Little Lost Girl

  Little Lost Girl

  A GameLit(e) Short Story

  Herko Kerghans

  Little Lost Girl

  Blur

  Thick fog

  A white mist...

  I woke up choking and scanned the room.

  Nothing. Just a dream.

  And judging by the grayish light from the windows, about time to wake up.

  "Hey, Jes."

  She growled. I caressed her naked shoulder. "Wake up, baby; sun's up, and so should we."

  She wormed away and burrowed her face deeper into the pillow, mumbling something I knew meant "just five more minutes!"

  I kissed her on the nape and buried my nose in the warm scent of her tangled brown hair. "C'mon Jes…" I said. "Big hates to wait and Tessie must be feeling all alone, poor girl…"

  She grumbled.

  I nibbled her neck.

  "Hey!" she half snarled half giggled. "Not fair!"

  "Wrong," I said. "Not fair would be this." I sank my teeth into the silky skin between neck and shoulder.

  "Stop it!" she wriggled and laughed and rolled out of bed. She stood up, yawning as a lazy predator and stretching towards the ceiling. Her muscles rippled. Boy is my Jes something to behold.

  "What did I ever do to deserve you, girl?"

  "Guess you were just brewed lucky, babe," she winked. "Although not lucky enough to get lucky now, I'm afraid. C'mon, aren't we late?"

  "Yeah. Don't wanna make Big wait."

  #

  Big's got 'big' written all over him in five different languages: 'Big Boy' on his left forearm, 'Très Grand' on his right; 'Enorme' across his chest in huge flaming letters, and on his back he's got this huge inky mesh that, according to Big, says 'Gargantuan' in some Terran tongue that wrote with pics instead of words. He got it tattooed by a guy who knows a guy who learned to write that way from Mayor Chen's secretary, so who knows what the splatter really says… but Big thinks his mesh means 'Huge' so better roll with it.

  What Big did say when we met him was: "About time you two showed up. Morning's almost over."

  I pointed at the rooftops, not yet bathed by sun rays.

  Big grunted. "Early bird gets the prey, that's all I'm saying."

  "Relax, Big," Jes said. "We're here."

  "Yeah," I said, "and first things first."

  #

  Jes did her rumor mill round flashing a smile here and a grin there, trading jokes and gossips and snide remarks while Big and I sat in a corner sipping Akhbar's thick, oily coffee. Great stuff, strong enough to fuel a HAV.

  "You're one lucky bastard, lil' bro," said Big as Jes weaved her magic through the tables, leaving behind a trail of staring eyeballs. "So, what's your trick?"

  "Ain't no magic, Big; you know I'm more clown than mage," I said. "It's just this wild animal thing."

  He grinned but didn't reply; Jes was approaching our table, a tray in hand with another round of steaming cups.

  We sipped our fuel while Jes shared her catch of fresh quests. She pointed at some farms near Toloq River. "Snatchs are getting a bit too bold here, apparently. A few heads of cattle lost last night. Farmers are paying well for some payback."

  "Easy to kill, snatchs," said Big. "Hard to find, though."

  "Unless you know how to track them…" she smiled. "Forty?"

  He frowned. "Twenty."

  "Good luck with those elusive footprints…"

  "Alright. Thirty percent. Tracking spends no ammo."

  "Deal!" She turned at me. "You coming, baby?"

  "We could always use some bait…" said Big, and then said "Ouch!" as Jes punched him on the shoulder.

  "The three of us would be overkill," I said. "Let's spread our bets; I'll go with Tessie to the Cliff, see if we can find some small mobs to hunt."

  "You sure you don't wanna tag along with us?"

  I smiled as I shook my head. "I ain’t at your level, Big. Rather stay out of harm's way. Cliff's only three clicks away, and I've got Tess."

  He pointed his thick thumb towards the corner of Harrison and Aldiss where the metallic grey bulk of Cloning dwarfed all shops around it. "Someday you'll have to swap your flesh suit, y'know? It ain't so bad; you may even learn to like it."

  "Maybe I just wanna grow old and wrinkled, Big." I turned to Jes. "Silver hair is a chick magnet, or so I hear; I would be surrounded by…"

  A metallic flicker and she was holding a wicked skinner knife in her left. "Funny how magnets attract sharp steel. Right?”

  Big laughed. "I think Tessie's as far as your leash allows you to go, little brother. Don't risk it past that."

  Another flicker and nothing in Jes’ hand. "He better," she said, and this time she flashed a smile.

  "Still, shouldn't you be bit jealous?" Big said. "Don't remember your man here hunting so much with any of his other girls before."

  "We've got our understanding," she said. "He belongs to Tessie during daylight. But at night…" she poked at my chest, "he's mine!"

  "Damn," said Big, "you really need to teach me your tricks, little brother."

  I sipped the last of my coffee. "It's just a wild animal thing.”

  Jes emptied her cup. "We ready?"

  I took a bunch of suggy cubes from the table and stuffed them in my pockets. "Brewed ready," I said.

  #

  The morning was bright and the air was crisp, and the Dari Cal sun lazily warmed the thick forest just outside town. Big scanned the horizon. "Always so full of promises, this brave new world," he said. "A pity the fucker honors none."

  They hogged east towards Toloq river, eager to track those snatchs before some other hunter did. I watched them go, him a rolling mountain of firepower, her a flickering shadow ready to vanish into thin air.

  I took a few steps inside the forest, the trees dwarfing the modest houses and shops in our little town. I sniffed: traces of fuel and breakfast from town, the strong presence of sap and leaf and dirt and wood…

  … the hint of wet fur…

  You could tell she was nearby by the way the woods had grown silent.

  I searched in my right pocket.

  A twig went crack.

  I took out a handful of suggy cubes.

  A huge shadow materialized some ten meters away. It leapt into the air and landed against me gentle enough to send me staggering backwards; a heartbeat later I had half my forearm inside her jaws. She eagerly swallowed the suggy cubes as I scratched the fur behind her neck.

  She sniffed in my pockets. "Hey!" I said. "That's enough suggy for you, girl. You know how you get when I give you too much." She pushed her nose against me. "Aw, c'mon… don't give me that look. Daddy ain't got no more!"

  She snorted.

  I laughed. "Can't fool you, can't I?" I searched inside my left pocket. "You'll be a good girl?"

  She wheezed.

  "Promise?"

  She snorted again, her huge claws scratching the soil.

  "Very well then…" I took a bunch of cubes; they were gone in a blink. I scratched her back: she had some fresh scars across the shoulder blades.

  I frowned. "Tess… have you been hunting off limits?"

  She looked the other way. I grabbed her head and stared into her emberlike eyes. She had guilty written all over her face.

  "Cheessake, Tessie! What if you go too far and some farmer thinks you're wild? You wanna end up as a bounty in one of Big's quests? Is that what you want?"

  She gave me one of those won't-happen-again looks that could melt a rock.

  "Alright, alright… but this is the very last time, ok? I want you up your tree before sunset, young lady. Understood?"

  She hissed and looked straight at me.

  "Alright, girl. Let's get to work."

  #

/>   The trick of this trade has remained the same since hunting was invented back in Terra: find things you can turn into dinner, avoid things that can make you their dinner.

  I made Tess chase a couple of tracks: nothing. A third trail brought us to a clearing at the foot of Shade Cliff: a steep rocky wall, fifty meters high, dotted with all sorts of caves; all shapes, all sizes, all dark as places where the sun don’t shines.

  "Hey, girl… check if there's anything to chase or run from inside those caves, will you?"

  Tessie stood on her hind legs, pulled her head backwards, and roared: a primal, feral growl, which I'm sure sounds very much like the bellow of Terra's predators. I know it in my bowels: every time Tess lays claim to her territory my stomach flutters with prehistoric mammal fear; I need all my Willpower for my feet to stay still and resist the urge to flee.

  The woods became as silent as deep dead space. Nothing stirred inside the caverns.

  "Well… nothing down here. We'll have to try our luck up in the plateau. Should we walk the long way around the Cliff?"

  She snorted.

  I chuckled. "Alright, girl: shortcut it is!"

  We sprinted forward. She made it to the Cliff's foot way before me, of course, and climbed as if she was moving on flat terrain.

  "Wait for me!" I laughed. She paused about thirty meters above, looking down as I wormed my way upwards. "Hey, at least I can climb," I said as I searched for purchase. "You should see Big Mr. Oh Look At My Big Guns with his ton of gear; couldn't climb an escalator, Mr. Big."

  She greeted me with an encouraging wheeze as I reached her height; I had a halt to catch my breath. Birds fluttered through the ocean of canopies; in the distance, our little town was a ring of metallic mushrooms still yawning under the early sun.

  We resumed our climb. She swarmed upwards with no effort; I think I heard some rumbling noises, and…

  #

  A blur

  White mist

  A thick fog...

  "Hello there," said a voice from the blur.

  I winked furiously; the blur slowly focuses into the outlines of a silvery bearded face with wavy white hair.

  "Where… what happened?"

  "Shit," said the face. "Also known as Death. No big deal, kid; you’ve just respawned. Remember anything?"

  Memories came back rushing: Tess and I climbing the Cliff; I had found purchase for my left foot, shot my right hand upwards and then a rumbling noise…

  … falling…?

  "I think I fell from the Cliff?"

  "Seems like you did. That's where the wakeup call for your current flesh suit came from."

  I was lying over some kind of stretcher, surrounded by medical gear. I checked my hands; touched my face.

  He pointed at a mirror across the room. "Is that you, son?"

  Yeah. Yeah, that was my reflection. Pale as if never touched by sunlight but yes, that was me.

  "Have you ever been here?" he asked.

  "I don't think so…"

  "First time you respawn, eh? Doc Kourailen's the name. Have you heard of me?"

  "Yeah. You are the necromancer."

  He grinned. "I prefer Doc."

  "Sorry, Doc. No offense."

  He waved his hand dismissively and helped me sit up on the stretcher. "How does your new flesh suit feel like?"

  I stretched my fingers; balled them into a fist; touched the crown of my skull as if I could make sure all my memories were there. "Feels like… feels alright, I guess. Can I go now?"

  "Sure thing, son; just let's make sure nothing got lost in the cloning vats." We went through a round of personal questions: my job, my age, when was I brewed, where did I live, my friends' names, what I was doing with Tess when...

  "Holy shit!" I sprang out of bed; he caught me as the whole room spun. "Tessie! I gotta find Tess!"

  "Easy there, kid. Your new you is still dripping wet. Baby steps."

  I straightened up. "I'm ok, Doc. I really am." The room stood in its place.

  His eyes narrowed. He was shorter than me; I held his gaze for several seconds.

  "Okay," he said. "Off you go, kid. Take it easy, though. The light will seem sharper, colors brighter, etcetera. In case of sensory overload," he handed me a little box of blue pills, "gulp one or two of those. Just one or two."

  I grabbed the pill box. "Thanks, Doc..."

  "Carpe diem. Smell the flowers, kid. Don't come back in a hurry."

  #

  As I went outside Cloning I felt the very acute, very weird sensation of knowing-but-not-knowing where the hell I was. I mean, I was on Harrison and Aldiss, no doubt about it; not thirty meters from Haneke's shop where Big buys the ammo for his cannon, and half a block from Akhbar's coffee shop. But the colors were too sharp, and the air was too bright, and above all the scents and odors and the stench of…

  I heard a bunch of static, and then, "Stinks, right?" said Big through the comms.

  "Baby, are you alright?" buzzed Jes.

  "Yeah, yeah… I mean, think so…?" Three farmers went past me; they reeked as if they hadn't bathed for a whole fricking year.

  "Hey, little brother!" snarled Big. "Listen up!"

  "Yes, it's just that…"

  "… that everything feels like it's too strong, yes? Light's too bright, smells too powerful? Don't freak out, bro, it's normal."

  I looked around. That was Harrison Street all right, but it just looked so bright…

  "Talk to me, bro!" said Big.

  "Bab…" said Jes.

  Big cut her off. "I've got this, sister," he said. "Bro, you there?"

  "Yeah," I said. "You say this is normal?"

  "Sensory overload, that's all," said Big. "Your current brain and your past memories are still flirting with each other; no big deal. Doc gave some you pills, yes?"

  "Yeah…"

  "Gulp a couple. C'mon."

  I took out the box, fumbled with it, put a couple of blue pills over my palm, and watched them shine under the morning sun: so bright… so, so shiny blue, bright brightest blue…

  "Hey! Got your pills? Talk to me!"

  "Yeah, yeah," I said, and gulped two. "There!"

  "Good boy!" said Big. "It's perfectly normal to feel a bit off at first. Worry none."

  "You remember all the colors and the smells," said Jes. "But for your flesh suit it's all new, seeing and smelling everything for the first time. No big deal."

  "Yeah," I said, "it's… neat, actually! All's so sharp and crisp, like the world's been to the laundry, right? Like old clothes washed so well they feel like new?"

  "That's because your flesh suit is new, bro!" laughed Big. "Told ya', you may even learn to like it!"

  "… and you may want to eat something, baby," said Jes. "Your tummy's like a black hole right now."

  It was true; I could have eaten a whole gregol by myself, hair and all. My stomach growled in agreement. "Later," I said. "First I gotta find Tess."

  "No you don't," Big said. "Whatever killed you is still out there. Just wait for us and…"

  "Don't worry, Big. It's totally safe."

  "Listen to me, lil’ bro: whatever killed you…"

  "I fell from the Cliff."

  "You what!?"

  I could hear their chuckles through the comm's static.

  "I fell from the fucking Cliff. There, I've said it."

  Big laughed.

  Jes said, "It's ok, baby; it happens," but I could feel she was having a hard time not laughing herself. I could even picture those two making a silent joke about me and high fiving.

  "Anyway," I grumbled, "I'm going back for Tess now."

  "Maybe you'll want to take it easy, babe…" said Jes. "This is your first clone, you need to adjust a bit first."

  "I'm fine, really. Just worried about Tessie. She may freak out, with my corpse lying down there."

  "Sure you don't need backup, little brother? We could be back there in two hours; there would still be enough daylight…"

  "Nah," I said
. "I'm okay."

  "Deal," said Big. "Talk to you later; we've still got some xenos to cide."

  "Take care, baby."

  "I will," I said. "I will."

  I sprinted through towards the forest. Floyd, Chester and the other guards made some didn't-see-you-getting-back-in joke at my expenses as I ran past them. I gave them the finger in return, which they answered with a good-natured laugh.

  #

  It should have taken me about thirty minutes to jog straight back to the Cliff, but Jes hadn't been joking about the black hole in my new clone’s belly: I was ravenous, too weak to sprint. And, well…

  … I actually did stop from time to time to smell the flowers. Maybe it was Doc's pills, maybe it's because smelling is the most basic of our five senses, but there was something not-quite-right about the sweet perfume of Dari Cal's flowers, something weird about the sharp tangs and scents that felt familiar but I couldn't quite place, and that made me feel as an alien in this alien world.

  So I actually followed Doc's advice to the letter: I stopped here and there to bury my nose in the bright red petals of a wicker rose, or in the shiny turquoise of some vielchienns, my mind juggling the dissonance of scents and sights my memory knew but my nose didn't.

  About two or three hundred meters before reaching the Cliff I knelt beside a bunch of negosias in full bloom that smelled like Jes' hair smells after she takes a long shower. Then there was a hiss; I caught a whiff of a potent, acrid stench, things got blurry, and then…

  #

  Fog

  Mist

  Blur...

  "That was fast," Doc said from the mist. "Killed twice the same day, and it's not even early afternoon yet."

  "Hey, I wasn't killed the first time!"

  "That's a very good point; the first time was pure stupidity. But something did kill you this time. Right? Your wakeup call came from the same spot. What happened?"

  I struggled to recall. "I was walking in the woods, almost reaching the Cliff…"

  "… and…?"

  "Nothing; gets blurry, then I respawn here."

  "That's… odd. You are obviously no seasoned soldier, but still…"