The Nexus sun had begun its slow ascent above the city skyline casting large shadows over the already bustling street. The shadows had a way of reminding him of the hell he slipped into every night as he slept, his destiny, his utter insignificance in a universe that he had no power in. He shook off the depressing thought and trudged across the street to the entrance to the club. The yellow neon from the sign illuminated the shadowy doorway and Jason thought about what he would say in order to get some medication from the club boss, “This is not going to be easy.” he though as he pushed open the double doors into the lobby that smelled of cigarette smoke and cheap cologne. The room was filled with soft yellowish neon that filled the room with almost a fog of light, misty and weightless yet asserting a definite presence. There were girls dancing on platforms scattered methodically about the room so each one could gather a crowd without causing the room to be an unorganized mass. Jason spotted the bar in the back of the room next to the main stage and he began to make his way through the crowds of horny reveliers swinging their credit pads about. Jason leaned on the bar and flagged its tender, “Whos the boss around here? I have a business proposition for him… also a Shizukesa Brandy.. Make it a double.” The bartender nodded in acknowledgement, tipped an ornate bottle, gave a hefty pour, and slid the glass down the waxed counter top. Jason caught the glass as it was sliding past and lifted it to his lips. The brown liquid Tasted heavily of oak but left a slight taste of pear and apple on the tongue, it was delightful. Jason sipped his drink and watched the dancer from his spot at the bar. She was a pretty girl with brown hair and a narrow thin face, the movement of her body and hips aluard his attention away from the bartender who went into the back presumably to find the boss. Her body snaked around the poll with the elegant grace, he noticed a neon tattoo running up her tan ribs. The glowing red symbols shown through her skin in a language he didn't understand, and for a moment he pondered on their meaning. They probably mean something Naive like “Hope in tomorrow”, “Love is eternal '' or some other such nonsense that Jason knew was too optimistic for a galaxy as harsh as this one was, nevertheless on her skin it looked fantastic.

This thought was cut short by the feel of cold cylindrical metal on his neck followed by a large hand firmly placed on his shoulder.

“I hear you are looking for the boss?” an unseen man asked in a deep gravelly voice. Jason thought about how odd it was to be looking at a naked figure with what was obviously a gun pressed against his head, it was an interesting sensation. Jason took a sip from his glass calmly and placed it on the bar next to him. “Do you know what her tattoo says?” Jason replied coyly, and the hand that gripped his shoulder released, but repositioned against Jason's head and quickly slammed it down atop his glass. Jason felt the glass shatter underneath his cheek, the sweet brown liquid burning his face as it filled in his newly cut face. Jason, near blinded with pain by the sudden attack, felt himself being lifted and gagged as he was dragged into the back of the bar.

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When Jasons vision cleared up he saw a large man standing with his arms crossed in the darkened room. Jason winced as he tried to free himself from the gag, but with every move he felt the wounds on his face open and closed. Blood was running down his face and dripping from his beard onto the floor, creating a small pool of crimson between his feet. He assessed his situation: he seemed to be bound to a chair in the middle of a darkened room, there was a electronic bass beat that he could still feel indicating that he was still in the club somewhere, the man in front of him was huge probably some kind of bouncer, two men walking behind the large man were armed with guns looking like they were patrolling the room.

“Look at the fucking balls on you.” a voice from behind Jason broke his train of thought, the man continued, “a month ago my girls started going missing from right under my nose, and I think those whores heard some story of a safe haven for people like them and decided to take their chances on the run. So I send my boys out to round them up so I can give them a good..” Jason heard the wiff of something cutting through the air, but before he could think further something hard hit him in the ribs with a fleshy smack. “But what did my boys find?” the man leaned in close to Jason's ear, “Your Tapestry of death.” Jason had no idea what this man was talking about but couldn't debate him in his current gagged state. After a moment of what Jason assumed was reflection the man walked out from behind him and stood in front of Jason holding a pry bar. Then a week ago you show up and rent one of my best girls and” the man moves his hands out in a shrug, “She goes missing too.. So you show up today and well, lets just say my luck seems to have turned.” The man took a step back and nodded to the large man, who stepped up and grabbed Jason by the shirt and brought a heavy meaty fist into Jason's face filling his mouth with the salty copper taste of his own blood.

“Why are you targeting my business? Do you work for one of the other clubs?” The man asked this question almost monotone as if this sort of questioning was just a normal occurrence. The large man ripped out the gag so Jason could answer, he spit the blood out of his mouth “I don't work for anyone, what are you talking about?” Jason’s answer must have been the wrong one because he received another hard punch this time to his eye which began to swell up immediately.

“What have you done with the girl?” The man spat out the question with a hint of anger this time. “Julie? I'm here on her behalf... if you get this big fucker to stop hitting me maybe we can talk!” Jason spit more blood out. The man was not expecting this answer and his surprise showed across his face. Before the man could say anything his wrist communicator lit up and in a moment the man walked out of the room without a word.

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A short time passed before the man re-entered the room with a knife. He approached Jason quickly and Jason braced for the feeling of the knife against his skin, It didn't come. “It must be your lucky day.” The man cut Jason's bindings and freed him but kept the pointed at him, “I was just contacted about another attack, I'm not ruling you out as a suspect in these attacks, but ill let you explain what you know about Julie.” Jason thought about what he should share for a moment, “I “rented” Julie a week ago to help me with some wounds that I acquired on a bounty hunting mission. We talked and got to know each other over the evening. In the morning she explained that she wanted out of the sex industry but knew you would never let her go so im helping her get out..” Jason was cut off by the man who pressed the knife against his throat, “Are you admitting to stealing my Product? Where is she?” The man was obviously upset by this revelation.

“ I won't tell you where she is..” The knife pressed in harder this time drawing blood, “But, I want to make a deal.” Jason stated as calmly as possible as to not set the man off.

“What kind of deal?” The man asked, and pulled the knife away from Jason's neck, he knew people always had a price, Jason just had to find it. Jason rubbed his neck where the fresh blood was mixing with the old blood the earlier altercation. “There are two things I want” Jason started, “ The first I need now, Julie is suffering from acute withdraw from this.” Jason lifted up the vile of elysium he had taken from his housing pod. “Since you were the ones that got her hooked, Im sure you have something here that can help her with the withdraw.” the man took no time to respond.

“Why would I want to help her get off Elysium when she is just going to get hooked again when she is back here?” his question was almost a joke as he laughed slightly as he said it. Jason felt his blood start to boil the comment, but he managed to control himself.

The second part of the deal is this, I want to earn Julie's freedom. What will I have to do to get you to agree to these terms?”

He stroked his chin in thought. “ Buying her freedom will cost you big….but credits are not the question here. No, what I need is more valuable than credits. For the first part of the deal, I will give you the medicine she needs but she will need more and we don't have enough right now to supply her. You will get one vile this will get her back on her feet if she doesn't get more then the withdrawal will come back stronger. That is how you can repay me.” Jason looked at the man quizzically, the man continued. “Every month or so a pharmaceutical company will send a huge shipment into the upper city to sell for massive profit. You need to get me the next shipment and Julie will get all the doses she needs. As for the second part of the deal, you can see we are at a loss on how to handle our current situation. I need you to help in the search for this killer that is attacking my clubs throughout the red light district. I will give you some of my best men to help you track him down, and when this killer's head is on my desk...” the man looked Jason directly in the eyes, “Julie will be free to do whatever she wants.” Jason held the man's gaze for a brief moment contemplating his ask. That was a lot of work for no money,but she would be free, what was a few extra Jobs from the bounty office to make up that loss. It was a steep trade but one Jason was willing to make, He held out his hand. “You have a deal.” the man shook his hand with a look of relief on his face though he didn't mention anything about it.

“Come with me.” the man turned and began to walk out of the room and Jason followed him dizzily. They walked threw hallways in the back so deep in the club that Jason could no longer hear the music playing, in fact there was a new sound that sounded like a distant alarm. As the two men approached the door at the end of the hall the sound became one Jason recognised, the screams of agony. The man pushed open the doors to reveal a large room with a medical closet and to Jason's horror walls of iron cells that were full of men and women suffering from the Elysium withdrawal in a much later stage then Julie was at the moment. Their blackened veins covered their whole bodies and were bulging as if they were ready to burst. One guy was tearing at his clothes attempting to rip them off screaming as if he were on fire, Jason thought this may have been the most heartless he’d seen in years. The man was saying something but Jason stared at the pleading people begging for relief, I think I have made a deal with the devil he thought. The man handed him something and Jason snapped back to reality.

“Here, we will contact you when we learn more about the shipment, I'm already in there as Mr.L. If I call you have to pick up, that's the deal.” Mr. L handed Jason a prefilled syringe with a dial that read 7 give her one injection every other day and she will have a much easier time dealing with the withdrawal.” Jason looked back at the wall of victims and the man noticed where Jason’s gaze had locked, “ Interesting insurance policy we have here hm?” Mr. L said this with an almost gleeful tone to his voice. Jason looked at him with a cocked eyebrow, Mr.L gave a sly smile back. “ you see, if you get them hooked on Elysium high then give them a taste of the low they will never leave you, it works almost every time.” Jason looked back at the cages fidgeting with the syringe and fighting the urge to give the prisoners as much relief as he could. “Almost every time?” He asked. Mr.L gave a nod to one of the cages at the far end and the two men approached. a man about the same age as Julie lay sprawled out in in the cage black blood oozed from his nose, eyes, and mouth and by the size of the pool of black around his head Jason thought he might have been in that state for days.

“The process is harder for some than others. This guy only lasted a few weeks.” Mr.L snarled and kicked the cage.

The two men walked down the maze of hallways and back to the front of the club and Mr.L opened the door that lead into the main room, but stopped Jason before he went into the main room. “One more thing, if you double cross me or back out on our deal i'll find you and kill you both.” Mr.L stated this fact and pushed Jason through the door. Jason walked amongst the crowd still bleeding but no one seemed to care in the slightest. On his way out he saw the dancer with the glowing red tattoo standing by the door, he approached her.

“What does your tattoo say?” he asked over the music.

She replied with a far off gaze, “Savagery breeds survival”.

Jason let out a little laugh and pointed to his bleeding and bruised face ,“No shit!” he pushed open the doors into the morning air, I guess she wasn’t as naive as he thought.