The Pit of Bones.
The droid no, the monster lay dead at my feet.
Green blood leaked into the black mud.
My heart was still racing. Thump. Thump.
It felt like it wanted to punch through my ribcage.
I looked at the sword in my hand. Zev.
It felt heavy now. Real.
The red vein pulsed slower. It seemed satisfied with the kill.
"Hate is a whetstone," I whispered, repeating the sword's words.
I looked up at the cliff face.
It was thirty meters of slick, wet rock.
In the old stories, heroes could jump that high.
But I wasn't a hero.
I was Ren. A scavenger from Sector 4.
And my leg was still broken.
[Climb,] Zev commanded. The voice was duller now, less intrusive. [Use me as an anchor.]
I stabbed the sword into the rock wall.
CRUNCH.
The black crystal bit into the stone like it was butter.
I pulled myself up.
Pain shot through my shoulder. My muscles screamed.
But I didn't let go.
I stabbed again. Higher.
And again.
It took ten minutes.
Ten minutes of agony.
Ten minutes of slipping on wet moss.
Ten minutes of almost falling back into the darkness.
My fingers bled.
My breath came in ragged gasps.
But I didn't stop.
Because every time I looked up, I saw a faint blue light.
Kael's flashlight.
He was still there. Waiting.
I reached the top.
I hauled myself over the rusted railing.
I collapsed onto the metal grating of the platform.
Rain washed the monster blood and sweat from my face.
I lay there for a second, staring at the storm clouds.
I was alive.
I stood up slowly.
My silhouette cut against the lightning.
Kael was standing near the edge. He was looking down into the Pit, tapping his foot impatiently.
"Weird," he muttered. "Why didn't I hear screaming? Did he die on impact?"
The two Shark-men were gone.
Probably bored. Or maybe they went to collect their payment from Jiro.
It was just him.
Just Kael and the rain.
"Hey, Kael," I said.
He froze.
He turned around slowly.
His eyes widened.
He saw me.
Covered in black mud and green blood.
Dragging a sword that looked like a piece of the abyss.
His jaw dropped.
"Ren?" he whispered. "How...?"
I took a step forward.
The sword dragged on the metal grating.
SCREECH.
Sparks flew.
"Did you get your money?" I asked. My voice was hoarse. Broken.
Kael stumbled back.
He looked at me like I was a ghost.
"Stay back!"
He pulled a knife from his belt. It was a standard-issue vibro-blade. Small. Sharp.
"I... I didn't mean to! They made me do it!"
I didn't stop walking.
I limped toward him.
"You sold me for 5,000 credits, Kael."
"I needed the money!" he screamed.
He was backing away toward the railing.
"The Sharks... they were going to break my legs! Ren, please! We're friends, right? Best friends?"
I stopped five meters away.
Rain dripped from the tip of Zev.
"Friends?"
I thought about the orphanage.
I thought about the cold nights we huddled together for warmth.
I thought about the time I stole bread for him.
And then I thought about the shove.
The way he looked at me when I fell. Bored.
"Friends don't push friends into hell," I said.
Kael's face crumbled.
He dropped the knife. Clatter.
He fell to his knees, sobbing.
"I'm sorry! I'll give you the money! I'll give you everything! Just don't kill me!"
I looked down at him.
Pathetic.
A minute ago, he was a god deciding my fate.
Now, without his Shark bodyguards, he was nothing.
Just a scared kid in the rain.
[Kill him,] Zev whispered. [He is a rat. Rats bite when you turn your back.]
I hesitated.
Killing a monster was survival.
Killing a human... killing Kael...
Was I ready for that?
I looked at his tear-streaked face.
He looked so small.
"Get out of here," I said softly.
Kael blinked. "What?"
"Leave the sector," I said. "If I ever see you again, I'll kill you."
Kael looked up. Hope flooded his eyes.
"Yes! Yes! Thank you, Ren! I swear, I'll disappear! You'll never see me again!"
He scrambled backward, bowing repeatedly.
"You're a saint, Ren! A saint!"
I watched him crawl away.
I felt a pang of relief.
I didn't have to become a murderer. Not tonight.
I could still be Ren.
[Watch his hand,] Zev hissed.
I narrowed my eyes.
Kael was crawling away.
But his right hand wasn't on the ground.
It was fumbling inside his jacket.
He wasn't reaching for a wallet.
He pulled out a red cylinder.
A Signal Flare.
He ripped the pin out with his teeth.
He turned around.
His face twisted. The fear was gone. Replaced by a vicious sneer.
"You idiot!" Kael screamed.
He raised the flare to the sky.
"You think you can scare the Poseidon Clan? You're dead! They'll hunt you down and peel your skin off!"
He laughed. A manic, broken sound.
"ENFORCERS! HE'S HERE! HE'S "
SNAP.
Something broke inside me.
The last thread of the boy I used to be.
I didn't think.
I didn't calculate.
I moved.
My legs exploded with power.
I closed the distance in a heartbeat.
I swung Zev.
Not a warning shot.
A killing blow.
SLASH.
The flare gun and the hand holding it flew into the air.
"ARGHHH!"
Kael screamed.
He clutched his stump. Blood sprayed onto the wet metal.
The flare sizzled uselessly in a puddle.
I didn't stop.
I grabbed him by the throat with my left hand.
I lifted him off the ground.
My grip was iron.
He kicked and thrashed, his eyes bulging.
"Ren... p-please..."
"You had a chance," I whispered.
"I gave you a chance."
[Do it,] Zev urged. [Show him the cost of betrayal.]
I looked into his eyes.
I didn't see a friend.
I saw a pest.
A glitch in my life that needed to be patched.
"Goodbye, Kael."
I thrust the sword forward.
SHLUCK.
The black blade pierced his chest.
It went through his heart and came out the back, pinning him to the railing.
Kael gasped.
He looked down at the sword in his chest.
He tried to speak.
But only blood came out.
His eyes rolled back.
He went limp.
[Enemy Defeated.]
Zev purred. The red vein on the blade pulsed brightly, drinking the blood.
I let go.
His body slid down the railing.
I stood there, staring at my hands.
They were shaking.
I had killed him.
I had killed a human being.
I expected to vomit.
I expected to cry.
But I didn't.
I felt... calm.
Terrifyingly calm.
Like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
The world made sense now.
Kill or be killed.
I knelt down and searched his body.
I took the 5,000 credits chip from his pocket.
"My money," I muttered.
Then I found a piece of paper.
It was crumpled and wet.
A contract.
I unfolded it.
The ink was running, but I could still read it.
[Target: Ren. Buyer: Doc Jiro. Purpose: Test Subject 04.]
I froze.
Doc Jiro?
The old cyborg doctor?
The man who sold me medicine for my sister?
The man I trusted with Maya's life?
I read it again.
Buyer: Doc Jiro.
It wasn't just Kael.
Kael was just the tool.
Jiro was the architect.
He had sold me out.
He knew I was desperate. He knew I would follow Kael anywhere.
"Maya..."
My blood ran cold.
The medicine he gave her.
Was it medicine?
Or was it something else?
Was he keeping her sick?
Was he experimenting on her too?
I crushed the paper in my fist.
Rage returned. Hotter than before.
The whole world was rotten.
My friend. My doctor. The people I trusted.
They all wanted me dead.
"Jiro..." I whispered.
[Another traitor?] Zev asked. [Excellent. The night is still young.]
I stood up.
I sheathed Zev on my back, wrapping it in Kael's jacket to hide the glow.
I looked toward the city lights in the distance.
Toward Sector 13.
Toward the clinic.
Fear spiked in my chest.
If Jiro sold me... was Maya safe?
Was she even alive?
"We have to go," I said. "Now."
[Yes,] Zev agreed. [Let's go pay the good doctor a visit.]
I started running.
My new legs ate up the distance.
I moved faster than any human should.
I wasn't a scavenger anymore.
I was a hunter.
And I was bringing hell with me.