A Vacant Apartment
Nameless City, North America
16:46 M.T.
Target has just turned the corner.
Lizzy turned her sniper slightly and followed the pale green-and-orange-armored soldier through her scope. 'I see him.'
The AI in her head had fallen silent, but Massachusetts had no problem allowing the silence to overtake them. The soldier down her sniper barrel was an old acquaintance, and Lizzy wasn't looking forward to her job this time. Extra talk just made her remember why she had found this job so distasteful when the request came to her.
'Georgia will be reaching his front door shortly, Lizzy.'
She was hesitating. That was always her problem: too much heart. The Freelancer Program was supposed to have beaten that out of her, trained her to act on her own without any bothersome ties. If this had been any political figure, or some army soldier, she would have killed him two steps around the corner. The issue became that this was a freelancer. One of the fated 49 and one of the ones who had actually managed to leave and evade the Freelancer Program. For a time.
Sil's voice the next time she spoke was nervous. Lizzy? He wouldn't hesitate to do the same to you. You know he wouldn't.
The sky blue-and-white-armored freelancer didn't blink, but she took a deep slow breath as her sniper tracked him up the staircase of his apartment, and she held the breath as she steadied her scope.
The report of her sniper sliced silence outside of her helmet. The 99D-S2 held armor-piercing rounds. Even from hundreds of yards away, it had no trouble passing through Georgia's helmet. The body jerked forward slightly and crumpled onto the front porch. The faint shine of the building key Georgia had been holding tumbled to the cement beside him. Lizzy stared at the body for a moment more through the scope before she moved away from the window and stood to clip the rifle onto her back. Her expression was as blank as the faceplate of her helmet, and her heartbeat was steady- and painful.
A tenant of the building has called the police. 10 minutes before officers reach the scene.
That was always her weakness.
'We'll be long gone,' Lizzy assured her AI as she slipped from the apartment and made her way for the service staircase highlighted on the building specs in her helmet. 'There's no AI or armor ability to retrieve.'