The lights glimmered in the corner of my eyes as Nova sped through the Skylanes, breaking several laws in the process. I smiled bitterly, because the only thing I truly saw, was the credits leaving my account.

I snapped open the cubby hole, to my left, rummaging through my makeshift medicine cabinet, in case of such emergencies.

I felt the smooth packaging for the anaesthesia packets and hunted for the blood stimulant tablets, which were in a rough edge bottle rattling as Nova bopped and weaved through traffic.

Once I got my hand on them, I pulled them free, tossing them in the passenger seat and ripped the anaesthesia packet open with my teeth, then guzzled down the blood stimulant packet down my throat in one gulp.

A faint euphoria hit the back of my tongue as saliva pushed it down my throat. “Now about this tracker, Nova, is it embedded into the Xenotis or is it external?”

“External, Sir.”

“Ok Great, I can deal with that. Get Shedrick on the line. I need another delivery.” The phone didn’t ring for half a second, and I heard the haste of Shedrick’s voice.

“Cypher…did you just offload rounds in Underwent?” He asked.

Shit...

“Maybe...” I said calmly.

Shedrick howled a painful groan, one that filled me with concern. “Are you shitting me Cypher! Do you know what’ll happen to me?”

“Sorry, Kid, wasn’t my intention, but it was that, or get beaten down. Don’t worry. No one’s dead.”

“I don’t care if anyone lived or died, Cypher. Do you understand that the Kourier Association will charge me a 50K fee for this debacle?”

“That’s bullshit, Shed, why in the Imbibe would they do that”

“Because that’s the protection fee the Kourier Association charges for any misunderstanding in deliverable goods.”

“What? Hold up…are you saying...”

“That’s right because I delivered a pistol into Underwent, The Mangol could press for my personal information. If I can’t pay the 50K fee The Kourier Association will give her my information and The Mangol will come for me!”

“We can’t have that,” I said gruffly.

Shedrick didn’t answer but I heard his feet in the background pacing back and forth. I bit my bottom lip, annoyed with myself. I got the kid into this mess when all he did was a simple delivery.

This was my fault and I owed it to him not to get fucked because I messed up. If I told him I was being tailed, then maybe he wouldn’t have delivered the case to someplace less troublesome than Underwent.

“Don’t worry, Kid, I’ll sort that out for you. I’ll wire you the 50K. No questions asked, now, prep another delivery for me.”

“What?”

“Don’t ask. This time I need something more powerful. I underestimated them.”

“I see.” He said after being silent for thirty seconds.

“I’ll worry you 25K for your troubles, is that fine for you?”

“ON IT!” Shedrick shouted.

“I’ll send you the locale once I’ve decided, alright?”

“Yes Sir!”

“Good.”

I wired the 50K and another 25K for the firepower I would need, without hesitation. I liked Shedrick, he was very eager to learn. We came up with various scenarios where he’d deliver items for me, for situations just like this.

In truth, I never liked Underwent as a drop site, but it was one of the most crowded areas, plus it had the underworld element. That’s the problem with settings, you have a plan; but when its time to execute, nothing truly ever goes the way you want.

So basically, by trying to get away from this Psychopath Akatani…I gained a much more powerful enemy, The Mangol. There was no way out of this, I broke their rule and would have to suffer the consequences…something I wasn’t eager to participate in.

Or maybe I can offer her my services. I let the thought ruminate for a moment and came to the realisation that I didn’t know anything about the Mangol to negotiate…so it might be in my best interest to wait.

That’s something I hated, sitting back and waiting, evidenced by this DAMNED case. I was at a standstill, waiting on the commissioner's word because she didn’t like Donat’s suggestion.

Dr Arson Fellis or Dr Jeca Sealin, whoever they were.

I pulled up Arson Fellis’ file and noted how vague it was.

Arson Fellis

Age: 52

Marital Status: Single

Children: N/A

Place of Employment: Tarphen Studies of Life

Job Description: A Class Geneticist

Address: N/A

Highly Classified. I knew the type of profile, hell, mine was similar. I thought it fail-proof, till Commissioner Hexan debunked that theory instantly, but she was shrewd, so that was to be expected.

There’s no way I was getting to him to ask him questions. “Alright, let's see about Dr Jeca Stelin.”

Jeca Stelin

Age: 38

Marital Status: Married

Children: Three

Place of Employment: Yesterday’s Tomorrow SRL

Job Description: C- Class Geneticist

Address: 24 Turn, Peov Ave, Charlington

Castrian

“Castrian? That’s 100 miles away? Gonna have to pass on that.”

Jeca’s profile was pretty much as normal as they get. The woman was pretty, with weaves of blonde woven into her black hair. Pretty. I continued browsing her profile noting she was some type of genius who specialised in plants and animal cloning.

As simple as browsing these profiles, nothing stimulated my mind on what really happened. I need a lead, and now! “Dial-up Rex, Nova.” The phone rang, but he never answered. Probably still pissed off. He’ll get over it.

I peeled off the sealing for one of the anaesthetic patches and slapped it across my sides, neck and back. I didn’t exactly get the spot on my back directly, but it was good enough.

The anaesthesia kicked in after fifteen minutes and felt numbness resonate across my body, stilling my body, but not my mind. Hundreds of thoughts poured into my mind. Adrianna Smith, Jon Doe…Lev Ryan, Clones…the Commissioner, Eclain…Zade…everything that I dealt with in the past 24hrs really put my mind in the grinder. …and that had nothing to do with these Hannya Boys who were hunting me.

I could’ve snapped off the tracker at any time, but I had already decided on my next course of action, counterattack. Not in Bridge City of course, but Old Bridge City ruins of the world before the devastation known as The Imbibe.

“Set a course for Old Bridge City, Nova,” I told my AA. “Send the information to Shedrick as well. BZ Scorpio B12, two flash grenades, three proximity sensors, incendiary and armour piercing rounds.”

“Affirmative,” Nova confirmed.

“And, Nova.”

“Yes sir?”

“Take the long route, I need two hours rest.”

“Acknowledged, Sir.”