Changeling

2.6

Nestra had the rest of the tail for breakfast — it was pretty good! The teeth experiment made her want to test exactly how much she could bite so, still in her pajamas, she searched her garage for an errant piece of metal. There was a shelf part she couldn’t use so she grabbed it then bit it.

Her teeth sank in the metal with ease. At least the first centimeter.

“Mffrngl!”

She was stuck.

“Pfffuck.”

It took a little bit of shaking but eventually, she was free. The shelf part still bore an imprint, each tooth leaving a neat furrow.

“Ok, note to self, sharp teeth does not equate jaw strength.”

Thus chastened, she finished her routine, then she realized she had little left to do until Officer Kim contacted her to start her new job. There was always the book of the Scornful Crescent she wanted to try and, after stretching, she read more. There was some meditation involved as well as slow motions to start off, which was all good, but then training asked for footwork and she realized she just didn’t have enough space. A quick shower later and she made a decision.

It was time to build a lair. A sort of airlock between mundane everyday Nestra and the toothy one. Her own personal Nestracave where she could also train and receive suspicious packages without nosy neighbors wondering why those were unmarked. Biting the bullet, she spent an hour applying for and being approved for a storage space. She picked one in district thirteen which had the benefit of being between her dorm district, twenty-three, and fifteen where she would apparently be working. It was really cheap at six hundred a month for a respectable warehouse, unsurprisingly, since thirteen was kind of a dump. The only caveat was that she could not conduct a business out of it.

Nestra drove to her new possession, using a security chit delivered by drone to access an old automated facility. The only person she came across was a bored security vigil playing games on his visor. The warehouse was over a hundred and fifty square meters on the first floor and there was an elevator to carry heavy stuff. It suited her needs perfectly.

Next, she called Gorge.

“What do you got for me?” the modified voice said.

“Two D-class crystals, a damaged iridescent monitor skin, and a grove ent heart wood.”

“Hmmmm.”

Nestra waited while Gorge conversed with someone. She couldn’t pick up what was said despite her slightly increased senses because the phone just didn’t pick it up correctly. A shame. She was feeling curious.

“Send me a picture of the heart wood. And the skin.”

Nestra did so quickly.

“Alright. Looks like you went the smart way. I’ll give you four point five for the heart and three for the crystals. The skin I don’t know. I can probably sell it as scraps to gleam art students. Care to leave it with me?”

“Guess I’ll trust you. I also need my armor set repaired.”

“Show the damage.”

Another set of pictures followed. Mostly, it was acid ant spit and a few slashes.

“Listen to me. Look. Okay, first things first, I got a question.”

Something in Gorge’s tone set alarm bells in Nestra’s mind.

“It’s you getting those materials. Thought you were working with a gleam but it’s you. And an ent is serious business. Tell me it’s recent. Tell me you couldn’t save my men.”

So that was what it was all about.

“I swear on Riel’s name, I did the best I could. I didn’t hold back.”

“Ok. Alright. I believe you, you cold bitch.”

“Stop that. Stop throwing it in my face every time you get mad.”

“Alright. Fine. My bad, didn’t mean it that way. Fine. Looks like an easy patch up job. On the house. As an apology for… ya know.”

“You being you.”

“Don’t push it.”

“Wait, there is something else. I need the goods delivered to a new address. Here it is.”

“Fine then. I’ll do it. Oh, and I found you wheels that let you go to wherever you go with some room for loot. Real cheap too. Eight grand, second hand but cleaned up and all good.”

“Ug. Fine.”

“I’ll have it delivered to you soon as well as the five hundred I owe you. For the monitor skin, payment when I find buyers. Now fuck off and get me more goodies.”

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“Yeah yeah.”

Nestra hung up. She ordered training equipment online, as well as a freezer just in case. On a hunch, she got a couch and a few other items to make her lair comfortable. The TPD settlement money had arrived. Gorge’s delivery arrived shortly after in the form of his son dumping her stuff from the back of his small van. He took the armor set from her unresponsive hands as she watched in horror the ‘wheels’ Gorge had gotten her.

It was a cruiser motorcycle with a large storage space at the back. Without an integrated GPS, it could not drive itself nor legally climb the ramp to the outer circle highway. Only a specific part of Threshold’s population used those and the Filipino diaspora had lovingly coined them putasiklos.

Whore bikes.

It was both genius on Gorge’s part and such a Gorge thing to do. The perfect cover for a fit woman to drive around at night without question. If she got pulled over by colleagues, they would immediately assume she was out to meet a ‘customer’ unless they checked her ID, then they would assume she was a vice plant, having recently be placed ‘on leave’. She fit the profile too.

“That malignant son of a gravid trash spider. I’ll…. UGH.”

She had to admit it was perfect.

Escort business was tolerated in Threshold, the bordellos heavily regulated to prevent pimps from abusing mainlanders who wanted to move to the city. But the ‘freelancers’ were mostly left to their own devices. Sighing, Nestra moved everything in.

“We’ll get you the armor sent back drone. Here?”

“Here, before tonight.”

“Can do.”

Nestra checked her visor when a priority ping told her she’d received a message she’d been waiting for. It was just an address and an hour but she already knew she would be there without fail.

***

The Secret Door was a peculiarity in Threshold’s culinary scene. Owned by a gleam, it was one of the only places where a baseline could sit down and order without getting thrown out on their asses, in theory. In reality, the mall it hosted had security at the door and the auged bouncers would throw anyone who didn’t fit out on their asses. Thankfully, Nestra wore her best designer gleam dress which placed her at the top of the drab hierarchy. They let her through without problems. She soon sat at Claire’s favorite spot, on the side and next to a small aquarium.

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By her side, a small garden flourished under an enchanted skylight. A red-eyed gleam saw then dismissed her in the same glance. She was fashion-coded to fit in, after all. That didn’t stop a younger gleam from observing her curiously from a few tables away.

As the minutes went by, her tension mounted.

Her instincts finally cried in alarm. She looked right, towards the garden. It was of course at the same moment that a hand gripped her left shoulder.

“Nyarg!”

“ACAB!” a voice roared, “ACAAAAAAB. Hahahaha.”

“Riel dammit Aunt Claire. Really? Every time?”

“Well you could quit being a pig.”

“Ugh.”

Despite her words, Aunt Claire squeezed Nestra’s hand in a way that conveyed love and care without words. Nestra’s aunt looked the same age as her, a perk of being a powerful B-class raider, some of Threshold’s best. Motes of light danced in her amber eyes while her light brown hair escaped messily from a large-brim hat. She wore a sleeveless sundress that revealed bandages running all over right arm as well as a significant amount of scars on every patch of bare skin. There were ways to remove those and Aunt Claire could definitely afford them. She just didn’t give a shit.

“Damn, did you shake hands with a woodchipper?”

“Ha ha. Nah. Flame breath from some wyrm thing. Damn creature could cover their own neck, if you can believe it. Anyways! We did it. We cleared the portal.”

“Was Ulysses with you?”

“Nah, only the old guard, top tier Bs and the likes. Too risky otherwise. We worked with the Century guild. It was your father’s decision.”

Claire frowned. Nestra knew the two of them only tolerated each other because of Nestra’s mother. Hector Palladian was a man who believed in a well-ordered world while Claire screamed all cops are bastards in nice restaurants and had a criminal record as long as her leg, mostly for beating the shit out of people. The two mixed like gasoline and an open flame.

“I’m just glad you’re alright. Wanna talk about it?”

“Nah it’s all good. It worked surprisingly well, actually. Barring the minor burns. I got a better question. How are you doing? I heard about the, well, the District Fifteen fiasco. You seem to be holding up but…”

“Yeah…”

That was a good moment to rant.

Over the next twenty minutes, Nestra recounted all that happened except for the demon part. Claire followed along with a focused, passionate expression. The table shook a little when Nestra relayed that some spooks had advised her to keep her mouth shut.

“Those fuckers.”

“Hold on. I’m not done.”

Nestra finished with Kim’s proposal. So far, Aunt Claire had shown nothing but concern and sympathy. This all changed when Nestra admitted she would accept the offer.

Silence grew between them, a loaded one filled with churning words. Nestra could tell her loving, ever-supporting aunt had major qualms and was currently in the process of articulating them in a way that wouldn’t hurt her. Dread rose in Nestra’s chest though it was tempered by the certainty that Claire loved her, and she was building up to a nice rebuttal because she cared not just about Nestra’s decisions but her feelings as well. Claire was nice, like that.

“Look. You know I always scream ACAB as a joke when we meet and I’ll be the first to admit that some pieces of shit need the hand of justice. How that hand works and when it works is where I’ve got a problem. I’ve never had issues with you being part of MaxSec. You guys aren’t sent, well, weren’t sent against protesters or pickpockets, you know? You were sent to take down dangerous folks and dokkaebis so… that’s fine by me. But now you’re going to be sent as a, what, enhanced beat cop?”

“Not clear yet but yes, we’re supposed to investigate crimes.”

“You’re going to strut around a region that’s been outside of the protection of the law for weeks, months maybe. The city wasn’t there when the civvies needed it. Fuck, sometimes I wish I could clone myself. Anyway, you’re going to be moving around traumatized, betrayed people in a state of deep poverty. All while corpo cunts fly around the block as their new overlords. You’re gonna need a skill you weren’t trained to use and that skill is de-escalation.”

“I can do diplomacy.”

“That’s not what de-escalation is. I’m talking about a specific set of techniques used to calm things down before a situation leads to violence. You. Are. Not. Trained. And you’ll be deployed without being trained. I’m sorry Nestra. You’re a competent soldier who’s faced life and death situations on many, many occasions. You’re still alive because you were faster. Sadly, faster will get people killed. If you’re with civvies, that’s a bad thing.”

“I’ll be paired up with an experienced officer.”

“Will you only ever shoot if he tells you to?” Claire challenged.

Nestra only saw patient concern in the woman’s expression. And sadness.

“Ok. How about… I get non-lethal weapons?”

“Those are often less lethal weapons.”

Nestra nodded.

“I think I can find a way. I’ll apply for online training and let my new partner do the talking. Don’t worry, I’m not here to purge the district, alright?”

“Yes, of course. I know. Look, this won’t be a powder keg. It will be a hundred powder kegs, several per day. You won’t have the emotional stamina to handle them.”

“I told you, I’ll let the other guy do the talking. His name is Shinoda. He’s supposed to be an experienced guy at the end of his career.”

“Alright, alright. Your mind is set, and I can tell you’re taking this seriously. That’s okay. Just… I don’t want you to get the wrong expectations. Fuck, wish I could keep an eye on you for a while but the guild won’t allow it.”

“It’s fine. As you say, I need to prepare more seriously.”

“Good. That’s all I can ask. Oh, and by the way, how are the mana cravings?”

That was it.

Nestra’s tension spiked and Claire blinked because of course she would pick up on it. It said a lot about the older woman that she patiently waited for Nestra to talk instead of pressing her.

“If you don’t wanna discuss…”

“No, it’s not that. The cravings are, well, they’re mostly gone.”

Nestra scrutinized Aunt Claire with all the fibers of her human self. That was it, the moment of truth. The opening that could lead to revelations if Aunt Claire knew something.

And there was nothing. Mostly, the woman frowned.

“Huh. Well then yes that’s, uh, great news, I think? You don’t seem too happy.”

“It strikes me as rather sudden.”

“Yeah, I see what you mean. Did you talk to Mazingwe?”

“No, not yet.”

“You really really should. Just keep in mind, it could be just fine. Us gleams are not as perfect and monolithic as we appear, except me of course. Sorry, poor timing for a joke. What I mean is, some people are late bloomers. They need something to click. Happens all the time, especially around your age. Well-trained raiders linger at the bottom of D-class and then suddenly they unlock their affinities and skyrocket through the ranks. Just don’t worry about it too much.”

“Still haven’t got a core though.”

“Sorry dearie, I can’t help with that.”

“I know.”

“Hey at least you have a heart. And me. You have me.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“Can you call me Clecle like when you were all small and cute?”

“No.”

Nestra finally focused on the food in front of her, served at some point during her retelling of the ambush. It was a nice salad with some enclave vegetables which she ravenously finished, hungering for more.

“Your appetite isn’t gone at least.”

“Yes. Been feeling peckish lately.”

Nestra waited to see if Aunt Claire would react, say something. Anything. Even though she knew Claire was a high B-class, one who defied the rules of reality. If there was something her aunt truly meant to hide from her, Nestra would never learn of it.

That’s just how it was.

“Well that’s a really good sign. Maybe you’ll get taller than me! Until I finish infusing my body, that is. Then I’ll make sure I’m slightly taller than your dad just because.”

“When will you stop pissing each other off?”

“When he removes the titanium bar stuck up his ass.”

They kept going at it for a while. Aunt Claire had news about everyone, as usual. Nestra’s mom was training to start raiding again though she and Nestra’s dad disagreed on whether she should do it or not. Her brother Ulysses was doing amazingly well with a blossoming metal affinity while young Helena was being an absolute hellion, almost getting expelled from prep school due to disciplinary issues. Even Claire showed concern about her restraint which was saying a lot.

“I don’t know about her. I was angry against patriarchy when I was her age but she’s just angry about everything, including herself. Just a little ball of nerves. And her affinity…”

“What about it?”

“It’s… well it’s still being discovered but it appears to be extremely rare… and rather destructive. Can you talk to her at some point? Please?”

“Claire, she was seven when I left. Now I’m a self-exiled loser with no friends and no hobbies. Why the fuck would she want to talk to me?”

“She thinks we’ve abandoned you.”

Nestra waited to see if Claire would explain herself because she was lost.

“Ok, the family did when they let you go and cut ties, kind of. She also thinks you’ve abandoned her. She… really looked up to you, you know?”

“Yeah and then I went on and became the single biggest failure in the history of gleams by essentially failing to be one.”

“Nestra…”

“Look, I admit I’m still sore about it but that’s not the point here. The point is she’s sixteen and when I was her age, let’s just say who you hang out with and how cool you can get was… rather important. I’m not saying she’s exactly the same. I’m saying that trying to get the rebellious teen to get closer to the living reminder that gleams might not be better from birth after all might not be the best solution.”

“It’s not like that. She’s not like that. Look, she needs help and we’re all burnt in her eyes. She barely trusts me because I sided with her mom once. Debbie is… well, you know your mother. She’s trying. It would just be nice if you tried as well. We’ll have a party at the manor to celebrate our recent victories as well as Ulysses’ ascension to B-rank. Could you please attend?”

For the first time in forever, Nestra look into Claire’s congenial face and felt annoyed.

“You want to get me to come during a party? Are you insane?”

“It will be symbolic. Helena always says that we’re hiding you, which pisses her off the most. I know your parents will want that. And Ulysses will have his friends. He won’t care. Please?”

“This is a recipe for disaster.”

“I just want us to be a family,” Claire said in a clipped, slightly vulnerable tone. “We gleams are spending more and more time in portal worlds for… reasons. Maybe it’s, well, maybe we won’t have that many chances to spend time together as time goes on. Helena is growing fast, Nestra. And not in the right direction. Please? For me?”

Nestra considered the question for a moment.

The problem was that she couldn’t refuse Aunt Claire. Not the way she looked, all hopeful and candid despite the fact she was much older than she looked and should know fucking better. Not after everything Claire had done for her. Nestra had to say yes. She wouldn’t be able to face herself otherwise.

“Ok fine. It’s your funeral if things go to shit.”

“Thank you, dear. By the way, you polished that salad well. Do you need something more?”

“I’d love what the people behind us is having.”

“The terrine? Of course.”

Nestra demolished another plate and the dessert as well since Aunt Claire was picking the bill. The raider watched Nestra eat with a smirk before announcing that she had a later appointment with a certain gentleman at the Tree of Seasons.

“You’re going to a hotel?”

“What can I say, I was invited to a nice setting.”

“You would rather engage in lewd activities than spend more time with your niece?” Nestra mock-complained.

“Without a single second of hesitation.”

Nestra left soon afterward. On her way back, she couldn’t help but think back on one of the things she’d said. It came out naturally, but she had never really thought about it before.

She had no friends and no hobbies.

She looked outside of her car. Before her change, all her free time had been spent on training, sleeping, and distracting herself on popular shows. If she had to be honest, she’d been waiting to die. Now though, things were different. Maybe she should try living again.

First order of business, she sent a message to Stib from her seat as her car sped up behind some corpo convoy. Second, she ordered some stuff for delivery.

If there was one hobby that was worth investing in right now, that was home cooking given how much food she was eating, Probably a perk of her weird constitution. She was salivating at the thought.