Chapter 6: Yet Another Briefing (Part 2)

Valeri’s smile lit up the dark. A brief gleam of light in the rubble-strewn room, pushing back the constant roar of hopelessness. Both were twelve, starving, and on the run from the Asp Organization: a syndicate that had been sweeping the city for the past week. Smiling back at her, he knew with absolute certainty that if they survived to adulthood, she was the one he would marry.

“We’ll find your dad,” she assured him. Her fingers ran through tangled, blonde hair. “And your brother. I’m certain today’s the day.”

Seven months had passed since he last saw his family. Trucks and cars armored with welded steel had roared into their city, driven by laughing savages clad in scavenged armor. They were Ravagers—a violent faction led by a man called the Warlord. In less than an hour, they had reduced his father’s community to ash and scrap, leaving nothing behind but a torrent of metal casings and charred debris. Separated from his family during the firefight, only Valeri remained by his side. Now they were stuck in the ruined City of Angels.

“What about your mom?” Giddeon asked.

Valeri stared at the ground, eyes blank. “I…I don’t imagine she could have made it.” She shook her head.

Grabbing her hand, he forced a smile. “If she’s still alive, like my dad and brother, we’ll find them. Together.”

She looked up at him, a faint smile crawling back onto her lips.

Then, sirens blared—loud, almost deafening. Another sweep. They were close. Valeri’s eyes went wide, mirroring his.

“Run,” Giddeon whispered.

Before he could move, Valeri was sprinting for the window. This was the plan—the barred, blocked door only led to a hallway where they’d be trapped.

“Come on!” she whispered just loud enough to be heard, scrambling up the trash they had prepared the day before. She slid her legs through the frame, turning to reach back for him.

Giddeon grabbed her hand, but a violent force yanked Valeri backward, her scream cutting through the air.

He immediately threw his weight backward, his other hand shooting out to grip her wrist. Giddeon’s feet dug into the dirt floor as he barely held her in place.

“Told ya they’d come out this way,” a man’s voice drawled from the other side of the wall.

“Gotcha, you little grease runners,” another man sneered.

Giddeon strained, locking eyes with a terrified Valeri. After a moment, she shook her head, her eyes fluttering. “Find your family, Gid,” she breathed, letting go.

He slammed forward into the trash as her hand slipped away, a sudden pull ripping her out of reach.

“Go get the other o—wait! Grab ‘er. Where do you think yer goin’ little girl?!”

“Run! Run!” Valeri screamed.

With his heart hammering against his ribs, Giddeon heeded her words, sprinting to the exit and tearing the make-shift blockade away. Shoving the rusted metal door open just enough, he squeezed through, vanishing into the dark corridor. His mind spun as fast as his feet, a desperate plan already forming: hide, wait, return under the guise of night, and free Valeri. It was all he had.

Two hours and three avoided patrols later, he was lost. The city was a maze of shadows, crawling with ten-man teams hunting Earth One residents. These were slave traders, or worse. If they did not want you for your pretty face, they wanted you for your parts. Get caught, and that was that.

The next four days blurred into a haze of running, hiding, and harrowing escapes as the patrols continued. On the fourth day, several ships lifted into the sky, leaving the city quieter and more broken than before. Giddeon never saw Valeri again until two years later.

On a mission in Sea Town, near the sludge-filled coast of the Peaceful Sea, he stepped into a run-down inn with a sign too faded to read. While he waited for his order of water and potato soup, a girl in a torn, once-colorful floral dress stumbled between the tables. Despite her wild eyes and ragged appearance, he instantly recognized her—Valeri.

Standing, he walked over to the table where she lingered, interrupting her conversation with a scarred, hulking survivor of the Sweeping Plague.

“Whaddya think you’re doing boy?” the man rasped as Giddeon grabbed Valeri’s wrist.

“For your trouble.” Giddeon dropped a silver piece onto the table along with a pack of Newports. Many Earth One-ers were addicted to the cancer sticks, making them a valuable commodity.

Pulling her along, he noticed two men in the far corner of the room watching him from their shadowed table. Ignoring them, he made his way up the stairs and to the room he had rented for the night. Valeri wordlessly stumbled after him with a dazed look on her face, giggling the whole time.

Inside, he closed the door, slid the bolt shut, and faced her. “What happened to you?” he asked, letting go of her wrist. “I looked everywhere for you.”

Valeri gave him a closed-mouthed smirk, stumbling in place. “A silver for all night,” she replied. “Or anything good you’ve got to trade. Do you…do you have some Zellex on you? I could use some right now.”

Giddeon frowned, a cold knot forming in his stomach. He had seen what Zellex did to people—the madness, the violence, the sudden deaths as their hearts gave out. Seeing Valeri, a girl he remembered as vibrant and witty, reduced to this, left him entirely hollow.

“Valeri, it’s me. Gid—Giddeon Seres.”

The girl blinked several times, her eyes widening as she smiled, revealing rotten and missing teeth.

“G…Gid? Is that really you? What are you doing here?” She floundered in place, her movements resembling some strange, erratic dance. “I. I thought you got away and found your… your family.” She suddenly stood perfectly still, frowning. “You never came to find me, you know.”

He grabbed her arms, steadying her. “I looked for you for weeks.” Giddeon shook his head. “An information trader told me you were taken to Earth Two. There was nothing I could do.”

“Yeah, I’d rather be down here,” she replied, grinning crookedly. Her body trembled as her left hand rubbed her right arm vigorously.

He pulled up her dress sleeve, a sharp intake of air slipping in between his teeth. Her skin was a web of angry, raised tissue—scars that had never healed correctly.

“Who did this to you?” Giddeon demanded. “Was it the men downstairs?”

Valeri shook her head, pulling her sleeve back down. “Them?” She laughed, a harsh, dry sound as she looked toward the ceiling, tears welling in her eyes. “They’re better than the rich men up there. Once they…stopped needing me, they sent me back.” She wiped away a single tear, then smiled. “Guess I wasn’t pretty enough anymore. But you know what? I couldn’t be happier.”

Letting go, he stepped back. He’d heard rumors of things like this, but seeing it firsthand made the air thin and his head light.

Valeri stumbled in place again, licking her dried lips. “You wouldn’t…you wouldn’t happen to have any Zellex? Or know someone who does?”

“You can come back with me,” Giddeon urged. “My father rebuilt Salvation. We took it back from the Warlord. It’s a fortified territory now, much safer than before.”

Valeri scratched her scalp vigorously, then gestured to her tattered dress. “Like this?” She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. No one would want me around. Besides…” She looked away. “There’s no Zellex there.”

“We can get you off it.”

“I don’t want off it!” Valeri snapped, stepping toward him, her eyes flashing dangerously.

Giddeon never moved. If she hit him, so be it. She was his friend—the one he had failed to save.

The fire in her eyes vanished as quickly as it came, her face draining of color. Valeri stepped back, trembling. “I…I’m sorry. I have mood swings a lot.” She stared at the floor as her fingers picked at the skin on her arms. “You should just leave. Gret and Karl’ll be coming for me soon. When they find out I made no money or filched nothing valuable, I’ll get hit around a little…but it ain’t nothing I’m not used to. Go, before they come.”

Suddenly, a heavy pounding shook the door.

“Hey, boy, open up,” a rough voice shouted from the other side. “That there’s our property in there!”

Though it had been two full years since Valeri had been taken, Giddeon would never forget that voice.

“You better pay up, or we’ll take it outta you for services rendered!”

Valeri pressed a finger to her lips, shaking her head. She pointed at the steel-barred window. A wall-mounted crank hung next to it to lift the bars. “Karl’s not gonna stop,” she warned.

Ignoring her, Giddeon crept past to press his back against the wall beside the door. Reaching beneath his shirt, he drew a long, curved knife and quietly placed his hand on the slide lock.

“You can’t!” she hissed under her breath. “They’ll kill you, Gid!”

“I’m a going to break this here door down if you don’t open up, then I’ll really be mad!” The banging intensified.

Waiting for the next heavy slam, Giddeon slid the lock open, the noise masking the sound. Carefully, he placed his hand on the handle.

“I can barely hear you knocking!” he shouted. “You got sticks for arms or something?”

“Why, you little gutter rat! You listen he—”

As Karl pounded hard into the door, Giddeon turned the handle, flinging it open. A skinny man with long, greasy hair stumbled into the room, his fist swinging for hardened wood no longer there. Nearly tripping, he managed to catch his footing.

Grabbing the front of his shirt, Giddeon placed the blade against Karl’s neck. Jerking him forward, he swept the thug’s legs from beneath him, cutting a long, permanent line across his throat. Karl fell, grasping at his neck, blood spurting everywhere. While he thrashed on the floor, Giddeon calmly closed the door and locked it.

Returning to the dying man, Giddeon knelt. “Do you remember me?” he asked. Karl feebly grasped at his leg, only gurgling sounds escaping his throat. “The burning won’t stop where you’re going,” he snarled, ripping the thug’s hand away.

Valeri was suddenly there. Instead of taking her revenge on her captor, she hastily searched his pockets, pulling out a brown pouch. With a euphoric grin, she stumbled away. “Gid, there’s still Gret,” she murmured, removing a small, white-coated piece of candy wrapped in plastic from the pack.

Another knock came, but Giddeon ignored it. He reached to the man’s side and removed a small, preloaded hand crossbow from his belt. Karl stopped twitching, the blood spurting from his throat finally pittering out. He was dead.

“Gret’s here,” Valeri murmured, unwrapping the candy and plopping it into her mouth.

“Karl, I told you not to take your time,” an eerily familiar voice called out from behind the door. Like Karl’s, Giddeon had never forgotten that voice.

“We can beat scrubbers later. We’re going to be late for the meeting. Remember what the boss said last time? If we’re late again, we can kiss that bonus—”

Standing, Giddeon unlatched the door, flung it open, and shot.

Gret’s wide eyes and slack, jiggly jaws were the last expression the man ever made before a bolt pierced the middle of his forehead, sending him careening backwards. The floorboards shook from his immense weight as he collapsed, his body spasming.

“The butterflies! They’re floating everywhere! It’s all so wonderful!”

Giddeon looked back at Valeri, who was dancing around the room. Her vacant eyes stared at dilapidated walls and broken furniture as if witnessing a beautiful scene straight out of a fairy tale.

Dragging Gret’s body inside, Giddeon closed and locked the door. Hastily searching the body, he ignored the involuntary twitches of the corpse—a grim echo of a mind already gone. Pocketing a bag that jangled, he discovered another brown pouch, just like Karl’s. Disgusted, he was preparing to toss it away when an idea struck him.

He pulled out the candy, dropped it to the floor, then ground it beneath his boot. Scooping up the residue with his knife, he spread it all over Karl’s lips and chest. Planting the crossbow in Karl’s hand and the knife in Gret’s, he positioned the bodies a few feet apart. The Asp Organization would conclude Karl was using, and Gret found out, resulting in a fatal confrontation. Satisfied, he turned to Valeri.

The girl was busy swinging on one of the bedposts.

For the third time, a knock came at the door.

“What’s all that noise, and why’s there blood on the floor? If any one of you so much as damaged my property, I’ll…get out here, right now!”

Giddeon grabbed Valeri, who stared at him wide-eyed. “I’ve a mission to complete,” he hissed, hastily explaining. “I can’t be seen or questioned. I made it look like they killed each other.” He shook her lightly. “Meet me at the aquarium. I’ll be back for you.”

Valeri nodded, a vacant giggle bubbling up. “Yes, my prince,” she mumbled.

He shook her again as her eyes wandered around the room in wonderment. “The aquarium, remember.”

She gave a small nod, a crooked smile forming on her lips.

Slipping to the window, he turned the crank, lifting the bars. The pounding on the door began in earnest. “Dubbly, go get the keys,” a voice shouted out in the hallway. Feet pounded as someone else ran down the stairs.

“The aquarium, Valeri,” he said one last time, hanging halfway out the window. “I’ll see you there.” With that, he dropped fifteen feet to the ground, rolling to diminish the impact. Coming up in a sprint, he disappeared into the shadows of the city.

He completed his mission the following day, after which he visited the aquarium. Valeri was nowhere in sight. Returning to the tavern, he paid a young gutter runner who had tried pickpocketing him earlier to ask around. The boy returned, informing him that she had left the inn the previous afternoon. He stayed a full week, lingering around the aquarium. Valeri never showed. Word eventually came to him that she had left town with a stranger passing through on a wagon, laughing the whole time.

With a heavy heart, Giddeon returned home.

A year and seven months later, he revisited Sea Town on another mission. This was where news of her death reached him. She had died in a tavern room, in bed with a stranger, with Zellex in her possession. Though his mind remembered two Valeris, he only thought of the twelve-year-old girl that had lived with him in the sanctuary city of Salvation—the one who had survived alongside him seven long months as they fled the dangers of Earth One. He would never forget her innocent smile.

He would also never, ever forget the Asp Organization. Ever.

“I’m sorry,” Johnny spoke softly. “You’re right. Anything that happens to that man is well-deserved.”

“This concludes our second briefing.” Ereos’s voice reached Giddeon’s ears as he returned to the present. “Everyone, give a round of applause for our Botanical Planetary Division, Hyperspace Drive Department, and the Advanced Enhancement Unit.”

The room erupted into applause. “Enjoy the rest of your day. Tomorrow, we’ll meet briefly to showcase our live descent, and celebrate the first-ever human to land on the planet.”

The cheering intensified as several attendants stood, loud whistles filling the air. The briefing concluded with Ereos and Taka waving and moving off stage before the crowd began to disperse.

“Hey.” Giddeon reached out, grabbing Uzari’s arm just as she stood. Her skin was pleasantly soft, like velvet. “What did you mean when you said that’s not true?”

Uzari stared down at him with ice-cold eyes, her head subtly shaking as her gaze flickered from side to side in frustration. Her reactions were baffling. The more he interacted with the woman, the more tense she became.

“Because I do know you,” she said, her voice tempered by barely contained restraint. “I know, for example, you did something to your stats. You’re a hacker, not a bounty hunter.”

Giddeon simply stared at her, giving away nothing, thought his heart pounded loudly in his chest. It never occurred to him that someone would even remotely guess he was a data cracker. His preparation, planning, and execution were all flawless, with only one hitch—his unlocked AIGES.

How does she know I’m a hacker?

“How should I know!” Johnny retorted. “Ask her!”

I wasn’t asking you! Quit reading my thoughts!

“Mrs. Uzari—” His eyes darted nervously around the room, though his voice remained calm. “Wild speculation is just—”

“You told me—that’s how I know,” she cut him off, glancing around the room. “I know they were looking for you. I’m not sure if it’s over what you did to your AIGES numbers, or something else, but you have no need to worry. I remember my vows. I’ll never betray you.”

“Vows?” he said hesitantly, frowning.

“I told them you talked too much,” she continued, her voice sharp. “That you were hitting on me, staring at my breasts and making comments. I also told them I didn’t want to pursue legal charges, despite that stuck-up bit—” She paused, curbing her words. “—that woman not even caring what I was telling her.”

“It’s true, you did stare at them,” Johnny agreed.

“I was looking at my stats!” Giddeon exclaimed defensively. “Your…mountains just so happen to be in the same spot my stats were!”

“Mountains?” she exhaled, arching both eyebrows. “Are my body parts to be referred to as landscape pieces now?” Hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. “Tell me, would you consider me the Andes, the Appalachians, or do you just want to call them Mount Fuji?”

“I wouldn’t answer that,” Johnny advised.

“That’s not what I—” Giddeon paused, glancing around as he realized he was talking loudly. Luckily, most Aegis had already left the room or were near the exits. His voice lowered. “That’s not how I meant it.”

“Whatever the case, that’s what I told them,” she said coldly, turning to stride away. “Goodbye, Mr. Seres.”

“Wait,” he called out, standing up. “Why are you so angry with me?”

Uzari spun back. She didn’t speak immediately; the words were trapped in her throat. A single tear rolled down her face as her voice trembled. “Because you abandoned me! You lied to me! You left me alone, without a word!”

“I…I’m sorry, Mrs. Uzari. I think you have me mixed up with someone else.”

“Irazu,” she said in even tones, forcing him to meet her eyes. “It’s my name spelled backwards. You remember Asteria, don’t you? Five years, Gid. Five years. I didn’t deserve to be left like that.”

Whirling on her heel, she stormed out of the room, leaving Giddeon to himself.

“Sooo, is she crazy? Or…”

Slowly, Giddeon shook his head, his face pale.

“Then who is she?”

“She’s my wife,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “Irazu Seres is my wife.”

I found a lower res version of Raylin from Chapter 5: