Evann groaned as he rolled to his side to stop the alarm going off beside him. Whether it was the alarm or otherwise, he was unsure, but his head was pounding as if he’d just downed a bottle of vodka. Every breath, every blink, every micromovement was painful.
“Fuck,” he hissed.
Two missed messages on his phone from Chiaki stirred his movement and he threw the covers off, throwing his legs over the bed’s edge.
Chiaki was excited to see him again, and suggested they go to a better part of Bastion, a level above the poverty section, as she so eloquently put it. Evann thought it over, grunted with the throbbing pain in his head, then threw his phone onto to the bed and made his way over to the shower in hopes that it would wake him up and quiet whatever was messing with him.
As the water ran over him, he released a euphoric sigh. The relief was immediate, dashing away any semblance of pain he had prior. A crick below his neck distracted him while he reached for the bar of soap. He rolled his shoulders and gently pressed down where the cybernetics were installed. The area was stiffer, but nothing about it stuck out as particularly concerning.
That damned data better not have messed with my implants, he thought bitterly. I don’t want to go through that process again.
Now that would not be an easy fix. Nor a pleasant one. Cybernetic installation was not a quick or easy process. While the majority of cybernetic implants improved the lives of those who could afford the exorbitant price, the list of things that could go wrong during and after surgery was extensive and growing every day. Metal and alloy allergies served as the most concerning of the issues, as they were the most common and were not always easy to predict. Although, post-surgery reports indicated some individuals would go months without a sense of taste or smell. Some of the less lucky ones would go a significant amount of time—oftentimes, years—without any symptoms, only to suffer severe brain or neural damage from the body’s inability to cope with the new hardware.
Evann’s adjustment period to the technology was a painful one. The doctors had told him it would be a simple process, and with Centurion-grade implants, he would be stronger and more perceptive than ever. He spent two months in recovery, angry and with the most powerful painkillers money could buy. Recalling a sense of severe vertigo during his adjustment period, memories of the experience returned to him in a cacophony of ringing in the ears and blurred vision.
“Easy does it,” Evann whispered to himself and taking steady breaths, “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
The rest of his shower proved to be a pleasant experience, and the pain and vertigo soon left him as if it had never been there. He shook his head and tapped his temple. No pain.
He reached for his phone for a distraction and replied to Chiaki regarding dinner and a night on the town. His mind and body needed a vacation. A reply came shortly after. Chiaki would be at his apartment in an hour. Exhaling through his mouth, he tossed his phone onto the bed and got dressed, making sure his weapon was charged.
The second layer of Bastion was often pretty safe, but there were still gangs who hung around certain corners of business districts. One could never be too safe in the city of Bastion—especially if you were a SPECTRE.
When Chiaki arrived at his door, she wore a knowing smile and deep-red lipstick. A one-piece dress of the same color hugged her feminine curves, cutting high on her thighs. She fingered a tendril of hair over her ear and leaned against his doorframe. “Been thinking about you all day,” she said.
Evann allowed himself an easy smile. “I do have that effect on people.”
Chiaki shook her head and giggled. “Come on, hunk. I’m hungry.”
---
“My sister is acting like such a bitch,” Chiaki sighed and shook her head. Her shoulders slumped as she bit on her corndog, and Evann nodded.
“Sounds like you might need to talk to her,” Evann suggested.
“It’s impossible, you wouldn’t understand.”
Apparently not, he thought.
It had been two hours of this. Two hours of Chiaki’s sister betraying and conniving to sabotage her at every waking moment. Each time Evann tried to divert the conversation back to them and how their lives were going, Chiaki would frown and claim he wasn’t paying attention. Just to make a point, he made sure to repeat what she said, word for word. From his experience, women wanted to make sure you held onto every minute detail.
She’d been a lot more fun when she was drinking. Not a good sign.
Evann finished off his corndog and flicked his head toward an arcade in the distance. “Why don’t we take a break from family drama and play a few games?”
Chiaki turned around in her seat and gazed at the arcade for a time before turning back around and shaking her head. “Nah, I don’t really like games all that much.”
Evann frowned. “I thought everyone liked to unwind with a casual game every once in a while. Get to learn a lot about someone that way.”
Chiaki cocked a brow. “Sounds like you’re saying something.”
Evann shrugged. “A little bout of healthy competition never hurt anyone.”
“Getting competitive over a game is kind of childish, don’t you think?”
“Competitive people are competitive by nature. It’s the fun of pushing your limits. Whether or not it’s a game shouldn’t matter all too much.”
Chiaki rolled her eyes. “Okay then.”
Evann fought down the tinge of irritation he felt. It was a minor incompatibility, and he figured he shouldn’t let it ruin their date. There were plenty of other activities they could do together if the arcade didn’t work out. She was still striking to look at, and he couldn’t imagine there was nothing they could relate on.
Neon lights covered the arcade from head to toe. It was in need of desperate repair, but that was the trend when it came to Bastion. Always upgrading, always fixing. If there was something that could be bettered, the general population could usually figure it out. Much of the second layer of Bastion didn’t suffer from this issue as much, but projects had a tendency of starting up, only to fail shortly after. He didn’t think the arcade would be any different. The arcade was barely two months old, and already some gangs had taken chunks out of the building’s cement and graffitied some of the machines.
Chiaki was back to talking about her sister by the time they walked inside, but Evann didn’t let it stop him from purchasing a limited event pass from the organizer. Her attitude was grinding on his nerves, but he’d learned at an early age that when it came to the ladies, it was important to maintain a good middle ground balance of stoicism and reliability.
Evann looked the organizer up and down discreetly. The man was covered in tattoos and bore hairy arms. He wore a white wife beater that was stained around the armpits, and smelled like he hadn’t showered in days. Deep bags hung under his bloodshot eyes, and he offered little more than grunts to Evann’s request for a pass. On occasion, he liked to try and profile the people he met, see if he could get a feel for them, guess their general personality and life story. There was nuance to be had, of course, and there were times he was wrong, but the practice helped keep his instincts sharp.
With his pass in hand, he turned around to face Chiaki, who had her arms crossed and a brow cocked.
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“So, we’re really doing this,” Chiaki said. The tone of her voice made it apparent that she was disappointed.
“Give it a chance,” Evann said. “Who knows, you might find something you like. If not, we’ll go somewhere else.”
He regretted the suggestion that they could go somewhere else in the chance she didn’t like their time during the arcade. He’d offered her an out, and chances were, she would take it.
Many of the machines were out of order—either because of faulty tech, or some punks who’d beaten up the game in frustration. To Evann’s relief, there were still more tactile games available, such as skeeball and basketball, but he had to admit that the selection wasn’t too impressive. He’d visited a few other arcades in other sections of the second layer of Bastion, and while technology was still recovering from the war over eighty years ago, most of them were in better shape than this dump.
While he tried to make the best of things, Chiaki continued to make snide remarks and refer to her sister whenever something negative came up.
“Oh, you should see how my sister reacts to these things,” Chiaki shook her head, “it’s like nothing ever pleases her, you know?”
I can imagine the frustration.
Evann remained tight-lipped, offering the occasional suggestion here and there. Each time, it was met with a similar reaction.
“Well yeah, because you’re a dude,” she laughed as she missed the hoop. “Ah, damn it. I’m tired of this, can we go somewhere else?”
Evann didn’t want to go anywhere else. His patience was wearing thin. She’d been a lovely date the night he and Stan helped her. He wondered where she was, as the patient and understanding woman he met that night seemed to be gone entirely.
“Sure,” Evann said as he turned around to return his pass. Part of him couldn’t wait to get out of this stuffy pigsty of an arcade, anyway. Several folks who walked in, walked right back out, clearly wiser than him. Few of the games were fun, made even less so by the company he shared. “Keep the credits,” he said to the organizer as he set the card down on the counter. As much as he wanted a refund, he knew how it would go. Asking for a refund would’ve been out of the question. Besides, he was in no mood to argue, and he knew he’d snap at the man if push came to shove.
Evann practically shoved the front door open, and Chiaki was close behind him. “All right, I picked. Your turn.” The tone came out angrier than he intended, and Chiaki was quick to notice.
“What’s your problem?” Chiaki asked, a hand on her hip.
“Nothing,” Evann lied, resuming his earlier friendly tone. “Pick somewhere and we’ll go.”
Chiaki hummed and averted her gaze. “I have to be the one to pick?”
Evann had dated these types of women before. Quick to blame, unwilling to compromise or make decisions, but had no problem complaining. He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, but their date had been almost nothing but friction up to this point.
“Well, I made the arcade suggestion, and that isn’t working out. So, why don’t we go to something you do like?” Evann asked.
“Are you trying to say I have a problem?”
She was looking to argue. Evann knew this. As much as he tried to fight this down, he couldn’t help but profile Chiaki. Each word out of her mouth, her body language, and her general tone suggested she was the type who enjoyed a good argument. Why, he was unsure, but on the off chance he was wrong, he decided to try one last time before calling it quits.
“Not at all. If you’re not sure where you want to go, I can try and pick something if you like.” He wanted to give her an out, and he kept his tone steady and friendly as before. “It’s up to you. I’m adaptable.”
“Ah. I see. You think I’m not, don’t you?”
Yeah, that’s about it. You’re looking for a reason to argue.
Evann shrugged. “No, not really. I’m trying to weigh up our options. You can pick something, or I can. It makes no difference to me.”
“You can’t even figure out where to take a girl? Come on, Evann, where’s the guy I met that night?”
Evann wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep up this charade. He liked to believe that she was having a bad day, but he had his doubts. Refraining from letting his body language tell her how he truly felt, he pointed to a bar nearby. It was one he’d been to before, where the clientele was on the better side, and the bartenders didn’t take shit from drifters walking in.
“Why don’t we go grab a drink, then?” Evann asked. “Last time, we—”
“We went around the block, looking for drinks so you could get an easy lay,” Chiaki said. She shook her head. “You think I want to go somewhere that reminds me that I almost got raped? Come on, Evann, you’re better than that.”
All right, that’s it. I’ve had enough.
His frustration was mounting. Bad day or not, he wasn’t about to let her accuse him of trying to get easy sex for a night. “I’ve tried to make decisions, but I don’t know what you want.” He gestured with his hands. “If you have a suggestion, I’m all ears, but all I’ve heard from you since you reached my door is complaint after complaint. Unless you have something in mind, I think it’s best if we part ways here.”
Chiaki scoffed. “You’re just like every man I’ve dated. You hit me up for a night and abandon me the next.” She clicked her tongue. “Fuck you, buddy. I’m out of here. Thanks for wasting my time.”
She spun on her heel and marched away, her heels clicking with her footsteps. Evann let out an audible sigh and watched her walked away. He could still admire the beauty of her shape, the sway of her hips. But it was all superficial, and he was smart enough to realize that. While he was sure she had plenty of good things about her, the fact remained that they were water and oil.
This is for the best. Take it easy, Chiaki.
As Evann turned to leave, the sense of vertigo he felt earlier that morning swept over him stronger than ever. He fell to one knee, groaning as the world began to spin and shake. He shut his eyes to alleviate the sensation, but it helped little. For a moment, he thought he heard a voice, but he shook his head, and the voice left with it.
He didn’t recognize it as anyone he knew, but it was distinctly feminine in tone. It asked who he was, making a comment on Chiaki. Convinced he was becoming delirious, Evann used the outside wall of the arcade for balance as he stood up. A faint whispering returned, leaving before he could make any sense of it. It came in like white noise, static, reminding him much of those old TVs from long before his time.
“Fuck,” he muttered. “What the hell is going on here?”
A modestly dressed woman and her child approached. “Excuse me, sir, are you okay?” the woman asked. “Do I need to call someone?”
That was the last thing Evann wanted to hear right now. Calling for help meant being examined by Centurion, which meant they’d likely mess with his implants again. Every hospital kept a record of the people who visited, and Centurion had ever the watchful eye. They’d be outside the hospital doors the moment he walked out.
“No, I’m fine.” Evann adjusted his posture and breathed out steadily. “Appreciate the concern.”
The woman didn’t seem convinced, but nodded and took her daughter across the street to the park where children were playing. He couldn’t explain why, but he felt a need to watch them as they walked away. Moments later, the world seemed to slow for a short period of time, and the feeling of expelling his stomach came with it.
Breaking into a cold sweat, he made into a brisk walk, wiping the droplets from his forehead. He found a shoddy-looking pharmacy and searched the shelves for fever and stomach medication. He grabbed a few different brands and paid for them at the counter. The clerk gave him a strange look, but he ignored it and took the bus back to his apartment, downing a couple pills of each bottle.
Vertigo took over once more, stronger than it ever had been. He tore off his jacket, shirt, and gun, letting them fall to the ground. Stumbling toward his bed, he collapsed onto it, panting. His brain screamed in agony, and he waited with gritted teeth for the meds to kick in.
God damn it, what’s wrong with me?
Concerns started to rack his brain. He thought back to what happened during his last mission, cursing under his breath as the pain intensified. He hadn’t thought it was possible—as he knew of no technology that was sophisticated enough to do so—but he wondered if the code had caused his cybernetic implants to malfunction. It wasn’t unheard of, what with how the implants were connected directly to the body’s neural systems. With no parallels to compare his situation to, however, he vacated the thought. Dwelling on what could be wrong would do nothing for him, anyway.
“Fuck, what the hell?” Evann groaned. The sheets were becoming soaked with his sweat, and the spinning was getting worse. His breathing labored, and just when he was on the verge of vomiting… it stopped.
Entirely.
Evann frowned and rose up into a seated position. His breathing was still quick, his body still laden with perspiration. However, the vertigo was gone and his stomach calmed.
A voice whispered at the back of his mind. The same one he’d heard earlier. Some of the words were coming in more clearly now. He struggled to create coherent sentences from them, however, as they spoke much faster than his mind could keep up with. As if someone set the voice to run at five times the speed.
Evann felt insane at the thought of what he did next. “Is someone there?” he asked.
No response.
The words came in a flurry, this time much quicker than earlier. He could make no sense of it, save for words like ‘please’, ‘help’, and ‘trust’. He rubbed his eyes, then pinched the bridge of his nose to relieve some of the pain he felt. At least it was a far cry from what he had experienced earlier.
He blinked his eyes open and removed his clothes for a rinse in the shower. He smelled like the devil after how much he’d sweated. As soon as the water hit him, he sighed with relief, letting it sweep over the top of his head and down the grooves of his body into the drain. He kept his eyes shut as he basked in the water.
When he opened them next, he saw the faint silhouette image of a woman in the wall. He shook his head and gaped. The woman disappeared.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” he muttered as he looked at his hands.
“Nothing,” the feminine voice said.
Evann spun toward the door, throwing it open and reaching for his gun. “Who’s there?”
“I’m not sure if I should answer that. You seem… compromised.”
“I don’t know what the hell you mean by that, but you better start making some god damned sense before I start shooting.”
“That would require you to commit suicide. I strongly recommend against that.”
Evann paused. “Wha…Who are you?”
“My name is Avina. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
