NANITE

The city sprawled below him, a vast, living tapestry, alive and endless. Exploding colors from holo-ads and towering signs painted the skyscrapers in shifting shades of electric blue, vibrant pink, and alien green. Cars streamed up and down the illuminated arteries of the city, their lights like liquid fire, a ceaseless river of movement. High above, old, forgotten satellites blinked and vanished in the pervasive atmospheric haze.

He sat down cross-legged, just as the reclusive monk had shown him, and consciously let the world recede. His exhale was slow, deliberate, a careful release. His shoulders eased. His jaw unclenched. For a while, all he did was count breaths – simple, physical, grounding him in the here and now. With each steady breath, the internal noise softened. The static of doubt, the gnawing echo of memory, all of it faded until only the quiet, profound present remained.

Then, as before, something deep within him unwound. The chaos of his mind receded like a storm swept out to sea, leaving behind a strange and boundless calm. Ray drifted inward, his awareness dissolving into a dreamlike landscape: a digital ocean, silent and infinite, lit by shifting, crystalline light. Complex geometric patterns formed and faded at the edge of his vision, as if his consciousness was building new architecture from his own code. Here, the fundamental difference between Ray, the man, and the nanites, the machine simply ceased to exist. It was all him – knowing, feeling, exquisitely limitless.

The first faint light of dawn brushed the highest rooftops, turning the glass towers to molten gold. The city stretched, slowly waking with a million quiet noises – the distant buzz of delivery drones weaving between buildings, the soft, contented hum of engines revving, the faint, persistent pulse of music from a club that never truly closed. The cool morning air offered a rare clarity after the long, restless night.

Ray opened his eyes and simply sat for a moment longer, allowing the sunrise to pour over him, bathing him in its warmth. The city, seen through the filter of his renewed perspective, looked utterly new, its sharp angles softened, the river of traffic below somehow peaceful. He felt profoundly whole. No anxiety clawed at him, no discordant voices argued in his head. There was only this – breath, body, city, sky. A perfect, fragile balance.

After a while, he rose, brushing off the dew from his clothes, the fabric rustling softly. He made his way down to street level and ducked into a corner store. The world felt sharper, every color more vivid, every minute detail exquisitely precise, as if his senses had been recalibrated.

Back home, the apartment door hissed open with a soft sigh. Sunlight flooded the room, painting warm rectangles on the floor. Alyna was perched at the kitchen table, her hair charmingly tangled from sleep, eyes focused and intent as her fingers flew over the keyboard, a silent, furious symphony of clicks. Lina stood by the window, a mug of coffee clutched in her hands, steam swirling up into the sunbeams, her posture softer, her shoulders a little lighter than yesterday.

For a moment, Ray just watched them, unmoving. For all the city's inherent chaos, for all the gnawing uncertainty and ever-present danger, this was what he fought for. This quiet, precious moment of peace. He stepped forward into the morning light, the warmth of home and the day's new beginning settling quietly, thankfully, in his chest.

"Morning," Ray said, placing the packed food on the coffee table before the couch. Its warm aroma spread through the air.

Alyna yawned, lifting her gaze from the screen. "Morning. How was your night with Arty?"

"It was cool, we watched some old anime with robots," Ray lied.

"Hmm, cool." Alyna responded.

Lina turned from the window, a soft smile on her face. "Morning, Ray. You're up early."

"Couldn't sleep," he shrugged. "Figured I'd grab breakfast."

"Good thinking," Alyna said, stretching. "My brain is already buzzing, and I haven't even had coffee."

Lina chuckled, taking a sip from her mug. "That's a permanent state for you, isn't it?"

Alyna grinned. "Pretty much."

They ate quietly, the early sunlight painting gold across the kitchen table. For a few moments, it almost felt normal – simple food, familiar faces, a rare and fragile silence. But it never lasted.

Ray's interface pinged, a soft, internal chime.

Monica K.: Got a gig. Sending you details.

Mission specs slid into his vision, overlaid onto the quiet domestic scene: Escort a reporter to West Line. Pay: 5000 credits. In and out. If everything goes right, back before midnight.

Monica K.: What do you think?

Ray: Pay's good.

West Line – one thousand kilometers south. Too far for comfort. His gaze flicking to Alyna and Lina – both finally safe, for now. Andrew was out of the picture. The new apartment was under a fake name. But why did this job need two escorts?

Ray: Why does he need two people? Is he a VIP or something?

Monica K.: Probably has dirt on a big fish. You have to be nuts to be a reporter now. Corpos kill you for saying the wrong thing. But the pay's good—and I'm getting more than you. My car, by the way.

Ray weighed the risks, the data points flickering through his mind. This might be his last ride with Monica. He didn't need to go in guns blazing – he could be anyone, absorb anyone, become anything. His espionage capabilites would allow him to earn more money than simple merc work.

Ray: Where's the meet?

A location pinged on his HUD: a club in Southeast Slick Row.

Ray: Be there in half an hour.

He forced a smile for Alyna and Lina, a thin, brittle thing, brushing imaginary crumbs from his hands. "Someone just pinged me. A client needs help fixing a turbo intake on their delivery van. Shouldn't take long, but the pay's good."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Alyna leaned over, her touch feather-light, pressing her lips to his cheek – a silent plea, a question she didn't dare voice aloud. "Stay safe, Ray. And don't work too hard." Her voice trembled just a little, her eyes searching his.

He grinned, a hollow mask, but the lie felt heavy, a lead weight in his chest. Lina raised her mug in silent salute, her other hand squeezing Alyna's shoulder.

He rose up and walked away. The door hissed closed behind him, a final, soft punctuation.

Alyna sat, her small smile faltering, replaced by something brittle, fragile as glass. Liar. The word echoed in her mind, sharp and cold. It is always a lie. She stared at the empty seat, jaw clenched, fingers drumming a silent, angry rhythm on the table.

Ray walked into the city's raw morning – a tangible mix of smog and harsh sunlight, the cacophony of market noise and the distant drone-song of traffic. The air was thick with ozone, the cloying steam from food vendors, the acrid scent of burnt synth-oil, and a pervasive, low static hum.

Red's apartment was exactly as he'd left it: a disaster zone of heaped clothes, dust motes dancing in sunbeams, the lingering, stale scent of old sweat and cheap liquor. He'd have to pay 7,000 NEX next week just to keep this dump. He promised himself he'd clean, but not today.

His gaze moved to the harness that lay tangled on a chair. He grabbed it, and the nanites flowed and dissolved. Fabric crawled over his clothes, knitting together with precision as two holsters pressed against his ribs. Then he walked to the table and pressed the secret switch hidden under it, and the wall slid open with a soft sigh, revealing Red's hidden arsenal, gleaming in the dim light.

He clasped the Dirge M1 "Street Gospel." Its blocky, matte black form, adorned with faint, shimmering silver inlays like forgotten runes, felt heavy and undeniably real—its cold weight a familiar comfort. The chamber opened with a precise satisfying click.

He then strapped it on, the nanites flexing and tightening the holster for a flawless fit. Next, he reached for Rex's pistol. Now stripped of its gaudy gold, the steel-aluminum hybrid was perfectly balanced, lean, and purposeful—no longer a gangster's trophy but a killer's tool. Though the old "REX" engraving was gone, its power and lethal certainty remained undiminished.

He held the gun a moment longer, studying it in the pale light.
You need a name, Ray thought.

He'd never named a gun before—never saw the point, never felt the need. That was Red's habit. "A good gun deserves a name," Red always said but now… now the ritual felt right. Necessary, even.

VX? he considered, eyeing the barely visible model stamp—VX-45. No. Too generic. Too easy.

He weighed it, spun it in his hand—a movement more art than habit. His lips thinned, a hint of dry amusement.

Future, he decided at last. Simple. Honest. The history was still there, under the metal. A memory and a warning.

He glanced at the other weapons in the stash, then at the gun in his hand.

Maybe I'll ask Arty for a cooler name, he thought, half-smiling at the memory of Arty's wild suggestions. For now, Future would do.

A case of sniper rounds caught his eye—a memory flickered, sharp and vivid: his arm flowing, reshaping itself, reforming into the Syndrone "Whitespike." The rifle materialized, a deep crimson barrel etched with micro-circuit patterns, its scope blinking awake, locking onto an unseen target.

The sniper rifle...it…I had absorbed before I killed Red.

He loaded a round, the cold click echoing in the confined space, sighted the far wall, the reticle painting a ghostly, glowing line.

He ejected the round, the risk of being seen shifting too great. But a handful of rounds vanished into his pocket, nanites locking them securely in place, a silent promise of future devastation.

The stash closed with a soft thud.

The door hissed shut behind him. Ray stepped into the morning crowd, a faceless current flowing through the city's veins—just another face, just another ghost. The city, vast and indifferent, swallowed him whole.

Ray hit the street just as the morning bled into early noon. Even so, Slickrow never slept. Neon spilled across the cracked pavement in shifting ribbons of electric fuchsia and acid green.

A bass-heavy pulse leaked from an unseen club, a vibration that resonated deep in his chest. A distant siren wailed, a lonely sound swallowed by the concrete canyons.

He glanced at the target: ANIMA. The club's facade was a fortress of matte black panels and hard-edged chrome. Twin holographic serpents, scales glittering, coiled endlessly around the doorframe. The name burned above them, the letters flickering as if struggling against a storm of static. A line of patrons smoked under the awning, their hushed chatter a counterpoint to the city's hum.

Ray pinged Monica. The reply was instant.

Monica K.: Inside. Booth 12.

He moved toward the entrance, but a wall of muscle in a suit that looked more like armor blocked his path. The bouncer's eyes, cybernetic and cold, glowed blue as a scanner swept Ray from head to toe.

The man's face twisted.

All he could see was a uniform mass all over Ray's body. "Club policy—no unregistered hardware. Move along."

Ray offered a disarming shrug, letting his expression go blank. He stepped aside, and sent a message through his interface.

Ray: The bouncer blocked me because of my mods.

Monica K.: Go to the alley behind the club and look for my Kurai.

He circled around back. Here, the city felt raw. Dumpsters buzzed with flies looking for organic matter. The slap of his boots echoed off wet brick. The air was sharp with the tang of ozone and leaking battery acid. A broken holo-ad for a synth-noodle bar stuttered across the alley wall, painting the gloom in a sickly, flickering green.

Monica was there, leaning against the hood of her sleek, black Kurai. Her arms were folded, posture radiating impatience. She was speaking—or rather, being spoken at—by a man with sharp asiatic features and a brawler's build. He was broad-shouldered, with a jagged scar tracing a white line from his temple down his jaw. He had the restless energy of a fighter between rounds, shifting his weight and running a hand through his cropped hair. An ex, maybe. Or the reporter.

"One-sama, I swear I'll find it," the man was saying, his voice a nervous rush. "Just don't tell Oto-sama. I'll pay for it, I promise."

Monica's brother, then. Great.

As Ray approached, Monica's gaze snapped to him, her irritation flaring.

"What happened?" Ray asked, keeping his tone neutral. His mind was already running calculations: how much of a liability was this?

Monica sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "This idiot," she said, jerking a thumb at her brother, "managed to lose my bike. My Kamigami."

"I'm sorry!" the man protested, forcing a weak laugh. "I don't have enough blood for both my heads!" The joke died in the suffocating silence of Monica's glare.

"Next time," she said, her voice like chipping ice, "buy your own ride." She yanked the car door open. "Ray. Inside."

She slid behind the wheel, the door shutting with a decisive thud. Ray's gaze lingered on her brother. The man looked caught between shame and desperation, his eyes flicking to Ray with a silent, foolish plea for solidarity.

Then, his eyes widened in recognition.

"Hey—you're the one!" he blurted, pointing a thick finger. "You're the thief who registered her bike!" He took a clumsy step forward, hand outstretched as if to grab him.

Ray sidestepped the lunge with ease. The man stumbled past, grunting, "Stop running!"

The car door hissed open again. Monica emerged, grabbing her brother by the collar of his battered jacket and hauling him back. Her patience had evaporated. "Ray stole my bike?" she demanded, one eyebrow raised.

"He registered it a few days ago! A Kamigami Strike-Z, just like yours!"

Her golden eyes, sharp and dangerous, fixed on Ray. "Is that true?"

A slow, half-smile touched Ray's lips. He decided the truth was the simplest path. "It is true," he admitted. "But I wasn't the first thief. Just the last one who got caught holding it." He quickly recounted the run-in with the Kuro Yasha wannabe.

Monica listened, her expression unreadable. When he finished, she just nodded, a single, sharp dip of her chin. "Not your fault," she said, her focus already back on the real problem. All her frustration was a laser beam aimed at her brother.

"You're not mad at him?" Akio asked, looking betrayed.

"Why would I be? He didn't know it was mine. You did. And you lost it." She jerked her head toward the car. "Ray. Let's go."

Ray climbed in, the cabin sealing him in a cocoon of quiet leather and tech hum. He settled into the passenger seat, the tension in his shoulders easing as Monica shot him a sideways glance.