THE VERMINA BOULEVARD

The day of our meeting with the Mother had finally arrived. Kiara seemed tense about it, and I was biting my nails. After all, who was the Mother? The android had told me nothing about her. Unable to find the answers, I could only assume the worst. Ever since we left for Nobody’s Land, and the things I saw afterwards, I could never have guessed what had happened.
“Take this.” Kiara handed me the Sentinil while examining two weapons on the table. She rolled up her sleeves, revealing two hidden blades.
I swallowed hard, not used to this. “What is this?” I turned the item she gave me, very curious about it.
She sheathed the two weapons at her waist. “It’s an emotion inhibitor. You won’t show any emotion there. I’d prefer you use it. If the Mother suspects even a little that you’re not a mercenary…”
“Alright.” I took a sublingual drop.

We walked to the divide between the Tentro and the right side, called Vermina. The pixelated graphic wall was glowing. I touched it with my fingertips, feeling a tickle. Kiara nudged me, and we passed through the hologram, following a narrow alley to the other side.
The scene changed completely.
A huge lump formed in my throat.
People were dragging bodies across the bloody ground to the alleys and vans, while in the vehicles, thin individuals with vacant expressions were chained and nearly naked. The shop windows displayed sexualized people and androids, wrapped, tied, and gagged. On the balconies of buildings, human body parts were displayed like plants. It would be a true horror movie scene, except it wasn’t fiction. The people living there were undoubtedly sadistic, capable of killing and torturing just for fun. They could do whatever they wanted, after all, in Netheria, everything was permitted.
My stomach churned, and my blood pressure dropped. I tried to express the anger and disgust that welled up inside me, but I couldn’t. I wanted to scream, cry, and get the people out of there, but I didn’t move a muscle. Instead, all I did was follow Kiara.
We stopped in front of a structure with four enormous jade pillars, so polished that my reflection gleamed perfectly. The gold details shimmered and reminded me of ancient civilisations that existed only in books. We stepped into a vast hall supported by more pillars. The dark green walls sparkled with silver threads, reflecting the various antiquities piled up. Paintings, sculptures, statues, vases, and other artefacts, once claimed lost, were before me.
Is that the Mona Lisa? The real one? Incredible! Someone stole the painting in 2032, and no one found it, nor were the culprits identified.
After the awe, my insides churned at the sight of three skeletal men hanging and chained to the walls with their hands up. If not for the movement of their rib cages, I could have sworn they were dead. I looked away and saw a magnificent throne in the centre, adorned with gold and precious stones. An unusual figure was seated on it.
Kiara put her hand on her hip. “What are you doing here?”
He was almost lying down, his legs crossed on the throne’s arms. He clicked his tongue, threw his head back, and gave a sarcastic smile, staring at us intensely. His gaze made me shiver.
“I’m always here and there. Here is just another one of those places.” He uncrossed his legs and stood up, walking slowly through the hall.
“Saymon, where’s the Mother?” She narrowed her eyes.
He pulled a deck of cards from his coat and shuffled them skilfully. Silver rings gleamed over the symbols and numbers tattooed on his fingers. He looked me up and down and got serious, turning his attention back to Kiara. “There was an unforeseen event, but you know how she is…” He took the first card, showing the Queen of Diamonds. “She’s the one who, even from afar, maintains control over everything and everyone around her.”
He threw the card to Kiara, who caught it in the air. The holographic item shimmered. I didn’t understand what it could mean, but the android pressed her lips together, looking tense.
“You…”
“Mother said, ‘My child Kiara needs me, I can’t leave her helpless,’” he mimicked a high-pitched voice, smiling charmingly. “So, tell me what you want.”
“Y’know.”
Saymon approached me, his eyes shining. His cold aura reached me from afar, flooding the entire place. “You’re interesting. Our Kiara is going so far just to protect you. Or rather… Anyway, what makes you so special?” He frowned as he turned to Kiara. “She’s going to give you the name, because it’s for you. But you’re going to have to do something for her.”
The android ran her fingers from her eyes to her nose. “What is it?”
I followed the conversation, quite confused.
Saymon licked his canine teeth. “She’s waiting for a shipment from South Africa, but they confiscated it at the Port of Alexandria. When you return from there, you’ll have a name.”
Port of Alexandria? But that…
Kiara nodded, somewhat doubtful, and he smiled.
“Great, the plane will be waiting for you at Viracopos, and here’s your hotel reservation. It’ll be an excellent experience for our new…” He narrowed his eyes, giving a chilling smile. “Little mercenary.”
I held my breath. It was impossible not to remember Maia seeing his expressions.
Kiara faced him down, emitting an equally terrifying aura. “If anything happens to Akiko…”
Saymon looked down at her. “I’m sure you won’t let anything happen to her. After all…” He sauntered back to the throne. “Anyway, you and Maia did missions there, but things are tenser now than before.”
“Send me the map.”
“I’ve already sent it. I’ll ask the Mother to suspend the contract for two weeks. After that they’ll notify the Aurums.”
The android clenched her teeth and approached him. Even with my emotions repressed, my instincts sensed danger. A familiar feeling of fear that I had felt before.
“What kind of fucking joke is that?”
“I’m not joking. They marked the target as ultra-difficult.” He shrugged. “No mercenary has found her yet, and they’re quite impatient. Usually, an easy target is captured in a day or two. You should be proud, you’re doing an excellent job with the blondie.”
She glared at him and walked to the exit. “When I get back, you’ll give me the name,” and then she whispered, “you will, one way or another.”
When we crossed the door, Saymon’s voice echoed through the hall. “Remember my favour, huh.”

At the Verdant Suites, I took off my mask, almost suffocating. I tensed my muscles, fighting the agony of not showing any emotion trapped in me.
Kiara watched me from head to toe, making me feel vulnerable. “We have to do this mission…” She rubbed her temples. “Sit down.”
The android seemed more relaxed, but I could sense a certain tension in the air.
“What do you know about Egypt?”
“Enough, I supposed.”
“Right. Egypt, at the end of the year 2050, suffered a radioactive bombardment due to the actions of their former leader. After that, they divided the country into four military cities, with Cairo being the supreme city. However, the current leader of the Kemetia Command, Abdel Ramesses Kalil, has the same ideals as that former leader…
As she spoke, I remembered what I knew about the matter.
In 2050, there was great tension between the cities over a race to create nanonuclear bombs. The most powerful city would be the one that managed to do it first. However, Cairo came out on top with the creation of three bombs, known as 3-R: a radioactive nanonuclear fission bomb, R-ATOM; a biological bomb, R-BIO; and a geological bomb, R-FUS. While R-BIO disintegrated organs, R-FUS created earthquakes that could destroy continents, and R-ATOM created radiation waves that penetrated any material.
This would lead Cairo to become the most powerful and dangerous city with immense destructive power in its hands. The Universal Peace Court tried to negotiate a War Silencing Treaty with the leader of the Kemetia Command, but they failed. The leader decided to attack some countries in order to annex more territories to Egypt and demonstrate his war power.
In December 2050, the Aether Network gained access, or rather they paid mercenaries to steal the 3-R, and used the R-ATOM to bomb Egypt, driving the Egyptians to near extinction. Life there became unsustainable and almost uninhabitable.
At least, that’s what the other cities thought.
Fifty years passed and the ten most powerful cities were established: São Paulo, holder of the 3-Rs, took first place, followed by Hong Kong, New York, Dubai, Sydney, Singapore, Lagos, Kinshasa, Tokyo and London.
In those years, the surviving Egyptians rebuilt Egypt. They extinguished the radiation, and Cairo, with the militias of the cities of Alexandria, Luxor and Aswan, made Egypt one of the most powerful military powers, even without the 3-Rs.
Until then, despite having extraordinary military power at their disposal, the Kemetia Command was in the northern part of the African continent, commanded by the Lagos militia, and had to communicate any decisions to the Nigerian command. This changed in 2125, with a new leader, the military and politician, Abdel Ramesses Kalil.
His speech was similar to that of the old leader who led Egypt to destruction in 2050, focussing on the worship of the old gods and the subjugation of other nations. Egyptian cities were horizontal, and he emphasised that everyone were siblings. He exalted his own people, saying that they were descendants of the gods and that everyone else should bow down to them.
Kiara paced back and forth. “There, we’ll have to be completely invisible. We’ll land in Cairo, head straight for the Port of Alexandria, take what we have to take, and get out of there. Without making a sound.”
I felt my emotions subtly returning.
“If anything happens, if anything gets out of place, we could be in trouble. This mission, if Ma…” The name disappeared from her mouth and her countenance darkened. “What about you? How can I do this bringing you with me? You’re not gonna take the life of an insect, even if it hurts you. Unless…”
I frowned.
“You know self-defence, right? If someone attacks you trying to kill you, and you attack them back, even if you kill them, would you do it?” She squinted.
Now I was about to explode with all the emotions I’d been repressing for all that time, wanting to pour out. My stomach churned with every memory of that horrible place.
“I don’t know. I can’t promise you that. I just can’t.” I was about to collapse. My body heated up with the strength I was using to chain down the urge to scream. “But I’ll go with you, I’ll try to do what you ask. I know you’ll try to protect me. I feel like every part of me is searching for it. I-I want to understand her…” My eyes stung.
Kiara put her arm around me, pulling me close to her, and smoothed my hair. I rested my head on her shoulder, releasing the tears I’d been holding back.
“Hey, calm down. I’m not gonna force you into anything. I’m gonna protect you, but… I need you to be strong and protect yourself too, if I can’t.” Kiara looked me in the eye. “In this world, there’s only one option.”
I understood what she was saying, but that world was the opposite of mine. Although death was also part of my reality, it wasn’t threatening to me. Being there made me question my morals and principles in the face of my inertia. It would be ignorant of me to say that I was oblivious to situations outside the Zênite. It didn’t affect me, because it wasn’t part of my daily life, but it wasn’t unknown to me.
Although I was there out of pure selfishness, I wondered if Maia had brought me there just to find out more about her. Going down this path, I felt the need to get to know and be part of that universe. I would go all the way, no matter what the obstacles.
I swallowed, and Kiara offered me some water.
“I’ll try… I promise I’ll try.”
She displayed a hologram of her wrist, which showed a three-dimensional map of Egypt. “See that place in orange? That’s the mission site. I don’t know what we’re looking for, but I’m gonna scan everything to identify the object and look for any gaps in the security of this warehouse for us to infiltrate.
You’ll follow everything I say. I’m gonna avoid combat, but if we do have any confrontations, I need you to be minimally prepared for them.” Kiara took hold of my wrists. “You can use these.”
Pressing two buttons on my sleeves, two blades appeared on each of my wrists. I took a step back. Had those been there all along? Pressing again, the blades retracted.
“You just need to make this move.” Kiara thrust her hand forward, and the blade appeared.
I tried to follow what she was saying, but that much information made me dizzy. I nodded, hoping that nothing horrible was going to happen. Kiara was taking a risk with my presence there, so I wanted to make an effort not to get in her way. With that determination, I tried the move a few times, and it became more natural with each attempt. The blades appeared easily.

It was dawn when Kiara asked me to wait at the Verdant Suites while she picked up two substances with Gill. When she returned, she checked the time. “It’s time. Ready?”
To be honest, I wasn’t ready.
We left the hotel in a warm morning wind that brushed against my face and hair. It was January and summer would soon reach its peak. We were going to a place with a mild winter. I didn’t know how to deal with this new feeling, but the fear and euphoria made my heart pound.
Kiara’s car descended from the sky, landing in front of us. Due to the mask I was wearing, a round holograph appeared on the car’s bodywork, glowing a neon magenta colour, completely locking me in. In fact, a feeling of submission hit me, as if I was going to do whatever Kiara asked me to do.
“Ah, it’s the transmission coming from the netherian symbol.”
She deactivated that strange propagation, and I felt relieved.
“What was that?”
Kiara looked at me through the rear-view mirror, giving me a sarcastic smile as she began to drive along the motorway.
“Mercenaries are the unwanted children that Zênite doesn’t want, but that Netheria embraces, giving them a purpose.” She frowned. “That’s why they serve them.”
The coldness in her words sent chills down my spine. I turned my face away, mulling over my curiosity about Kiara in silence. I knew little about her, but both she and Maia brought me a certain peace, even if they were unpredictable and difficult to read. They might differ, but they also had so many similarities. They had that same intimidating aura with something hidden in it. That thing that, with the slightest carelessness, would slip past you.
A strong whistling wind interrupted my thoughts, and another worry crossed my mind.
“How are we going to get to Egypt? I mean, what about our passports?” I must have sounded a bit desperate, but I didn’t care.
Kiara threw her head back and laughed. Her intense laughter intimidated me, making my face tingle, having no idea what she thought being funny.
“We don’t need these things. There are no borders for us. To them, we’re nobody. We don’t exist in their worlds. If we die or disappear, there will be no news about us. They prefer it that way and so do we.”
“B-but…” I searched for the right words. “They’re still criminals. Many of them are wanted by the police. After all, you said yourself, this mask prevents them from being recognised by the official authorities.”
“Yes, they have to say that they’re after us, that they know who we are. They pretend they’re hunting us to reassure the population while we do the dirty work on the sly. We’re not the real criminals here…” Kiara broke in with her gaze. “We just do what they want to do, but can’t.”
Any words I was going to say died in my mouth. Kiara was right. The fact was that I always knew, but it was easier to believe what the Aether Network said. It was more comfortable. I was getting further and further out of my comfort zone on this journey.
Memories of Maia came back to me. Not her. How did she pass through places without being recognised? The question emerged and never left me.
Maia, you were like the rain, slow but inevitable and relentless.
I let the memories of her flow through my mind as I looked out of the window at the grey scenery.

Chapter end