Shattered World - Book 1 The Shifting City - Chapter 1

So, I did manage to get three chappies done today, but one might not come out for awhile. I'm actually working on a collab with many other SCS FF authors, and because there's so many of us it's taking awhile. I'm going to see if I can get permission to post something soon.

Now, for this story... it's something I wanted to write for awhile, and even attempted once before. I'm actually pretty happy with this first chapter, ton of worldbuilding, and mentioned, but glossed over the most core concept. Once it's revealed everything I showed will make sense, but for now, enjoy the bleakness.

“Grid is busy today,” I grumbled as I came to a pair of vehicles driving side by side. It looked like the old bus was attempting to overtake one of the automated transports, but even when pushing the engine to the max it looked like it would take a couple minutes before it achived its goal. 

I considered taking the shoulder, but this section of the grid was overflowing with garbage. You could find garbage filling up the drainage ditch in most sections of the grid, but it was rare that it was piled up so high that the piles were high enough to rest against the sector wall, or block part of the road. Guess that’s what I got for heading to the bad part of town.

Since I was already running behind, and I didn’t have time to wait for the bus to actually pass, I revved up my bike and slid between the two vehicles. I could see people inside the bus staring at me as I zipped by. I guess that wasn’t surprising, most people didn’t get to see a courier very often. 

Once I passed the two slower vehicles, and slipped back into my lane, the HUD on my mask lit up. [Call Incoming: Julie]

“Answer,” I half shouted to be heard over the roar of my bike. My HUD cleared, then a moment later there was a beep in my ears. “Hey Jules, did you manage to confirm this contract?” I asked.

“Not only is it council approved, it’s council verified,” Julie replied. I could hear the exhaustion in her voice, she must have spent hours crawling through the network in order to find that information. “It still smells fishy, are you sure you want to take the contract?”

“Don’t have much of a choice,” I answered, as I overtook another automated truck. “I turned down that contract to carry ‘medical supplies’ last week, and if I turned down another I’ll probably take a hit to my rating.”

Julie sighed. “I’m not going to be able to convince you to give this up, am I?” she asked.

“Not if it’s verified,” I replied, “the payout is too good to pass up. After today I’ll be able to take a couple days off, maybe even take you out to dinner.” 

Julie was quiet for a minute. “Fine, just be careful, ok?” she finally grumbled.

“I will,” I promised, “you know me.”

“And that’s exactly why I felt the need to warn you,” Jules quipped. I couldn’t help but grin at her slightly annoyed tone. “Call me the instant you’re done okay?”

“I will. Talk to you soon,” I whispered.

“Later,” she replied, before hanging up. 

Once the call was done I once again concentrated on the road, accelerating my bike to weave through traffic in order to reach my destination, the sector one eighteen access gate. Sector one eighteen was one of the oldest sectors in the city, and most people considered it a slum, it was a place I’d never consider visiting if it wasn’t for the job.

The sector gates acted as massive checkpoints where the enforcers checked every single person, vehicle, and piece of cargo for contraband, and more importantly anomalous relics. It took most people several hours to get through a gate, and into a new sector. Thankfully I didn’t have to put up with that shit.

Rather than entering the huge queue to enter the main checkpoint, I pulled into the dedicated courier lane. I slowly rolled into the vehicle scanner and waited as the huge scanning arrays mounted to the ceiling and walls swept back and forth across my bike. It took about two minutes before the system was happy I wasn’t carrying anything, and the metal security door opened to the next section. When I pulled forward again I found half a dozen enforcement agents waiting for me, stun batons drawn. 

“This lane is for courier traffic only,” the closest agent barked. “Anyone attempting to bypass the security check, without authorization, will be detained.” 

I rolled my eyes, every single checkpoint was the same. The agents had to be cautious, an entire sector was at risk after all, but I was kind of tired of being treated by a criminal everywhere I went. I pulled back my jacket and revealed the courier ID clamped around my wrist. 

The agent in charge eyed me suspiciously, but picked up a small scanner from the nearby shelter and ran it over my band. After a few seconds it beeped, and I saw his eyebrows rise. “Authorized, the destination is Building Sector One One Eight dash seventeen,” he announced. As soon as he did, the other agents all backed down and went back to their positions. “Sorry about that,” the commander said, stepping back. “We don’t get many real couriers in this sector.”

“You’re just doing your job,” I replied diplomatically. “Building seventeen is?”

“Far side of the complex,” he explained as he signalled one of the other men to open the second door and let me through. “We’re a standard ten by ten layout, so head up to tenth street and turn right. It’s hard to miss, the buildings are labeled.”

“Thanks,” I grunted before slowly accelerating and slipping through the inner gate. I knew this was an old neighborhood, but I didn’t know it was a gen one sector. Each of the buildings were massive block long and wide, twenty story tall, concrete bunkers. The first ten feet of each building was completely covered in graffiti, a complex tapestry of art and gang tags, but above that the buildings were practically bare. The only identifying mark I could find was around three floors up. Each building had a massive black number stenciled upon the side. It didn’t take me long to tell everything was sequential, and my destination was further into the district.

I accelerated slowly, occasionally swerving between the trash that had spilled onto the street, while I kept my eyes on my surroundings. Most people chose to stay within their assigned living complexes, but it wasn’t unheard of for gangs to hang around outside, and look for vehicles to jack. I sure as hell wasn’t going to allow myself to be one of their victims.

Thankfully I didn’t see more than one or two people before I found my destination. Building seventeen was identical to absolutely every other building in the area, only identified by the massive blocky number on its side. I half expected the garage to be clogged with garbage, just like everything else in the area, but thankfully it appeared that maintenance hadn’t fallen to that level, so there was enough space for me to slip through. Just like the sector gate there was a security checkpoint here. A couple building security agents were sweeping a bus on the far side, so I pulled into the dedicated courier parking. The guard station next to me burst open, and three slovenly security guards poured out. 

“You can’t be here!” the biggest guard, girth wise, yelled. “By parking in a dedicated courier spot your vehicle is forfeit and will be impounded.” The two smaller guards standing behind him chuckled. I knew that most buildings hired locals to be guards, but I didn’t expect to be straight up … as soon as I drove up. 

I held up my bracelet so all three men could see it. “I’m a certified city courier, you sure you want to try that?” I declared as I leaned back, my other hand slowly reaching towards my half open jacket. 

The two smaller men flinched back. Considering how important the job was, and the fact that couriers were the only ones that could travel between sectors quickly, the city typically came down hard on anyone that fucked with us. 

The bigger man snorted, “Says you. We’ve never had a single courier come here the entire time I’ve been here, and if anyone asks, we can claim we didn’t know.”

“Right, the hard way then,” I muttered as he stepped towards me. I pulled the pistol from its holster and put three rounds into his ample gut. Both the crack from the pistol, and crackle from the taser rounds echoed around the nearly empty garage, attracting everyone’s attention. 

It only took about a couple seconds for someone with the district security uniform to come running, half a dozen enforcers behind him. “I’m here for a package,” I announced as I pulled off my helmet. My shoulder length black hair had become plastered to my head, so I took a minute to fluff it a little. “I hope that YOU’RE aware that couriers are authorized to carry weapons, and defend themselves,” I said as I once again extended my bracelet for inspection.

“Of course ma’am,” the sector security agent declared. He whispered something to some of the other agents, which resulted in tubby and his henchmen being pulled away, before turning to me. “You have a pickup?” he asked, not quite believing it. 

“I do,” I replied politely. “So if you could direct me to Anton Stayer’s clinic, I’d appreciate it.”