PLANET ORYXS - MORRIAN CITY

Dion counted the NexTech security drones patrolling the street outside the alley; three to the right and another two to the left. NexTech had a monopoly on the security systems in all the core planets. Everything from the ID chips in everyone’s arms to the drones and the Sentinels were all designed, manufactured and implemented by NexTech. You couldn't blink without NexTech knowing about it.

However, the city of Morrian was only truly safe in the main streets. Alleys were where the city truly seemed to ‘breathe’ under the scrutiny of constant surveillance. The rigorous patrols usually neglected the narrow spaces unless one of the drones picked up something unusual.

Dion thanked his lucky stars that he’d had enough to pay for his licence this month. He couldn’t afford another fine for driving without one. The last one had eaten a giant hole in his four previous payslips. There were barely enough Digits left to cover rent this month. He was especially banking on this next delivery to pay for food this week. He had only started this job a few weeks ago, but it was slowly paying off.

A metal door beside him burst open with a clang. A young girl looked him up and down as if she hadn't expected to see him there. She sneered and rolled her eyes before chewing loudly on something in her mouth. 

Dion scowled. Being judged by a little girl half his age wasn’t on his to-do list for the day, and it had already been a particularly long day.

“Delivery?” It sounded like she wasn’t asking.

Dion nodded.

The pretentious brat grunted and with another eye-roll, carelessly tossed a brown paper bag at him. He caught it in one hand as she slammed the door closed from the inside. For a girl who was working in a fast food restaurant instead of studying in school, she sure had a lot of attitude. 

A lot of the kids in the area weren’t well-off and never learned proper people skills, but he couldn’t judge too harshly. His nineteen-year-old brother, Atticus, never had a chance to go to school and be a ‘normal’ kid either. Dion had to move around a lot for work to make ends meet while staying on top of Atty's medical bills. They rarely had time to settle into most cities before they had to move again. He was hoping Morrian would be different for them; somewhere they could finally build a future for themselves.

Dion’s bike chugged to life with the grinding of exhausted metal on metal. It was on the to-do list, but the poor thing had seen some much, much better days. Old reliable was starting to be… well, less reliable… 

The display inside Dion’s visor lit up with ‘Route Connected - Navigation On’ for a moment. It was soon replaced with a bold red line that overlaid his view of the road inside his helmet. The navigation guide led onto the main road before disappearing around a corner. He checked the timer on his display before he pulled out to the main street.

Dion gave the DataCuff on his wrist two taps. A corner of his visor screen lit up with a microphone symbol. “Call Atticus.”

“Dion!” a voice answered inside the helmet, “Where are you?”

“One last job. It’s nearby, so maybe… two hours? Need me to get anything while I’m out?”

“Actually, yes. We’re out of fresh water.”

Dion cursed in his mind. He’d had to neglect the water bill to pay the licence renewal. The utility company subsequently cut off the supply to their apartment until their bill and the overdue fees were paid. For the last few weeks, they’d been surviving on bottled water, but that in itself was adding up to be just as expensive.

“Water. Got it. See you in two hours.”

These jobs were only paid if the goods were handed over within a specific timeframe, usually decided by the recipient. Drivers who failed to deliver were fired and typically banned from doing deliveries again. Despite there being more than one rival company out there, somehow, they all seemed to share the same employee blacklist. 

About halfway to his destination, Dion hit an area with heavy traffic. There were flashing lights and a sign for a roadblock up ahead, which slowed everything down; a random search checkpoint.

As he got closer, he could see three surveillance drones buzzing around a parked vehicle. A Sentinel had an angry woman pinned to her car while a uniformed police officer spoke to someone over the holodisplay of his DataCuff. The moment the woman tried to break free, the Sentinel twisted her arm in such a way that it had to be broken or, at the very least, dislocated.

Dion’s stomach tensed when a bright light shone in his peripheral vision. Another drone was scanning vehicles and their occupants. It was just a routine for the little floating cameras, but Dion still didn’t want to be noticed. Despite neglecting the alleys, the security network was incredibly efficient. Even the smallest offence was enough to get ‘a drone on your tail and a fine in the mail’. 

When Dion was next in line, the little drone hovered in front of his bike to impede his path. He sucked in a deep breath and held it while a blue light projected over him and his bike. His eyes locked on to the evil, little, red light under the drone sensor. Nanoseconds seemed to stretch into ages while he waited with bated breath.

Green.

Dion’s body relaxed and the drone moved quietly on to the next vehicle behind him. He sped off as fast as the law would let him. He really, really did not want to be on the main street anymore.

Thank Earth, Janice paper was invisible to scanners. All of this cutting-edge surveillance technology, and all it took was a thin slice of dead tree to thwart it. Janice trees were common to one of the border planets, Dion couldn’t remember which one. Once it was discovered that the automated security couldn’t detect it, smugglers started importing it to the core planets in large quantities before NexTech could catch on. Getting caught with any amount of Janice tree byproducts was illegal now, however it was a rare offence.

Dion didn’t know what was in the paper bag, but he did know that the kind of person who orders things in Janice bags would kill you if you peeked inside. He also knew he didn't want to be caught with whatever was in it.

The navigation system took Dion to the middle of a warehouse district that was largely made up of car manufacturers. Everything was brightly lit, with little robots zipping around, humming like oversized mosquitoes.

The absence of people was unsettling. Factories usually had minimal staff on site, only to step in if something went wrong, which meant there would be hardly anyone around. It was the perfect place to organise illegal trade, murder and other nefarious crimes. It was one of the risks of the job, but it wouldn’t pay nearly as much if it had been safe.

His Cuff confirmed Dion had plenty of time to spare. The road ahead was restricted to authorised vehicles, shutting off his engine when he crossed the threshold. Dion couldn't see the end of the navigation guide, which disappeared around another corner. His final destination was still ten minutes away; he needed to leave his bike somewhere and carry the package the rest of the way on foot. 

There was a chime in Dion’s ear and his display lit up with ‘Incoming call: Atticus Floyd’ in the centre of the screen. While stationary, the notices always showed up in the middle of the display. He was practically blind while he wasn’t driving. It was supposed to be a feature, however it could be very annoying. They removed it for newer models when they realised people had to stop at traffic lights frequently.

“Atty?” 

“I ate the last of the cereal. We need that too.” It sounded like Atticus had food in his mouth while he was talking. “Will you still be a while?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Ugh, but I’m starving!” Atticus complained in a childish voice. 

Dion could hear the sound of Atty’s cutlery clink in his bowl.

“Good. You deserve it for eating all the cereal.”

“Wow, so mean. Your little brother is wasting away all alone and that’s all you have to say?”

“Sorry, I gotta go, Atty. Water and cereal.” Dion ended the call abruptly. He felt bad for cutting his brother off, but he needed to stay alert. The red line appeared in the display again.

Damn it all, he thought, getting off his bike. When he removed his helmet, it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the bright light of the real world again. The sun was brighter on some planets than others, and they had unfortunately decided to settle on the brightest one, Oryxs. It was a bit harder for Dion’s eyes to adjust, having lived half his life with nothing but artificial light in deep space.

When he was young the idea of the open sky was like a distant dream he didn’t think he would ever see. Now he was debating if he preferred the sheltered darkness instead.

The air was a sticky, humid soup that stuck to his skin the moment it was exposed. A new feeling of guilt tugged at his heart when he realised poor Atticus was stuck at home in the heat. The air conditioner at home was also still broken. It hadn’t been a problem at first, but the Oryxs summer was one of the biggest causes of heat stroke since humanity colonised it.

“Dion Saunders?” someone behind him laughed.

Dion pivoted to find himself facing three large men. One of them had a robotic arm, the second had two robotic legs and the third had no robotic parts, but he was carrying a very big baseball bat. They were Yoshida’s men.

Dion panicked.

Something hit him in the back of the head. He collapsed on the ground and everything went dark.