Razor Kaine's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Razor Kaine crouched on a high balcony of a packed apartment tower. Glowing trim lit the night below. He pressed the stolen scanner against the rail and breathed. The vault was behind him, but the drone had still found his path twice. The scanner was dead now. So what kept leading them to him? He raised his metal hand and stared at his own fingers. The answer sat inside his skull. He pulled the scanner's cracked screen loose and jammed it against his chest port. The screen woke. Lines scrolled past. A small arrow inside a ring glowed in the corner. His implants were broadcasting. A steady pulse, the same as the trap in the vault. He was the transmitter. Every wall he hid behind, they heard him through it. He needed the signal gone. He could not cut out his own spine. But he could burn the chip that carried the pulse. He drew his sidearm and thumbed the dial to stun. The low screen lit blue. A hard stun burst to the base of his neck might fry the broadcast node without killing him. It might also drop him off this balcony. Footsteps rang on the stairwell behind him. A red figure stepped onto the balcony, white trim bright, a sword mark on his chest. Razor had never met him, but he knew the look of a corporate ranger. This was a man the company sent. Marcus Steele raised an open hand, not a weapon. "Stop," Steele said. "That'll kill you." "Your people built the leash," Razor said. He kept the gun at his neck. "They're not what you think." Steele took one step closer. "Come in. We can pull the node clean." Razor laughed, low and flat. "You tracked me here to help me." Steele's jaw tightened. He said nothing. That silence told Razor enough. Razor pulled the trigger. The stun bolt cracked into the base of his skull. White light swallowed the balcony. His knees buckled. He caught the rail with his blade arm and hung there, shaking. Smoke curled from his neck port. The chip inside crackled and died. The scanner screen went black. No more pulse. No more arrow in the corner. The broadcast was gone. Steele lunged to grab him. Razor swung his blade up between them. The edge stopped an inch from the red helmet. "You found me because I was loud," Razor said. "I'm quiet now." He shoved off the rail and dropped over the side. He caught a lower balcony, then another, and vanished into the lit stack of the tower. Above him, Steele leaned over the rail and watched him go. Razor hit the street and kept moving. His enemies had lost their signal. But now they had a face, a name, and a ranger who had stood close enough to touch him. The hunt was even. From here, he would have to find them before they rebuilt the leash.