Inked Wings

/ Angel’s POV /

I wince, letting Lusa treat my wing. She is fuming:

‘Strain your already dislocated wing -’ She leads with, pulling my shoulder once more. It stings. ‘When I’m old I’m going to eat your soul! You’ve ripped around three tissues, promise-breaker!’ She lets go suddenly.

I fall front, my hands are supporting me, pressed against my tights.

My gaze falls on – Hashem’s mural. It is grossly detailed – every feature of that smile.

I quickly avert my eyes. I’m getting angry.

“I HATE YOU!”

Noel’s face flashes before me.

I massage my temple, gritting my fangs. I fucked up...and bad.

‘He ran away from me – didn’t he?’ The thought slips out of my mouth.

“Did...not mean to voice that.”

Lusa keeps cleaning her hands with the towel. ‘Not from you, but because of what you did.’ She throws it in my lap. ’That scared him.’ She exhales. ‘Go see if Alexei found a pinpoint to his location. It’s more dangerous out in MORTEM District, than any wild planet near.’

I shoot up, dropping the towel. ‘I know. We have to find the kid fast.’

MEA’s bounty hunters will go after him. If that group recovered...I should’ve killed them when I had the chance. ‘Thanks, Lusa.’ I exit the Observatory. A heavy weight is off my shoulders after.

I continue forward, unsure if I can go near any spot like that without that string irritation. Every place Hashem left an impression on me. I shake it off.

Alexei is coming into view; I’m entering the central room. He is talking. With Scaramouche. His hands repeat the motion of passing through his hair, calming himself with the euphoria it brings. Scaramouche does not show it but his grief is eating so much it makes him utterly sick and dysphoric. Alexei is the few who can shake Scar’ outta the habit. Wonder how.

They notice me. Alexei walks up to me, waving Scaramouche see you later at the same time. ‘I have to show you something.’ Alexei brings me to the Command room.

The low, pale lights are pink-red, pulsating into a new vibrant green. I hold back a snort. ‘What’s with the atmosphere?’ I ask.

Alexei finally speaks up, ignoring the question and turning on the AI. Three windows are already on screen: ‘It’s about the kid’s little device.’

I frown, hiding my hands. ‘...What about it?’ My nails scratch my skin.

’I’ve taken the liberty to inspect the drive that was revealed when you easily destroyed Noel’s belonging. I say easy, to not say something else.’

My head shakes to the left. ‘You have the weirdest hobbies.’ I exhale, suddenly tired.

‘Upon decrypting it over and over again, the AI, together with my personal touch, finally cracked it. His father was a Tackler, right? Well, I found out where he transferred his codes.’

“Of course.” I blink, listening to the silence.

Alexei cracks his knuckles. ‘He implemented his core systems in a game of his own design. To dumb it down for you as to get through this conversation quickly – The game represents the core codes and playing it activates them, per say.’

‘Wait...’ I step closer to the screen, staring at the animated sketch Alexei put on for show.

‘If you play the game, you hack in real time.’

‘How?’ My hoarse voice nearly cracks.

Alexei gives me the look. The explain for real question mark look. ‘Dumb it down,’ I say.

He smiles. ’The kid’s father crafted core laws broad but intricate enough for this system to adjust to and manage any domain of code. The AI does not do everything, the codes are encrypted manually by the user, but instead of writing it all themselves they only trigger the AI to do it for them. So, let’s say the boy played the game and beat a level. That level likely represents a ‘rule table’ and if you beat said level, you crack it.’

‘How does it know which system to -?’

‘I could go on and info dump more but would you rather listen to the whole, detailed explanation or do you want to hear my conclusion?’

Alexi’s right. We don’t have time for this.

‘The latter.’ I grip onto the panel, wings fluttering.

‘I had a feeling, intruding and collecting data from MEA bases was a bit too easy for comfort...It couldn’t be that they had sloppy systems. So many weak links, each and every time...I don’t be-’

‘You don’t believe in luck. Get to the point.’

‘The kid – Noel...has been providing us those weak links. While he was playing the game, in actuality, he was hacking the bases’ systems.’

This is surprisingly not surprising at all to hear. I do not truly believe in luck either. I make my own. So, to say that my plan has been accomplished with a hidden effort from an external source ...I am not surprised. Instead, a pit forms in my stomach: ‘Do you think he...knew what he was-?’ I slowly ask, honestly afraid of the obvious answer.

‘Only this game was in the memory. All other systems recently deactivated...’ Alexei lists. ‘Yeah, I think he knew what he was doing from early rise to late into the cycle. His father likely told him.’

No joke. I massage my new migraine. ‘Ugh.’

Alexei eyes me up and down. ‘Thought you should know despite – Feeling more stupid?’

I nod. ‘I’ve never felt like such a moron.’

The panel buzzes. Our expressions meet.

Deadpan, he tells me: “That’s rough, buddy.”

I smile, nervous. ‘Good attempt to comfort me, genius.’ I rub my eyes, the material of my new prosthetic scraping bits of my eyelashes.

‘Stop that.’ Alexei demands.

I do as he told. ‘I’m ashamed, is all.’

‘I see it. Your face is red.’

Fuck. ’Fuck…’ My hand rubs the back of my neck. ’…me.’