Sister Cities

Part 49: Ekko (5 Years Ago)

Abandon all your stupid dreams

About the girl I could have been, my dear

I know that you mean so well

But I am not a vessel for your good intent

I will only break your pretty things

I will only wring you dry of everything

It's a habit 

I can't help it

~

If you walked me home

Well, I know that I'd have flashbacks

Of snow angels and gut laughs

I'm letting go

'Cause I loved you

But I have to

________________________________________________________________________________

It's on my fourteenth birthday that Snake and Scar let me execute a real mission instead of just designing one. It's pretty low-stakes, just a Shimmer exchange with some Topside nobody that we have to intercept. I don't know how many of Silco's goons are gonna be involved, so I take Snake, Quartz, and my ax, not that I expect I'll have to use it.

We're looking for a black bag with a red stripe that will cross the farthest bridge around midday. Snake is the lookout and backup; Quartz is the distraction and crystalizer; I'm the one who steals the Shimmer when its carrier is incapacitated. This all goes according to plan at first— Quartz doesn't fully limit the goon, but they confuse them long enough for me to snatch the bag and fly out of reach.

It goes sideways after that. There's a crack, and I cut to the left just in time to avoid a bullet. Quartz yells and their glue gun goes off. Another bullet passes me. Somewhere behind me, Snake shouts "Jinx" for some reason, and then "Ekko," and I turn to see her on the ground, holding out her arms. I toss the bag. Something blue flashes in my peripherals and I take a second look downward: the goon's hood has fallen off in her pursuit of Snake, revealing two blue braids.

Stupidly, I fly lower for a better look. Snake swings the bag against the ground; I hear something break. Orange crystals bloom beside the goon's feet. One more bullet cracks. Between one blink and the next, the goon disappears back into the Undercity, my only trail being a flicker of blue around one corner.

Quartz and I land next to Snake. "Fucking jinx," Quartz says, pulling their mask off. I think it's the first time I've heard them swear.

"What do you mean, 'jinx'?" I ask. My heart is pounding harder now than it was during the actual fight. "Is that her name?"

They give each other a weird look.

"She's an especially annoying goon," Snake says. "She always does way too much. But anyway, we won, so let's get going."

I'm being completely delusional, but I drop my hoverboard and ax, say, "Wait here," and take off in the direction I saw Jinx go.

"Don't!" Snake shouts. "Ekko!"

I ignore her. For a while, I'm working off the blue flickers, but eventually Jinx slows down and I catch up enough to get a real look at her from behind. The braids fall to her lower back and are strung with bullet shells. She's a bit taller than the person I'm remembering for no reasonable reason, and her body isn't the stick I'm remembering for no reasonable reason, but she's unmistakably young— arguably around my age.