"Yeah, I guessed that. Who the hell are they?"
A single figure steps out of the shadows of the dead woods, carrying a modified rocket launcher on her shoulder. She cuts an imposing figure: sleek black combat armor that glistens like wet ink. A snug helmet encases her head, leaving only the lower portion of her face visible. Her skin is almond-shaded, her lips painted burgundy. A jagged scar trails down her cheek to her chin.
"I bought you a few minutes while it re-routes its systems. But you have to move now if you want to live. More drones are on the way."
Keno squints at her. "And leave the haul behind? No way, luv. We gave up too much for this."
Her look of searing scorn is apparent even with the visor covering her eyes. "What you don't know is that your plan was doomed from the start. You don't know that even if you were to get away with the payload, these new models have nanosensors in their bloodstreams, undetectable and irremovable, unlike previous versions. You don't know that this transport was a setup arranged by the UH military and HSSC to crack down on piracy. The goal is to let you steal the payload, then track you, your organization, and your customers. Once they have complete intel, they plan to take everyone down in one fell swoop. What you don't know is that they plan on setting a brutal example when they catch whoever is stupid enough to take the bait."
Hel and I exchange glances. I see the affirmation in her eyes before she nods. She knows just like I do that the newcomer is telling the truth. We're at the verge of losing everything because of Keno's brash, ill-informed rush job.
I turn back to the woman. "Who are you?"
A hint of a smile quirks her lips. "My name is Dabria. And I've gone through a lot of trouble to find you, Dean Gray."
I try to contain my shock. "You know me?"
"I know about you. About what you can do. You're a symbiont, Dean. A man born with a rare, remarkable talent. One that could potentially ignite change that the world has never seen. I've come here for you, Dean. But we can continue this conversation later. For now, we have to escape before reinforcements arrive."
Keno still has a suspicious look on his face. "How? My cargo truck is shredded. And how do we know we can trust you?"
"You can't. But I just saved your collective asses, so there's that. I won't lie: the only one of you idiots I care about is Specter. But I have an airship a hundred yards away in the woods that can transport everyone. And if it's money you care about, I have a job offer as well. Something far more profitable than these scraps, and with the added bonus of oversight from someone who knows what the hell they're doing. Your choice."
I look up at the sputtering drone ship, which appears to regain its equilibrium slowly. "We don’t have a choice, Keno."
"Fine, mate. We'll get sorted out later." He whistles to his crew. "All right, form up, fam. We're out of here."
Dabria has her back turned, but she shocks me further when her voice speaks inside of my head.
I'll take your friends to wherever they have your body stored, Dean. I know your instinct is to run from these situations. Cut loose and let the chips fall where they might. I'm sure a man like you always has a backup plan. But I'm letting you know ahead of time that running will be a fatal mistake.
She slowly turns around, a deadly smile on her burgundy-stained lips. But once again, her mouth never moves even as I hear her words as if she's whispering directly into my ear.
I wasn't joking when I said I'm only interested in you. Your friends mean nothing to me. And I know they mean nothing to you. Just a means to an end. So, I won't threaten to kill them. I know that won't motivate you. Nod if you understand.
I swallow hard, making sure she sees me nod in response.
Good. Now let me threaten you with something more intimate. I found you because of your Digital Life Partner. You're so very close to her, aren't you? From what I've seen, the is inseparable. What's her name? Oh, yes — Hel.
I throw a startled glance at Hel, who gives me a confused stare in response. She can see something has me shook, but she can't hear Dabria's voice. She doesn't know how precarious our situation has just become.
Yes, Dabria says in my head. I thought that might get your attention. I visited your Deep Sleep facility. Had a chat with the aides that monitor your sector. I persuaded them to surrender the files on your resident history, which led me to your DLP. Now that I have her origin code, I can track her anywhere. Which means I can follow you anywhere. But that's not all I can do. I attached an erasure virus to her coding, Dean. You know what that means if I activate it.
Somewhere in a guarded warehouse in San Bernardino, my pores break out in a cold sweat. Somehow, I feel the sensation in my synoid body as the casual menace of her words hit home.
"You can wipe her from existence. Completely erase her coding from the backup cloud."
Smart boy. Continue being smart and make sure you're waiting for me when I get there.
She turns, swift strides taking her into the forest. As Keno and his squad follow, dozens of other figures silently emerge from the shadows, covered in black and armed to the teeth. They fall in around Keno's crew without a word. Keno turns and looks back at me; his expression speaking without words. Probably wondering what would have happened had we refused the invitation.
I have a pretty good idea. But Dabria is right. I would have let Keno and his men die before surrendering myself over. But now it looks like I don't have that choice.
I focus my mind and sever the connection with the synoid. The last images I see as the body falls to the asphalt are bright lights approaching swiftly from the air: reinforcement drones and manned airships on the way. A part of me hopes they catch Dabria and take her out. But my luck has never been that good, and I'm pretty sure Dabria is an expert on evading the authorities. There's nothing I can do except make my exit.
Everything fades in a rush of blinding light as my projected mind rushes back to my body, traveling the distance at the speed of thought.
My eyes open. I remove the neural interface helmet with shaky hands, feeling nausea from more than the disorientation of core-jacking. I've been in many dangerous situations in my life, but I've always been confident in my ability to get myself out of them. This is different, though. No one has ever targeted Hel before. We've lived our lives carefree because of her non-physical state of being. Any danger or threat has been toothless at best, overcome by a simple respawn in any of the countless encounters we've experienced.
Until now.
My feet are killing me. Sitting down for so long made them go numb, and now that I'm awake, I immediately feel stabbing pains. I grit my teeth and slowly work my ankles, trying to get the circulation going again.
My holoband buzzes. Of course it's Hel, her concerned face gazing from the screen when I pull up the screen.
"What happened back there, Dean? I've never seen you look like that before."
"Dabria. She… said she tracked you. She talked to me through some kind of mind contact. Like telepathy."
"What? That's not possible. Telepathy or tracking me. We've taken precautions."
"How else can you explain how she found us? We have to assume she's telling the truth."
Hel's eyes widen. "If she's that good then we have to be as far away from her as possible. We need to run, Dean. Get the hell out of here and figure things out. We can cloak my signal — we've done it before. We just need to find the right person."
"That costs money. Something we don't have much of." I rub my temples, grimacing. "And we can't run, babe."
"Yes, we can. Are you worried about Keno? Forget that loser. He almost got you busted. It's just you and me, baby. Remember? Nothing matters except us."