I checked the camera feed again. He was standing a row away, his hand inside his pants. It looked like he was masturbating as there was a rapid back and forth motion near his zipper. Was he getting off on inflicting pain? The mockery of his actions infuriated me. I scoured the ground for my gun. I didn’t know where it’d flown off to and I didn’t have the time to look for it.
My combat training had been limited because I’d always intended to be a media guy. Even with all the survival lessons I’d taken, hand-to-hand combat had never been a focus of what I’d learned. As the saying went, desperate times called for desperate measures. If I could get his glasses off, then I could set off a light bomb and paralyze his motion. My lenses would protect me.
I charged straight at the butler. He grinned, took his hands out of his pants. I crashed into him, but before I could grab his glasses, he slapped me back and followed with a kick. I cringed, not so much at the pain, but the thought of where his fingers had just been.
The light bomb was in my right hand, ready to set off. I just needed those glasses to come off. I rushed him again, ready for him to kick me. He was flexible and more agile than I would ever be. But I was counting on that. Sure enough, the kick came to my cheeks. I let myself stumble and when he came for another kick, I ducked. This surprised him and left an opening for me to grab his body and pull him down. I ripped the glasses off and set off the light bomb.
The power of a star scintillated blindingly.
The butler screamed in agony.
I got up and searched the ground for my gun. It was lodged onto a booth called Street Fighter II. I picked it up, fired at the butler’s neck, paralyzing him for at least a day.
I went to the two in chains and used my blade to cut through. The woman, who’d been blinded, leaped at me. I tried to pull her off, but as she had no clothes, I could only pull her hair. To my surprise, it stuck no matter how hard I pulled. Was this-was this real hair? In the bright light, she looked more like Beauvoir.
“Do you know Beauvoir?” I ventured, even though it was a far stretch. Her white hair reminded me of the package Larry had me retrieve from Dr. Asahi back in Los Angeles.
“That’s the name of my sister,” she said, eyes shut. “Unless you mean the author.”
“We need to get out of here. Hold onto me.”
I held the woman’s hand and she held onto her companion’s arm as we made our way out. I grabbed the Pinlighter and placed it back in my pocket. I streamed the recorded information into my lens and the network in case anything were to happen to me.
When we were back upstairs, I picked up two thin rugs and wrapped them around both to cover their naked bodies. “You should be able to see again in a day or so.”
The woman tried opening her eyes but shut them again.
I asked her, “Do you have real hair?”
“No,” she said. “There’s no such thing as real hair.”
I felt her hair again. There was no doubt. The man had a wig that clearly came off. He was coy, looking away, not saying anything. I looked back at the woman. Was she afraid of telling the truth? “What’s your name?”
“Plath,” she answered. “How do you know my sister?”
“She saved my life.”
“Then you are our friend?”
I ignored her question and said, “We need to get out of here.”
“Did she send you to get me out?”
“No one sent me.”
“Then I can’t leave.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t leave,” she insisted.
“You’re a slave here.”
“I know what I am,” she answered. “I can’t leave until my task is done.”
I looked at her hair and knew I had to talk with Rebecca and Dr. Asahi again. Larry’s reaction to the package came back to me. Skeletons, he said after the explosion.
“Where are you from?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean where did you grow up?”
“In Los Angeles.”
“Where in Los Angeles?”
“At the Chao Research Facilities before they closed them down.”
I didn’t know they used to have their own research facilities in Los Angeles, especially with the Absalom Institute there.
“Can I take a sample of your hair?” I asked.
“Why?”
“I need it.”
“For what?”
“Research for Chao.”
She nodded.
I took out my Pinlighter, tugged on her hair, recording how strong it was and how the roots were embedded in her scalp.
“Ow,” she said.
“Sorry.”
I cut off a handful similar to the amount Larry had in the capsule and put it in my pocket.
“You want to stay too?” I asked the man.
He looked helpless. “Where would I go? Russ takes good care of me.”
At that moment, Russ approached with a smile until he saw me.
“What’s going on here?” he demanded. “Where’s Manny?”
“Why does this girl have real hair?” I asked.
He turned around and ran away. I raised my gun and aimed. As I fired, Plath pulled on my arm. The shot was completely off.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“You can’t hurt him,” she said, her eyes partially opened even though it was causing her pain.
“You care about him that much?”
She didn’t answer me. My legs hurt too much to give chase. Still, I limped after him. By the time I got out the front door, it was too late. He’d jumped into a car and driven out through the gate. I recorded the license plate, hoping I could track him later if I needed.
Plath and the man were still in the lobby. They didn’t look like they were going anywhere. Should I try to force Plath to come with me? Honestly, I didn’t know if I had the energy to even make it to the taxi and seeing how protective she had been of him, doubted she would be of much help.
I hobbled out the front and exerted all my strength to get to the cab. “Train station to Shanghai,” I ordered. Where I really needed to be was the hospital again. I took off my pants and removed the armor. The skin where I’d been shot was black and purple, an island of dead cells floating in a violet death. How many funerals were taking place inside my body, how many loved ones lost? I lay back and slept for the drive to the train station.
X.
I dreamt about being a cricket again, only with much larger antennae. There were a few that were the size of small dogs and groups of them were whispering conspiratorially. I was furious that my apartment was infested with them and didn’t know what I should do to get rid of them as I hated fumigations. Beauvoir actually carried two of the cricket corpses, fought one off and tossed it into the living room. I startled at the sight of crickets so big until I woke up.
I’d arrived at the train station and my cab was gently trying to wake me with a cooing ring tone. My hands went instinctively to my thigh and shoulder, rubbing the area where the wound had been. I could still feel the shock and jolt of the hit. I was lucky to be alive.
What next? I’d have to talk with Rebecca and find out how much more she knew than she’d let on. I noticed the news screen had the image of several factories on fire. The text below read, “Zhang Zhang Factories Under Attack.” I turned the audio on and listened to the account of the explosions that had caused tremendous damage. “We still don’t know what’s going on,” the reporter was saying. “But preliminary reports indicate explosives were used.” This was the Colonel’s company. Had Chao Toufa actually made a move to attack her? That was crazy, but this meant war.