Android or not I was truly becoming my father’s son.
It turns out when I actually try I can perfectly imitate my Dad’s ability to walk into a room and charm everyone.
Well, mostly everyone.
It was evening of my first night in Red Star, the Mjollner hostel. I’d been put into a room with 18 other men and boys. A lot of them knew each other from the street, most of them were drug addicts so I’d put myself in the middle of a conversation about dangerous highs, borrowing my stories from things I’d seen or heard about from Minnow.
Which led to me being invited to play in the nightly card game of Kings.
We were crowded around a storage container that had been made into a make shift table. I didn’t know the game and I made jokes about how bad I was until I figured some of the rules out. So far I knew I rolled the die when it was my turn and that red cards were good.
Most of the guys around the table were new to the hostel, fresh off the street or from the small company towns outside the sprawl and looking to make quick money. There were a few older guys with more experience, who had gone out and survived a few small jobs with Bishop, they seemed to keep the order.
They were the ones I targeted.
“Craziest shit I’ve ever experienced,” I say to the man next to me who’d been talking about going with Bishop to sell drugs to some high ranking clergy staff . “ --Was this shoot out the Mjollner did when I was with the Shy Cartel. I didn’t get hit but this one asshole took 12 to the head and then a bottle of top shelf Vermouth crush his neck.”
I was exaggerating and flat out lying but a few of the old timers laughed.
“I think Bishop and his brothers did that,” the card dealer said shaking his head. “The Mjollner and the Shy Cartel been having a pissing contest for years. It’s personal bullshit.”
“So, only Bishop and his brothers can fuck with the Shy Cartel ?,” I ask nonchalantly. “They never ask any of us to help ?,”
The man clears his throat
“You used to run with the Shy, right ?”
“If you could call it that,” I say
“You better think about why you came here, kid. Are you looking for revenge on your old crew or looking for cash ? Cause you may not get the former, but the latter is guaranteed, “ he says as he shuffles his hologram.
“I just like to know who I’m working for…I didn’t even know Bishop had brothers,” I say as lighthearted as a can. “Does Bishop have a son or nephews ?,”
“The fuck kind of question is that ?,” the drug addict lying shirtless in one of the beds laughs.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I just have this girl and she’s--”
“Hey,” the dealer barks, banging the table. “Don’t let anyone hear you say that,”
“What ?,” I ask
“Don’t ever let the Mjollner know you have anyone who means anything to you. They’ll use that person against you and it will kill you,”
***
In the backroom of the Stratosphere Ilena is perched on the back of a dining room chair, her long legs crossed distractingly on the seat of the chair. She doesn’t take her eyes off Bishop. I wonder how loyal she is to Bishop, if she would ever turn on him. I didn’t even know who she was to him. Was she his girlfriend or a joygirl paying her dues to climb the ladder ?
Bishop is calling names of the men assembled and handing each man a case with thousands of dollars worth of syringes and capsules.
I wasn’t planning on actually going out and selling, I already have 6k cold from Rayne sewn into the backpack I was carrying. I figured I’d contact Minnow and maybe give the drugs to her as a peace offering. I wasn’t happy with how we’d left things and I knew she was running low and withdrawal was a bitch.
As the room starts to empty I start doing some math in my head. There are two cases left, but including me there are three men left standing. When the last man’s name is called I’m left standing in the room alone with Bishop and Ilena.
Shit.
“Did I do something wrong ?,” I say, in a half-joking tone, forcing myself to smile.
“Not at all,” Bishop says putting a hand on my shoulder. “I took a scan of your body yesterday and looked at your specs last night. I’ve got greater things planned for you Mr. Antonovich.”
He motions for me to follow him out the door and into one of those dark red sports cars with the gold engraving of the Mjollner’s symbol---a death scythe and stars. Bishop sits in the passenger side and Ilena takes the control seat. After tapping in the coordinates she starts blaring TechnOrchestral music, it’s loud and sounds like someone scratching a violin with a computer chip.
We don’t drive long and she directs the car in front of a promenade of luxury hotels on the West Side of the strip. This part of the city reminds me of the metropolis’ in the Eastern States with it’s sparkling skyscrapers and polished sidewalks.
The streets are filled with pedestrians and noise from the hotels mingles in the street. The moment Bishop steps out of the car people notice him; they shout his name and he waves.
I follow him into The Excalibur II, there is so much gold--everything is sparkling and shiny. It smells like perfume and alcohol
“Let me guess,” I say. “This place is a brothel ?,”
Nearly all of the former hotels in this part of town where.
“Not exactly,” Bishop says leading me to the elevator. “The bottom seven floors are a BDSM club. The rest of the floors are residences for the filthy rich and single.”
He hits the button for the penthouse and we ascend at speed so quickly I lose my sense of gravity. The second the doors open I catch a familiar sharp smell.
Cryogenic Nitrogen
I hear the paces of a familiar rhythm running through the lab. It wouldn’t be detectable to most people but I can feel it.
This is a body hacking lab.
A man who appears only a few years older than me strides across the room; he’s dressed in a sharp three piece suit and lab coat. The room is so vast the sounds of his clicking boots echoes all around us. He embraces Bishop in a quick hug and they kiss each other on the cheek.
“This is Dr. Markov,” Bishop introduces me. “He’s a good friend of the Mjollner and working on something very special.”
Dr. Markov gives me a once over and I do the same to him. His neat dark hair is slicked back and highlighted with dark blue. He has a small red jeweled pendant on the breast pocket of his coat.
He wasn't what I expected from a synthesizer. Synthesizer's were the Mjollner's most expensive asset, they were the scientists who cooked up whatever drug would empty an addicts wallet. They we're a favorite target of Rayne's because it hurt the Mjollner's supply the most.
Dr. Markov throws an annoyed look to Bishop.
“Is this the best you can do ?,” Dr. Markov asks.
“He’s more than meets the eye," Bishop says. "His body is very resilient to hacking. Why don’t you show us what you’re working on ?”
Markov sighs and motions for us to follow him to an elevated table where a series of screens are projecting equations.
“I’m finishing work on an experimental compound for a drug we are calling M44,” Dr. Markov says moving through cellular models. “We need to remove some of the acidity out of the carboylic acid ion and replace it with a more organic compound similar to temporal lobe—“
“To give users a higher level of awareness during their high,” I finish for him.
I don’t know why I do it. I think I want to show off to this guy that I’m not some pretty face. It was nice to know my months with Blackbird hadn’t been a total waste.
They both stare at me and Dr. Markov slowly nods his head.
“Exactly, but--,”
He’s interrupted by a loud banging coming from directly behind me.
On instinct I turn around and see a coffin like suspension tank and the liquid inside looks unsettled.
“Fuck,” I say as I realize the body floating on top of the suspension tank is live.
As I take a step back I notice there are nearly a dozen catheters running from the tank. The body, the man—who looks familiar—is staring at me in horror as he lifts his bound hands up just enough to bang on the glass.
“What the fuck--”
“He’s a live one,” Dr. Markov says as he injects a liquid in one of the catheters, I expect it to knock the man out, but all it does is make his eyes go wide as his arms droop down.
“That’s Pierre,” Bishop says to me. “He got a little too excited losing his virginity and choked one of our girls to death.”
I realize I know the man from the Stratosphere yesterday, he’d been one of the men who suggested I leave. He blinks his eyes at me pleadingly, I didn’t even think you could put a living person in a tank like this, but I guess it physically makes sense. They could pretty much keep him alive in there forever. With only an inch of space around his body it would be ike being buried alive.
Dr. Markov and Bishop continue on like nothing has happened, and I have to force my eyes away from the trapped man. Dr. Markov was showing more off the drugs he was working on. He seemed to be obsessed with pushing the psychotropic boundaries of the human body.
“So... I’m selling these ?,” I ask.
“No,” Bishop responds. “I guess I never made it clear to you. You’re to be Dr. Markov’s personal bodyguard. As he’s one of our most valuable synthesizers--”
“Pharmacologists,” Dr. Markov corrects.
“Of course,” Bishop says. “We’ve invested a lot in Markov’s innovations and we want to keep him alive finish his work.”
Shit.
I was never going to get any answers if I was stuck in a lab all day babysitting a doctor. I’d just left being in Blackbird’s lab all day and I wasn’t ready to do that again.
“All day ?,” I ask
“No, of course not.” Bishop says. “Markov and his family live in a safe house until his work here is done. You’ll just need to make sure he gets there and back each day. You can still sleep at the hostel or , if you’d like in one of the residences downstairs in Excalibur.”
“I thought those were only for the filthy rich ?,” I say
“That’s why I own two,” Bishop says. “You’re strong. I’m not going to waste you selling on the street. ”
“With all do respect.” I say,” I don’t think I’m your guy. I was more of an errand boy to Rayne than bodyguard. I’ve never even killed anyone.”
“Don’t worry,” Bishop smiles. “We’d never send you in unprepared.”
***
“I can’t handle this!” I shout again. “I’m out.”
“Say it louder I don’t think they heard you in hell,” Minnow says crossing her arms. She’s lying down on one of the train seats, her boots dragging along the walls
We’re on a moving train now, alone in the back car that’s been closed for contamination—or so the sign outside claims.
“Ready, brother ?,” Jean asks.
I nod.
Jean has my arm in his lap and he takes a small knife to it before digging around for the tracking device Sara gave me with tweezers. I don’t even feel the pain.
“If they figure me out it’s over.” I say. “ I know too much and these guys are batshit insane. I think I should just call it quits.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Sara says. “The Mjollner are protective of their synthesizers, the fact that they let you near one means they trust you. You’ll have unprecedented access. This is exactly what we wanted--”
“Of course it is,” Minnow says rolling her eyes.
“Why are you even here ?,” I ask her
“You’re going to be a freak, you know ?” Minnow says. “The street samurai are like inhuman looking. They have hooks for hands or machine guns for legs and shit”
I pretend like I don’t care about that, but that is really all I care about. Bishop already had plans for me to have more cybernetic adjustments made to my body. I thought of Belle with her knife like nails.
“Whatever they do we can reverse it,” Sara tells me. “We’re not going to be able to track or record you until after the surgeries, but I’ve got some intel on Markov. He’s harmless. He was kicked out of his BioEnginnering firm for unethical experiments with steroids.
“He must be a real asshole,” Jean said. “Those firms usually don’t give a fuck about ethics.”
Sara’s eyes squint as she reads his file.
“Holy shit,” she says exasperated, scrolling back and forth.” “He was doing unauthorized testing on children.”
“Sick bastards,” Jean scoffs. "Do you think thats a lead ?"
“I don't know.” Sara says.
“So, let’s go kidnap him and his family and threaten them until we get answers,” Minnow says. “Isn’t that how we do things ?”
“That’s how we do things when we have nothing to lose,” Sara says.
“What exactly am I supposed to do ?,” I ask her exasperated.
“Anything they want you to,” she tells me. “We’ll be out of contact for a month while they are giving you the surgeries, but we’ll try to get messages to you.”
“Sara, I can’t--”
“You can,” she says. “Alan, I don’t know where your future will take you. But, if you can pull this off and you stay with Rayne and I, I promise you that you will be one of the most powerful men in this city."
“And if you don’t,” Minnow says. “You’ll probably be dead.”
------