Suede's Story
Walking the Line
'72 hours,' he thought. 'What the hell am I going to do for 72 hours?' He walked across the commons behind Fogle Towers wondering what his return to Manticore would be. How would they welcome him when he returned to the base?
Would they actually welcome him? Would the send him down to Psy-ops for some reconditioning? What was the procedure there? 494 returned from a mission and had been locked up in psy-ops for months. He knew what psy- ops was like, he had heard the rumors. Every X5 knew. They had all been sent there at one time. After the Rogues had escaped, all the children that were left had been taken down there and locked in cells, undergoing strange rituals with stranger individuals.
"State your designation!"
"X5-682!" he shouted.
"That is your designation given by command. State your designation."
"X5-682!" he shouted.
"That is your designation given by command. State YOUR designation!" She said. He stared at her this time. Her eyes were jiggling, or maybe his eyes were jiggling. He didn't know.
"My designation is X5-682!" he stared back defiantly. Her eyes twitched and she raised an eyebrow. He looked at her. "My name is Tim."
"Thank you, Tim." She said. "It doesn't suit you."
"What doesn't suit me?" He asked.
"The name," She smiled. "You will have to pick a better one some day. A name that suits your ancestry and gives you power over others." She was still smiling. Her eyebrow was still raised. His mind was fuzzy and he couldn't tell if his eyes were jiggling, or maybe. the world was spinning?
He remembered everything that happened to him in there. It started out with curious questions and kind, motherly thoughts but quickly devolved into a search and destroy within his mind. He was bombarded by thoughts that were not his own, designed to make him forget things he had learned on his own. The emptiness was filled at nights by propaganda reels that ran constantly while he waited for people to come and retrieve him. He listened to the noise when they fed him. He listened to the noise while he slept.
It was a dark day when he left the corridors below the main compound. He felt renewed. He was interested in working hard at his duties. He pushed himself to places he never knew he could go. He pushed himself in everything he did after that. He had been conditioned. The officers and drill instructors had called them simplified. He knew what simplified meant, but he didn't understand how it applied to him.
He had been given a new mission. He had been left with a directive to either do or die. He had chosen not to die. It wasn't an option for him. Every waking moment was spent in one of two ways. Either he trained in their techniques and studied their propaganda or he trained and studied those techniques on his own time.
When he got the call and was released for his first mission into enemy conflict overseas, he performed remarkably well. Of course, they sent him to take out a terrorist cell comprised mainly of teenagers and old men, fighting for something they believed in, but they were terrorists. They stood for everything that the world didn't and for that, they had to be removed.
He removed them. 47 confirmed kills.
"You've done well." Sandoval said. "You are relieved from training today. Rest up. Relax. You've earned a day without exercises. A special meal will be delivered promptly at 6PM." Sandoval turned and left. X5-682 commenced training on his own within minutes of Sandoval leaving the barracks.
That's what they had been trained to do. When in doubt kill and if no one was around then train to kill. Right now, as he walked the streets of Seattle, he realized that he should be hiding. He should be stalking the shadows, stealing what food and supplies he needed to survive, but instead he was standing in the center of the commons area, deep in the midnight shadow of Fogle Towers.
Slowly, he pulled the vest he was wearing off as if peeling back a layer of his skin. He winced as he dropped it to the ground near his feet. He didn't need the standard issue blades anymore. He pulled his weapon and dropped it on top of the Kevlar vest before he started walking again. He didn't look back as he crossed the street on the far side of the commons heading into the alleys again, looking this time to find some rooftop access where he might feel more comfortable.
He didn't notice the hoverdrone coming into the area as he was leaving it. The drone found his gear within minutes. Sector cops retrieved it a few moments later. No one would know X5-682 had ever been there. They would find his stuff. They would have no explanation for it.
It didn't take him long to find his way back to his place again. He knew the short guy White would still be there. He crouched low as he walked toward the edge of the building. Searches of the area had turned up nothing because he had left the area. It was obvious to his trained eye that what was going on now was the mop up operation. Men were moving out, taking what little they could find.
Neighbors he had hardly spoken too were offering information. Lies mostly, were being traded for small rewards. He watched from the rooftop several floors below as the NSA agent named White stood quietly, listening to the dark haired Italian questioning the men and women in front of him. They knew nothing. White would get no good information from them and by the look on his face, he knew this. 682 watched the short agent followed the conversation for a few more minutes before walking over to the large black paddy wagon sitting near the head of the line.
White glanced over his shoulder one last time before he reached for the handle and opened the door. It was as if a tidal force hit 682 in the chest when he focused on the sounds coming from inside.
"Please," A woman said. "I don't know anything. I was just his secretary."
"Then why did you rush over here tonight?" A man demanded. "Why did you come here to see him then?"
"I told you before. I live near here. I couldn't believe that Mr. Sanazi was an assassin. He was a nice man."
"So you thought you'd come and warn him." The voice of his former secretary silenced with the closing of the door. X5-682 stared at the van for a while. He didn't know what else to do.
Questions raged through his mind. Why did she come here? Had she tried to warn him? Was that her intention? If she knew he was an assassin, then why risk herself? Did she not believe it to be true? He watched as the neighbors went back inside, the agents and soldiers gathered near their vehicles before they left after some last minute orders. The dark, Italian looking man heading toward the van White had just climbed into, opened the door.
"I'll take you to my place. I live alone. You can see that he's never been there." He could hear Cassidy's voice, her pleading tones full of fear and dread. "I bought him a gift on his birthday. All the secretaries in the pool do that for their bosses. I was just being." the door closed and 682 didn't hear her response.
Fortunately, he knew where she had lived. He had escorted her home on more than one occasion during brown outs or particularly dark days around the city. She lived just inside of sector 4 on the second floor of an unfinished apartment building. He checked the ground, watching the vehicles pull away. He would be there waiting for the team when they arrived.
The apartment building in sector 4 had been part of a new project back before the pulse. After the pulse, the company running the operation had abandoned the project and squatters had moved in. X5-682 knew the procedure. The team would arrive first and secure the building, then White and his agents would bring the woman in and search her apartment. At least, that was their plan.
682 had other plans. The first two vehicles pulled up and eight armed soldiers climbed out, heading for the entrances. Four entered the building. Four stayed outside. Two checked the perimeter, walking dangerously close to 682 as they passed the dumpster. He reached out for the second one as they passed, pulling up and back on his neck, dropping the body with a dull thud to the pavement. The first soldier turned, weapon raised, but could see only darkness as 682's large hand closed about his throat effectively shutting off his voice as he squeezed. He quickly lifted both bodies into the dumpster and jumped to the first window above the dumpster to gain entrance to the building.
Inside, he moved quietly through an empty, sparsely furnished apartment toward the front door. He could hear the soldiers in the hall moving quickly room to room. 682 took a position next to the door as it slowly opened revealing the barrel of a gun. He grabbed the weapon and shoved back surprising the soldier and allowing for a quick pull, yanking the weapon from the bearer. He quickly jabbed the weapon back a second time, into the guards face, knocking the guard unconscious. He grabbed the soldier and yanked him into the apartment dumping the body on the floor.
A shout from his partner alerted the rest of the soldiers as the second one burst through the door and into the end of a steel cobra. His body convulsed with the electrical charge before falling unconscious across his partner. 682 grabbed the second shock stick and prepared to launch his attack on the remaining soldiers if they appeared. They didn't appear, instead choosing to regroup with the remaining two soldiers downstairs and wait for reinforcements.
This meant that White and his agents wouldn't bring the girl into the building until it was secure, instead parking away from the immediate area and waiting until the timing was right. 682 checked the hall, verifying that the soldiers were not waiting. He entered the hall with the two shock sticks and hit the stairs running, taking them four at a time as he moved for the roof to get a better view and find a way to another roof.
Looking out over the low lying buildings revealed White's van parked two blocks away. Two men were standing outside the van. White was walking toward the scene, flanked by two more black vehicles carrying armed guards passing him on the way to secure the building. He smiled at the thought of the soldiers storming the apartment building as he took a running leap to the next building over, one alley width away. He landed with a duck and a roll coming up to a crouched position. A quick glance around the area revealed two hoverdrones entering the sector from opposite sides. He had time for one more jump, but would have to head down on the inside to avoid the drone cameras.
Three minutes later, he was down the interior steps and at a side entrance near yet another alley between buildings. He could just barely hear the commands as White issued them. He approached the edge of the alley, tucked firmly into a pocket of shadow as a drone passed slowly by following the center line of the street in front of him. Across the street, the two men, a tall, lanky man in a brown suit and the dark Italian were talking quietly near the back of the van.
682 looked around for some cover, but found none. He couldn't just cross the street, there was too much light, but he could circle around and come up on the other side of the block near the van and take them out with the shock sticks. He moved in the opposite direction, taking the alley at a hard run, circling the block near the perimeter fence and heading around toward the checkpoint before doubling back up the street near where the van had been parked. Three minutes later, he was again wrapped in shadow, this time just a few feet away from the van. Both men were oblivious to his presence.
"What happens to the girl?" One of the men asked.
"She'll be taken to headquarters and interrogated." The other answered. "Agent White wants her taken to a secure facility and said he'd handle it himself. He doesn't think she's telling the truth. He thinks there's more to her story."
"Whatever that may be," the first one said. It was the last sentence he uttered that night. X5-682 shoved the two electrically charged Steel Cobra's viciously into each man's side letting the charge knock both men unconscious. When the agents slumped to the ground, he closed the extended stick's currents and shoved them in his belt as he turned around toward the back of the van and pulled open the door.
"Mr. Sanazi!" Cassidy exclaimed. She was stunned, but excited to see him. 682 reached into the van, grabbed her hand and pulled her from the van. His strength got the better of her and she practically jumped into his arms as he lowered her to the ground. "They said you are an assassin."
"I don't have time to explain, but something isn't right about any of this. You have to come with me."
"Okay." She said. X5-682 stared at her for a full minute, breaking the eye contact only when he heard shouting from the apartment building. The bodies had been noticed and he only had a few seconds to get the girl out of harm's way. As he pulled her through the dark alley, he couldn't help wondering why she didn't seem to fear him. He was an assassin that had tried to kill a prominent Seattle official. She should fear him, but she seemed to be trying to run along behind him as if she wanted to go with him wherever he went.
They ran for ten minutes ducking between buildings and crossing through them. 682 led her into the sewer and crossed over into another sector and Cassidy never once tried to get away from him. He led her into an abandoned building populated by drunks and junkies, climbing to the roof of the twelve story building in sector nine before he even considered slowing down.
"I knew you weren't an assassin." She said. She was smiling.
682 turned and looked at her. He had expected her to be worried and confused, but instead, she wasn't. She seemed at ease and appeared to believe that he was no threat to her. "What?" He asked.
"They said you were an assassin. They said you tried to kill Mr. Devy and that old coot he had a meeting with tonight. I knew better. I knew you weren't an assassin, Mr. Sanazi."
"Listen, Cassidy," he said the name, and for the first time in his short life outside of Manticore, he felt comfortable saying someone's name. "I don't know how exactly to tell you this, but I am an assassin. I was sent in to terminate Old Man Dalton. I've been working under deep cover for the last several months trying to get close to him." He watched for some reaction on the girls face. It was a blank stare he got from her.
"I am a soldier, trained to do a job to the best of my ability, but something happened tonight. Something that I did not expect happened tonight. I was working my way into Devi's office when Eyes Only broadcast a report that my mission had been compromised. Sure enough, before the hack had ended, Dalton got a call from an Agent Ames White that I was in the building. I don't know how he found out, but for some reason they decided to take you when you showed up at my apartment."
"I came to see you. I didn't believe that you were an assassin. I didn't think the rumors were true, but when Marilyn called me and told me what had happened at work. I had to see you." Cassidy explained. "I don't know why, but I didn't believe that it was true."
"It is true." 682 said.
"Why?"
"Why what," he asked.
"Why do you do it? Do they pay you a lot of money? Is it for the thrill?" She asked. Her eyes lit up when she asked the questions. She was completely enthralled by the man standing in front of her. "Is it for the excitement?"
He looked at her, confused by her apparent misunderstanding of his lifestyle. She seemed to think that it was a fascinating and wonderful undertaking and that he lived a glamorous lifestyle.
"It's not exciting." He said.
"What do you mean? I've seen the movies. I've watched those old James Bond films. You guys have all the toys and can go anywhere. It's such a romantic life." She seemed wistful as she smiled, looking up into the sky. Suede looked at her, confused at what she perceived to be his life. "Have you been to Monte Carlo? It must be a beautiful place. I've never been outside of Seattle. I can't afford a pass to leave the city. What's Europe like?"
"I've never been to Europe." 682 said.
"You haven't?" She asked, seemingly stunned. "I would have thought you've traveled the world, been to all the exotic places and." she dropped the thought before she brought up the assassin thing again.
"I've only been cleared for four missions. Assassinating Dalton was my first solo mission and I've completely screwed it up." He looked down at the slender woman. Her skin glowed a deep, reddish brown, like a smooth, creamy chocolate. Her eyes reflected the moon as she peered up at him. "What can you tell me about Eyes Only?"
"Why? What's he got to do with anything?"
"He's the reason I'm still alive right now. He warned me that my mission had been compromised."
"How did he warn YOU?" She asked. "You mean he specifically warned you personally?"
"No. He ran one of those fuzzy cable hacks of his. I was about to fulfill mission requirements when his hack came on TV." 682 looked at the girl. She was almost smiling.
"Wow," she said. "This is amazing. Eyes Only never personally. wait a minute. I saw his hack tonight. It was playing on the TV at Crash."
"You saw that?" 682 asked.
"Everyone in the bar saw it. I was talking to a friend of mine when it came on. Everyone was listening in on the hack. It was interesting. Is X-5 your code name?"
"Something like that." 682 said. He looked down at the street below. Things were getting out of control. First, his mission went sideways and then dropped into some dark hole somewhere. Then he found he had 72 hours to wait before he could go anywhere or do anything about getting home. Now, he's got to protect this woman that thinks his life is glamorous and exciting.
"X-5." Cassidy mused. "It sounds so official. What does it mean?"
X-5 682 looked at her. She stared back at him. He could see the trust in her eyes. She was living out a fantasy that he couldn't comprehend, but somehow, he understood her fascination with the moment. He was tumbling into the depths of his own personal abyss, a hunted man. a hunted assassin trying to lay low until he could return to Manticore and face up to his failure like a good soldier. Only, the good soldiers didn't fail.
Right now, he wasn't sure what a good soldier was.
Walking the Line
'72 hours,' he thought. 'What the hell am I going to do for 72 hours?' He walked across the commons behind Fogle Towers wondering what his return to Manticore would be. How would they welcome him when he returned to the base?
Would they actually welcome him? Would the send him down to Psy-ops for some reconditioning? What was the procedure there? 494 returned from a mission and had been locked up in psy-ops for months. He knew what psy- ops was like, he had heard the rumors. Every X5 knew. They had all been sent there at one time. After the Rogues had escaped, all the children that were left had been taken down there and locked in cells, undergoing strange rituals with stranger individuals.
"State your designation!"
"X5-682!" he shouted.
"That is your designation given by command. State your designation."
"X5-682!" he shouted.
"That is your designation given by command. State YOUR designation!" She said. He stared at her this time. Her eyes were jiggling, or maybe his eyes were jiggling. He didn't know.
"My designation is X5-682!" he stared back defiantly. Her eyes twitched and she raised an eyebrow. He looked at her. "My name is Tim."
"Thank you, Tim." She said. "It doesn't suit you."
"What doesn't suit me?" He asked.
"The name," She smiled. "You will have to pick a better one some day. A name that suits your ancestry and gives you power over others." She was still smiling. Her eyebrow was still raised. His mind was fuzzy and he couldn't tell if his eyes were jiggling, or maybe. the world was spinning?
He remembered everything that happened to him in there. It started out with curious questions and kind, motherly thoughts but quickly devolved into a search and destroy within his mind. He was bombarded by thoughts that were not his own, designed to make him forget things he had learned on his own. The emptiness was filled at nights by propaganda reels that ran constantly while he waited for people to come and retrieve him. He listened to the noise when they fed him. He listened to the noise while he slept.
It was a dark day when he left the corridors below the main compound. He felt renewed. He was interested in working hard at his duties. He pushed himself to places he never knew he could go. He pushed himself in everything he did after that. He had been conditioned. The officers and drill instructors had called them simplified. He knew what simplified meant, but he didn't understand how it applied to him.
He had been given a new mission. He had been left with a directive to either do or die. He had chosen not to die. It wasn't an option for him. Every waking moment was spent in one of two ways. Either he trained in their techniques and studied their propaganda or he trained and studied those techniques on his own time.
When he got the call and was released for his first mission into enemy conflict overseas, he performed remarkably well. Of course, they sent him to take out a terrorist cell comprised mainly of teenagers and old men, fighting for something they believed in, but they were terrorists. They stood for everything that the world didn't and for that, they had to be removed.
He removed them. 47 confirmed kills.
"You've done well." Sandoval said. "You are relieved from training today. Rest up. Relax. You've earned a day without exercises. A special meal will be delivered promptly at 6PM." Sandoval turned and left. X5-682 commenced training on his own within minutes of Sandoval leaving the barracks.
That's what they had been trained to do. When in doubt kill and if no one was around then train to kill. Right now, as he walked the streets of Seattle, he realized that he should be hiding. He should be stalking the shadows, stealing what food and supplies he needed to survive, but instead he was standing in the center of the commons area, deep in the midnight shadow of Fogle Towers.
Slowly, he pulled the vest he was wearing off as if peeling back a layer of his skin. He winced as he dropped it to the ground near his feet. He didn't need the standard issue blades anymore. He pulled his weapon and dropped it on top of the Kevlar vest before he started walking again. He didn't look back as he crossed the street on the far side of the commons heading into the alleys again, looking this time to find some rooftop access where he might feel more comfortable.
He didn't notice the hoverdrone coming into the area as he was leaving it. The drone found his gear within minutes. Sector cops retrieved it a few moments later. No one would know X5-682 had ever been there. They would find his stuff. They would have no explanation for it.
It didn't take him long to find his way back to his place again. He knew the short guy White would still be there. He crouched low as he walked toward the edge of the building. Searches of the area had turned up nothing because he had left the area. It was obvious to his trained eye that what was going on now was the mop up operation. Men were moving out, taking what little they could find.
Neighbors he had hardly spoken too were offering information. Lies mostly, were being traded for small rewards. He watched from the rooftop several floors below as the NSA agent named White stood quietly, listening to the dark haired Italian questioning the men and women in front of him. They knew nothing. White would get no good information from them and by the look on his face, he knew this. 682 watched the short agent followed the conversation for a few more minutes before walking over to the large black paddy wagon sitting near the head of the line.
White glanced over his shoulder one last time before he reached for the handle and opened the door. It was as if a tidal force hit 682 in the chest when he focused on the sounds coming from inside.
"Please," A woman said. "I don't know anything. I was just his secretary."
"Then why did you rush over here tonight?" A man demanded. "Why did you come here to see him then?"
"I told you before. I live near here. I couldn't believe that Mr. Sanazi was an assassin. He was a nice man."
"So you thought you'd come and warn him." The voice of his former secretary silenced with the closing of the door. X5-682 stared at the van for a while. He didn't know what else to do.
Questions raged through his mind. Why did she come here? Had she tried to warn him? Was that her intention? If she knew he was an assassin, then why risk herself? Did she not believe it to be true? He watched as the neighbors went back inside, the agents and soldiers gathered near their vehicles before they left after some last minute orders. The dark, Italian looking man heading toward the van White had just climbed into, opened the door.
"I'll take you to my place. I live alone. You can see that he's never been there." He could hear Cassidy's voice, her pleading tones full of fear and dread. "I bought him a gift on his birthday. All the secretaries in the pool do that for their bosses. I was just being." the door closed and 682 didn't hear her response.
Fortunately, he knew where she had lived. He had escorted her home on more than one occasion during brown outs or particularly dark days around the city. She lived just inside of sector 4 on the second floor of an unfinished apartment building. He checked the ground, watching the vehicles pull away. He would be there waiting for the team when they arrived.
The apartment building in sector 4 had been part of a new project back before the pulse. After the pulse, the company running the operation had abandoned the project and squatters had moved in. X5-682 knew the procedure. The team would arrive first and secure the building, then White and his agents would bring the woman in and search her apartment. At least, that was their plan.
682 had other plans. The first two vehicles pulled up and eight armed soldiers climbed out, heading for the entrances. Four entered the building. Four stayed outside. Two checked the perimeter, walking dangerously close to 682 as they passed the dumpster. He reached out for the second one as they passed, pulling up and back on his neck, dropping the body with a dull thud to the pavement. The first soldier turned, weapon raised, but could see only darkness as 682's large hand closed about his throat effectively shutting off his voice as he squeezed. He quickly lifted both bodies into the dumpster and jumped to the first window above the dumpster to gain entrance to the building.
Inside, he moved quietly through an empty, sparsely furnished apartment toward the front door. He could hear the soldiers in the hall moving quickly room to room. 682 took a position next to the door as it slowly opened revealing the barrel of a gun. He grabbed the weapon and shoved back surprising the soldier and allowing for a quick pull, yanking the weapon from the bearer. He quickly jabbed the weapon back a second time, into the guards face, knocking the guard unconscious. He grabbed the soldier and yanked him into the apartment dumping the body on the floor.
A shout from his partner alerted the rest of the soldiers as the second one burst through the door and into the end of a steel cobra. His body convulsed with the electrical charge before falling unconscious across his partner. 682 grabbed the second shock stick and prepared to launch his attack on the remaining soldiers if they appeared. They didn't appear, instead choosing to regroup with the remaining two soldiers downstairs and wait for reinforcements.
This meant that White and his agents wouldn't bring the girl into the building until it was secure, instead parking away from the immediate area and waiting until the timing was right. 682 checked the hall, verifying that the soldiers were not waiting. He entered the hall with the two shock sticks and hit the stairs running, taking them four at a time as he moved for the roof to get a better view and find a way to another roof.
Looking out over the low lying buildings revealed White's van parked two blocks away. Two men were standing outside the van. White was walking toward the scene, flanked by two more black vehicles carrying armed guards passing him on the way to secure the building. He smiled at the thought of the soldiers storming the apartment building as he took a running leap to the next building over, one alley width away. He landed with a duck and a roll coming up to a crouched position. A quick glance around the area revealed two hoverdrones entering the sector from opposite sides. He had time for one more jump, but would have to head down on the inside to avoid the drone cameras.
Three minutes later, he was down the interior steps and at a side entrance near yet another alley between buildings. He could just barely hear the commands as White issued them. He approached the edge of the alley, tucked firmly into a pocket of shadow as a drone passed slowly by following the center line of the street in front of him. Across the street, the two men, a tall, lanky man in a brown suit and the dark Italian were talking quietly near the back of the van.
682 looked around for some cover, but found none. He couldn't just cross the street, there was too much light, but he could circle around and come up on the other side of the block near the van and take them out with the shock sticks. He moved in the opposite direction, taking the alley at a hard run, circling the block near the perimeter fence and heading around toward the checkpoint before doubling back up the street near where the van had been parked. Three minutes later, he was again wrapped in shadow, this time just a few feet away from the van. Both men were oblivious to his presence.
"What happens to the girl?" One of the men asked.
"She'll be taken to headquarters and interrogated." The other answered. "Agent White wants her taken to a secure facility and said he'd handle it himself. He doesn't think she's telling the truth. He thinks there's more to her story."
"Whatever that may be," the first one said. It was the last sentence he uttered that night. X5-682 shoved the two electrically charged Steel Cobra's viciously into each man's side letting the charge knock both men unconscious. When the agents slumped to the ground, he closed the extended stick's currents and shoved them in his belt as he turned around toward the back of the van and pulled open the door.
"Mr. Sanazi!" Cassidy exclaimed. She was stunned, but excited to see him. 682 reached into the van, grabbed her hand and pulled her from the van. His strength got the better of her and she practically jumped into his arms as he lowered her to the ground. "They said you are an assassin."
"I don't have time to explain, but something isn't right about any of this. You have to come with me."
"Okay." She said. X5-682 stared at her for a full minute, breaking the eye contact only when he heard shouting from the apartment building. The bodies had been noticed and he only had a few seconds to get the girl out of harm's way. As he pulled her through the dark alley, he couldn't help wondering why she didn't seem to fear him. He was an assassin that had tried to kill a prominent Seattle official. She should fear him, but she seemed to be trying to run along behind him as if she wanted to go with him wherever he went.
They ran for ten minutes ducking between buildings and crossing through them. 682 led her into the sewer and crossed over into another sector and Cassidy never once tried to get away from him. He led her into an abandoned building populated by drunks and junkies, climbing to the roof of the twelve story building in sector nine before he even considered slowing down.
"I knew you weren't an assassin." She said. She was smiling.
682 turned and looked at her. He had expected her to be worried and confused, but instead, she wasn't. She seemed at ease and appeared to believe that he was no threat to her. "What?" He asked.
"They said you were an assassin. They said you tried to kill Mr. Devy and that old coot he had a meeting with tonight. I knew better. I knew you weren't an assassin, Mr. Sanazi."
"Listen, Cassidy," he said the name, and for the first time in his short life outside of Manticore, he felt comfortable saying someone's name. "I don't know how exactly to tell you this, but I am an assassin. I was sent in to terminate Old Man Dalton. I've been working under deep cover for the last several months trying to get close to him." He watched for some reaction on the girls face. It was a blank stare he got from her.
"I am a soldier, trained to do a job to the best of my ability, but something happened tonight. Something that I did not expect happened tonight. I was working my way into Devi's office when Eyes Only broadcast a report that my mission had been compromised. Sure enough, before the hack had ended, Dalton got a call from an Agent Ames White that I was in the building. I don't know how he found out, but for some reason they decided to take you when you showed up at my apartment."
"I came to see you. I didn't believe that you were an assassin. I didn't think the rumors were true, but when Marilyn called me and told me what had happened at work. I had to see you." Cassidy explained. "I don't know why, but I didn't believe that it was true."
"It is true." 682 said.
"Why?"
"Why what," he asked.
"Why do you do it? Do they pay you a lot of money? Is it for the thrill?" She asked. Her eyes lit up when she asked the questions. She was completely enthralled by the man standing in front of her. "Is it for the excitement?"
He looked at her, confused by her apparent misunderstanding of his lifestyle. She seemed to think that it was a fascinating and wonderful undertaking and that he lived a glamorous lifestyle.
"It's not exciting." He said.
"What do you mean? I've seen the movies. I've watched those old James Bond films. You guys have all the toys and can go anywhere. It's such a romantic life." She seemed wistful as she smiled, looking up into the sky. Suede looked at her, confused at what she perceived to be his life. "Have you been to Monte Carlo? It must be a beautiful place. I've never been outside of Seattle. I can't afford a pass to leave the city. What's Europe like?"
"I've never been to Europe." 682 said.
"You haven't?" She asked, seemingly stunned. "I would have thought you've traveled the world, been to all the exotic places and." she dropped the thought before she brought up the assassin thing again.
"I've only been cleared for four missions. Assassinating Dalton was my first solo mission and I've completely screwed it up." He looked down at the slender woman. Her skin glowed a deep, reddish brown, like a smooth, creamy chocolate. Her eyes reflected the moon as she peered up at him. "What can you tell me about Eyes Only?"
"Why? What's he got to do with anything?"
"He's the reason I'm still alive right now. He warned me that my mission had been compromised."
"How did he warn YOU?" She asked. "You mean he specifically warned you personally?"
"No. He ran one of those fuzzy cable hacks of his. I was about to fulfill mission requirements when his hack came on TV." 682 looked at the girl. She was almost smiling.
"Wow," she said. "This is amazing. Eyes Only never personally. wait a minute. I saw his hack tonight. It was playing on the TV at Crash."
"You saw that?" 682 asked.
"Everyone in the bar saw it. I was talking to a friend of mine when it came on. Everyone was listening in on the hack. It was interesting. Is X-5 your code name?"
"Something like that." 682 said. He looked down at the street below. Things were getting out of control. First, his mission went sideways and then dropped into some dark hole somewhere. Then he found he had 72 hours to wait before he could go anywhere or do anything about getting home. Now, he's got to protect this woman that thinks his life is glamorous and exciting.
"X-5." Cassidy mused. "It sounds so official. What does it mean?"
X-5 682 looked at her. She stared back at him. He could see the trust in her eyes. She was living out a fantasy that he couldn't comprehend, but somehow, he understood her fascination with the moment. He was tumbling into the depths of his own personal abyss, a hunted man. a hunted assassin trying to lay low until he could return to Manticore and face up to his failure like a good soldier. Only, the good soldiers didn't fail.
Right now, he wasn't sure what a good soldier was.