Boss King and the Blade

Thursday, October 2046

Boss King’s residence, the Hole

Melody-Six

Melody was nervous, wondering who this person was that Zeke Tao was sending to meet her. She still didn’t trust the unseen Drone Jockey, yet Boss King seemed to think he was on their side. There had to be conflict of interests if Zeke also represented the Freelancers Guild, the same one that had allowed the contract to be taken out on her.

Boss King assured her the Guild had not sanctioned the contract. In fact the trio who had ambushed them in the People’s Park were now apparently chasing down the person who had offered the contract.

It seemed likely to Melody that the employer was involved with the Hive in some way, using the Freelancers to finish what they had been unable to achieve at the Markets. She shivered a little in the cool morning air, taking a sip of her warm tea as Nursemother Samantha fussed around the kitchen.

She smiled a little to herself, realising she could not stop herself referring to the woman as Nursemother. It was so ingrained in her and she felt a deep affection for Taiga’s birth mother, wondering if the woman realised how her feelings had changed since their first meeting.

“It will be fine, Melody” Samantha told her, putting some more toast on the table. “Ezekiel is not the kind of man who betrays people. He told me once about his time serving in the last Global War as an indentured child soldier. The experience of being sold by his own parents into military service at just ten years old left a powerful mark on his personality”

“I remember Taiga saying something about that” Melody recalled. “He flew drones for the Northern Block?”

“Yes, he flew many combat missions for them” Samantha confirmed. “But he also personally flew VTOLs in rescue missions, flying into combat zones to bring back wounded soldiers. He was fifteen when he was able to buy his freedom, using bonuses he earned from the most dangerous flights. He was injured on three separate occasions and earned a decoration for his bravery”

Samantha sat opposite Melody and reached across the table, holding her hands gently.

“Ezekiel knows firsthand what it is like to be trained to fight and kill when you are just a child. He knows what it means to be forced to obey the orders of those who don’t care if you live or die. More importantly, he was betrayed by those who should have cared most about him. You can trust him, Melody. Please believe that”

There came a knocking at the front door and Boss King clattered down from upstairs to answer it. That had to be the person sent to them by Zeke Tao, the one who could help Melody. Voices came to them distantly from the entry way, then Boss King appeared in the kitchen.

“Is the contact here?” Melody asked the boy. “What are they like?”

“Bigger than I expected” Boss King replied. “She looks like a Freelancer”

“A Freelancer? Are you sure we can trust her?” Melody demanded. Then the woman stepped into the kitchen and Melody saw what she was.

It was a Guard clone, wearing the clothes of a human like a wolf draped in the skin of a sheep. A servant of Archimedes here in the home of her friends, carrying weapons at her side. For an instant, Melody remembered her last sight of Nursemother Narelle, bleeding and dying against the unfeeling monster in the service tunnel beneath Pan City.

Horror surged within her, tearing an anguished cry from her lips. She would not allow Samantha and Taiga to be cut down by this inhuman creation. Melody surged to her feet, feeling the darkness rising in her blood.

“Banzai Butterfly!” she screamed and the Shadow Blade uncoiled from her right arm with an exquisite agony, forming into a sword instantly. Melody jumped, slicing the blade in a vicious arc at the Guard’s head, going for a fast kill.

As quick as Melody was, the Guard clone reacted faster, pulling herself backwards just in time. The sword of oiled darkness missed the clone’s neck by mere centimetres, her swing sending the blade into the door frame.

Melody spun on one leg, tearing the Shadow Blade out of the wall it had lodged in with ease. Her opponent had already drawn a heavy pistol from its holster, the large muzzle tracking rapidly onto Melody’s chest. She saw the clone’s finger tighten on the trigger, her opponent’s glowing green eye visible behind the mesh eyepatch.

With a flash of understanding, she knew the Guard would kill her before the Shadow Blade cut her enemy down. Her senses were operating at heightened speed, feeling the power of the Shadows in her blood lifting her to superhuman realms. Then she saw the natural left eye of the clone, a single tear forming at the side.

How could a monster feel sadness she wondered?

The shot never came.

Melody altered the angle of her arm, diverting the deadly blade away from the woman and plunging it into the wall instead. Time reverted to its normal rate of passage and the two faced each other, eyes locked upon their opponent.

“I’m here to save you, Melody” the clone said and lowered her pistol.

Melody swallowed hard then pulled her Shadow Blade from the wall. It left a long gouge in the concrete, like it was made of grey pudding carved by a knife. Without thinking, she called the darkness back into her blood, feeling a vague ache running from her fingertips to her shoulder.

“Cool” she managed to say at last, then felt her legs give a wobble. Boss King rushed to catch her, but it was the clone woman who caught her in strong arms. She was helped to the chair she had so hastily vacated, while Boss King and Samantha fussed and gabbled over her.

The clone woman knelt in front of Melody, that one human looking eye so earnest it made her question everything she knew about the hated Guards.

“My name is Trixie” she told her. “I’ve met some of your kind before and I want to help you”

“Why?” Melody insisted, her body recovering much faster than the first time she had summoned the shadows.

“Because you and I, we are sisters” Trixie said.

=====

Melody-Two

The Shadow Blade panted softly in the cover of a bank of solar panels, her eyes roaming the two storey house opposite her. Melody-Two had nearly lost the Guard woman on her motorbike, chasing her from rooftop to rooftop as her quarry rode along the streets.

It had drained her energy reserves significantly, using the Shadows in her blood to run and jump at over fifty kilometres an hour. Such a feat would be impossible for an ordinary human being, but Melody-Two had spent many years training her body to utilise the special black organisms in her blood. They were a gift from the Hive Father, imbued into every Blade embryo before it was implanted into a Nursemother.

She felt her body recovering, her pulse and breathing returning to its usual rate. From her hidden vantage point, Melody-Two had seen the ex-Guard known as Trixie being welcomed by the boy. He was the one they called Boss King, a pint-sized thug who extorted money from people to park at the Central Markets.

Once she was sure the clone was inside the residence, she drew out her slim phone and turned it on. There were missed calls from Michael-Two and Mister August. She ignored the former ones and chose to ring Mister August instead. He answered her immediately.

“Where are you, Melody-Two?” he demanded without anger, his voice flat and lacking any emotion.

“I followed the clone, Trixie Smith, to the house of that boy from the Markets” she answered just as evenly. “You were right, Sir. I believe the clone has joined up with our missing Blade”

“Any sign of the girl herself?” he asked.

“Not yet, Sir” she replied. “However it is highly likely she is inside the residence right now. Do you want me to attempt an entry?”

“No” he responded firmly. “You are to remain in reserve and keep observing the targets. I am sending a team of Agents to attempt a recovery instead”

“Will you be coming here to supervise the strike?”

“Not this time” he said. “I have another matter to attend to. Agent Harmony-Three will be in command of the recovery team. Keep me informed of any changes in the situation, is that clear Melody-Two?”

“Affirmative, Mister August” she answered and terminated the call.

She checked the messages from the Agent Michael-Two next. As she had suspected, the second team of Freelancers had been captured by the Violent Surrender gang. The Agent had doubted their temporary base at the motel would be discovered, but they quickly packed up and moved out just in case.

It had been a close call in the end, the Agents only getting clear a scant hour before the Freelancers assaulted the very room that Michael-Two had been staying in. The messages from the leading Agent assured her they had left no clues as to their next destination, but Melody-Two thought him too optimistic.

If the Violent Surrender gang had managed to find their employers once, they might do it twice. She sighed quietly to herself, thinking that Michael-Two was not anywhere near as clever as he thought himself to be.

She lay down in the shadowy space beneath the solar collectors, watching and waiting like a spider in its web. Soon enough she would be called into action, ready to show the Agents and Mister August how loyal and capable she was in service to the Hive.

“Blessings upon the Hive Father” she solemnly prayed. “May he guide us to victory over the AI’s and bring peace to the world”