To Sleep
1,230 words


Work was over. Over and done for the day and Nyasa hurried home; not to a loved one, or good food, or to relax. No, Nyasa was hurrying home from work to do more work. It couldn’t be helped, it had to be done. Nyasa was Mica, Mica was a soldier, and soldiers were tools. She had to be useful, had to know enough to fill a need when called, had to be strong enough to complete a mission when tasked. Had to be.

Slamming her apartment door shut behind her, she dropped her bag by the door and immediately went to turn on her coffee pot. She stopped before pushing the button. She’d last slept, what, twelve hours ago? Yes, and only for two hours. She needed sleep. She needed to, but if she was sleeping then she wasn’t working. Or studying. Or patrolling. Sleep was… inconvenient.

Turning on the pot, Nyasa grabbed one of the dog-eared books from her coffee table and flipped through it. It was a text book, meant to help those studying to become a pharmacy technician, but Nyasa needed it to learn how to dose those that couldn’t go to a hospital. Getting her hands on some of these drugs was a different problem, one she was still working on.

She put the book aside almost eagerly once the coffee was done, pouring herself a cup and drinking it black. She didn’t really care for the bitterness, but she felt it woke her a bit more. She brought the mug and book with her to the sofa, sitting them down and turning on a light. She dragged the conveniently placed calculator closer to her and started working on sample dosage questions.

Minutes passed; ten, twenty. Nyasa’s shoulders slowly drooped, her fingers slowing on the keys of the calculator. At one point she came to a complete stop, her head drooping tiredly. Asleep? Not for long. Nyasa’s head jerked in her sleep, her eyes darting wildly about the room for a moment. Finally they landed on the calculator, flitting from it to the book and back. That screen, so little and insignificant, was taunting her: wrong. She’d gotten an answer wrong. It was so very, very wrong.

In silence, she kept staring at that damning little screen. Then with an abrupt movement she picked up the calculator and hurled it across the room. It hit the wall, fell to the floor – broken, probably – but Nyasa felt no better. She felt worse; wrong. She’d gotten it wrong. That dosage would have killed someone.

She stood and paced. Pacing was good, would get the blood flowing. Blood carried oxygen and would wake up her brain. It should, anyway. Had to. She should sleep - that’s what her body needed – but what about her comrades? What if one showed up on her doorstep now, injured, and she was sleeping? … but what if she overdosed a comrade, killed them? That was no good either. Damned either way.

Stop. This was useless. She couldn’t study because she couldn’t focus. She couldn’t sleep because she hadn’t patrolled yet. Simple solution: patrol. She was making this more difficult then it had to be.

Seconds later Lieutenant Mica flitted out the window and across the rooftops, moving with purpose. She wouldn’t sit and wait for an easy mark, or hope for a Senshi to pass by. Tonight she’d hunt, steal as much energy as she could. She knew how. It was easy in her uniform; degrading, but easy. She’d take degrading, take it over failure any day. If she couldn’t study, then so help her, she would be productive in other ways.

Finding a stray drunk was easy. He saw her seemingly drop from the night skies before his very eyes and greeted her with a leer. She ran a hand down his side and drew back, made him follow her. Down, down the alley they went. She stepped closer and so did her, oh so eager. Large, meaty hands roamed her body, only to hesitate, to slow. Confusion marred the male’s face before he dropped to the ground, struggling to keep his eyes open.

Mica stepped on his protruding stomach as walked over him, tiny orb gleaming dully in the light. Easy. Successful. The night was looking up. Shame she was so tired. Having to endure those nasty hands hadn’t helped. Maybe…

Pale blue-green eyed the orb thoughtfully. She’d never consumed one before. She’d had her chances, sure, but thought eating them a sign of weakness. Even when given one after a battle in Elysion, she hadn’t eaten them; she’d given it to Scheelite, which she now regretted. But it helped them. The energy helped them, and officers ate them with some frequency. As long as the quotas were met, it didn’t matter. Shouldn’t anyway, though she’d have to collect even more to make up for it. Couldn’t collect any if she was asleep though, now could she?

That settled it. Mica raised the orb and prepared to pop it in her mouth, not noticing the incoming punch until it caught her under the chin.

“ Negaverse scum!”

Hadn’t seen that one coming. Should have. She should have sensed it too. A Senshi had snuck up on her, snuck up on her and made her loose the energy orb. Where was it?

“ Looking for this?”

The Senshi had it. Well of course the Senshi had it; that’s how life worked. Mica lunged for it, but she was too slow, too sluggish, and the Senshi twisted out of the way, driving an elbow into Mica’s back, driving her into the ground.

“ Pathetic.”

There was an odd ringing in her ears. Pathetic? Pathetic…

As Mica went still, the Senshi did too, inspecting her. A white-gloved hand slapped the dark face, retreating when the eyes didn’t open. The Senshi was the good guy though, wouldn’t get her gloves dirty, and left dark agent’s still body as they retreated to go check on the unfortunate civilian.

Mica was up. She was up, she was shaking, and her ears were ringing, ringing. She reached and grabbed and a tug-of war ensued. Mica stepped, kicked, and the Senshi howled; victory. The orb was snatched as it fell to the ground, but then the Senshi fell on Mica. They struggled, fingers prying and teeth gnashing. A cane appeared, orange topper flashing as a blow was struck. And another. And another. The Senshi was rolled off and another blow struck. She tried to stagger away, but Mica staggered after, caught her around the neck with her cane. The so-tough girl fought as Mica held her close, fought until she had no fight left in her, until she slid to the ground with dull, glassy eyes.

The Senshi slid down and Mica let her. Let her drop like a pile of dung. Didn’t realize until it was too late that the Senshi still had the energy orb. The lifeless sack of flesh hit the ground, hand smacking the cement, and Mica could see the tiny wisp of energy as the orb broke.

Pathetic.

The next day, over half a dozen men struggled to wake up. Wallets were reported stolen and vague reports were filed. For Destiny City, it was just a normal day. People went about their business, and if a certain dark-skinned EMT looked worse for the wear, well, that was normal too.