Lia the Bitter

I lost sight of the Venator, my old acquaintance Yagi Akinori, when he sprinted to another group of androids. A woman in a singlet, shorts, pink raincoat, and knee-high boots trailed after him. I stayed unmoved, mouth open, as if to call after him. When had we last spoken? Two years, three months, and thirteen days. Give or take. But who’s counting?

Valeria jogged to the deactivated androids with her sling-comp and unspooled data transfer cables. Real heavy-duty stuff, those Brignac K33s cords. My old cybernetics used to use them. Brignac had proprietary alloys that helped a lot with speed and corruption-avoidance, which meant a lot in cybernetics—

‘Lia,’ said Valeria, dislodging my reverie. ‘Lend me a paw.’

I hobbled and kneeled alongside. Gunfire resounded in the distance. More shattered glass. More screams. Valeria handed me a square-shaped display.

‘How’re your ones-and-zeros?’ she asked.

‘Not great. Mum always said hacking was for thieves and lapel-lovers.’

‘Just keep an eye on this,’ she commanded, and pointed at a fluctuating bar. ‘Tell me if it goes above this line.’

Valeria tapped away at her sling-comp, while I stared at the bar-and-line. Nothing much happened. I glanced around, but Aki must’ve gone to another level.

Have you ever had a best friend, but you weren’t their best friend?

I loved my sister, Priscilla, but we didn’t share the same interests. Aki, on the other hand—people used to joke about him being the boy version of me. I didn’t have friends in Montim Aquinor, only acquaintances who knew and feared/respected/admired/hated the Viper of Aquinor. When I’d go to Aki’s home, he’d be surrounded by people: Brothers, his sister, parents, Grandmother, maids, friends from the Sumiaka-kai, and a Great Dane that ran circles around the property.

‘Lia!’ Valeria slapped my arm. The bar had shot above the line. ‘You know how rare it is to get them fresh?’ She swapped the cables to the next android.

‘W-Why is it bleeding?’ I asked.

‘Probably the bullets.’

‘But an android—’

‘Not the time.’ Valeria wiped sweat from her cheek. ‘Watch the bar.’

I did as commanded. Things went well, and Valeria got her data. But the real discovery came when I touched two fingers to the android’s wrist. I don’t know why I felt the need; android or not, three bullets to head resulted in death. Perhaps I checked for warmth. I turned the hand over. The android wore a chic outfit, but the hands were filthy. Long fingernails held lines of black grime and moss. On a hunch, I cupped my hand over them. Sure enough, the moss emitted a faint glow.

‘I always wanted to visit the glowing moss caves,’ I remarked.

‘What did you say?’ Valeria snapped, eyes wide.

I gestured at the android’s hands, which Valeria snatched away. She cupped her hands over the fingernails, inhaled sharply, and used tweezers to extract the moss. She removed another device from her jacket and scraped the moss inside. ‘If I’m right…this moss is from…’

The device chimed. Data flowed across the screen. Valeria beamed and kissed my forehead. ‘This isn’t just glowing moss. This is the glowing moss.’

‘Great?’

‘Of the glowing moss varieties, this moss can only be found on the Galapagos Islands near Ecuador. Now, why would an android of this calibre be on those islands? Unless…the Rat King resides there.’ She threw her head back and laughed. ‘I’ve been telling those morons for years to collect samples in the field, but no, they said it was too much hassle.’

‘So…the Rat King is on those islands?’

‘Theoretically. If the Rat King AI were mobile, we would’ve detected it by now. No, he must be giving orders from an isolated location – like the Galapagos Islands. It makes sense. They’ve been hard to reach, ever since the You-Know-What in the Pacific.’

The You-Know-What event: Discovery of literal sea monsters in the Mariana Trench after an international excavation project. It made travel over the Pacific Ocean somewhat…turbulent. All nations involved blamed each other and almost sparked another global war. Radical nationalist groups had various names for it, including but not limited to: French Fuck-Up, Canadian Catastrophe, Soviet Slip, and the USA-You-Know-This-Will-Be-Bad-For-The-Share-Price. Best to call it the You-Know-What, to keep a neutral stance.

Valeria stood. She radiated glee. In that regard, organic bodies still surpassed cybernetics. It was infectious. I pushed to my feet, temporarily forgetting my percentage.

Someone shouted at us. ‘What’re you doing here?’ The woman with Aki jogged toward us. ‘Don’t stand around! Evacuate!’

Valeria’s countenance darkened.

‘Is my translator off? Get outta here.’ She went to push us away, but Valeria sidestepped and drew her snub-nose revolver. The woman, hands on hips, had a disdainful look. ‘Please, I’ve taken loads more dangerous than that.’

Valeria cocked the hammer.

‘Don’t,’ I muttered.

‘Do,’ the woman added.

Valeria’s finger drifted to the trigger. The woman’s fingernails extended into savage blades. Cat-Claw cybernetics. Those told me all I needed to know about her.

Footsteps hammered down the hall. Both revolver and blades turned to the new arrival.

Aki.

Aki shouldered his rifle and raised his hands to placate Valeria. ‘I am Venator Yagi Akinori,’ he said. His voice is deeper, I thought. ‘Please evacuate the building.’

I held my breath.

Valeria lowered her revolver, and the woman’s blades retracted. Aki glanced at me. He did a double-take. His gaze lingered. The only notable “original” part of me was my eye. ‘What’s your name?’ he asked.

I scowled.

He swallowed.

I raised an eyebrow.

He raised both eyebrows.

‘Never stagnate,’ I said.

Aki underwent a dozen emotions in seconds. Finally, contrary to my expectations, he landed on relief. He stepped forward, stiff and weird, arms wide. I recoiled. It took a moment to realise he meant to embrace me. He’d always been awkward. He stepped back, hesitant, now unsure about my identity.

‘Aurelia?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, Aki.’

‘You look…’

‘Don’t even start.’

The Cat-Claw woman waved a hand between us. ‘Nice to know you have friends, Aki, but can we…?’ She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder.

‘You do need to evacuate,’ Aki told me.

‘Do I?

‘Because of…the androids?’

‘You’ve left me before. Leave me now.’ Guilt and thinly-veiled pain flashed across Aki’s face. It was all I’d imagined and all I didn’t want. Aki vacillated between leaving and staying. He opened his mouth, closed it, and turned to go.

He hadn’t taken three steps when the ceiling tiles cracked.

Rows of androids fell from the ceiling and landed on either side of us. Our choice had been made.

The androids surged at us like a wave of steel.

Valeria fired seemingly at random. I thought her aim faulty, until a second after her bullets made contact with the androids. They were explosive rounds.

The Cat-Claw woman fought like a contortionist. I waited for her vertebrae to crack, but she continued to twist around the androids. Her blades slashed circuitry at their necks, or her hands spun to rip off their limbs.

Aki…did as he’d been trained. The rifle nestled into his shoulder, perfectly weighted. His breathing matched his firing rhythm. He didn’t miss. His magazine auto-cycled. When it made the satisfying click, he glanced at me with a smirk.

I fought, too. My mind hadn’t changed. I retained all my combat training. Instinct kicked in, but my body refused to cooperate. Limbs too slow. Flexibility too impaired. Androids shoved me against a wall. A knife went to my throat, only for the hand to slacken. Bullets had pierced their heads. Blood splattered onto my face. Blood?

Valeria ran out of bullets. The Cat-Claw woman was quite literally stretched to her limit. I should’ve fought. Instead…

Aki emptied his rifle’s magazines. He switched to an AvMak pistol.

You’re kidding me, I thought. Aki had gotten the slide engraved.

He emptied the pistol, too. He switched to a retractable sabre and cut through the last androids. I’d never seen him move that fast. He’d always been firearm-oriented; I was the fighter. He wore even less of an expression than normal. Switched on. Pure focus on the task. 

Aki had always been good, but I'd been better. 

Silence returned to the hallways.

The Cat-Claw woman checked her phone. ‘They’ve gone east,’ she said. ‘Batch of Aquinor Venators are flying in. Take a breather, Aki.’

‘Can we talk?’ Aki asked me, as he reloaded.

He did just save my life…

Valeria stepped between Aki and I. ‘We need to evacuate,’ she said, nudging me away.

I stepped around Valeria and locked eyes with Aki. ‘There’s a waiting room over there,’ I told him. Valeria’s disapproving look followed me all the way down the hall. But, I had to speak with Aki. After all that happened to me in recent months, I hoped Aki hadn’t changed too much.

#

The waiting room had tattered chairs with more steel than stuffing. They looked old enough to be from the Cold-Cold War. I sat in the corner, and Aki sat diagonally opposite. ‘So…’ he started. ‘How’ve you been?’

I looked at him, at my body, and back to him. He nodded. ‘I heard about Auntie Zorica,’ he said. ‘Sorry.’

‘Sorry about your brother,’ I replied. He nodded again. We lapsed into uncomfortable silence. It didn’t used to be like that. We used to sit in silence and feel nothing but serenity.

Aki tapped his foot. Most people did that when impatient, but Aki did it when he prepared to speak. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘About my mother?’

‘No. About…’

I knew what he meant, but I wanted him to say it.

‘I’m sorry we stopped talking,’ he said.

Not enough. I gripped the chair. ‘Don’t you mean “you” stopped talking?’

He flinched. ‘Yes. I’m sorry I stopped talking to you. Aquinor planned to end the friendship initiative.’

‘The Sumiaka-kai did, too,’ I countered. ‘Besides, you stopped talking to me before the initiative ended.’

‘My parents told me to.’

‘Don’t blame your parents. You were old enough to choose.’

Aki scowled. ‘You’re telling me if Auntie Zorica told you to stop talking to me, you wouldn’t comply?’

I pursed my lips. ‘Anyway, you make it sound like we drifted apart.’ I shouldn’t have prolonged the matter, but I wanted to inflict a bit of pain. I’d wanted that a lot, since reaching 94%. It felt like I wanted a fight, to inflict enough pain on someone so they’d inflict pain on me. Like I deserved it. Like I wanted the feeling. ‘Remind me, what did you tell me the last time we spoke?’

His jaw clenched and foot tapped. ‘That it was stupid being friends with you.’

‘And?’

‘I’d been wasting my time.’

I leaned toward him. ‘Remember calling me an Aquinor whore?’

‘I didn’t mean it,’ he mumbled. ‘Any of it.’

‘I know you didn’t!’ I snarled. ‘I heard your parents in your voice. That’s not why I’m mad.’

‘T-Then, why are—?’

‘Because you were so whiny about it.’ I waited for his reaction, though he looked more confused than remorseful. ‘Afterward, you whined to your parents about how it wasn’t fair. You stopped eating. You complained to lieutenants in the Sumiaka-kai.’

‘You know about that?’

‘You stormed into a meeting and told Boss Gozan that relations with Montim Aquinor needed to be repaired.’

‘You’re…upset I made an effort?’

‘I’m upset you didn’t make an effort!’ I tried to run a hand through my hair, but it felt wrong, as if stroking a doll. ‘You’re so obsessed with the syndicates. Everything about you is filtered through them. You weren’t trying to change anything; you know complaining wouldn’t help. You just wanted to feel less guilty. Except, there was an easy solution: You could’ve kept talking to me.’

Aki’s posture faltered. He sat lower in his chair. ‘Auntie Zorica got exiled for fraternising with a rival syndicate.’

‘Oh, fuck off.’ I shot to my feet. ‘Horace fabricated the evidence.’

‘Horace?’

‘Even if it were true, there’s a difference between collusion and talking.’

‘I didn’t want to put you…’ He stood, too, and sighed. ‘No. Okay. You’re right. I felt guilty. I didn’t want to jeopardise my position. When I insulted you, I hoped you’d hate me. But, I knew you saw through it, so I wanted to feel less guilty. I’m sorry. And, I’m sorry I stopped talking to you.’

We watched each other. Moments passed. Aki fidgeted. He'd matured. He'd never been that articulate, in the past. Old admiration cooled my anger. ‘Is this the part we hug?’ I joked.

‘Do you want a hug?’

‘Not particularly.’

Aki nodded and returned to his seat. I did the same. An odd clarity washed over me. It wasn’t overwhelming joy or a burden lifted, but it felt like I could proceed.

‘If it makes you feel better,’ Aki said, ‘I’ve basically been disowned.’ He gave a brief summary of his actions and connection to the Cat-Claw woman, Serizawa Masako. In return, I recounted my attempt to assassinate Horace and the aftermath.

‘You haven’t changed as much as you think,’ Aki commented.

‘Save the pity.’

‘You still tilt your chin and scowl up at people, so the whites of your eyes connect at the bottom.’

‘Except I only have one eye.’ I shrugged and sought another subject. ‘Did you ever get that tattoo?’

Aki removed his suit jacket and showed me his back. Faint colours showed through the shirt’s white fabric. ‘Golden carp, like from the storybook.’

‘I remember,’ I smiled, nostalgic. ‘One of the first major AI-generated picture books.’

‘The golden carp who fell in love with a princess. I got the tattoo earlier this year, since I assumed a Venator licence was guaranteed.’

‘Is it all you hoped?’

‘The colours are nice, but—’

‘The Venator licence. You’ve wanted one your whole life.’ So have I.

Aki gave a noncommittal grunt. ‘I have a new objective,’ he said. ‘The Rat King killed my brother. Well, indirectly, but I intend to avenge him.’

‘Hope you know how to swim,’ I snorted, and then froze. That was a mistake. My thoughts had drifted to the Galapagos Islands, where Valeria believed the Rat King resided.

Aki had a measured look. ‘What do you mean?’

I would’ve told him to forget it, but he’d already perceived something. ‘I heard about a possible location of the Rat King. Possible, not verified.’

‘Where?’

I hesitated. Aki had told me his objective. My objective hadn’t changed. Kill Horace and bring Mother out of exile. Don’t say it. Don’t say it. Don’t say it. ‘I’ll tell you…if you agree to help.’

Aki’s expression didn’t change. ‘With what?’

‘Help me kill Horace,’ I whispered.

Aki leaned back, arms crossed. ‘I would’ve helped as a favour.’

‘But then I’d owe you. I want to tell you the location, but if you went and didn’t come back…’ I clenched and unclenched my mechanical hand, recalling how poorly I’d fought the androids in the hall. ‘I can’t handle Horace alone.’

Aki processed this and rose, hand outstretched. ‘It’s good to see you, Lia. Good to plot violence, like we’re kids again.’

I accepted his hand. But plotting wasn’t enough, nor were we kids anymore.

#

The Rat King’s attack in Kolyagrad continued for the usual nine day. My hours were occupied with helping Valeria gather data from the androids. In addition, during the chaos, we appropriated assets from a few corporations. Nothing they’d miss. Illarion Anatolyevich Athanaric was wounded, so I didn’t get the rest of my pseudo-skin, but Valeria said it didn’t matter. She had a plan, she claimed. As for Aki, we didn’t see much of each other. He hurried around the city, doing his duty as a Venator.

When the Rat King’s attack ended, Aki gave us funds to take a private jet back to Neo-II Sendai. We had money to spare, and Valeria convinced me to spend it on a nice evening.

We went to buy proper attire. After trying a few styles, I decided on a red, backless gown with long, layered sleeves to hide my cybernetic arms. White, elbow-length gloves hid my hands. Valeria bought an emerald gown with a plunging neckline and diaphanous cape. Thus dressed, we caught a taxi to the finer parts of Neo-II Sendai, to a restaurant Valeria had visited some years prior with Mother.

The restaurant was owned by members of Holistic Minimalism. The group’s whole gimmick was being minimal in every component of your life. They turned the message of less-is-more into less-is-still-too-much. No excess possessions. No excess movement. No excess breathing. No excess sleeping.

The restaurant’s main dining area was a white box. Cuboids and cylinders protruded from the walls and floor to serve as tables and chairs. The staff wore black leotards and had slim bodies, all bony wrists and visible ribs. Their movements, too, were minimal. Panels in the walls slid away. Staff member glided toward us with feet barely leaving the floor, placed the dishes before us with precision, and recited details in barely a breath. ‘Snow crab,’ one said. The snow crab’s flesh covered the entire palm-sized dish.

Valeria and I finished the snow crab easily. ‘Am I crazy,’ I whispered, ‘or is it weird how they walk?’

‘You’re not crazy,’ Valeria smirked.

Many more dishes came. It did not take much effort to eat them. Fortunately, the prices were minimal, too. With my synthetic stomach, I didn’t need to eat much, but I liked the taste and process.

I ordered a desert featuring lychee and explained to Valeria how, as a child, I watched a TV show about a robot cat fuelled by lychee.

‘You’re remarkably similar to Zorica,’ said Valeria, as I finished my story. ‘She used to become attached to ideas from fiction, as well.’

I smiled at the thought.

‘With that said,’ Valeria continued, ‘I’ve never known Zorica to be so…compliant…with members of the Sumiaka-kai.’

I rolled lychee around my plate. ‘Aki—Yagi Akinori is an old acquaintance.’

‘Why did he want to talk?’

‘Just…general stuff. Like, catching up.’

‘Rather friendly for an acquaintance. And improper for a Venator in the middle of an attack.’

I didn’t respond.

Valeria placed her hand on mine. She stroked the glove’s fabric. ‘I don’t want you to get hurt. The Sumiaka-kai can be very superficial, and when it comes to anyone above the 49% mark, they can get…’ She waved her hand, as if plucking words from the air. ‘I worry he won’t accept the “new” you.’

‘I’m not new. Just different.’

‘Well, you’ll be more than new or different, soon enough.’

‘How so?’

She swirled her glass of wine, savouring my intrigue. ‘The Rat King’s attack was supremely serendipitous. In Kolyagrad, I was aware of certain equipment that does not and will not exist anywhere else in the world. I liberated that equipment. Not for my own pleasure, but for you.’

I swallowed. ‘Thank you…’

She smiled and pulled her hand away from mine. ‘You are so much like Zorica. And, yet, you’ll be so much more.’

So much more, I thought. Never stagnate.