Olympus: The Agency (Book One)

24. Creeper

"Again!" Allyra called out, cheering. She was sitting on Isaac's shoulders with a bottle of vodka in her hand, whooping as she watched Tartarus down another six shots of the smoking green alcohol in front of him.

Tartarus growled happily as he slammed down the final shot glass, raising his hands to the cheering of the bar's patrons.

"Twenty seven," Isaac said over the cheering. "Unheard of for a human. Not bad."

"Go for thirty!" Allyra demanded, leaping off of Isaac's shoulders and landing on the table. "Thirty! Thirty! Thirty!"

The bar's patrons started chanting with Allyra. They wanted to see Tartarus down thirty shots of alcohol unfit for human consumption.

"Thirty!" they cried. "Thirty!"

Tartarus shrugged, and began pouring three more shots of the smoking lime liquid. Alice appeared on the table in front of him, her legs crossed, her head tilted to the right like an inquisitive cat.

"I know that your implants burn the alcohol off quicker than it takes effect, but do you realise that it has a limit? If you burn through it, your body will have to deal with it on it's own."

"It'll be fine," Tartarus mouthed so no one could hear him except Alice.

"This is Jinkai, Tartarus," Alice said incredulously. "It's an alcoholic beverage brewed for orcs, not humans."

Tartarus, ignoring the advice of his artificial intelligence, downed the three shots and immediately felt regret. Actually, he felt sick to his stomach as the implant, like Alice had promised, burned out and the alcohol starting to dissolve his stomach lining.

"Alice..." Tartarus groaned quietly, "Help?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "If I do, you have to promise to listen to me in the future. No more stupid choices."

"Agreed, yes, please..."

Alice used her processors to jump-start the implant, which protected Tartarus's stomach lining and allowed him to ignore the effects of the excessive amount of Jinkai in his system. Remembering the cheering crowd, Tartarus raised his hands.

"Thirty, baby!" he roared. Allyra led the crowd in a cheer on the table as Alice shook her head at Tartarus with a sly smile.

"Thank you," Tartarus whispered to his companion. Alice closed her eyes and smiled cutely.

Allyra sat across from Tartarus with a giant grin on her Elven face as Isaac sat next to her, folding his Demonic wings behind him.

"Well done, Tartarus," Isaac said. "I'm sure you broke a record somewhere."

"Hell yeah," Allyra agreed. "But I'm sure you cheated somehow. You being an Agent after all."

Tartarus said nothing, but his smile betrayed the truth. Alice whistled innocently, despite no one being able to see her.

"Even if it has no immediate effect, we should get some water in you," Isaac said, ordering a water pitcher with the table's ordering system.

Today was a day about relaxing for Tartarus. After fighting another assassin, eco terrorists, biological horrors and a criminal syndicate, he needed a break, even if it was only for a day. Before leaving the ship, he was approached by Allyra and Isaac, asking if he wanted to accompany them to the Red Light District for some drinking.

Tartarus wasn't used to spending time with people. In fact, his time alive had had him lead a rather solitary life. But Allyra's contagious jubilation and Isaac's caring nature were two things he found himself liking. Combined with his friendship with Alice, and Tartarus could actually say...