Dark Allegiances

Lady Miyuki. You need to wake up. It’s time to leave.’

‘Huh? Is it time already?’

‘Yes. The car is ready. Gather your gear and head outside. I’ll be waiting for you,’

Miyuki slowly rose from her slumber. Outside, the bustling streets had quietened down as dusk approached. People knew that as soon as the sun set, the real Devil’s Park would reveal itself.

As Miyuki approached the door that led to Molenda’s workshop, she noticed a black suit of armor next to her bed. Next to the suit was a note from Molenda.

This is the newly created Mark I Combat Suit. I won’t bore you with the details, but know it is fit for purpose. I’d like you to field test it.’

The armor fit like a glove as Miyuki disrobed and tried it on, and slid her gear into the slot on the back of the suit, which could hold up to two weapons. A belt around the waist contained space for up to 4 types of equipment such as grenades and knives. The inbuilt tactical hood covered the user’s head, and contained thermal and heat vision modes. As Miyuki passed through the laboratory and headed up the staircase to the car, Molenda emerged from underneath a desk and protruded a communication chip.

‘Miyuki. Slot this into your arm. It allows me to relay critical mission info to you. Good luck.’

Miyuki slotted the chip into her arm and headed upstairs to the car, opening the front passenger door and sat inside. Within minutes, the car had passed through Devils Park, which had transformed into a den of filth as prostitues and drug dealers littered the streets, begging anyone with no sense in their head and a lot of money in their pockets to partake in the wares they had to offer. The car passed through the gate and headed up the expressway to the Lower Quarter. From there, Miyuki would have to catch a ride on one of the many bullet trains heading up into the Upper Quarter.

Miyuki gazed at Hanan before interrogating her with a bombardment of questions.

‘Who’s the target?’

‘The target, Lady Miyuki, is one Max Bennatyne, a top executive and director of the Research and Development Division at Cyntech Systems.’

‘I see. What else do we know about him?’

‘Mr Bennatyne is a very private man. Little is known about him, except a rumour that he was in business with a drug cartel not to long ago. He’s apparently gone to The Guild for help. It’s also said that he was a massive advocate of the Cybernetics For All program. He’s put a lot of money into getting the project off the ground, especially in places like Paralya and some sections of the Lower Quarter. ‘

‘What’s the plan then? Do I just kill him while at his meeting?’

‘No Lady Miyuki. Your objective is to record and observe this meeting. You’ll do this by bugging Bennatyne’s office. After Mikael leaves, then you’ll find out what he’s up to. Understand?’

‘Yes Hanan.’

‘Good. Because we’re almost at Kixingo Station. I’ve already prepared tickets for you, the one you need to board is on platform Delta. ‘

Miyuki began to fold her blade to stowaway, and inserted a magazine into her automatic sub machine gun, which she then placed in the holster on her left leg.

Kixingo Station reared it’s head as it came into view. The station itself was very small, with only 4 platforms on opppsite sides. The Bullet trains of Lost Ember could carry up to 500 passengers at once. As Miyuki boarded train, she sat down and watched as the many passengers boarded the train ready to go home from work that day. The doors of the train slammed shut and within a few seconds the train had begun it’s journey to the Upper Quarter. The night sky reflected off walls of glass. Skyscrapers tore through the sky as they began to fight for space. The streets were covered in marble and not a single piece of litter was visible, as litter bots patrolled the streets. The warm golden glow of the street lights illuminated the roads. The houses were built using a mix of sleek jet black and beige brick topped with yosumune roofs.

As Miyuki exited the train, the clean sterile air blasted her in the face. She raised a finger to her earpiece.

‘Hanan. I’ve arrived in the UQ. What am I looking for?’

‘Excellent Lady Miyuki. You’re looking for the Cyntech Tower. It’s one of the largest buildings in the Upper Quarter, you can’t miss it. It’s north of where you are.’

‘Understood. Heading there now.’

In the middle of the city lay a skyscraper that towered over the others with the word ‘Cyntech’ in neon green lighting.

The streets had begun to get busier as thousands flocked home from their commute or to one of many shopping districts and parks that lay within the Upper Quarter. Miyuki made her way through the hordes of people into the heart of the city and into the front of the Cyntech Tower, where there was a lone security booth with one security guard and two Executor drones, big hulking machines equipped with two 40mm grenade launchers and one 20mm cannon, ready to shred any opposition in seconds.

‘Hanan. Miyuki here. I’ve made it to Cyntech. Any idea how to get inside? The front door isn’t an option. They’ve got two Executors here.’

‘You can get in through the underground car park, Lady Miyuki.’

‘Copy that. And once I’m inside? Where will the target be?’

‘Our intel shows that Bennatyne’s office is on the 200th floor. You’ll have to take either the maintenance elevator or the fire escape staircase to get there. The main elevator is for employees only and is heavily guarded. ‘

‘Understood. I’ll contact you when I’m inside’.

The underground car park was situated next to the security station. As she was about to head over there, Miyuki noticed a car coming down the road, which screeched to a halt as it was about to drive past the security station. As the car stopped, Miyuki crawled underneath it and hung onto the underbelly of the car as it drove through the gate and into the underground car park. There was a metallic thud as the gate slowly opened then closed behind them. Miyuki heard the driver slam the car door shut as he left and walked to the revolving door, then dropped onto the floor and crawled out from underneath the car, pressing her blade to the man’s throat.

‘ID. Now.’

‘Who the hell are you? I don’t think I’m giving my ID to anyone, let alone you!’

The blade pressed on his throat even more, as blood started to trickle onto his shirt collar.

‘OK. OK you can have it! Here!’

Miyuki sheathed her blade as she walked towards the revolving door and placed the ID card onto the panel, which then flashed green as the door opened. Miyuki looked back at the fear stricken employee and threw his ID at him.

‘Hanan. Miyuki again. Im inside Cyntech Tower. Any idea where the maintenance elevator is?’

‘According to where you are, floor plans show the maintenance elevator is located on the 4th floor. Should be just above you. As it’s night time, you should encounter less resistance than usual.’

The corridors of the building were eerily quiet. Mere hours ago these corridors would’ve been filled with people working and talking but now the entire building felt like a ghost town. Each floor looked the same, rows of computers and desks, with no colour on the walls nor windows, just a single room light. As Miyuki entered the 4th floor , there was again another room filled with desks and computers, as well as the maintenance corridor tucked away in the left corner of the room. After opening the door that led to it, Miyuki passed through the corridor and arrived at the maintenance elevator. She pushed the button marked with ‘200’ and began the ride up, within seconds the elevator doors slid open to reveal the 200th floor, which featured a huge bow window overlooking the city from above, as well as a skylight. There was a reception area, as well as a pair of heavy oak doors leading to Bennatyne’s office. Above the doors to Bennatyne’s office there was a ventilation shaft cover. Grappling up towards it, Miyuki ripped it off its hinges and gently placed it down, then crawled through and into the office. Bennatyne’s office featured a rug made of silk on the floor, as well as a shelf on the right side featuring books and a model of a cybernetic arm, hand and eyes. On the left side mounted on the wall was an ornate hunting rifle, as well as a pair of cybernetic arm blades. Miyuki recognised these as a similar model to the ones Mikael used on her. In the middle of the office there was a desk, containing an ultra wide computer monitor as well as a desk chair and ball point pens made of gold. There was only a few fleeting moments to admire how good Bennatyne’s office looked before voices could be heard at the door. Miyuki reached into her belt and revealed a bugging device, which she slipped underneath the desk, then jumped and hung on one of the chandeliers that dangled from the ceiling. The heavy oak doors made a groan as they swung open and two figures walked in, before the doors closed again. Miyuki recognised one of the figures as Mikael, while the other was a short stocky blond man wearing a corduroy suit.

‘Mr Bennatyne. I trust you got my message?’

‘Yes Mikael, I did. What is this all about?’

‘Your men need to hurry it up with the Cybernetics For All program. You promised me that you could get this done within a year. So far no progress has been made.’

‘I warned you it would take a long time to achieve such a feat Mikael. It’s your own fault for thinking do highly of me.’

‘Let me remind you, Mr Bennatyne, it was through me you earned this position. It was MY money that got you this far. If I didn’t kill the previous director-‘

‘Oh shut up. You yourself have done nothing except take control of The Guild by force. This meeting is over Mikael. I will do my best to speed up the program. But the gangs of Paralya are making things difficult.’

‘You just focus on the program. I’ll deal with the gangs. That’s what The Guild exists for after all.’

The door opened once more, and female dressed in combat armor walked in

‘Master. Is the meeting over?’

‘Tisephone. I’ve told you not to enter when I’m doing business. What do you want.’

‘Master. I’m heading back to Club Aurora to finish final preparations.’

‘Excellent Tisephone. Tell the others to speed things up too. We don’t have a lot of time.’

‘Y-Yes Master!’

Mikael turned his head towards Bennatyne .

‘Mr Bennatyne . Don’t forget what we spoke about here.’

Mikael walked out slamming the door behind him.

As Bennatyne sat back down in his desk chair, Miyuki dropped from the ceiling and grabbed Bennatyne by the throat.

‘G-Guards! Where the hell are my guards!’

‘Nobody’s coming Bennatyne.’

‘Who the hell are you? You think you can come in here and start assaulting me you little bitch?’

‘That man was from The Guild. What does he want with you?’

‘From me? Go to hell. I’m not telling you a damn thing.’

Miyuki grabbed one of the gold pens and shoved the end into Bennatyne’s right hand

‘Yo-You bastard! God that hurts! Do you know how many credits I’m gonna need to pay to get this shit fixed?!’

‘Answer me correctly or the next pen will go into your eye.’

Bennatyne let out a cry of pain as he clutched his injured hand

‘Let’s try this again. Why was a person from The Guild associating with you?’

‘H-His name is Mikael! H-He wanted me to set something up. The Cybernetics For All program! Maybe you’ve heard of it?’

Miyuki glared at him as she tightened her grip on his throat

‘Whats this program?’

‘Mikael’s been working on it for years! One of his furies, Megaera, she oversees it! ‘

‘ You’re dodging the question Mr Bennatyne. I’m asking you what does this program do, not who oversees it.’

‘I-I can’t tell you that! It’s confidential!’

Miyuki picked up the pen and shoved it into Bennatyne’s left eye. Bennatyne screamed as Miyuki removed the pen with his eyeball hanging off the end of it.

‘Mr Bennatyne. The program. Now.’

‘S-Sure! It was-‘

There was a short scream as a bullet landed in Bennatyne’s head. Miyuki turned behind her to see Tisephone standing in the doorway holding a smoking pistol. Miyuki threw Bennatyne’s corpse at Tisephone, who unsheathed her sword and cut it to shreds, before running at Miyuki, who sprinted out of the office and hid behind the receptionist desk. Miyuki realised the only way out was to get past Tisephone first.