The Grove was a hotspot for overpriced burgers, unforgettable views, and way too many old dads wearing Hawaiian shirts to be comfortable. Although it was a tourist hotspot, leaning over that glass fencing and staring up at the flying cars that zipped through each building was enough to make her temporarily forget her woes. While on the street level, it was easy to ignore the vehicles that snaked around the city skylines, only slowing once they had approached their destination. The transportation of the luxurious, but surprisingly something she had never experienced. Her father was never one to take her on business trips.

The cars were your Porsche's, Lamborghini's, and McLaren's. They were your statement piece in the sky, polluting the environment just a little more than your average car would. The rich had more important things to do than worry about the environment. The world was a cleaner place than it was a century ago, but humans were by no means clean. They found more efficient ways to hide their pollution, is all.

“Desirae!” A man called from behind her. Hardly looking over her shoulder, she smiled towards the closest friend she had throughout high school. The biggest pain in the ass, too. Zeke was one year older than her, and had already started his life out of school; she would take any moment of normality she had left with him. They were much rarer than they used to be.

“They let you in without a fuss?”

“Oh, you know it’s not the first time I’ve used your name to skip the lines. What’s goin’ on?” Zeke asked, pulling her into a hug even though he knew she hated hugs. Letting out a groan, she pushed him away and rolled her eyes.

“Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Why?” She responded quickly, biting her tongue to prevent herself from further humiliation. Desirae was awkward, she knew this, and she accepted this. It didn’t mean she wanted to tell her longest-held friend that she may or may not be chased by a cyber-gang for the rest of her life.

“Ooo-kay, weirdo. What are you tweaking off today, daddy’s white powder hidden in his closet?”

“So funny,” she responded with a smile. “I think between the two of us, you’d be the most likely to go run off and get high.”

“Not so sure about that one.”

“Yeah, why’s that?” Desirae pressed on, taking a seat at a booth near the glass fencing. Zeke followed suit, folding his hands in front of himself on the table and sat up straight. Clearing his throat, he lowered his register so he could sound more official.

“Miss Desirae Abernathy, you are looking at the next EcoVex Data Entry Specialist. You may refer to me as such.”

Desirae cheered and slapped him on the wrist. “Yo, no way! How’d you get that job?”

“It helps that I wasted away my high school days by sitting in a cold, dark dungeon coding and developing programs for the dumbasses around school.”

“By cold, dark dungeon, do you mean your air-conditioned bedroom?”

“With the curtains shut tight, yes.”

Desirae hummed, taking a sip of her coca-cola. “That’s a really great opportunity for you, and without a college degree. You’re lucky, man.”

“What’s been goin’ on with you? We haven’t talked in a while.”

Desirae sighed and looked past him, focusing in on a car that flew by, disappearing between two distant skyscrapers. The two of them used to be inseparable, the best of friends. He was the only thing that grounded her when she first got involved with being a dealer and messenger, but it wasn’t like he knew any of that. Desirae tried to keep him pretty sheltered from that side of her.

“Nothing really, Zeke. My dad’s still MIA most of the time, and I am still expected to live off his money.”

“Why don’t you try to go and get a job?”

She chuckled and lowered her stare to the table, picking at her cuticles. “With what skill set?”

“Skill set? Come on, Desirae! You can talk a fish up a tree when you put your mind to it. Get a job in sales, or try to become a receptionist. Something to pass the time, something social.”

“You know I prefer the life of a hermit.”

Zeke chuckled and turned his stare to watch the rays of light bounce with the idle waves. Day or night, this patio was her favorite place to be. It felt like a different city up here.

Desirae’s eyes raked over the room, studying everybody as they mindlessly babbled about whatever nuisance and gossip they chose to distract themselves with today. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw a trio of men that stood in the far corner, leaning against the back wall conversing amongst themselves. The one in the middle held himself tall, his stare set on her with a smile so coy and vibrant it could have lit up the room. He held a cigar in his hand, waving it around more than he actually used it. DeVile and his goons decided to pay a visit, and it worried her that they knew exactly where she was.

“What’s wrong?” Zeke asked and looked all around.

“Nothing. Some weirdo with some augments caught my attention,” she fibbed and tore her stare away. Her head was pounding, each thought making it worse as she tried to find an explanation as to how they found where she was.

“I never took you for the type to hate augments, given your rebellious nature towards your dad.”

“Yeah, they’re fucked up.” At this point, Desirae wasn’t talking about the augments. She was talking entirely about DeVile and his goons.

Zeke shrugged and kept tearing his stare away to see if he could find who she had been looking at. “I’ve never seen a real issue with augmentations. They’re kinda like tattoos, some find them taboo, some find them badass. Personally, I think augmentations are badass.”

“No, they are dangerous and are completely controlled by the black market. Don’t think about getting one.”

He held his hands up and laughed awkwardly, “Alright, augment police. What’s got you so strung up today?”

She sighed and shook her head, “I’m not sure, Zeke. Lots of stuff has been going on, but I can’t really tell you everything. Does that make sense?”

“Not at all—but, you know, you’ve said and done weirder stuff. Really, though, what’s goin’ on?”

Desirae sighed and flickered her stare between Zeke and DeVile, his eyes glued on the two of them with such intent. He knew exactly what he was doing, it was intentional and malicious. She was being hunted by criminals who wanted to use her for the knowledge she held, or rather, her father’s knowledge. That she willingly gave up. Without a second thought. The cloud of consequences was looming over her, threatening to rain on her parade. Finally, things were beginning to wash over her like a wave: she would never live this down, she would never be able to free herself of this gang. She didn’t even know the name of the gang DeVile was a part of—she was clueless. Hopeless.

“Nothing is going on, Zeke.” She forced a smile, but the look on his face spoke volumes. He wasn’t buying a single word of what she was saying, so she continued. “I’m just getting some weird stares from that guy over there.”

Shit, she thought. Yes, Desirae. Move Zeke’s attention to the one and only person you don’t want to draw attention to. Desirae was beginning to take her name literally, she seemed to chase after disasters.

“What guy?” Zeke asked, alarmed, and turned around to scan the crowd. Easily enough, his eyes fell on DeVile and his goons. They weren’t necessarily hiding the fact that they were watching them, they were the only ones looking their way. “They look like bad news.”

“Seems that way,” she mumbled and lowered her face to the table, closing her eyes in hopes to calm her nerves. “Just ignore it for now.”

“Ignore them screwing us with their eyes? No, thank you. I can go see what’s their deal.”

“No, no you won’t. As you said—bad news.”

“I think you’re forgetting who always bailed you out of trouble in high school when you messed with the wrong person. Wait here.”

“Zeke, no—” Desirae called, but clamped her mouth shut when he stood and ignored her pleas. Watching him walk towards DeVile was like watching a ticking time bomb countdown to their door. This was it. Her life was over. She was about to witness a shootout, a gang initiated conflict of epic proportions. She wondered what augmentations they held beneath their skin that was hidden to the naked eye. Was it a laser beam that shot out of their eye sockets, annihilating anybody in their way?

No, that’s too sci-fi.

What about a plasma bomb that detonated in one of the most populated tourist destinations in Chicago?

No, that draws too much attention to them.

She sunk into her chair, covering her face as Zeke approached DeVile. The last thing she noticed before completely turning her head away was the raised brows and surprised look as Zeke stood tall and proud. If only he knew.