out what happened.” He chuckled and walked away.

“Wait!” Kano called after him.

He turned, just in time for a length of metal to stab him through the chest. Torn from the wall by Kano as she sped toward him, it pierced right through him and pinned him against the wall. Kano twisted it to make his escape as difficult as possible. “I’ve got a counter offer,” she said.

His flesh had already closed around Kano’s improvised weapon, leaving him stuck fast. Swallowing, he managed a smile. “I’m listening.”

Mirroring Virtur’s expression with a sweet smile of her own, she asked, “How about you stay here for a while, you piece of filth?”

She didn’t wait for his reply before walking off. Stepping out of the alley, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. The fight had proven to be great stress relief, and the sound of Virtur whining made things all the sweeter. Now all she had to do was figure out what had happened. There had to be someone else she could ask. Someone more pliant.

If not, well, she could always enjoy tearing them apart as well.