Cath not only shows me pictures but drops a certificate in front of me showing the purchase along with an official picture on the glowing document. She taps the ring on her finger—similar to Yvonne’s bracelet—and pulls up a map of the city about a hundred times better than the files I downloaded.
“Where did you get that?” I ask, pointing at the ring. They’re only about as expensive as a dozen tablets.
“None of your business,” she says happily and snatches my tablet to transfer the map. “Eat your food.”
Managing not to roll my eyes, I make a show of eating the cooling vegetables, slipping one down to Bat when the woman’s eyes are off me. This feels like it might not be the greatest idea, but I’m not particularly worried about the authorities, and I like Cath enough to do her a favor. It might take us an extra hour, but that’s better than trying to find a place on our own or getting information from someone I don’t know. As I figured, it’ll probably endear her to me.
Besides, I don’t particularly care for people who are unkind to animals.
“When did he steal her?”
“Last week. And before you be asking: yes, I tried to get her back from him. His son was being a menace.”
Her face wrinkles and I get the impression she’s a bit more frightened of the kid than she lets on. Well, maybe he’ll pick a fight with me and I can drop him to the ground with one nice punch.
Weighing the pros and cons of my next statement, I say, “I have some humans with me. Can they stay up in here with you while I go do this? Shouldn’t take more than an hour, less, probably.”
She squints at me. “You be having humans with you?”
As much as I find Cath tolerable, I’ll admit I made it pretty clear the last two times we talked that I don’t particularly care for her kind. About as much as her kind cares for me.
“DNA, remember?” I ask.
She squints further.
“Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, I’m kinda stuck with them—”
In my ear, Zane whispers, “Rude.”
“—In fact, the more I try to ditch them, the more they stick to me. I think I would have to physically have to drop them into a star and run away screaming at this point to make them leave.”
Lalia is laughing in my ear again.
Cath raises a single eyebrow but shrugs. “They aren’t criminals, are they?”
With my best poker face, I say, “I can honestly say I’m the worst in the group. They’re probably going to try to be your friend. It’s like I have a batch of puppies with me.”
She snorts. “Don’t all cyborgs be thinking of humans as lesser?”
I shrug. “Probably. I’m broken, remember?”
“Fine, fine, as long as they don’t expect me to be feeding them, too. You go get—”
“I want to know how you know this person who can get the DNA file. Are they trustworthy?”
She squints thoughtfully, tapping her ring on the table. “I don’t know about trustworthy, but she likes me, and doesn’t want to be getting on my bad side. I’ll be calling and letting her know you will be coming. Try not to be so terrifying with her, yes?”
Rude. Not unfair, but rude. “Uh-huh. And this person tests DNA because?”
“She doesn’t be testing DNA, really. She be very good with the hacking. I have been hearing she can look at Amerov flight logs if she be wanting to.”
My mouth pops open before I remember to shut it. “Why would she want to do that?”
Cath shrugs. “People be paying her for information. Scavengers, bounty hunters, perhaps others but I not be knowing too much about all the details.”
“What does that have to do with DNA?”
“I be remembering she told me once she had to test some DNA files for a job. I not be knowing why, it doesn’t very much interest me. But she be having the correct equipment, and if you be paying her she will be happy to figure out your file. She not be caring why you want it.”
Sounds reasonably sketchy. Nothing on this floating city is going to be one hundred percent a safe bet, but that’s the reason we’re here: doing this “safely” would mean people who would probably report us. Slightly illegal doesn’t worry me for my own safety—it makes me anxious for my humans.
Might leave the princesses in my ship, after all. We’ll see how this goes.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell her, staring at the new map on my tablet and the little dot marking out her neighbor’s house. “What’s his name and his son’s name?”
“Birk and…I not be knowing his son’s name. He be moving here recently, and I not be caring.”
Nodding, I grab Bat in his backpack and head back down the claustrophobic stairs, waving over the humans when I step back into the flashing lights and overwhelmingly thick air of the bar. The old man is serving drinks and gives me another sour look—I suppose he was hoping Cath wouldn’t talk to me and I’d be forced to pay him to give me information. Can’t blame him too much.
“This place is loud,” Anya tells me as I squeeze them into the staircase behind me.
“Alright, you all heard, or most of you did. I’m going to go threaten some people as payment for the information—”
Yvonne snickers and Lalia joins in.
“—Oh, shut up. I actually want you to keep an eye on Cath and make sure she isn’t searching up anything on her tablet. She has a ring like your bracelet, Yvonne. I don’t think she’ll try anything that would piss me off, but she also scares me a little, so better safe than sorry. All in all, it’ll be way faster than trying to do this ourselves. We could ask someone else but I don’t think it would be any faster or safer than this, so just keep an eye on her and leave your comms on, alright?”
“Ya know, you say you don’t like humans then you have random connections,” Zane says, a too-smug grin on his face.
I level a glare at him. “I can count on a single hand the number of connections I actually kinda like. I don’t trust them. That’s why I want you to watch her.”
“Sure, sure,” Zane says, but doesn’t quite cut the cheeky grin. I elbow him very carefully in the ribs as I pass.
Cath inspects the humans when I point them into the living room. “Everyone, this is Cath. Don’t touch her stuff. Cath, these are the idiots I’m currently stuck with in life. If you want, give them a run-down of where we’re gonna be heading.”
Cath chews her vegetables and grins.
* * *
Muttering to myself about how stupid this is, I head out of the bar, staring at the tablet, Bat in his backpack over my shoulder. I shove the stupid mask into place so it covers my face. I can walk much faster without all the humans in tow. And with much less staring, actually. Seeing a freaky cyborg is not as strange as seeing a freaky cyborg with a bunch of friendly humans.
“You need to learn some new swear words,” Bat’s muffled voice comes through the fabric.
Which reminds me to disconnect my comm. If Anya somehow hears how I talk when she isn’t around, Yvonne might just skewer me.
“This is ridiculous,” Bat says.
“I know.”
“But somehow, not remotely the stupidest thing we’ve attempted this year.”
“Not even.”
“You’re gonna beat the son up, aren’t ya?”
I wrinkle my nose, trying not to bump into people as I keep an eye on my tablet and its dot of an address Cath marked out for me. “Maybe. Depends on if he tries to get tough.”
“Do I actually get to do something this time or do I have to stay in the backpack.”
I take a series of turns down crowded streets. This place is a bit more residential—if only because there are even more boxy compartments of houses stacked on one another like they were mashed together by a giant. It’s only about a ten minute walk to where I need to be, and if I didn’t have my tablet to track where I am, I’d be thoroughly lost a few twists and turns in.
Eyeballing the apartment Cath marked out, I say, “I have a job for you.”
He starts to crawl out of the backpack, “Excellent—”
“Not yet. Wait until we’re not in the middle of the street.”
It’s marginally less busy here. Just because this area is slightly more residential doesn’t mean there aren’t a ton of people doing…things out of their homes. I don’t even what to know what most of the crime is around here. Maybe people who want to scavenge me for parts. I snort to myself, then figure maybe that isn’t so funny. Don’t wanna jinx anything, even as a joke in my own head.
I haven’t seen an authority figure around here since we landed.
What buildings manage to have alleyways between them are so narrow I wouldn’t fit if I was even slightly bigger than the skinny beanpole I am. I trot half-sideways so I don’t bang my shoulders on anything and lean behind a shoot of some sort protruding from the wall. By the smell of it, I’m guessing it’s for garbage. Sure, I could take the stairs in the front of the building, but that would be something someone less suspicious would do. Plus, I don’t want to stand out from the crowd by raising myself above them.
Bat crawls out onto my shoulder and snorts. “Smells like that bar still.”
“I’ll wash it after we leave.”
“You’ll need some otherworldly soap.”
“See that top compartment up there,” I say, pointing above us. Bat’s snout follows my finger. “Go ahead and head up there, I’ll be right behind you. Don’t get seen.”
“Nice.”
Wiggling his behind, he launches up the shoot, using the twist of pipes to easily clamber up to the top. I’m gonna have a bit of a rougher time, but my hands don’t hurt. It’s gonna be easier than that tree back on Hytha.
Checking for heat signatures of anyone coming our way, I step on the rungs securing all the piping, and make my way up. It isn’t as rough a climb as I suspected, and the building is only three stories of little apartments. Not too high up.
What makes up a tiny balcony is just enough for me to slip up and over the edge of. There aren’t any open windows on this side, just one of thick glass covered with a curtain. Not much reason to have the view open around here. Bat is sitting under the leaves of the one single potted plant managing to choke out a life here. Double checking the set of numbers on the side of the building is the same as the ones marked on my tablet, I use the quiet blade of my electric knife to slice off the lock on the window. I’d feel worse about it if the guy wasn’t going around stealing pets. Let him replace a window lock.
“I’m gonna go to the front door and knock, I wanna see if I can make the guy admit to stealing the animal. Head inside and see if you can find the thing.”
I show him the pictures on the tablet.
“Excellent,” he says again.
Nosing the window open just a hair, he peeks in, this slips inside with barely a sound.
Cath not only shows me pictures but drops a certificate in front of me showing the purchase along with an official picture on the glowing document. She taps the ring on her finger—similar to Yvonne’s bracelet—and pulls up a map of the city about a hundred times better than the files I downloaded.
“Where did you get that?” I ask, pointing at the ring. They’re only about as expensive as a dozen tablets.
“None of your business,” she says happily and snatches my tablet to transfer the map. “Eat your food.”
Managing not to roll my eyes, I make a show of eating the cooling vegetables, slipping one down to Bat when the woman’s eyes are off me. This feels like it might not be the greatest idea, but I’m not particularly worried about the authorities, and I like Cath enough to do her a favor. It might take us an extra hour, but that’s better than trying to find a place on our own or getting information from someone I don’t know. As I figured, it’ll probably endear her to me.
Besides, I don’t particularly care for people who are unkind to animals.
“When did he steal her?”
“Last week. And before you be asking: yes, I tried to get her back from him. His son was being a menace.”
Her face wrinkles and I get the impression she’s a bit more frightened of the kid than she lets on. Well, maybe he’ll pick a fight with me and I can drop him to the ground with one nice punch.
Weighing the pros and cons of my next statement, I say, “I have some humans with me. Can they stay up in here with you while I go do this? Shouldn’t take more than an hour, less, probably.”
She squints at me. “You be having humans with you?”
As much as I find Cath tolerable, I’ll admit I made it pretty clear the last two times we talked that I don’t particularly care for her kind. About as much as her kind cares for me.
“DNA, remember?” I ask.
She squints further.
“Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, I’m kinda stuck with them—”
In my ear, Zane whispers, “Rude.”
“—In fact, the more I try to ditch them, the more they stick to me. I think I would have to physically have to drop them into a star and run away screaming at this point to make them leave.”
Lalia is laughing in my ear again.
Cath raises a single eyebrow but shrugs. “They aren’t criminals, are they?”
With my best poker face, I say, “I can honestly say I’m the worst in the group. They’re probably going to try to be your friend. It’s like I have a batch of puppies with me.”
She snorts. “Don’t all cyborgs be thinking of humans as lesser?”
I shrug. “Probably. I’m broken, remember?”
“Fine, fine, as long as they don’t expect me to be feeding them, too. You go get—”
“I want to know how you know this person who can get the DNA file. Are they trustworthy?”
She squints thoughtfully, tapping her ring on the table. “I don’t know about trustworthy, but she likes me, and doesn’t want to be getting on my bad side. I’ll be calling and letting her know you will be coming. Try not to be so terrifying with her, yes?”
Rude. Not unfair, but rude. “Uh-huh. And this person tests DNA because?”
“She doesn’t be testing DNA, really. She be very good with the hacking. I have been hearing she can look at Amerov flight logs if she be wanting to.”
My mouth pops open before I remember to shut it. “Why would she want to do that?”
Cath shrugs. “People be paying her for information. Scavengers, bounty hunters, perhaps others but I not be knowing too much about all the details.”
“What does that have to do with DNA?”
“I be remembering she told me once she had to test some DNA files for a job. I not be knowing why, it doesn’t very much interest me. But she be having the correct equipment, and if you be paying her she will be happy to figure out your file. She not be caring why you want it.”
Sounds reasonably sketchy. Nothing on this floating city is going to be one hundred percent a safe bet, but that’s the reason we’re here: doing this “safely” would mean people who would probably report us. Slightly illegal doesn’t worry me for my own safety—it makes me anxious for my humans.
Might leave the princesses in my ship, after all. We’ll see how this goes.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell her, staring at the new map on my tablet and the little dot marking out her neighbor’s house. “What’s his name and his son’s name?”
“Birk and…I not be knowing his son’s name. He be moving here recently, and I not be caring.”
Nodding, I grab Bat in his backpack and head back down the claustrophobic stairs, waving over the humans when I step back into the flashing lights and overwhelmingly thick air of the bar. The old man is serving drinks and gives me another sour look—I suppose he was hoping Cath wouldn’t talk to me and I’d be forced to pay him to give me information. Can’t blame him too much.
“This place is loud,” Anya tells me as I squeeze them into the staircase behind me.
“Alright, you all heard, or most of you did. I’m going to go threaten some people as payment for the information—”
Yvonne snickers and Lalia joins in.
“—Oh, shut up. I actually want you to keep an eye on Cath and make sure she isn’t searching up anything on her tablet. She has a ring like your bracelet, Yvonne. I don’t think she’ll try anything that would piss me off, but she also scares me a little, so better safe than sorry. All in all, it’ll be way faster than trying to do this ourselves. We could ask someone else but I don’t think it would be any faster or safer than this, so just keep an eye on her and leave your comms on, alright?”
“Ya know, you say you don’t like humans then you have random connections,” Zane says, a too-smug grin on his face.
I level a glare at him. “I can count on a single hand the number of connections I actually kinda like. I don’t trust them. That’s why I want you to watch her.”
“Sure, sure,” Zane says, but doesn’t quite cut the cheeky grin. I elbow him very carefully in the ribs as I pass.
Cath inspects the humans when I point them into the living room. “Everyone, this is Cath. Don’t touch her stuff. Cath, these are the idiots I’m currently stuck with in life. If you want, give them a run-down of where we’re gonna be heading.”
Cath chews her vegetables and grins.
* * *
Muttering to myself about how stupid this is, I head out of the bar, staring at the tablet, Bat in his backpack over my shoulder. I shove the stupid mask into place so it covers my face. I can walk much faster without all the humans in tow. And with much less staring, actually. Seeing a freaky cyborg is not as strange as seeing a freaky cyborg with a bunch of friendly humans.
“You need to learn some new swear words,” Bat’s muffled voice comes through the fabric.
Which reminds me to disconnect my comm. If Anya somehow hears how I talk when she isn’t around, Yvonne might just skewer me.
“This is ridiculous,” Bat says.
“I know.”
“But somehow, not remotely the stupidest thing we’ve attempted this year.”
“Not even.”
“You’re gonna beat the son up, aren’t ya?”
I wrinkle my nose, trying not to bump into people as I keep an eye on my tablet and its dot of an address Cath marked out for me. “Maybe. Depends on if he tries to get tough.”
“Do I actually get to do something this time or do I have to stay in the backpack.”
I take a series of turns down crowded streets. This place is a bit more residential—if only because there are even more boxy compartments of houses stacked on one another like they were mashed together by a giant. It’s only about a ten minute walk to where I need to be, and if I didn’t have my tablet to track where I am, I’d be thoroughly lost a few twists and turns in.
Eyeballing the apartment Cath marked out, I say, “I have a job for you.”
He starts to crawl out of the backpack, “Excellent—”
“Not yet. Wait until we’re not in the middle of the street.”
It’s marginally less busy here. Just because this area is slightly more residential doesn’t mean there aren’t a ton of people doing…things out of their homes. I don’t even what to know what most of the crime is around here. Maybe people who want to scavenge me for parts. I snort to myself, then figure maybe that isn’t so funny. Don’t wanna jinx anything, even as a joke in my own head.
I haven’t seen an authority figure around here since we landed.
What buildings manage to have alleyways between them are so narrow I wouldn’t fit if I was even slightly bigger than the skinny beanpole I am. I trot half-sideways so I don’t bang my shoulders on anything and lean behind a shoot of some sort protruding from the wall. By the smell of it, I’m guessing it’s for garbage. Sure, I could take the stairs in the front of the building, but that would be something someone less suspicious would do. Plus, I don’t want to stand out from the crowd by raising myself above them.
Bat crawls out onto my shoulder and snorts. “Smells like that bar still.”
“I’ll wash it after we leave.”
“You’ll need some otherworldly soap.”
“See that top compartment up there,” I say, pointing above us. Bat’s snout follows my finger. “Go ahead and head up there, I’ll be right behind you. Don’t get seen.”
“Nice.”
Wiggling his behind, he launches up the shoot, using the twist of pipes to easily clamber up to the top. I’m gonna have a bit of a rougher time, but my hands don’t hurt. It’s gonna be easier than that tree back on Hytha.
Checking for heat signatures of anyone coming our way, I step on the rungs securing all the piping, and make my way up. It isn’t as rough a climb as I suspected, and the building is only three stories of little apartments. Not too high up.
What makes up a tiny balcony is just enough for me to slip up and over the edge of. There aren’t any open windows on this side, just one of thick glass covered with a curtain. Not much reason to have the view open around here. Bat is sitting under the leaves of the one single potted plant managing to choke out a life here. Double checking the set of numbers on the side of the building is the same as the ones marked on my tablet, I use the quiet blade of my electric knife to slice off the lock on the window. I’d feel worse about it if the guy wasn’t going around stealing pets. Let him replace a window lock.
“I’m gonna go to the front door and knock, I wanna see if I can make the guy admit to stealing the animal. Head inside and see if you can find the thing.”
I show him the pictures on the tablet.
“Excellent,” he says again.
Nosing the window open just a hair, he peeks in, this slips inside with barely a sound.
