Her breathing labored, her feet pounding, Sikari raced through the narrow streets of the 26th district with a parcel tight in her arms. Her face was coated in a mixture of sweat and soot that stung her eyes and made it difficult to avoid colliding with the people who gave her concerned glances as she barreled through the crowd. She could hear shouting behind her, but she dared not look to see how close her pursuers were. Desperately trying to shake them, she ducked down an alley and crossed to another causeway. Fear and adrenaline coursed through her veins, her heart threatening to beat itself out of her chest if she didn’t stop running soon. Her emaciated frame could only sustain so much exertion before she was going to collapse from the effort.
Getting caught wasn’t a part of her plan. There weren’t supposed to be Ennies in the market district at this hour, she had studied their patrol routes for weeks to be certain of that. She had gotten into the shop without any trouble, but had encountered the squad of them the minute she stepped out the door. Rotten luck. Her Empirical Standard was limited to a sparse word or phrase so she hadn’t bothered to try to talk her way out of it. She ran the minute she could, leaving the surprised group of black-suits to figure out whether or not to pursue her. Unfortunately for her, they had decided she was worth the chase. Absolutely rotten luck.
Running was suspicious so when she reached the next street she slipped into the crowd like she had been taught, blending in with the rest of the grungy and weathered people. She threw nervous glances over her shoulder from time to time, scanning the crowd for the pristine black armor of the Ennies. She spotted them as they arrived from the alley, along the edge of the crowd. Their black visors coldly surveyed the street, searching for their mark. Sikari angled her way through the crowd for the next alley on the opposite side of the street, knowing that if she made it there they would never find her.
As she ducked around the corner and into the alley, she released her breath- muscles burning from the effort of the escape and maintaining a calm appearance in the alley. She was about to celebrate her escape when a strong hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into an alcove cut into the side of the tarnished metal wall, shielding her from view. The black mask of an Ennie was mere inches from her face. She yelped out of reflex, but the man stifled the sound by covering her mouth. Curiously, he holstered his weapon and indicated for her to remain silent.
She nodded, and he moved his hand from her face to her shoulder, keeping her from running. Her breathing was heavy as the Ennie deactivated his helmet, which retracted behind his head and out of sight revealing a dark-skinned young man with kind eyes. So they weren’t automechs after all, Sikari thought, a measure of fear disappearing. The Ennie glanced over his shoulder into the street before he spoke.
“Shadokru het?” he asked, his voice gentle. “Hase?”
She recognized that word, “no”. She shook her head no in response.
“Nekhra,” he said under his breath, visibly frustrated. He thought for a minute before trying again in broken Crucir.
“Don’t afraid, am friend,” he assured her as best he could. She nodded, indicating that she understood.
He pulled off a piece of his armor and retrieved something from inside, a flexible nano-fiber card- one that she had seen Invisibles like her papa use to relay messages in secret. He handed it to her.
“Show family. Will help. Yes?”
She nodded furiously.
“Zukhad,” he said, looking over his shoulder again.
The passers-by on the street continued to pay them no attention. He looked back at her and offered another reassuring smile before releasing her shoulder and reactivating his helmet.
“Yetai, go! Oh. Keep food also, will help,” he said.
She nodded again before running on, leaving the strange Ennie behind, the nano-card clutched securely in her fist. It wasn’t long before she arrived at the abandoned warehouse that her family was living in, among other members of the Invisibles. The ramshackle town was home, and it wasn’t long before Sikari found her father in the center of the village.
“Papa,” she called out, waving excitedly to get his attention.
“Kari, where have you been?” he asked, an relieved urgency marking his words. He embraced her tightly.
“Look papa, I have food- good food, enough to feed our family this week,” she said, showing him her pilfered produce.
“You know better than to take a risk like this, little one,” he chastised her gently.
“I know, but I heard you and uncle talking, and I thought that I could help,” she replied, her excitement waning at his disappointment. “I also have this.”
She revealed the nano-card to him. In the span of a moment, his disapproval turned to surprise and then to curiosity. He reached out and took the card from her, gently turning it over in his hands.
“Where did you get this?” he asked her.
She sheepishly told him the full story, how she had slipped into the small shop in the market when the shopkeeper had his back turned and stolen the rations, how she had encountered the Enforcers immediately after and had run for her life, and how she had been approached by one of the Enforcers in secret, who gave her the card and let her leave. Disbelief showed on her father’s grizzled features as he continued to study the card.
“If this is...” he said, trailing off.
Suddenly he glanced around frantically as if making sure that nobody was watching. His incredulity turned to excitement.
“Sikari, find your brother and pack your things. Bring them to uncle Meza’s immediately,” he instructed her.
“Why, papa?” Sikari asked.
“This is our chance, my love. We’re leaving.”
Welcome, again, to another short story from the world of Incorruptible!
To be honest, I wasn't terribly pleased with the most recent freewrite I did but this one turned out far better than I was expecting it to when the premise first jumped into my head. I hope that I was able to execute it in a way that teases some of the bigger picture happenings in the city of Malaki without giving anything away outright. However keen eyed readers may be able to begin to piece things together before they show up in the pages of the book (to which I say kudos).
The next main saga installment will release Friday at 16:00 Pacific. Additional freewrites and excerpts may show up here between then and now, as I'm inspired.
Until then! MakoThe Incorruptible Saga
Prologue - Part 1
Prologue - Part 2
Chapter 1 - Part 1
Anthology Works
#1 - "I Wasn't There"
#2 - "A Class Project"
#3 - "Aryth"
#4 - "The Catalyst of Unification"
#5 - "Becoming Literate"