NYLON - 7

“Excuse me. Excuse me, ma’am.”

The lady stands under a floating street-lamp as Cody tries to get her attention. She’s watching some kind of short entertainment video while oversized headphones made of glass rest gently around her neck, humming in tune. She looks nice enough. Cody can’t help but admire her beauty, from her clothes to her expression; she’s clearly a festive. No chaser could ever act like that. Confident, elegant, and knowing that she belongs.

Cody taps her on the shoulder. “Can you tell us where the nearest Medcenter—”

She recoils like she’s just been touched by garbage juice. “Get that dirty jacket off me.”

Her entire expression is different now. It’s a look of immeasurable disdain. Cody almost feels embarrassed for even trying to speak to her. Is the gap between us that great?

She walks away without answering his question, brushing off her shoulder as if to erase the interaction from her body. It’s already getting very late. There’s very few people on the street now. Unlike the cheerful partygoers from the daytime, the streets are now filled with much less inviting folk.

“Maybe she was having a bad day,” Lilian offers. “Ask someone else, maybe?”

Cody sees a man standing alone. He looks normal enough, dressed in flashy clothes just like everyone else. Even so, his clothes are worn out, and his expression looks worse than his clothes. His droopy, fatigued eyes dart around quickly, as if he’s looking for someone.

“Let’s go ask him for help,” Cody says, pointing at the man, and Lilian nods. They head over, once they’re within talking range, he opens his mouth to say something.

But before he can, the whole street lights up with red. The dim neon glow is replaced by a bright, bloodred flashing light. The air seems to stiffen, and a few people walking around stop moving, looking around with confused expressions. The servoids on the street don’t react at all and just keep doing what they’re doing.

Cody has only ever seen that shade of red one other time in his life.

He freezes, realizing exactly what it means.

Spectroids.

Immediately, Cody’s mind starts racing. Maddox’s gruff voice warning him: “They’re a special class of servoid—Nylon’s law enforcement. Lots of folk like to mess with servoids, but you never mess with spectroids, unless you’re prepared to head to K-Lock.” Then Ruby’s voice, cold and hollow: “If you run now, I’ll notify the spectroids. They will find you in less than a system hour.”

He turns to Lilian. She’s scared stiff, her body trembling lightly, too scared to move. Then, he hears the spectroid’s metallic footsteps behind him, growing louder. It’s getting closer. Move! Turn around! Protect Lilian! Cody’s mind screams at himself. But he’s frozen, too. He looks down at his hands, shaking even more violently than Lilian.

Do something! But he can’t do anything. He feels tears slowly well up at his eyes as the spectroid walks up to him . . .

. . . and walks right by.

With the neon lights reflecting off its shiny black metallic parts, it ignores Cody and Lilian, passing them by. Its red light pulses coldly as it advances toward the shady man from before. Another Spectroid materializes from the shadows, closing the circle. The man scrambles back against the grimy wall.

“Please. I didn’t do anything wrong. Please don’t do this!” he pleads, his hands raised in desperate surrender.

“Target 41882 pending identification. Charges: Tier evasion, hacking conspiracy, credit manipulation.”

The second spectroid clamps a steel grip on the man’s arm and scans with a harsh beep. After a moment, it lets go, turning towards the first spectroid. “Target 41882 identified. Proceed with transport to K-Lock.”

“K-Lock? I thought you were sending me back to the Sub-City like last time!” The man’s eyes snap wide with terror.

“More than three infractions logged. As per protocol, target 41882 is too dangerous to roam null zones. Alternative destination: K-Lock. Do not resist.”

The man’s breath quickens as he realizes his situation. “N-no. I’m not going to K-Lock!”

Without warning, he bolts, ducking beneath the spectroid’s large arm and dashing down the sidewalk—towards Cody and Lilian. Cody flinches, taking a step back, but the man quickly collapses on the ground, his arm outstretched. He spasms violently like a fish out of water, his eyes still wide with fear.

A spectroid walks up to his body, picking the man up and lifting him into some sort of human-sized transport container that looks so small in its large arms.

“Target 41882 neutralized. Proceed with transport.”

The spectroids don't even glance at Cody or Lilian.

As quickly as they came, the Spectroids vanish down an alley, red lights fading into the haze, and silence returns.

“Th-they weren’t after us,” Lilian whispers breathlessly. Cody clutches his chest, trying his hardest to calm his heart beating so wildly.

“That was close,” Cody agrees.

“Maybe Ruby was just bluffing. She didn’t send any spectroids after all.”

“These could just be different spectroids. It hasn’t been long, so we still need to be careful.”

“What if we just explained our situation to them? That we’re just looking for our friend. Maybe they’ll understand,” Lilian offers.

Cody shakes his head. “You saw what they just did. They didn’t care at all about that guy. I don’t think spectroids are the type to listen and understand. Next time, we need to be prepared to run for it.”

Lilian nods. They can’t afford to let fear hold them back again. But as the atmosphere relaxes, they remember their original goal.

“Let’s find someone who knows how to get to a MedCenter.”

Luckily, after a few more attempts, they end up finding someone who actually is willing to help. For a moment, Cody wonders if the man is a servoid masquerading as a human, but then shakes his head. The man isn’t looking to trick them, he’s just doing something on his own.

“You ought to be able to find a servoid who knows,” a plump, older man explains. “They usually know the ins and outs of the city. As long as you pay ‘em, they’ll probably point you the right way.”

“They won’t help for free?” Lilian asks.

The man starts laughing, clutching his stomach as spit flies from his mouth. “Where do you think you are, little girl? This is Nylon City. Them servoids won’t do a thing without credits.”

And he’s right. Cody asks many servoids walking by for help, but most seem to be busy and just ignore him. Some stop for a bit, but the conversations usually end the same way.

“Please present payment for my services,” a short green servoid with four arms asks. Cody’s not sure what the four arms are for, but it seems pretty useful.

“We just need directions. Do we really need to pay you for that?”

“No payment detected.” The green servoid turns and walks away. Cody scratches his head as the servoid disappears down the street. Is it really that hard to give directions?

Lilian runs up to Cody excitedly. “Look! I found some help!”

Cody turns and sees next to her a huge machine with openings on the side that look big enough for someone to fit into.

“What the heck is this?”

“The servoid back there said it’s a transport vehicle and it has built in knowledge for all locations, including MedCenters, in District 3. And I’m guessing we’re in District 3.”

Cody’s impressed for a moment, but then realizes. “Lily . . . how much did that cost?”

“7,000 credits for one trip, but this is an emergency, right? I might have dreamrot, right?”

He looks at her grinning proudly and sighs. He wonders if he should be the one to keep the amulet, but he doesn’t have the energy to reprimand her for the reckless spending. “Good job, I guess.”

Once they get into the vehicle, the doors automatically close. It’s completely empty except for them. A soothing servoid voice intones from all directions.

“Welcome to QUANTA. I am Q-Bot, your meta-servoid guide and ‘captain of the ship’. Is this your first time riding with us?”

Lilian and Cody look at each other, puzzled.

“Is this your first time riding with us?” the voice repeats after a moment.

“. . . yes,” Cody says cautiously.

“Great to have you! This is the QUANTA Hovercraft, the most reliable ride in all of Nylon City. Equipped with high-speed engines and anti-collision software, it can get you places quickly and safely. Please provide a destination, or would you like some suggestions?”

Cody quickly replies, “The closest MedCenter.”

“Sure thing! Finding route to the closest MedCenter. Doors will now be locked.”

As the hovercraft lifts off the ground, Cody feels the soft leather seat shift beneath him. He looks out the window and sees buildings slowly shrink down towards the ground. The lights that once looked so big and bright now twinkle quietly down below.

The hovercraft starts smoothly sailing forward, gliding through the sky with ease.

“Cruising altitude reached. Would you like to activate skyview mode?”

Lilian bounces in her seat. “Yes!”

Q-Bot’s voice replies warmly, “Sure thing! Enjoy the sights of Nylon City!”

A soft whirring sound starts overhead—and then, with an elegant hiss, the roof of the hovercraft begins to retract. Panels slide back smoothly, folding into the rear of the hovercraft like puzzle pieces. The windows roll down, disappearing into the glossy door frames. A cool rush of wind seeps into the hovercraft, carrying a scent of citrus, perfumed into the air by of the flying advertisement servoids.

And for the first time, Cody looks at Nylon City from above, and it’s enormous. He knew it was pretty big, but now that he’s seeing it from the sky, it’s almost endless. The district they’re in, with its hundreds of buildings, is almost like it’s own city, with many other cities all around it. And then in the center of all the cities, in the distance, is the biggest city of them all. Cody wonders if that’s where the overseers of Nylon City live.

For some reason, he starts laughing uncontrollably. Something about the beauty of it all amazes him. He remembers the chaotic sprawl of neon signs from the ground—but up here, they look deliberate, almost like pieces of a glowing mosaic, carefully arranged and put together. He spots movement in the streets, servoids looking for clients, and people moving from place to place. He even sees a few spectroids on patrol, but their enormous metal bodies look so small from so high up. The entire city seems to glow in such a perfect way underneath the clear night sky.

I could get used to this. The thought appears in Cody’s head, but he quickly shakes it off. He doesn’t have time to get distracted. His smile slowly fades. There’s no way they can stay in Nylon, but Lilian loves the city. He can’t change that. As he looks at the dazzling lights below, he realizes that he needs to have this conversation.

“Lily. Remember what you said before at Echo Garden? About staying in Nylon after we find Rylan?” Cody asks. Lilian looks at him and nods.

“Well, I thought about it. As much fun we’ve had here, we’ve also seen a lot of the bad. We were lied to, treated like trash, and now we’re on the run from spectroids. It’s just not safe. I know you probably hate the Sub-City, and I know coming to Nylon has been your dream for a long time, but . . . I don’t think staying here is a good option.”

“But—”

“I’m not finished.” Cody takes a deep breath before continuing. “Not only that, but you might have dreamrot, and even if you don’t have it now, you might get it later. Hell, even I might get it. Do you really want to end up like that guy from the Transfer Post, crazy and addicted to the lights? We’re just kids. This place isn’t meant for us, and I don’t think it ever will.”

Lilian doesn’t respond right away. The wind brushes through her hair, and for a moment she just stares up at the open sky above them, stars barely visible beyond the orange haze of Nylon’s light. When she opens her mouth to speak, she sounds different. Almost like her walls have fallen and now Cody is seeing the real Lilian.

“I used to always hate going to the trading post,” says Lilian.

Cody tilts his head to the side, confused.

She continues, “Because every time I found something interesting, we’d have to sell it off just to survive. Every little toy and trinket—just numbers on my wrist. I was so used to losing things that I started to wonder if I really knew how to be happy anymore.

Lilian swallows hard, tears pooling at her eyes. “But when I came to Nylon, it was different. I wasn’t digging through trash anymore; I was actually having fun.”

Her voice cracks. “I— . . . I knew something was wrong with Ruby. I knew this place wasn’t perfect. But I ignored it. Because I wanted Nylon City of my dreams to be real. Just for a little longer.”

Cody reaches out a hand to comfort her, but stops. That’s not what she needs right now. Instead he stands up, almost losing his balance in the hovercraft. He waves his hands around for a bit to stabilize. When he’s stable, he puffs out his chest and speaks.

“What if we made it real?”

“. . . what?”

“The Nylon City of your dreams. Let’s make it real.”

Wiping the tears off her face, Lilian giggles. “How are you going to do that?”

Cody scratches his head as he sheepishly sits back down. “Actually . . . I don’t know. Sorry, that was silly.”

Lilian thinks about it for a minute and says, “Maybe it is silly. But it’s the first good idea I’ve heard from you in a long time.”

“Hey! I come up with plenty of good ideas.”

“Sure.”

Suddenly, the hovercraft swerves left, sending Cody into the seat violently. Thankfully, the cushions are soft, so he barely feels it. The two of them look around to see what’s happening, and then they see it.

“Sorry about that.” Q-Bot’s voice is a bit fainter now, with the wind covering it up. “I didn’t spot this obstacle as it was hidden in a cloud.”

Emerging from the cloud, a huge ship, maybe ten times the size of the QUANTA Hovercraft slowly meanders by. The ship looks like it was carved from a dream. Sleek metal panels glint against the shimmer of Nylon City. Golden light spills from its windows and decks, casting a warm glow that cuts through the gray. It glides as if it has all the time in the world.

Cody can see silhouettes moving inside—people dancing, lounging, and sipping from wine glasses. Laughter drifts faintly through the air, thin and perfect. The windows are tinted just enough to blur the faces, but even without seeing their expressions, Cody can already tell that they’re festives. No one in Nylon City carries themself like that apart from the rich elite.

“Q-Bot . . . what is that thing?” Lilian asks, her eyes still following the monolithic floating ship.

“That ship? That’s a skyliner called The Celestial. It was commissioned by the Milanova family, who use it to parties pretty frequently. It looks like they have one going on right now.”

Hearing that name, Cody immediately looks at Lilian. She clutches the amulet through her shirt. She doesn’t say anything. Just keeps her eyes locked on the ship. The Celestial glides farther away, back into the clouds. And even though it's gone, the warmth of its light lingers on her face as if to mock her.