“You and me both, sister.” I say it instinctively, but I’m not sure I mean it this time.
Chapter Eight
Colter
Welcome to Midnite City.
Where the people bow and pray to neon gods thatwemade. Our glittering jewel, burning beneath unending light. By day, the sun, by night, an artificial glow from billboards and signs expanding into a never-ending sea of filament.
For better or worse, it’s home.
“Christ, son, you’ll give an old man a heart attack,” Elias says when I enter the library. My mask gives it away. Had I been here on a social call, I wouldn’t be wearingit. I can’t afford to draw attention to myself or this base inside the city.
“It must be something big.” Elias turns to a rack of science-fiction novels at the far end of the store. “It’s rare to see the Head out and about in uniform.”
“Any idea why he’s come?” I ask.
He shakes his head, his scruffy salt-and-pepper beard swaying with the movement in acknowledgement of my question.
“On patrol?” he asks.
“Not tonight.” Which is why the Head’s unannounced visit concerns me.
“Shirking your responsibilities?” One corner of his lip ticks up. Elias isn’t one to leave his sense of humor behind.
“Seems that way.” I head toward the shelf. “This city needs a protector, now more than ever.”
“The city or the Veil?” he asks, wheezing out a dry cough. Too many cigars, too little exercise.
“They’re one and the same.”
Elias approaches my destination, and presses a button under his desk. A mechanical whirr of bolts and latches disengages, releasing the rack and it swings forward like a door. Behind it, a small metal box awaits my entry. I step in and flick an unmarked button. The bookcase closes and the metal box begins its descent into the earth.
For all the towers the Veil has erected in Midnite City, most of our business happens underneath them. It’s the purest reflection of what we are.
On reaching the lower floor, the doors open to a darkened room that’s lit purely by computer monitors and TVs bolted on the walls. Three agents are working down here, each one handpicked by me. Their lives, like mine, are dedicated to the Veil. Only, they don’t know that part.
It used to be that the Ghost worked alone. But modern problems demand modern solutions. Technological advancement has turned anonymity into a thing of the past.
The members of the Veil are a major battler of this hardship. They work tirelessly to keep others safe. Every year, they roll out new methods of doing so, while the rest of the world continues on at full blast.
It started with bodycams and smartphones, cameras on every corner, of every street watching every inch of the city. Lately, those methods have become trivial, mere relics from a bygone time. I’ve heard chatter of human trials beginning for cybernetic implants that will render camera tracking completely redundant.
But that’s how things go. One day you’re riding on horseback and sayingyeehaw, the next, you’re racing down the highway in a self-driving car with an AI assistant to tend to your every need.
Iniko waves at me from her station in the middle of the room, as I exit the elevator. She’s the youngest member of my crew, but don’t let her fresh face fool you. Her abilities behind the keyboard rival mine in the field.
Her parents are deeply rooted in the Veil and played a major part in the Kinkako district’s construction. But although her parents have plainly expressed their desire for Iniko to join us, she will remain blissfully ignorant of our existence until the Head is willing to welcome her into our fold.
“Shit, dude, your dad’s intense,” Iniko speaks in a hushed whisper.
I wince at her informality. He may have spawned me into this world, but he is by no means a parent. He is the Head. Our Leader, bringing order to this chaotic world. Anything less is blasphemy.
“He is,” I say. I peer up at my office window. The Head stands in front of it, looking out over my base, but not focusing on anything in particular. “Where are the others?”
“Fenrir’s eating.” She doesn’t turn away from her computer monitor. “Voodoo’s not here.”
I nod and pass by her station to a metal staircase. “Let me know when Fenrir returns. We’ll have work to do when my meeting is through.”
