Machete Girl Issue 8.4 Cyberpunk Short Stories

why.
Manny prostrated himself on
the ground to show respect. I stood
and stared at the man to blame for
my altered life. He grinned, and an
enhanced voice box boomed out over
me.
“Salmon. I see you’re still as
disrespectful as ever.” Manny looked up
at me.
“What the fruk are you doing,
Sal?” he hissed. I ignored him and
grinned back at the Shogun.
“Yeah, same old me,” I took
another swig of my beer, “What’s happening,
Shogun?” I punched him in the
arm playfully. The shogun took a deep
protracted breath.
“Yes. Disrespectful as ever,”
the giant said, with his giant voice, “Tell
me, Sal. Why do you think I brought
you back here?” I shrugged. Even
though I was playing the asshole, I’d
never truly thought about it. I was
already in such a bad way back in
Kleria with the whole divorce (it stings
just saying it) that I’d never questioned
the Shogun’s intentions for bringing
me back. I’d actually hung my head in
shame when I knew I’d have to be back
in the game, but alas, here I was. Again.
I had no fruking clue what I was doing.
I took a blind swing.
The party had come to a halt. We were
the main show now.
“So, what do you need me to
do?” I asked, not wanting to push my
luck unless I wanted my chest burnt
out to a husk by one of the slugs from
his pistol. He continued to circle me.
“Remember how you got your
name? Seeing that girl from uptown,”
he said, with a panther’s growl, “I
need you to see her again.” I suddenly
became aware of Taina’s eyes on me
from across the room.
“Yeah? What for?” The Shogun
chuckled.
“For what else? I need you to get something
for me.” My stomach dropped.
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“Can I ask what it is?” I choked out. The
Shogun stopped behind me.
“No. That’s a need-to-know
matter for the time being. Something
dealt with better,” he laid his massive
hands on my shoulders, “in private.”
I took a deep breath. Revolution was
going to have to wait.
“Now!” he called out to the
whole room, “I thought this was a fruking
party!” Everyone jumped to their
feet and cheered. The music and dancing
started again. The Shogun leaned
into my ear.
“Welcome home, Sal.” He
began to lead me to the stairs for his
chambers. “Welcome home.”
“Because you need a hacker?”
The Shogun grinned a grin that made
corp execs piss themselves and cops
cry.
“Yes. Exactly.” He began to walk around
me, and I noticed that the music had
stopped and that the whole floor
around us was packed with the rest of
the clan samurai prostrating themselves
like Manny. Even the holo vids
had stopped.
Sean P. Nolan - United States
Nolan is an author and activist based in Cincinnati, Ohio. His book Shades
Of Grey is available on Lulu.com and Smashwords.com. Find the rest of
Street Clan on his blog, bornoutofbinary.blogspot.com.
MACHETEGIRL ISSUE 8.4