The Neutralizer-7 bought Kael time, but not peace. His veins pulsed silver and black, the serum slowing the rot's march while sharpening the pain into a razor's edge. They'd camped in the hollowed-out husk of an old freight elevator, its cables snapped and floor littered with bullet casings. Gutter lay curled at Kael's side, her crystalline fur still singed from the refinery melt, while Mira dissected a scavenged Inquisition drone, her shard-eye flickering with cold curiosity.
Ryn, however, was singing.
"Oh, the Inquisition's got a phoenix on their crest!" he crooned, sharpening his knife against a rusted pipe. "But all their soldiers smell like piss and stress!"
Kael glared at him from across the fire pit, its flames fed by Oblivion spore canisters. "Do you ever shut up?"
Ryn grinned, tossing a pebble at Gutter. The dog snapped it midair, crunching it to dust. "What's wrong, Rot? Don't appreciate fine art? I'll have you know I was the Dregs' premier bard before the Inquisition burned my lute."
"You're a pest," Mira said flatly, prying a circuit board from the drone.
"And you're a ray of sunshine, Ghostie. Truly, a match made in the depths of hell." Ryn leaned back, tossing a dried fruit strip to Gutter. The dog sniffed it, then grudgingly swallowed it whole. "See? Someone here loves me."
...
They moved at dawn, weaving through the skeletal remains of a Shard-ravaged market district. Crumbling stalls offered rotten fruit and shattered holoreels, their screens still flickering with propaganda: "Report Shardbearers. Ensure Safety."
Ryn kicked a dented can, sending it clattering into the silence. "Cheery place. Reminds me of my ex's heart."
"You had an ex?" Kael muttered, venom pooling reflexively in his palm as a scavenger rat scuttled past.
"Had being the operative word. Turns out, she preferred her men less explosive." Ryn winked. "Her loss. I'm a delight."
Mira paused, her shard-eye locking onto a nearby alley. "Drones. Three blocks east."
Ryn sighed. "Ugh, again? Don't these zealots have hobbies?" He pulled a slingshot from his belt—crudely welded from scrap—and loaded it with a Shard shard. "Hey, Rot—bet you five creds I can nail that one's eye socket."
Before Kael could answer, Ryn fired. The shard whizzed through the air, striking a drone's sensor with a crack. It spiraled into a wall, sparking.
"Pay up," Ryn said, grinning.
Kael rolled his eye—the corrupted one, milky and numb. "We don't have creds."
"I'll settle for a smile. Or a grunt. Anything to prove you're not a sentient corpse."
Gutter huffed, nudging Ryn's leg.
"See? The mutt's on my side."
The bridge was a death trap—rusted girders stretched over a chasm filled with molten Oblivion runoff, its fumes choking the air. Halfway across, the metal groaned, bolts popping like gunshots.
"Charming," Ryn said, testing a plank with his boot. "You sure this map's legit, Ghostie?"
Mira ignored him, calibrating her shard-eye to scan for stable paths. "Move quickly. And quietly."
Ryn saluted. "Quiet as a mouse. A very sexy, danger-loving mouse—"
The plank beneath him snapped.
Kael's venom lashed out on instinct, hardening into a tendril that caught Ryn's arm mid-fall. Gutter lunged, clamping her jaws on his cloak, hauling him back onto solid metal.
"Thanks for the assist, Rot," Ryn said, dusting himself off. "Knew you cared."
"I don't," Kael snapped, his corrupted veins throbbing from the effort.
"Liar. You've got a soft, gooey center. Like a rancid pastry."
Mira pointed to a collapsed section ahead. "We need to jump."
Ryn peered into the chasm. "Any chance you've got a parachute in that coat, Ghostie?"
"No."
"Worth a shot."
Kael leapt first, venom forming a crude platform on the far side. Mira followed, precise and detached. Ryn hesitated, eyeing the gap like it'd personally offended him.
"C'mon, Scrap-Queen," he muttered to Gutter. "Let's show these gloomlords how it's done."
He sprinted, tripped, and face-planted onto Kael's platform. Gutter bounded over gracefully, licking his ear as he groaned.
The cache was hidden in a crypt-like bunker, its entrance guarded by a defaced Inquisition statue—headless and smeared with graffiti. Ryn knelt, picking the lock with a hairpin and a screwdriver.
"Learned this from a nun," he said, tongue poking out in concentration.
Kael raised a brow. "A nun?"
"Long story. She had a thing for explosives. And me." The lock clicked. "Voilà! Ryn's Rent-a-Thief Service, at your—"
The door exploded outward, slamming him into a wall.
Inquisition drones swarmed, their ivory armor gleaming. Ryn scrambled up, blood trickling from his nose. "Subtle, Ghostie. Real subtle."
Kael's venom surged, dissolving the first drone into slag. Gutter tore into another, her crystalline fangs sparking against its chassis. Ryn ducked a plasma shot, lobbing a Shard grenade into the fray.
"Fire in the hole!"
The blast vaporized three drones, leaving a smoldering crater. Ryn whooped. "Still got it!"
Mira hacked the bunker's terminal, sealing the entrance. "Inside. Now."
The bunker was a trove: crates of rations, Oblivion-resistant armor, and a refrigerated case of Neutralizer-8.
Ryn whistled. "Jackpot. Rot, you're almost worth the hassle."
Kael grabbed a vial, his hands shaking. "Almost?"
"I'm a generous god."
Gutter nosed a crate labeled CANINE SUPPLEMENTS, whining.
"See?" Ryn tossed her a synth-steak. "Even the universe loves me."
They fled at dusk, the bunker rigged to blow. Ryn hummed another off-key tune as the explosion lit the sky behind them, shadows stretching like skeletal fingers.
Mira studied her shard-eye. "The Inquisition's tracking us. They've labeled Kael 'Asset K-9: High Priority.'"
Ryn snorted. "Asset K-9? Sounds like a discount droid. I'd have gone with 'The Rotting Menace.' More flair."
Kael's laugh surprised even him—a rough, rasping sound.
Ryn froze, feigning shock. "Was that… a laugh? Mira, write this down. Historic moment!"
"Quiet," Mira said, but her lips twitched—almost a smile.
Gutter barked, her tail thumping.
Ryn bowed. "Thank you, thank you. I'll be here until the Inquisition kills us all."
As they vanished into the ruins, Ryn tossed Kael a dried fruit strip. "Eat up, Rot. Gotta keep your strength up for the next near-death experience."
Kael caught it, hesitating. "…Thanks."
"Don't mention it." Ryn winked. "Seriously. I've got a reputation to uphold."