MAX HEADROOM: Gunswept
Bryce had just sat down at the corner table in the Zik Zak Know Burgers restaurant when he
heard a girl's voice call his name.
"Bryce!"
He looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see Jenny standing there, smiling at him.
"I didn't expect to see you here," she said as he nodded to the empty chair across from himself in a gesture of invitation.
Jenny sat down.
"What brings you out of the Batcave?" she asked, cheerfully.
"Alfred wanted to do the laundry," Bryce replied, not missing a beat.
They both laughed as Jenny scarfed down a handful of crunch fries.
"So, what have you been up to?" Bryce asked her.
"Now, Bryce, you know I can't tell you that. Network secrets." Jenny smiled.
"Okay, so what about on a personal level?" Bryce asked her.
"Well, I…" Jenny began. Then she frowned and clutched at her throat in panic.
"Jenny?" Bryce asked as she got to her feet and almost immediately fell over, her face turning blue. "Jenny!"
Bryce started to go for the nearest vu-phone, but she grabbed his leg and he knelt beside her.
"Get help!" he shouted to the room in general.
Nobody moved. A couple people glanced around to see what the fuss was all about, only to return to their meals as if they couldn't care less.
Someone made a remark about stupid kids.
Bryce glared at them in anger.
"Are you deaf?!" he screamed at them. "I can't leave her! Call a goddamned ambulance!"
Still nothing. Jenny grabbed at him, her eyes desperate. Her expression pained.
Nobody moved, except to reach for a cola or wipe a daub of ketchup from their lip.
What was wrong with these people? Bryce wondered. Were they so addicted to mindless entertainment that they would just sit there and watch a girl die just for the thrill? Well, if that's what they wanted, then he would give them one hell of a thrill in a moment if she did die.
Jenny struggled to breathe, grasping at anything she could reach. Bryce took her hands in his own as he sat on the floor beside her, unable to help her.
A metrocop walked in and started to head to the counter.
"Are you blind?" Bryce shouted at him.
He turned and noticed them for the first time.
"I didn't see you," he apologized. "The table…"
But Bryce didn't hear him. Bryce only saw Jenny's lifeless body lying on the floor in front of him.
Jenny's lifeless body...
And the metrocop's sidearm...
A moment later the gun was in Bryce's hand.
Edison was in the Network 23 news chopper laughing at a joke Martinez had just told when Theora's voice came over the vidicam connection.
"Shots fired at the Zik Zak restaurant on the Old Queen's Road," she told him. "Murray wants you to get there and go live. Find out what the hell is going on."
"That's more like it," Edison said, relieved to not be interviewing Simon Peller. Anything had to be better than listening to that guy rambling on about his negative views regarding the Blanks and how much better people like him were. Then he realized he was talking about a situation where people might be hurt. Or worse. "Any casualties?"
"Bringing up satellite feed now," Theora said as she linked to the city's sat-cams. "Looks like at least ten. Can't tell how many are injured and how many are dead at this stage."
"We're just arriving," Edison told her. "Tell Murray to get ready to go live in three minutes."