The pain and fatigue overwhelmed him not long after he got off the bridge; he was starting to get tired. Damnit, I gotta get back. Need to rest, Unconsciousness tugged at him. Each streetlight, seemed like miniature exploding suns of blinding luminescence, causing him to squint his eyes. The cumulative damage of the night had him reeling badly.
“H-Home. Need to—” he mumbled as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and closed while he was still on the road.
The car swerved off the road, crashing into a large ditch. Upon impact, a protective foam shot out of the steering wheel, dashboard, and all four car doors, protecting Caiden from any more serious injury.
***
He came to. No police or pedestrians had come to check on him. This meant that he was close to Darkside. His neck was aching. His arm was tangled in an awkward position and wrapped up in the passenger-side seatbelt. He was pretty sure he had a dislocated shoulder too. Once he was able, he opened the car door and used brute force to push it off its hinges.
He stumbled onto the concrete and started to make his way back to Home-base on foot. The night was quieter than usual. It was unnervingly eerie and calm. For good measure, Caiden summoned his gunblade. Bloody, battered, broken and bruised, he limped his way through streets of the neighborhood.
There was a crowd a down the street so he decided to take an alternate route to avoid them. Hanging out of their back pockets were purple bandanas edged in red. They were the Alley Kids, gang members also known as ‘The Young AKs’. They were young mindless idiots looking to make a name for themselves committing petty crimes. They only showed their face around Darkside when they knew the bigger, more dangerous gangs were elsewhere. Caiden walked down a back street when he felt like someone was following him.
He stopped in his tracks, activated his NOVO Lenses, and began scanning the area. There were four heat signatures. That number doubled as more gang members showed up. They were running down adjacent alleyways trying to trap him. Caiden readied himself for conflict. The Alley Kids closed in on him, swinging knives, chains, metal pipes, and homemade chivs. The NOVO Lenses didn’t detect any firearms. I should be able to get rid of these assholes if I play my cards right, he thought to himself.
“Man, oh, man. What the fuck happened to you? Looks like you had a hell of a night, bitch!” one of the boys said.
“Just shut the fuck up and get on with it,” Caiden replied as he stumbled over in pain. He used the art of deception to appear much weaker than he really was.
The first member rushed him, hoping to take advantage of Caiden in his frail state. Caiden effortlessly sidestepped the attacker causing him to lose balance. Caiden put his gun to the gang member’s ribcage and fired a round with ruthless efficiency and accuracy.
The blast of the gun sent the thug flying into his friend, knocking them both unconscious. It was only a pulse round shot; a non-lethal bullet that caused concussive blasts. He only resorted to these rounds shortly after he ran out of his regular rounds back at the Mid-town bridge. The remaining six were frozen in place, frightened by what they had just seen. Another Alley Kid charged Caiden from his left. Caiden took half a step back and turned his head. The attacker’s fist whizzed past Caiden’s nose, no more than a centimeter away.
Caiden’s gunblade retracted into his right arm, freeing up his left hand. He pivoted under the Alley kid’s arm, shifted his feet, and used all his remaining strength to throw the attacker over his shoulder. The boy’s bones cracked upon impact with the concrete.
Caiden turned to look at the other gang members. He glowered at them with his turquoise eyes. Use tactics that make you appear more than human during conflict to up your advantage. He could hear his master’s words in his mind.
“What the fuck are you, man?” one Alley Kid asked.
“Someone you shouldn’t have pissed off, prick,” Caiden replied.
Another Alley Kid charged toward Caiden with inhuman speed. Must be a Hybrid, Caiden thought. He was right. The Alley Kid had cybernetic legs from the knees down. By the time the Alley Kid managed to get close, Caiden had drawn his gun in the blink of an eye and shot him at point-blank range; showcasing tremendous reaction time and speed despite heavy fatigue and injury. The thug was unconscious before he hit the ground.
“Next?” Caiden inquired, pointing his gunblade at the rest of the Alley Kids.
“Hey, man, we’re cool! Everything’s cool. We’re sorry! We don’t want any more trouble. Just, please, don’t kill us!” one of the Alley Kids pleaded.
Pitiful, none of these punks were worthy of being called a true man. No pride or fortitude, just cowardice, Caiden thought to himself.
The remaining Young AK members scrambled to pick up their injured friends and shamelessly ran off into the night. Thank you master Ao for all you’ve taught me, Caiden thought to himself. Once the coast was clear, he trudged onward toward Home-base.
Keeping his NANO-Lenses active, he kept an eye out for any threats. In the distance he could see the decrepit and secluded building; he was almost home. He typed a code into his holo-watch and a small underground passageway opened. Once Caiden had limped through, the passageway closed. He’d finally made it back to safety.
CHAPTER 36
---usr/systems/server-x/I AM YOU---
After securing the air locks he stumbled into the living space.
“Nami! Hitomi!” Caiden called out. “I’m back.”
He dropped to the floor, still soaked from the torrential downpour and barely keeping conscious. He rolled over onto his back and called out to them once more. They didn’t respond. He roll onto his side and crawled
