Tailspin, page 38
It was what I needed to hear. There was no way anyone would go in for it unless they understood that and what that level of pain meant.
Niko put his hand on my arm. “You really want that?” he asked.
“I do,” I confirmed, and I’d never been surer. Scared shitless, sure. This meant more study, more chances to fail. But I couldn’t not try. Malaki needed this; I needed this. “As crazy as it seems,” I added, “I really, really do.”
“I think you’re both crazy,” Trevor said, but he held up a glass to us. “However, I know how much you are needed. Drone pilots do a hell of a job. Without you fighting with us, with the teams, we’d have gone down years ago. You enhance everything out there—”
“Tenfold.” Frank grinned, raising his glass. “To anyone who wishes to join our ranks. May you get tech that works, a site that never lets you down, and keep those balls of steel solid. You’re going to need them.”
We clinked glasses. “To teamwork,” I said, and the others all reciprocated.
Frank looked at the time. “We should head back. It’s a good distance, and we still have a curfew.”
“Thanks to both of you,” I said. “It is late.”
We parted ways after finishing the last few shots. Trevor gave Niko two pills. “Take them before bed. You’ll feel better by morning, no effects.”
He thanked him, and we split, heading back to our own respective bunks.
“Let me know how it goes tomorrow,” I said to Niko before the lights went out.
“I will. I’m still asking her,” he worried. “I’m still asking her to marry me, tomorrow. I have to.”
Before I could say anything else, he was gone.
I took my pill, drank a load of water, and drunken sleep took hold of me before the pill could start to work its wonders.
45-Shay
Shay stuck close to Anada as they headed onto the stony ground around the warehouse. Anada paused at what could only be described as a barrier. Shay noticed that the stones changed size and color in a perfect line around the property.
“He knew you were coming?”
“I gave him an approximate time, yes.”
The air hummed, and in the next second, Anada stepped over the line. Shay did as well, and they walked up to the large metal doors.
Anada took a side door and, opening it, stepped inside.
With hardly any natural light inside, Shay struggled to adjust at first. “You’re late,” a voice boomed towards them.
“Not late, Korel. I never gave you a time for that exact reason.”
The floor trembled under him, and then he saw where the voice came from. Shay turned and what little light he did have was suddenly blotted out as a figure loomed over him. Shay stared at the bulging thigh muscle of the leg he was face to face with, attached to a body bigger than he was and at least five times as heavy. A thick, dark-brown belt tracked up to a white shirt and open collar. Underneath shone out even darker skin. Shay backed up, but Anada put her hand out and stopped his retreat.
All Shay could do was stare; the man before him had arms the size of a house too. Well, the one he could see. Something seemed off about his other. But his face…from his mouth stuck out thick yellow almost pointed teeth.
“Never seen a real man before?” Korel griped.
Shay couldn’t speak.
“Don’t think he’s been this far,” Anada answered for him. “Shay, this is Korel Macraken. If you want anything in Artem, he’s your man, at least around here.”
Korel stomped away, and Shay caught the glint of metal where his hand should have been.
Anada moved to the large desk, and Korel vanished into a room at the back. “Lemme see it,” he said coming back in with what looked like a 3D scanner.
Anada pulled out her bag, and from inside of it, she brought out an arm. A full metal arm. She put it down on the table, and Korel began inspecting it. “Know exactly what it came off?”
“Tier Two, Acetech,” she said. “Killed him, err, the owner myself.”
Those words reverberated around Shay’s mind. “Killed him, killed him. Him, him.”
Inside his hood, Pim squirmed, then spoke. “Would he let us look around?”
“I don’t know,” Shay replied. “I think he’ll eat me.”
“Orcs won’t eat you; you’re not worth eating.” Pim laughed.
Shay stepped towards the desk and peered up over the edge. Next to Korel was a smaller figure, a young woman. She looked at Shay, and he waved, stupidly, in her direction.
Korel shot her a glare, then the massive orc glanced down at him. “What?”
“Can I look around?” he begged, his voice cracking.
Korel glared at Anada. “If he breaks anything, you’re paying.”
Anada just nodded and waved Shay away.
“Obviously doesn’t want to do business in front of us,” Pim said.
Shay didn’t care; he was just glad he could get out of the orc’s stare.
The small, front-facing office was now a showroom. It led out the back into a massive open warehouse. Shelving was stacked to the roof in row upon row. There were hundreds—no, thousands—of items.
Shay edged in to get a look at the first row. There were things in here he’d never seen at all.
Pim poked his head out of the hood, then dived out. Within seconds, he was jumping from one shelf to the next.
“Hey, what you doing?” Shay asked. “Don’t, we’ll get into trouble!”
Pim kept going, though, and on the middle shelf he stopped, his ears up and his nose twitching. He looked down. “There’s another walrat here,” he said. Then he was off.
Shay ran after him down the aisles. As he crossed over from one building into another, he thought he’d lost him. But a moment later he spotted his walrat’s red fur bounding ahead.
Shay ran faster and still couldn’t keep up.
“Come on,” Pim encouraged.
Shay tried his best, his heart pounding. When Pim stopped, so did he, struggling to catch his breath.
Pim dropped low, his voice a rumble, then a low cry.
“What is it?” Shay asked.
No reply.
Carefully, Shay stepped onto the first shelf, then climbed to the one where Pim was. When he reached his friend, he saw.
There was indeed another walrat, but it was not alive. It was only parts.
Shay put his hand on Pim’s back. “I’m sorry.”
“We can salvage something, let’s take him to the owner.” Pim jumped back onto his shoulder, almost knocking him off the shelf. Shay steadied himself, then scooped up the broken animal, and climbed back down. As they walked back to the front of the warehouse, Pim stayed silent.
Both Korel and Anada were in a deep discussion when he stepped back through into the front office.
Anada noticed right away what he was carrying, and that Pim wasn’t hiding.
Korel’s eyes widened. “You have a walrat?” The big man stepped out from the counter and held his hand out. “Come here, little one. Let me take a look at you.” His whole demeanor changed, his stance low, voice soft.
Anada put a hand out in front of her to stop him, and Pim retreated behind Shay’s neck as much as he could. “He is not for sale, get that out of your head now.”
“Bu—”
“No buts, he belongs to the kid. No negotiations, got it?”
Korel rolled his eyes. “Of course, of course.” He still held his hand out. “You’re in need of parts?”
Shay held out the broken body. “He is. We’d like to talk.”
Korel moved back behind his large desk. “Pop him here and let me take a look at yours. We’ll see what we can do.”
“We weren’t finished yet,” Anada said.
“My offer is final,” Korel replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Take it or leave it. You’ll get nothing more out of me today.”
Anada cursed under her breath, but stepped back so that Shay could move in closer. He wasn’t tall enough, so Anada kicked a step his way, and Shay hopped on up, placing the broken walrat on the counter.
Pim growled. “I do not want him to see me,” he said.
Shay stroked down his nose. “I know, but he has more experience than I do. Let him look, and then maybe he can help us.”
“I don’t trust him.”
“Neither do I,” Shay said. “But we do need to start somewhere.”
“You know much about walrats?” Korel asked as he began to inspect the broken body.
“No,” Shay admitted.
“I have some basic files and information.” Korel looked to Anada. “For a price.”
“Wouldn’t expect it any other way,” Anada said.
“I will tell you a bit about this one,” Korel said. “Been in possession of him for six years.”
“How’d he die?”
“Probably like a lot of things around here.” Korel picked the walrat up and laid him flat with legs akimbo. The skin and fur pulled back to reveal the skeleton and the metal adjustments. Korel then met Pim’s eyes. “Someone wanted his partner dead, and he got in the way. I’d say the main damage was to fleshy internal organs; the skeletal structure, both real and bionics, were not harmed.”
“The tech is intact?” Anada asked.
Korel picked the head up in his massive hands, as gentle as they came while handling this tiny creature. “Owner had him preserved, due to the cost of the bionics, then when he eventually passed, his family sold him on. Cost a fair bit back then.”
Shay’s heart sank. “How much?”
“A hundred creds.”
Even Anada flinched. “You any idea how long it would take the kid to save that kinda money?”
Korel shrugged. “That was then. Today it’s two hundred.”
Shay hopped off the step. “Don’t worry,” he said to Pim. “I’ll get the materials, and I’ll rebuild you. We don’t need replacement parts then, just time.”
“Wait,” Korel interjected. “You can build?”
Shay turned to him this time, and with deft skill, he picked his leg up, placing his foot on the step. “Hospital job wasn’t great,” he said. “When I walked, it glitched. I only had the basic understanding of things back then. But I learned.” He pulled up his trouser leg to reveal a bionic leg. “It’s taken me a few years, but everything’s been replaced with better, stronger and more viable tech.”
Shay noticed the woman watching him with a raised eyebrow. He grinned. He now knew he had something valuable beyond Pim. His knowledge. He’d come back one day and get what he needed, even if he had to trade something for it.
“Don’t underestimate an orc,” Pim said in his ear. “They’re ruthless and you just showed him something I know he will want.”
“So do I,” Shay said and patted his friend.
Anada raised an eyebrow at him. “You surprise me every single day.”
“Not likely to reveal my secrets on day one, am I?” Shay grinned. “So, yeah, the price is good, but we won’t be needing it.”
Shay stepped out of the building, his heart pounding. Anada ran after him.
“I thought you were selling him your stuff?” Shay asked.
“He offered a shit price,” she replied. “Not going to let him think he can offer shit and I’ll just take it.” Anada smiled. “Besides, I think someone I know might have better use for it.”
Shay stared up at him. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s head back,” she said. “I’ve somewhere else I can show you before sundown.”
Pim gave the building one long glance before nudging Shay in the neck. Shay covered him back up and tucked him inside his hood, tight. “All right. Talk.”
“What level are you and specialties?” Anada asked. “And why the hell are you in a brothel, cleaning rooms instead of in—”
“In a tech farm?” Shay held his hand up. “No, I got out of that a long time ago; the hospital wanted me to pay off my debt by staying in their bio lab. I was there a year to do it. Did my time, paid my debt, and ran.”
“Which hospital?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Shay dismissed her, but he knew it did. He was in one of M-Corp’s finest labs, the highest-end tech. “Outcome was the same. Level four in bionics, specifically creation and adaptation.”
“Smart kid,” Anada said.
“Why else would I be out on the farmlands? Sure as heck wasn’t for their shitty food crops.”
Anada laughed. “We can trade then,” she said. “I have a few pieces that need upgrades; you do the work, I’ll supply what you need for Pim.”
“This all under Miss Tellier?”
“Hell, no,” Anada said. “Tellier provides us with fuck all, and as you just said, they’d ship you to another tech lab soon as they could sell you.”
“What do you want?” Shay asked.
“Well, you are smart. With the walrat—”
“Pim,” Shay said. “His name is Pim.”
“—with Pim, you’ll be a force to be reckoned with on the streets. You’re going to do us some running.”
“Running?” Shay said. “I’m undernourished, and not that fit.” On the inside Shay knew better; he knew what running was. Dangerous. But right now, danger was what he needed; he needed to risk upgrading himself and Pim.
“Don’t be coy.” Anada cocked her head at him and held out a hand. “You in?”
“We are in,” Shay replied and shook her hand firmly.
.
46
The last few days had been routine: get up, run, eat, test, read. There was nothing out of the ordinary at all. Simple.
Then it wasn’t. The weather, at least, had been warming up, and a couple of the other class members had actually joined me for running.
I made polite conversation with most of them, and they questioned me when they eventually found the confidence to do so.
It was nice.
Now, I was almost at my first goal for the season. Almost.
Back in our lecture hall, I sat down to catch up with the term’s final test. The cold metal chair sent a shiver up my spine. Nerves. I glanced around the class, but everyone else had their heads down already, with concentration etched over their faces.
On the screen, though, was something entirely different. I stared at it. This wasn’t the test. No way.
Apex? What is this?
This is the final test.
Final test for what, the whole year? No, I replied. It’s not the test I should be taking.
I should have been looking at and going over points for failure in a Pelican, or an Enigma, even a Bumble 23 or 44.
But no, what was staring back at me was not any of them. I studied the 3D image for a while and rolled up my sleeves.
Okay, I guess we’re playing this game.
You’re going to take the test? Apex asked, and it actually felt like he shrugged inside my mind.
Yes, I said. Yes, I am.
We haven’t studied this. Why would you take a test you haven’t studied for?
Because I’ll fail, I replied.
You think that proves a point?
Maybe.
I stared at the screen, then at the first question.
1. On evac, this is the only option you have. What is your first port of call?
I laughed, though this was a serious test, and everyone looked at me. They wanted me to tell them how I’d essentially steal a helo. Sure, I could do that. Maybe.
Fail or not, this was going to be fun.
This wasn’t the same helo I’d come back in when the Black Bears rescued us. I could only presume from the slightly altered shape that this was perhaps one that a DP used.
The computer’s AI asked me to point out several differences. I also noted that these were not A, B, or C answers. These were asking me to write out a full answer.
Pretty easy, I wrote what I first thought. Nice simple answers. Then I closed the test and waited for the class to end.
I felt like I’d accomplished something, something good either way. Even if that last test was a fail, it was nice to do it, not to just sit there with a pass.
The class ping sounded. “Dismissed,” Master Sergeant West said to the class. “Except Airman Korolyov.”
All eyes turned to me, and I froze. They left me, all of them.
Master Sergeant West moved the chair from his desk in front of me and sat on it with a deep throaty cough. “I’ve seen how hard you’ve been working,” he said. “You’ve just taken the test from last month, right?”
This close to him, I noted his graying hair and crow’s feet. His right eye glinted from the overhead lights, and I knew his tech could see my every facial twitch. I wasn’t going to lie. He’d know. “No,” I said. “That wasn’t last month’s test. No student here would pass that.”
“No student here?” He raised his eyebrows at me and crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you sure?”
I swallowed. Apex?
I know nothing. He lied. I knew he did.
“What are you saying?”
“You think you failed, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Would you like to know your results for all ten modules?”
“You can show me that already?” I asked him, curious as I expected much more hush-hush over me actually taking the tests.
“These are my lectures. I have full authority inside them. Yes or no?”
I nodded.
He leaned over in his chair and it groaned under his weight. He brought up the test results and I read down the list.
Exam Score - Ruslan Korolyov
1 = 99%
2 = 100%
3 = 97%
4 = 98%
5 = 100%
6 = 95%
7 = 99%
8 = 88%
9 = 95%
10 = 64%
Overall = Fail
“So,” West said. “A pass is 85% and above.”
I did fail then, by over twenty freaking percent. I shook my head at the irony of it. I’d still hoped I would pass that last test.
“I just answered honestly,” I said. “I didn’t think too hard. Just said what I would do in those situations.”
