My mind wanders as I leave the apartment complex. Is it really right to turn Jill over to the government? For the first time in a long time I feel regret for something that is happening in the present. I know all about regret, it dogs me wherever I go, no matter what I do. But it is always for something that happened in the past.

Speaking of the past, I need to go see her. I have to do it, I need the information. The thought of it eats away at me. To me she is a reminder of my mistakes and something that will hold me back. I haven’t been to her place in so long. I stop, calling up a map, trying to get my bearings.

My forearm is taken hold of by something powerful, something with sharp, hard fingers. A voice tells me to stay still.

I move my eyes as far as they will go, trying to figure out what is going on. There is something behind me, I can’t tell what it is, but I can tell that it isn’t humanoid. The claw that is wrapped around my arm is made of polished black metal, which is ice cold. The talons are as much spikes as razors, they look like they could pierce the armored shell of a tank, or slice open the hull of a spacecraft.

Its belly, or at least a part of it, is pressed against me; I can feel a sickening, organic warmth against my back. A long neck, no, the upper half of a long body snakes around in front of me. The thing is face to face with me.

The barrels of a pair of twin laser cannons are pointed at my face. The guns are mounted on either side of its head. Its long snout grins with a mouth full of perfectly white, perfectly sharpened teeth. The top of its body is covered in soft looking white fur. While the bottom is scaly skin. The head is adorned with countless eyes, some organic, some robotic, I recognize at least a dozen different optic systems. I look beyond the terrible face, no one else is around.

It would gun me down before my hand got anywhere near my weapon. Keeping cool is the only way that I am going to survive this. “Let me guess, you’re Goëtia,” I ask in a tone that says that I don’t have the time or patience for this.

“That is a name that will become infamous,” it purrs, its voice is strange and sticky. I wonder if it is produced using a mechanical system or reengineered vocal cords.

“Well, it is good to have goals, helps to keep things moving forward.”

He ignores my smartassed remark, “You were snooping around in the Archipelago’s systems, why?”

I will pretend to be an obsessed loser, I’m sure that they have to deal with them all the time, “I wanted to access a girl’s uplink.”

“You lie!”

“I am telling you the truth. Say, can I pay you for it?”

“You can’t play dumb with me, Skinwalker,” did I hear a ting of jealousy there? To think, this monster is jealous of me. “You are working with the Untouchable,” he bellows, “which apartment are they hiding in?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Damn, did he mean Aganok or Mason? It is bad either way. “That is absurd. He can’t rent one.”

“He is using yours, or maybe a friend’s place,” it accuses, that voice making every word feel like a violation.

“He aint in there.”

“My facial movement analysis program says that you are telling the truth, but I still think that you are lying. Have you gotten work done to make yourself a better liar?”

I tell him the truth, “I haven’t, but it is on my to do list.”

“Such shortsightedness. I don’t understand how you can keep yourself so basic. If I had to live in such a plain body, it would drive me mad.”

“Ya, well, I’m old school like that.” I need to see if I can get him to give away which Untouchable he is aware of, without giving that fact away. “What exactly do you think that I am getting out of this?” I ask.

“You get new customers. The Untouchables become your friend and then they use your services.”

“But they would need some kind of money to pay me.”

“They steal money. No more questions! Only I get ask questions!” it emphasize this by playing with the power systems of its guns, creating an iconic whine.

“Fair enough.”

“Which apartment is she in? How many are in it?”

Time for something different, I will try to send him on a wild goose chase, “I don’t know where they keep her.”

“But they do have her?”

Damn, he’s good.

“I honestly don’t know. Maybe we can team up?”

“I work alone, I hunt alone. She may not be in there, but someone is, who?”

I still don’t know if he knows about my friend(s) in 205. I decide to play it safe. I will send him after Mason, “I was just going in there for a quick booty call. I have never met Mason in person.”

“Tell me which room, we will go see,” despite the blades and guns that are holding me hostage I feel a wave of relief.

“No, no, she has nothing to do with it.”

The claw tightens down, “Tell me. I won’t hurt her, I promise.”

As I stare helplessly at the lens of one of the guns an idea pops into my brain. I saw that guy leave his room, which means that it is unoccupied. Maybe I can get him in there, get the drop on him somehow. Anything would be better than being in the current situation. The only problem is that I didn’t see the number. I wasn’t recording with my IC and I don’t think that I even glanced at the room number.

“I don’t know the room number, but I will take you there.”

“You don’t know her room number, how is that possible?” it growls incredulously.

“I just know how to get to it, I never thought to look at the number.”

“Lier!” it shrieks, tightening down enough to tear into my skin.

I ignore the pain, “I will take you there!”

“You already called him, he will slip out the back. I…”

A shot rings out. Goëtia lets me go, moving soundlessly, disappearing somewhere behind me. I dive to the ground, unsure if I should draw my weapon.

Another round is fired, then another. I look in the direction of the gunfire. It is the lads from before, several of them are pointing little zipguns at the area where the bounty hunter fled. One of them is frantically trying to clear a bad jam.

I look behind me. The wall of the apartment building has deep puncture marks. For a second I wonder how the little popguns did that, but then I realize that it was caused by the claws of that thing. A quick inspection indicates that it crawled down the wall to get the drop on me, and then back up and over the roof as he made his escape.

I check my arm, peering through the rips in my coat. The cuts are minor, they are already starting to coagulate.

The leader walks over to me, “That monster had you good!” this was followed by the other lads celebrating the fact that they had driven the freak away.

“Ya, thanks. If you need anything let me know,” after I say this I use my IC to send them contact information and a list of prices, with a few nice discounts thrown in. Then I make a beeline for the surface.