Chapter 7 · Underbelly Deal

"Sit. Don't move. And for the love of whatever gods you vat-growns pray to, stop twitching," the dealer spat.

He didn't look at me. He looked at the gun resting on the greasy table between us, and then at the data chip I’d practically bled for. I didn't sit. I leaned over the table, my knuckles white, my breath coming in sharp, jagged bursts.

"The data, Vane. Now," I snapped. "I didn't crawl through three sectors of glitch-rot just to admire your decor."

Vane chuckled, a wet, rattling sound. He leaned back, his cybernetic eye whirring as it zoomed in on my face. He was a scavenger, a bottom-feeder of the Underbelly, but right now, he held every card. He knew what I was. Or at least, what I was starting to become.

"You're impatient, Maya. It's a common trait in the 0-series. All that raw power, no patience to actually use it," Vane said. He reached out, his metal fingers tapping the chip with a rhythmic, irritating click. "You want to know why the System is eating the city? Why you're the only one who can walk through a Bloom zone without turning into a screaming meat-pile?