Chapter 69 – Here?

Redline roared down the streets of Silverport. The storm had intensified to a point it was hard to see beyond the bright headlights of my bike. For the most part, the streets were clear while people waited for a lull in the storm. It gave me more than enough room to maneuver.

Neon glows pressed in from the nearby buildings. Most of the ads were lost in the rain. The rest turned into blinding blurs that flashed past me like micro flashbangs. My tail flicked to get some of the water out, but it was a useless attempt. I was totally soaked through. My Harbor jacket did nothing when water splashed up from below.

Thunder rumbled, and lightning cracked far above. Water ran down the streets in small rivers. It splashed up all over me as my bike shot down the streets toward the source of Seek. I was closing in, but Jayce Arnest—the kid—still felt far off.

I swerved through a red light, and blitzed past a car with its horn on full-blast. My soggy ears flicked in annoyance. Just to be safe, I’d taken off my Barghest armor before summoning out Redline. The bike itself was pretty distinctive, so I didn’t want it tied to me more than possible. That, and… well, the armor was a little stuffy.

That being said, it shouldn’t be too big of a deal. “I thought you said you had the lights handled?”

”That was before you changed directions last second.” Vigil shot back in his mechanical voice. Ahead of me, a dim glow through the rain abruptly changed to green. “It’s not easy infiltrating the city’s traffic grid, you know.”

”Sorry.” With him taking care of traffic, I was free to speed down the streets as fast as I dared.

For a few moments, the was nothing ‘sides the engine rumbling underneath me, rain splattering against my face, and the road vanishing underneath me. I closed my eyes for a moment and felt the wind rush over me. Maybe that ticket entity knew what it was doing after all.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about hydroplaning. The bike’s anomalous effect ensured I still had traction even with all the rain. “How are we looking on cameras?”

The clanker wasn’t only taking care of traffic. Silverport, as a truly modern city, was covered in all sorts of cameras. Most were security or traffic cameras, but there were all sorts that could give me unwanted attention if someone caught me speeding down the street. Vigil was actively taking care of that for me.

”Peace Keeper patrol ahead.” Vigil warned me just as I hit an intersection.

I threw my full weight into a heavy drift. Redline’s large tires squealed against the pavement, and an intense force pulled at me as if to rip me off the bike. I leaned further into the drift. Water splashed up all over me. I forced myself upright, and pulled out off the drift with most of my speed retained.

”Thanks,” I muttered. It was a bit surprising there was even a Peace Keeper on patrol, to be honest. Most of them were pulled away to deal with the east. Then again, I was drawing ever closer to the east.

Lightning struck a nearby building. An ad for Everdyne’s newest AV flickered ahead of me. I slowed for a second to feel out Seek’s connection once more. “I think he’s underground.”

”A basement?” Vigil asked.

”No. Feels more like the storm sewers.” In which case I’d have to ditch my bike at some point. He was definitely down below the city somewhere, though. “His kidnappers are moving him.”

The direction of Seek kept moving. It was slow like they were on foot. Probably using the storm sewers to avoid cameras. In this heavy storm, they were practically flooded. It’d slow anyone down to move through them, not to mention it was extremely dangerous. As Quinn showed so often, the power of water couldn’t be underestimated.

Something was weird about the situation. With a storm like this, couldn’t they just use a van? By the time someone tracked them down, they could ditch the vehicle. Moving through the storm sewers just wasn’t ideal.

It didn’t matter. Idiot kidnappers or not, I was going to find them. I turned down another intersection blocked by a Peace Keeper checkpoint. Just beyond the checkpoint, the city went dark. Candles flickered, and lights from generators kept back some of the oppressive darkness. Their effects were greatly diluted by the heavy rain.

I slowed down to a crawl, and cut through an alley instead of approaching the checkpoint directly. The alley was narrow enough I never would’ve thought of going through it in a car. Redline was perfect for taking an alternative route, though.

A metal grate blocked the way east just ahead of me. I pulled my legs forward, and crouched low on the bike with my hand on the key. The moment I approached, I ripped the key out of the ignition and jumped. The bike broke into pixels below me as I sailed up toward the metal grate.

I fell just a bit short, so I kicked off the alley wall and grabbed onto the metal grate. With ease, I hauled myself over and dropped down onto the other side. I was going to roll, but there was a disgusting amount of trash built-up against the metal gate. It broke my fall perfectly.

I lunged forward and twisted Redline’s key once more. The bike appeared below me just before I could hit the ground. In a matter of moments, I easily bypassed the gate and continued on into the eastern districts.

We only got a few blocks before something changed. Vigil warmed to a frightening degree in my pocket. “Operator, this unit has found a trace of the Grail Knight.”

“N-now?” I slowed down slightly. I was already moving slower due to the lack of lighting, so I was barely crawling forward. The hum of Redline’s engine broke into a low-pitched thrumming against my lupine ears. “Here?”

”Affirmative.” Vigil’s heat eased off slightly. “South three blocks.”

“I…” I shook my head. This was, like, the worst possible timing. “Can we check it out later, Vigil? Every moment we delay increases the chances something terrible will happen to this kid.”

Kidnappers weren’t known to treat their captives well. If this was a targeted attack, and they wanted to use the kid to get to Professor Arnest, they probably wouldn’t do anything to him. If this was a random grab, there was no telling what they’d do to him. Apexes made for a hot commodity on the black market. Not to mention it was easier to move the dead than the living.

”This unit agrees,” Vigil said before I could even finish thinking things through. 

“Really?” My hands tightened on the grips of the bike, and I shot forward down the dark streets once more. 

Even through the clamor of the city and rapid flapping of wind in my ears, his voice came across perfectly clear. “Priority one—safeguard citizens.” 

“Heh, right.” A small smile bloomed on my face as I sped down the streets of Silverport. At least we were on the same page. I carefully memorized the area so I could find it with Seek once we were done saving Jayce.

I dodged several more patrols on the way. The Peace Keepers were out in full force. Their heavy SUVs had been strapped with spotlights, and APCs rolled through the place like I’d entered some kind of prison camp. Windows were tightly shut, with only the faint flickers of candles and lanterns announcing people’s presence.

Eventually, I pulled into an alley and unsummoned Redline once more. The moment the bike vanished into pixels, black plates surged out and covered my body. I pried open a manhole, and dropped down directly into the storm sewers running underneath Silverport.

The current in the storm sewers was strong thanks to the massive amount of rainfall. It was already up to my knees, and totally soaked my feet with frigid water the moment I dropped into it. My tail curled up and around my shoulder to stay out of the water.

I nearly slipped as I started to move forward. The sewers were slippery on the best of days. Add in a current that threatened to tear me away, and it wasn’t easy to force my way forward. Every step dug my armored heels into the stone to secure my footing.

”It reeks down here.” I rubbed at my helmet, and tried not to breathe too deeply. Decay hung thickly in the air. It smelled human, like there were dozens of corpses hiding below the water. It was hard to tell exactly with everything the storm washed down here, but I knew the smell better than I wanted to admit.

”This unit does not have olfactory sensors,” Vigil said. “What a relief.”

”Har har, good for you.” At least he was in the mood to make jokes. I felt for Jayce’s ring, and moved up against the current toward the source.

It wasn’t long before I closed in on it. I’d already gotten close with Redline, and only dropped down when I felt like I was right above him. Splashing echoed down the storm sewer.

I lurked forward as silently as I could. It wasn’t long before I found the source. A lone individual stomped through the water. His once fluffy black ears were pressed flat to his head, and he was entirely drenched. 

“Jayce?” Did he escape his captors? My tail swayed as I checked over him. He was alive, unharmed, and safe enough. Maybe something had gone right for once.

The Black Bear flinched back toward me. The kid was absolutely terrified, and his face was extremely pale. He’d been down here for as long as I was tracking him. At this rate, he’d probably catch a cold soon. If he hadn't already. “W-who are you?”

I sloshed through the disgusting water of the storm sewer. If he escaped, then that made it easier for me. ”Barghest. Your father sent me.”

The moment I mentioned his father, something in his expression changed. He drew a pistol from his pants, and lifted it up in my direction. “Damn it! Don’t come any closer!”

“Calm down, Jayce. I’m on your side.” My hands shot into the air. Why did he have a gun? Something told me he didn’t swipe it from kidnappers. Heh, right. Stupid of me to hope that this would be an easy job. “I’ve come to save you.”

“Don’t call me that! That isn’t my name!” His eyes were bloodshot and puffy. He roughly wiped his arm across his face, and the gun dipped ever so slightly away from me.

I flinched, though edged forward slightly. I wasn’t too worried about being shot. Since when did that ever matter to me? I was more worried about him hurting himself. ”It’s dangerous here. Why don’t you just put the gun down, and I’ll take you somewhere—“

”He isn’t my father! Fuck!” The Black Bear’s hand tightened on the handgun. His finger shook on the trigger. “Just leave me alone!”

A shadow flashed forward behind him from an intersection of the storm sewer. Even with my night vision helping, at first I thought it was just a box caught in the rain and just dismissed it. “We can work though this, kid. Just put the gun—“

Phwooosh!

A massive shape surged up out of the water with arms outstretched. Said arms were tipped in deadly looking bone scythes that dropped with a glowing green liquid. It only took a split second for my instincts to surge, and for the fur along my tail to spike out. It was a calamity. A calamity with its sights set on Jayce.

“Behind!” I didn’t hesitate for a moment, and instantly charged forward to Jayce. Whatever was happening here I could figure out later. The thing behind the kid was much more clear in its intentions—flatline Jayce. I lunged forward to grab him. “Get down!”

Jayce flinched back away from me, and slipped on the wet stone. I caught him before the overwhelming current could carry him away. My muscles strained as I dragged him to my chest, and turned my back to take the strike from the Calamity—

Bang!

A bone scythe slammed into the plates of my armor. Pain jolted up my spine as the metal took the heavy blow. The impact made me lose my footing, and the two of us were ripped down the storm sewer with the current.