again.
“ One of them was a haan, ” I heard myself whisper. “ She was pretending to be a human— ”
I started to say something back, but stopped. His pupils rotated as he watched me.
“ She sent you? ” I asked him. “ The female from Shangzho last night? ”
“ Yes. ”
“ Why you? Who are you? ”
“ I was obtained from the axial hive in Shangzho to look into this incident. ”
“ What, at random? ”
“ Not exactly. Do you— ”
“ Who was she? The one who took my surrogate? ”
“ Her name is Ava, ” he said. “ She is transitioning to become the new haan female. ”
“ Yeah, well, she ’ s got the rack for it. ”
“ What made you think one of your attackers was haan? ” he said, ignoring me. “ What did she look like? ”
“ She wore military combat armor, ” I said. “ Her face was covered by a dispersion mask. She looked human. But I picked her up, ” I said, tapping my forehead. “ Strong. She was haan. ”
“ You ’ re certain? ”
“ Yes. ”
“ And you are certain this haan was female? ”
“ Yeah. ” I rubbed my forehead, gun still pointing at the floor, and sighed. “ Okay. You ’ re already in. Have a seat if you want. ”
“ No, thank you. ”
He entered the room, then extended his hand and I shook it. The skin of his hand felt smooth and cool against my palm.
“ I am Nix, ” he said.
“ I ’ m Sam. ”
“ I know. ”
He took his hand back and looked around the room, pupils revolving as he turned his head robotically. He followed the stuff scattered across the floor until he found my feet, then followed all the way up until he finally met my eye again. “ You are naked. ”
“ I see they sent over their top investigator, ” I said, tossing the gun down onto the mattress and turning around to grab my clothes off the curtain rod.
“ What caused the lacerations? ” he asked.
“ I got thrown out a window. ” His brains twitched, like he wasn ’ t sure if I was serious. “ No, really, look ... you can see it from here. ”
He stepped closer and followed my finger to the shattered glass hole in the side of my apartment complex. By the light of day it looked even worse, and my stomach dropped a little when I followed the path I ’ d fallen. It was a long, long drop.
“ The haan threw me. ”
“ The female haan tried to kill you? ”
“ Yeah. ”
“ I do not think a haan would have the strength to throw even a small human with such force. ”
“ She had on combat armor. ” I held the smoke between my teeth as I slipped one leg into my pants, squinting as smoke burned one eye. “ Look, if you asked me yesterday I wouldn ’ t have bought it either. ”
I pulled my pants up and cinched the belt. They were still a little damp, but wearable. The same went for the tank top. I pulled it down over my head and snapped the waist tight to my hard stomach and smoothed the material down over my ribs. “ So, are you here to help me or what? ”
“ Help you? ”
“ Find Dragan. Find my guardian. The haan and the other soldiers took him last night. Are you here to help me find him? ”
“ No. ”
I frowned, picking up the stunner and pistol and stuffing one in each front pocket. “ Then no offense, Nix, but why are you here? ”
“ I was obtained to investigate the potential involvement of a haan in the attack. ”
I shook my head. “ Well, you ’ ll never get in there now, not until security ’ s done going over it, and probably not until they manage to pull the airbike out of our living room. ”
“ I don ’ t need to. If you ’ ll allow, I can gather what I need from you. ”
“ Me? ”
“ If you ’ ll allow. ”
I was picking up something, an anxious hum through the surrogate cluster. Something was bothering the haan, something he was trying to
“ One of them was a haan, ” I heard myself whisper. “ She was pretending to be a human— ”
I started to say something back, but stopped. His pupils rotated as he watched me.
“ She sent you? ” I asked him. “ The female from Shangzho last night? ”
“ Yes. ”
“ Why you? Who are you? ”
“ I was obtained from the axial hive in Shangzho to look into this incident. ”
“ What, at random? ”
“ Not exactly. Do you— ”
“ Who was she? The one who took my surrogate? ”
“ Her name is Ava, ” he said. “ She is transitioning to become the new haan female. ”
“ Yeah, well, she ’ s got the rack for it. ”
“ What made you think one of your attackers was haan? ” he said, ignoring me. “ What did she look like? ”
“ She wore military combat armor, ” I said. “ Her face was covered by a dispersion mask. She looked human. But I picked her up, ” I said, tapping my forehead. “ Strong. She was haan. ”
“ You ’ re certain? ”
“ Yes. ”
“ And you are certain this haan was female? ”
“ Yeah. ” I rubbed my forehead, gun still pointing at the floor, and sighed. “ Okay. You ’ re already in. Have a seat if you want. ”
“ No, thank you. ”
He entered the room, then extended his hand and I shook it. The skin of his hand felt smooth and cool against my palm.
“ I am Nix, ” he said.
“ I ’ m Sam. ”
“ I know. ”
He took his hand back and looked around the room, pupils revolving as he turned his head robotically. He followed the stuff scattered across the floor until he found my feet, then followed all the way up until he finally met my eye again. “ You are naked. ”
“ I see they sent over their top investigator, ” I said, tossing the gun down onto the mattress and turning around to grab my clothes off the curtain rod.
“ What caused the lacerations? ” he asked.
“ I got thrown out a window. ” His brains twitched, like he wasn ’ t sure if I was serious. “ No, really, look ... you can see it from here. ”
He stepped closer and followed my finger to the shattered glass hole in the side of my apartment complex. By the light of day it looked even worse, and my stomach dropped a little when I followed the path I ’ d fallen. It was a long, long drop.
“ The haan threw me. ”
“ The female haan tried to kill you? ”
“ Yeah. ”
“ I do not think a haan would have the strength to throw even a small human with such force. ”
“ She had on combat armor. ” I held the smoke between my teeth as I slipped one leg into my pants, squinting as smoke burned one eye. “ Look, if you asked me yesterday I wouldn ’ t have bought it either. ”
I pulled my pants up and cinched the belt. They were still a little damp, but wearable. The same went for the tank top. I pulled it down over my head and snapped the waist tight to my hard stomach and smoothed the material down over my ribs. “ So, are you here to help me or what? ”
“ Help you? ”
“ Find Dragan. Find my guardian. The haan and the other soldiers took him last night. Are you here to help me find him? ”
“ No. ”
I frowned, picking up the stunner and pistol and stuffing one in each front pocket. “ Then no offense, Nix, but why are you here? ”
“ I was obtained to investigate the potential involvement of a haan in the attack. ”
I shook my head. “ Well, you ’ ll never get in there now, not until security ’ s done going over it, and probably not until they manage to pull the airbike out of our living room. ”
“ I don ’ t need to. If you ’ ll allow, I can gather what I need from you. ”
“ Me? ”
“ If you ’ ll allow. ”
I was picking up something, an anxious hum through the surrogate cluster. Something was bothering the haan, something he was trying to
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