Cyberpunk

was, with a bruise on her face and a cracked wrist, but still holding herself hard and arrogant, and the only person in the world who could glimpse the softness underneath was me, it seemed like. So I sauntered up, invited her outside for a smoke, and then within a half hour, we were pressed against the wall together, my hands up her shirt like I’d never touched tit before, feeling her firm little nipples against the skin of my palms.
    It’s been her and me ever since. As far as I’m concerned, it’ll always be that way.
    • • •

    After eating, we helped wash dishes before heading to the library. We had to wait a half hour for a terminal to free. Finally a man gathered his tablet and stood, stretching his shoulders.
    “I’ll wait,” I said, and gestured Grizz forward.
    She nodded and went forward to slide her hand into the log-in gloves. Within a moment, her eyes had the glassy stare that means the meat’s occupant is elsewhere.
    I looked around. Chairs and desks dotted the place, all of them occupied. I went outside to the parking garage for a smoke.
    Daylight had fled. At the structure’s edge, where the street was dimly visible, I panhandled a dozen people before I found one willing to admit to smoking. I lit the cigarette, a Marlboro Brute, and leaned back against the wall, which was patchworked with graffiti layers. Maybe by the time I was done, a booth would have opened up. It was getting late, after all.
    I closed my eyes as the nicotine rush hit me. Footsteps came across the cement floor toward me. I opened my eyes.
    It was Lorelei. She wore a slick, bright red jacket and lipstick to match her short skirt and chunky boots. Silver hoops all along each ear’s edge graduated to match her narrowing cartilage. She looked good. Very good.
    “Nice night, ain’t it?” she said as she moved to lean on the wall beside me. “Gimme.”
    I passed the smoke over and she took a drag.
    “Want to try something to make the nice night even nicer?” she asked, smiling as she leaned back to return the cigarette.
    “Meaning?”
    “It’s good stuff.” She fished in the jacket before holding out the lighter and one-hitter. The end was packed with gray lintish dust. “Never had better.”
    I took the pipe and sparked it. The blue smoke rushed into my lungs like a fist, like a physical jolt, and the world dropped half an inch beneath my feet. Everything was tinged with colors, an iridescence like gasoline on a rain puddle. I was standing there with Lorelei and at the same time I was on a vast dark plain, feeling the world teeter and slip.
    Lorelei watched me. On the side of her face was a new tattoo, a black floral design.
    “What’s that?” I asked. I raised my hand, my fingers dripping colored fire and sparks. The drug curled and coiled through my veins, and I could feel my heart racing.
    “Maps,” she said. “Executable that interfaces with a global database. Got a GPS here,” She tapped a purple faceted gleam on one earlobe. “Drop me anywhere in the world, I’ll know where I am.”
    “Looks awful big to be a simple database interface.”
    She shrugged, and took the pipe back. She tapped out the ashes with care before she tamped a new pinch of greenish leaf into the mouth. “Controls the GPS too, and some other crap.”
    An expensive toy, but one that would qualify her for all sorts of delivery jobs. But she must be broke, to show up at Ajah’s, I thought. It didn’t make sense.
    “How’re things?” I asked.
    Her shoulders twitched into another sullen shrug. “Got some deals in the works. Just a matter of time before something plays out.”
    I glanced back at the library door. “I should go in, I’m waiting on a machine to clear.”
    The drug still held me hard, and every moment was crystal clear as she raised her hand to stroke along my jaw. “I miss you sometimes, Jonny,” she said, sounding out of breath.
    I didn’t want to piss her off, so I used a move that’s worked before. Catching her hand, I turned it palm down and pressed my lips against the knuckles before dropping it and taking a step backward.
    “See you around,” I said.
    She didn’t say anything back, just stood there looking at me as I turned and walked away.
    When I tried to log in, the drug prevented it. Every attempt shuddered and screeched along my nerves, so painful it brought tears to my eyes. But I kept trying and trying. A few cubicles down, I could see Grizz’s back, hunched over her terminal, every