I crawl over to my revolver, haul myself to my feet, and move to the edge. With weapon at the ready I lean over the railing. Goëtia is nowhere to be seen. After several long seconds I spot a trail of puncture marks that lead up and wall and out of sight.

Gustav has also gotten up, he appears to be uninjured. The both of us make our way over to Gorman and Sylvia, Ashley joins us. The two of them are lying on the floor. There are slashes cut into Sylvia’s jumpsuit. The skin underneath is badly scratched, but it is nothing life threatening. Gorman is another story.

Jagged pieces of metal shrapnel are stuck into his arm, probably from when he put it defensively in front of his face. Gustav starts trying to remove one of the hunks of deck plating, Ashley interjects, “Don’t! The bleeding will get worse if you take them out.”

Gorman looks at Gustav appreciatively, “She’s right. Its not that big a deal. I can get patched up when we get out of here.”

Gustav reverently helps him to his feet while Ashley gives Sylvia’s wounds a once over. She is dressed in typical Kawaiichen garb, a blue and white Japanese schoolgirl uniform with a few modifications here and there.

Ashley completes the task, then she states the obvious, “You are probably wondering why I am here.”

I head off anyone’s questions, “This is my Friend Ashley. And yes, I am wondering why she is here.”

“I was sent to protect you. Mr. Burke told me that I should keep you safe.”

“Why would they send a government administrator to act as a bodyguard?”

“Because I’m not a government administrator. I am a spy.”

“You are a spy? That doesn’t make any sense,” I say incredulously.

“Sure it does. No one would ever suspect that someone like me would be a threat.”

A thousand things crash through my mind. I turn away, looking to make sure that no one is sneaking up on us. She lied to me. This whole time she has been lying to me. How could this have happened? What else is she keeping from me?

She walks over to me, scanning the ledge for that fiend, “I saw potential in you when we first met. I was the one that recommended you to Mr. Burke.”

I had always wondered why they had picked a random street punk. All I knew was that Mr. Burke came to visit me in the hospital after my gang picked on the wrong guy. I was presented with one of those choices that isn’t really a choice. I could either agree to become a Skinwalker, have unlimited freedom and money-making potential, or I could face a lengthy prison sentence.

“One of my duties is to help keep an eye on you,” she explains, “The initial plan was for us to be fuck buddies, but then we fell in love.”

“You are in love with a Kawaiichen!” Sylvia declares, I turn to look at her, seeing a sour expression.

“What is wrong with being a Kawaiichen?” Ashley asks indignantly. The group starts moving forward, walking past her. Ashley keeps standing there indignantly. Then she stamps her foot on the floor plates and shouts the word “Bimbo!” in a pouty voice, before following us.

We reach a hatch and open it, revealing a lane of sky traffic and the buildings that are behind it. A staircase leads up to a walkway.

Gorman lays out a plan, “John, you and Gustav go get the biomatter, you know where to meet us. Sylvia, my precious, you will escort me there.”

I politely object, “Gustav can take it to you. I have to go take care of something.”

“Of course, do whatever you need to do.”

With that the group splits up. The biomatter factory isn’t that far away, we can walk there in about twenty minutes. The walkways are still crowded. I am thankful, we can blend in, avoid attacks by anyone who wants to keep a low profile. As we walk my mind wanders.

Ashley was never what she seemed. It was all a lie, everything was a lie. She acted like she was an old woman playing at being young again, like that was her biggest secret. She pretended to be cute and innocent, but she is really a trained killer. For all I know she is a war vet or an experienced assassin. She is concealing some kind of weapon in her right arm, she probably has something in the other one too. Those arms that had been around me all of those times are just as fake as she is.

I finally break, “Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask in disgust.

“It was a secret.”

“So? You talk about love, but you keep something like that from me?”

She rolls her eyes, “Whatever.”

“Makes me wonder what else you are keeping from me. How much do you know about Jill?”

“I don’t know anything. The only thing that I have is a question of my own. Why would Mr. Burke send you to do this when he could send a proper detective or an intel asset?”

“Because, I’m not linked to the state. Whatever is going on, the government doesn’t want to get directly involved.”

“Makes sense. But this still leaves the question of what is going on.”

“I’ll know when I find her.”

“When we find her.”

“I’m not sure that I want you tagging along.”

“Too bad,” she says in a spirited voice, “You’re stuck with me.”

“Sorry, until a few minutes ago I thought that you were just a lonely bureaucrat with a Peter Pan complex. Turns out you’re some kind of killer.”

“Hey, I’m not lonely! I have tons of friends.”

“I guess you’re not really a bureaucrat, either,” I change the subject before she can make a comment about not having a Peter Pan complex, “Why would you dress like that when you knew that you were going to be getting into a fight?”

“Because, if you can’t die in glorious battle while looking stylish, then what’s the point?”

She looks over at the hulking man in the duster, switches to her IC, “Who is this guy? And who the hell were those other people?” the words appear in my head, as if she was projecting thoughts into my mind.

I use my own IC to wordlessly answer her, “It’s a long story. If you don’t know who they are, how did you know where to find me.”

Her response is unintentionally ominous, “The companies might not be able to accurately track you, but we can. I took the back way when I saw that those troopers were laying siege to the place.”

Horrific notices start rolling in, I am rapidly losing access to Echo and Délta’s services. The termination messages cite a refusal to cooperate with enforcement officials conducting an investigation. They fail to mention that those enforcement officials were trying to kill us.

I have just lost two more companies. Now I only have Burabō Inc and Alpha Prime, and they are both teetering on the edge. How am I supposed to make a living now? Trading between the members of two companies, how many opportunities can there really be? Now I will have to strongly consider Alpha’s offer.

We enter the facility.

Biomatter is made by growing plants that contain the proper nutrients and combining them into a slurry. The main production floor is a massive grid of hanging gardens.

The crops are planted, tended, and harvested by drones. These drones operate according to a schedule and have no reason to deviate from it. Nevertheless, the robots are still monitored, day and night, by a crew of humans.

We find the guy that I know in an out of the way office. Berry is sitting in a chair, his feet up on a desk, fast asleep.

I slam the bottom of my fist into the wall, he bolts awake, “Oh shit! Oh, oh, it’s you.”

“Ya, its me. Listen, I need some of the stuff, all of it that you can give me.”

“Oh crap. It is a good thing that you woke me up! I almost missed our game.”

“Our game?”

“Ya, I play an RPG with some of the guys.”

“That is great, I’m glad that you have found a way to help pass the time. But I really need the stuff and I am in a hurry.”

“Okay, okay, we will head over to the storage room,” he looks over at Ashley and then back at me, “You getting a new body, John? You gonna become a Kawaiichen?”

“No, Berry, I’m not going to get a sex change. It is for a friend.”

Ashley is giggling, the sound reminds me of better times. Berry stands up, notices Gustav lurking near the doorway, “Oh, dang. Okay, follow me.”

Berry leads us to the storage room; the trip is just as awkward as one would think. Even in refrigerated containers the organic sludge still has a short shelf life. The facility has a high turnover rate, a somewhat unpredictable production level, and a lack of oversight. This means that walking out the door with a container of biomatter isn’t that big a deal. This will be considerably more than a container. By the time we are done, Gustav is hauling two barrels on a dolly and a backpack full of small bottles, he even has a smaller container tucked under an arm.

The big guy in the duster starts toward the door. He stops and turns, looking at me with sad eyes, “I liked working with you. See you later,” then he walks out the door with his burden.

I thank Berry, promising to pay him later. It is a promise that I am fully aware I probably won’t be able to keep. Me and Ashley head to the nearest train. Its time, if Mason is there, we will confront him.

A message comes in from Burabō Inc, it is a notice that they will no longer be offering me their services. This is followed by the company’s networks and systems blinking out one by one. At least they were kind enough to send me the notice first, for what little that is worth. I only have one left, just like everybody else. Its official, I am no longer a Skinwalker.

I send Alpha a message, telling them that I will get them what they want.

The train ride to Zachariah street is long, tense. Ashley is bobbing her head up and down, rocking out to music delivered via her IC. As she enjoys the music that only she can hear, I nervously check the news and the only message boards that I can still access.

We get off the train at the closest station; from there it is a short walk to the target building. The area is just as neglected as you would think. It is also free of advertisements, which feels like a blessing. Alpha hasn’t programed in any augmented reality features into the area, I’m sure that the other companies are the same.

There are two different kinds of Untouchables. There are the kind that got blacklisted for hurting children, and then there are the ones that got blacklisted for everything else. The later does not associate with the former, who are made to live in separate areas. Thank God this isn’t one of those places.

We take our time scoping the place out before entering the alley. Most of the people are Untouchables, you can tell by the fact that their clothes aren’t name brand. But as I carefully scan the pedestrians, I get the strange feeling that I am missing something else, some other attribute that distinguishes them.

There it is, the trash covered alleyway, just like in the VR world. I move the boxes out of the way, sure enough, there is a hole in the wall. I stoop down and walk through it, followed closely by Ashley.