Cyber Witch

Chapter 2.3 - This is Lucky?

[Avia]

The Corinth was an older, unremarkable shuttle, a boxy cargo ship partially converted to carry passengers. Not particularly fast, the journey to the Hephaestus Outpost would take almost three days. It would be boring, but after the close call with Zach, I was thankful for that. The effects of my body's fight-or-flight responses, from which I chose flight, still lingered. I accessed my cybernetic implant's biometric function, confirming elevated heart rate and stress hormone levels. My hand trembled when I held it up.

Focused visualization and deep breathing helped calm my racing heart and relax my muscles, something Flint taught me long ago. With that thought, my heart dropped — I missed his caring council.

A distraction might also help, but there wasn't much to do on the shuttle. I ate a couple more Goober Gummies, but hardly noticed the flavors.

Years ago, I downloaded several terabytes of music, books, movies, and games into my head. Games no longer interested me, and I didn't have the focus for an escapist novel or movie, so music it was. Old jazz ballads from twentieth century Earth were my favorite for relaxation — back when the instruments were acoustic, and that mattered. Intimate and soulful, each song told a heartfelt story, with or without lyrics. I started with Coltrane, and a warm tenor saxophone melody, accompanied by piano, string bass, and drums, washed over me like gentle cleansing rain. Soon, I drifted off into peaceful sleep.

But it didn't last long. The nightmare came again.

Dark rolling mist obscured the moonlight as I stood planet-side among the smoldering ruins of a great city — destruction I caused. A great crowd emerged and surrounded me, people of all ages and situation, those that once occupied this city, those now dead, those I killed. Expressionless faces and hollow eyes pierced my soul, especially from the children.

"Why?" a young child asked with the most innocent of voice, clutching a torn stuffed animal. "Why did you kill us?"

Lifting my hands, I found them drenched in blood, dripping down to the sterilized soil. Guilt flooded my soul, bitter and putrid, constricting my throat and leaving me unable to answer. For what could I say? How could I excuse my atrocity?

Beside the child, a black hooded jury materialized from the mist. Rising side-by-side, they lifted cloaked arms and pointed bony fingers. "Guilty," they chanted in unison, rising in volume.

"Mercy!" I pleaded in a choked voice, kneeling down. "I never meant for them to die."

A burly man in a black hooded cloak parted the mist and stood beside me, brandishing a huge rusty battle-ax. "Judgment shall be done," he proclaimed in a deep voice. I gazed within his hood, but there was no face, only a dark abyss. With a grunt, he swung the ax...

I awoke with a cry, my heart pounding and breath ragged. Sweat droplets formed on my forehead. The lights were low in the cabin and most passengers slept. Fernando snored in the seat beside me with his mouth hanging open, but an elderly woman across the aisle turned and lifted an eyebrow.

Old scars on my soul ripped open, flooding me in rancid shame and drowning my rational self. Memories boiled up from a dark place from when, as an operative in the Cyber Assault Force, my actions destroyed a city. Hundreds-of-thousands perished — collateral damage they rationalized, but families, children...

As a single trembling sob escaped my lips, the woman leaned closer. "Are you alright, dear?" she whispered, concern painting her face.

"Just a bad dream," I replied, looking away. "It's nothing."