THE LOWER CITY
Havok “Steampunk vs. Cyberpunk” Contest Finalist
—
By Katherine Briggs
Remnant trooper Nyki stiffened behind closed eyes. We will not die.
Next to her, Zell groaned against his restraints, and against his alcohol withdrawal.
Nyki opened her eyes to shadows and failure.
They’d been deployed to rescue jailed Remnant leader Ri, but Black Novas had jumped and dragged them to enemy headquarters.
They sat on tile covered with dust and trash, wrists bleeding and backs aching from zip-strips cut short and bolted to the ground. Transparent walls surrounded them in a deserted glass penthouse crowning a three hundred-story mega-rise. The power class had abandoned earthbound buildings in favor of mansions in the sky. Now they belonged to the Lower City and whoever boasted enough ammunition to lay claim.
Do you hear the children crying?
The question haunted her. Fury frosted the piece of her heart repaired to feel again. Always. She took a breath. We cannot die.
Zell cursed. “I’d kill for—”
No. She pressed her cheek against his trembling shoulder.
Zell shut his mouth. “I want to die happy.”
“We have to stay strong.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” He wiped his brow against his upper arm. “They’ll come with masks and gas. Even you’ll break.”
Nyki sucked oxygen and studied her bound hands, her black hair layered with crystal blue framing her vision. White tattoos swirled inside her wrists. His Blood. He’d made her worthy and clean and she’d never forget. Or break. The power class could build Babel, but they would never escape the Lower City’s rising ghosts. She and the forgotten would not be hidden or destroyed. They were the hell writhing in the dark, and like flames they would climb and free the sun.
Zell sighed. “My first and last view of the moon.”
She glanced up. Here, above the bitter tasting chemical fog, between neighboring mega-rises, and below the floating city, the unfailing moon illuminated them for Black Nova surveillance.
A dark shape drifted across the stars.
Adrenaline raced through Nyki’s veins. “Get ready.”
“What?”
The floating city’s fission luxejet began eclipsing the moon. “Go!”
Zell’s eyes lit with understanding before everything went black. Nyki felt him bend forward and struggle to free the mini Z55 tucked between his jaw and cheek, their only weapon not found and seized. He used the ray to sever his plastic restraints, then helped with hers. They stood as the first light from the luxejet’s passing trickled in. Zell clutched her hand in his sweaty grip and they ran for the door.
A Black Nova, his proportions exceeding natural humanity, waited in the hall with lethal metal trained on their heads.
Zell’s palm shook against hers. She froze. Death Guard. Cheap and reliable bodies genetically enhanced for size. Command receivers superseded their hearing. No vocal cords. Often mentally damaged. With energy panels built into their backs, firearms as limbs, and laser-optics for eyes, they were the power class’ favorite protection.
Zell lowered his voice to a quivering hiss, mental communication stripped an hour ago. “We’re dead. Do you know what that monster can do to us?”
Nyki fought to inhale and watched the guard. His built-in weaponry was rusted, and any remaining skin was lacerated in Black Nova gang scarring. His armor read the designation number C453, but a new label bled across his forehead in fresh ink. Xtra. Because he couldn’t speak his name.
She had her own enhancement. An ocular override implanted in the back of her head, hidden with hair, for slave masters desiring their dealings unseen. Before she escaped and fell to the Lower City.
Her heart twisted. She rubbed her tattooed wrists together. “Xtra.”
“What are you doing? They only understand internal commands.”
But the guard’s fingers curled.
Nyki exhaled. “The Lower City is my home. The Remnant are my family. They took me in. Gave me water before I died sipping sewage with the other forgotten.”
Nyki, it’s raining. Cup your hands and drink. Rain is God promising that He remembers us.
Really?
Yes. Never forget that He will save us. But we are still part of the battle.
I’ll remember, Mom.
Xtra’s snarl was deep and distorted.
Zell stared at her in horror and mouthed, shut up!
Nyki felt fear and fought for a cool tone. A Death Guard would crucify weakness. “Black Novas and Remnant fight over marbles while the real enemy drops bombs in our backyard.”
Xtra froze with incoming communication.
Zell swore.
The guard extended a finger needle and sliced both their arms. A red light pulsed on his forearm, signaling the switch to DNA-seeking weaponry.
He prodded them onto an ancient service elevator that dropped them from the mega-rise onto the gritty streets. After four blocks, he pushed them down onto the curb. Informal execution.
Zell covered his head with his hands.
Nyki choked on filth, eyes stinging from chemical exposure. Her mind screamed a silent prayer. “Xtra. Do you hear the children crying?”
The guard’s hardware hummed.
Please. “Crying in these streets. Alone. Dying.” Her memories burned. A tear hit the dirt. “We’ll fight each other until we’re gone. Then no one will be left to fight for the Lower City’s forgotten. For us.”
She swallowed and turned away from his emotionless face, then flinched when his hard, cold hand grasped her neck and made her look up.
Xtra watched her through empty laser eyes. He raked metal fingertips across his machine arm, then released her and breathed a warped growl. The humming stopped. He turned and walked away, swallowed by the mist.
Nyki blinked, unable to believe.
Zell forced shaky hands away from his head and gasped. “What was that?”
He will save us. Nyki’s mind refocused. They were ten minutes from Class B Imprisonment and from Ri. She stood and felt him step close behind her. “It’s war, Zell.”
“The Lower City” originally appeared in Havok 1.2 published under Katie Lohr. Digital and physical copies may be purchased here.
Photo by Natalya Letunova on Unsplash
