Coyote

[10] venus.

"If only I had the credits." If he completed the red zone hunt, he'd have enough money to upgrade The Anastasia.

Parking Lots were divided into different sectors, and those sectors were grouped according to their price range.

Wednesday had chosen Sector 7, which charged a one-time payment. It was convenient since they didn't know how long the hunt would last and if Wolf would survive. If he didn't, then Rainbow would be called to pick up The Anastasia as its new owner.

Abbas looked at Wolf, his light green eyes visible behind the glasses on his face. "That craft of yours, I've never seen anything like it."

"I bought it from a greybeard on Earth." Named after his late mother, The Anastasia was a binocular-like shaped corvette clocking around four hundred and fifty meters in length.

Abbas stared at the sky. "Earth?"

"Yes."

"People still live there?"

"You'd be surprised."

"I already am." The male attendant chuckled. "Anyway, you have a nice-looking craft."

"Thank you."

"Someone made a new friend," Wednesday chimed in.

"Shut up," Wolf muttered.

They arrived at a small building with the Swahili holo-words MAGARI YA KUKODISHA glowing above it in white. When the elites populated Mars many millennia ago, Venus became home to the lower and middle class from different cultures and ethnicities. Swahili, Arabic, and English were the official planetary languages, while Hindu and Japanese were secondary for a couple of centuries before dying out. Though there were indigenous groups that spoke them to this day.

Apart from English, Wolf understood no other language. Thankfully, his retina display translated the words. They read, "Car Rental."

"Nuhaila, this is Wolf," Abbas said to the dark-skinned receptionist after they entered the building. The intoxicating smell of snail pie covered the room, making Wolf's mouth salivate and his stomach roar with hunger. "He wants to rent a car."

Nuhaila chomped at the snail pie, reminding Wolf of Rainbow, making him smile.

She grabbed the snail shell at the center of the paper plate and sucked the fluid inside. After she was done, she licked her fingers and stood, revealing her black burqa that grazed the floor, before extending her hand to Wolf.

Wolf glanced at Abbas, and the man smiled at him, before turning to Nuhaila. He scrunched his nose and shook his head, not wanting to shake her saliva-covered hands. Nuhaila's mouth made an O-shape before she reached under the table and took out a serviette, using it to clean her fingers.

"What kind of car are you interested in?" she asked with a warm and inviting voice.

"What do you have?"

Nuhaila adjusted her black hijab. "We have skimmers, hovers, and jets, ranging from one-seaters to four-seaters." She grabbed the datapad on the table, pressed an icon, and holo-images of numerous cars materialized. "What's your preference?"

"Take a hover-car. It's cheap. I know you like cheap things," Wednesday said as though it was a bad thing.

Honestly, Wolf didn't care what he got. As long as the car took him to Coupon City and returned without breaking down, he was happy with anything. "Which one do you advise I should take?

"Where are you going?"

"Coupon City."

Abbas and Nuhaila exchanged worried glances.

"What's wrong?"

"Coupon is not a place you want to go," Abbas said, placing a hand on Wolf's shoulder. "There are terrifying people there."

Wolf folded his arms. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Nuhaila answered instead. She gazed sideways as though there was someone listening to them and added, "There are women there, nuns, they call themselves Forgiven—"

"The Forgotten Nuns," Abbas corrected her.

"Yes, them. They convert people to Christianity by force. I had a friend—"

"Our coworker."

"Yes, our coworker thought it would be fun to go there and see what was happening."

"She never returned," Abbas added.

"What's her name?" Wolf asked.

"Alexis."

"Maybe she fell in love."

"That's not true," Nuhaila said.

"How do you know?"

"I know her. She's always like this, running off to different places, searching for something to fill the void in her heart. It's not love she's after. She wants something else."

"The Venus Defence Force won't listen to anyone's complaints about the nuns. I believe—"

"Not one of your conspiracies, Abbas," Nuhaila cut him off before shaking her head at him, looking like a disappointed mother. They must have had this conversation a lot.

Abbas ignored her and proceeded. "As I was saying, I believe the nuns are paying the Venus Defence Force to look the other way. They have a Cathedral and homes for their followers in the city. They perform a ceremony known as Purification where their followers come out different than they initially were. It's like they're someone else. This is a cult, and they're spitting on the faces of every noble Christian out there by using Jesus' name in vain."

"Do you worship Christianity, Abbas?" Wolf asked.

"No, but I have friends who do."

"Their followers are called The Believers. They will do anything for the nuns. Anything."

"How do you know all of this?" Wolf asked though he could guess. With all sorts of customers using the Parking Lot, there had to be some who couldn't keep their mouths shut and spilled all sorts of rumors about Coupon and what went on in there.

"Some of their followers have rented cars from here, claiming they were going to spread the word of their savior before he returns."

If Wolf could roll his eyes to the back of his head, he would have done so. Part of him wondered how Wednesday was dealing with all this new information. She was an AI that progressed by studying the environment and people around her, preparing for the day she became a sleeve. Everything she heard and saw shaped her for the better or worse.

Which way was this information leading her to?

"The entire city is being controlled by the nuns?" Wolf asked.

"Yes." Abbas nodded.

"How many are there?"

Abbas thought about it before shaking his head. Nuhaila had the same response.

Wolf looked at the nano-ring on his finger. Hopefully, it would prove to be useful if things turned for the worse. "Give me the cheapest car."

"Are you sure about this? You might die," Abbas said.

Wolf was touched to see someone other than Rainbow be worried about his well-being. In another life, he would have probably been friends with Abbas and Nuhaila. "I'm a coyote, Abbas. Escaping death comes with the job description."

Abbas nodded. "Nuhaila, get him a hover-car."

"Make it a two-seater."

"Why two?"

"Because I'm going to find their leader and bring her to justice." And if he failed and died, then he would make sure he went out with all guns blazing.