The God Splice

“They’re calling it the God splice.” Began Qualin “It’s a little bit different from your run-of-the mill 10 credit street splices.”

“How so?”

“Your street splices last one or two hours tops, then you need another hit to sustain it. The God splice is permanent, one hit and your good to go, for life. Given time you can activate the splice at will.”

“-and Rex, you gave him the God Splice?”

Qualin Chuckled under his breath.

“Yeah, we’ve been testing it in Splice-fights on the quiet for months. We didn’t know what we were doing at first and the results have been unpredictable to say the least. Some died, others were horribly disfigured or paralysed. Turns out it needs a special gene sequence to make it work.”

“Rex?”

“Yeah. It seems our boy Rex has a very rare genetic code. Rex is gold dust. Rex is dynamite. Rex is the key. Rex is the only one to have used the God Splice and lived to tell the tale. Hell good ol’ Cougar Rex is more important than the splice itself because without him the Splice is useless as last week’s milk. Rex is the most valuable commodity in the city. Without Rex the corporations have nothing.”

“So what happened at the fight?” Queried DaCosta

“Ah. The god splice has another neat trick. It can absorb other splices. You don’t even have to be touching, just in range. I think that’s what happened to Rex, he absorbed too many splices at once. Couldn’t control it.”

“So that’s why all those people died?” said DaCosta

“Seems that way.” Confirmed Qualin.

“Then that makes you a murderer Qualin,” stated DaCosta bluntly.

“Hey! I didn’t know it was going to get so fucked up!” Reacted Qualin angrily.

“But you were the one who tampered with the splice and what about all of those people who died unknowingly as part of your experiments?”

“They new the risks!” stammered Qualin.

“Did they? Did they really? You’ve got blood on our hands Qualin. They’ll hang you out to dry. It’s a one-way trip to the Vape-Unit for you.”

“You cops are no better than me!” he retorted “Nu-Tech are in this up to their necks-”

“Yeah? And they have a ready-made scapegoat in Acturo Qualin. You think they suits at Nu-Tech are going to get their hands dirty when they have a ready made street slime like you to do their work them. Face it Qualin, you’ve been played.”

Qualin double over and coughd up a thin stream of vomit. “Ohshitohfuckohgod” he spluttered between mouthfuls of bile.

“I need names Qualin, If I’m to dig you out of this mess I need names!”

Suddenly, DaCosta’s comlink sounded. It was Stepovitz. A disembodied holo-image of the commander’s gnarled bulldog head appeared in front of him.

“DaCosta! Get your ass back to the station. We have a situation. We need every available man.”

DaCosta sighed, the timing couldn’t be worse. He was finally beginning to get somewhere.

“On my way” said Dacosta and began to walk away leaving Qualin behind him.

“Hey, were you goin? What happens to me? You gonna take me in?”

“Like, you said Qualin, you’re as good as dead, nothing I can do is gonna make any difference.”

“Come on DaCosta, you have to potect me, you have a duty to protect me. I can give you names!”

DaCosta stopped in his tracks and turned to face the battered and aging splice pedlar.

“Okay Qualin, you win. I’ll help you”

“You mean it, you’ll help me?”

“Sure.” Said DaCosta. Then he took his gun and fired.