Death Wears Black

[Poludnica]

The hotel room was fancy, if not to say lavished. Paid for by blood stained money of her newest employers. Helena Montagne had done many things deemed to be morally ambiguous or downright corrupted, but she had never killed before. That was the line the mercenary promised herself not to cross. Things change, morals shift and after few months of excessive partying among depraved upper echelons of the society, Helena found herself without money and without any work in the nearest vicinity. There were things a person with her skill set could do, but none of them satisfied her robust ego. She didn't tolerate boredom, it was a state of emptiness Helena found annoying. Unbearable. The tasks she undertook shifted from risky to downright suicidal, just because Helena needed a thrill to feel alive. She had done many crazy things in her life time, but killing a CEO was pure madness. The epitome of her criminal career after which the former law woman could retire in some exotic place at the human space's edges and spent days on never-ending party. By now it was go big or go home.

The money was good, but the price could be her life and complete moral downfall. Helena accepted this and made a choice. She had fought off any doubts until they told her there was someone else coming along. The woman didn't like that, not that she felt solo all the time but being forced into cooperation with a stranger felt like a slap to a professional like her. When she was ready to walk away, the sleazy corporation rat doubled the offer to the point it became ridiculous. Tempted by the sweet call of greed, Helena accepted it. There was plenty about this deal that light all the red flares in her mind, but she wasn't one to back down. The woman's arrogance led her to thinking no one would be able to play her, even if they tried. Getting money for unfinished job and vanishing without a trace was an option Helena took into consideration.

There were many things Helena disliked,but waiting was right there at the top. Out of boredom she ordered a bottle of exquisite wine. The service quickly delivered it and left without a question. They were like machines: quiet, focused, discrete and indifferent. The rich guests could be obnoxious at times, even pathologically so in many cases. After only two days spent in the Neptune's space station Chevalier hotel, Helena witnessed few fist fights, puked on carpets, wrecked rooms that reeked of booze and sex. Stoned corporate executives roamed the hallways, using the free time to blow off steam after closing another deal. Helena loathed them - this was the life she had spent years running from. Her parents belonged with that decadent, spoiled crowd whose vapid interests circled prices of stock shares.

Lounging on a sofa, like a spoiled feline, Helena sipped crimson liquid. Her meticulously manicured fingertips trailed the crystal stemware. The mercenary blended well with the local crowd. In a sleek, black dress and elegant high heels she could be someone's assistant or someone's manager who had taken a few days off. Chevalier was a hot spot for RRB crowd, which made of watching the corporate big fish easier. From time to time the RRB CEO and major shareholder Amanda Winters appeared, oblivious to the danger that lurked few rooms away.

Tick tock. Tick tock. Helena glanced at her comm device, still few minutes left until the supposed help's arrival. The woman let out a tired sigh and poured herself another glass of wine. She couldn't be sober for that.

 

[Lurcolm]

The time was endlessly ticking on, before her television switched on with strange static noises and visual effects the techies added because they thought it had the right atmosphere. That and they underestimated the hired help they were sending the broadcast to. Either way, Helena's television, so thing it might as well be a glass pane and so expensive it could make one of the many poor and starving on the planet well fed for three years. Worth every penny though, the video feed that came from it was better than looking at it in reAl life.

The television showed the CEO of RBG and full shareholder, Samuel Rodrick, lounging on a chair and smoking a cigar that smoked blue. Remna. A powerful, non addictive drug discovered on this very planer, Archos. Archos was literally abundant with life when the corps decided to immigrate there. So abundant, in fact, that it's atmosphere is mildly toxic, all of the local plants were either hardcore drugs or poison to the human body, and the plants were a very disturbing shade of black. That's not even mentioning the quasi sentient dominant species that lived here. Highly skilled ambush predators that took ten years to exterminate.

Now the world was in a semi livable state, but the world itself was still toxic, there was an incredible gap between the normal slum dwelling commoners and the corporate blue bloods, either from the two super corporations or from the many minor ones a lined to either of them.

Samuel smiled to the camera "Greetings, Helena! I'm so glad you finally accepted my very good offer! As you've no doubt become aware of, you're going to have a partner. Originally it was planned that I got him back by the end of the deal, but recent developments showed me I can use him as a bargaining chip" he said it outright, too powerful to care whether she was insulted or not. He was always like that even before the two CEO's wanted to kill eachother "Your companion hades the unique ability of being able to manufacture drugs. Any drug for that matter. Take that in consideration as we show you his skills. This combat test was taken a week ago. I do hope you like it!"

The screen blacked out, before another volley of technical glitches assaulted the screen. Eventually, a small white room appeared with one thing otherwise than the walls. A man, as big as a bear and looking twice as strong, as the size of his taught muscles was enough to make one think he used steroids. Other than that, his body had a strange solidity about it, like his body wasn't entirely made of flesh. His red hair seemed natural, but was so brightly red that it had to be some sort of neon dye. He stood, motionless as a corpse, before a beep made him turn to a camera...

............

He blinked, eyes highly intelligent, green, but bored. No bored wouldn't be correct. He was apathetic about the whole thing. They wanted to test his strength, and his strength shall therefor be tested. He was built, not born. He should do what he was made to do.

The organisers made sure to show off as much as they could fir whatever reason they were filming it. He didn't wear a shirt, displaying the wall of thick muscle that was his torso. He was built like a monster, and he knew it.

A voice, electronic but made by some women who had a very lovely one, stated one single order.

"Protect the VIP"

Out came a kid, small and obviously terrified. He heaved a sigh as he looked the kid over. Said kid too terrified of the monster before.... her? Yes it was a girl, she was just hitting puberty it seemed. She was wearing overalls that was common in things like prison, and in black script, written on her back, stood the words VIP . He nodded to the girl, pulling her closely. He didn't think about it, but he understood why a little teenage girl would be so terrified if a big mountain decided to pull her closer to his front, so he turned around. Alas, that didn't calm her in the slightest.

His left side had sound, as the wall there opened up to reveal a man in a suit. The CEO? What was he doing here? The sound of a large firearm being louder made him understand. The CEO was manning a heavy machine gun. He pointed it to the understandably frozen girl, and opened fire.

The girl didn't meet death, however. Though his back did meet heavy rounds that would cause him incredible pain for weeks. He stood his ground though, enduring fifty rounds before the CEO finally stopped. He knew the CEO was done. No other reasoning could explain stopping, so he let the girl go, who was now in tears of gratitude. It seems she knew that he had grabbed her, putting himself in the line of fire to save her.

.......


The video didn't show who was shooting, just a blurred out image of it. It did show how the storage had his flesh torn from him in a very strange way, it was like it wasn't meat at all, but more like a tree they were firing at. Chunks shattered and splintered instead of ripping and tearing. One could see his Bones, too. Not white, not even red as he didn't seem to bleed, just raw flesh hanging there without any drop coming from it. Encasing dull brown bones, still perfectly intact even after such a volley. He didn't have any more flesh in his back, however. And a lot of his "ribs" were cracked into mosaic pieces.

The video flashed back to the CEO, enjoying a glass of black liquid now "That was a standard issue, fifty caliber heavy machine gun used by RRB peacekeeping units. He'll get damaged and burnt by laser or energy weapons, but he is quite dangerous as well."

The CEO leaned forward, smiling to her with perfect white teeth "Do you want to see how he can kill? If you do, say so, otherwise we can get a move on with this rendezvous."

 

[Poludnica]

Out of boredom Helena ordered a plate of shrimps. The hotel claimed those were a real deal, not some lab grown crap. The price reflected that, but everything went on her employer's tab. She liked being spoiled like that, especially giving her unique skill set. The assassin - the woman still don't like to think about herself in such terms - enjoyed the last, juicy morsel when the holo tv screen flickered to life. Powdered blue glow lit up the room. Helena's reaction was instantaneous; she reached for a handgun hid under the lush pillows. It was a silenced model, not of the highest sort but enough to do damage. No one appeared though, aside from Rodrick's face - smiled and artificial. It was almost disturbing how they all looked alike, even her father didn't breakaway from this mould. He was smoking the trendiest drug - one that show how degenerated and decadent the ruling class had grown over the years. Like opium of old, Remna became not only a popular escape from reality but a fashionable accessory. Helena hated this stuff, it stank like a skunk set on fire.

With an annoyed sigh, Helena put the gun away. Unhappy how twitchy she became over the years - a trait now exposed to her employer. "Samuel, so good to hear from you." She lied, but through a charming smile. The men went straight to the point, which was a nice change from others of his kind. Those people simply loved sound of their voice. The mask of polite indifference Helena put on morphed into a clear surprise. "Why would you think I would want a permanent partner?" She asked, dumbfounded. "He is a 'thing'?" Helena swallowed the last of shrimp and downed it with wine. Before she managed to figure out what hid behind CEO's enigmatic words, the camera switched to a stark white room. A testing area of some sort. Helena silently watched the being that motionlessly stood in the middle - he looked like an athlete put on steroids and his hair would make flashy pop stars envious, but other than that the creature seemed human.

The pale green eyes, shade of an ancient glacier, were void of any emotion, yet cunning. The creature was certainly aware and alert, not a machine then. He stood shirtless and for a moment Helena had an amusing thought it was some kind of freaky Chippendale show. No such luck, the artificial noise announced the upcoming task. A girl showed up - young teen - her clothes betrayed juvenile correction centre. What he was going to do to her? Helena's eyes widened. The child was terrified. Sick fucks. The woman thought, but remained silent. Knowing better than to insult this kind of money. The mountain man moved closer to the girl and brought her closer - very gently which betrayed certain degree of self-awareness and…empathy. That wasn't just a project, but a sentient being. How far the corporation could push boundaries of international law before being caught? It showed with painful clarity the power such holdings had and every politician was in their pocket.

The CEO walked into the lab, gun in hands. Helena flinched away from the screen when he shot. The creature put himself between Samuel and the girl. Bullets shredded his body to bear bones and Helena let out something akin to a shriek of surprise. What was wrong with this guy? The girl cried as the machine gun spewed at the giant man. No blood showed, only pale, torn flesh. "That's nasty." Helena commented, barely aware she spoke it out loud as the camera moved to show all the damage. How this creature managed to still stand was beyond her. The screen faded, once more showing the CEO who now bore and expression of smug, self-pleased asshole. "The fuck was that?" Helena asked, throwing away any social graces out of the window. They wanted to pair her with a tank bred monster.

"No, I am good." Helena said quickly, afraid what he might show her. Maybe her moral standards were in the gutter, but that was reaching the inner circle of Hell. Common sense told Helena to scram. To screw this money and run away, but after what she had seen, the woman doubted Roderick would let her go with that knowledge. The better question was, why she would like to have that monster around permanently. Later…Deal with one problem at a time. "I will go to meet your men." She said, trying to maintain impassive expression, but hints of wariness were clearly noticeable.

 

[Lurcolm]

Samuel laughed. A happy, amused and real laugh. White teeth glaring against the video monitor as he put his glass of blackness down and looked at her, more amusement on his face than anything else.

"Well Helena. You Dissapoint me. Here I thought I was getting someone who understood just how to do as she was told, but you seem fiery, defiant even. It's like you hate my kind and everything we do." He stated smugly, taking another sip of the black liquid that didn't even darken his teeth by a single lumen

"That or I just read up on your file. What I also read up is your favourite little drug. I've already done you the liberty of making him capable of manufacturing it for your own enjoyment. State your full name to him, then state what his name is. Please do try to keep it respectable, dear Helena. He will respond to anything that you tell him to respond to."

He leaned forward, more amusement than anything else "As you seem to be exploiting out all expense paid trip to the hotel, how about we exploit it further."

The wall behind the holographic TV shifted, a small horizontal slit sprouting to print out a piece of paper. It was Old Earth paper. The kind of thing you frame because it's too valuable to waste on anything else. Samuel clearly wanted to flaunt his wealth to the girl. Whether or not she responds to that was irrelevant to him. She had to acknowledge it, and that was enough for him

"I've already extensively briefed our Agent with everything he needs to know about you. Your file was surprisingly easy to obtain. Your personal choice in drugs, however, proved far more difficult. Since I'd like to impress you, that and I'm not in the mood for more paperwork I have to sign, I'd like to entrust him to you with the knowledge that he can make any drug you can think of, but he needs to taste it first"

The paper finished printing. Showing a mugshot of the Agent, eyes seeming more dead than last time, if that were even possible. Next to the photo stood basic information about him, including his lack of voice.

It also showed hid tours in combat. It was more than a few pages long of just achievements. Samuel needed her safe after all