An Unpleasant Memory

The broken gravel crunched under Evelyn's heavy military boots. Thin wisps of smoke rose from the crushed chunks of what used to be a road. Surrounding her were ramshackle buildings that disappeared into the murk above. Each alleyway was an anxiety inducing gamble, each one possibly holding one of the lawless criminals of the undercity. Evelyn’s hand stayed steady on her lancer; a large, high powered energy rifle, wielded only by the higher level officers of the defense force. The comforting hum of its charge up felt like a warm blanket to Evelyn as she rounded each corner.

“Sergeant Grant,” she called into her communication device, lightly touching her ear, “Report?”

She lifted her finger as static answered through the device in her ear. She sternly repeated the call for a report, her voice tense. Static called back again. Her eyes set into a harder gaze, raising her lancer as she swept the area.

“Looking for someone?” a friendly voice asked from behind her.

With vicious efficiency she flipped the person behind her over her shoulder, dropping them to their back in front of her. The thrum of the lancer revving filled the air as she stared down at the sight at a chuckling Grant.

“You’re a fool,” she said.

“It’s been all quiet all night.” Grant said, standing up and dusting the grime from the street off of his sleek uniform.

“That is what we want it to be, Grant. Despite your best efforts.” she said, trying her best to sound as scolding as possible, but as always, she found herself with a tight smile on her face.

Grant stood a head taller than Evelyn, his short, dark brown hair clashing against Evelyn's almost pure white hair that hung down to her shoulders. While Evelyn kept her hair tied up during patrols, Grant was looking shaggy as usual, with his combat uniform shifted off center on his friendly but toned frame.

“We gotta wrap this patrol up early Eve. Conference in an hour.” Grant reminded her.

“Well, it’s like you said; it’s been all quiet.” Evelyn said, frowning slightly at the thought.

Grant saw the shift in Evelyn’s face and rested a hand on her shoulder, “Are you thinking about him again? You told me yourself he was dead. Right? Try and forget, okay? Focus on what's here now.”

Evelyn brushed his hand off, “I wish I could.” she said, sighing and shaking her head “But you’re right. There's no chance he could be down here.”

Grant nodded, clearly unsatisfied with how much she actually believed her words.

“Officer Mays to EVAC support, need two extraction pods.” she said into a communication device built into her nano suit.

“Compliance!” A friendly voice chirped from a virtual screen that popped into existence from a pad strapped to her wrist.

The screen blazed to life, displaying a map that would lead the two to an open extraction point.

“Let’s go.” she ordered as the two set off.

With trained precision the two swept each nook and cranny on the way to the evac site, while nothing came up, the two were still on edge for anything. The undercity was a dangerous place and had grown even more so with the recent biological augmentations that had found their way into the undercity population. Even an unsuspecting child could now render a trained officer helpless against a never before seen assortment of physical weaponry. Evelyn shuddered, picturing the power that had saved her life being used to kill her comrades.

“The price we pay for progress, or so he says.” she thought to herself, remembering the words from the director.

As they approached the evac point hazy light began to pour into the nearly pitch black undercity via their exit hole. Massive support pillars held up the city above, but sometimes, cracks formed, and holes were made. These were ‘access points’ to the undercity and vice versa. These holes could be used for officers to patrol the undercity. Or for the augmented to sneak into the upper city, so they were heavily monitored and patrolled. A metallic whine filled the air and blew dust around the landing zone as two vaguely egg shaped objects with large metal rotors landed. A door flung open on both and the two stepped into them. After fastening safety restraints, Evelyn reopened her tactical pad.

“To defense force headquarters please.” she told the navigation AI.

“Compliance!” it called back as the rotors started up.

As the pod took off into the sky, the dimness of the undercity was filled with the false vibrancy of the upper city. An overwhelming amount of light and color bombarded Evelyn’s senses and she was forced to close her eyes to avoid a headache, opting to rest before the conference.

“Looks like we are running a little late E.” Grant said, “We may need to attend in combat attire.”

“It’s fine if you do, but I actually need to put forward my best self. Downside of officer status.”

“Perks of being a sergeant I guess, I get to enjoy myself a bit.”

“I enjoy myself just fine, thank you very much.”

“Landing!” the nav announced.

The landing lightly jostled Evelyn as she undid the restraints.

“Focus on what's here now.” Grant's words rang, piercing her thoughts. It was a mantra she had told herself for years, to little avail.

She unsuccessfully tried squashing the thoughts as she exited the drop pod.

“Thank you, Nav.”

“Anytime Officer Mays!” the computer said before the pod came back to life, flying elsewhere to pick up another officer in need.

Grant walked over, lightly stretching after the short trip, “Any idea what the conference is about?”

“Not a clue.”

“That seems hard to believe for Ms. Officer,” he laughed.

“I just follow the rules, Grant, you should learn a thing or two. Maybe you’ll even get promoted. Or at least not dishonorably discharged.” Evelyn joked back.

Grant sighed, walking off of the landing tarmac and towards the large bay doors of the facility. Evelyn followed, retracting her nano suit into its compartment on her back. By instinct she set the safety on her lancer and carried it barrel down rested against her chest, as regulation ordered. As they drew closer to the bay doors, the doors swung open, hissing shut behind them. In the decorated and vast hall of the defense council headquarters everything felt small. Grant said a farewell and wandered over to a confectionary stand to grab a bite of food. Evelyn quickly ducked into an elevator and, with a quick scan of her military ID built into her wrist pad, traveled upwards to the armory. She opened a hard metal locker with her name etched in gold lettering and racked her lancer as well as her two trusty pistols. With a slight tug she removed the small housing unit for her nano suit and also placed it in the locker. She quickly untied her hair in the mirror provided and closed the locker, satisfied that she looked moderately presentable, and ventured back towards the conference hall. A sharp looking man waved her into the hall, and she stumbled into a short man with greasy, slicked back hair. He was dressed in a gold decorated officer uniform, displaying his wealth and familial status within the defense force.

“Hello my dear!” he said, grinning ear to ear at the chance encounter.

“Horace.” she said stiffly, backing away.

“What a joyous coincidence that drags us together!” he cooed, gently brushing her arm.

“Ah there you are.” Grant said, stepping between the two.

“Grant.” Horace said flatly, as though his arrival had drained the excitement from the moment.

“Hello, Horace.” Grant said.

“Officer Bram.” Horace corrected, “No need to forgo protocol with me.”

“Yes of course Officer Bram.” Grant corrected, trying to diffuse the situation.

“Should you not go to your seat with the other Sergeants?” Horace urged.

Evelyn used the two's discussion to quietly slip into the hall. While the front entrance may have been grand, the meeting hall spared no expense. It wasn’t quite to Evelyn's taste, but she nevertheless appreciated it. Money was a point of contention, especially in the undercity, and she was just happy to live in luxury. A massive table filled the center of the hall, with hundreds of seats. Across the hall, on the high wall, sat the speaker's balcony.

She took a seat and folded her hands gently in her lap, maintaining her posture and decorum she had worked so hard to perfect.

“There you are!” Horace said, overjoyed.

“Hello again.”

Horace quickly sat down next to her, scooting his chair closer.

A slight tapping on a glass saved her from an inevitable conversation. Serving drones entered the hall, filling drinks and passing out small meals on platters. Steaming meat, fried vegetables. All extremely rare delicacies; all certainly artificially made.

“I’m sure most of you are wondering as to the reason for this conference.” a voice said through an amplifier as a man stood atop the speaker's balcony.

“Is that the director?” Evelyn thought, her mind flashing with her memories of the tall, wiry man, “What in the world is this meeting about?”

“Today marks the council's official endorsement of a new neophyte that will remain stationed here, in Neos London, to help quell the rising augmented threat."