Eden & Echo - A Gritty Cyberpunk Noir Thriller

I was laying on my bed looking up at the ceiling but not really seeing it when Knight messaged me back. The guns were his work but the serial numbers didn't track back to King Aerospace. They were from a batch he did for the Döbian special forces nearly a decade ago.

Now that was interesting. What were the chances of Döbian weapons ending up in the hands of gangsters in Porto? I ran back my memory to the night Echo killed those intruders. One of them had a Döbian carbine. I pulled the serial number from my list of previously connected devices and sent it to Knight.

Sure enough, it was from an even older batch also meant for the Döbian special forces. But not a Knight custom piece. This told me one thing with a reasonable amount of certainty.

The gangsters didn't know what they had. You didn't give a Knight custom piece to some jackass that needed a H.U.D. to use it. It was troubling that the weapons used by both groups tracked back to the same source. But that didn't mean the two groups were connected.

I had a hard time imagining a hund supremacist gang working with a broke ass katzen royal like Prince Bellsong. So the weapons could have been purchased from the same source. Or perhaps one group stole them from the other. Maybe we would never know. But rocket launchers were a clear escalation. That was for sure.

Sapphire pinged my wetware to let me know she was coming up the elevator. I would tell her about the weapons and where they came from if she asked. But only if she asked.

The elevator dinged and for a moment I was tempted to aim one of the carbines at the bedroom door until I was sure only Sapphire was coming. But I suppressed the urge. I wasn't ready to go full Rook just yet.

She looked at me and the carbine slung across my chest. I had retrieved a spare sling from my gear bag and clipped it into the quick release points on the weapon so I could go hands free if I needed to. “Gray isn't your color.” Sapphire said. “Just in case you were wondering.”

“Yeah, I kind of just threw this on because I was in a hurry.” I explained as I sat up. “Sacher was waiting for me in the elevator and the gangsters in the lobby were waiting for him with a rocket launcher. I distracted them and he snuck off.”

The white furred katzen looked me over. I took my sunglasses off and clipped them onto the collar of my T-shirt. “They're still hazel, in case you were wondering.”

“Good to know.” Sapphire took my hand. “Show me what happened.”

I walked her through the encounter, showed her Sacher’s attempt to shoot me in the back as well as the aftermath.

“How do you feel?” She asked.

I shrugged. I didn't feel like going into complex moral quandaries. She was my lawyer, not my psychologist. “It is what it is.” I said.

Sapphire seemed to consider this information as she sat down next to me. I could tell she had a lot she wanted to say but was picking her battles. “Killing a cop is a lot. That's crossing a major line.”

“Yep.” I leaned back onto the bed. “I am aware.”

“But he did try to shoot you in the back. So I suppose we will try to see what comes out of this and go from there.” Sapphire laid down beside me.

We laid there for a while, not talking. It was peaceful. Lying there beside her. Eventually I closed my eyes and fell asleep. I was tired of today and ready for a do over. Echo could take the wheel for a bit. I was done for now.

***

I opened one yellow eye and looked at Sapphire. Eden would be recording this and I shared her respect for the lawyer so I opted to behave. Besides, Eden had practically given me permission to surface. I wasn’t about to piss her off. “Who would have thought Eden would be the one to kill Sacher? And not even with my help.” I laughed. “I don't know if I should be proud of her for doing it so masterfully or mad that she stole my kill.”

“Oh, it's you.” Sapphire got up and smoothed her slacks. “I take it you are the reason Eden went to town on Sacher and those Cutters downstairs.”

“Possibly. It's hard to tell.” I shrugged. “All I did was give her access to my tools. She decided how to use them. I must admit I am a bit concerned.”

“You’re concerned?” Sapphire asked incredulously. “You?”

I sighed. “Yes, me. Normally Eden has a big emotional response to things then evens out by the next morning. Today she didn't feel anything. Simon is the same way. He has zero emotional response to death.” I sat up. “I have seen him sit on a pile of corpses like a throne because he wanted a better view. If Eden is the same way then that is concerning to me.”

“I see.” Sapphire said. “Well I sent a digital copy of Eden's statement to the officer in charge of the case.” She stopped and looked at me. “It feels very strange seeing Eden just give over control to you.”

I nodded. “Yes, something is up. I like my new privileges but Eden may be embarking on a dark path.” I decided against elaborating on how Eden had goaded Sacher into attacking. The old bastard wouldn't have stopped trying to recruit or coerce her. So I understood her motivations, even if her decision to act on them was surprising.

We were in uncharted territory now. If the Cutters were smart they would leave her alone. But smart and supremacist rarely went together. Usually they were sensitive little worms who shrank at the smallest of implied insults. It was more likely than not they would come for her.

Then there were the cops. They were a wild card. On the one hand she was a cop killer now. On the other hand, nobody liked Sacher. Plus it was a human on human crime, if indeed a crime had been committed. Generally hunds and katzen didn't care about those.

I looked up. Sapphire was giving me the stink eye and I didn't like it. It reminded me of the time I told my mother I was considering dropping out of medical school to design clothes. “Tell me, are you mad at Eden for disappointing you?”

“I'm not mad at Eden.” Sapphire crossed her arms defensively.

“Oh but you are. Aren't you?” I asked, twisting the knife a little bit. “She was supposed to be one of the good humans and now you're realizing that maybe there are no good humans. What a pity.”

“Go fuck yourself.” Sapphire turned to leave.

“Perhaps later.” I replied, noticing how Sapphire paused when I said the words. “Maybe if I get permission from her I'll let you watch. Or perhaps even join in. But until then… How about a hug?”

The lawyer turned around and left. She wasn't falling into that trap. I fell back onto the bed and sighed. I was all worked up now but it felt wrong to use Eden's body for that purpose. Granted she had just killed seventeen people and one of them might even have been premeditated.

“Eden… do you mind if I rub one out?” I asked.

My eyes flickered hazel. “Keep your hands out of my pants.” I said, letting Echo know not to cross that boundary. “Also, don't be a dick to Sapphire.”

I felt my eyes return to yellow as Eden left. I was horny, pent up, and full of questions. Something big was happening with Eden and I had no idea why.

The information I gave her was just that, information. It didn't have any particular spin to it. So while it was possible I was to blame for her diving off the deep end holding an anchor, I doubted it.

In the end I decided to get up, make some tea, and try to figure out my next steps. There was a strong chance that this behavior would escalate. But then again, maybe it wouldn't. Eden didn't seem to particularly enjoy killing.

My scarab let me know that someone had just landed on the roof above me and triggered the new motion sensors. I tapped into the exterior cameras and watched as eight black clad hunds in plate carriers and helmets repelled down from an unmarked helicopter. They didn't look like cops.

I considered shooting through the ceiling but that was a tricky proposition. The roof was concrete and I wasn't sure the carbine would penetrate. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my stolen fragmentation grenades. They were spherical with simple electronic detonators.

I stepped out onto the patio, a grenade in each hand. “Hey, are you guys cops?” I called out. "You have to tell me if you're cops.”

When there was no answer I set the grenades to a two second delay and tossed them up onto the roof, trying to get them to explode mid air. There were two loud bangs followed by screaming.

Ah, I thought as I shouldered my carbine and prepared to go see what all the fuss was about. There was more than one way to blow off a little steam.