(Sector Avinta, Heton system, Rezen checkpoint station)

"So how much?"

"Fifty thousand, you'll some extra if it's in pristine condition"

"No rules or anything?"

"Only one, better condition, better pay"

Ruke tapped the bar table with his claw, pondering if it's worth it, he's not convinced enough, he needs another small thing.

"Are you paying in advance? Or?..."

"Fine, ten thousand, no more, i'll give you the rest once you came back with what i want"

"Deal then"

Ruke shook the hands of the man that sat across him on the bar table, he was just minding his own business, drinking and all that, when the man came over and said something about him looking desperate, not wrong really. He offered him a job, with what he would consider generous pay with an easy task, go here, grab that, get out. It isn't the most “legal” safe to say, but who cares, certainly not him, and certainly not now in this economy.

"Right, here's your chips"

"Thanks, heh… how much time are you giving me by the way?"

"Three Bolyash cycles from now, convert that as you will to your time system, if you can remember"

"Three? That's… a lot, why?"

"Call it a hunch if you will"

"No… trust me, this'll be easy, i'll deliver it to you in two"

"That's what you say, but three's the max, it's up to you if you want to hand it in early, assuming you got it early"

"You're just paranoid, anyway, thanks for the cash, see you in two to three cycles from now"

Ruke got up from his seat and strolled out of the bar with a newfound spirit and a wallet full of cash.

"Hmph… yeah… and assuming you don't die"

—-~----

"AHH!"

The clock strikes midnight as heavy rain starts to pour over the city. It isn't always like this, perhaps because of global warming. But no one has time to care about that these days, certainly not in a city as big as Anasea. As rain rages outside many people do many things, most stayed inside, some were outside with their umbrellas out, aiming to get to where they need to as fast and as dry as possible.

"Oh shit-oh shit!"

But some unfortunate few have to brave through it, such as Eunike whose quick steps were as fast as her heartbeat as she prays to God her briefcase is waterproof. She damn near slammed through the door of the building she was aiming for, thankfully she came to her senses, and hit the wall next to it instead.

"Ow…"

She has to be honest, using a wall to slow yourself down while running on slippery concrete wasn't the smartest idea. Did stop her though, so all is (somewhat) well. She quickly entered the building, the first thing she checked was her briefcase, it was new so she didn't know what features it had. Thankfully, it did seem to be waterproof, as she found all her documents safe and dry.

"Oh… thank God… stupid rain"

Everything else on her was wet however, except for maybe her shirt, she took her coat off and threw it at the nearest laundry cart. She's been here before, they know what her coat looks like, and probably won't mind putting in a dryer for her. The building was an apartment, small and a little dirty, but cheap, and the owner certainly is nice, something her coworker really likes.

"Hmm…"

Speaking of her coworker… Which floor was his office on again? She kept forgetting it, maybe it was 5 or something? Maybe. She took the stairs, not like there's a lift around here, every step up sounds of wet cloth and dripping water, in hindsight, she probably should've worn shorter pants. She arrived at the fifth floor without seeing anybody, good, she doesn't want anyone to see her like this.

She looked for a room, and found it pretty much immediately, there's only four rooms per floor anyway. With a sigh she walked up to it, glancing at the custom sign on top of the door frame before she opens the door.

*Black Dog Private Investigator*

The moment she opened the door, a paper airplane struck her right in the face.

"OW!..."

"Oh shit…"

"Daniel! What the hell?"

It came from Daniel, her coworker, who had his leg up on his desk. With a messy suit, messy hair and a coffee stain on his papers, it's not hard to tell what kind of guy he is. She can't even comprehend how he managed to look like this at the *start* of their “work time” (not like private businesses have a concrete schedule, but you get her point)

"Sorry, why are you wet?"

"Wha- It's raining outside! Oh my God!"

"Why don't you use an umbrella or something?"

"I was walking when it just happened okay? My God!... By the way, pay the laundry guy for me, yeah?"

"Bob?"

"Who else? My coat's wet dumbass! *Sigh…*"

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She went to her own desk, which was just across Daniel's, it's a pretty small room, both used as some kind of an office, as well as Daniel's own room, he lives here. She herself lives in a separate (and higher quality) apartment building just a few blocks away, the owner isn't very nice though, but it’s a con she can get over.

"Do you atleast get something?"

"For our current case? Yeah i did, turns out the owner forgot he had two dogs”

"What? No, not that one, that's from last week, the one with that annoying Starbucks girl we had to follow”

"Oh, the cheating one? Yeah-yeah i got something, a sex tape"

"Huh?"

"Literally found it on the internet, don't ask me how”

He exclaimed nonchalantly as he pulled out his phone, the thumbnail of a certain type of video was on the screen, judging from the red line on the progress bar, he had taken a bit of a peek.

"Oh ok… wow"

"Basically done, but i can't call her boyfriend, probably asleep"

"Well… it's 1:12…"

"That's what I'm saying, oh yeah, another thing, we've got another case in our hand, someone called just a few hours ago, it’s a bit… uhm…”

"What about it?"

"Well… I didn't want to call you about it just yet… I actually haven't accepted it, but the guy said he can wait, it's… uhm… how do i say this?"

"Mhmm? What?"

"It's a murder case"

She damn near spilled her tumbler full of steaming hot tea on her lap.

"Huh? For real!?"

"Yeah, dude said he's gonna pay us a few grand if we can find any clue on who did it, it's the subway station murder thing by the way, you know that one? On Berlin street station”

"I saw it on tv yesterday, some random rich guy mysteriously murdered in the bathroom right?"

"Correct, with like… no evidence on who did it and how”

"Wait, why would someone want us to investigate this? This is out of our league! Are you sure it isn't a prank?"

"The fact that the caller is the victim's brother tell me otherwise, it thought it was a prank too, when the mad man emailed me his damn ID card i changed my mind"

"Wait what?"

"You heard that right, we straight up just have someone's personal information on my Emails right now… listen… i don't think i have to tell you this right?"

"It's serious…"

"Yeah, mad man wanted that someone real bad, i think we're getting into personal vengeance part of a murder case"

"Hah… okay… uhm… if it's like this we gotta get permission from the police don't we?"

"Yup…"

"Alright then… Can I see their ID card?"

"Here"

He tossed his phone across the room, Daniel had the confidence she would catch it, she wished she had that much confidence, as she barely caught it. There it was, an actual scan of an ID card, she can't believe it, she noticed something strange with the person's face though, it looked… familiar. Then it snapped.

"Isn't this the guy with the crazy podcast that talks about aliens?"

—-~----

There's a few things Ruke likes to do whenever he's got the money for it. There's your usual, buy food and water, supplies, fuel, spare parts for his old ship, and whatever little basic knick knacks. Then there's some for his personal pleasure, maybe something to read if he can read, watch, play, some of those "Amp-pulse" drugs if he so dares.

But his personal favorite? A trip to the strip club. Classless, and degenerate, but no one cares about class these days, only those pesky royals do. And as low as it is… he's been lower, so might as well.

You would think a checkpoint station, a station used to filter people who want to visit a planet, would be simple. It's just a glorified gate right? No, it's a city, every checkpoint station is its own kind of place, with its own economy and market, and who is it for? Rejects.

And Ruke's one of them, this has been his life for years now, going from station to station doing God knows what to survive the next day, going to a planet is actually quite a rarity for him. So it's too bad he had to leave Rezen, but there's no proper authority in checkpoint stations, other than of course the paid soldiers who check people and let them pass.

But those soldiers only care about that, and nothing else, they're really not paid to take care of anything else anyway, the Bolyash wasn't too generous with their salary. So there he is, on the lawless station, where the only law is that if you have money, don't act funny, lest you'll find yourself bankrupt, or worse, dead.

He strolled through the "street" of the station's "city", with a goal in mind and cash on hand, towards a place only sinners went. The pink and red neon lights put together to resemble a voluptuous behind and a raised tail has been a familiar sight to him. He's a daily customer of these places, he's even got some reputation in some of them.

Some bad, some good, and perhaps a lover or two, he never got any farther than that. He walked through the double door and was welcomed with the usual eye stinging flashing lights and ear deafening music. At first anyway, you get used to it the longer you are in there, and he's had ample experience.

Well… not exactly, this is his first time to visit this particular club, and this is only his second time setting foot on this particular station. So some things looked new here and there, but overall, it's your average strip club.

He's got himself a strong drink and sat down on an unoccupied couch, preferably one closer to the stages where the dancers are. He eyeballed them, good looking, but nothing special, nothing that really caught him by the tail. That one's basic, that one too, that one's kinda decent, but nothing really worth spending credits on. Perhaps this wasn't the wisest place to go to, he should just-

"Hey big guy~ new here?"

One of the strippers, the one that wanders around the tables and seats, called out to him with a sultry voice. Ruke didn't see her at first, the flashing lights were playing some tricks on his eyes, and the alcohol didn't help, but with a bit of focus he got some of the blur off his vision, and realized she was right next to him.

There was something about her that seemed so… catching, mesmerizing, like there's more than what the naked eye can see, she hooked him instantly, and he couldn't help but stare.

"Wanna have some fun? I'll do it for a hundred~"

She was so… Perfect… The pupil of her eye has an amber-colored ring around it, surrounded by a deep orange iris, it resembles a volcano's summit viewed from the top, said volcano erupts with blazing passionate luster.

Her scale is bright red, matching nicely with the color of her eye. They had a particular shine to them, not too shiny, not too dull, just perfect. Her wide toothy smile tells him something of her quality, a quality that can only be described with the word:

"Fiery"

The curvature of her hips, viewed from his position, is beyond perfect, it was not too much nor too little, and definitely natural, which can't be said for some. And her face… with her sharp long snout and a petite mouth, sharp teeth barely poking out of the rim, it gets him heated. The slightly deeper in color line of red scales just above her eyes completes her look, giving her already beautiful eyes even more character.

"Well, thanks for the compliment~ I am a bit fiery aren't i?"

"Huh? Oh… uh…"

"So? What's your decision handsome?"

She touched his chest with her polished claws, despite the protective suit he's wearing, her touch was gentle yet he can still feel it, it felt heavy, piercing his suit and then his heart. He felt an intense heartburn, a good heartburn, one that sends electric shocks all over his body and makes him act up. He tried to answer her question, but all that came out was gibberish, paired with his out of rhythm breathing you may very well call him insane.

"Were you staring at those girls dancing like that too? Or are you just excited to see me?"

"Y-y-you…"

Was the first proper word he could utter.

"Well, happy to hear, i'll let you see a little more of me if you'd like~ i just need-"

Without another word, he reached into his pockets and handed her two chips, the number one thousand carved on each one. She stared at it for a moment, dumbfounded, before smiling widely. She got closer and wrapped her arms around his shoulder.

It touched a little bit of his exposed neck, her scales were extremely soft, effortlessly gliding across his own much rougher scales. Her arms weren't that big, and yet it felt very heavy on his shoulder, and it gave him that heartburn sensation once again, but much more ravenous. But it was nothing compared to what he felt as she closed in and whispered into his ear.

"*I like you, let's go somewhere a bit more private…*"

—-~----

Ruke was sitting there, one the edge of a bed, naked as day and a body so hot he thought he turned warm blooded. He had just finished experiencing what he would call real heaven, a place he'll never go to, but who needs the heaven above when there's a better one down here? He looked behind him, at the red shrouded angel he just had a great time with.

She was putting her scanty clothes back on, all the while trembling as if something shook her really hard, well… someone did shake her hard. She somehow noticed she was being looked at and looked back at him, she gave him a smile, it was different, in contrast to the lusty smile she had before, it felt… warm, there's the heartburn again.

"Thank you for that…"

"For what?"

"Using my service, you're the first one today"

"....really?'

"Yes, you can- Agh… God… my tail hurts… y-you can pay again if you wish to continue…"

Why would a stripper- oh… this is *that* kind of strip club isn't it?

"Debt?"

"Hmm?"

"You got a debt?"

"I… I can't answer that…"

"You can tell me"

"...."

"...."

There was a very uncomfortable amount of silence, perhaps he shouldn't have asked.

"Hrm… everyone here has one, that's all i can say"

"Was the five thousand I paid enough?"

"Quite a bit… still far from enough, but it helps… so, do you want to-"

"No…"

"Oh… that's fine"

"I… i have to go, excuse me"

Ruke quickly suited up, and left the private room, leaving the stripper alone. She sighed, perhaps this isn't her lucky day, she hasn't been selling well lately, but such is the nature of every business, as wicked and as unhonorable it is.

She tidied the room before she left, making sure to wipe off any liquids, sweep off any mess and fold the sheets. That man sure left a mess, on the room and on her. Speaking of messes on her, she's never seen someone so lusty yet nervous, he moves so carefully yet so feral. It was an experience to say the least, not everyday she gets a memorable customer-

"Hey!"

"AHH!"

She was wiping the floor near the door with a wet cloth when someone broke in, they practically slammed the door open. It's the feral man again, he looks like he just ran somewhere quite far and then ran back to the start judging from his rapid breathing.

"Sir, please don't-"

"What's your name?"

"Huh?"

"What's your name lady?"

"I-i can't say that…"

"Just… give me something to call you by"

"Uhm… okay?... Angel?"

"Angel?.... I like that, Angel… don't tell anyone about this, okay?"

"About what?"

"This, see you later, by the way… name's Ruke"

He placed a small lockbox on the foot of the door and left.

"Wait!... oh…"

—-~----