《The Free City of Chicago》


 The Free City

    The walls of the Free City of Chicago towered over the vast expanse of the outer suburbs and abandoned fields. Shadows from the city lights beyond danced in the night sky. Bright ads hung from the steel wall beamed blues and whites as they cycled between Mandarin, Hindi, and English. Some kind of new modkit that cost an obscene amount of money that no one this side of the wall could afford.


    Oto stood in line with Chatter beside him. Chatter was a tinkering with his wrist, making sure the clock embedded in his skin was in the right time zone. ¡°This fucking thing always messes up,¡± Chatter said. ¡°Piece of shit, I tell you.¡±


    A woman in front of them gave a smug look before taking a few steps forward. ¡°Get it looked at when we¡¯re in the city,¡± Oto said. ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a cheap modder you can find.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t been to the Free City much have you?¡± Chatter laughed. ¡°The only cheap modders will be deep in the Southside, past all the tower blocks. I¡¯m sure a gang or two patrols the area. I¡¯ll be extorted like a motherfucker.¡±


    ¡°Shoulda found someone in Dakota before we started trekking.¡± Oto rolled his brown eyes. ¡°Then I wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve had to listen to all your complaining.¡± Oto tugged on his pack that started to slip off his new shoulders. He hadn¡¯t quite gotten used to the metal that made up the top half of his body. He could hear it clink and whiz every so often, especially when they were alone in the plains.


    The line began to surge forward. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people trying to get into the Free City. Trucks and cars and hovercrafts all had there own checkpoint. How Chicago hadn¡¯t burst at the seams already he didn¡¯t know.


    A dark man with blue eyes that looked like a screen was scanning as he walked. He wore a thick layer of Kevlar, with a machine gun modded to hell at his side. His vest said FCCPD. ¡°Remember, no weapons in the Free City!¡± The cop shouted. ¡°All bodmods must be declared before entry. Anything illegal will have a talking to.¡± The cop stared at Chatter and Oto. His eyes moving in different directions, scanning all. ¡°Keep it moving,¡± he said as some old woman got tangled in her bag and he continued down the line.


    ¡°Know what you¡¯re gonna say when we get our ¡®talking to¡¯?¡± Oto asked Chatter.


    The man laughed and tapped his head. ¡°Chatter always knows what he¡¯s gonna say. Now,¡± he shrugged, ¡°will they listen? Who knows.¡±


    ¡°Just remember, anyone the FCCPD don¡¯t like ends up gone.¡± Oto waved his hand like he performed a vanishing trick. ¡°I can¡¯t get to the blockade without you.¡±


    ¡°Those motherfuckers won¡¯t know what hit ¡®em!¡± Chatter laughed again.


    They continued their small steps forward in the line. Behind them a few people were conversing in Portuguese. Oto¡¯s translator mod was working overtime to keep up. One of the Brazilians had an illegal implant. Some kind only government officials could have. Another Brazilian was counting her money for the bribe they would have to make.


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    ¡°You sure our gang is in here?¡± Oto whispered as he wondered who else had a translator.


    ¡°I just go with what Raif tells me, and what she told me was that our people are in Chicago wandering around Ukrainian Village. They like their zhiming so probably need to find a dealer.¡±


    ¡°Quatrocentos!¡± The woman behind them yelled in glee. Four hundred dollars. Oto knew that wouldn¡¯t be enough to bribe an officer of the FCCPD. He wandered where the Brazilians would end up. Beaten? Thrown in the lake? Would the illegal mod be ripped out and the man left to die a slow, agonizing death? Oto had no money to help the Brazilians out. Not yet anyway.


    As they neared the wall Oto¡¯s eyes scanned to the top. FCCPD and a private military unit from the Bushland Corporation walked along the barbed wire. Snipers were aimed at the crowd. Others joked and laughed. Some sipped on late night coffee or beer. If there was an attack, Oto didn¡¯t put his faith in the officers along the wall. Down below was the checkpoint. Checkpoint Eisenhower. Oto hadn¡¯t even noticed the remnants of a bombed out and destroyed highway just to the right of them. Fifty years ago it would¡¯ve been choked with traffic. Now, it was gone. The war taking its toll. Cars and trucks and trains instead entered from the south or north. Only people from the west.


    Oto took a deep breath as the checkpoint officers neared. His chrome-plated chest popping ever so slightly. ¡°I¡¯m getting unsure.¡±


    ¡°You always do,¡± Chatter said as he pulled his boots tighter. ¡°Remember how scared you were back in the Wisconsin when the raiders found us?¡±


    Oto shook his head. ¡°A normal person would be afraid of that.¡±


    ¡°But I was able to talk them out of it.¡±


    ¡°If you call giving away our only EMP to raiders ¡®just talking¡¯ then sure. Gave away a weapon to a bunch of thieves. If they commit a terrorist attack that weapon has our scan.¡±


    ¡°And what do you think we¡¯re doing?¡±


    ¡°I like to call it a military operation.¡±


    Chatter rolled his eyes. ¡°Many a terrorist does. You worry too much,¡± he patted Oto¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°And you don¡¯t worry enough,¡± Oto scratched his nose. The smell of sewage and gas made him crinkle his face. ¡°If you die then I die. The mission needs us alive.¡±


    Chatter grabbed his chest in mock hurt. ¡°Only want me alive for the mission? And here I thought you loved me.¡±


    ¡°That too.¡± Oto rolled his eyes with a smile.


    After the woman in front of them was ushered through the gate, a checkpoint officer pointed to Oto, sent him to the left, and Chatter to the right. ¡°Step inside,¡± another officer said. Her eyes were dark under the LED lights that now showed an ad for a new, completely automatic, hovercraft. Oto took a step into the scanning box. A door was closed behind him. It was a plastic see-through tube. The officer clicked a button and a red laser illuminated the box.


    ¡°Please stand still,¡± the robotic voice of the AI said. ¡°Any sudden movements and your entry into the Free City of Chicago could be delayed.¡± The laser jerked and began to scan as it moved down and over Oto¡¯s body. Once the scanner was back in place, the AI said, ¡°thirteen body modifications detected. One weapon detected. Pistol. Right hip.¡±


    Another plastic door opened in front of him and the cop ushered him out. ¡°Bodmods, declare them,¡± the officer sighed, wanting to be anywhere but here.


    ¡°Tired?¡±


    She cocked her head and hooked her thumbs in her pants. ¡°Tired of your shit. Bodmods.¡±


    Oto nodded his hand and said, ¡°translator, improved heart, optic zoom, alloy knee¡ª¡±


    An alarm sounded and cops surrounded the tube that Chatter was in. A red light spinning as the klaxon blared. ¡°Bomb detected,¡± the AI voice said over and over.


    ¡°You with him?¡± An officer called out to Oto. He wanted to say no, but he couldn¡¯t leave Chatter alone with the FCCPD. If Chatter was going to get his teeth knocked in, then so was Oto. He nodded.


    Handcuffs clasped and auto-locked around his wrists as Chatter was arguing. ¡°What about the bodmods? You should see my dick!¡± He shouted as the cops were taking them into the steel fortress between the wall. ¡°Tastes just like the real thing!¡±

 C.O.P.

    ¡°And here I thought you had a grand plan,¡± Oto said from across the metal table. The handcuffs scraping as he leaned in his chair. ¡°Now what are we going to do? We¡¯re fucked. Raif is going to be pissed. Probably cancel the whole payment and we¡¯ll have to live in the wasteland outside Chicago.¡±


    Chatter rolled his eyes. ¡°Relax. Just a hiccup, and a small one at that. I didn¡¯t think that fucking AI would scream for everyone to hear. I was going to bribe the officer, cute little thing she was too, but looks like the next one took all her money.¡±


    ¡°How can you be so calm?¡± Oto shook his head as Chatter balanced his chair on the back two legs. ¡°I¡¯m fucking overloading over here.¡±


    ¡°Well the antianxiety mod helps,¡± he laughed, ¡°but I¡¯ve been in worse situations. Survived all those. This is a piece of cake, old timey, spongy cake. Easy to eat.¡±


    The door slammed open into their small box of a room. It reminded Oto of a shipping container. Probably repurposed for the wall. An officer with a half metal body put his hands on the table. One flesh. One metal. His human eyes stared at Oto while the other eye was reading something coming across the cornea. ¡°Old name Catherine,¡± he looked at Chatter, ¡°why the change?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Chatter smirked.


    ¡°And you,¡± he pointed a metal claw at Oto, ¡°have no name in our database, and your little bodmod getting rid of your fingerprints doesn¡¯t help. Makes me think you¡¯re up to no good.¡±


    ¡°Look up Lucas Frision.¡± Oto said. His nose ached from a scratch he couldn¡¯t get to.


    ¡°Ahh,¡± the officer said as new data poured into his eye. ¡°from SLC? Long way from here. And you two met how?¡±


    ¡°Montana,¡± Chatter said. ¡°Oto here was in a bit of a bind and needed some help. I knew some modders and viola, here we are.¡±


    The officer¡¯s left eye seemed to shut off, he masked the optic mod with a hologram that looked like a normal human eye, but it flickered just slightly. ¡°So C.O.P. noticed you¡¯re carrying a bomb, Chatter. Illegal. Very illegal.¡±


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    ¡°Tell that to the boys in Dakota. It¡¯s a minefield up there.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re in the Free City now. We don¡¯t care for bombs or weapons.¡± The cop said. Oto cleared his throat as he looked to the holstered sidearm of the officer. ¡°We don¡¯t like weapons in the hands of civilians. Better? After the war and all that mayhem we decided it best to keep those for ourselves. You want to shoot? Go west.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Chatter asked.


    ¡°Officer Elijah Smith. Better? Does that fill the civil rights requirement?¡±


    ¡°Elijah, if I can call you that, what I have isn¡¯t a bomb for the city. I promise you that. So if you let us go, you and your kind have nothing to worry about.¡±


    ¡°Spare me,¡± Elijah laughed. Oto shook his head at Chatter¡¯s stupidity. Is was like he wanted them to be detained and disappeared. ¡°I¡¯ll let you go then you¡¯ll find the governor¡¯s house or whatnot and bow it to smithereens. I¡¯ll get thrown into Lake Michigan and the U.S. will decide it¡¯s time to take back Chicago and the other free cities. We don¡¯t need terrorists here.¡±


    ¡°What political motive would I have?¡± Chatter shrugged. ¡°You¡¯ve seen my files.¡±


    ¡°And in it I see a scoundrel who¡¯s made more money than me by lying, stealing, and murdering. Use all that dough to buy bombs? And what about that illegal bodmod you got? Huh?¡±


    ¡°What bodmod?¡± Oto asked.


    ¡°Look,¡± Chatter looked at the floor. ¡°This is a big job, and we just need to get through Chicago. We¡¯d go around, but it¡¯s a wasteland out there. Let us through, forget you ever saw us, delete us from the files, and I can make you very happy.¡±


    ¡°Am I gonna have to add bribery to that list of charges?¡±


    ¡°I have over 500,000 to give you. No more, no less. That seems like an ample amount. More than you make in a year.¡±


    Elijah¡¯s metal fingers tapped the table, making a cacophony of pings and pangs. ¡°500,000 isn¡¯t near enough for all the charges and illegal mods.¡±


    ¡°500,000 yuan. Go buy yourself some of that nice Chinese electronics. Maybe get the other side of your body modded. I hear they have nice chrome in Tianjin.¡±


    ¡°If,¡± Elijah squeezed his real fist, ¡°if I let you go, then you can¡¯t stay here long. I want to see your exit pictures within three days. I don¡¯t want you to cause any trouble. Get arrested and I¡¯ll have no choice but to make you two gone. Forever.¡±


    ¡°Go to the Bank of China site and let me input my cred. The yuan is waiting for a lucky cop.¡± The officer took some fiber and connected a port in his finger to a port in Chatter¡¯s wrist. The handcuffs unlocked, falling away. It took less than a minute for the corrupt cop to be richer than he ever dreamed. The human half of Elijah¡¯s mouth smiled while the other half did nothing. Oto shook his head at modded cop.


    ¡°We¡¯ll need our guns too,¡± Oto said.


    ¡°No guns allowed in the Free City,¡± Elijah¡¯s smile dropped. ¡°You get them back when you leave.¡±


    ¡°The thing is,¡± Chatter sat forward, ¡°we¡¯re not leaving through the gate.¡±