"Enough is enough!"
Torrik stopped so suddenly that the four pursuing soldiers almost ran into the back of her. She turned around slowly so that even in their wearied state they could she just how annoyed she was.
"The four of you have been chasing me for..." She looked at her watch, her luscious lips moving slightly as she performed the mental arithmetic necessary to convert hours into Beats. "... Six hundred Beats now and let me tell you that I am more than a little annoyed."
The four men said nothing but panted hard, leaning on each other for support it looked like they would collapse at any moment. She continued.
"And for what? A little ol' crystal." She tossed the crystal up and down in one hand, the soldier's eyes following its lazy arcs. "I mean it's big and shiny and probably worth a lot... Oh right. But why would you guys want it so badly? Unless you are into jewellery in a big way?"
"I am-Oooff!" Said one of the soldiers as he accidently got hit in the stomach by an elbow. "It's a control crystal for a secr-Oooff!"
"I am Captain Crysalis of the Corallian United Military. Now while I am fully authorised to have you shot if you don't surrender the crystal to me, I'm reluctant to issue such an order since it would be a waste of such a pretty FOnewearl. Perhaps a trade might be in order?"
"Show me what you got." She challenged him.
"I think... You will be most impressed... By this."
"Is that what I think it is?" Said Torrik excitedly as she knelt down in front of Captain Crysalis to better examine it.
"Uh-huh. You can touch it if you like."
"But is it for real?" She asked breathlessly.
"Yup. One character entry for the 'Rock Concert' Group-Fiction. I was saving this for myself, but I'm willing to trade it for the crystal."
"And if I give it back then you guys will leave me alone right?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Yes."
"No. What? I think she's purdy!"
"Deal!" Said Torrik snatching up the ticket and placing the crystal in the Captain's hand.
"Now, if you boys will excuse me I need to take a long and luxurious shower because all this running has made me sweaty. I need to gently caress every centimetre of my soft, sensual skin, letting my fingers touch my deepest..." She stopped when she realised that the soldiers were drooling. ""And that's my cue to get outta here. Goodnight boys!" Said Torrik winking as she blew them a kiss.
Captain Crysalis grinned evilly as the cute, petite FOnewearl's cute, petite rear disappeared into the distance for the last time today.
"Fool! That ticket is useless since that Group-Fiction will NEVER get written!"
The four of them threw their heads back and gave their best villain laugh.
-----
Some way across Pioneer City...
"Enough is enough!"
Marla slowed to a halt before looking at the RAmar laid out on the floor.
"I can't... Stand... All this... Running. Shoot... Me now. Put me out of... My misery."
"Quit your complaining, we here."
"We are?" He said relieved. "Why didn't you say so?" He rose painfully to his feet.
"Sucker! It's five hundred metres down the road still!" She laughed as she ran off.
-----
Five hundred metres later...
"Are we there yet?" Asked Bernie as he lay on the ground next to the dried blood trail.
Marla ignored him as she went up to the door of Doctor Montague's lab for the third or fourth time today. However, it refused to open and she was just about to press the doorbell when she noticed a little notice taped to the inside of the glass.
Please come back later.
She turned around to come face to face with a half-naked cat-girl. Or rather a naked cat-girl that happened to be wearing flimsy pink lace underwear. Marla rolled her eyes, HUnewearl outfits were becoming more and more skimpy these days. It was a wonder how they were able to fight dressed in that sort of thing. Behind her stood a pair of male legs topped by large boxes and flanked by numerous shopping bags. The stack of boxes sighed before sinking to the floor to reveal a rather flustered human.
"I'm here to report that I may have been abducted." Said the mysterious feline.
Marla immediate drew a Varista and pointed it at the shocked man until the cat-girl lowered her arm.
"No, not by him silly. This happened some time last night. I woke up in a sack with most of my clothes gone and I don't remember a single detail. Oh, and though I didn't notice it earlier, my Photon Storage Unit has suffered some strange damage. I wonder if it's related?"
Marla examined the PSU carefully. Its surface was scarred with an unusual type of rippling effect, the metal forming nodules and pits. It was like nothing she had seen before.
"Okay. I'll make a note of it. By the way since your clothes are missing shouldn't you have gotten replacements, miss?"
At those words Bernie was up and beside Marla in the blink of an eye.
"Zenja. And I did!" Beamed Zenja. She walked up to the man and stroked his cheek. "Though I'd prefer to wait till me and Samuel get home before I put on and take off my clothes." She added purring.
"Well thank you for reporting this. I'm sure that we'll find and punish those responsible before the end of the day."
"You look familiar to me..." Said Zenja returning to stand very closely to Marla. "... Have we meet before?"
"Ha ha ha!" Laughed Marla very nervously. "I get that all the time. Us RAmarls tend to look the same."
"Hmmm, I'm sure we've met once before. If only I could remember..."
"If you do remember then drop me a line, okay? Bye bye now."
Since Zenja had better things to do than talk to RAmarls, namely Samuel, she left.
Almost co-incidentally, Marla's radio crackled to life.
"SqueakSqueakSqueakSqueakSqueak. SqueakSqueak. SqueakSqueak."
"Really? So the victim was involved in studying the Ruins? Thanks Escher."
"Squeak."
"So, have the two of you met then?" Asked Bernie her finally.
"Yeah, about four years in to the future. It wasn't a pretty sight I can tell you." She said walking off.
Bernie thought about it for a moment.
"The Future? What the heck does that... Hey! Wait! Where are you going to now?"
"Back to the Hunters Guild" She shouted back.
"WHAT?! Well good luck! I'm staying right here! No more running for me. I've had enough. I'm putting my foot down..."
As he noted the setting sun there was the faint howl of a wolf in the distance.
"Oh who am I kidding? Wait up!" He said trying to run after her in a dignified manner.