Walk the Abyss

Pour, drink. Pour, drink. I repeat it over and over again. I don't know how many bottles I've gone through. I bought a couple of dozen from the bar. Probably blew my credit up. Who cares? What does it matter? I'm done. I have nothing left to give. I wasted it all on a woman who lied to me. A woman who used me. I tried. I even accepted her being an AI. Isn't it ironic that learning it's not true hurts so fucking much?

Not even a cop anymore. The Chief'll try, but I've got enough black marks on my name to mean I'm never getting that badge back. Maybe I'll work for Honey's and become a whore. Seems that I'll give it up for anyone, so I might as well make money. Fuck it, let guys have a go too. Why should a walking corpse have a sexual identity? I know half the police **** would want to hate-fuck me. I'd be dry as a desert down there, but the chance to make me bleed would probably be a bonus for them.

I stand up, and the world spins around me. I see visions of the kitchen... Azure preparing breakfast. Visions of the sofas... Azure and I playing chess. Visions of the bed... Azure making me cum. I hate this place. It's so full of memory. I don't want to remember. I want to get fucked. Lux... Lux will fuck me. I don't really know what's going on as I use my bangle and summon my AV, but when the spinning stops, I'm face to face with her.

"Girl, what the fuck is happening? Where's Azure?" She asks, half bemused and half curious. Of course she doesn't know. She didn't warn me about the ambush. About who Azure really was. Chief must've realised someone was in the system and kept it offline. I recall as much as I can between bouts of spinning, I can't even tell where Lux is right now, but I figure she's listening. "Tera, I'm assuming that this makes no sense because you're drunk, because what you've just told me is insane."

I sit up, feeling the rage boiling inside me. "Logren said there's no such thing as a super AI. He was right. Just a manipulative bitch." I snarl. "Look, I'm offering myself up on a plate here. I thought you wanted to fuck me?" I add impatiently.

"Hun, I don't fuck bitches when they're as drunk as you are." She responds from somewhere. "You wake up tomorrow and tell me you want it, I'll give you the lay of your life, but not tonight. Go to sleep." She demands. I want to argue. I want to tear my clothes off and grab her. I can't, though. I can't move.

I can't open my eyes...

*

Pain. Searing pain in my head. I wake up and reach for Azure... Then the memory hits me. The pain spreads to my chest. I pull myself up, looking around. I don't recognise the place, it's dark, full of wires and monitors. I try to focus, but the pain forces my eyes shut.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Lux's voice greets me, bringing me out of my stupor. I open my eyes again and see her standing over me, offering a mug. "You crashed real hard last night. I was a bit worried you'd died on me." She smirks as I take the mug and bring it to my lips. The taste of coffee isn't my go-to, but right now it'll do.

"Sorry to disappoint." I shoot back. It's at this point I realise I am naked as the day I was born. I bring the sheet that was draped over me up to my chest to cover myself. "Urgh... Did we... Did we fuck?" I ask, remembering my mission from last night.

Lux laughs at my confusion. "Sorry, sweetcheeks, I'm afraid not. You really gave it a good try though, stripped yourself bare and everything." She explains, sitting down next to me. I'm almost disappointed. Lux is at least a known quantity, which is more than I can say for... Certain people. I look at her, imagining kissing those pouty lips of hers, but before I know it, she's replaced with Azure. I cringe at myself. "Yeah, I saw that. I know I'm not the one you want to see this morning." Lux observes.

"She lied to me." I growl, reaching for my clothes bundled at the edge of what I realise is just a mattress on the floor. I begin to dress, despite Lux ogling every inch of me.

"I don't recall her ever intentionally misleading you. You did that all by yourself. What's the phrase? When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me?" She responds, not looking away from my body as I pull my underwear on.

I roll my eyes, she didn't even like Azure. Now she's defending her? "It's not the point. I trusted her, and it turns out she was just using me to keep the heat off her." I insist, pulling my tank top over my head, Lux looking sad for a moment before returning her attention to me.

"That's you making up your own story, not even the cops said that." Lux points out. Well, it's not hard to put together. What other use would she have for me? Am I meant to believe she actually loved me? Not a chance in hell. "There's some other inconsistencies too. Like the report says she killed Methus, but where's the body? Plus, the ID came back on Pansy, name's Brandon Cho, running his network of connections, he doesn't have any female associates. Have you seen any Purifiers that look female? It seems like it's a male-only group. Why would they enhance a woman for a suicide mission? And Cho even said the Grand Purifier did it, why would he bother making that up?"

Clutching at straws. She could've destroyed Methus' body, they could have used her specifically because she was a woman and wouldn't have a use to them otherwise, and cult leaders take the credit for their subordinates all the time. "Pointless questions, Lux. We got it wrong. We got her wrong." I insist, pulling up my jeans and slipping on my boots. "I'm going to ignore you breaking into Cho's files since I'm not a cop anymore, but here's a heads-up: The rest of the police don't care if you're a woman, they'll bring you in if they catch you." I sneer, summoning my AV.

As I see it arriving outside the balcony of Lux's flat, I approach the open door. "I'll be here when you want to apologise." She cackles. Fat chance. I board my AV and set the destination for home. It's a quiet journey back. I've grown so used to Azure sitting next to me that it feels lonely to be here by myself.

I finally arrive back home and realise I must have trashed it in my drunken state. There's broken bottles and furniture strewn about. I sigh and look around the destruction, deciding what needs to be sorted now and what can be put off. I take off my jacket and throw it over a knocked-over chair when I hear the sound of glass crunching. Instinctively I reach for my weapon, only to remember I don't have it.

"No need to be jumpy." A wizened voice informs me as an old man appears from behind one of the few dividers still standing. "I am not your enemy. In fact, I believe you're the only one that can help me." He continues as I get a look at his face. The face I've seen on news stories and missing posters all week.

"My name is Professor Methus. I believe it's time I gave you some answers."