30,000 Feet

Chapter 2: The Neon Graveyard

They hit the water of the Neo-Tokyo harbor like a stone, the cold shocking the breath from their lungs. Kaelen dragged her to a floating pier, his lungs burning. They were in the "Lower Wards"—a neon-drenched slum where the sun never reached.

"Why is the Syndicate after you?" Kaelen asked, pulling a tracking spike out of his shoulder.

"Because I know where the money went," Sienna replied, shivering as she hacked a nearby transport bike. "And I know who stole it. It wasn't the rebels. It was the Council."

Kaelen looked at her—really looked at her—under the flickering pink neon of a noodle shop sign. She was covered in grease and seawater, but she held herself with a fierce, quiet grace. He had been a lone wolf for ten years, but as the sirens of the Enforcer drones began to wail in the distance, he realized he didn't want to let go of her hand.

"We need a ghost," Kaelen said, jumping onto the bike and pulling her behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face into his back. The heat of her body was a stark contrast to the cold rain.

"I know a place," she whispered. "But we’ll have to fight our way through the Red Market to get there."