She sat within a booth in the Steel Bowl, a noodle shop in the mid-tier city levels, perusing the latest book to catch her attention. Veronica was told by Sean to meet their latest client here, so she waited. He had informed her that the client was offering to pay good money for a job, and as a result, was excited to hear out this request.
From the table ran a special clear tube that entered into the extends around her mouth. Through it was pushing a gray liquid with a slight blue glow. The somewhat thick liquid ran across her tongue and it tastes of fried noodles mixed with meat, vegetables, and various spices.
Every few moments she paused from reading and glance around the restaurant. Since her arrival in early hours of the evening, the Steel Bowl remained mostly empty. A few customers did pass through some of which had the proper parts to enjoy solid food. The owner, a small and thin looking man, would eagerly welcome and fawn over any customers who entered his establishment. He reminded her of a mouse desperately scurrying around trying to find scraps.
With a nod of her head text continued to scroll across her heads-up-display, and she continued to read her story about the epic journey of fictional characters in a far-off land. She continued to read until she noticed, from behind the digital words covering her display, the form of someone sliding into the booth. Pushing the text aside she stared at the individual now sitting across from her. Trying to process the appearance of the person before her one thought shot through her head.
Why a paper bag?
This work involved her in some strange circumstances and that included unique individuals, but someone willingly wearing a paper bag?
Sitting across from her was an eccentric man dressed in a gray suit, a bright red suit beneath the coat. An exception to the overall crisp and professional appearance of the man was the paper bag over his head. From the smooth brown surface, the bag appeared new. It totally covered his facial features other than the two holes poked into it for eyes. A black interior from the two holes stared back at her.
“Miss Darvos of Hardwired?” Said a smooth voice emanating from behind the paper.
The moment he spoke she scanned him, checking for any energy signatures or extend readings. Within seconds text flashed across her H.U.D to inform her of no results, and the system's inability to gather readings for whatever was beneath the bag.
She internally sighed then spoke, “You can just call me Veronica. You are the client Sean spoke of?” She was careful to watch for any suspicious movement.
He nodded causing the paper bag to shift slightly. “Correct. I can assume the hulking figure I saw standing nearby around the corner is an associate?” paper bag asked then with a gloved hand he gestured to the entrance to the Steel Bowl.
Reaching a hand up she pulled the tube from the tech fused with her jaw. It quickly snaked back to a mechanism beneath the table. She crossed her hand and slowly shook her head, “I thought I told him to be discreet. Neither of them seems to understand the meaning of the word.” Crossing her arms she tilted her head to the side, a digital question mark flashing across her faceplate, “Okay, Mr. Client what is the job you have for us?”
The man lay his arms on the table and laced his gloved fingers together, “You can simply refer to me as Paper Bag. I represent a group that is interested in a situation occurring within both the mid-tier and under streets of Rathon.” Reaching into his coat he pulled out a sleek black rectangular tablet then slid it over to her. He then tapped the table with a finger and gestured to her with a nod.
Pulling the tablet towards her, its black screen quickly alighted with information and different pictures. Out of the few organic pieces, she had left, the stomach was one that felt inconvenient at the moment as it lurched in response to the images being presented. They were especially unpleasant as she just ate.
The images were of various mutilated bodies. Around each of them, their blood was splayed everywhere and organs scattered about. Their limbs, those that were present within the pictures, were contorted into unnatural angles. A shiver passed through her, each of the bodies appeared to be almost on display as if some macabre art piece. Many occurred in what looked to be alleys, a few in the parks within the mid-tier, and one in an elevator going down to the under-streets.
Each of the pictures drew her deeper into her own head, memories quickly flashed through her mind. Screams, blood, and pain filled her thoughts like a wound reopening. Realizing what was happening she tore herself out of the reverie attempting to overtake her, once more she shivered.
Composing herself she looked away from the tablet and stared at the man. “An explanation would be helpful regarding…” She nodded to the tablet still displaying the horrific images, “this situation.” She said speaking slowly but with a firm voice. While living in the under-streets she was not unaccustomed to seeing blood and a few corpses, but mostly those dying from an art fired by a caster or overdosing on stimulants. This was entirely different and far messier.
Shaking his head in agreement to the statement the paper bag on his head softly crackled. “As you can see several murders have been occurring.” He pointed to the tablet, “They are not at random. Each of those individuals was disfigured but all of them had two common elements.” Raising his hand he pointed to her head, “They were members of a street gang known as Iron Will and all of their extends were ripped out. Gone.”
Looking back at the picture, she examined each of the bodies in great detail. Each of the pieces came together as she examined places where the extends were either torn off or gouged out, spying pieces of metal among the viscera. It was difficult at first only because it was camouflaged by the carnage. Peeling her gaze from it she looked back to Paper Bag, “You want us to find out who did this? Wouldn’t this be handled by the Knights?” The horrific images were still present on the tablet screen, Veronica could feel their presence as if the mutilated faces were watching her. “And why has this not been made public? This is the first I am hearing of these murders.” She said looking intently at the man.
A sigh escaped from him, “Yes, this is a case within the jurisdiction of the Knights. They are diligently investigating it.” He shook his head slowly, “This has been ongoing for about a month, and higher powers apparently have hushed this from the public, for some reason. The investigation is mired in bureaucracy and a lack of cooperation from the residents…”
Holding up a hand she stopped him, “And who are you? Why do you know all of this information?” She pointed at him incredulously, “Are you a Knight?”
She had a hard time believing that such information was readily available, especially for murders that were secretly ongoing and seemingly hidden from the public. How did this not hit the data-way?
Who was this guy? She knew he was far from being some strange man who simply wore a paper bag, but for her, this individual was becoming more and more enigmatic.
Each of the black holes stared back at her, impassive. “I have contacts within the knight orders. They are informing me of the situation and believe that this case is purposefully being stalled.” He held both hands up, “As a result, I took it upon myself to assist in finding the resolution to this. I am simply a concerned citizen of Rathon.” He gave a slight bow.
“A concerned citizen, is that so?” she mused, “And so where should we start?”
Reaching over paper bag tapped a few times on the tablet’s screen. A holo-map projected outward from it showing a three-dimensional layout of both the mid-tier and under streets. Points of interest were highlighted with white neon bubbles. He sat back and gestured toward the holographic with a hand, “These are individuals who have been tagged as affiliated to Iron Will, directly or indirectly.” Reaching into his coat again he brought out an object shaped like a prism, then held it before Veronica, “This is half of the payment for the job, the coded coin is in this data stick. Your agencies reputation is one worth the money, or so Sean says and his reputation is worth note.” With a flick of his wrist, he sent the object sliding across the table.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
It bumped into an arm she had on the table. Picking up the data stick she pointed with it at Paper Bag, “I’ve got the money now. You can be assured we’ll find the son of a bitch.” She moved herself out of the booth and stood, turning back to Paper Bag she said, “I will personally escort them to the Knights myself if needed.”
Paper Bag stood up from the booth and looked at her in a moment of silence. Then spoke softly, “Be careful. We’ll be in touch.”
—
How long did they wait?
They had been standing there for some time since Veronica entered the meeting place. Seeing only a few individuals coming and going into the Steel Bowl. It was only a few minutes ago when an interesting person went in, someone dressed nicely and wearing a paper bag. Odd.
A brief message pinged within their internal interface stating that the client had arrived.
The person wearing the paper bag was the client?
And so they both continued waiting.
Professor had felt nervous standing within the confines of the alleyway for so long. He knew that their hulking figure stood out even when obscured by the shadows of the alleyway and those cast by city above them.
If anything he understood it made them appear more intimidating and worked well for most of the tasks they were assigned.
People walking who caught sight of him quickly looked away and kept walking, or they would hurriedly move away. Though he was usually now accustomed to these sorts of reactions they still bothered him. Why did this body have to be so big? Wanting to breach the silence he spoke into the confines of his digitized mind.
“How do you think the negotiations are going?” Professor asked in a quiet voice.
A deep and monotone voice suddenly responded from within the digital aether that was his mind, “Firstly, our appearance is one that deters any from being too curious. Being a big imposing helps with our work.” With their hand, he then gestured to the Steel Bowl, “Second, status unknown. Seems to be going well. No arts have been fired nor can I hear consecutive hateful words.”
“You are right Soldier, nothing is amiss. I am slightly nervous at how Sean framed the job as being ‘big’.” Professor said then pulled up an image of the client on their internal display, sighed, “The man has no concept of danger. Remember the time we had to go save someone who was kidnapped by those extend cultists?”
Soldier crossed their arms and nodded, “That was an exciting mission. We executed it flawlessly despite being shot at in a vehicle used to deliver icy treats.”
Within their head, Professor paused after hearing that response, “Flawlessly? Which part?”
Just before Soldier’s deep voice could echo throughout their digital head space once more a familiar voice interrupted the internal dialog.
“I told you both to at least try and be discreet. Everyone can see you.” Said Veronica standing before them and looking up
Professor looked down to his the fiery extended, she had her arms crossed. Her faceplate was relaying a full white pixelated figure wagging a finger at them.
As usual, she was dressed in her black jacket with a casual shirt beneath it and denim pants. Both sleeves of the jacket were rolled up revealing the metallic sheen of her extends, and her golden blond hair was tied up in a bun.
Professor shrugged the broad shoulders of his large frame, “I tried hiding us more. Soldier said that being too hidden would prevent us from taking immediate action.”
Tapping the black glass of their metallic head Soldier spoke, “Veronica we cannot be of too much use if we are far away from the mission zone.”
Across her faceplate, an outline of a face appeared with an eyebrow raised, “Be honest. You wanted something to happen or you both thought I would cause some sort of scene.”
“I would never think such things, Veronica, I fully…” Professor blurted out while holding out their hands helplessly.
“But I would. You have a habit of improvisation Miss Darvos or as some say ‘sticking your foot in your mouth’.” Soldier said interrupting his other half.
A smiling mouth appeared across the outlined face on Veronica’s extend face display, “I believe you Professor.” An animated broken heart now flashed on the face display and she shook her head, “Soldier you wound me. Everything I do is planned.” She said then laughed playfully.
Soldier stooped low and focused their optical sensors on Veronica. The lens within their head zooming on her, “You are not being serious. Humor is still something I lack a full understanding of.” Practice would be necessary later, humor could be something utilized for any future jobs.
Waving at hand at them she said, “Come on you two. Let’s go back to the agency and inform Sean we accepted the contract.”
Pulling a hood over their head they followed Victoria out of the alleyway into the partially shaded mid-tier street.
—
Sean sat within the dimly lit office of the Hardwired agency. His crossed legs propped up onto the desk as he leaned back into an old wooden chair, his eyes closed and arms crossed. It creaked with every nod of his foot to the music playing from the speakers surrounding a small gray box.
Projecting from the top of it was a holo screen and on it was the fluctuating wavelength of the current song. The melody surging through the air was vibrant and passionate.
From within his glass dome, the ethereal flames that composed his head seemed to flicker with the tune.
As the song ended he reopened his and looked at the holo-screen. According to the time being shown Veronica and the duo were gone for some time.
He looked around the office room, “We keep procrastinating on cleaning this mess.” He muttered to himself.
The desk towards the back of the room was his and it was piled with scattered papers of various documents and bills. Amidst the chaos were a line of ink pens neatly lined up. Sean had to maintain some semblance of order.
A window was also behind him giving him a seventh-story view of some parts of a mid-tier city sector. It was also the largest source of lighting within the office. The other sources were a few lamps that emitted a soft light.
All around the desk were varying orders of disorder. Three other desks were present within the room, and they all were an illustration of who sat at them.
Veronica’s desk was a mess of books, caster parts, and a few empty food-paste canisters. Sean could not help but appreciate that she still appreciated reading from a physical book, they were getting rare.
Across the room from her was Sylvia’s desk. Anyone who didn’t know her would have thought it belonged to a chemist. Vials and bottles within plastic racks filled with colorful liquids. Tubes snaked from them across the desk into canisters that looked like drink shakers. Those were Sylvia’s “concoctions”.
She was out grabbing some food for herself. Sylvia was the only person in the group whose body was still fully organic and could experience the full joy of eating.
Beside the door was the final desk, and it was surrounded by a few tables that had a menagerie of items on them. It was the office’s giant multi-personality robot’s desk. Within the office space, it was the cleanest area. Maps, papers, and various data sticks were cleanly arranged. The nearby tables also had assorted gear and weaponry.
Putting his feet down he stood and sighed, his blue flames swayed as he did so.
Breaking him from his thoughts the office door opened and the lithe form of Sylvia entered. Her long black hair swayed as she moved into the room.
It was a usual practice for Sylvia that Sean noticed, but he saw her piercing light gray eyes scan the room. Upon finishing her check she gave him a slight wave, in her other hand, was a paper bag.
“Hi, Boss. I see the others are not back yet.” She said softly walking to her desk.
Sylvia reminded Sean of a cat both in appearance and how she moved with deadly grace.
Sean grunted, “I would have gone but I had to get the payment from our last job.” He motioned to the bag, “What did you get?”
Taking a seat at her desk she reached into the bag and produced a sandwich wrapped in foil. She took a big bite from the sandwich. After getting a taste of her food she immediately broke the mystique she constantly radiated, to show her satisfaction Sylvia began swishing her legs up and down through the air.
Whenever she acted like this Sean was reminded of a celebrating child, he chuckled internally.
“It is that good? Where did you get it?” He missed the taste and act of eating food. By watching others he was able to live through them.
“From one of the food stalls, I usually visit near the 2nd Sector ring.” She said while licking her fingers of some of the sauce oozing from her food. “I mostly go to the vendors near us, but I was informed of tastier prospects. A lot of good food out there.” She smiled then continued eating, humming as she did so. With a few more bites she finished her meal.
“I’ll keep that in mind when giving others suggestions on where to eat.” He mumbled feeling envious.
Heavy footsteps thudded outside the door. It opened and Veronica walked in, bending down to walk through the door was the duo.
“Welcome back you three.” He gestured to them with a hand, “Do we have a job, Veronica?”
Walking to him he faceplate flashing the image of a hand with a thumbs up. “Oh, we have a job, Sean.”