Happy Valentines day
Sue woke up alone in my doss. I left a single long-stem rose on the kitchen table with a small gift box. The rose was real and cost more money than I would have ever expected (seriously chummer, if you're going to buy a real rose buy it weeks before and use magic to keep it fresh because DAMN that cost a lot). The gift box was made of real wood and was wrapped only with a white ribbon. It had a bottle of a perfume she liked, the latest print edition of "Theoretical Thaumaturgy", and an ankle bracelet. I thought it was a pretty good start.
But yeah, she woke up alone.
I was across town as I had received a message I could not ignore, "50k if you get here in an hour..Sheila".
I was airborne by spirit within five minutes of receiving that, and was in the Brick Yard parking lot with thirty minutes to spare. I walked around the corner to see Little Rickie at the door (I don't think he ever slept back then) along with a pair of chromed out street samurai. Rickie nodded to me as I walked in.
Inside the Brick Yard was packed. Every chair seemed taken and the bar was crowded. This would be weird any day, but at seven in the morning it seemed bizarre and a bit concerning. I remember that I was suddenly reminded of the last time I got such a call and saw many hard people crowded into one place. I shivered a bit at the memory.
Sandy was on maternity leave. People have always said that Sheila takes good care of her people. I can tell you that from my observations it appears to be true. With Sandy on leave, Sheila had hired an elf woman who went by the name Aria. Aria was pretty, smiled a lot, and constantly fragged up my orders. She always was pleasant though, and her demeanor made up for a lot of her professional waitress short-comings. I found an open space at the bar and squeezed in between a large orc gentleman (who didn't even look at me) and the wall.
"Mr. Thomas!" Aria exclaimed. Sigh.
"Aria, good morning, can I get something for breakfast?" was all I could manage.
"Sure thing!" and Aria bounced away without taking my order. Like I said, she wasn't a very good waitress.
It was conspicuously quiet in the Brick Yard. In a room full of people, no one was speaking. I took a chance and opened my astral sight to see a room full of people with holes in their auras where cyberware filled their bodies. Most of the people in the room were cybered up, some of them heavily. With the usual strain I closed my astral sight and waited for whatever Aria was going to bring me.
Aria pushed a plate loaded with bacon, eggs, toast, and some white stuff I couldn't identify in front of me. A large steaming cup of hot cocoa came next and then she was bouncing away. I shrugged and dug into the plate. I was about half done when a small dark dwarf came out from the kitchen and walked around the bar, and over to me.
"Mr. Gun." the dwarf said, as he stuck out his hand. I shook it and felt something press into my palm.
"Solomon, how are you? Great breakfast by the way." I closed my hand over the palmed object and tried to be sub-zero chill with my favorite cook. I had never had something like this go down at the Brick Yard and I was definitely feeling the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
"Healthy, not so wealthy, and getting wiser by the day. What? You don't like grits?" Solomon seemed completely at ease. Something I was sure I wasn't matching.
"Never had them before Solomon, but if you plated it I'll eat it. I swear you're going to civilize my diet at this rate."
"Nah, Mr. Gun. You may be many things but civilized you're not." He smiled and that and turned away. "I'll be getting back to cooking, you keep the rum flowing."
No one in the place made a sound. It was damn creepy. I sat and finished my breakfast. Grits were not bad, but I've since learned to put butter on them.
I walked through the quiet crowded room to the bathroom, picked a stall, went in and locked it. The palmed object was a small plastic token. It looked like a poker chip, and had the Ice Cola "super-chill" logo on the side. As hints go, it wasn't bad. I took a breath, used the facilities, washed up, walked out into the eerie quiet.
Aria came bouncing over with her bright smile and sapphire eyes, and ruined the whole image when she opened her mouth, "Mr. Thomas, someone wants to see you."
"Sure thing Aria, I know the way." I was walking toward Sheila's booth and could feel eyes on me.
**********
The curtain was open at Sheila's booth. Two corp suits were sitting there with her and I remember that at the time one looked vaguely familiar.
"Gentlemen, the asset I mentioned." Sheila's voice was cool and professional just like always. I slid in next to her and faced the two men.
Both were human, generic anglo-american stock. The one directly across from me had a fine suit on that looked tailored to him while on his right the other man had a suit on that was probably off the rack and looked like it had a year or two on it. The second man seemed damned familiar but I couldn't place his face.
"Greetings. I'm Mr. Johnson and this is my associate, Mr. Smith." the words came out of Mr. Johnson smoothly, well oiled.
"Good morning Mr. Johnson. What can I help you with?" My tone was tight. I had a bad feeling and the message to be chill was weighing heavily on my mind.
"A certain individual is in need of retiring. I would like to offer you the job of helping him leave the work force." Mr. Johnson was slick, his voice was smooth, but I managed to miss the nuance.
"I see. Where will the individual be retiring from and when is he expected to leave the work force?" I was asking sensible questions about the job. I needed more information and I wanted to feel things out.
"The target is retiring from Fat Tony's Italian in Bellevue. I hear he won't be receiving any benefits. Terrible shame." Mr. Johnson smiled as he said it. "I expect him to leave the work force the day after tomorrow and no later than five o'clock. "
"And where shall I escort this individual to?" I asked.
Mr. Johnson smiled. His thin lips revealing pearly white, cosmetically perfect teeth, "Nowhere. Just leave him where he falls."
I felt a chill in my gut, "I don't do wet work. You've got the wrong guy." I stood up and nodded to Sheila. "Thanks for the call, but I'm not interested."
Sheila nodded, and held out a cred-stick to me "You were top pick for the job. I understand your position. I appreciate you coming down on short notice."
"Keep it." I said. I didn't want it. "I look forward to our next meeting."
Mr. Johnson chuckled.
"Well now, that is a problem." Those pearly white teeth were still showing. His cohort had a grim expression on his face and his hand had disappeared under his cheap suit. The color had drained from his face, and beads of sweat had appeared on his forehead and under his eyes. That's when I recognized him. It was the Knight Errant guard I had healed up on that cocked-up warehouse job a couple of years prior. The one where Zip caught that terminal case of death.
"Excuse me?" Sheila and I both said in unison. The hand holding the credstick didn't move, neither did the one holding her drink. My hands were still at my side. I locked eyes with the Knight Errant guy.
"Chummer this isn't like last time. You pull that piece and I won't be busting my ass to heal you up in the snow." It came out as a low angry growl, far more menacing than I intended.
Mr. KE didn't break, and he didn't answer. Mr. Johnson went on as if nothing fatal were unfolding in front of him, "Sit down and listen to what you're going to do. Don't disappoint me, Mr. Gun. It isn't wise." He pulled out a pocket secretary, set it on the table and said, "Show him"
A holo popped up from the small device. Sue's face, with newly swollen, bloody lips appeared before me. "'Proof of life' as it's called in the biz, as I understand it." Mr. Johnson sneered. "Go on, ask her something. It'll prove its not an effects job."
"Hey lady. What's up?" It was lame, but the only thing that came to mind. Sue seemed to focus on something I couldn't see. Most likely the holocam on her end.
"Tommy? What's going on? They broke in!" She got cut off by a very large hand clamping down on her mouth.
"I see that I now have your attention" Mr. Johnson, still oily smooth said. "There is the matter of retiring this individual." He placed a large brown envelope on the table and gestured for me to sit down.
The room was full of hard looking people I didn't recognize. I had a Mr. Johnson who was threatening the well being of my girlfriend. Sheila was being very still and had an unreadable expression on her face. I was on my own so I sat back down.
Mr. Johnson showed me an image of the target he wanted iced. He showed a lot of data that would be useful to an assassin. The "briefing" went on for about five minutes. I opened my astral sight about half-way through the meeting to check on the room, scanned dozens of hard cases with cyber who were clearly ready for a fight, then squeezed my astral sight closed. Mr. Johnson finished his pitch with "and once he's been 'retired' we'll make sure the lady is safely delivered to you here and you'll get a tidy sum of another 50k nuyen to smooth over any bad feelings. See, its really just that simple."
For the record, I had killed people before this meeting. I had killed enemy combatants, sec forces who wouldn't run away, I had murdered two physical adepts whom I really shouldn't have, I had killed several gang members for what happened to Pepper's family, and I had killed three shadowrunners in self-defense or in defense of others. I had also killed vampires, a wendigo, several ghouls, and many a critter who wanted to eat me. All that death up to that point, and only the gang members who killed Pepper's family were personal to me.
Then Mr. Johnson made this personal.
He also gave me five minutes to think very hard about my circumstances. My peek into astral space showed that I was the only awakened person around. The watcher spirits that hung around the Brick Yard were still there, and they didn't seem to be very happy. Mr. Johnson though, he was a very happy man. His aura positively oozed a smug satisfaction. His cohort, the KE guy, was scared drekless and the room full of heavies were on edge, tense, and ready for violence. It was a bad situation.
Mr. Johnson finished his pitch and looked at me. He honestly seemed like he was expecting me to jump at his every command.
I thought about Pepper.
Most people think that magicians shout and dance and chant every time they cast a spell. That isn't necessarily true. I knew a dandy of a spell, a tiring spell, but a great one. It made the world seem to slow down as my ability to react was enhanced. It heightened my senses and enhanced my situational awareness. It made me as fast or faster than many heavily wired street samurai and almost as fast as a top flight physical adept. It was also a spell I can cast silently.
I looked at Mr. Johnson and Mr. KE, reached over and hit the power button on his pocket secretary, "Dishonorable and unprofessional" was all I said.
Then all hell broke loose.
I was moving faster than I had any right to, but my manifesting air elemental was even faster. It filled the rest of the Brick Yard with a cloud of suffocating gas that hit the wired up muscle hard. Thirty hard case bad asses immediately began choking out. Guns were being drawn but I was already up, my left hand pointing at the KE guy and a ribbon of mana flaring out as my little sleep spell blasted him into unconsciousness. My right hand brought out my Viper slivergun.
Gunfire erupted as the muscle guys started to panic. Rounds went through the elemental to knock holes in the wall behind it. Many of the goons were already down and the rest were failing quickly. The spirit kept it up, obeying my initial command like it was its only reason for being.
I shot Mr. Johnson in the hand, blowing off his three outer fingers and most of the rest of the appendage. He screamed like he was dying, which was all Sheila needed as an opening. She shoved a heavy pistol into Mr. Johnson's mouth and pinned him to the booth by his head. He was still trying to scream with that mass of steel and ceramic crammed down his throat but he held up his left hand in a gesture of surrender. His right hand was bleeding all over Mr. KE.
I brought my Viper up to cover the room and found the muscle knocked out all over the Brick Yard floor. A quick mental command brought a water elemental to my side. Behind me I heard Sheila say, "Flashlight".
I heard two loud gun shots from outside.
*******************************
I left Sheila and Rickie at the Brick Yard and flew over to my doss with my invisibility spell tightly woven around me. Every spirit I had bound to me, four of them at that time, were right along for the ride. I landed in my back yard, lined up my slivergun behind the skull of a heavily armed man I didn't recognize, and quietly blew his brains across the gray snow. He fell without a sound, as did the guy in my garage, the three in my front yard, and their driver in the van parked in my driveway.
I looked in through the window and saw two trolls and an orc eating a cheesecake I had picked up for the holiday. My earth elemental manifested and engulfed the orc even as the air element and water elemental each engulfed a troll. I watched the struggle with a cold, malicious intent. It took them each about two minutes to die.
I found Sue in the tub. Her neck was broken.
I grabbed a pack full of things I couldn't replace. I pulled the van into my garage, dragged the dead people into the living room (had to have some spirit help for that) and lay Sue on our bed. I kissed her on the forehead then walked out into the back yard. Blood and brains were everywhere. I looked at my house for a long minute, then sent out the call to my fire elemental.
My house burned down before noon.
********************************
February 14th, 2058 2045 hours
Mr. Johnson and his muscle boys were having a bad day. Their collective hoops had been kicked. The spirit's effect on them had worn off hours ago, but the tranq patches that had been applied to each were only now starting to release them from slumber.
Mr. Johnson's hand had been cauterized as I didn't want him bleeding to death prematurely. The muscle guys were zip-tied and laying on the floor of a certain old warehouse. Sheila and Little Rickie had been a lot of help, finding the place, and Rickie had carried the muscle guys in easily. They left them with me without a word.
I had waited for Mr. Johnson to wake up.
I won't bother you with the offers he made, or the threats he attempted. I took a piece of broken window glass and cut a four inch gash in his leg. His blood dripped down his leg and into the drainage grate he was tied too.
Mr. KE was awake and scared drekless.
One of the muscle guys caught on to what was about to happen and started begging me to cut him loose. "I'll give you anything omae! Just cut me free!"
I shot him in the face. In retrospect, he got off easy.
I was almost to the door when I heard the first devil rats squealing. I was outside when the screaming started.
************************
I lost a lot that day. I lost Sue, who was pretty awesome. I lost my house. I lost my name.
What? You didn't think I was always "Tommy 'the machine' Gun" did you?
No I used to be someone else. After that, I was just a runner. Sometimes I would try to be a person, but bad things happen. One day maybe it will stick, or maybe one day I'll learn to stop trying.
Anyway, let's go grab some sushi. I've got a bad taste in my mouth and some sake might just kill it.
Mr. Johnson finished his pitch and looked at me. He honestly seemed like he was expecting me to jump at his every command.
I thought about Pepper.
Most people think that magicians shout and dance and chant every time they cast a spell. That isn't necessarily true. I knew a dandy of a spell, a tiring spell, but a great one. It made the world seem to slow down as my ability to react was enhanced. It heightened my senses and enhanced my situational awareness. It made me as fast or faster than many heavily wired street samurai and almost as fast as a top flight physical adept. It was also a spell I can cast silently.
I looked at Mr. Johnson and Mr. KE, reached over and hit the power button on his pocket secretary, "Dishonorable and unprofessional" was all I said.
Then all hell broke loose.
I was moving faster than I had any right to, but my manifesting air elemental was even faster. It filled the rest of the Brick Yard with a cloud of suffocating gas that hit the wired up muscle hard. Thirty hard case bad asses immediately began choking out. Guns were being drawn but I was already up, my left hand pointing at the KE guy and a ribbon of mana flaring out as my little sleep spell blasted him into unconsciousness. My right hand brought out my Viper slivergun.
Gunfire erupted as the muscle guys started to panic. Rounds went through the elemental to knock holes in the wall behind it. Many of the goons were already down and the rest were failing quickly. The spirit kept it up, obeying my initial command like it was its only reason for being.
I shot Mr. Johnson in the hand, blowing off his three outer fingers and most of the rest of the appendage. He screamed like he was dying, which was all Sheila needed as an opening. She shoved a heavy pistol into Mr. Johnson's mouth and pinned him to the booth by his head. He was still trying to scream with that mass of steel and ceramic crammed down his throat but he held up his left hand in a gesture of surrender. His right hand was bleeding all over Mr. KE.
I brought my Viper up to cover the room and found the muscle knocked out all over the Brick Yard floor. A quick mental command brought a water elemental to my side. Behind me I heard Sheila say, "Flashlight".
I heard two loud gun shots from outside.
*******************************
I left Sheila and Rickie at the Brick Yard and flew over to my doss with my invisibility spell tightly woven around me. Every spirit I had bound to me, four of them at that time, were right along for the ride. I landed in my back yard, lined up my slivergun behind the skull of a heavily armed man I didn't recognize, and quietly blew his brains across the gray snow. He fell without a sound, as did the guy in my garage, the three in my front yard, and their driver in the van parked in my driveway.
I looked in through the window and saw two trolls and an orc eating a cheesecake I had picked up for the holiday. My earth elemental manifested and engulfed the orc even as the air element and water elemental each engulfed a troll. I watched the struggle with a cold, malicious intent. It took them each about two minutes to die.
I found Sue in the tub. Her neck was broken.
I grabbed a pack full of things I couldn't replace. I pulled the van into my garage, dragged the dead people into the living room (had to have some spirit help for that) and lay Sue on our bed. I kissed her on the forehead then walked out into the back yard. Blood and brains were everywhere. I looked at my house for a long minute, then sent out the call to my fire elemental.
My house burned down before noon.
********************************
February 14th, 2058 2045 hours
Mr. Johnson and his muscle boys were having a bad day. Their collective hoops had been kicked. The spirit's effect on them had worn off hours ago, but the tranq patches that had been applied to each were only now starting to release them from slumber.
Mr. Johnson's hand had been cauterized as I didn't want him bleeding to death prematurely. The muscle guys were zip-tied and laying on the floor of a certain old warehouse. Sheila and Little Rickie had been a lot of help, finding the place, and Rickie had carried the muscle guys in easily. They left them with me without a word.
I had waited for Mr. Johnson to wake up.
I won't bother you with the offers he made, or the threats he attempted. I took a piece of broken window glass and cut a four inch gash in his leg. His blood dripped down his leg and into the drainage grate he was tied too.
Mr. KE was awake and scared drekless.
One of the muscle guys caught on to what was about to happen and started begging me to cut him loose. "I'll give you anything omae! Just cut me free!"
I shot him in the face. In retrospect, he got off easy.
I was almost to the door when I heard the first devil rats squealing. I was outside when the screaming started.
************************
I lost a lot that day. I lost Sue, who was pretty awesome. I lost my house. I lost my name.
What? You didn't think I was always "Tommy 'the machine' Gun" did you?
No I used to be someone else. After that, I was just a runner. Sometimes I would try to be a person, but bad things happen. One day maybe it will stick, or maybe one day I'll learn to stop trying.
Anyway, let's go grab some sushi. I've got a bad taste in my mouth and some sake might just kill it.
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