Page 105 of Neon Flux

I’d never told anyone. Not even DITA.

“It’s not a unique story. Mom got sick in the outlands. We moved here so she could get treatment. I was about seven. We were poorer than dirt, so we landed in Magenta like everyone else. Mom worked two jobs just to pay for her care, but I realized later it was also so I could go to decent school. She left everyone and everything she knew behind to try and give me a future.”

“You said she got sick. Cancer?” he asked.

I nodded. “From the AgriGrow contamination. Big settlement a few decades back, if you remember. Didn’t see a dime, of course.”

“You miss it out there?”

“The outlands? Can you miss something you don’t really remember?” Silence stretched for a few breaths. “Yes. I miss it. But I think I just miss her.”

“Mom didn’t get better?”

“No. She got shot.”

He blinked but didn’t say a word.

“She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Walking past when a store got robbed. They came out, and she startled them. Next thing I knew, she was on the ground with a hole in her head.”

“You were there?”

I nodded. “You know EMS is a joke in Magenta. Took over thirty minutes to get help, and by then…”

His face stayed neutral, but I couldn’t stop now.

“I’d been on scholarship, but after that happened—well, I wasn’t ‘performing’ anymore. Got kicked out of school. Had to find money somewhere. Professor Takana did what she could for me, let me keep working in her lab, but it wasn’t enough. Especially with Mom’s medical debt. There’s a reason it’s the oldest profession.”

“Nah, that’s bullshit.” He finally spoke up. “A girl as smart as you? You could’ve worked anywhere.”

I raised an eyebrow, surprised by the compliment. “Maybe. If I’d cared. But I didn’t. I didn’t care about anything then. People only give a shit about you when you can give them something, provide a service. So I found one I could provide without having to think or care. One I could do high.”

He didn’t interrupt again.

“I didn’t hate it, and the money was good.” The job hadn’t been the issue—it was the Vector—but I wouldn’t tell him that. “Hell, I almost wish I’d started sooner so Mom wouldn’t have needed to work so hard. She always wanted me to focus on my studies. I didn’t realize how bad it was until the collectors came.”

“She gave a fuck about you.” It wasn’t a question. “That’s why you did the shield job. So something like that wouldn’t happen to others.”

He wasn’t wrong.

He muttered, “Fucking bleeding heart.”

“Fuck you, corpo. Some of us still have our souls.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

Yeah, why was I? “You asked. Besides, if I’m going to die down here, might as well confess my sins. You know, get into heaven scot-free like the Catholics believe.”

He laughed—a harsh sound, like it wasn’t something he did often.

“I don’t think these are the sins you should be confessing. Besides, we’re not going to die, Eon.” His use of my name gave me pause.

“You got a secret plan I’m not privy to? I’d love to hear it.”

He grinned. “You’re the smart one. I was relying on you.”

“Do you ever take things seriously?”

“Some things, yes. But death? No.” He let out a breath. “You know, if you hadn’t blown our cover, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”