Common Element Part One


   Gonzu set the glass on the table and stepped back. He waited, and when there was no reply he sat down on the nearest chair and folded his arms on the table.
   "Are you going out again?" he asked.
   Ido pulled the glass across the table and brought it to his lips. He threw the liquor in his mouth, letting out a sigh of contentment as it burned a path down his throat. He turned to his old friend and smiled. Gonzu knew what Ido was going to say next.
   "What choice do I have Gonzu? The monthly bills have to be paid and there's that new anesthesiology equipment I had installed in the operating theater last week. I had to borrow from that money lender, what's his name?"
   "Zambaner," chided Gonzu.
   "Right, Zambaner. The thief is charging me seventeen percent interest with payments to be made every two weeks, and if I miss a payment he's promised to send those two goons of his around to see me."
   "That's bad," said Gonzu. "So what was wrong with the old equipment? Didn't it work ok?"
   Ido leaned forward and spoke in a hushed tone.
   "Ever had a patient wake up on you in the middle of an operation?"
   "No, can't say that I have."
   "The pressure valves on the old tanks were worn. Sometimes the actual dosage was less than the gauges indicated and the anesthetic wore off prematurely. A patient would awaken just as I was splicing two nerves together or I would have his chest open, up to my elbows in blood and wires. It got so bad that I had to keep a syringe of morphine next to the operating table in case of emergency."
   "Hm, I see what you mean, but you should really get some sleep Daisuke. I don't have to tell you how dangerous hunting is. A split second is all it takes for someone to bury a knife in your chest. I would hate to get a call requesting that I identify your corpse, it would inconvenience me terribly."
   Ido smiled at Gonzu's wry attempt at humour, but he was right. Ido knew that he wasn't functioning at one hundred percent and that he was taking his life in his hands everytime he chased down some criminal in a back alley. So far he had been lucky, just a few bruises here and there and a small scar on his stomach from where a knife had grazed his torso several months ago. He winced at the memory of that incident. A vivid picture of screams and flashing steel. Yes, he had been lucky, but how long would his luck hold out?
   Ido swallowed the remainder of the glass and stood up. He fastened the top button of his coat and tugged at the brim of his hat, a familiar gesture that he made everytime he left Kansas for a night of roaming the streets.
   "Well, I'm off," said Ido. "And don't worry about getting a call to identify my body, the factory has my brain scan on record, as well as this."
   Ido lifted the brim of his hat, under which was a mark burned into his forehead.
   "Yeah, I forgot about that," said Gonzu. "Seems that I'm always forgetting that you're a former Tipherean. Most folks around here think of you as one of us."
   "I'll never be one of you," replied Ido. "All I can be is a man who uses what skills I have to help alleviate the suffering of others. It's the least I can do, but it's still not enough."
   Ido turned and started to walk toward the entrance leading to the street when he felt Gonzu's hand grip his arm. He turned back and looked down on his friend who sat staring straight ahead, his eyes turned away from him.
   "Before you go, there's something that I want to ask you," said Gonzu in a deliberate tone. "Something that I've always wanted to ask you."
   Ido was puzzled. He had known Gonzu for a long time and thought he knew his old friend. But this was a side of Gonzu Ido had never seen before. Accusatory, suspicious, even hostile.
   "What is it Gonzu?" Ido asked tenatively.
   "You're the best cybernetic doctor in the Scrapyard Ido. A man who has devoted his life to helping the less fortunate. Because of you, the Scrapyard is by some small measure a better place. There's no doubting your character, your sincerity, you're a good man. But at night you take people's lives. People that might have ended up on your doorstep with their hands outstretched, pleading for help. And you would give it to them, wouldn't you? In essence you're a contradiction, you tear down what you've built. You ease the suffering of some and take the lives of others. All I ask is why? And please don't tell me it's for the money or that the guilty deserve to be punished. We both know it's more than that."
   Ido stared at Gonzu for a moment then wrenched his arm free of the older man's grip. Ido was angry, Gonzu could see it in his eyes. He had touched a secret place that even Ido refused to enter, but it was there nonetheless.
   "Because I need it."
   Gonzu watched Ido walk toward the door. It was the deliberate step of a man in the midst of rage, kept under check only by force of will, but ready to explode at any moment.
   Gonzu clasped his fingers together and looked away. He felt sorry for Ido, there was great conflict within the man. But hopefully the anger he had brought to the surface would keep Ido on his toes for a couple of hours.
***

   Ido climbed the dimly lit stairs leading to the street above. Now that he was away from Gonzu he released the full extent of his anger, his body shook and he squeezed the handle of his case tightly. He had been caught off guard by the nature of Gonzu's remark and had exposed a side of himself that he kept hidden from others, he vowed never to let it happen again.
   Ido was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he failed to notice the shadowy figure descending the stairs toward him. Ido felt his shoulder colide with hard metal, the force of the impact spun him around and he stared at the figure several steps below him.
   "What the..!" exclaimed a familiar voice.
   Ido squinted his eyes and could make out the man's features. A prominent jaw, wild unkempt hair, and a snug fitting tunic of the type that was in style these days.
   "You'd better watch it Doc, I don't take kindly to somebody trying to barge their way past me."
   "Oh, it's you Zapan. I apologize, I wasn't paying attention."
   "That's just the sort of thing that will get you killed Doc."
   "You're quite right," said Ido. "By the way, how's that new arm holding up?"
   Zapan lifted his right elbow and rolled his shoulder back and forth.
   "Good as new,"' he replied. "That rotator you installed lets me move my arm more freely, I'm thinking about having the other one done as well."
   "That's good to hear Zapan. Why don't you come around to the clinic sometime next week and let me take a look at it. I'd like to make sure there are no compatibility problems with the old hardware."
   Zapan smiled.
   "Sounds good Doc, I'll do that."
   Zapan turned and continued down the stairs.
   Ido frowned, he wondered if Zapan would pay him this time. Zapan still owed Ido for several repairs and upgrades, including that new arm Ido had attached. Zapan had been having an affair with the wife of a prominent gladiator. While the man was competing in the coliseum every night Zapan had been screwing his wife. The two lovers would keep the monitor on, watching the games. Unfortunately one evening the games had been canceled and the network had shown a repeat. The gladiator had returned home to find Zapan in bed with his wife and the hunter had been lucky to escape with only a crushed arm. The whole incident had been the subject of numerous jokes and Zapan had kept the Kansas regulars in hysterics for weeks.
   Ido turned and headed west. He had checked the bulletins earlier today and found there were no outstanding warrants. And that meant that you were 'scavenging' as the hunters say. You were just out there looking for small fry, hoping to be lucky enough to catch some low-life in the act of commiting a crime. The bounty for this kind of offender was small, usually no more than a few thousand credits, and that meant twice the work for half the money.
   Ido strode through the congested streets knowing that eventually the crowd would thin out. He was heading toward an area he knew well, a sector of the city ringed with cheap hotels, brothels, and sex show theaters. That's where the action was, and that's where he was going.
   But the real action was out back, behind the bright lights. In the maze of alleyways and tunnels that the unsuspecting and the foolhardy used as shortcuts across the city. This is where Ido would find what he was looking for. He was the hunter, the only line of defense that stood between the innocent and the predators of the Scrapyard.
   At least that's what he assured himself.
   Ido brushed past a pair of young men standing in his way. One of them turned and swore at Ido but he ignored their taunts and walked on. It had been raining earlier and the bright lights of neon signs and bulletin monitors glared up at him from the wet streets. His hands were slick with moisture and the case containing the hammer seemed heavier than usual. Ido glanced down at the heavy box and smiled.
   "You want to go home, don't you?" he said. "Well not yet, not until I've at least made enough to pay that bastard Zambaner."
   Ido turned down an alley to his left and stepped over a puddle in his path. He carefully lifted the case over the water and set it down on the other side. He glanced at his watch, it had been twenty seven minutes since he had left Kansas and there were only five hours left to make any money. He decided to do the circuit, a route he had taken several times before and had memorized. He would cut through the far side tunnels leading west and that would take him out onto Main Ave, across the street and into a narrow lane that ran between the shops on Main and Furlong.
   Ido started down a flight of narrow steps leading to the tunnels when he heard a woman's scream. He spun clockwise and looked in all directions. There was no one in his vicinity. He squinted his eyes, trying to see into the shadows but it was useless. All he could do was to wait for a second cry for help, if it wasn't already too late.
   There it was, though weaker than before. It was coming from the bottom of the stairs and to the right. It was impossible to see that far, Ido would have to wait until he got there to see what he was up against.
   He knelt next to the case and popped the latches with his thumbs. Once the case was open he grabbed the two handles and slammed the top piece into the socket of the second. He heard the reassuring click that indicated the components were locked and stood with the hammer in both hands. Ido let out a deep breath to help calm himself and then ran down the stairs taking two at a time. He was sure that his heart would burst, both from the excertion of running and the nervous state he was in. His clothes were soaked with sweat and he was hyperventilating. He reached the bottom of the staircase and spun to his right. Standing ten meters away in a swirling mist of dense fog was a woman.
   Ido started to walk toward her and saw a flash of steel at her throat and an arm around her waist. There was a man standing behind her and she was being held against her will. Ido stopped a few paces away and could see her clearly now. The top of her coat was torn and there was a rivulet of blood coarsing down her right arm. The man behind her was of the non-descript variety that Ido had encountered many times in his hunts. A punk with long hair, unshaven, and an arrogant smile that masked a coward's heart. Ido stood with his legs apart and held the hammer at chest height. He couldn't strike at the man, not with the woman as a shield on front of him. It was a standoff, but it was a waiting game that Ido didn't have the time or patience for.
   The punk laughed and pressed the knife into his captive's throat, the blade threatening to break the flesh at any moment.
   "Shit man, I didn't expect to find some old geezer around here at this time of night, if you'll wait your turn you can have her when I'm finished."
   "I don't think so," replied Ido. "Your days of terrorizing women are over. If you're smart you'll let her go, otherwise I'll put this hammer through your head."
   "Hah! I got a feelin' that's what you'll do anyway, whether I let her go or not."
   Ido smiled and raised the hammer in front of his face.
   "You're not as dumb as you look, but you are as ugly. No wonder you only come out at night."
   The punk scowled and screamed at him.
   "Get lost old man, this doesn't concern you. You try butting in and I'll kill the bitch!"
   Ido knew he was too close to engage the rocket hammer. He would have to swing the weapon with his own strength, but he couldn't do it, not yet. The girl was too close to him, if she moved there was the risk that Ido might hit her. The criminal waited several minutes for Ido to make his move, but when nothing happened, he smiled and pulled the girl tighter to him.
   "What's the matter old man, afraid to take a swing at me? You just might hurt this little girl here and that would be a real shame."
   Ido clenched his teeth and lowered the hammer. there was nothing he could do. Suddenly the woman broke the silence between them, she had said nothing the whole time. Ido had assumed that she might be suffering from mild shock but he now realized that she had been waiting to see what he would do.
   "Please," she said in desperation. "Kill him, he's going to kill me anyway, we both know that."
   Ido looked into those pleading eyes and frowned, he was unsure of what to do. What was another life to him anyway? He was a Hunter Warrior, the woman's life meant nothing to him. She was just an innocent bystander that happened to find herself in the unfortunate circumstance of being caught in the line of fire between a hunter and his prey. But Ido hesitated, Gonzu was speaking to him from deep within his conscience.
   "In essence you're a contradiction, you tear down what you've built. You ease the suffering of some and take the lives of others. All I ask is why?"
   Why indeed, thought Ido. He wished he had an answer, both for his friend and himself.
   Suddenly the criminal leaned into the girl and rested his chin on her shoulder. He laughed and then caught the lobe of her ear between his teeth. She screamed as he bit clean through and a jet of blood spurt onto her blouse.
   "You bastard!" shouted Ido.
   He pulled the hammer back and prepared to swing it at the man when the criminal suddenly swiped the blade across the woman's throat and pushed her forward at him. Ido was caught off guard and dropped the hammer on the ground. He put out his arms and caught the woman as she fell into his chest. Ido looked up at the criminal who turned and started to run in the direction of the tunnels. He disappeared into the fog and a moment later Ido heard maniacal laughter coming from the blackness.
   Ido had missed his target. He looked at the face of the woman he held in his arms. He gently lowered her to the ground and knelt down next to her. Ido knew that she had lost an excessive amount of blood and there was little he could do for her. Even with his considerable medical skills he was helpless without his equipment and surmised she only had a few minutes to live. Ido cursed at his own inadequacy. What good was he? To this woman, to himself? He could have struck at anytime, if he had the woman might have been spared. Instead the criminal had escaped and an innocent life was about to slip from his bloody hands.
   The woman clutched Ido's shoulder and pulled him forward. She was still conscious, still coherent, though Ido knew this wouldn't last very long.
   "Please," she whispered, "I don't have much time."
   "You mustn't try to talk," said Ido softly, "You have to save your strength."
   Ido suddenly felt like a complete fool, what a stupid thing to say.
   The woman closed her eyes and reached into the pocket of her dress. She pulled out a small purse that jangled with the sound of coins. There were chips in the tiny pouch, but it was obviously a very few.
   "Take it," she pleaded.
   Ido was dumbfounded. He had no reply to offer.
   "Give this to my daughter, it's all I have. I beg you, please."
   Ido grasped the small bag and the woman smiled. It almost seemed as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders and she could leave the world in peace. It was a look that Ido would never forget as long as he lived, he was sure of it.
   The woman closed her eyes and her body went limp. Ido gently laid her on the ground and stayed next to her, refusing to rise. He looked at the blood soaked purse and let out a heavy sigh. He felt weak and his legs wouldn't permit him to stand. Ido hadn't promised to do anything for the woman but he felt obligated, it was his fault that she was dead. He would find the woman's daughter and give her the few coins, it wouldn't clear his conscience of guilt but it was the least he could do.
   Ido thrust the pouch into the inside pocked of his coat and stared at the face of the dead woman. It was a calm face, devoid of expression and thought, unaffected by things in the world.
   Strange, he thought. Human beings seemed to be truly at peace only at the moment of death. Maybe to live is to suffer and death is the only way to achieve nirvana.
   "Forgive me," said Ido quietly.
   He began to search the pockets of the woman's coat, looking for any clues as to her identity.
***

   Ido stood in front of a tenement building of red brick and decaying mortar. The smell of rotting garbage and burnt wood stung his nostrils and he rubbed his nose with his fingers, as if that would make the pungent odor go away.
   He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and squinted at the words written on it. It was difficult to make out, especially under the dim streetlight and the blood that had soaked into the paper. Yes, he had the right address. Twenty Four Carling Ave, Apartment Two Zero Nine.
   Ido crumpled the paper into a tight ball and absently tossed it aside. He climbed the stairs to the building and pushed aside the gray, metal door that had been left ajar. Once inside the dimly lit hallway of the building Ido spotted a board on the right wall. It listed the tenants of the dwelling in alphabetical order.
   After a moment he found it.
Solstace, Mara UNIT 209.
   Ido climbed the narrow staircase to the second floor. With each step the stairs creaked and he occasionally looked back over his shoulder. In his right hand he held the heavy case high to make sure it didn't bump into the steps. His left hand ran along the top of the railing and soon accumulated a layer of dust that caked to his palm. Ido reached a small landing where the stairway made a sharp turn to the left. He crunched broken glass beneath his feet and started up the next flight.
   When he reached the second floor he paused to catch his breath. The combination of climbing the stairs and the tired state he was in made him dizzy. A single bulb hanging from the ceiling cast a sickening yellow over the walls as Ido walked quietly down the hallway, looking left, then right, checking the numbers on the apartment doors. Finally he found it. The last unit at the end of the hall.
   Ido took a deep breath and knocked softly on the wooden door. He wanted to alert whoever was inside to his presence, but he was also conscious of unnecessarily disturbing the other tenants. He waited a moment and when there was no answer, he knocked again.
   From inside the apartment he heard a shuffling sound and saw a light come on from beneath the door. Then the soft rubbing of cloth against wood.
   "Who is it?" said a young voice.
   It was obviously a little girl, Ido realized. It would be difficult for him to tell her what had happened to her mother. He knew he would have to tell her that her mother was dead, it was best for children to hear the truth and the sooner to grieve and go on with their lives. However there was no need to go into the unnecessary details of how she had met her fate.
   Ido leaned close to the door and spoke softly.
   "I'm a friend of your mother," he said reassuringly.
   "Where's mommy?" came the faint reply.
   "Your mommy's not here," said Ido. "But I have something for you, your mommy told me to make sure that I gave it to you."
   Ido leaned his tired frame against the door and shifted all his weight onto his right leg. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed.
   "Mommy told me not to let strangers in," said the little girl in a hushed tone.
   Ido could hear her the wavering in her voice. She was obviously afraid, and rightly so. Somehow he had to calm her fears and convince her to open the door. He thought for a moment. Ido pulled the small purse from his pocket and looked at it carefully.
   "Your mother's right," said Ido. "But she told me to give you her purse, the blue one with the gold clasp."
   Ido waited, he could think of nothing more to say and was growing impatient. If the child didn't open the door soon he would leave the purse in the hall and walk away.
   Suddenly he heard the unmistakable sound of a bolt sliding back on the other side of the door. The handle rotated slowly and the door opened a few inches. Ido peered inside and saw a framed photograph of two people hanging on a gray painted wall. Beneath the picture was a bare wooden chair set in a corner.
   Ido was suddenly aware that he was being observed and slowly trained his eyes downward. They came to rest on a small face framed by shoulder length brown hair and set atop flower printed pajamas that had been washed to the point of falling apart. The little girl held onto the door with one hand and with the other, she absently dug her fist into her right eye, trying to rub away the sleep from the corners.
   Ido observed that she had pale skin and a thin frame, not at all uncommon for a girl her age. She appeared to be in good health though, and that said a lot about her mother.
   "Hello there," said Ido as cheerfully as one can muster at 4:00 am. "My name's Ido, could you tell me yours?"
   The little girl looked up at the giant before her and sniffled.
   "I'm Karen," she answered.
   "Well Karen, can I come in? It'll be okay, your mother sent me and I would really appreciate it if I could sit down for a moment."
   Karen pulled the door back and stepped to one side. Ido walked through and swept his eyes over the small flat. He was in a room about six meters long and five meters wide. The sofa had been pulled out into a bed in which the young girl had obviously been sleeping until Ido had disturbed her. There was no television, just a radio set on a table against the wall next to a small figurine of an angel.
   Ido slumped into the small chair he had first spotted and relaxed. He had been on his feet for hours and it felt good to shift the burden of his large frame from his legs to the spindly chair.
   Karen closed the door and walked over to him. She stood in front of Ido with her arms hanging limply at her sides. Ido had a better look at her now and guessed that she was about ten years old.
   "Where's mommy?" asked Karen. "When is she coming home?"
   Ido cleared his throat and wracked his brain, searching for the appropriate word to begin.
   "Your mother won't be coming home," said Ido nervously. "She's had an accident, I'm very sorry."
   Ido watched her young face to see how Karen would react. The little girl's expression didn't change. Instead she turned and walked to the sink and pulled a glass from a rack of dishes, filling it with tap water. When she was finished she walked back toward Ido and presented him with the glass.
   Ido didn't know how to react, it certainly wasn't the response he had expected, but he accepted the glass and gulped it down. He hadn't realized just how thirsty he had been, but Karen had.
   "Thank you," said Ido handing the glass back to her. "Your mother told me that I should give you this."
   Ido reached into his coat and pulled out the purse. He was just about to give it to her when he realized that her mother's blood was on it. Ido pulled the purse back and opened the clasp, pouring the contents into one hand. He poured the few chips into Karen's outstretched palms and waited. Karen looked at the meager coins and then at Ido.
   "Mommy's not coming home, she's really not coming home, is she?" said Karen plaintively.
   "No, she won't be coming home," said Ido. "Sometimes things happen over which we have no control. You'll understand when you get older."
   Karen dropped her hands and the chips spilled onto the floor, rolling in all directions. She looked to be on the verge of tears. Ido leaned forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.
   "Do you have someone, your father, a relative that you could stay with?" he asked.
   Tears started to roll down her cheeks as Karen stared at the floor.
   "No," she answered. "Daddy's gone. There's no one, just me and mommy."
   At that Karen started to sob and clutched the front of her pajamas, squeezing the fabric into a tight ball. Ido had no experience in dealing with this sort of thing. Of course he had dealt with death many times. In his day to day practice people entered his clinic looking for help and try as he might he had been unable to save some of them. But they were mostly people with no families, no ties to anyone. He had never had to break the death of a parent to a young child before.
   Ido looked at Karen and then at the four walls around them. If he left now he was leaving this girl to an uncertain future. There was no telling what might happen to her. Without any parents to take care of her Karen was doomed to lead a life of poverty, maybe even drug abuse and prostitution, if she lived for very long at all. The face of Karen's mother burned an image into his memory. He looked at Karen and found it was easy to imagine what she might look like at seventeen, at twenty. Ido didn't like what he saw.
   "You're saying there's no one to look after you?" asked Ido.
   Karen didn't answer, instead shaking her head back and forth as she stared at the floor.
   "Well you can come with me," he said.
   Karen looked at him with wet eyes.
   "With you?"
   "Yes," answered Ido. "I have a place for you to stay. There's lots of room and you wouldn't be alone. It would be for just a little while of course, just until we could find you someplace more permanent."
   Ido pulled out a handkerchief and gave it to her. Karen accepted it and wiped her eyes. She wasn't crying anymore, instead she seemed to be thinking about something.
   "It'll be okay," Ido assured her. "I'm sure your mother would approve, and you certainly can't stay here by yourself, can you?"
   Ido stood and started to walk toward the door. Halfway there he felt a tug at his coat and turned around. Karen was looking up at him. There was no need for her to say anything, her eyes told him what he needed to know. She stretched her hand forward and pushed the handkerchief into Ido's palm. He smiled and accepted it from her.
***

   Ido stood for a moment outside the tenement building and glanced in both directions. They were alone, and the black sky was starting to change to a dark blue. The sun would be up in a few hours and he estimated they would reach home just as the city was waking up.
   At his side was a little girl, bundled in several sweaters and a checkered coat. The two were a match, both carrying cases in their hands that seemed too heavy for them.
   Ido said nothing, he simply started to walk and a moment later he heard Karen's short footsteps behind him. Suddenly she was at his side, walking twice as fast to keep up with him.
   After they had walked several blocks Ido spoke up. Though he was speaking in a normal tone his voice reverberated around the empty street until it found it's way back to Karen.
   "I forgot to ask you," he said casually. "Do you like cats?"
   Karen wrinkled her brow and looked up at him, puzzled by his question.
   "Cats?"

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End of Part One Part Two