Callia sat on a barely stable chair, observing Doctor Kara as she stuffed a freshly severed hand into a jar. The liquid inside vaguely reminded her of amniotic fluid, though it was something called Xyraphorin. Apparently, you didn’t need to rely on traditional cold storage methods with it—it could preserve biological matter even in the most dire circumstances, such as extreme heat.

  “You’re staring at me, Callia. I can’t work,” Kara complained. “You wanted to ask me something?”

  Callia nodded. “Have you heard of Heccatek?”

  Kara tensed, growing visibly uneasy. She turned her face away, sealed the jar, and moved it to the shelves in the second storage room. With a sigh, she sat back down and stared at Callia like she’d just spawned, summoned a devil out of the hells.

  “Why do you ask?” Kara clicked her tongue. “Seriously, why are you bringing this up? I don’t want to tussle with corporations.”

  Callia giggled nervously. “I was out in the slums with that flower girl I told you about—Auri, her name was.”

  “The one with blue skin under her clothing? Callia, has anyone told your amnesiac ass that staring underneath people’s clothing is perverted behavior? Especially unsuspecting vulnerable woman. I’d advise you to think about your sins.”

  Callia huffed. “It’s nothing perverted, I told you. I had a strange sensation—a psychic one—and then I was drawn to search. That’s all. Just a reaction, you know? Like the violent one I had when I woke up. Her….’alienness.’ it felt really familiar. ”

  “Get to the point.I don’t want to hear about your kinks.”

  Callia groaned.

  “I got a quest. A mandatory one. A system quest, I think. It had a sixty-minute timer.” Callia stretched her legs, still sore from yesterday’s constant running. “It wasn’t normal from the start. I only complied because the system was threatening to commit unintended consequences.”

  Kara rubbed her face. “I already know where this is going. You got a mysterious job, were forced to do it immediately, and upon completion, you found out there was another entity involved. Am I right so far? If yes, you can spare me the rest of the details.”

  “Uh… yeah. How’d you know?”

  “It’s a common enough occurrence. It’s also how corporations recruit operators and free agents to do their dirty work for them.” Kara leaned forward. “Heccatek, you say? That’s a nasty company. Their CEO, Rumiel, is a megalomaniac. I guess it’s safe to say you’ve caught their attention.” She took a deep breath, then slammed her hands on the concave table, rattling the surgical tools on it. “Which means you’re bringing unnecessary attention to my clinic.”

  “Calm down, Kara. Before you kick me out like a dog again, at least explain to me what’s so bad about them—and why I assumed it was a system quest.”

  “Because that’s how they operate. They have enough money to force the system to use its resources. Heccatek deals with information networks, weapon manufacturing, and a publicized tech market—they aren’t the kind of people you want attention from.”

  “So… what do they want from me?” Callia asked, a bit fearful that her femme fatale charm would mean nothing to people who could watch her from miles away.

  “Heck if I know. Let’s see—you have strange psychic powers, you’ve killed before, and the system knows it because it’s literally embedded in your brain. You’re an invader, an outsider, an alien, so to speak. Who wouldn’t want a piece of you?”

  Callia smirked. “Do you want a piece of me?”

  Kara shook her head. “No, you’d tear me apart. Now… let’s ignore your innuendo and get back to the topic at hand.”

  “Yea~” Callia snag.

  “If things keep going like this, you have to leave. You’re bound to bring trouble.”

  Callia nodded. She knew it wouldn’t last long. Kara had already made it clear that she wasn’t running a charity. But the uncertainty of Callia’s situation had formed a small, symbiotic bond between them. If Kara didn’t need Callia to hide her crimes or cover her mistakes, she would have no use for her. Callia had also started making her own credits. The additional five hundred creds wasn’t much, but it could get her a cheap place to live. Still, she’d hate to leave—Kara’s snark was growing on her.

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  “Yeah, I get it. Don’t worry, I’ll try not to be a liability for you.”

  Kara rested her arms on the table. “I hope so. If you’ve got time later, I have another job for you. Same place, different routes. No body this time, at least.”

  “Sure, I guess. I’ll be going out for a walk. I guess I need to think about my future now.”

  “Of course, you do.”

  Kara pulled her over the table, staring into her reddish eyes. There was a bit of sorrow in Kara’s gaze, her breath feverishly close. “Don’t think too long, or you’ll end up dead. I mean it. I’ve lost friends because they walked into the wrong profession, and it cost them everything. Think thoroughly, but quickly.”

  She pushed Callia away, stood up, and waltzed off on her heels.

  Callia did something lecherous—she stared at Kara’s legs as she walked away. She hadn’t thought too far about it before. Attraction and love… Kara might not have been either of those. Her memories told her that something in that department was fundamentally missing.

  She sprang to her feet. Time to leave.

  She had a little money in her pocket. Things were getting dire for her. She couldn’t afford to get shot again. Not only that, but she had told herself over and over that she would choose a class. But they were all weird and quirky, and they put her on edge. [Frog Hopper], [Junk Engineer], [Neural Ditz]

  It was best to take it easy. That’s what she told herself. She was still alive somehow. Everything would work in her favor, but it was all a distraction from taking the next step—establishing herself. The big wreckage where she found answers was off-limits, and there was no telling how the human authorities would react to her existence.

  That left Auri. She wanted to see her again and her strange, queer flower patch. She had left her abruptly—that gave her at least two reasons to see her again. Not only that, but she bought real meat as a gift from an expensive supermarket. It was excessive and inefficient compared to what she could get from a vending machine or even a street vendor, but she hoped Auri would appreciate the gesture.

  The meat was made from lunarfowl. Apparently, there was a colony of them up there on that broken moon. She didn’t believe it in the slightest. From here, the moon looked like a shattered lightbulb, its fragments like little superheated shards of glass. A strange sight. The system must have broken the moon in the past, or some glorious battle had taken place here—she had no conception of it. It could also be a contrivance; perhaps the colonists hundreds of years ago had found it this way.

  Enough pondering, Callia.

  Auri was not in her spot. Callia had looked all over the street and in between the alleyways. An old man approached her in response.

  “Ah, are you looking for Auri?” The old man’s voice was hoarse, and the grime and soot on his body gave off a smell. But manners were manners, and Callia bore it. “I noticed the commotion that occurred yesterday. It’s nice to see someone looking out for the girl after her parents kicked the bucket. Most people pick on her because of her ‘parental nature.’”

  “Is that so? So she’s ostracized here in the slums?” Callia asked.

  “Unfortunately, that’s the truth. Halflings like her are ostracized everywhere. As a matter of fact, she has it easy because her skin color changes based on her mood.”

  Callia became intrigued. Did her skin actually change in response to her emotions? Is that why she became increasingly nervous? It didn’t appear to be uniform—her face seemed unaffected by the change.

  “How do you know so much about her, geezer?”

  He laughed. “Think of me as her uncle. I help her with trouble every now and then, which reminds me—it’s strange that she hasn’t come out today. Maybe she’s feeling under the weather, or her sleep cycle’s messed up again. You know, since this planet has a rotation duration of 28 hours. Or she’s mourning again. Poor Auri.”

  Callia winced. There was only one place to go then.

  “That’s some good-smelling meat you got there.”

  Callia giggled nervously. “It’s a gift for her.”

  “Ahh, you’re one of those then,” he sneered at her.

  “One of what?” She raised a brow, half scowling.

  “Ah, never mind. Take good care of her, though,” he said, his eyes rolling all over. “You wouldn’t happen to have some change for an old, retired, and wasted veteran, would you?”

  Callia didn’t know what he meant by that statement, but she chose to ignore it. The man looked homeless—and a veteran to boot? A tale as old as human history.

  “Sure, I guess. Where’d you serve?”

  “Nova Ardour Defense Force, of course. Did ten years after we were locked in a war against the neighboring city-states. That was three decades ago, I think. Killed many invading xenos too, those bastards thought they could conquer the planet. The system discarded me—never cared much for me anyway.”

  He spat something dark and foul-smelling onto the ground. Callia hid her nausea.

  “Cool. I think I’m a soldier too.”

  He balked at her. “You think? I guess I think I’m a wizard now.”

  She stared at him. No point in explaining the amnesia part—he could be untrustworthy.

  “You got a name, geezer?”

  “It’s Rahm.”

  “Well, it’s been nice talking to you, Rahm.”

  “Hmmm, you got any spare change in your pocket? You vagabond types are always flowing with money. Ten creds—that’s all I’m asking for.”

  She bit her lip. Of course, that’s why he was hassling me. Very well. He did tell her few things of importance.

  “Sure, I guess. Don’t spend it all in one place.” She handed him physical credit chips—twenty of them. “Don’t spend it on narcotics?”

  “I can’t promise that, although this is enough for a few beers. Thank you, lass.”

  Callia walked deeper into the slums. Auri was only a few minutes away.