Replicant (Part One)

"What do you mean there´s no metal?" Trap´s roar sounded from the basement. Cly hastily stepped backward, terrified, but Trap grabbed him by the shirt and shook him. “Where’s the damn loot?” he shouted. “We risked everything for this, and you come back with nothing?”

"She . . . Vi dropped it," he said meekly. Trap´s red face turned to Vi as he dropped Cly.

"Well?" he demanded.

"He ran away first, left me alone. We didn’t have a choice!” Iris said through gritted teeth. “The Prowlers- "

“Prowlers?” Trap cut her off. "That´s exactly why I sent you, girl." 

Vi clenched her fists, the cold wristband still in her hand. She could feel Trap’s eyes boring into her, his anger almost palpable in the air between them.

“It wasn’t simple,” she muttered, her voice tense and weak. “There were more of them than we expected.”

"And Rash?"

"He sold us out. And then they killed him . . ."

Trap roared again. He held a bottle of wine in his hand, and he threw it against the far wall. The shattering sound pierced Vi´s ears. Trap’s fury wasn’t just about the failed job. He was furious because they had lost more than just the loot. They had lost an opportunity, a moment of control in a city where control was a rare and precious thing.

Cly´s heart sank. He doesn´t even bother to ask how we fought off three Prowlers and almost died, he thought.  

Trap then got up and walked over to Vi, his hands curled into fists. "Honestly, girl, I don´t know why I keep you." He bent over, this time grabbing her by the shirt and pulling her up, raising his other fist.

"Shoulda thrown you out long ago."

Vi looked at him, staring into his eyes, pleading. "No, please!" 

Just then, a few feet away, the stairwell door burst open with a bang.

A black-cloaked man stood there. He had dark brown hair tied up behind him. Vi recognized him as the man who´d saved them before from the Prowlers. 

His brown eyes scanned the room. When he looked down at Vi, his expression softened slightly for a moment. She seized the opportunity and tried to shake herself free from Trap´s grip but without success. 

“Enough,” Ed said, his voice calm but laced with authority that made everyone in the room freeze. Trap’s eyes widened, and his scowl faltered. The newcomer raised his hand. 

"Drop her," the man said, and Trap, ever so slowly, lowered her to the ground and let her go. 

“I want everyone out,” Ed ordered, his voice firm. “Now.”

Vi swallowed, her throat tight. Whatever this was, it felt bigger than Trap’s anger. Ed wasn’t like him, like Trap. He was calm, observing, and his eyes held a different kind of intensity.

"Who the hell are you?" Trap roared. 

Ed barely glanced in Trap’s direction, his attention still on Vi. His calm demeanor seemed to enrage Trap even more. Without a second thought, Trap grabbed a knife from his belt and, with a flick of his wrist, sent it flying straight toward Ed’s chest.

Vi gasped. The knife flew tip-first towards him, but then stopped dead in the air a few millimeters away from his body, staying lodged in there for a moment as if stopped by some invisible force. Then, it fell to the ground. He hadn’t flinched. Not even a blink.

“Who am I?" He took a step toward Trap. 

“I’m the one who makes sure people like you don’t get crushed by this city. I’m the one who knows the game you're playing better than you ever will.”

Trap's bravado faltered, his hand twitching toward another weapon, but he hesitated. Ed stepped even closer.

“I’m the one who just kept three Prowlers off your back. Shadowblade, ever heard the name?"

Ed let the silence linger, the weight of his words pressing down on Trap like a heavy stone.

“Now,” Ed said, waving offhandedly to him and turning back, “we have more important things to discuss. As for you, Trap, you better relocate.”

"And give the lair to you?" he shouted.

"If you´d been any smarter, you would´ve realized that the Prowlers are already on your trail. Now, surely you do not have the capacity to fight off the Monarch when his men come bursting through your front door tomorrow morning?"

Trap, still frozen, said nothing. His hand slipped away from his knife as he backed off, his anger now simmering under the surface. He left the room without a word. 

Ed sighed as he straightened himself up. A second cloaked figure entered the room, looking at Vi´s pale face, bruises, and disheveled look. 

"Poor thing," he muttered. "Ed-"

"I know."

Ed turned to Cly, who was already walking out the door by himself behind Trap. "Boy," he said. "See to it that no one enters this room until we´re done. We want to speak to the girl."

Cly nodded and shut the door close. Ed sighed again but then smiled at Vi. 

"They won´t harm you again. Or anyone else for the matter."

He walked around towards the bar and sat down, the second one doing the same. Vi remained, staring at the two men.

"Have a seat," Ed said to Vi, but she did not respond.

C'mon, tell me what you want from me, Iris thought. A voice inside her head spoke up again. "Don´t trust these men, you have no friends in the underworld. They´re all after your skin." 

"What´s your name?" Ed smiled.

"Vi," she replied promptly, and the second one snorted. 

"Oh, we already know that one," Ed said. "I meant your real name."

The girl flinched, her body tense and distrusting. However, something told her that these men would see through another lie. She responded honestly, speaking the name she´d not used in six years. 

"Iris Forger." 

Ed smiled. "Iris, huh," he said. "Wonderful name."

Iris´ ears went slightly red on hearing this, but she quickly straightened herself. She still did not know what they were after.

Ed continued. "Where are your parents? Are you a runaway?"

"Who´re you?" Iris asked bluntly, eyes narrowed. She did not bother answering the question. 

"My name is Edward. And this is Lancer," he pointed at the counter, as Lancer emerged with a bottle of wine. 

"Lo."

"Are you Replicants?"

Ed straightened up a little, still smiling. "So you know about Replicants, huh?"

"Humans given the power to use the elements, right?"

Ed nodded in satisfaction. "Very good! Although not entirely accurate I´m afraid. Indeed, I am one though. I won´t deny that."

"You´re with them, then!" Iris shouted, her face furious and distrustful.

"With whom?"

"The council. The Monarch. The Prow-"

"The Prowlers? Didn´t we just save you from one out there? Granted, two of them were already dead before we intervened, however you managed to do *that*. And we´re not with the ministry. Lancer cannot even use Technomancy."

"None should exist outside the ministry´s control," Iris lowered her voice. "They hunt them. The only people with powers are Prowlers."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "What about you?"

Iris looked shocked. Somehow he knew about her Tech. "How . . ."

 "Tell me, Iris. Do you realize what you did to those soldiers back there?"

"I used my Tech, I think. Though it has never done that before."

"How did you kill them?"

"I didn´t kill anyone. Something lit up inside my body. I used my Tech."

"Tech?" That´s . . . stupid," Ed said. "It´s Technomancy. Ancient technology that for some people borders on magic, and gives users access to a variety of skills."

"Skills kept under strict control. Skills used only by the Prowlers, and the high noble families."

Ed grinned. "And yet, here we are."

Iris recollected the event. She was not sure what she´d used, or done. She´d never used her power in that way before. Usually, she only used it to hide. "I . . . controlled one of them somehow," she said, and Ed looked slightly puzzled on that.

So, is that what her Tech was? Technomancy? 

"We need to be sure. We have to run some tests." He looked her in the eye. 

"Use it on me."