Nitra and I once again sat alone in the galley. The ship was quiet, Lea and Soren hadn’t yet returned from talking to the authorities on the outside, so I had to continue pretending that I had no clue where they were. The two of us had worked ourselves hard through the killhouse far more times than we had bothered to count, and we were tired down to our bones because of it. Well, bones for me. Overheating servos for her.
Ever the taskmaster though, Nitra had insisted we try to get some kind of food into me. She explained that even though my body was digital, the game was quite realistic in the way it handled exercise and the calories needed to support it. It wasn’t hard to believe - the way my body ached pleasantly even after resting for only a short time was very familiar to the way I’d felt after a long session in the gym.
“Feeling any better with some food in you?” The synthetic woman asked, leaning back and looking me in the eyes. There was a sparkle of amusement in her gaze as she watched me, and my cheeks going red as I nodded before leaning back from my plate of steak and veg.
“A little bit,” I admitted once my mouth was adequately clear of food. My tail kept twitching, eager to start wagging with Nitra so nearby, but I managed to keep it to a more polite and controlled sway of appreciation. “I… Feel a lot better after that last while of training, honestly.”
“Glad I could distract you from whatever is going on.” Nitra nods, reclining back in her chair as well. “But I do want to say, you do look rather… Tired. Maybe you should get some actual rest, instead of pretending you have lots of energy?”
“I’m fine,” I promised, failing to hold back a traitorous yawn even as the words came out of my mouth. “I’m not really that tired.”
“Mmmhm.” Nitra grunted, rolling her eyes slightly, then slipping out of her seat. “I’m not gonna have the captain or engineer coming back to me not taking care of you. Those two care a lot about you.”
“Yeah…” I yawned again, even as she leaned over me. I gave her a confused look, until realisation dawned. Her arms wrapped behind my knees and under my shoulders, picking me up into a bridal carry in a swift movement. A yelp escaped my throat as I wrapped my arms around the back of her neck. “H-Hey!”
“C’mon puppy. I’m taking you back to your bed, okay?” Nitra smiled at me, starting to walk quickly out of the galley before I could protest.
“W-wait, but-” I started, but she shushed me.
“Shh. No arguments.” The synth told me, carrying me all the way back to my cabin. Getting me to tap my hand on the control panel to let us in, before she set me down on the soft bed. “There we are, puppy.”
“Thank you, Nitra…” I replied back softly. It was hard to be upset with her, despite how much work I still had to do. My body and mind felt exhausted with the weight of the day, both with what I had learned and what I’d done to try and push all those concerns off until I was ready to deal with them - Something I was definitely still not ready to do.
“No problem Kaela. I’m glad I could help.” Nitra smiled, letting go to back off.
Before I really even knew what I was doing myself, my sore arm grabbed her by the wrist and stopped her from leaving. “I… Can you stay? Please…?”
A small frown crossed the assassin-synth’s face as she looked down at me in bed. She was hesitating, but I turned my puppy-like charms up. The embarrassment I might have felt if I was more awake never surfaced in my thoughts as my ears flicked back and I gave her the biggest puppy-dog eyes I could manage.
“Oh my goddess.” Nitra laughed, her frown fading away as she gave in with a huff. “Alright, alright. I’ll stay for a little bit. Do you want me to just sit on the floo-”
I cut her off as I pulled her by the arm into my bed. She didn’t offer any resistance as I settled into a cuddle against her side. My arm was draped across her chest, and my head rested on a pillow carefully pulled over her hard steel shoulder. Nitra slowly rubbed a hand up and down my back as we cuddled. It felt so… comforting. There was just something about being held by another woman that just made my heart feel so complete. Every movement of her arm or hand against my back. The way she used her other hand to gently brush the long strands of white hair from my face as they settled. The smile on her face every time I looked up.
It felt… Near close to what I imagined heaven would be like. And it was resting against the synth that I drifted off to sleep.
Lea sighed as she pulled her jacket up a little higher around her neck. Her and Sydney were in the lower parts of New Toronto. Queen Street somehow had still retained its unofficial moniker of ‘Queer Street’, and there were numerous old and faded pride flags hanging from nearly every building. The only issue was that when the police force had been privatised, they had determined that the area around central Queen Street was ‘too dangerous’ to patrol, and had abandoned it to the gangs.
Nowadays, the enclave in the city was home to a mix of desperate people looking for a space to be safe from the prejudices of society, gangs selling drugs and operating in the absence of authorities, and old gay people who fought too hard in their early lives for a place to live to leave. Definitely not the safest place to be, but Lea had been here far more than either her brother or parents knew. It was where she discovered she was gay for the first time, in one of the back alleys.
Lea shook her head, Sydney looking down at her with a raised eyebrow. “Are they going to show up?”
“If it was just me, I’d say yes.” Lea replied, sighing softly. “Problem is that they don’t like new people… And with you here, it might have spooked them. Or, they may be taking the time to do a full vetting process on you.”
“Vetting me? For what?” Her brother asked, confusion on his face.
“Any association with a corp, contacts with authorities, any sign you might be a plant. They haven’t remained uncaught without being careful, Sydney.” Lea retorted, shifting nervously. She really hoped that they would turn up soon. Every moment without Kaela being safe was grating on her nerves.
A man with long, soft brown hair slowly walking by suddenly stopped in front of them. He was wearing a long trench coat over his lithe, feminine body. He only had tight, shiny clothes on underneath as he pulled out a vape and took a puff. He looked off absently before turning back to Lea.
“You know our rules about plus ones, Lea.” His flat, tone-dead voice said softly as he looked her over. “You need to warn us a week in advance.”
“This was an emergency, Iris.” Lea replied softly, keeping her gaze away from his. Watching out for threats or evesdroppers. “I need your help.”
“You turned down the offer,” Iris replied coldly, now turning his attention to her more intently. “You wanted to stay on the edges and not take on the risks of full membership. Why should we help you now?”
“It's not for me.” Lea explained, taking a deep breath. “Look, I don’t want to say much out in public like this, but Fidaela-” She stopped as Iris suddenly moved in and put his hand over her mouth.
“Not another word. You and your brother can come visit. We will talk more there.” Iris said gently, shooting a glare at Sydney before he could move to protect his sister. “Do not mention them out loud here. Understood?”
Lea nodded, confusion racing through her mind. She hadn’t even gotten to explain that Kaela was being held captive. They must have already got an operation under way, if they were being this secretive about Fidaela. That made her only more worried - this had to be bigger than she expected.
Sydney thankfully said nothing as Iris let go of Lea, and didn’t comment as she began to follow the femboy down the street. She could feel him glaring daggers into the back of her head, but she ignored it. Finding a way to help Kaela was more important than her brother’s weird ideas of what criminals were in this corporate-fucked world.
They followed Iris down the street, before ducking into an alleyway next to an old, worn red-brick building. It had a small cafe on the first floor, and what looked to be rundown apartments above it. However, Lea knew that the group’s main base of operations was in the normally hidden basement to the building. The door that Iris unlocked looked like a regular utility door, long since disused since new infrastructure had been run through the neighbourhood at gunpoint.
He held open the door, gesturing for Lea and Sydney to head down the stairs first. “Welcome to the Runaway’s Hovel.” Iris said nonchalantly as the Lea led the way down. Lea took a deep breath as she walked down the old concrete stairs into the basement. It smelled like vape clouds, sex, and soldering smoke. The home away from home she enjoyed when she was younger, before she had her brother to really worry about. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Iris tilted his head. “Boss lady wants to talk to you in the backroom.”
“Who’s the-” Sydney started, but Lea shut him up quickly with an elbow in the gut.
She growled lowly, keeping her voice down, “She’s the boss lady, Sydney. Now shush before you get us kicked out for asking too many questions.”
Iris shot the two a look, before gesturing. He led them across the more open space littered with old couches, beanbag seating, and flat-pack furniture from four decades ago held together by the hopes and dreams of the occupants. Tucked around the corner was a secondary service door plastered in fading warning signs, dividing off the utility connections from the rest of the basement where the delicate mechanical systems required for the restaurant above would have once been. But, as with all that machinery, it had been stripped out due to both its now obsolescence compared to current technology, and abandonment of the city section to anarchy.
Lea and Sydney were ushered into the office by Iris, who closed the heavy metal door behind them. They were left in the dark room, lit by a lone lightbulb like it was an interrogation room from an old movie. Standing opposite them, across a heavy wooden table was a woman with short, greying hair that seemed to have long ago given up its colour. She was wearing a similarly old-looking black turtleneck sweater and faded jeans. Her jade, augmented eyes bored into Lea’s as they stood with a pointed silence in the dark.
“Didn’t expect you to be back here, Galea.” The boss lady said slowly, her voice gravelly from years of smoking during her time in the army. “In fact, I believe I told you that you weren’t welcome back here after you turned us down over family.”
“Yeah, well… I’m desperate.” Lea replied, her teeth grating at the use of her full name. She knew full well that the ‘Boss Lady’ Miranda was trying to get under her skin, but that didn’t stop it from working.
“Clearly.” Miranda sighed, shaking her head disappointedly. “Tell me your woes. Apparently they involve Fidaela, and I want to know why you are asking.”
Lea took a deep breath, “Well… We have a friend…”
Thanks for the chapter!
This setting of yours is a tried and true dystopia, ain't it?
If it is, then we have the makings of a lovely AI revolution.
those puppy dog eyes surely are weapons of massive destruction
Damn I'm excited to read whatever happens next
For some reasons, this reminds me of Starsector