Page 79 of The Fall

“Sorry, I’m not on the naming committee for mystery tech.” It sounded stupid to her ears now. “What were we to think? We were to know it was a genetic thing, yeah?”

Alana narrowed her eyes. “Who’s we.”

“Everybody.” Kerr shrank back. “That’s what everybody thinks.”

“And who else knows?” Widening her green eyes, Alana used Kerr’s fear of the Styx to her advantage.

“Lusa only told me last night.” Kerr fidgeted with her fingers. “Or maybe this morning.” She looked away, sheepish. “We lost track of time, yeah?”

“I really don’t need the details.” Alana kicked herself off the wall. “Now which way?”

Kerr pointed. Alana stuffed her hands in her pockets and barged ahead.

Kerr changed the subject. “How long were you with the Styx?”

Alana walked faster.

Kerr raced to catch up. “It’s okay. I was born into the Chargers.”

“You weren’t born into gangs when I was around. And the Chargers weren’t a gang then either.” Alana’s sentences were as clipped as her pace. “They were where Chem addicts ended up when their cyberware died.”

“So, you joined the Styx.” Kerr scurried in front of her.

Alana stopped abruptly. “Are you always this nosy?”

“I am, yeah.” Kerr had no issue admitting it. “I want to know more about the Styx. It’s not like we get to talk. Sit down for tea. We’re usually killing each other.”

“If I tell you, will you keep up?” Alana sighed.

“Grand!” Kerr hopped. “Tell me everything!”

Alana sucked her teeth and glared. “You think this is a happy story? That we’re besties now?”

Kerr’s head dipped. “No, I just…”

Alana cut her off. “Before they got into full blown trafficking, they ran clubs. The kind with top shelf Chem and escort services.” Her eyes shone with venom. “A loose-lipped fuckwit told me he was going to kill a district head. Normally it’s bullshit pillow talk, small-dick losers complaining about their bosses, but this one had a plan. Daveed.” Alana pulled from her simcig and blew his name away in a long thin stream. “Ears, they used to call him, ‘cause he seemed to hear everything. But he hadn’t heard this.”

“I know him.” Kerr interrupted. “He got killed on Harpy turf, yeah? He was taking trophies when he got caught.”

Alana finished another drag. “That sounds about right. The name went to his head and he started cutting off ears as some bullshit signature. Anyway.” Alana paused. “I thought if Ears found out I knew and didn’t tell him, he’d kill me, so I tipped him off. They pulled the little shit off the street and got me to pull the trigger. That’s when I got these.” Alana pointed at her fangs.

“First kill.” Kerr said, almost reverently.

“Yeah, well it meant I got pulled from escorting. I got initiated without understanding what it meant.” Alana swept the hair out of her face. “I did a job where we were supposed to plant a car bomb in Adlet turf – some rat we needed to exterminate. It went off early. The fucker who held the detonator used to be a regular and he was upset that I wasn’t putting out for free. A coincidence, I’m sure.”

“Doesn’t sound like a coincidence,” Kerr said confidently.

Alana strained her forehead. “No, it wasn’t.”

Kerr caught the sarcasm that time, but wanted Alana to finish her story. “What happened?”

“The car door flew off and pinned me against a wall. It acted as a shield for most of the shrapnel. A guy named Tornit found me and brought me in. I blabbed everything and they hid me in one of their clubs. That’s where I worked to save up enough scrip to change my face.”

“But you didn’t change your face.” Kerr worried that Alana would mock her for stating the obvious, but she didn’t.

“I met someone. We got a chance to leave this crumbling corpo paradise for good.” Alana walked faster.

“But you have DocPods. I know you do. And you can use them, but Lusa can’t.” Kerr looked at her fingers like they might be able to make sense of all of the new information.