War Dance

TWO: XAYNE - 3

A day later, I made another trip to our little armoury and stocked up, even more than I had done before going into the office. I made damn sure that I had more firepower than a squadron of Hellfires on patrol. I could have gone back in time and cracked Greivstor open a second time with the amount of heat I was packing.

It was just going to be Ashrore and me from our half. Rainbow and Piercings from theirs. There had been a discussion of more of us, but the decision was that the fewer people involved in the actual transfer, the less conspicuous it would be. Rainbow had given me her number for my Halo-Core to give me the signal for when to move out, and I didn't know what her actual name was, so I just put it as 'Rainbow.' It was easier to remember. And unless there was going to be a massive change in circumstances for both of us, I didn't need to know her name, couldn't envisage a time when I would.

Maybe that distrust was part of the reason I was stocking up so heavily. And I was scared, plain and simple.

Ashrore came and joined me in the supply room, and between the two of us we about emptied the place. Markro was going stay back and hold down the place. Should anything happen and we needed to beat a hasty retreat, it would do well to have someone already vaguely aware of what was going to happen so that they could lead the quick-change act from club to fortress until the police reinforcements got down there.

I'd finished arming myself before Ashrore, and sat on the steps to wait for her. My hands were shaking. That made me more nervous than anything. I'd been in enough shit by now to be used to it. Desensitised would be the technical term. But I was worried. This time it felt different. My stomach growled and a splash of vomit rose up in my throat. I grimaced as I swallowed it back down. I had visions of going to rescue Flore from the Red Rose lot over a year ago, how I had been throwing up then. Had I gone backwards in my ability to manage myself? Was I reverting to that childlike state of near innocence? Was I that bad?

Ashrore must have noticed something about me, because she frowned and stopped mid-inspection of a canister. 'What'ssss up?'

'Everything? I guess?'

She put the canister down and came and sat by me. I leant my head against hers and we sat there in comfortable silence, listening to the blood in each other's temples. The Human and the Trovation. Sounds like a bad comedy series.

'We're going to get out of this, right?' I didn't look her way as I said it. Just stared off into the middle distance where what you're looking at goes fuzzy and in the end you don't realise you're looking, but not seeing anything. I asked the question in much the same tone as someone resigned to breaking up with their partner. A certain sense of finality, of it all coming crumbling down around them.

'Maybe,' she said. 'Maybe not. Who knowssss? All we can do issss try to do what issss right. If we can.'

'And is that to trust Red Rose?'

Ashrore laughed, and for one magical moment there wasn't a more pleasant sound in the whole of creation. 'Of coursssse we don't trusssst them,' she said. 'And when thissss issss over, I look forward to blassssting them into oblivion. But for now, we make ssssure that there will be a placccce for ussss to return to in a year'ssss time.'

I shivered. The idea of not coming back put pictures in my head. Explosions in the streets. Buildings burning, cars crashing, the sky falling down on us. 'They said apocalyptic,' I whispered. 'That's before they get started in the aftermath of this apocalypse.'

'They did.'

'Call me a wuss, but I don't very much like the sound of going into the apocalypse. Or trying to stop it. I'd very much like to sit at home watching the skreens whilst someone else does all this apocalypse business, whatever it is. I've got to stop saying apocalypse... shit, I'm doing it again. Why can't we just not fight? Why can't we do that?'

Ashrore nodded, rubbing her skull against my temple. She held out her hand and I grasped it. Held it tight. Sometimes that's all we need. Not cybernetic implants or sex or drugs or loud, thumping music, or anything of the sort. Just the comfort of holding someone else's hand, just the simple reassurance that you're not alone. Celestria, for all it's bustling extravagance, can be the loneliest place in the universe sometimes.

I turned to her and tried to smile. She tried to smile back. We locked gazes and held it. Then I leaned over and kissed her forehead lightly. There was nothing romantic there, nothing sexual; just good friendship.

'We're going to come out of this alive,' I said. 'And then we're going to take down Red Rose and Baron and all the rest of it. And then you're going to get us tickets to the HyperGP when it swings by Celestria.'

'You want to go now?' Ashrore said.

I shrugged. 'You've been saying ever since I got here that we should go. And I know at least who some of the drivers are after all this time.'

'Is thissss a date promisssse?'

'You wish.'

Ashrore laughed again. I leaned over and hugged her and she hugged me back and it was tight and firm and I'm unashamed to say I buried my face in the crook of her neck to try and stop myself bursting into tears.

My Core vibrated. I reluctantly let go of Ashrore and checked it. It was Rainbow, saying things were go.

We collected everything together and went back up into the sweat of the club. It was nighttime now, everything in full session. We were going out the back way and taking the Magna-Train to be as underground as possible, as normal as possible. Still, I forced myself to take one last look into the main room. Music was going, people were spending, the girls were doing their thing. The lights painted the room in a pink neon wash. It was sleaze central, but my sleaze central.

I followed Ashrore out the back door and we headed down the street to the station. I didn't go back inside the walls of Dirty Work until it was all over.