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CHAPTER 4

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After all that happened recently, Jackie went to her room with the clear intention to try and get lost into the sweet oblivion of sleep. She got ready for bed but couldn't bring herself to rest. Instead, she continued to stare at the pictures in her phone, memorizing every aspect of the pictures. All of what happened to London will happen here in New York? That couldn't happen. It shouldn't. So many people would die because of something as stupid as a chip.

Another message she knew was from Aria popped up. It read, 'Some pictures of the London Raid. Might even happen here :3 .'

Jackie may have been tired, but she couldn't help to morbidly want to know what this was about. She switched over to it and saw horribly mutilated burnt corpses and some that seemed to had been chewed among the horrific images of dead people plain in the streets where blood ran in streams.

She grit her teeth, flipping through the pictures as she felt her heart race with anxiety. This is horrible. All those people, every single one of them with families and normal lives, gone within a day. The images swelled inside her head as she shut the phone, closing her eyes and trying to go to bed and think about other things. Everything … can wait until tomorrow. For now she needed to calm down and get some sleep.

Jackie slightly twitched, cracking her eyes open and seeing a sheen of red everywhere. Bombs were placed everywhere in the room and for some reason she knew there were more around the entire tall building she was in. She looked around, seeing the images of dead and burnt bodies everywhere in the room much like the ones of the picture she saw. Was she … in one of those chip factories?

Everything was loosely constructed with nothing being defined but everything made sense in this nightmare. People were in danger and she had the answer in her small hand, the button already pressed and waiting to be released. She leaned back against the wall, emptily staring at the door bustling from the other side of the room and feeling her other hand twitch around a bright pink and girly phone in her hand.

Jackie took a deep breath, feeling her cheek twitch into a smile as she held up the detonation button just as the door burst open with a barrage of ghouls pouring into the room. Her heart jerked, frightened as she released the button.

With a short sharp scream Jackie woke and grasped at her chest, eyes wide as if she just felt like she fell from the air and slammed against the ground. She looked at her black phone, turning it back around and seeing the images once again. What the hell was she doing just trying to sleep? What kind of idiot would be able to sleep after something like that?

Jackie shivered and changed into dark clothing and grabbed a cheap duffle bag from under her bed. She needed to go and see these things herself. Right now.

All of the police will be at that fire along with other emergency personnel which she bet was still going strong even now, at 2:00 in the morning. Going now is the best option with all of the distractions happening. Plus … she couldn't sit still. She hopped into the living room and turned towards her shop downstairs with plans of what to bring. Now to prepare for a breaking and entering. Well, this will be fun. She froze as the light of a lamp came on, turning and seeing Hans staring right at her. Whoops.

"Hans, I'm going out. Watch the money." She said before hopping down the stairs into the shop to pack.

Aria listening to the door closing and the girl leaving, finished the popcorn with a satisfying smile and went to the living room where the dreaded Hans Gunsche, 'The Captain' from 'Millennium', the last battalion, was lying on the couch looking her approach with an uninterested gaze. The briefcases with the money were on the coffee table.

She sat in the other long couch and tentatively extended her hand slowly towards the briefcase, and when her hand was over the coffee table he growled under his breath. She looked at him in the eyes and pulled her hand back. He stopped his warning growl. She smirked and once again extended her hand, causing him to growled again and only stopping when she pulled her hand back. This happened a few times until she lightly laughed, finding this very funny. He put his feet over the briefcase and leaned back on the couch, not caring what she was doing in particular. He was given his orders and following them through although he didn't knew why.

"My... I wonder why you are even amusing that girl, Mr. Wolfy. Or why are you staying here at all." She closed her olive green eyes slowly at him and when she opened them to fix her gaze on his red eyes, she spoke with apparent amusement "from war attack mongrel to house dog... it's quite funny and interesting," she stood up and walked in front of him as he just eyed her, "she just hired me so I think I'll stick around for a while until I figure out what I want to know."

Hans didn't move as he coolly ignored her, staring out the window in the direction the girl had left.

Jackie quickly trotted down the side roads and alleys towards the police station. If Aria was right and all this computer chip crap is literally in the basement of a police station, people who are supposed to protect people but are actually hurting them instead ... Jackie angrily grit her teeth as she peeked in through the windows of the station and saw no one downstairs where all the evidence is kept. She hesitantly and quietly slipped out her bolt cutters from her duffle bag of tools and clipped the bars on the window. She needed to verify for herself if everything Aria has told her is true. So, unfortunately, breaking into the police station is one of the only ways to go.

She quietly set them aside and, with her gloved hands, slid them into the dumpster to hide them from passing people but at this late hour it's not like anyone would see. With a few snips she broke the hinges and laid the window to the side before slipping inside, listening intently to every small sound down to the smallest cricket in the room. Doesn't even sound like the janitor is here. She pulled out some strong wire from her bag and looped it around the door handle and a solid hand railing to prevent anyone from coming downstairs while she was there for a little while.

She shuffled the bag over her shoulder before trotting around the surprisingly small basement. Each small detail such as a small crack in the wall to the gear laying around was all in perfect resemblance to the photos taken.

She stepped inside a small room, mortified at the chips laying around on the table and a brief case beside the table. This was too easy. Why is everything just laid out for her to find? She carefully listened as she drew closer, looking inside the small glass cases holding the sickening chip. This thing … is the thing everyone is killing everyone else over?

Disgusting.

Jackie knelt down and dumped the money into her bag. They won't be getting a single cent of it. Filthy. Disgusting. These people who are supposed to be protecting the city are doing this underneath it all? And who knows how many other police stations has this sort of thing going on underneath the surface. The police can't be trusted. The truth went against her every instinct to trust these men of the law but there really was no way to know who was a true cop and who was turned dirty.

She zipped the bag shut and headed towards the window. She was absolutely livid with anger. People have laid down their lives to protect others while these people are taking them. I'll burn it all to the damn ground, right here and now! She dumped the bag into the dumpster and covered it with a trash bag before walking a few blocks down to a gas station. She went inside and looked around, finding some matches. She made sure no one was looking before slipping out $5 and sticking it among the rest of the matches as she slipped the one small pack into her underwear. She didn't like shoplifting but if he saw her getting matches and gasoline it's not hard to put two and two together.

She went to the counter and paid for some containers of gasoline and $40 worth of gas. She went back outside and filled up the four containers before walking off towards the station. Jackie took some back ways before getting behind the police station and looking inside. Looks like she wasn't discovered yet. Jackie felt uneasy setting this fire as a beginner arsonist but she didn't have a choice. Whoever was behind this was using this as a base and destroying it was the only way to make it stop without hurting innocent people.

She checked the dumpster and found her bag right where she left it, ensuring herself it hadn't been found, before slipping into the basement again. In her anger she began dosing the entire room in three cans worth of gasoline and made a trail with the fourth. She climbed back out and lit the match, throwing it inside before racing over to the dumpster and grabbing her things. She booked it down the alley and made some sharp turns back to her shop. I hope that entire building burns down with all those stupid chips inside!

She had to get back and wash these clothes in some heavy soap. She didn't want to smell like gasoline, not tonight with so much going on. Jackie made a quick turn and shouldered someone, making him stumble back and drop his groceries.

"Sorry, you alright?" Jackie asked as she turned around, flustered and began helping him pick up his groceries. A snickering laugh trailed through her ears as he crouched down and cupped his cheek, tilting his head. She looked up, startled at the abundance of tattoos all over his neck, arms and probably the rest of his body as well. Deep circles made the bottom part of his eyes their home as he widely grinned, flashing an impressive set of white chompers. I turn my eyes back to the ground as I gather his things up. Best not to stare.

"You sure you have time for chit chat with a stranger? Shouldn't you go back home to take care of your strays?" He asked in a scratchy sort of groaning tone.

"Excuse me- hello?" She called, looking around and finding the man gone. Where in the world did he go? She put the groceries away in the bag and looked inside it, recognizing the goods. This was all exactly what she got a few days ago when those creeps jumped her. She dug through the food and pulled out the receipt, seeing her phone number on it. Oh this is creepy. She shuffled the bags into her arms and hurried off back home.

Jackie rushed back to her home and scaled the stairs on the side of her building. She flipped out the keys in a frenzied rush, eager to be back inside. The door creaked opened as Jackie hastily stepped inside shutting and locking the door with the groceries in hand. Who the hell was that tattoo guy? And what was he doing with all her groceries? She walked past the living room, seeing Hans and Aria still there. Hans was busy staring at the TV as Aria playfully looked in Jackie's direction, raising a playful eyebrow.

"Oh? You did use the info?" Aria asked with a cat-like smile.

"Yeah, I did," Jackie answered, nervously glancing at the TV before setting the other duffle bag onto the counter. Aria watched, interested as she opened it to reveal a whole lot more of money, 500s bundled in each of the stacks. "Now, what else do you have for me?" Jackie asked, tossing Aria $50,000 and still having hundreds more in the bag. Jackie was pumped up and pissed off. She wanted to burn all those buildings down to the ground to make sure they don't hurt any more people. "And what practice do you have with arson?" Jackie asked, again glancing at the TV screen anxiously and staring at the news surrounding the police station on fire before switching back over to the factory one. Man they're fast. What a mess and she was the cause of both of them.

Aria's eyes ogled the money with greed like a cat looking at a fish, "of course I can!" =*¬*=

She once again took out her phone and in seconds Jackie received a new file in her phone, "this one is easier because they will only store and then transport. Now gimme my money."

Jackie saw the contents of the file and tossed Aria a few more hundreds which the happy female caught before standing up and leaving for the stairs with a content happy stroll.

"Good luck. I'm going to claim a room." Aria said with a wide grin.

Oh fantastic, she's going to stay here? Maybe she's homeless and that's why she's staying. Or because it's cheaper and I'm paying her an arm and a leg for her information but then again having the mercenary here was better than simply waiting for her to appear.

Jackie sighed and then looked at Hans, who just stared at the news with seemingly mild to no interest. Maybe that strange tattooed man had been right and she had just adopted some strays. But how the hell would he know in the first place about her 'strays'? It's ridiculous that he would know. Unless he's one of Mario's men and that was a warning to stay out of his business. A shiver shot down Jackie's spine. Now that's a scary thought.

Jackie ran a hand through her hair before heading down the hall to her room. She needed sleep. Her muscles were aching and her entire body was ready to drop in exhaustion. She opened the door and paused, seeing Aria inside her room.

"Hey, this is my room. Out." Jackie said as she jutted her thumb across the hall, "you can take the guest bedroom." She said as she stepped inside, eager to reclaim her territory from the intruder.

"You have guest rooms?" Aria asked as she rolled over the bed and stared at her.

"Yes. Across the hall." Jackie said, sniffing her shirt. Hmph, she'll soak the clothes tomorrow. She's too tired to do it now.

"But that place is bolted to the ground." Aria pouted.

"So? It's a spare room." Jackie pointed out as she tossed her jacket onto the bed, pushing Aria out. Jackie was eager to get some rest and she wasn't going to let the stray merc stand between her and her comfy bed.

As soon as the click of the lock was heard on the other side of the door Aria hissed and turned to go to the living room again where the captain Hans Gunsche was. She entered the room and deliberately made her way towards him, thoughtfully ignoring the briefcases. When she was at his side he lazily half opened one eye to look at her. She kneeled at the side of the couch and put her hands up to get his attention by pawing at the air. He opened the eye more with annoyance.

"Can you help me clean the guest room later? Please." =^x^=

She looked at him in a way that reminded him of Schrodinger. After staring at her for a few moments, not saying anything, she grinned.

"Thank you." She said and just to be playful, gave him a small peck in the cheek before getting up and heading to the other couch she had previously occupied, and took over it to sleep there for the night.

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Hope You enjoyed.

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