James Swallow - Jade Dragon

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“The Jade Dragon will destroy you all.” Her words thundered through the canyons of the city. “Don’t let it in. If you ever loved me, don’t-”

By the millions they watched Juno die, and with one voice they cried out for the idol they had fallen in love with. The potent blue surging through their minds came alight with grief, the flashing telepathic rush washing over the bay, a shockwave of misery that was anathema to the DesireGod.

In an instant, the Jade Dragon’s psychic bridge for rapture and elation shattered, ripping the demon-serpent apart. Screaming, clawing at the world, the thing tore towers down as the sky dragged it back into the darkness.

It left only destruction and mourning in its wake, as the citizens wept.

In the tower, Frankie spoke. “Listen,” he said, catching the sounds on the wind. “Hong Kong cries for her.”

Tze’s blade bit deep, but Ko was not there. He moved like lightning, and the killer’s sword cleaved through the terracotta warrior. The statue shattered like glass, spilling broken red rock across the pathway.

Among the ancient fragments there were bones, human skeletal remains sealed inside. Fragments of flesh, metal and leather centuries old puffed into dust on contact with the air. The ashen remains were caught by wind and gusted upward. Tze coughed as the choking dust stung his face and eyes. “Aiii! I cannot see!”

Ko felt Feng there beside him, the swordsman’s skill bleeding into his mind. The weak points in the corporate s armour were suddenly obvious to him, and he turned the katana into a stabbing strike, pushing the sword into a mortal wound.

Tze flailed backward and swung at dead air with his blade.

“Finish him!” Feng’s voice came from somewhere distant and faraway. Ko understood that the dead man was giving him the right to take Tze’s life, to assuage the failure of before. Ko smashed Tze’s sword from his grip and stabbed him again, drawing a scream.

Tze stumbled, eyes focussing on the main screen atop the distant stage. On the vast display, the killing of the singer played with a chorus of anguish as accompaniment.

Ko saw the panic in Tze’s dark eyes, the sudden understanding that his life’s work was going to be undone within a heartbeat of succeeding.

The katana flashed in the air and Ko sliced through spine and throat. For the brief span of seconds the severed head remained aware, Tze’s last experience was the hooting screech of the Jade Dragon cursing him into the darkness.

Wave-Net: with broadcast to be giving worldly factoids!

From the Tokyo Sim-Centre Virtual News Environment, this is FarEastEye with your v-anchors Dorothea Matrix, Raymondo Trace and Webber Caste.

“Good Clockset. Our main stories tonight, a massive terrorist incident rocks the Hong Kong Free Economic Enterprise Quadrant, claiming hundreds of lives and leaving disaster in its path.”

“America’s President Estevez comes to blows in a White House press conference with a reporter, after allegations of financial irregularity turn ugly.”

“A diplomatic storm erupts as the Nippon Space Agency steps in to rescue a crew of Chinese taikonauts after an accident in orbit.”

“Residents in the city of Cologne report the apparent spontaneous formation of an insect group mind.”

“And the Neo-Aum Shinrikyo group officially announce their dissolution and absorption into the growing international faith known as the Church of Joseph.”

“But first, breaking news from the city-state of Hong Kong (please touch the blue dot on your d-screen for direct neural input of the raw info-feed. Infra-red and Greentooth settings are supported).”

“Today, this vibrant metropolis stands traumatized and silent after what General Jet Li of the Army of the People’s Republic of China called ‘an unprovoked and ruthless attack on this peaceful city’. At a press conference in Shenzhen, General Li, commander-in-chief of Hong Kong’s Domestic Security Directorate and Police Battalion, described how an anti-corporate faction launched a multi-pronged assault via internet denial-of-service attacks, the detonation of several timed bombs and the release of powerful hallucinogenic compounds into Hong Kong’s municipal water supply. Victims of this psychological onslaught suffered traumatic visions and mass hysteria, although the effects appear to be temporary. Mobile APRC medical squads have been deployed throughout the area to deal with the catastrophe, and crisis-management units from several major corporations are en route, although Beijing has flatly refused to allow United Nations MediForce teams to enter Hong Kong airspace. Among the key targets for the terrorists was the headquarters of Yuk Lung Heavy Industries, which was wiped off the map by a massive explosion. Yuk Lung’s reclusive CEO is among the dead at this hour. While the perpetrators of this terrible act have yet to be identified, some intelligence analysts suggest that the America Alone Alliance Army may have had a hand in the incident, after their failed attack on the Cantonese idol singer Juno Qwan earlier this month. Qwan, along with several thousand of her fans, perished at the Wyldsky free concert, which was taking place on Victoria Peak at the time-yet more victims of this terrible event. Other theories lay the blame upon anti-corporate factions who may have used the concert as a cover for the attack. Reports coming out of the city are sketchy; eyewitness blogs suggest that the destruction of the Yuk Lung skyscraper occurred several hours after the terrorist strike, some even claiming that the tower was obliterated not by an internal detonation as the APRC statement suggests, but by a missile fired from an unknown location. There are also unconfirmed rumours that elements within the Yuk Lung Corporation may have been fully aware of the attack and yet did nothing to prevent it. We will bring you more on this story as it unfolds. Over to you, Dot.”

“Troubling times, indeed, Web. Now, with more on that swarm of superintelligent wasps in Cologne, here’s our German correspondent, Sieben AufNeun.” bip bippa bip bip bip scree beeep bippa hip zzzzt

“We’re sorry, but Sieben appears to be experiencing technical difficulties. Back to you, Ray.”

17. A Better Tomorrow

They buried Juno at a hillside cemetery, not far from the place where she had died. Sifu Bruce arranged a headstone, even in the traumatic aftermath of things finding a way to get this small but important matter arranged for the dead girl. The piece of granite was simple and without scrollwork or detail. It bore only her name, no date of birth, no date of passing. Lam, the wageslave-well, ex-wageslave now-had explained, in a quiet and unsteady voice, just what she really was, where she had come from. He had her files, memory cores full of DNA patterns and zygote fabrication specs. Despite all that, the man didn’t seem to care any less about her.

Ko looked on and listened to Fixx as he made signs over the fresh grave and spoke about worlds beyond this one. The young man studied the turned earth over Juno’s coffin and wondered about all the other Junos that had come and gone before her, or the ones that had died still trapped inside tanks of amniotic fluid as the YLHI building collapsed. They would never be set to rest. In a way, this was a funeral for all of them as well.

Fixx looked under the weather, but he hid it well, insisting that he was already on the mend. The operative spoke vaguely about somebody called Lucy living over Kowloon side, who knew about medical stuff and the business of healing. The dark-skinned man had a new companion, a cat; the animal had the feral look of a stray about it, but one of its eyes was a mechanical augmentation and it watched the proceedings with more than just feline interest.

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