Sophia couldn't keep her pokerface as dawning comprehension, and then abashed embarrassment cracked through his smile. Gunny broke eye contact to compose himself and settled on saving face. He contorted himself around and tapped the plasteel paneling behind him. In the center was a small pinhole just barely visible to the naked eye, but what caught her attention was the easy-to-miss sheen across the surface.
"Neat little gizmo I got from Valentine; god only knows where she picked it up. Transparent carbon nanotube fabric powered by a tiny solar battery. Tricky little thing that you can slip over the lens of any camera and it will loop the footage, with the proper software." He brandished his retracted cyberdeck. "For as long as I want, you're passed out and I'm playing solitaire or some shit. Now get your ass over here." Gunny slammed a boot down on the seat next to him, a ghost of a grin on his lips.
"Alright; just don't eat me." Although only said in jest, it highlighted just how much Gunny dwarfed her in size. She was very slender compared to most Seattle residents. Gunny had eight inches and at least a hundred pounds on her. "But first..."
Gunny could look down the barrel of an AUG without flinching, so it gave her no end of satisfaction to see the man turn and look out the window like a flustered teen. She reached around her back and pulled down the zipper of her work uniform. The disgusting feeling of clothing bonded to skin by moisture, be it rain water or sweat, finally relinquished its hold as offending article flopped in a pile. Making quick work of the clothes in her bag, she dressed herself and stuffed away her soiled laundry, her shark grin growing in equal measures to Gunny's blush.
She sat beside him in a pair of brown trousers and a loose white shirt under a green jacket, her spare clothes from work. Her gloves still hid her hands from view. Gunny took all of this in in the space of a single moment before he leaned over to ruffle her hair. "How's my favorite punching bag been?" he said, pretending that nothing had just occurred.
'Oh, Gunny; for all of your talk, a pair of boobs beats your bullets.' She looked down. 'Now only if I had a pair.'
"Bloody bored is how she's been. Not much for one such as me t'do when I'm rottin' in a cubicle or working on the line, y'know."
"Then get the fuck out," he retorted. Sophia punched him in the shoulder playfully and winced. It was like punching a brick wall. "Switch jobs, join me and the gang, get laid; do something other than rot away."
"Wish I could." Sophia's eyes had drifted to this compartment's holovid screen stuck in the opposite wall. The cameraman's movements were twitchy and nervous, but were centered on a pair of creatures similar to the pink winged unicorn from before. One was very tall, maybe even taller than Gunny, and had a coat as white as the purest snow. She was bent low and speaking to a lavender-coated creature. Behind them was some titanic machine that gleamed with luminescent energy. Before she could get a better look, several ponies in armored barding that surrounded the base of the machine froze in place before the camera feed cut to black. All the while, the same two headings lined the bottom of the screen. "Not much good work for me out there that hasn't been taken."
ALLEGED U.C.A.S. WHISTLEBLOWER WARNS OF SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES CONCERNING EQUESTRIAN ARRIVALS. METHOD OF TRANSPORTATION DEEMED "NOT A RELIABLE VECTOR FOR SAFE TRANSPORT AND MISSING SEVERAL VARIABLES TO BE PHYSICALLY PLAUSIBLE."
A JOINT MEETING OF ARES MACROTECHNOLOGY AND U.C.A.S. PERSONNEL IS SCHEDULED TO REVIEW THE ISSUE AT AN UNSPECIFIED DATE.
Gunny snorted again when he saw what she was looking at. "Don't say one word about those ponies. I'm in a good mood. I want to stay in a good mood."
"What's wrong? Got ponies and dollies as a kid instead of macho action figures and gun catalogs, eh?"
"Forgive me if I'm not impressed by horses farting rainbows," he replied, causing Sophia to raise an eyebrow. "Don't get me wrong, Soph. It's not that I hate them, I just don't give a shit about them. What I am tired of is hearing everyone else talk about nothing else. It gets... grating."
Sophia nodded in understanding. "One can only undertake so much, I guess. Even you."
"I'm not known for my patience. I'm not hired for it either."
Gunny leaned his head back and closed his eyes. That left Sophia with just the right angle to look straight at the camera, the one being fed nothing but looped footage. "You were setting that up before I got here."
"Eh?" He opened his eyes lazily.
"Y'know, Valentine's little gizmo." She nodded towards the camera. "If you're just getting on and off, why set that up? You're not doing anything... drastic before we get off, right? Ah, bloody hell."
Sophia's face fell. Why else would Gunny, the walking tank, blind a camera? The man was, however, smirking upon seeing her worry. "S'nothing. Not on job right now. Just meeting Atherton at our usual hole and he might have one for me, but nothin' now. Said he needs to talk."
"Then—"
"I don't like being watched," he said with finality. "Security cameras, SIN designations assigned at birth, and security patrols. Everything is monitored, Soph. You're used to it. You work the system because you have to. I won't be caught dead working in one of those places."
He sighed. Rather than being exasperated, he seemed... content. Relaxed. "It just eats at my brain. I can't rest. I can't have something for myself like that. Just for a couple minutes on a train it may be, but these are a few minutes I can be myself. You can't trust a good man to be good when eyes are on him. You can only do that once he's behind a locked door. People aren't the same when they know they are being watched, because they instinctively change their behavior to not get in trouble. I'm not looking for trouble, but I want to be a good man because I am a good man, not because Big Brother is always watching."
He leaned his head back once again. A man as seemingly big and violent at first glance relaxing like a babe in the crib proved quite the contrast. "I just want to be me on my terms. No eyes, no regrets, just a lingering sense of peace. I want a little peace of mind."
Sophia slipped her knapsack off her shoulders and opened it up. "That was a good speech."
"Yeah, but that last part might have been a bit much... Is that nutrisoy?"
The faint aroma of cheaply processed soy passed both of their noses. Sophia had opened a small lunchbox from within her knapsack's confines. "Yup, want some?"
Horror and disgust painted a priceless portrait. It was truly a delight to see a man packing heat afraid of something as simple as food. "Aw, hell no! That shit taste like pain and asses."
Gunny moved to swipe the box out of her hands, but she leaned back to avoid the theft. "Try that again and I will nail your dick to the wall!"
Last time she checked, she wasn't under any threat of death. The look Gunny gave her made her think otherwise. Nutrisoy wasn't that bad. She even had a few steamed carrots, rice, and soy sauce in for flavor. As she ate, a silence passed over the pair. Neither broke it until her dish was half depleted. "I saw a Johnson today."
"Oh?" That got his attention. He laid back against the metal braces on the far end of the seat and sprawled out. Sophia scooted down a seat in order to make room for his long legs. The vinyl on some of the seats had peeled in places, revealing the dull cushion underneath. "Was he for you?"
"No. Thank god for that."
"What?" A smile tugged at his lips. "Is the Brit scared of a Johnson? There's always Plan B." He opened his jacket and confirmed her suspicions: a holstered pistol.
"No," she replied sharply. "One: Not armed. Two: Never will be."
"Well, you could always just say no to a Johnson."
"Correction: you could say no to a Johnson."
"Don't be a pussy."
"Gunny, there is no way my scrawny arse is going to win if they strongarm me. I'm tiny. You're three hundred pounds of metal and beef rolled up in trench coats and gun oil." Gunny choked on his saliva at that. He swung his knees of the seat and bent in half, chortling all the while.
Sophia slapped him on the back a few times until he got his breathing under control. "You know, for all the shit you throw around when we're all talking online, you're alright in person."
"I'm..." Gunny sniggered, "I'm just a name online. If I keep up the act, I can throw people off if they look for me. I got a face and a life I don't show anyone, rookie. Not lightly."
She felt her chest puff with a little bit of pride. "Thanks."
"Don't let it go to your head, kid."
She punched him in the shoulder. "You're not that older than me."
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow mockingly. He opened his mouth to add some sort of retort, but she held up a finger to silence him.
"You never ask a lady her age."
"Lady? You swear more than I do. Chummer, I've seen you piss drunk. A scrawny bitch you may be, I've seen you drink a marine under the table, swearing all the while like a sailor balls deep in a Jap whore."
"Jealous?" She smiled coyly and licked her lips as sensually as she could muster. Feminine charms did not work on Gunny this time, as he punched her mockingly in the shoulder. Unlike her own playful jab, he almost knocked her off her seat. She got an eyeful of the holovid's next media heading as she lay sprawled across the vinyl. Was there anything else going on other than ponies? Wasn't something on fire or being stolen? Could a politician get his face peeled off by a gangbanger just to mix things up?
NEGOTIATIONS IN PLACE TO LIMIT TRAVEL QUOTAS TO AND FROM EQUESTRIAN REALMS
QUESTIONS POSED TO ARES MACROTECHNOLOGY AND GREAT DRAGON DUNKELZAHN ABOUT DETAILS CONCERNING EQUINE WORLDS AND/OR REALMS HAS SO FAR GONE UNANSWERED
The video was showing the white unicorn from before, along with his strange winged unicorn companion, the purple one, and the tall white creature together speaking to members wearing uniforms of the Saeder-Krupp and Ares Macrotechnology corporations. The tall white pony, the leader of the group, if Sophia had to hazard a guess, was speaking to a well-dressed caucasian man with long silver hair and golden eyes.
Gunny grabbed her hand and pulled her to her seat, breaking her gaze away from the screen. "Speaking of the net, I got a question for you." A seed of dread manifested in the pit of her gut and started asking for tequila. She had little to no expertise in official online business, so he must be talking about her other online activities.
Warily, but patiently, she nodded for him to continue. "Why pick the name "Synergy" for an online handle? Out of all the names... or is it for the obvious reason...?"
She tried to keep her face straight, but something must have leaked through. Confirmation of some private suspicion was in his eyes. "Just because. It was the first thing that came to mind."
"Aw, come on. I'll tell you where I got the nickname Gunny."
"Bugger off; you're prying." He was a lot further away than she remembered. She looked down, counting the seats. Gunny hadn't moved. She had moved away from him, desperately clutching her left arm as she leaned away from her friend.
Gunny slowly raised both hands calmly. "Alright, alright. I'll cut it out." The embers of anger were brewing within the technician, all because she could sniff true regret coming from him. True regret and, if her gut was accurate, pity. Watching a bunch of slack-jawed maggots squablle over new design specs and managers pulling lies out of their asses had given Sophia good practice at reading body language. But what was he looking for?
"I've got to keep some things for myself," she evaded. She watched him studiously to see if he took the bait.
Gunny flattened a few creases on his jacket, carefully selecting his words before responding. "Fine. You know where I'll be if you ever want to trade stories. Or just want to unload. I like you, Soph. You're not alone in this shithole city. Even if you just want to talk."
'Shit,' she cursed internally. Privacy was one thing Gunny valued in high regard, so she knew he wouldn't press the issue, but this was something he wasn't going to forget. She just knew it.
"What job was Atherton calling you for?" she asked in an attempt to change the subject. "That mad bastard got another scheme in his head?"
"No details yet. Well..." he said conspiratorially. All dour that had infected the atmosphere earlier had jumped ship and she leaned in closer like a child at storytime. "I can speculate a little. For one, I heard Eden Enterprise's name get thrown around a fair bit. He just might come knocking at your door if he needs to have a mole."
"Well, tell him to pack his shiny toys and suave smile and bloody swagger and get the fuck out; I don't do favors or jobs that involve a yearly bonus of lead enemas."
"I'll make sure to recommend you, then."
Sophia sighed exasperatedly, making sure to drag out the noise to be as annoying as she could possibly make it. She was low on money as it was, and Gunny knew she was placed under financial pressure. His less than subtle job offer did not go unnoticed.
Still... If Atherton paid well...
"What else?" She didn't want to think about the appeal any more than she had to. 'Atherton is careful, but bloody hell does he like to take the long shot.'
He held up a hand and started counting off names. "That greaser—can't remember his name—is getting called in. So is Valentine, Dominic, and the King. Atherton doesn't want to do anything serious until he has another, however; some 'full-of-herself street magician or illusionist.' His words, not mine."
"King? King Kludge? What does Atherton need that guy in for? He never does any legwork."
Gunny shook his head. "I don't think he is, or needs to be. I think he's going to be bankrolling the operation, whenever Atherton decides what he wants to do and when he finds this mage of his."
Sophia chewed on her tongue, mulling over the intel. It didn't sound like Atherton was ready either way. No pressure to take a job, then. Even if it paid well, agonizing over a job always sucked. Picking up a toothpick, she viciously speared the last few cubes of nutrisoy and deposited them into her mouth.
"Disgusting."
She shuffled the toothpick and spat it at the man. It harmlessly bounced off of his forehead. "Fuck you, Gunny."
The main topics of interest exhausted, their conversations dived into the more and more tangential until the metro lurched slightly. They were coming to a stop. Gunny sighed, but Sophia took a moment to stretch. Her stop was the one after this. A soft, female voice echoed over the PA system.
WE WILL SOON BE ARRIVING AT THE CRAFTSMAN DISTRICT. THOSE DEPARTING, PLEASE GATHER YOUR BELONGINGS.
Gunny cracked his neck and stood. At his full height, he could stand on his toes and brush the ceiling with his hands. He plopped back into his seat and removed the cyberdeck from his wrist. "Back to your seat, 'lady.'" The last bit was thick with sarcasm, something she replied with a one-fingered victory salute before lying back down on the other set of seats. She closed her eyes and let Gunny work whatever software he used on his little gadget. She had enjoyed the friendly chat quite well. "Alright, big brother is back on watch."
Sophia opened her eyes and focused hard to conjure a wide yawn as the metro jerked and slowed to a low speed. "See ya on the flip side, chummer."
Gunny walked towards the door, looking at anything other than her. If anyone was watching for the last ten to twenty minutes, they never spoke a word to each other.
"Gunny?"
"Yeah?"
The floor wasn't that interesting, yet that didn't stop her from trying to melt a hole through the plasteel flooring if she stared at it long enough. Her left arm twitched involuntarily and she clutched it tightly. It was warm in the metro car, but now it seemed so, so very cold.
"Thanks."
He was nothing but a blurry shape of green and black out of the corner of her eye, but something about the way he composed himself was very unlike the cold aloofness or the crude playfulness she had come to know as Gunny, the gentle and exceedingly well-armed giant.
"No prob, Soph. Anytime. I'm not the best company, but... be safe. I may not sound like it most of the time and I know you can take care of yourself, but I worry." Sophia couldn't see his face from her current angle, but the truth rang in his words.
"I'm glad I met you," she said. Gunny did not reply. She didn't want or need him to.
The mood was cut like the slash of a sword. As the metro hissed and groaned to a stop, Sophia saw Gunny do something out of the corner of her eye she had never expected a warrior to do: freeze. Curiosity stronger than anything, she turned to look out the window.
A small rabble of ponies, each with a silver band around a foreleg, stood ready and eager behind the metro safety line. That alone was odd. Why were any of them even there in the first place? The holovid had said there were travel quotas, and yet here were a group of them right in front of her. Why weren't they at least escorted?
The group had walked forward as the doors opened, all of them with eyes wide with wonder and amazement. They had stepped forward, their hooves giving several loud, disharmonious clip-clops across the hard steel metro platform. Most Seattle citizens instinctively walked as quietly as possible given the city's... reputation with those like Gunny. That, and none of the ponies were wearing anything other than horseshoes and a few saddlebags.
The ponies stopped and stood stock still, staring at the door. More appropriately, they were staring at Gunny.
'What are you doing now you cheeky git?' she couldn't help but think as her head mechanically turned to the brute.
Gunny... was smiling. Not that knowing smile. Not that joking smile, or even his sarcastic grin. His eyes were alight with mirth, yet none of it touched his smile. The corners of his mouth kept pulling back more and more as he watched the herd close rank around each other.
"Hah..." Sophia barely heard it. It couldn't have been a laugh. More like the end result of air simply escaping his lungs. With smooth, slow strides, Gunny walked out the door. The group of ponies parted like ants around a new body of water as he passed, the ex-soldier smirking all the way. Sophia watched his green jacket disappear past the turnstiles as the ponies filtered in slowly. It was better than nothing occupying her time until the next stop and her destination.
"Now what was that all about?" one whispered to the group. The voice was female, yet somehow sounded garbled and strange. It was common english without a doubt, but something still sounded off.
"No idea," another replied. This one was much taller, male, red, stocky, and had several bags lashed to his hindquarters. With Gunny gone, she turned her full attention to the ponies and her now noisy compartment.
The next speaker was also male, this one with a coat a light shade of blue and a shock of black hair for a mane. He fluttered his wings and said, "They've been looking at us like that since we came to this city. Although none so... condescending."
"But did you see him? He was huge!" said a unicorn with such enthusiasm she made Sophia giggle. Gunny was big to her. As the biggest pony among them, the red one, only came up to her chest, Gunny must have looked positively enormous to them.
Voices carried in such cramped quarters. Small enough as she was to avoid notice, she could not hide after laughing. The herd jumped in shock and turned on her. Strangely, opposite of what she expected, the males were toward the center of the cluster and not the females.
There were about a dozen of them in total, all of them ranging from waist-high to chest-high. What was seriously offputting was just how large their eyes were. They dominated a large portion of their cranium and it made her feel like she was looking at an exceedingly creepy doll. The heads, each ending in a shorter snout than she expected, were much larger than the holovids made them appear.
'Alright, Soph, first contact with one of them. Yeah, they look weird. Just pick your poison carefully.'
"Take a pic, you tossers; it will last longer than gaping like fish."
'Smooth.'
Editors: Softy8088, The Synn Lofsvard, TittySparkles, RainbowBob