Page 35 of The Fall

Lusa removed her helmet. “Then, why…” Her bottom lip stuck out in a way that fascinated Kerr.

“Fine,” Kerr squeezed her eyes shut so Lusa wouldn’t think she was staring. “I don’t want to go back empty handed. I can’t deal with Chalice right now, yeah?”

Lusa eyed her warily, but she hadn’t left either.

“I’ll…” Kerr scrambled to think of something she could offer that wouldn’t be too strange. “…pay for your drink or something.” By Lusa’s expression, it was definitely too strange.

But her face softened. “Do you really not have any other friends you can hang out with?”

Kerr wanted to take offense, but if she was being honest, her friends were just regulars at the bar. And if she drank with them, she’d complain about Chalice. And that would get back to her and she’d pay for it later.

As if she could wipe the awkwardness away, Kerr ran her fingers through her hair. “You got me. I’m a big loser who still does whatever her ex tells her to.” Kerr kicked at the dirt. “I was going to get drunk and then go to bed. But,” she teetered on one foot. “Drinking alone is awful.”

“And I’m the one you want to drink with?” Lusa chewed the inside of her lip. Probably a habit or a facial tic, but Kerr couldn’t help thinking suggestive thoughts. She turned neon. She needed to hide her face, and quick.

Kerr snatched the helmet and jammed it on her head. “Come on, let’s go.” She clambered up the back of the motorcycle like she belonged there, making an embarrassing situation infinitely worse. She fully expected Lusa to shove her off and drive away.

Lusa only shook her head and started the bike. “Which direction?”

Kerr pointed toward MB12. Her sense of relief quickly replaced by stomach-dropping terror. What had she gotten herself into?

“Park here.” Kerr pointed to a row of abandoned storefronts. A PetroLube barrel served as a makeshift fire pit. Three men huddled around it, various prosthetics glinting in the dancing light. “If you park anywhere else, someone will strip your bike for parts.”

Lusa snickered. Kerr didn’t understand what was so funny, but she let it be. She removed the helmet and held it out to Lusa. “It’s okay, they’re ours.” She nodded to one of the men. “Text me if anyone gets near the bike.”

“Thanks.” Lusa lifted her hand in a half-wave. One of the men smiled with fewer teeth than he had fingers.

Kerr fixed her hair. “That’s TC. His voice modulator broke. C’mon.”

“TC?” Lusa adjusted her knife belt. The man smiled wider.

“Timing Chain. No-one is going to take you seriously bringing those as weapons.” Kerr swept her eyes across her body. “Also, lose the jacket. It makes you look pretentious.”

“You doubt me?” Lusa removed her jacket anyway, stashing it with the rest of her gear.

Kerr laughed, feeling better now that her people were around. Lusa didn’t seem quite as scary here. “I saw what happened with Cinder. They didn’t.”

“But I’m with you.” Lusa said. “Aren’t you a higher up around here or something?”

Kerr couldn’t help but blush, nor could she hide it by stealing Lusa’s helmet again. Rushing to the bar before Lusa could see was her only option. Kerr had never thought of herself as a protector before, even if it was by dint of her position and not her prowess. She liked the feeling regardless.

Rounding the corner brought a wave of stale piss and rotting algae. Kerr giggled at the face Lusa made. She spotted Reel behind the turret surveying the crowd milling about. Scanning biosigs on the way in was Myo perched on a metal stool. He couldn’t do much else without new knee implants.

Popping and scraping as it moved, Myo held up a rusted prosthetic arm, barring Lusa from going further. Lusa shifted, like she was about to fight and Kerr rushed to intervene. “She’s with me.”

“I can’t scan her.” Myo tapped his temple, as if that would reset his Opti.

“Then get a new one.” Kerr shoved past him. “Tell Regedit I sent you.” She grabbed Lusa’s hand and pulled her past as well, catching the slight upturn of her lip.

It caused a thrill. Kerr tried to shove it down, suppress it, but there was no denying being around Lusa made her feel better about herself than she had in years. How pathetic was that? How pathetic was it that she found herself caring less about what she should feel and more about chasing that feeling for as long as she could.

Alcohol, she decided. It would either kill the feeling, or she could blame whatever happened on it. Kerr dragged Lusa through the doors and into the overwhelming crowd.

Past Reason Hated As Swallowed Bait

The amount of people blew her away – almost double the entire population of the Lake and all in one room. Most of them had something missing and replaced by complicated-looking implants, shining in the reflected glow of pulsing red and pink lights.

Dancing in time to a blaring throb, bodies blended into machines. Not the gleaming city full of AI-invented products, but real and alive. Human ingenuity clung to relevance, grime in the corners and unpolished. So much at once, it made her dizzy and then, an anchor to hold while she got her bearings, Kerr’s impish smile.