Remembering the pain always makes him lose his breath and he realises he’s covered in sweat, panting like a tired dog.
“Hi there,” says a sweet and drowsy voice from the doorway.
Rennin looks up so fast he sees stars for a moment and all he manages is a slightly awkward smile.
“Relax, we didn’t do anything. You were absolutely shitfaced and started a fight with one of the soldiers last night. You took a nasty hit to the jaw.”
Ah. That explains the stiffness. “So I didn’t suck anyone off. What did I do?”
She smiles, “He had an attitude and you offered to help him explore his sexuality.”
“Yeah that sounds like me.”
“A little skinny soldier knocked his friend out to save you the trouble since you were sleeping by that stage.”
Rennin’s pride is hurt. “He knocked me out?”
“I think you were out long before he hit you.”
Rennin bows his head conceding, “Look I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name.”
“Really?”
“I might have Alzheimer’s but at least I don’t have Alzheimer’s.”
She laughs, “Should I be worried? You’re sweating.”
“It’s a long walk from the bed.”
She stares at him.
“With a hangover.”
“I see.”
“So what’s your name? You can either tell me, or I’ll call you Steve.”
“Carla.”
“I’m Rennin.”
“I think I have a cream for that.”
Rennin narrows his eyes. “Well it’s been a long time since there’s been a woman in my home and even longer since I’ve woken up finding one in my bed.”
“Well I wouldn’t take that as a reason to get obliterated every night.”
Rennin finds himself starting to grin, “With my head exploding like this? Not likely. But I do have a question.”
She gestures for him to continue.
“I have a couch. You could have slept there.”
She smiles and walks towards him, “I said we didn’t do anything. Not because we didn’t want to,” she says just barely touching him.
Rennin feels a lump in his throat, “You’d best not get too involved with me.”
“And why not? Are your problems too deep and dark?” she says pursing her lips and pinching his cheek.
“I’m carrying something.”
“I know, you told me last night. Indigo Reign. The entire human race is vaccinated or cured, you know. Although you pronounced it as ‘Inni’o’rain’,” she says imitating a drunk. “Either way, it’s pretty obvious with those baby-purples of yours.”
“Well being a bartender I suppose you’d have to learn to decipher the lame-minded and crippled speech.”
“Very funny.”
“Look I’d love to stay but I have to get to work. I’m already late.”
“Come by the bar after you finish.”
Rennin walks into the lab three hours late. Upon clocking on he is instantly tagged as overdue, and docked accordingly. He shrugs, grunts, then heads up his tower.
He sits in his chair feeling his thrashed and alcohol-ridden joints creak and groan. He unsuccessfully wills his body to stop whining, and turns to the left where his coffee machine protrudes from the wall.
The machine has only two settings: water and what equates to the caffeinated version of a nuclear heart attack. Its green-friendly biodegradable cup symbolises another irony of the Godyssey Company in Rennin’s mind.
Before he even gets a sip the intercom buzzes indicating a visitor at the front gate. Rennin gets on the radio. “Hello, welcome to the Godyssey Laboratory, state your business.”
A rather dark voice of a sex Rennin can’t identify replies, “I am here to see Doctor William Caufmann.”
“One moment please,” Rennin switches the channel to Caufmann’s office. “Sir, there is a visitor at the front gate requesting entry to the Lab.”
“Scan it.”
Rennin starts a bio-scan. The reading shows a massive quantity of titanium, Thermosteel and selenium. Rennin frowns as a system match is registered: ‘Progenitor-class chassis.’ “Sir, it’s your target. I’m arming turrets now.”
“Negative, Ren, stand down.”
You ordered me to kill it. “What? What do I do, then?”
“It knows we can scan it. Ask it what it wants.”
Caufmann sounds far too calm for Rennin’s liking. He switches channels back to the android, “State your business.”
“I’ve told you,” it says with patience.
“He wants to know why you want to see him.”
“I’ve come to kill him.”
Rennin wills down a stutter. “Hold please.” Rennin switches to Caufmann, relaying its words.
“In broad daylight with a street full of people, it said that?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Open the gate, say nothing more to it.”
“Sir?”
“Just do it, Ren.”
Rennin shuts off the radio unit completely and stares at the button on his console that opens the gate. He leans forward slightly to get a better view of the front gate where he can see the android, clad in black, standing at the entrance but the bars obscure any other details.
He takes a breath, checks his rifle and presses the button. The gates slide open. The android doesn’t miss a beat, and starts walking into the grounds. Rennin holds his sniper rifle up and aims at the strange machine walking through the grounds with perfect posture.
The being has long hair, tied back into a strange double ponytail, lashed together at three points down the length. The hair strands themselves are most certainly wires of some kind since the entire form of a progenitor model system is quite old and must have been built before the finer details were mastered.
The being’s face looks human enough but there are no distinguishing feminine or masculine features at all, making the face the epitome of androgynous. He gets a slight glimpse of silvery eyes before the android is facing away from him, reaching to open the front doors.
This construct is worth more than many entire countries and it’s just strolling through a city in the open, seemingly defenceless. People have killed to possess such technology, Rennin has no doubt of that. Rennin has to respect that kind of guts, even for an android. But he always has respected machines more than people. People have a choice of whether to fuck you over.
The android is wearing all black with knee high armoured boots, pants with many pockets up the legs, a vest that could be paramilitary and a leather overcoat with various designs embossed into the hide. The shoulders of the jacket look heavily padded in particular, or at least the leather itself is very thick. Rennin bets that the coat has an armour underlay, as would the vest.
The being enters the lab complex, disappearing from the watchman’s view. Rennin puts his rifle down and sits back down but keeps the gun within easy reach.
He sips at his repugnant coffee absently, pondering what the progenitor could be thinking just walking into the lab like that. More to the point, Caufmann knows the thing is here to kill him. It said it with its own mouth, and he still let it in the front door.
Rennin Farrow frowns as he thinks of something Saifer Veidan once said to him: ‘When your enemy comes knocking, it’s best to let them in the front door where you can see them, rather than turn them away to creep up on you.’
Sound advice.
“So, Caufmann, how are you going to get out of this one?”