Bounty and Hunter: The Neraei Segregation

Based on the 3D animated short by Eugene Chu

-Acquaintances-

Upper City – Transit Line 16 - 3:02pm

The platform was mostly deserted at this time of day; everyone else was going about their affairs, ignorant of the troubles that lay beyond the walls of the Highrell megacity. Most of city goers had jobs that only dealt with matters within these walls. Mine was with the outside world. exiles, as the Hunter Enforcement Agency liked to call them, would always find some creative means of getting into Highrell. And by creative, that usually meant murdering, bribing, breaking or smuggling their way into the lower districts of the city. If any of these break-ins were to occur, it was down to me and the rest of the hunters to apprehend the suspects. Although by apprehend, this sometimes meant the shoot-on-sight approach. Simple, quick and clean, with integrity of the city coming first. Some would rather say it was survival that came first, but I like think we're past that. We've got a prosperous city with no wars for 46 years to speak of. The only conflict that I was going to encounter any time soon was with a particular exile that managed to get into the lower areas and elude the general authorities and hunters. Now the hunt was on for this stray with a 100,000 z-credit reward on his head. His name was LenZ.

Waiting at the underground train station platform, for the next one to arrive, I quietly assessed how to catch my was last sighted escaping a warehouse raid that took place by the canals, the very same raid I was at. It was rather unfortunate the way things went; I remember getting slammed in the gut by a random exile. Though next thing I know, I see someone else's grey furred arm around that bulk's neck, with his other hand pounding the bulk's ribs in. Somewhat glad that happened, otherwise I'd probably settle with a bit more than just a bruise. Hmm, grey fur…

I pulled out my small tablet phone from under my orange sleeveless turtleneck, and brought up an image of LenZ. He looks similar to the warehouse rib puncher, though going by memory, it was hard to see the person in that dim dump of a warehouse. I'm not sure if it was him, but if it was, then that would mean a now wanted exile was the one who saved me. Could there ever be a shred of truth to that? I doubt it, what criminal would risk their own hide to save their hunter?

Ah, I can see lights, a train was pulling in. As I tuck away my phone, leaving a hand resting on my insurance - a loaded pistol - the train comes to a halt. As far as I can see, it's completely empty. The doors slid open, I walked in, and I was on my way. Around 3pm, people are still out working, but by about 4:30, they would be out in public, which would certainly make catching him difficult. I have to meet up with Tanan along with some extra backup at the tower square, to aid with the city sweep. I stared blankly out of the train at the fast moving tunnel wall, flicking my furred ears about. I started to think back, those few years ago, when I was just a young rookie in the hunter ranks. I'm still relatively young, even now, but more than ever, carrying out my job to protect others, it always gives me a real sense of perspective, about how people work, why criminals are criminals in the first place. Admittedly, just the rush and feeling that also comes with nailing a head to the ground to deliver restraints upon, got to say, beats having to deliver ink to paper for university exams … which I have to repeat. Damn the luck.

Passing by another station and into blackness again ... wait, what was that? My ears pricked up at a distinct rustle, a loud, fast, crumple of paper. Peering to my right, I could see one of LenZ's wanted posters floating to the floor. It was clearly ripped of a nearby billboard, but no one was to be seen who could've touched that poster. I shook my head in dismissal and resumed staring out the window and at the reflections ... wait? Reflections? There was someone else behind me, moving slowly and very quietly too. From my current angle of the reflection, I could see the person had a grey cloth over him, grey hair with yellow stripes that were flopped down in a messy spiked fashion, drooped grey ears with a single gold piercing and some wire glasses ... just like LenZ! Without any further hesitation, I grabbed my pistol with a spin and let of a warning shot, which narrowly missed his head, smashing through one of the train windows.

The grey clothed person flicked his hands over his head in sudden shock. Now in full view, I could see his full physical features. He had a tail tipped with white wrapped with a blue band, a double jointed pair of legs and where any of his skin was exposed, it was covered in grey fur. This was definitely an exile. With a very nervous, quick movement of his head, he turned to face me with a look of stupor on his face, giving me a dumb smile. It was him! Gun poised, and the exile staring — what now?

4 days ago – Lower City - En route to Tenmenon River Warehouse – 11:39pm

"Alright, here's our outing for tonight folks. A group of exiles have been sighted; about a dozen or so, within the vicinity of a materials storage warehouse just down by the Tenmenon River. Our offence will be simple, this unit will take the back entrance, the other police forces will take the front and flush em our way. Any questions?"

Everyone looked to have their silent game faces on, no one responded. Tanan looked to his watch, and then back to his pulse rifle nestled in his lap. His trimmed fiery red hair, high brown ears, and that shoot-to-kill leader look that was riding on his face that was always with him on every call to duty. As a reminder of his long service, he was previously given a robotic shoulder replacement on his right.

"30 seconds."

I checked my pistol; safety off, mag loaded and charged to fire. I turned to my friend, Nina, who was loading up likewise. The van we were riding in, along with Tanan and 4 other hunters, was starting to knock us around a bit. It felt as though we had exited off the main roads onto some dirt path. The warehouse must be close.

"10 seconds, get ready!"

"All good," I motioned to Nina, holding my pistol upright, as everyone else was beginning to line up to face the doors.

Nina turned her head and nodded. At that moment, with Tanan's hand firmly on the door latches, the van came to a jerked stop. The doors slammed open. Tanan leapt out first with a sprint, followed by Nina, myself, plus the rest of the hunters. The area which we were quickly and quietly occupying had the distinct aroma of wood coming from the neighboring storage racks and the smell of the nearby river. But along with the old, there also came the sound of cycling hydraulics, coming from a giant magnetic crane situated above the warehouse. Just visible at the end of the warehouse, part of the roof was open, allowing various goods to be lowered into storage within. The whole thing was on rails which were suspended above the entire length of the warehouse, for the crane to access through any of the many roof hatches.

While Nina and I crept to a large metallic door which had a passcode lock connected, Tanan seemed to be silently directing two of the hunters to find a way up onto the crane, to slip onto the roof. Laiden with long range rifles, they would have no problem covering the warehouse floor inside.

"What's the passcode for this thing, I can't exactly kick down the doors," Nina whispered.

I turned from Nina to face Tanan who was joining us, crouched low.

"It should be 2-7-8-1, but don't type it yet, the police haven't arrived."

"How long?" I asked.

"About 2 minutes."

Seems like the police were taking their time in mobilizing, a larger group would mean a slower response. Still, least this will give us some time to look around the area. Just a few steps along the wall brought me to a dirt stained window. I could see a whisper of light coming from within. Cautiously lifting my head, I could just make out the shapes of two people, or rather, exiles, with their distinctive tails and legs. They were both sitting by a wall of stacked crates, next to a small electric lamp. One appeared to have quite some bulk to his size than the other. The smaller of the two seemed to be busy with his hands, using some small utensils to sharpen something. Whatever it was, it seemed to require quite a bit of concentration and precision to work. I pressed an ear to the window to see if I could hear anything.

"… would be nice, but that's just not how things are. You think idling into the city and lodging a complaint is really all that's going to take?"

The bulky guy sounded agitated, but the other was remaining calm, busy with his craft.

"Hmmm, you have a curious concept of simplicity, don't you? Charging in headlong with only a handful of people for company, against a whole city."

"Bah, well, at least we'll be doing something; rather than sitting on our backsides whilst our children get snatched away!"

"It might be, "something", but in "simple" terms, is it the good something or bad something?"

"The sooner we get at these bastards, the sooner we can stop them, doesn't that sound good enough?"

There was a short silence that hung between the two, followed by a disgruntled kick into the nearby crate stacks.

"…Like talking to a wall."

It was only at this stage, the cool headed exile decided to give a small glance.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, both our plans are high risk, no matter how we spin it, so you could say that neither of our plans are particularly good."

"Huh, great, I feel better already," said the sarcastic bulk guy.

"You're welcome …hm, what was that?"

Quickly, I ducked my head below the window seal. Damn it, did they spot me? A few moments passed, while I was bracing to retaliate, just in case. Nothing happened … at least on the exile's side of the warehouse, Tanan seemed to be listening intently on a headset. It looks like the cops had finally decided to rock up.

"Ok, are we all in position, roof team?"

A short, faint radio buzz came from his ear piece.

"Alright, hunters are a go, we await your mark."

Putting away the headset, it was time to move.

"Nina, type the code in, get ready to hit that enter key."

Entering the sequence, we were now just seconds away from going in. I took my chance to take one last peek inside the warehouse. The bulk was still there, but the crafter had moved off elsewhere. Suddenly there was a flash in the distance, some small explosive blew somewhere in the background. Police using C4 to blow down the doors, no doubt.

"Go, go, go! All in!"

Nina's fist met the enter key, and the door slid open to the side. All the silence that once was present was now replaced by the uproar of surprise coming from the rushed exiles. Once inside, Tanan and Nina split up among the lines of racks and crates, I followed suit. Just keep moving and check your corners I constantly reminded myself. My adrenaline kicked into high gear, when my first target was in sight. She turned in fright and put her hands in the air.

"Argh, don't shoot!" she screamed.

"Get your knees on the ground, hands on your head."

"Ok, ok!"

A few gun shots now could be heard, along with some cries off pain that seemed to only scare the female exile even more. Quickly turning to my left, I realized another exile was coming at me, and this one didn't seem particularly scared versus having rage on his face. He had a metal pipe in his hands, and was going for a swing at my head. Doing a short roll, easily avoiding the clumsy swing and miss into an iron beam, I then steadied my aim, and shot the exile in the torso. His body fell limp to the ground, right in front of the now mortified female. I turned to her.

"Stay here."

She nodded with tears now running down her furred face. Continuing deeper into the warehouse, I reached the place where the first pair of exiles I sighted earlier, were seated. The others had now fanned out to cover the entire length of the place, better watch this spot, just in case of any passer bys. Looking to where the crafter was sitting, I could see now what it was that he was using. It was a small file which was sitting next to a rough glass oval, almost like a lens. I briefly picked it up, examining its shape and reflection, before turning my attention back to the … what the, the hell happened to the lights! Damn, I can't see a thing! I could hear Tanan shouting in the distance.

"Someone get those cursed lights back on, they're escaping!"

Light, light, light, I need light … ah wait, the electric lamp. It lay knocked over, face down on the floor. I picked it up and shone it around, surveying the blackened warehouse. I paused for a moment listening to my surroundings. The gunfire was dying down, and the shouts were dying down. All in all, it looks like we got them all, aside from any that managed to escape while the lights were off.

"I got you now, you hunting brute!"

What? Gah, my hand! Someone knocked the light out of my hand. In a blur and flash of light, I took a shot at the momentary figure I saw from the spinning light. I clearly missed, as I next received a heavy fist to the gut, my pistol snatched from my hand. Lying on the floor, my back against the crate wall, my pistol came into view again, pointed at my face within the rays of light coming from the lamp.

"I'll make sure you never touch our people again!"

That voice, sounds just like that bulk, though I can't make out his face. He shoved the pistol right onto my forehead into the crate wall. I could feel the heat coming off the nozzle after having been fired. Pretty soon, it was going to fire again, and then … that was it.

"Argh, hey! What's the big idea!?"

Someone else had shoved the bulk's hand with my pistol, into the crate wall. The pistol fell out of his pained hand.

"I can't let you do that, you'll ruin my plan."

This voice, it sounds like that crafter.

"Screw your plan, you don't give a damn about mine, so I won't— hughhg!"

Occasionally passing into the rays of the lamp, I could make out some of the details of the two, while they were in some kind of struggle. The crafter had one grey arm around bulk's neck, and the other was continuously smashing into his side. Eventually, the crafter, grasping by the hair of the bulk, pushed his head into the crate wall, sending him unconscious and landing in front.

"Please, don't follow me," the crafter said from the darkness.

And with that, he took off, leaving me with my pistol and an unconscious exile. I got to my feet picking up my gun. Oof, damn it, it still hurts, that was a hefty punch that still was leaving me breathless, not to mention being on the verge of death. Sweat was running down my face and … footsteps! Retorting my gun in the direction of the new sound that was coming around, I saw Nina.

"Oh jeez, easy there, it's just me."

Letting off a frustrated sigh of relief, I lowered my gun.

"Woah, that's quite the catch there. Hey, you alright?"

I was lost for words for a second, I just had a gun pointed to my head, and now Nina was assuming that I took on this giant on my own. Not sure if I should be taking credit. After all, that other exile, he was the one who stopped that wall of muscles. And now he was gone, escaped.

Present Day – Upper city, en route from Transit Line 16 – 3:14pm

Now that I could see him clearly, the connection between the poster description provided in the days following LenZ's escape and what little I saw of the crafter back in the warehouse, they had to be one and the same. LenZ's height and build were a close match to the wanted poster and the crafter I met during the recent warehouse raid. There's always more to go on and to connect when you have something that's actually right there in front of you, rather than just a picture. In which case, for saving me 4 days ago, yet being an exile, I should at least bring him in alive. Wait no, that shouldn't be the reason why, I should bring him in alive because of what he is planning, what he might be still planning. Killing him is not an option.

Where we are now, there would be little chance of him getting off this train anyway. I focused to aligning my sights up with him, but in sudden flurry, he removed his grey cloth that he was wearing and threw it at my face, blocking my line of sight. Damn it, he's not getting away again this time! LenZ was dashing to the next carriage door, and so was I! He hurriedly pulled the door aside, stumbling his way in, as I fired another warning shot at the door. He's still not stopping! Shots don't seem to faze this guy at all, he's gaining distance. Augh, sunlight in my eyes! We must've just left the tunnel section of this track, leaving the train travelling in the open on the high elevation transit line with the city below us. I've got no time to be blinded; I'm running out of options to slow this guy down! I'll just have to hope that charging an electrical pulse will force him to his senses. Flicking the mode switch, coils and small blades were revealed at the front of my pistol. The coils began to glow blue, if anything, he better be scared of this. A high pitch sound was beginning to emanate from the charging pistol, and sure enough he turned around in realization of what I was doing. I've got you … wait, what the hell!

LenZ had turned around, but now he was charging right at me on all fours. He somehow must know that I can't use my weapon like this in close quarters. If I do, I could end up blowing myself up. But regardless, I'll have discharge this soon, or else I'll definitely blow myself up if he makes a grab for it; too late to just let it cycle down now. Pulling the trigger I let loose the charged fury of my pistol, sending a dazzling bolt of red electricity, arcing in a straight line, towards LenZ. But with the spring in his legs that he already had going, he sprung with a flip, narrowly avoiding the frying beam. The arcs continued to travel down the train until they exploded at the back of the train carriage, which took out all the windows and a large portion of the walls and roof. Debris and smog went everywhere. But none of that lingered for too long, as the fast moving air from outside was starting to suck it all out. And not just the smoke, even I was beginning to get pulled along too, along with LenZ who was barely hanging onto one of the train bars.

His grip eventually slipped and he was sent tumbling backwards towards the hole. But just before falling out of the train, he managed to get into a rough position amidst his tumble, so that he could spring his way upwards through the smoke and hole and onto the train's roof. I have to go after him, he can't escape on me! Steadying myself against the wind's push, I slid my way closer to the breach in the train. Ugh, this smoke is making me choke, I have to get clear. With a push off with my legs, I allowed the wind to carry me up so that I could grab hold of the roof's edge. Good thing I was wearing gloves, otherwise I'd probably cut my hands on the exploded metal's edge. I pulled myself up on top of the train, and there laid LenZ, covered in soot and battered, with one of his glass lenses cracked in their wireframes.

Ha, standing above a moving train after blowing a hole, in pursuit of a very evasive exile. I doubt things could get any crazier than that, I finally had him, there'd be nowhere else for him to run or duck behind. LenZ sat there for a moment with a look of accepting defeat, when suddenly his face changed to that of worry, no, fear! He was peering past me, was there something behind me, or was this some dumb trick he was playing at? Wait, this transit line leads through a set of tunnels and open city, which can only mean … I turned around, and to my equal terror, the next tunnel was fast approaching. I was going to get blunted in the head by a tunnel overhead if I didn't do something! With little hope of making it back through the train hole again, I tried to see if I could make it by lying as low as I could. I closed my eyes, and braced myself for what could be the end, yet again. Seconds slowly past, and in every one of those, I tried to guess when the tunnel was going to arrive. But what I didn't guess was that I'd feel a sensation of something going around my waist and legs and … flying? There was some kind of acceleration upwards, as my stomach and legs were jerked from being seated. A sudden stop soon followed, which was accompanied by my violently tumbling on something hard. The noise of the train now seemed to be dying down slowly, as though it was moving away. Adding all this up, whatever happened, I was still alive, with something firmly gripping my left wrist. I forced my eyes open, realizing the fact of where I now was. LenZ must've grabbed me, leapt off the train, and landed on what appeared to be a viewing platform, which was just nearby the tunnel. I slowly turned around to face LenZ, who was catching his breath, lying on his back, from what must've been a hard landing for him. He saved me?! Again?! Looks like I was wrong when I thought he couldn't escape the train, and about how things just couldn't get any crazier.