All is Fair

The Ten Thousand Cocktails Bar was lit up with neon as we approached, lurid images of bottles and glasses interspersed with big chested women flashing back and forth. I was positive that some of the neon glasses were being filled by colourful streams from the illuminated women. The cloud filled sky made it dark enough for these to light up the street. It certainly gave off a family friendly air I joked to Twenty.

At the entrance an Enhanced bouncer scowled menacingly at us. He was taller than Twenty, his heavily muscled body barely constrained by his dark suit. Cheap cybernetic eyes gleamed redly at us and I noticed his hands were all metal too, with exaggerated knuckles protruding. I bet he liked to punch people with those given the least provocation. Normally I would have given him some sassy remark, but after the fight in the alley I had become reluctant to start any unnecessary battles.

“No fights allowed in the bar” his deep voice warned us, eyeing the sword on my back and our vests. He cracked his big metal knuckles to underscore his statement so I just nodded meekly and walked past. Twenty paused to look him in the eye and smiled to herself. She was rarely bluffed by anyone and was not worried by a big slab of beef like him.

Inside the bar was a large dimly lit space, with booths down one wall to our left and a long bar down the right side. Filling the centre were about two dozen round tables, mostly unoccupied at this time of day. The rear wall was covered by a big screen that cycled through panoramic scenes from around the planet and the Lunar bases.

I led Twenty to the counter where a bartender was idly cleaning glasses the old fashioned way. Next to him was a robot drinks mixer, probably about a decade out of date. It had a humanoid upper torso and head but the lower body ran on a rail along the bar. It had a number of dents and bullet holes in its patched chassis and the left arm was mixing two fingers. The human bartender didn’t look to be in much better shape either, although all his fingers seemed to be in place.

“Hi there” I said with a winning smile as I leaned on the bar. “How about a Screaming Red for me and a Panic Cola for my partner?” These were two of the most popular sodas here in the Zone, at least for children. What can I say, I am not a drinker. I really wanted a coffee but this did not look like the kind of place that would serve hot beverages.

The bartender gave me a look, snorted and then went and got two plastic cans from the chiller. He popped the lids and put a straw in each of them. Smart ass!

After I choked at the price (five Pandas for two lousy sodas) I paid the man and took a cautious sip. At least they were genuine drinks and not the cheap knock-offs they sold in the Spit. Twenty sipped hers through the straw and made a face. She drank soda rarely and refused my Screaming Red, so Panic Cola was what she got. It was named after Pan City of course, but as kids we all reckoned that the amount of sugar and caffeine it contained made your parents panic. Hence the name.

“We are looking for someone who comes here” I said to the barman. He ignored me and continued to clean glasses once more. I pulled a Twenty Panda note from my daily wallet and laid it on the counter. For those of you unused to life in the Zone, your daily wallet is the one you keep just enough cash in for the day. This is the one you pull out for purchases and keep accessible. My real wallet is buried under my vest where prying little fingers can’t get to it.

The note had disappeared before I even got my wallet back in my pocket. I swear the guy barely paused in cleaning the glasses yet the note was out of sight in seconds.

“Who?” he asked with a blunt economy of words. Wipe, wipe ,wipe went his hands.

“A runner by the name of Lee, Derek Lee” I answered. I sucked up more Screaming Red. Twenty did the same with her soda, then hiccupped. She really could not handle her drinks.

“Third booth from the back” he replied and nodded across the open room to the far wall. I thanked him and headed in that direction, carrying my can. Twenty left the remainder of her soda on the bar and followed me, hiccupping again.

The booth had a small light overhead, throwing weak illumination over a young man and a woman sitting facing each other, talking softly. They paused as we approached and looked us over.

The male was Derek Lee, a sixteen year old Malay Chinese I had met before. He was taller than me but with a slender frame. His naturally dark hair was cut close but dyed bright yellow. From past experience I knew he was a mid-level Scanner, able to see electromagnetic lines and radiation. He could even read transmissions in the ether if he was close enough to the sender. It made him an excellent Wall Runner, able to spot wireless transmissions from hidden cameras and sensors.

With him was his business partner, Shirai Hiraki. She was a twenty year old Japanese woman, trained in the Awakening Centres here in Pan City. Her ability was Empathic Reading, a kind of Sensitive. It was not mind reading, but she could accurately assess a target’s moods and tell if they were lying or speaking the truth. She had been groomed to work for one of the major corporations in the City, but being an Empath she was acutely aware of how much back-biting and skulduggery that would involve. So she set out on her own and met up with Lee.

As Wall Runners they made a great team and had never lost a client, going in or out of the City. Today they both wore workers jumpsuits, the pale blue uniforms adopted by much of the construction workforce in and around Pan City.

“Hi Lee, Hiraki” I said as I stood in front of them. “Not sure if you remember me, but I am Millie Hargreaves. You helped me out a year ago on a run into the City”

Lee just looked at Hiraki, who gazed at me for a moment, then nodded to Lee. I hadn’t really expected him to remember me, but Hiraki was able to confirm I was telling the truth.

“Have a seat, Millie” Lee said to me, “And your big friend there”.

“This is my partner, Twenty Hargreaves” I said by way of introduction. I dropped onto the seat next to Lee and Twenty lowered herself carefully down beside Hiraki.

“Looks like you two have seen some action already” commented Lee, looking in particular at Twenty. She was covering it well, but her recent injuries were still painful. The fight in the alley would have really tested her pain management skills. I sometimes took it for granted that she was not unbreakable.

“Some punks tried to mug us on the way here” I explained. “They did not take kindly to our refusal to give them our money” Hiraki nodded her agreement to this as well. I took a sip from my soda and put the can on the table.

“We need to get into the City, soon as possible” I continued. “I know you guys are reliable and won’t screw us around”

Lee sucked his teeth and glanced at his partner.

“Things are really tight in the City just now” he began “The Guard have all been recalled to their barracks, but the Governors have deployed hundreds of Sentinels, even down in the tunnels. There is a good chance all our regular routes under the walls will be patrolled”

“We really need to get in there, it is important” I responded. I looked at Hiraki, trying to make her believe how much this meant to us.

“How far in do you need to get?” Lee asked. Hiraki had nodded her assent to him already. She had accepted my word.

“The Little Angels Orphanage in District Eight” It was at least on this side of the City, maybe three to four kilometres inside the walls.

“We can get you halfway” Lee said “Beyond that you will need to go on the surface routes to reach the orphanage. Price will be five hundred Pandas, one way, for both of you”

It was steep, double the usual rates I was expecting. But I knew we had no other way to get inside.

“Agreed” I responded. “Half now, half at the end of the run”

“All up front” Lee said flatly. “If we meet trouble, I will bug out. You can come back with me, but if you push on that will be on you, not me”

“Agreed” said Twenty firmly before I could try and argue about the deal. She would have sounded uber cool at that point but then she hiccupped. “Pardon me” she apologised and blushed with embarrassment.

It was decided we would meet Lee and Hiraki at a jump off point on the outskirts of Haven. We would rendezvous at an hour before dusk, so we would be going under the wall and into the City at night. With that agreed, Twenty and I left to make our own preparations for the run.

=====

Afternoon

It was two hours until we were to meet the Runners. Since we had not eaten anything after breakfast, I guided us to a food court I remembered.

The Zone is truly international in its population and this was reflected in the wide variety of food choices available. Prices here in the Entertainment District were generally cheap, so we lashed out and got Pork Katsu Curry for Twenty and I had a huge bowl of Ramen, laden with chicken and seafood. I got another Screaming Red to wash it down, but Twenty opted for a juice. She made disapproving faces every time I burped at her so I kept it going for as long as I could.

Hunger satisfied we went and did a little shopping. We got two small halogen torches, a set of black waterproof ponchos with a hood each, and a small air-horn that uses cans of pressurised air. I had practiced a couple of times with one of these before and gotten some impressive results.

Shopping completed, we got two coffees to go from a streetside vendor and made our way to the meeting point. We wore the ponchos over our vests, helping to disguise them as well as keeping us dry. It had not started raining again, but it felt imminent.

We sat on a concrete wall near a pumping station, drinking our coffees and looking at the view. Haven was a lot like the Spit, all low buildings made mostly from concrete. Only the residential towers rose above the skyline, lit here and there by windows already gleaming against the approaching dusk. The Entertainment District was aglow with neon, flashing and pulsing with light of its own.

As the sun dipped to the west, it pierced the clouds with brilliant shafts of red light, catching the wet roofs and towers and painting them gold.

“It can be beautiful sometimes” commented Twenty, her eyes reflecting the glow. I scooted closer and rested my head against her shoulder, sipping my coffee. Some days our lives are so crazy, you forget to see the good things that surround us too. Twenty had a way of grounding me, stopping me from acting on impulse all the time.

“Thank you” I said. She looked down at me enquiringly. “That’s all, just thank you” I finished. She nodded and drained her coffee.

“Looks like our guides have arrived” she said and pointed to two figures approaching on a black electric scooter. I likewise finished my coffee and then we both jumped down from the wall, splashing a little water up from the ground.

Hiraki was driving the scooter, a bright yellow rain coat flapping open at her waist. Lee was still in his blue workers jumpsuit, now with a yellow hazard vest over the top. They both wore white bike helmets, but once they pulled up, he got off and swapped his for a white construction helmet instead.

“Glad to see you are not late” he commented and pulled a black bag from the back of the scooter. He gave Hiraki a kiss, awkward with them both in helmets, and then with a wave she rode off alone.

“We’ll be using the water tunnels this time” he announced and led us towards an access door in the side of the Pumping Station. He pulled out a waterproof pack with dozens of smart keys inside, selected one after a bit of consideration, and applied it to the lock scanner.

With an affirmative beep, the lock disengaged and the metal reinforced door opened inwards. We followed him inside, shutting the door behind us. Automatic lights flickered to life inside, revealing a small control room with a desk and currently blank screens on the wall. A single swivel chair faced the desk, alone and forlorn. It looked like a gloomy place to work and I pitied anyone who had to man this place by themselves.

Lee moved to one end of the room where a hatch was set in the floor, marked with hazard signs warning that the tunnels below could be flooded at times.

“Do they get flooded often?” I asked worriedly. I can swim but I learned in public pools along with the other orphanage kids. Anything with a current like a river or the sea kind of freaked me out.

“Sometimes, when it has been raining hard” admitted Lee. He saw my look and added “But I don’t think the recent rain will be a problem”. On cue we heard the rain start up again outside, heavier than earlier in the day.

Lee paused and listened to the rain coming down, the wind picking up as well and driving it against the closed door.

“I hope Shirai makes it home OK” he pondered aloud. I hoped we made it home OK too I added in my thoughts.

He lifted the hatch and lights flicked on down there to reveal a ladder descending in a shaft about ten meters. At the base we could see big pipes filling most of the passage way, with trickles of water running along the concrete floor.

Lee grabbed the upper rungs and started to climb down, his bag slung over his shoulder. I followed next and Twenty came last, pulling the hatch closed as Lee instructed her to.

It was warm and humid as we descended, our boots ringing on the metal ladder set into the side of the shaft. When we reached the tunnel floor, we could see it was a circular tube of concrete about four meters in diameter. Two massive pipes ran along either side, with a walkway about a meter wide in the middle. There were small lights here at the access shaft, but in either direction the tunnel was a black pit.

A loud thrumming noise filled the tunnel too, and I leaned my head against one of the pipes. It was the sound of water rushing past inside the pipes. It was not loud enough to be distracting but I could imagine it damaging your hearing in time.

“This way” announced Lee and switched on a head lamp fitted to his helmet. He set off in a direction that I assume led towards the city walls. I confess I was already confused about which direction was which. Twenty and I switched on our own torches and hurried to keep up.

As we splashed along in the small stream of water that ran underfoot, I asked Lee which way the water was running.

“It comes into the city along these pipes” he explained. “Most of Pan City’s drinking water is collected from rainfall on the buildings, channelled into purification tanks and stored under the streets. This water is reclaimed from sewage and drain water, processed out at Spitfield, then pumped here again. It is used mainly for toilets, watering the parks and some industrial use”

“Do you actually work for the Water Board?” asked Twenty. “You seem to have access to their buildings and tunnels”

Lee laughed. “I work part time for them, and a construction company as well as the Metro lines. It helps to know what they are all up to down here, and gives me access to their smart keys”.

He produced his bag of smart keys. “These are all hacked keys of course. I don’t use my actual work ones because those can be traced”.

We continued on for some distance until we came to a barred grille set across the tunnel. There was a locked mesh door set into the grillework and a sign warning of restricted access. Rather than a smart lock this was an old mechanical lock.

“With all the leaking water and humidity down here, they can’t use electronic locks. Makes my runs a lot easier for this part” said Lee. He produced a set of metal keys and used one to open the mesh door.

“This section is directly under the wall” he said quietly. “Up ahead, in about 15 meters, is another gate. Beyond that point we are inside the city perimeter. That is where we will need to be vigilant”

He motioned us through and locked the mesh door behind him. Taking the lead once more we came to the second gate. This was another mechanical lock but he paused for a moment, moving his head back and forth as if scanning the darkness ahead. Then I realised that was exactly what he was doing.

“I am picking up some data transmission about ten meters ahead, around a bend” he whispered. He carefully unlocked the second mesh door and opened it quietly. Taking his bag off his shoulder he slowly unzipped it and drew out a short metal and plastic device. It looked a lot like a sawn off shotgun, but where the barrel would be was a bulky set of six tubes arrayed around the centre line. It was attached to a battery pack by a coiled cable that he clipped to his belt.

“What is that thing?” I whispered to Lee. He did not reply but switched off his light and told us to kill our torches. We complied and everything went pitch black.

“There are Skitter Drones ahead, watching for intruders like us” I heard his voice tell me softly. “Stay here until you see my switch my light on, then come up fast” With that I felt him move away. I opened up my Gunsinger, using it to focus the hum from the water pipes. With that I could sense his movement as he pushed the air aside.

I had a sense from the air currents that there was a cross junction ahead. Lee was moving slowly up to that, making little noise but my Gunsinger amplified it perfectly to me. There was a sudden flash of light, not powerful but bright enough in the darkness. I had an afterimage of Lee standing in the junction, his weapon raised at something beyond.

Twenty cursed behind me, and stumbled just for a moment.

“Are you OK?” I called urgently to her. I reached out with my hand and she gripped it tightly.

“It’s OK, I was able to block the burst” she said. She paused a moment and then flicked her torch on again. “Look, Lee is signalling us to move”

I faced down to the junction again and saw Lee’s headlamp was on, bobbing at us. Switching on my own torch we ran down the corridor to where he was standing. As we got there we could see him checking two four legged plastic spiders, about forty centimetres across from leg to leg. Skitter Drones, used for covert surveillance. Both were curled up like spiders hit with a bug spray, unmoving and their sensors dead.

“Please warn me next time you use that EMP Burst Gun” complained Twenty. “I was lucky the pulse I took was only secondary reflections down the tunnel”

Lee looked guiltily at Twenty. “I’m sorry” he apologised, “The burst is meant to be focussed forwards. I didn’t think it could reach you”

Twenty waved him off. “It’s OK, my processor is designed to be resistant to those pulses. I should have realised it was a Burst gun you had there. Looks like a home made job but it did the trick on these drones”

“From here we need to get moving” Lee said urgently, once he was sure we were alright. “We are going to follow these water pipes for another kilometre, then ascend to some electrical service tunnels. That is where we may find more drones or even Sentinels. I have one more pulse with this gun and after that we may need to fight”

We set off at a brisk pace, jogging easily behind Lee. Once again I was thankful for the regular running sessions that Twenty made me do each day. Our booted feet splashed noisily along the floor, but Lee was scanning ahead for any sensors so we were confident we would not be heard.

A number of cross junctions came and went past, sending smaller pipes filled with water to other sections of the city. Some illuminated access shafts to the surface also went past, but Lee wanted to get us deeper into the city before risking the surface levels.

By now it was a good hour into the night and I was getting tired. It was not a long run, but with the high humidity down here I was sweating like a horse. A tiny, cute blonde horse I decided.

Lee finally called a halt at an access shaft. We doused our lights and carefully climbed the ladder to the hatch ten meters above us. He had climbed up into the darkened space and I was just standing up myself when the main lights flicked on, blinding us momentarily.

“Unauthorised entry detected” intoned a synthesised voice. I glanced around through slitted eyes to see a control room of sorts, with two Sentinels moving towards Lee and I.

Lee reacted, bringing up his EMP Burst Gun, but the Sentinels were already in firing positions. Without thinking I screamed like a banshee, letting my Gunsinger loose and forming a shield of air between us and the robots.

Their rifles roared in the tight space as they both unleashed a stream of bullets at us. My Gunsinger caught the brunt of it, slowing and stopping the hail of shells, the rest ricocheting around us harmlessly. The Sentinels paused in their firing, thinking we must be down.

“Shoot them Lee!” I shouted in the sudden silence and he triggered the EMP burst at close range on both Sentinels. They jerked like they were being electrocuted and then collapsed to the floor.

“Son of a bitch!” I heard from the access shaft and with a cry I went over and looked down at Twenty. She had one arm hooked through a step and the other cradling her head. Lee joined me and together we reached in and pulled her up to the control room floor.

While Lee checked there were no more coming, I leaned Twenty against a wall. She looked a little unfocussed but then she recovered in time to glare at Lee as he crouched next to me.

“She told me to” he said by way of apology and pointed at me. So Twenty glared at me for a full five seconds. I guess she had a right to be annoyed.