ABC - Penance

Alvarez Apartment, South Bank District

January 31st V27 (2047AD)

“Stop adding chilli” I warned Minke from the couch. “My eyes are burning from over here”

She paused in her chopping of the dark red peppers, giving me a look of exasperation. It was her turn to make dinner and my housemate had opted for a Chilli with Rice dish Papa had taught her. I loved the dish, but Papa loaded it with way to much spice for my taste.

“Are you sure you were born in Mexico, Luisa?” she enquired. “You have an awfully Northern sense of flavour”

“Says the Russian girl!” I snarked back. “Just keep the heat below self-ignition temperature and I’ll be happy”

“Sure” she agreed and slid the remaining diced pieces of hellfire into the pot, stirring them with an old wooden spoon that had once belonged to my Mama. Papa always claimed that she put so much love into every dish she made with that spoon that nothing it touched would ever taste bad.

He had given it to me in the vain hope some of Mama’s kitchen magic would rub off on me. So far the spoon had given me food poisoning on three separate occasions, but I can’t really blame the humble kitchen utensil for that.

It was a Thursday night and Minke had joined me to watch the Gravity Ball game on my TV. Our plan was to eat a lot of Chilli, drink some beers and cheer the Pan City Divebombers as they took down the Sydney Silver Crows. Correction, I would drink some beers and Minke got some cans of Pan Fan, a vibrant orange soda that claimed to taste like real fruit. Hanna-Lei had gotten the girl hooked on the stuff and I had to buy a whole carton of the vile concoction to keep her happy.

I had just flicked on the TV, catching the warm-up of both teams, when my phone rang with the Police Alert tone. This meant the call was being re-directed to me from the Central Headquarters contact centre so I snatched it up and went into the bedroom, dragging the door shut behind me.

“Hello?” I said. “This is Inspector Alvarez”

“Alvarez...” whimpered a young boy’s voice. “Please, you have to help Mara and me!”

“Cisco?” I called out in sudden recognition. “What’s happened? Where are you?”

The phone relayed some kind of fumbling sound then a new voice came down the connection.

“Hey, Luisa” an oily male voice spoke to me. “Did you and Minke enjoy your dinner?”

“Victor?” I snarled. “You had better not hurt those kids or I will cut your balls off with a blunt spoon!”

“Calm down, Luisa” he oozed through the phone network into my ear. “Little Cisco and Mara are perfectly fine for now. They are just a little frightened and want to go home”

“So let them go, Victor” I replied with ice in my tone. “You know what I will do to you if you harm them in any way”

“I’ll let them go, I promise. All you have to do is come to me, with Minke too. No weapons, no other people watching. Nice and clean and simple. Do as I ask and the kids can scurry home like the little rats they are”

I turned to face the bedroom door, seeing Minke there watching me. She was so quiet when she moved the girl made Ghost sound like a charging rhino.

“Okay, Victor” I breathed out. “You’ve got a deal. When and where do we meet you?”

“The Water Tower at the edge of the Hole, you know it?”

“Uh-huh” I agreed. Everyone knew the Water Tower and most of us had tried to climb it at least once in our youth.

“Good” he responded. “You have twenty minutes to get here”

“What the fuck!” I shouted at the phone. “There is no way I can get there so fast!”

“Find a way, Luisa” Victor warned me. “Each minute over is a finger that the kids lose”

The wailing cry of a frightened girl and boy was the last thing I heard before he disconnected. Minke met my terrified gaze and nodded her agreement without me asking. She was coming with me, whether I wanted her to or not.

=====

Water Tower, Westborough Light Industrial District (The Hole)

There were only two landmarks of any significance in the Hole. The first and most important were the Central Markets. You could see the four stories of the ugly concrete box for klicks and it was the heart and soul of the broken place we called the Hole.

The second landmark was taller if narrower and sat astride the accepted boundary between the Hole and the beginning of the Wasteland. It was over one hundred meters tall, with six slender concrete pylons supporting the massive water tank that sat at the top, a core tube of reinforced concrete running up the centre.

It still functioned as a water tower, solar powered pumps endlessly pushing thousands of litres of water into the tank. That was then gravity fed to the places around the Hole that still had running water connected.

The accepted rite of passage for any kid growing up in the Spit was to climb the outer pylons to the tank roof. Once you got there, local legend said you had to spit over the side three times, then utter the special phrase. I don’t know what other kids said, but in our clique the magic words were “Fuck you Spitfield!”

If you failed to perform this sacred ritual, opinions varied as to what would follow. My personal favourite was that every time it rained on you, it was comprised solely of the spit that every other climber had released from the Tower. Or their piss, depending on your own preferences.

My black machine raced through the open access gateway to the Tower, the rusted poles testament to where the long vanished mesh gates had once barred entry. Minke was perched behind me, the pair of us straining our eyes to see the distant rooftop. I stopped the bike inside the circle of broad pylons and we dismounted, both of us knowing we were running out of time.

Minke went to run for the old rungs that ascended the outer face of each pylon before I called her back. I drew out my Police Auxiliary Smart Key, the one every officer was issued. It granted us access to any public utility site within the City.

“We’re taking a shortcut” I said and led her to the graffiti covered access door, nestled in the side of the central pylon. I tagged us through and we were standing inside the central shaft, hearing the pounding rhythm of water lifting to the tank above and gurgling back down into the pipe network. Thick white painted pipes ran up the interior, each big enough for a person to fit inside, assuming they wanted to drown. In the very centre was an open framed service elevator, rising up through mesh gantries to the very top of the Tower.

My Smart Key summoned the elevator, clanking and whining as it lowered itself with Health and Safety approved slowness to the ground level. It had barely stopped before we got into the mesh sided carriage and mashed the button for the top.

It ascended as slowly as it had come down, causing Minke to fret at my side. I laid a comforting arm around her, suppressing my own raging energy within.

“We’ll get there before the deadline” I assured her. “If we climbed the outside we’d never have made it in time”

“We’re going to kill him, aren’t we Luisa?” she asked me.

“Stone cold dead, that’s the plan” I stated evenly.

The elevator rose through the thick bulk of the tank, reaching the upper roof level at last. It revealed a sheltered alcove, three sides of solid concrete and the fourth a wall of faded yellow mesh with a gate in the centre. The gate was open, bright spotlights illuminating the roof surface that lay beyond.

Sitting in the middle of the circular roof, huddling against the cold wind blowing mercilessly at this altitude, were a young boy and his older sister. Cisco had his sister Mara’s hand clamped in his own, the other applying the jaws of a boltcutter to her index finger.

Mara was crying, struggling futilely in the grip of her sibling. Cisco was a blank-faced puppet, held in the thrall of Victor.

“You’re late, Alvarez” he called from somewhere out of sight. “That’s a two minute penalty”

=====

I was running through the gate, screaming at Cisco to stop, when the boltcutters closed. Mara screamed and snatched her hand away at last, tucking it tight against her body as she scrambled away from her brother.

Bright blood had splashed onto the grey concrete, a slender finger curled like a question mark in the middle. With a cry of anguish, Cisco dropped the cutters and looked in horror at what he had done.

Minke surged past me, taking off her jacket to wrap around a sobbing Mara. I stopped beside Cisco, his tear stained face looking up at me in pain of his own.

“You promised me!” he accused my worthless self, hunching down onto the concrete, trying not to see the bloody finger he had cut from his sister.

“I’m sorry, Cisco” I said through trembling lips. My body was wracked with competing forces, utter despair at what these kids had endured and raging fury at what Victor had done. I turned in a slow circle, seeking him out. As I had expected, he was leaning against the wall that surrounded the elevator shaft, watching the pain he caused like a conductor observing his orchestra.

“You still owe me one finger, Alvarez” he chastised me from the shadows where he stood.

I presented the requested digit, upraised in his direction. My red Ceramite gauntlets shone like blood in the lights.

“We came, just like you asked” I growled. “Let the kids go”

“I need to check what else you brought first” he replied. From where I was standing, I could see the dull gleam of metal in his hands, probably a Machine Pistol. His profile was bulkier too, meaning he was likely armoured.

“Take off your jacket, then turn around” he demanded. I took the heavy bike jacket off and dropped it to the side. I had a scarf on too, same as Minke was wearing, to keep our necks warm on the ride. For now I left that in place, turning slowly with my arms raised in the bright glow of the spotlights.

“Good, well done Luisa” he told me. “You can be trained to follow orders it seems” He directed his gaze to Minke, commanding her to leave the snivelling brat and stand next to me. Minke left Mara under her jacket, taking a stance about two meters from me.

She rotated as well, her scarf and long hair whipping untethered in the breeze. Then she dropped her arms at her sides, glaring at her tormentor.

“So let the kids go, Victor” she demanded. “You have us both, you don’t need the small fry anymore”

“Ah, dear Minke” he sighed theatrically. “You used to be so much fun. Then you got older and meaner, turning into a rabid dog like the bitch next to you”

“I like this bitch” Minke called back.

“Is that so?” Victor replied coldly. He stepped out from the shadows, the deadly weapon in his hands sweeping past the pair of us to aim at the children.

“Victor! No!” I screamed and went to rush him. He barely glanced at me, but I felt Minke’s arms wrap around me and drag me to the hard floor. I twisted and saw the dull expression in her eyes as Victor kept her mind ensnared.

My hands fumbled in my pocket, luckily still accessible to my questing fingers, until I found what I sought.

“I’m sorry, baby” I said to her uncomprehending face and triggered the device. Minke screamed and released me, her hands instinctively grasping at the Jangler hidden beneath her scarf.

I surged to my feet and Victor spun towards me, trying to focus his attention on the madwoman rushing towards him. I felt his mind reach out for me, gripping me with his Ability, when I triggered the second Jangler.

The power level was set at Six, as high as I had dared to program it. At that level I hoped I could stop him Jacking my mind, the surging electricity thwarting his Ability. His power scrabbled at my conscious mind, trying to get his mental claws into my skull. I didn’t care because my conscious mind wasn’t in charge anymore.

Punching Judy had the helm of my juggernaut now and a Jangler might slow her down, but it couldn’t fucking stop her.

I cannoned into Victor, his gun sending a wild spray of five millimeter bullets zipping into the dark sky. We crashed down hard, his body taking the worst of it as I rode him to the concrete. I raised myself up over his prone form and swung at his head, trying to draw power into my Kinetic Enhancer.

The bastard was lucky, turning his head out of the way at the last moment. My fist slammed into the reinforced floor, punching a hole into the concrete the size of a big apple. I drew back for another strike and he flipped me head over heels, sending me into the floor in a spine-crushing throw.

“Watch the little shits die, Alvarez” he rasped at me, getting to his feet again. He swung the Machine Pistol at the shivering children, grinning at me like a maniac.

“Sin Mah Bel, I summon thee to my side!” I called out, clutching at the stone pendant I still wore around my neck.

“What?” Victor stammered uncertainly, then jumped backwards like a startled cat as the air shimmered as if it were water struck by a flung stone. A short statured woman with a full figure had teleported onto the rooftop, dressed in a black bodysuit with a long sleeved red coat draped to her boot clad calves.

“Mabel, grab the kids!” I begged her and she moved quickly to them. Victor had recovered and let loose a long burst of gunfire, the gun screaming like a possessed spirit as it spit the deadly darts at my friend.

Mabel spun when she reached the kids, holding her left hand outstretched even as Victor fired. She spoke a single word and a circle of brilliant white light filled the space in front of her, an intricate pattern of glowing symbols and rings that matched the tattoo on her palm.

The bullets hit the shining barrier and were stopped, held in the air for a brief instant before clattering to the concrete like a sudden shower of hail stones. It faded away a moment later, leaving a faint afterimage on my retinas.

“Adept!” spat Victor and ran forwards, pulling a long knife from his waist into his other hand. Mabel ignored his charge, kneeling and whispering a gentle word to the cowering children. Victor was nearly on top of her, his blade flashing down, when Sin Mah Bel and the two children vanished.

I arose like a vengeful spirit from the grave, freed at last to give full vent to my fury.

“Cisco and Mara are safe now, you Fuck!” I screamed, my hatred striking him like a physical blow. The Jangler was firing into my neck almost continuously, making my hands shake and my legs tremble, yet I stalked towards Victor with eyes locked unwaveringly onto him.

He tried again to control me, his Ability lunging for my mind. Judy met his power and crushed it with her raw anger, pummelling his talent with the one thing she was good at. She punched the ever living fuck out of it and kicked the remains into the gutter.

Victor looked past me, refocussing his Jacker on Minke. She couldn’t resist him and he gave a momentary sly grin as the young woman fell under his power once again. Except for all that he controlled her mind, her body was spasming and convulsing in Jangler Town. I had only set hers at level three, but for a novice at fighting off a Jangler she was down for the count.

“It’s just you and me, Victor” I breathed through bloody lips, not remembering when I had bitten them. “You should have run for the farthest hole in the Zone, but you had to come and fuck with me one more time. I won’t play nice this time”

He recovered his composure and gestured with his Machine Pistol. I stopped about a half dozen steps from him, my arms hanging loosely against my sides. Behind him was the low perimeter rail that surrounded the tank roof, a rusted affair broken in many places by vandalous kids.

“You made me come back, Alvarez” he replied with anger of his own. “My employers are leaving me in this shithole, taking away their protections”

“So run, you stupid fuck” I answered.

“I can’t run, not with every camera in this fucking city looking for me. You did that to me! You are the one who made me hide like a rat in a dirty hole”

I shrugged my shoulders, uncaring of his problems. As far as Judy was concerned, the only problem he had was he still breathed. That was going to solved really soon.

Victor lifted his gun, aiming it at my heart. At this close a range, he could plug me with a dozen rounds before I got to him. He gave me a smile of victory and went to pull the trigger.

“Gun’s empty, asshole!” I yelled and it made him pause, twisting the weapon for a moment as if to see inside the compact magazine. I ran and jumped, surging power into my right fist to knock the gun out of his hands. It clattered away from us, never revealing if it was still loaded or not.

I closed in, throwing strikes as fast as I could, channelling what meagre power I had left into my blows. To give him credit, he knew how to fight. Not the showy punches and crowd pleasing kicks of the Arena, but the dirty close in combat moves of a seasoned killer.

We moved and twisted, throwing what strikes we could. He was good with his knife too, only some fast blocks with my Ceramite gauntlets saving me. As we fought, an ugly truth came to me. Judy was a demon in the Arena, but Victor killed like a professional.

A few strikes got past my defence, nicking my side and leaving me with a bleeding thigh. If I fought him much longer, he was going to beat me. Then he would do whatever he wanted to dear little Minke.

We spun in our deadly dance and I saw the one chance I had to save Minke. I rushed at Victor, grappling him with what little strength I had left. A heavy blow like a punch impacted around my kidney and Victor smiled at me, so close we could almost touch noses. Hot liquid ran down my thigh and onto the concrete, my lifeblood bleeding out.

“Gotcha!” he whispered into my face, twisting the long knife in my guts. The pain surged through me now, beating the pulsing of the Jangler. I gave him a bloody smile in return and stepped back, dragging the knife out of my flesh as we separated.

Victor realised at last where he was standing, his heels hanging over open space. The railings were too far apart, out of reach for his questing arms. The blade fell from his hands, only a single outstretched arm locked onto my shoulder holding him up.

“Help me” he begged and I shook my weary head in denial.

Minke appeared at our side, her own Bonded Ceramite blade in her hands. She had hidden it on a loop snugged up against her spine, the leather strap concealed under her scarf like the Jangler.

“Go fuck yourself, Victor” she said and slashed downwards, her razor sharp knife shearing through his armour weave sleeve and the elbow joint beneath. His arm fell away and he grunted once, then he was gone, falling out of sight into the darkness.

I dropped to my knees, only the hurried grab from Minke saving me from Victor’s fate. My eyesight seemed to be fading, the distant lights of Spitfield City growing dimmer.

“Luisa!” Minke was shouting at me, her beautiful face close enough to kiss her. “Mama!” she screamed and I wished I was her mother, such a wonderful daughter to raise. I could feel the cold concrete underneath my spine, drawing the last of my body heat away.

“It’s Okay” I mumbled to her, feeling the blood bubbling over my words. “I deserve to die”

I was paying my Penance at last.

My eyes lifted to the distant stars, still shining despite the growing darkness.

“I hate Thursdays” I grumbled, not the best final words but it felt appropriate.

There was more shouting, another woman’s voice that sounded like Mabel. It didn’t matter, it was too late for me now. My eyes closed as I felt strong arms gather me up like a child, lifting me from the cold rooftop.

For the first time in my life, I died.

I didn’t like it at all.