Iron

Edward and Lancer walked together and Iris made her way quietly behind them, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to herself.

It was the underworld of Arnem, after all.

The alleyway was completely dark, save for green and purple lights bleeding out of shabby and poorly built bars and houses. Some had shades made of rags reaching out into the rough street, under which occasional growls and dark figures of shopkeepers and underworld tradesmen could be sensed. They worked under the dull yellow lamps in the night, if any light at all.

The dirty smoke rising from these half-decapitated buildings obscured the views of passersby on the road, so that Iris could barely notice dull dark figures around her, and could barely make out the bridge laid out on stone pillars ahead of her. She closed the gap between herself and Ed a bit, walking faster to meet their pace, but just then a hand grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her behind, forcing her to turn around.

“Hey!” a voice shouted, and Iris noticed a boy around the same age as her in old ragged clothes, a dagger in his hand pointed towards her. Iris stared briefly, looking at the dagger, then smirked at the angry face. “I´m not scared of you, Lye.” She said.

“The money!” he said “Give it back!”

“Or what?” Iris eyed the dagger again, then bent down to the blade so that her forehead almost touched the tip. “Try me.”

“Stop!” Ed´s voice demanded as he and Lancer pulled Iris and Lye apart. “What do you want, kid?”

Lye looked at Ed for a moment, feeling defeated. Nonetheless, he said, “Her crew robbed us.” Then he put his dagger away, recognizing the two men at once. He knew better than to pick a fight with him.

Iris noticed his discomfort. “I didn’t rob them, their crew was just hasty. Ours finished the job first.”

Ed sighed. “Will five Obsidian stones be enough, kid?”

Lye nodded. The amount was much more than what he´d been asking for. Ed quickly pulled out a small bag from his cloak, and handed over five, avoiding gazes from onlookers. The boy quickly took the bag and, with one last look at Iris, he ran away, disappearing in the smoky darkness.

Iris looked furiously at Ed. “Why?”

Ed simply beckoned to her and they continued walking.

“That was way more than he wanted!” Iris whispered angrily.

“Calm down, this was your money. Remember the Obsidian pouch you dropped?”

“Don’t tell me you… “

Iris broke off, surprised, as Ed handed over the pouch to her. Iris didn’t take it but stared at Ed. He nudged her again. “It´s yours.”

She simply narrowed her eyes but did as she was asked, quickly tucking the pouch away under her baggy sweatshirt and out of view. Then, putting on a hoodie to avoid further unwanted encounters, she followed them again until they soon reached the border of the sector, then past them.

“Lance?” Ed turned to him. Lancer nodded and went away in the opposite direction. Iris looked on as the two of them continued.

“Where are we going?”

“Sector One. You´ll see.”

“But, that´s hours away!” she found herself saying. “How will we get there?”

“On foot.” He caught a glimpse of the look on Iris´ face and chuckled slightly.

She felt like saying something but broke off. One insane master to another, she thought to herself.

Edward retrieved a neatly folded piece of cloth from the small pouch he was carrying around his chest, and let the soft grey material unfold in his fingers. It was slick and dark as night, tailored from the strips of cloth that gave it a unique texture. He threw it over his shoulders and tied it around his neck.

"Can you run?" he asked, and Iris stared. "All right, let´s begin . . ." he continued strolling down the empty street, Iris trailing behind him.

"First thing. You . . . me . . . we´re anomalies. You mustn´t be seen. Almost all Replicants are either Prowlers or high noblemen. Which means, as long as they can´t identify you by face, you´re assumed to be one of them."

"Replicants wear a cloak. You are going to need one too, although the hoodie should do the trick this time. It´s a dark and lonely night."

He stopped and turned back to hand over another tablet to Iris. She gulped it down. "I´ll ask Lance to take you to get one made, but that comes later. For now, let´s get you used to the first element, at least. Can you feel the reserves?"

Iris paused. If she focused, she could distinguish one source far larger than the other. The tablet, this time, probably only contained one element, Iris guessed. She nodded, and Ed continued.

"Use the larger one."

With a deep breath, she did as told. Instantly, a warm energy pulsed throughout her body, filling her muscles with newfound strength. Her senses seemed to heighten in an instant and a sharp pain shot across her eyes and ears. Her eyes felt blinded by the small light source coming from the sector gate. However, at the same time, every detail of the night became sharp and clear.

As she began to walk, her legs felt powerful and light, and the cool night air felt almost electric against her skin. The sounds of the night, rustling leaves, and her own heartbeat. Everything became amplified, the noise reverberating in her ears.

"Iron boosts your physical abilities and senses. While using it, everything will feel more intense than usual." He spoke in a quiet voice, but Iris thought she was shouting.

"This is a drug," she thought to herself, her head spinning.

"And as you can imagine, you´ll feel tired quickly as your body burns through its energy quicker. At the same time, you´ll register tiny changes in the environment, but you need to learn to control it, otherwise the stimuli and stress will overwhelm you."

Saying this, Ed burned his own Iron and broke into a jog. Iris followed and tried to adjust her pace, but the sensory overload was too much to bear. Everything felt vivid. She could feel her clothes stuck on her body, every rock underfoot, and every gust of wind slapped against her face. She jogged alongside Ed, but her attempts to balance the increasing speed and overwhelming input led to clumsy movements. She stumbled over a small uneven patch of ground, her feet twisting awkwardly. Pain shot through her leg, electrifying her whole body.

"I can´t keep up," Iris said, her voice strained.

Ed simply nodded. "Let´s slow down again." Both of them walked briskly alongside each other. "The Iron can be disorienting."

"How do you do it?"

"As you learn to balance its usage, instead of using it in sudden bursts like you´re doing right now, you´ll notice something interesting. Indeed, one can tune out certain senses completely, and focus on only one. As you practice, you´ll notice certain . . . subtleties in the way you can use the elements."

He looked at Iris and smiled. "I´d have been really surprised if you´d managed that the first time you properly use an element. This took me years."

Iris took a deep breath again, trying to filter out the sensory barrage. She focused on her breathing as they started to go faster again, trying to steady her uneven breaths. The warmth from the Iron surged through her body. Although she attempted to find a steadier rhythm, her movements were still erratic.

To her surprise and relief, Ed slowed down again in front of her, next to a couple of desolate buildings. He looked back at Iris as she stopped too, slowly, trying to maintain her balance.

She fell to her knees beside him, exhausted, on the muddy road. Her fingers and knees hit the cold wet surface. The rain flowing against her face felt like being impaled by tiny spikes under the usage of Iron. She could not run any farther. Her lungs burned and her legs ached horribly. A single raindrop streaked her face gently and fell from her eyebrow.

Ed gently sat down on the ground beside her.

"I can´t . . . anymore," Iris groaned. "Never, in my life. . ."

"Let´s walk for now."

Iris shook her head violently. "How many hours to go?"

"We´ve been running for the last hour straight. Should be less than forty minutes away, at our current pace."

Iris couldn´t think straight. The effects of Iron, she noticed, were gradually wearing off. She felt a little less tired than before as her body returned to normal. Still, she wanted to collapse to the ground and curl up.

"My Iron is gone. Gimme more."

Surprisingly, Ed shook his head.

"Listen, it doesn´t make you immortal. Better not to learn this the hard way. Push your body way beyond its limit, and things start to stretch too thin and break. You´re not invincible."

"Let it wear off, slowly. You´ll feel better."

Iris did as he said, but even after all the Iron faded completely, her body still ached. She considered what would´ve happened if they´d continued until the end.

"If Iron makes one even more tired than usual, why make me use it at all?" she asked.

Ed raised his shoulders. "Wanted to see how long you could hold out."

She sighed.

One insane master to another indeed.