Renegade

Introduction

    Terallia used to be a beautiful place, but that was a long time ago. The castles of old have crumbled to dust. Valleys that used to be green, and filled with life are now dead. They were choked out by the inhabitants, who built towering empires across their lush fields.
    They used the land until it had nothing left to give, only to abandon their homes and move on. Humans are like parasites; taking everything they can and giving nothing back. Some tried to undo the errors of their ancestors, but the damage has been done, and nothing can change it.
    Buildings cover every part of the planet now. Thousands of trees have been cleared away from the faces of mountains, replaced with towering skyscrapers that have started crumbling from old age. The economy crashed a long time ago, and no one has been able to bring it back up. Not permanently, at least. Our world has been drained of all its resources, and there's no going back. We'll never know what life was like for our ancestors, living in a world filled with beauty, but we can Imagine.
    The world we live in is filled with criminals. Gangs rival each other to gain control of the empire humans created. Trash litters the streets and fills the oceans. Only a few clean bodies of water remain, and everyone relies on technology to get through their dreary lives. In Terallia, you have to fend for yourself. Survival is number one on everyone's minds. One slip up, one mistake, and you're done for. Watch your back, and never let anyone know your weaknesses.
    These are things that every Terallian child learns at a young age, before they venture off in the world, searching for something better. They don't usually find what they're looking for.

    Siren stopped reading to look out the window through the shredded remains of a curtain. Waiting. She had an undercut pixie, her hair dyed purple. She narrowed her eyes as she listened, her eyes a stormy gray. Where her ears should have been, there were metal implants with wires stretching across the back of her scalp.
    "Open up!" Someone shouted from the other side of the closed door.
    Siren smirked, stuffing a small device into her bag as she ripped aside the window curtain. The pounding continued as the intruders tried to break in. She took a deep breath, then stepped out onto the ledge, staring at the ground two stories below her. Grabbing the pipe to the right of the window, she started climbing down, moving her feet before adjusting her hands. She was halfway down when a crash came from the room above her.
    "Where did she go?" A gruff voice demanded.
    Siren slid down the rest of the pipe and looked up to see the furious face of a man staring down at her. She smiled, waved, then walked backwards as she pushed the button of the detonator in her hand. The bombs she had planted went off simultaneously, engulfing the building in hungry, devouring flames.
    "See you in the next life!" She shouted, lifting her robotic hand in a mock salute.
    She was answered by screams. The screams were answered by sirens. For a world bent on tearing itself apart, the civilians seemed determined to preserve as many buildings as possible. That, in itself, was absolutely hilarious.
    "You there, Jakal?" Siren asked, walking calmly down the road.
    "Affirmative. Congratulations on a successful mission, Siren."
    She winced, lifting a hand and tapping on her earbud to lower the volume.
    "Are your implants feeling sensitive?"
    "A bit," she replied. "Only after the explosion though."
    "I'll have to calibrate them when you get back. Have you had any issues with your arm?"
    Siren moved her right arm around, observing the metal as she tested it. "Nope," she said, flexing her fingers.
    "How about your legs?"
    "No problems. Everything is working perfectly, thanks to you."
    "Everything but your ears, you mean."
    Siren laughed, drawing attention from a small group of adults gossiping in the shade of a building, probably making guesses as to who the ruling gang of the week would be. Her hand fount its way to the locket around her neck, her face flushing a little as she walked past them.
    "You can ambush men almost twice your size, but you get uncomfortable when curious bystanders look at you?"
    "And you can plan detailed raids, but you get all flustered when anyone cute tries to talk to you," Siren fired back.
    "Touché."
    "How much longer do you think we'll be doing these runs?"
    "I don't know. However long the boss decides we need to."
    "Gee, that was helpful."
    "Har har. Listen, I gotta go. E's calling for me, and you know how she gets. I'll see you when you get back. Jakal out."
    Siren flexed her robotic fingers again, her mind restless. Without even thinking, she pulled out the device she had found and continued reading where she'd left off.

    No one can. Live a normal life anymore. It's a kill or be killed era and, try as we might, we can't escape it. No one is neutral, because neutrality doesn't exist for us. You either join a gang or get yourself killed.
    To whoever is reading this: you don't have 'friends'. If you think you do, think twice. Everyone just looks out for themselves, and if you've been lured into a false sense of security, tread lightly. The ones closest to you could end up being your downfall.

    Siren's steps slowed as she finished reading. She was disturbed for a moment, but then she laughed. What a load of crap, she thought. Someone had been given too much free time, and been too paranoid for their own good. She tossed the device into a trash bin on the corner before crossing the road. A couple of kids ran up to her when she reached the other side, their eyes wide.
    "Are you a robot?" The little boy asked.
    "Or are you a human?" The girl added.
    "Both," Siren replied, giving them a small smile.
    "So you're a cyborg?" They children said in unison.
    "Yes, I am," she said, her smile growing. She squatted down in front of them, holding out her robotic arm. "Would you like to touch it?"
    The boy immediately started tracing the designs etched into the metal, his eyes filled with wonder. The girl was a little more hesitant, but soon she was doing the same.
    "Can you feel it?" The girl asked.
    "No, not there," Siren answered. She rotated her hand so her palm was facing up, and used her normal hand to point to the sensors on the palm and fingertips. "But I can feel right here."
    The girl was gentle as she traced the sensors, giggling when the fingers twitched. The boy asked if he could touch her ears, and Siren obliged him by bending her head closer. She chuckled at the curiosity of children. As much as she hated getting attention, she preferred the open questions that children gave her compared to the adults that simply stared. They sat there for a couple minutes before a woman rushed up to them.
    "I'm so sorry that they're bothering you," she said, clearly flustered. Her graying hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her blue eyes filled with concern.
    "It's alright, ma'am," Siren said with a smile. "Are these your kids?"
    "Oh, no." The woman replied, her face relaxing. "They're my sister's kids. I was just going on a walk with them when they ran off. Again, I am so sorry that they bothered you."
    "It's no problem really," Siren said.
    The kids pulled away, reluctantly returning to their aunt's side.
    "Have you always been a cyborg?" The boy asked.
    "Nope," Siren replied, giving him a big smile. "I used to be a normal person, just like you."
    "What happened?" The girl asked.
    "Lilly," the woman scolded. "You don't ask people that."
    "It's okay," I assured her. "I was born deaf, so my parents paid for me to get my ears replaced with implants once I was old enough."
    "What about your legs and your arm?" The boy asked.
    "I lost those because I stopped listening to my parents," Siren whispered, chuckling as the children's eyes widened.
    "We'd better get you two back home to your father then," the woman said, smiling at me as she took the children by their hands. "I didn't catch your name."
    "It's Kai." Or at least it used to be, she added silently. "What's yours?"
    "Sarah," the woman replied with a smile. "It was lovely to meet you, Kai. Have a good day."
    "You too, ma'am." Siren waved to the kids as she walked away, taking a deep breath as she shifted her focus.
    She had to get home before the patrols started. No more distractions.