"What do you mean 14 hours!" Not even 15 minutes later Kitt jumps out of bed and turns the lights on manually.
Kyoto sighs and sits up on the couch. "16 hours from now 5 Ember officers will be executing a raid on a competing corp. 27 factory workers will die and 2 executives will be taken hostage," his eye flickers blue and his holo-deck blinks on infront of him, obscuring his face, "you are meant to intercept their vehicle discreetly and prevent them from conducting the raid," his eye flickers again and he swipes his arm left. Walls of scrolling ones and zeros disappear and are replaced with a single date: 12-13-2097. Just about 1 year from now.
"If we successfully intercept," his eye flickers blue once more and the date changes to 2-5-2098, "we will have pushed back the end date by about 2 months,"
Kitt sighs and paces around their small apartment, "I'm tired Ky, you've been working me like a dog all month,"
"It is necessary-"
"Yeah, I know! Necessary to prevent destruction, but are we even sure that's possible," she stops pacing and looks at Kyoto solemnly. There's silence for a few moments as Kyoto closes his Holo and stands to face the window.
"It has to be possible. We've already pushed it back so much,"
Kitt takes a moment to think of the right words as she sits back down on the bed. "With each premonition our changes make less of a difference. When we started, we had over 2 years to fix this. How much time have we even saved?"
"6 months 13 days and 4 hours" he spoke quietly, not willing to accept that their chances at stopping the attack were fading fast.
"I want to stop Ember as much as you do Ky. But... It maybe be time to look through some other options,"
"There are no other options Kitt!" He turns around to look at her. His face red with anger, "We either do this or we die. Everyone we know dies. Family, friends, strangers on the street. You think they'll stop at just 3 cities? Ember is going to take over the entire country. And we're the only ones that can do anything about it!"
Outside the sky is a sickly shade of orange. The entire city is littered with refineries that cast a blanket of smog across the whole sky. If there were any stars out there you'd never be able to tell.
Kitt just sighs and looks down at the concrete floor, "I'll just go to sleep and get ready for the fight tomorrow,"
Without a word Kyoto's eye flashed and the room went dark. After a moment he pops a sleeping pill and lays his head on the couch. It's always been a little too small and his legs hang off the side, but it's better than sleeping on the floor. After 5 minutes he's out cold. Kitt however just stares at the ceiling for hours. She can't help but worry if all this fighting will end up being useless. But then again, if she wasn't here she'd just be doing the same thing somewhere else.
Before she met Kyoto she spent all day and night fighting in the Blood Dome, the lowest form of entertainment in the city.
"All day all night watch these poor souls fight for their life,"
Everyone with nowhere else to go ends up in the Blood Dome at some point. Why die poor when the allure of riches are just around the corner? All you need to do is not die. Of course you will die though. If you can survive your first face off you'll be awarded with a bed and a meal, a long with an agent to book your next fight. However it would be more accurate to call them an executioner. They always find a way to make sure you die by your second fight. Unless your ratings are high enough.
"The people loved Kitt. A young girl with a natural talent for destroying the competition, and easily manipulated. she was an instant star. Day and night she was booked for fights. Some days she would have up to 4 fights back to back. She lost track of the people she's killed for a meal, how much money she's made for the rich.
She had become numb to it. These weren't people she was killing. They were just props and she was an actor. And one day she would have enough money to quit acting forever. But her last fight made it impossible for her to go on believing that lie.
She stood there in the center of the stadium. Thousands of people all around her cheering and clapping for her. It was thunderous, impossible to think clearly with all the noise. When the buzzer chimed and the giant gate opened to reveal her opponent her heart dropped.
A little boy, no more than 14 years old, standing there with nothing but a kitchen knife. He looked scared as he looked around at all the people jeering at him. Begging for her to end his life. He turned his gaze toward her and they locked eyes. He slowly walked towards her clutching the knife in both hands, but she just stood there. How could she kill this child?
He was just a foot away from her at this point. He never made a move to strike her, he must have been paralyzed with fear. She couldn't do it. Defiantly, she threw her weapon down and looked out at the crowd turning her back to him. Immediately the crowd turned on her. A chorus of boos erupted from the crowd. People chanting for her death now. She just shook her head and began to walk away. But before she could a sharp pain jolted down her back. She had been stabbed by this child. He let go of the knife and it was sticking out of her back. She quicky turned around to look at him and he was crying. Without a second glance she pulled the knife out of her back and slit his throat. A quick death for him. She wouldn't give these people the satisfaction of a proper fight. 10 seconds later she passed out on the dirt.
When she woke she found Kyoto standing over her tending to her wound. He explained his situation to her and honestly, she thought he was crazy. But if he could get her out of here then that was all she needed to hear.