The echoes of Boris and Henry’s boots clopping against the sidewalk filled the air as they sprinted back from where they came from. Henry was trying to formulate a new plan, but he needed information.

ME: Reggie Sasha what is happening?!

No response. No sign of either of them typing.

BOR: Sasha, are you there, brother?

Boris was quickly outpacing Henry, and he clearly wasn’t going to slow down for Henry to catch up.

ME: Luke Aimee is anyone hurt?

AIM: Yes

LUKE: Yes

BOR: Is Sasha hurt!?

LUKE: No, it’s the maybe Russians

Henry could see Boris was still brimming with rage but there was a sigh of relief.

AIM: Sasha looks a little shook

ME: Did either of you shoot?

REG: no, that was Mercy. Just wrestled the gun from her.

Henry saw another message pop up in his interpersonal chat with Reggie.

REG: I think she just did that thing you warned me about earlier.

ME: Are you okay?!

REG: she gave me a shiner, but I’ll be fine. She seems more freaked out than me about what just happened.

The group chat started getting full of messages.

AIM: IT’S RIGHT ON US

LUKE: CHIEF!?

ME: Just keep going. We’ll worry about the other guys later. Boris and I are heading your way. Reggie, stay put with Mercy for now and contact the police. Ask for Detective Rhodes and say it’s from me.

AIM: okay

LUKE: got it

REG: Roger.

As Henry went to close the chat program, he thought he saw the notification for a new message saying “I’m sorry...” The notification flashed for such a short time that Henry hadn’t been able to see who the sender was. When he checked his chat logs, the message wasn’t there and there was no notification. Henry’s fur stood on end as he felt a chill crawl down his spine.

Did I just imagine that? Was that a glitch? Or did Mercy… but how would she know my SIG? Maybe Reggie gave it to her, but where did the message go?

Henry felt a knot in his stomach. He was starting to wonder if his first notion of her being a whisperer was right. Her behavior earlier made him think maybe she had some form of PTSD, giving credibility to her being a child soldier, but the timing of that odd message was making him question everything again. Although some of the whisperers he had met before were passable as normal, some of them were… wrong. It was like the time they spent diving through quantcode swapped out some pieces of them for whatever dwelled between the lines. Everything in his head, heart and guts was saying she’s dangerous.

I have to focus on the legion for now.

Continuing forward, Henry and Boris hooved it down the street. They made it two blocks when the rest of the crew came into view. Luke had taken the lead with Patricia, who had Sasha’s snake zodiac draped over her shoulders. She kept glancing back, but she alternated between the legion and Sasha. Sasha still seemed out of it, with his eyes wide and pupils narrowed, staring past the horizon. His white fur was dotted with specks of blood that sparkled in the glow of his holographic antlers. His body shook and trembled as he took quick, shallow breaths. Aimee had looped one of her arms around his and was guiding him along as she shot glances at the legion. 

The legion was now hunched over, its arms split open with their blades fully extended. It moved  using all four limbs for support, which were all bent at unnatural angles. Metallic clacks filled the air as it scuttled forward with grotesque vigor. The abdominal cavity was still open, with the tendrils dangling nearly to the sidewalk. Tainted lubricants dribbled from the tendrils, staining the sidewalk with wavy trails as they swayed while the legion moved closer. Its mechanical jaw continued to open and close as the internal speaker crackled with broken speech. Henry felt his left eye twitch as he stared into the legion’s brown eye that was bulging out of its eye socket. It had the same eerie green glow as the last legion he had to deal with.

Boris rushed to Sasha while Henry paused to catch his breath again.

ME: Reggie, we’re back together. How are things on your end?

REG: Mercy’s not freaking out anymore but she’s sulking in the corner. Got in touch with that detective guy. He said he’d register the altercation with dispatch to get EMT’s to the guys she shot.

ME: They’re still alive?

REG: I think so. They’re still squirming at the very least. From what I can see, she shot one of them in the arm and the other in their hand. It looks like she shot the hand clean off.

ME: I didn’t think her gun was powerful enough to do that from that distance.

REG: maybe, could just be a lucky hit.

ME: Has she said why she did it?

REG: no, you want me to ask her?

ME: Yes

As Boris embraced Sasha, he began speaking to him in their native tongue. Luke scrunched his face like he ate something sour.

“Wait, you guys speak Russian too?” Boris turned to Luke, his furrowed brow forming a maze of folded skin that led back his eyes now aglow with anger.

“It’s Polish, Luke. Remember, they’re from Poland.” Henry knew that if he didn’t immediately correct Luke, Boris would give him a quick reminder of current geopolitical issues via his fist. 

“Oh sorry. Didn’t know since I’ve only heard you guys speak English.” Boris rolled his eyes and shook his head. He was clearly mentally cursing Luke for being a stupid American. Henry was about to tell the group about what happened with the blockbuster when a question burst into his mind.

“Wait, Luke, is that what those guys who stopped you were speaking?”

“Yeah, or at least, I think so?” Boris’s eyes grew wide and he began questioning Sasha in Polish. Sasha said very little and he was trying to avoid looking Boris in the eyes. If it had been members from the Russian syndicate that had accosted them, it wouldn’t have been ridiculous for them to have escalated if they caught wind of Sasha being Polish, but if they were Polish themselves, that was incredibly odd.

“Did you guys happen to get a look at their enforcer badges?”

“Hey, uh, can we keep moving? That thing is closing in.” Aimee tried to nudge Luke and Patricia along.

“Fair. Keep moving. Keep talking.”

Boris seemed able to bring Sasha back to reality and they both continued down the street. Henry stuck with Aimee, Luke and Patricia as they followed the pair of reindeer.

“So, badges. Get a look at ‘em?” Luke shook his head.

“No, I didn’t see one on them.” Henry looked from Luke to Aimee. She shook her head too.

“Guess it doesn’t matter either way. The police are going to handle it.”

“Does that mean Mercy’s in trouble?” Henry wasn’t sure how to answer Aimee.

“We’ll figure it out later.”

REG: hey, that detective guy wants to question Mercy. What should I do?

ME: He give you a place?

REG: not yet.

ME: Tell him we’re in the middle of dealing with a legion and I might still need her. We’ll bring her to him afterwards or he can head to your guy’s location.

REG: r u sure about keeping her around after all this? 

ME: If she had killed them, absolutely not. Since it sounds like she didn’t, I’m hoping that this is just a one-time slip up. 

REG: what about the whole “she might be a whisperer or a loon” conversation we had earlier?

ME: I don’t know what’s going on in her head. Maybe the pressure got to her, or maybe she’s losing her mind. If she thinks she can keep it together, then I’m willing to keep her around for a little longer. Just enough to know for certain.

REG: alright, I’ll try to sort this out. And what if detective guy doesn’t like your options?

ME: Then tell him I said the exercise will be good for him.

“So, where are we meeting the bb?” Henry turned and saw Aimee, Luke and Patricia were staring a hole through his head.

“The bb here was a bust. Apparently, they’re on vacation.” Patricia’s shoulders slumped and she slowed down. Her head lowered in defeat. “Hey, we still have options. We’re not giving up yet. Just need to walk a bit more. Okay?” Henry gingerly pulled on her arm. “It’ll be okay. I promise.” His encouragement didn’t seem to rouse her spirit. 

That thing will catch up if she doesn’t stay motivated to keep up the pace.

Henry thought about what he could say to keep Patricia going. They hadn’t been going for long, but she already had been chased by the legion and her adrenaline was probably wearing off. Not to mention dealing with the guys that accosted them and seeing them get shot didn’t help. The problem was he didn’t know anything about her. She didn’t have any rings or jewelry to indicate she was married or had a partner. Her clothes were clearly for work and didn’t hint at any hobbies or interests. As he pondered, Henry’s gaze fell upon the hand he was holding her with. He removed his hand and stared at the palm before balling it into a fist.

Guess it’s worth a shot.

Henry extended his pinky and held it out to Patricia. Her brow folded together as she stared at the finger before looking him in the eyes. She raised a single eyebrow.

“You promise to keep going, I promise to keep you safe.” She looked between his hand and his eyes. Her eyes clearly were asking if he was being serious. “I have never broken a pinky promise, and I’m not going to start today.” She studied him for a moment before looking back toward the legion.

“Tee…tee…tee…” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, Patricia raised her hand and extended her pinky. Henry moved his hand forward and wrapped his pinky around hers, barely applying any pressure to it. She did so in kind. With their fingers interlocked, they shook their hands up and down in rhythm with the old nursery rhyme. With the final shake, their fingers uncurled and Henry could see Patricia was smiling. Her eyes were swimming in a sea of nostalgia.

“You have kids, don’t you, Captain Henry?” Aimee and Luke snickered at the way Patricia addressed him.

“What gave it away?” Patricia chuckled.

“I only remember doing that as a kid.” Her face grew dower again. “Hopefully this one won’t be like the last one.” She stared at her hand. “They didn’t keep theirs.” Henry carefully wrapped his hand under her arm, trying to urge her forward.

“Well, you’re going to break yours if you don’t keep up with us.” She nodded her head.

“Right.” As she began to take another step, her foot slammed to the concrete and she came to a dead stop.

“Woah, hey! We can’t stop. Come on!” Henry tried to pull Patricia forward, but she didn’t budge. Her eyes were wide and she reached forward, grabbing Henry by his jacket.

“Captain, you said…” Her breathing was heavy. “You said that thing is chasing me because it has memories of me?”

“Not memories. Data. From what I know, they chase people they have data of.” 

“Data from a graft?!” He nodded and she pulled him closer. “Does it have to be new? Can it be old?!”

“I mean, if the graft is new, then its data is more likely to be intact, but some legions have had some of the first grafts to make it to Mirage.” She relinquished her grip and turned to the legion shambling toward them. Henry watched as Patricia was about to move toward it before he grabbed her by the arm, gripping her tightly. “What are you doing!?” Patricia’s voice was hoarse as she seemed to be on the verge of tears.

“Samantha!?” Henry felt his heart sink.

Oh no. Not like this.