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The river is sucked beneath the wall. I assume it is safe to be drawn beneath it, though there is a part of me which makes me worry that there are macerating blades waiting for us as everything goes black. I cuddle close to Rath and close my eyes and hope that he’s not letting us float into oblivion.
There are no massive blades at the river’s edge. There is nothing at all, just a big hole through which we traverse with surprising ease. Is this how Megaris is protected? With a big hole under the river? Everything I know about this city revolves around security, and yet there’s just a hole here. Anything could float in, anything…
We join a general cluster of debris inside the walls of Megaris. There is an internal collection area. That’s the only way I can describe it. Bots are floating above the river, scanning various items and plucking them out to put them into various bins. Megarians use every bit of the river.
Rath pulls us both out of the river before we are scanned. I find myself naked and cold on the stone banks of the water. The river itself does not flow through the city proper. The water is dashing down to a series of pipes which I am sure rush to all sorts of different regions of the city and factories and uses and whatnot. I can’t think about infrastructure now. I look up at Rath to try to gauge his expression. All I get are the wet tendrils of his hair brushing against my face.
“We're in the filtration system,” he explains. “It is usually designed to capture large debris. It’s also one of the easiest ways to access or leave Megaris without coming under obvious surveillance.”
I’m not sure why he’s telling me this. I am still so completely confused as to what is truly happening. Accused of a crime I didn’t commit, saved by a hunter who is known for always killing his bounties, shot out of the sky and then made love to… nothing that happens to me makes sense according to what I think I know about my world. My confusion is made worse by my hunger. I haven’t eaten in the better part of a day. That didn’t bother me until this moment, but suddenly, standing naked with Rath at the precipice of certain disaster, I am ravenous.
“Is there time to get something to eat before whatever happens next happens? Maybe we pick up some clothes, go to a restaurant?”
I know there is no chance of that. A hunter and a human would never socialize. It is more than forbidden. It is utterly taboo. Inside the walls of Megaris, we are not the same thing.
Rath leads me, still utterly naked, toward the doors. I don’t know what his plan is. A korabi hunter and a naked human are not going to go unremarked upon for long. The second we step onto the street we are going to be flagged by the security algorithm.
We step out onto the street.
We are immediately flagged by the algorithm, which is apparently absolutely thrilled to see Rath.
WELCOME, RATH K’ZAR
WELCOME BACK, RATH K’ZAR
WELCOME BACK, BABY!
The blaring goes on and on, yelling from every available advertising space. Every vehicle which goes by, every piece of building space, half the sidewalk is flashing with his face and his name.
I turn to him with a brow raised in a care to explain this sort of way. If this was his plan, to just float me back and get me caught, he could and should have killed me already. I would rather have been dispatched mid-orgasm than be returned here to the pit of fear.
“This is the first of many occasions in which you will have to be loyal to me if you want to stay alive, Lyric.”
He crouches down enough that we are eye level. It cannot be a comfortable position, but he does it because he wants me to listen. So I do.
“You, of course, know King Krush.”
“Yeah. King of Megaris. I am vaguely familiar.” I cross my arms over my chest to try to warm myself. It’s hard to have your sarcasm taken seriously with your nipples exposed.
“He and I have a complicated history. At one time, he issued a bounty on me. That bounty is still technically active, though not currently being acted on.”
“Then you’re probably going to die, because Krush gets what he wants.”
“I choose to believe survival is an option, human. Mine, and yours.”
“That’s adorable.”
He slaps my ass. Hard. “I do not need your insolence. I need your help. You are going to be taken into custody, but you will soon find yourself released. What you do after your escape could change the course of not only our lives, but Megaris as a whole forever. As scum, you are able to move among the humans with limited detection. I have removed your implants and augmentations, which makes you indistinguishable from any of the others.”
