Chapter Fifteen

"Hey, Rock… D'ya mind if I join you for your run?" Linus asked. "I hear you're learning how to Freerun… That was one of the first things they taught us back at Genesis…" Linus said cheerfully. Rock nodded. "Sure… You can come along… I bet you need to learn the city, anyway."

"Well… Actually, I walked around the entire city yesterday. I learned the whole thing by heart, yeah." Linus replied. Rock nodded.

"Great… Join me then. Revy won't be up for a few hours at least… Well, as long as Dutch doesn't wake her. She'll be hung over as fuck and you won't want to disturb her." The former Japanese businessman said. Linus nodded, following as Rock leapt out the window and rolled as he hit the ground, leaping up onto a ledge and over to the other side.

"Mm… Pretty good form, he's got, yeah." Linus said, leaping out the window and rolling straight into a standing position, flipping over the ledge and landing perfectly on the other side, following Rock's lead, making sure not to go too fast. At full speed, he could go at 45 miles an hour… He was sure that he could train to go faster, but for now 45 miles an hour was faster than any human could go.

He followed along with Rock at a comfortable jog until suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks, his breath catching in his throat. He looked across the market, eyes wide. Three people he never thought he'd see again. He grabbed Rock, stopping him and striding across the marketplace.

"4M-25, 4F-18 and 4F-29? I never thought I'd see you three again!" Linus said excitedly, sitting down with three of his former fellow subjects. All three looked at him impassively.

"Hello, Genesis 4M-98. My name is Garda Klein, now." 4F-29 said, seeming emotionless.

"Please call me Alric Luitgard." 4M-25 said.

"And my name is Astrid Erikssen. Pleasure to see you again." 4F-18 said, seeming quite unconvincing.

"Of course… Garda… Alric… Astrid… Wait… Astrid? Like the How to Train your Dragon movies?"

"I watched the movies and liked the name… So I took the name for myself. After all, a name means nothing to me, but in our society, few can get by without a name. Humans take their names so seriously…" Astrid said. Garda and Alric nodded.

"So… May I ask what brings you three all the way to the anus of the world?"

"As mercenaries, we go where we're paid to go." Alric said. "We've also been paid for our discretion. We could tell you, but not this man."

"He is quite handsome, though…" Garda added, smiling at Rock, though her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. It was an ice cold smile that seemed entirely fake.

"You've done quite well in learning to mimic human expression, 4M-98…"

"Please… Linus Welter… If you would…"
"Of course… Linus. However did you manage to mimic human emotion so accurately? We still have trouble with such aspects." Astrid asked. Linus smiled.

"Well… Living in a place like Los Angeles, being able to liberate books or borrow them from the library, I learned through trial and error to mimic human emotion at first. Eventually, it became natural for me. I worked in the Los Angeles underground, earning money as a criminal. I needed some level of charisma. I managed to learn to read people and speak to them on their level. It was quite interesting to learn. You can trust this man, though… I've seen him. He's a good man. He won't betray your confidence."

"Very well… If Linus assures us you can be trusted?" Astrid asked, looking at Linus as though she didn't even quite trust him.

"I promise you." Linus said with a smile. Alric nodded.

"We are bodyguards on a simple human trafficking operation. That is all you need to know. It is beneath our talent, but we are being paid well for it."

"If I may ask you a personal question?" Garda asked. Linus nodded.

"Would you like to join us? I am certain that our employer would be happy to pay you what he is paying us… In addition, your marksmanship was always the best of the four of us."

"Maybe… But I'm not nearly as good at hand-to-hand combat as Garda is."

"Nor am I as good at hacking as Alric is." Garda said.

"And Astrid was always the most acrobatic. We each have a skill at which we excel at more than any other. That does not mean that your marksmanship would not be a welcome addition to our team. Frankly, the other bodyguards disappoint us in terms of their gun skills. They cannot even hit a bird from 1,000 feet.

"You were once able to shoot an enemy's bullet out of the air and then shoot the enemy in the span of half a second. You are unrivaled in marksmanship." Alric said.

"Thank you… But I have already sworn my loyalty to another team. I'm certain that you could find an equally mercenary and unscrupulous job elsewhere in Roanapur. There are many lowlifes and criminals.

In fact, I am certain that Hotel Moscow or the Chinese Triad would gladly hire talented individuals such as yourselves… You could also form your own mercenary company based in Roanapur. Again, there would be no shortage of work." Linus said, seeming like he hoped that they would take him up on his offer. The three looked at each other, seeming to communicate silently. For two minutes, then three… Then five, they simply stared at each other. It was almost a bit creepy.

They didn't even seem to blink in that time. They simply stared, occasionally looking back and forth amongst each other, their expressions occasionally changing minimally. Finally, Alric turned and looked at Linus, nodding.

"We will do so. The mobs running this town could not afford to have us work full-time for them. But we will set up shop in Roanapur and sell to those who can afford us on a job by job basis.

"Are you kidding?" Rock asked. "Miss Balalaika and Mr. Chang have more money than anyone else in Roanapur, and by working for them, you're completely above what limited law the police impose here. Money isn't the only benefit you get from working for one of the three mobs that run Roanapur… It's just one benefit." He said. The three looked at each other again, seeming to shut the rest of the world out, communicating silently. Finally, they turned and Alric spoke again.

"We will propose hiring us to one of the mobs. Which one do you suggest?"

"Well… Black Lagoon works most closely with Hotel Moscow. However, they have also been known to do jobs for the Chinese Triad." Linus said.

"Then we will seek employment with one of them first. We must complete our current job first, though. We cannot simply abandon our employer with substandard trash such as they are currently employing."

"Actually… Um… One of my teammates, Revy is exceptionally talented with a gun, and I don't think even she could hit a bird moving full speed in the head from 1,000 feet." Rock said, thinking that would be all but impossible for anyone but someone with superhuman ability.

"That is what those pieces of shit said to us when we mentioned their lack of ability. They also considered themselves 'exceptionally talented'." Astrid said flatly.

"I look forward to hopefully working with you again." Linus said. Alric nodded.

"Yes… It will be good to work with someone who is up to our standard in talent." Garda added.

"We shall see you again surely. But we are expected by our employer in…" Astrid said, checking her pocket watch. "Ten minutes. Therefore we must bid you farewell for now." She said. The three stood simultaneously and strode off at matching paces.

"Alright… Let's finish off our run…" Rock said, going into a run, cartwheeling over the bench nearest them and hurrying back into a run. Linus laughed. Rock's enthusiasm was infectious. He followed, taking a long leap over the bench, clearing it by bending his knees into his chest and landing on the other side, immediately breaking back into a run, getting up to Rock's speed in moments, keeping up while only seeming to go at a jog. Rock took a deep breath.

"How are you able to keep up so… Easily?" He asked. Linus laughed.

"Well… I'm older than I look. How old do I look?"

"Maybe about Revy's age? 25? 26?" Rock suggested between gasps. Linus laughed.

"I'm flattered. I'm actually around 50 years old. My expedited healing allows me to age about half as fast as an ordinary human.

"I've been working on a method to stunt that healing. Jump up ahead… But so far, nothing has worked. If I take enough damage, my healing slows for a little while, but within a few days, it's back up to its normal speed." Linus said, seeming to lament this fact.

"Well… I'd gladly take that healing off of you. So does that mean that your average lifespan would be about 160?" Rock asked. Linus shrugged.

"Maybe… I suspect that our lifespan would correspond to the peak of human lifespans, so I'll probably live closer to 260 years. Boy, what a drag, yeah?" Linus asked. Rock shrugged.

"I wouldn't know. I can't imagine living that long. I think I'd go insane if I had to watch the world change like that around me." He said, twisting and leaping over a cart, bending his knees as he landed on the edge and jumping again, running as he landed on the tarp and jumping off.

"Mm… You're pretty good at Freerunning, Rock… How long've you been practicing?"

"About a year maybe? First I just read books, but now I'm practicing with Revy and Lotton."

"Oh yeah, your girlfriend's roommate, right? I dunno… I'd be a little jealous if my girlfriend was shacking up with a guy." Linus said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Nah… Lotton is too clumsy and kind of awkward to really pose a threat to my relationship… Besides, he's a genuinely nice person. You don't see too many of them in Roanapur, but he's one." Rock said. Linus nodded. They continued running for about thirty more minutes and then, with Rock exhausted, headed back to the hotel, where Rock headed to the shower and washed off before collapsing on his bed.