[A bit of a long one this time.]
27
The sky is lit by the fiery orange glow of the setting sun reflected off the underside of Zalem above, as Ido and I walk back to the clinic with our haul. We've just finished spending a couple hours after closing time combing the Scrap Heap for salvage that Ido can use for his patients. Each of us carries a large satchel full of parts that look to be in good enough shape that Ido can make use of, with a bit of fixing up. Alita had commented once, the first time he and I had gone off to scavenge in the Heap, that the two of us could almost pass for brothers.
Each of us in our jackets, with a broad-brim hat and wire-rim glasses, it was hard not to see what she meant.
"Have to admit, it's a nice change," he says as we make our way through the crowds. "Used to try and convince Gerhad to come out with me on occasion, but after a long day she is understandably exhausted." Once corner of his mouth turns down in an oddly chagrined look as he adds, "That, and I think she finds the idea of digging through Zalem's garbage depressing."
I let out an understanding grunt and nod. I don't come out with him as often as I probably should, but like Gerhad, I'm often just tired after a long day of both training with Alita (who does not go easy on me) and working in the clinic.
Guilt compels me to tell him, "Sorry I don't come out here with ya more-"
Ido's quick chuckle interrupts me, "It's alright, really. I'm perfectly fine coming out myself, and the few times a week you've come along have really helped." For emphasis he pats my satchel to indicate the extra salvage that I helped him pick up.
A rueful nod, and I go back to keeping an eye on my surroundings, enjoying an evening walk with a good friend.
"You know, we missed you at the last game's celebration," he comments as we stop at an intersection to wait for a large cargo-hauler to lumber past. As the final game to reach the championships approaches, Alita has been willing to stay longer with her team as they hold their little locker-room celebration following significant wins.
An uncomfortable shrug from me. The reason for my absence from those little after-game parties isn't something I'm eager to share, for various reasons. "I wanted to be there, but, well, there've been… complaints," I respond, unsure of how to answer honestly.
Ido's brows drop over his eyes, "Complaints?" A pause as we get moving again, weaving through the other pedestrians. "It's not Malcolm, is it?" Ido's pleasant demeanor fades as he considers my answer.
Despite Alita's lead mechanic and I getting off on the wrong foot, he no longer seems to have any real problem with me.
"No, it's not Malcom." I pause, not really wanting to say something that might cause strife in Alita's team. But, having no other answer, I elaborate, "It's the brothers, Roberto and Banick. They… well, they seem to think I'm a distraction."
"A distraction? In what way?"
My mind struggles for a delicate way to put it, but finds none. A shrug, "Uh, well… I don't think they like me being around Alita."
The look in Ido's eyes tells me he's at least seen hints of that himself. He opens his mouth to say something.
I rush to add, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Alita about that. This close to her reaching the Championships, I don't want to risk an upset in her team causing problems."
Ido nods understandingly, "Well, I can understand that." His tone conveys the fact that he certainly doesn't like it. He looks at me directly, "They haven't threatened you, have they?"
A dismissive shrug, "Not really, no, just a lot of heavy hinting and glowering looks." Not entirely true, though I keep that to myself. "Figured it'd be best if I backed off for now. Once she reaches the Championships she'll be able to put together a new team, so it doesn't seem like that big a deal, really."
He grunts irately, visibly unhappy at this turn of events. Raising an eyebrow at me, he comments, "If Alita finds out, she may think differently. She's been losing patience with this territorial behavior of theirs. If she finds out that behavior has driven you to keep your distance, well..." Ido spreads his hands in a gesture that, combined with a knowing look, indicates that she'll do whatever the hell she wants. He directs a scrutinizing gaze at me, "I'll keep it to myself, for now, but you be sure to let me know if they start getting more heavy-handed. We can't let this get out of hand, regardless of what it does to the team."
"Absolutely," I assure him with a strong nod. My last encounter with the brothers nearly resulted in us coming to blows, and the last thing I want is to have another violent encounter with a TR cyborg, let alone two. Especially over what, to me is little more than some stupid misunderstanding.
Our path leads us back into what has become very familiar territory. The closest thing to a real home that I've had since coming to this world, even more so than the Sheffield's farm, as surprising as that is to me. We walk on in companionable silence through the throngs of foot traffic as music wafts through the air from street performers of varying degrees of talent, though all of them are generally pleasant to listen to.
Reaching the clinic, we head in and are greeted by Gerhad, who stayed a bit later to deal with some extra paper work. As we put our jackets and hats up, I remember Ido complained some time ago that his work had been piling up on him. So, I figure maybe I could help out there.
Setting the my satchel of parts on a counter, I turn to Ido. "I could get started on cleaning up both of these, if you like." I gesture with a nod that includes his satchel as well.
"Really?" he says, sounding pleasantly surprised.
A shrug of my shoulders, "Sure. Might give you a chance to work on that 'in box' that's been piling up."
He nods, "Well, there is that load of samples I brought back from the shipwreck that really need looking at." Referring to another trip he, Alita and Koyomi had made out there a while back. They'd returned with a variety of parts from the stasis system that Alita's Berserker body had been found in. "You know where everything is?" he asks as he hands over his own satchel of salvage.
Having become familiar with the cleaning supplies he uses for these salvaged parts, I confidently answer, "Yep."
Taking possession of the salvage, I then begin laying the parts out neatly on a workbench as Ido heads off down into the basement to attend to more experiments involving highly advanced Martian tech that none of us really understand all that well. On the upside, none of said tech seems particularly volatile.
The salvage isn't anything to write home about, according to Ido. Some eyes, a few hands and solitary fingers that were in good shape, some servos and a couple other odds and ends that'll prove useful. Even a couple of left feet that the two of us had made lame jokes about. One item of interest, however, is a length of myomer. A sort of artificial muscle that is, on average, more powerful than a simple servo motor. Higher average strength, faster reaction to inputs as well. Myomer bundles also tend to be incredibly expensive. According to Ido, a somewhat rare find.
I set that aside for Ido to deal with, unsure if I should even touch the thing. Then I set about cleaning the 'loot' as the first step in getting it in usable order. As I work I'm barely aware of humming an old tune until Gerhad comments on it.
"You're in a surprisingly good mood," she says with a pleasant smile. Putting away the patient records and whatever else she's presumably now finished with, she gets to her feet and strolls over to stand on the opposite side of the table and gaze upon the bounty that the mighty Scrap Heap has bestowed upon us this evening.
Poking at the myomer bundle, she eyes it critically, "That's a nice find."
A shrug as I tell her, feeling faintly proud of myself, "Yeah, saw it hangin' out of an upper leg that ended up out there. At first, I thought it was just a tightly packed bundle of hydraulic lines or somethin', 'till I got a closer look at it, realized it was something I'd never seen before. Showed it to Ido, and learned somethin' new."
Leaving the myomer alone, she remarks, "Well, good work." Her smile fades as she surveys the parts, "Afraid I was never able to bring myself to join Ido out there." She sighs softly, almost sadly, "It's just too depressing, digging through Zalem's garbage."
I give her an understanding nod, before saying, "Well, I don't really mind the 'diggin' through garbage' thing. My family used to do that at the landfills up in Alaska. Every month or so, we'd drive out there, dig around to see what the richer folks threw out. Usually something that they got tired of and dumped, no matter what condition it was in. We'd often find something that was almost new lookin'." Another shrug, "That and, I guess I focus on what I'm really out there for; helping Ido find what he needs to help other people."
As I go back to cleaning, she gives me an appraising look, "That's very noble of you."
"I have my moments," I reply with an easy shrug. I return to quietly humming as I continue my cleaning.
A moment passes, and I get the impression that there's something she wants to say, something she's hesitant to bring up. Without glancing up from my work, I ask her with a helpful tone, "Somethin' on your mind?"
She shifts a bit uncomfortably before answering, "I heard about that argument you and Alita had a while back." Another pause, as if she's gathering her thoughts. "We know you're still having trouble adjusting to this world, but I just wanted you to know, you can talk to any of us if you need to. Alright?" She offers a heartfelt smile.
Warmed by her words, I immediately smile in return. "Well, I do appreciate that," I reply amiably, "but I already kinda unloaded on Alita about a lot of it." An offhand shrug, "Not much else to say at this point." I bring my left hand up, curling and uncurling the fingers in sequence, "On the upside, this has finally started feelin' normal."
The next thought that comes, I keep to myself; it's become a bit troubling how difficult it can be to remember life before the cybernetics. There's this fear that I'm forgetting who I was.
"Well, that is certainly good news," she says with a nod. "Just takes time, is all. So they haven't been keeping you up at night?"
"Not lately, no," I reply cheerfully.
"Good to hear," she comments warmly. After a moments pause, during which she watches me clean a couple parts, she says, "Well, I'm off. You have a good night." She smiles and lays a hand briefly on my right forearm before heading off.
"Have a good night," I tell her with an answering smile and briefly watch her go, before returning my attention to my task.
The work goes quickly and smoothly. Brushing off the grime and dirt, then additional washing with special cleaners for the contacts and connections, then putting them in a cleaning/lubricating bath for Ido to get to. Just as I'm about to go ask Ido if there's anything special I should do with the myomer bundle, the side door's bell rings.
Stepping over to glance at a small display, I check the image from a tiny camera over the door. The image reveals Koyomi standing outside, her face raised to the camera as she waves with one hand. Quickly making my way over to the door, I unlock it and let her in.
"Hey there," I greet her. "What brings you to these parts?" I immediately back out of the way to invite her inside.
Koyomi smiles brightly, "Hi!" She makes her way past me then stops and turns, "As it turns out, 'parts' are what brings me here."
Closing the door behind her, I turn and remark, "Really? I'll let Ido know-"
"Actually, it's your help I need," she interrupts.
Stopping mid-step towards the basement stairway, I ask, "Oh? What d'you need me for?"
"I just need some heavy lifting done, and you're probably the only person available I could ask." She shrugs, "The guy I usually work with, Tye, is out sick right now."
"I see. And lemme guess, Alita's off tracking down another bounty?"
"You guessed it."
"Well, okay then. Gimme a sec to let Ido know." And I head off to the basement, with Koyomi in tow.
We get to the bottom of the stairs to find Ido sitting at a work table reading a datapad. On the table are an array of small devices neatly laid out.
Each of the dozen or so devices is about the size of one of those cheap plastic Bic lighters, roughly lozenge-shaped with a black metal overlay around a core of what looks like a pale gold material. They are parts recovered from the stasis cage of the URM warship while I'd been recovering from Fenrir's attack. Since the first time I laid eyes on them, something about them has always struck me as odd. Like there's something half-hidden, moving beneath that pale gold surface, forming intricate shifting patterns.
I mentioned it, but no one else noticed anything unusual about the objects. I keep thinking maybe I'm seeing things, but it persists every time I look at them. Unsure what else to do about it, I've since decided to give them a wide berth. Something about them is unsettling to me. It's like they don't belong, somehow.
Currently, one of those objects is mounted in an alligator-type clip on the end of a 16 centimeter-tall stand, with another similar stand holding a quarter-sized electro-magnet a few centimeters from it. A third stand holds a set of probes between the other two items, with wires connecting the probes to one of Ido's many measuring devices.
"Dyson?" I call out, getting his attention. I've been trying to get out of the habit of constantly using his last name, for no other reason that it seems odd to me.
When Ido looks up from whatever he's studying, he gives a welcoming smile as he greets Koyomi, "Ah, good evening. What brings you here?"
Koyomi shrugs offhandedly, "Just need to borrow Jason for a bit. I need the muscle to move some salvage I bought. It might be something you and Alita could use."
Ido's eyebrows raise questioningly, "Oh?"
Koyomi glances up at me as she answers, "Yeah, it's an old Motorball body. The seller was one of Alita's former opponents. He wasn't able to get the money together to get it back in shape, so he's cutting his losses." Sounding a tad sympathetic, "Guessin' he's going back to Factory work."
Ido nods, his expression sliding towards a gentle understanding as he grunts. "He might have been able to make a real go of it, if he hadn't had the misfortune of going up against Alita." Shifting his attention towards me, "The parts?"
A casual gesture of my new hand towards the upstairs, "All clean and soakin'. They'll be ready for you in about an hour." Quickly, I amend, "Except for that myomer. Wasn't sure if it needed special treatment."
"Excellent," he responds with a nod. "And I'll go ahead and deal with the myomer." To Koyomi, "Well, bring your new acquisition by when you're done, I'll take a look at it. From the sounds of it, should be promising."
With that, Ido see's us off with a 'be careful out there', and returns to his experiments. Seeing as there's been light rain off and on throughout the day, I grab my hat as well as my jacket before following Koyomi out the door and down the street several meters to her van. Once we've climbed in, Koyomi gets it in gear and drives us towards the more industrial part of this section of the city.
"How far we goin'?" I finally think to ask.
"It's about fifteen, twenty minutes. I already paid the client," she explains, quickly but carefully weaving between slower traffic, "so we just need to pick it up from the storage unit it's in." She reaches into a pocket of the thin jacket she's wearing and pulls out a small card to briefly show me, "Got the key, so it shouldn't take long."
"Okay then," I respond with a nod. Switching my attention to the street outside the passenger window, I watch the city pass by as we drive, not wanting to distract Koyomi with unnecessary chatter. As we drive, she hums along to a song on the radio as my mind wanders. It doesn't take long before it begins wandering down all-too-familiar streets.
Memories of Sophia telling me about Alondra make their way into my consciousness. Sophia mentioning the changes that the young woman underwent, apparently overnight. Chopping her hair short, no longer smiling much at all. Then, her suicide after we met in the clinic.
Not for the first time, the thought of what must have happened flashes through my mind, paired with memories of a young woman I'd met when I was in that Air Force hospital, in the mental ward. It's been over thirty years since that hospital, and that young woman's name is now lost, but I remember her. How tired she seemed. Not tired of the hospital specifically, but tired of being alive. Tired of continuing along a path that held nothing but pain, that didn't seem to ever end.
That young woman was a dependent, who'd been raped some years prior, by someone she'd really thought was a friend. I don't remember the specifics, but I do remember that she'd tried to put it behind her as best she could and live her life again. But the pain and casual callousness of those around her eventually twisted her up inside, extinguishing the joy she'd once taken in life. Her botched suicide attempt landed her in that hospital at Travis Air Force Base where the two of us met.
She tried to put on that mask of 'normal', but talking with her, I'd get glimpses of that exhausted rage and pain. She was just done, with life, with people, and she no longer saw any point in continuing. But I could also see something else in her; a desperate desire to find some reason that would make it all worth it once more. I wonder if she ever found that reason.
I really hope so.
My mind spirals through all the horror stories that have collected in it over the course of my life; the terrible things people have done to others, the terrible things people have suffered because of others. Eventually, it spirals right back around to that young woman I met in Ido's clinic.
I'm certain of it now. Alondra had been raped, and had taken steps to try and be less of a target. Cutting her hair short, baggier clothing. But there's every possibility that, despite her attempts to be less of a target, it happened again. In a place like this, once she was seen as easy prey, other predators will pay a visit.
Either way, the pain she'd fought against had finally won. She became blinded to any possibility of a future. At that point, a person can feel they are simply left with nothing.
Alondra's words when she gave me her necklace echo in my head again; 'It's just too bad she couldn't have come along sooner,' she'd told me, referring to Alita. She placed the necklace in my hand, 'I don't need it anymore.'
There's a strong possibility that her attacker, or attackers, were people she knew, maybe even thought she could trust. And to have them turn on her like that… to be betrayed like that -
"Hey, you alright over there?"
With a slight start, I turn to look at Koyomi, who's looking at me with a vaguely concerned expression. I quickly realize that my jaw is clenched so tightly that my teeth are hurting. She's probably worried that my anxiety is getting to me. With practiced ease, I release the anger and loosen my jaw.
Putting on a self-deprecating tone, I tell her, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just let my mind wander too far, I guess."
She slightly raises an eyebrow at me. "Maybe you should keep that thing on a shorter leash," she says with careful playfulness.
I can't help but smile and chuckle, "Probably not a bad idea."
We drive on in silence for a time. I just stare out the window at the neon-strewn scenery, grateful to Koyomi for, albeit unintentionally, freeing me from those thoughts. Despite that, my right hand comes up to my chest and finds Alondra's necklace under my shirt, giving it a gentle caress as if it had a mind of it's own.
Before long we arrive at what appears to be a sort of warehouse district. Koyomi backs the van up to a heavy-looking roll-up door on the side of a concrete building, then locks the break and hops out. I follow suit and meet her at the rear of the van, where she unlocks the roll-up door we're parked in front of. When the door opens, we're met by an old metal bin filled with parts of what was once a Motorball paladin's track body. And it is not in good shape.
Still, as far as salvage goes, even my relatively untrained eye can see that it's still likely worth quite a bit.
Koyomi opens the rear doors on the van, hops in and pulls out a cargo dolly. She swings it around so the handles are facing me. "Time for that heavy lifting," she says brightly.
With a nod, I take hold of the dolly, giving it a once over. It's a simple two-wheeled type, similar to something I might see used with a moving company, with little tread-like devices on it's back side so it you can drag a heavy load more easily. Then, considering the warm climate and the physical labor to come, I take off my jacket and place it to the side in the cargo bay. After a quick assessment of what we're working with, I have her grab some tie-downs, and we secure those over the top of the bin to make sure the parts stay put.
Once that's out of the way, Koyomi sets up the ramp for me. Then after some lifting and pulling, we manage to get the dolly securely under the cargo, which is then transferred into the van, and secured against the front wall of the cargo bay. All in all, it goes a lot more smoothly, and quickly than I'd expected.
Koyomi claps her hand together as if dusting them off, then plants them on her hips and announces to me, "There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"
I can only shrug and smile, "Yeah, coulda been worse. So, back to the clinic now?"
She nods firmly as she moves to close the rear doors, "Yep. Was thinkin' of stopping for a quick bite, but it's gettin' late. Should head back before-" her eyes widen as her expression switches to alarmed. I see her gaze flit to something behind me. "Jason-!"
Snapping my head around, I try to ready myself for trouble, but I'm too slow. Or they're too fast. I catch sight of a couple of figures, one behind the other, both completely covered in clothing with full hoods, including some kind of visor or goggles over their eyes. Before I can even blink, the lead figure hits me right in the face with a club of some sort. Right between the eyes, from the feel of it, and world is a kaleidoscope of motion and images.
I feel myself fall.
Koyomi screams somewhere off in the distance, but her scream is cut short. A part of me assumes there's more than two, and they hit us from two directions.
Disorienting visions of the clinic's basement. Fenrir on a rampage and Gerhad in distress flitter through my mind. 'How did I end up back here? Did I time-travel again?'
My senses begin to take in the world once more, as I feel sharp things poking me in the chest and side. The world is spinning around me, but it seems to be slowing down. However, the pain of the impact is just getting started. As numbing agony spiderwebs outward from the point of impact, nausea starts creeping in.
"What about the girl?" one of the figures towering over me asks.
I'm on my back, lying on the rain-soaked pavement as filthy water soaks in to the back of my t-shirt. At least it's not raining any longer. My vision is skyward, filled with that infernal floating city. It's partly blurry, so I've lost my glasses. Again. The first thought that comes to me upon seeing it is, 'Fuck you, Zalem. Fuck you very much...'
A figure standing right over me jabs me with one of those tazer-sticks real hard in the sternum.
'Paralyzer,' my brain auto-corrects me. 'Too bad Koyomi didn't get the chance to use hers first.'
The paralyzer lets out a sharp snap of electrical discharge, and the figure lets out a satisfied grunt. Then he looks over at the one that spoke, "Take her keys. We don't need her, just the truck, the loot they were kind enough to load up for us," he looks back down at me, "and our next customer here. He's just a partial, but we can take that arm and these legs. Those alone should have good value from the look of that arm, but from the glimpse I got while they were loading, that bin's got some prime parts in it."
The figure then reaches down, grabs me under the arm as a second jacker grabs my other arm and pulls me into the back of Koyomi's van while another of his colleagues holds the door for him. As I'm pulled in past the man at the door, he comments cheerfully, "Looks like we hit ourselves a jackpot!"
Nausea and pain are still lighting up my nervous system, making it almost impossible to even think straight, let alone try to do anything. Still, I manage to move my arm and croak out something unintelligible.
Leader jabs me in the chest again with his paralyzer. "Don't move," he orders me.
A weak voice that I recognize as Koyomi, demands, "Stop. You don't-"
The leader gestures to the figure standing over her, and she lets out a brief, agonized grunt as the jacker hits her with their paralyzer. She doesn't utter another sound.
As my senses clear, a sickening fear and shock gums up my brain, scattering my thoughts, and my focus. My body doesn't seem to be listening to my brain at the moment. In a distant panic, I think the paralyzers have done what the name implies. But I begin to remember, I don't work like that. The blow to my head must've just scrambled some things.
The leader speaks again, "Alright, newbie, you're with me in the cab." A quick gesture at the other two, then at me, "You two, strip him."
The fourth man, sounding nervous and uncertain, speaks up. "Uh, that such a good idea? I think this guy's hardware is from doc Ido."
Leader snaps back, "Well, they ain't in doc Ido's territory now, are they? You wanna get paid, do as you're told! Get in the cab."
A flurry of motion, as the lead jacker hops out and jackers switch places in the cargo bay with me. Then the doors are slammed shut. For a brief moment, there's darkness, then the jacker on my left is holding up an omni-directional light, small but powerful as it fully illuminates the interior. He slaps it onto the wall of the cargo bay where it sticks, presumably via magnet. He produces a small hand-held circular saw from under his clothing, as I hear the van's engine hum to life. I lie there, trying to gather myself, my brain trying to figure out if this is actually happening.
The moment the van lurches into motion, it must have decided it is, because an almost overwhelming terror rises up within, as my mind is filled with the nightmare of feeling my body being torn apart as I lie helpless.
'At least they're leaving Koyomi alone.' Which doesn't mean she's safe, by any stretch. They left her there, unconscious. If someone comes along and see's her, and gets ideas…
The jacker with the power saw says to the other one on my right, "Give 'im another, just to be sure."
To which the other jacker stabs me with his paralyzer and leaves it in me a good couple of seconds as it snaps and crackles like an electric whip. There's no sting of the sharp prongs through my clothing this time as, by chance, the paralyzer hits Alondra's necklace and I feel it press painfully into my chest. That sensation of her necklace pressing into me... it's as if something snaps loose.
Like a lightning bolt, rage flashes through my head, 'You left her there! You abandoned her, to die alone in the dark!' The nausea vanishes. My lips peel back from my teeth as the rage burns away nearly all the fear.
With no real thought, I reach up with my left hand and grab Power-Saw by the left side of his head (much to his apparent surprise, from the squawk he makes) and force his head into the metal knee I bring up to strike the other side of his head. The impact knocks him senseless and he drops the power saw, sagging backwards against the side of cargo bay.
His partner nearly shrieks, "Whatthefuck?" and begins stabbing me furiously with the paralyzer. The force of the prongs stabbing into me is painful but adrenaline serves to dull it to near non-existance.
A part of me wonders distantly if this must be something of a nightmare for him, trapped in a tiny space with a cyborg that he can't immobilize.
"Stop that!" I shout angrily, bringing a foot up to strike him in the groin hard enough to knock him backwards. He glances off the sidewall to slide towards the doors, but retains his footing. Even so, he's doubled over, groaning loudly in pain.
With him out of the way, I reach up, grab one of the interior tie-downs and quickly hoist myself to my feet. The sudden movement, combined with the swaying of the van in motion, reignites the nausea and I stand there a moment trying to steady myself.
Power-Saw recovers from the blow to his head enough to begin trying to get to his feet, as he stammers and shouts at his partner, "Don't jus- whattaya- hit 'im again!"
"The fuck you think I been doing?" his partner shouts back, sounding panicked as he unfolds himself (apparently my kick wasn't a solid hit). "Why won't he stop?!" he nearly screams as he comes at me again with that paralyzer, stabbing at me.
Teeth clamped together in seething anger, I grab the head of the paralyzer and pull hard, yanking him off-balance. As he stumbles a step closer, I rear back without thinking and drive my forehead into his masked and goggled face.
The impact is a solid one, sending the jacker falling backwards limply. It also ignites an inferno of agony within the entirety of my skull. I stagger back a couple steps, fighting to keep my footing as the world tries to whip around in a whirlwind of sickening spinning motion. The back of my legs hits something, the bin of parts I think, and I stumble around to face forward, catching myself against the front wall of the cargo bay where I awkwardly hold myself in place over the parts bin. I balance there, trying to recover.
'Yup, that was a mistake,' observes a distant corner of my mind. It's quite likely that, despite having a metal alloy skull, mine's not really that much better armored than a bone skull, and that first club strike gave me a concussion.
Something hard hits me in the back of the head, sending shockwaves of agony blazing through my head. There's a disconnecting feeling as the nausea peaks. Held upright by both my thighs against the side of the parts bin and my hands on the front wall the bin is secured to, involuntary muscle action doubles me over as my guts void themselves into the bin of parts. One of the two jackers hits me a couple more times as I keep emptying my stomach. This is accompanied by the stabbing pain of a paralyzer being driven into my back and side, no doubt from the second jacker. Getting my left arm up and behind me, I'm able to partly shield myself while the remainder of my stomach's contents are emptied into the salvage bin.
Finally free of the retching, I push off from the wall, straighten up and whirl around. Driven by anger, and no small amount of desperation and fear, I quickly lock on to the jacker that's so keen to stab me with that fucking paralyzer and deliver a rather weak kick to the center of his chest. The blow knocks him backward into the doors, where he slides limply to the floor.
The other guy tries to smash me in the face with the butt of his power-saw. Moving faster than I'd realized I could, I sweep my left arm clockwise around in front of me, catching his arm against mine and sweeping it down and to the side. A quick step into him puts me at his side, where I deliver a quick palm-strike to his face with my right hand to keep him off-balance, then shift position enough to bring my left elbow straight up in a strike under his chin. There's a faint cracking sound indicating that I may have broken his jaw as he drops the saw, staggers back and lands on top of his compatriot.
Breathing heavily from the exertion, I turn to fully face my attackers. For a moment I stand there, sucking air through gritted teeth, drool and vomit running down my chin, chest heaving, and look down at the two jackers.
The one I elbowed in the chin is lying on his side doubled over, wheezing, both hands cradling his face. The other is partly under the first one, his back to the doors. His goggles are knocked askew and I can see his eyes in the actinic light of the little work lamp he and his partner were going to use to cut me apart. His eyes are wide with fear.
Just trying to take a moment to gather myself, I glare at him, thinking, 'Guessin' you wanna be somewhere else, right about now, huh?'
To my surprise, it's as if he agrees. He reaches up, hand fumbling at the door he's leaning against, finds the latch and pulls it. The door opens and he falls backwards out onto the pavement. Fortunately, we're not driving particularly fast, and the vehicle behind us isn't tailgating. He tumbles to a stop, gets up and runs off down an alley before the vehicle traveling along behind us can run him over.
I catch a glimpse of surprised pedestrians watching it all happen. Then the other jacker starts to slowly get to his feet, holding onto the edge of the still-closed door for support, one hand outstretched as if to hold me off.
"Hey, man," he gasps, voice slurred, "look, this ain't nothin' personal. It's just-"
Knowing what the next word has to be, rage grips me again.
His business was very personal to me. There's a sudden impulse, a need, to make sure he never does anything like this ever again. To make sure he never does anything ever again.
Taking a step forward, I lash out with a kick that hits him in the chest as I scream at him, "Get the FUCK OUTTA MY SIGHT!" The force of the kick is somewhat mitigated by my having to compensate for the swaying of the van over the poorly-maintained road. Even so, he's knocked out the door where he falls to the pavement and rolls to a stop.
He's slower in getting to his feet, but manages to barely dodge onto the sidewalk out of the way of the next vehicle behind us as the driver doesn't even bother slowing down for this second time. The jacker staggers off out of sight, and I catch a glimpse of the face of the man driving that other truck in the light of a passing streetlamp. He looks like he might be on drugs, staring at me with an almost manic expression as he chews on some kind of cigarette held in a creepy grin.
It's a surreal highlight to this whole night.
Wiping my mouth and chin with the back of my right hand, I sink to my knees as the adrenaline rush dies down. My head is spinning with more than just the effects of what must be a concussion. A shakiness begins setting in, along with a watery feeling in my muscles. Despite what's happened, there's still a part of me that thinks I could have handled that better, should have been able to handle that better.
But I was so frightened and angry.
'Really?' purs that little voice in the back of my mind. 'You're not going to start rationalizing and making excuses now, are you?'I stare out the back of the open door at the street falling away behind as the van continues on, the driver apparently unaware of what just happened to his partners.
'Christian,' that little voice sneers. 'All that talk about hating what violence has done to your world, of being a man of peace. But when the shit hits the fan, you're all too happy to jump ship and dive into the bloodshed. Spineless.'
Shaking myself free of that voice, I return my focus to the situation at hand. This is far from over yet. I need to get control of this vehicle, and get back to Koyomi. Fortunately, we can't have traveled too far. However, a closer look at the buildings along the street we're traveling down reveals that I haven't the faintest idea where we are. With how much of a maze some of this city can be, it might not have taken long for me to get completely lost. It doesn't help that Koyomi drove us out to a part of the city I've never seen before.
Leaning out, I grab the open door and pull it closed. Then I turn around to see what I have to work with. Luckily, at least one eye is seeing clearly. My gaze falls on the abandoned hand-held power-saw, and the paralyzer left behind. I look up at the front wall of the cargo bay.
On the other side of that wall is the cab, and the last pair of jackers.
Taking a steadying breath, I grab up my jacket from where it still lay throughout this whole ordeal and put it on. The hat is likely back with Koyomi.
Once my jacket's settled, I pick up the power saw and fiddle with it a bit to make sure I have the controls right, then I begin trying to cut a roughly head-sized triangle out of the wall. Sparks fly as the saw slices through the thin metal with a high-pitched shrieking whine. When I'm done, I can hear a voice on the other side demanding loudly to know what's going on.
"The fuck are you two doing?" a voice yells, authoritative but angry, and concerned. "The hell's wrong back there? Just strip the fucker and dump him!"
Dropping the saw, I bend down and pick up the paralyzer. With my left hand, I deliver a sharp palm strike to the triangle, knocking the cut-out into the cab. The jacker in the passenger seat, presumably the 'newbie' that Leader was talking to earlier, is turned around in his seat. From his body language, I gather he's too shocked at this turn of events to say anything. Leader, however, is far from at a loss for words.
Twisting halfway around in the driver's seat, Leader shouts, "How the fuck did you- ?"
I don't give him the chance to finish, and I don't give his partner, still holding a paralyzer of his own, a chance to use it. Aiming through the triangular opening, I stab across the space of the rear seats at the man in the front passenger seat, striking him in the neck before he can make a move. My target tenses up and convulses as I press the trigger, collapsing in his seat before I finally release the trigger on the paralyzer.
Before I can demand he pull over or be next, Leader shouts, "Shit!" and hops out the driver's side door without another word.
Now driver-less, but slowing down with no foot on the accelerator, the van continues coasting. Helpless to do anything else, I immediately turn around a sit down as firmly as I can on the parts bin secured to the wall I'm leaning against, and hold on tight as the vehicle coasts into whatever is in it's path.
There's only a heartbeat of time before the van plows into something and is brought to a halt. Thankfully, the jacker leader must have been driving slowly so as to give his colleagues time and a stable work space to strip me of parts, so the collision isn't that bad.
Moving quickly, I get to my feet and sway from the lingering nausea, then jump out the rear doors, making sure to close them behind me. A crowd of curious onlookers is starting to gather as I make my way around to the driver's side door. The jacker leader looks like he made good on his escape, as there's no sign of him in the gathering crowd.
Reaching the front of the van, I'm relieved to see that the only thing the van rolled in to is a stout utility pole that doesn't seem to have been affected by the crash. The damage to Koyomi's van appears mostly cosmetic. I hop in the still-open driver's door and pull it shut. A glance at the dashboard indicates the engine is still running. A look out the windows shows the milling crowd, but no one approaches. Just curious onlookers, many of whom go on to mind their own business.
The jacker in the passenger seat begins to stir and I position the paralyzer across my lap with the prongs set against his neck while simultaneously depriving him of his own paralyzer, which is tossed into the back seat.
As he starts coming around I tell him, "Don't move." I press the sharp prongs into his neck for emphasis. Growling, I inform him, "Do somethin' stupid and I'll hit the trigger, and hold it down and see which gives out first; you or this thing's power cell."
He freezes in place and just looks at me. Under the mask, his jaw moves like he wants to say something, but no sound emerges.
"My friend, the girl you left back there, I need directions back to her. You get me back there and I don't light you up. Got it?"
"Got it," the man agrees weakly.
With little trouble, I manage to back the van away from the utility pole and get it turned around. Then, with some directions from the jacker, we're on our way.
As I drive, he looks me up and down, before finally asking in a hesitant voice, "How did you- how were you able to move?"
Keeping my eyes on him and the road, I shrug. "Rubber underpants," I reply flippantly.
The jacker lets out an utterly disbelieving, "Uh huh."
As the adrenaline is wearing off, my body, or the flesh and blood parts of it, is starting to hurt. A lot. Tiredness is also starting to set in. It's worse than a training session with Alita. I feel like I've been stabbed with little nails all over.
After a short drive at a much faster speed than what the jacker's were doing, we make it back to the storage unit. I'm relieved to see Koyomi is still close by and I flash the van's headlights at her, then come to a stop and wave out the driver's window.
She hurries over and I'm gratified to see that she's both alright, and holding my hat, which she hands to me through the window as well as my glasses, which are broken.
Instead of taking them, I tell her, "Keep 'em for now." A sharp gesture with my head to the passenger seat directs her attention to my prisoner, and my need to keep hold of the paralyzer.
Her expression darkens considerably, "Held on to one, huh?" Rather grimly, she comments to me, "Gonna see if you can get any extra cash for 'im?"
The thought of taking this guy's head for a bounty brings the nausea back. Swallowing it down, I look over at the jacker. I try to think of what we can do with him, but I'm at a loss. There are no police to hand him over to, and regardless of what his pals almost did to me, I'm not about to become an executioner.
The hard looks Koyomi and I give him prompt him to speak. Holding up his hands as if in surrender, he tells me, "Look, I- I'm sorry about all this, okay? I've never done anything like this before but I- I didn't have a choice, I swear!" His voice is panicky and desperate.
"Didn't have a choice, you fucking punk?" Koyomi nearly shouts at him. "You stole my van, and my salvage and almost stripped my friend!"
Still unsure of what to do now, I just sit and stare at him. This whole situation seems almost unreal, despite the pain I'm now in.
"Please, I don't even know those guys! I just used to work with one of them at the Factory," the man pleads. "They told me they needed an extra man, and they knew I needed the money. They told me no one would get hurt! We'd just get the parts and split the money!" His voice becomes more desperate as he speaks.
"Take off that hood and mask," I command him.
Shaking, he obeys, even removing the goggles. He looks young, in his mid-twenties, very obviously terrified of what might happen next. "Please," he says quietly, "I was just trying to feed my family. I lost my job at the factory and-"
"Lemme guess," I interrupt angrily, still glaring at him. "You got five kids to feed."
He swallows before replying in an almost emotionless voice, "No, just one. A little girl. The food's running out and I ran out of options." Looking me in the eyes, he says, "I'd have never done anything like this if I thought there was another way." He looks on the verge of tears.
"Really," Koyomi spits out, still very much angry and in obvious disbelief. "So we're supposed to just believe you, let you off the hook, and you'll go be a good boy, huh?"
The young man looks like he's about to be sick, as he tries to think of something to say. He looks lost and alone.
"What's your name?" I ask him.
Looking like he's rapidly losing hope, the man answers, "Meric."
A nod to him as I introduce myself, "I'm Jason." A nod towards the young woman at the driver's window, "That's Koyomi."
Without missing a beat, Koyomi reaches down and comes up with a small piece of debris and hucks it through the window, where it sails past me to strike the jacker in the forehead, "Prick!"
Meric doesn't flinch as it bounces off his skull. He looks like he's expecting far worse.
After shooting a glance at Koyomi, I inform Meric, "You obviously ain't got a lot of options now. On the one hand, I really don't feel good about letting you go just so you can hook back up with your little band and keep on doing what you almost did to me. On the other, I'm willing to believe you if you introduce us."
"What? Believe him?" Koyomi says, sounding like she can't believe what she's hearing. "Jason, what the hell are you-"
"Introduce you?" Meric asks, clearly confused. "T-to who? The jackers?"
"To your family," I say evenly. Meric pales at that, clearly thinking the worst. I quickly continue before he, or the understandably angry Koyomi, can interrupt, "If it turns out that you really do have a family you were desperate to provide for, everything will be fine. No harm will come to you, and I'm certainly not about to harm them."
Shifting my expression to something more intimidating as I lower my voice to more of a growl, "But if it turns out you're lying, that you have no family, then I will drag your sorry ass down to Ido's clinic where I will introduce you to the most dangerous bounty hunter in this city, and let her decide what to do with you." I figure if the jackers knew about Ido, then they know about Alita.
Sure enough, Meric visibly gulps and pales even further as he seems to pick up on who I'm referring to.
Koyomi pipes up, "Actually, she's on her way here."
A bit surprised, I glance over to her, but quickly shift my gaze back to cover Meric. "She is?"
Koyomi baps me lightly on the shoulder, "Yeah, dummy." She shows me her little cell phone, "What do you think I did as soon as I could move and saw that my van, and you, were gone? When I told her what happened, she called off her hunt. She sounded furious." Clearly enjoying Meric's discomfort, she adds, "She should be here any minute now."
'Shit!' I think to myself. I really don't want to see what Alita will do to this guy when she gets here. I'd like to avoid more violence if at all possible. I certainly don't want to see him decapitated right in front of me.
"Well?" I say sharply to Meric, almost making him jump. "Where should she meet us? Here, where she'll likely have your head? Or being introduced to your family, where I do believe she'll go easy on you."
Even having gotten to know Alita, there's still this distant terror of what Alita might do. But I'm certain that she won't raise a hand to Meric's wife or child, assuming they exist. And Alita knowing the truth just might save Meric from Alita's wrath. I'm not seeing many other ways out for the man.
"A- Alright," Meric relents, obviously coming to a similar conclusion. Sounding like a man facing immanent execution, he tells us the address.
"I know where that is," Koyomi says.
With only a little difficulty, Meric and I shift into the back seat, with me keeping the paralyzer on him, though not pressed painfully into his neck anymore. Koyomi hops into the driver's seat and after commenting on the damage I did to the back of the cab, ("Shit! You cut a hole in my van?") gets us under way, while also calling Alita and informing her of what we're doing.
"You're going where?" Alita asks over the phone's speaker.
"To see Meric's family," Koyomi replies blithely, while dodging through traffic.
Sounding confused, Alita asks, "Okay, and who's Meric?"
Koyomi, sounding vaguely distracted as she deftly maneuvers around a cargo truck at rather high speed, "He's one of the jackers that tried to steal my van and strip Jason."
In a voice tinged with caged frustration, "Okay. So now you're going to see this guy's fam-" There's a sharp sigh, and I can almost feel the pained exasperation through the signal. In an even voice, Alita asks in an annoyed voice, "This is Jason's idea, isn't it?"
"Yep!" Koyomi replies in a chipper tone.
"Fine," Alita says after a short pause. "We'll discuss this when I get there."
Still keeping my gaze on Meric, I catch Koyomi turn to look at me over her shoulder as if to say, 'ooo, you're in trouble' out of the corner of my eye. For his part, Meric keeps eyes on the road ahead, looking numb while also appearing on the verge of being sick. I just keep my eyes on Meric, fairly certain at this point that he's being truthful, but intent of making absolutely sure. Still, I can't shake this feeling of misgiving, like I'm going way too far with this. I pray to God that I'm making the right decision.
Several minutes later, we pull up in front of an apartment building with what is likely a drug-fueled party roaring out front. People of various ages jumping around like epileptic squirrels to incredibly loud music, while signs of a lot of alcohol and drugs are passed around. Around the outskirts, in the shadows, I can just make out couples engaged in heavy makeout sessions.
Koyomi chooses to park around the side away from the commotion. As she shuts the engine down, Alita pulls up next to us on her gyro-bike. After I get Meric out, I take the paralyzer off him and heavily lay my left hand on his shoulder to ensure he stays put.
Alita locks her bike and dismounts, and walks over to the three of us, wearing her customary black body-suit, long coat and her Damascus blade by her side. She coldly looks the supremely unhappy Meric up and down before looking me over and commenting, "Okay, Jason. What is it, exactly, you want to do here?"
Evenly, I reply, "I just need to know he's being truthful with me, that he was desperate to find a way to care for his family."
Alita casually lays a hand on her sword hilt as she asks, "And if he is being truthful?"
Trying to trust that she won't just explode into violence, trying to ignore the painful tightening in my chest, I tell her, "Then I intend to go home and get on with my life, and trust that Meric here will find a better way of providing for his family."
Koyomi's expression, as she stands there with her arms crossed, is one of intense skepticism overlaid with lingering anger.
Alita gives Meric a last, vaguely threatening look before stepping aside and gesturing towards the building. "After you."
Keeping my hand on Meric's shoulder, he and I move into the side entrance of the shabby apartment building. Our little group passes through hallways and up stairwells filled with litter, stinking trash gathered into little piles in corners, passed out drunks or drug-users and walls decorated with graffiti of all sorts. About every other light is out. This is definitely a poorer part of Iron City than what I'm used to.
Meric brings us to a stop before a worn door that looks like it's survived someone attacking it with an axe. Fortunately the door seems to be made of metal, as opposed to wood.
Meric pulls out his keycard, reaches out to unlock the door, but stops just short, his hand shaking slightly. Without looking at me, he says, "Look, I know I fucked up-" His voice is thick with desperation and suppressed panic. "My family had nothing to do with what happened. They-"
"All I want," I interrupt him firmly, but gently, "is to know you're telling the truth. If you're family really is on the other side of this door, then I will introduce myself, apologize for the inconvenience, and leave." 'And pray to God that Alita's willing to do the same!' Memories of the time Alita saw the pictures of my own family, and how she smiled helps put my mind at ease, but the anxiety remains.
Having nothing else to offer the man by way of reassurance, I patiently wait for him to unlock the door. The others are equally patient, somewhat to my surprise.
Meric unlocks the door and opens it mechanically. As he enters, I keep my hand on his shoulder, entering right behind him, followed by Alita and Koyomi. We go in and find a sparsely furnished apartment, in a state of disrepair, though neatly kept. Children's toys are scattered across one area of the floor.
A woman's voice calls from an adjoining room, a kitchen from the look of it, something in spanish that sounds very much like a greeting. Then the speaker appears, carrying a child that looks to be around two years old. The woman is about as tall as Alita, with the same dark-colored hair that falls past her shoulders and a thicker build. Rather plain-looking, but her cheerful if tired demeanor lights up her face. She stops cold upon seeing the small group that accompanies her husband, and her cheerful demeanor falls away. In less than a heartbeat, she takes in the atmosphere of the room.
"Meric?" she asks, suddenly wary. "What's going on?"
Meric sounds on the verge of tears as he answers, "Honey, I- please don't panic."
Looking about to panic, the woman takes in our little group, and I can tell her eyes have fallen on Alita and the sword she carries. Her gaze also passes over to me and the paralyzer I still carry. "What did you do?" she asks her husband, her voice nearly a whisper. She clutches her child closer and turns as if to put her body between us and the baby.
Feeling strangely disconnected again, as if my own mind can't believe what I'm doing, I take my hand off Meric's shoulder and take a half-step forward. "Evenin'," I greet the woman with a nod, "I'm Jason." Taking a deep breath, I explain, "Ma'am, I'm afraid your husband went and did somethin' stupid."
Anger and fear play across the woman's face as she holds her squirming toddler protectively close. "Meric? What did you do? What is this? Why are these people here?"
"Well, Meric?" Alita says in a frighteningly cold voice. "Tell her."
Meric does so, voice flat and mechanical. Same story he'd told me and Koyomi, with the added details of, he'd lost his job some time ago at the Factory after his pride drove him to refuse upgrades that the Factory 'strongly advised' that he get. Then, earlier today, a guy he'd met at that Factory job approached him saying they needed a fourth guy for something that would pay very well. It wasn't until he accepted the job that he found out what it was.
"We have no food, Emily," Meric says sadly to his wife. "No one's hiring around here. What was I supposed to do?"
Now tearful, her own distress causing the little girl in her arms to begin crying, Emily responds, "You weren't supposed to go jacking cyborgs, you fucking idiot. Now look what you've done. You've brought this into our home-"
As Emily tearfully, fearfully berates her husband, I wrestle with guilt over what I've just done. I just wanted to ensure someone who might be a potential danger to others, wasn't lying to me about why he'd done what he did. I had no intention of harming someone's family, but now, standing in their living room, I wonder, 'What the hell am I doing here?'
So many things rush through my head, but one thing stands out like a beacon; a verse from Psalms 82, 'Vindicate the weak and the orphaned; uphold the cause of the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the poor and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.'
It brings with it, an iron certainty as well as memories of the time I'd lost job after job. Everything seemed to go wrong, and eventually I was going hungry, about to become homeless. It's a time when I very nearly looked to stealing just so I could keep from starving.
"You need food, yes?" I ask, using the kind of tone my Training Instructors in boot camp used, projecting my voice forcefully. It cuts through the tension and distress in the air and gets the woman's attention.
"Yes," she says, tears streaming down her face as she's no doubt expecting the worst.
A glance at Alita and Koyomi, to try and get some read on them. Alita merely looks back at me, as if waiting to see what I'll do. Koyomi looks awkward and uncomfortable, as if thinking that this isn't right.
In an attempt to protect her child, Emily more fully covers the baby with her arms and head as she pleads with us, "Please, just don't hurt my-"
"Ma'am, we aren't-" Alita begins, sounding shocked that Emily would think something like that.
Interrupting Emily's unnecessary plea for mercy as well as Alita's reassurance, I tell the woman, "You're husband did something stupid, but it was to provide for you and your daughter. The wrong thing, for the right reason, as they say. Well," a pause as I gather my thoughts, "I need his help with moving something. It's not dangerous or illegal. I don't have much myself, but when we're done, I can pay him a little and he can be on his way."
Emily and Meric both look at me with expressions of disbelief tinged with a desperate hope. Koyomi also looks at me with disbelief, but she doesn't appear unhappy with my decision. Alita wears an almost Mona-Lisa-like smile, as if pleasantly surprised with what she's seeing but not quite willing to show it.
"You want to hire me?" Meric asks in a quiet, uncertain voice.
"Yes," I state plainly. "It'll help make up for what happened. That and I'm tired and in pain and want to get that cargo unloaded so I can get a shower and get to bed."
Meric blinks a couple times as he stares at me owlishly, then stammers, "Uh-oh- okay. Uh, I'll do it."
I nod, "Alright then."
At which point Alita directs Meric to move out. Koyomi lingers with me as I apologize to the woman of the house we barged into. With a nod, "Sorry about the disruption ma'am. We'll have him back to you shortly."
"Just-" Emily fumbles, at a loss for words apparently. "Just go, please." She tries to comfort her crying daughter.
An apologetic bow of my head as I lean the paralyzer on my shoulder like I might a rifle and head out of the little apartment with Koyomi. I find myself feeling dirty for what I've just done, intruding into someone's life like that. Anger at myself keeps my teeth clenched shut for the entire walk back to the parking lot.
When we get back down, Alita puts her bike into Koyomi's van, and takes the front passenger seat. I spend the ride back to the clinic in the back seat with Meric, glowering out the window at Iron City, still holding onto that paralyzer, not really sure what else to do with the damned thing. I toy with the idea of keeping it since, if they work well enough for jackers to immobilize cyborg targets, then it should work well enough that I can defend myself with it.
As we travel, I notice that I'm bleeding. I realize they must be stab wounds from the long, sharp prongs of the paralyzers I was jabbed with. Not particularly deep, but certainly painful, especially now that there's no adrenaline to keep the pain at bay. And there are many of them all over my chest, sides and back.
We arrive at the clinic and I hand off the paralyzer to Koyomi, then direct Meric to help me with that bin of salvage after Alita unloads her bike. Once the bin is out of the van, I'm able to use the dolly to roll it into the clinic through the front double doors with Meric holding it steady on the dolly.
Once inside, we find Ido standing there, arms crossed waiting for us. No doubt Alita informed him of the nature of our arrival, since I didn't see Koyomi use her phone. Beside him on a worktable are some medical supplies ready for use.
Planting the bin in the middle of the main room, I turn to Ido, intending to make a smart-ass remark about the dangers of helping Koyomi.
Koyomi preempts me, "You won't believe what happened!"
Ido tells her, "You were attacked by jackers who stole your van, kidnapped Jason to strip him and met a family in need of help." He raises an eyebrow at her, "Something like that?"
Koyomi directs a mildly miffed look at Alita for taking away her thunder, but says, "Yes, that pretty much covers it." She then narrows her eyes angrily at Meric standing quietly beside me, "I also got the front end of my van crunched."
Ido then looks at me with a glance at Meric, "So, having been attacked by a pack of jackers, you take it upon yourself to help one of them?"
A dismissive shrug as I reply flatly, "The man's family's goin' hungry. If you're expectin' me to turn a blind eye to that-"
"I'm not expecting anything of the sort," Ido interrupts, "but-" He stops and just shakes his head, almost exasperated, but clearly not that angry or upset. More surprised, if anything. He turns his attention to his daughter, "Alita, would you please put a bag of food together for our guest while I patch up Jason?"
"Certainly," she says as she directs Meric towards the kitchen. As she passes me, she briefly puts her hand on the back of my shoulder and flashes an oddly grateful look at me. As I'm nearly swaying on my feet from the concussion and weariness, I'm unable to summon even a non-verbal response.
Ido hands me some pain-killers, which I immediately take, then directs me to sit on a stool next to one he sits down on and has me remove my jacket and shirt.
Upon seeing the little bleeding wounds from the paralyzer's prongs all over me, Koyomi makes a sympathetic remark. Then she puts the paralyzer aside and sets my glasses and hat on the table next to me.
Ido takes in the condition of my glasses and questions me about the details of what happened. I let Koyomi get her side out of the way first, short as it is, then inform him of the clubbing I took to the face and the fight in the van's cargo bay as I was kidnapped. As I talk, he uses a medical adhesive gel to patch my wounds, which includes a couple of pressure cuts on my face and the side of my head that I was unaware of.
Ido nods as I finish. "That would explain why there's vomit all over my new parts. You definitely have a concussion. Despite that metal skull, yours isn't particularly reinforced for this sort of thing. A forceful enough blow will do that, especially when it's so sudden and unexpected." He takes a moment to more closely examine my head. "You'll be taking tomorrow off so I can be sure it's nothing serious. And no training with Alita for the next couple of days, at least."
Accepting his decision, I nod.
"You'll obviously need a new set of glasses, as well."
Frowning, my gaze drops to the floor, "Yeah. Sorry about this."
Koyomi practically gapes at me, "You're sorry? You almost got your parts jacked!"
Ido merely smiles benevolently, "There's nothing to apologize for. I'm just glad you and Koyomi are alright. The glasses can be easily replaced. You, not so much."
"Besides that," Koyomi says, placing a hand on my shoulder, "you fought off a jacker ambush, brought back my stolen van and helped out a starving family. All in just a couple of hours. Not bad, Old Timer."
Unable to suppress a smile, I quip, "Yeah. Guess they don't build 'em like me anymore." Which gets a good chuckle out of her and Ido.
Just as Ido's finishing up, Alita comes out of the kitchen area with Meric, who's holding a good-sized bag stuffed with various foods.
"I- I don't know how to thank you all for this," he's saying to her. "Again, I'm really sorry about what happened."
Alita smiles patiently and nods, "Just don't let it happen again, got it? If you end up with a bounty marker next time..." she shrugs, her expression hinting at unpleasant possibilities.
Meric nods emphatically, "Absolutely! I am never doing anything like that ever again." His shoulders slump a bit, "I just hope I can find work soon."
Getting up from the stool, I put my lightly torn t-shirt back on as I tell him, "Hold up a sec, I got something for ya." And I rush upstairs.
Opening up my footlocker, I gather up the credit chips and count out a good-sized pile that should buy food for three people for at least three days, putting a noticeable dent in my savings. Getting back downstairs I walk over to Meric, and shove the credit chips into his hand as he attempts to argue.
"Look, you don't need to-"
"No, I don't," I tell him, giving him my best piercing look. "And it's only a few days worth for food, five if you stretch it." I curl his fingers around the credit chips and release his hand and walk over to a nearby desk to grab a piece of paper and begin writing a number down on it. While I do so, I ask him, "You got a cell phone?"
"Uh, yeah," he answers uncertainly, staring at the credit chips in his hand.
Taking the paper with the number on it, I hand that to him as well. "Then call this number tomorrow. Talk to Henry Sheffield. No promises, but he might have a job for you." Then I clap him on the shoulder as he gazes in surprise at the piece of paper with the number on it. "Now, let's get you back home. You're wife's probably worried sick."
Alita takes Meric by the arm, as she says to me, "Koyomi and I can do that. You get cleaned up and get some rest." Her tone makes it clear that her word is final.
"Fine," I say, not having the energy to argue. To Meric, "Take care of yourself, and that family. And good luck."
With a determined look, Meric just nods, and leaves with Alita and Koyomi.
Ido looks me up and down and gestures upstairs with a nod, "Get a shower, you stink. I'll take care of those parts."
A chuckle escapes me as I gratefully acquiesce and head upstairs to wash away the smell of sweat, street and vomit. Later that evening, after showering, and changing clothes, I try to help Ido with the parts but he shoos me away insisting that I go rest.
Holding up my hands in surrender, "Alright, alright. I'll leave you to it, then."
At which point I head into the kitchen, and put a kettle on. When I get my first cup of tea, I stare at the far wall, lost in thought, losing track of time. I get to a second cup of tea by the time Alita returns. When she comes in and puts a kettle on, I notice that outside the little island of light from the ceiling lamp above the table, the clinic is dark and quiet.
And it's started raining again, as raindrops quietly rattle against the windows.
Looking over her shoulder at me, she asks, "Were you aware that Ido's already gone to bed?"
"No," I reply with some embarrassment. "Guess I got lost in thought." Scrutinizing her a bit, I comment, "You were gone a while. Did you stay and visit?"
With the kettle heating on the stove, Alita sits at the table next to me. Propping her elbows on the tabletop she interlaces her fingers together, resting her narrow chin on them. She wears only the black bodysuit, having apparently put away the blade and longcoat.
Her mouth turns up in a faint smile, "I did." Seeing my eyebrows go up, she asks, "Does that surprise you?"
An off-hand shrug, "Guess it does, a little." A sip of my now-tepid tea. With a light teasing tone, I comment, "The Motorball 'Cyclone of Destruction' dropping by to visit some random poor family."
Alita's smile brightens a bit, "Their daughter's name is Melisan. Such a cutie." Her eyebrows come down and she shakes her head in mild wonderment, "And so hyper! How does such a little thing have so much energy?"
A chuckle as I remember the early years of helping Vanessa care for her children, "Yep. The 'terrible two's. Which sometimes last into the teens." Another little off-hand shrug, "And occasionally beyond."
Almost guiltily, she tells me, "I did jump ahead a bit." When I look at her questioningly, she goes on, "I called Loretta after Meric told his wife what you'd done for them. Got Loretta just as she was getting into bed, asked her if they had a spot on the farm."
Perking up at this, I turn my attention fully toward her. The pang of irritation that she'd bother the Sheffield's just as they're getting to sleep is banished almost as quickly as it appears.
Her smile broadens into a grin, "She said she'd talk to Henry tomorrow, but they do. Sounded like things are going pretty well over there. And she was happy to hear that you're doing better."
"Now that is good news. And I'm glad to hear they're doing well."
Alita nods in agreement. After a moment's silence, she asks in all seriousness, "So, why do you look so unhappy?"
Anger and violence explode in my head like a roaring inferno, 'Get the FUCK OUT OF OUTTA MY SIGHT!' A deep breath and I sip some tea. "Tired. Sore. Concussion. Take yer pick."
A shake of her head, "No. You look like you've done something wrong." I open my mouth to say something but she jumps on it, "And you didn't! You did good, Jason."
"Yeah," I agree with a nod. "I also invaded a family's home, and practically threatened a woman armed only with her baby daughter, while I held her husband hostage."
"A husband that you also saved!" she argues. "Those other jackers preyed on his desperation, and probably would have gotten him killed eventually if they'd kept dragging him along." She seems to momentarily choke up, and I can see that something about this has really gotten to her. Then it's gone and there's just that earnest warmth in her eyes again, backed by steel, "Damn it, Jason, stop beating yourself up over that and count this as a win." Her voice becomes gentler as she lays a hand on my forearm, "Because it is. You won, and that family is going to have a chance at a better tomorrow because of you."
Looking into those eyes, no more arguments come. The berating voice in the dark of my mind, constantly spewing it's stream of shit into my brain, is silent. After several heartbeats, "Yeah. Okay. Guess I'm just not used to winnin'."
She smiles brightly. "Well, try to get used to it. Because I'd like to see you have a lot more."
Hesitantly, I return the smile. Letting go of stress I hadn't even known I was holding onto, I sip at the aromatic tea while enjoying the company of a good friend after a long, hard day.