The Other Side of Life (Book #1, Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy) by Jess C Scott Read Free Book Online Page B

to
Nin.
    “ Great!” Nin gave her a
quick hug, his heart singing the praises of the good nature she
extended to him. Anya was a little taken aback to admit (to
herself) that it somehow felt so right being in his arms, even if
it was for a short while. There was something comforting and
protective about his touch, which appealed to her much more than
his words.
    Nin added that there were a few more things
to sort out on their end. “I’ll send you the details,
tomorrow.”
    Anya was glad when they exchanged cell
numbers. The elves had thirty-seven digit numbers.
    “ Bypasses all the human
cell phone networks,” Dresan explained, as Anya and Leticia stored
the numbers in their cell’s address books. “We call our wrist
device the ‘N-Gage’.”
    “ It’s more straightforward
than the insidious human GVMT,” Tavia added, as she re-adjusted the
time on her device.
    “ We have those at home,”
Anya said, glancing up to admire Nin’s lithe figure from the back.
She and Leticia had received complimentary models that the company
was pilot-testing.
    “ We don’t use it that much
though,” Leticia added. “I think ours have a heat-up
problem.”
    “ Good,” said Nin, with
slight disdain. “What does it stand for again?”
    “ Great-Value-More-Time,”
Anya replied, in the exact same pitch and tone as the syrupy voice
of Cyborg Mi$$y, the alluring avatar spokesperson in the GVMT
advertisement that aired everywhere.
    “ When it actually stands
for ‘government’.” Nin shook his head. He sympathized with humans
half the time. The other half the time was influenced by the fact
that history seemed to repeat itself far too many times.
    “ I’ve been trying to crack
the embedded code of the second version,” Dresan carried on, since
hacking was a subject he was endlessly fascinated with. “The GVMT
plants subliminal political messages. Your cell phones are keeping
you connected to a world of automatons.”
    Nin gave a crooked smile. He already knew
that.
    “ Is that true?” Anya had
joked about it to Leticia. She didn’t really think the government
had decided to go that far.
    The elves nodded in unison.
    “ Stick to your basic cell
phone models,” Nin advised.
    Leticia looked to Anya when they were ready
to go. They were both facing Leticia’s bag on the counter. They
felt the same way—that they needed to do the right thing.
    Leticia passed the golden cup over to Nin.
“I suppose this belongs to you.”
    “ We can find something
else,” Anya added, charitably. “Another dream catcher,
maybe.”
    Nin’s smile was brighter than the sun. “My
deepest thanks.”
    He replaced the cup onto the counter,
treating it like it was made out of fragile glass. Then he
proceeded to escort the two girls back outdoors, to the halfway
mark of the train tracks. His mind was fixated on one thing the
entire time: what Anya had said.
    “… because you asked me
to.”
    The words echoed in his mind. What if he had
asked her to murder someone for him—would she have agreed too? He
pondered over it. He seemed to face less resistance from her, the
longer they spent with each other. He’d only known her for a half
hour, but was beginning to feel like he could tell her things most
wouldn’t even care to discover.
    “ Are you really doing it,
because I asked you to?” Nin suddenly asked, in a low whisper to
Anya.
    He was speaking to her only. Leticia was
walking a few paces ahead.
    Anya blinked a couple of
times, before chiding herself for marveling at his flawless
skin. Surely there are a gazillion more
pressing matters to consider, right now?
    “ I guess so…” she replied,
“…since you seem to need me, more than I understand.” She paused
for a second. “Need my help, I mean.” She didn’t know if she was
making any sense at all.
    Nin wanted to know her better. She seemed to
be a free, fiery spirit who lived by her own rules most of the
time. She really had no reason to be so compliant with him.
    But the