Strixes

Evelyn IV

I woke up a minute before my alarm went off. My room was pitch black despite the fact that the sun must be up outside. The sound of a bubbling stream echoed through the room, with the rustling of trees gently in the background. If I didn't know any better, I would say I wasn't in Neptune anymore. Maybe I was in some far-off jungle on the continent.

Then the alarm chimed gently through the room, cutting off the sound of nature. The blinds retracted, allowing sunlight to stream into my bedroom. As the chime gradually began to get louder, I found my linker on the desk next to my bed and put it on. Activating it, my virtual assistant appeared above me, a balloon figure with arms.

"Good morning, Hunter Evelyn Lescheres! It is 7 o'clock! The temperature is 21 degrees outside! There is a zero percent chance of rain and not a cloud in the sky! It is expected to reach 26 degrees at the height!"

Why did my assistant always have to sound so damn cheerful? I swear it was Rumi who programmed the damn thing. I was supposed to be at Sword headquarters by nine, so I had better get a move on.

"Would you like me to start breakfast?" the balloon asked, hovering outside my field of vision.

"Yes. Bacon, eggs, toast, and orange juice."

"Coming right up!"

"Turn the shower on while you're at it."

"Understood!"

He was too damn cheerful. I liked the apartment well enough, but the bath/shower was my favorite place. It beat the shower I had in Mayfield, there was no competition. All that I had to do was buy the shampoos, conditioners, and anything else I liked and put them in my shower. I didn't even have to have the bottles in the shower, instead, they were released with the stream.

I discarded my nightgown by the toilet and hopped in for a hot shower. The water was almost scolding, but that was just the way I liked it. I wished I could enjoy a long bath, but I didn't have time. Today was my first day and if the rumors were true, I'd be meeting my team.

Breakfast was waiting for me on the table. Draping the towel over my breasts, I clicked on the Ministry of Welfare's Recommended News Broadcast and spent the next minute watching some boring interview about a breakthrough in treatment that was supposed to be able to suppress strixes urges. A first step toward curing them and reintroducing them into our society. What a load of shit.

I turned it over to my library of movies and put on a classic to eat my breakfast with.

"Would you like me to lay out your suit?" Balloon asked.

"Sure," I said through a mouthful of toast, egg, and bacon sandwich.

In the corner of my eye, an icon for the emergency news broadcast flashed to life. It was a warning, a titan was rampaging through Shoko Ward and traffic was being redirected. Maybe I should take a subway today... No, this was my first day. Appearances were important, so I'd take my Triumph. I hadn't got to show it off yet.

True to Balloon's word, my suit was laid and waiting for me. I played with the idea of going naked and just covering up with a holo, but anyone not connected to their linker would see that I had no clothes and that was illegal. I didn't need to be taken into custody by the Public Safety Bureau.

I got dressed by 8 and I was out the door by 8:10. I stopped for a large cup of coffee, and drove to headquarters, bypassing Shoko Ward. It took me a little bit longer, but I could live with the detour.

As I pulled into the parking lot, it quickly became apparent that my Triumph was the best-looking car in the lot. Or one of them. Most cars were shiny and sleek, but it was rare to spot a luxury brand. I guess I owed Rumi and her husband more than I thought.

The security guard at the door whistled. "Damn lady, that's a nice car."

"Thanks." He was handsome, but he wasn't my type. Not pretty enough.

"You new here?"

"Just transferred in a few days ago."

"Can I see your ID?"

I brought up my ID, letting it hover between us. I'm glad he had his linker on. I'd look pretty stupid otherwise. "Well, Mademoiselle Lescheres, let me be the first to welcome you."

I smiled. "Merci."

Sabre Tower was the headquarters for all of Sword in Neptune. It was a huge beacon of power, displaying strength in its openness. Where the strix, lycans, and titans had to scurry around in the dark, hiding in shadows to conceal themselves from the light, Sword operated out in the open, a beacon of the light they hid from.

The lobby was open to citizens, protected only by highly expensive DNA scanners. The scanners could pick out a strix, lycan, or a titan from a crowd of humans easily, but the problem was the astronomical costs. Since they couldn't be widespread, they were usually placed in government buildings and Sabre Towers across Aquroya, as well as other sensitive places. It prevented the enemy from blending in and striking once they were inside.

Though there were so many hunters at the tower, it would be suicide for any of the infected to attack here. Desperation makes people, and the infected, crazy. So it was a good thing all the entrances were covered by DNA scanners.

As I walked briskly to the elevators, I scanned the lobby. The only Sword workers were the security guards and the receptionists behind the desk. And the four people at each corner, cross-legged and seemingly in a trance. Celestials, protecting the first level from astral incursion.

Sabre Tower was fifteen stories tall, and I was needed on Floor Thirteen. I scanned my linker in the elevator and it allowed me full access to the tower. The public at large wasn't given access to the higher or lower levels unless they were given special permissions. I had escorted my fair share of victims up and down Sabre Towers just like this one.

When the elevator on the Thirteen Floor opened, I was greeted with quite the scene. Rumi Shiratori was standing next to her husband, watching the scene unfold with detached eyes. Her husband was the Director of Sword for Neptune and he didn't look happy. He was Asian like Rumi, but unlike her, his expression was stormy.

A dark-skinned man in a pinstriped suit stood in front of the director. He was jabbing his finger at the director, his face reddening with rage. "-is out of the question! You've gone over budget every year for the past three years! If you don't want to be embarrassed, withdraw the request."

"I won't."

The dark-skinned man took a deep breath as if he was trying to calm himself. "The mayor agrees with me, Shiratori. If you don't withdraw the request, we will deny it. And that will be on public record."

"The mayor? Is that supposed to frighten me? The mayor has jurisdiction over Neptune in the capacity of a mayor and nothing more. He runs the city. Neptune is an autonomous city and its government stands on equal footing with the provincial governments, that is to say directly under Parliament. Governor Wilkes and I are of one mind, so I will not be withdrawing my request. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this causes you."

Without saying a word, the dark-skinned man turned around and marched for the elevator. I got out of his way and he took it down.

Director Shiratori spotted me. "Hunter Lescheres. I'm glad you could join us."

"The pleasure is mine, director."

"I'm sorry you had to see that unpleasant business. That was the Vice-Minister of Economy for Neptune, Jerome Hoover. He's a... A familiar face around here."

Rumi giggled. "That's one way to put it."

"Yes, well, I see no reason to cause of offense to the man. He is displeased with me enough as it is."

"True."

"Will you go down to R&D and see about the progress of our project?"

"You just want to get rid of me," Rumi said playfully. "I'll go see what the egg heads are up to."

"Thank you."

Director Shiratori looked me up and down. I was going to have to get used to men getting me the once over again, but this time it didn't feel like he was admiring or lusting over me. Instead, it felt like he was examining a weapon or a piece of technology. "I must confess, Hunter Lescheres, this isn't our first time meeting."

"It's not?"

The director shook his head. "No. How old are you? Really?"

"Seventy."

"It was a long time ago. I'm not surprised you don't remember. I believe it was thirty years ago this year. You were in Pluto for a special mission. I believe it was titled the Chimera Case?"

The Chimera Case? One of the sickest, most disturbing cases I had worked in my whole career. I had seen a lot of gruesome things in my line of work, but the Chimera Case had been the worst. It was the only case that made me question my career path. I had only resigned my commission as a Sword Hunter.

At the time I was a rising star, one of the best at Sword, but that case put me on the map. It jump-started my career, and I still had nightmares about it, thirty years later.

"I don't remember you."

"Think back. To the seventh victim and her family."

"Her family was murdered with her," I recalled. "Her family identified the titan and before we could slay him, he butchered them all."

"All but one."

I had done my best to block that case out of my memory for the last thirty years, but I dimly recalled a little boy no older than four, the only survivor of the butchery. He hadn't even been crying. The doctors said he was in shock and the last I saw of him was the boy being taken away to a hospital.

"His name was Hinuzuki."

"Yes, that was my name, but Hinuzuki had been blasted across the papers. I couldn't escape the publicity, so I changed my name when I was fifteen. Sword gave me special permission to do it as a minor."

"You... You were that boy."

"Yes. You saved my life, Evelyn Lescheres. Without you, I'm sure that he would have killed me. He was looking for me when you stormed the house. I owe my life to you and your team."

"We were just doing our job. Don't mention it."

"If you prefer."

Things had come full circle, had they? I heard the boy had no family to take him in, so he was given to one of the Sword Institutes, but I never thought he would stay. I assumed the experience would make him stay as far away from Sword and the infected as he could manage, but I guess I was wrong.

"I just wanted to thank you. For my life."

"No thanks are necessary."

"Your team has been designated Trident. You are Trident Lead. Your team has been assigned Office Room 309 for your use. You'll find the room at the end of the hall. As far as I'm aware, you're the only one left."

I took one last look at the boy who became a man, the sole survivor of a travesty that I never thought he would recover from. Not only did he have a wife and a child, but he worked for Sword, which put him in direct conflict with the same kind of monsters that killed his family. That boy was built with sterner stuff than I guessed.

I took a breath before I opened the door. There were only three people inside, making us a small team of four. A little less than I was accustomed to, but it wasn't like I couldn't make do with it. I had read the profiles of each of them the night before and I was confident that I could identify them.

Shinya Togane was my second in command and he was twenty-six years old Asian man. He had graduated from the Sword Institute of Lincoln at the top of his class six years ago. He excelled in the Hunter program and set records at his institute that has yet to be broken. He even set a national record that remained in place for six years.

Shinya was thoughtful, the opposite of a hothead. He was intelligent and he could make decisions quickly. He had good instincts, and he had saved the life of his superiors more than once. He was a rising star and I was excited to him have on the team.

Glen Weber was twenty-three and he was African. His skin was even darker than the Vice-Ministers, giving him a pleasant black coffee skin tone. His records at the academy paled in comparison to Sinya, but thanks to the military school he attended until he was eighteen, he had a unique background that gave him insights that most Sword Hunters did not have. He was an experienced hacker and I would put those skills to use.

He may not be as skilled of a combatant as Shinya, but his compatibility was 95 percent, four points higher than Shinya's 91. Like Shinya, he could keep a cool head and he did very well under stress. He graduated third in his class from the Youswill Institute.

Jacqueline Porter, or Jac as she preferred to be called, was a twenty-one-year-old Caucasian woman. And she was a hot head. She excelled in all her classes at the Institute, going above and beyond her peers. She was intelligent, handed stress almost as well as Glen, and was extremely gifted, achieving a 98 percent compatibility with the Hardsuit. Her instructors called her a genius and out of all my team, she was on track to achieve a gold or even diamond-rated combat rank.

Yet despite everything she had going for her, Jac almost didn't graduate. She didn't graduate with her class and had to attend a special summer course to earn enough credits. When she did graduate, she ranked tenth in her class, despite her raw attitude outstripping any of her classmates.

She had more demerits on her records than was proper, part of the reason she almost didn't graduate. She had been thrown into the detention cells no less than one hundred times, though once they reached triple digits, the Artois Institute had stopped counting.

She was in one word, a delinquent of the highest caliber. The single most talented delinquent I had ever read the record of. When someone tried to give her directions, she always resisted, earning plenty of demerits that way. Whenever she was assigned to work under a commanding officer, she fought them tooth and nail, insisting that her plans were superior and that her commanding officer was incompetent. The institute had done its best to iron that out and while she was better behaved, that part of her flared up.

What had possessed such a talented student to go the way of the classic delinquent? I had to know, so I looked into her record and I'm shocked she hadn't ended up worse. Both her parents had been human when she was born, but her mother was infected and became a titan. A human-eating monster that was faster and stronger than any natural human. Though her physical capabilities were inferior to lycans, strixes, or hardsuits, it was enough to dominate her family.

Jeanie Porter ruled her family with an iron fist for two years, beating her daughter and her husband whenever they failed to please her. If Jac got less than perfect grades, it was a beating. If her husband didn't make enough money, it was a beating. The water or power bills too high? Beating. So much as laughing at something without permission? Beating.

That went on for two years until Jac when seven, when her mother had enough of her father. Her father was a very attractive man and he was in charge of bringing back food for her. Young ladies or men who thought they were going to spend the night in his bed were devoured. Until one day, he couldn't take it anymore.

Instead of contacting Sword like he should have done in the first place, he confronted his wife and told her he refused to bring her anyone else to eat. So she ate him and moved to Deseret, a small town called Branwell. It was only a few hour's drive from a bigger city, where she worked and hunted.

Jac's mother beat her even more after her father was dead. She made sure Jac stayed in shape, so she would be pretty enough to lure prey for her once Jac was old enough. Jac's life was a nightmare and her mother promised to eat her if she ever went to Sword or told anyone.

It wasn't until Jac was sixteen that she got the confidence and went to Sword. The hunters spared her mother, taking her into custody instead of killing her. It was decided that her mother's mutation was unique and could be a benefit to society, so she was spared death. She was placed in the Tartarus Facility, where she could live as a lab rat, removed from society. As far as I was aware, Jac's mother was still alive. Hopefully, she was living through hell just like she put her family through.

I could sympathize with Jac, but I didn't want a loose canon on my team. If she couldn't play ball and work with a team, she had no place on Trident.

As soon as I opened the door, she looked over at me. "Who the fuck are you, princess?"

***

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