Chapter 1: "Un Felino"
Gattonero and Yarrow had been travelling for hours through the winding canals and narrow streets of Venice. Their mission was to assassinate a political figure supporting the Padanian terrorist movement, which was scheduled to make a visit to Piazza San Marco, according to the intelligence report, and they had finally arrived at the bell tower of St. Mark's Campanile, their designated vantage point. Noticing that there was construction and repairs going on at the tower as briefed by Jean Croce yesterday in their SWA headquarters, they took this advantage to slip unnoticed into the tower access door, climb the stairs, and reach the top.
"Finally, we made it," said Yarrow, looking relieved with his short breath as they reached the top of the bell tower.
Gattonero was already focused on their mission and immediately went to work. She set to work assembling her AW-50 anti-material rifle, opening her weapon case disguised as a guitar bag and assembling the rifle one piece at a time before finishing it off by attaching a suppressor and Simrad KN250 night vision device. Yarrow smoked a cigarette, complaining about the mission's length and expressing his boredom.
"I thought this would be a short mission," He grumbles. "But now I'm beginning to feel bored."
The Noirette cyborg didn't respond. She was focused on the task at hand.
As the second-generation cyborg finshed in assembling the rifle then securing it on on a tripod, Yarrow asks her a personal question: "So, how's life in the dormitory?" "How are you getting along with the other girls?"
She shruggs his question. "It's fine. If there's one thing worth complaining about, it's probably Petrushka being too talkative, especially with her always mentioning her handler, Signore Ricci. She said to Yarrow with a slightly vexed expression, "It bothers me sometimes."
Yarrow snickers at her answer. "Petrushka is always so positive. I guess it can be annoying sometimes."
Gattonero privately expresses her disdain for such positivity but didn't say anything while she sat on the floor watching the sunset.
"So, Gattonero," Yarrow said to her, breaking the silence again. "What do you think you would be doing right now if you weren't a cyborg?"
She pauses for a moment, considering the question. "I don't know, Signore Yarrow. I've been a cyborg for as long as I can remember."
He took another drag from his cigarette, his eyes fixed on the view of the Venetian lagoon outside. "But try to imagine it. What would a normal teenage girl like yourself be doing on a night like this?" He gestures to Gattonero.
She hesitates for a moment upon hearing Yarrow's question before answering. "I suppose I might be hanging out with friends, going to the movies, or maybe just spending time at home."
Yarrow nods his head. "Yes, spending time with friends. That sounds nice."
She looks up at her handler's face with a hint of confusion in her eyes. "Why are you asking me this, Signore Yarrow?"
Yarrow took one last drag from his cigarette before flicking it out the window. "Just having a conversation is an important reminder that there's more to life than just this job." He advises.
She awkwardly nod her head to somewhat agree with her handler's point, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Yarrow was trying to tell her something.
Just as they finished their sorella-to-fratello conversation, Yarrow receives a message in his earpiece and immediately went towards the ledge facing Piazza San Marco, replying to the radio call. "Understood, thanks for the update." He said this in reply before taking his binoculars and starting to scan the crowd. Finally, Yarrow spots their target through the spotting scope. "There he is," He said to Gattonero, fixing his view on their target. "Target's an old man in his 50s, guarded by four bodyguards."
Gattonero immediately went back to her AW50 rifle, pointing the muzzle end towards the target pointed by Yarrow, ready to adjust the scope dials while her handler took the wind reading using his pocket anenometer.
"Wind velocity is at 10 miles per hour, coming from the west-northwest," Yarrow reports to her while checking his anemometer. "Adjust your aim accordingly." He said this to her, and she took note of it and dial the windage knob to match the wind speed while also taking account of the height from her position to her target.
Satisfied with adjusting the scope, she hold her breath as she waits for Yarrow's command.
"Hold," Yarrow orders firmly, "wait for a clear shot." He advises, noticing that the target is blending with the crowd.
They both observes the target moving among the crowd, waiting for the right moment. She stares at her target through the greenly coloured night vision light illuminating her scope reticles, taking note of the target's appearance and behaviour. And then finally, after noticing that the target was clear of most of the civilians, Yarrow finally sees an opening and prepare to give the order.
"Fire," he said.
Gattonero took the shot, and the target fell to the ground. The suppressed sound from her rifle pretty much didn't cause any noticeable sound in the area.
"Good shot!" Yarrow commends her. "An overkill, I would say, but he won't be getting up with that kind of hole on his chest. That will surely send a firm message to those Padanian scums," he notes.
Gattonero cycles the rifle bolt, ejecting the.50-cal casing onto the floor. They could see the crowd down below starting to panic after seeing the now-deceased person falls to the ground lying dead in his own bloodpool as the target's bodyguards scramble to locate where the shot came from and chaos erupting.
Satisfied with the result, Yarrow and Gattonero immediately pack their gears while also scrubbing any proof of their presence in the location then they flee the scene, descending down the stairs. As they do so, Yarrow patted her head, rubbing her black-coloured pixie-cut hair much to her minor annoyance. "Nice work," he said. "How about we celebrate with a nice dinner tonight? What's your favourite food?"
Gattonero thought for a moment while re-brushing her hair back to its previous form before answering. "I like spaghetti alla carbonara," she suggests.
The tall, blonde handler grin with her answer as if he already expected it from her. "I'm not going to complain about that choice, but that'll do. Let's go find a good restaurant."
Looking at more police rushing to the scene and passing them, they continue walking away from the crime scene and into the crowd. While walking ahead of her handler, Gattonero couldn't help but wonder what life would be like if she wasn't a cyborg, a question asked by Yarrow earlier that still lingers around her mind. She didn't have a certain answer, so she decides to keep it to herself as they continue walking along the pathway reaching the canal ahead.
After a few minutes of silence passing through the crowd, Yarrow spoke up. "Gattonero, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," she replies without turning around.
"I heard something from Alessandro a few weeks ago. He said you have a kind of conditioning that prevents you from cursing or harming your handlers. Is that true?"
Gattonero didn't answer right away. She pauses for a moment, as if considering whether to respond at all. Finally, she says "Yes, it's true."
Yarrow's eyes lit up with curiosity. "Can you show me? Can you try to curse me right now?"
The raven-haired cyborg hesitates with a bothered expression on her face. "I don't think that's a good idea, Signore."
But Yarrow persists. "Come on, I want to see it in action. Just say 'fuck you' or something."
Gattonero took a deep breath and then said it to his face "Fine." "Fuck you, you piece of shit handler."
As she utters the final sentence, she suddenly stumbles and doubled over in pain, vomiting onto the canal. Passersby were shocked seeing her throwing up and moves away from her, with Yarrow rushing to her side.
"Are you okay?" he asks with concerned tone in his voice, helping her up.
Gattonero shook her head weakly, her face being to pale. "I don't feel good," she said before collapsing in Yarrow's arms.
Yarrow quickly realises that Gattonero had passed out. He hoists her up and slung her over his shoulder, grabbing her weapon case with his free hand. He carries Gattonero's limp body back to the hotel, and he couldn't help but feel a twinge of amusement at the situation - a highly trained cyborg assassin, a lethal weapon in human form, incapacitated by a simple curse word.
But his amusement was tempered by concern as he notices how pale and weak she looked. He quickens his pace, his arms straining under her weight.
As they reached their hotel room and laid her on the bed, he couldn't help but think back to their conversation earlier. Maybe he had gone too far in testing her conditioning, but he couldn't resist the opportunity to confirm what he had heard about her. He shook his head, chiding himself for his reckless behaviour. He knew he needed to apologise to her when she woke up, but for now, he just hoped she would be okay.
Gattonero woke up with a damp towel on her forehead. She slowly sat up and realises that she is in their hotel room. She remembers that Petrushka told her what it felt like when she insulted her handler and now it finally clicks in her mind how throbbingly agonizing the experience last evening. However as Her mind starts to clear after rubbing her eyes, She could smell something coming from the table.
Her stomach grumbles as she sat up in bed, continue rubbing the sleep from her eyes, slightly disoriented, exhausted, and and now hungry. As she got up to stretch, she can see something on the table that made her heart race: a plate of spaghetti carbonara. Without hesitation, she darts over to the table and sits immediately on the chair facing her meal, grabbing the fork and knife, ready to dig in. But then she noticed something else: a glass of milk. She couldn't help but smile at herself. Just then, she notices Yarrow on the balcony with a lit cigarette between his fingers as he gazes out at the Venetian lagoon. Not thinking too much, she digs her fork and takes a hefty amount of the pasta with her fork, which she gulps down, and her act catches Yarrow's attention. Gattonero looks up, her mouth still full of pasta.
"Morning," Yarrow said, nodding in her direction.
"Mmph," Gattonero responds verbally, giving a half-hearted wave with her fork. She was too focused on the spaghetti to say much more.
"Glad you enjoyed it," he said with a smirk.
Gattonero nods her head, still chewing. "It's delicious; the pasta's just al dente, and the guanciale is just phenomenal... And the amount of Pecorino Romano topping it? Just a chef's kiss." She praises Yarrow while still digging her fork into the pasta once again. "But how did you know I loved milk?"
He chuckles. "Aside from the amount of milk cartons that Fio told me when she inspected your room last week, it's one of the things that makes you unique, my friend." He said it to her jokingly.
Gattonero swallows her food and took a sip of the milk, feeling a sense of satisfaction. "I guess it's a small price to pay for enjoying something so much."
While she's finishing the last bite of her spaghetti carbonara, Yarrow continues his gaze at the scenery. He leans against the railing, deep in his thought admiring the Venetian lagoon. The morning air was cool and crisp, and the water shimmered in the light of the rising sun.
Gattonero notices him smoking and said, "You know, those things will kill you one day."
Yarrow smirks responding to her words. "I know, but as you said, it's a small price to pay for enjoying something so much."
She chuckles and took a sip of her milk. "I have to admit, you're a pretty good cook," she said, gesturing towards the empty plate.
Yarrow grins then replying to her. "Thanks, but it's not exactly a hard dish to make." "It's called a poor man's pasta for a reason."
Gattonero shruggs. "Maybe not, but it's still nice to have a home-cooked meal once in a while." She then noticed Yarrow's gaze and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
He took a drag from his cigarette before answering. "Just thinking about how beautiful Venice is, it's a shame we don't get to enjoy it more often."
The usually-pessimistic cyborg nods in agreement. "Yeah, we're always on some mission or " We never really get to see the places we go to."
Yarrow turns to her and asked, "Do you ever regret becoming a cyborg?"
Gattonero pauses, thinking about her answer while still holding the milk glass. "Sometimes, when I remember what I was like before, I remember what I can do now and the things we've accomplished, and it all feels worth it."
The charismatically-optimistic handler nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean. I sometimes miss my old life, but then I remember why I left it behind."
They fell into a comfortable silence after that sentence was dropped, with only the sound of the boats from the lagoon and seagulls in the distance. Deep in her mind, Gattonero felt a sense of peace that she rarely experienced on missions. It was a welcome respite from the usual dullness back in the dorm.
After a few moments, Yarrow break the silence. "We should probably get ready. Fio and Freccia will be waiting for us soon. She told me earlier that we have a new mission on hand."
She's still trying to finish her milk. "Right, I'll go get changed. As soon as I'm done with this."
Yarrow calls out to her. "And Gattonero?"
She responds by looking at him as she sips the milk.
"I'm sorry about what happened yesterday."
"It's alright, Signore. You're my handler, my fratello, and I'm programmed to obey you. It's just my conditioning," she said, her voice calm and monotone, placing the milk glass gently on the table.
Yarrow sighs and ran a hand through his hair. "I know, but I still shouldn't have put you in that position."
"It's okay, Signore. I understand. Besides, it's not like you made me do something dangerous. Though I will still do it if you order me," she joked.
The tall Noirette cyborg finishes her milk and stood up from the table, taking the plates and glass to the sink. As she passes by Yarrow on the balcony, she notice a small smile on his lips, as if he's trying to tell a joke to her.
"What's so amusing?" Gattonero asks, raising an eyebrow.
Yarrow chuckles. "Just thinking about how your love for milk has made you freakishly tall You're the tallest cyborg in Section 2, you know."
Gattonero rolls her eyes while slightly amused by her handler's joke. "Very funny, Signore."
Yarrow beams with a smile. "I'm serious, though." "You're like a giant compared to the other girls in your dorm."
Gattonero couldn't help but smile a little. Even though Yarrow could be a pain sometimes, he had a way of making her laugh. As she's done placing the plate and glass on the sink, she makes her way to the bathroom, passing the balcony again.
"Thanks for the reminder," Gattonero said dryly before heading towards the bathroom. "I'll make sure to duck under the door frames."
Yarrow laughs as Gattonero disappeared into the bathroom. He couldn't help but feel grateful to have her as his cyborg. Despite her conditioning, she was still one of the most capable cyborgs he had ever worked with. And deep down, he knew that she was more than just the cyborg he was assigned to.
to be continued.