《Quantum Cultivation - a Xianxia x Cyberpunk Story》


 Chapter 1: The Purebred

    When Ken¡¯s peers were performing calculus in their head, he¡¯d still been learning to add and subtract.  Had he lived in the centuries before the Onslaught, teachers would¡¯ve considered his three-year-old self a prodigy.


    Now seventeen, he held one of the best jobs a Purebred could attain: cleaning the floors at Kyoto Central Peacekeeping Headquarters.


    With the corridor abandoned at this moment, he hefted his mop and twirled it circles like he¡¯d seen in one of those 2D movies the ancients used to watch during the Age of Greed: Once Upon a Time in China, when there''d once been a country known as China. Back then, combat flowed like poetry, so unlike the stuttered fighting drills the Peacekeepers practiced.


    Spinning, he avoided an imaginary stab and swept the haft through his equally imaginary opponent. Like the legendary master in the movie, Ken left no shadow with his techniques; not because he moved with blinding speed, but rather because of the ubiquitous, sterile light filling the smooth hall. The upswing up his staff¡ª


    The maglift doors at the end of the hall swished open.


    He snapped to attention, bringing the mop to his side, then dared a glance.


    Oyama Keiko, captain of the elite tactical unit of the Peacekeepers, stood there. Her braided hair clung tight to her head, framing an oval face with a high-bridged nose, large eyes, and full lips. Nobody, save for some of the Purebred, were unpleasant on the eyes, but Keiko was a beauty among beauties.


    She stepped out in perfect unison with two male Peacekeepers to either side. Like all Xhumans, they stood about half a head shorter than Ken. Their uniforms clung to them, hers emphasizing the curves of her lithe form. Its grey sheen resembled the underside of a storm cloud, flashing like lightning as they strode toward him. Their clothes ended in toe boots, whose internal suppressors muted the sound of their steps.


    Swallowing hard, he bowed his head. ¡°Captain.¡±


    ¡°Ken.¡± She paused midstride, her aides freezing in synchronicity.


    His pulse sped up a notch. She knew his name. And now she was stopping. To talk to him! He kept his head lowered.


    ¡°You missed a spot.¡± Her tone sounded encouraging, like how he paised his shibakita when it performed a trick, as she gestured with an open hand toward the smooth, durastrium floor.


    ¡°Thank you, captain.¡± Ken bowed lower.


    At least she noticed him. It was better than the others, who looked through Purebreds like they did the cleaning droid. No doubt, it swept floors better than him, both because its sensors and algorithms, and also since the work bored him to tears. And to think, they reserved these jobs to make Purebreds find fulfillment in life.


    With a smile that sent his heart fluttering, she continued down the hall, underlings in tow. A door up ahead to monitoring station six swished open¡ª


    Glass shattered in the room beyond. Someone within cursed. The men at Captain Keiko¡¯s side dropped into defensive stances, their hands sweeping sidearms from holsters with fluid grace.


    ¡°Ken!¡± Captain Keiko turned to him, beckoning before she and her men strode in.


    If his heart had fluttered before, now it raced. Whatever had happened, he was needed. She needed him. He ran over and looked in.


    Several men and women in red, high-collared uniforms bustled about; while others sat watching three-dimensional images. Four officers gathered around one display, pointing.


    Ken craned over Captain Keiko¡¯s shoulder to get a better view.


    The projected form of a bald, adult Purebred male in his twenties was looking right at them, head leaned forward. His bushy black eyebrows scrunched together and shifted.


    ¡°Pan back three meters,¡± a major said.


    The bald man shrunk, revealing him to be wearing curious black robes. They looked to be right out of the old samurai dramas, save for the decorative silver border along the hems. Staff in hand, his eyes followed them. Around him, shorter passersby in fashionably bright-colored clothes gave him a wide berth, and pretended not to stare.


    ¡°Could the scanners be wrong?¡± the major asked.


    The lieutenant beside him shook her head. ¡°The scanners do not detect an ID chip.¡±


    Ken patted his body. He and every other human¡ªPurebred and Xhuman alike¡ªhad a nanochip that stored everything about them, from their date of birth to the last shirt they bought.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°That can¡¯t be right,¡± the major said. ¡°He must¡¯ve found a way to deactivate or remove the chip.¡±


    That couldn¡¯t be right, either. Ken¡¯s forehead bunched up. The chip circulated in the blood, making it impossible to find.


    The major turned to another station. ¡°Specialist Tani, run facial recognition. Corporal Koda, run spectral DNA analysis.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± a man and woman said in unison.


    The woman¡¯s fingers waved through the air, and in front of her, two-dimensional faces flashed over each other. They looked so similar as the images slowed, it seemed like the stick figures Ken used to draw and flip through in the corner of his books.


    ¡°Well?¡± The major put his hands on his hips. ¡°Is it like the girl who turned up at Honnoji last week? Nothing in the database?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m searching deeper in the older databases.¡± Specialist Tani¡¯s hand swiped through the display again, and a mix of both the alphabet and the old script danced through the air.


    Kanji, they¡¯d once called it. Ken shuddered. Studying the classics from actual paper books had been considered spirit building, to imbue a sense of pride in the Asiatic cultures that once flourished here. That, even though everyone all used the planetary government¡¯s sanctioned alphabet now. He turned back to the image of the stranger who looked to be speaking to a young woman. Words flashed above her, identifying her as Shirai Yuki.


    ¡°Have the closest team intercept,¡± the major said. ¡°Computer, transfer sound to main speakers.¡±


    In the display, the woman waved a hand back and forth and shook her head as the man¡¯s speech came out in a lilting mix of sounds.


    It was the old language, just like the strange girl from last week who¡¯d turned up out of nowhere, stolen a glowing blue crystal from an old well, and then vanished into random wormhole aperture. Analysis of her skin particle DNA didn¡¯t match anyone in the history of Earth, but she was human. Not like the vast majority of XHumans today, but Purebred, like Ken.


    ¡°It must be another like that girl,¡± a sergeant said.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± The major snorted. ¡°The Elestrae know something about it, but they won¡¯t tell us. Computer, translate.¡±


    The stranger approached another man and bowed in the old way. Just like in the really old movies from a great empire known as Shaw, the words coming out of his mouth didn¡¯t match the movement of his lips.


    ¡°Excuse me, I am looking for Honnoji.¡±


    Ken¡¯s heart raced. He, and nobody else would have remembered Honnoji if the strange girl hadn¡¯t turned up last week. Since then, it had been all over the news. Investigative reporters dug up old records showing that Honnoji Academy had once been an elementary school. It, in turn, had been built over the ruins of an old temple where the famous warlord, Oda Nobunaga was betrayed by one of his retainers one thousand-three hundred years before.


    ¡°DNA analysis shows he is Purebred,¡± the sergeant said.


    Just like the strange girl. And Ken.


    Specialist Tani gasped. ¡°I found a record that matches the DNA¡­ From 2015. Ishihara Ryusuke.¡±


    The buzz of Peacekeepers went silent. No doubt they¡¯d done the math faster than Ken. The man was eight hundred years old. XHumans only lived to three hundred, and the theoretical maximum was four hundred. Chatter erupted again.


    ¡°That¡¯s not possible,¡± someone said. ¡°Life expectancy back then was eighty years.¡±


    Just like Ken¡¯s kind now. If the man weren¡¯t genetically modified, his appearance would suggest he was in his late twenties.


    ¡°Cryostasis?¡± the major asked.


    A female lieutenant shook her head. ¡°Cryotech wasn¡¯t so advanced back then.¡±


    ¡°The Pointy-Ears have supposedly dabbled in time travel,¡± Specialist Tani said.


    The lieutenant shook her head. ¡°Takes a vast amount of energy, and it¡¯s just as reliable now as cryostasis was in his time. Look.¡±


    In the display, three Peacekeepers in light armor approached the man.


    ¡°Excuse me kind sirs.¡± Ishihara Ryusuke.  ¡°I am looking for Honnoji.¡±


    The Peacekeepers exchanged looks.


    Of course, they didn¡¯t have the benefit of translation, unless they¡¯d thought to activate it in their helmets. One held up an open hand. ¡°Stand where you are, drop the staff, hands on your head.¡±


    The man cocked his head. ¡°So sorry. My English not good.¡±


    In the monitoring station, murmurs erupted again. He was speaking in the Common Tongue, with a heavy accent. The ancients called it English.


    Snarling, the lead peacekeeper shot a hand out. The motion blurred in Ken¡¯s eye, the effect of centuries of genetic modification combined with the reflex enhancements imbued by the armor. His fingers closed around the staff.


    In an even faster movement, the stranger seized the Peacekeeper¡¯s hand and twisted the staff. The Peacekeeper dropped to his knees with a yell. It had happened so fast, Ken would¡¯ve missed it had he blinked.


    It shouldn¡¯t have been possible for a Purebred to do that to a XHuman in Peacekeeper armor.


    But there it was. The end of the staff dug into the Peacekeeper¡¯s wrist, which bent at a sharp angle.


    The other Peacekeepers drew their particle guns, but their target released the first and swept the second¡¯s feet out from under him. He let go of the staff¡ªwhich balanced on the street¡ª seized the third¡¯s gun, and twisted it out of his hands. A simultaneous whip of an open palm sent him flying back three meters.


    The man¡¯s motions were so smooth, they could¡¯ve been the master¡¯s from that old movie. Ken gawked.


    In that, he was just like everyone else in the room.


    While the second peacekeeper rolled onto his side and the first staggered to his feet, the stranger went over to the third¡¯s prone form and seized his wrist. The monitoring room went utterly quiet. In the display, the onlookers covered their mouths in a collective gasp. Many turned their heads away.


    Ken winced at what was about to happen. The heroes of old weren¡¯t supposed to really hurt anyone, let alone a helpless¡ª


    The man withdrew a pouch from the fold of his cloak, removed something from it, and flicked his fingers in several places over the unconscious Peacekeeper¡¯s body.


    ¡°Computer, pan in on Peacekeeper 90210,¡± the major said, breaking the silence.


    The pair grew in size. Something straight and shiny protruded from the peacekeeper¡¯s hand, shin, and forehead.


    Needles?


    With a light groan, the Peacekeeper stirred.


    Ken joined in in the collective gasp. Though only he, because of his love of old media, knew of this medicine, ancient even to Age of Greed. The stranger was an acupuncturist.


    Just like the master in the movie.


    ¡°Captain Oyama,¡± the major barked. ¡°Send a team to extract the Peacekeeper on the ground, and apprehend the suspect.¡±


    Captain Keiko saluted, turned on her heel, and gestured her men along.


    She paused and met Ken¡¯s eyes, then gestured to where shattered glass lay in a puddle of water. ¡°Please clean that up.¡±

 Chapter 2: The Cultivator

    Chapter 2


    In the nearly eight hundred years since Ishihara Ryu had crossed into the World of Rivers and Lakes, the land of his birth had changed. The floating vehicles didn¡¯t come as a surprise; they¡¯d been conceptualized back then. Nor was it the shiny metal skyscrapers in a city which had once taken pride in its ancient roots.


    No, it was the people.


    Beyond the fact that someone was picking their nose in public, nobody looked Japanese.


    Well, the middle-aged woman sweeping the streets did; but besides her, everyone looked to be in their mid-twenties, with a ubiquitous beige skin tone, dark spikey hair, and eyes of varying shades of brown. The latter fact, in itself wasn¡¯t bothersome: it meant that in eight centuries, mankind had finally gotten past superficial distinctions of race, color, and nation.


    No, more disconcerting was their awful taste in clothes. His eyes ached at the garish colors, and the zigzag cuts didn¡¯t seem to follow any symmetrical pattern.


    The most perplexing fact was that beneath their outward fa?ade of good health lay a fragility in their Three Treasures. Their Ki Energy trickled, their Sei Essence lacked foundation, and their Kokoro Spirit wavered.


    A simple Splashing Hand shouldn¡¯t have injured his third attacker so grievously, certainly not when his composite armor had absorbed most of the blow. Bystanders had just stood and gawked, nobody willing to intervene on behalf of these poor warriors. Had he not unblocked his victim¡¯s meridians with acupuncture, the man might¡¯ve died in a few years.


    At least the soldiers were determined.


    The first, whose wrist ligaments he¡¯d sprained, had gained his feet, while the second shouted and charged.


    Trying not to yawn, he spun away from the man¡¯s punch, and sent him tumbling head over heels with a Crashing Wave shoulder butt. He held back though, so that the force cracked through molded chest plate, and maybe a bone or three. Well, they¡¯d both be all right, with nothing more than a few fractures and bruised egos.


    The first, however apparently wanted more. These modern warriors were low-key cute, like the village children who were first learning to circulate their Ki.


    Though, why they¡¯d attacked him, he couldn¡¯t fathom.


    Who assaulted visitors asking for directions? Maybe the village elders were right: that beyond whatever technological advancements mankind might¡¯ve made, these people were morally and culturally bankrupt.  It was all the more reason he couldn¡¯t fail in his mission to keep the portals between here and the World of Rivers and Lakes hidden.


    The remaining warrior tucked his chin behind his fists and hopped back and forth on the balls of his feet. He looked very much like the boxers of Ryu¡¯s youth, before the sport had been banned for of all things, barbarism. He¡¯d watched in on television, and now marveled how there weren¡¯t any screens anywhere in this city. Of all the things that had changed from his youth, it was the lack of screens among the otherwise sparkling towers, dancing lights, and floating cars.


    He let out a sigh and held out a hand. Words in a language he hadn¡¯t used in what, seven hundred and sixty years? came out haltingly. ¡°I no want fight.¡±


    ¡°Surenda, hands on your head,¡± the warrior shouted, still dancing.


    Hands on head. That, he could do, and maybe the warrior would spare himself an injury. Maybe they¡¯d even guide him to Honnoji. Whatever the first word meant, well, English never really interested him in junior high school. He kicked up his staff, caught the butt end on his toe, and balanced it.  He then put his hands on his head.


    On, the stubble. He¡¯d need to ask about a razor, since he¡¯d already gone a week without shaving his pate as all good Fourth-Rank Water Path Cultivators should. He¡¯d also needed to find comfort in the warm embrace of a woman if he were to replenish his Yin energies¡­


    Though¡­ considering how gorgeous all the women were, he¡¯d probably spill his seed for the first time in eight hundred years and weaken his Sei. And even if he could control it, if modern women were anything like these warriors, their fragile Yin might not even fill his Hara core.


    Around them, the onlookers held up open hands with black circles in the middle of their palms.


    It was all coming back to him. In his youth, everyone carried around mobile phones, and recorded everything from their children¡¯s first steps to idiots trying to launch themselves on bicycles over flaming cars.


    ¡°Drop the sutafu,¡± the man yelled.


    What was a sutafu? Ryu cocked his head.


    With a shout, the warrior charged in. Jab, cross, hook, cross, lead uppercut, rear uppercut, hook¡­ it was a decent combination which Ryu avoided with Six Harmony bobbing, lest the man hurt his fists. On one foot like a crane, trying to balance his staff on the other foot, it was almost like his Second-Rank Earth Path training seven centuries ago! Only that had also included avoiding No Shadow Kicks and Water Whips.


    The warrior disengaged, his expression looking as lost as an unranked Initiate trying to gather his Ki in his Hara for the first time, only to piss over himself. ¡°How are you doing this?¡±


    ¡°May I?¡± Ryu lifted his hands from his head, slowly, lest his opponent panic and release another barrage of futile attacks. He then pointed at the man¡¯s feet. Sadly, the next concepts were hard to explain in English. ¡°Foot. Must root. Like Tree.¡±


    His opponent froze, perhaps trying to absorb the valuable, if rudimentary lesson. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°No root, no balance, no power. Remember you fall?¡±


    The man¡¯s expression twisted, and was again hopping on his tiptoes.


    Some lessons just had to be taught the hard way.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Ryu kicked his staff into the air, and then, as his opponent tracked it with his eyes, ducked down and swept his feet out from under him, yet again. Ryu whirled back up, and before the man hit the ground, slammed his palm down with a Splashing Hand technique. Unlike the first time, he transferred his force to the surface only, shattering the plastic breastplate but not fracturing any bones or damaging any organs.


    He reached out and caught the staff.


    The onlookers all gasped and pointed.


    Smiling, he dipped in chin in a perfunctory bow. He searched his memory for the words in English. ¡°Temple. I go. Temple. You know?¡±


    They exchanged glances and whispered among themselves, fingers pointing every which direction.


    Of course. He let out a sigh. Last time he¡¯d been in Kyoto, hundreds of years before the Onslaught, there¡¯d been hundreds, if not close to a thousand temples, and an equal number of shrines. As soulless as these people seemed to be, they probably didn¡¯t know the difference between the two.


    ¡°Ishihara Ryusuke!¡± a female voice called.


    His heart soared.


    Someone knew his name. He turned.


    Six men, led by an exquisite woman, marched through the bystanders as they made way. Unlike the first three, who¡¯d worn composite plating, these seven were all dressed in what looked to be  grey yoga pants and wicking compression shirts. Holstered pistols hung from their belts, along with several other devices. Three of the men knelt by the fallen warriors.


    Ryu closed his eyes and curled his toes through his boots into the pavement. There was enough moisture in the air connecting them all for him to sense their Ki.


    All fragile.


    In fact, none of the people he¡¯d sensed so far¡ªsave for the middle-aged street sweeper¡ª would even rate with the unranked Initiates back home.


    The pretty leader held up a fist. Her companions halted, drew their weapons, and aimed at him. She raised opened one hand and raised the other, in a gesture of surrender.


    When she spoke, it was in halting, heavily accented Japanese. ¡°I have a translator. May I?¡± She brushed her hand from her ample bosom toward his feet.


    The six others didn¡¯t look as if they planned on doing any translating, and sadly, she probably wasn¡¯t offering what her sign language had suggested. Still, Ryu bowed his head and beckoned her forward. Though her gait remained confident, she extended a tentative hand toward his head. A black dot was attached to her index finger.


    It could be just about anything, and considering how weak all the electromagnetic waves permeating the city made him feel, maybe it was a weapon.


    He caught her wrist. ¡°What is it?¡±


    There was nothing but sincerity in her tone and expression. ¡°Translator.¡±


    Oh, so it was a technology. A.I. translations had progressed during his youth, but had not yet made the leap to capture the nuance of human expressions. Ask a computer for basic information, sure; but at least back then, it wouldn¡¯t be able to tell the parse difference between hardware and what he¡¯d like to do with her. But who knew, a lot could change in eight hundred years. Releasing her wrist, he nodded.


    She pressed her finger to his ear, then spoke. ¡°Do you understand what I am saying?¡±


    The sounds of her voice didn¡¯t match the movement of her lips, a little like the vintage Hong Kong movies he¡¯d watched as a child on analog VCR technology. It was those videos that had sent him on his journey to the World of Rivers and Lakes, in fact.


    ¡°Do you understand what I am saying?¡± she repeated.


    He nodded. ¡°Yes, do you understand me?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Her tight expression softened, making her look even more beautiful. ¡°I am Captain Oyama Keiko.¡±


    So she had a Japanese name, despite not looking Japanese. He bowed. ¡°I am¡­¡±


    ¡°Ishihara Ryusuke.¡±


    ¡°Please, call me Ryu.¡± Grinning in spite of himself, he bowed.


    ¡°I need you to come with me.¡±


    He gestured at the six men surrounding him. ¡°I have a feeling that isn¡¯t a request?¡±


    ¡°No. But it will be easier on everyone if you come peacefully.¡±


    The air crackled and a shadow blotted out the sun. Ryu looked up.


    Two large figures plummeted from the skyscrapers. They landed to either side of him. The impact shook the ground and sent webs of cracks rippling through the concrete. They stood head and shoulders taller than him, and twice as broad. Their polymer plated armor made them appear even larger. A six-barreled minigun sprouted from a compartment in one¡¯s forearm, though without any feeding belts of ammunition.


    The onlookers who had the presence of mind to flee did, though most screamed and cowered and fear rooted them in place.


    ¡°On your knees, hands on your head!¡± One of the new behemoths ordered.


    A machine? No, behind the visored helm glared a pair of brown eyes. When Ryu gripped the ground with his toes and reached out through the moisture, he sensed the Ki, albeit weak, of a living being.


    ¡°No!¡± Captain Oyama grabbed at the one man¡¯s gun, pulling it down.


    With a snarl, the giant shoved her away, his brute strength sending her out of the circle of her soldiers and careening into the crowds. He raised his weapon again. ¡°On your knees. Hands on your head.¡±


    Ryu smiled. ¡°Sir, if you shoot and miss, you will hit these bystanders. Or your friend.¡± He dropped through the beefy arms of the soldier behind him, who¡¯d tried to wrap him up. Ryu back-rolled between his would-be captor¡¯s legs, popped up to his feet, and slapped both palms into the man¡¯s back with Splashing Hands.


    The armor shattered, and the man staggered forward, crashing into his comrade. The first extended his arm, and the minigun¡¯s six barrels whined as they started to spin.


    Did this man not care for the onlookers? Like all Cultivators on the Water Path, Ryu had trained the fundamentals of the Metal Path. Metal was the Mother of Water, after all, and even untrained Initiates started the rudiments of Iron Palm. He dashed in and rooted to the ground. Guiding Ki to his fingers, he knifed his hand into the whirling barrels. The weapon locked up and jolted free of the warrior¡¯s arm mount.


    And mangled Ryu¡¯s digits.


    Pain blossomed in four fingers. He took a deep breath and calm his mind with the Water Path¡¯s Placid Pool to block it out. He directed Ki up and down the six hand meridians and collaterals, sensing the pathways. No broken bones, just a few partially torn ligaments. Gritting his teeth, he yanked his hand back, minigun barrels still entangled in his fingers.


    The two huge men stared at him, looked at each other, and exchanging nods, turned on him. In unison, they clenched their fists, and twin blades of energy sprouted a meter and a half from their wrists. They closed with admirable speed, attacks coordinated in a flash of lights akin to an old sci-fi movie.


    Ryu lifted the minigun into the path of the blades, which severed the metal barrels like a newly sharpened sword through exposed flesh. With the cut so close to his hand, the weapon¡¯s heavy stock unbalanced his hand. Before the barrels hit the ground, Ryu flipped the minigun over. The next hack of the energy blade sliced through the gun¡¯s body.


    A flick of his wrist sent pain jolting through his fingers, but dislodged the mangled metal. He executed a back hand spring and landed out of range. One second was all he needed to focus. With his good hand, he drew water vapor out of the air. Bending it to his will, it coalesced into a molecule-thin whip and snapped it across the men¡¯s blade emitters. The light blinked out.


    In their moment of shock, Ryu used a Crashing Wave shoulder butt into the closest, shattering his armor and launching him into the second. Both landed in a heap six meters away.


    The remaining onlookers gasped.


    One of Captain Oyama¡¯s men was first to regain his wits. ¡°Take aim!¡±


    His comrades came out of their stupor and levelled their weapons at him. If they were so foolish as to fire, and he jumped over or ducked under, six innocent bystanders would be hit.


    ¡°No!¡± Captain Oyama¡¯s voice came out weak, from among the crowd.


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    Ryu had to protect the innocents, even if it meant getting hit. He reached into the fold of his robes, plucked a Hara Fortifying Pill from the interdimensional space in an internal pocket. He flicked the glowing green pearl into his mouth and swallowed. Warmth filled him, energizing his meridians and strengthening his core.


    Six beams of blue light shot out. As a Cultivator of the Path of Water, channeling the Path of Wood came easy. He rooted to the ground and sunk his stance. The energy surged through him, like the time when he was a stupid child and stuck a fork into an electrical outlet. He buckled to his knees. The edges of his vision blurred as all faded to black.

 Chapter 3: The Hacker

    Chapter 3


    Eighteen-year-old Aya was Earth¡¯s greatest criminal, and nobody even knew.


    Not her parents, who tried to pretend she didn¡¯t exist, while lavishing affection on her sister.


    Not the Sentinels which mistook her for one of them inside the EtherCloud.


    After all, they never saw her real body, the one which had the dubious distinction of belonging to the only Xhuman who ever hacked up phlegm.


    Turned out, she was quite good at a very different kind of hacking, as well. So much that she was the only civilian who¡¯d seen three dozen videos of Ishihara Ryusuke defeating two Shocktroopers.


    The raw footage.


    Not the edited story which the Government released. Witnesses knew to stick to that fiction. To do otherwise would mean their social score would sink so low, they couldn¡¯t even get a Purebred¡¯s job.


    While even the simplest AI could use one camera angle and extrapolate details into a 92.7% accurate 3D rendering, Aya had taken all available views and merged them into a 99.99997% accurate replay of the fight. Now, she rewound it back to Ishihara¡¯s confrontation with the Shocktroopers, and walked among them in the simulation.


    Her EtherCloud Avatar flickered, tethered as it was to her real body. ¡°Freeze,¡± she commanded.


    Gasping for air, she jacked out of the EtherCloud and returned to reality. Mucous was flooding her lungs. Coughs racked her body as phlegm scoured through her throat and filled her mouth.  She spat it out into a glass, leaving a salty aftertaste on her tongue.


    Aya heaved a few breaths as she looked around her lavishly furnished bedroom. She snorted. The decorations were a waste; but her parents figured that making her living space as luxurious as possible would keep her from leaving the house.


    Because in a world where all humans but the Purebreds had reached genetic perfection, Aya was a one-in-three-billion accident.


    She was supposed to have been just a bundle of engineered stem cells, a base from which to create designer hair color for the one who¡¯d become her elder sister. When her parents were ready to have a second child, an AI mistake in the embryo lab management system had led to her being implanted in her mother¡¯s uterus instead of a younger sister. By the time anyone realized what had happened, she¡¯d been born with an incurable disease that had been eradicated six centuries before.


    Back then, people still used pharmaceuticals; now, nanobots did the work, and the sole sufferer of an ancient disease wouldn¡¯t live long enough for a nanotech company to recoup its investment costs to program a treatment.


    At last, fresh air filled her lungs. The ten minutes of open airways in real time translated to what felt like a day in the EtherCloud. She jacked back in, leaving behind the limitations of her flawed body.


    Her Avatar, a black-haired beauty with honey-toned skin from her homeland¡¯s brutal past, reappeared in her firewalled EtherSpace, back in the simulation she¡¯d paused. Ishihara¡¯s stunningly handsome figure stood to one side, the two Shocktroopers on the other. At full speed, he¡¯d moved like a blur, faster than the Peacekeepers in their reflex-enhancing armor, and just as fast as the Shocktroopers in their power armor.


    ¡°Ai,¡± she said, fusing the letters for her Aritificial Intelligence assistant to sound like ancient Japanese word for love. ¡°Play at one-quarter speed.¡±


    As the scene repeated itself, she froze it in certain places. Ishihara didn¡¯t appear to be wearing any technology to enhance his speed or strength, but perhaps he was one of the Ministry of Defense assassins with internal wiring and a tenuous grip on sanity.


    His fingers had been injured in the minigun; and yet with the wave of his other hand, the Shocktroopers¡¯ blade emitters had just broken off.  She leaned in to examine the sheer cut in the tube.


    ¡°Reverse to timestamp 11:04:03:91.¡±


    The scene jumped back in time to where the first emitter failed. The cut was just appearing in the conduit.


    ¡°Magnify.¡±


    The image zoomed in, closer and closer with still no sign of what had disabled the Shocktrooper weapons. The resolution surpassed the several civilian videos that she¡¯d knitted into the replay, and was limited to the feeds from the Shocktroopers and Peacekeepers.


    ¡°Stop.¡±


    The image, caught by that bitch Keiko¡¯s camera, froze at the atomic level, where water molecules interlocked into a line, slicing through the emitter.


    No, that couldn¡¯t be.


    Because if what she was seeing was true, Ishihara could control water at the molecular level.


    It was supposed to be only theoretical, the technology in the experimental stage. And it didn¡¯t explain how Ishihara could move so fast.


    ¡°Ai, Zoom back to standard size and resume play.¡± She watched another second of fight, to where he jammed his fingers into the revolving minigun barrels. ¡°Pause. Zoom in.¡±


    Unlike the revelation of the water molecules, nothing on the surface showed just how he¡¯d been able to stop durastrium alloy rotating at 8000rpm. Thankfully, Government cameras included wide spectrum electromagnetic scans as well.


    ¡°Shift to X-ray CT and magnify.¡±


    Filaments of some kind webbed through the layers of his skin and muscle fascia. The protein structure of his ligaments and muscles looked strengthened by coiled proteins. Foreign minerals reinforced his bones, and his blood vessels¡­


    ¡°Cross-Reference.¡±


    Organic polypeptides in the subject¡¯s connective tissue, Ai¡¯s voice spoke in her mind. Images of the long-extinct orb spider flashed, along with the chemical structure of its silk. Several different iron alloys made up the network in the subject¡¯s skin.


    How was this even possible? If Aya¡¯s Avatar could gasp, she would¡¯ve. After spending so much time snooping around the Government¡¯s classified regions of the EtherCloud, she, of all people should¡¯ve already known if these theoretical technologies were already being integrated into prototypes.


    She would¡¯ve gasped again. There were no signs of artificial wiring to explain Ishihara¡¯s speed. Nothing non-organic in him.


    This was all genetically engineered. There was no other explanation for Ishihara¡¯s abilities. Maybe the next iteration of the Shocktrooper? After the Onslaught, they¡¯d been instrumental in repelling platoons of Tivarae landing forces. Perhaps Mankind was preparing for the next hostile alien species.


    But who? The Elestrae? With a lifespan over thrice that of humans, and the ability to channel Istrium radiation, they¡¯d become a formidable enemy if their alliance ever fell apart.


    Though that didn¡¯t make sense, either. Ishihara had to be at least thirty, meaning which they¡¯d begun working on him a long time ago. Unless they¡¯d sped up his maturation, like the early Shocktrooper models. That would explain his apparent age.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    For now, this would be her working theory:  he¡¯d escaped from wherever they were developing him, and the Ministry of Defense had sent Shocktroopers to capture him before the Peacekeepers got ahold of him.


    Well, now that she knew this shadow program could possibly exist, she¡¯d uncover it. On a command, she shed the virtual kimono and donned the Carapace of a Government Sentinel. Unlike a Cloak, which could make her invisible to anything on private corporate serverspaces, but not to Government Sentinels, the Carapace would allow her to hide in plain sight. With a wave of her hand, she opened a portal in her firewall to the Peacekeeper server network, and stepped through.


    Besides several lumbering, mantis-like Sentinels, and tentacled Filers, the only other beings buzzing along the serverspace were the pixelated Avatars of real people, operating in Real Time. Aya almost felt sorry for them. In the real world, they¡¯d be swiping their hands left and right, viewing output thousands of times slower than her. Only a handful of hackers had figured out how to program an interface that allowed them to experience the data like her.


    Ignoring them, she tracked Ishihara from the point of his capture, an hour ago in real time. They¡¯d taken him to the closest Peacekeeper facility. Coincidentally, that was just a block away from home at the Kyoto Central Peacekeeping Headquarters.


    The Ministry of Science had put in a request to transfer him to New San Francisco Bioengineering Laboratories. Unlike the hour-long shuttle civilians might take, the Government¡¯s a high-altitude, sub-light transport would get him there in about three minutes. Of course, without the need for inertial dampeners to combat the laws of physics in the real world, her Avatar could cross the space between the servers in a thousandth of a second.


    Now, though, instead of going to San Francisco, all she had to do was hop over to Kyoto Central Peacekeeping Headquarter¡¯s server.


    There, Ishihara¡¯s file glowed like the sun as a thousand authorized Avatars accessed it. The vast majority were Peacekeepers, but some were marked as the Ministry of Science and Technology. As of yet, none of the Avatars appeared to come from the Ministry of Defense; but if they¡¯d sent Shocktroopers to fight Ishihara, they surely knew about him.


    Since a Sentinel wouldn¡¯t access a file, and real Sentinels would investigate if she removed her Carapace, she created a copy of her Sentinel shell and programmed it to patrol around the file. Then, she Cloaked herself from the Filers and human Avatars. Though her hacking skills weren¡¯t good enough to stay invisible to the Sentinels, they¡¯d see her copy patrolling and head off to other partitions of the ServerSpace. Using this virtual sleight-of-hand, she slipped by and swiped a copy of the file. Then, she returned to her own firewalled ServerSpace and opened the package.


    Riffling through it, she discovered yet one more surprise: the Peacekeepers knew only a little more than she did. They had yet to discover the structure of his muscles and bones, and his ability to manipulate water molecules.


    Double checking to make sure the package was indeed the original classified files, and not a false trail, she proceeded to the DNA tests. Several had been run, from spectral analysis of skin to saliva testing.


    ¡°Analyze subject¡¯s DNA.¡±


    In a billionth of a second, her Ai flashed the results in her vision.


    No, this couldn¡¯t be.


    Ishihara¡¯s DNA lined up with that of other people.


    The only thing special about his DNA, when compared to a billion other samples, was that he was totally ordinary. Not even XHuman.


    He was Purebred.


    Aya flipped to the earliest files on him, which were dated from an hour ago in real time.


    The information appeared as brushed ink on rice paper. Which meant the Peacekeepers had dug deep to determine his identity. These were ancient files from three centuries before the Onslaught.


    An image of a birth certificate appeared, identifying him as Ishihara Ryusuke, born in 2015.


    He was nearly eight hundred years old!


    How was that even possible? Even with genetic engineering and nanotechnology, homo sapiens¡¯ maximum theoretical age was half that.


    Unless this was some elaborate hoax. No, fingerprints¡ªto think the ancients used such unreliable biometrics!¡ª and retinal scans all confirmed that this was indeed, a man from Age of Greed.


    Primary school reports showed he enjoyed something called Physical Education, though his poor health limited him; while Junior High School records noted he hated English¡ªnow the common language of Earth.


    And then, at age fifteen, all record of him disappeared.


    She froze. Poor health? She swiped over to his medical records. ¡°Vaccinations,¡± whatever those were, were ¡°up to date,¡± whatever that meant, and he¡¯d suffered a greenstick fracture of his tibia as a three-year-old.


    Then, the words burned on her virtual eyes.


    He had cystic fibrosis.


    Same as her.


    Could it be? She pulled over an image of her own DNA and had Ai compare it.  The gene regulating CFTR in both their samples overlapped.


    He shouldn¡¯t have lived to reach eighty, let alone eight-hundred. Everything she¡¯d read about the disease suggested that there had been no cure until CRISPR advances had allowed mankind to edit it out of the genome.


    In the real world, tears welled in her eyes, and it took all her concentration for her consciousness to remain in the EtherCloud. If he knew the cure¡­


    Not like she¡¯d want to live in the real world.


    What could it offer, beyond actual people with their unfathomable mores? Whereas the EtherCloud made sense. AI constructs followed logical patterns, and whatever she didn¡¯t like, she could program in her own firewalled space.


    Still, with healthy lungs, she¡¯d be able to stay in the EtherCloud indefinitely, tethered, but no longer chained to a frail body.


    Again donning a Sentinel Carapace, she opened a portal back to Kyoto Central Peacekeeping Headquarters and stepped through. Ishihara¡¯s file still glowed bright as yet even more authorized Avatars from Peacekeeper Facilities all over the world accessed it. Several Sentinels prevented Ministry of Defense Avatars from entering the server at all.


    No doubt, once someone near the top of the Peacekeeper hierarchy realized what they had, they¡¯d place the highest level encryption on it. That was a few levels beyond her level to crack. With no Sentinels monitoring the crowd, at this split second, she changed her Cloak to level five staff. Just high enough to access his files without drawing undo attention.


    A quick scan revealed Kyoto Central was keeping Ishihara in a low security medical unit. He was still unconscious, and staff continued to monitor and run tests. Yet once they¡¯d cleared him, they¡¯d likely transfer him to the top level holding area, which was the most heavily guarded, and also close to the sub-light transport.


    Swapping her Cloak for a Sentinel¡¯s Carapace again, Aya hacked into the medical unit¡¯s cameras.


    Ishihara lay on a bed, eyes closed, wearing nothing more than organic-fiber underpants and the Ballistrax restraints that secured him. Deliciously lean, toned, and hairless, he looked frail compared to the chiseled bulk of Shocktroopers. He might¡¯ve been mistaken for XHuman if he weren¡¯t so tall.


    His chest rose and fell. Curiously, his hands laid palms up, index fingers touching his thumbs. Even more curious, his injured hand looked like it hadn¡¯t just been mangled in the rotating barrels of a power armor minigun. Transdermal pads connected various points on his body sent data to several monitors on the otherwise sterile walls. What exactly they were monitoring, Aya didn¡¯t know, but she copied the data stream.


    ¡°Another one!¡± A nurse dressed in a high-collared white uniform threw up his hands and tossed a bent hypodermic needle onto a table with several others. He stomped off.


    For the moment, Ishihara was all alone. Well, save for the people connected to the EtherCloud, running tests on him.


    So far, they hadn¡¯t looked at his lungs, and this camera couldn¡¯t scan that deep. She switched to another angle, where the camera could do a chest CT.


    A young man in the high-collared grey suit of cleaning staff crept in, blocking the path. Mop in hand, he was undoubtedly Purebred, like all people in this line of work. He was quite good-looking for his kind.


    Still, he wasn¡¯t doing any mopping, and had no business approaching a patient, let alone a high-profile prisoner like Ishihara. Strange that they would allow him in there, instead of having a cleaning droid do the work. And he clearly knew where he was going.


    What if this was a disguise, and the man intended to harm Ishihara?


    Well, after what he had done to three Peacekeepers and two Shocktroopers, he probably had a lot of enemies.


    Taking active control of the camera, Aya zoomed in on the boy¡¯s nametag.


    Tanaka Kenataro.


    ¡°Confirm identity,¡± she commanded Ai.


    In a trillionth of a second, a copy of the tag, biometric data, and other forms of identification popped up. This was indeed Tanaka Kentaro, or else someone as good as her had hacked the Government¡¯s databases to falsify his information and steal his identity.


    And who would want to steal a Purebred¡¯s identity?


    And what would a Purebred custodian want with Ishihara? Was it just pure curiosity?


    Ken¡¯s expression showed no sign of ill-intent. No, it was of pure wonder. He placed a hand on Ishihara¡¯s forehead.


    Lights flashed in the EtherCloud representation of the server. A remote viewer based in New London¡¯s Peacekeeper Headquarters had seen Kentaro and was now double-checking. Maybe he wasn¡¯t supposed to be there at all, and he certainly should be touching Ishihara.


    Still, he showed no sign of doing harm.


    Aya¡¯s curiosity got the better of her. Hands moving furiously, she made a virtual copy of Kentaro turning back to the door, while masking the real Kentaro. The alarm from the remote viewer shut off.


    Back in the room, Kentaro¡¯s hand still rested on Ishihara¡¯s forehead.


    Ishihara¡¯s eyes opened.


    The tether to her real body tugged. In order to follow Ishihara on the camera, she¡¯d slowed her perception to Real Time, and now her lungs were filled with mucous.


    Just when it looked like Ishihara was going to speak.


    To Purebred, no less.


    And outside of the EtherCloud she wouldn¡¯t be able to shield their conversation from other prying eyes.

 Chapter 4: The Purebred

    Chapter 4


    For all his seventeen years, Ken was either unseen or treated like a pet by the XHumans. Now, here in front of him lay a man who was genetically closer to his kind, and yet was superior to the XHumans in at least two or three ways.


    Which was why Ken had risked his job, and maybe even more, to come here.


    Earlier, he had taken his time cleaning the broken glass in the monitoring station, taking advantage of his menial duties to watch as Master Ishihara Ryusuke had overwhelmed two Shocktroopers before finally being subdued by six Peacekeepers. As always, Ken¡¯s cultural invisibility had served him well, because he¡¯d overheard they were bringing him here, of all places, to make sure he survived.


    Now, Master Ishihara was here in Kyoto Central, along with the first three Peacekeepers. Rumor had it they were unconscious, but didn¡¯t seem to have been grievously harmed. A Ministry of Defense team had scooped up their own Shocktroopers and taken them to who knew where.


    Technically, Ken wasn¡¯t prohibited from entering the medical unit. In fact, it was on his cleaning schedule; just not today. Still, common sense said he shouldn¡¯t be approaching a high profile prisoner, let alone touching him.


    Of course, no XHuman would ever accuse a Purebred of having common sense, and that would be his excuse if someone saw him. A big if, because the Peacekeeper standing guard outside the room hadn¡¯t bothered to stop him from going into Master Ishihara¡¯s room.


    Every nerve prickled as he approached. The stranger¡¯s lack of clothes revealed a slim body, not unlike the XHumans; yet, he¡¯d overpowered heavily-muscled Shocktroopers in strength and speed enhancing power armor.


    Well, in the old movies, the masters all shared a similar build, and always managed to defeat some hulking brute of an enemy. Ken placed a hand on the man¡¯s forehead.


    Master Ishihara¡¯s eyes opened.


    Ken¡¯s soul just about jumped out of his body. He jerked his hand back.


    ¡°You have questions,¡± Master Ishihara said in a low whisper.


    Ken nodded. ¡°I do, Master.¡±


    ¡°I am one rank short of that title, and I¡¯m not your teacher. You may call me Ryu.¡±


    Rank? His clothes hadn¡¯t had insignias like the Peacekeepers and Shocktroopers. Ken tasted the name Ryu on his mouth and decided it was inappropriate address for someone so exalted. ¡°Yes, Master Ishihara. Your humble servant is Tanaka Kensuke. If it is your wish, please call me Ken.¡±


    ¡°Ken.¡± Master Ishihara harrumphed. ¡°First, I have a question for you: you are not like the others. Your Sei Essence has Foundation. Your Ki Energy flows. Your Kokoro Spirit is firm. Why are you different?¡±


    If not for all the ancient movies Ken had watched, this would all be gibberish. Of course, it¡¯d all been terminology from fantastical legends, and nothing related to his boring existence. And to think at least in this, he was better off than XHumans. ¡°I¡¯m Purebred,¡± he answered.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Master Ishihara turned his head as much as the restraints would allow.


    Ken placed a hand over his heart. ¡°My people were never genetically engineered.¡±


    Understanding bloomed in Master Ishihara¡¯s expression. ¡°Ah, that would explain why everyone else is so fragile.¡±


    Fragile? Ken scratched his head. XHumans were the epitome of health and longevity, as perfect as Homo Sapiens could be. And the Shocktroopers, they were giants of men, engineered soon after the Onslaught to fight hand-to-hand against the invading aliens.


    ¡°Why weren¡¯t you engineered?¡± Master Ishihara asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s different from case to case, but for me, my ancestors belonged to an Unclean class.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I remember such a concept.¡± Master Ishihara shook his head. ¡°But that was nearly a thousand years ago. You don¡¯t look that old.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re told the engineering of the human genome came in stages, and our DNA is too many stages behind current technology.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°But you!¡± Enthusiasm bubbled in Ken¡¯s voice. Ken studied the restraints. Made of flexible but near unbreakable Ballistrax, and secured with Durastrium. ¡°You¡¯re like us, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes. At the most fundamental level.¡±


    Most fundamental? What did that mean? ¡°I overheard them saying you are eight-hundred years old!¡±


    ¡°Give or take.¡± Master Ishihara shrugged.


    ¡°And you defeated two Shocktroopers with your hands.¡±


    ¡°Well, a little more than just hands.¡±


    Hope rose in Ken¡¯s chest. ¡°If I help you escape, can you teach me?¡± All he had to do was acquire the keychip.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Ryu grinned. ¡°I can escape by myself.¡±


    Impossible. ¡°Then why are you still here?¡±


    ¡°Whatever they hit me with, drained me. I needed to replenish my Hara with Ki, and wait for my hand to heal.¡±


    Ken¡¯s gaze shifted to Master Ishihara¡¯s hand. Its fingers had been bent at strange angles after its encounter with the minigun, but now it looked normal.


    He shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s amazing you¡¯re even conscious after getting hit by six particle beams.¡±


    ¡°Particle beams?¡± Master Ishihara cocked his head.


    ¡°Yes, they disrupt your bioelectrical connections. At low levels, it¡¯ll slow you down; at higher intensity, it can kill you.¡±


    Master Ishihara let out a long sigh. ¡°What has mankind become?¡±


    With genetic engineering, nanobots, and technology¡­ ¡°Perfection.¡±


    ¡°Hardly. But I do need your help for something.¡±


    Yes! Ken nodded enthusiastically.


    ¡°The translator on my ear. Remove it.¡±


    ¡°Remove it?¡± Ken cocked his head. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to damage it.¡±


    Damage it? How? Ken removed the dot from Master Ishihara¡¯s ear.


    ¡°San Kyu,¡± he said, sounds now matching the movement of his lips. ¡°Stando backu.¡±


    Bobbing his head, Ken backed to the wall.


    With a deep breath, Master Ishihara¡¯s chest, arms, and legs expanded. The holoscreens blinked out. All of the restraints snapped.


    Closing his gawking mouth, Ken hurried over to pull the transdermal pads free. Maybe if he showed his enthusiasm and assisted the best he could, Master Ishihara would agree to teach him.


    ¡°What the¡ª¡± a voice cursed from the doorway.


    Ken turned.


    A Peacekeeper stood there, gawking for a split second before levelling his gun and yelling, ¡°Prisoner has broken out of his restraints, I need backup.¡±


    Ishihara sat up.


    The Peacekeeper squeezed the trigger of his weapon. A blue line appeared, passing through where Master Ishihara had been just a split second before and passing through one of the holoscreens. Its projector fizzled and popped.


    Ken looked left and right.


    Master Ishihara stood over the unconscious Peacekeeper. He turned to Ken and spouted out gibberish.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Speak in Earth-tongue!¡±


    Rolling his eyes, Master Ishihara pointed to his ear, then to the translator in Ken¡¯s hands.


    Oh. Ken hurried over and affixed it.


    ¡°Thank you. Now, where are my things?¡±


    In Ken¡¯s excitement, he hadn¡¯t bothered to find them. However¡­ ¡°They are probably on the third level technology labs for examination.¡±


    ¡°What level are we on now?¡±


    ¡°Sublevel five.¡±


    ¡°How do I get to the third level?¡± Master Ishihara asked.


    Ken shook his head. Besides the fact it might as well be a maze¡­ ¡°It¡¯s heavily guarded. I can get you new clothes.¡±


    ¡°I like mine.¡± Master Ishihara punched toward the door, hitting a Peacekeeper as he ran in.


    How stubborn could the man be? ¡°You¡¯ll look good in today¡¯s clothes. With a good haircut, you¡¯ll blend right in.¡±


    Master Ishihara shuddered. ¡°I must retrieve something that was in my robes.¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be more valuable than your life.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s even more important.¡±


    Excitement stirred in Ken¡¯s chest. ¡°What is it?¡±


    Master Ishihara searched his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s something which will keep my village hidden.¡±


    Ken gawked again. A secret village! Probably with more people like Master Ishihara. Maybe with someone willing to teach a Purebred janitor.


    ¡°This place is a maze! You¡¯ll never find it without my help.¡± Was that true? Ken had clearance for the hallways to the medium security zones, which included the technology lab.


    ¡°You should stay here,¡± Master Ishihara said. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Ken held up a hand. ¡°Pretend to take me prisoner.¡±


    ¡°I hate to say this, but from what you¡¯ve told me, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll care.¡±


    No, the Peacekeepers probably wouldn¡¯t. Then again¡­ ¡°They don¡¯t treat us badly. They just sort of ignore us. And they make sure we¡¯re taken care of.¡±


    The master raised an eyebrow. ¡°I guess that is a theory we can test. Let¡¯s go.¡± He wrapped an arm around Ken¡¯s neck.


    His eyes just about bulged, and Ken slapped at Master Ishihara¡¯s forearms. No matter how slim the man¡¯s limbs were, they radiated power.


    ¡°Oh, sorry. It doesn¡¯t bother the village children.¡±


    So he was no better than a child where Master Ishihara came from.


    The master kicked at a table, sending several bent hypodermic needles into the air. He caught one, then hustled Ken out into the hall.


    Several Peacekeepers dashed toward them, particle guns in hand.


    The needle pressed against Ken¡¯s neck without penetrating.


    ¡°Stop,¡± Master Ishihara said. ¡°Or I will kill this boy.¡±


    The Peacekeepers froze, but still held up their weapons.


    ¡°He¡¯s lying,¡± a disembodied female voice echoed in the hall. ¡°We heard them plotting it.¡±


    Damn! Of course there¡¯d been visual and audio monitors in the room.


    The Peacekeeper sergeant pointed his gun at Ken and shot.


    Master Ishihara pushed Ken out of the way. More streams of blue light crisscrossed through the hall. The master zigged and zagged between them, his form little more than a blur. Then he was among the Peacekeepers, sending them flying against the walls and into each other.


    A control panel sparked and shot flames. Smoke rose, and the water sprinklers engaged.


    By the time Ken staggered to his feet, just in time to see a female nurse in a white, high-collared uniform sneaking up behind Master Ishihara with a hypodermic needle in hand.


    Ken lunged toward the back of her legs, but she sidestepped, sending Ken tumbling to the floor, yet again.


    ¡°Are you all right?¡± Master Ishihara asked without turning around.


    ¡°Yes!¡± And at the very least, Ken could protect the master¡¯s back. He climbed back to his feet and threw a punch at the nurse.


    Setting the needle between her teeth, she stepped closer, blocking his hand with one arm and attacking with the other. Her fist landed in his chest.


    Pain flared, and he coughed as he stumbled back.


    How foolish to think he could take out an XHuman with one punch, even if she were a head shorter than him. He charged again, this time swinging with a flurry of punches.


    With each one, she responded with a simultaneous attack and defense, battering Ken to the point that he wobbled on his feet and would¡¯ve fallen if not for Master Ishihara¡¯s supportive arm.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± Master Ishihara said/


    Ken¡¯s cheeks burned. ¡°But I didn¡¯t land a single hit!¡±


    ¡°Oh, I was talking about her.¡± Master Ishihara stood Ken up, then sidled past to the woman. ¡°I see Krav Maga is still practiced.¡±


    Whatever Krav Maga was, that¡¯s not the fighting style the Peacekeepers used. Ken was about to clear up the misunderstanding, when the nurse launched a quick punching combination, followed by a low kick. Master Ishihara swam through them all.


    ¡°My apologies for my inappropriate behavior,¡± he said, setting an open palm into her chest. Her knees buckled, and she fell.  He swept an arm behind her and lowered her to the floor.


    Ken had probably gawked more times today than he had in the last year.


    A blue particle beam stabbed through the air, and would¡¯ve hit Master Ishihara had he not spun out of the way.


    ¡°Ken, step away from Ishihara.¡±


    He craned past the master to see Captain Keiko. She held a pistol in either hand. Behind her stood at least ten of her elite tactical squad, their weapons levelled.


    The master nudged him away, and he stumbled to the wall.


    ¡°Surrender, Ishihara,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ve blocked this sector off with force fields.¡±


    Ken swallowed hard. He¡¯d only ever heard of internal force fields on spacecraft, used to reinforce hull breaches.  Now, they were trapped behind one.

 Chapter 5: The Cultivator

    Chapter 5


    Ryu studied the hallway. Force fields had been purely theoretical when he¡¯d last walked among the world of men, a futuristic concept seen only in sci-fi movies. But like everything else he¡¯d encountered, a lot could change in eight hundred years.


    Whatever else could be said about Captain Oyama¡ªwell, besides the fact she was gorgeous, and that he didn¡¯t mind being mostly naked in front of her¡ªwas that she had a good sense of tactics. Unlike the previous group of soldiers, who¡¯d shot at him, her unit now aimed their weapons in a spread that covered the width and height of the corridor.


    It could be a very big problem, or a very small one.


    Testing out his recently-healed hand, he flexed and extended his fingers. His Hara might only be at a quarter full.


    More than enough.


    Using his Intention, he projected his Ki toward control panel between him and the soldiers. A brief shower from the sprinklers had reduced the small fire to a few flickering sparks.


    As a Cultivator of the Water Path, the Fire Path was the hardest to learn: too intense training with flames would damage his Water; careless Cultivation of water might douse what Fire he had. In eight hundred years, he¡¯d only attained First Rank on the Fire Path.


    As feeble as that might be in the Land of Rivers and Lakes, it was infinitely more powerful than anyone here.  Unlike them, he could still stoke a spark into something bigger with little more than Ki projection.


    The control panel erupted into flames. The soldiers¡¯ eyes flicked to it, then back. The tension in their postures tightened.


    Then, the sprinklers sprang to life, sending streams of water into the hall.


    With a sweep of his hand, his Ki shot through the water, congealing them into darts which struck several of the soldiers. Several fired their guns, but enough space opened up that Ryu slipped between the beams.


    A second barrage started, but he waved his hands out. The sprinkler streams spread and flattened out into a wall. The beams dispersed on its surface.


    ¡°Sprinklers off,¡± Captain Oyama shouted.


    For whatever good that would do, there was already enough water in the corridor. With a flick of his finger, he sent a whip out from the water wall and swept the guns from the men¡¯s hands. With a slash of his hand, he thinned the whip to a monofilament and sliced them in half before they hit the floor.


    The soldiers on the other side stared at their hands, but the captain approached the water wall. Eyebrows clashing together, she tapped it with a finger and peered, her brow furrowing in the cutest way.


    Grinning, he bowed.


    Her lips squeezed into a tight line, and not for a kiss.


    He straightened and turned to Ken. ¡°Is there another way out?¡±


    The boy nodded like a happy dog wagged its tail, pointing toward another door. ¡°We have to go through a nurse station, but there¡¯s a service maglift on the other side.¡±


    Maglift, eh? ¡°Will that get us to level three?¡±


    If Ken shook his head any harder, he might give himself a concussion. ¡°It will get us to the ground floor, but then we¡¯ll have to go to the main lift junction.¡±


    ¡°Will we meet with much resistance?¡±


    Ken chewed on his lip.


    ¡°What about the force fields?¡±


    Wringing his hands, Ken shuffled back and forth on his feet.


    Right. Well, they¡¯d think of that as they went. Focusing on the wall of water, Ryu inhaled, using a basic Fire Path technique to draw out the heat. The wall solidified to ice.  ¡°Lead the way, Young Ken.¡±


    The young man¡¯s head bobbed up and down like a happy seal as he took off down the hall.


    Did seals still exist? They¡¯d been hunted to near extinction eight centuries ago. Ryu banished the silly thought and followed, watching as Ken skipped along. If the kid could actually calm down, all that nervous energy could be channeled into Cultivating the Fire Path.


    Really, from what he¡¯d sensed before, the boy had near unlimited potential to Cultivate, if he worked out the blockages in his meridians.  To start, he needed to root himself and focus. ¡°Straighten your spine and square your shoulders,¡± he called.


    Ken looked back, eyes wide like a puppy. When he tried to straighten his spine, it looked as if someone had shoved something somewhere it wasn¡¯t meant to go.


    ¡°All non-security personnel,¡± a disembodied female voice echoed through the hall like a ghost, ¡°shelter in place. Do not, we repeat, do not engage the prisoner.¡±


    Ryu grinned. That meant fewer obstacles. Indeed, every person they passed pressed their back against the wall and just watched.


    Ken might be as helpless as a newborn, but at least he knew his way around. They¡¯d taken a few turns, and for all Cultivation of the Five Paths was worth, it had never given Ryu a good sense of direction.


    After a few minutes of encountering no one, Ryu said, ¡°It looks like they aren¡¯t sending anyone to pursue us.¡±


    Shaking his head, Ken pointed to a spot on the wall. ¡°They¡¯re tracking us. Well, you. They¡¯re probably trying to contain paths of escape, and then close in once they figure out a way to stop you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Low-key disturbing.¡± Ryu scanned the spot, and even with eyesight that surpassed humans from his era, he didn¡¯t see anything. He nearly barreled into Ken, who skidded to a halt.


    ¡°Wait.¡± He turned and gaped. ¡°Low-key? Is that some kind of ranking where you come from?¡±


    ¡°Oh, hah. It¡¯s English slang from when I was a child. Abbreviations, slang, emoticons¡­ it was all a part of how we communicated across all the languages of the world. I guess a lot of terms fell out of use in the last eight centuries.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Ken resumed his walk, slower now. ¡°There was more than one language back then, wasn¡¯t there?¡±


    ¡°Hundreds,¡± Ryu said, gesturing for Ken to keep walking. ¡°But there was one country that was stronger than the others, and everyone in the world spoke their language. Some better than others.¡± His cheeks warmed. He was definitely one of the others in this case.


    ¡°We call your era The Age of Greed.¡±


    ¡°Sounds about right.¡± In its avarice, mankind had almost destroyed the world. Ryu¡¯s poor health had led him to his pilgrimage to the World of Rivers and Lakes early in life. He¡¯d never seen how humans had turned it all around and created¡­ this. Beyond the ripple effect of the Cataclysm, he knew very little of the world of his birth. ¡°How did we keep from going extinct during the Age of Greed?


    Still walking, Ken scratched his head. ¡°Our ancestors discovered alien technologies from thousands of years before, some hidden in plain sight. From that, the leaps and bounds in A.I. helped us find solutions. If I remember correctly, by 2300, most humans were genetically engineered. Mankind learned first how to travel faster than light speed, then fold space.¡±


    ¡°And then the world was at peace?¡± The futurists of his era had predicted as much. ¡°Is that why everyone except you looks the same?¡±


    Ken shook his head. ¡°Sadly, no. The world was so interconnected, and people intermingled like never before. But in this very city, a purity ideology took root, creating the Asiatic Empire. They started a war to ensure their bloodline remained undiluted.¡±


    ¡°Was that the Cataclysm?¡±


    Ken slowed a step and looked over his shoulder. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°When the Heavens rained fire, about four hundred years ago.¡±


    ¡°Oh, the Onslaught.¡± Shuddering, Ken spoke in a fearful tone. ¡°In our exploration into space, we met friendly races like the Elestrae, Eunanae, and Madaerae. We also encountered the Tivarae. Their galactic  empire had been at war with the Elestrae Confederation for tens of thousands of years, and were worried an Elestrae alliance with humans would alter the balance. They devastated every major city on Earth with orbital bombardments.¡±


    So the Cataclym had been alien weapons. Now Ryu shuddered. Back then, the effect rippled across the planes into the World of Rivers and Lakes, ravaging it with earthquakes. If not for the powerful Earth Path Sages, both his world and this one might¡¯ve been completely destroyed.


    Ken¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Something did come of it: nothing brings people together faster than an attack from the outside. People of all races and creeds united and made even greater advances in science. Like the Shocktroopers you fought: they¡¯re bigger and stronger, so they could fight the Tivarae hand-to-hand.¡±


    Ryu nodded. Those men had been so physically powerful, yet energetically bereft.


    ¡°And the weapons! We now have ones that can knock people unconscious without causing permanent damage.  Wait.¡± Ken halted and spun around. ¡°When they captured you, they hit you with six shots. Just now, there were far more, yet not a single one hit you.¡±


    ¡°A beam did graze me, actually.¡± Ryu brushed off a spot on his shoulder. ¡°It low-key tickled.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of anyone recovering so quickly after getting hit by one on the lowest setting. Even when you were hit by six beams, you woke up in an hour.¡±


    Ryu shrugged. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And this time,¡± Ken said, ¡°you were able to avoid the shots. Why did you let them capture you before?¡±


    Ryu put two palms over his core. ¡°Had I dodged those attacks, bystanders would¡¯ve been struck.¡±


    Ken¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°So you sacrificed yourself?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Code of Rivers and Lakes.¡±


    ¡°Rivers and Lakes?¡±


    Ryu nodded. ¡°The World of Rivers and Lakes is the world of martial Cultivators.¡±


    ¡°Like the Secret Societies from Imperial China?¡± Excitement rising in his voice, Ken made a sharp turn into a new hall.


    They looked just about the same, cold and sterile. Ryu touched the smooth wall. ¡°Yes. Like those groups, we lay both outside the margin of society and also hidden within.¡±


    ¡°Where is it?¡±


    ¡°Here, but not here.¡±


    Predictably, the boy looked confused. ¡°How so?¡±


    How to explain it? ¡°Imagine this place on the planet. Layers of reality are stacked on one another.¡± Ryu set one hand on top of the other.


    Ken looked no less bewildered.


    ¡°Same place, different realities. Where I¡¯m from, there¡¯s no gleaming city of concrete, glass, and lights, but a town of wood and dirt roads.¡±


    ¡°How do you get there?¡±


    Ryu studied the young man. ¡°There are portals.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to go to your world.¡±


    Ryu snorted. The boy wouldn¡¯t last long there.


    ¡°And what¡¯s this about a Code?¡± Ken asked.


    The kid sure had a lot of questions. Ryu chuckled. ¡°To quote a great muse from the¡­ what did you call it, The Age of Greed? With great power comes great responsibility.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of this. Who said it?¡±


    ¡°Stan Lee.¡±


    Ken¡¯s head rose and fell in slow bobs. ¡°I heard the men you fought weren¡¯t seriously injured.¡±


    ¡°No, part of the Code is that we do only as much damage as we need to, especially against those who have not yet started practicing Cultivation.¡± Ryu stopped, then pointed at a pair of doors up ahead. ¡°Is that a maglift?¡±


    With a wide smile, Ken nodded. He lengthened his stride¡­ only to fall back on his butt. He rubbed his nose. ¡°Ow!¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    Clambering to his feet, Ken reached out. His hands stopped flat, and he moved them up and down, side to side. Anyone on the other side would think he was doing his best impression of an Age of Greed mime.


    Ryu came up beside him and extended his own palm out.  It hit a flat surface, as if the air had become solid. ¡°What is this?¡±


    ¡°Another force field.¡± Shuffling on his feet, Ken slapped the invisible wall. Panic rose in his voice. ¡°What are we going to do? Their herding us into a trap. What¡ª¡±


    ¡°Wait. Stop fidgeting,¡± Ryu said. The boy¡¯s Hara gave him potential, but he¡¯d never amount do anything if he didn¡¯t stop and focus. ¡°Take a deep breath.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Just do it.¡± Ryu put one hand on Ken¡¯s belly. Beneath, his Hara had vast potential, but was near empty. ¡°Grip the floor with your toes, bend your knees, and tilt your hips forward.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°To anchor your Spirit. It will help you clear your mind.¡±


    Head bobbing up and down, the boy did as he was told, following the pressure of Ryu¡¯s hands to adjust his stance. He was actually a quick learner.


    ¡°All right,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s a dead end. We need to backtrack.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s another way,¡± came a sing-songy male voice behind them.


    Nobody ever snuck up on Ryu without him sensing their Ki. He spun around and threw a punch.


    His fist passed right through an impossibly handsome young man. His long, black hair was tied up in a topknot. His skin tone was lighter than everyone else¡¯s, and with his high cheekbones and large, angular eyes, he probably belonged to Ken¡¯s Purebred.


    Except that he wore white robes similar in fashion to Ryu¡¯s confiscated ones.


    Another Cultivator? It would explain how he¡¯d snuck up without Ryu sensing their Ki, and the white marked him as a practitioner of the Metal Path. Over the centuries, a handful of Cultivators had left the World of Rivers and Lakes for this world, never to return. This must be one of them, though his plain robes didn¡¯t mark a rank.


    Still, for Ryu¡¯s hand to pass right through him¡­ projecting an image of oneself while cloaking one¡¯s actual position was the providence of the Fire Path¡¯s Fourth Rank.  Very few people ever reached the third rank of another discipline. Certainly not a Metal Cultivator, who risked Scorching his Hara with the Fire Path. Which meant¡­


    This man must have transcended the Elemental Paths!


    For a Transcendent to be here meant he must know of Ryu¡¯s mission. Withdrawing his hand, Ryu set a fist into his other palm and bowed low. ¡°My apologies for attacking you, Great Sage.¡±


    Ken was just turning around, and Ryu reached out and nudged him into a bow.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± the Transcendent said, eyes roving over him.


    Okay? Transcendents supposedly used only formal wording. Then again, he must¡¯ve been in the mundane world for a long time and picked up some of their more unrefined language. And if Ryu weren¡¯t already almost naked, he¡¯d swear the Transcendent¡¯s eyes were undressing him.


    Ryu straightened, hands covering his manhood. ¡°I am¡ª¡±


    ¡°Ishihara Ryusuke.¡± The man returned the salute. ¡°I know.¡±


    Of course he did. ¡°May I know your name?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Forgive my impertinence, Great Sage. Do you know my mission?¡±


    The Transcendent¡¯s  expression betrayed nothing. ¡°Tell me.¡±


    Ryu looked sidelong at Ken. ¡°The boy says we are being watched.¡±


    Ken threw his hands up and waved his hands back and forth through the image.


    Such disrespect. Ryu pulled him back. ¡°You mustn¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a hologram!¡± Ken pointed up at the ceiling again. ¡°That¡¯s one way people communicate from long distance!¡±


    A hologram? Ryu scowled. ¡°Just who are you?¡±

 Chapter 6: The Hacker

    Chapter 6


    In her excitement to return to the EtherCloud, Aya had cleared her lungs as quickly as she could and jacked back in.  So much could¡¯ve happened in the few minutes she¡¯d been coughing out all the phlegm!


    Again donning a Sentinel Carapace, she returned to the surveillance partition of the Peacekeeper ServerSpace to scan for signs of Ishihara.


    It¡¯d been easy to follow the trail: the cameras lit up as dozens of users tracked the almost-naked Ishihara from his confrontation with Keiko, to his rampage through the medical unit.


    To her surprise, he¡¯d taken the Purebred, Kentaro, with him. After a few minutes, the way Ishihara touched Kentaro, it became clear why: he was attracted to the boy.


    Which is why when she appeared to them through the holo-projectors, she chose the guise of a handsome young man. Ishihara had been deferential, almost obsequious, believing her to be Transcendent.


    Within a virtual shell inside her Sentinel Carapace¡ªa risky multi-tasking proposition given the limits of her perception¡ªAi¡¯s search through old archives revealed that Transcendent was an old religious term for someone who¡¯d reached a spiritual pinnacle, unbound by Life and Death.


    Such superstition, yet one she¡¯d planned to use to her advantage.


    Now, though, it looked like Aya was about to lose all the trust she¡¯d started to gain. She bowed, or rather, the Transcendent¡¯s hologram bowed. ¡°I can help you escape.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to escape.¡± Ishihara shook his head. ¡°Not yet. I need my effects.¡±


    Within the shell, Aya darted back to Ishihara¡¯s file and opened it. A research team was in a high security third floor lab, examining all evidence from his fight with the Peacekeepers: a black robe, made from an extinct fiber known as hemp. A wooden staff, made from an extinct tree known as oak. And most curiously, several glowing marbles, made up of botanical compounds as well as bio-energetic radiation. Because of the latter, they¡¯d invited a science team from the Elestrae delegation in Kyoto to come examine the spheres.


    Another team was studying damage to the Peacekeepers¡¯ light armor, as well as the remains of the Shocktrooper¡¯s minigun. Meanwhile, correspondence between Governmental branches showed the Ministry of Defense was demanding the weapon¡¯s return, as well as access to Ishihara.


    To save Real Time, she took a snapshot of the lab and scanned past video. Aya returned to Ishihara and Ken, half-expecting to see the two locked in a passionate kiss. Of course, only a split-second had passed in real time away, and Ryu¡¯s mouth was half open, while Kentaro frowned at her.


    ¡°¡ªand why would you want to help me?¡±


    Because she needed to know how cure her lung disease, the one thing which kept her from staying in the EtherCloud indefinitely. Of course, she couldn¡¯t tell him that, since people from the Age of Greed didn¡¯t have an altruistic cell in their bodies. ¡°I want to tell your story. It will make us both rich.¡±


    Ryusuke looked down to his pet, who half-shrugged, half-nodded, before turning back to her. ¡°Just who are you? The truth, this time.¡±


    The truth. That she was a genetic mistake. No, he wouldn¡¯t take her seriously. ¡°I¡¯m a reporter with All News Network.¡±


    ¡°And you just appeared here?¡± Kentaro shook his head.


    ¡°I cover Peacekeeper affairs.¡±


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t let you use their projectors.¡± Kentaro waved a finger back and forth, pointing at the ceiling.


    It was a time for a half-truth. ¡°I¡¯m a hacker, too.¡± One who, beyond these two¡¯s sight, appeared as a Sentinel to the thousands of avatars and real Sentinels in the ServerSpace right now.


    ¡°Hacker?¡± Kentaro cocked his head, looking very much like a puppy.


    ¡°I remember those,¡± Ryu said. ¡°They were able to take control of electronic devices.¡±


    When did she start thinking of him as Ryu instead of Ishihara?


    Kentaro shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no such thing anymore.¡±


    If Aya¡¯s EtherCloud Avatar could laugh, she would. Despite her best efforts, her projection did. ¡°Watch this.¡± With a few waves of her hand, she projected a new image of Ryu¡­ no, Ishihara¡­ and Kentaro into the hall.


    Gasping, the man extended a finger, touched the image of himself, then jerked his hand back. ¡°There¡¯s nothing there.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve hidden you from their cameras, and I am sending these holograms back the way you came. That will give you some time to get to the main level.¡±


    ¡°What about the force field?¡± Kentaro went to lean against the invisible barrier, just as Aya deactivated him, sending him stumbling.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Ryu¡ª might as well think of him as Ryu¡ª chuckled.


    Face flushing hot, Kentaro pointed a finger at her projection. ¡°How do we know you aren¡¯t leading us into a more dangerous trap?¡±


    Ryu nodded. ¡°It¡¯s hard to trust someone whose name I don¡¯t know, and probably doesn¡¯t look the way he appears. For all I know, you¡¯re catfishing us.¡±


    Whatever catfishing meant. And a name¡­ she¡¯d have to assign Ai to research a good name. Aya threw up the Transcendent¡¯s hands. ¡°You don¡¯t have a choice, if you don¡¯t want to be caught. You have about three minutes to reach the exit before the Ministry of Defense Shocktroopers have Kyoto Central surrounded. And you¡¯ll still have to fight your way through anyone who can see you with their own eyes.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Ryu took Ken¡¯s hand, stirring Aya¡¯s jealousy, and pulled him toward the maglift.


    She activated the force field behind them, brought the maglift down to their level, and opened the doors. With a dubious eye, Ryu stepped in, and Kentaro followed.


    ¡°What should I call you?¡± Ryu asked, studying the Transcendent virile form waiting in the corridor.


    ¡°Ficus Religiosa,¡± she said, blurting out the first name that the AI suggested. Apparently, it was some kind of rare tree associated with enlightenment.


    Ken exchanged perplexed expressions with Ryu before turning back. ¡°What kind of name is that?¡±


    ¡°Bodhi,¡± she said a thousandth of a second after the Ai provided the common name of the tree. ¡°You can call me Bodhi. Now, wait a second while I scout ahead.¡± She released her control of the projector, closed the doors, and sent the maglift up toward the main level.


    For now, her lungs were holding up in the real world, and no one on in the ServerSpace suspected the Sentinel patrolling the surveillance and equipment partition was really an outsider. Commandeering the cameras, she scanned Kyoto Central¡¯s vaulting entrance hall. Dozens of Peacekeepers in unenhanced uniforms bustled about, several watching footage of the holograms of Ryu that she¡¯d projected into the medical wing. Six waited at the maglift, most likely on their way to reinforce their comrades. Their side arms remained holstered.


    With that information, she looked back into maglift camera, where Kentaro and Ryu stood as close as lovers. One of the elder¡¯s hands pushed on the kid¡¯s ass, while the other pressed his belly.


    If she didn¡¯t know any better, a pit of jealousy was forming in her real body.


    Maybe it was jealousy, because Ryu¡¯s lithe, but sculpted form was nothing short of magnificent, like the Constructs she programmed beyind her Firewall.


    ¡°Better,¡± Ishihara said. ¡°You need to tilt your hips forward to open up your Governing Meridian.¡±


    Was this some kind of weird kink? Shaking the notion out of her head, Aya spoke through the maglift¡¯s speaker. ¡°All right. I have information for you.¡±


    Both men startled.


    Ryu¡¯s head raked back and forth. ¡°Where are you, Bodhi?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± She transferred an image of the activity on the main level to another projector. ¡°There are six unsuspecting Peacekeepers waiting outside the maglift doors.  Another thirty-two are moving about the entrance hall.¡±


    Ryu eyes roved over the scene, expression somewhere between amazed and calculating.


    The doors slid open.


    The six unarmored Peacekeepers stood there, their chatter coming to an abrupt end. They reached for their side arms, but before they could draw, Ryu was swimming among them, slapping their bellies in a mesmerizing whirlwind of palms.  All six collapsed.


    The Purebred boy peeked out of the maglift, but ducked back when the particle beams from several of the remaining Peacekeepers crisscrossed the hall.


    None hit Ryu.


    How was this even possible? With swipes of her EtherCloud hands inside her virtual Shell, Aya recreated the hall from the current camera feeds, sped up her perception to slow time to quarter speed, and set her Avatar in the simulation.


    Ryu moved like torrent, never pausing as he spun through the shots as he closed the distance.


    Still, all it took was one shot. Maybe she could help him.


    ¡°Ai,¡± Aya said, ¡°Project me as a copy of Ryu on top of him, smooth my motions to imitate his.¡±


    In one-trillionth of a second, Ai¡¯s algorithms analyzed and compiled all of Ryu¡¯s motions up to now, then hacked the hall emitters to project an image of him. It was just like how she copied Sentinels in the ServerSpace. Aya shifted her perception to his hologram and slowed to half-time.


    Then, she stepped to the side.


    Everyone froze, gawking at the two Ryus, the real Ryu included. Once the Peacekeepers gathered their wits, the shooting resumed. Ten of the twenty-six beams were aimed at her projection. With her perception sped up, Aya dodged with ease. The Ai smoothed the hologram¡¯s movement so it resembled Ryu.


    Though she couldn¡¯t affect the material world directly, the distraction was all Ryu needed to neutralize the remaining Peacekeepers in a matter of moments. With all of them sprawling and groaning, the dirty little Purebred ventured out of the maglift and slunk over.


    Panning out of the simulation, Aya shut down all of the hall¡¯s cameras.  Around her, in the Serverspace, Avatars scrambled to bring them back on line, but their perception was limited by humans in real time. They were probably wondering why the Sentinels weren¡¯t trying to locate the source of the hack.


    Ryu turned to the projection. ¡°I thought only Masters of both Water and Fire Paths can create duplicates.¡±


    ¡°So can technology.¡± On a command, Aya changed her projection back to the Transcendent and grinned. ¡°Now, you had better get out of here.¡±


    ¡°I need my robes and directions to Honnoji.¡±


    Pulling her perception back, Aya scanned the ServerSpace. Accessing maps from this part of the system would be too obvious to a passing Avatar or Sentinel, and really, she was tempting fate running so many hacks for so long.


    She said, ¡°There are enough projectors between Kyoto Central and Honnoji for me to guide you there. We will need a plan to reacquire your clothes, though.¡±


    ¡°Come with me to Kujo.¡± Kentaro bent over to work a jacket off an unconscious Peacekeeper. ¡°It¡¯s very close, but there are fewer cameras there.¡±


    Aya couldn¡¯t keep the shock out of her voice. ¡°Those are the slums.¡±


    ¡°I seem to remember that, even back in my time.¡± Ryu slipped into the jacket, which squeezed tight. Its sleeves only went down to his forearm, and left a gap between its hem and the line of his loincloth, and his legs and feet bare. It might go over well in a kink club in Gion, but not in the streets of downtown Kyoto.


    Of course, it made sense that Ken, as a Purebred, would live in Kujo. And he did have a point: there were fewer cameras and patrols there.


    Aya¡¯s tether on her Avatar tugged. It was time to return to the real world to clear her lungs. ¡°I¡¯ve shut down all cameras between here and Kujo. I will start working on a plan to get your robes back, and find you in the slums.¡±


    Just as she unjacked from the EtherCloud, colors flashed from Kyoto Central¡¯s outdoor camera feed.


    A team of six Peacekeepers had just let through a delegation of pointed-eared Elestrae, while blocking the advance of ten soldiers from Ministry of Defense.

 Chapter 7: The Purebred

    Chapter 7


    No sooner did the hologram monk disappear, than Ken started to blow out a sigh of relief¡­ only to straighten his spine when Master Ryusuke glared. Whoever was behind Bodhi might not have the best of intentions¡ªthe whole story about a journalist monitoring Peacekeeper activity sounded too suspicious.


    Still, a little part of Ken had to admit, their mysterious benefactor had been far more help in their escape from the bowels of Kyoto Central than Ken had ever been.


    This, after Master Ryusuke had apparently started teaching him!


    He had to prove his worth now, if he were to have any hope of going deeper into true martial arts. Trying to maintain correct posture, he picked his way through the unconscious Peacekeepers.


    The steel front doors parted, letting in the damp scent and pattering of rain.  Pushing past a cordon of Peacekeepers, who apparently had yet to learn about Master Ryusuke¡¯s escape, was a male officer. Three shorter, pointed-eared beings in silken robes and glistening jewelry followed, striding in with the grace of poetry made tangible.


    Ken had never seen an Elestrae in person, let alone three, since they very rarely left their embassy compound. He couldn¡¯t suppress his gasp. Their long, billowing hair ranged from bright gold to lustrous silver, and large, almond-shaped eyes of emerald, sapphire, and amethyst.


    Ever since their species met four hundred years ago, humans had idolized¡ªno, envied¡ªthe Elestrae for their long lives, ethereal beauty, and ability to manipulate Istrium radiation. No amount of DNA manipulation could recreate their eye and hair color, at least not without leading to severe genetic defects.


    ¡°Fairies,¡± Master Ryu droned, eyes fixed on the female the golden-haired female.


    Fairies? Those mystical beings appeared in the 2D Asian media of the 1960s, and enjoyed a resurgence in the 2010s. The Elestrae were decidedly not fairies. Ken shook his head. ¡°They¡¯re aliens.¡±


    ¡°Aliens? No, they¡¯re daughters of the Gods, who have settled in the Land of Rivers and Lakes.¡±


    Gods? Ken buried a chuckle. ¡°Just where is this land?¡±


    ¡°Here, there, everywhere,¡± said Master Ryu, waiving his hands in circles. He pointed up. ¡°Just not up there.¡±


    The where seemed to fit with the master¡¯s earlier description of planes stacked on planes.  However, he master didn¡¯t know everything. Ken shook his head. ¡°We met the Elestrae in Alpha Centuari in 2392. They¡¯ve told us how they first evolved on a dense planet orbiting a White Dwarf. The crushing gravity had made them short and squat. The unforgiving ultraviolet light killed off all those who couldn¡¯t heal quickly. When they formed a symbiotic relationship with spacefaring creatures, they¡¯d escaped that hell of a planet and colonized others. Then, their DNA allowed them to grow tall, thin, and healthy.¡±


    Master Ryu¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, there are immortal beings who look just like them in the Land of Rivers and Lakes. And these radiate so much power, I can detect their Cultivation level.¡±


    Cultivation?  Were the fairies in the Land of Rivers and Lakes farmers? Ken started to shake his head¡ª


    ¡°Is that him?¡± The silver-haired male pointed his chin at Master Ryu.


    The Peacekeeper froze, then surveyed his fallen comrades with wide eyes. He drew his sidearm. ¡°What¡­ what happened here?¡±


    Master Ryu bowed to the female. ¡°Your Illustriousness, Your Humble Servant apologizes for the mess he has made.¡±


    Ken cocked his head. The Elestrae must¡¯ve been just as confused, the way they exchanged bewildered glances with each other.


    The Peacekeeper shot. The blue trail of plasma sped through the spot Master Ryu would¡¯ve been, had he not shifted his position.


    ¡°He¡¯s the one you caught.¡± The female Elestrae clasped the stone of her necklace.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The Peacekeeper squeezed off another futile shot.


    Still not coming out of his respectful bow, Master Ryu dodged again, then looked to Ken. ¡°Stand there. Knees slightly bent, arms relaxed in front of you as if you were hugging a tree.¡±


    In the middle of a fight? Ken stared incredulously.


    ¡°Tuck your tailbone and grip the floor. Like this.¡± The master came out of his salute and demonstrated an upright stance.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Well, no one was shooting at Ken. As usual, he might as well have been invisible to the Xhumans and Elestrae, alike. He imitated the pose, or at least tried.


    Master Ryu clucked while pointing two fingers at Ken, then closed the distance between him and the Peacekeeper in the blink of an eye. He seized the gun, which folded like leaves in his grip. Blue sparks flew from the ruined casing.


    The Peacekeeper stared at the remains of his weapon for a moment, then swung a fist. Spinning around, Master Ryu¡¯s arms twirled, one catching the Peacekeeper behind the knees, the other in his chest.  The scissoring motion sent the poor man thudding into the ground.


    The three Elestrae all clenched pieces of jewelry, which glowed a light blue as they chanted.


    The sounds were so beautiful. Ken¡¯s heart ached, even as his mind screamed at him. Their jewelry was most certainly made of Istrium, and if it was glowing, they were about to unleash some power. He came out of his stance. ¡°Master, they¡¯re about to channel!¡±


    Master Ryu turned back to him. ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°It means they might throw fire, lightning, turn you into a spider¡­ they can bend reality!¡±


    The master dropped into a low fighting stance, hands raised. The chanting stopped, and Ken braced for whatever would happen next.


    Nothing.


    The Elestrae exchanged glances with each other, then turned to Master Ryu and pressed their palms together and bowed.


    ¡°We have no quarrel with you.¡± The female extended her hand toward the exit.


    Just like that? Ken eyed them for a long moment before looking to the master.


    Coming out of his stance, Master Ryu returned their salute. ¡°Thank you.¡± He took Ken by the arm as he walked by, heading toward the front steel doors.


    They slid open at his approach, letting in a warm breeze and the hammering of a rain on flexcrete.


    Ken jumped back.


    Six Peacekeepers with drawn particle guns stood with their backs to the exit, their enhanced skinsuits soaked by rain.


    They might not be a threat this second, but facing them were ten, no, twelve soldiers from the Ministry of Defense. Four shocktroopers in heavy power armor held both ends of the line. Most likely there for the intimidation factor, they were doing a good job.  Six more shocktroopers in enhanced light plate occupied the middle, assault rifles in hand. At the fore of the formation stood two XHuman officers in skinsuits, both male, their bare heads drenched by the downpour.


    ¡°Again, I¡¯m sorry,¡± the lead Peacekeeper said without a hint of apology in her tone. ¡°We cannot grant you access to the prisoner or his effects until our Ministry approves the request.¡±


    Ken chewed on the inside of his cheek. Unless Bodhi had hacked internal communications, surely every Peacekeeper from Kyoto to San Francisco to London would¡¯ve heard about Master Ryu¡¯s breakout. Was she just stalling?


    ¡°Our Ministry has waited long enough.¡± The MoD officer raised a hand.


    The soldiers took aim. Miniguns sprouted from the shocktroopers¡¯ power armor. The Peacekeepers responded by levelling their own weapons.


    Maybe this would be for the better. Let them fight each other, and it would be easier to esc¡ª


    ¡°How about if we tone down the hostilities.¡± Master Ryu shouldered past Ken and through the Peacekeepers, seemingly not to care that all he was wearing was underwear and a uniform coat. ¡°Nobody has to get hurt.¡±


    The Peacekeepers reached for him, but without even looking, he avoided their hands as he came to stand in between both sides, without a care in the world.


    The tension melted from Ken¡¯s shoulders. The master had only been taken prisoner because he didn¡¯t want bystanders hurt; now, it was two opposing factions that both wanted to recapture him and do who knew what.  He was going to avoid their shots and let them shoot each other.


    In a rattle of armor and swishing of cloth, both sides trained their weapons on him.


    ¡°What the¡ª¡± the female Peacekeeper said.


    ¡°You!¡± the MoD officer said, squinting through the rain. ¡°You¡¯re coming with us. Hands up.¡±


    Here it was, another superhuman display of martial ability about to unfold. Ken backed up, lest he get hit by a stray particle bolt.


    Master Ryu sighed. He raised both open hands.


    Ken gawked. Surrendering, just like that? After all it had taken to get him out of Kyoto Central? He¡¯d been serious about not wanting anyone to get hurt!


    With a slow, deep inhalation, Master Ryu lowered his arms as he closed his fingers into fists.


    Raindrops froze into sleet. The water on both Peacekeepers and Military iced up. Shocktrooper visors frosted over. Though the ones in power armor could move, their plates crunched at the joints. The rest could only turn their heads.


    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t move,¡± one said.


    Amazing.  With some effort, Ken was able to close his mouth.  To think, maybe one day, he could do something similar. He looked over his shoulder back through the open doors.


    The Elestrae stood just inside, eyes locked on Master Ryu as they huddled close and conferred among themselves. Their Istrium jewelry was glowing.


    Just what were they doing? Had they known about the standoff between the Peacekeepers and Military? They had to, since they had entered just moments earlier.


    Master Ryu followed his gaze. He pressed his palms together and bowed his head, then turned to Ken. ¡°Lead the way.¡±


    Looking back, Ken confirmed the Elestrae weren¡¯t following. He hurried south through the rain, with Master Ryu a step behind. With citizens now getting off work, the streets were packed with people. Enough had activated personal water shields to keep the rain off of everyone, at least until they made way and stared as he and Master Ryu hurried to the south.


    This was bad.


    Although the Government had suppressed news of the fight, and nobody outside of firsthand witnesses knew of Master Ryu at all, he stood out like a beacon in the middle of a storm. Here was a man, standing a head above everyone else, walking around barefoot, wearing only an ill-fitting jacket and underpants that might¡¯ve belonged to a sumo wrestler from history books. He would draw attention.


    ¡°I recognize this place.¡± Master Ryu pointed to Kyoto Station, a blocky silver monstrosity beneath the glittering skyscrapers. ¡°The train station. It hasn¡¯t even changed much.¡±


    ¡°On the outside, maybe.¡± Ken only knew about trains because of the opening credits to Once Upon a Time in China, and no one had used one since the Onslaught. It was amazing to think that the building had remained so similar that Master Ryu was able to recognize it after eight centuries.


    ¡°What¡¯s inside?¡±


    ¡°You have to see it to understand. We need to go in, anyway.¡± Ken scanned the area for Peacekeepers. Seeing none, he joined the moving, orderly lines of people filing briskly into the transport hub.

 Chapter 8: The Cultivator

    Chapter 8: The Cultivator


    Whatever else the boy said, the beings they¡¯d encountered in Kyoto Central were fairies. Though Ryu hadn¡¯t been able to discern their rank, he¡¯d gotten a sense of their vast Hara. All three had reserves even more immense than the only fairy he¡¯d ever encountered: an impossibly beautiful woman with large eyes and pointed ears, she¡¯d been head of sect which he¡¯d tried to join a decade after he entered the World of Rivers and Lakes.


    He shook the memories out of his head. How na?ve he¡¯d been in his youth, to think he¡¯d ever have a chance of sleeping with a fairy!  He turned back to Kyoto Station, now called Downtown Kyoto Transport Hub. So far, he¡¯d seen people walking, and levitating vehicles, but no trains or other types of mass transportation. Just how did people get around these days?


    Once they cleared the doors, he halted. The line behind him jumbled up in a cacophony of curses.


    The soaring ceiling of gridded steel beams looked the same as he remembered eight hundred years ago. All similarities ended there.  Instead of ticket kiosks and passageways leading to train platforms, there were dozens upon dozens of archways stretched across the center of the vaulting hall.


    People in their flamboyant fashions disappeared as they walked through arches on one side of hall, while more people appeared in archways on the other side.


    ¡°Come along, Master.¡± Kentaro gave him a tug.


    ¡°What¡­ what is this place?¡± Ryu said, resuming his walk.


    ¡°Folding space apertures.¡±


    ¡°Space¡­¡± Ryu stared so wide, his forehead hurt. ¡°You can go to other planets from here?¡±


    Covering his mouth, Kentaro shook his head. ¡°I guess that is possible in theory. However, this hub¡¯s geothermal generators can¡¯t produce enough energy to open a portal to China long enough for a person to make it through.¡±


    Geothermal? How fascinating. ¡°There must be hundreds of people using the portals at once. That must expend a lot of power.¡±


    Ken stared up for a moment. ¡°It takes minimal energy for one person to jump a short distance, and increases exponentially the further more mass travels. To move a starship across space, you¡¯d need a lot of Istrium with Aquaryl-Titanide amplifiers.¡±


    The kid might as well have been speaking Spanish, except it apparently didn¡¯t exist anymore. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of those.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re minerals that now are exceedingly rare on Earth,¡± Kentaro said. ¡°Engineers and Scientists studying alien relics think the Tivarae mined most of it thousands of years ago.¡±


    Tivarae. He¡¯d mentioned that word before. ¡°And who are they again?¡±


    ¡°Aggressive, blue humanoids with tusks.¡± Kentaro snarled and pantomimed fangs coming from his bottom line of teeth. ¡°They¡¯re the ones who caused the Onslaught. Anyway, the stones that glowed blue in the Elestrae¡¯s jewelry used was Istrium. It can generate a lot of energy, and the transparent Aquaryl and Titanide stones amplify it.¡±


    Ryu had noticed the blue glow when the fairies had tapped into their Hara. He¡¯d sensed them probing his Hara and Meridians. Had just one of them tried to disrupt his Ki, he wouldn¡¯t have been strong enough to resist¡ªunless he¡¯d swallowed one of the Meridian Fortifying Pills in his stolen robes first.


    They continued walking, past the portals.


    Ryu pointed at the archways. ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to Kujo?¡±


    Ken shook his head so fast, maybe he could generate the energy to propel a starship into the next galaxy. ¡°No, there aren¡¯t any portals there, and you don¡¯t have the nanochip that activates them. It¡¯s close enough to walk, anyway. We¡¯re just cutting through the shopping arcade, and maybe pick up some clothes for you.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a bad idea. The Peacekeeper jacket was chaffing, and everyone was staring at his bare legs. They continued down a ramp.


    ¡°You know,¡± Ryu said, ¡°You are quite excitable. Take deep breaths. Focus your intention.¡±


    Ken stared back for a moment before nodding like a dribbled basketball.


    Did they still play basketball? Ryu chuckled, but again froze as they came to the shopping arcade.


    If the pedestrians in their garish clothes had been eyesores, the rows and rows of the clothes, all so close together, were even worse. He had to circulate his Ki through his Liver Meridians to fight off a migraine.


    Unlike in his youth, there were no unrealistically slim mannequins modelling the clothes. Instead, as young woman walked by a store, a hologram of her appeared in a gaudy outfit and made a polite greeting. ¡°Anti-gravity cloth will make you feel like you¡¯re walking on clouds! Temperature control will keep you a constant 23 degrees!¡±


    The woman paused and looked, swiping her hands left and right. The hologram¡¯s clothes changed. Beaming, the woman walked into the store.


    Ryu¡¯s stomach rumbled. He hadn¡¯t eaten in the half day that he¡¯d been on this plane.


    ¡°You must be hungry.¡± Kentaro looked him up and down. ¡°We can get food down here in the arcade, but we need to get you some clothes first. Let¡¯s go there.¡±


    He hurried toward the indicated store, where jumpsuits in eye-splitting color combinations hung in the window display. Ryu began to wonder if it was hunger or disgust that made his stomach twist.


    ¡°Welcome, Kentaro!¡± An image of Kentaro appeared before the boy as they approached. It wore stretchy tight shorts and short sleeves of a muted color scheme, which would better suited a cyclist in the Tour de France. In the store¡¯s window, all the price displays changed numbers, while some of the more vibrant clothes rotated out in place of more neutral colors. The hologram leaned against the display, looking quite relaxed. ¡°Might I interest you in casual wear? Self-cleaning and color-fast!¡±


    Kentaro was about to keep going.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Ryu reached out and stopped him. ¡°How come everyone but me is getting bombarded with sales pitches from holograms of themselves?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to?¡± Kentaro¡¯s forehead crinkled.


    ¡°No. I¡¯m just wondering why.¡±


    ¡°We all have an identity nanochip circulating in our blood,¡± Kentaro said. ¡°All advertisements are customized to us.¡±


    Ryu chewed on his inner lip. What was the term they used to use? It was the same used in the sects, but meant something completely different. ¡°Big Brother.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Never mind,¡± Ryu said. ¡°How does the chip get power?¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Bioelectricity.¡±


    Like Ki. How fascinating. Ryu pointed to the price displays. ¡°Is this in Yen?¡±


    ¡°In what?¡±


    ¡°Or Dollars?¡±


    If the boy looked any more befuddled¡­


    ¡°That number is how much this godawful jumper costs, right?¡±


    Expression brightening, Kentaro nodded.


    ¡°How come the price is lower than it was for the man that walked by a moment ago?¡±


    ¡°Oh! The store AI reads our chip and factors our occupation and social credit into the price.¡±


    ¡°And then deducts it from your bank account?¡± This was all starting to make sense. Everyone had a place in the world, just like Sect members did in the World of Rivers and Lakes.


    ¡°What¡¯s a bank?¡±


    Ryu threw his hands up. ¡°Where do you keep your money?¡±


    ¡°Money¡­ oh!¡± Kentaro jumped up and down, as he was wont to do when excited. ¡°That¡¯s the paper and metal discs that changed hands for transactions during the Age of Greed, right?¡±


    What had the world become? This, though, might¡¯ve been for the better. Pursuit of wealth brought out the worst in mankind. Ryu followed Kentaro into a room not much more than twice the size of the maglift. Panels on the wall swiveled, revealing different kinds of clothes.


    The Hologram Kentaro materialized in front of them, dressed in a bright blue one piece with a high-collar. It would¡¯ve been not too abnormal in Ryu¡¯s youth, save for the flaring sleeves and pant legs. It held a pose. ¡°It¡¯s raining outside! May we interest you in a water-repelling suit?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t cover his head,¡± Ryu said as the image changed poses.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Kentaro patted his hair. ¡°See how I am dry? These clothes generate an ion field which repel water. Then again, you¡¯re dry, too.¡±


    Ryu shrugged. ¡°Path of Water. It¡¯s effortless to stay dry.¡±


    ¡°Well, we still need to get you dressed.¡± Kentaro turned to the hologram. ¡°My master needs clothes.¡±


    The hologram ignored Ryu, and its outfit switched to a zigzagging grey as it flexed its muscles. ¡°How about this style?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no.¡± Kentaro bowed to Ryu. ¡°You don¡¯t have a chip, so the AI doesn¡¯t even know you¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°What if you were buying clothes as a gift?¡±


    Ken shrugged. ¡°I¡¯d have to know the recipient¡¯s ID, which you wouldn¡¯t have.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean I¡¯m stuck in this?¡± Ryu tugged at the jacket sleeves.


    Sidling up, Kentaro held his arm out against Ryu¡¯s, and used a hand to compare height. ¡°We¡¯re not that far off in size. At least, closer than the XHumans.¡±


    Bodhi materialized beside the Kentaro hologram, this time looking like someone had wrapped him up like a mummy, in purple, orange, and green strips of cloth. His eyes widened. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to disturb you.¡±


    ¡°Just shopping,¡± Ryu said. He turned to Kentaro. ¡°Ok. Can we find something less¡­ flashy?¡±


    Kentaro gestured to his hologram. ¡°We want you to blend in, so flashy is better.¡±


    ¡°And, you don¡¯t have that much time to decide,¡± Bodhi said.


    Ryu buried a growl. ¡°Fine. Just choose whatever.¡±


    Bouncing, Kentaro turned to the hologram. ¡°I¡¯ll take what you¡¯re wearing, in Black.¡±


    ¡°Black?¡± the hologram shook its head with tangible scorn. ¡°That¡¯s very¡­ 27<sup>th</sup> Century.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll set a new trend,¡± Kentaro said.


    ¡°A Purebred, setting trends?¡± Bodhi harrumphed.


    Ken glared back.


    ¡°Would you like to add options to your purchase for an extra cost? Water repelling? Anti-gravity? Naked feel? Color¡ª¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Kentaro said. ¡°Place the order.¡±


    ¡°Order confirmed,¡± the hologram said. ¡°Tailoring to your size and color preference.¡±


    A whirr and buzz emanated from behind a wall. After several seconds, a panel swiveled, revealing neatly folded cloth. Kentaro hurried over to retrieve it, then proffered it to Ryu.


    ¡°Is there a fitting room?¡± Ryu received the clothes. There didn¡¯t look to be any space for it.


    ¡°A what?¡± both Kentaro and Bodhi said in unison.


    ¡°Where I can see what I look like in these.¡± Ryu whipped out the ridiculous outfit.


    Ken and Bodhi exchanged glances before the boy¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Oh! The hologram shows you what you look like. Or rather, what I looked like. I already bought it. But the hologram will screen you off if you want a little privacy when you change.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Not that Ryu minded.


    ¡°Changing screen,¡± Kentaro said.


    A wall appeared between Kentaro and Ryu, while also cutting Bodhi in half. Ryu, however, was still visible to passersby.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kentaro said. ¡°Of course it would screen me off.  How about if I just wait outside the store while you change?¡±


    ¡°Whatever.¡± Ryu wriggled out of the tight jacket before Kentaro could even leave, and then pulled the jumper on. It was still a little too short, but not as outrageous. ¡°All right, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for shopping with us,¡± Hologram Kentaro said. ¡°Visit our sister store two units down for the latest headwear!¡±


    Ryu harrumphed. Thank every Immortal and Deity that he didn¡¯t have to live on this plane.


    Outside the store, Kentaro looked him over. ¡°Food?¡±


    Ryu¡¯s stomach rumbled again.


    With a grin, Kentaro pointed down the arcade. ¡°There are food kiosks that way.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have that much time,¡± Bodhi said. ¡°I¡¯ve set every camera between here and Kujo on a loop, and sent a hologram of you north. However, it won¡¯t be long before the Peacekeeper AI realizes what has happened.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll eat fast,¡± Ryu said. ¡°I need to replenish my energy, and food will make this faster.¡±


    If only they had spirit food from the World of Lakes and Rivers.  He followed Kentaro as he skipped down the hall.


    The aroma of grilled beef filled the air, and Ryu¡¯s stomach rumbled again. He lengthened his stride, ignoring the multiple Kentaro holograms that popped up, trying to sell shoes, hats, every piece of attire under the sun¡­


    Bodhi kept pace. ¡°So effortless. If only¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Ryu looked over his shoulder at the hologram.


    ¡°Never mind,¡± Bodhi said.


    The open halls between the clothing stores gave way to tables and chairs. Dozens of people lounged around, popping bite-sized cubes of varying colors into their mouth.


    Nothing resembled real food.


    Lining the hall were food kiosks, all identical with a bar and four stools. The only thing different about them were the holograms where a sign would¡¯ve been in the twenty-first century, displaying grilled meats, fresh cut vegetables, and more.


    His eyes locked on the image of raw, marbled steak, along with a bowl of rice and steamed vegetables. He pointed. ¡°That.¡±


    Ken hurried up to the unoccupied kiosk, where the image of an Asian chef in twentieth-century clothes appeared and bowed.


    ¡°Steak set,¡± Kentaro said.


    The hologram bowed in a style Ryu found familiar. A tray slid out of a slot in the wall, and glided to a stop on the counter. The colored cubes looked nothing like the image.


    Talk about false advertising. Ryu just stared at it.


    ¡°Try it.¡± Kentaro gestured to what passed as food.


    Ryu tentatively picked a cube up and flicked it into his mouth. He sunk his teeth in.


    It might not have looked like beef, but it sure felt and tasted like it. The rice and vegetable cubes tasted authentic, as well. Still, he did not feel his Spleen and Stomach processing the nutrients like it would the real thing.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t real meat.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Kentaro shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s vegetable matter, with authentic flavors and all the nutrition you need. Well, all the nutrition I need, based on my nanochip¡¯s analysis of my blood.¡±


    Definitely not authentic. Any while it might have nutritional value, it wouldn¡¯t help much in fortifying Ki. Food was more than just vitamins and minerals, after all. Still, with his stomach rumbling, Ryu scarfed the rest down.


    ¡°Are you quite done yet?¡± Bodhi asked.


    Still chewing, Ryu nodded.


    Bodhi gestured for them to follow.


    When they turned into a hall that led to restrooms¡ªwhich Ryu really wanted to check out, for more than just curiosity¡¯s sake¡ª they were alone.


    ¡°The Peacekeepers won¡¯t be able to find you for the time being.¡±


    ¡°For the time being?¡± Kentaro squirmed.


    Bodhi turned to the boy. ¡°You are the limiting factor. For now, I¡¯ve deleted you from the footage. It¡¯s only a matter of time before eye-witnesses remember you. When the Filers recompile the original data, they¡¯ll identify you and track your chip.¡±


    ¡°Can you disable the chip?¡± Kentaro asked.


    ¡°If you could find exactly where it is¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible,¡± Kentaro wailed.


    ¡°Exactly. Other than that, if you walked through a high voltage electrical field, it would short out without releasing the neurotoxin.¡± Bodhi turned to Ryu. ¡°I suggest that once you reach Kujo, you leave the boy behind.¡±


    Ken¡¯s eyes widened with panic. He shook his head. ¡°Please, no. You¡¯ve already started me down the Path.¡±


    Well, Ryu had taught him how to stand, and admonished him to breathe deeply to calm down.  If he¡¯d started down a path, it was only with one toe. Still, Kentaro had helped him, and he did have potential.


    And, it wasn¡¯t fair that he was a nobody in this strange society. ¡°The boy stays.¡±


    Shoulders relaxing, Kentaro blew out a breath.


    ¡°You¡¯d risk being found?¡± Bodhi raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Tell us how to find a high-voltage electrical field.¡±


    ¡°If that doesn¡¯t kill him¡­¡±


    Electrical fields. There might be another way, and Kentaro was already part of the way there.


    As for Bodhi, well, he clearly wanted something, but wasn¡¯t forthcoming. And Ryu didn¡¯t want to owe a debt he couldn¡¯t repay.  ¡°Just what is in this for you?¡±


    Bodhi looked down at his feet before raising his head. ¡°I want to know how you cured your Cystic Fibrosis.¡±


    Ryu almost gasped. It was a term he hadn¡¯t heard in centuries, ever since he left this plane and crossed over into the World of Lakes and Rivers. ¡°I needed to cleanse my meridians and fortify my Earth.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean? Can you teach me?¡±


    Did Bodhi have Cystic Fibrosis? Hadn¡¯t humans edited their genes to supposed perfection?  If he did have it, it was a hell no one should ever have to suffer. Curse the Code, for insisting on helping the weak. And himself, for having a soft spot for the downtrodden.


    ¡°Meet us in Kujo.¡±


    Bodhi¡¯s expression lit up. ¡°I will find a projector there!¡±


    Ryu shook his head. ¡°No. In person.¡±

 Chapter 9: The Hacker

    Chapter 9


    Aya had stayed in the EtherCloud for longer than usual as Ryu ate. Her real lungs had filled well beyond normal, and now she had to jack out and hack up phlegm again. A sense of dread crept over her.


    The only way Ryu would teach her how to cure her flawed body would be to meet in person.


    Which meant he¡¯d see said flawed body.


    She could interact with people for about seven minutes of real time before the phlegm build up became noticeable. They¡¯d invariably react to her with disgust, just like everyone else. Her parents included.


    She couldn¡¯t bear to see that disdain toward her on Ryu¡¯s handsome face.


    Her gut twisted.


    But no, if this could treat her lungs, it would be worth all the shame she¡¯d have to bear. Then, she¡¯d never have to worry about dealing with people ever again. She¡¯d be able to spend a lifetime in the EtherCloud without ever having to jack out.


    Of course, there was no guarantee he¡¯d teach her.


    But if she proved herself¡­


    It was time for a heist, and she could hack just about anything on level three.


    Lungs clear, she jacked back into the EtherCloud. Donning the Sentinel Carapace, she hopped into the Peacekeeper ServerSpace and headed to the surveillance partition. The cameras on the level three technology lab showed the three Elestrae mingling with the Peacekeeper scientists in a room filled with bright white light. They were convened around a white table with a myriad of unfamiliar instruments. At least two of the Peacekeepers were holographically projected into the room.


    ¡°¡­ bioenergetic for sure,¡± the golden-haired female Elestrae was saying as she fiddled with her jewelry. ¡°In that, it¡¯s similar but different to istrium.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± a Peacekeeper scientist said.


    ¡°It¡¯s like¡­¡± The silver-haired male waved his hands. ¡°Back in your twentieth century, your people used carbon-based fuels. Methane, Petroleum, coal. They had slightly different chemical structures, so a machine that used one as a fuel source couldn¡¯t switch to another.¡±


    The second male nodded. ¡°It¡¯s theoretically possible we could channel its radiation, but we¡¯re far more attuned to istrium. Likewise, your starship couldn¡¯t fold space with it, at least not without modification.¡±


    Just what were they talking about? Aya switched camera angles, but couldn¡¯t see if there was anything more than Ryu¡¯s robes on the table. Surely that wasn¡¯t what they were talking about. Unless the cloth had an internal power source, like power armor?


    But no, her earlier research had revealed it made of one hundred percent hemp.


    Oh, for a better view!


    Sadly, the one camera with an overhead view of the table, which the projected scientists were likely using, had a Level Five Sentinel guarding it. It might see through her Carapace if she tried to hack it. Not worth the risk.


    She darted from the surveillance partition across a wireless bridge to the multipurpose cleaning droid¡¯s CPU in the room. Its AI was simplistic, and she slipped past its Level Two Sentinels with ease. With a few swipes of her hands, she locked out its Animator AI and took control of its sensors and functions.


    Aya shifted her senses to the droid¡¯s visual and audio receptors, using a filter to translate it into sights and sounds. The first time she¡¯d ever done this, the three-hundred-sixty degree spherical vision had been disorienting; but now her mind was used to it.


    ¡°This has been helpful,¡± one of the holographic scientists said.


    The lead Peacekeeper was leaning over the table, but Aya¡¯s view was still blocked by the Elestrae.


    Following her commands, the droid trundled closer to the people, sweeping the floor as it went. The new position gave her a better view.


    ¡°Hey!¡± A janitor hurried over and stepped in her path. From her black hair and yellowish skin tone, she was Purebred, like Ken, perhaps thirty years of age. ¡°This is my zone right now.¡±


    Had the Peacekeeper administration totally ignored the fact that a Purebred had helped Ryu escape? Had Aya been running the show, she would¡¯ve barred them from every area at security level two and up, and let droids do the job.


    As she pushed the droid past the Purebred, Aya scanned her ID badge. The woman just stared back and muttered. Aya now had a good view of the table.


    Just as the Peacekeeper was shutting a durastrium briefcase. The table was now cleared.


    The holographic scientist tilted his head to the Elestrae. ¡°My research team would like to meet you in the twelfth floor chemistry lab with the items.¡±


    Dammit, was she too late?


    ¡°Very well,¡± the female Elestrae said.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Dammit. Until Aya improved her skills, the droids on the twelfth level were beyond her ability to hack. She needed to act now, and somehow acquire the case.


    The overhead camera might be too-well guarded, but not the holoprojectors. But what she was about to do would change security protocols for the future¡­


    Her consciousness crossed from the cleaning droid to the surveillance partition of the Peacekeeper¡¯s Serverspace. ¡°Ai, block Subject 1¡¯s holoprojector and monitors, and cast his image from holoprojector three under my control. Replicate his voice.¡±


    ¡°Done,¡± AI said.


    ¡°Leave the robe,¡± Aya said.


    The lead Peacekeeper stared at the hologram. ¡°What? Why?¡±


    ¡°I just want to discuss the situation.¡±


    ¡°But the robe¡¯s interdimensional space¡­¡±


    Interdimensional space? ¡°That¡¯s an order.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Director.¡± With a confused look, the Peacekeeper opened the case, removed the folded-up robe, and returned it to the table.


    ¡°I will see you soon,¡± Aya said through the hologram.


    The group filed out of the lab and headed toward a bank of maglifts.


    There wasn¡¯t much time. Despite Ai¡¯s efforts, the monitor¡¯s security level was high enough that the real director might¡¯ve heard the exchange, and might¡¯ve even seen part of it through the overhead camera. Hearing his own voice, he¡¯d know the system had been hacked. Now there was no time for subtlety.


    Shutting down all but the overhead camera, she transferred back to the cleaning droid. Its three-prong hands were hard to use, but she picked up the robe and trundled to another cleaning droid. Along the way, she compiled a subroutine to automate the one she was in.


    Then, she crossed into that droid¡¯s CPU and opened its internal trash bin. As she¡¯d programmed, the first droid placed the robe inside, then went on its way.


    Alarms were now blaring, indicating a lockdown on level two and up. The cameras would¡¯ve turned back on, and she¡¯d be barred from the surveillance partition by higher level Sentinels.


    She created a new subroutine for her current droid, sending it to the garbage chute; then crossed over to a trash processing droid in a nearby building. Though connected to Peacekeeper Central, this unsecured area received refuse from the surrounding skyscrapers. Without any Sentinels to avoid, she jumped from droid to droid, installing a subroutine which would make the robes invisible to them.


    Aya jacked out and returned to the real world.


    Her chest was tight.


    And not from the phlegm.


    No, this was an entirely different sensation, one that combined with a racing heart and trembling hands. She didn¡¯t suffer from these mortal frailties in the EtherCloud, and it had been months, maybe even years since she¡¯d felt them. Her racing thoughts, so accustomed to being connected to the perceptual stream of the EtherCloud, felt disjointed in real time.


    Taking a deep breath, or at least as much of a deep breath as her lungs would allow, she rose from her cushioned chair. Her home¡¯s surveillance equipment was child¡¯s play to hack via the wireless connection to the quantum computer in her head, without her consciousness even having to transfer to the EtherCloud.


    Thus virtually invisible, she left her room and crept out into her family living area. No one was around. That was no surprise for this time of day, even less so because of the Peacekeeper emergency. She went to her sister¡¯s bedroom and into her closet.


    Her own wardrobe consisted of comfortable casual wear for the home. In contrast, her sister had all of the latest fashions hanging from the rows of racks, above shelves of jewelry, shoes, and other accessories.


    Aya pushed past those and chose one of the Peacekeeper tactical uniforms. Form fitting on her sister, it was a little loose first, until the nanocircuitry adjusted. While her own clothes were relaxed, the uniform made her feel almost naked. The helmet, which her sister usually eschewed, covered her short hair. The interface connected to her jack, but for now, she activated her head¡¯s virtual buffer to prevent linking with the helmet¡¯s tactical functions and Peacekeeper Central.


    Activating the projectors, she viewed her image. She looked like any other Peacekeeper from the elite tactical units. There was risk to both her and her sister if she stole her identity, so it was time to for some more hacking.


    ¡°Ai, create an identity for me.¡± Aya lowered her buffer, which opened the connection to Peacekeeper Central. As Peacekeeper equipment, it would bypass the lockdown. The high-level Sentinels which she couldn¡¯t trick on her own would ignore her in the thousandth of a second it took her to add the forged identity to the HR database and erase the log of her visit. She reestablished the buffer to go invisible .


    Satisfied, she cleared out her lungs, took a deep breath, and left her home for the first time in years.


    The building¡¯s hallways were empty, and she took the maglift down the sixty floors to ground level. The rapid descent felt strange to her real body, even as the tactical suit¡¯s inertial dampeners moderated the sensation.


    When the maglift doors opened, she took another deep breath and stepped into the vaulting atrium, whose transparent walls allowed natural light of dusk in. A handful of people were walking through, the dampeners in their footwear making their steps nearly silent on the slate-grey floor. None one paid her any mind beyond a respectful nod.


    She crossed the atrium, went through the double doors, and breathed real air for the first time in a long while. The suit¡¯s water repellers ionized the rain in a bubble around her, leaving her dry as she hurried toward Kyoto Central¡¯s garbage area.


    As she got closer, where Peacekeepers would see her, she activated her fake identity and lowered the buffer. The helmet again interfaced with Peacekeeper Central¡¯s servers, and would make her appear on their maps.


    She turned into an alley that ran behind Peacekeeper Central. Buzzes and whirs grew louder as she approached the trash processing building she¡¯d virtually visited not long before.


    In an open alcove, refuse tumbled down chutes and landed in piles. Droids trundled through the trash, picking up specific items with their pincer arms and put it in their bodies for reprocessing into reusable base components. One, currently at full capacity, rolled to the entrance and shat out cubes of differing colors and textures. A Purebred sorted and stacked them, though he paused to look at her before returning to his job.


    She scanned near the top of the piles closest to Peacekeeper Central. It was long before she saw Ryu¡¯s robes. She hurried toward it.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± the Purebred yelled.


    She ignored him, like all XHumans ignored Purebreds. He might be a witness, but nobody would bother to question him when they could review the logs from the droids.


    Using her connection, she hacked the building¡¯s AI and shut down the chute lest she get hit with garbage. On all fours, she climbed to the robes. With muscles poorly developed from extended time jacked into the EtherCloud, her arms and legs burned, even with the tactical suit¡¯s strength enhancers. It took a few tugs to free it from a broken chair, and she nearly fell back.


    Rolling it into a ball, she eased her way down. This was the most physical activity she¡¯d probably ever done at one time, and she might be exhausted for days. She turned, and nearly ran into the Purebred.


    ¡°Do you need help?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°What is that?¡± His eyes looked like the virtual puppy her parents let her raise as a child.


    She was dressed as Peacekeeper, necessitating a Peacekeeper answer. ¡°Evidence.¡±


    His eyes searched hers, or rather, that¡¯s what he would¡¯ve been doing if not for the visor. With a nod, he went back to her work.


    Shielding the robes from the cameras, she folded them up and tucked them under her arm. Then, she headed to Kujo.