I drew in the cold air with a hiss as soon as we stepped outside the Hearth. I let it out slowly with a cloud of vapor. A car streaked past in blurs of neon light, illuminating the two dozen other people wandering down either side of the sidewalk. Rain fell in cold sheets from the thick black clouds hanging overhead.

  Bella sighed, fighting to pull her hood over her suddenly wet crest of feathers. "So what do we need to go get you anyways?" She asked, looking the street up and down.

  I tapped my foot against the ground twice. "Not much right now, just some things to get me by for the next couple of days. Food. Throw-away plates and shit. Have to hit a smoke shop, too, I'm all out." I flicked the empty box in the jacket pocket.

  Bella gave a curt nod, turning to the left, striding down the street. Her tail flicked for me to follow. I carefully rested a hand over the burning ache in my side. Dull as it was, it throbbed with every step. "Well, then you won't have to go far, Vidr. Convenience store just down on the corner, and I think there's a smoke shop a little ways down past it." She mused, tilting her head as she conjured whatever mental map of the area she had.

  I gave a snort. The street itself was surprisingly clean. The alleyways didn't loom dangerously; those who lurked within gave us no attention. Whoever The Selector was, he had a very tight hold on his turf. The convenience store itself, one of the ubiquitous E-Marts, was right on the corner. Its squat, blocky shape cut out of the darkness and rain with neon trimming along its roof. Each of the two tubes flashed. One blue, one red—alternating every few seconds with a distinct hum.

  The droning rain vanished as soon as I slipped between the sliding doors. A soft chime sounded twice before the door slid shut behind us. A young elven man with short-cropped hair leaned against the cashier's counter, tapping away on his Comm link. His eyes flickered a dull red against the brown irises as his AR contacts worked at whatever he was focused on. He gave a half-hearted "Welcome in," as I pivoted and headed down the first aisle I saw.

  Bella followed along, stealing half of what I grabbed off the shelves to carry herself. Plates, frozen food, a few cans of hard cider. Everything I needed to sit around and decompose in my new apartment for a few days. Just as I pulled the last box of frozen pizza from its place, there was a commotion. My feathers twitched as I heard the scuff of steel on nylon and the hard voice of an orc, "Hands up, boy! Pop that register and safe open. Hand over what you got, and this will all be over." Bella growled next to me, deep in her chest.

  She reached into her jacket and rested one hand on her pistol. My HUD flagged it. Axiom Dynamics N-13 "Pilum" Autopistol. Semi, burst, and full auto with a giggle switch, evident on the back of the receiver. .45 ACP. I glanced up at her snout again. "This something I gotta worry about?" I murmured.

  She paused, looked me up and down, "Only if you really want to, but you know how it is. You let one person get away with it, and all of them think they can." She shot back. I sighed heavily.

  The orc growled, "Who's in here?” I let the basket in my hand drop to the floor, rolling my eyes. I flipped my shirt up and drew the Praetorian Heavy Pistol from its holster in the front of my pants.

  "I guess I should do what he's paying me to do," I said. Bella nodded. We both stepped out and stared down the orc. He was taller than both of us, two stout tusks jutting from his lower jaw. His pale greenish skin glinted in the incandescent light of the E-Mart. A red box flickered around him and highlighted his weapon. A big, bulky revolver. Five shots. High caliber. The AR flag flickered between models before settling on an HL-74 Smith and Wesson.

  His eyes bugged out of his skull as he stared at the two of us. "What you glitch-geckos got to do with this? Get out, and no one gets hurt." His voice wavered. The weapon flicked between Bella and I, the barrel's fat bore glowering at us.

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  "You Stitchers don't belong here. We've told you more than once. No one takes a cut here," Bella growled.

  "Nobody takes a cut, eh? No, we're taking cuts now. Some geckos running around holding us up isn't gonna change that. He don't got the manpower. He don't keep a gang. We're not gonna sit here and listen to some high-ass Rasta anymore." The orc growled back, settling on aiming at Bella.

  "Look, tusker, I just came here to buy some shit and leave. You have five bullets. The first one's going to go wide because you're shooting that hand cannon one-handed. Before you can squeeze off the second one into the ceiling, I'm going to put two rounds in your chest and one in your dick. That's not even mentioning the colander you'll be when she's done with you. I don't want to sit here all night letting my pizza thaw out. So I'm gonna give you five seconds. Shove your iron back in your pants and walk out the door." I instructed. As I went to fully raise my pistol with my cybernetic arm, my side throbbed. I brought the front blade in line between the rear posts of the sights on my pistol, left hand pulled up to brace against my chest, shooting arm held fully outstretched.

  The orc aligned his pistol with me now, hands shaking slightly. A soft click came from my left, Bella switching to fully automatic, and then I sighed. With a slow squeeze of the trigger, I put a round directly in his head. It echoed through the convenience store, the young man behind the counter ducking with a yelp, the orc falling backwards onto the carpeted floor. "I guess if we let him get away, it doesn't send a message." I rolled my eyes, holstering the pistol.

  Bella had jumped, but slowly lowered her own weapon, flicking the safety on. "I guess you're right, you learn quickly." She shoved the pistol back into its holster and picked up the basket of groceries I had left on the floor. The Elven clerk slowly peered up over the counter.

  "Is it done? Is he dead?" he stammered.

  "Yeah, he's not getting up from that one," I stated, taking the basket from Bella and emptying its contents onto the counter. "Probably call someone to get rid of that body once we're out of here." I scanned the shelves of cigarettes behind him and gave a low growl at all the fake trash behind the clerk. "You know where any good smoke shops are?"

  He stammered for a moment, nodded, "Just cross the street and take a left. It'll be a few buildings down." But his hands were steady as he moved items over the scanner. Behind him was a flickering AR screen displaying the local news network. The newscaster chattered incessantly, their words automatically transcribed as subtitles across my eyes.

  "And now, as of just yesterday night, Axiom Dynamics has openly accused Charon's Gate Medical, the neutral Trauma Response Group Corporation, of corporate sabotage and subterfuge. Allegedly, an entire team of Charon's Gate Medical officers were involved in the theft of highly classified Axiom Dynamics data in a surprising show of solidarity. Charon's Gate Medical has not released any information about the perpetrators other than that they have been terminated and are no longer in employment. The perpetrator identities, down to the finest detail, seem to have been suddenly wiped from their records. Could this be the start of a corporate war between Axiom Dynamics and Charon's Gate?" The woman chattered. Her co-host responded, a ruggedly cut-looking man.

  "I wouldn't go that far. Charon's Gate Medical has, for years maintained neutrality. Frankly, I think this might just be a play from Axiom Dynamics, probably trying to get better coverage for their staff. It'd be in Charon's Gate's best interest to keep the identities of any of their staff who ended up being corporate saboteurs hidden to prevent prosecution, which could lead to possible connections to the company. Frankly, this just seems like a regular corporate scuffle rather than a war declaration." The man countered, hands waving in the air as he spoke.

  The female news anchor, an elven woman with sharp features, looked directly at the camera and addressed it, "Who knows? The only thing we know for a fact is that the perpetrators are still at large, and that this is just another story in the B-N Con-Plex. Goodnight, Meridian, and have a wonderful rest of your evening." Her fake smile glittered like glass.

  A hand on my shoulder pulled my focus away from the newscast as I gave a shake of my head. The clerk was speaking, "Sir? Are you ready to pay?" he asked, as though he'd asked more than once. With a nod, I waved my hand. I sent the money with a blink. Stepping out of the E-Mart, I felt a shudder run down my spine. The night felt all the colder. Like something was clawing at the edges of my mind.

  //10-25-2099 - - 20:27//