Sara D'Arnise, known to many in international bounty hunting circles as The Knife, was one
of the most dangerous, and therefore top-rated registered hunters worldwide. However, at the current
moment of time, she was relaxing at her home, looking more like she enjoyed her more regular job
of being a biology teacher at Meridiana High School, instead of running amok, wreaking havoc, and
otherwise making a right pain in the ass of herself to anyone she really didn't like.
In order to relax from the incessant gang warfare happening outside of her (relatively)
peaceful home, Sara was playing an old game over the internet, and thoroughly smashing her
opponents. Just as the last adversary on the computer fell under a massive tank rush, and the victory
screen began to tally the kills versus losses she had applied to her opponents, Sara suddenly found
herself looking at her E-mail screen, with a little flag telling her that she had some new problems to
hash out.
Apparently, one client in the city was specifically asking for her, and it was her favourite
mission; Search and Rescue, which usually ended up with at least one explosive fight, often pulled
right out of Hollywood. Sara grinned as she checked all the pertinent information, memorized what
she needed, and decided to prepare herself for her nocturnal meeting with the client. Standing, Sara
checked that her gold and jewel-encrusted pendant was secure around her neck, and that her reactive
combat armour was firmly wrapped around her waist in the form of a twin belt, this time creating
an 'X' shape across her hips. Sara then went into her upstairs room, passing the guest room where
her allies such as CyberSix or Erin had crashed during some really hectic nights.
Once inside her room, Sara unlocked her safe and pulled out her foot-long knife, a jagged and
ugly-looking piece of steel that had seen hard use before, and would probably see even more action
later. She also pulled out her twin Desert Eagle handguns, checking to make sure that they were
loaded with the ultra-heavy fragmentation rounds for added stopping power. A half-dozen extra
magazines for the guns went into a small pouch which was strapped to the gunbelt that Sara easily
wore low on her hips, covering the dormant armour with the leather belt. Finally, Sara strapped her
knife to her right leg, allowing the hilt to rest easily just below her kneecap.
Sara then headed back downstairs, and opened the hidden room under her living room floor.
Inside the small room, Sara grabbed the cape that completed her armour, checking the thick cloth
for any damage as she methodically sharpened the spikes on the shoulder pauldrons, eventually
making sure that she spikes would be uncomfortable to the touch, but would not penetrate flesh.
Finally ready to go out, the last thing Sara did was grab the sheathed sword she almost always
carried. Looping the scabbarded blade over her back, and settling it between her shoulder blades,
Sara used the microphone in her pendant to activate her armour. The armour covered her body in less
than three seconds, and its colour shifted to an almost-black shade a few seconds later.
Sara then attached her cape to the shoulders of the armour, letting the two pauldrons bind to
the suit, and thereby attached the flowing cape as she walked up to her room again. Opening the
window, Sara climbed out onto her porch roof, looking around as she let her mental street-map of
the city take over, telling her which direction she had to go.
Sara turned toward the city's downtown core, focussing her mind for the strain she was about
to put on it through the art of calculating the equations for continued leaps versus momentum and
inertia. Sara stretched twice, remembering that she hadn't used her muscles in a long time, and then
used her armour's enhanced musculature to propel her nearly one hundred feet away. As soon as she
landed, Sara's momentum picked up, and she started moving almost faster than the eye could see.
In less than five minutes, she was almost completely across the city, and standing on a rooftop
directly opposite of her client's address.
________________________
Jacinta leaned over the railing of the balcony and gazed out at the sprawling city of Meridiana
a few miles to the north. How strange to think that she no longer lived there. She didn't really miss
it much, close friends and mother excluded, naturally. Jose had been right. There was nothing there
for her. Her life was here now, with him and often she would lay awake long into the night
wondering exactly how she had ended up like this.
She sighed. Well, as long as she was up, she might as well make herself useful and get down
to the training room. Even though it had been a while since she'd been in any major combat, Jacinta
didn't see any reason to stop learning and pushing herself to become better. After all, considering
whose house she now lived in, it wouldn't be a bad idea to be able to protect herself and Jose in case
something should happen. She enjoyed it anyway.
The training had left her with a limber body and superb reflexes, but she still had a ways to
go before she could consider herself proficient, especially when it came to using any weapons. She
had only recently started to learn how to handle a wakizashi and katana, as she had been too afraid
of accidentally hurting herself with it, but so far her fear had proven mostly academic. After a quick
change into some nondescript pants and T-shirt, Jacinta made her way into the more secluded part
of the mansion.