The second nodded, then went, and dropped the book on top of the garbage that sat in a trash can outside the guardhouse.
"Better let the boss know about this," the maskless guard said as he started to bring a radio up to his mouth.
"I wouldn't do that just yet," Kat exclaimed to get his attention as she grabbed a hand full of dirt, then quickly stood, and threw the dirt in his face.
The maskless guard cried out, covering his eyes with his hands, "I can't see!"
"How's she standing?" the lead guard shouted as he drew his gun. "I thought you killed her!"
"I did!" the third man exclaimed as he aimed his weapon at her and shouted, "She's covered in blood!"
Kat held her chest in pain from the four earlier bullet impacts that struck her Ravlek Vest as she spoke, "It's not my blood." She leapt up, spin kicked the third guard in the temple, and then yelled, "Why do you think I'm here?"
The third guard fell to the ground out cold as the lead and second guard shot at her. Kat rolled with extraordinary speed, evaded their fire, then raced to the lead guard as he shot again, and the bullet nicked her earlobe. She grabbed his wavy hair, whacked the side of his head into the brick guardhouse, and side kicked the second guard in the stomach. The lead guard slid down the brick wall, landing in a heap, and blood covered his forehead. The second guard bent over in pain after she had kicked him, then Kat calmly approached the second guard, took her gun from his waistband, pulled his mask down, and punched him in the face. He started to choke without the mask.
"I can't see!" the remaining guard screamed again. "What's going on?"
She marched over to the blinded man, placed the barrel of her gun against his jaw, took his weapon, and then demanded, "Where's Topa?"
"I won't tell you."
With calm resolve, Kat leaned to him and whispered, "I'm only here to kill him, but that doesn't mean I'll let you live if you don't tell me." She put her hand on his back, pulled herself close to his ear, and said, "Tell me, and I'll let you live."
Sweat beaded his forehead, and a salty droplet ran down his face, landing on her barrel. He squinted at the fallen guards and saw blurry images of what looked like dead men.
"Live like the others?" he uttered.
She glanced at one of them as that guard moaned, and then she said, "They're alive. Now... Where's Topa?"
"I won't..."
Kat cocked the gun and stated in a voice that made him feel the presence of death, "Last chance."
"He's... He's in his office. Don't kill me!"
She uncocked the gun, then used the man's own weapon, and struck him in the back of the head, knocking him out. Kat tossed his gun, searched the other men, and took their 9 mm ammo and what A.P.Rs. they had. She placed the magazines in her pocket and tossed their guns and masks into the bushes.
Katharine's view...
I start to walk to the guardhouse to retrieve the Bible from the trash can, but I pause and look at my trembling hands. I know this rage isn't me, but I can't stop myself now. I continue to the trash can, pick up the book, brush debris from its blood dried cover, and hold it close to my heart.
I don't understand why they killed Preacher. Was it because of me or was it another test? My lips tremble as anguish shreds my heart into thousands of hurting pieces. Guilt saturates my thoughts as sadness attacks my being and my own mental accusers taunt me. They won't let me forget that I can do nothing to save the man I love. The accusations press against me and make it hard for me to breathe, but I won't let that stop me. I have gone this long grueling year without killing anyone. I took careful steps not to take a life and always found other ways to defeat the human assassins and bounty hunters the Council sent after me. I know it's wrong to kill but still, if I'm the reason Preacher's dead, then I have to kill Topa; it's all I can do for Preacher. If I can't even shed a tear for him, then I'll take...
I break down, collapse to my knees, and pound the ground with my fist. I'll... I lift my head and wail. I'll murder the man who took him from me. I'll end his life just as he ended Preacher's.
I breathe as deeply as I can, trying to rid myself of the suffocating feelings. I let rage fuel my resolve, and I force myself to stand on my wobbly feet. I start down the dirt path that leads to the center of the estate where the main house and Topa's office are. Hatred seeps into my psyche and drenches it with a malicious-filled insanity as I rush to my target, evading the rest of the guards. I won't have much time before the four at the gate are discovered, so I'll have to be quick and find Topa, and then I'll kill him.
Chapter Five
Enter The Life Closer
9:09 A.M...
The Sanctum...
Within the Chamber...
The Council monitored Pandora's bio-data on the center screen, and they noted changes in her mental state and that her Ultra-Epi had engaged.
"Pandora has entered Topa's estate," Ms. Nona spoke with concern. "Should we stop it? Topa is not part of the experiment."
"No, we will use him as we have used others who stumbled upon our tests," Mr. Morta replied. "The situation could be the catalyst we have been waiting for to take Pandora to the Gamma Phase of its metamorphosis."
Mr. Decuma said, "The project has been a disappointment this past year; its skills are incredible, but..."
"Yes, but Pandora holds back and has not taken a life," Mr. Morta said. "The why is what we have to discover."
"The conditioning has failed," Ms. Nona stated. "We should be working on the Epsilon Phase by now, not worrying about the Gamma."
"No, I think it is more than that. If you will remember even before we took custody of Pandora, it was an enigma. There is nothing wrong with the conditioning. I believe it is Pandora's emotions."
"Its emotions?" Mr. Decuma questioned. He didn't understand the eldest member's reasoning. Mr. Morta held such high expectations for the experiment. It was almost as if he had grown attached, and if he had grown attached, it could be a problem. Mr. Morta could lose his indifference if he was not careful.
"Yes, Mr. Decuma," Mr. Morta replied, and then he explained, "Pandora's emotions... though they maybe immature... they still influence it. You see, rage and love even from a child... they are both driving forces, and it has not tapped into them."
"Until it met Preacher," Ms. Nona added. "Pandora knew love and now knows rage."
Mr. Morta nodded as he spoke, "Precisely, if we had known how his death would have affected Pandora, we would have killed him long ago to move along its programming."
A female supervisor handed Ms. Nona a report.
Ms. Nona said, "This could be a problem."
"What is it?" Mr. Decuma asked.
"It seems one of the corporations does not like what Topa has been doing lately. A Life Closer has been dispatched to the estate."
"By our corporation?" Mr. Decuma questioned.
"I think not," Mr. Morta answered. "But with an organization as vast as ours, who knows for sure."
* * *
At the northwest corner of Topa's estate, a lone figure threw a small J-shaped grappling hook over the wall. The northwest part of the estate had little light, so Kim easily hid in the darkness of the late morning. Mirky gray Dry Clouds rumbled overhead, warning of a possible Tainted Rain storm. Kim was a native of the Dark Half and didn't need a Winnow Mask. She pulled her knit mask over her face, made sure it was securely in place, and checked over her black outfit. She wore thin gloves, jogging pants, running shoes, a tank top, and a zipped up hooded sweatshirt. She needed to keep her identity a secret if she didn't want to kill anyone not part of the Closing and have to file extra paperwork. Voice hated unnecessary deaths as much as she did, and she didn't want to make Voice upset.
Kim climbed the cord to the top of the wall, dropped down to the other side, and glanced at her watch once she reached the ground. She would have this Life Closing done within the hour, if all went well, and Topa would make the front cov
er again, but with the headline, Found Dead.
She tossed the thin climbing cord, grappling hook, and black knapsack in the corner and piled some leaves on the items to hide them, and then she checked the tactical knife in a sheathe strapped to her right calf. She quietly slipped by the guards, making her way to his office. In the e-mail Voice had sent, the client stated Topa would most likely be there. The office was at the end of a long cobblestone path leading from the house. Black cast-iron lamps lit the area, small pine trees grew along the path, and hedges lined the last twenty feet of the walkway and around the office. She hid in the bushes underneath a window just left of Topa. She glanced in, seeing one henchman in a corner and her target busy at his mahogany desk. Kim placed a silencer on a Walther PPK and stood to make her way in, but the front door opened. She ducked back into the hedges, and the green-blue bushes rustled with her movement, and then through the window, she watched as a second henchman walked into the room. He removed his WM-B and adjusted the mask's strap. Topa counted bundles of money then placed the stacks in a briefcase.
"This is payment for the Illicit Closer we hired to take out that nuisance on Wayfaring Lane," Topa relayed as he finished counting. "That do-gooder won't be hindering our sales of Sunna Snapps anymore."
"Why the cash, boss?" the second henchman asked. "Why not credits?"
"This cash can't be traced to me. Credits could be."
"Makes sense, boss."
Kimberly's view...
I can't believe he hired an illegal assassin. I think people are really stupid when they chance hiring someone who doesn't belong to the Assassins Guild. If Voice or Thanatos finds out, they'll kill him. I shrug as I decide in the scheme of things it doesn't matter now. Topa's Closing is today. What more can they do to him?
Topa shuts the briefcase and hands it to his second henchman as he orders him, "Also tell our contact at the Valhalla Corporation we'll be doubling our next order of Sunna Snapps now that business will be getting back to normal."
"Understood," the second henchman replies, then puts his Winnow Mask back on, takes the briefcase, and leaves through the back door.
Topa turns to the first henchman and tells him, "Ready my car. We're going into the Norse Sector."
The first henchman turns towards the window, so I duck down, and after a few moments, I hear a door open and shut. I glance in the window, seeing that the muscle has left, so I again start to leave my hiding place. I can kill Topa before anyone comes back and be down with this Closing. I need to get some rest. I'm still tired from my last assignment. The front door opens before I leave my hiding spot, so I quickly duck back into the bushes. For Ares' sake! What's up with my luck today? All I want to do is complete this Life Closing and go home.
Katharine's view...
I enter and find Topa alone. His office smells of polished wood and has an old feel to it. Black and white photos of distinguished men who look related to him line the walls. I turn away from them; I can't let myself be distracted. I have to focus on my grim objective, and it's now or never; I have to eliminate the man who took Preacher from me. My gun hand shakes with indecision as it leans against my leg, and even my broken heart believes I have to commit this atrocious deed to atone for my failure to save Preacher.
Kimberly's view...
Keeping myself hidden, I peek through the window, trying to figure out who the woman is. She could be a second Closer. I glower, a little irritated and duck back down. Did Voice send in backup? I never needed it. I think about it. I never needed it before Moscow. I cautiously glance through the window, studying the woman, and she doesn't have the look of a Closer. Maybe she's a bodyguard.
Topa glanced up when the door first squeaked open. He stares at her for a long time before he questions her, "How did you get in here?"
I see him press a button under his desk, triggering a silent alarm.
The woman raises her gun, aims it for him, and yells, "You must pay for what you did to Preacher!"
Maybe my luck has changed. Maybe this woman will take out Topa, and I can get out of here. I won't receive the full payment for this assignment if she does the deed for me, but right now I don't care. I just want to go back to bed and sleep this dreadful past week far from my mind.
End Kimberly's view...
* * *
Within the Chamber...
Ms. Nona reported, "Argus is on the estate and has found Pandora in Topa's office. It is about to kill him."
"Good... Good... The Gamma Phase will finally be achieved when Pandora takes a life," Mr. Morta spoke as he beamed with pride, and then he inquired, "Where is the Closer?"
"Holding outside of the office," Mr. Decuma answered. "The Closer will not move with the unknown woman in the room."
"Finally..." Mr. Morta began as he considered all the hard work they had devoted to Pandora. "I have had such high hopes for this particular project. For one long year, we have waited to achieve this pinnacle." With elated breath, he added, "Now we will witness Pandora's transformation as it completes the Gamma Phase."
Chapter Six
Preacher
Etymology, history and usage of the word puck...
Puck originally was the word for a mythological fairy or mischievous natured sprite. The meaning later expanded and emerged in slang around 300 B.D.C. in lands owned by the Druid Corporation. It referred to one's disdain for something. The word has taken on other meanings over the centuries and has been used cross-sectorally.
One year before Kat entered Topa's estate...
31 A.D.C...
October 26...
Monday...
3:15 P.M...
Hellenistic Sector, Old Business Vicinage...
Flickering street lights and neon signs cast a somber glow on Wayfaring Lane; it was a place where society's outcasts drudged out an existence. Many people lined the street, selling Transgenic Vegetables, used clothes, and canned food, and there were even those who dealt in flesh, Sunna Snapps, and/or stolen water rations. Huddled in a corner down a dead end alley, three dirty thin junkies shared a needle of Sunna Snapps. A man and a woman already shot up and were oblivious to their surroundings, while the third rolled up his sleeve, injected the yellow liquid into his arm, and leaned back against the brick wall. His body warmed in the cool air as if he lay on a sunny beach, and snaps of light appeared like he was seeing stars but larger and brighter.
A six-wheeled robotic Street Sanitizer the size of a small car rumbled down the potholed road past the alley. Nozzles in the front of it and the middle sprayed a cleaning agent. Scrubbing brushes just behind each set of nozzles scoured an oily residue on the road left behind by the Tainted Rain. A vacuum in the back sucked up the dark liquid and stored the polluted water in a large tank. The small vehicles kept the highways and byways from becoming cesspools and without the cleaners, Noir would come to a halt. The loud Street Sanitizer rumbled on, passing a Grub Filter sitting on the sidewalk against a building. The eight foot square metal beast also known as a Grubby pulled in air, filtering out the petroleum based pollutants caused by Dry Clouds. Usually four Grubbies covered each block, but this was Wayfaring Lane; they were lucky to have the one.
Evening approached as more people filled the street. Some wore Winnow Masks, marking them as recent immigrants to the Dark Half of the planet, but most of them didn't wear the air filters, having lived in Noir long enough for their lungs to become accustomed to the pollutants. Kat stumbled onto Wayfaring Lane, fleeing the Un-Man with the knife. The Un-Man attacked her four days ago and since then, it had been chasing her in a sadistic cat and mouse game. For the moment, it hadn't found her again, and she knew that because the Un-Man would have triggered her bio-mecha warning like the Un-Men had done when they first entered Etna Toys Plant and Warehouse. Kat also knew she couldn't stop running until she found a place that was safe. Blood caked her left shoulder where one of the Un-Men's bullets had grazed her, and dried plasma crust
ed the knife cut on her left forearm. Since waking at Etna, she had only eaten what food she could scrounge from trash cans and slept only minutes at a time. Exhaustion and mental anguish were taking their toll on her.
Weary to the bone, Kat sprinted down an obscure alley, looking over her shoulder and splattering through puddles of Tainted Rain. The black water that smelled of petroleum speckled her t-shirt and pants. She turned the corner and ran into a man who wore a black trench coat. She stumbled back, and he said nothing to her only eyed her curiously, so with a trembling hand, Kat raised her gun and aimed it at him.
"There's no need for that," he said. "My job isn't to kill you."
She was too tired to understand and took two steps back to bolt. Her face showed fatigue, and her eyes had the look of a lost puppy.
"I'm Argus. My employers the Council have some information for you," he said, taking a step forward, pushed the gun down to her side, and noted her wounds, including the large bruise on her forehead. He told her, "The Un-Man that the Factory sent after you, the Rogue, is no ordinary bio-mecha. There's a glitch in its programming. The Council wants you to be extra careful with it, and they also want me to inform you that the only way to defeat it is to reach the Delta Phase of your metamorphosis."
She didn't understand what he was talking about, so Kat diverted her eyes to the sidewalk as if she'd find the answers there. The world she was thrust into was scary and confusing like a dark forest to a lost orphaned girl. All she wanted was for someone to help her. Kat smoothed her hand over the stubble of her shaven head, trying to wrap her mind around what was happening to her.
"You said the Council..." she began. "I've heard that name before. Who are they?"
Argus started to leave, but she desperately grabbed his wrist and pleaded, "Please tell me. You must at least know me. Please, tell me what my name is."
"You don't know your name?" He took note of this bit of information, and then he told her, "You're the Pandora Project." He grabbed her arm, turned her hand over, and placed a 9 mm magazine in her palm. "To survive the tests, never run out of ammo."
Argus turned to head down the street, and she shouted after him, "No! Don't go. Don't leave me. Tell me what my real name is! There must be more... I must be more than a project."