I was panting, sweat clinging to my neck. The probe whirled in his hand, flashing soothing white and green lights. But as it spun, the sound was all too familiar, and I swore I could still feel the screws tearing through my bones.
“Fuck it, I’m out of here.”
I was fine. I didn’t need anyone fixing me. Eon was just going to have to deal.
I shoved the doc back until he stumbled, tripping over the backless stool behind him. I didn’t look back as the door slammed behind me.
Maddox lookedme up and down as I stormed back to my desk. “You look like shit. What happened?”
It wasn’t just my left arm that was shaking now—I could feel the weakness in my legs too. The weakness in my soul. I slammed myself down into my chair. “It’s always, ‘You look like shit, Cy,’ never, ‘Good to see you, partner. Thanks for staying up with that annoying pain in the ass all night so we can get our bag, partner.’”
I spun away from Maddox and rubbed my eyes. I couldn’t get my brain to stop. With each flash of light, the Modder moved over me, scalpel in hand, cutting into my frozen body. I felt everything, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even scream.
I shoved it down.Don’t be fucking weak. Don’t be a goddamn yowamushi.Sparks snaked over my skin when Maddox’s hand landed on my shoulder.
“Hey, you been getting enough sleep? I know we’re on a timeline, but we can’t do this if you’re messed up.” I knew I’d shocked him, but he didn’t budge. His hand just squeezed tighter. “We’ve been partners a long time, Cy. I know the shit you’ve gone through.”
He didn’t know all of it—but I didn’t push his hand off, just leaned my head back so it rested against the top of my chair.
“Yeah, just a little on edge. Only got two weeks left andmy girl,as you say, is being obstinate.”
“I think I know something that’ll get you back on track.” Maddox grinned, and then so did I.
“Aw shit, you got some minutes banked?” He nodded, and he was right. I felt better already.
CHAPTER 34
CY
“So, are we going to do a realistic sim?”
Maddox tilted his head at me in annoyance. “You think I’m wasting my personal minutes on a realistic sim?”
xVR had been developed for military training—weapons, combat, and the like. Fully immersive virtual reality, where you could feel, smell, and see everything. Of course, it had been immediately ripped for porn, but most people could only stand a few real-life minutes at the dilated timescale, and that market was still developing. Also, even with direct Stellarium hookups, the power draw was insane. POM and a few of the other big corps were the only ones who could run it effectively.
Luckily, Maddox and I’s Flux let us go longer, dive deeper.
“What do you think—pain at twenty percent?” Maddox asked.
“Yeah, gotta have something or it’s no fun at all. You cranking your Flux?”
Maddox didn’t respond, and I sensed his shoulders tense with what I knew was shame. I slapped him on the back. “Go forit, my man. We gotta get our minutes’ worth. Just don’t leave me in the dust, okay?”
At that, he cracked a smile again and finished inputting the sim’s parameters with a final click. Two neuropods popped open with a pneumatic hiss, the glass tubes lit with soft, warm light to distract from the fact they looked almost exactly like coffins. I stepped inside; the door shut behind me without a sound, and I placed my back against the cushioned wall. The entire pod slowly tilted back just a few degrees, and snake-like robotic arms secured my body. The neurocradle came down over my eyes, and I felt the soft sting of microneedles in the back of my neck.
White light flared in my vision before it was rebuilt pixel by pixel.
The world around me assembled in rectangular sections, snapping together. As the visuals came into focus, a cold wind whipped at my neck, sending the hair on top of my head flying. I pushed it out of my eyes, but the world was still obscured by thick mist. Slowly, the concrete of a heliport appeared beneath my feet, and I knew above me was nothing but endless sky. Massive Stellarium posts rose on either side of me, pulsing with the heartbeat of the city. The mist swirled and caught on the fifty-foot-tall POM logo that floated between the posts.
I should’ve known—this was Maddox’s favorite location. The top of Neo Stellaris, the roof of POM Enterprises. The glowing blue-green logo flashed above my head as an air transport flew through it, the side door popping open dramatically in midair. My hair whipped into my face as the vehicle’s turbines thrust downward. I pushed it away again.
“Enough with the dramatics. Get down here and fight me!” I yelled.
Maddox popped his head out of the transport, red dreads blowing in the wind, a grin I rarely saw plastered on his face. His Vysor was gone, and those glowing eyes were on full display.
“Who said I’m coming down?”
He stepped out of the door like it wasn’t thirty feet in the air, but before he could fall more than a few feet, the air wrapped around him and he shot off into the sky.
