Has she fallen asleep? She felt as if she had just woken up. A black out? The Source was still there, his empty stare steady on her. Keep it together, just keep it together! her mind encouraged her.

“Would you please continue?”

“Umm, yes, I just need…” She stretched her arm towards the jar and drank. She made slow sips, stalling for time. What was the question, dammit? She couldn’t remember.

“So you asked if…”

“I asked you about Akayev.”

“Right, and you wanted to know ehmm…”

“About your relationship with him.”

“Right, right.” She gathered her thoughts during another prolonged sip from the jar. Its fruity taste felt pleasantly refreshing.

“Five years, was it?” scrunching her forehead, she posed a question aloud to herself. “Yup, I and Akayev were on and off for about five years.”

“On and off?”

“Yeah, you know…” No, the Source didn’t seem to know, or, he wanted her to be specific.

“Well, we were together during those five years, with periods in-between when we simply could not stand each other.”

“How long ago was this prior to your meeting with Tengu?”

“At least three years before I met Tengu, I and Akayev were done. I mean, we ended our relationship.”

“How did you meet him?”

With a sigh she gazed up at the ceiling, her mind overflowing with memories. “I met Akayev when procuring a part for one of the bosses, Filipova. He was her bodyguard at the time. He was present throughout the whole fitting process, and, what can I say, the attraction was immediate. ”

She chuckled, shaking her head. It all seemed so far and unimportant now.

“He had certain ways with women. He had the looks and he was a smooth talker, but what attracted me the most to him was his determination. When he wanted something, he made sure he got it.”

“A trait common to both of you?”

“Perhaps, but there was a big difference between me and him. I realized, with time, that all the qualities I liked in him were nothing else but projections of his enormous ego and extreme narcissism. His moral compass was a roulette wheel and he didn't think twice to use people if that somehow helped him to achieve his goals.”

“Like you do?”

“No, no,” she countered, her face scrunching into a stubborn frown. “It’s…never mind. We were completely different.”

“He used you, then?”

“Yes.” She pursed her lips together and nodded a few times. “I fell victim to his charms, as many others did. But contrary to what H said, I do believe he had some genuine feelings for me. However, the love for himself always came first.”

Reflecting on her memories it surprised her how clear everything seemed now.

“Ambitious as Akayev was, being just a bodyguard was not enough for him. He wanted to become somebody, an actual Boss perhaps… who knows, there was no end to his ambition. Filipova, his aunt, was the only family he had left after the Event. She took him in, but of course with Fillipova, nothing ever came for free, not even family love. She had him working hard for her since he was a youngster. She didn’t want him to leave but in the end, she agreed to let him go and even looked favourably upon his idea for a company, although mostly he had to do everything by himself. And this is where I came into play. I taught the bastard everything about the body parts business. And once he felt confident enough, he took that knowledge, along with quite some of my money, and opened his company. To make things worse, he nonchalantly offered me to work for him. I, a superb artisan, working for somebody that barely knows to fit a digit? Can you believe it?”

The Source didn’t seem to share or understand her outrage.

She eased back into the rotten coach and lowered the voice, which became louder during the last sentences: “Anyhow, that ended it for us, and ever since he’d been nothing but a pain in the ass in the body parts business.”

“Were you angry with him?”

She grunted something indistinctively.

“Perhaps you still had feelings for him?”

“You bet I had, feelings of anger and resentment.” She looked at the Source with a certain amount of disdain. “I hated the idea of going to him and asking him for a favour. But then I began seeing it in another way. It was now my time to use him.”

***

“Will you let me do the talking?”

“No way, H. If to anyone, Akayev will listen to me. Besides, he hates you.”

“Yes, he does, but at least our conversation would be… chill, while with you…“ H shrugged, directing a meaningful look at Ana.

“Stop it, I know what you’re going to say, but I can control myself.”

“If you blow this--“

“I got it, dammit,” she burst. “And anyway, I’m quite sure, you don’t care half as much as I do for this deal, or perhaps you’d even prefer to see me fail.”

“If that’s what you think.”

She threw him a side look. H was focused on the road while his foot kept getting heavier and heavier on the gas pedal.

“Would you…prefer to see it all fail?” Her voice was softer and insecure.

“I made a decision to go through with this job. I always stick to my decisions,” he replied coldly.

“Good. Oh, here we are. I think that’s Akayev’s car. There’s a free spot next to it.”

As soon as H got out of the car he walked to the huge, yellow Hummer with tinted windows and intimidating bumper reinforcement. “Damn, I knew he bought it, but I never expected this…Now that’s some heavy patching, a true Frankenstein car… I wonder where he got all the parts.…” Shaking his head, he passed his hand over the gigantic vehicle. “This guy’s truly overcompensating, I mean look at this monster. Tsk, never understood, how you fell for him so hard, Stem.”

Ana knew his remark steamed from jealousy because if there was one thing H and Akayev had in common that was the love for cars, customized cars in particular.

“Oh, shut up, H, or I’ll start talking about your women. “ Nevertheless, the sudden heat came into her cheeks. “Didn’t even fall that hard for him…” she mumbled.

They left the parking and continued toward the two-story industrial building. A dance of laser lights was seen through its several, large windows, and loud, electronic music was coming from the inside. It was a new business venture for Akayev – a nightclub, his wet dream he’d always talked about when he and Ana were still together, but never had had enough money to go through with it.

The club stood near the entrance to the Forbidden City. A privileged location for sure, affordable only to those with family ties to the Bosses, yet still a part of the Settlements, a fact made poignantly by the ten-meter wall, which encompassed the Forbidden City. Standing next to such a majestic structure one felt small, unimportant, and diligently reprimanded, that despite standing close, you were still on the wrong side of the wall.

A feeling of resentment sprung inside her at the realization that Akayev’s body parts business became so lucrative over the past two years, he could afford to buy the damn club. To make things worse, the club became an immediate success and was packed with people every night. She knew Akayev invited her and H here instead of his SBP office just to show off.

“Hmm, quite a crowd,” remarked H seeing the long line of people waiting to go inside.

Ana stared at the glittering golden plate “Club Superb” above the entrance. Akayev always liked everything linked to him in superlatives.

“Well, he got lucky with the location, that’s why, and it’s new, and people are always fascinated with new things. The interest will wear off, eventually...” she said.

“Not that new anymore,” muttered H as they approached the entrance.

“What’s that?”

“Never mind…are we going to wait in line?”

“Yeah, right.” She scoffed and walked past the people straight to the entrance. A big, muscled guy stood at the door, scanning every person from head to toe before allowing them inside. Another two shorter thugs were loitering in his vicinity. As soon as they saw Ana, one of those two opened his mouth widely: “Ohoho, Stemetski….we haven’t see you in a while! You come here to beg the Boss to take you back?”

That was Varga grinning at her, showing his damaged teeth. The other short thug who remained quiet was Stepan. They were Akayev’s most trusted buddies, typical, ominous-looking thugs from the Settlements. The nature of their relationship became clear to Ana from the very beginning she’d met them. Although she was reluctant to admit it, Akayev was a very smart guy, and he used Varga and Stepan as he saw it fit without them being aware of it. He was the brains and the muscles, and they were exclusively the muscles. They naively considered Akayev not just as their boss but also as their friend and viewed him as their role model.

The two were as different in appearance as they were in character. Varga had a sturdy build and a head full of rich, black curls, which were always tied in a ponytail. He saw himself as Akayev’s favourite and tried very hard to imitate him in all things. He was chatty and overly confident, but always a perfect dog that eagerly awaited his orders.

Stepan was thinner, his head was shaved and his bony face had bulging eyes. He was a quiet observer and Ana never heard him say a word. She had once asked Akayev if he was mute, but Akayev denied it, saying he’d hear him praying every night in his room. Stepan didn’t seem to have any desires of his own, he lived solely for Akayev.

With the snobbish son of Filipova always looking down on him, Akayev found in Varga, the son of Filipova’s cleaning lady, and Stepan, the lonely orphan, whom he picked up on the streets of the Settlements, two adequate, not too smart companions, who were more than willing to help him in fulfilling his ambitions.

“Varga. Always a pleasure to see your lovely smile,” retorted Ana.

“Hah, he don’t take back you for sure, sweetheart. He get as many beauties as he wants, And I mean real beauties, not like…” he said, tilting his chin at Ana.

She scoffed, his badly formed sentences starting to irritate her. “Yeah, I’m sure he does, and I’m sure he’s sharing them with you two…oh, isn’t he? I wonder why?”

Varga spat on the stairs, annoyed. “What the fuck you want, Stemetski?”

“I have an appointment with your boss, hasn’t he told you?”

“He told me nothing.”

“Then better go and ask him. Go doggie, go! Hurry up!”

“I’ll kick your ass if you lying,” Varga spat again and vanished inside, just to return a few minutes later with defeat in his eyes. “Get in,” he hissed.

As H moved to enter with her, he immediately consumed all of Varga’s as well as Stepan’s attention, increasing the tension that already lingered between Ana and the two men twofold.

“You, Hanneghan… you are banned,“ growled Varga and stepped in H’s direction.

“Relax, Varga!” Ana stopped him with her hand. “H is here on business too.”

“The hell he is.”

She bestowed on him a disparaging stare. “Do you really want to walk up to your boss again and show him how stupid you are?”

Clenching his fists and grunting some inaudible words Varga backed off and let them both inside. The shouts of protest from the people in the line were soon quieted down with the glare of the large man at the door, who continued scanning the visitors and showed no interest in Varga’s dealing with Ana and H.

Varga led them across a large dance floor, with music so loud it was impossible to hear anything else, and continued up the stairs to the second floor. All the time Stepan stayed at their tail. The upper floor was a different setting entirely. Isolated well from the noise below, it featured enclosed, more intimate areas for sitting, and a stage. A tall, slender singer was singing a slow, dense song, quite beautifully Ana had to admit, which fit in an odd way with the prevailing deep blue colour of the velvet on the sofas, walls, drapes, and even on the very revealing dress of the singer. The light was dim and the air was saturated with heavy smells of smoke, sweat, and perfumes. The walls were decorated with framed photographs of cars or fighters, and neon signs that spelled out all kinds of superlatives.

“I see Akayev’s sense for décor once again surpassed all limits of good taste,” remarked Ana to H, shifting her stare from the pink Be the best! to the red You’re the greatest!, and on to the blinking green Top shit.

“It didn’t bother you before.”

“It always bothered me, H.”

Varga brought them to a separate corner, where Akayev sat with a young woman on each side. The one on his left was giggling uncontrollably, while the one on his right was nibbling at his ear. He held a champagne glass in his hand, which most likely contained one of the alcoholic concoctions produced in the Settlements. Dying or going blind from such home fermented drinks was not an unusual occurrence, but people would still gladly take risks and drink them.

Upon seeing Ana, Akayev pushed the two women away, took a sip, and grimaced as he swallowed the liquid. Placing down the glass, he leaned back onto the sofa, stretching both arms over the back seat, and spread his legs comfortably. Raising his left eyebrow he twisted his lips into a provocative smile and jerked his chin forward at Ana.

“Hey, beautiful, what brings you to me?”

It’s been a while since Ana was confronted with him so closely. Her cool composure crumbled a bit as his icy blue eyes stared at her. Hitting thirty-five, he was a true exemplary of the people from the eastern parts of the Central zone. Taller and more slender than H, he looked sharp and quite dashing in his immaculate bright blue suit with a vest and a dark purple blouse. It was Akayev at his best.

“Don’t call me that,” she replied; “we’re way past your silly nicknames.”

He flipped back the strand of his blonde hair that fell over his forehead and grinned.

“Still don’t know how to take a compliment, Stemetski, huh?”

His playful smile disappeared as soon as H came into his view. “Ah, Hanneghan,” he addressed him in a lazy manner; “and you’re still following her like a faithful dog. Not much has changed, I see.”

H responded with a smirk, his stare not wavering from Akayev’s. There was no love lost between them.

“We didn’t come here to exchange pleasantries, Akayev, we’re here on business,” said Ana assertively.

“I always mix business with pleasure, you know that, pretty.” The two women at his side giggled as he winked at them, and snuggled up to him.

Ana couldn’t help noticing one of them had her left shoulder higher than her right - a result of a badly fitted arm, while the index finger of the other kept twitching involuntarily. Despite all the glamour, Akayev was still defined by his sloppy work, and that filled her with some satisfaction. She fought with herself not to say anything but in the end, the desire to provoke him was simply too strong and the words just came out of her mouth: “You must have given them some major discount for this work?”

Akayev’s face darkened and in an instant, he caught her by the arm and pulled her towards him. H, and then Varga and Stepan, they all stepped in.

He didn’t scare her. Smiling inwardly she leaned forward and neared his ear: “It’s a serious matter. Could we discuss it in a more private environment?”

He exhaled with a laugh and leaning back he released her. “Tell me, Stemetski, how do you like what I did with this old warehouse?” he asked, smiling through his perfectly aligned teeth.

“Yeah, yeah….can we get on with it?”

“Sure, but not before we make a toast to my new club…here… ” He snatched the glass from the hand of one of the girls, disregarding her offended yelp, and held it up at Ana.

She took it, smashed it rather strongly against the glass in Akayev’s hand, and tilting her head backward drank the whole liquid in one gulp.

“Can we do some business now?” she asked with a hoarse voice, caused by the burning sensation as the liquid went down her throat. The drink was disgusting, but it was exactly what she needed.

Akayev smirked and made a slow sip. Shaking his head he put the glass down. ”You used to be much more fun, Stemetski.”

A long hallway on the same floor led to a heavy, leather-padded door, which Akayev pushed open. He waited for Ana to enter and then cut H off by stepping in right after her. Rolling his eyes, H followed Akayev, while Stepan and Varga remained outside, and closed the door at Akayev’s signal.

Akayev sat on a black leather armchair behind a massive desk and gestured them to sit on much less impressive swivel chairs. While the armchair and the desk were surprisingly neat and tasteful in design, two framed photographs of convertible cars, which didn’t exist anymore, an old poster of a famed boxer, and large antlers of a stag, contributed to the expected tackiness of Akayev’s office. Four large belts from fighting tournaments, hanging on the wall behind Akayev’s head were also hard to miss. In addition to his SBP company and the nightclub, Akayev was an ardent sponsor and the manager of cage fights.

But the most surprising thing inside of what looked like an office to conduct business affairs was a mirrored canopy bed. Ana kept turning a half-circle in her chair and couldn’t stop staring at it. “What the fuck,” she muttered to herself.

“What, lovely, don’t you approve of my interior design?” Akayev asked her, smirking.

“Oh, the opposite, I admire the variety of your activities. Body parts, fighting, the club and …and this…” She extended her arm at the bed and put on a sardonic smile. “I’m just wondering, can you keep up with all these…and not, you know, get sloppy?” An immediate throat clearing was heard from H.

“Well, maybe,” Akayev leaned with his elbows on the desk; “I’m just very good at everything I do. Particularly SBP is flourishing. How many customers was it that Orion’s Belt lost this year? Now that I think about it…” He grasped his chin, mocking a thoughtful expression. “Quite some of those are now my clients. I wonder if the reason lies in those outrageous prices you set for your work, beautiful?”

Ana stopped turning in her chair and clenched her fingers around the edge of the seat.

“Still organizing fights, Akayev?” asked H, dispelling the growing tension.

“Yes, in fact, I have a cage here below in the basement. Are you interested, Hanneghan?

“No, he’s not,” replied Ana but was completely ignored by both of them.

“If you have any good fighters….”

“Always…”

“Fancy yourself perhaps?”

A silent staredown followed between H and Akayev until Ana clasped her hands together, making a loud sound. “Hey…hey, I didn’t come here for you two measuring who has the bigger--”

“Well, you should know that by now, beautiful,” retorted Akayev at Ana, whose face promptly turned red. Scrunching her eyebrows at him she faltered: ”No, t-that’s not--”

“But you’re right, let’s talk business. Must be something big if you came to me after all this time. What do you want from me, and more importantly, what are you willing to offer in return?” Akayev resumed.

She gathered her thoughts carefully. She knew she had one shot at this. Akayev could accept her proposal with enthusiasm or dismissed it immediately without any consideration. His behaviour was always reckless – another thing about him, which attracted her in the beginning and annoyed her later.

“I need you to do something for me. I need you to speak to your aunt and convince her to take me, H, and Margot as part of her entourage for the Emperor’s reception at the Event celebrations. In return,” she made a pause to add the weight to her offer; “I’ll owe you a favour.”

Akayev’s eyes narrowed slightly at Ana, but other than that there was no change in his expression. An uncomfortable silence followed, during which he leaned back into the chair and crossed his hands in front of his chest.

“Interesting, but too vague,” he finally uttered.

Ana looked at H and then back at Akayev. “Sorry….I don’t quite--”

Akayev swiftly interrupted her: “As much as you owing me a favour intrigues me and gives me a certain pleasure, I’d prefer first to settle on exactly how much and what will you owe me. This in turn will depend on the reason, why somebody like you…and your lot….would like to sip tea at the Emperor’s palace.”

Ana looked at H, whose eyes met hers but did not reveal anything. It was his way of saying the decision was up to her.

“Fine. I need to steal something from the Emperor’s lab. For that I need the entry to the palace – your aunt is my ticket in.”

“Steal what?” Akayev’s focus did not waver.

“Just some high-quality body parts.”

She reprimanded herself for looking sideways. Akayev would have noticed that, and he did.

“High-quality parts…hmm…stealing them from the docs or on the way to the palace would be easier. What’s in play here, beautiful? And mind, it is my last question.”

“Shit,” she cursed under her breath. Lowering her head she passed her hand nervously over her forehead. “A Nakamura…”

“What’s that?”

“A Nakamura, dammit.”

“I see.” Akayev tapped his fingers on the table, trying to conceal his excitement. But Ana saw the pupils widening in his icy blue eyes and his nostrils enlarging, as he took in a deeper breath.

“I want in.”

“You can’t. There’s only one piece.” She made sure to look him straight into his eyes without wavering. “I need it for a special client.”

“Who?”

“Come on, Akayev, you know I can’t tell you that. It’s not that big of a favour I’m asking. Just tell me what you want in exchange.”

“Hmm….”He leaned back once again and pouted his lips while looking at Ana. “Taking such a risk for a client, you must care a great deal about him.”

“Or her.”

“Or her….but I think it’s him, isn’t it? Did you really think, beautiful, I wouldn’t know you started to move around in the rebels’ circles?” Seeing the surprise on her face his lips spread into a self-pleasing grin.

“Don’t worry, I’m not interested in dealing with the rebels. I don’t trust them enough, they are too unstable. I must say I’m almost tempted to reject you… out of concern for your life.”

“Almost?”

He grinned again. “Let’s see what you have to offer.”

“As I said, I will be in your debt and whenever you need something--“

“No,” he said, patting the table lightly with his palm.” I want ten of your best clients referred to me at once, and I want half of what the rebels pay you for the job.”

Ana launched from her chair. “Ten clients! That’s nuts! You have more clients than us already, why would you want to –“

“I didn’t finish yet…” He gestured for her to sit down and once she obliged he continued: “In addition, I want to hear you, beautiful, saying out loud that my business is a fine business, and praising me for being an excellent artisan.”

“You son of--“ It was H’s strong arm that pulled her back into the chair before she could conclude her mal-intended sentence.

“Stem, calm the fuck down…” H’s eyes were telling her to get it together.

She bit her lip and swallowed her saliva together with her pride. It was still a worthy deal – she’d get commissions from the rebels, and most importantly, she managed to conceal the existence of other Nakamura parts from Akayev. Selling just one of them would provide her, H, and Margot for long and comfortable life.

“Fine, I agree.” she conceded.

“Good. Varga! Stepan!” he called out loudly and his two thugs peeked immediately into his office. “Come in. I want you to witness this as well. Stemetski has something to say.”

“What…now?”

“Yes. Go on, beautiful.” He leaned back in his chair, smiling in sweet anticipation.

She gazed at him with a cold, persistent look. He was being abusive and he knew it. It seemed like her admission was more important to him than any other material rewards in this deal.

With a heavy sigh, she began to talk: “You’re a good-“

“Remember,” he warned her;” If I detect a trace of mockery in your voice the deal is off.”

Pursing her lips she took a moment, then stood up abruptly. Her eyes stayed on his as she spoke: “Akayev, you have been great pain in the ass to my business for a long time now. I hate how you managed to screw with my mind and heart so that I actually helped and taught you to become the great artisan in the body parts business that you are. And it pains me even more to admit, that despite my self-centered pride I always took in my work, you surpassed me. The huge number of your clients speak to that and the fact that you reach this point in your business after just a couple of years, while starting it as a complete novice, and unlike me without the privilege of any kind of professional education, is nothing but admirable. If I am completely sincere, I never admitted that to you and rather trash-talked about your work, because I was and still am completely jealous of your success. So, Akayev, I curse you for breaking my heart, I curse you for using me so brilliantly to your advantage , and I curse you for making your company better than mine.”

After her speech, she collapsed back into the chair and waited in silence. Varga’s face showed uncertainty about whether his boss was satisfied, or should he punch her in the gut. Akayev rested his eyes on her for a while then began clapping and so did Varga until his boss’s look stopped him.

“Ah, beautiful, if you had praised me like this when we were together, I would have never left you,” said Akayev with a pleased expression on his face.

“So we have a deal?” asked H.

Akayev shot him a glare, as if H intruded on his most private conversation, then turned his icy blue eyes once again at Ana. “We have a deal, gorgeous. Now let’s see how to get you in my auntie’s favour.”

***

On the way back she sat through the drive in silence, looking lazily at the surroundings passing by. She got what she wanted, and the costs didn’t bother her. What preoccupied her was the path that was set forth. It was a dangerous path and she pushed on it not only herself but other people as well. Did she have the right to do that?

“Good choice of words back there. You sounded oddly sincere.”

“I had to if I wanted to convince him.”

“Still…it sounded almost as if you have some unresolved feelings for him.”

“You fell for it too, H? I didn’t mean a single word I said. He’s a lying, cheating bastard with no clue on how to fit body parts. Only ‘cause of his connection with Filipova and the money he stole from me he got this far in the business. Comparing himself to me…how dare he…”

“Well, it worked, that’s what’s important.”

She sighed and adjusted her cap.

“Go to hell, H…”