I patiently waited for Jin to respond after explaining the job. Taking another sip of my whisky and tea, I leaned back and asked, “So, are you in or not?”

Jin sighed, “I’m afraid I cannot. Sorry, Fives.”

“Why the hell not!?” I yelled, agitated, “Is it the money?!”

“No, no. Of course not.”

“The booze?!”

“No, I can’t – ”

“The supplies?! The opportunities?! What is it then!? Why not!?”

“I’m dying, dammit!!” Jin yelled over me and slammed his fists on the table, his ordinarily soft voice echoing in the room. “I am dying, and there is nothing I can do about it,” Jin continued, his voice softened, “I looked into every possible remedy I could, from cybernetic replacements to biochemistry. Nothing can help me. The only thing that could help was a theory Zander, and I came up with before he died. But I have no hope left with him and his tech gone. So, no, Violet. I will not join your war crusade.”

I stayed quiet for a long moment before saying, “What if I told you I have Zander’s apprentice with me on my ship?”

“Wouldn’t help. They’re an apprentice and can’t have surpassed Zander before he died.”

“Well, what if I told you that she killed Zander because she was better than him?”

“What?!” Jin said, raising his head.

“It’s true. And she could probably save you from whatever it is that’s killing you.”

Jin thought for a moment, mumbling to himself as he did so, and meandered around the room and up the walls. Then he stopped moving while he walked on the ceiling and said, “If what you’re saying is true, then would she be able to help?”

“Absolutely,” I said happily.

Then Jin fell from the ceiling and landed on his cybernetic feet, “Well then, I have a job for you if you can manage it,” he said and hurried over to one of the bookshelves.

“Of course, I can. Who do you think you’re talking to?” I said smugly.

Jin looked through the volumes of books and rolled up parchment until he found two pieces of parchment, one long one with a blue interior, the second a small paper square, and hurried back to me. “You are going to need these,” he said, handing them over, “The first one is for Zander’s apprentice. The second one is a list of materials. I need you to get what’s on that list.”

I nodded and opened the small paper square, and began reading.

Embiotic fluid: 100 gallons.

Water: 100 gallons.

Healthy woman: 1 to 10.

Healthy human eggs: as many as possible.

Healing tanks: 5.

I finished reading and asked, “Define healthy?”

“Looking for virgins, my dear, and unharmed,” Jin said as he hurried around his room, gathering materials for something.

“Ah, well. You certainly gave me something hard to do.”

“You’re welcome. Now, go. I have much work to do,” Jin said, shooing me away.

Shrugging, I grabbed my bag of food and walked out the door, waving goodbye to his crazy. The hidden door slammed shut behind me as I walked out, then made my way back to the sewer entrance I came through. I sighed and positioned the scroll and the list of items I needed in my bag. Then climbed up the ladder and pushed the maintenance hole open.

Lights blinded me as someone flung the maintenance hole cover open, and a dozen flashlights shone in my face. I flinched momentarily from the light as several people with guns grabbed me and pulled me to the surface. They pinned my arms to the ground and held me there as a few people walked up.

I looked up to see the annoying, rude guy who ordered the ribeyes and the two workers that worked at the stand. Then someone grabbed the back of my head and slammed my face against the ground. “HEY! Careful with the merchandise dick head!” I yelled.

“Is this the perpetrator?” one of the guys holding me down asked the three civilians.

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“Yes, that’s her officer,” the woman worker said in a hoarse voice.

“Aww. Don’t tell me I did that to you? Dozens of guys you blow a day, and after one rough night with a woman, your throat is all sore and scratchy,” I said. Egging them on. Then the officer holding my face down slammed me against the concrete again. “For fucks sake! Do that again, and I’ll kill you slowly,” I yelled.

“Ha! Like you could do anything. You’re just a common crook,” one of the police officers said.

I looked at them and saw that they wore a visor that allowed access to the criminal database, and they were the only person wearing one. A smile spread across my lips, “Oh, are you sure? Why don’t you scan me and see my identity?”

The police officer scoffed, and a vertical white line moved across his visor as he scanned my face. Then he stopped laughing and froze in place as the file came onto his screen. “Oh, fuck!” he yelled, drawing his weapon and pointing it at me, making the two people on top of me jump off in alarm. Freeing my right arm and giving me all the leverage I needed.

Activating my cybernetic enhancements, I pushed down on the ground and flipped over the officer holding my left arm and using him as a human shield. When I landed, I took a deep breath activating another of my cybernetics, and slowed down my perception of time just a bit as I took in the situation.

Twelve officers, three civilian assholes. The alleyway is seven feet wide, and everyone is packed close together. There are eight people in front of me – five guards, three civilians – three people to my right – two of which are on the ground stumbling over each other – and four people behind me, one of whom is pointing a pistol at my head. Chill, guy. I’ll kill you in a minute. Okay, I think I got everything I need to know. Time to kill them.

Pushing the man holding my left arm off and toward the people to my right, I spun, grabbing the pistol pointed at my head and wrenching it from the man’s hands. While he stumbled forward, I aimed down the pistol’s sights and fired five rapid plasma shots, killing two guards, the rude civilian, and the other worker dude I didn’t remember, and one shot went into the woman’s kneecap. Making her scream in pain and horror.

Continuing my momentum and making the man I took the pistol from trip, I fired at the next guard behind me till the gun overheated and threw it at the next person, making them stumble back and into their partners. I threw my bag of groceries at the man with a visor and pulled a knife from my coat. I then threw the knife at one of the three officers with the civilians. The knife went into the man’s neck, severing his jugular vein and spraying blood all over the civilian woman.

I pulled two more knives from my jacket and threw them at the two remaining officers behind me, killing them instantly. Then I leaned back as two plasma bolts passed my face, burning part of my hair off. I slowly turned to the officer who shot, and the alleyway went silent for a moment.

“You gone fucked up. That was my favorite strands of hair,” I said with a wicked smile.

The officer’s eyes widened as he realized how fucked he was, and he aimed again, pulling the trigger in desperation. I dodged the first shot, taking a step closer to the officer, then dodged the second shot, pulling another knife from my jacket. The third shot blazed past my right side, burning more of my hair off as I slid and stabbed the man in his leg, just above the kneecap. Then with my momentum carrying me, the blade slid up his leg and removed his man parts.

I smiled in satisfaction as I pulled the knife from the former man I stood. I spun and stabbed the knife through the next officer’s hands, forcing him to drop their gun. I grabbed the gun mid-fall and fired two quick shots into the officer, then one more into the officer next to them. I spun and fired, killing the last two officers near the civilian woman, and pointed the gun at the officer with the visor.

The man shook in place as he pointed the gun at me and looked between the man bleeding out from where his balls once were and me. Smiling, I walked up to the man and lifted the visor. The man’s blue eyes looked wildly about, desperately seeking an escape. I shot the man bleeding out, and took the visor guy’s gun. “So, what did you read in my file?” I asked casually.

“W-what?”

“What did you read in my file?” I asked again, slowly this time.

“That you’re a fucking psychopath!”

“Yes, go on.”

“And we must kill you on sight or run as fast as we can for our lives if possible.”

“Wow. I have a kill on sight or run here? Most places have the run for your lives.”

“P-please don’t kill me!” the visor guy pleaded for his life as he broke down in tears.

I thought for a moment, “Okay.”

“W-what?”

“Okay. You may live. Run along now.”

The visor guy looked between me and the end of the alley and ran for his life. I took two steps forward to stand next to the civilian woman, aimed down the sites of the pistol, and fired three plasma shots into the man’s back. He collapsed to the ground dead just before he could get out of the alleyway.

“It’s a shame he’s so dumb. Otherwise, his friends might have lived if he hadn’t tried to kill me first,” I said to the civilian woman. I looked down at the woman, her hair disheveled and fear in her eyes as she looked up at me. “Might I ask you a couple of quick questions?” I asked.

“Please don’t kill me,” the woman begged.

“What’s your name? I never learned it when I knocked you out.”

The woman looked confused for a moment, “M-my name’s Mary.”

“Mary, eh?” I pondered. Then lunged, grabbing Mary by the neck and lifting her off the ground. I slowly ran a hand up Mary’s thigh.

Mary struggled, “P-please –” she choked on her own words.

I ignored her, “Next question. Are you a virgin, Mary?” I asked.

“No – P-please –” Mary tried begging again, tears rolling down her face.

“Well, that’s too bad,” I said, “because today is virgins don’t die day. And well, you’ve been naughty in the eyes of God. Or rather, you’ve been naughty in my eyes, to be more accurate.”

I threw Mary to the ground, letting Mary cough and crawl away. Then I grabbed Mary’s one good leg and pulled her closer, flipping her over onto her back. Mary kicked and screamed as I jumped atop her, grabbing her head. Mary screamed and bucked as she fought back with all her might, while I dug my thumbs into Mary’s eyes.

Reviling in Mary’s screams, I pushed a little harder, making Mary’s eyes burst into blood. Then I lifted Mary’s head and repeatedly banged it against the ground. Even after Mary went silent and limp, I kept smashing her head against the ground until it finally burst.

With that done, I leaned back and looked up into the sky with blood covering my face. Smiling, I sat for a minute before wiping my face clean, standing, and retrieving my bag of groceries. I then made my way to the end of the alleyway, turned, and bowed to the corpses before disappearing into the crowd.

***