Glitch in the God Complex (AmpCore #1)

24 - Ghost Girl

I had a choice, Piper wrote quickly, resisting the urge to shake her head. Should have said no.

"I think we both know that Ferra wouldn't have let it lie so easily." Standing up, Carstairs stubbed out the remains of his cigarette in the ash tray and turned to leave. "Get some rest, Piper. I'll be back to check on you in a little while."

*

She awoke to gentle footsteps. Too gentle to be Dr Carstairs.

Piper felt the connective jolt of someone else's implants disrupting the atmosphere around her. With an effort, she straightened up in the bed as much as she could, biting back a hiss of pain as she looked to the door.

An elfin figure slipped over the threshold, smiling thinly as their wand disappeared back into their slim fit jacket.

"Arrow?"

"Hi, Piper," they replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got the shit kicked out of me," she snorted, allowing her muscles to relax as she sank back into the bed.

"I heard about the fight."

"Great." Piper's lips twisted into a bitter sneer. "News travels fast around here, right?"

"Especially when it's about you." Arrow walked across the room, lowering themselves smoothly into the desk chair and turning to face her. "Are you alright?"

"Well, I'm alive." She shrugged. "But I'm stuck in here for a few days till my bones have healed enough for someone to fast track the rest."

"A.I.Ps." Arrow nodded sagely. "Useful people. Dangerous, but useful."

"You don't like them?"

Arrow wrinkled their nose. "They give me the creeps. Machines is one thing, but messing around inside somebody's body, playing with their blood – their bones – it's just a bit ... unsettling."

"Didn't peg you as the squeamish type." Piper smirked faintly. "So, what brings you here? Checking up on little old me?"

Arrow shrugged. "I wanted to make sure you were alright. It was wrong of Ferra to do that to you. She took advantage of her position."

"Can't imagine she's the only one."

"No, but Ferra is not like the others."

She heard the sting of bitterness in their voice, bitterness wrapped up in a lot of history. To her surprise, she felt a jolt of sympathy for them, corporate spiv or not.

"I take it you've had your run-ins with her?" Piper ventured. "Is she like Toran, about your...?" She managed a weak, vague gesture to Arrow with one hand. "Your identity?"

"Worse," Arrow continued, their jaw tightening. "Toran I can deal with, but Ferra? She's crazy. She likes hurting people."

"Yeah, I found that out first hand," Piper replied with a rueful smile.

"For what it's worth, you did the right thing," they continued. "This way, she got to prove her point, and it's done."

"She kicked my ass."

"Join the club, Piper. She runs the Sharks for a reason. No-one beats Ferra in a duel." Arrow sighed, leaning back in their seat. "It hurts now, but long term, you've done yourself a favour. If you'd refused to fight her she would have made your life a living hell down here."

"You weren't down there," Piper said after a moment, carefully picking out the words. "At the Sharks. Did Ferra ask you?"

"A while ago."