I wrote another chapter because I felt like it. Sorry to anyone expecting the Crew, but they won't actually be in it for a fair while.
Code for 'Friend'
The girl's eyes widened and she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Hatter? You're the Hatter? The mysterious bodyguard to the four most powerful men in the country?" Her excitement was palpable and it threw Hatter off. This wasn't the normal reaction she received; indifference or nervous shaking she could handle, but an awed smile? It wasn't in her field of expertise.
"I wouldn't say they're the most powerful men in the country..." One is definitely more of a child than a man, she added internally. "And I'm not a bodyguard either. Besides, it's not that big a deal."
"Not that big a– dear me." Kia sighed in pity akin to mocking. "You don't even know you're a celebrity do you? Well, more of a legend seeing as half the city refuses to believe you even exist." She frowned slightly. "I had thought you'd be male though... Maybe we should call you 'The Hatteress' from now on, then everyone will know you're a woman! No, that sounds dumb."
She was getting too familiar for comfort. "We should move before any of those guys come back," Hatter said abruptly, halting the errant conversation in its tracks. She waited for the idea to register in the girl's mind, which luckily didn't take too long. Finally they began to walk again, much to the pleasure of the mercenary who would have very much liked to have been at her hideout already. She was silent as she walked, but was soon shifting uncomfortably beneath the fixated gaze she could feel on her back. "So why did they want you? Are you famous?" she asked to distract the girl but still refusing to slow to her pace or turn to look at her.
"I'm not."
"Huh. Got connections then?"
"None of importance."
"Get on the wrong side of anyone recently?"
"Only my younger sister, but that is a regular occurrence."
"You must be special order then," Hatter said, the conclusion more for herself than her companion but loud enough for her to hear.
"What do you mean by that?" Kia asked as she added an erratic hop-step into her previously rhythmic walking in order to draw alongside the taller girl.
"I couldn't say for certain but you've probably got some kind of rare appeal, maybe a useful biological adaptation that someone out there wants for themself to study or keep from the world, so they hired those thugs."
"The mercenaries?"
"Please tell me you are being deliberately dumb just to irritate me?" Hatter groaned, shocked by just how extraordinarily clueless her accidental charge was. She didn't reply, simply wearing a confused expression like she hadn't entirely understood the question. "Look, they were bounty hunters. An illegal type of mercenary, if you must, with no qualifications of any kind, that kidnap, ransom or kill people for reputation and money." Not knowing the extent of the girl's ignorance, Hatter opted to overcompensate with her explanation.
"What a detestable bunch," Kia said with a mildly exaggerated shiver of disgust. "So who was after me?"
"Dammed if I know," Hatter shrugged. "Let's just get you back home and then you can find someone else to protect you." She halted and turned left down a narrow street, not seeing the slightly downcast face Kia wore, soon covered again by the mask of a smile.
Hatter stopped and faced the wall, waiting patiently for the technology to acknowledge her presence. A small blue light switched on and an almost unnoticeable scan took place, lasting under a second but managing to affirm who she was and check her vitals within that time. Finding nothing wrong, the light flickered off.
Welcome back, Hatter, a hidden speaker said, the familiar voice model filling her with a sense of comfort.Who is behind you? it continued, a less conspicuous amber light coming to life.
"A Hollower," she replied smoothly, the answer ingrained in her memory yet leaving a peculiar tingling in her mouth having never actually needed to use this code before.
I'll open the door then.
"I'm a what?" Kia asked, unsure what had just transpired.
"A Hollower. It's the password for an invited guest." She stepped forward through the new opening in the wall, the corners of her mouth twitching up at the joke. She beckoned for her companion to follow her inside and Kia did so, jumping in surprise as the entrance slid shut after she'd passed. "If I'd said you were a Ragican then you'd be toast by now," Hatter continued, finding the wide-eyed expression on the girl's face hilarious. "A Flukasaur, you'd be added to the roster. But enough about that." She dragged a chair toward her and motioned for Kia to come closer. "Sit."
"That isn't a standard security system," she commented as she obeyed the order, her focus fixed on Hatter all the while.
"Nothing less than military grade for me. It's included in my payroll and everything." She headed to a set of shelves set into the wall, reaching up for a box on the top that Kia knew she would never be able to reach under her own power, unlike Hatter. There was a faint click as the box was opened and rustling as Hatter rummaged through the contents. She removed several items and narrowed her eyes as she read the packets. "What blood type are you?" She cast a questing glance at Kia.
"Uh... No idea."
"Generic painkillers it is then," Hatter said, replacing all but two of the packets back into the box before setting it on its shelf. The smaller packet was opened and proffered to the injured girl. "Take two. They'll not work as well, seeing as they're not specific to your body."
Kia did as she was instructed, swallowing the tiny pills with ease before the mercenary could offer a glass of water. Hatter immediately began binding Kia's left wrist tightly with the bandage from the other packet as soon as the drugs kicked in; her patient twitched in discomfort occasionally, but that was the only sign that she had any feeling in the joint.
"Sorry about this," Hatter said as she worked. "I don't have any of the fancy stuff you get in a hospital, so this will have to do."
"Well you look like you know what you're doing."
"My mother used to work in medicine," she explained absent mindedly. "I picked up a few things here and there." Silence fell whilst she worked on making Kia's wrist as secure as possible, being careful not to make it any worse. She didn't want to be the one blamed if it never healed properly.
"This is a nice place you've got here," Kia said awkwardly, trying to restart the conversation.
"Is it?" Hatter wondered, glancing around briefly at the three room apartment. It was perfectly furnished, true, and well-lit from the low ceiling by a gentle blue-tinted glow that would follow them around as they moved so that there was no need to manually switch on the lights anywhere. On the opposite side of the room there was a neat looking kitchen without any dated equipment, and in the wall closest to them there were shelves hosting various items. But upon closer examination there was nothing personal to be found, nothing of importance for sentimental reasons, only practical necessities. It was clear that whilst Hatter was sleeping here, she didn't live here. "I wouldn't really say it's nice, as such."
She secured the end of the bandage before standing up properly. Kia looked at her swaddled wrist, taking note of the new addition to her outfit. She shoved the almost full packet of painkillers into her pocket so that they were on hand for when she needed them next and then returned her attention to her host.
"So are we leaving now?"
"Well..." Hatter looked away sheepishly. "I'm actually waiting for my Level Pass to be renewed." It was a painfully tedious process that every citizen had to suffer through on alternate years, updating their personal information on the government databases and waiting to see if it would clear. Travelling through the scrapers without a Pass was still possible but immensely difficult what with many public facilities revoking access, so Hatter always used the period to do more productive work instead of staying cooped up the entire time.
"How long will that take?"
"A few days at most. You'll have to stay here until then I'm afraid."
"That's..." Kia hesitated for a second before meeting Hatter's eyes. "I will try not to bother you too much then."
Thus ends chapter two. Now, I need a team of bounty hunters so if you'd like then please volunteer (though be aware I may already have a role for you!)