We stood near the exit of the service tunnels, unseen in the shadows, observing Port Iron. I knew now that the service tunnels were the bones and arteries of Itokawa, more vital than anyone understood. I also knew that the Hollow Kings were the ones who controlled the changing configurations of the passages and walkways around the city. The people here were so used to it that they accepted it as a normal part of living, and the smugglers appreciated that it gave them constant new routes to avoid authorities.

  But they just assumed it was the loosely formed, corrupt governing body that was doing it or that it was configured this way on purpose. Funny how you can live with something your whole life and not question it.

  Little did they know that it was the Hollow Kings, the information dealers. This gave the Hollow Kings the ultimate advantage. They were everywhere. The service crews were their crews. If you wanted the entire city shut down, James was the one to talk to. I had found the perfect ally.

  James assured me that the freighter was just as much under his control. It wasn't an impressive ship, which was disappointing because I was impressed by almost every ship. But no, the ship slated to transport me to Eros was just one of the basic cube-shaped freighters that flies around all over the solar system. You see them everywhere, and they usually carried something that someone was waiting for, something that was promised for delivery in 2-3 business days and was already several days delayed, like a fluffy white rug with a butterfly on it.

  Freighters like this one operated with solar sails and traditional thrusters, no DEAD drives. I thought they looked like large boxes, which I suppose makes sense if you're hauling stuff around.

  James, the vampire, and I took in the site of Port Iron and its many box-shaped freighters coming and going. I realized I missed the sight and sounds of ships, and I was ready to leave Itokawa at long last. I needed to find my crew and get back to the mission. This was among the busier times of day. I could rather easily walk up to any freighter here and no one would care. The Fracker pursuit had died down, unlike the pillow fight that continued to flow through Itokawa.

  The vampire still had a pillow with her, and I wondered if after I left she would rejoin the pillow fight.

  More importantly, I wondered why she had rejoined us. Was she coming with me? That would be interesting, and I could use the help. I wondered what special abilities she might have, other than biting.

  "It's time," James said.

  The Orange Man tapped the vampire on the shoulder, and before I knew what was happening, she was biting me again. I yelped, but I tried not to fight it. I heard the rumbling chuckle of James behind me. The vampire was pressed up against me from behind, left arm wrapped around my waist, still clutching the pillow, and the other wrapped around my head, pulling it to the right so she could get at my neck easily.

  The sharp pain of her bite was worse than a needle in the veins. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, trying to focus on my toes to ignore the torment my neck was enduring. She seemed to take pleasure in it. I swear she took longer than what was strictly necessary to inject whatever venom she was using this time. When she was satisfied, she eased off her biting suckle, and I wondered if I would have bite marks or bite marks plus a hickey.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "You all really need to figure out how to work better with your allies," I complained when the vampire had finally released me.

  They both laughed again. The vampire's laugh was a sonorous sound I hadn't expected that created a beautiful chorus against the low tones coming from James.

  "This is how we work," she said, wiping her mouth.

  I frowned at them, trying to show my hurt feelings and how ashamed they should be of themselves. They didn't care. Bright beaming smiles was all the thanks I got for showing up to warn them about the coming zombie invasion.

  "How do I taste?"

  "Salty," she said. "You'd go well with a beer."

  I turned to James. "And what was that all about? Couldn't you have done this to me before, back at the doctor's office?"

  "Ahhh, @kittyboy," he rumbled. "This is phase two of your treatment. We needed the ARM to be fully synced first. She injected you with a medical stimulant. It will ease where the spikes dig into your bone marrow."

  I looked at my ARM. Yes, I could feel the dull ache subsiding.

  "It's the cost of the ARM that you'll have soreness that develops over time. You'll want to take some regular pain killers for that, ignore it, or take something more targeted like what we just gave you. Look for Calcivive, if you can find it."

  I shook my head. "Maybe I'll just blow myself up and start over."

  James chuckled again. "Trust me. Once you get used to the ARM, you won't care about the pain." He held his huge arm up and rolled back the sleeve of his jacket, showing an enormous version of a similar ARM model. Then he rolled back the other sleeve to show a similar model on his other arm.

  "I'll take your word for it," I sputtered, impressed.

  He nodded, the little smirk appearing at the corners of his mouth. Then he slapped me on the shoulder, and I nearly fell over.

  "You'll do fine. Time for you to get out of here."

  I don't hate goodbyes, but I'm still not good at them. I think for me they are badbyes or awkwardbyes. I turned first to the vampire and gave her the most I don't know what to say to you kind of look that I could muster. She looked at me smugly, probably counting the seconds to make me feel more uncomfortable.

  "Good luck on your journey, Henry," the vampire finally said, extending her hand to shake mine.

  So she wasn't lying. She did have manners.

  No one had called me Henry in centuries. The word hung in the air awkwardly, waiting for me to accept it. Henry, I thought to myself. Was I Henry? The philosophical implications of accepting a name from ages ago caused my head to spin, so I decided to reconcile that later and let my brain process it in the background for a while.

  I reached out and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."

  The vampire smiled and shrugged. "Melody."

  "Nice to meet you, Melody."

  "Bite you later," I added. I like to spoil pleasant moments.

  "Hmph. If you think you can bite me, you've got another thing coming."

  "I hope that other thing is a hug and a handshake," I jested with a snicker.

  Melody gave James a disappointed but curious look. "You were right. He's odd but interesting." She waved, kind of, and stalked off confidently down the passage and out of sight.

  "If nothing else, she needs a cape," I said, when she had gone.

  James shook his head at me. "Contact me if you need anything." His voice echoed here at the wide tunnel exit, a nice effect that seemed intentional.

  "Please do the same. We don't need any overtaken showing up here."

  "We will prepare," James replied.

  One last question was weighing on me. "Did Amy, the girl from the Cosmic Gutter, set me up? It seems oddly connected that I should happen to exit the ventilation system right where your bounty hunter was."

  If Amy had betrayed me again, I was definitely going to have to rob her store.

  "God works in mysterious ways," James responded.

  And, as I knew, here on Itokawa, James was god. Well, fuck me. I added Steal Something from the Cosmic Gutter back to my mission log, cursing the world but thankful all the same for my new connections.

  "See you later, Orange Man." I so wanted to call him the Great Pumpkin and run for my life.

  "Good luck, Eshu," James replied.

  The trickster god again. Misfortune or opportunity? I asked to myself. Probably both.