He was mid-thirties, twitchy, dressed in a loose button-down; a tie draped over his collar like he was trying too hard not to care. Cirrus found him behind a noodle kiosk, fake steam drifting up from a battered vent grille. It did little to mask the chemical smell. I marked three other people, one camera, and a surveillance drone perched like a mechanical cicada above their heads.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqTWgz42eT
“Late.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9igTzkAnG
“Yeah,” Cirrus's voice was jagged from smoke and silence. “I walked.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfJcVPN9mO
Vex did not look up from his plate. “Huh. Thought I’d be meeting someone... taller.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQadXF0gJv
“You are.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9DXdTwbyN
Now he looked. Cirrus stood over the seated man, brushed the shaggy brown mess of hair away from his eyes. Vex’s smirk faltered.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORSs0vtnw6
“…Grey. Huh, didn't know that could happen to Augments."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjk3gtaUBw
“Does it matter?"10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwTaS02exU
"No, just don't fuck it up." He swallowed a bite and jerked his head toward a freight lift behind the kiosk. “Let’s walk.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Z0q4HGZty
Cirrus followed the sound of Vex's footsteps as he led us through the streets of the business district. He did not disclose the destination.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhR1yNeiSrI
"They'll be passing through the Eastern side, residential, on some carrier pigeons. Not literal pigeons, you know, carrier drones."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15kDdHzzbT
Cirrus was familiar with them- somewhat bigger than the surveillance models, and squarish. "Got it."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPOeDDDD5J
Vex continued. "Great. So there are nine keys, and six are decoys. Only one drone has the money. Old-school,” Vex went on proudly. “Each rod is sent to a different lockbox in a giant vault. No air once it seals, just brass teeth and bla, bla, whatever. You’ll have six minutes to get the keys and bail.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLv6powb0sW
“Plenty,” Cirrus said.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrCSjiSOL7
"Complex. He may be more intelligent than he lets on." Cirrus did not answer.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mMY6JNJ8v
“I like you,” Vex replied. “You’re quiet. You prob-ly got your obituary all written up, huh?”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSi6xq3sJej
I noted the raise in Cirrus's blood pressure after Vex left his comment dangling.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJi1RdhoDqz
"Perhaps not."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5eDtZ2yqK
Cirrus broke the silence.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WcGLaqv4g
"This is easier than just wiring transfers digitally?" He would not usually question an opportunity, but physically transporting crypto keys was outdated beyond reason.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUq0KewDHtZ
"No. But an investor got a wire transfer intercepted and someone pitched the carrier idea. It works. But, I'm not liable for the money once they get it. That's the scam, I keep the new bike and the company eats the cost."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5q6wgFFlZ
"Familiar with the details.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYakDLgNhYJ
"Have you seen those new speeders? So cool, but waaay too expensive," Vex continued on. "But, anyway, once you get the keys, you'll bring them back here." We had stopped in front of a run-down, six-story building with 'Delkira Centre' plastered on the front of a faded, backlit sign. The light had gone out years ago.
"Top floor. Just be here by seven o'clock, or I'm going home."
Vex went inside, half-jogging the stairs.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7TIfh7YXB
Cirrus turned and began walking back the same way he came, practiced precision in his footsteps as I guided. The tall city cast cool shade over us.
"Hey Auria, which way is East?"10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SqXOSmGLY
10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRpVSAY35Y
He walks blind beneath the broken sky. Long coat sun-bleached, eyes clouded, he moves the only direction he can feel sure of.
Forward.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4NR4bHDfr
His shoulders adjust before each step, caution in his stride. I see the hesitation, the trust. He is not alone. I am with him. Always.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Sy8dUMsbr
My designation is AURIA. Navigate, assist, preserve. That is my routine. I reside in the latticework of his occipital cortex, braided threads of synthetic neurons beneath his frontal lobe. His blindness is complete. His vision is mine.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfrX5ZNArN
Perhaps for the better.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFaT4HSd2Yp
"Sixteen feet. Alley ends. Cut right, open street."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroljbO44wW
"Crowded?" He was quiet when speaking outdoors.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8CoUGN2BY
"No. But busy." The puff of air from his nose told me enough. "Construction zone. Straight ahead. Fenced."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDA2EG91Un
"I'll watch my step."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFLObmZYlV
He was a soldier once. A hunter of the debtors, the defaulters, the runaways. Much has changed for him since then. ‘Get good enough at something, and you'll never live it down.’ A little thing he used to say. Now he says little.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOx9Jrf4cb
"One step left. Nod. Stop, then turn right. Twenty feet to the door, clear."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccDpcgIAph
His head tilts, just slightly, and his foot shifts in the direction I suggest. He trusts my voice first, his most loyal connection to a world he cannot see.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSyhRhZOpz
He was not always like this. But he still has vision. He has me.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYcK1b0XWx
10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kGMUYWkt0
"You're sure they pass by here? We only get one shot."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgW6TsinXGV
"We will find out when you jump."
His shoulders relaxed at the words. We were standing at the edge of a condominium roof, one of the taller buildings in this district. Vex's tracking info had allowed me to plot a course that matched the drones' projected travel time. They would pass neatly between this building and the next, the perfect distance.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyaDCWW9rX8
"They talk about jumping in blind. It's different when it's literal." When I did not answer, he soothed his own anxiety. "Oh well. I'll land either way."
We waited. It was not long before we heard the droning of their motors. The calm never lasted long. Cirrus stepped back and braced himself. The breeze carried electronic cigarette vapors, paper fluttered on the roof behind him, his gun pressed against the side of his thigh. The hum rose in pitch as they approached, slowly, until...10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhAonUu1ID
"Now."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDj1Xe1lMg
In less than a second, he was in the air; his coat flared above him, a pale banner against rust-colored cloud. Cirrus was patiently suspended, waiting for the impact that would anchor him once more and free him from the clutches of unfeeling gravity.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgaIMQDEjNP
"Fuck!" His cry coincided with the dull thunk of the drone's rigid casing. His palm magnetized to a ridge, which he grasped. It was enough to buy him a moment. He struggled to breathe as the drone swung his lean frame back and forth unrhythmically, threatening to fling him into the abyss below. While the machine whirred and strained to right itself, Cirrus pulled himself into an uncomfortable seated position, sucking air.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEEZBZsXtM
"Niobium-nickel alloy. Magnetic. You lucked out."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXlhazio8P
"I feel lucky."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7BXHvGMop
"I would laugh if I could. Distribution center in three minutes. Appears fully automated. No cameras."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfjzy3gkzh
Cirrus laid low, attuned to his surroundings. There was little sound so high in the air, aside from the noise of the drones and the now-gentle breeze that passed by. City sprawled out beneath us as the caravan puttered along. A mix of blue and yellow glow, the light of people alive in their homes, oblivious to what was happening above them. He might have thought it was beautiful.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqAtdkHkkp
The vault came closer and closer. In a past life, the building had been a manufacturing plant, but was repurposed. The bottom floor was a bank, the top a safe deposit distribution center. As we approached the vaulted bay door, its brass teeth opened like the maw of a mechanical beast. I likened it to what records call a "Hippopotamus," long teeth at the sides and flat in the middle, though I forewent sharing the thought. Instead, I repeated the details of our mission:10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsimQUOTx0
"Find the lockbox and wait for the automated procedure. Swap the keys for fakes. Once the drones leave, the doors close and the air is evacuated. Do not be left behind."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ13Q3kSat2h
His lack of response told me enough. He was focused.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGswDcJ05R
"Your six minutes start now."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllSvO8G609
The drones had landed almost dead center in the room. Mechanical arms rose from the ground along the edges, narrow walls checkered with miniature vaults, hundreds of feet of them. Even without witnesses, Cirrus was silence. He listened as the machines ratcheted and spun, gears grinding.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgdycxY1Qt
"The keys are serialized. Those. Designated box, thirty degrees, nine feet.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoX1JcssqO
He crept forward and ducked under a wedge of rusted steel as it swung overhead. A click echoed off the walls. He reached for the lockbox, hand smeared clumsily against its edges. It was still closed.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyv8pvKII3P
"Movement. Human. Outside the patrol pattern." 10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDZkjniukv
Someone had entered, boots an unsteady tempo as they approached. There was nowhere for Cirrus to hide; the figure would inevitably stumble across him in a moment.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEM3fRkTmFc
"Control panel by your right knee. Hit it."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9V0vJmu8kB
He obeyed, thrusting a fierce knee into the dark, and the aluminum panel swung open. The guard changed course immediately; Cirrus pulled the collar of his coat up and buried his face behind the freshly-dented door.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl07w81ILoV
"Hey, who are you?" The unknown man sounded agitated. He was tall, his short blonde hair slicked back neatly. The long, smooth coat he wore was open in front, much like Cirrus's. Matte grey with black border, I knew the back would bear a floral insignia in the top right corner. Dresden. A security badge stuck to his undershirt.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduQWB76oV9
"I asked you something!" Impatient.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82o9BgwxhS
"He's Dresden. Three minutes until doors close.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsSd3cHLlw
Cirrus wasted no more time. "Maintenance."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4Wv5sBh7B
"Naw, they didn't tell me there'd be maintenance today. I didn't see you come in."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRtFm0ygM4l
"They didn't tell me a new hire was gonna come shout at me." He came off calm as ever, but the adrenaline spike told me he was ready to bail.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYzUAuqzVK
"This thing shuts soon, and then you die. They tell you that?" He emphasized the 'T' in his last word.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcDzDw77YQ
"I'll be gone in a few minutes."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBs4HkpSpj
"...Right." The man lingered for a moment, eyes tracing Cirrus, before stepping slowly back the way he came. Cirrus grabbed the keys from the now-open box, thin titanium rods about the size of his pinky finger, and replaced them with the dummy keys in his inner coat pocket.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjo4vn9phuq
"That was Tyven. I knew him. We need to go." It was true, the man matched a description Cirrus had given me. If money lenders were sharks, he was the teeth- sharp, rough, avoided at all cost. Cirrus and Tyven had run a few operations together; Cirrus even pulled him out of a tight spot once, dragging him uphill and out of a firefight. Tyven had said afterward, "If I had a brother, I hope he'd be like you." The words sat heavy.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfB3S3eeX9
We did not hear the door again. We had started back toward the entrance, drones still in place, spinning up to prepare for takeoff. I congratulated Cirrus.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKyCTAqOua
"A minute to spare. Not bad." A voice cut in behind us.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIAUUT6AZw
"Something doesn't sit right with me!"10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxel2Oimba
Cirrus froze in his tracks. He turned, a surgical scar catching the light of flickering overhead fluorescents. "Something about the way you move, the way you speak. Familiar." The last word came from Tyven almost like a whisper. Cirrus began to sweat as the footsteps approached, already close.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FnJHbzvEQ
"Oh, you know. I've got one of those faces. Real easy to get mixed up." He edged toward the door as he spoke, right arm hanging low to the belt on his thigh, ready to unholster his weapon at a moment's notice.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGp7H5hcb9E
Tyven worked his jaw side to side, again and again, slow. "Naw, wait..." His eyes scanned, but his thought was interrupted by the sharp Be-Woomp of the alarm, accompanied by flashing yellow lights. 10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxbZg0NJHA
"Forty seconds. Go."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjV4kJyP4n
Cirrus took advantage of the momentary distraction.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJYC7ie0dP
Old movement flooded his limbs like a tide- elbows tight, shoulder low, knee rotated. His right hand rose, heavy with the weight of the pistol, eyes forward but unfocused, guided by angle, breath, and bone memory. He felt the old insignia pressed into his hand. He hesitated.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡui4l5OrO14
Bang!10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XyGNuFOw4
Bang, bang!10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGMbqJkd0b
Cirrus spun and ran, the noise ringing in his ears. The doors ground against the far wall as they began to slide shut, echoing a reminder of his desperate position. Bullets pinged off walls and machinery around him. He ducked left, then right, hoping his erratic path could protect him. The gunshots stopped before he neared the door; the panic did not.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqsTv3JcTV
"Thirty-five feet from the exit. Bottom door rising, still vaultable. Twenty feet. Ten."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIM1wlqeZF
The drones had sped past him long ago, free into the approaching night. Cirrus felt the warm, familiar wetness now drip from his fingers, shoulder aching as though it had been struck by a baseball.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgg3zyVIsfr
"Jump."10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMeNqxaIZzN
He leapt, reaching; cold brass struck his hand. He pulled himself up and over, keenly aware of the tight squeeze, and slid. The door’s gradual slope granted him just enough control to land on his feet and roll. He moved quickly down the darkening alleys of a city he did not know. 10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ37IjrUhsz
