A small city lies half-buried in red regolith. It's larger than New Shanidar and made of terrestrial materials, which are sturdy and impractical this far from Earth. Massive smokestacks once towered above the tallest building, but time and neglect has taken a toll. The remnants of two lie across the ground like broken vases. Only one stays standing. Most of the paint has been stripped or bleached, but he can make out the faint outlines of logos. They're vaguely familiar, though he hasn't seen them outside of a history feed.

He turns to one of the buildings, which has a broken dome. The English is simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar. More like what the people of New Shanidar speak today than English-speakers from Earth. He squints and tries to make sense of what's left above the broken airlock, but too many letters have been erased. A dim brown haze fills the air. His IHD senses his eye movement and scans the building. No heat signature. No short-wave frequencies. Not that an XS-9 would be so easy to spot.

The city is truly an old factory complex. He shoulders the M189 and climbs up a steep dune. It's hard to think something so large could be built for such a specific purpose. When the skimmers aren't around, locals like to come out and scavenge. Most of the technology is over a century old, but they make do with less. The main factory in the middle and all its adjacent facilities sit in a rough circle around it. When he reaches the top of the dune, only small bumps and the tops of buildings can be seen. Several pockmarks show where domes collapsed and the regolith fell inward.

Olivia superimposes an old map of the factory without speaking. Ghostly lines glow overtop the ruins. He steps carefully down the other side of the dune's slope and tries to stay on solid ground. Wind whips regolith past him, sculpting small rivulets into the landscape. Small eddies stream and spiral as old equipment disrupts the airflow. He can hear faint creaks amplified by his IHD. The atmosphere of Mars is less than 1% of Earth's. Sound barely has any air to travel through.

His own suit is dark and covered in a thin camouflaged mesh. He skirts around a breached tunnel that leads somewhere beneath the ground. Wind whistles through it and something creaks inside. He pauses and aims his M189 into the darkness. Nothing's visible. He moves on. His rem count steadily creeps higher. It's a good ambush point. Lots of nooks and crannies to hide in. Not a lot of safe paths toward the factory itself. He sidles along the tunnel. It casts some shadow and has a jagged outline blurred by blowing dust.

Regolith and metal explode two feet in front of him. He heaves himself over the tunnel's broken arch. Another section of the tunnel bursts open his head.

"Mig." Olivia's voice is cracked and quiet.

"I'm fine."He flicks on the scope and it syncs up. "Doubt they've shot on Mars before. Earth's Martian ballistics training is shit."

"Long way for trap during a CME watch."

"Maybe. Not like her to miss, either."

The IHD automatically calculates possible trajectories. He moves along the tunnel as pale blue lines begin to form in the left side of his visor. Small threads arch to three possible buildings on the other side of the factory site.

A slim brown figure leaps over the tunnel. Aiko. Mig stumbles on his heels and narrowly misses a flash of metal aimed at his thigh. The soft portion of his suit. He uses the M189 as an extension of his arm. He deflects the next strike with his forearm and lets the rifle's stock take the brunt of the pig-sticker knife. Then he shoves her off-balance and steps in to strike her head with the rifle's butt.

Aiko ducks unnaturally fast. A lifetime in Earth's gravity makes her stronger and faster, and the XS-9 further augments her abilities. She braces her wrist against the M189's muzzle and pushes it down, grabs the stock, and rips it from his hands. The force nearly dislocates his shoulder. She points the rifle at him upside down and pulls the trigger with her middle and ring fingers. Two bullets hit him point blank in the chest. Two numbing punches just below his sternum. He falls onto his back, all breath driven out of his lungs.

"Get up," Olivia snaps. "Get up."

He coughs and manages shallow breaths. His visor briefly fogs up, but his ears don't pop. The plating of his suit prevents a puncture while positive pressure cushions the shot. Aiko flips the M189 right-side up and points it at his head. He kicks the barrel with his right leg and feels rather than hears the round go off near his head. He twists onto his side and hooks the back of Aiko's knee. She stumbles, but stays standing. He rolls to his feet. The pain in his chest causes black spots to dance in his vision. He taps his module and brings the IHD out of its power saving mode. His suit is a pre-integration F-2 Hollow meant for short-range recon. It's nearly 50 years old. At full power, his visor will overheat and drain it inside six minutes.

The M189 lies in the sand. Aiko flicks her wrist instead and rounds on him. Her speed is astounding, but his IHD automatically anticipates her body language. He moves before she completes the strike at the vulnerable crease of his waist. He catches her wrist, twists it so the joints in her arm lock, and grabs the back of her helmet. He slams her visor-first into the old tunnel. The blow reverberates through her body and she goes absolutely still. It's like he put arms around a tiger. She digs her leg behind his, angles her hips, and seizes his arm.

Mars does a flip. Thin clouds rush overhead. Then Aiko's dark faceplate fills the sky. Her visor doesn't have a scratch. His IHD immediately anticipates the way her shoulders tense and the slash she makes at his neck. He bucks and the strike hits the hard portion of his helmet instead. Pain bursts through his jaw, followed by dizziness and nausea. It's like being clipped by a shuttle. 

Strain starts to build up behind his eyes. She raises her other fist and punches him in the solar plexus. It's like being trapped under a piston. His suit feels like it will burst. She grabs his arm and belt, drags him off the tunnel, and swings him nearly 360 degrees. He smashes into the tunnel so hard his IHD blinks out. The feeling of strain fades away. An alarm starts wailing in his ear. Blood floods his mouth. He barely feels falling onto the ground.

Aiko always loved to flirt with his limits.

She towers over him. "Miguel Hall. Is that the man I am killing now?"

Her voice fills his ear over the alarm. It takes him a moment to realize she's hacked his suit's computer. All information and functions are at her disposal. It's a tidy way to kill someone if you has the skill. His IHD makes a small beep to signal its restart. Aiko's suit is immediately overlaid by a scan of weaponry and armour. Files start scrolling past as she harvests its memory.

"You use ninth generation displays with a pre-integration suit. A wonder you have not suffered from a seizure."

A familiar file pops up on screen.

He tries to move, but his suit might as well be lead. "Don't."

She doesn't reply and doesn't stop. The video of himself, Mike, and Aiko plays out in perfect clarity. All the way through. Another planet, another life, another world of possibilities. The blank plate of Aiko's suit shows no emotion, but it tilts down at him for a long time.

"That girl at your door. She was the survivor." Aiko's voice is perfectly indifferent. "Does she know she sleeps with the man who made her an orphan?"

"Yes," Olivia says abruptly, "she does."

"Are you watching his feed?"

"Every pixel."

Aiko raises her arm and an integrated gauntlet taser breaks from the surface of her glove. It has enough voltage to cook a person inside their suit.

"Has he mistreated you in any way? Tell me now and he will burn."

Seconds tick by like hours. Mig stares at the prongs aimed at his chest and imagines the sensation of being roasted in his own skin. It's easier to look at than the video's last frame in the corner of his visor.

"No."

"Michael and I will ensure your safety. Your treatments will be covered. Samuel has no power over you."

"He hasn't mistreated me." Olivia sighs heavily. "Just...tried to make up for something there's no making up for."

Aiko doesn't lower her arm for three heartbeats. Then she lets it drop and the taser disappears seamlessly into her suit's skin. He shuts his eyes and releases the breath he's been holding.

"If you change your mind, I will gladly act on your behalf, Olivia Ninh."

"I can hear it in your voice."

The file shuts of its own accord. Mig's IHD blanks, then resumes normal function. He looks around and it automatically zooms in. Aiko has released the suit's computer. For now. He pushes himself into a sitting position. Pain flares through his body. Especially behind his eyes and along his jaw. His tongue is tender and tastes like it's coated in new copper.

She watches him struggle. "Since you are staying, I have a contract."

Mig swallows blood. "Of course you do."