❝how do you kill a monster without becoming one?❞
In the last city ruled by man, fish soar in the skies above and monsters lurk in the alleys below. Ten years ago, Jase lost both his legs and his mother to one such monster. However, tragedy couldn't...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Jase was late.
He gripped the wheels of his chair, propelling himself down the street. He wove through the crowd and brushed past the fish floating lazily through the air. They barely startled when Jase got too close, just moved out of his way and hunted for some old lady to feed them seaweed scraps.
"Watch where you're going, kid!" a man shouted as Jase almost ran him down.
"Sorry!" Jase called, but he didn't bother to turn his head. Unlike the fish, people didn't get out of Jase's way and everyone seemed to be in a foul mood lately due to the heat. When both suns were in the sky everyone got a little cranky.
But why did he have to be late today of all days?
Above him, a blue whale momentarily blocked out the suns. Jase turned his head out of reflex but he didn't have time to stare. The whales always migrated during the warm season, heading deeper into the mountains. Jase was sure someone would be stupid enough to try to kill one.
Finally, the building Jase was hurrying towards came into eyesight. Which wasn't saying much as it was over eighty stories high, making it one of the tallest buildings in Last City. The morning light glared off the blue glass and a flock of stingrays were ironically taking shelter on its shadowy side. Stingray Incorporated: Extermination Unit was scrawled above the entrance in large silver print.
But they exterminated things that were much larger than bugs or rodents. They exterminated monsters.
"Shit," Jase mumbled as he came to the building. "Why is it always stairs?"
There was, in fact, a small flight of stairs leading up to the door and for whatever reason, no one had bothered to install a ramp. Jase skidded to a stop and attempted to judge the distance and the amount of time it would take him to climb before he removed the blanket that covered his legs and stood.
Metal glinted. Jase's legs trembled and for a moment Jase was afraid they'd give out. They had a tendency to do that, the pieces of shit. However, he managed to steady himself and grabbed the back of the chair, bringing it up the stairs, careful not to damage the charging station in the footplate.
Once both Jase and the chair were up the steps, Jase sat back down, just as unsteadily as he had risen. He returned his feet to the charging station and readjusted the blanket to hide his legs. He didn't like the looks. It wasn't exactly uncommon for people with missing limbs to replace them with AI parts - some of which could go for months without needing to be recharged - but Jase was using old parts. It was all he could afford. They barely gave him thirty minutes a day on his feet and Jase hated wasting those precious minutes on stairs.
To Jase's surprise, there was someone waiting for him in the lobby. She was a long-legged, dark-skinned woman with more power and intelligence buried in her bones than anyone else Jase had ever known. Her hair was kept in braids and it was so long it hung to her hips. She wore a full face of makeup - complete with dramatic winged eyeliner and dark eyes.
