An annoying fly had invaded Rebecca’s room. She couldn’t see the fly but she knew it was there. Every time she thought it had disappeared she heard it buzzing around in the corner or near the window. Every time she checked it was nowhere to be seen. She tried to ignore it and get back to work.
Zzzzzz…
That was it. Rebecca closed her door, turned on the light and opened her blinds so that the fly had nowhere to hide. She grabbed the nearest book and stood in the middle of the room, watching, waiting for it to make a mistake.
A knock on the door. Kelly let herself in.
‘Hey Bec… uh, what are you…?’
‘Nothing,’ said Bec, quickly putting the book down. ‘What’s up?’
‘I thought you could use a break. Let’s go grab a drink.’
‘Oh… uh, yeah,’ said Bec. ‘Give me a sec, I’ll be right out.’
Rebecca grabbed her jacket. Kelly waited for her near the elevator. They left HQ and walked down the street under the hazy city lights. No matter where they went in Tokyo there was always new life breathed into the city at night, like an immense nocturnal organism. The skyline glowed with buzzing colours and the levels above sprinkled artificial moonlight on the street before them. Road cars and hover cars cruised past, kicking up a breeze that tasted like gasoline and old paper bags. Rebecca watched Kelly strolling along the sidewalk.
‘So, where we heading?’
‘I’m not sure.’ Kelly shrugged. ‘I just felt like walking. Although, there’s a restaurant nearby. I know the guy who owns it so he lets me have free drinks at the bar every once in a while.’
They walked past a neon silhouette of a stripper that reminded Bec of the first time Robb had taken her to Pegasus back in Perth, before it blew up. She saw the blurry shapes of the women through the windows and wondered how Vex was doing these days.
‘This bar doesn’t also happen to be a strip club,’ said Bec. ‘You know, someone pulled this trick on me once before.’
‘We’re next door. And hey, I never said it was a nice restaurant. Has damn good drinks though.’
A small and colourful bar, with only a few patrons, though certainly enough to liven things up. They Kelly and Rebecca found two stools. A serving droid brought them their drinks.
‘Hey, can I ask you something?’ said Bec.
‘Is it work related? Because I have no intention of talking about work. As your commanding officer I forbid it.’
‘It’s… semi-work related.’
Kelly narrowed her brows.
‘I still don’t get the deal with Boris,’ Bec went on. ‘I’ve either tried to be nice to him or just ignored him completely. I think he really has something against me.’
‘I told you, he doesn’t like hackers.’
‘No, I think it’s something about me personally. I just don’t know what.’
Kelly sipped at her drink.
‘My opinion, just ride out the storm. Who cares if an angry Russian person doesn’t like you? It hasn’t impacted the mission so technically it isn’t my problem. Boris is a difficult man. He’ll either come around or he won’t. How are you feeling, by the way? You know, with the…’
‘The former hole in my neck? I mean, given the circumstances I think I’m doing okay. It was really weird you know, for a second, I thought I was gonna die, like I knew it was happening. My first near-death experience was when Pegasus blew up, but when that happened the shock made my brain all muddled. When that bullet hit me though, and I saw the blood, I was thinking....’
‘Thinking what?’
Bec shrugged.
‘I was thinking I still had a lot of shit to do.’ She paused. ‘What about you? Ever been shot?’
Kelly grinned but it didn’t reach her eyes, then she lifted her shirt and showed off her scars,
‘I’ve been stabbed.’ She showed off a narrow scar on her abdomen. ‘That one hurt like a bitch afterwards. And then…’ She guided Rebecca’s hand up her back and showed her the round scar on her shoulder. ‘Bullet to the shoulder.’
‘Was the Special Forces really that dangerous?’
Kelly lowered her shirt and laughed. ‘That? No, I got that from an ex-girlfriend way back. Shot me with a 22.’
‘Why’d she do that?’
‘It’s a long story. You know I used to live here in Tokyo?’
Rebecca sipped at her drink.
‘No shit. Really? When?’
‘Oh, I was just a kid then, maybe thirteen years old. When your parents are in the army you move around a lot, you know how it is.’
‘No, I don’t. I’ve been stuck in the same city for twenty-four years. It must have been exciting, moving to Tokyo as a kid. I always wanted to, all the tech here looked so amazing. I loved working with virtual reality.’
‘I don’t really remember what it was like. I loved the parks here, still do, and all that traditional Japanese stuff, and cherry blossoms, but I mean everyone loves cherry blossoms, right?’
‘Yeah,’ said Bec, raising her drink for a toast. ‘People make assumptions. I wear black most of the time, I listen to music people don’t agree to, they think I don’t like cherry blossoms.’
‘You don’t let people get to know you.’
‘I only let the right people get to know me, and there are very few of those to go around.’ She looked up from her drink. ‘Anyway, I’m curious about something, once you were old enough to not have to travel around with your parents, where’d you go?’
‘Back to Seattle,’ said Kelly.
‘You went home? Why? I mean I get it, but—'
‘I didn’t stay long. I ended up moving to New York with my now ex-girlfriend…’
‘Is this the one who?’
‘No, this one didn’t shoot me, but that whole thing did happen to go down while I was in New York. But at the same time, I was getting set up for Special Forces. It was good while it lasted, then I was transferred.’ Her eyes became distant. ‘There was this one mission…’ She made a gesture as if she were wiping the memory away. ‘Anyway, I eventually ended up here, in this bar.’
Rebecca accommodated the solemn change of mood for a moment. Then a chuckle slipped from her mouth.
‘What?’ said Kelly, smiling.
Bec shook her head.
‘I can’t believe your girlfriend shot you.’
The GCSD taskforce had always been something temporary for Rebecca. Just another job. Then she’d go home. But she eventually realised that this was different, or maybe she was different. She hadn’t had this much excitement in years, this much purpose. She regretted almost being killed, she really did, but it was an unfortunate accident. The chase, the hunt, the movement. This life was thrilling, and part of her was in love.
Rebecca and the captain made their way back to HQ. In the confines of the elevator Bec realised that Kelly smelt like raspberry lemonade. The elevator opened and Boris awaited them, or Kelly, specifically.
‘Captain, I noticed a bug in our security network. Only minor. Nothing suspicious on diagnostics. Still, I’ll be running an update soon.’
‘Thank you, Boris.’
‘I have an old server I’ve been meaning to check for leftover data,’ said Bec, indicating towards her room. ‘I’ll uh, notify you if I find anything.’
‘Sure thing.’
Rebecca shut the bedroom door behind her, climbed onto her bed and prepped the VR. She loaded in. Her usual construct – dark stone room, black water, glowing lights. But the load took longer than usual and right before Bec could cancel and jack out her system suffered a glitch, the walls collapsed into powerful beams of light and she found herself standing alone in a vacant white room.
‘Rebecca Marshall,’ said a deep an unsympathetic voice.
She twisted around. Standing there in the seemingly endless white space was a middle-aged Japanese man. He wore a trim suit, his hair thick but greying, his eyes carried the unmistakable shine of a neural implant. Rebecca recognised him as Sato Yamasaki and her eyes instinctively darted left and right in search of an exit.
Shit…
‘What is this?’ said Rebecca. ‘How did I get here?’
Sato slowly walked towards her, his shoes tapping on the spotless floor.
‘I need to speak to you, Rebecca, but unfortunately I don’t have much time. Plans have been altered and, regrettably, accelerated due to your efforts and that of the GCSD. You understand the value of subtlety, Rebecca?’
She didn’t respond. Could she call for help? Have Kelly track Sato without him knowing? She still didn’t understand how he found her. How he highjacked her load sequence and transferred her to a completely different server.
‘I thought little of you to begin with,’ Sato pointed out. ‘I thought you were a nobody, a lowlife hacker, much like Akira during her Yakuza days. You proved me wrong.’
His neon blue eyes seemed to freeze Rebecca in ice. She’d been through a lot these past few months but this kind of fear was something else. A fear of losing something greater than herself. The discomfort was like a great weight threatening to crush her entirely.
‘You’ve done an excellent job gaining Kelly Jade’s trust. If she disrupts my plans any further the results may be… unfavourable for all of us.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Rebecca blurted out.
‘A little chaos to loosen the reigns. I need someone on the inside, someone I trust, someone who has been loyal to me in the past. If you cooperate, I can guarantee your freedom.’
Freedom, Rebecca thought. The word turned itself over in her mind. The GCSD had Sato Yamasaki on the run. These threats were proof of his desperation. Rebecca might have taken up on the offer once, but the truth is she hadn’t felt like a prisoner in months. The thought of having worked for this man, the thought of her past, it made her sick. The truth was she had tremendous respect for people like Harrison Taylor, Zef, even Robb, and of course, Kelly. Bec couldn’t believe that there was a time when she wouldn’t hesitate to accept Sato Yamasaki’s offer, to betray them. Now, she didn’t hesitate to refuse it.
‘Fuck you.’
Her response alone was freeing, euphoric, even.
Sato merely nodded gravely.
‘A shame,’ he said. ‘But it doesn’t matter. If you truly have faith in your captain, you’ll be sure to tell her right away about our little conversation. Either way, I will get what I want from you in the end. Goodbye, Rebecca.’
Sato’s residual image flickered and deconstructed. The walls peeled to black. Rebecca jolted upright in her bed and disconnected the VR deck.
That evil fly continued to torment Rebecca from some hidden place in her room, or maybe her mind, she wasn’t sure. Bec stared at the ceiling and listened to the miniscule buzz flare up from time to time. It was the only thing keeping her from being engrossed in her thoughts.
I should tell Kelly… was the reoccurring thought. She’ll understand. But how to explain it – Bec still didn’t know how Sato was able to reach out to her. How did he find her?Absolutely zero contact with NR members unless permitted to do so. Those was the terms of her amnesty agreement. Like it or not she had already broken the rules… I just need to find proof that it’s not my fault. Kelly could help her, Rebecca knew it. So why aren’t I telling her right now? The alternative outcome was grim, that was probably why. If this ended badly it would mean prison.
She sat up, refusing to think about it any further, trying to calm down. She thought about Kelly and how happy they had been just a few hours earlier. Unsure of what to do with herself, she visited the gym and ran on the treadmill for a while, until her lungs burned and she was caked in sweat. Her mind might have been a little clearer, she wasn’t sure. The overall problem still remained with no easy solution.
Akira had just finished a workout as well and sat on the end of her bunk. Bec grabbed a towel but Akira was fast, she ran to the shower and closed the door in time for Bec to smash into it with her closed fist.
‘Come on, Akira, really?’
In response, the water started running.
Rebecca sighed. She didn’t notice the captain standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. She gestured towards her room.
‘You can use mine.’
Rebecca had to admit that she’d wanted to use the shower in the captain’s quarters since day one.
‘Okay.’
Rebecca stood in the captain’s bathroom, a little awkwardly. The room was quiet, and she stripped and ran the hot water, feeling it with her hand, the perfect temperature and water pressure compared to the shared bathroom used by the crew.
She could sense Kelly sitting on the bed in the other room.
‘How is it?’ Kelly asked. She didn’t sound like a captain when she spoke. Her voice was gentler, timid, even. Bec wondered what the captain was thinking about.
‘Fine,’ she replied.
Rebecca closed her eyes and let the water fall over her face for a few seconds longer, then turned off the water, stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel. Kelly had entered the bathroom to collect her hairbrush. This moment had been lingering in the back of Rebecca’s mind for a while now; a moment of dread or joy, or both. She wanted to avoid this at all costs, but also to let it happen. Fear gripped her, but she was calm.
The warm silence kept Rebecca from saying anything, broken by the droplets of water trickling down the drain as steam fogged up the mirror. For a moment it seemed that Kelly Jade was hers alone. They became entranced with each other’s gaze and Rebecca realised that her captain was beautiful. Kelly carried a rare expression of vulnerability as she lifted her hand and brushed Rebecca’s cheek, and it was as if all the rules and regulations in the world never existed.
But only for a moment.
A buzzing sound jolted them from their trance. Kelly checked her phone.
‘Akira’s recovered some intel on Sato,’ Kelly said, her voice only just above a whisper.
‘Oh…’ Bec stepped back. ‘We should uh…’
‘Yeah.’ But the captain stayed put a moment longer, then said, ‘I’ll let you get dressed.’ She composed herself and straightened her shoulders before going to meet with the rest of the team.
When Bec was alone she wiped the fog from the mirror with her hand so she could see the look of cold terror on her face. She exhaled deeply, only just noticing her trembling fingers, the thumping of her heart.
It was dangerous, what they were doing. Rebecca would have to make sure it didn’t happen again. Regardless of how she felt, they couldn’t be together, not that way. She found herself looking for loopholes. Maybe there was a way…
No… she thought. That was too close already…
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