“I don’t know about this, Iri…” Bakari’s deep mocking voice competed with the hum of distant generators. He leant against an exposed steel strut and prepared his next dose of Axo. The dark skin tones offset by the padded yellow sleeveless jacket. His thick grey canvas trousers almost completely camouflaged by the surrounding concrete, contrasted only by their bright orange trimmings and edgework. His hair was shaved short on the sides and back, graded up into frosted blond dreads that swept to one side. He turned his bicep to reveal one of many bio-port augmentations before carefully locking the auto injector in place. With a sharp intake of breath, it quickly dispensed the substance into the surrounding muscle.

“It’s high and I don’t see a lot to grip. You sure you got the reflex to make the climb?” His voice carried trace signs of genuine concern. He flipped a tiny clasp, ejecting the small plastic vial out of the injector towards the dusty floor. It bounced past faded graffiti into piles of discarded packaging and advertising leaflets. Folding and slipping the device into his breast pocket, he forced himself fully to his feet and strode to Irintia’s side. “Serious. These races aint a joke. People have fallen before. Is getting a tag up there really worth the risk?”

Irintia stood by bastardised metal structures and remnants which formed an archway overlooking the vast city below. Dim neon auras highlighted her almost silhouetted form. Her hair, a messy voluminous bob stopped just short of revealed shoulders. Tight laced and buckled leather leggings ran the length of her willowy legs, capped by a marginally looser purple vest top. Red, knee-high, floral patterned boots complete with crossed shin length lacing finished off the outfit.

She glared into the sprawling urban canopy above. Her waist rested against a metal railing, stopping her from a sudden decent into the chasm beneath. She was searching for the uppermost shipping platforms of the tower block ahead. It was primarily comprised of residential sectors littered with small business and entertainment districts designed to satiate the inhabitant’s modern needs. On the higher levels, however, were shipping and supply sectors used for the upkeep and maintenance of the fabricated ecosystem. This meant there would be various landing platforms that pulled off from the cities suspended road networks, and that was the target. Above one of these selected platforms was a large flat space on the outer wall of the tower, somehow devoid of advertisements or graffiti. This is where they would race to. The first to arrive winning the prize of tagging the location and lauding any imagined meritorious value over the loser. Irintia squinted, focusing her gaze towards the prized patch.

“It’s not about the tag; it’s about proving I’m better.” Irintia Remarked.

Between the arch and the tower, a two-passenger rail car shot past in a brief instance. It illuminated the dingy cove with its frontal beams producing a slight vibration throughout the metal structures. The light shone through Irintia’s hair highlighting the dyed garnet strands. A pulse of air momentarily flowed as if a summer breeze before the gentle hum of distant generators remerged. The neon advertisements, street spots and directional signage again dominated as primary light sources. Irintia slighted her head towards Bakari with a hint of a smirk on her face.

“Anyways, just ‘cos you’d fall straight to the city depths and join the slag heaps don’t go thinking my slender digits can’t find a crevasse or two up there.”

Bakari turned to face Irintia with a smile of his own now stapled across his face. “Where you put your fingers aint my concern.”

Irintia’s smirk flourished as she tossed Bakari a sultry look. “I bet you’re curious though.”

The ambience and joyful glances were disturbed as another rail car sped past, once again breathing brief life through the arch. Each time the intricate combination of litter and graffiti decorating the alley is uncovered from the darkness. A couple of leaflets were kicked into the air, fluttering just above the ground in a little dance. As the atmosphere settled again, Irintia turned back towards the tower. Its mix of stone, metal and concrete shaped into gothic architecture and crudely mashed together with modern design principles, presented an ominously overwhelming presence. Her eyes scanned the upper levels again, assessing the best route to the top. If she felt any fear of the climb to come, her face did not reveal it.

“Relax big guy, I’ve run tougher routes through these streets, and I’ve tagged higher places.” She took a couple of steps back and adjusted her sight to another small patch just above the overhead arch. Currently it sported a local gang tag placed as a form of land claim, seemingly useless amongst the dozens of other gang signs covering the walls. Still, it was a large patch of wall and would serve as a perfect location for a piece of Irintia’s own design.

She cocked her wrist. A high pitch squeak emanated from the attached device as it switched on. It was small electrical vambrace she called her ‘Graff’ which had programmable features allowing for a multitude of uses. This one had been crafted into a portable spray painter, making use of compact colour cartridges plumbed into a fine nozzle centred at the base of her palm. It was the ideal tool for assigning complex artworks to any surface at an expedited rate. Situated on the inside of it was a small improvised display where she trolled through various designs, she had previously crated, settling on a vulgar image of a cartoon cat relieving itself. She motioned with her other hand for Bakari to come closer.

“You gonna give me a boost or what?” she said whilst finalizing the various settings on her Graff.

Still faced towards the tower, Bakari raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to bring Irintia into peripheral vision. He compelled his hulking body to turn around and stepped in front of her, squatting slightly with one hand out ready as a foot hold. Irintia’s gaze lifted back to the patch above the arch as she slotted her boot into Bakari’s solid grasp. Without hesitation he effortlessly launched her well above head height, with the exact amount of force to land her comfortably on the metal lip atop the arch. She quickly reached out with one hand to grapple thick exposed cables, presumably running power to one of the various neon advertisements scatted throughout the catacomb like streets. Leaning back while leveraged to the cables, Irintia took a small moment to take in the canvas in front. She admired some of the previous works before cocking her wrist again, this time initiating the painting process. Her extended arm allowed the device to scan the wall, before procedurally adjusting its angle, smoothly moving right to left. A slight whirl and hiss could be heard as the Graff sprayed, slowly painting a perfect replica of the chosen design, covering the scattered gang tags and scribbles.

“This aint gonna be the end of it y’know?” Bakari’s voice elevated to cover the small distance between them, creating a slight echo with the aid of the structure’s acoustics. “Even if you beat Zeek this time, he’ll up the stakes. Gonna be one petty challenge after another.”

Irintia remained focused on the task before her. Each pass of her hand would reveal another segment on her soon to be mural. She took pleasure in knowing that this little painting would really get under someone’s skin. The only downside was that she would likely not get to see their reaction when discovered.

“Zeek and his ‘Burnas’ aint tall enough to snap at the heels of my beautiful boots.” Her sarcastic inflection on ‘Burnas’ gave insight to her complete disrespect for the gang and its self-proclaimed leader. “Besides, the kid is harmless when the fog drops.”

Zeek was a wannabe gang leader who dabbled in many of Novus Etá’s urban activities. This challenge in particular was a parkour styled race from one point to another, with the winner getting to spray a tag at the destination. Though it would sound innocent enough, a parkour race from building to building at what would be an almost inconceivable height was quite the thrill evoking endeavour. One slip, one miscalculated jump or misplaced footing and they would be left to fall to the depths of the under city. The youth of Novus Etá may have been numb to its various dangers; that did not make them any less final.

She pulled herself adjacent the cables revealing the finished artistic piece, clearly an insult to any works now under it. She stood a second just to take in a final look at her handiwork.

“What do ya think?” she said.

“Not bad.”

“High praise indeed!” Her response was given as she confidently released herself backwards, as if committing to an exhausted fall onto a consoling bed. Bakari, again without hesitation, effortlessly caught her in his bulking arms. She flung her hands playfully around his neck stretching one leg to the sky.

“What would a girl do without you?” She glibly asked.

“Probably break her back.” Bakari’s response came swiftly, followed by an arrested chuckle. “Y’know I might not always be around to catch you, Iri?”

“And when that day comes, it’ll be your loss muscles. Come on, I said we’d catch up with the others at ‘Watskie’s’.” Irintia patted his dense pecks before she bounced to her feet and headed away from the arch. She headed directly towards a narrow pass between two graffiti clad concrete columns, handily labelled with a glowing directional sign highlighting the retail districts nearby.

***

They emerged from the dim passages into the bustling streets of Centafts, one of the nine enormous regencies that make up the colossal city of Novus Etá. Housing an estimated two point five billion people, over some two hundred thousand square kilometres of self-sustaining metropolitan real estate, and filled to the rafters with every personality imaginable, Novus Etá is an overpopulated marvel.

As busy shoppers and citizens going about their day crammed the streets, the pair swiftly amalgamated into the crowds and subjected themselves to the meandering that the living river would impose. As they navigated the current, they passed by an extensive assortment of characters, from the down and out, the tattooed and the would-be gangsters to the aspiring businessmen, educational graduates and high life professionals. All of these individuals, with their own histories, motives and fears, were completely unique from one another; yet all monotonously the same, just meat for the machine.

Either side of the walkway was affixed to the mid sections of grand skyscrapers, comprised of painstakingly sculpted architecture adorned with intricate filigree. All of this was masked by the multitude of marketing heraldry denoting the businesses that resided within. Coupled with the store fronts themselves, these fixtures provided awesome spectacles, illuminating the shadowed streets beneath. Even at the height of day much of the city would remain in dark isolation, tucked away from the stars soothing rays. Sophisticated tattoos and elaborate embroidery reacted with the UV and neon lights, dancing in and out of existence as the crowds flowed past. Signs and holo-ads spring to life, oozing slogans and special offers in blatant and drearily effective attempts to entice the foot traffic. Crossing overhead were various metal frameworks wrapped in vid screens. Many exhibited various ads playing on a loop, with others dedicated to various business and news networks. The frameworks extended down to the street with public terminals littered around the base.

Withdrawing from the main stream, Irintia emerged next to one of the currently unused terminals, gaining with it some small respite from the hordes. After a quick wave of her hand over the display it emitted a high pitch whistle, signalling its detection of the Ident Protocol Chip (IPC) buried deep under her skin. The terminal switched from standard demo feed to a personalized account, sporting customized layouts and personal preferences. Dexterously using the tips of her fingers, she navigated numerous windows and applications before landing on network mail. Intermittent pauses broke the flow of hand movements as she rapidly searched her inbox for anything remotely interesting. Two messages in particular came to attention, one from Rae and another from Essil. She first tapped open the message sent from Rae.

‘Hey Misfit, Watskie’s got me on a binary shift today so you’re gonna have to stick it down there if you wanna see me tonight, and I know you do! Dress to impress me, Miss Fit!’

The message was accompanied with pop-up attachment of a cute animated couple hugging in front of a love heart. The sender profile has a self-taken photo of Rae as the picture. Her hair is long and messy, graduating from a deep black to a midnight blue. It just slightly covered the left half of her face, drawing attention to her saturated purple lips pursed into a pout. Piercing blue eyes penetrated from image to viewer, clearly a picture Rae was proud of. As Irintia admired the image and the warm sentiment of the message, she felt a sincere smile break.

By this point Bakari had managed to erupt from the traffic to Irintia’s side. With a weighty thud he slapped his arm over the top of the display coming to rest as a towing shield enveloping her.

“I see Rae’s gonna be grafting again. She really needs to ditch Watskie’s” He said whilst he began to scan the people in the immediate vicinity with his eyes. “The girl’s stunning; she should apply to be a model or something.”

Others had already taken to stopping in the immediate vicinity as respite from the main flow of traffic. Three teens had set up camp near a small wall coated in personalized art, all of them partaking in casual substance abuse. One of them donned a full faced mask with multiple glowing lenses acting as a visor, whilst the other two had dressed in complimenting white sleeveless jackets. No doubt purely for the function of showing off their recently acquired ultraviolet tattoos. Across from them a woman sporting a thick poncho with circuitry designs lingered in the corner. She leant against a worn metal shop shutter as she activated her inbuilt network access. Her eyes glowed yellow and cyan, jittering rapidly as she traversed the network using only her thoughts. She took a prolonged drag of her electronic cigarette, exhaling long streams of vapour into the air above her.

Irintia gestured the message to close and tapped for the next one titled ‘Domain Update’ from Essil R Radvarin. ‘Morning Irintia, I am aware of your reluctant stance to the enrolment procedure I presented you with, however; I thought it best to keep you up to date in case you ever change your mind. May fortune favour you, Essil.’

The message was stamped with the Entho logo. An Entho credit bit half replaced as an industrial cog, showing their focused involvement with industrial business and development. Essil’s sender profile had a similar off coloured logo as its picture, a symbol of the Demi-Entho, the extended network of high rank employees. Important enough to represent the corporation but not enough to be included in core tables. The attachment itself was a short info vid from a local new feed titled ‘Ongoing Hostile Takeover of Suidine Tech’. Irintia flicked her fingers to motion the vid to play. It sprang open filling the terminal screen. Images of privately hired military soldiers baring the bladed ‘K’ emblem of Katari Logistics, flashed on the display whilst an anchors voice narrated the story.

“After Suidine Tech’s Chief Executive Officer, Lorenzo Suidine, announced earlier this period that the company had entered ‘definitive administration’, both Katari Logistics and Ruby Rise Ltd began attempts at a hostile takeover. Today Katari Logistics has announced its forceful acquisition of a hefty 57% of the Suidine’s central complex despite the short time period.”

The vid depicted scenes of the hired enforcers from Katari engaging with the opposing Ruby Rise Ltd troops and the remaining Suidine defensive forces. This was followed by scenes of captives being herded into armoured transports by the victorious Katari.

“Elevated CEO, Julhan Katari, has stated that all current Suidine employees will have a choice of continued employment under the new heads of business or receive immediate redundancy, with confirmed families being compensated one years’ salary.”

Irintia disgustedly swiped the windows closed, abruptly ending the video before the report could continue.

“Redundancy!” she scoffed. “Just another way of saying they gonna commit the lot to be processed and recycled. It’s just sickening.” She lightly backhanded the terminal display whilst stepping back and then placing her hands on her hips.

“I don’t get why he insists on forwarding me this scrap.”

Bakari stood up straight rectifying his slouched posture and replied. “Y’know he’s just looking out for ya.” he brushed his right hand through his stunted golden dreadlocks shortly before bringing the left up to clasp each other at the back of his head, casually stretching his chest. “He’s always tryin’ to get ya in Entho one way or another, you are kinda like his daughter.”

“That doesn’t even mean much, just an empty title. “she retorted whilst showing clear signs of frustration.

“C’mon Iri, biological or not the guy pays your way. Cut him a lil slack.”

At this point Irintia had started to dig the tip of her boots into a small puncture of the concrete plate beneath her. Sighing, she tilted her head back and stared towards a small sparkle of natural light, which peered back through a net of elevated concourses, roads and suspended walkways, all of which came together to create this dense urban web that blotted out the sky. This street in Centafts was far from the decayed depths that formed the cities dark, crime ridden foundations; it was also a great distance from the lavish high-rises exclusive to Novus Etá’s elite.

“Whatever.” she snipped bluntly “Let’s go, I wanna stop off at Tam’s before we hit Watskie’s. Need a change.”

She gestured to Bakari as she manoeuvred once again into the bustling masses of the cybernetically enhanced, genetically altered and ethically compromised that served as the makeup for the city’s vast populace.

***

Irintia and Bakari turned into a suspended bridge atop a towering mega structure connecting to the side of another. Over the netted barriers, a vast chasm could lay below. The sheer height caused for the spectacular view to fade through atmospheric density, blurring the various lights emanating from the streets beneath. Massive holographic displays and huge cloth banners hung from balconies advertising a variety of services and shops inside. Turning off the walkway and down a small panelled stairwell, they landed on a quaint rooftop terrace, restyled into a modern picturesque garden. A gazebo had been erected in the centre of scattered improvised flower beds, fed by a cleverly fitted domestic hydroponics system. The petals of these genetic hybrids reacted with strategically placed lights, turning them into a rainbow of bright neon flora. Beyond the gazebo was a line of small shop entrances where ‘Rooftop Garden Garments’, Tammy Cleerfeld’s independent clothing store stood front and centre.

The duo confidently strode through the light two-piece door into the cluttered and cramped retail space. Mannequins draped in unique and intricate attires littered the space. Various ensembles hung from the walls, shelves and even some of the tubed florescent light fittings.

“Aunty Tam! We’re back!” Irintia bellowed with an intensity clearly too loud for such a small space.

Tammy materialized from behind the chaotic counter through a doorway covered with material strips, which when static, pictured the known fashion icon Sylene. Tammy’s hair, though forced into a bun, was dishevelled with strands falling wildly in front of the face. Her makeup was heavy with deep eye shadow and false eye lashes, complimented by small tribal symbols painted over her cheek bones.

“Ah my china doll, I was just about to ping you darling.” Tammy’s voice reflected that of a woman with aged experience, and a lot of alcohol.

Her thick three-quarter red jacket was opened at the front, revealing a pencil dress beneath with a green transparent fabric affixed over the top and floating down to her stilettos. She stepped up to the counter and leant over towards Irintia, giving her a light kiss on each cheek.

“I’ve booked that show my darling; I’ll be needing you to finish those designs and patterns for me.” Tammy revealed an electronic cigarette stick from one of her hip pockets along with a small square dose cartridge. Inserting the dose into the side she tapped a small touch sensitive button to begin the heating process. “And darling I would love, absolutely love, to have some of your enchanting artworks to use for backdrops.” A slight bubble can be heard as she inhaled through the stick. After a brief second, she exhaled again pluming smoke out of the corner of her lips, as if a small courtesy to not blow it directly into Irintia’s face.

“Oh that’s great news Aunty Tam!” Irintia said with genuine excitement before shifting her smile into mischievous glee. “I’d be delighted to do all of that for you, provided of course, I can have the next two days off?”

“And what could an innocent, J.A.N.E fearing, china doll like you want two whole days for?” Tam sarcastically asked.

“I’ve got a not so innocent race tomorrow, followed by a truly debaucherous night out once I’ve won” Irintia’s face was brimming with brazen confidence.

“Oh darling, you know I hate it when you race. Can’t you just stick to your art instead?” The playfully disapproving tone Tammy used also conveyed sincere concern.

“I’ve got to race aunty; I’ve got to put these ‘boys’ in their place!”

“Well, who am I to deny a girl from living a little. J.A.N.E knows I did; you know at one point I was so flexible I could kiss my own arse.” The delivery was comically dry. She was no stranger to lowering the tone of a conversation. Her colloquial slants of J.A.N.E, ‘The Joint Assembly of Novus Etá’, highlighted her own rebellious nature.

“Thank you, Aunty!”-Irintia squeaked as she embraced Tammy in a hug- “I’m gonna get dolled up.” She cavorted excitedly towards the small set of stairs at the back of the shop holding Bakari in tow.

“Give her my love darling; I adore her new profile picture.” Tammy’s words followed the pair as they ascended the stairs towards Irintia’s apartment above.

***

Irintia swung the door open swiping her IPC over the embedded control panel. The room responded by coming alive. The whirl of small fans and micro generators began to hum as the strip lighting flickered on to reveal the miniature two room apartment that she called home. The walls were coated in an assortment of paintings, doodles and posters that formed a tapestry believed to outwardly present her personality. Adjacent the wall was a floor height single person cot, constructed a lightweight metal, furnished with thin, messily lain violet bed sheets and complete with a crumpled duvet. The cot frame was plugged directly into the main outlets and came with attached sockets of its own, acting as an extension for a multitude of electronic devices. The makeshift desk, supporting the now lit-up and alive personal computer backed onto the eroding wall. Three wall mounted monitors combined as the main display, with smaller info panels filling in the gaps. The thick wires and cables chaotically twisted weaved through rusted cavities. Keyed and touch sensitive peripherals angled away from the desktop, facing into a well-used desk chair. Dead centre stood a steel ladder, much like a set piece, made even more visible with yellow and black warning stripes leading up to the ceiling access. All of this was backed by a singular large glass pane facing out the back of the building. It was high up and presented an admirable view of a well-lit shopping lane. True to the nature of Novus Etá, even the glass itself was peppered with targeted holographic advertisements, distributed from the powered frame.

She collapsed into the chair whilst flicking the monitors into action. Bakari followed close behind, pushing clothes and clutter off the bed as he stretched himself into a comfortable sprawl. He proceeded to pull out his auto injector and hooked it into a bed socket using a spare adapter lying close by, whilst readying another Axo dose. He settled his head atop a mix of pillows and discarded clothes before scanning Irintia’s room. Her various clothing designs were draped over mannequin busts and other makeshift fixtures in a chaotic manner, indicative of her own chaotic nature. He rested his gaze on a new ensemble that had been recently worked on.

“Ah that’s new girl.” he said gesturing towards the mannequin which adorned it. “It looks like summing ‘Resonance’ would wear, y’know what I mean?”

“You still listen to those sell outs?” Irintia had tilted her head over the back of the chair to see what he was referring to.

“The music’s good girl. The only thing that matters. Not everyone’s about fighting the current like you.” he said as he glanced at the various posters of rebellious indie bands.

“You should be kinder to your ears. Here listen, drop that mainstream junk and try out some of this new age symphony.”

Keying in some quick combinations started up a tribal/electronic mix which was her current flavour of the week. “It’s called ‘Pioneer’. It hit the network just a few days ago. Proper tasteful y’know.”

Irintia rolled herself to her feet and manoeuvred around the clutter whilst ditching her current outfit. Stripped down to her underwear, she examined her body in the mirror panel. A slow inhale was followed by a sharp exhale forcing the belly to protrude, trailed by tensing and flexing of the abdomen.

“You think I should get myself Auged?” her question dripped with insecurity as she studied the reflection.

Bakari relaxed his head to one side to look over at her. “Girl you know I think you’re fine-tuned. Don’t need mods when you’re rocking a sleek chassis like that.” He examined the augmentations that allowed for his safe use of Axo. “Leave the Augs for us more deficient machines to rely on.” A small grin generated as he poked fun at himself.

She pursed her lips to one side and examined the mirror closely whilst altering poses. Shifting to a smile she relaxed her stance, blowing a kiss at the reflection. “Stay stunning” she said before prancing off to one side and rustling through a few piles of clothes.

With multiple outfits gathered she moved into the en-suite to prepare for the evening. Bakari had sat up to take another Axo dose whilst his head was nodding along to the music that filled the room. He was focused on getting the auto injector into precisely the right place on the Aug bio port.

“I’m feelin’ the vibes, who’s the artist?” His voice raised to compensate for the distance and the music combined.

“Ha, I knew you’d ride the vibe rail. I think they’re called, err, ‘Steel Jungle’.” The disembodied voice traversed from one small metal room to the other. “All their music is about roaming the dangers of the cities underbelly.”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll ride, I’ll explore ‘em later. Lovin’ the infused tribal tunes” with the dose finished, he put his injector back on charge and laid back to massage the muscle, dispensing of the compound evenly.

Just moments later Irintia emerged from the en-suite in an entirely new outfit. Black patterned leggings hugged the firm structure of her thighs. The apparent taut vest was a continuation of the leggings, a skin-tight under suit broken up by the fitted jean shorts clinging to her hips. A cropped, faux leather jacket complimented the look, finishing it off with just enough punk to fit her outward projection.

“What’s the verdict? D’ya think Rae will be utterly enamoured, or just a little aroused?” She asked flippantly whilst presenting herself through the doorway.

Bakari lowered his eyebrows before responding. “Honestly, I think she’s gonna salivate.”

“You’ve got a real way with words big guy.” She stated through a cheeky smile.

Gathering up essential items such as her personal digital assistant (PDA) and her Graff, she sat again on the chair lacing up her floral patterned, knee high boots.

“Y’know Rae is more interested in what’s wearing the clothes, she aint gonna shed a tear if you show up uncharged. She’ll still pounce on you faster than a Vulture stealing your Augs.”

“She isn’t a wild animal Bakari, well, at least out of the sheets she isn’t.” She said smiling at her own audacious response.

Irintia mounted the ladder and began to ascend, stopping just before the access hatch in the ceiling. With the use of the IPC, a single gesture shut down the room and unlocked the entrance simultaneously. She popped its seal and fastened it in a vertical position for a comfortable exit. Bakari had already moved to the mirror for a quick assessment of his hair and jacket. Satisfied with his state, he grabbed his gear followed closely behind.

Surrounding the building was a web of attractively lit shopping lanes, manic highways and monolithic structures. Transports weaved amid massive advertisements and the very skywalks that stitched the buildings together. Irintia stood still taking in the wonderful sights as Bakari shut the hatch behind them.

“Remember to push it tight. Make use of all that muscle.” she mocked. “Should be on for a good night.”