HyHm Pt 2: Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The artist stalked through the streets. The recharging had given her implants a temporary boost, but she knew that they would soon fail again. Not much longer now. She had to get to the chop shop in time.

She saw it suddenly before her, rising out of the steam that filled the streets here now.

She pushed on the door.

“Hello? Michael?”

“Who’s Michael?”

The voice came from her left. She spun, drawing her pistol and aiming it one move.

“Who are you?”

The man stood there, smoking a cigarette. One of the old ones, one that actually burned.

“I guess you could say that I’m with the Arcernment. Or you could say that I’m someone looking out for your best interests. Both are true”

He squints at her and takes another drag on the cigarette.

“You really are her aren’t you? The Butcher?”

“The artist. And what happened to Michael?”

“Was he the last owner of this place? He got killed a month or two back. Its been used as a gang safehouse since then. I shooed them out when I heard that you were back in action. But I’m gonna bet that you have questions. So shoot”

“Who are you?”

“I am like I said. Who I said. Just someone with your best interests at heart. I’m assuming that you are back here because your implants are failing you?”

“How did you know this?”

“Because you have sub-par ones. All the ones that are not military are sub-par. You put ‘em in, you use em for a month, you stop using ‘em for longer than a week, and bam, they freeze up on you after the first bit of use. Its classic”

“And you can fix this for me?”

“Sure. You just come with me back to the nearest hospital, and we can get you fitted out with some real good implants. Ones that won’t break down, wear down”

“And what will this cost me?”

“Only one thing sweetheart. Something that I think you were going to do anyways. Go kill Agent Jor for me”

“Jor? The sniper?”

“…Sure, whatever you say. That guy. Kill him, and we’ll call it even”

“No other loopholes?”

“None”

“You won’t implant something in me that gives you control?”

“Nope. You have my word on that”

“Your word?”

“My word”

“Your word on what? As what?”

“You really want that?”

“Yes”

“Fine. Then my word as an agent of the Arcernment, I will not-”

His sentence was interrupted by the discharge of a gun. The bullet caught him in the throat, and tore out the back. He staggered backwards, hands reaching, before collapsing.

“I have had quite enough of the promises of the Arc, and the promises of agents. And the promises of so called friends. I can stand these ‘sub-par’ implants until I can find another chop shop. Until then I will just recharge them more often”

The Butcher turned and left the dead man. His cigarette still smoked slightly as it burned itself out.

The artist sat up and flexed her limbs.

“Much better. I thank you all”

“Don’t mention it ma’am. Someone like you, who can pay us well, well, we don’t ask no questions or nothin’. We just do the job”

“But how do I know that you did it right?”

“Whaddya mean ma’am? We always do it right”

“No, I think I need to test it on something”

“Whaddya mean test it on somthin’?”

“I mean kill ‘somethin’ ’. Like you”

“What?”

The chop shop filled with screams as the artist tore her way through the men who had, moments before, saved her life from the implants that had been killing her. She felt no remorse, only joy at the art.

Only joy.

HyHm Pt2: Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jor walked into the room, servile, bowing, his tanned leather rags arranged to cover himself as best as possible. He had better clothes, but he chose not to wear them. Dress any fancier than the rest of his gang and he would single himself out.

He wanted to blend in until he was ready to reveal himself to this new boss.

He smiled, and bowed again, asking the man’s toadies what he could get them. When one of them asked for him, he shook his head apologetically and maintained that he was reserved only for his master, the boss, the one called Jor.

The toady frowned, but cheered up when Jor offered him some real meat, and some surface alcohol.

Jor walked around the room, serving the other toadies, the other lickspittles as he went, working his way towards the boss.

He was familiar with this kind of person. This lickspittle. He surrounded himself with them after all. They did help to make things run efficiently. Sometimes. Other times they just got in the way, and bogged down the running of his organization.

When that happened he had them shot usually. Maybe this new boss, this man named Callion did not know when to have underlings shot. Or killed. It might explain why they had been able to beat the supposedly unbeatable man.

Maybe nobody but Jor knew when to have underlings shot. That would be strange. If he was the only one who knew how to run a criminal organization?

But he was approaching this man now.

“Sir, would you care for anything?”

The man looked at him to wave him off, then did a double take.

“Boy, how old are you?”

“Sixteen sir”

“Sixteen? That would make you the right age…”

The right age? Did Callion know that Jor, the fearless leader, was really younger than he pretended to be? Had he given away his best advantage?

But no. Callion continued.

“How long have you lived here boy?”

“All my life sir”

“All your life?”

“Yes sir”

“And how long have you worked for Jor?”

“As long as I can remember sir”

“And what is it that you do?”

“I do what everyone else does sir. I kill people”

“You kill people? You walk with a grace, a certain art boy. When did you first kill someone?”

“Pardon me sir?”

“What age? How old were you when you first killed someone?”

“I was four sir”

“Four?”

“That is what I said sir”

“You were four, and you killed someone. Why did you kill them?”

“They had killed my mother sir”

“They killed your mother? This would have been twelve years ago then?”

“Thats right sir. If I may ask sir, is this line of questioning going somewhere? I am sure that Jor will be ready to see you now”

“Ah, yes, of course. Show us in”

Jor nodded and went to the doors. He had learned everything that he needed to about Callion. The man was single minded. When he put his mind to something it would not stray until it pursued it to its complete conclusion. Wherever that complete conclusion may be.

He would be a difficult foe, but if he could be sidelined, then Jor could defeat him easily. He just needed to find a way to distract the man.

He opened the doors and ushered them into the relatively spacious chamber beyond. There his lieutenant, Efram sat on the throne he had constructed for just this occassion.

“Welcome!” He boomed, his voice loud “Welcome to my place Cassion. How may I help you?”

Callion smiled and bowed.

“This war between our factions is, as I am sure that you know, is ridiculous, and a waste of resources. I would rather propose a truce”

“A truce?” Efram leaned forwards eagerly.

“Yes, a truce. I require only one thing of you in return”

“And what is that?” Efram had strict instructions to continue as the boss until Jor stepped in and to do what he felt was best.

“I want this boy” Callion turned and pointed at Jor.

Jor always had good control over his emotions, but he felt his eyebrows raise.

“I am sorry-” he began before Efram cut him off, a glitter in the man’s eyes.

“The boy? That is all that you require?”

“Of course”

“Efram, don’t you dare! I am the one in control here! You won’t last a day without me!” Jor stormed towards Efram, fists clenched, but Efram waved him off.

“Take him Callion, and let this peace stand”

Jor tried to dodge as he realized what must happen, but it was too late. He felt the cold of a dart enter the back of his neck, and the world began to blur.

As he fell he saw Efram smirking down at him and Callion grinning maniacally.

Then he knew no more.

Jor woke up. As he regained consciousness he became aware of movement. Whatever he was in; it was moving. He stirred and opened his eyes.

He was sitting in a chair in an aircar. His seat belt was fastened, but not too tightly, and there were no restraints. He could have gotten up and killed everyone in the vehicle.

He tried to do just that so that he might have his revenge on Efram.

His body didn’t respond. He could feel the toxin coursing through his body. Evidently he wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.

“Ah, awake?”

The voice came from beside him, but he could not turn his head to see. A moment later Callion moved into his view.

“I didn’t think that you would actually put yourself into such a risky position. But, you can rest assured in the knowledge that I will stay true to the deal that I made with your subordinate. I will not attack your territory again so long as you work for me. It shall remain a bastion of hope down here.

“Further, you have a better life now! No more will the pressures of running an organization lay on your head. Now you will be free to enjoy that which you enjoy, whatever that may be. Right now though you are at the bottom. You will do as I say, and as anyone in my organization says until you move up. But, be happy! Even those at the bottom eat better than you ever did in the Undercity!”

He laughed and moved off.

“Oh, and by the way, the paralysis should wear off soon, but I wouldn't do anything rash if I were you”

Jor heard a door close as Callion left that part of the car.

“Hello? Is anybody there?” Or that was what he tried to say. The remaining toxin flooded his veins still and made it more of a ‘Hoooo? Syaybd th?’

He got an answer anyways.

“I told you that I wanted you. And we, us, Callion’s gang, we always get what we want”

Jor turned his head and saw the lecherous toadie from before coming closer to him.

“And I figures that while you are nice and paralyzed I’ll take what I want”

The man kept coming, a nasty grin spread across his face. He got closer to Jor and felt along his face.

“You’re such a pretty boy. It’d be a shame to mar that pretty face”

He dropped his hands to his trousers as Jor felt the paralysis continue to wear off. He knew that he would have only one chance.

“And so I won’t ruin you after I’m done with you. Maybe you’ll even like it”

He grinned wider, in a way that made Jor very seriously doubt that he would like it.

So he swing his legs up and scissored them on either side of the man’s head. As the today flinched from having his ears boxed Jor tightened his legs around the man’s neck, unbuckled his seatbelt, and threw himself over the man.

With a snap the today fell still and Jor rolled to safety.

“The rest of you see that? Thats what’ll happen if you try and molest me. Leave me alone”

The rest of the toadies in the car looked at him scared, but he also heard slow applause. Turning he saw that Callion had not left the car after all.

“Everything that I had hoped for. Everything and more”

HyHm P2: Chapter 8

Two in one day! I'll make you guys grow used to this, and then I'll be stuck when I have work.

Chapter 8

Kral sat in the medical evacuation transport, or MET, and thought as he punched in the course for the Arc. It would be a two day long trip, even with the new probability drives. Plenty of time to think.

Plenty of time to watch the disk. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. It was small, and unassuming for something so very important.

He plugged it into the console and opened the first file labelled Kral.

Kral. I assume that you are reading this. I’d like you to start with my history. Open recording 001. That will give you a history from the beginning. If you don’t have time for everything I have prepared a summary. That is video 328. Or, you can watch and read these in any order that you please. Many of the videos are supplementary, or not immediately necessary for understanding. They are marked with a star at the end of their designation.

Kral read the message, then opened recording 001.

An image of the agent, but a younger version of him popped up on the screen.

“Hello. I am not sure who is watching this, but I assume that this is because these have been found. First, this is a testimony. Everything that I say in these is true, or the truth as I know it. There are supplementary documents to back up my claims, filed in folders named the same as the videos that they pertain to.

“First, this is my first recording. This is a confession of my sins, and of the sins of others. I was born thirty years ago. I have been a murderer and a villain, a lover, almost a father and a husband, and many other things. Right now I am a slave to a man more evil than I ever have been or ever could be. His name is Callion. But you will hear more of him soon enough. Right now you want to hear my story

“I was born on the Earth. But not the Earth that most of you know. My mother and I lived in the Undercity, the city never shown, never spoken of, never ever admitted. Nobody wants to believe that it exists. In fact, the Earth Council does not even recognize its existence in any official document. Those who ask about it are ignored. If they persist, they disappear in unfortunate ‘accidents’. But it does exist. And it is a horrible place.

“There crime holds sway. You cannot do anything without the express permission of those who rule, or else you will be killed. In fact, you may just be killed anyways. It is a brutal place. More brutal than any other that I have been to, and I have been to many brutal places. Where those who see Earth see the shining towers and the center of humanity, the great swathes of elevated farmland, the greenhouses, all that I can see is the hell where I grew up.

“My mother was killed when I was but four. I guess I should thank the bastards who killed her as it meant that I survived to this age. If she had still been alive Callion likely would have found me.

“Well, in my official file it says that I killed my mother, but thats a lie, so ignore it. Most of that file is a lie. Anyways, I was alone, at the age of four, in a world that wanted to kill me because my skin could be tanned into leather and I had enough muscle on my arms to make a nice evening snack.

“I would like to say that I did not descend to their level and their debauchery, but I did. I killed people, ate human flesh, committed many many atrocities. But everyone down there did. I made my way out and past that, and that is what counts. However, I was different in another way. Every time that I killed someone, I made sure that it was artfully done. I made sure that they had a beautiful death, that they died knowing fear and pain, that they died knowing that they had been bested by a child. That they died to satiate my hunger for emotions.

“Now, this type of disorder is classified as psychopathy. I am a psychopath. I know that. But, do not judge me on that please. I was born that way, then made more that way by circumstances.

“Do you think that the way you are raised is more important than your genes? This is a the age old nature versus nurture debate. I will tell you which side is right in this.

“Neither. There is only one thing that decides what type of creature that you are: you. I decided that I would survive. That dictated that I do horrendous things. Then, later, I decided that I would be a good person, love somebody, maybe even settle down. But, it is who we decide to be that shapes us, that makes us who we are.

“I won’t give you any more details of my childhood. They are not worth mentioning, save as examples of the horrors of the Undercity and the brutality that humans can bring themselves to. The lengths to which people will go to to survive.

“Suffice to say that I grew in strength and in cunning. I became better at hunting than anyone out there. By the time I was twelve I ruled my district. They called me the Halfling, a mark of respect I assume.

“It was through this that I caught the eye of a crime boss. This was not Callion, although he too is a crime boss, and this was the first step on the road that led to him. This man was named Big. Just Big. He was a small man, but he was the big man in the area, so that is why he was called Big.

“He approached me, and asked me to be a part of his organization. I killed him, and took over his organization. I ran that organization like a clock. Everything went smoothly, everything went as planned. It was a well-greased machine, and I was the key that turned it, the mind that directed it, the mouth that it fed, and the legs that kept it one step ahead of the law.

“Those were relatively good times. I had enough real food. I did not have to eat humans. Real crime decreased in my territory as I turned the group slowly, subtly to better pursuits. But it did not, could not, last. A new boss was moving in on my territory, and so I began to find out what I could about him. I was sixteen.

“He was powerful. His gang was spread across the Solar System, and had connections everywhere. He himself was involved in minor league politics, and had friends in high places. He likely would have called the authorities down on us like he did the gangs that opposed him everywhere else, except for the fact that the authorities would never venture into the Undercity.

“So, we fought back, and we won some, and we lost some. Then, one day, the boss offered us a peace. That was the first time I met with Callion.

“Through the betrayal of one of my own I ended up working for Callion. Soon afterwards, without my direction, Callion crushed my gang, which had turned to self destructive pursuits.

“When I was in Callion’s service I began to kill people. I was a monster, an angel of death. Callion would point me at a target, and that target would wind up dead the next day. The only good thing that came from my service to Callion was that it allowed me to finally escape the Undercity. I was freed, freed to the world, unleashed on the poor unsuspecting masses. I no longer had to ever even think about eating the flesh of another being, never had to think about the debauchery that my own goons would be committing, the crimes that would be done in my name.

“But I was not free. True, I could still kill others in a fashion that pleased me, that was art, that made their deaths beautiful. But I chafed at his command.

“So I fled. I fled the crimes, the violence, the constant murders. I left to live a life on the run. Finally I arrived on Mars and met someone that I loved. To protect her I will not name her here; if she wants to be involved she will get involved when she hears of my trial. I was happy there for three years.

“Then Callion found me again. At that time I was running a bakery. When he found me I was had just been about to go make a batch of biscotti. Its funny how you remember the little things. So, he found me. And he threatened the one that I loved. And he made me into a killer again. He made me into someone that I had given up on, that I had put aside.

“And to ensure that I would stay his, when he used me to rise to a position of power within the Arcernment he used his new connections to make sure that I was implanted with a neural control chip. I would be forever loyal to the Arc, and, as he held a position in the Arcernment I would have to follow his orders so long as they did not interfere with the safety of citizens. In the process he took away what I loved, the art of the kill, so as to remove my signature from all the assassinations that he made henceforth. Thinking about making art makes me double over in excruciating pain.

“That sums up the general lay of things. I’m going to make more individual disks with specific records and relation to specific times”

The recording went off, and the screen blanked. The disk ejected without warning.

But Kral wasn’t paying attention. He stared at the screen, wondering at how Jor could have lived a life like this. How he could have been at all normal now? How could he have not only survived, but flourished? Succeeded? Used his pain and his strengths to make the world around him a better place?

“And you called yourself a psychopath. Jor, I hope that you know better now. No psychopath would care so much as to reduce efficiency of their criminal empire to make the lives of others better. Nobody but a king among lesser men would do that”

Kral sat back in his chair. He didn’t need to see the rest of the disks. The emotion in Jor’s voice had been clear to him after knowing the man for a year. He had seen a tear down his cheek when he spoke of the woman, and of his bakery. He trusted his commander, and that was enough.

HyHm P2: Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The agent walked down the halls of the Redeemer. Crewers saluted him, the hero of the war, but for the most part he ignored them. Cassy walked at his side.

“So why did you come back Cassy?”

“Because I realized that I was wrong”

She was lying.

“It took you a year to realize that? You thought about this for a whole year?”

“No. Callion changed my mind with his Annihilator…”

She was lying.

“…And I couldn’t keep serving him on the Arc or the Annihilator when you were out here, fighting, dying for the real war”

Again, he knew that she was lying. But if she was here to kill him, well, he would kill her instead.

“Well, welcome back to the team. Lori took over your position as head pilot or vehicle technician, and Gina took over as the hacker. We can find something else for you to do though”

“Good. I don’t want to sit this out, and I don’t want to be useless. I am glad that you’ve accepted me back even after what I said”

“We need every soldier that we can get. With Callion’s reckless new offensive and his theft of all the best soldiers, well, we need more. So welcome to the crew”

“Thank you. If you don’t mind I’m going to go unpack my things and find my quarters”

He waved his hand and she walked off. He stared after her for a moment, then continued his walk. He was interrupted again by another arrival.

“Sir”

“Kral”

“You have a new message”

“I can check my messages myself Kral, so I’m assuming that this is high priority?”

“Yes sir. High as you can go almost”

“How high?”

“It bears the seal of the Colony High Council”

The agent looked at Kral. His face was serious.

“You are sure about this Kral? This is not a joke, a hoax? This is a message, for me, from the High Council?”

“Yes”

“Well, I guess I had better look at it then. I’ll be in my quarters”

The agent spun on his heel and dashed for the nearest elevator. A minute later he was in his quarters after a sprint through the ship.

He took a moment to compose himself before opening the message on the large vidscreen.

It was not a video-link like he expected, but rather simple text.

Jor,

Sho is active again. Check the news. She butchered a group of technicians.

But that is not important. I have found someone who you need to meet. We are still on the Arc and need a way to get off. Send someone you trust.

It was not signed, but Jor knew who it was from. Lian.

Why she was back now, why the Butcher was suddenly active again, bothered him. It was a year exactly from the day when he had last seen her. It was too much to be a coincidence.

But stranger things had happened. Like the day that he had lost everything.

But for now he would do what Lian asked. He closed the message, corrupted the file, deleted it, and ran it through the secure message erasure system.

Then he memory dumped the footage of the last ten minutes from his room cameras, deleted that from the system, and destroyed the disk he had transferred them to before calling Kral to come to his quarters.

“Come in. May I ask you something Kral?”

“Yes”

“I want you to do something for me Kral”

“What is it sir?”

The agent looked at Kral. Such an earnest face.

“First, what is your first name?”

Kral looked a bit taken aback.

“Why sir? You haven’t asked for a whole year”

“Because now I am going to ask you to do something for me that is likely illegal, and most definitely treasonous”

Kral looked at the agent suspiciously.

“What is it sir? And why would you tell me this?”

“Because I trust you Kral, and because it is for the good of the Arc. I cannot be certain of this, and if it does not turn out to be for the good of the Arc I will submit myself to your judgement. I have prepared a disk” he held out a small drive “That has enough material to incriminate me in many crimes. Enough to have me executed. You can check it, its all there. I am not lying to you. But if you do this then I hope that this disk is not needed”

Kral reached out and took the disk but continued to look at the agent with suspicion.

“My name is Madock. But, what is it that you want me to do?”

“If you want to back out now Kral, that is ok”

“No, I want to know what it is”

“If I tell you you have to promise me to do it”

“Yes sir”

“You promise?”

“I do”

“And to not tell anyone until it is done, either way? If it turns out that I am committing treason, by all means, tell everyone. But until then you won’t?”

Kral began to look even more hesitant, but he nodded.

“I’ve come this far sir, I may as well go the rest of the way”

“Ok then. I need you to pick up two or more people and maybe some equipment for me from the Arc”

“Thats it?”

“The person who I know will be there is a known terrorist, has hacked the Arc computer systems so thoroughly that she could fake the message you just told me about, has three outstanding arrest warrants, is a known associate of the Butcher’s and saved my life. She is trustworthy though, and she says that she needs extraction from the Arc. She says that she has found someone that I need to meet. Now, that may be the Butcher herself, as this woman was going to be looking for the Butcher when last I saw her. But it may also be someone else. They may be a fugitive or a terrorist. Now I am sure that you have some questions. You may ask them”

Kral cleared his throat and looked down at the disk.

“I assume that most of the answers are on this disk?”

“That is right, including a full confession from myself about these affairs and all that has gone on in them. It should be sufficient to cover everything, but still, feel free to ask”

Kral nodded and pocketed the disk.

“I’ll check this out on the way to the Arc then. When do I leave?”

The agent nodded.

“I am glad that you agree with this. I sincerely hope that it is for the good of the Arc, and I am glad to see that you trust me enough to do this. I have a small Medevac ready for your use; it can leave whenever you are ready to go. I will give you her contact information, and will provide her with yours. Don’t contact her until she contacts you though”

“Will that be all then sir?”

“Yes Kral, that is all. Except, thank you”

“Don’t thank me yet sir. If there is too much treason on this disk I may turn you over regardless”

“I am sure that you would Kral. Just know that that disk has logs of the treason of others besides myself. Try and be impartial when you examine the evidence”

Kral looked first angry at what he assumed was a threat, then puzzled at the final request.

“I will try sir”

He turned on his heel and left the agent standing there in the center of his room wondering at coincidences.