New Elysium: Weapons of War (Book 2)

Your EDL sucks Part 21

"If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near." -Sun Tzu

"A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Proverbs 17:17

Dex scooped up the tiny girl in his arms, her weight barely registering. He looked to Calliope, but the AI simply shrugged. He realized she was a newcomer here as well and was as clueless as he was.

He looked down at the tiny girl he was carrying, this was ground zero of their own small apocalypse. Juni still wore a patch over one eye but the other... Dex stared at her scars, guilt suffusing him. She'd suffered so much already, from being blind and then having her augmented eyes forcibly removed. All for what? For some sick, purist movement? His body tensed as he worked through what would happen next. What they could do to stop what was happening.

The eye. He'd have to remove it. He knew it wasn't the same as what had happened to her the first time. But to go from being able to see to being blind again? It wasn't fair to her.

But she was in pain now and dealing with things no little girl should be. He glanced over at Calliope. The AI stared at him expectantly waiting for him to make a decision. Lights flickered around them as if the very building was holding its collective breath.

"We need to get her to the medical ward." He closed his eyes.

"Tell me what you need me to do."

Dex stared down at his young charge. He'd hoped to design an eye similar to this one, except Juni had very much wanted an all black eye to match her hero, Amy Larsson. Jack was supposed to help him... But now? 

"Just keep the way clear?" He stared at Calliope. His hand was played, he'd gone against Jack who'd been like a father to him for years. That hurt him more than anything. He hoped that at some point they could sit down and talk, but right now... His thoughts trailed off. He couldn't believe that Amy brought the eye here with the intention of using it on a little girl and it crushed him to think that he and Jack disagreed on this to the point where he was now sitting in the dark with Juni and Calliope instead of calmly discussing the best way to help them like he was used to doing with Jack.

Neo-Tokyo had played a horrific styled game of thrones within the Senate for years. Not that too many understood what went on there, as most things didn't change for the rest of the empire. Only the faces that came down to check on their new acquisitions.

This kind of intrigue and it made Dex's blood boil to think about it. It had to have been an accident or a wild opportunity that had come out of nowhere. He studied her closed eyes again, his mind already preparing the surgery he knew that he and Cyril would have to perform.

"She reminds me of a young Eve- I mean Amy," Calliope whispered. "Too young to have seen the things she saw, and too inexperienced to know what she was dealing with."

"Come on," Dex felt older than he was. If there was one thing he'd had in common with Juni, it was this; the decisions of others had affected their lives profoundly, and those that made the decisions were still walking around unaffected. He watched as Calliope peered out. They'd just run away from Jack. Jack who'd been like a father to him all of these years... And now they might have to run back to him if just so he could get the damn infected eye out of Juni. He felt sick at the thought but he could at least, right this one wrong.

_________________________________________________

The door closed behind them with a hiss before snapping closed. Red took a deep breath sensing more than seeing Dag next to him.