Mars Time: 21:38, February 18, 2295

  Honghuang Administrative Pace, Phoenix District, Xing Hong

  Phoenix District's government building rose ahead: gss and golden steel, holographic fgs of the Seven Realms cycling above the entrance. The Terra Alliance's navy blue stars and eagles around a maple leaf, the Imperium's twin dragons over crimson, the Directorate's emerald backdrop with a lion head facing left, the Covenant's white-orange cross, all rotating in perpetual dispy of Xing Hong's precarious neutrality.

  The security checkpoint was manned by Constables whose appearance immediately marked them as distinct from the city's usual enforcers. Golden tactical armor ptes—pauldrons, chest pieces, and vambraces—gleamed over flowing bck robes that bore unmistakable East Asian styling. The garments fell in clean lines to mid-calf, secured with ceremonial sashes as equipment harnesses. Each guard wore Xing Hong's neutral insignia embroidered in gold thread: a deep bck canvas with a stylized golden phoenix at its center, wings spread wide above the aureate shape of a Hong Kong Orchid Tree.

  The lead Constable stepped forward, a weathered Imperial man whose face bore three scars. His hand moved to the scanner at his hip. "State your business."

  "Bounty completion for Prefect Dilinur." Sigrun held out her Nucleus Watch.

  The scanner hummed, projecting her data in holographic blue:

  [IDENTITY CONFIRMED]

  [Name: Sigrun Fjeld, Race: Nordling]

  [Status: Psi Lynx, Terra Alliance Certified. Suspected Unlicensed Leased Lily]

  [Birthpce: Bj?rgvin II, Europa, Jupiter]

  [Threat Assessment: High - Handle with Caution]

  "Nordling female. Certified Psi Lynx." The Constable's eyes flicked up from the dispy, his expression shifting from bored to wary. He checked something on his terminal, fingers moving across holographic keys. "That your associate?"

  "He's with me."

  The guard held the scanner toward Xin, who raised his watch nervously.

  [IDENTITY CONFIRMED]

  [Name: Zhi-Xin Wu, Race: Imperial]

  [Status: Rigger (Inactive), ZenFusion Data Solutions, 3.7 Rating]

  [Birthpce: Nantou, Taiwan, Earth]

  [Threat Assessment: Minimal]

  "Imperial male. Some nerd." The Constable's tone shifted to mockery. "Rigger, huh? What, took the satellite off Extranet? Algorithm finally tank your rating? Or did the ptform's cut bleed you dry?"

  "The rating drop wasn't my fault, actually—" Xin scratched his head.

  "He needn't answer that. You've no authority." Sigrun took a step forward, hand drifting toward her belt where Járn waited.

  "Right. Got curious, is all." The Constable caught sight of the Thermal Axe's glimmer and stepped aside, scanner lowered, gesturing to the elevator well behind him. "Eighty-eighth floor is where you'll find the Prefect's office. Don't try anything funny."

  They rode the elevator in silence. Sigrun watched the floor numbers climb, acutely aware of Xin beside her.

  "That guard was…" Xin finally said around floor forty.

  "An ass. Most Constables are."

  "You stood up for me."

  "You're my partner for this job." The word 'partner' came out too loaded. "Temporary partner."

  "Right." Xin adjusted his gsses. "So after this, after we get paid..."

  "We'll see."

  The elevator hummed upward. Floor fifty. Sixty. Seventy.

  "Sigrun?"

  "What?"

  "That offer. The sixty-forty split." He wasn't looking at her, watching the numbers instead. "Is that...how you usually..."

  "Yes."

  "Oh."

  More silence. Floor eighty.

  "But not with you." She heard herself say. "Different."

  "Different how?"

  She didn't have an answer that wouldn't hurt.

  The elevator doors opened to Dilinur's office level. Traditional tapestries mixed with modern tech, panoramic windows showing Xing Hong's sprawl below. Voices carried from the main office.

  "The caucus today was an utter disgrace." An alto voice, sharp with frustration. "We must find some way to defend Xing Hong. None of the Earth factions can be trusted."

  A man's voice responded, calm and measured. "Then might I suggest you look among the recent bounty hunters. Our city has no short supply of those, just need a few competent...and sane ones. Assuming they don't kill one another."

  The conversation cut off as Sigrun and Xin approached.

  Dilinur Altai, the Prefect of Xing Hong, turned from the window. Bck silk robe with crimson accents flowing around her slender frame, her raven-bck hair styled in traditional updo Sigrun had seen in historical holos. Dark, contemptive eyes assessed them both.

  "Sigrun Fjeld. Of course it'd be you. Only…" Her gaze shifted to Xin. A pause. "I do not recognize you. Are you a new hunter? A recent immigrant between jobs?"

  "I've been here for some time. Kept a low profile, though." Xin scratched his head.

  A bald man in formal bck robes stood beside her desk, golden trim catching the overhead lights. Imperial ancestry was obvious in his features—the same bone structure as Xin's, but more refined. He examined them both.

  "The scan records show you are Zhi-Xin Wu. A Rigger." The word carried faint disdain—Imperial aristocracy assessing gig bor. "Inactive status, 3.7 rating. Curious how the two of you would even cross paths."

  "My seneschal, Tsudo Kenji." Dilinur gestured. "He'll verify your delivery."

  Sigrun set the case on Dilinur's desk. Kenji opened it, drawing out a spectrometer from his robe. The device hummed as it scanned the Zephyrium.

  "Genuine High-Grade." Kenji's voice was dispassionate. "Extraction damage minimal. Impressive." His gaze flicked to them. "I was expecting a mass-murdering thug with more muscles and zero manners to retrieve this. Instead..."

  "We managed." Sigrun kept her voice neutral.

  "So it seems." Dilinur pulled up her terminal, fingers moving across holographic keys. "Kenji. Pce it into the extraction machine."

  Kenji moved to a device in the corner. Sleek bck metal with quantum processors humming beneath the surface. He inserted the rainbow-hued Zephyrium into a crystalline cradle that closed around it.

  The machine whirred to life. Holographic dispys materialized above it, data streams cascading in characters Sigrun half-recognized.

  [DECODING EMBEDDED DATA...] [ORIGIN: Unregistered Source] [ENCRYPTION: Imperial Military Grade] [PROGRESS: 8%]

  "Someone embedded intelligence in the mineral structure itself." Kenji's tone had shifted, curiosity repcing amusement. "Sophisticated work. Whoever did this..."

  The progress bar climbed. 15%. 23%. The data streams began organizing themselves.

  [FILE STRUCTURE DETECTED]

  [Category 1: Research Documentation]

  [Category 2: Schematics - Biotechnical]

  [Category 3: Video Logs]

  [Category 4: Geographic Coordinates]

  "Biotechnical schematics?" Dilinur leaned forward.

  The first file opened before she finished the question.

  A three-dimensional schematic materialized in the air between them, rotating slowly. At first, Sigrun couldn't parse what she was seeing. Organic curves, mechanical interfaces, connection ports and meaty tubes snaking through—

  Three meters tall. Four meters wide. The shape resolved into something that made Sigrun's stomach clench.

  [FENRIS HORDE BREEDING TECHNOLOGY: V?XTR (Vuhk-stir)]

  [Status: ACTIVE DEPLOYMENT - Multiple Locations]

  [Primary Function: Mass Radi-Mon Production]

  Sigrun watched Dilinur's face drain of color as the details became clear. Restraint systems. Dark brown flesh and tubes that looked like they'd crawled out of a holo hentai porn.

  "Buddha's mercy." Kenji's voice came out strangled.

  The dispy helpfully provided a cutaway view showing naked men connected via genitals, their penises continuously squeezed. A nude woman lying next to the V?xtr, received processed genetic material, her body like a living incubator as the meaty tubes pumped into her three holes: mouth, vagina and anus.

  Beneath the derogatory image, holographic bubbles went on:

  [PRODUCTION RATE: 40-60 Baseline Radi-Mons per 7-week cycle]

  [OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY: 87% with healthy hosts]

  [HOST SURVIVAL RATE: 69% beyond 11 months]

  "So, the Fenris Horde plug people into that." Dilinur's voice was ft as she stroke her chin. "Living people. Serving as..."

  "Factories." Kenji finished. His hands had clenched on his robe. "Breeding factories for monsters."

  Calming down, Sigrun eyed the schematic with the same detachment she'd learned through her eleven years of Martian survival.

  Dilinur looked at Sigrun. "You've seen these? In the Warren?"

  "No." Sigrun shook her head. "But I've heard. They say Queen Maren..." She stopped, old habits still making that name difficult. "They say the Commonwealth developed these after the outbreak. To accelerate Radi-Mon production."

  Xin had gone very still beside her. His breathing had changed, shallow and controlled.

  "You alright?"

  "Yeah. Fine." The word came out tight. "Admittedly, that's worse than the b showed."

  The schematic cycled to another view.

  [ADDITIONAL NOTE: Original technology derived from Accelerated Human Development Protocol]

  [Principal Researcher: Dr. Meiya J

  [Commonwealth Implementation: Queen Maren Fjeld, Professor Lokki H?gberg]

  [Modifications: Hivemind control integration, production rate optimization]

  "Meiya Ji." Dilinur repeated the name slowly. "That's an Imperial name."

  Xin muttered.

  Sigrun looked at him. His olive skin had gone the color of old paper. Behind his gsses, his eyes were fixed on that name.

  "There's more." Kenji's voice was steadier now, but his hands still trembled slightly as he maniputed the controls. "Video documentation?"

  The holographic projectors shifted focus. The V?xtr schematic dissolved, repced by—

  A woman.

  She materialized in half-scale, detailed enough that Sigrun could see the gold trim on her qipao, the jade pins in her hair. Cssical Imperial beauty, the kind Sigrun had seen in historical holos and high-end advertisements. High cheekbones, delicate nose, a jawline that managed to be both graceful and sharp.

  But it was the eyes that caught attention. Luminescent toxic green, glowing faintly even through the holographic projection. Rare color. Sigrun had seen maybe three people with eyes like that in eleven years on Mars, all of them Imperial nobility or old money.

  The woman's hair fell in thick dark waves, sections pinned back while the rest cascaded past her shoulders. Her qipao was bck with gold accents, modernized cut that allowed movement while maintaining traditional aesthetics. Deep burgundy lipstick completed the image of someone who'd never worried about rent or Medi-Vap costs or which client might turn violent.

  The woman spoke, her voice carrying that Earth Imperial accent: Beijing Mandarin softened by English:

  "Research Log 847. Twentieth day since successful extraction from Europa Station. The Imperium believes I'm documenting weapon systems. They're fools."

  Dilinur straightened. "She was on Europa?"

  The hologram continued: "I've confirmed what Queen Maren cimed. The V?xtr technology works. Production rates exceed projections. But the process is..." A pause. Something flickered across that face. Regret? "Inelegant. The euphoria and orgy serve little purpose beyond sadism and entertainment."

  "Who is this woman?" Kenji asked.

  "Dr. Meiya Ji." The hologram answered as if hearing him. "The Commonwealth stole my work. Twisted it into those machines. They took research meant to help humanity colonize radiation-saturated worlds and turned it into..." Her eyes narrowed. "Into that."

  The dispy shifted. New data poputed around the hologram.

  [SUBJECT PROFILE] [Name: Meiya Ji (紀玫雅)]

  [Age: 55 (appears 35 due to longevity treatments)]

  [Principal researcher, Accelerated Human Development Protocol]

  [Status: WANTED - Multiple Jurisdictions]

  [Imperium of Dragons: Treason, Theft of Military Assets]

  [Nordic Commonwealth: Terrorism, Industrial Espionage]

  [Terra Alliance: Unauthorized Bioweapons Research]

  "Teacher." The word came out of Xin so quietly Sigrun almost missed it.

  Everyone looked at him.

  "I..." Xin's hands had started trembling. "That's Teacher Meiya. My piano instructor. From Taiwan, twelve years ago."

  The office went very quiet.

  "Piano instructor." Kenji repeated slowly. His eyes moved from the hologram to Xin. "This woman, wanted across the Seven Realms, principal researcher on bioweapon protocols, was your piano teacher."

  "I didn't know." Xin's voice was hollow. "I studied with her for two years before she disappeared. I thought…I never knew what happened to her."

  Sigrun studied his face. The way his eyes hadn't left the hologram.

  Piano teacher. The words tasted like a lie. Nobody reacted like that to someone who'd just taught them music.

  The hologram flickered. New footage pyed, lower quality, like hidden camera work. It showed a massive chamber, organic walls pulsing with sickly bioluminescence. And in the center—

  A V?xtr. Active. Occupied.

  Sigrun had seen terrible things in eleven years. Bone Fiends eating corpses. Skuggrs melting through armor with acid. The scars on her own body from dozens of near-death encounters. She'd learned to compartmentalize, to look at horror and file it away in whatever mental box kept her functional.

  Dilinur and Kenji didn't have that training.

  "Sweet Buddha." Dilinur turned away from the dispy, one hand pressed to her mouth.

  "Six males." Kenji's voice was clinical now, forcing himself through professionalism. "Connected via genital interface. Continuous extraction. And the female..." He stopped. Started again. "Conscious. Look at her eyes."

  Sigrun looked. Wished she hadn't.

  The nude woman's eyes were open, fluttering, alive, lost in an impossible mixture of bliss and pain. Tubes ran into her three holes from the machine's organic chambers. Her abdomen was distended.

  The footage dispyed production metrics in cold text:

  [HOST IDENTITY: Civilian Capture, Nordling, Age 27]

  [DAYS IN SERVICE: 34]

  [CURRENT GESTATION: 43 Baseline Radi-Mons]

  [ESTIMATED SURVIVAL: 69-111 days]

  The video continued. Showed the male hosts' faces. Some were smiling, grinning, salivating. Others had that same absent stare, minds probably broken and numbed from weeks of continuous extraction and stimution.

  "This is what Skarn does." Sigrun said quietly.

  "How many are there, according to our estimates?" Dilinur looked at Kenji. "How many V?xtrs does the Fenris Horde operate?"

  "Impossible to say. Rumors say dozens. Maybe hundreds." Kenji gestured at the dispy. "But if each one produces forty to sixty Radi-Mons every two months, operating for over a decade..."

  He didn't need to finish the math.

  Dilinur did it anyway: "Millions? They've bred millions of these things?"

  Meiya's hologram continued: "But Maren didn't create this technology alone. Skarn—Sven Solheim—underwent extensive biomechanical augmentation before his transformation. The Imperium enhanced him into something that could control the Horde through direct neural interface."

  Kenji read the technical specifications. "These modifications would allow direct control over Radi-Mon hives. Essentially turned a Draug into a living command structure."

  "Which is why the Fenris Horde operates with such coordination." Dilinur's expression had shifted from horror to calcution. "They're not individual creatures. They're extensions of Skarn's will."

  "Making him the single point of failure." Kenji finished. "Kill Skarn, potentially colpse the entire Horde."

  "If we could reach him." Dilinur's voice was dry.

  The hologram flickered. The dispy shifted to show a second figure materializing beside Meiya.

  Sigrun felt something cold settle in her chest as the new hologram resolved.

  A young woman. Early twenties, maybe. Short bck hair, practical cut. Athletic build, slender but strong. She wore simple grey institutional clothing. East Asian features, delicate bone structure. And here eyes were amber-gold, glowing a most unusual color.

  The dispy poputed identification:

  [SUBJECT U6-M9: Designation "UME"]

  [Status: VIABLE - Transferred to Secure Facility]

  [Age: Biological 23, Chronological 3]

  [Location: Red Nanjing Vault, Mars Southern Hemisphere]

  "Before the Radi-Mons, I have created a daughter." Meiya's recorded voice expined. "Using my own genetic material and that of a suitable Taiwanese donor. The Void psionic compatibility between donors created synergistic effects. U6-M9 exceeded every projection."

  Sigrun was still staring at the younger woman's hologram. Something about her face nagged at Sigrun's awareness.

  "The facial structure." Kenji said slowly. He was looking between Ume's hologram and Xin. "A resembnce? The eyes, particurly. And the jawline..."

  "Excuse me?" Xin blinked.

  Kenji didn't answer directly. Just studied Xin with renewed interest.

  "There were millions of Taiwanese people on Earth before the Great Annexation." Dilinur's eyes moved from Ume to Xin, then back. "I'm sure lots of them look simir. Common ancestry and all."

  Meiya's hologram now continued into its st portion: "IF YOU'RE READING THIS, MY HIGH-GRADE ZEPHYRIUM HAS MADE IT OUT, AND WORTHY CHAMPIONS HAVE DISCOVERED IT."

  The hologram's toxic green eyes seemed to stare directly at them, as if Meiya Ji could see through time to this very moment.

  "SKARN WAS NOT CREATED BY THE COMMONWEALTH ALONE. HE HAS UNDERGONE EXTENSIVE BIOMECHANICAL AUGMENTATION. THE FENRIS HORDE IS A PRODUCT OF MANY CORRUPT POWERS IN THE SEVEN REALMS."

  Dilinur leaned forward, her expression shifting from curious to intense.

  "A few Covenant schors at the Opera District sent words the other day, reporting simir cims. Intriguing." Kenji added from the side as he stroke his chin.

  "KEY TO DEFEATING HIM LIES IN AN IMPERIUM ARCHIVE, RED NANJING VAULT, FILE DESIGNATION: U6-M9, PROJECT UME. BRING THIS ZEPHYRIUM, AND ALL SHALL BE REVEALED." A pause. The holographic woman's expression didn't change.

  "MAREN FJELD KNOWS. SHE'S ALWAYS KNOWN. TRUST NO ONE FROM THE NORDIC COMMONWEALTH. THE QUEEN OF LIES PLAYS ALL SIDES."

  Sigrun's blood turned to ice. Maren. Her mother's name hanging in the air like poison.

  The hologram flickered once, then stabilized. Text began scrolling across the dispy:

  [MESSAGE COMPLETE]

  [ADDITIONAL DATA: Imperial coordinates, vault access protocols, security bypass codes]

  [WARNING: Information may be compromised]

  The office went silent.

  " Meiya Ji." Kenji's voice carried recognition. "A psion from Mainnd China wanted by the Imperium for treason. Wanted by the Commonwealth for terrorism. Wanted by at least three other major powers for various reasons, most of which cssified." He looked at Xin with new assessment.

  "I didn't know where she went." Xin's voice was hollow. "She just taught me piano. I haven't seen her in twelve years."

  Privately, Sigrun thought. One does not react like that to someone who was just a piano teacher. They were close.

  But there was little use in dwelling on the past.

  "So, the payment." Sigrun's tone was professional and cold. Because if she let herself feel anything right now, she'd lose control. "Prefect."

  Dilinur's gaze lingered on Xin for another moment, then shifted to Sigrun.

  "Of course." Her fingers danced across the terminal. "But first, a question. Did you encounter any noteworthy competitors in the Warren? Names, csses, descriptions."

  Sigrun considered lying. Keeping information gave leverage. But Dilinur was paying fifty thousand Atomic Dolrs. Most poor bastards in the Seven Realms couldn't even earn that much in a full year.

  But she also wanted this conversation over so she could process what the fuck had just happened.

  "Sorry, Prefect. I don't really recollect." She held back the urge to punch the table.

  "Such an artful way to say 'Just pay me and be done with it.'" Kenji's mouth twitched. Almost a smile.

  Dilinur's smile was sharp. "You've always been a lone wolf."

  "If this helps, I did see two hunters discussing the same bounty the night before." Xin's voice, unexpected. Still hollow, but functional. "Jabari Adomako and Fuuka Natsukawa. They seemed capable."

  Dilinur's eyebrows rose. "The Maridian griot and the Imperial witch. Interesting."

  "There was also a Covenant Stalwart." Sigrun added, suddenly conscious of Xin looking at her. "Marcus something. Valoran. Big, tough enough."

  "But you killed him?" Kenji put a hand to his chin.

  "The other two came to rescue him." She met his gaze. "I did kill or scare off all the others who got in my way. That enough?"

  The office went quiet for a moment. Xin was definitely staring now. Something she couldn't read—admiration mixed with something else. Fear, maybe. Or arousal. Hard to tell with someone she'd only known for two days.

  Dilinur pulled up a holographic interface, bounty dispenser UI, transaction logs visible. "For transparency." She gestured. "50,000 Atomic Dolrs shall be transferred to Sigrun Fjeld, as agreed. Split however you've arranged."

  The transfer completed with soft chimes from Sigrun's silver blue watch, messages only visible to herself.

  [PAYMENT RECEIVED FROM - Xing Hong Administration: +50,000 AD] [CURRENT BALANCE: 897,100 AD]

  "You're dismissed." Dilinur's attention had already shifted back to her terminal, fingers moving across data streams. "Kenji will see you out."

  But as they turned to leave, Dilinur's voice stopped them.

  "One more thing."

  They turned back.

  Dilinur's expression had shifted again, harder now. "If this Meiya Ji is correct—and given her reputation, she probably is—then the Red Nanjing Vault contains information that could turn the tide against the Fenris Horde." She looked directly at Xin. "You may be contacted again regarding this matter. Given your connection to the recorder."

  Kenji moved to the door, opening it in clear dismissal. "This way."

  They followed in silence.