I grabbed both of our gear on the way up. We still had to play the part. Any suspicions and the whole thing would crumble.

  By the time I got to the office things were mostly under control. Fires, both metaphorical and literal, were extinguished. Two and Mara were in the middle of an argument. Even a fake one, it was a coin toss if Mara’s pride would let her lose it.

  “We still have deals to honor, even if he didn’t.” Two said. “There are still good men and women in that gang. We talk to them first.”

  “Fuck the high road. He goes low, I go lower. Take down the whole building.”

  “Nobody else would stand by if we did that.” Two glanced at me, and turned his attention back to Mara. “Tell you what. Let me go over and talk to him and his lieutenants. You two give me cover. If things come to blows, you do your thing. Bring down the building.”

  “Fine.” She finally said. That was good for everyone else to see. Two able to rein in Mara? Made him look like a real leader.

  She ripped the body armor out of my hands and threw it on.

  The three of us marched straight over the desert. We wanted people to see us coming. This whole thing needed to go down in the public eye.

  His casino was closer to a brothel, and it was about as bad as you can imagine. Absolute hell for most of the poor people who worked there. Five would later clean it up thankfully, treat his girls and guys with the respect they deserve, actually take care of them, their safety, and their health. You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t go into detail about it in those days though.

  Silver, as Wess’ second-in-command, met us in the lobby.

  “Mark, what can I do for you?” They offered their hand.

  “Silver. Does this look familar?” Two held up a few pieces of the vase.

  Silver’s eyes narrowed. We were all actors, and we’d play our parts perfectly.

  “If Wess’ gift is broken, we can replace it.” Silver offered.

  “Scoville is dead. Assassinated. An explosive went off an hour after Wess returned home.”

  “I’ve checked the cameras. Nobody entered or left after that meeting.” I added.

  Silver stepped back, turned away from us, and whispered into the cuff of their suit.

  The casino came alive, people instantly reacting to Silver’s orders. Armed men and women moved quickly. The thought of a double-cross crossed my mind, and Mara’s too. Both of us shouldered our rifles and took up a stance, back to back.

  Silver came back to us just a moment later.

  “Wess will see you in his office.”

  “Tell him I’m not going anywhere he’s prepared.” Two said. “I’m offering him this one chance to avoid a war. If he wants to talk, he can talk here. It’s as close to a neutral space as we’ll get.”

  Silver spoke into their cuff once again. After a short conversation, the guards began to move again. They interrupted everyone on the casino floor, kicking them out. Within minutes it was just us, and a hundred guards.

  Wess stepped out of the elevator and walked up to the two of us.

  “The fuck are you playing at Mark?” He was a cruel man, one I certainly wouldn’t be sad to see gone.

  “I could ask you the same. Do our agreements mean nothing to you?”

  “Get the fuck out!” Wess roared. “Scoville was a close friend. Consider the fact I’m not having you executed for your accusation a mercy.”

  “So what? You think it’s a coincidence that you give him a gift, and he dies an hour later?”

  “A coincidence? No. A framing. Ask yourself, why would I kill one of my closest allies?”

  “Framing by who, then?” Two asked.

  “Scoville was not without enemies, me not amongst them. The noose around his men’s necks were loose, any of them could have been responsible. Perhaps even yourself could have done it. You seem to have received quite the promotion.”

  “The armory has been checked,” I interjected. “All explosives are accounted for. Scoville has a camera in his office, watched constantly. The only way to get an explosive in there is to smuggle one in.”

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  “Keep your dog on a leash.” Wess growled.

  Silver stepped back and muttered into their cuff once again. A moment later they spoke aloud.

  “Sir, one block of plastic explosives is missing from our armory.”

  Murmurs rippled through the guards.

  Wess whipped around, staring Silver down.

  “You. It’s fucking you.” He said. “You told me to bring a gift. You want my job.”

  “A gift I never laid hands on.” Silver announced. “A gift you purchased from a trader that just arrived. A trader that I have never spoken to. All for a job I don’t want.”

  Wess yelled, but Silver’s voice carried over it.

  “Given the evidence, I believe banishment is not only warranted, but the only option. I do not want your job and I will not be taking up your mantle. I would like to nominate your third to take control.”

  Wess drew his weapon, only to be easily disarmed by Silver. They twisted Wess’ hands behind his back, slapping on a set of handcuffs. Silver didn’t even falter, just continued their speech like nothing changed.

  “You will get the same thing we give every banishment. A car, a pistol with two bullets, a week of food and water, and the clothes on your back.” Silver marched him deeper into the building, towards the nearest elevator. “All of you are dismissed. Report to Robert for your new orders.”

  The guards began to move once again, lowering their weapons and walking away.

  Mara, Two, and I headed back outside, returning home.

  Two settled into his new office, a temporary little thing, and gave his first order.

  “You two make sure he doesn’t rally anyone to his side.”

  “Gladly.” Mara answered. “We’ll set out when the sun goes down.”

  “Good. You’re dismissed.”

  Mara and I returned to our room. She took her place on the couch and watched the desert.

  “Our watchman is still a loose end.”

  “He won’t talk.” I reassured her. “Not while his family is around. He knows better.”

  “If you’re wrong-”

  “I’m not. Killing him is too suspicious anyway.”

  It was hours later, just before sundown, when we saw Wess’ car headed east. Silver delayed him, just for us.

  “Arc City.” Mara mumbled.

  “Definetly.”

  There was nowhere else on the planet he’d be more likely to go. Some of the technology coming out of there, even in the early days of AI, was like nothing the world had ever seen. Rudimentary cybernetics, brand new weapons and armor. If you needed a place to restart your life, and to build an army? That was the place.

  The second the sun went down, we set off. He wasn’t hard to follow. He left angry troughs in the ground with his tires. A storm was hitting before too long, he had to floor it.

  We took sand runners, not a car. Light vehicles with a massive tread running down the center, and two skis to glide over the sand.

  “I think I remember seeing one in the grand canyon.” I say.

  “I’m sure you did. They’re impractical for long journeys, needing to be so light means a small battery, they can’t pull that much, and there’s no way you’d ever survive a storm. But for short distances? Nothing’s faster.”

  We were lights off the whole way, the world lit only by the moon. We flew across the desert, not caring about the wear and tear. Those little things could get up to a hundred miles an hour, that’s like nothing else you’ll ever experience.

  We caught up to him quickly.

  “I want him alive!” Mara yelled into her radio.

  “Got it!”

  Two bullets in a pistol, that was his only weapon. We knew that. I’d do my job.

  Mara fired first, and I a moment later. We hit all four tires. Even in those days we used airless tires, but a few shots would make them fall right off. The car stopped suddenly, slamming into the sand.

  Wess’s door opened and he stepped out, trying to get into cover. Mara fired a few shots, and one found his leg. He hit the ground and wasted his first shot.

  His second bullet was loose. He scrambled with it, trying to lock the slide open and stick the thing in. I drove up right next to him, and hopped off the sand runner, using him to break my fall. He dropped the bullet, and I grabbed it and stepped back, keeping my rifle on him.

  Mara came up next to me, parked her runner, and stepped off.

  “If it makes you feel better, you were right.” She held her hand open, and I dropped his bullet into it.

  The whole time Wess was hurling things that I dare not repeat.

  Mara crouched down and grabbed his pistol, still in his hand. She put the bullet into it, and held the gun up to his head.

  “You do it.” She ordered.

  “Fuck you!”

  Mara drew her pistol, and put another bullet in his leg.

  He screamed, and I just watched. Mara waited, equally disappointed and excited. She drew her knife and slowly started to take him apart. She kept going, very careful to miss any veins.

  He eventually put an end to his own suffering.

  Mara stood up, satisfied, and hopped back onto her runner.

  “Get rid of the evidence.” She sped off, leaving me to finish the work.

  The batteries we used in those days? They burned like nothing else, hot and the fire could outlast a sandstorm. I dragged Wess into the driver’s seat and popped the hood. Putting a bullet in the battery bank lit the whole thing up.

  I stuck around for a bit, just to make sure everything caught. Burning humans have a specific smell.

  “I’m familiar.” Cassie mumbles.

  “It’s not something you should have ever had to smell.” Vince responds.

  I gave it some space about the time that reached my nose. Watched over the horizon for an hour or so, until the storm appeared. I wanted to make sure nobody came across our crime.

  I made it home half an hour before the storm hit and snuck into the parking garage. Made it back into our room without too many questions, and once again the two of us celebrated like we did something good.

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