One Last Evolution

Chapter Two (Riley)

   I look around the bustling market of Cybio Cell 17. It's not that different from Cell 13. Same Unevolved slaves running Cybio shops and stalls. Same Cybio patrons idly rummaging through the offered wares. I spot what I'm pretty sure is a group of Unevolved gang kids mingling with the crowds. Their disguises are good, but I've had enough experience creating similar ones to know them when I see them.

  My suspicions are confirmed when I see the youngest of the three slip a casual hand out of her pocket, snag a pocketknife off a table, and tuck it into her boot while pretending to tie the lace. She's good. No one has a clue.

  The other two turn from where they're admiring a stall full of beaten yrradium vessels, and the group moves on.

I'm about to do the same, when something catches my eye.

  The oldest of the three girls brushes a strand of hair away from her face impatiently, turning her face my way to tuck it behind her shoulder.

  I know her. Her name's Maren, and she was in a clan with me before my parents applied for patronage and took me off the streets.

  I haven't seen her in almost four years. A little after I'd left, the Cybio had cracked down hard on the gangs and most of the illegal Unevolved had fled the cell. She could've been dead for all I knew.

   I step carefully behind an awning, and wait til they've turned away. Then I follow them off towards Sector 3. They move quickly, making brief stops at stores, and I pause after they've left one to check for a mark. There's an outline of a fox head scratched into the underside of a windowsill.

I look up to see that I've lost sight of them.

   I speed up, glancing down alleyways as I go, and catch a glimpse of the youngest one turning a corner down an alley. I'm hurrying after her when all of a sudden I'm on my back with the breath knocked clean out of my lungs.

"Who are you?"

   A girl is leaning over me. It's not Maren, but the other older one. Her hair is short, with tiny braids woven in, and she's looking fiercely down at me along the point of a knife.

"You got him! Great job, Ci!" the youngest one cheers, appearing in my line of sight.

"Hush, Teagan," Maren leans over me as well, then stops short.

"Match," she breaths. "Riley?"

"Mare," I say.

"You know him?" the youngest -- Teagan -- asks.

"I used to." She looks me over carefully.

"I thought your parents made a deal."

"They did."

"So what happened?"

"Boss man found out somehow that I'd been part of a clan. I had to leave."

She nods. "And you're following us why?"

"We were in a clan together, Mare. We were family. Did you want me to pretend I didn't see you?"

   Her eyes are cautious as she studies my face. She's changed since I knew her. She used to be gentle, and almost timid, but the set of her jaw says she's had to outgrow that. The openness is gone from her face, and it's hard to tell what she's thinking.

"The Kites disbanded, Riley. We're under no obligation to each other anymore."

"You didn't stay together after you left Cell 13?"

"Katan, Matthew, Jean-Paul and I were the only ones who made it out of 13."

"What?"

   I'd known better than to hope I'd be able to rejoin the Kites as if nothing had happened. I had expected to have a hard time convincing them to trust me. I'd expected to have to prove my loyalty. I'd expected them to be alive.

   Maren watches me, and seems satisfied with my genuine shock. She nods to the girl with the knife, and she steps back and lets me sit up, then heads to the end of the alley to keep watch. Teagan goes to the other end.

I brush grit off of my arms. "Why didn't you stay with Jean-Paul and the others?"

"They didn't want me to," she replies, her voice even.

"They left you on your own? Their clan sister?"

Her expression remains carefully blank. "Yes."

"So you joined a new clan."

"I started a new clan."

I nod.

"I heard that Edmond's Stoats are looking for members," she says, turning to go.

"What?"

She turns back around. "Edmond's Stoats. They're somewhere on the outskirts of Sector --"

"No, that's not what I meant. Are you -- you're just going to walk away?"

"What did you want me to do?"

"I don't know, be happy to see me? Glad I'm alive?"

She looks down. "I am glad you're all right, Riley. Really. But I don't -- I can't --"

I see the mask slip a little for the first time as she struggles to find words.

"I started my clan by taking in younger girls who wouldn't have much chance with another gang. Teagan and Ciana are old enough to take care of themselves now if they had to, but there's three more back in our place who depend on me. They need me; I'm the only thing keeping them safe. I can't be connected or obligated to anyone other than them."

"I'll join your clan, help you protect them."

   She shakes her head. "The building we're living in is controlled by another clan. We have a room, where we can sleep safe at night and leave our things during the day, but the clan who owns the place has made it female only. For everyone's safety."

"Then just tell me what sectors you hit on what days and I'll help you. I haven't lost any of my old talents. Promise."

She frowns, undecided.

Teagan comes running down the alley. "There's a patrol coming, Mare. And the streetlights are turning on."

   Mare nods, and gives a soft whistle between her teeth. Ciana glances back and nods to signal that it's clear on her end.

Before I can say anything else, all three girls sprint out of the alleyway and disappear.