The cargo ship rattled violently as the AG drive disengaged. Riza had half a mind to think the whole ship would come apart, considering it wasn’t exactly built to handle personalised jumps, but fortunately, it managed without any issues. All ships were at least built to handle the hyperspace of the jump port, so it managed without falling apart at the seams. The ship came to a stop in Veltus, the star system that housed the planet, Silic and within a few hours, they’d made their way to Silic, a small, cloudy planet that was known for its constant rainstorm.

  Riza couldn’t imagine why anyone would settle on such a world, and that’s after having spent months on Prion-A, where there was no ground for her feet to make contact with and any single mistake could leave you drowning in its never-ending ocean. She’d never been to Veltus before and wasn’t sure what was in store for them on Silic, but she’d heard stories on the news and online about the gang wars and conflict that often took place. She’d never choose to visit a place like this unless it was absolutely necessary, and in this case, it was.

  When they entered the atmosphere, it didn’t take long for her to notice the constant drizzle that pattered against the windshield of the cockpit with a greenish-yellow glare bouncing off the atmosphere. She didn’t have an issue with rain, but it being this way all day, every day was unsettling. There weren’t many shipping ports for them to land in, but when they found one, it was located in the Visai district, not too far from an area named Otewo. She wasn’t sure where the Kythera facility was yet, and a search online led to no results. Uncertain of whether that was because it was a secretive facility or information on Silic was just hard to comeby, the first thing she’d need to do was get her bearings on the city, and find the whereabouts of the facility.

  “And, we’ve arrived,” Izzy said as the ship touched down in its designated lot before radioing control to give the confirmation.

  “Anyone been here before?” Riza asked.

  Pilo shook his head.

  “Never seen it from the ground,” Izzy said, “Or the city. Only ever from the DRC or during a drop,”

  “How was it racing here?” Pilo asked.

  “Low visibility. The clouds made me rely on equipment more than I liked.”

  “You said you’d never been on world, outside of Cath?” Riza followed up.

  “Yeah,”

  “A shame your first one is Silic then,”

  Izzy smiled, her eyes longingly fixed beyond the window, “Doesn’t seem so bad to me.”

  Riza was surprised by that response and comforted by Izzy’s excitement, “First things first, we’re going to need to get a fix on the Kythera facility.”

  “You couldn’t locate it?” Pilo asked.

  “No, couldn’t get much information on Silic in general,”

  “So how do we find it?” Izzy asked.

  “Ask around, I guess?”

  “And when we do find it?” Pilo followed up.

  “Break in?” Riza replied.

  “I’ve never really broken into anywhere before,” Izzy’s voice shook.

  “You helped us break into your families' labs.”

  “Well, yeah, but that was different.”

  “It’ll be like that,” Riza said, “Except the guards will try to kill us if they catch us.”

  “Don’t scare her, boss,”

  “I’m just being honest,”

  “No, it’s okay,” Izzy took a deep breath, “I can do this,”

  Riza and Pilo passed eachother a concerned glance, and Riza folded her arms. “You can stay on the ship if you want. It’s safer here and–”

  “Fuck no,” Izzy interrupted, “I didn’t throw my old life away to stay in another ship,”

  “Fair enough,”

  “Besides, I’ve got my bees,”

  “Bees?” Pilo asked.

  “The drone you sent to follow me?” Riza asked.

  “Yup,” she said, as four drones emerged from what Riza thought was a backpack on Izzy’s back.

  “They mount to my regulator,” Izzy said, “So I can take them everywhere I go.”

  Izzy’s G-force regulator was also designed to mount her body to the seat of her dropship. When she’d originally had the surgery to have it implanted, her parents didn’t inform her of the fact that she would have four disk-like holes clearly visible on her back. They made her feel ugly, especially when she was younger, and she felt insecure whenever she’d take her shirt off around anybody, so she ordered nobody to enter her dressing room until she was done getting dressed.

  Coach Abram always respected her request, as did the other staff, but Pearl never listened and always walked in on Izzy despite her need for privacy. She got used to it, and often had her eyes fixed on her screen, but only now did Izzy realise how comfortable Pearl felt disrespecting her.

  The drones orbited Izzy, like a swarm on standby, and she lifted the cone around the neck of her outfit to conceal as much of her identity as she could, considering she was still wearing designer clothing. The cone was an imitation of her suit, and a staple for her aesthetic as a drop racer that a lot of her clothing had as a means of keeping her brand identity consistent. She didn’t consider that it might give away her identity, but she wasn’t exactly trying to hide who she was. She liked the clothing she got from sponsors like ‘Q: Luxury’ and wanted to keep it, so she did.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  “Dope,” Pilo fawned as he reached a hand out to one of the drones, “I’ve never seen tech like this.”

  “They’re custom,” Izzy said.

  “Atum tech?” Pilo asked.

  “Yeah. How did you know?”

  “They just have that Atum, minimalism,”

  “That’s why I requested it from them instead of Kythera or something. I love their aesthetic.”

  “And what’s the gold liquid inside them? Fuel?”

  “Honey,” She grinned.

  “What’s that?” Riza asked.

  “It’s a, uhh…” Izzy wasn’t sure how to explain it without a long-winded rant about bees.

  “You don’t know what bees are?”

  Pilo and Riza shook their heads.

  “I’ll explain it some other time,” She said, more eager to get out of the ship and explore.

  The bees returned to her back, each one mounting on one of the four holes in her back. She’d requested this feature because she wanted the bees to feel like an extension of herself, and what better way to do it than to use the part of herself that she liked the least.

  “Ready to head out?” Riza asked.

  They all exited the ship with crew raincoats that were aboard the ship. The first thing Riza noticed about Visai was all of the steam vents that shot recurring clouds of smoke into the air along the roadside and from the tops of buildings. The smell of copper and roadside gunk was potent amongst the splashes of the rain, and the neon graffiti that peppered the buildings coincided with the signs that shone brightly above the street, highlighting different stores, brothels and clubs that seemed to be open even in the middle of the day. Although it always seemed like it was nighttime here, she had no sight of the sun from the surface.

  By their second day, she already felt the depression simmer in, and the dull atmosphere left her yearning for an environment like Prion, where the sun was out. They hadn't managed to get up too much on their first day before returning to the ship to get some sleep.

  They asked around to see if anyone knew about the whereabouts of the Kythera facility, but most people ignored them or avoided their questions, seemingly because they stood out as tourists or talking about it could get them in trouble. Riza wasn't so sure. There seemed to be a bustling, underground nightlife as they accidentally found themselves near the bass-pumping entrance to a club that appeared to be in an abandoned hospital.

  Men and women in tight, latex or glowing neon outfits peppered the entryway, queuing down half the block to get in as they ruffled and danced along the street to the low thumping music in the distance. By the time they arrived there, it was getting late, and travelling throughout the day really took its toll on them, so the last thing they wanted to do was go clubbing or wait in that awfully long, unmoving queue. So, they made their way back to the ship.

  Today, as they walked to Shatzi, Riza noticed that at every other street corner, there was a hobo, dirty and begging for units.

  “I don’t like it here,” Riza said as they walked down the street. She could tell that Pilo agreed by the cringe expressed on his face, but when she looked over to Izzy, she saw the same smile that she had when they first left the ship.

  “There’s no way you’re enjoying this,” Riza raised an eyebrow.

  “What do you mean?” Izzy looked at her, completely uncertain of why she wouldn’t be.

  “Change, Ma’am?’ A beggar asked Izzy, “Any units will do me good.”

  “Sure,” Izzy shrugged, transferring ten thousand units.

  The beggar's face dropped, and he looked at her in absolute shock.

  “Hope that’s enough,” She gave him a thumbs up, walking on without saying another word.

  “Ma’am!” He shot up, running over to her, “My name's Mallo,” He added, extending a hand to shake.

  Instead, Izzy offered a fist bump, and he reciprocated.

  “If ya need anythin’, please. Let me know,”

  “Oh, don’t worry about it,” Izzy grinned, “Just trying to help.”

  “I know, Ma’am,” He said, “But A can’t simply take dese units. I owe ya,”

  “Sure, uhh. I’ll find you if I need you,” She said..

  The man tipped his hat, “Am gon’ keep’ an eye out for ya,” He said as he returned to his spot.

  “You gave him units?” Riza winced.

  “Just ten thousand,”

  Riza and Pilo nearly slipped off the concrete. “You what?!”

  “Ten thousand?”

  “Izzy,” Riza said, glancing around in case anyone heard them, “You can’t just be giving away that kind of money.”

  “Really? Why not?”

  “Uhh,” Riza stammered, feeling a little uncertain of how to respond. She didn’t exactly want to kill Izzy’s kindness, but needed her to be cautious. “It can put you in danger,”

  “Oh,” She looked surprised, “Yeah, I didn’t think of that.”

  “It’s good you want to help people, just… Help them a little less,”

  “Oh, wait, I have an idea,” Izzy lit up. “Hey!” She called out to the beggar as she went back in his direction.

  “She might get herself killed,” Riza said to Pilo.

  “She’s just enjoying her freedom,” Pilo smiled, “So what if she wants to give away some cash, she’s a rich girl, ain’t she?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” The reminder of her wealth didn’t exactly ease Riza's anxiety, but she felt better knowing they hadn’t brought any attention to themselves.

  They did appear to fit in with the dark and dingy attire that most of the passersby were wearing, but Izzy, with the scar glowing on her cheek, felt the occasional glance her way. When Izzy returned, she still had the excited spark in her eyes and gave Mallo another thumbs up.

  “What now?”

  “I asked him about the Kythera facility,” She said, “He doesn’t know where it is, but he said we should check out a district called Otewo.”

  “Otewo?” Riza recalled the name, “I think that’s a couple of kilometres East.”

  “That’s what he said, too. He told me that we should look for someone named Takii and tell him that Mallo sent us.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Pilo nodded, “I guess money does buy… Anything,”

  Riza wasn’t so sure what to make of it, but it was a better lead than they had a moment ago, so she figured they should run with it and see what this Takii might have to say.

  “Sure,” She agreed before she flinched in response to one of Izzy’s drones whizzing past. “Whoa, what are you doing?”

  “I wanna see what the city looks like from above,” She said as her pupils shifted from brown to white. “Check this out,” She said, sharing her feed.

  A screen appeared in Riza’s view of Izzy’s drone camera as it soared higher and higher above the street. The tall skyrise buildings extended up and into a layer of clouds, but the drone slowed down before then to reveal the puzzled streetways of the district. Between the illuminated slits of road were abyssal black alleys and buildings that faded like shadows. Further unsettling Riza. There was a busy square toward the East, in the direction of Otewo, where she could barely make out a few flashes of light and people sprinting from side to side. It took her a moment to realise she was watching a shootout, and swiped Izzy’s feed away.

  “Alright, let's get a move on.” Her voice cracked.