Torchworld: Outsiders Collection (3 page)

“Hey, Markin.”

“Yes?” I replied, standing up as Psycho entered my room.

“I gave Kharl a bed in the hospital room. His leg is cut up pretty bad, gonna keep an eye on him for a few days.”

“Understood.”

She paused at the door, waiting. Fingers intertwined through her hair. An anxious habit. Wanting some sort of praise perhaps. There was no need to reward her for doing what was expected. But even so, she was a useful agent. Not like the other girls. Psycho was a different creature.

“Good job today. That could have ended badly, but you pulled it off. Well done Outsider.”

Turning on a booted heel, she bowed her head. “Thank you sir.”

She left the room, head held a bit higher than before. Good enough for now.

People were so docile now, even the feisty ones. These third gens were so complacent in authority. It wasn’t hard to pick around the edges of the veneer though. The security the Akhataree promised? Lies. They’re molding you into slaves. Only the barest of proof was needed to arouse the natural human need to rebel. Our rallies helped the cause.

“I ask you this, young citizen. If you are so free, then why can’t we leave the city walls;

If we’re so equal, why do they build drones to watch us?”

Worked every time. Thousands of dead drop holo-capsules all over Opalesk City. Squirrelled away in corners, crevices and out of the way places. The power cycle flaw was one of my more genius ideas before I left. Nobody bothered to look at the software anymore, it worked fine. Citizens didn’t care about their gilded cage. Fed, clothed, entertained. Why would you want to leave? Why indeed. To have a choice in the matter? To find out what’s really going on? Suspicious, how one day we’re at war, and the next day everything is dandy.

I opened up a ghosted connection to Visnet, reading over familiar historical accounts of the war with a wry scowl. That last day. We knew that everyone was doomed. So what happened? I’m pretty sure Valerius knew more than he let on. He never took my questions seriously, dismissing me as a paranoid dissenter. Alere had looked down on me with pity.

“The Akhataree came to help us. Their motives are pure, they think we deserve a second chance.”

“Nobody just helps someone without expecting a favour at some point, Valerius,” I replied.

That was the last I saw of him before I left Opalesk. Knowing what was going on between him and my Serena. Didn’t care, it’s not like we married for love. Marriages of convenience are useless once they cease to be convenient. In my case, it had. She served her purpose. Just like this little girl, Psycho. A somewhat tragic name given her circumstances.

Her real name was Lilith. True to her name, she had refused to back down and it got her in trouble. This had become a strong personality trait and it worked well for the Outsiders missions. Her refusal to fail got things done.

The day I found her I will remember forever. Scared, little child covered in blood, huddled in a drone crate. Shivering, and bug eyed. So dazed she could barely spit out her name. Pulled her out of the crate with some difficulty. Lilith had wailed and screamed like a wild animal terrified of the hunter’s dogs. Once I had her in my arms she clutched her twiggy arms around my neck tight and refused to let go. I hugged her right back, hard as I could without crushing her. Nobody seemed to know where she was from and no parent came forth to claim her. I was loathe to give her up to the orphan system. But I’d never had a child of my own.   Now I had a little girl to take care of. Albeit a damaged one. Lilith was mine now.

After a few days, she became less wary of me. Hovering over my shoulder and peering at the drones I worked on.

“Markin, wassat?”

“A helicopter drone,” I replied, setting down my multi-tool.

“Wassa drone?”

“It flies over the city and watches things. Watches people.”

“Why?”

“Because the people in charge said so.”

Lilith cocked her head at me, making her shaggy white hair bounce. Creeping closer to the drone, she bent over it and examined it closer.

“Is alive?”

“No child, it’s not alive. It’s a droid like the ones in town.”

The girl shook her small head so fast I thought it might break off. “No no no no! Mean droid. Bad droid!”

The hair on my neck stood up. I tried to pull her toward me, grasping one chubby arm. She jumped back and ran into the other room. I stood up to hear the door slam behind her. At least she’d talked to me. Now I knew she hated droids.

We would all learn why, later. It came out messy and tragic, something I’ll regret for a long time. I should have talked to her about it, but instead it was tucked away.

Lilith soon grew into a whip-smart young woman who spent most of her waking hours tinkering with drones and guns. Didn’t like the other kids much, not that there were many around. Being a loner was fine with her. Earned her unfortunate nickname at the expense of someone else. At the tender age of 19.

One day someone found a scrapped labour droid dumped outside the city walls. They’d hauled it back here to camp with intents of salvaging it I suppose. A few days later our local engineers had it up and stomping around. The problem was a lack of brainpower, being that it lacked a proper android brain set. I’d warned against playing with them like this, didn’t approve of them screwing with advanced technology.

Lilith was up on her usual work platform in the corner, tinkering away at a new design of lazen gun. Amazed at her proficiency with weapons systems, I allowed her to experiment as much as she liked. The other kids didn’t like that overmuch. Saw it as me playing favourites. Lilith was mine, she’d always be my favourite. I lost hours watching her work.

So there she was sitting in near darkness, utterly focused on her work. Unaware that these idiot boys had set their pet android charging in her direction. All of a sudden I hear an piercing scream. Charged outside to the warehouse floor to see the droid pounding fists into her work platform.Two teenage boys laughing at her and mocking her tears. Destroying the precious experiment she was working on. Lilith wasn’t screaming out of fear though, it was pure unbridled rage. Face was white as a sheet and her small fists clenched into iron. Smack! The droid’s head went soaring across the room. The force of it sent her boot flying, making the boys laugh even harder. I saw the broken head roll to a stop in front of the boy’s feet. The were too busy crying with laughter to notice Lilith sprinting toward them with a long shard of the broken gun in her hands.

“They killed my family!”

Too slow to stop her. “Lilith stop!”

She ignored me and slid the knife sharp metal straight through the first boy’s chest cavity. Lilith pulled it out like it was butter. Faster than I could see, she whirled around to slice the throat of the second. They fell to the floor, gurgling and wheezing a chilling death rattle.  My little girl was covered in blood again. Screaming the same words I heard on the day I found her, over and over.

“They killed my family!”

Lilith stared at me and the lazen shard clattered to the concrete floor. I caught her as she collapsed with a guttural moan of pain.

“I’m sorry Markin. So sorry.”

“It’s ok. It’s ok. Just breathe love, breathe.”

We hugged tight. She was slick with blood, and a familiar sick feeling rose in my stomach. Others had come to the sound of the screaming. A dozen Outsiders stood around the door, staring at the bloody mess. The boys were orphans and not well liked, but I knew nobody would ever treat Lilith the same. Already seen as a freak, that one that sits in the corner by herself. The girl that plays with guns like toys and never speaks to anyone but me. It took all I had to let Lilith go and turn to face them. Blood soaked from head to toe. My sweet girl settled into a sobbing heap on the floor.

“A tragic accident. Please return to your stations while I deal with this unfortunate event.”

People began to whisper and point at the slashed and broken bodies.

“She murdered them! I told you that girl would be trouble!”

“Sits in the dark plotting with those weapons!”

“Freak!”

“Psycho!”

“Yeah, she’s a damn psycho. Coldblooded Psycho! Psycho!”

My fists balled up as I moved myself in front of Lilith in case someone got a stupid idea.

“I command you to return to your stations. Now.”

Staring down the crowd I dared them to touch me. Dared them to try something. Nobody took me up on it and I’d built one hell of a reputation. Laws didn’t exist around here, I was the closest thing to police. A few filed out and then the rest. The last couple gave me a dirty look but stomped back to their quarters. Breathing a sigh of relief I locked the door behind them. I got on my knees and gathered Lilith into my arms, brushing bloodsoaked hair from her face. She immediately burrowed her face into my shoulder just like the day we met. I kissed her head and held her until she ceased to sob.

“You’re safe with me.” She looked up at me with wet eyes. I smiled. “There’s my beautiful girl.”

I carried her to our bunker. Ours was away from the rest of the camp, behind the warehouse. Lilith had her arms wrapped around my neck. The cold night air washed across the blood on my skin. Dried the blood on her face. In the moonlight she stared up at the sky with her head hanging back, stars reflected in hollow eyes. My little girl had grown into a broken woman, mind shattered yet somehow hanging together by a thread until now. Lean and angular, the childlike softness had melted off her in recent years. Pushing the door open, I took her to the bathroom and deposited her down gently. Lilith gazed at the floor.

“It’s ok, really,” I said. “We all screw up. Clean yourself off.” I shut the door behind me. Moving to the kitchen I began to make dinner and I soon heard the shower pod turn on. By the time she emerged wrapped in a towel, I had prepared some decent food. We didn’t have the luxury of Replicon machines out here so the art of cooking was important. Gesturing to the simple food on the table, I walked into the bathroom. Stripping off my splattered clothing, I stepped into the shower. A quick rinse off, as I wanted to keep an eye on Lilith in her unstable state. Wrapping a towel around my waist, I exited the bathroom to see that Lilith had changed into a worn nightshirt. Staring at the empty plate, pushing a last morsel around with her knife. The light behind her showed a faint outline of the lithe body underneath. Clenched my jaw I strode quickly into my room. Tossing through my drawers found me a pair of boxers and I slipped them on. Turning to the bed I stared at the bare walls, running fingers through my wet hair. I sat down on the bed’s edge and laid back to close my eyes for a moment. Recalling the two dead bodies in the warehouse, I sighed. The building was digitally locked and closed to anyone but me. To be dealt with in the morning.

“Markin.”

My eyes jerked open to see Lilith standing in front of me, gazing through heavy lidded eyes. Scrapes on her arms stood out like red flares against her tan skin. Sitting up, I reached out to clasp her hands in mine. She slithered one finger out to trace up my arm. A faint smudge of blood still clung to my shoulder. Fingers moved up to my neck making the hairs on my neck rise. Lilith was staring into my burning eyes the entire time like she knew of her terrible effect on me.

Lilith’s fingers were intertwined with my hair and my arms had snaked around her hips. Snarling at her, I tried to think of something, anything to stop my heart racing. This was Serena all over again. Lilith was not a child, but a dangerous creature. It was hard to ignore living with a young, attractive female and she knew it. Smooth hands playing across my chest like it was nothing…nothing but a game to her.

Screw it all.

Grabbing her ass I pulled her onto my lap. Lilith laughed and pushed me backward on the bed. Crushed my lips with hers and blood mingled with saliva. Growling in her ear, I held her tight to my body. At this rate I wouldn’t be able to hold back and I would tear her apart. She sat up, straddling my hips. The warmth of her body was tormenting me through the thin layer of my boxers. Lilith tugged at them. The look in her eyes was total madness. She’d been laughing the entire time.   Something inside me clicked and I stopped.

I can’t do this. Not now. Not with her in this state. Did she even know what we were doing? This would change our relationship forever and I couldn’t do that. Not unless she was in her right mind. My body was thinking of something else but I tried hard to suppress the rising feeling.

“Get off.”

Her face fell then she scowled. “What?”

“Get off me. Go!”

I grabbed her waist and physically lifted her off me. Lilith scrambled off the bed and stood next to it for a moment, hoping I was joking. When she realised I was serious, Lilith ran out of the room in tears. Slam! The door nearly fell off its hinges.

I’m such an asshole. Letting my starved libido lead me into a situation I couldn’t handle. My heart still raced and blood pounded through my chest. The wall cracked as I slammed my fist into it. Over and over until I was out of breath. Bleeding fists stung and throbbed. Sitting there breathless my every muscle set tight as a coiled spring. We would never be the same. I must have fallen asleep, waking up the next morning on the floor to an empty house.  The day after, she painted the name on her helmet. Lilith from then onward, only spoke to me when it was needed. Cold as ice.