Chapter Twenty Two Marek

Marek jolts awake when his eyes open to the sight of Alexis lying next to him. For a moment, he’d thought that he had the best dream of his life, but it was no dream. Neither of them had gotten all that blasted last night, but he still feels like he got run over by a truck. It was the best damn night of his entire life, and that’s what he thought the last time they had sex.

After lying still for a little while longer, trying to not wake her, he realizes he’s all sweaty again. She has worked her back up against him to stay warm, and now he’s baking hot. He can feel her body pouring heat off it like an old steam radiator. When she wakes, she rolls over to wrap up on him even more, and runs her hand down the inside length of his thigh. He’s still not used to it, and it kind of makes him squirm a little. It’s a little bit of a ticklish spot for him when she’s gentle about it.

She looks up at him with love eyes and snickers. “We’hell, somebody’s awake.”

As they lay in bed for a while longer, she lays over top of him while he rubs her back. Looking down at her, he grins and shakes his head. “Can you believe the shit that came out of Gabriel’s mouth last night? Just crazy!”

Her muscled back flexes, and she groans when he pushes down in one of her trigger points. “I don’t believe how such a helpless man could’ve orchestrated so much destruction, and so easily.”

“Shit, I thought he I had him on the verge of pissing his pants, and he was playing me the whole time!”

“What a mess huh?”

“You know, I’d go through it all over and over again, every week, so long as I got to fall in love with you again every time.”

She presses her face against his chest and hugs him tight. “It wasn’t all that bad. Some of it was fun.”

He knows what she means. She had quite the tales of kicking ass last night too. He couldn’t believe it when Aaron told everyone what she was in the middle of the first time he came across her. Apparently, she had a guy lifted over her head and was throwing him at another guy. Arma told everyone that if it has been Alexis’s ass that Reese slapped, it would’ve been worse than what she did to him. They would’ve found his corpse in a burnt down dumpster outside, probably missing his eyes.

While he continues to rub her back, he takes note of how much nicer her apartment is than his. He hasn’t done anything more to his than merely make it habitable. Here, she has a cute full sized bed, a couch, and even a coffee table to go with it. Her bathroom is all decked out too. Clarice has been showing her how to treat herself. He really needs to put some work into his place.

Since they both have the day off, and Sy approved them going off base, he wants for them to go out on another date, somewhere fantastic. Going to the arena was nice, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant either. The two of them have been homeless all of their lives, and they could use a change of scenery. Living in an underground bunker hasn’t exactly been wonderful.

Even though they’ve lived in Welan City their whole lives, neither of them have ever gotten to see the beautiful metropolis like normal people get to. They tried, back when they were teenagers. All of the homeless kids do at some point, but it’s very difficult to not be noticed. They can try to dress as normal as possible, but somehow, they still stick out like a nail, waiting to be hammered down on. People like the two of them aren’t allowed to be seen where it’s nice. With all the money he has now, he wants to spoil the crap out of her. Even if it is a little out of spite.

They start with getting dressed up nice, like they did last time, so they can hit up the real nice places. This time though, she chooses to not go in a dress. If they’re going to be trotting around on her runner all day, she’ll need to wear something suitable for it. He’s still mostly going to use Aaron’s old clothes, since he is too big for them now. He hasn’t exactly had the opportunity to go out and get his own yet. That’ll change today.

He puts on the same new pair of grey jeans he wore to the robot fight, and the nice leather derby boots too. To fit the part of their riding around on a highly modded runner, he wears a simple white t-shirt under a heavy maroon leather riding jacket. He leaves it unzipped in the front to look cool.

Alexis settles on a pair of ass-high white denim shorts, and a red tank top to match Monster with. She puts on the fancy pointy toed leather ankle boots that Clarice gave her as well. They look great and are still ok to ride around in. Together, they look like a typical hot young Welan City couple out on the town. He takes advantage of every moment she can’t see him overtly staring at her. It’d be awkward if she ever knew how much he does it. It makes his heart pound anytime she’s around him. Her porcelain skin hides its scars well, but they’re just so damn hot in bed. And then her long perfectly straight platinum hair, it’s terribly intriguing.

Since he sat in the back last time, she lets him ride up front and learn how to pilot the runner for the day. They’ll be going slow in downtown traffic anyway, and it’ll be good practice for him. He’s been wanting to get one like hers and Aaron’s too, but he hasn’t been able to find one yet. It’s like they’ve all flat-out disappeared.

After going up to main the main hanger and uncovering Monster, they walk it outside and look it over. They wipe it down and make sure it is looking real sharp. The thing boasts the same dominant allure as an exotic sports car. He remembers hearing how useless this model was, when it came out, but with the same modifications as Aaron did to his, it’s likely unmatched by any other runner ever made.

Most of the way to downtown, Alexis keeps her arms wrapped around him, and presses the side of her face across the back of his shoulder. They talk about how they see their lives getting better by the day. The two of them had grown up in the same way, and with the same pitifully small dreams. Now that they’ve made it to where they are now, they’re more than happy to kill for SSS to keep it that way. If that’s what it takes.

The first thing they do, is stop by the specific local bank that Sy told them to, since neither of them even have a legal identity. He already made arrangements with the bank to issue them accounts with nothing but their mere names and employee numbers. They’ll be shell accounts of some sort. It sounds shady, cause it is.

The outside of the place is incredible. Neither of them have ever been anywhere like it. Everything inside and out is marble and stone of one kind or another. The place is so big, their mere footsteps echo. They pretty much freeze in worried shock when a gentleman in a suit asks them for their names when they look like they’re lost. Instead of kicking them out, like they were expecting, he courteously escorts them right on over to a beautiful young woman in a green dress at a huge separated desk aside from everything else. The thing is nicer than what Sy has in his office, all lined with gold trim and whatnot. Apparently, she’s been expecting them and already has all their paperwork ready.

Even though Alexis is getting her own account, he has two cards made for his, one of them with her name on it. He smirks when the black steel SSS cards show only their first names on them. They really do get away with whatever they want. While he and Alexis wait patiently, sipping on the tea they were brought, Clarice wires their money over. Just like that, there’s eighty thousand dollars in his account, to do whatever he wants with.

As they are getting up, the lady setting up their accounts hands them their packets and folds her hands together on top of the desk. “Congratulations on your win Marek.”

He looks back down at her a little confused, but then he notices the intricate bracelet running down her forearm and wrapping around her wrist. He couldn’t see it while she was typing before. She gives him her hand, for him to look at it. It’s a solid polished silver centipede. He tugs at Alexis. “Oh wow babe, would you look at that.”

It turns out that she is quite a fan of the robot fights. She had immediately recognized the two of them from the last night at the arena. While beaming at them, she shows Alexis the bracelet too. It’s even made of links, and flexes a little when she turns her wrist.

“I won two thousand the first night you brought your machine out, and six the second. People say you’re lucky Marek.”

He looks at Alexis. “It seems to be that way.”

She places her hand on top of the woman’s. “Hey, if you’re there the next time we come out, would you join us? Don’t let any of the grunts turn you away either. Just give them my name.”

“You know what, I will.”

As they leave, the still can’t help but to look all around themselves at the place. It doesn’t really sink in how much money he really has until they’re walking back down the steps to the street. Neither of them are anywhere near foolish enough to go out and thrill spend, like most people that suddenly come into a lot of money do. It’s permanently in their blood to stash their wealth like chipmunks before a long winter. They’re simply out to go sight-seeing, maybe do a little shopping, and have a nice day date together. Overdoing it was never in the plans.

When they get to the center of the city on Monster, they find that the metropolis is far more intense than they were anticipating. Neither of them have been inundated by anything like it before. They don’t exactly have licenses or even any real driving experience. There isn’t a single inch of the city that isn’t moving, and it’s almost overwhelming them. Every time they try to find somewhere to stop and orient themselves, someone bitches at them for blocking the way.

There are droves of people and machines walking about as if they all know how to flow together as a river. They feel like they would be ground down and killed if they merely attempted to walk amongst them all. If they weren’t safe up on top of Monster, they’d probably be suffocated.

Almost a third of the populous surrounding them appears to be robots of one type or another. The machines are standing outside shops, carrying things for people, and seamlessly moving along all on their own with everyone else. A lot of them look kind of like people, while others look like nothing they’ve ever seen. There’s quite a ruckus abut the place, with all the people and machines moving down the streets and sidewalks without ever stopping.

They try to not pay so much attention to all of the law enforcement officers around, and act like it’s nothing, but there are so many. Sy told him to hand over an SSS business card if anyone gives them a hard time. They’re all supposed to be heroes to Welan City, but it sounds like a little bit of a stretch. He hope it’s worth at least something.

What he and Alexis don’t like, is that the only other people on runners are cops. They’re on the dorky two legged models, but it allows them to see over the crowds of people. The only ones at eye level with them are him and Alexis, and they’ve been noticed.

What he doesn’t know, is if they’re allowed to be walking a runner down the sidewalk or not. There’s all kinds of other machines on the sidewalk anyway, so they figured it would be ok. Besides, it’s the only place they can move along at their own pace. Monster does a good job of going with the flow of the crown and hasn’t bumped into, or stepped on anyone yet. People have been startled by it’s tail a couple times, but that’s all.

The city is incredibly compact, with buildings so tall, they can’t see the sky anywhere but straight up. In some places, they can’t see the sky at all. There are roadways above them, connecting all of the buildings together, making an entire second street level sixty feet up. The only way the light gets into the dark places, is by reflecting down from the sides of the buildings. The world of steel and glass around them makes the city look even bigger, compounding reflections in every direction. As disoriented and overwhelmed as they are, they still want to push into the deeper depths of the city, go for broke, and see it all.

When an officer starts showing curiosity, and following them from a distance, they find one of the large spiral ramps to the second level and disappear onto the streets up above. By the time they make it to the first arch pass going through a building, two more officers on Runner’s emerge from within the structure’s pullout area and confront them.

“Come on you guys. You can’t have that thing up here. You know the rules. Automated transportation only. Can’t have anyone flying over the edge on one of those things and ruining it for everyone else.”

He’s incredulous at how calm and personable the officers are with the two of them. It’s not what he was expecting at all. If they still look like rats, they would’ve been surrounded at gunpoint and tackled. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know, this is my first day on one really. We’re kind of out exploring, for fun.”

Alexis is quite surprised by the officers as well. She was getting ready to start slinging SSS cards all over the place, but then she suddenly realizes something. “Oh, no, it’s fine, we’ve got automation. I kinda spaced it there for a second.” She reaches down and pats Monster on the shoulder. “Monster, take us to First and Main, this level please.” Both of them hold their hands up away from the controls while Monster responds and lifts its head up to the officers who are blocking it. “Yes Alexis, I can take you there.”

The officers looks dumbfounded, and assume it’s a new feature they haven’t seen before. There’s no such thing as a Runner that can pilot itself, not in stock forma at least. Luckily for them, the officers don’t come to the realization that their machine has had heavy illegal modifications done to it. As soon as they move aside to let them pass, Monster steps on forward and takes them down the road all on its own. They hear the two behind them talking about it.

“Their runner could talk to them. I didn’t know they were putting AI in these things yet. That couldn’t have been cheap.”

“Well, it didn’t look cheap.”

Clarice was kind enough to set the two of them up with a place to go for lunch. When Alexis told her that they planned on going out on a date in the city, she immediately started pouring out ideas on things for them to do. She insisted on them at least going to the Conifer restaurant. For some reason, she used Mikel’s name when she made the reservation for them. The place is supposed to be the best steakhouse in all of Welan, and apparently, they only source their cuts from the community farm Mikel and Ray’s families have run for years.

When Monster takes them to the restaurant, and stops out front of it, they find the second level street valet area as astonishing as the bank. Everything is all brass rails, black stone, and green carpet. There are a couple high end luxury cars and exotics parked out front in the few spaces available, making the place look very exclusive.

They notice that all the cars that pull, up are taken around to another structure by the attendants, but not the most expensive ones, they get parked right out front. When they walk up on their machine, the attendant looks at Monster with approval and ushers them over to take the last spot with the nice cars. The grin on Alexis’s face is truly the biggest he’s ever seen in his life. She is so proud of herself. They can’t help but laugh between themselves when they notice one of the other car’s owners gawking at it as they leave. If only anyone knew she only spent about two months of her salary on it.

While being ushered in by a man in a suit, they were starting to get worried about being underdressed. It’s only the lunch crowd, and Clarice said they’d be fine. When they notice one of the men they came in with, pulling his driving gloves off at his table, they relax a little. They’re not the only ones out simply sporting around. The man notices them, smiles, and gives them an approving nod, but nothing more. As they look around, no one is really as dressy as they were expecting.

They do their best to not talk much while the staff is around them. They don’t want anyone to pick up on their street accents and ruin the vibe. Since they’ve been at SSS, they’ve been working on losing it. Country folk that sound like Mikel are one thing, but rats are another. No matter how much they pretend to act normal, the two of them can’t stop grinning while they’re being given the full treatment.

When their food arrives, it is not at all what they were expecting. Clarice told them what to get stakes, obviously, but they’ve never actually had one before. The largest portions of meat they’ve ever seen were from stray animals, or maybe a hamburger patty. The Porterhouse is the most expensive one on the menu, and the description claims it to be all-that, so they both decide to go for it.

The server raises his eyebrows at them, but then immediately loses the surprised look on his face. “Excellent choices. I will have them right out for you.”

Being attended to by their server like this has them a bit uncomfortable but the man seems very cordial and not pushy in any way. It takes a little while for them to even get to start talking with one another. They’re self-conscious about doing it while anyone is near them. Keeping their voices at the right level, without whispering, or sounding too boisterous, is what they’re most worried about. They’re supposed to be SSS guards, and yet, what terrifies them, is sitting in a fancy restaurant.

When their food arrives, the solid slabs on their plates are bigger than their hands are, and then there’s their sides. It’s not a mere lunch, but a week’s worth of food. They can see why the man was a little surprised. It’s going to be tough for them to finish all the food, but it’s happening one way or another. They wouldn’t dare leave any of it behind on their plates. It’d be such an offense if they did.

With everything set out in front of them, he looks across it all at Alexis, hoping she might start first. He wishes Clarice had coached them a little more on what they were supposed to do. She has the same look on her as he does, so he simply sticks his fork in the meat and cuts a chunk off it. It’s crazy to see the texture of the thing. It really is a solid piece of meat, no funny business. She waits till he puts his first bite in his mouth and watches his reaction. His eyes partly close, but then open again at the taste of it.

“Holy crap!” Both of them quickly look around, and laugh. Luckily no one heard him.

The extravagance of the experience and everything has them talking and smiling at one another for well over an hour. It takes a while, but they can’t stop eating, and they do end up finishing all of their food. Getting up from their seats and staggering to the door, as full as they are, is another thing entirely. The last time he felt this full, was when he was a boy and made the mistake of hastily eating a couple handfuls of dried rice.

After lunch, the sun is no longer straight overhead, and parts of the city start to darken pretty quickly. The yellow reflection of the sunlight, and holographic displays everywhere is a wild experience. It’s like being in the arena on a big night, but even more vibrant. Though, as rats, they grew up living their lives in the late hours of the night, it was always done quietly, and solitarily. Dealing with the bustle of the city at night like this has them on edge. Normally, a person would need to be aware of absolutely everything around them, but here, it’s impossible.

He really did want to go and see the old War mechs out front of the precinct, up close, but they’ll have to do it another time. The mechanized night shift police force is simply too much. That kind of thing is not something they can so easily shirk off simply because they have new lives now. It’s been engrained in them too deeply, and for too long.

Not having ever dealt with such slow and dense traffic before, they eventually grow tired of waiting their turn amongst all the other vehicles. They’re tired, and they just want to get home. As fantastic as the metropolis has been, they’re pretty much over it for now. After watching bicycles and motorcycles squeezing between traffic fairly often, they decide to try it themselves. Monster is a little wide for it, but has proven itself to be quite careful so far.

It doesn’t take long before other drivers start to get pissed off about their walking between them to the front of the light every time it turns red. Some even try to race in front of them to get back at them, but it only makes it a lot more fun for them. Monster basically has four wheel drive, and is able to outsprint anyone that tries to make them work for it.

Inevitably, as he moves Monster to the front of the line again, a disgruntled businessman in a nice convertible sedan opens his door to block them from moving past him. He berates them and then calls Alexi a whore, which he definitely shouldn’t have done. Since the two of them have been in such good moods all day, they refrain from assaulting the man in the fashion they normally would, and try to ignore him. How long the light stays red doesn’t help though.

What finally sends him over the edge is when the guy keeps going on and on, eventually calling Alexis a tranny to top things off. He shakes his head at the man figuring enough is enough.

“Alexis, hold on for a second.”

She’s almost ok with him throttling the guy, but she’s sure the light is going to change any second now. “C’mon, lets just go.”

“Monster, tear the door off this man’s car so we can move forward please. And then tear his arms off if he tries to touch us.”

The second Monster’s big clawed paw is placed on the top edge of the man’s car door, the guy leaps back into his car, screaming. Monster bears its strength and weight down on the door, breaking it right off at the hinges. It has to shake the door off of its embedded claws to get it unstuck, flinging the door underneath the car.

Alexis screams at the man as they walk past. “Say one more fucking word you bastard! I dare you! I WILL fucking kill you!” Her face has gone red, and he hasn’t heard any emotion in her voice like this, ever.

The man pitifully trembles in his car while everyone around them watches in amusement. Luckily, after they leave, his shouts for a police officer go completely unanswered. Numerous other angry drivers are drowning him out by blaring their horns and shouting at him for blocking them. As monster gallops down the street, they turn back and watch the man’s car lurch as he’s forced to run over his own door and leave it behind.

Alexis still has a lot of emotion pent up when they get outside the city center. He stops Monster and lets her take over the controls up front, to make her feel better. As soon as they get onto some open road, she starts pushing some serious speed. By the time they start getting close to home base, they’re moving some serious ass together. He’s tired as hell, but the adrenaline, and having to hold on for dear life, is keeping him plenty alert. As soon as they get to the hanger, they quickly cover Monster back up and crawl back to her apartment to pass out.

While they curl back up in her bed together, they hunt around on their phones for another runner. He absolutely has to have one for himself now. With all the money he’s saved up now, he figures he should be able to find one of the same models, and a damn nice one, no matter what it costs.