Chapter Fourteen

Rock awoke to the brightness of the sun setting. Checking the watch that had been thrown aside, he saw that it was almost 9 at night. The sun was setting the clouds in the sky alight with its radiance. Rock shook Frederica lightly. The young woman jolted awake, grabbing one of Rock's knives and holding it to his neck, glaring at him.

"Frederica! It's me! It's Rock!" Rock protested. Frederica blushed, strapping her Electrolarynx back on.

"Sorry… I am not used to being so vulnerable…" Frederica said, looking away from Rock, embarrassed. Rock smiled, grabbing Frederica's clothes and handing them to her. She nodded and started getting dressed, stretching and starting to close up the factory. She probably had a stack of requests for jobs on the desk in her office.

Some would undoubtedly be from the mob. But others would just be from people who needed their buildings cleaned up after a particularly bloody murder. Rock gasped as he remembered how this all had started. He had legitimately been turned on by the morbid beauty of her tearing a man apart with her chainsaw. He had truly crossed the line, now. There was a bit of a difference between him being willing to manipulate people and him finding it arousing to watch someone be cut up with a chainsaw.

Still, he felt closer to Frederica than ever. Standing up and tying the condom at the end, he asked where he could throw it out. Frederica smiled wryly.

"Well… You could either use the garbage can or the alley… Either place is a fairly typical choice to dispose of condoms." Rock laughed at this.

"Where is the garbage can?"

"Over there…" She said, pointing across the room. Rock nodded and tossed it across the room, hitting the garbage can perfectly. Frederica's eyes widened. Rock's aim had become quite precise. Fortunately, he had tied it tightly enough and his semen hadn't spilled as it flew. She honestly would have preferred that, in a relatively hygienic environment, that he just walk it across the room.

But she wasn't going to bring it up now. She was impressed enough by his feat of accuracy that she decided to let it go this time.

"Would you like me to walk you home, Rock?"

"No… That's alright… But I should certainly walk you home." Rock replied, taking Frederica's hand, pulling her in and kissing her on the lips before walking back to hers, Shenhua's and Lotton's apartment.

"Hello again… Good to see all of you… I'd like to thank all of you for your birthday presents again. I've gotten a lot of use out of them already." Rock said politely to Frederica's two roommates.

"Excuse me… I have to get back to Lagoon Company… I've been out much longer than I expected. I love you, Frederica… Good night." Rock said, kissing her gently before walking out, saying a friendly goodbye to the other two as well.

Taking the fastest route home, doing a little more Freerunning, deciding to finish off the day with it, he arrived at the apartment, and went upstairs, where Revy immediately sniffed the air when he walked in.

"You smell like sex! You fucked Frederica, didn't you!" Revy demanded, laughing wildly.

"Well… You of all people would know what sex smells like, wouldn't you? Porn star?" Rock smirked. Revy snarled at him.

"Hey, dumbass! Answer the question!"

"Well, since you asked so nicely… None of your damn business." Rock said, getting some satisfaction out of Revy's anger. The other two didn't seem terribly interested in Revy's jealousy or Rock's evasive answers. It was pretty much just another night for them.

"We have some pizza left if you want some, Rock…" Dutch said, handing Rock a slice of lukewarm pizza. He was hungry though, so he took it and started eating quickly. He was very hungry. He realized he hadn't had lunch that day. He had been training since before noon, and Revy hadn't given him and Lotton a break at lunch. She just sat there and ate in front of them as she demanded that they keep on going with target practice. Finally, she let them go after a five mile run around the city.

Lotton went straight back to the apartment while Rock went back to the hotel for a shower and then hung around for a while before going for a run in the evening… Then he went to Frederica's meat packing warehouse where events unfolded as they did… He was still very hungry, though. After he finished his third slice of pizza, he sat down, burping and excusing himself.

"Ah, that was weak Rock! Ya gotta do it like this!" Revy exclaimed with a laugh, letting out a long, loud, wet belch, drawing laughs from Benny and Dutch. Suddenly though, Revy stopped laughing and leapt up, grabbing a gun, pointing it at a young man who had just walked through the door.

"Um… Hello? Is this Lagoon Company? I was told that you were the best… I was hoping I could look for a job with you guys…"

"Hell no! We've already got one loser! Why the fuck would we need a second one?" Revy demanded angrily, shooting at the door jamb. The young man ducked into a rolling position and tumbled into the room, standing up and striking a point on Revy's wrist that caused her hand to open, dropping the gun. Before Revy could pull her other gun around, the young man hand his gun in hand and pointed at Revy's head.

"I'm sorry, miss… But I'm not interested in dying… They told me that you're the boss, sir?" The young man said, turning to Dutch and smiling politely at him. And he was very young. He looked like he might be 21 or 22 at the oldest, and had messy dark brown hair with blue eyes and a liberal amount of stubble, like he hadn't shaved in a while. He had thick glasses and

"Yup… That's me… Put your gun away, Revy… He's not here to hurt us. What's your name, kid?"

"Linus… Linus Welter."

"Well, Linus… What can you do? What skills do you have that we could use?" Dutch insisted. Linus looked at Revy.

"Do you mind? Putting that gun down? It's making me uncomfortable." Linus asked, winking at Revy, who glared at him disgustedly, but put the gun down.

"Alright… Well… I've got some skill with guns… I'm afraid I'm not quite as good at dual wielding as Miss Revy… But I can shoot pretty long range… Doctor says I have 100/10 vision. I can hack… Well, a little bit… Most of what I do is phonying up carrying licenses and gun ownership documents.

"But once, I had a lot of help, we broke into a few banks known for serving rich clients and skimmed 1% off each of the top of the ten richest clients' accounts in thirty banks. 1% of ten million dollars is only 100,000. The odds of them even noticing are slim. We made off with upwards of ten million dollars and when the bank found out, the FDIC ensured the majority of the money, so people weren't even that miffed." Linus said with a mischievous grin.

"I can shoot, but I also am alright at hand-to-hand combat… Mostly street fighting, but I took to martial arts pretty well… Nothing too formal… Just kinda picking up a bit of Taekwondo, bit of Hapkido, a little Capoeira and Silat… Basically, whatever martial arts books were on sale or in the library at the time, I picked up…" He said easily with a smile, brushing his hair back. It looked like he was used to having much shorter hair. He scratched his cheek.

"Mm… Do any of you know where I can pick up some shaving supplies and some scissors?" He asked. "This stubble is driving me nuts, and my hair keeps falling in my face. I've been on one ship or other for almost a month, travelling from LA around the damn world to get to Roanapur…"

"But why would you come here? You seem like you could ply your wares just about anywhere in the world…" Rock said, seeming at a loss to explain this man's decision.

I ain't rich… But some thugs broke down my door and tried to hold me up. Naturally, I fought them… What would any of you do, right? But I punched the youngest hard enough in the head to kill him. It turned out he was some rich politician's brat… I was arrested for murder… But I escaped jail by conning the guard and hopped a ship that was headed I didn't know and I didn't care where.

"I ended up in South Africa… Then I hopped another ship and worked as security until we reached Malaysia, where I hit up some pirates who said that they were headed to a place called Roanapur to finish a deal with someone named Balalaika who ran Hotel Moscow. I accompanied the pirates there, and Balalaika turned out to know where I might be able to catch a job.

"The law doesn't exist down here except in the three mobs, she said, and I had no need to worry about the police from LA. To them, Roanapur didn't even exist. So, then I came here. I spoke to Balalaika and she said that for a mere 25% of my bank account, she could have it transferred over here, no questions asked. I haggled it down to 20%… I'm simply not comfortable haggling more than that with a woman who has a smile that makes it look like she could blow my head off from five hundred yards.

"So my money should be here in 3-5 business days and she gave me your address. It's a pleasure to meet all of you… My name is Linus Welter… I hope that you can find a place in your fine, upstanding organization for me…" He said with a laugh. Dutch laughed as well. He looked at the young man.

"Well… Normally we don't do this… But you seem like you have a wide array of abilities… But are you talented enough in any one of them to be of use to us?

"Rock is a hell of a negotiator. He managed to con all three mafias, the United States army, an enraged and half-mad guerilla warfare expert and our own company through a miniature war that plagued Roanapur for a while. I'm the boss… I was in the Vietnam War in the Navy… Benny can hack government level computers… And well… Revy hardly needs an introduction… She studied under Boss Chang and can dual wield guns and is our main combatant. What can you do that they can't?

"That's why I'm gonna have you take a few tests…" He said, looking out the window. "Tomorrow. It's a little late tonight… Join us for some drinks?" Dutch asked. Linus nodded happily.

"I'd be delighted." Linus exclaimed. He hadn't really had the pleasure of a good drink in almost three weeks. He followed them out of the hotel to Yellowflag Bar

"Yo, Dutch!" Bao called. "I see you picked up another stray!" Dutch laughed, nodding.

"Well… Not just yet… He seems like he's talented… But we still have to see if he's good for a spot on the crew." Dutch replied, sitting down.

"So, what can I get you, New Guy?"

"Mm… Amaretto on the rocks, please?" Linus asked with a pleasant smile.

"Sure thing… And the rest of you?"

"Vodka!" Revy said loudly. Bao nodded and handed her a glass of vodka, which she downed almost immediately while Linus seemed to take his time.

"Rum, I guess…" Rock said. Bao raised an eyebrow. Rock seemed uncommonly happy, even for him.

"We're outta rum…" Bao said. Rock shrugged his shoulders.

"Why is the rum gone!" He demanded. Linus laughed at this joke, though nobody else seemed to get it.

"Guess I'll have whiskey then." Rock said. Bao nodded and poured a glass of it, handing it to Rock. Rock took a sip of the whiskey. Revy sneered at him, though.

"You still drink like such a pussy!"

"No, I drink like someone with a modicum of civility."

"Well… I'm not too good to drink my shit in one swig… How's about a drinking contest, Revy?" Linus suggested good naturedly. Revy laughed wildly.

"If you think you can handle it!" She said, demanding a bottle of Whiskey. The two of them poured a healthy dose of the amber liquid and downed it, pouring another before it could even settle.

This went on for another two hours and three bottles. By the time they were done, Rock was sure that Revy was more alcohol than blood. And he was pretty sure that Linus would be similarly inebriated. Strangely, though Linus seemed fine. He smiled cheerfully. His eyes were slightly unfocused, but when he was given 'the test', he threw the glass at the target and it smashed right on the bullseye. Bao, not trusting one shot, gave him another and he hit dead on a second time.

He then took out his gun and fired six bullets straight into the bullseye. Even Dutch, who had seen incredible marksmanship in his time, both in the military and in Roanapur was amazed at this man who seemed to be a flawless shot. He had to also be a lifelong drinker to be able to down a bottle and a half of whiskey and not even be tipsy.

He looked over at Revy, smiling. He remembered a time when he was like that. Infuriated at the world and trying to drink his problems away. Unfortunately, it was very hard for him to get drunk. He once drank an entire bottle of Everclear in a half hour and it only got him to a .04. He drank another bottle of Everclear and he was barely drunk at .07 because some of the previous bottle had already metabolized.

He looked at Dutch and Rock, both of whom seemed fairly lucid. He picked Revy up with one arm and slung her over his shoulder.

"Wow… You're pretty strong, Linus… You look so…"

"I know… I look like a lightweight. Have you ever heard of the Genesis Project? I was a product of it about 30 years ago. I was born in a tube and trained to be a superhuman soldier without a hint of a conscience or even human emotions. So any emotions that I seem to show are all mimicry of other humans. Over the years, once I escaped, I learned to mimic realistic human emotion."

"Yeah… That guy Konrad was a Finder for the organization. He probably is turning Leopold and Phoebe into supersoldiers. So what is your real name, Linus?"

"Genesis 4M-98."

"What does all that mean?" Dutch asked. Linus smirked.

"Genesis Project, Fourth Series, Male, then my serial number. There was a series of Female test subjects. There were 100 males and 100 females. I was the 98th subject birthed. When we came of age, they encouraged us to mate with the females so that they could have Second Generation subjects. They wanted to test the results of natural birth from two First Generation enhanced humans… A number of my brothers and sisters complied and they're raising the Second Generation in the same way they raised us.

"I refused and rebelled against the organization. I managed to escape in the middle of the night. I tried to bring some of my brothers and sisters with me, but we got separated. There are seven or eight of us out there somewhere. I try to keep up with the news in case they mention anyone matching their descriptions. One of my sisters I know became an assassin. She's currently #4 on the FBI's top ten most wanted list.

"Stories of her in the news mention how she can run as fast as a car and has punched officers so hard that she caved in their ribcages, that she can bounce bullets off of steel poles and hit people… She's a legend in the world of assassins. I looked her up on the Dark Web. She's been known to charge a million dollars or more for a job."

"Damn… What kinds of experiments did they do on you?" Rock asked. Linus sighed.

"For the most part, we'll never know the extent of their experimentation on us. They did most of them before we were born. The only experiments they did after we were born were for stabilization of our modifications. The stabilization maximized our abilities and made it so that we wouldn't break down physically for any reason."

"I see…So do you know if they've given up on finding you?" Dutch asked. Linus shrugged.

"Well… They might have… They probably think we've all been eliminated. People like me have trouble blending in. I can lift a man my size above my head with one arm. I can run up to 45 miles an hour. I can dodge bullets and balance perfectly on a surface the width of a garrote wire. It took me ten years to learn to fully blend in, and… Well… I ended up showing myself in a big way.

"Murdering a politician's son… There's no way to keep that quiet. That's why I came here. Monsters like me walk the streets openly. I saw a girl with a bloody chainsaw walking back in dragging a torn up body. I heard the revving of the saw and heard the man's screams and nobody did anything. I'm betting that this is the kind of place where that kinda thing happens all the time, yeah?" Linus asked. Dutch and Rock looked at each other.

"Yeah… That kind of thing is a pretty everyday occurrence here. If you can manage to keep from pissing the mobs off, you'll fit right in." Dutch said with a laugh.

"Let's get going… We've got a job tomorrow. You can prove yourself in actual combat… We'll stop by a pharmacy and get some medicine for Revy… She'll be hung over tomorrow." Rock said. Linus nodded.

"So… Tell me a bit about Revy… She seems like a fun person."

"Right up until you piss her off. When she's angry, she'll shoot first and ask questions never." Rock muttered. Linus shrugged.

"Well… Nobody's perfect… Has she always been so fierce?"

"I think so… She grew up in the slums in New York City. She won't tell any of us much about her life, but I think she spent a lot of time in prison." Rock said casually. "But I'll give you the same advice Revy gave me. Prying into other people's lives here is a sure way to getting yourself killed. You won't endear yourself to Revy by asking her about herself or her past. She came here to escape that part of her life."

"Well… Can't blame a guy for trying." Linus said with a sheepish laugh.