In Roanapur, most people are up to no good. No, scratch that. Everyone in Roanapur is up to no good. Pirates, smugglers, gangsters and murderers are everywhere. In every bar in the villainous hive of a city, guns lie on every table, and there's at least one hooker for every man and enough alcohol to drown both of them. So it was an unusual sight to see a teenager sitting at the bar of the Yellow Flag, but even more curious was the fact that he was wearing a combat helmet with goggles over the top, a bulletproof vest and enough Kevlar to cover him almost from head to toe and hanging over his shoulder was a reinforced messenger bag.
"So are you going to order somethin' or what?" the irritable bartender asked, startling the teenager in combat armour.
"I'm only seventeen. Anything suitable for minors?"
"Eh? Minors? Look kid, this is a bar. What we've got here is alcohol, and lots of it. You want milk or anything, you can try sucking it out of the prostitutes upstairs." He said gruffly.
"Thanks for the advice." The teen groaned.
"So what's with all the combat gear anyway? Roanapur is dangerous, but you look like you're ready to walk into a minefield."
"Well, I guess I could tell you." The teen shrugged. "I suppose I should start by telling you my name. It's Daniel. Daniel Harkness. But nowadays I go by Hermes."
"Oh, so you're that new courier I've heard about, right?"
"Uh, right." The teen said. "Anyway, you can probably tell that I'm not from around here…"
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Things were going great for Daniel Harkness. He'd finally graduated from high school in Australia a year ahead of his classmates due to his excellent results and he decided that the best way to spend his holiday would be on a luxury cruise around the world with his Mum and Dad. They were just about to pass by Thailand when Daniel went to sleep, but when he woke up, he found it was a very different scene from a luxury holiday.
"Hey, kid! Wake up!" shouted someone, waking the sleeping teen. "Wake up before I toss your ass overboard!"
The teenager's eyes fluttered open before widening in horror at the gun pointed at his face by a savage looking man armed with an assault rifle.
"I'm awake!" the teen said, quickly raising his arms above his head in surrender.
"Okay you little shit listen up! I want you to help me carrying all this loot back to my boat." he said, pointing at a pile of suitcases. "If you do it quickly I'll let you live. Now get to it!"
The teen, through both sleepy confusion and a strong smell of blood in his nostrils, carried all the suitcases to above deck, where most of the other passengers were not a day before. Now the entire vessel was slick with blood and bullet riddled corpses were being pushed overboard. In a stark contrast, the sky was a brilliant pale blue and he could clearly see a sandy white beach covered in mangrove trees close by. It was almost a crime that such a beautiful scene existed on such a bloody day.
"Keep movin'!" the man behind him shouted, kicking him in the back. The teen stumbled forward, almost slipping on the blood that was coated the deck.
"Where the hell did you find this piss stain?" shouted another pirate.
"Sleeping below deck. I don't even think he heard the gunfire!" the other laughed. "Now get the cases on the boat kid!"
As the teenager moved over to the other boat, he heard the click of rifles being loaded. He looked behind him and saw that all the pirates except the one who was ordering him around were aiming for him.
"I did say I wasn't going to kill ya, but I'm not so sure about these other guys!"
"Ah, he's just a kid. I think just one bullet will be enough to kill 'im." Sneered one pirate before he pulled the trigger on his rifle, a bullet tearing through his shoulder, causing the teenager to loose balance and fall into the water.
Pain shot through Daniel's arm like an electric shock, and the salty water didn't help at all. The other pirates laughed and shot at him with pistols, several bullets going through his legs. Screaming and somehow still clinging to a miraculously floating suitcase, Daniel floated his way to the shoreline.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
"Now as improbable as that sounds, I take it that isn't the end of the story?" the bartender asked, idly wiping a glass.
"No, but I half wish it was. Everything just sorta went sideways in the bad department." Hermes sighed.
"I guess that's when you started wearing all that combat stuff, huh?"
"Yeah. It was a damn good investment, courtesy of the Rip-Off Church." Hermes said, cringing at a past memory. "Makes me remember why I bought it. I was just lucky enough that she was in a good mood that day I guess."
"She?"
"One of the craziest and most terrifying women I've ever seen. I swear, something about her just made her look like she could snap at any given moment. She told me that if I took on a job for her she'd help me survive. This was after putting a gun to my head."
"Well that's just how people say hello here." The bartender snorted.
"Someone else told me exactly the same thing. Since then I've learned how to say hello as well. Loudly." Hermes laughed, patting the bulky grenade pistol at his hip. "After getting me to shoot at a target with the pistol she pointed at my head, she told me to keep the gun and make myself useful by delivering a package for her to one of her associates. One of the Triad members. I still don't like working for them, but I have a debt to be paid. A life isn't as cheap as everyone makes it out to be. But all that came after the first job I did for her, though it was more like a test."
"So my guess is you're working for Balalaika." The bartender said. "But you're just a kid. How'd someone like you wind up in the pocket of Hotel Moscow?"
"I really wish it didn't happen like it did, but here's how it went…"
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
After floating to shore, Daniel was pretty much ready to quit life. Blood and seawater had soaked his clothes, his arm was turning numb and he was pretty sure he was going to die. Opening up the briefcase, he was glad to see that inside was a first aid kit as well as a pile of clothes.
"Damn that was lucky." Daniel groaned as he disinfected his wounds before wrapping them up in bandages. "That'll probably get me to a hospital. If there even is one around here."
After leaning up against a palm tree, Daniel went over the things he had. Over five hundred Australian dollars, half a first aid kit and a suitcase full of stolen clothes. Daniel fell asleep under the palm tree, and when he woke again, it was night. The bright light of a city shone over the line of palm trees and Daniel started to walk towards it.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
By the time he got to the empty looking city, Daniel was getting dizzy from blood loss. He knew that the wound should have started to clot and close over by now, but it wasn't going to be enough. He had already tossed the briefcase away so he didn't have to carry too much, but it wasn't making much difference. Daniel collapsed into a heap next to a building and put a hand over his bandaged arm.
Daniel felt his brain fill with confusion, fear and sadness. Was it really just his fate to die here in a city he didn't even know the name of? He looked around and all he saw was grimy yellow street lights and litter. Not even a soul in sight. Daniel looked up to the sky and saw the stars, obscured by clouds in the night. It wasn't the best way for him to die, but there wasn't much he could change about it.
Daniel then heard the heavy marching of boots. He looked around and saw people running through the shadows, clad in military uniforms and balaclavas, all armed with AK74s. Daniel's eyes widened as he heard a loud bang before gunfire filled the air. He thought he'd stumbled into a war from the sound of things! Then he heard an explosion from the top floor of the building he was leaning against and tiny flecks of shattered glass rained down on him.
"I need to get... out of here." Daniel said, groaning as he got to his feet and trying to stagger away, but he'd lost too much blood and fell to the ground. Out of desperation to get away, Daniel started crawling. Then the soldiers came marching back out, running to a number of parked vans on the road.
"Hold up." One said in a thick Russian accent. "I think this might be a survivor."
"Wasn't this place supposed to be sealed off? The Capitan ordered that no one was to be in this area while we were raiding." Said another gruff Russian voice.
The soldier that had first spoken marched over to Daniel and turned him over before looking over his wounds and his face.
"Whoever he is, he doesn't look like a local." The soldier reported.
Daniel coughed and clutched at his arm. "Please… Don't leave me here."
"Sorry kid, but we've got to go." One of the soldiers said as they ran to their vans.
The soldier standing over Daniel looked over to the van before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a syringe before jabbing it into Daniel's arm.
"Don't worry, it's just morphine. It won't do much to help you heal up, but you'll probably have enough time to find a doctor before it wears off. Go down the street that way and go into the first building on your right. There's a doctor there who will be able to help you." He instructed before running off to join his comrades before they drove away.
Daniel felt energy return to his body and he got up off the tarmac before looking at the building that had been destroyed. The five story building was burning, and a number of corpses had been dumped out the front, their blood spattering the ground. Another explosion went off at the top of the building as Daniel's eyes widened and he started to run, somehow not feeling the pain in his legs and arm.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
The doctor that Daniel had gone to didn't seem to be licenced, but he didn't have time to be picky. It had cost him four hundred dollars to get all the bullets out of him as well as convincing the doctor to let him stay the night to recover from his injuries. In the end, the doctor told him that as soon as he was well enough to walk without the need of painkillers, he would be discharged.
Daniel lay in bed, looking up at the ceiling fan as it spun around and around. He looked around the ward for the office and saw a few other people with varying degrees of illness and injury. Daniel heard the doctor arguing quietly with someone over the phone and losing, as well as sounding very scared. As soon as he hung up, he burst into the ward waving a gun.
"All right you assholes, everybody out! You're all well enough to leave so get the hell out of my office!" he roared before firing off a shot into the ceiling. The other people in the ward started hurriedly packing as well as Daniel, but the doctor waved a hand at Daniel. "Not you kid, you need to stay here. She made it quite clear."
Before Daniel could ask anything, the doctor hurried away, ushering the other patients out of the office. So Daniel waited, not particularly knowing what was about to happen.
Eventually he heard a car pull up outside and the door open. There was the tapping of high heeled shoes on the tile floor as a tall woman stepped into the room. She had long, almost shaggy blond hair and cold blue eyes, but her most disturbing feature was that half her face and most of her body was covered in large scars that were hidden under a dark red business suit covered by a large grey military overcoat.
"Ah, so you're that little boy who's gotten lost in Roanapur." She said, tapping a cigar between her fingers. "A little boy who got lost and learned something he shouldn't have."
"Wh… What do you mean?" Daniel asked nervously.
"I'm talking about last night, when you witnessed the eradication of a valuable part of an enemy of mine. The operation was supposed to be covert, but you happened to stagger in half dead and witness the entire thing. And due to the kindness of one of my subordinates, you're still alive." She said, crossing the room and putting a hand on Daniel's arm, causing him to wince in pain. "I just hope we won't have to fix that."
Daniel didn't really know how to react. The look in this woman's eyes told him that if he were to say something, anything wrong, then he would wind up dead. Or worse.
"I'm sorry if I did anything wrong, but I won't tell anyone what I saw. I don't even know who you or those guys were."
"Who they were is of no importance, but it is very important that you know who I am." The woman said, lighting a new cigar that she had pulled from her coat. "My name is Balalaika. I am the head of the organisation known as Hotel Moscow, one of the organisations that run Roanapur, and an organisation that you should learn to respect if you wish to survive here. And I think it's important that I know who you are."
"My name is Daniel Harkness. It's a pleasure to meet you." Daniel said, extending his hand in greeting.
"Such a polite young man. It's hard to find polite children in a place like Roanapur." Balalaika said, not shaking Daniel's hand. "Now please, if you could answer my questions."
"Well, of course I respect your organisation. One of your soldiers saved my life after all." Daniel said.
"A very good answer." Balalaika grinned. "Now tell me, what is it you plan to do with your life now that you're here in Roanapur? There's no place for innocent children in this city."
"I… I don't really know. My parents were on that boat when the pirates attacked, and I don't know if they're alive or dead. But it's likely they didn't survive."
"It's odd that you didn't think about this before now." Balalaika speculated.
"I guess… I guess I just didn't want to think about it." Daniel breathed. "Oh god, mum and dad."
"I take it you were very close to them." The woman said, looking out a window before extinguishing her cigar.
"I was." Daniel said, feeling the tears move down his face. "I… I'm sorry. I just…"
"No no, please take your time." Balalaika said softly. "We must always take time to remember those that have been lost to us."
Daniel started crying, sobbing into the blanket that covered him. Eventually he managed to pull himself together and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Do you have any relatives you might be able to stay with?" Balalaika asked.
"No. At least, I don't know. Mum and Dad never told me if I had any cousins or uncles, and I don't know if I can stay at my friend's houses forever. So I guess I have no choice but to stay here. At least until I can make my own place back home."
Balalaika breathed out a cloud of cigar smoke before speaking again. "Very well then. I can help you make a new life for yourself here."
"You can? Thank you Miss Balalaika."
"Not a problem. Ah, but now that that's over, let's get down to business." Balalaika said before pulling out a gun and pressing it to Daniel's forehead, causing him to gasp in surprise. "I apologise for doing this so suddenly, but I have to be sure you don't tell anyone. I hope you understand."
"P-please don't kill me!" Daniel shouted. The woman smiled, keeping the gun pressed to Daniel's forehead.
"I had no intention of that. I just wanted you to promise me that you won't tell a soul as long as you live about what you saw." Balalaika said, her icy blue eyes gleaming dangerously.
"I promise! I'll never tell anyone, I swear!" Daniel blurted.
"Well that's very fortunate." Balalaika said, putting the gun away and letting Daniel breathe a sigh of relief. "Now, don't be worried. If you be good, I might have a job for you in the future."
"A… a job?"
"Just a simple package delivery to another delivery company. It shouldn't be too difficult for you. Here!" she said, tossing a mobile phone onto Daniel's bed. "Something for you so we can keep in touch. I hope you get well soon!"
Daniel listened to her footsteps as she left the doctor's office and went back to her car. Daniel breathed another sigh of relief and looked down at the phone in his hands. Daniel's life was about to become very different.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
"Wait a minute, so now you've told me about what happened at that building. You're not worried that old Fryface is going to hunt you down now?"
"She told me later that after careful consideration, I didn't know enough details to make anything I had to say useful. All that happened was that some people got killed one day. In Roanapur, that's like saying that the sky is blue."
"Fair enough." The bartender said. "So what about that job you went on?"
"Miss Balalaika said it was going to be easy. A payroll delivery to some couriers called Lagoon Company. But she thought it was going to be too easy and decided to spice things up a bit."
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Daniel had been discharged from the doctor's office and was buying things from the market. He had just bought himself a dark green t shirt, some long cargo pants with a cloth belt and a pair of rollerblades with detachable wheels when his new phone started ringing. Tentatively bringing it up to his ear, he pushed the answer button.
"Hello?"
"Ah, Daniel! So nice to hear from you again darling." cooed the voice of Balalaika. "I hear that you've been discharged from the doctor's. I hope you're ready for that job now."
"Well… uh, I…"
"Oh I understand if you have any previous arrangements, but I have heard that your pockets are fairly empty now. And I'm not entirely sure that there are many alleyways that are not currently unoccupied."
"I see your point." Daniel said.
"Wonderful! Please be as fast as you can. It should prove an excellent test run for those new rollerblades you bought. Ta ta!"
The call ended in a click as the screen changed to a set of directions showing where he needed to go. Daniel looked around nervously. It seemed that Miss Balalaika had an eye on every corner. Daniel took off his shoes before donning his new rollerblades and rolling over to where he needed to go.
The rollerblades worked like a charm, and Daniel managed to get to the meeting place within only a few minutes, where Balalaika and a stoic looking soldier with a scar across his face were waiting.
"Ah, Daniel. You are a very punctual person aren't you?" Balalaika said, breathing out a cloud of smoke from her cigar.
"I saw no reason to keep you waiting." Daniel said.
"Indeed. Such a good boy." Balalaika smiled. "Now, to business then?"
The man with Balalaika picked up a messenger bag from behind some boxes and held it out in front of him for Daniel to take.
"That bag contains a package for an organisation that I frequently use the services of. You are to deliver this to the Lagoon Company's offices down by the docks. Do this job and I'll give you two thousand dollars. You'll also get to keep the bag. I'm sure it will prove useful in your future career."
"Two thou… Whatever's in this must be important." Daniel said, taking the bag and swinging it over him. "Don't worry. I'll be sure to deliver it without any troubles."
"I wouldn't be too sure of that." Balalaika grinned. "I've decided that since this job might be a little too easy for you, and we don't want you to get bored now do we?"
Daniel gulped and tightened his grip on the bag strap, waiting for Balalaika to continue.
"So I've devised a little test. As we speak, a handful of my men are moving around the city armed with paintball guns. Every time they hit you I'll deduct fifty dollars off your pay." She explained before smiling. "Just a little bit of fun to keep you on your toes. And my men were looking for a bit of recreation, so this should satisfy both our interests."
"R-right. So when do I begin?"
A small coloured ball going at an incredible speed smashed on the ground in front of him, spattering bright pink paint on the grey concrete and startling him.
"Oh, I'd say just about now." Balalaika grinned.
Daniel turned around, bag over his shoulder and sped out of the alley. As he rolled quickly down the road, he saw several shapes running across the rooftops out the corner of his eye. Daniel felt a paintball splatter onto his back and he yelped in pain and surprise, almost falling over! But he managed to regain his balance and dodge around the paintballs being fired at him.
A few more splattered onto him, but he gritted his teeth and kept low and moving. Daniel had gotten a lot of speed, and he reckoned that that would get him hit less, and he was right. He was able to dodge around the paintballs a bit more effectively now but there was still a lot of civilians he had to dodge around.
Whizzing past an alleyway, he thought he saw a group of soldiers running the same way he was going. Daniel grabbed a hold of a streetlight he was rolling past and swung himself around, returning to the alleyway. As he thought, the soldiers were planning to ambush him at the next intersection. Detaching the wheels from his rollerblades and stuffing them in his bag, he jumped up and grabbed a hold of a fire escape ladder and began to climb the rusting fire escape. Patting his new bag to see if the package was still there, he climbed inside an open window. Seeing nothing, he walked over to the door and opened it up before stepping into the hallway.
Only to spot several more soldiers take aim with their paintball guns.
"Contact spotted!" shouted one of them.
Daniel yelped and ducked back into the room as several paintballs splattered against the door including one that hit his bare forearm. Swearing under his breath, Daniel leapt back onto the fire escape and ran up the creaking metal steps before reaching the top floor, where another paintball splattered against his back.
"Son of a crap that stings!" Daniel shouted as he opened the window and ran through the hotel room before bursting out into the hallway, surprising more than a few sleepy residents.
Daniel was very tempted to use the elevator, but he heard the soldier's boots coming up both the stairs and the elevator, and the fire escape was being covered. What he needed was a new route.
Looking out a window, he saw that there was a pretty solid looking drainpipe going down to a slanted roof. Daniel quickly attached his rollerblades, made sure his bag was secure and opened the window before leaping out and grabbing onto the drainpipe and sliding down. When he hit the slanted roof, he spun around and rolled down the roof before he leapt off back onto the street.
"Hell yeah!" Daniel shouted before speeding off towards the docks.
Inside the building, the Russian soldiers were watching Daniel skate away when one of their mobiles started ringing.
"How goes the game?" Balalaika asked.
"The boy appears to be fast on his feet. We've landed a few shots on him, but far less than we predicted. We honestly didn't expect him to leap out of the building like that either." The soldier replied.
"Well, they say desperation brings out the best in someone." Balalaika said. "At any rate, it appears our little messenger boy has succeeded in his task. How many times did you hit him?"
"I got a shot on his forearm, and he had around four shots on his front and seven located on his knees and shins. When he turned around there was one right in the back of his head and three in the torso. Though I think I heard him shout when Lebowski shot him on the fire escape."
"Well, I didn't expect him to do this well. Bravo Daniel, bravo." She laughed.
"We did go easy on him. Maybe next time we can use some of our more advanced tactics?"
"Of course. I'm sure this is much too fun for you to just do it once. Maybe after he finds some lodgings I'll find a new job for him."
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Daniel arrived at the Lagoon Company offices and started panting heavily. He wasn't used to this kind of exercise. Usually he'd just sit around at home doing homework.
"Looks like I can't afford to get tired anymore." He breathed, inspecting himself and the various blotches of paint on his clothes. "Damn it, each one of those paintballs cost me fifty bucks! At least I didn't get shot too much."
Detaching the blades and walking up the steps, Daniel knocked on the door of the office. It was then opened by a man with shaggy blond hair and a Hawaiian shirt.
"Morning. What can Lagoon Company do for you?" asked the man.
"Benny! Who the fuck is it?" shouted a female voice from inside.
"I dunno. It's some kid." He called back.
"What's he trying to do, sell us girl scout cookies?" she laughed.
"Uh, actually I'm here to deliver a package." Daniel said, pulling out the package from his messenger bag.
"Who from?" Benny asked, taking the package.
"Miss Balalaika." Daniel said. "She put a gun to my head while I was in a hospital bed. It's still giving me nightmares."
"Well that's just how people say hello here." Benny said nonchalantly, opening the package to reveal large wads of cash. "Yep, that's the ticket. Hey, by the way, what's with the paint?"
"Miss Balalaika said that this job was too easy for me, so she had her soldiers play paintball with me as the target." Daniel said.
"Wait, really? I wanna see this!" shouted the woman from inside before she ran to the door, where her expression changed from expectant to disappointed. "Huh. I thought you would have been covered in bruises and paint. Tch. You got lucky kid."
"If it makes you feel any better he would have been dead fifteen times over if they were using real bullets." Benny said.
"Fuckin' kid would have been dead before he could move if he really went toe to toe with Hotel Moscow." Said the woman before disappearing back into the building.
"No arguments there. Those guys are scary efficient." Benny said, extending his hand in greeting. "I don't think we've been formally introduced. Name's Benny, I'm basically the IT guy for Lagoon Company. The woman who's just flopped onto the couch is Revy."
"Daniel." He said, shaking Benny's hand.
"Well I hope we meet again. I've gotta give this to Dutch. See ya!"
As the door closed, Daniel turned around and walked down the stairs as a van pulled up and the door slid open.
"Good job on completing your task Daniel. Now let's have a look at you." Balalaika said, inviting Daniel closer. "Well, it looks like you took a bit of a beating. From all the shots I can see, that's eight hundred and fifty dollars off your pay."
"Well, it was certainly less than I was expecting." Daniel said.
"Here's your pay. I look forward to using your services in the future, my little messenger." Balalaika said, handing Daniel a wad of money. "And by the way, I hope you don't have any plans in the near future."
"Not at the moment." Daniel said.
"Well in that case, be sure to drop into Hotel Moscow after setting up your accommodation. I have another test for you. The directions are on your cell phone. Ta ta!"
And with that, the door closed and the van sped away, leaving Daniel holding the money.