We reached an empty street in Tentro, leaving the explosions, screams, and darkness behind.
"You're fucking insane if you think I'm giving you a ride," Kiara bellowed.
The car landed. I turned and immediately understood the android's annoyance.
Saymon was right behind us. With a smug smile, he opened the car door. "Want a choice?"
"Yeah. How about I choose to put a bullet through your skull? Curious what kind of shit I'd find inside." Kiara clenched her fists. "C'mon, Akiko."
Me, Kiara, and Saymon. The three of us in a tiny space.
I sighed. So uncomfortable.
Kiara glared daggers at him through the rearview mirror. A volatile atmosphere formed between them. One was the fuel; the other, the oxidizer. All that was missing was ignition. Combustion? Inevitable. It was only a question of when.
I gathered suppositions as I watched their interactions. Kiara showed a deep impatience with Saymon, and imagining her turning against him someday hardly seemed absurd. Saymon, in turn, walked on eggshells around the lioness. After all, he certainly needed her.
And me? I shrank beside him. His similarities to Maia were disturbingly uncomfortable, even though the two were complete opposites. Saymon was unpredictable, and that uncertainty frightened me. He had toyed with me, crossing boundaries I had never imagined letting anyone touch.
Yet beyond the anger, I felt a fascination similar to what I harbored for Maia. I wanted to plunge into that untamability, discover his next step, his thoughts, his intentions. The paradoxical urge to follow him and avoid him confused me.
"You knew this would happen." Kiara tightened her fingers around the steering wheel.
Saymon gave a sardonic smile. "True. This was one of the three scenarios I foresaw. They only proved themselves even bigger idiots. Anyway… take us to this address."
"Why?"
"It's safe." His eyes settled on the landscape.
Kiara relaxed her fingers. Although she let out a loud "Tsk," she focused on driving.
We remained in absolute, uncomfortable silence.
We flew northeast along an abandoned airway. A yellowish cloud hovered over the Infinite Abyss, its neglected, desolate, dangerous regions bordering Nobody's Land. When the airway ended, we continued overland.
Scattered aerolamps illuminated the darkness clothing the heavens. Burned fields stretched for kilometers on either side. Then I spotted the first sign, weathered by time: 'Welcome to the city of Ribeirão Preto.' One of many cities swept away by devastation. Nature had claimed the buildings, cars, buses, and destroyed structures. Grayish air drew a curtain over the desolate scene, turning everything into ruins.
"What happened here?" I asked, somewhat shocked.
I expected Kiara to answer, but Saymon's voice crossed the air, scratching my ears.
"Funny how you zenithians are so ignorant of everything around you." He let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Apart from São Paulo and a few cities, all the others were abandoned by the Aether Network and bombed." Saymon kept his cold gaze on the horizon.
My cheeks burned. "I-I…" Ah, who was I trying to fool? Of course I knew about the situation in other cities. What exceeded my imagination was the scale of that deprivation and devastation. "Bombed by whom?" I preferred to shift the subject, aware of my ignorance.
Saymon fixed those unfeeling eyes on me, conveying a certain cruelty. He brushed his fingers over his lips. "Interesting." He turned away and said nothing more.
I averted my face. Even his movements resembled Maia's. I thought I would lose my mind.
We passed through Jardinópolis and then Batatais. Both lay in ruins, untouched in a terrible way, like an ancient poem of abhorrent, unalterable verses. Places where salvation seemed beyond reach. It was natural that their inhabitants had chosen to migrate to the capital.
We reached a more decent area, where walls surrounded the city. Judging by the order of the municipalities we had crossed, we were in Franca. The name was familiar.
Kiara flew over the wall. The metropolis had suffered destruction too, but had been restructured. Bases, sheds, and warehouses spread across eighty kilometers. Not a soul in sight. What was this place? The name was so… so familiar.
The android parked before a warehouse smaller than the others, its nanometal walls filthy and rusted. A warm wind made the early-morning atmosphere even more sinister, contributing to the place's strange, heavy energy.
A shudder ran down my back. I stepped onto the ground with my aching ankle and held back a groan. As I tried to unravel what this place was, anguish began growing in my heart. Then the memories came all at once. "This is…" I swallowed and clenched my fists.
No one needed to answer. The Aether Network had stated that those facilities no longer existed and that the patients had been transferred to appropriate hospitals. That was the answer given to the population, including those who had protested such inhumanity.
Had it all been a lie? I… did I still have doubts?
This was the Ren-10 Refuge, one of the facilities designated for confining the sick. Most patients had Vaktiria, an infection afflicting thirty percent of Brazilians and primarily affecting Centrália, Netheria, and the Infinite Abyss. The refuge also housed people with other diseases classified as untreatable or incurable.
Franca's authorities had uncovered and reported the abuses committed there. The sick were used in tests, subjected to degrading conditions under the justification that their deaths were inevitable.
The smell of rust and rot still permeated the walls. Ghostly images seemed to dance in the dust on the floor. People had been here. People had died here. And it had been silenced.
I rested my hands on my knees, nauseated.
Saymon approached with an air of indifference. "The Aether Network didn't transfer them to hospitals. It left them to their fate. Local authorities? Silenced. Escape? Nanobarriers prevented it. What killed them…" He fell quiet.
Finishing was unnecessary. The silence spoke for itself. Invisible words punched my face. Had the Aether Network bombed the cities? The State itself? Its own people? Swallowing hurt. All to conceal a lie?
Of course no one would say anything. No one ever said anything. How could they fight when the Aether Network stood behind everything in that society? How could they evade an almost omniscient force? How? The question remained in my mind, and with it, anger grew.
"Let's go inside." Saymon walked toward the door.
Kiara touched my shoulder. "Hey… you okay?"
I bit my lips nervously and rubbed my sweaty forehead. "I don't know… I think so. It's a lot to process."
She looked at me with understanding, wrapped an arm around me, and guided me toward the entrance.
Saymon took out the Nine of Wands and passed the card over the lock. The pixels clung to the nanometal.
CHAK The lock opened.
He pushed the door, and we followed close behind.
As soon as we entered, a white, almost blinding light switched on, revealing the dust thick in the air. Greenish neon shimmered on the walls. Untraceable. Soundproof. Cabinets, tables covered in papers, boxes, and obsolete objects filled the space. Saymon leaned against a desk, Kiara remained standing, and I sat in a chair.
"Gonna tell us what the fuck you're planning?" The lioness crossed her arms, surrounded by her boiling aura.
Saymon smiled charmingly and combed his hair back, but the strands fell over his forehead again. The white half shone beneath the light. "The Aether Network made the stupidest decision, because videos of this attack are circulating online. Citizens are questioning the legitimacy and content of the secret session, so the base and middle of that pyramid are crumbling." He took out his deck and cascaded the cards from one hand to the other. "It's a matter of time before Zenith falls."
"Are these orders from the Matriarch and the Patriarch?"
Saymon threw his head back and burst into roguish laughter. His mischievous laugh echoed through the warehouse, as though dancing in the air.
I shifted in my chair.
Kiara waited for him to exhaust his accumulated pleasure.
When he finally fell silent, his gaze was fierce, burning with impetuousness. "They gave me no orders. They give me no orders. They have never given me orders." His cunning smile widened. "More than Zenith, I want to see Netheria crumble." His voice carried mercilessness.
Silence weighed on the air.
Kiara remained motionless, eyes flashing.
A shiver ran through my entire body, and I gripped the chair's armrests. Why this? Argh. Trying to follow his thoughts tormented me.
Kiara held Saymon's somewhat deranged gaze. Once again, an invisible conversation seemed to exist between them. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fuck it. I give zero fucks about that shit."
Saymon smiled obliquely. "Kikky, I want you to go after Maia's items."
My spine burned with the speed of the shiver that crossed it. He knew.
"They're in Centrália. And since Zenith is surrounded by the A.T.F., meaning…" He looked from me to Kiara. "The two of you will go."
Kiara placed a hand on her hip, her expression still furious. "What the fuck makes you think…"
"Y'know… and I have other plans." Saymon took a nanochip from his coat. "We'll stay connected through this. No. You won't be my android. We won't have an atomic connection." He raised an eyebrow, hinting at a satisfied smile.
A nanochip? That… no… if that was it… no. It couldn't be. I shook my head and forced myself to follow the conversation.
"You're a nanoshit." Despite exuding resigned fury, Kiara took the nanochip, clicked her own forehead, and installed it. Both their eyes glowed light blue, then turned black. Afterward, their original colors returned: the gray of Kiara's eyes and the gold of Saymon's.
He trapped me in his magnetic gaze. "As for the contract, there's nothing I can do. It'll activate in one seluna. Mercenaries will begin the hunt. So join us as soon as possible." Saymon gave a foxlike, lopsided smile and looked at Kiara.
"U-us?" My voice nearly failed. I cleared my throat.
"Ah, yes…"
"Why are you doing this?" Kiara interrupted, narrowing her fierce eyes.
Saymon straightened his shoulders, and his enigmatic aura enveloped him again. "Because—"
SKREEECH-THUMP! Suddenly, a crash echoed outside. Something had struck the ground. A car with a failed landing had used its bumper as a brake. The noise stopped. Heavy footsteps approached through the soft mud, drawing ever closer to the open door.
"Papi's here!" Denden roared as he crossed the entrance.
He spread his arms and smiled warmly. He wore a heavy coat and carried Rompe-culos on his back, along with two nanoweapons strapped at his waist and legs. His face, free of blood for the moment, bore several scars: small ones on his smiling lips, another crossing his left eye, and one stretching from his jaw to his right eyelid.
His untamable gaze reminded me of a jaguar. "Look who's here… The chica, Kiara's apprentice." Denden placed his hands on his hips and smiled affectionately. "Knew you'd live, muchacha."
His charisma captivated me. I smiled back.
"Denden?" Kiara laughed ironically, gesturing toward him. "That's what you mean by us?"
WHOOOOSH!A gust of wind spread outside. Hyperfans whirred beneath another vehicle. I recognized the sound. It came from old vehicles, relics no longer manufactured, now collectors' items.
"Fuck… Don't tell me…" Kiara rubbed her temples.
Trix appeared with an enormous nanosniper rifle on her back. She wore greenish military trousers, a grimy tank top, two bandanas—blue and pink, one on each arm—and a black mask.
Her eyes swept the room, lingered on Kiara for an instant, then shifted to Saymon. "What the fuck is this? What's this asshole doing here?" Trix gestured toward Denden, whose eyes widened.
"What am I doing here?!" he exclaimed, pointing at her. "What are you doing here?!"
"Shut up. Wasn't talking to you, svoloch'."
"The muchacha wants to get shot?" Denden sat and took out his pistol, his face serene.
Trix pointed a dagger at him and raised an eyebrow. "My blade's faster than your trigger. Wanna test it, mu-cha-cho?"
Saymon and Kiara were smiling.
What was happening? My head throbbed with the effort of following it all. How could they enjoy pointing weapons at one another? I felt close to a bomb about to explode. My heart racing, I swallowed.
Cron came through the door, carrying his Gatling gun on his back, apparently comfortable with the weight. How did he manage? The weapon looked so heavy. Then again, he was the largest man I had ever met.
Cron advanced silently, with an air of superiority, and stopped between them. The tubes of his mask bubbled with red liquid. My curiosity sharpened. What could that liquid be?
Cron scratched his belly. "Really thought putting these two together would work?"
I kept my eyes from widening at his perfect diction. He hardly seemed like the raving lunatic I had met in Nobody's Land and who had invaded Parliament.
"Cronnie," Denden called, moving his gun. "Cabrón, better get outta the way so you don't get hurt."
Cron glared at him with cruel blue eyes. "The bullet would ricochet back at you. But you already know that." He moved aside and sat on a table.
Kiara watched Denden's antics irritably.
He put his gun away, amused. "Kiara, do something about your muchacha. She only listens to you." He gave a provocative smile.
Trix kept her dagger pointed.
"What? Think you can hide it?" Denden laughed, leaning back. "The eyes, chica, never lie."
I raised an eyebrow. Trix lowered her blade. Cron let out a high-pitched laugh. Saymon smiled insolently while Kiara's scowl faded as she held back a smile.
"Watching too much Scarface, svoloch." Trix shook her head. "Fuck it. You're not worth a penny of my time."
She seemed to want to laugh.
Denden's mischievous expression soured.
Trix crossed her arms and turned to Saymon. "Gonna answer what the fuck this is?"
"Cron?" Saymon's measured voice silenced even their breathing.
Cron picked dirt from beneath his nails, indifferent. "The shits attacked Nobody's Land."
Silence reigned.
The Aether Network had attacked Nobody's Land?
A knot formed in my throat. My heart pounded with growing anger, not only for the mercenaries, armed, prepared, and audacious enough to retaliate, but above all for the hundreds of families and children living there, people whose chance to choose somewhere else to live had been torn away. They only wanted to live normally.
Trix remained impassive. Denden clenched his fists. Hadn't they known?
"Trix?" Saymon's golden eyes settled on the mercenary.
When she removed her mask, the scarring on her cheeks gleamed. But something else drew my attention even more: a gray symbol shimmered on her right temple.
Denden's eyes widened.
Kiara uncrossed her arms. "You…"
Silence vibrated.
Trix gave a satisfied smile. "I'm the Vorovskoy mir's new Russian Matka."
An intense chill climbed my spine.
Saymon merely smiled. "Denden?"
He clicked his tongue, looking away from Trix. He nodded confidently and let out an affected laugh. "Muchacho, I've got that cabrón, the Kageyama Clan's oyabun, right here." He pointed at his palm. "Who wouldn't be, after dealing with el monstruo?"
Saymon straightened his shoulders and smiled in delight. "Alright. Let's begin."