Project 13 Book One: From The Shadows

Chapter 2: Lightning Storms, Assassin

A flash of motion… then the focus… head cleared… emotion forsaken… a quick flash of pity quickly dispelled upon thoughts of what they did, the torture they subjected on others, the pain inflicted upon my client… breathing stilled… ready, aim, fire! The bullet launched silently and perfectly on point at the target. Silent not because of my gun, for it was a rusty old sniper rifle from before the sky city, refurbished with technology I designed, rudimentary programs to improve its performance. No, the sound and excess energy in the form of heat was removed, sucked into my body, saved for a later use, leaving only a perfect tunnel in reality where the bullet flew directly to the heart of my target. 

There was no time to admire this perfection though as I rapidly took out the 10 surrounding bodyguards and the man's partner-in-crime in the same fashion. In a mere 2 minutes, the 12 men lay limp and lifeless on the ground. I pushed my glasses up on my nose and took a picture, as proof for my client, and also to document my kills. One might say I was a collector of such photos, not as a way to gloat but as remembrance of my sins, of the lives I have taken. As my job completed, I checked the surrounding area on my gun’s heat-sensing radar for people; upon finding nothing, I stood, turned and ran along the roof into the thick fog, then leaping from roof to roof back to the Leaky Keg.

........

The tavern was loud as normal; I sauntered in with my rifle slung over my shoulder, my trench coat flaring slightly behind me and a slight smirk on my face. As I walked past the tables quieted, several of the various inhabitants acknowledged my presence, and the barkeeper looked up from the shot glass he was cleaning and called out to me.

“Successful mission?”

“As is to be expected,” I remarked “Just doin’ my job disposing of another low-life thug, all in a day's work.”

“No one else disposes of 24 people in one day though,” remarked another ruffian at the counter. “It takes a lot of skill to pull off that kind of work.”

More nods affirmed this statement, but I didn't want a band of followers. I just wanted to slide out of the center of attention and get my payment so I could leave.

“Well I'm not the only one who has a high kill quota today… Jarvis and Holt also have good numbers today. Anyway, I need a break-so enjoy your conversations and beverages.” He walked away as I Headed over to my usual spot in the farthest corner of the room.

It was a position from which I could watch both the front and back doors. As soon as I sat down, I was approached by one of my clients for the day. This mission had involved a quick disposal of an army general and his 3 cronies. It turned out to be a nice sum of 200 dollars upon showing the photo, not to mention an additional 50 for clean death and my usual untraceable weaponry. The next client to seal a contract for my skills was the one for my last mission, paying at 1200 for the whole deal. The final client took their time to locate me. That mission was a bit more sophisticatedly complicated, involving a significant risk of sneaking around on my behalf. For the extra work I got 1200 to dispose of the 6 union council members. My fourth client didn't show themselves today as the job I been tasked with from them was not yet complete. A total of 2650 wasn't bad for a day’s worth of work, though.

After the last client, left I got out my latest project, I was inventing a gun that would shoot fire and laser bolts in addition to my traditional bullets. It would also have a module that would eject darts with various potions or poisons for more intricate situations, such as hostage retrieval. The current dilemma was an error in FCW selection, or the selection of the correct dart upon the press of a button. It seemed like a connection swap, but I hadn't had time to get in and look at it yet.

The wires were complicated, therefore my first decision was to use ties to group together similar wires so I could quickly decide which wires were issues and needed to be fixed. It also alerted me that several wires had been reversed and made it more obvious where things came from and went to. I switched the appropriate cables and then tested the FCW selection button. Looking at the dart chamber, the correct switch had occurred. A smile crossed my face as the gun I had been working on for so long has finally come to fruition. I checked all of the other commands and the appropriate lighting occurred so it was ready for use. By the time I finished my gun the tavern was closing, so I went home satisfied.