A glimmer of light reflecting from my television onto my coffee table pulsed into my eye as I sat on my couch, circling my glass of Pirate’s Eye XO. I felt jaded and needed a boost. The intoxicating aroma from my XO filled my nose with the sweet scent of fermented molasses made to tingle tongues, and I allowed it to.

I poured a shot down my throat, allowing my tongue to marinate in its dandy-like taste, then felt it and my throat burned at the same time. Sweet bliss. I grabbed the bottle, poured myself another shot, and took another quick whiff of it all before I began to wallow in my own self-pity.

On the television, another T20 Cricket match was playing, The Tridents were playing, of course. It was the only team I was remotely interested in watching…but today I could care less about who was winning.

Three days they told me. Three days was enough for my cloned flesh to assimilate to my right palm. They were right, my palm wasn't blotched in second-degree burns and was back to its original state. Well, the best that it could be. It was itchy as hell, but that’s part of the process so I made it work.

The rum helped with that. It made me feel good, resolute and most importantly renewed. But that was all but temporarily, especially knowing what had happened to Jix.

Jix had third-degree burns on his face, about 48% of it, according to one of Mr Black’s lackeys. That wasn’t the challenging part of his recovery though. The real challenge was, he’d lost his leg after the concrete slab had dropped on him…when he pushed me out of the way. It was my fault for that, not minding my surroundings…but mostly my arrogance for not ending Akatani immediately. I wanted to send the rat bastard a message for killing Shedrick. I wanted him to see his operation crumble before him.

…and I did…but in the end, Jix got hurt because of me. The thing which infuriated me the most was, I had blown off Jix a few weeks back…but when I needed his help, he came running without hesitation. You’re a bad friend, Cypher. I said to myself, and like a model friend, Jix told me not to blame myself

That made me feel even worse.

Despite all of this, Mr Black assured me that Jix would be fine. He just needed reconstructive surgery on his face, which was a quick fix. “We just need to revitalise his stem cells and apply a cloned version. In a month or three, he’ll be good as new. Itchy…but new,” Mr Black told me.

It didn’t relieve any of the anxiety I had built up, and rightfully so.

Jix’s leg had to be regrown, which would be a six-month process. Jix didn’t want a prosthetic, for religious reasons, of course. The man abhorred the superficial prosthetics which plagued the city.

“WHAT A SHOT!” Toni Skreig shouted on the television. A loud clunk followed, drawing my attention and I watched as the white cricket ball trailed to the fence. “SEALY TRIED TO STAMP HIS AUTHORITY WITH A BOUNCER, BUT GREAVES WAS ALL TOO READY FOR IT, BEAUTIFULLY PULLED THROUGH SQUARE LEG FOR FOUR!” Skrieg shouted, clearly excited. I would’ve been too…if I wasn’t so royally pissed.

“Such technique. He is a master blaster isn’t he, Toni?” David Stanton commented. “Look at that technique,” he added. “Look at the way he rolled his wrist over the ball, bringing it down and placing it between fine leg and square leg. Absolutely immaculate. Well played.”

“YES! At this rate, Greaves will soon be at 100, his third for the season.”

I changed the channel to something more constructive. I didn’t need to see the Tallawahs pulverise the Tridents. I came across BLED TV, the official propaganda station for the police department.

Commissioner Hexan walked across the screen in a white pinstripe pants suit, unusually casual, unlike the uniform I saw her in when I visited all those weeks back. It made my lips curl into a smile.

The commissioner spoke on police stats, how the crime wave was diminishing under her watch. The usual bullshit. Yet, she spoke nothing about the riots within the Industrial District, which meant…that was being swept under the rug.

After fifteen minutes of answering questions, regarding stats, she finally brought up Stepson Vizare, Lyiez System CEO. She spoke of his crimes, creating clones without a cloning license or Federation approval. She mentioned the man cloned two employees, by the names of Adrianna Smith, and Tarsid Vell. I guess that was the name of the John Doe. Interesting I thought, She further explained how Stepson bribed a Twin Food Inc. Scientist for DNA markers, a move his board was against. The board’s reluctance on this move earned themselves a mark for death from Stepson who had them assassinated. Right along with the Federation’s plans, I mused bitterly.

All of that ‘investigating’ for nought. I dreaded this, but at least I’d be paid for it…My name wasn’t mentioned of course, but I was ok with that. However, Lieutenant Elclain got the limelight, hell he was even on stage, shaking the commissioner's hand…the bastard.

I changed the channel, gulping down another mouthful of Pirate’s Eyes and felt bitter. Eclain gets a medal and I got a target on my back from a low-level criminal…perfect.

Incoming Call…

I accepted with excitement and dropped my best sober tone I could find. “Cypher.”

“Kaiden,” Shin-Lee said blissfully, like music to my ears. “You’ve been MIA for a while, longer than usual…what’s going on?”

“Made a few enemies…wanted to make sure I dealt with them before they went after you.”

“I see, I saw you spent three hundred thousand in Crypto…was it that bad?” Shin-Lee asked.

“…very.”

“Is it dealt with?”

“Sorta…”

“What does ‘sorta’ mean, Kaiden?” Shin-Lee huffed.

“We’ll discuss it…more, but I’ll be honest. I don’t like what went down. I think you should move back in with me.”

“That bad…?”

“No…just a precaution,” I lied.

“I know your ‘precautions’, Kaiden.”

“I know.”

Silence resonated between us, and the most important question I wanted to ask finally slipped from my lips, “Is Hannah awake?”

“She is.”

“Put her on.”

“HANNA YOUR FATHER’S ON THE PHONE!” Shin-Lee shouted. It didn’t take long for my little munchkin to sound off, making me feel like the most important man in the world.

“Daddy!” Hannah-Lee said, making goosebumps ripple all over my body.

“How are you, sweetheart?” I asked, feeling my lips curl as I asked.

“I’ve missed you so much, Daddy!”

“Me too, sweety!”

The innocence of her giggles when she said ‘daddy’, filled me with such joy and relief. I relished moments like these. We didn’t speak often, but it felt like time was never an issue between us.

“Have you been treating Mommy well?”

“Of course! She even bought me a new teddy bear for all the hugs I gave her.”

“That’s my girl…” I said, smiling from ear to ear.

Mr Black had flashed a picture of my wife and daughter to me, not once, but twice. He never threatened, but he showed me, he knew of their existence, which bothered me the most. Shin-Lee nor Hannah-Lee didn’t live with me, physically. It was decided it was for the best, especially because of the type of work I engaged in, but mostly from my past.

I thought all was well, till Mr Black flashed their pictures in front of me. It made me reevaluate if Akatani could find them. In truth, that’s what I feared, so I surmised that having them living with me might be for the best. It wasn’t a risk I’d usually take.

I couldn’t trust Mr Black and I hadn’t agreed to anything he’d offered. He might’ve offered up my family to Akatani to get some sick revenge on me, so instead it might’ve been best to keep them close. It might not have been the smartest idea, but it was surely the safest. I hope.

“Daddy…what are you doing?” Hannah-Lee asked me.

“Just thinking about when I’ll see you.

“Oh…when will that be?”

“Soon, sweety…soon.”

“Really?!

“Yup…I’m fixing up the apartment as we speak”

“Daddy, I Love You!”

“Aww, sweety…I love you too.” I told my little girl, smiling from ear to ear, feeling like the world was truly mine. “I love you too.”

The End of Artificial Death

Book 1 of The Encrypted Data of Kaiden Cypher