Page 200 of Godslayer
It was a hot morning, the final day of our pre-deployment R&R, and I was sweatin’ out last night’s drink on the floor of our hotel room—which was nothing but a fuckin’ tent. That’s all there is in Psi City, just tents.
Though no heaven waits for me, I walk forward without fear.
Myra woke me up early, shakin’ me. “Come on, Tyse. We’re gonna miss all the good shit.”
I pushed my hand into her face, then turned over, groanin’. Was up ‘till three partyin’ last night and the Sanddji comes with a wicked hallucinatory hangover, so I was not in any mood to get up at six-thirty am just so Myra could drag me around the Psi City mod-market.
She’s kind of a prepper.
Shewas, Tyse.Was.
I do not serve, nor submit, nor bow.
But I did get up, and I did go with her.
Myra was always thinkin’ up the stupidest scenarios where she’d pull through because she was a hoarder of the most bizarreaftermarket Versi mods you could think of. Even in the here and now—with my eyes closed, so fuckin’ tired from stealin’ spark from other dimensions to keep Clara alive, feelin’ like death—I smile at this memory.
“It’s not hoarding, Tyse. Not if it comes in handy later.”
“Since when are three cases of spark cartridges gonna come in handylater?” I flicked her in the head. “They’re the first fuckin’ thing you use when things go sideways. No one’s savin’ ‘em forlater, Myra.”
Built in fire, tested in ruin—I carry the code that cannot break.
“How much for the PhaseTether?” she asked the coder selling mods in the next tent over.
“What the hell am I gonna do with PhaseTether?” I nearly guffawed. “Myra, it only works ongods. Where in the holy hell are we gonna taze a god with PhaseTether in the hell-fucked Outlands?” Then I eyed the coder. Givin’ him a look. “Probably doesn’t even work. Prolly gonna hit me with a fuckin’ mandatory update the moment I need it, isn’t it?”
The coder scoffed. “Maybe the better question is, what kind of augment doesn’t update his mods before deployment? There’s no updates in the Outlands,augment.” He threw that word around like an insult. “Because there’s no functional datanet.”
Myra was frustrated by this time. Absolutely done with me. Because this was my general attitude about everythin’ we’d bought that day. “For fuck’s sake, how unimaginative do you have to benotto picture a scenario where PhaseTether saves your ass? Ya know what? Forget it. I’ll take one, he’s a hard pass.”
I rolled my eyes. Sighed. Slouched a little. Gave in. “Fine. Hook me up too.” Then I slid him my Versi-mod cartridge across the makeshift counter and turned my back while Myra took care of the credit exchange.
I stand with those who stand beside me.
I didn’t know it at the time, but that would be the last aftermarket Versi mod Myra would ever talk me in to.
Because two weeks later I shot her in the head.
Their names are my armor; their memory is my shield.
I’m sittin’ on the floor of the train, cradlin’ a limp Clara in my left arm while I hold the Versi at high-ready with my right, when it rolls to a stop.
The doors hiss as they slide apart. I’m aimin’ for the head.
I got sick of the fuckin’ worker bots eight factories back when we pulled into Zeta. Started shootin’ ‘em as they tried to board my train. So this train is empty, save for Clara and me.
In their silence, I move on.
But this time, at the Xi Factory—it’s not a worker who appears in my doorway. It’s Lover Boy. Holdin’ a limp red-haired woman in his arms. I don’t actually recognize him. He looks nothin’ like the man I saw fleeing Tau City with this same fuckin’ woman lookin’ the same fuckin’ way.
But it’s him.
Lookin’ so much like me, my heart thumps.
He’s even got the same regret all over his face. I don’t know what he wants to take back, but for me, it’s that moment on the tracks when I had my Versi in hand and I didn’t fight, I ran.
It was seventeen against one in that tunnel. A losing bet when it’s nothing but Sweep sanctioned augments.
