Kane crosses his arms. “I won’t waste resources expanding when Natural Order’s breathing down our necks.” He steps closer to loom over her. “I make the calls here. Not you. Understand?”
Echo’s smile returns, but her elevated vitals in Kane’s overlay tell a different story. “Relax, boss man. Only a suggestion. Your way it is.”
Kane follows her inside, making a mental note to press the doctor to come sooner. If anything, Echo’s observation only proves he needs to get Rafael out of here. Before this becomes more complicated than it already is.
11
Chapter 11 - Rafael
Rafael trudges through the narrow alley, trailing Echo as she winds between piles of debris and tangled wire. A crack in the pavement catches his foot. He stumbles, scraping his fingers along a brick wall plastered with flickering holo tags.
“Watch your step, kid!” Echo calls, already ten paces ahead.
He forces a laugh and keeps his eyes on the ground until the alley widens into the main street.
Out here, the neighborhood looks far more like what he’s glimpsed from the medtruck. Blocks of abandoned buildings and shuttered storefronts. Half still carry sun-bleached logos and broken signs from before the Concord Eight forced them out. The rest are painted over in green markings and handmade neon. But around the corner are familiar sights in Midtown, from Terra’s High Speed Market to the Factura outlet.
Only, instead of corporate enforcers, two men in heavy armor and chrome enhancements stand guard outside. They wave at Echo as she passes and, to Rafael’s surprise, nod at him too.
At the end of the street, a group of children play at a holo chessboard in Smile Services school uniforms. Echo approaches them with a wide smile. “Hey, you rascals! Keeping out of trouble?”
The kids light up, abandoning the game to greet her. Rafael lingers, caught off guard by her warmth. In Midtown, people keep their heads down, eyes on their wristlinks. No one stops to say hello to random children.
Their conversation doesn’t last long. Echo falls into step again, carrying on down the street. “Ready to see the best of Shreveport?” she asks.
He jogs forward to catch up with her. “I guess.”
Until today, Rafael didn’t even know what neighborhood he was in. Like most of his friends and family, he barely knows Nova City beyond Midtown and downtown. Everything past that might as well be another world.
Echo’s laugh bounces off the walls as they enter a narrow tunnel between buildings. “I promise. You’ll love it, kid.”
He starts to answer, but a strange smell cuts him off. The scent is rich and flavorful, free of Terra’s usual afterbite. His stomach growls.
By the time they step out of the tunnel, the source is clear. The small park has been swallowed by a makeshift marketplace, stalls packed so tight there’s barely room to move. Neon signs pulse overhead of each, handmade and uneven. Not a Terra Inc. logo in sight. Food vendors shout over the crowd, and the smell of frying oil wafts through the air.
His eyes widen. “What is this place?”
She waves for him to follow through the crowd. “Shreveport’s marketplace!”
“But…how is this possible? What about Terra’s?” Rafael whispers, staying close.
“All thanks to Baron,” Echo brags. “He’s got connections to underground farmers in the Rust Valley. As for Terra’s, I don’t think they know this place exists. And if they do, they probably don’t care. We’re just another bunch of slum dwellers. Not worth a fight.”
Rafael blinks, trying to reconcilethisKane with the one he met on his first night. First, he gives kids medical care then saves old men from fires. Now he feeds people? The contradictions keep piling up.
Echo elbows him. “Best part is? This is allreal, authenticfood. None of that synth garbage.”
His jaw falls slack. Rumors about “real” food in the slums—the Outer Districts have circled V-link for years. In Midtown, Terra’s synth meals replaced ingredients like that generations ago.
“Echo,” a familiar voice cuts through the noise. He peers over to see Wren coming toward them with a tentative smile. “What’re you guys doing here?”
Echo’s arm slips over his shoulder. “Introducing the kid to non-synth food. What about you?”
He tilts his head in agreement. Though the trip was entirely Echo’s idea when she showed up at the med bay during lunch.
“Same as you.” Wren holds up a box of steaming noodles, then turns to Rafael. “I take it you’ve never had anything outside Terra’s before.”
Rafael smiles, mouth already watering. “Never!”