Boss King and the Blade

Melody-Six

“Why did you have to ask where Foreign Jay was today?” Melody asked her companions. They were barrelling along another dusty road, the tall prominence of the Central Markets still visible over the low roofs and awnings that lined the street.

People waved at them from the side of the road as they passed, and one time Juan had to slow right down as the tiny vehicle was mobbed by a horde of dirty faced children. Boss King tossed out a handful of ceramic coins, arcing them over the kid’s heads to bounce and roll on the cracked road surface. The kids squealed with thanks and Boss King waved liked an emperor from his throne before they raced off once more.

“His workshop moves around all the time” Mighty Princess explained. “He never leaves his home but he claims he likes to travel. So every day he heads to a different spot and roams around. Only a few trusted people like Dami Kane or Zeke Tao know exactly where he is on any given day”

“What about his other clients?” Melody wondered. “How does anyone else find him to get a job done?”

“Like this” Boss King spoke up. “They hire someone like Juan who knows the Hole really well. It takes a bit longer, but a good driver can always track down Foreign Jay”

“Seems like a lot of effort if you ask me” Melody huffed. She watched as a small convoy of heavily laden scooters zipped past in the opposite direction, each rider carrying a mound of containers taller than themselves strapped to their backs. “Couldn’t we have asked that drone jockey Zeke to zap my tracking chip?”

“Not really” Boss King said quietly, his words nearly lost in the roar of the tricycles tyres on the rough road.

“How come?” Melody persisted. “Doesn’t he run a tech shop at the Market?”

“There are other considerations” Boss King said evasively.

“Like what?”

“He’s worried that Zeke will make him pay for all the drones that got damaged the other day when he saved your lives” Mighty Princess chimed in. “Mister Tao is not a skinflint like the King but he might want some compensation”

Melody looked over at Boss King with a look of disapproval.

“Is it always about money with you?”

“No” the boy grumbled back. “Sometimes I do things for people who don’t even deserve it”

“Oh!” Melody said in surprise. “Well, in that case thanks for all your help”

He met her eyes across the seat, with Mighty Princess looking steadfastly at her shoes between them.

“That’s Okay” he told her with a grin. “I’m adding everything onto your bill”

Melody couldn’t help but see the huge smile that crept across the face of Mighty Princess when she heard that.

“Will you take an I.O.U.?” she asked mischievously.

“Nope. Cash only” Boss King and Mighty Princess said in perfect unison.

=====

Foreign Jay’s Mobile Workshop – The Hole

Melody could tell from the excited expressions on her companion’s faces that they were close to their destination. Juan, the taxi-trike driver, hurtled them around a final corner and she saw their goal for the first time.

Ahead of them was a long, articulated vehicle that filled the width of the narrow road. Dust spiralled into the air as it moved, thin ribbons of black exhaust trailing from old fashioned engines as it rolled and crawled and walked past the bemused pedestrians that lined the street sides.

The rearmost section looked like it was made from a school bus, the wheels replaced by articulated metal legs from construction robots. A middle section, rolling on giant metal caterpillar tracks, was mostly a campervan surmounted by the turret from a tank. The distant front section was a six wheeled armoured carrier, the sort used by the Guards and Police Auxiliary, but painted a sports car red in place of the usual deep blue. Antennas, satellite dishes and solar panels covered the upper sections, making the vehicle look like it had a spiky tortoise shell on its back.

It was noisy too, the roaring engines nearly silent compared to the wall of music and self-advertising blaring from speakers mounted along the roofs and sides of the motley assemblage. The music changed every thirty seconds as far as Melody could tell, from Sou-Kor boybands to Northern Block Country then to RUK classics like the Beatles. As they approached from behind, craning their necks over the head of Juan to see the incredible machine, the workshop began playing a mix of old tunes called “Strawberry Fields” interspersed with “Achy Breaky Heart”.

“How do we get it to stop for us?” Melody asked Boss King.

“It won’t” he replied, grinning like a lunatic as they raced through the dust cloud. “Get ready to jump”

“What!” she yelled back in surprise. Boss King had stepped onto the back ledge of the open cab, hanging onto the handrails as Juan guided the tricycle closer. Mighty Princess joined him, giving Melody a wicked smile as she braced herself in a crouch.

Their taxi-trike rocketed alongside the rear bus section of the workshop and through slitted eyes Melody saw a small landing welded to the side. A straw mat was lashed to the mesh floor, with a cheery “Welcome Aboard” woven into the material.

Big machine legs were driving back and forth less than a meter from the landing, with Juan nudging his trike as close to the dangerous limbs as possible.

“Better make it fast Boss King!” Juan called out. “There’s a turn coming up”

Melody twisted her neck, feeling the heavy magnet shift as she squinted at the road ahead. People were gathered on the intersection up there, waving and cheering as if they were watching a parade.

There was a metallic clang as the trike’s cab knocked against the landing, then Boss King yelled wildly and leapt the narrow gap. Melody watched him land easily on the welcome mat, one hand locking onto a rusty metal guard rail.

“Come on, it’s easy!” he shouted back.

Mighty Princess jumped next, crashing into Boss King with a squeal and letting him wrap one arm around her protectively. The girl’s eyes flashed a challenge across the gap to Melody, daring her to follow them.

She stepped to the edge of the bouncing cab, one hand gripping the handrail. Her legs tensed and she loosened her hand, ready to make the jump, when the trike hit a pothole in the road. Everything lifted in the air, including Melody, then she was flying out from the trike with a scream erupting from her throat.

The road looked hard and unforgiving, especially to a young girl flying over it at nearly thirty kilometres an hour. Melody was thinking how to minimise the damage on landing, her brain furiously plotting the painful outcomes, when a strong tanned arm lashed out and snagged her wrist.

Melody spun in a tight arc, her shoulder joint screaming in agony, then she was hauled into Boss King’s arms. She fell against him, realising he had both arms locked around her waist.

“How are you hanging on?” she wondered aloud.

“Could you please stand up and grab hold of something, thief girl!” came a strained voice from behind her rescuer. Over his shoulder she could see Mighty Princess with one arm hooked through a guardrail and the other clutching onto Boss King’s belt.

Melody planted her feet on the landing, locating a section of railing to support herself.

“Thanks guys” she breathed out. She realised Boss King was still holding her waist tightly, like he was afraid she might fall off. “You can let go now, I’m fine” she assured him.

“Um, Okay then” he blurted out, his face turning a bright red. His hands unclasped and he shuffled to one side of the landing, refusing to meet her eyes.

“You know, for a butterfly you sure are heavy” commented Mighty Princess.

The trio watched Juan give a cheery wave and toot of his horn, then slowed down and slipped in behind the massive workshop vehicle. A squeal of tires and screech of metal ensued, then the whole giant vehicle began to slow and turn at the intersection.

Melody observed in wonder as the three sections articulated, the whole workshop taking the turn at only a slightly reduced speed. A few kids watching from the sidewalk yelled and cheered as the machine completed the change of direction, so Melody waved at them. Boss King did too, his face creased into a wide smile.

Once the workshop was on the new street, it accelerated again with long puffs of smoke trailing in their wake.

“So what do we do now?” Melody asked her companions.

“We ring the doorbell, silly thief girl!” Mighty Princess answered.

=====

Boss King

The door at the back of the bus had opened immediately once Boss King rang the bell. He ushered the two girls in ahead of him, then followed them up the short set of stairs to the main floor.

“Welcome, Boss King” boomed a synthetic voice from somewhere ahead. “I’m just programming the rest of my route, so take a seat with your friends. I’ll be with you in a minute”

“Sure thing, Jay” he called out in reply, aiming his voice to the front of the swaying vehicle. For all the frantic sound and activity on the outside, the interior of the workshop was remarkably quiet and stable. There was only a slight rocking motion, like he imagined a boat on the water would move or a mother gently holding a baby in her arms.

“This place is amazing!” Melody gushed, planting herself on a padded couch patterned in red and white stripes. A small boxy table was bolted to the floor in front of it, from the interior of which rose a tray holding three bottles of chilled water. Mighty Princess sat beside the girl and grabbed one of the bottles, tossing a second to Boss King as he examined the waiting area.

Where there would have once been windows, solid walls ran from floor to ceiling. These were covered in shelves and cabinets, all kinds of mysterious components and electronic devices filling them to the brim. In the gaps were fitted view screens, some showing scenes of the streets outside as they passed, others displaying diagnostic images for the vehicle and overhead map views of the Hole.

Halfway along the length of the bus was a dividing wall, with a solid metal hatch blocking the way forwards. A sign on the hatch stated No Unauthorised Entry and appeared to have been taken from a building somewhere. In fact everything around Boss King looked to have been taken from some other place and mashed all together.

Which was exactly Foreign Jay’s style he knew.

“So why is he called Foreign Jay?” Melody asked him, not for the first time. “Is he from another country? I thought nearly everyone in the Zone was from somewhere else”

Melody had turned to Mighty Princess, asking her the same question. His business partner just shook her head, admitting she had never actually met the guy.

“Let’s just say he is from a lot of places” Boss King explained. “I don’t think even Jay knows all the places he is from”

The girl looked at him in confusion, her pretty face screwed up in thought.

“How could someone not know where he is from?” she demanded.

“He’s a man of many parts” Boss King replied. “You’ll understand when you meet him”

=====

One minute became five and then ten. Boss King had drunk half his bottle of water, putting the remaining pure distilled water into his backpack for his mother. The defunct head of the Hound was taken out and laid on the table instead, glaring with its blank eyes at the trio.

“That is seriously creepy” Mighty Princess had declared. “Are you sure it’s dead?”

“As a Dodo” he assured her, then had to explain to Melody what a Dodo was. Her education had been extensive in many areas and completely lacking in others he noted. His mother had warned him about that the other night while treating the unconscious girl.

She told him the Hive kept its people in a carefully constructed web of half-truths and ignorance, just like a lot of the old religious cults. His mother had told him the Hive Father used the same tricks to lure in potential recruits, moulding them into Nursemothers and Guardfathers. It gave the lost and lonely souls a sense of purpose, of belonging to something greater and nobler than themselves.

Except it was all a lie.

Boss King wondered how much Melody still believed in what the Nest had taught her. She had been on her own for a few scant days, hunted by unknown enemies. For all that she had been through, it made him glad to see her smile.

Then the hatch in the middle of the bus opened with a hiss of air and Melody screamed in terror at what walked into their midst.

=====

Melody-Six

A nightmare machine walked through the hatch, stooping to fit its tall frame through the opening. Melody surged to her feet, snatching up the Hound’s head as an improvised weapon.

“Stay back!” she roared and in one move leapt the table and planted herself in the mechanical’s path. The machine was a patchwork of metal arms and legs, sourced from different mechanicals and assembled onto an armour-plated torso. Its head was fashioned in the facsimile of a man’s but with three eyes, with an elongated skull of shiny metal that extended away from the forehead to a narrow peak.

“Banzai Butterfly!” she yelled out defiantly and rushed at the deadly looking machine, swinging the Hound’s head like a club.

It stepped forward with mechanical precision and caught the head in one metal claw, placing the second shiny fingered hand against her chest. She stopped suddenly as it locked its legs in place, then with casual ease pushed her backwards into Boss King’s arms.

“Your friend is very rude” the machine said, the jaws of the metallic face moving in time to the words that issued from its mouth. It still held the Hound’s dismembered head and lifted it up in front of its three eyes for a closer look. The glowing eyes blinked in eerie unison as it regarded the device.

“Hmm, could be valuable” it said and laid the head on an already overloaded shelf. It stepped closer, leaning its weirdly shaped head forwards to examine Melody with equal interest.

“Hmm, could be valuable as well” the mechanical repeated and Melody flinched back against the boy. “A lot of trouble too if I am not mistaken”

“Boss King, what is that thing?” Melody asked, pleased she kept her voice level and calm despite the fear she felt.

“He’s not a thing, Melody” Boss King told her. “This is our host, Foreign Jay”

Melody met the three-eyed gaze of the metal face, which blinked at her again. The lips had reshaped themselves into a semblance of a smile but that did nothing to make the machine look any less threatening.

“I’m a Cyborg, dear child” Jay told her. “My apologies if my appearance startled you, as I forget that new acquaintances may not realise what I am”

He settled himself on one end of the padded couch, the upholstered surface squeaking as his mis-matched legs shifted themselves to a more comfortable position. Melody found herself intrigued now that he was seated, the cyborg seeming less intimidating when he wasn’t towering over her.

“I’ve heard of cyborgs but you are the first I have ever met” she said. “Are they all like you, Foreign Jay?”

“Nay, Lassie” Jay responded in a different accent to his earlier words. “I’m quite unique I assure you. There be none other like me in the whole world”

Melody glanced at Mighty Princess, who just shrugged her shoulders.

“Everybody reckons Jay has grafted a second brain with his first” Boss King told both of them, giving a smiling nod to their host. “He keeps using all these foreign accents, which is why no-one can agree on where he is from”

“Och, even I forget what country I was born in” Jay admitted. “I’ve swapped out so many parts of meself that I am truly a citizen of the world” He leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head, giving Melody a frank appraisal.

“What is it ye be wanting from me today?”

Melody undid the bandana around her neck and twisted to show the cyborg the magnet still strapped to her spine.

“I have a tracking device in my neck” she said. “Do you think you can remove it?”

“Well, let’s go into my workshop and have a look-see, young Miss” Jay replied. “Afore we do, how will ye be paying for my services?”

Melody exchanged an apprehensive look with Boss King.

“I was hoping the Hound’s head would cover the cost” the boy answered. “It’s a recent model and in good condition”

Jay’s head rotated like a turret, aligning his eyes with the head where it sat on the shelf. He clicked and mumbled to himself, sounding more like a broken music player than a person. The head rotated around to face the trio once more.

“I’ll need a little more I am afraid” Jay said. “A half-litre of the usual should suffice”

“What’s the usual?” Melody asked curiously. “One of those drinks they sell at the Market?”

“They don’t sell what I need at the Markets” Jay said, his synthesised voice flat and cold now with no trace of an accent. “Besides, Boss King provides the best I have ever had in this town”

“Quarter of a litre, that’s all I can spare right now” Boss King answered, his tone low and menacing.

“But I want a half-litre, Boss King” Jay countered tonelessly. “Is the girl not worth it?”

Melody was aware there was a deeper undertone to this conversation and she wasn’t liking it. She re-tied the bandanna around her neck, hiding the magnet once more, then stood.

“Come on, let’s go” she told the boy. “Whatever Jay wants from you, it’s too much for his services”

“Blood” Mighty Princess spoke up at last. “He’s a cyborg and he can’t replace his blood. I heard he only bought it from a selected group of people, but I never knew you were one of his donors”

Melody gasped in horror, the sudden despair on the boy’s face proof it was true.

“You can’t!” she insisted. “I won’t let you trade your blood for his services! We’ll find another way to get this tracker out of me”

“There is no-one in the Hole who can take the device out better than me” Jay suggested in an oily tone to Boss King. “It’s bonded to her spinal column, drawing bio-electricity from her nerve endings. One wrong step in the process and she could be left paralysed or worse”

Melody glanced sharply at the cyborg, her hand instinctively reaching for the base of her neck.

“How can you know that?” she demanded. “You haven’t even examined it!”

Foreign Jay laughed metallically and touched his claws lightly to the third eye in the middle of his shiny forehead.

“I already did a deep scan on you, dear child” he explained. “The device is a rare model, a type I have only ever seen once before. It has fused into your bones since you were an infant, implanted there by your family”

“Where did you see one before?” Melody wanted to know.

“My mother” Boss King told her. “The Hive came looking for her too, so she had to get it removed”

Melody came to a decision, knowing there was little other choice.

“How about my blood?” she asked quietly. “I’m fresh out of Pan City, so it will be nice and clean for you”

“Your blood is the most tainted of all, girl child” Jay answered her. “But I would love a chance to examine it closely, maybe conduct some experiments”

Jay clapped his metal hands together, the noise startling them all.

“Very well!” he announced. “I will take the head, a quarter litre from Boss King and a half litre from this interesting girl child. In return, I will remove the tracking device. Do we have a deal?”

“No!” Melody responded firmly. “You can take blood from me and keep the head. That should be enough”

The cyborg considered her counter-offer with more clicking and buzzing, his body otherwise unmoving.

“Agreed, Miss Melody” he finally answered.