City of Broken Lights by K. C. Sivils

Author:K. C. Sivils [Sivils, K. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cyberpunk crime noir, Tech noir, science fiction crime thriller, hardboiled cyberpunk, hardboiled crime noir
Publisher: Kevin Sivils
Published: 2019-05-29T22:00:00+00:00

“HOW COULD YOU DATE someone like that?”

“It was a long time ago, Sarah. Saundra wasn’t always like this.”

Sarah crossed her arms and glared at me from across the booth. “Whatever you say.”

I didn't need Sarah to act like a child right now. It was a distraction I couldn't afford, that Katrina couldn't afford. "Sarah, look..."

“She’s trash, Sully. She’s just no good. You don’t Dear John somebody,” Sarah informed me. “You give them the dignity of doing it face-to-face so they can yell at you, cry, beg, ask questions, whatever. You deserved that much.”

“Stop it, Sarah,” I ordered.

“No, I won’t,” my clone partner snapped back. “What I have to say has to be said.”

Sarah wasn't going to let this go, and her voice was starting to rise. "Keep your voice down," I commanded.

“That woman is a narcissistic sociopath,” Sarah hissed between clenched teeth, her jaw muscles bulging in her cheeks. “She needed a daughter, for whatever reason, but she didn’t want the inconvenience. So, your ex-honey conveniently had one cloned.”

I didn’t say a word while Sarah paused to catch her breath.

“We’re disposable, Sully. If you don’t like the first model, just kill it for its organs, have a few changes made to the genetic code, and have another one grown in the tank! If something tragic happens, you just have a new copy cloned and the memories implanted.”

“That’s enough, Sarah,” I protested.

“I’m surprised the Iron Chancellor sent for us,” Sarah ranted on, not missing a beat. “She can always have another Katrina cloned, you know, a newer, better version of Katrina.”

“Sarah,” I snarled, slamming my fist down on the table.

"She's a person, Sully. Just like me, with a soul and dreams of her own!" Sarah looked at me with rage in her eyes, rage meant for me. "If something happens to me, don't clone me, Sully! Because it won't be the same Sarah! It will be someone different who just looks exactly like me!" Without looking back, Sarah stormed out of the small diner we had stopped in.

I didn't get up to follow my partner, I couldn't. My hands and legs were shaking too badly. With all the other crap I was dealing with, my partner had just scared me. I was supposed to protect Sarah, make her feel safe.

Did I make her feel like something expendable? That she was nothing more than a replaceable part of our partnership. The explosion I’d just witnessed had been boiling beneath the surface for some time.

What had I done or said to make Sarah so angry?

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