Project LOSS

Chapter 12

Kai woke to the mingling odours of coffee, bacon and buttered toast. He hoped there was a can of beans he could add into the mix, never quite satisfied with breakfast unless it had some liquid component. Runny eggs would also suffice for dipping purposes in the absence of beans, or even tomatoes. Kai never knew what food items were in stock as he left the shopping to Lani—along with most household chores.

Had breakfast not been calling out to his senses he might have fallen back to sleep. He wasn’t a morning person. The chance of a decent home-cooked breakfast was, however, too rare of a treat to pass up.

Eyes still blurry from sleep, he entered the kitchen to find Miaka sitting cross-legged on the marble-top work surface, eating a triangle of toast with one hand and pushing several rashes of bacon around a pan with the other.

The first light of morning filtered through the blinds covering the rain-speckled windows to create a dappled effect on her freshly cleaned and beautiful cheeks as she greedily choked down her breakfast. She was stunning in a way that almost made Kai physically ache.

I should have just ignored my damn conscience, Kai mentally berated himself as he approached his newfound colleague.

“Morning,” she greeted, mouth full of toast, before swallowing and apologising for the lack of manners that hadn’t bothered Kai in the slightest. He believed table manners to be a thing of the past, along with having enough food to eat—in the case of most people.

Harry had told him that millions of people were dying of starvation even before the civilised world had ended. Kai found that fact staggering, but it made him feel better about refusing to rejuvenate humanity more than he already had.

Vrethie and Milo had not long joined Kai at the table when Vrethie briefed them on the day’s schedule. He half listened while digging into a pile of bacon that was cooked to perfection. Maybe having a woman around had its advantages, but he was yet to be entirely convinced. He would wait to see her in the field before deciding her worth as a team member beyond providing eye candy.

Kai set off with Vrethie and Miaka at seven am, leaving Milo to do the dishes.

“Isn’t Milo coming?” Miaka asked.

“No. Because of his age, we rarely take Milo on an assignment unless we know we will require his skills. Today’s mission is a simple search and rescue, the emphasis on finding a group of City Defence Officers who travelled north to investigate a budding civilisation that practically sprouted up overnight. Rumour has it anyone entering the new city is never seen again, and all evidence gathered thus far supports rumours of foul play,” Vrethie explained.

The first stop on the agenda was the bus depot, where Meredith sat atop the city bus awaiting their arrival, tapping a fictitious watch on her wrist in an overblown gesture of impatience.

“Yeah, yeah,” muttered Kai, dismissing her complaints with a wave of his hand but making no attempt to alter his pace. He slowed to a stop beside the rusting yellow bus known as the City bus but more commonly referred to as the “shitty bus” by most. Meredith jumped down to meet them, her long pigtails bouncing, and jingled the bus keys at Kai, then at Vrethie. When neither made a move to retrieve the keys from her grasp, she sighed. “Well, I’m not allowed to drive, even though I’d probably do a better job.”

“Who is she?” Meredith asked, turning toward Miaka and looked her up and down with noticeable disdain.

 Aww, what’s up Meredith? Threatened by the prospect of not being the only girl on the team?  

Vrethie took it upon himself to introduce the two women, giving a brief biopsy of each woman for the benefit of the other.

“Are you two like… a couple or something?” Meredith asked Kai, who frowned and screwed up his nose as he took a step away from Miaka.

Why are you bothered about the state of my love life? He thought, half expecting Meredith to string off a list of insults, warning the other woman off him.

“Nice outfit for a field assignment,” Meredith commented, referring to the blue silk dress that had been Miakas only available clothing, short of borrowing one of Vrethie’s suits.

“Yeah, your boob tube looks far more suitable,” Miaka shot back without hesitation.

Watching Meredith’s bitchy resting face transform into a look of shocked outrage made Kai’s day. He was warming to the woman who only a few hours earlier had been the conveyor of his unbridled rage.

“What made you volunteer to come? Hoping to gather enough charity hours to get a silver card?” Vrethie asked Meredith.

“One of my friends was on the scout mission,” she explained before urging them to hurry. “Who’s driving then? Crash Bandicoot or Old Man River?” she asked, dripping venom. Kai didn’t get the references, which was hardly a surprise, considering Meredith was referencing pop culture from a world he’d never known. He found it difficult to understand a lot of what she said, her conversational style relying heavily on idioms, colloquialisms and slang that had little meaning outside of the context from which they were originally derived. Vrethie usually tried to teach Kai the meaning of non-logical sayings, but let these slide.

“I can drive,” offered Miaka. “Well, I’ve never driven a bus, but how hard can it be with no traffic on the roads?”

“There’s not a whole lot of road left on the roads,” scoffed Vrethie. Kai was happy to let Miaka drive, preferring and sometimes even enjoying the more relaxed role of passenger.

The bus tipped and creaked as Kai stepped on board, running his hand along the smooth bumps of his latest repair. No matter how hard Kai tried, it was impossible to hammer the chassis back into the shape it had been pre-crash. He sat in his usual seat at the back centre; the only one with decent legroom and tried to get comfortable as Miaka started the bus.

Miaka proved to be a skilled and speedy driver, both making the journey in record time and keeping the bus from breaking down or tipping. Kai relaxed and stared out of glassless windows at the scored, barren wasteland that had once been lush with rolling fields and trees; a haven to countless forms of life from insects scurrying in soil to birds soaring above. Whether the change in topology was down to the use of doomsday weapons—or the influence of the First and his ability to control the elements—was a question for much speculation and heated debate.

Kai overheard the others discussing the issue but stayed quiet. He had little to offer on the topic, having no experience in either event, but he doubted any man-made weapon could have such a profound effect on the ecosystem, favouring the explanation that the First was to blame. Why anyone would do such a thing was another question—and a question for which he had no theories. Looking at pictures of the old world filled him with a sense of anger, not so much aimed toward the First as much as the people who were unsatisfied with the bounty nature provided them, opting instead to manipulate the world to satisfy their selfish whims.

The bus pulled up at one of its designated stops, just shy of the entrance to Old Town; thought to be the first location outside of PAVE walls to house humans and superhumans in symbiotic coexistence. It was also where the City Defence Officers, Tobias and Sky, patiently awaited their arrival. Kai was surprised to note Sky was a male—albeit a deceptively feminine-looking male—having expected a female purely based on the name Sky. He greeted Kai with a whistle.

“Well hello sailor,” Sky winked, looking over both Kai and Vrethie and appearing pleased with what he saw. Everything about Sky was sharp; the cut of his longish hair, his dress sense and even his facial features and the line of his hips. Something about him reminded Kai of his brother, but he couldn’t define what, even with his enhanced perception.

Looking down at Vrethie’s feet, Sky cooed “Ooh are those Italian?” pronouncing Italian “Eye-talian.”

Vrethie nodded, rubbing the Italian loafer against the bottom of his trouser leg to polish off the ever-present red dust. “Genuine leather,” he responded in kind, pronouncing genuine as “Gen-you-wine.”

Vrethie always dressed immaculately in silk shirts and perfectly pressed chinos, with the addition of a jacket and waistcoat when the occasion called for it. Kai, on the other hand, spent little effort on his appearance, choosing function and comfort, in that order, over fashion. He wore custom-made leather armour that had been stunning when new but was now battered and stained. Had it not been so comfortable he might have considered replacing it.

Tobias looks how I would look if I cared about my appearance, Kai thought. Tobias wore his hair long in the front and cropped at the back and sides, similar to Kai’s but with the long portion neatly gelled to the side instead of pushed back or tucked behind an ear. He looked stylish in a leather trench coat, white vest and black leather trousers, a look few could pull off (though many tried).

Tobias offered Kai his hand with an enthusiasm that bordered on creepy. “It’s so good to meet you man,” Tobias gushed. “I can’t believe I get to go on assignment with Kai Jonas.” Jonas was the family name of Kai’s adoptive father, James ‘Jimmi’ Jonas, though few people knew that.

He’s done his homework, Kai realised with a frown.

Meredith made a mock vomiting gesture. Tobias glanced over at her and must have noticed her theatrics but was undeterred, asking, “Dude is it true you took out a fifty-foot giant in one punch?”

“Huh?” Kai concentrated for a second. “Oh yeah. That,” he said, recalling what was arguably not one of his most shining moments.

The event in question had taken place on a summer morning after a night of heavy drinking. A mutant almost twice Kai’s height had been terrorising the town for hours before Kai and Vrethie finally realised and drunkenly took the thing down. The giant turned out to be a tiny and cute orphan boy by the name of Milo.

Tobias had apparently heard a version of that story that showed Kai in a better light, and Kai saw no reason to regale him with a more accurate account.

“We need to go,” urged Meredith, cutting the conversation short and inadvertently freeing Kai of any guilt over failing to correct Tobias. Kai saw little harm in letting this guy believe him to be a hero; he would figure out the truth over the course of the mission.

Kai joined Vrethie at the back of the bus. “This Tobias guy is completely obsessed with you,” he whispered with a smile. Kai was unsure how to feel about that; a mixture of confusion and pity being his first instincts.

As everyone took their seats, Miaka announced her intention to leave in the style of a fairground ride operator. “Everyone aboard, keep your arms and legs inside at all times and, most importantly, enjoy the ride!” She grinned before removing the hand break with a massive creak and pulled out of the stop.