Rain pounded the dirty streets of Neo-Veridia's Lower Sector. Neon signs splashed bright colors over the wet ground. Another night. Another job to survive.
My name is Zara. Staying alive is all I know. My boots hit the broken synth-crete, the sound matching the loud bass from a nearby club. I held the small data chip package tight. Five thousand credits. Enough for good food for a week, maybe to fix my buggy optical scanner.
The client seemed worried. The drop point was deep in Serpent Coil territory. Risky. But the pay was too good to refuse. My cybernetic legs, SwiftLeg v3.0 models, buzzed quietly, making me faster than any regular person. I jumped over a rusty hover-cart, landing silently in the dark near a falling-apart building.
Rival couriers were like shadows around me, all chasing the same dangerous prize. Tonight, speed was everything. I slid around a corner, fake rain sticking my hair to my face. The drop point, Warehouse Gamma-9, stood ahead, its metal walls rusted and covered in graffiti.
Two figures stepped out from the dark near the loading bay. My contacts. I walked closer, staying alert. My internal scanner checked the area. No big threats, just the usual street trash nearby.
"You got it?" one figure growled, his face hidden under a hood. I nodded, pulling the chip from my pocket. "Five thousand credits. As we agreed." Fingers grabbed the chip fast. A heavy credit stick was pushed into my hand. I checked it on my wrist-reader. Confirmed. Five thousand.
A breath I didn't know I was holding slipped out. Easy. Too easy. A quick movement caught my eye. Too late. More figures came from the alleys, blocking my way out. Hard faces, mean eyes, Serpent Coil tattoos on their necks.
Leading them was a man with scaled cybernetic plates on his arms and sharp, hungry eyes. Viper. A feared Coil enforcer. My blood turned cold. "Zara," Viper hissed, his voice rough like grinding metal. "Nice to see you here."
"I just dropped off a package," I said, keeping my voice calm, my body ready. "My work here is done." He laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "Your work is just starting, little spark." My hand moved near the tough panel on my right palm.
"What do you want, Viper?" "It's not what I want. It's what you owe." He stepped closer, his men spreading out. "Your guardian, old Rex? He left town. Left a big debt." Rex. The broken-down mechanic who raised me. He disappeared three weeks ago. I thought it was just small debts.
"How much?" I asked, fear growing inside me. "One hundred thousand credits," Viper sneered, loving my shock. My eyes went wide. One hundred thousand? No way. "He owed that much? To who?"
"To the Serpent Coil, of course. Gambling debts." Viper's grin grew. "And guess what, spark? You're the payment." Payment. The word hit me hard. He couldn't mean it. "I'm not a thing to own," I snapped, anger burning inside.
"Wrong," Viper shot back. "You are now. Orders from above. You're being... moved." Panic gripped me, but my training kicked in. I looked for escape paths, figured my chances. Bad. Very bad. "I'm not going with you," I growled.
"You don't get to choose." He signaled his men. They closed in. I moved fast. Dodging a punch, I slammed my strong elbow into one thug's stomach. He bent over, gasping. Another grabbed for my arm. I turned, switched on the Short-Circuit Palm v1.1 in my hand. Blue sparks flew. They hit the goon in the chest. He yelled, falling, smoke coming from his cheap jacket.
One down. But four more, plus Viper. They paused for a moment, shocked by my tech. I took the chance. I pushed past another, running for the tight space between Gamma-9 and the next building. My SwiftLegs worked hard, driving me forward.
A sharp pain burned in my back. My body froze. I fell to the wet ground, my sight blurry. Taser. Cheap, 500 credits. It worked. Rough hands pulled me up. My arms and legs felt heavy, useless. The world spun.
Viper stood over me, a mean smirk on his face. He looked at the smoking taser dart in my jacket. "Tough little thing. Got some fire in her wires." He leaned close, his breath stinking of old synth-fuel. "Too bad you're not worth the credits to tame you right, girl."
He stood tall, nodding to his men who were tying my wrists with thick zip-ties. "Wrap her up. The Wolves are waiting for their peace gift." Wolves? Peace gift? My mind fought through the taser haze. What did he mean?
Dragged by two big enforcers, my feet scraped on the dirty ground. The neon lights turned into angry streaks of color. Captured. Sold. Payment for a debt I didn't make. Fear fought with a hot, helpless anger.
Viper's words stuck in my head as darkness took over. Peace gift. To the Wolves.
