Division Zero: Thrall Read online

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  © 2015 Matthew Cox

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  ISBN 978-1-62007-726-9 (ebook)

  ISBN 978-1-62007-727-6 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-1-62007-728-3 (hardcover)

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  nchanted by a fleeting daydream of the perfect fairy-tale wedding, Kirsten watched imaginary guests mingling through the dark spots between trees. Evan grabbed her arm with both hands, shaking her out of the fog of an idyllic day. Fanciful organ music retreated into her thoughts, replaced by the reality of whistling wind and distant commerce. The tiny nature preserve, five square miles of green contained in a flowerbox of silver high-rise buildings, was not safe from the music of advert bots. She blinked at him, as if surprised by his sudden proximity. The sight of the boy’s defensive posture over Shani made her smile. The look of urgency in his eyes took it away. The little girl seemed confused at the sudden end to their play. Kirsten looked to her left, as if an explanation could be found on the sienna face of Nila Assad.

  “Mom…” He pulled at Kirsten’s arm. “Something’s in the bushes watching us.”

  “Where?” She put a hand on his shoulders. “Did you see anything?”

  Evan shook his head. “No. I just had that creepy feeling like something was there.”

  Kirsten frowned at the expression on Nila’s face. “I don’t think it’s a…” Pervert. Shani didn’t see anything. Evan’s too scared. He wouldn’t be this rattled if it was just a man. “…living person.”

  Nila tensed after Kirsten’s telepathic message and reached for her daughter. The glare she sent into the bushes melted to worry. Shani hopped up on the bench while Evan remained standing, arms folded, eyes fixed on the spot. Kirsten worked her E90 out of her too-small purse.

  “You know,” said Nila, “you can wear it on your hip. You don’t have to hide it; besides, it’s against policy. What if you needed it in a hurry?”

  Kirsten brushed her thumb over the molded grip. “I guess… I’m just trying to feel normal for one day this month.” She rubbed Evan’s shoulder. “Stay here with Nila, I’ll be right back.”

  “You’re not going alone, are you?” Nila put a hand on Kirsten’s arm.

  “What else can I do? Should we leave the kids here while we run off? Or bring them with us after who-knows-what?”

  Evan turned so Shani could not see the frightened look he gave Kirsten. Mom, you did kill that bad ghost, right?

  Kirsten stood, and her shoes meowed as they absorbed her weight. Evan cracked up giggling. She sighed, glancing down past her skirt at the pink and white Nomz. The image of Seneschal’s final obliteration came to mind. Yes, I did. Did it feel like him? It was her turn to shiver. It wasn’t the blast of wind inflating her skirt; the thought of another abyssal stalking her son made her blood chill. She smirked at Nila.

  This is why I don’t wear skirts. I’m gonna get into a fight and it’s gonna come off, or I’m going to go headfirst into something with my ass in the air. Kirsten blushed at the mere thought of it.

  “Kinda.” He bit his lower lip. “Strong.”

  Nila grinned, hiding her face in Shani’s hair to avoid laughing at Kirsten’s mental grumbling.

  “Stay here and protect Shani, I’ll be right back.” She winked at Evan.

  “‘Kay.” He puffed out his chest.

  Shani frowned. “He’s just a kid too. Alls he can do is see ghosts.” Evan floated off his feet, squealing from the sudden telekinetic levitation, and landed on the bench sitting next to her. Shani folded her arms. “I’ll probably wind up protecting him.”

  Evan looked annoyed for a second or two before he held Shani’s hand. “You can’t TK a creepy spirit, and that’s what’s watching us.”

  After a reassuring squeeze to his hand, Kirsten went toward the edge of the wooded area with both hands on her weapon, aimed down and to the right. She felt ridiculous brandishing the E90 while wearing a thigh-length skirt, white sweater, and cat-headed sneakers that meowed whenever she stepped too hard.

  Great, I’m the cheerleader from hell.

  The mood shifted as she neared the edge of the clearing. Forty yards or so from the bench, a definite unease spread through the area. Dozens of different ad-bot tunes collided at once amid the rustling trees. Whatever energy permeated the air here altered her mood, changing the sound into a sinister calliope that could accompany the carnival of the damned. Primal trepidation swam up her spine. With it came the feeling she would not be able to find her way out of this forest.

  Kirsten paused at the edge of the induced growth; for a moment, she forgot the nature preserve only occupied five square miles. It felt endless, beckoning, as if a malevolence within wanted her forever. Wind fluttered her skirt, and the chill on her legs caused a shiver. It took her a moment, as well as a glance back at the three people she considered family, to gather herself.

  Something is trying to freak me out.

  Squinting, she searched through the foliage for any sign of what caused the twisted mood. It clawed at the back of her mind, wanting to make her feel scared. Kirsten tapped her power, raising an active defense against the spectral ambiance. The fear lessened. A living telempath would not face resistance from her astral ward.

  There’s some kind of spirit here.

  Nila nodded at the message. Kirsten, with full confidence, straightened her stance and walked into the trees. Whatever it was had not attacked when the kids were close to it, a chance moment when she could not have intervened. If it was here to harm them, why had it not made its move then? Evan said it felt strong, which made her worry she missed an abyssal somewhere along the way. Many of them, at least according to recent research, preferred weeks and months of slow maddening to murder. Certain spirits could derive untold amounts of pleasure from watching a mortal’s slow descent into insanity.

  She stepped over a root that encroached on the jogging path and wondered how deep the soil went before it hit the city plate. Enough for trees, apparently. The occasional holographic sign flickered into view as she moved, bearing reminders that visitors to the park were responsible for any litter. Continued tweaking at her mental defenses kept her on guard, but a presence still watched her.

  To the right, a spread of debris outlined a space of grass claimed by vagrants. Three crude shelters ringed a nine-foot-wide metal dish filled with ash, a cover from an articulated cargo mover’s wheel motor. Still, she found no larger trace of paranormal energy. Small bits of trash wrapped about trees, flapping in the wind. A bot the size of a shoebox orbited the camp, itching to issue someone a fine for littering. Detecting her motion, it came zooming over. By the time it reached her, its prosecutorial zeal had faded to a disappointed nose-down approach. A small holo-panel sticking out of its side displayed her face―her official ID image.

  “Good afternoon, officer. Have you located the parties responsible for this code violation?”

  Kirsten smirked at it. “Please tell me you’re not just going to slap a littering fine on the first person you find who isn’t a police employee.”

  The floating bot sagged. “Pardon my enthusiasm. I’ve been on this assignment for ninety-three ho
urs now.”

  “I hate to throw sand in your lubricant, but the people responsible for that campsite probably don’t even have citizen registrations. You should move on.”

  “I can’t,” whined a petulant male voice, “my program does not contain a logic gate for failure-slash-lack of suspects.”

  “Well, what will you do if you find the ones responsible and they don’t have a PID transponder to fine?”

  It trailed behind her as she walked. “In that event, I am programmed to use verbal compliance enforcement techniques.”

  Kirsten avoided another huge root. “You mean nag them to death?”

  “ Hmmf.” The floating brick pivoted away, as if offended. “I’ll have you know I perform a very important function.”

  “I’m sure you do.”

  With a shake of her head, she turned from the patrol bot and came to a halt. The induced fear was pervasive, omnidirectional. She could walk for hours and never find anything just by sight. Maybe who or whatever this is only comes out at night. Ugh, this is a waste of time. One more try. She closed her eyes and reached out with mental energy. Her influence projected into the astral realm and swam through the emanation teasing at the edges of her mood. She swept back and forth, hoping to feel some sense of direction that would lead her to an entity. After some time, she concluded the effect was an imprint on the area rather than active radiance. A spirit had infused this section of the park with its desire to frighten the living away from its domain.

  She let her head sag backward and sighed at the treetops. “Well, not the first time I’ve chased my own tail.”

  “You there,” said the bot. “The fine for littering is―” The pronouncement cut off with an electronic scream. “Assaulting a municipal patrol robot is a crime!”

  When she opened her eyes, a face was less than twelve inches away from hers. With a gasp, she leapt back and collided with another man behind her. He was all too happy to catch her by the arms and hold on. The sudden shock of a grab from behind left her unable to do much but squirm for a few seconds.

  The bot glided up behind him. “Now the total fine is 4,942 credits. Please swipe a NetMini or await the police.”

  “Well, well,” said the man in front of her, ignoring the nuisance behind him. “Candy cute. Do your parents know you wandered off alone?”

  He did not appear to be much older than seventeen, and had a long, multi-pocketed coat and frizzed-up orange hair. A glowing NanoLED tattoo wrapped around the right half of his face, a dragon drawn in red. The light darkened with his expression.

  “Do yours know you’re assaulting people in the park?” She stopped struggling. “You two should go back to school. Not much future in the UCF for people without advanced degrees.”

  They both laughed. A mix of warm and cool gathered at the left side of her neck as the man holding her pressed his face close and inhaled.

  “Relax, princess. I got some stuff that’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt.” He slipped his hand out of his coat, holding a refurbished, refilled autoinjector. “Or, if you’d prefer not to remember it at all…” His grip shifted, fanning two more like cards out from behind it. The purple one still had dried blood on the end.

  The way the man at her back held her arms prevented Kirsten from aiming the E90 at the one in front, despite not wanting to kill someone that young. She tried once more to wriggle free, but found her strength lacking.

  “This is normally where I would give you one more chance not to make a stupid mistake, but I’ll settle for being happy you two idiots decided to try and grab me instead of some helpless kid.”

  “Whoa, Skeev, we found a freak. I think she likes it.”

  “Yeah,” she said, as her eyes faded to flat white. “I’m going to love it.”

  Her thoughts wrapped around the sentience behind her head. The mind blast knocked the man into a stupor, pared back to the point where it only stunned him. Skeev, or whatever his name was, backpedaled from the eerie glow in her glare. Kirsten shrugged her arms free and raised the E90, her eyes returning to their usual sapphire blue.

  “Police, Division 0, on the ground, now.”

  Whether by panic, ignorance, or desperation, Skeev howled and charged. Not wanting to shoot him, and not feeling threatened by him, she spun into his attack and guided him face-first into a tree. When he bounced away and staggered to face her again, she kicked, slapping him across the face with one of her sneakers.

  Meow.

  He flailed his arms to maintain balance. Kirsten advanced on him as he went for a knife, kicking it out of his grip before he had it all the way out of a belt sheath.

  Meow.

  Skeev backed off, cradling his wrist. He glared, reaching for a pistol.

  “ Freeze.” Light flickered through her eyes.

  “Ssssomeone lose a cat?” moaned the stunned punk.

  The psionic suggestion had such a profound effect on his weak mind that he ceased all motion―even breathing. Onset of a sudden pallor and cold sweat made her worry she’d stopped his heart.

  “ Breathe.”

  Kirsten grabbed his shoulder and swept his legs, sending him chest-first to the ground. Her hand swiped at her belt, reaching for binders she did not have with her. Crap. She went for her purse. Back on the bench, double crap. The gang punk had a NetMini, though its powder-pink case made her assume it stolen. She relieved him of three handguns, six more knives, and a retractable shock-baton―the cheaper civilian-legal cousin to a police stunrod.

  “Bot!” she yelled. “Get over here.”

  “Not bad,” said a voice to her left.

  Something about the tone made her whirl. A man leaned on a tree, clad in a dingy pair of overalls somewhere between orange and tan. Copious amounts of black grime clung to a dark high-collared sweater, and everything else. He tapped a clod of dirt from heavy work boots and straightened up before taking a step. His bulk would have been intimidating, if not for the sense of his being a ghost.

  Kirsten relaxed. “They’re just kids.”

  The worker spirit laughed. “Kids with guns, knives, and an itch they wanted you to scratch.”

  She frowned at the stolen NetMini. “I doubt I was their first.”

  “Yes, officer?” The litter bot zipped over, orbiting about her head in a side-slide.

  “Outside the trees by the park edge, there’s a woman with two kids. Her name is Nila. Ask her to call for a Division 1 unit to respond to the park right away. When they arrive, lead them here. Tell Nila everything is fine, just some lowlifes.”

  “What about the littering violation?”

  Kirsten sighed, pressing the cold E90 to her forehead. “To hell with the littering fine, this is actual crime.”

  “But…” It wobbled. “He tried to hit me.”

  “Fine, take it up with the Div One officers when they get here.”

  The worker ghost laughed. As the frustrated bot raced off to carry out her request, she dragged the mind-stunned assailant over and flung him to the ground near his friend. Backing off, she kept her weapon trained on them. A pang of curiosity laced with guilt came on. She could poke into their memories to see what befell the owner of the pink NetMini, but was hesitant to look. After a moment of pondering, these two idiots did not give her a murderous vibe. Chances are, the girl who owned it was still alive.

  She peeked into Skeev’s head, and instantly regretted it.

  The other one moaned, sliding one hand to his face. “Ugh, what happened? Why am I on the ground?”

  Kirsten got their attention with a laser blast in the dirt between them. “Police, Division 0. You two are both under arrest for attempted rape, assault of an officer of the law, and illegal sexual contact with a minor.” She tried to keep a straight face. “And for attempted destruction of a municipal service bot.”

  “What? Minor? That’s horseshit. If you’re a damn cop, you’re old enough!” Skeev seemed ready to cry, his bravado gone.

  “I know about what you all did to your associate
Blowfish’s sister.”

  Blowfish glared at Skeev.

  “I didn’t say a fucking word, man, I swear. The bitch was cool with it.”

  Kirsten narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you for a hot second. Even if she did agree to have sex with your little gang’s leader, she’s fifteen. I also highly doubt she expected it was going to turn into a group affair. ‘Get off me you fucking assholes’ doesn’t leave much room for doubt. Skeev was stupid enough to try to pull a gun on me. And you!” Kirsten pointed the E90 at the larger boy. “You just sat in the next room and listened to her scream.” Is this what Dorian felt like when he killed those people? She shivered with rage, but forced herself to calm down. “You’re pathetic! By all rights, I should have shot him where he stood. If one of you so much as farts suspiciously, I’ll aerate you both.”

  She was glad they were face down and couldn’t see the look on her face. They didn’t need to know she would never make good on a threat like that. More than half of being a cop was sounding the part and hoping you could go home without blood on your hands. The ghost did pick up on her nature and winked. When he sensed his presence no longer unsettled her, he wandered over to stand nearby.

  “I was expecting them to choose someone a little… older.”

  “I’m not a kid,” she mumbled, “I’m twenty-two.”

  The ghost blinked. “No shit. Must be those shoes.”

  “Yeah, I know I look like I’m still in high school.”

  “Freshman, barely.”

  She gave him the finger, making him laugh. “I think these shoes are cute.” Indignation passed, she glanced up at him. “Were you hovering by Evan before?”

  “Yeah. Just keeping watch on him. Theodore was trying to find you. He thinks you might’ve missed one of the other things and wanted me to make sure nothing tried to hurt your little guy.”

  “Theodore? You know him?”

  Skeev and Blowfish looked at each other, and gawked at Kirsten talking to nothing.

  “Yep.” The sprit held out his pockets as if modeling his clothes. “I used to be in construction.”

  “Anything you want me to pass along?”