“Yeah, man. No problem,” he replies cutting his eyes awkwardly at Rome.
“Where’s Sophia?” I ask half expecting her to be here, half trying to change the subject.
“Who? Oh.. Sexy-Sophie. Yeah, things didn’t work out with that one. What about yours? You send her on her way yet?”
“I’m not sure where she is actually.”
“Shit has been wild as fuck here lately, man. Lethe’s got everyone all worked up.”
“Yeah, I heard. Hey, you’re done with this, right?” I ask rhetorically, seizing a warm slice of his pizza in each hand.
Food. I didn’t realize how close to starving I was. We devour the entire pie as Poth kindly mixes a few drinks for us.
Finally able to relax, I tell Poth and Griffin about my adventure to 34 and Cau. The loveseat does its job on my back as I drift in and out of consciousness surprisingly quick. The wail of the wind outside is as good as a lullaby.
Athan bounces around the apartment with childlike amazement, fidgeting with nearly every piece of tech he can get his miniature hands on. Poth can’t stop staring at him. Rome continues to look vacantly out of the window in the most fucking weird way possible. Griffin finishes his drink, stands, and pulls out the knife Athan traded him. He admires its beauty for a few long seconds, rubbing his hand down the dark blade before asking Athan for a quick origin story before he departs.
“It’s worth more if my guy knows its story.”
“I know its story.” I stand, taking the knife from Griffin. My fingers glide over the frayed handle, gripping it as if the years molded it for my hand and my hand alone. “This knife was first given to a man named Palin, Athan’s father. He died heroically, fighting against Lethe over 100 years ago.” Poth’s eyes snap to me in confusion. “He was trying to free someone from them, someone they kidnapped. I never met him personally, but he was a great man. Fought for what he loved and what he believed was right. Just before he died, he gave it to Athan’s apparently pregnant mot-“
The front door bursts open, jerking the locks and hinges with it.
Red-eyed droids swarm the flat in seconds. Two of them wrestle Athan to the ground.
A gunshot.
Griffin drops his weapon. He grabs the hole in his chest before falling face down on the floor. Blood seeps into the rug beneath him.
Reeling back towards the door, it's Oriyen standing before me. His mechanical arm is stretched out, contorted in the shape of a gun. A single string of smoke stems from the barrel above his wrist.
“Thanks for the tip, Poth. I see you’re not completely useless after all,” hisses Oriyen as he steps past me, adjusting his rolled-up sleeves. His words like a scalpel down my spine.
My eyes find those of Poth’s in disbelief. He cowers, shying away against the back wall of the common room.
“What have you done?”
“You know, when I got the call, it broke my heart, E,” Oriyen says wiping the dust from the 2-D picture of us on my desk, back when he only had the one arm upgraded.
“At first I didn’t think it was true. My old friend, a traitor, a murderer. After everything Lethe has done for you, this is how you repay them?”
“Lethe is murdering people! Innocent people because they were born with the wrong genetics.”
“I know.”
“You know? What do you mean you know?”
“Who do you think has been hunting all of these freaks down?” he replies looking down at the blood seeping from Griffin’s leather jacket. “There are two types of people in this world, E. Hunters and prey. If we stand by and do nothing, we become the prey. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not okay with that. It’s either us or them. I pick us, every mother fucking time.”
“Listen to yourself! This isn’t you. You’ve fucking changed, man. It doesn’t have to be us or them. If this is about what happened to Thea… it’s not your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault.”
“It’s their fault! Thea jumped because Kronos hacked her. She couldn’t handle the bullshit they put into her. It doesn’t matter anymore, E. She’s gone, and so will be you, along with every piece of shit born with genes that could threaten the Lethe Corporation. Cuff them,” he orders, as the droid in front of me marches in my direction.
Rome’s slammed to the floor. His expression doesn’t change as his hands are zip-tied behind his back.
Athan is already pinned to the ground, fighting. A droid strikes him limp with the butt of his rifle. Slides the ties over his wrists and pulls.
One of them grabs me. Before I know what’s happening, the full length of Palin’s blade is pushed into the droid’s titanium core. Sparks sizzle erratically as it drops to its knees.
“You really shouldn’t have done that,” growls Oriyen.
I yank the knife out, grabbing the fallen droid’s weapon with my other hand.
“Kill him.”
Gunfire tears through my apartment.
I sprint, firing into the glowing eyes of the droid guarding the doorway. It hits the ground smoking behind me.
A glimpse of red snatches my attention before I realize my gun has fallen to the floor. The bicep of my shirt is soaked with blood.
They fucking shot me.
With the realization comes the pain. It takes me to my knees as I slide the corner of the landing pad entryway, slipping. Gunfire rains heavy down the path I just escaped.
Apply pressure. Control the breathing.
The clanking of metal footsteps race after me.
Forcing myself to not go back after Athan, I sprint towards Griffin’s shuttle. I’m no good to either of us dead.
They hit me again. The bullet rips through my abdomen, lodging itself in the blood-splattered door of the shuttle. No time to die. I have to keep going.
Lifting the door, I crawl into the cockpit. Their bullets pierce the hull, shattering chunks of
