Chapter 13: A Game of Hound and Wolf.
Sirens haunted us as I drove. Holo once again clutched around my waist while I ducked and weaved through traffic, the sound of car horns ringing out accompanied with the aggravated shouts of drivers. I couldn't stop. I couldn't slow. I had to run.
Up ahead I could see one of the many bypasses leading to the next sector. I made a sharp left, intending to reach Jackal Boulevard. Zooming down the road before us, I spotted the bright warning signs, indicating the closed bypass.
I glanced around for any indication that the LAPD was nearby. Nothing.
I rounded the corner onto Jackal Boulevard, the bypass ahead of us. Multiple warning signs and barricades blocked it off. But that wouldn't deter me. I felt Holo shift her weight behind me, turning around as if to look at something, Holo suddenly called out over the roar of the engine.
"LAWRENCE! WE'VE BEEN FOLLOWED!" She called as the sound of ear-splitting sirens blared out from just behind us. I glanced round to see two pursuit cars appear from seemingly nowhere, falling in just behind us, their red and blue lights flashing above them. Their angular bulking frames speeding towards us. They were faster than us… and were rapidly closing the distance.
"Shit." I hissed, the sound drowned out by the engine.
I had to out maneuver them. I revved the bike as hard as I could, speeding between a gap in the barricades. I slipped through with ease and into the tunnel beyond. The pursuit cars followed us in, slamming through the barricades with ease.
'They certainly are eager…' I sneered in thought, as the cars began gaining ground once again. The sounds of the engines and sirens echoed off the walls of the unlit tunnel, assaulting our ears with a cacophony of noise. Ahead of us was nothing but empty tunnel, save from the various scaffolding and maintenance equipment scattered about the tunnel. With the pursuit cars gaining, I spotted the opportunity, measuring both risk and reward. I took a chance. I swerved my bike into the scaffolding, clenching my teeth as I ducked and weaved through the metal poles. The cars sped along adjacent to us, unable to run us off our bike without the scaffolding crashing down on them. One car took the lead, speeding at an alarming rate as it neared the end of the scaffolding. It swerved and pulled out where the scaffolding ended, blocking our exit. A man dressed in blue rapidly disembarked from the passenger's side and drew a pistol. The officer aimed down his iron sight, preparing to open fire. I veered off the side, weaving in-between the scaffolding once again. The officer fired at us, but was unable to get a clear shot as I shot out from the scaffolding, leaving the officer far behind us. However, the other pursuit car remained on our tail.
I swerved to the left and the car mimicked my action before gaining speed, intending to run us down. I turned to look behind us, the car's thick plated bonnet barely a few meters away.
While I was preoccupied by the car, I missed what was lying ahead on the road, but was quickly brought back by Holo who called up over the engine.
"The road!" She howled, and I snapped my gaze ahead, eyes widening at the sight.
Thick clumps of debris and rubble were strewn across the tunnel road, there had been a collapse. I managed to swerve around it with ease, cutting neatly between the clusters of rubble. The pursuit car was not so fortunate, the jet black car tried to swerve and cut through, but the speed and size of the vehicle caused it to skid along the tunnel before crashing into the side of a thick debris cluster. I heard the grind of metal against concrete behind us, before the thick revving noise of the engine echoed through the tunnel. It wouldn't be long until they reengaged their pursuit.
Holo let out a shill of laughter, seemingly giddy from the pursuit.
"We need a place to hide!" I called out over the noise of my engine.
Holo ceased laughing, before peering into the darkness of the tunnel ahead of us. Suddenly her hand shot out and pointed to the far left wall. I slowed the bike as what looked like a small man-sized tunnel appeared, fading out of the black. If it weren't for Holo, I would have missed it entirely. I passed the tunnel before breaking, keeping the engine running as I began backing the bike up. I heard the sound of sirens echoing down the tunnel once again as Holo and I entered the man-sized tunnel. I held the bike firm before cutting the engine, waiting in the dark.
Soon the sounds of engines and sirens grew louder before the two pursuit cars rushed past our tunnel's entrance, missing us completely. I held my breath as the sirens faded away, until I could no longer hear them. Soon the only thing I could hear was mine and Holo's steady breathing. It was so dark, I could barely see anything.
"It sounds like we've lost them…" Holo muttered from the dark.
I was silent for a moment longer, unsure of what to say. My mind flitted between one thought to the next, the contents of the document we decrypted, the Police manhunt, but what stuck out the most to me was…
"You were smiling…" I muttered darkly.
I heard Holo's hood rustle before speaking. "What?" She muttered, somewhat confused.
"Back in the elevator, you were smiling…" I repeated somberly.
Holo went very quiet for a moment. "I… I don't recall…" She retorted, trying to avoid the subject.
I swiveled round to glare at her through the dark. "You brutally murdered two men and were smiling about it!" I snapped angrily.
"Would you have rather been killed?! It was us or them!" Holo growled in her defense.
"It's not that… I'm not saying it wasn't necessary, or that we had much of a choice… It's that… you were enjoying the act…" I muttered, unsure of how Holo would react.
Holo was very quiet, it was too dark to see what kind of expression she was making.
"Yes. I was." She stated curtly, not a hint of remorse in her words.
I felt myself flinch at her words. I wasn't expecting her to be so frank. She had to be joking.
"I'm being serious here-" I was cut off by her.
"So am I… Those men, regardless of who they were or what they had done, were trying to kill us. Why wouldn't I enjoy ending their fragile lives?" She retorted cockily.
I stared into the darkness wide-eyed. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Holo, you sound like a psychopath! You may not think it now, but the killing starts taking effect, you can't wash yourself clean of it. If you're going to be like this, then you can just leave. I want nothing to do with someone who's so mentally fucked up!" I scorned harshly.
Holo scoffed. "As if you can lecture me, you're no better. You've kill and brutalize men without any remorse or hesitation…" She muttered harshly.
Images of Trevino and Yoitsu flashed in my mind, my hands gripped the handlebars of my bike as her words cut into me.
"…So if I'm a psychopath… what does that make you?" She asked in a provocative tone and I caught the wolf like gleam in her eyes despite the darkness.
"I never smiled!" I snapped back, scowling at her.
"Yet, you still continue to do what you do, despite your claimed effects of killing…" She muttered.
"I do what I do, because I must… I don't have a choice." I growled, gripping the bike handles even tighter.
"And what do you mean by that? You're a smart man, why limit yourself?" She asked quietly.
"BECAUSE I'M BLACKLISTED!" I shouted, my words echoing down the tunnel.
Holo didn't respond as my voice echoed down the tunnel. Eventually I twigged that she had no idea what I was talking about.
I sighed heavily. "It means I've been rendered useless to society… Those Blacklisted are people who have committed felony against a major corporation. The result is that you're are turned away from any workplace or job placement. And without any work, you starve… It's practically a death sentence…" I muttered remembering my struggles, before a surge of heat spread through me.
"But hey, what do you care?! You can do as you damn well please. You're just a monster who murders everyone who gets in your way! You're a fucking heartless wolf!" I shouted into the dark.
Holo was quiet for some time. "Your… circumstance was forced upon you then… I understand." She muttered from the darkness.
"In a way, that's like me… all I've wanted was to be free, free from my prison, free from my captors… I didn't choose to be caged Lawrence…" Holo muttered, as I heard the quivering rustle of her tail.
"I didn't choose to be like this… I didn't choose to be the… the wolf…" I heard her voice tremble.
I heard her sniffle softly and my face fell, realizing the impact of my words.
"If you wish to leave me I won't stop you… I won't keep you prisoner…" I heard her mutter.
I propped the stand of my bike, hitching my leg over the vehicle so I could face her full on. I caught the sorrowful shimmer in her eyes and I let out a sigh. I was being too harsh on her. If it weren't for her I'd be in a body bag right now. True, she was a killer… but then again… so was I… Both of us out of circumstance.
I stretched my arms out into the dark, feeling for where Holo was on the bike. When I found her, the wolf flinched in surprise at my touch.
"W-what are you-" Holo exclaimed before I gently wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close to my body.
Holo didn't shy away, she sat there, close to my chest, unsure of what to do. I smelt the blood on her, but I didn't care, continuing to hold her in my arms.
"I'm sorry." I whispered and Holo's ears flickered at my words.
"I shouldn't have been so hard on you…" I muttered, tightening my hug.
I heard Holo sniffle into my chest, before she partly put her arms around me and gave me a light squeeze.
"Are you leaving me?" she muttered, with a sniff.
"No…" I replied softly and I heard her exhale a shaky sigh of relief.
"So… what do we do now?" She asked uncertainly.
I pulled out of the embrace, my brow furrowing in thought.
"I managed to store what has been decrypted on a partitioned section of my circuit. But there's so much still encrypted on here. And the encryption protocols are of the likes I've never seen." I muttered, tracing the tattoo on my arm.
"Then there's no way to get the data?" Holo asked worriedly.
I gave her a small smile. "I didn't say that… I know of one man who'd be able to help us out. The one man who knows my Ink Circuit better than I."
"Who?" Holo asked.
"Well, the man who made it of course…." I answered frankly.
Soon we were back on the bypass, the pursuit cars nowhere to be found. I expected the LAPD to have double back in their search by now, yet they were nowhere to be found. Eventually we reached the end of the bypass and into the sector beyond. The broken barriers indicating the pursuit cars had come through here. Had I really managed to lose them?
Regardless, we sped through the streets, intending to reach the Skyway. The man who we were searching for lived in the Outer Sectors, meaning we had some drive ahead of us. However, with no indication of pursuit the journey went over smoothly. As we drove, I thought about where we were going to go after this. I didn't want to get Nora further dragged into this anymore than she already was. She didn't know about any of this. As far I was concerned, the less she knew… the better.
It was late in the afternoon as I veered us off the Skyway, descending into the Outer Sectors of Lower LA. I had memorized the address long ago, I'd come here for general maintenance of my Ink Circuit, which was something that happened often. I slowed the bike to a stop before cutting the engine, parking it just outside the familiar tattoo parlor.
"Looks like he's in…" I muttered, noticing the empty cigarette cartons that littered the nearby trashcan.
"So this man is a friend of yours?" Holo queried as we got off the bike, trying to neaten our blood stained clothes and listening out for the sounds of sirens.
"I used to work with him back when I was with the PH corp. We have quite a history together." I chuckled to myself, remembering the good times I had with him.
"He left the corporation to follow his dream of owning his own business… not often you meet someone like him." I noted, before heading toward the door, Holo following in suit.
I opened the door before peaking through into the tattoo parlor, various implements and tattoo designs cluttered the nearby walls. Empty beds lay about the parlor, a single fan buzzed away, circulating cool air around the room. The whole place smelt of spent ink and cigarette smoke. A big chunky man sat behind a bench, his back to me. He had short-cropped black hair and wore an old short-sleeved shirt, in order to show off his muscular forearms that were lined with all sorts of intricate tattoos.
"Bugger off, we're closed for the day." The man growled, before taking a drag on a cigarette he had in-between his muscular fingers, he might as well have been smoking a toothpick.
Holo and I stepped inside and the man became more aggressive, standing up to face us to reveal his bushy black mustache.
"I SAID WE-" He cut himself off when he saw my smirking expression.
"Is that anyway to talk to your old friend Jacob?" I chuckled as I saw the man's mouth drop open, the limp cigarette nearly falling from his mouth.
"L-Lawrence? You're alive?!" Jacob exclaimed, he looked like he'd seen a ghost.
I gave him a wry smile. "Of course… why wouldn't I be?"
Jacob blinked, before narrowing his gaze. "You're shitting me, you're completely clueless… You were announced dead over the extranet!" The hairy lipped man retorted.
My friendly expression quickly changed to a look of concern. "What are you talking about?" I muttered before Jacob rubbed his temple.
"Dead, as in killed on arrest. The Feds reported you and the young girl were gunned down at Sunrise Apartments, saw them take out the bodies and everything." Jacob muttered before craning his neck to see Holo.
He furrowed his brow, before his eyes went wide in horror.
"Wait, is… is that blood?!" Jacob exclaimed eyeing our clothes up and down.
I glanced over to Holo then back to Jacob.
"It's… It's a long story…" I muttered…
The two of us sat down with Jacob and I explained what had happened to us in the past forty-eight hours, being sure to omit only certain details involving Holo's true Identity and the occurrences at Wheaten. I made it sound as if I'd turned down Zheren's offer, but was given some encrypted data packages to wet my appetite.
"…So now the LAPD thinks I'm involved with all this mess at Wheaten." I stated, as Jacobs brow furrowed.
"Well, not anymore apparently. They broadcasted your death over all the channels available. You're officially a dead man Lawrence." Jacob murmured, deep in thought.
"It's not like I had much say in the matter…." I thought out loud.
"But, that last part of your story… this… Chloe… do you honestly think she was an Agent?"
I averted my gaze, staring grimly at the floor. "I can't be sure…" I admitted.
Jacob leaned back in his chair, his dark eyes swirling in thought. "So… changing encryption protocols eh? Sounds interesting." He muttered.
"I don't know what else to do Jacob, none of my utilities could define them after they changed." I admitted, I'd never encountered anything like it.
Jacob chuckled softly to himself. "You were always shit at decryption anyway, come on out back and we'll hook you up." He said before standing to his feet.
Holo had gotten bored with us and spent her time wandering round the parlor, turning her crimson eyes to the various tattoo designs upon the walls that captivated her interest. However once she heard us starting to move she forgot about the designs and began to follow us. We went into a back room of sorts where a thick drape hung from a single cable that divided the room. Jacob pulled it aside to reveal a large setup of computers and monitors, which gave off a strange green light that illuminated the room, a fire escape door was on the back wall. Various circuitry designs and electrode cables hung against the walls. Along the wall was a thick bulletproof cabinet that stored large glass pots of conducting ink, used in the creation of Ink Circuits. Holo's eyes scanned the walls, gazing at all the circuit patterns, trying to understand the schematics.
"Take a seat when you're ready" Jacob muttered, gesturing to a dentist's chair in the center of the room. He took a seat in front of one of the large monitors and hammered away at the keyboard, preparing his system for analysis of my Ink Circuit. As I took a seat in the chair, I tried to relax while Jacob retrieved two sleek black electrode cables and asked me to roll up my sleeve. I complied, removing my jacket and tossing it aside to expose my Ink Circuit in full. Jacob placed the two cables on various spots on my arm when Holo spoke up.
"These markings, you drew them?" Holo inquired looking at the circuit diagrams.
Jacob glanced up at the young girl. "That I did, yes…"
"As well as the one's in the other room?" She continued.
Jacob nodded in affirmation.
Holo grinned at the beefy man. "They're very good. You're quite the talented artist." She giggled, almost flirtatiously.
Jacob chuckled, a small rosy blush forming on the man's cheeks.
"Y-you think so?" He uttered sheepishly.
Holo rose a dainty hand to her chin as she stared at one of the circuitry designs on the wall. "Perhaps I should get one done myself…" The wolf mused with a smirk, fascinated by the idea.
Jacob smiled warmly at the thought and I rolled my eyes in response.
"Well, you're certainly welcome to pick any one of my designs. I'd be more than happy to see them on a pretty lady such as yourself." The bushy lipped man chuckled sheepishly.
Holo shot the man a dazzling smile. "Then…would you consider it good advertising to have your workmanship displayed on such a pretty woman's body? If so… then perhaps we could negotiate on the price." She said with a wink.
I watched as Jacob's eyes went wide and the bristles of his mustache prickle, before the man burst out in raucous laughter.
"Lawrence, where on earth did you find this bird?" He asked in between laughs.
I had to resist the urge to slap my palm to my forehead.
I shrugged at Jacob, sighing a little.
"I guess you could say she found me." I said with a nervous chuckle, trying to be polite.
Jacob chuckled to himself, before heading back over to the computer.
"Well, in any case, let's have a look at what you've got on here shall we?" He grinned, typing on the keyboard before I felt a surge of electricity begin coursing through my arm.
"Ok, we're connected… hmmmmm…" I heard Jacob grumble softly, before he began hammering on the keyboard again. Holo made her way over to Jacob's side, watching the monitors as he worked his magic.
I heard Jacob mutter to himself as he typed. "Ok, so what if I… nope, it doesn't like that… But If I…. no…. Wait, but if I pipe this to… AH!" He exclaimed sharply.
"What did you find?" I asked, rather curiously.
"Did you unlock the data?!" Holo blurted out hastily, leaning towards Jacob's monitors.
"Well, no. Nothing decrypted just yet, but I did manage to analyze the encryption protocols." Jacob explained, turning around to look at me.
I felt my mouth fall open slightly as I stared at Jacob in disbelief.
"H-how?!" I stammered before the beefy man shot me a cheeky grin and tapped his nose.
"That's for me to know and you to despair about." He laughed and I felt my face fall with an exasperated look.
"So, what did you find out?" I queried.
Jacob's face suddenly became serious and his brow furrowed. "The protocols seem to be set to rewrite themselves when faced with a brute force attack. You'd never be able to crack it without the proper cypher." He muttered affirmatively.
"Yeah, yeah, I figured that already. What I want to know is where we can get the cypher for it?" I groaned.
Jacob took another long drag on his cigarette as he thought. "Hmmm, to be honest, I haven't a clue." He admitted flatly.
My face fell. "Truly?" I asked, honestly surprised.
Jacob nodded before leaning towards me, his eyes becoming steely. "I can tell you this though, whatever data you've got on your circuit… belongs to Pegasus Horizons. And it's highly classified." He said with a grim frown.
I felt his gaze boring into me before he spoke once more. "Lawrence… what's really going on?" He asked in a low voice.
I averted my gaze. "I've already told you everything, I was given this data by that Zheren guy."
Jacob shook his head, his dark eyes now gleaming with a wise spark.
"No Lawrence, you come in here with a strange woman, covered in blood, was pronounced dead with some hijacked top-secret data from Pegasus fucking Horizons. Be straight with me for fuck-sake!" He shouted, anger seething from his words.
I swallowed the hard lump in my throat, before glancing over to Holo. She was staring at Jacob, her arms relaxed by her side, her expression unreadable. Would she kill him if I revealed her for what she was? Would she kill me?
"Jacob, I-" The sound of the tattoo parlor door opened and the three of us snapped our attention to the doorway. Someone had just come in…
'Was it the LAPD… no, Holo would have heard them coming….' I thought, as Jacob stood from his chair.
"Who the hell could that be?" He muttered, before turning to the two of us.
"Wait here, I'll deal with this." He said before walking to the door.
I heard the sound of soft footsteps in the next room, from what I could tell there was only one person.
Jacob peeked round the corner before stepping into the parlor's main room.
"Excuse me, miss? We're closed for the da-" He was cut off by a firm feminine voice.
"Jacob Tarantino?" She asked and I noticed Holo visibly stiffen.
There was a short pause before Jacob replied. "Yes? What do you want?" I heard him grumble.
Another pause. "If your prey goes to ground… leave no ground to go to…" The female said before a sharp 'THWACK!' came from the other room.
Suddenly Jacob's upper torso fell into view, his body flopping backwards as he hit the ground. He had been shot cleanly through the head. His eyes wide open in surprise.
My eyes went wide with horror, my throat constricting as I went to shout out my old friend's name out of sheer despair. Holo beat me to it however, silently gliding over to me and stifling my cry with her hand.
She whispered harshly into my ear. "There's nothing we can do for him. We need to go, now…"
She released the grip on my mouth, before I caught her forlorn glance at Jacob's body. I stared for a moment longer, shock quickly being replaced with anger.
I curled my lips into a snarl as I tore the electrodes from my arm and went for my gun. Holo's hand shot for my wrist before I could draw it, giving me a tight squeeze and shaking her head. The surge anger soon left me as I heard the footsteps gradually getting closer to us.
I gave Jacob's body one final stare before tearing my gaze away.
'Goodbye old friend…' I thought, before hopping out of the chair and grabbing Holo by the wrist we bolted for the fire escape door.
Jacob's murderer had evidently heard us before she engaged in pursuit, running for the back room.
We burst through the door running into a short alley next to the tattoo parlor and the adjacent building. I slammed the door shut behind me, looking around, I spotted an old rusty dumpster.
"Holo! Bring that over here!" I shouted before Holo nodded in response, quickly darting over to the dumpster and with a grunt pushed it to block off the door. I heard the murderer slam against the door, trying to force it open. However the door wouldn't budge with the dumpster in the way.
Without a moment's rest, we bolted towards out onto the street and quickly got onto our bike. I hit the ignition and revved the motor before taking off down the road. Behind us I spotted a slender looking figure exit the tattoo parlor, brandishing some kind of silenced pistol. She aimed for us, but I ducked down a nearby street before she could fire.
Holo hugged me tightly around the waist, her covered ears keeping an ear out for any kind of pursuit or the sound of sirens. I ran what just happened through my head, replaying it over and over again. I was trying to see what I could have done differently, what I could have done to save Jacob from that… that woman. 'If your prey goes to ground, leave no ground to go to.' That's what she said… 'no ground.' I stopped the bike. The rubber tires screeched as the bike came to a skidding halt, my body quivering as I realized what she meant. Holo lurched from the sudden brake and she shot me a worried glance.
"Lawrence!? What are you doing, we have to ge-" she exclaimed before I cut her off.
My voice was strained and shaky.
"No ground to go to… Nora… Nora's being targeted."