<I’ve set the freezer’s security to flag a possible contamination, so they won’t be able to come inside unless they have clearance from the Anahita BioSecurity Department.>
Nerishka shook her head. Lyra seemed to only be making things worse. <Lyra, we need to get the hell out of here. We can’t stay here and wait for them to bomb us out.> Nerishka suppressed her frustration. <Let’s wait for them to see the security danger and back away. Then we need to get gone.>
Lyra said nothing as Nerishka watched the progress of the red dots on her HUD, tapping her sandaled foot on the cold floor. The security team searched from room to room, drawing ever closer. Nerishka stilled as one of the men reached the freezer door, but then she let out an involuntary shiver. <Has it gotten colder in here?> she asked Lyra as she instructed her nano to compensate, aware that the red marker outside their door hadn’t moved.
Lyra sent the sound of a throat being cleared and Nerishka sensed the AI was far more worried than her almost-cheerful tone implied. <I am afraid the contamination security level has been automatically reset by FTech’s security protocol.> The pitch of Lyra’s tone began to rise as she continued, <The security protocol required by Ayra Biosecurity initiated a recalibration of the room’s temperature to ‘Level 1 Biological and Chemical Containment Mass Casualty.’>
Nerishka stiffened. Usually, when a mission approached a point similar to this one, when her personal disaster category reached its peak, she’d entertain a moment of shock—the literal ice-in-one’s-veins type of shock. Quite understandable, of course.
But, as Lyra’s words sunk in, Nerishka found herself too cold to react. And then, just when she was about to take her icy frustration out on the AI, she stiffened, cocking her head to listen to the space around her. A soft whistling steadily filled the room. <Lyra? You know what's happening right?> Nerishka asked, her tone so neutral that she herself was surprised at her control—what she really wanted to do was freak out.
Lyra let out a soft groan. <My scans indicate the introduction of nitrogen gas into the room.>
Nerishka crossed her arms—she wasn’t entirely sure if the action was for warmth or self-control.
<Now would be a good time to open the door. I’d rather fight a thousand guards than asphyxiate,> she said through clenched teeth.
FREEZER BURN
STELLAR DATE: 10.05.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Fletcher Technologies, Eshnunna
REGION: Anahita, Ayra System (Independent)
<The cooling process will not execute like cryofreezing. I do not believe this room can function as a cryopod.>
If Nerishka weren’t so cold she could have pulled off a legitimate snort. In the end it merely sounded like she’d choked on a sneeze. <I wasn’t considering that as an option. Cryo or not, we're still gonna be colder than popsicles soon enough,> she said via the Link, not trusting her numb lips. <I'm particularly fond of my bits. I don't want anything to fall off.>
Lyra responded with an eye-roll, though tempering it with a rush of contrition. <It is not as though your bits aren’t replaceable. A simple mod will fix you right up…no matter what you require to be fixed.>
Nerishka paused at the thought. <I'm not particularly fond of mods. And especially not those types of mods.> It wasn’t as though she hadn’t undergone various modifications in the past, depending on what the mission required. She wasn’t against mods either; there were just some changes to her form she’d not make out of choice.
<Those types? Are you referring to modification of your lady bits in particular?> Lyra sent a smirking expression in Nerishka’s mind.
<Yes, Lyra,> Nerishka said, her teeth chattering as she kept an eye on the guard at the door. <I’m happy to hang on to my lady bits for the foreseeable future. Along with everything else that I’ve been able to retain that’s still me.>
<I gathered as much. But when one has no choice one relents and accepts.>
<Very philosophical.>
<I do my best.>
Nerishka was beginning to lose patience. Probably because she felt like a walking human iceberg. <Could you maybe do your best with getting that door open?> she said, her voice cold—literally. <Some time before that gas fills my lungs and is absorbed into my bloodstream.>
Their banter was playful, and had barely spanned a few seconds, but at the same time their voices held an edge of urgency. Perhaps having a smart mouth had its benefits.
Maybe it was Nerishka’s imagination, but Lyra seemed to have been taking far too long with each of her security breaches at every stage of the mission. Picking up Fletcher had gone well enough, but the security issues were a concern. She wanted to ask her AI about it but was worried about offending Lyra.
For all her cool, business-like approach to her tasks, Lyra had already revealed a sensitive side; one Nerishka had to take care with. She had no idea how long the two of them would be paired. Wouldn’t pay to piss off the other person in her head. Especially when her life would often lie in that person’s virtual hands.
Nerishka walked closer to the door, digging into the portions of the network she was able to access via Lyra’s connection. <Is there anything I can do to help?> she asked, staring at the control panel beside the door. Strings of code flickered over the dark plas screen as the guard on the other side attempted to reroute access while Lyra countered with her own.
<You could stop talking?> the AI replied.
Nerishka let out a grunt and stared around the freezer room. The walls were lined with steel cabinets, the clear plas doors slowly frosting up. The containers, filled with a variety of liquids, were beginning to frost over, cracks beginning to form on many of them. Nerishka cycled her vision to read the labels on the bottles and let out a soft squeal.
<Lyra? I know you said no disturbances, but I think you ought to know that those cylinders along the back are actually a very unique kind of reactor rod made of hexaferrum.> Nerishka gestured to the cylinders.
<Is that some sort of iron?> Lyra asked, clearly not paying attention.
<Yeah, kept under ten gigapascals of pressure, or so,> Nerishka replied. <Also, when it gets really cold, it undergoes rapid expansion. It’ll split those containment vessels and go kablooey.>
<That’s a lot of kablooey,> Lyra replied, her tone indicating she was paying attention now.
<I know,> Nerishka replied. <Who puts something like that in a room that can undergo cryogenic levels of freezing?>
<Well, you could ask Fletcher, but you killed him—holy crap!>
Nerishka didn’t want to ask, but knew she had to. <What?>
<Well, they’re storing magnesium powder in the next room over…a lot of it. With all the other crap in Fletcher’s little ‘lab’ this could blow the top right off this tower.>
Nerishka groaned. <I’m glad I killed Fletcher, he’s not qualified to wipe his own ass, let alone run a serious research project.>
<I don’t see any normal use for hexaferrum, what is he doing with it?> Lyra asked, once again sounding like she was only partially paying attention.
<That's a very good question. What say we get the hell out of here and figure it out later? Being alive will help in the actual figuring out part.>
<Hold on. I'm having a little trouble with the NSAI controlling the building. It’s not being at all cooperative.>
<No kidding.> Nerishka rolled her eyes and discovered that she'd been pacing without having realized it. That was a bad sign. She never got flustered, never lost her edge. She knew the likelihood of actually being frozen in the room was minimal, but Lyra was cutting it too close. <Are we there yet?> she muttered to herself.
<You know, for a two-hundred-and-thirty-year-old assassin you’re really just an old baby.>
Nerishka sighed, shivered and then shook her head. <I got nothing. Too cold to make up smart comebacks.>
<Nano not helping?> Lyra asked.
Nerishka shook her head, <Not really. How far away are you from saving my hide?>
Lyra grunt
ed. <Almost there. I’m locking the NSAI out. It got very creative after I evaded it in Fletcher’s lab—definitely a higher grade than we normally encounter in the Inner Stars. Also, the security guard who was right outside? He failed to get past me and he’s calling it in.>
Nerishka shivered and began to pace again. The nitrogen gas was making her lightheaded, which meant she might pass out before Lyra got her thing done.
<Yes,> Lyra crowed, just as Nerishka was about to urge her to put a rush on it. The AI gave a victorious chuckle as she said, <NSAI is down. Stubborn one it was.>
Suddenly the room went dark and red lights began to flash. <I’m guessing that’s the alarm that means we need to get the hell out of here as fast as possible?>
<Exactly what that means. The security team’s abandoned their sweep.>
Nerishka shivered and nodded. <Can see that,> she said, watching their progress back toward the lifts on her HUD.
<Nishka,> Lyra said as the panel on the door clicked, <the door is open and your route is clear. I believe all that is left is for us to make a speedy exit.>
Nerishka eyed the bottles which appeared to have ceased cracking. <And are we safe from any big bad booms?>
<Yes. Once the door opened, the nitrogen gas turned off. The danger has passed. Now, can you get us out of here? I would really like to survive this mission.>
<Now you want to rush me?> Nerishka muttered, hurrying to the door as it slid open.
She scanned the passage outside. Even though her HUD showed the security team had left, she wanted to be sure. Stealth armor was a real thing, and depending on how advanced their tech was, there was a chance IR wouldn’t pick up anyone who lurked outside in stealth gear.
Thankfully, the route appeared clear and Nerishka hurried out into the hall. <What’re my options, Lyra?> Nerishka asked, glad to feel her blood beginning to warm.
<You can head for the lifts. Or you can jump.>
Nerishka considered those options then gave a nod. <We jump.>
Lyra laughed softly. <I am not at all surprised that you have chosen the more dangerous option.>
Nerishka shrugged as she ran to the window. The corridor ended with a view to the city in the same style as the other two she’d passed. A plas bucket-seat sofa in iridescent black and an unnaturally green plant provided the only décor—though Nerishka doubted anyone took advantage of the garish seating arrangement.
She hurried to the glass and stared outside, calculating the height of the building and her possible route to the ground. Then she nodded to herself and sent out a passel of microdrones toward the window, setting them to work carving a hole large enough for her to fit through.
The large circle began to etch into the glass and grew deeper, until, at last, it popped out, sailing off in the wind that whipped around the building.
This many kilometers up, the air was far thinner than inside the building, and Nerishka triggered her lungs to gather more oxygen with each breath as the air in the corridor surged past her and out into the night.
Nerishka reached for the wall to steady herself as Lyra said, <I strongly suggest we hurry. The city has a biohazard team on the way. Standard procedure since the contamination alarm went out.>
Nerishka nodded and moved into the hole, grasping the edges as she gazed out into the night and the city far below.
<So, use my internal a-grav to crawl down the building, or jump and use it to get me to that building over there,> she asked Lyra.
<Well, given how long it will take to crawl down a four-kilometer-tall building, I vote we jump.>
With a curt nod, Nerishka turned and ran back down the corridor where she stopped and drew several deep breaths, oxygenating her bloodstream as much as possible.
“Don’t say I never show you my wild side, Lyra” she said aloud before sprinting toward the hole and leaping through.
Nerishka activated the small pair of a-grav units tucked on the inside of each of her hips and sailed through the air, reveling in the feeling of weightless flight.
Right up until a wind-shear grabbed her and pulled her higher, then threw her back against the building.
Her shoulders slammed into the glass and she bounced off, the momentum getting her around the building and out into clear skies.
The a-grav units weren’t strong enough for any sort of real flight, but they could move her forward and slow her descent. Lyra highlighted another nearby building in line with their current trajectory, and Nerishka steered toward it, praying no one was looking out a window at Fletcher Technologies. A woman with a sparkling—and unfortunately high-slitted dress—would be all too visible in the night sky.
<Shit!> Nerishka exclaimed. <The building’s external cams are going to see me clear as day.>
<Don’t worry. I shut them down when I took out the NSAI. I know how to do my job.>
Nerishka hadn’t been questioning Lyra’s abilities—at least not at that point. Still, she was glad the AI had thought of the cams. Of course, there were also those of all the other buildings around them.
Lyra was going to have her work cut out for her, scrubbing their highly visible exit from the various surveillance systems. A minute later, Nerishka touched down on the roof of her target building, a kilometer lower than from where she’d first jumped, and almost seven hundred meters away.
<Should we pop a door and go down through this building?> Nerishka asked, then pointed out amongst Eshnunna’s glimmering towers. <Or should we fly a bit further out? I could make it to that kilometer-high tower over there.>
Lyra dropped a map of the city onto Nerishka’s HUD.
<If you’re comfortable with the drop, go for that tower; their security is a joke.>
<OK,> Nerishka replied before taking another running jump, following a route toward the sector of Eshnunna that was a stark contrast to the Eastern District in which both her hotel and Fletcher Tech were located. The last thing they needed was a direct route to her hotel that would bring local law enforcement right to her door. Best she muddy her trail a little for now.
This mission is not going at all to plan, Nerishka thought as she sailed off the building’s rooftop, catching an updraft and disappearing into the night. What’s a little more recklessness at this point?
DINNER AND A SHOW
STELLAR DATE: 10.05.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: West District, Eshnunna
REGION: Anahita, Ayra System (Independent)
Nerishka strode through the busy streets of Eshnunna, head held high as though she knew exactly where she was going. She’d hopped buildings until she came to a low apartment block where she’d descended the last hundred meters down a fire escape.
Once in the dark alley below, she’d used her nano to fix a tear in her dress before adjusting the color of her hair, adding a few strands of pink and softening the blue.
She stuck out like a sore thumb on the busy streets where the night seemed to have only just come alive.
<Again, can I just say this dress is a pain in the ass. Why couldn’t we have just chosen a garment I could manipulate?> she muttered, even though she’d harped on the topic already.
As she’d expected, Lyra didn’t respond to her complaint, and instead said, <Take a right here. You may find something suitable to hide the dress.>
Nerishka obeyed and entered a street which housed a night market of sorts. Vending stalls lined the sidewalks, men and women hawking their various wares, and Nerishka made a beeline to a clothing stall selling a multitude of cloaks in darker jewel tones.
This was the first time since Nerishka had begun her research on the planet that she’d appreciated a garment they had to offer. She selected a cloak of a rich bronze fabric that shimmered as it adjusted its length to suit her height. Thick and velvety soft, the cloak bore patterns of swirling gold sc
rollwork. She paid the hawker and threw the cloak around her shoulders, tying the velvet ribbon around her neck.
Pulling the hood over her head, Nerishka hurried out of the market and towards the brightly lit restaurant avenue. The ridiculous heels she was unable to do anything about, and so she continued to curse at them as she walked. She didn’t mention it to Lyra, suspecting the AI was a little troubled about her performance in Fletcher Technologies’ lab.
Though Nerishka wanted to talk to her about it, she didn’t need the distraction and decided it would be best to wait until they’d reached a modicum of safety.
<I’m monitoring citywide communication. There have been no reports of sightings of the intruder who’d murdered the CEO. It helps that the security videos have a record of an unnamed man entering the building with Fletcher. But I do advise caution.>
<Roger that,> Nerishka said as she strode through the streets then spotted a small, out of the way restaurant. A perfect place to lay low while they waited to see if the local cops had linked the assassination to her.
The Black Lion purported to offer traditional Eshnunna delicacies not available anywhere else in the Ayra System. After finding a table at the furthest end of the restaurant, Nerishka selected the Ishtar’s Tit—chicken stewed in cream and stuffed with dried fruit—an order she managed to request without smirking.
<You did well there,> Lyra noted, her voice amused.
Nerishka snorted. <I’ve had a permanent up-close and personal view of the goddess’s voluptuous assets courtesy of the carvings in the suite at the Palomidae,> she replied. She had to wonder to what extent religious fervor went in the Ayra System. <Let’s hope the meal befits the goddess’s…assets.>
Lyra giggled but didn’t reply. Nerishka left the AI to her scans and settled in to wait as she sipped a tall glass of a cinnamon and rosewater cocktail called Fiery Eye. And a moment later found herself blinking away tears as she swallowed that first fiery sip.
Lyra chuckled. <Why did you select that drink knowing the effect it would have on you? The menu clearly states that the beverage is particularly spicy as well as high in alcohol.>