Black Eyes

Chapter 4

Nakir had no idea what time it was. As soon as he woke up he felt a sense of helplessness that he had never felt before. He was lost, not even his mother would want him, even if he managed to escape from Zraegan. He stood up and his left leg hurt from the position he fell asleep in. Anyway he continued to wander the filthy alleys and streets of Zraegan until he himself was soaked in rain and probably dirty.

His clothes stuck to his skin. He took off his hoodie and abandoned it in an alley. It still smelled of that dirty laboratory, of petrol and something else, something less definable, but equally stinky and Nakir was convinced that he himself was carrying that pungent smell with him. He thought the rain might have washed away some of it so he didn't even try to seek shelter. In the alleys he had only found beggars sleeping on the streets. Luckily none of them tried to attack him to steal the few djil he carried in his jeans pocket. A few coins that jingled with every step and that reached barely ten djil, just enough to have breakfast when morning broke.

But first he had a bigger problem to solve: that small rectangle behind his head that could mean everything or nothing. He hadn't noticed any particular changes in him, no new powers. The usual tingling in his hands that appeared when he was in danger was still present, but nothing more. What could it mean? Nakir spent no time wondering, he was now running through the streets and narrow corridors of the East area like a ghost, trying to get back to his apartment, his home, it didn't matter it had been discovered. By now hunters would have understood that he had escaped and if this wasn't the case he would have defended himself with the revolver he had left at his apartment.

He wanted nothing more than to return back to his normal life. He knew, however, that the little rectangle on the back of his head meant something evil. Something that if it hadn't been removed it would have landed him in serious trouble. He had to find a surgeon to remove it, but no matter how much he searched through the dark alleys, there was no trace of a place, a Pleasure House, a restaurant open late at night that suggested the presence of none of them.

Nakir suspected he wasn't looking carefully. There had to be at least a clue. He had seen Eva for what she was: an android. A machine that was probably created to hunt demons. So why had she been so friendly? She didn't force him to do anything he hadn't approved apart from lying to him about the properties about the small biotech device he'd had implanted in his skull.

"Who are you Eva?" he had asked her as they marched across the rooftops of Zraegan.

"No one important" she replied dryly and cut the conversation short.

Now Nakir understood. She was an android at service for the Kwer. She had been created with a purpose, not to live free. Maybe she was more like him than he thought. They both lacked freedom.

Eva sat on the ruined burgundy armchair in Rimar's study.

"You let him escape!" the enraged man shouted.

"He caught me off guard. You should have been here too when he woke up!" Eva replied, raising her voice "But you needed a shower right now" the android continued.

"We have to track him down" continued Rimar, running a hand through his wet hair, moving it back and massaging his temples "Before it's too late"

"It will never be too late" Eva replied "He had never set foot outside his house. He doesn't know his way around Zraegan. The Zarka will track him down soon"

"And who's gonna tell Zayfir?" Rimar sounded exhausted.

"I'll call her right now. I'll tell her the simple truth" Eva replied.

"She'll kill you" Rimar muttered.

Eva rolled her eyes, floating blue inside her irises and answered dryly.