‘Send them to my apartment,’ I told Fox as he punched in the necessary permissions for my printer to sketch up the weapons. I imagined the AI rabbit’s wide-eyed bafflement as my new arsenal spilled out of the printer.
I attached the Titan handcannon to the magnetic holster on my thigh and pocketed a few of the neurotoxin needles before parting ways with the two darkmarket sellers, and was back into the bedlam of the Upper Markets, wrapped in cutting-edge armour. The armour was far bulkier than my previous iteration had been, but manoeuvring in it felt effortless. I had the hydraulics along my spine to thank for that. Fox hadn’t been lying about the faster response from the interface either: it felt like an extension of myself rather than something I was wearing. I flexed my shoulders and the armour seemed to flex with me, muscles and servos in unison. Oh, this was going to be fun.
In the corner, Aras’ shop had been sealed up, already leased out to some space-manufactory. Seemed like the Bulkava had wised up and taken the window of opportunity I’d given him. He’d be four or five space sectors away if he had any sense.
Knots of shoppers drifted by, two squabbling Torven knocking into me and slamming the thoughts out of my head. Over in the corner were some hunched figures, built like tanks. They were Rhivik, reptilian bipeds with scaly, rock-like skin that appeared to be covered in barnacles. An aggressive, combat-driven species, they were the latest species to arrive on Compass with the intent of establishing a home on the asteroid. The aliens were renowned for naturally growing their own rocky armour plating by way of thick scales, and were capable of shedding it at will. They’d sold the plates as trinkets to traders, creating a market for other species to graft them into their own flesh. They were in the middle of a deal, handing over boxes of their own biology to a vendor specializing in tattoos, skingrafts and body piercings. They’d soon carve out their own niche in the body-modification industries. As if there weren’t enough ways to meld alien DNA into human flesh already. One glanced at me with slitted crocodile eyes that blinked upwards, bits of meat wedged in between his tombstone teeth. Their business concluded, the aliens rumbled away into the crowds.
A few floors down from the Upper Markets was a winding racetrack that ran along the outer edges of the asteroid, used for fitness laps and obstacle courses. It was well past midnight, but nothing really closed on Compass. Plenty of chances to test the capacity of my new suit out, see if it was everything Fox chalked it up to be. I was halfway down the escalators when my palmerlog rang with a call. No number, no ID. I connected it to my HUD. ‘Hello?’
‘Vakov!’ Artyom practically spat my name out, like it was poison. ‘Was that bloody you down there?’
‘Nice to hear from you, too.’
‘You sodding, maggot-brained moron. You stupid insufferable little prick. I told you to stay the hell away. You could have ruined everything!’
I hadn’t had the easiest of weeks, even before I’d been kidnapped, held at gunpoint, strapped down and locked in my own suit and then tortured by a psychopathic AI for almost thirty hours. Even before I’d held out to protect him. The knives were out. ‘You mean: I’ve made stealing stormtech from Harmony and selling it to drug traffickers inconvenient for you?’ I said. ‘And you’re calling me a moron?’
‘What part of sod off did you not understand?’
‘You’re part of the plan, aren’t you? You’re actually trying to sabotage Harmony by poisoning stormtech.’ I attempted a mirthless smile. ‘Did someone kick you in the head?’
‘Shut up, Vak! Just shut your ugly pig mouth. I don’t need your advice, and I sure as hell don’t need you in my life. We had to relocate because of you.’
‘Oh, so it’s my fault now?’
‘You could have been killed, breaking in like that! No one survives the cradle.’
The rage had started to slip from his eyes. He was afraid. Afraid for me. I felt the metal pendant resting against my chest and for a moment saw the boy who had given it to me by the edge of a mountain. Remembered the scars he carried. What the world had done to him. What we’d done to each other.
‘They’re making plans for you, Vak. They want to staple you to a wall with metal spikes and vivisect you; melt your eyes in your skull and slowly cut pieces off you. When they get bored keeping you alive, they’ll let dogs eat you from the feet upwards. They’ll film it and send it to Harmony as a warning. That’s what they’re capable of.’
‘Then why are you with them, Artyom?’
He slowly shook his head. ‘You can’t possibly understand.’
‘Try me.’
‘I can’t. Jae will take you out if she suspects you’re an ongoing threat. Forcing the whole set-up to relocate put you right on her radar.’
‘Jae?’ Both Hideko and Lasky had mentioned a she. ‘Who’s Jae?’
Artyom froze as he realised he’d said too much. ‘Walk away, Vak. They don’t know about us, not yet. I’m trying to keep it that way, but I can’t do it for ever. They don’t know we’re brothers.’ The last sentence came out choked and thick. He blinked hard and looked away.
‘You know I can’t walk away,’ I said quietly. I wished I could hug him. That we could go back, before all this mess, and try again. ‘You’ll always be my little brother. Doesn’t matter what you do or say. And I’ll
