Death In My Pocket by Machine Gun Kelly

It was a day just like any other. The sky was clear, the landscape was silent. There were no animals scurrying about, no trees blowing in the breeze. I dug my boots down into the earth beside my shelter and let the sun hit my face. I felt a small tug at my heart. Emotions that weren't my own were starting to cloud my judgement. Breathing out, I pushed them away, centering myself as the rain began to fall. My hood automatically came up to protect my face from the Timefall. Instead of sulking inside like I normally do, I waited. Two figures came into view. I recognized one instantly. Fragile. The second was a mystery, though he carried a BB, which peaked my interest. My DOOMS level is high enough that I never needed one to navigate around the world. So I had never seen one.

"Long time no see, Fragile," I greeted when they were close enough to hear me. Fragile smiled lightly, showing she had been uncertain how I would receive her.

"I wasn't sure if you'd be pleased to see me," she admitted as I leaned in to hug her.

"I'm always pleased to see you," I reassured her. She released me, holding my hands and studying me. She opened her mouth to say something, but I held up my hand. "It seems you've been followed. Inside, please," I motioned to my prepper shelter. The light above the door turned red as it swung open. Fragile cocked her head slightly, questioning if the person that followed them was who she thought it was. "It is."

The wind started to pick up as the rain came down harder. I stared out into the storm, my mouth falling into a frown as my gaze hardened. I could just make out his silhouette in the distance. I couldn't resist such an opportunity. I concentrated on the emotions rolling off of him. Rage. Loneliness. Self-assuredness. I pulled them into myself, feeling the rains weaken slightly before flicking my hand and sending them back to him. He lost his footing, falling backwards as his own emotions hit him square in the chest. I closed the door behind me without checking on him. I wanted him to know I was indifferent.

Fragile was standing in the doorway with the man I didn't know. "That was quite the show."

"He'll be fine, his ego is just bruised," I shrugged, wiping beach water from my nose. As if on cue, the shelter shook from a gust of wind before falling silent. "Nothing like your ex-wife to push your buttons, huh?"

Fragile scoffed, following me into my laboratory.

"I assume that you're retrieving some equipment for Mama?" I asked the porter, looking him in the eye. He looked both surprised and confused.

"Actually, he's here because of me," Fragile explained. "This is Sam Porter Bridges. Sam, this is Taylor-I'm sorry, I don't actually know your maiden name."

"Thomas," I replied, smiling lightly. "Thank you for not using Monaghan. That's difficult for some people."

"I've tried suggesting it several times."

"So has Mama. Die-Hardman isn't the most receptive," I shrugged. I turned my attention to Sam, studying him.

"So you're Sam Porter Bridges. I've heard a lot about you." I glanced at his BB, tapping the glass lightly. It immediately lit as the Bridge Baby looked at me, eyes wide and curious. I smiled, cooing at it and gently rubbing my finger against the glass. The BB looked at me and giggled, wiggling excitedly.

Sam said nothing, studying me.

"Alright, what can I do for the two of you?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't really plan out what to ask for," Fragile admitted. "I didn't think you'd entertain us."

"Well you aren't Higgs. I don't have many more restrictions other than that," I shrugged.

"Understandable." She hesitated. "I need your help-we need your help."

"The two of you or the UCA?"

"Can't it be both?" Sam asked, breaking his silence and studying me.

"It can, but that might change my answer."

"I thought you worked for Bridges?"

"With," I corrected. "Mama's a friend. So I help her when she's stumped." I noticed his cufflink. It was out of date. I hit a button in it and took it off of his wrist before he could even react. Fragile's eyebrows raised in surprise. "It's out of date. You haven't been to see her lately, have you?"

I tossed it into a nearby recycler, where it immediately began pulling it apart for anything salvageable. I moved some papers until I found the replacement, slapping it on his wrist. He flinched a bit at my abrasiveness.

"Sorry, too hard?"

"It's," he paused, "fine." Weird delay for such a mediocre response. I shrugged.

"This one has one of the latches coated in chiral. You can use it to sneak up on BTs and cut their cords. This will permanently release them."

"Permanently?"

I nodded. "It's chiral laced with, well, Sam's blood. We've tried a few other candidate's blood, but yours reacts the best."

"Any others react well?"

"Yes, but Higgs is not a sustainable source and I'm not consistently around enough to be a donation source. It's why Mama's insisted on taking transfusions of your blood while you're asleep," I explained to Sam. "It's been really helpful in research. What level DOOMS are you?"

"Two," Fragile answered for him.

"Interesting, I would've guessed much higher. Maybe it's because you're a repatriate. Your blood has chiral levels of someone with at least a level seven DOOMS." I tapped on the virtual keyboard in front of me, pulling up a holographic image of Sam's blood. I pointed to a few abnormalities in the double-helix. "These deposits here? Those are chiral deposits. I pulled up the holograms of Higg's blood as well as my own. They were all slightly different. "I'm anemic, so my blood isn't as strong. And Higgs...well, his is as strong, but I don't think he'll willingly donate it."

"Mama never explained it this much," Sam admitted. He looked curious.

"She usually doesn't. I explain too much to compensate. Die-Hardman usually makes excuses not to be present for my briefings. Amelie likes them, though. She's always interested in what I find out." Fragile furrowed her brows at me while Same nodded.

"She's a good listener."

"Not as good as you, clearly," I teased lightly. Fragile snickered, trying to politely hide it behind her hand. I looked at Sam, studying him. He wasn't hiding anything other than a deep pain. "I'll help with whatever you need," I decided.

"You haven't even heard what we want," he said suspiciously.

"I can see BTs and I can feel the emotions of everyone around me," I replied, staring him in the eyes. "You're the most honest person that works at Bridges. So I trust you."

"What about me?" Fragile teased, bumping my shoulder. I laughed.

"You introduced me to Higgs, but you didn't know who he was either. You couldn't have known. I should have known." She shrugged. She didn't hold it against me either.

"You didn't want to invade his privacy. Neither did I." I smiled bitterly, grabbing her gloved hand and giving it a squeeze.

"We've both paid our prices. Now it's time for him to pay his, yes?"

"Yes," she nodded.