Sunday, 12:37 PM
Sara woke up feeling utterly miserable, the ramifications of her late-night conversation still
rattling around in her head. *Great. Not only am I a danger to society with my disease, but I can also
be a one-person epidemic. Well, From my uncanny sense of timing, I can guess that it's past noon,
which gives me twelve hours, more or less, to clear my mind and make sure that nobody gets the
bright idea of bothering me tonight. Actually, I think I'm going to sleep some more.* Sara rolled
over, covering her face with the pillow, but couldn't get back to sleep, no matter how hard she tried.
*Dammit! Remind me to beat someone*
Sara sat up in her bed, changed into a new set of clothes, and tossed her collection of dirty
stuff into a steadily-growing pile that had appeared about a week ago. Sara growled something
unintelligible as she then picked up the entire pile and half-dragged it downstairs into the back room
which had the washing machine and dryer sitting there, collecting dust. Sara tossed her clothes into
the machine, dropped in a few cupfuls of detergent, and turned on the noisemaker. As the machine
cleaned her clothes, Sara went into the kitchen and had a bowl of cereal before deciding to watch
some mindless television shows.
After laughing at a few cartoons, Sara turned off the TV, and grabbed her still-open book that
she had been reading Friday night. She spent several hours finishing off the book, then pulled her
now-clean clothes from the washer and tossed them in the dryer. After getting them dried and folded,
Sara put everything in her room and checked her weapons that she had put in the safe. She buckled
her pouch of cards around her waist, and practised her quickdraw with each type. Sara didn't throw
any of the cards around though, mainly because she knew what could happen if she let any one of
them loose.
She looked at the clock, and noticed that it was getting close to news hour, so she went back
downstairs and turned on the TV. She watched the news for the entire hour, made herself a small
meal of spaghetti and meatballs, and rested her eyes until the clock told her that it was Eleven-Thirty.
*Well, I'm going to get ready now. Lemme see, I'll activate my armour ten minutes before the
meeting, and I'd better get my weapons ready.* Sara stood up, walked up to her room, and stripped
down to her underwear.
Sara strapped on her dagger first, loosening the blade in its sheath so she could draw it
quickly. She then went to waist level, putting on the hip pack and gunbelt, which she then loaded with
several full magazines of high-power bullets, which were reputed to punch right through an elephant.
Sara put her magnums in their respective holsters, and then took her sword and looped the scabbard's
belt over her right shoulder, seconds before she activated her armour, which expanded outwards from
her waist until everything from the neck down was covered by the metallic plates.
*Heh. Now I look dangerous.* Sara opened her window, and after climbing out onto the roof
of her porch, she closed the window behind her, and put her cape on. Sara looked around quickly,
noticing the silence of the area around her house, then jumped north several blocks in one massive
bound. Sara used her cape as a parachute, slowing her fall long enough to allow her to glide at least
another seventy yards before her feet landed on the edge of an old brownstone. *Whee! I forgot just
how much fun it is to do this!* Sara was almost giddy with happiness, but calmed down when she
remembered what she was up to: A clandestine meeting with an unknown employer, who may be a
royal piss-off.
Sara still grinned as she told her armour to go to full combat, covering her face and head
completely. She jumped northwards again, and in less than five minutes, she was looking at the
warehouse she was supposed to meet her prospective employer in. Sara lay down on the corrugated
iron roof of the building she was on, and told her armour to shut down for a little while. Several
minutes later, Sara reactivated her armour and jumped down to the pavement in front of the open
door in the side of the building. She walked into the room, looked around, and dodged a relatively
pathetic attempt to guard the door by sweeping around and grabbing the man's forearm right before
he was flipped into the light.
Sara looked at the pseudo-military garb, the ammunition bandoliers, and the knife still held
in the man's right hand. "Well. Seems that I'm late." Sara let the man go, and walked into the centre
of the room, where two trestle tables had been set up. She looked at the small congregation of unruly
men, all armed with a variety of heavy weapons such as one massive man who was carrying two RPG
(Rocket-Propelled Grenade) launchers on his back. "So, who has the most experience here?" A
grizzled soldier looked up at Sara, and his eyes widened.
"Well, if it isn't the ghost knife. Actually, you have the most combat experience, and I'd be
happy to let you control this group, if at all possible." The soldier's words sent a ripple of surprise
through the group, and several people edged away from Sara. She shrugged, hooked a chair from
underneath the near table and dragged it over with her foot. Sitting down in the uncomfortable lump
of plastic, Sara looked at each bounty hunter standing around, then noticed that a door had opened
on the opposite side of the warehouse.
Sara signalled for the bounty hunters to sit down, and watched through narrowed eyes as the
prospect's guards entered the building, scattering through the passageways, and trying to keep in the
shadows. Even though, Sara noticed the glowing red eyes that the hulking beings tried to keep
hidden, and she knew that those were greenskins. *Shit. Is this an ambush, or an employment
prospect? Definitely gotta keep my eyes open.* Sara fidgeted in her seat, watching as several men
walked in, all holding assault rifles, with the exception of one man with a flamethrower.
Sara noticed that the people got progressively smaller as the squads got closer to the table,
and finally, she watched as a massive greenskin walked into the centre of the room and placed a small
person on a chair in the centre of the table opposite Sara. Sara noticed that the techno she had
perforated with her magnums a few days ago was standing to the right of the little person, and on the
left was a brown-haired teen, with what looked like a metal bracer covering her right forearm. The
boy sitting in the chair looked at Sara, and she responded by swinging her feet up onto the table in
front of her and leaning backwards.
The boy obviously looked like he was going to try and bite her head off, but instead he started
speaking. "Good. You're here. Now, I'm offering a bounty of several thousand dollars to the person
who brings me CyberSix's head." Sara snorted under her breath, but sat up straight. *Bullshit. My
minimum price tag is ten thousand per day, and I rarely do assassinations. This kid has a lot to learn
about hunters.* She refocused on the boy's rambling. *Geez. Even my previous employers weren't
this sick. This kid has obviously been snorting crack. What's next? Some preaching on the evils of
humanity?*
Sara wasn't disappointed, as the boy launched into a diatribe that lasted for several minutes,
and managed to alienate every person in front of him. Sara herself was getting very pissed off, and
was beginning to flex her fingers slightly. *'To complete my father's ideal plan?' Okay, this kid is an
utter wack job.* Finally, the boy finished, and Sara stood up. "Okay, munchkin. You want us to hunt
down one person, all for a really measly sum? I'll say this now so my weapons don't have to. You
are a fucking idiot! Now, I'm definitely not taking this job, especially because I've met your target
and consider her to be one of the deadliest beings in this city."
She watched as the boy's face turned red, then her jumped down from his perch and walked
over to Sara. Looking down, she noticed with some amusement that he was short enough to walk
under the table without having to duck. "Who the hell are you?" The boy was fuming, obviously
trying to keep his temper in check. Sara squatted down to his eye level, and in Japanese she said,
"Hentai Baka. (perverted idiot)" The boy, not understanding the very nasty insult, kicked Sara in the
shin, and repeated his question. In response, Sara reached out with maddening speed, grabbed the
boy, and straightened up, allowing him to kick impotently in the air.
"I'll tell you. I'm The Knife." Sara drew the foot-long African blade from her boot sheath, and
showed it to the boy. "Now, what's your name?" Sara slowly drew the knife along the boy's shirt
collar, leaving a light gouge in the boy's shirt. "I'm Jose, and you're going to let me go now!" Sara
nodded. Then, instead of placing him on the ground like he expected, she suddenly whirled around,
took a half step backwards, and promptly kicked him in the ass, sending him flying through a window
into the city harbour.
Sara then turned back to the group of greenskins, technos, and others, kicking the table down
to create a makeshift shield. She dove down as several greenskins opened fire with their machine
guns, which shredded several of the other hunters, splattering blood and other bodily fluids over the
crates behind the hunters. Sara's cape was also soaked with blood, and she swore quietly as she put
away her knife and pulled one of her magnums at the same time she drew her sword. Sara saw several
of the hunters cluster together, firing their assault rifles at the closest enemies while tossing grenades
at the further ones.
Sara popped up, unloading her magnum into the chest of the flamethrower-wielding techno
but missed with a third of the slugs, and negligently flipped her sword around, cutting the table in half.
She tried to dodge a hail of bullets fired in her direction, but wasn't fast enough, and was knocked
down by several slugs that smacked into her chest. *That hurt! I really don't want to do that again,
but when I get home I'm going to dial down the settings so I don't suffer from any nasty side
effects.*
Sara put the empty magnum back in its holster, and dove into an alcove opposite of where
the cluster of hunters was retreating to. She heard a hissing whoosh, screamed for everyone to duck,
but watched helplessly as the entire group of hunters was shredded into red mist by a well-aimed
rocket. Sara swore silently, and watched as several technos walked cautiously towards the area where
blackened shreds of cloth drifted through the air, and pieces of flesh were pattering to the ground in
a series of wet plops.
Sara noticed that the entire group was too watchful for her to take them by surprise, so she
looked for an alternative route. *Heh. The sides and back are blocked, the front is bristling with heavy
weapons, and the only clear route is up. Up it is.* Sara gathered her strength, jumped up to the top
of the medium level pile of crates, and pulled out a red card from her belt pouch. *You're gonna get
shafted, kids.* Sara threw the card at the group, but one techno noticed the small object and dodged
to the side. A second later, the other five were engulfed in a fiery blast, and thrashed around in agony
as the chemical explosion cooked them alive.
Sara moved quickly to another area, trying to keep out of sight, and in order to get slightly
more agile, she sheathed her sword, and pulled out her full magnum. As Sara settled down on a taller
stack of crates near where she had booted Jose out the window, she aimed carefully with the scope
on her pistol, and cleanly blew a greenskin's head off. In response, she drew volleys of small-caliber
fire to where she was, but had moved over by one crate. *Dammit, my cape is acting as a beacon for
these grunts. I'm going to take it off for now, and I hope to get it back later.*
Sara fitted actions to words, and removed the cape so it wouldn't turn into an objective for
everything in the place to shoot at. She noticed movement to her left, and on the same level as her.
*Okay, someone has gotten the bright idea to fight me on my own turf. They'll probably be able to
go up against me close up, but until then, I have the advantage.* Sara then ducked as two bullets
slammed into the wooden crate she was crouching on, and moved over to another stack.
Sara grimaced as she noticed that the techno that had dodged her explosive mix was actively
hunting for her, with a sniper rifle that could probably be able to punch a good way through her
armour. *Dammit.* Sara continued moving, looking for the person who was on the top of the crates
with her, and occasionally sniping the greenskins that were patrolling the passageways between the
stacks of boxes. Naturally, whenever she shot a greenskin with her limited supply of elephant-killers,
she invited a volley of bullets to where everyone thought she was at.
As Sara moved along a small alleyway ten feet above the concrete floor, and surrounded by
what looked like boxes of machine parts, she heard something shift behind her. *What was that?*
Sara looked around, but noticed nothing. She turned back, started moving again, and felt a sudden
impact in the small of her back. Sara tucked and rolled forwards, thankful for her training in the
martial arts, which allowed her to avoid the brunt of the blow, which could've snapped her spine. She
turned around quickly, and looked at her ambusher. It was the girl who she had seen earlier, and that
girl was pissed. Sara raised her arms, allowing herself to slide into one of the basic positions of
Pentjak.
"So, you've caused me a bit of a headache. Let's get this over with." The girl spat angrily.
Then, she dodged forwards, ducking and weaving, right before landing a punch in Sara's stomach.
Sara tried to avoid the brunt of the blow, but she felt something in her upper abdomen tear loose,
causing her a massive amount of pain. Sara countered with a snap-kick to the girl's thigh that
connected heavily, but didn't break the bone. *I am going to get you. Rrrgghhh... I think you may
have damaged my liver.* Sara dodged backwards, and faking a stumble, she pulled her knife out of
its boot sheath. "Now we're on even ground." The girl lunged at Sara again, and Sara, instead of
dodging, laid open the girl's left forearm to the bone.
The girl screamed, and Sara watched as droplets of greenish blood pattered onto the ropes
tying the crates together. As the seemingly corrosive liquid ate through the heavy cords, Sara swept
the girl's feet out from underneath her and jumped over to the next stack as the one she had been
fighting on began to collapse. Sara staggered in pain as she landed, feeling her internal injuries
intensify for a few seconds. Sara flicked the remaining blood off her knife before re-sheathing it, and
decided to get the hell out of dodge before that girl came back for a rematch. Sara got over to where
she had stashed her cape, and hearing strident shouting from the end of the warehouse closest to the
water, she just left by the opposite end of the building.
Several minutes later, Sara landed lightly on the roof of an old building, and sat down in the
shadows of a chimney. *Why the bloody hell do I feel so fatigued? I've gone through worse fights
than that without a scratch, and I'm usually a hell of a better shot. So what's happened?* Sara stood
up again as she felt the pain in her stomach ebb slightly, then nearly collapsed as a sharp spine of pain
slammed through her. Sara coughed, hard, and then spat some blood onto the rough tar of the roof.
Dizzy and weak, she dragged herself back into the shadows before shutting down her armour. Sara
tried to keep conscious, but was eventually dragged down into mental oblivion.
Simultaneously, in Dr. Zack's House
Dr. Zack settled down in front of his "special" phone, looking at the number scribbled on the
Post-it he held in his hand. Pursing his lips, he picked up the receiver, dialled the number, and got a
message demanding the country prefix.
Sighing, he got the phone book, looked up the country prefix for Canada, and punched it in,
along with the number. He smiled grimly when the phone, finally, clicked through to the other end
and began to ring.
"Hello?"
"Is this Dr. Charles Sorbie I am speaking to?" Dr. Zack noted that both lamps on the top of
the phone lit up green.
"Yes. Who is this?"
"I am Dr. Anthony Zacharias, calling from South America about a patient of yours. Miss Sara
D'Arnise."
Pause, "I'm sorry, but I've retired, and don't have access to my records any more. The name
doesn't ring a bell."
"Well, in the E-mail you sent to her yesterday, you addressed her as Selina."
Very long pause, "Is there something wrong?"
"Not yet. It was extremely irresponsible to-"
"Out of my hands." Dr. Sorbie interrupted hastily, "not my idea."
"But-"
"She was in very bad shape when I got her," Dr. Sorbie plunged on, "extensive surgery,
extreme drug regimes. Her family couldn't possibly afford the expenses."
"So somebody footed the bill? Why, the cost of developing and constructing those-"
"Out of my hands." Sorbie interrupted, "It was out of my hands."
"Dr. Sorbie, only a corporation could-"
The left light on the phone changed from green to yellow, then to red at the mention of the
word "Corporation".
*DAMN! Voice activated wiretap!* Dr. Zack realized why the initially polite Dr. Sorbie had
started to interrupt him, "-uhh, be able to afford funding a chair of Medicine at Meridiana University!"
he thought wildly.
Dr. Sorbie apparently was no fool, "I'm sorry, but I'm retired, and have my family to consider.
I wish you luck in finding some other suitable candidate."
"Could you give me the names of a few you could recommend, Dr. Sorbie?"
To make it sound convincing, Dr. Zack wrote the names down, making sure he got the
spelling right, "Sorry to bother you, Dr. Sorbie."
"Quite all right. Quite flattering, in a way, to be considered."
"Good bye."
"Good bye."
Dr. Zack hung the phone up and leaned back in his chair, "Damnation! Now I've got TWO
corporations to worry about!"
Several Minutes Later, in the Northern United States
"Sir?"
"Yes? What is it this time?"
"We seem to have picked up a charge wave corresponding to the original suit. Also, we have
records of a person entering the area with unprecedented amounts of metal in her system."
"So, she's finally appeared in our sights. Where is she?"
"A medium-sized city in a third-world country. The place is called... let me see... Meridiana.
We don't have a branch office there, so we have no reconnaissance right now."
"Get our spec-ops forces briefed. I want them in that city within two months. Oh yes, give
them the carrier wave that shuts down her suit, and train them in the upgraded version."
"Um, sir?"
"What?"
"We also have a partial call to the doctor who did the operations on the subject. Apparently,
one Dr. Anthony Zacharias was attempting to offer our good doctor a position at the local university
as head of medicine. Would you like the team to put him under surveillance?"
"Dr. Zack? Calling Sorbie? Damn."
"You know him sir?"
"Yes. He worked for a competitor. Luckily, he quit before they would have squashed us. I'm
surprised that our subject has contacted him. Didn't you say that she was in Meridiana?"
"Yes sir. Isn't that city the epicentre of a lot of the world's paranormal activities?"
"Yes. That's why we don't have a branch office there. Get Zack under surveillance as soon
as possible."
"Of course, sir."
Sara woke up feeling utterly miserable, the ramifications of her late-night conversation still
rattling around in her head. *Great. Not only am I a danger to society with my disease, but I can also
be a one-person epidemic. Well, From my uncanny sense of timing, I can guess that it's past noon,
which gives me twelve hours, more or less, to clear my mind and make sure that nobody gets the
bright idea of bothering me tonight. Actually, I think I'm going to sleep some more.* Sara rolled
over, covering her face with the pillow, but couldn't get back to sleep, no matter how hard she tried.
*Dammit! Remind me to beat someone*
Sara sat up in her bed, changed into a new set of clothes, and tossed her collection of dirty
stuff into a steadily-growing pile that had appeared about a week ago. Sara growled something
unintelligible as she then picked up the entire pile and half-dragged it downstairs into the back room
which had the washing machine and dryer sitting there, collecting dust. Sara tossed her clothes into
the machine, dropped in a few cupfuls of detergent, and turned on the noisemaker. As the machine
cleaned her clothes, Sara went into the kitchen and had a bowl of cereal before deciding to watch
some mindless television shows.
After laughing at a few cartoons, Sara turned off the TV, and grabbed her still-open book that
she had been reading Friday night. She spent several hours finishing off the book, then pulled her
now-clean clothes from the washer and tossed them in the dryer. After getting them dried and folded,
Sara put everything in her room and checked her weapons that she had put in the safe. She buckled
her pouch of cards around her waist, and practised her quickdraw with each type. Sara didn't throw
any of the cards around though, mainly because she knew what could happen if she let any one of
them loose.
She looked at the clock, and noticed that it was getting close to news hour, so she went back
downstairs and turned on the TV. She watched the news for the entire hour, made herself a small
meal of spaghetti and meatballs, and rested her eyes until the clock told her that it was Eleven-Thirty.
*Well, I'm going to get ready now. Lemme see, I'll activate my armour ten minutes before the
meeting, and I'd better get my weapons ready.* Sara stood up, walked up to her room, and stripped
down to her underwear.
Sara strapped on her dagger first, loosening the blade in its sheath so she could draw it
quickly. She then went to waist level, putting on the hip pack and gunbelt, which she then loaded with
several full magazines of high-power bullets, which were reputed to punch right through an elephant.
Sara put her magnums in their respective holsters, and then took her sword and looped the scabbard's
belt over her right shoulder, seconds before she activated her armour, which expanded outwards from
her waist until everything from the neck down was covered by the metallic plates.
*Heh. Now I look dangerous.* Sara opened her window, and after climbing out onto the roof
of her porch, she closed the window behind her, and put her cape on. Sara looked around quickly,
noticing the silence of the area around her house, then jumped north several blocks in one massive
bound. Sara used her cape as a parachute, slowing her fall long enough to allow her to glide at least
another seventy yards before her feet landed on the edge of an old brownstone. *Whee! I forgot just
how much fun it is to do this!* Sara was almost giddy with happiness, but calmed down when she
remembered what she was up to: A clandestine meeting with an unknown employer, who may be a
royal piss-off.
Sara still grinned as she told her armour to go to full combat, covering her face and head
completely. She jumped northwards again, and in less than five minutes, she was looking at the
warehouse she was supposed to meet her prospective employer in. Sara lay down on the corrugated
iron roof of the building she was on, and told her armour to shut down for a little while. Several
minutes later, Sara reactivated her armour and jumped down to the pavement in front of the open
door in the side of the building. She walked into the room, looked around, and dodged a relatively
pathetic attempt to guard the door by sweeping around and grabbing the man's forearm right before
he was flipped into the light.
Sara looked at the pseudo-military garb, the ammunition bandoliers, and the knife still held
in the man's right hand. "Well. Seems that I'm late." Sara let the man go, and walked into the centre
of the room, where two trestle tables had been set up. She looked at the small congregation of unruly
men, all armed with a variety of heavy weapons such as one massive man who was carrying two RPG
(Rocket-Propelled Grenade) launchers on his back. "So, who has the most experience here?" A
grizzled soldier looked up at Sara, and his eyes widened.
"Well, if it isn't the ghost knife. Actually, you have the most combat experience, and I'd be
happy to let you control this group, if at all possible." The soldier's words sent a ripple of surprise
through the group, and several people edged away from Sara. She shrugged, hooked a chair from
underneath the near table and dragged it over with her foot. Sitting down in the uncomfortable lump
of plastic, Sara looked at each bounty hunter standing around, then noticed that a door had opened
on the opposite side of the warehouse.
Sara signalled for the bounty hunters to sit down, and watched through narrowed eyes as the
prospect's guards entered the building, scattering through the passageways, and trying to keep in the
shadows. Even though, Sara noticed the glowing red eyes that the hulking beings tried to keep
hidden, and she knew that those were greenskins. *Shit. Is this an ambush, or an employment
prospect? Definitely gotta keep my eyes open.* Sara fidgeted in her seat, watching as several men
walked in, all holding assault rifles, with the exception of one man with a flamethrower.
Sara noticed that the people got progressively smaller as the squads got closer to the table,
and finally, she watched as a massive greenskin walked into the centre of the room and placed a small
person on a chair in the centre of the table opposite Sara. Sara noticed that the techno she had
perforated with her magnums a few days ago was standing to the right of the little person, and on the
left was a brown-haired teen, with what looked like a metal bracer covering her right forearm. The
boy sitting in the chair looked at Sara, and she responded by swinging her feet up onto the table in
front of her and leaning backwards.
The boy obviously looked like he was going to try and bite her head off, but instead he started
speaking. "Good. You're here. Now, I'm offering a bounty of several thousand dollars to the person
who brings me CyberSix's head." Sara snorted under her breath, but sat up straight. *Bullshit. My
minimum price tag is ten thousand per day, and I rarely do assassinations. This kid has a lot to learn
about hunters.* She refocused on the boy's rambling. *Geez. Even my previous employers weren't
this sick. This kid has obviously been snorting crack. What's next? Some preaching on the evils of
humanity?*
Sara wasn't disappointed, as the boy launched into a diatribe that lasted for several minutes,
and managed to alienate every person in front of him. Sara herself was getting very pissed off, and
was beginning to flex her fingers slightly. *'To complete my father's ideal plan?' Okay, this kid is an
utter wack job.* Finally, the boy finished, and Sara stood up. "Okay, munchkin. You want us to hunt
down one person, all for a really measly sum? I'll say this now so my weapons don't have to. You
are a fucking idiot! Now, I'm definitely not taking this job, especially because I've met your target
and consider her to be one of the deadliest beings in this city."
She watched as the boy's face turned red, then her jumped down from his perch and walked
over to Sara. Looking down, she noticed with some amusement that he was short enough to walk
under the table without having to duck. "Who the hell are you?" The boy was fuming, obviously
trying to keep his temper in check. Sara squatted down to his eye level, and in Japanese she said,
"Hentai Baka. (perverted idiot)" The boy, not understanding the very nasty insult, kicked Sara in the
shin, and repeated his question. In response, Sara reached out with maddening speed, grabbed the
boy, and straightened up, allowing him to kick impotently in the air.
"I'll tell you. I'm The Knife." Sara drew the foot-long African blade from her boot sheath, and
showed it to the boy. "Now, what's your name?" Sara slowly drew the knife along the boy's shirt
collar, leaving a light gouge in the boy's shirt. "I'm Jose, and you're going to let me go now!" Sara
nodded. Then, instead of placing him on the ground like he expected, she suddenly whirled around,
took a half step backwards, and promptly kicked him in the ass, sending him flying through a window
into the city harbour.
Sara then turned back to the group of greenskins, technos, and others, kicking the table down
to create a makeshift shield. She dove down as several greenskins opened fire with their machine
guns, which shredded several of the other hunters, splattering blood and other bodily fluids over the
crates behind the hunters. Sara's cape was also soaked with blood, and she swore quietly as she put
away her knife and pulled one of her magnums at the same time she drew her sword. Sara saw several
of the hunters cluster together, firing their assault rifles at the closest enemies while tossing grenades
at the further ones.
Sara popped up, unloading her magnum into the chest of the flamethrower-wielding techno
but missed with a third of the slugs, and negligently flipped her sword around, cutting the table in half.
She tried to dodge a hail of bullets fired in her direction, but wasn't fast enough, and was knocked
down by several slugs that smacked into her chest. *That hurt! I really don't want to do that again,
but when I get home I'm going to dial down the settings so I don't suffer from any nasty side
effects.*
Sara put the empty magnum back in its holster, and dove into an alcove opposite of where
the cluster of hunters was retreating to. She heard a hissing whoosh, screamed for everyone to duck,
but watched helplessly as the entire group of hunters was shredded into red mist by a well-aimed
rocket. Sara swore silently, and watched as several technos walked cautiously towards the area where
blackened shreds of cloth drifted through the air, and pieces of flesh were pattering to the ground in
a series of wet plops.
Sara noticed that the entire group was too watchful for her to take them by surprise, so she
looked for an alternative route. *Heh. The sides and back are blocked, the front is bristling with heavy
weapons, and the only clear route is up. Up it is.* Sara gathered her strength, jumped up to the top
of the medium level pile of crates, and pulled out a red card from her belt pouch. *You're gonna get
shafted, kids.* Sara threw the card at the group, but one techno noticed the small object and dodged
to the side. A second later, the other five were engulfed in a fiery blast, and thrashed around in agony
as the chemical explosion cooked them alive.
Sara moved quickly to another area, trying to keep out of sight, and in order to get slightly
more agile, she sheathed her sword, and pulled out her full magnum. As Sara settled down on a taller
stack of crates near where she had booted Jose out the window, she aimed carefully with the scope
on her pistol, and cleanly blew a greenskin's head off. In response, she drew volleys of small-caliber
fire to where she was, but had moved over by one crate. *Dammit, my cape is acting as a beacon for
these grunts. I'm going to take it off for now, and I hope to get it back later.*
Sara fitted actions to words, and removed the cape so it wouldn't turn into an objective for
everything in the place to shoot at. She noticed movement to her left, and on the same level as her.
*Okay, someone has gotten the bright idea to fight me on my own turf. They'll probably be able to
go up against me close up, but until then, I have the advantage.* Sara then ducked as two bullets
slammed into the wooden crate she was crouching on, and moved over to another stack.
Sara grimaced as she noticed that the techno that had dodged her explosive mix was actively
hunting for her, with a sniper rifle that could probably be able to punch a good way through her
armour. *Dammit.* Sara continued moving, looking for the person who was on the top of the crates
with her, and occasionally sniping the greenskins that were patrolling the passageways between the
stacks of boxes. Naturally, whenever she shot a greenskin with her limited supply of elephant-killers,
she invited a volley of bullets to where everyone thought she was at.
As Sara moved along a small alleyway ten feet above the concrete floor, and surrounded by
what looked like boxes of machine parts, she heard something shift behind her. *What was that?*
Sara looked around, but noticed nothing. She turned back, started moving again, and felt a sudden
impact in the small of her back. Sara tucked and rolled forwards, thankful for her training in the
martial arts, which allowed her to avoid the brunt of the blow, which could've snapped her spine. She
turned around quickly, and looked at her ambusher. It was the girl who she had seen earlier, and that
girl was pissed. Sara raised her arms, allowing herself to slide into one of the basic positions of
Pentjak.
"So, you've caused me a bit of a headache. Let's get this over with." The girl spat angrily.
Then, she dodged forwards, ducking and weaving, right before landing a punch in Sara's stomach.
Sara tried to avoid the brunt of the blow, but she felt something in her upper abdomen tear loose,
causing her a massive amount of pain. Sara countered with a snap-kick to the girl's thigh that
connected heavily, but didn't break the bone. *I am going to get you. Rrrgghhh... I think you may
have damaged my liver.* Sara dodged backwards, and faking a stumble, she pulled her knife out of
its boot sheath. "Now we're on even ground." The girl lunged at Sara again, and Sara, instead of
dodging, laid open the girl's left forearm to the bone.
The girl screamed, and Sara watched as droplets of greenish blood pattered onto the ropes
tying the crates together. As the seemingly corrosive liquid ate through the heavy cords, Sara swept
the girl's feet out from underneath her and jumped over to the next stack as the one she had been
fighting on began to collapse. Sara staggered in pain as she landed, feeling her internal injuries
intensify for a few seconds. Sara flicked the remaining blood off her knife before re-sheathing it, and
decided to get the hell out of dodge before that girl came back for a rematch. Sara got over to where
she had stashed her cape, and hearing strident shouting from the end of the warehouse closest to the
water, she just left by the opposite end of the building.
Several minutes later, Sara landed lightly on the roof of an old building, and sat down in the
shadows of a chimney. *Why the bloody hell do I feel so fatigued? I've gone through worse fights
than that without a scratch, and I'm usually a hell of a better shot. So what's happened?* Sara stood
up again as she felt the pain in her stomach ebb slightly, then nearly collapsed as a sharp spine of pain
slammed through her. Sara coughed, hard, and then spat some blood onto the rough tar of the roof.
Dizzy and weak, she dragged herself back into the shadows before shutting down her armour. Sara
tried to keep conscious, but was eventually dragged down into mental oblivion.
Simultaneously, in Dr. Zack's House
Dr. Zack settled down in front of his "special" phone, looking at the number scribbled on the
Post-it he held in his hand. Pursing his lips, he picked up the receiver, dialled the number, and got a
message demanding the country prefix.
Sighing, he got the phone book, looked up the country prefix for Canada, and punched it in,
along with the number. He smiled grimly when the phone, finally, clicked through to the other end
and began to ring.
"Hello?"
"Is this Dr. Charles Sorbie I am speaking to?" Dr. Zack noted that both lamps on the top of
the phone lit up green.
"Yes. Who is this?"
"I am Dr. Anthony Zacharias, calling from South America about a patient of yours. Miss Sara
D'Arnise."
Pause, "I'm sorry, but I've retired, and don't have access to my records any more. The name
doesn't ring a bell."
"Well, in the E-mail you sent to her yesterday, you addressed her as Selina."
Very long pause, "Is there something wrong?"
"Not yet. It was extremely irresponsible to-"
"Out of my hands." Dr. Sorbie interrupted hastily, "not my idea."
"But-"
"She was in very bad shape when I got her," Dr. Sorbie plunged on, "extensive surgery,
extreme drug regimes. Her family couldn't possibly afford the expenses."
"So somebody footed the bill? Why, the cost of developing and constructing those-"
"Out of my hands." Sorbie interrupted, "It was out of my hands."
"Dr. Sorbie, only a corporation could-"
The left light on the phone changed from green to yellow, then to red at the mention of the
word "Corporation".
*DAMN! Voice activated wiretap!* Dr. Zack realized why the initially polite Dr. Sorbie had
started to interrupt him, "-uhh, be able to afford funding a chair of Medicine at Meridiana University!"
he thought wildly.
Dr. Sorbie apparently was no fool, "I'm sorry, but I'm retired, and have my family to consider.
I wish you luck in finding some other suitable candidate."
"Could you give me the names of a few you could recommend, Dr. Sorbie?"
To make it sound convincing, Dr. Zack wrote the names down, making sure he got the
spelling right, "Sorry to bother you, Dr. Sorbie."
"Quite all right. Quite flattering, in a way, to be considered."
"Good bye."
"Good bye."
Dr. Zack hung the phone up and leaned back in his chair, "Damnation! Now I've got TWO
corporations to worry about!"
Several Minutes Later, in the Northern United States
"Sir?"
"Yes? What is it this time?"
"We seem to have picked up a charge wave corresponding to the original suit. Also, we have
records of a person entering the area with unprecedented amounts of metal in her system."
"So, she's finally appeared in our sights. Where is she?"
"A medium-sized city in a third-world country. The place is called... let me see... Meridiana.
We don't have a branch office there, so we have no reconnaissance right now."
"Get our spec-ops forces briefed. I want them in that city within two months. Oh yes, give
them the carrier wave that shuts down her suit, and train them in the upgraded version."
"Um, sir?"
"What?"
"We also have a partial call to the doctor who did the operations on the subject. Apparently,
one Dr. Anthony Zacharias was attempting to offer our good doctor a position at the local university
as head of medicine. Would you like the team to put him under surveillance?"
"Dr. Zack? Calling Sorbie? Damn."
"You know him sir?"
"Yes. He worked for a competitor. Luckily, he quit before they would have squashed us. I'm
surprised that our subject has contacted him. Didn't you say that she was in Meridiana?"
"Yes sir. Isn't that city the epicentre of a lot of the world's paranormal activities?"
"Yes. That's why we don't have a branch office there. Get Zack under surveillance as soon
as possible."
"Of course, sir."