Author's notes

This is my biggest work of 2006 (even though it was completed as of March 2007) and by far the most strenuous. Let me tell you from now that this story details a lesbian relationship, themes of militaristic (and psychological) violence and cyberpunk-like social structures. There's also a bit of bad language and -- gasp -- a few sex scenes. If you like what you read, then by all means, tell me so, because eventually I'm going to write a sequel to it. That in itself is an eventuality -- but me posting it anywhere isn't, so, like I say, if you enjoy what you read be sure to e-mail me.

But remember -- even if you don't like Bullet Maiden Rune; try some of my other stuff on Nifty,

-          Lost and Karmic (Lesbian/Highschool)

-          Smells Like Sapphic Spirit (Lesbian/Highschool)

-          The Misadventures of Anna (Lesbian/Highschool)

-          The Misadventures of Kandi (Lesbian/Highschool)

-          The Misadventures of Holly-Raine (Lesbian/Highschool)

-          Those Who Live Between Reason and Emotion (Lesbian/Adult-Youth)

-          Legends of Asgarth: The Starball Crystal (Lesbian/Science Fiction or Fantasy)

That's about all, on with the show!

*********

`What is good? -- All that heightens the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself in man.

What is bad? -- All that proceeds from weakness.

What is happiness? -- The feeling that power increases -- that a resistance is overcome.

Not contentment, but more power, not peace at all, but war; not virtue, but proficiency.

The weak and the ill constituted shall perish: first principle of our philanthropy. And one shall help them to do so.'

- Friedrich Nietzsche, `The Anti-Christ'

*********

So intricate and beautiful was the flora -- it was no shock to see the equally varied wildlife that sought shelter and sustenance alongside it. Just as the blades of emerald grass began to bend to the warm wind of this place, the KwaZulu-Natal Province, the many snakes within them slithered and hissed to their rhythm. That hissing, along with the chirps of the crickets and the buzzing of the hornets, ended only as the forceful sound of movement against wind cut through it so effortlessly. Nearby wildlife scrambled out of the way as a moving target, moving swift enough to appear a mere blur, wisped through the trees and bushes of the jungle. The figure, shadowed by the darkness of the night skies enfolding both KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa beyond, leapt from point to point along a very specific path across the jungle, zeroing in on one location.

The Pietermaritzburg Communications Tower.

But that figure was not alone.

Far from it -- and when that person landed beyond the cover of a nearby bush, the overhead openings between the branches of the trees bathed them in moonlight. It was a woman, no older than eighteen, crouched against the ground with one gloved hand pressed against the soil and the other curled around the grip of her M16 assault rifle, the stock pressed up against her shoulder joint. The baking heat took its toll on her, even with the cooling wind bracing her from the east. From that heat, and the extra heat provided by the warmth of her padded guerrilla field armour, the green and black war paint decorating her young cheeks had begun to smear. Never the less, the girl reached into one of the pockets fixed into her dark combat trousers and removed an advanced and technological pair of military grade umbra-thermal utility binoculars. The girl pressed them against her face and peered through its sight with her own turning north towards the goal of the mission, the Communications Tower.

The enhanced sight, ranging at a maximum of 2702 metres and emphasized the distance by displaying range, zoom and angle by displaying their details through the sight via LCD digital effects. The military girl grumbled a moment as she peered at the tower from that position. There were dozens of soldiers patrolling the perimeter of the tower, all of them kitted out with FAMAS assault rifles, six `flashbang' grenades a piece, combat knives, and jungle-coloured green and brown camouflage uniforms. Of their numbers, they were predominantly black, natives of Africa, more than likely South Africa. They stood on select points across the expanse of the tower and its surrounding grounds, fenced off from the rest of the province by electrified wire fencing, topped off with barbed wire. The whole thing was on lock down.

"Hmm..." the girl mused, observing the tower through her binoculars. "At least sixty-six soldiers... all of them armed. They've managed to take over the tower already... damn rebels."

She lowered the binoculars from her eyes and pocketed them. Making as little movement and as little noise as possible, she turned around and raised her gloved hand above the tall grass. She made a brief wave. Then suddenly more than twenty heads attached to twenty soldiers popped up from behind trees, from within the grass, from behind the bushes, and beyond the undergrowth. All of them were dressed in the same military garbs as the eighteen-year-old girl, with the same weapons and the same face paint. All of them were the same age as her -- eighteen. One of the other soldiers dashed from his cover behind a moss-covered rock to the south of the woman's position and he ran up to her with the same vigorous speed, stopping only to pause beside her and look on.

"Number Three," he said to her, calmly. "How's it look?"

`#003' as she was called, frowned. "The rebels have taken over the Communication Tower's perimeter. My guess is that they have control over the entire facility."

"But Major Kinborough already expected that," Said the soldier boy.

She shook her head. "He expected them to be taking the perimeter and sealing it off from the outside. If they've taken over the whole building then most of the civilian workers would have been killed by now... standard isolationist tactics... which means there's no way to sneak in through their aid like we planned."

"Can't we try anyway?" He said. "Our neural nano-tech colonies are capable of burst transmission, right?"

"I'd rather not risk it."

He grinned at her. "Fair enough. You're the field leader, right? So what's the plan, `Hawwa'...?"

#003 smiled passionately, pulled up her assault rifle, and threw off the safety. "You know me. My standard war principles, Number Eighty-Seven -- when you're afraid the odds are against you, don't be afraid to go against the odds."

"Meaning?"

"We're just gonna charge the motherfuckers."

#003 threw off the magazine release with her trigger finger and ejected the empty magazine in her M16. Then she reached into one of the six deep square pockets fixed into the material of her slacks and pulled out a fresh magazine loaded with .222 Remington bullets. She reloaded her weapon and slapped the underside of the magazine to check that it was secure. Finally she released the bolt and grinned.

"You ready?" She asked.

To that, #087 nodded. "Hey, I'm in there like swimwear."

#003 lifted up a bit and raised her free hand, gesturing to the other nineteen soldiers in her unit. The moment that she vaulted up from her cover point and over the bushes, #003 joined her. Thus followed the others. The entire unit rushed through the jungle towards the Communications Tower with #003 at the helm. Then suddenly golden light came screaming down from above, illuminating them. Everyone skidded to a stop and froze amid the bushes, pouncing up in attack stance and readying their M16s. With the sudden illumination, #003 looked up. Six huge oscillation-capable searchlights, mounted on six separate steel structures, beamed their light down upon the group. They'd been spotted.

"Shit...!" #003 kept her finger poised at the trigger. "The rebels caught on already?"

At that point, dozens of rebel soldiers sprung up from the surrounding bushes and trees. The unit formed themselves into a protective circle formation but became quickly aware that they were surrounded. More and more rebels kept popping up from the shadows of the immediate area. But these soldiers were different from the others that had been occupying the tower. Though they were dressed in a similar form of dress to the rest of the rebels, these particular African men all donned balaclavas, carried SIG 550s and more importantly, they were all outfitted with cybernetic implants. The arms of each of the enemy soldiers were replaced with fully functional bionic prosthetics. And they had an output capable of assuming three times the full capacity of normal humans. #003 frowned when she saw the looks in their eyes. They were as still and as solid as anything you'd expect from natural born killers. These men were professionals -- the Mujaji Commandos. And there was nothing more dangerous than contract cybernetically enhanced soldiers in the 21^st century.

"Hawwa...!" #087 barked in hushed tones. "...What should we do...? It'll take hours for the other units to get here!"

She didn't say anything in reply. She merely scoped out the amount of commandos that had ambushed their group. It wasn't until a moment later that she heard the tread of footsteps encroaching on her unit. All of them glanced toward the north of the path... and saw a man. A single, solitary man, dressed in baggy dark olive combat slacks and a pale white bulletproof vest, both of which were drenched in the crimson fire of blood. He was middle aged, perhaps no more than forty-two or forty-three. He was very tall, more than 6'4" in height, and his shoulder length vanilla-grey hair dangled over one half of his face in long bangs that swayed from one side to the other as he stepped forward. In his right hand loosely dangled a FAMAS assault rifle. The moonlight itself seemed to bend around his body. But the eyes of the entire unit remained fixed on him and him alone as he walked towards them. And though it appeared that none of them had ever met him before... when each member saw this man... they felt the `bloodlust'.

Each one felt his or her blood boil upon seeing him, his arrogant and dangerous smile, his devious black eyes, his pale alabaster skin... each member of the unit felt that rage surge within them... as though their only need and duty in this precise moment was to kill him. It was almost as if they were his very anti-existence.

"I see. So the Americans have already deployed their forces," he said in a calculating hiss. "And the Garden of Gethsemane no less... I'm flattered. The African Union's troops haven't even made it this far. That in itself isn't surprising, but... I am rather curious... as to how much you really know..."

#003 suppressed her seemingly inexplicable hatred of him to answer. "Who are you...?"

"Me...?" The unknown man pulled a dark grin, partially obscured by the length of his bangs, and lifted his FAMAS up into a shooting stance, taking aim at the unit, as they stood encircled. "I am your death knell, my children..."

**********

`Bullet Maiden Rune'

**********

Opening Song

**********

I see the world through bloodshot eyes

Streets filled with blood from distant lies

Dogs of War never compromise

No real time for rearranging

"Help me Jesus, help me Clean My Wounds"

He said he cannot heal that kind

Bleeding soul becomes a bitter mind

He said it happens every time...

(Knock it down!)

That's how the story goes

(Knock it down!)

In the land of a 1000's no's

(Knock it down!)

In all over you

In time my mind is changing

Oh, Knock it down

Black on black gives me a heart attack

And the silence makes it deadly

Some choose to kill with simple will

I've seen 'em fall fast and steady

"Help me Jesus, help me Clean My Wounds"

He said he cannot heal that kind

Bleeding soul becomes a bitter mind

He said it happens every time...

(Knock it down!)

That's how the story goes

(Knock it down!)

In the land of a 1000's no's

(Knock it down!)

In all over you

In time my mind is changing

Twist of fate won't give me a break

And myself I'm slow and tired

I've got to rise with these bloodshot eyes

But I keep falling when I'm higher

"Help me Jesus, help me Clean My Wounds"

He said he cannot heal that kind

Bleeding soul becomes a bitter mind

He said it happens every time...

(Knock it down!)

That's how the story goes

(Knock it down!)

In the land of a 1000's no's

(Knock it down!)

We are bleeding sins

But our sins are always fading

Oh, fading

Oh, fading

Oh, fading

Oh, knock it down, knock it down

Oh, knock it down, knock it down

Oh, knock it down, knock it down

Oh, knock it down...

**********

Chapter One

**********

"Rune...! Rune! Are you listening to me?"

It was dark... so dark in fact that the embers flickering at the end of her cigar illuminated the contours of her face, however lightly, however briefly. It was worn out enough by now though. Rune exhaled, took the cigar butt from her lips and chucked it out into the rain watching it drop to the damp stone pavement. Even though she still heard Zophie's barking in her skull, she drowned it out for the moment with thought allocated only to lighting up. So Rune reached into the pocket of her combat armour and pulled out another long-tailed brown Cuban. Fixing the new one between her lips she leisurely took out her gold-plated lighter from the opposing pocket and flicked up the flame, using her free hand to shield it from the wind and rain. When she brought the tongue of the flame to the tip of the cigar it was lit, and the previous illumination was restored momentarily, flashing the sculpture of the woman-teen's expression. Once the cigar came alive, Rune lowered her hand slapped the lid of the gold lighter closed. After another moment of deep inhalation she sighed and removed the Cuban to exhale that smoke.

"Cohiba..." she muttered to herself. "Accept no substitutes..."

At this point the nagging couldn't be avoided. "Rune? Rune! Are you paying attention?"

"I should think so," she replied, although she didn't use her lips to do so. Nano-communication was more and more common amongst civil military operatives these days. It operated much like telepathy. It was just one of the many wonders amid the madness of this world of 2074. "No need to get so frustrated. Are you on your period or something?"

Even though she couldn't see Zophie's face, she was sure she would be blushing at that.

"No, I'm not on my period. Rune, could you just pay attention? Although the rain isn't helping, the audio-visuals provided to our department via the Canaan-3 satellite are looking good. And I can see from here that you're smoking -- and of all things a cigar. What are you, some bourgeois forty-eight year old aristocrat?"

Rune released a cloud of smoke from her nostrils. "You'd rather me smoke cigarettes like a `good girl'...?"

"A `good girl' wouldn't be smoking at all."

"There you have it."

Zophie scoffed. "Fine. If you want to spend the rest of your life with cancerous lungs, be my guest. Sometimes I don't know why I bother to worry about you, you Ice Queen."

Rune exhaled another wave of smoke. "Couldn't agree more."

"...Bitch. Anyways, back to the mission. How's the link? Can you hear me okay? Nastasia told me you were having a few problems with your nanos last week."

"Everything's fine with your cyber-telepathy. I can hear you, no matter how intrusive it is to have your damn voice in my head."

Zophie sighed on the other end. "Can't you be a little nicer to me? I mean, no matter what you think, I really do care about you. And about what happens to you when you're at work."

There was no reply.

"Hmm. Okay. I know that this `cyber-telepathy' as you call it takes time to get used to but it's absolutely necessary from now on. NNTL (Neurological Nano-Tech Linkage) is regulated through the nanomachine colony you were injected with at the beginning of your tenure with the Civil Stability Maintenance Bureau. They interpret the thought patterns usually allocated to or expressed with your mouth. It's not like we can read your thoughts or anything. And our department wasn't the first considered for it but it was the first to get it. We might as well make use of it. This way I can give you data and information on the mission immediately. "

Rune tapped the end of her cigar to knock off the ash. "And yet for all your talk you haven't said a thing about the mission."

"Alright, alright. No need to get snippy. The job this time is to isolate and kill two men."

Rune breathed out more wafting clouds of smoke. "And the reason?"

"Data theft," Zophie told her. "They broke into Junk Town's primary civil databank, the Municipal Data Preservation Building, and stole a CD with data pertaining to one of the few information satellites orbiting North America that matches the capabilities of Canaan-3. The Merkabah satellite."

"That belongs to the Mahrem Conglomerate, right...?"

Zophie gave a confirming grunt. "At first we didn't know what to make of it, but it got even more confusing when we checked out their background. Their names are Georges LeCroix and Walter Clarence. The latter aged 37 and the former aged 52. They both worked for Wong Trading Company, a subsidiary company -- or perhaps more accurately -- a sub-company, of the Mahrem Conglomerate. And also they were both recently fired from their posts; apparently they were the chief advisory staff to the handling of the Wong Trading Company's weapons imports into the city. Nothing heavy though, just firearms and ammunition, mostly from Russia and China. All of it was legal, but in that context they were nothing more than intermediary arms dealers."

"So why did the Wong Trading Company can their ass?" Rune questioned half-heartedly.

Zophie fiddled with something on the other end before answering. "Some of our agents went down to their building in the North New Coast district for some answers but we came up with nothing. Of course they gave us some documents saying they'd been `unable to fulfil their duties' but you can tell that there's more to it. Unfortunately we don't have the authority to demand anything more off them. We're not a police force... not really."

"In other words... you have no idea why these men stole that data CD either."

"Pretty much. But it doesn't matter. Just get rid of them and take back that disk before they make off with it."

A resolute expression crossed over Rune's formerly indifferent one. "Understood."

"As I told you before you left, the two of them fled to the warehouse just across the street from you. They've been on the lamb for nearly three days now but reports from the databank heist confirmed that they're armed. Be careful. It shouldn't be too difficult with your skill but even a hardcore soldier-girl like you can fall to a bullet."

Rune frowned. "I can handle it."

"By the way," Zophie began. "Do you think you'll need an Overdrive secretion for this?"

She shook her head. "I don't need your drugs to deal with this one."

"Okay then. Good luck."

At that point Zophie signed off. There was always a bit of background static when she made burst communication with Zophie, back at the Civil Stability Maintenance Bureau HQ. If it had been long-distance it would have been worse, but thankfully it was not. Rune then exhaled and pressed herself off the wooden door she'd been leaning on. It was the door that led into the innards of that particular warehouse, but she wouldn't have been at all comfortable in there. It was on the rooftops, like this one, where she felt most secure. The arc-shaped stone indenture of the doorway had protected her from the downpour thus far, though. From this vantage point Rune looked out and got a huge sweeping view of the city in this dark, damp night. Even when it was pissing down with rain it still looked magnificent by moonlight. Beyond the dark, crumbling, dilapidated and abandoned warehouses of this district, in the horizon, were the many towering skyscrapers of this city, so `affectionately' and yet wholly appropriately, named `Junk Town'. Beyond the beautiful layout of the view from the rooftops of each building, were the dark and rampant levels of sin than oozed throughout the city. That's why the Civil Stability Maintenance Bureau existed.

As the sound of a police siren rang off in the distance, Rune took the cigar from her lips and tossed it over the edge of the building, exhaling one last bit of smoke. After pulling her long auburn bangs out of her eyes, Rune dashed out of the doorway and into the chiselling rain. Her powerful strides brought her to the stone edge of the warehouse and then she jumped straight over it, bounding into the air across the thirty-storey drop to the barren tarmac streets below. The sheer forcefulness of her leap took her across the twenty metres gap between the two warehouses. Rune grunted when she gripped an iron bar fixed into the wall of the opposing warehouse.

She took one look down at the streets below. It was near midnight so no one was out and about in this area other than the homeless bums who were looking for a place to spend the night. Fortunately none of the few of them around had seen or heard her. Rune then tapped a button on the underside of her CSMB poly-metallic tactical armour. A compressed bang from its belt shot out a powerful yet thin and tensile titanium wire. It launched into the bricks of the warehouse wall, just above a dusty window, and attached itself to it. With quick movements Rune grabbed the wire with her gloved hands and kicked off the wall, coming back against it after rappelling down a few metres.

The parascending continued until she came to a very specific window. Though she remained on one side of it, Rune peered through the dust-covered window discretely to observe what was going on inside as she hung there. Through it she could see two men. The older one, who was obviously Walther Clarence, sat on a plywood crate with a gun in his hand, a Beretta 92F. While the younger one, Georges LeCroix stood walking around in circles, waving the same kind of gun in his hand and making inaudible comments to his partner in crime. Well there was something she could do to remedy that.

Rune freed her left hand and reached into one of the pockets of her armour. She took out two small black devices. One she placed in her right ear and the other she pressed up against the wall. The one on the wall started to blip a little red light and transmitted all the noise coming from inside that room to the receiver in Rune's ear. The voices of LeCroix and Clarence became clear.

"There's no point in getting worried now," an older, ashier voice said, the voice of Clarence. "What's done is done. We can't go back. This city is relying on us now."

A much smoother and younger voice, that of LeCroix's, responded. "How can you be so calm at a time like this? We're the only ones who know about that bastard's plan. Before long he'll be sending his Dark Christ cronies to assassinate us. We don't stand a chance against those guys!"

"Calm down! Getting frustrated over a situation you can't help is pointless. Don't forget why we did this. Until you-know-who kills the rest of them we've still got time. All we have to do is hide out until I can finish reprogramming the data on the disk for the Merkabah situation. We're almost there. Just hang on a little longer."

Rune watched LeCroix take out the disk from the folds of his business suit. She saw him display it before Clarence then heard him say, "We had to kill people to get this. At least we're gonna make decent use of it."

And that was what she wanted. Rune's expression darkened with battle readiness and she reached for one of the twin gun holsters hanging down from the belt above her hips. She unsheathed one of the handguns, her favoured Desert Eagles, which had the name `Solidus' engraved into the barrel. The CSMB operative took one strong aim by the window, her sights set on the one holding the disk, LeCroix. And she fired. The boom of gunfire sounded out beyond the pattering of the rain. The glass of the window shattered, LeCroix dropped with a dying groan and bloody wound in his chest, while Clarence stood up urgently and took aim at the window. Rune swung to one side of the window. Bullets were fired through its broken shards into the night. Moments later she swung herself around into the opposing window and smashed through it boot-first. The wire cord was ejected from the belt and Rune, surrounded by shattered glass, dove into the room, pouncing into a forward roll and rolling behind one of the wooden crates for cover.

Clarence backed up and quickly aimed at the crate. "You! Are you working for Mahrem?"

"No." Rune answered drably.

"Then who are you?" He shouted.

Rune cocked Solidus. "Your executioner."

She heard him scoff after that. Then she heard the ruffling of clothes and the pressing of a button. The automatic doors on the other side of the room were opening, Rune could hear that clearly. So she forcefully leapt up from her crouched pose behind the crate and fired at Clarence. His torso jerked back and blood splattered across his face, taking a bullet to the skull. He dropped the Beretta weakly as well as a remote control. Then his whole body toppled over in death. Rune held up Solidus in a two-handed grip by her cheek and ran over to the body of LeCroix. The disk was all she needed now. She snatched it from his grasp and slotted it into one of the pockets of her armour, shutting her eyes. "Mission accomplished."

Then she heard footsteps from the direction of the doors that had opened up earlier. Without reservation she pulled out her other Desert Eagle pistol, `Liquidus', and took aim in that direction. She saw were two hulking, powerful-looking men, dressed in dull blue overalls. They were clearly workers, but the sloppy, dim-witted way they were walking at her suggested that something was wrong. And it soon revealed itself. As the two men strode out of the shadows it became clear that they weren't `normal'. Fixed into their foreheads were glowing metal tags, three deep triangles placed together in a trapezoidal formation. Bioandroid Identity Tags or `BITs'.

"BITs!" Rune shouted. "Fucking bioandroids!"

Rune growled and backed up, darting between one of the other crates. She automatically opened up communications with Zophie via the NNTL again. "Zophie! Are you there?"

"Yeah. What's up, Rune?"

"I killed LeCroix and Clarence and I've got the disk. But they're two male Worker-model bioandroids here and I think those bastards neuro-hacked them for protection."

"So what's the big deal? You hate bioandroids, right?" Zophie replied.

"They're property of this warehouse, you idiot. Do I have authorization?"

"...We'll clear it. And don't call me an idiot. You know, sometimes Rune, I don't think you-"

She switched off NNTL communication before Zophie could say anymore. That was all that Rune needed to know. The young woman growled with momentum and jumped up from behind the crate, leaping onto the top of it and then bounding off of that into the air. As she twirled around aerially, she used all her drive to fire at the skulls of the two bioandroids that were approaching her. Both of them dropped dead in a bloody mess, every bullet left in Solidus and Liquidus buried into the bodies of her targets. She then flipped around and landed a metre or so behind their corpses. Then she pocketed both guns and ran towards the doors to make her escape. There was no telling how many more of those things had been neuro-hacked.

That was the life of an agent of the Civil Stability Maintenance Bureau.

**********

Rune wasn't a light sleeper per say, but the moment that that loud repetitive buzzing of her built in alarm clock system went off, she felt herself stirring. The young woman's cold green eyes flickered open within a few moments, her body and limbs writhing beneath the sheets of her unnecessarily large king-sized bed. Upon heaving a groan, one of her hands shot up and she ran it through her bangs, lightly. Seconds later she pulled up from the sheets and pressed her back against the rich pine wood headboard of her bed, whispering authoritatively,

"Alarm off."

The repeating mantra of the 7am alarm bell, controlled by the flashing plastic unit attached to the right wall, came to a stop at Rune's command. As annoying as that bell was it got her up without exception in the mornings. All the better for today because of what had become of yesterday. Rune yawned briefly and crawled out of the mauve sheets of her bed, pressing her bare feet into the cold and polished pine wooden floorboards that made up the floor of her bedroom, the bedroom allocated to the apartment that cost her more than $5,800 a month in rent. She padded over to the chest of drawers on the other side of her room. Her fingers fiddled with the huge surround sound stereo system that rested on top of it, switching on some choice music from the early 1990's. It was nearly 80+ years old and she'd found the album at a second-hand store down in a southern of Junk Town, but it was cool none the less. The music began to play as she turned from the unit and walked to her wardrobe.

"One baby to another says

I'm lucky to have met you

I don't care what you think unless

It is about me

It is now my duty to completely drain you

I travel through a tube and end up in your infection,"

Rune opened the doors to her wardrobe and mulled over what she had in there -- which wasn't much, considering how large her paycheque was -- mostly various brands of denim jeans, winter jackets, trenchcoats and tank tops. She pulled out the one thing that bucked the trend, a big russet sweatshirt that was two sizes too large for her, with the word `Knicks' emblazoned across the chest in a pale white.

"Chew your meat for you

Pass it back and forth

In a passionate kiss

From my mouth to yours

'Cause I like you,"

She put the sweatshirt under her arm and strode out of her bedroom, kicking the unwashed panties and bras out of her way. Rune marched into her bedroom across the corridor and entered, locking the door behind her, for no particular reason. Her toes curled up at the coldness of the tiles. Her sweatshirt she tossed on top of the washing basket she had positioned at the corner of the room and turned to the shower compartment, declaring `shower on' to it. Immediately the unit controlling automated operations in the bathroom reacted and the gentle pitter-patter of warm droplets of water chipped at the tiles of the compartment.

"With eyes so dilated

I've became your pupil

You've taught me everything

Without a poison apple

The water is so yellow

I'm a healthy student

Indebted and so grateful

Vacuum out the fluids,"

When that water became a stream Rune walked up to the windows built into the medicine cabinet over her sink. She'd woken up in only her deep ebony bra and panties this morning. But as cold as it was she didn't mind. The woman opened up the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of shampoo for her hair, tinted with the `zest of cherry bark' as the label stated. After that she peeled herself out of her little bits of clothing, unclipping her bra and stepping out of her panties. Leaving them behind she pulled the translucent shower curtain to one side and clamoured in, shutting back afterward.

"Chew your meat for you

Pass it back and forth

In a passionate kiss

From my mouth to yours

'Cause I like you

You... you... you... you... you,"

At that point Rune finally allowed herself to relax. There was something soothing about her naked body being drenched in warm water on cold mornings. But despite that she tried to be as pragmatic as she could about anything, and so squirted a sample of the shampoo into one of her hands. During the shower she went about the business of washing her short, jaw-length hair, running her fingers through it with less in the way of grace and more in the way of aggression. That was a military upbringing for you.

"One baby to another says

I'm lucky to have met you

I don't care what you think unless

It is about me

It is now my duty to completely drain you

I travel through a tube and end up in your infection,

Chew your meat for you

Pass it back and forth

In a passionate kiss

From my mouth to yours

Sloppy lips to lips

You're my vitamins

'Cause I'm like you,"

Half an hour later (when the song `Drain You' was long over) Rune proclaimed `shower off' and the stream of water from the showerhead came to a stop. She grabbed the shower curtain, damp with condensation of steam, out of her way and stepped out into the newly warmed bathroom. A nearby towel was used to dry off and then Rune put on her Knicks sweatshirt and exited the bathroom. Without a sound she crossed the one-floor apartment into her kitchen and she went about fixing herself a cup of coffee. It was the usual mantra, two teaspoons of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee beans placed in one of the mugs she found laying around unorganised on the countertop. She flicked on the electric kettle plugged into the wall, which had already been filled with about three cups worth of water. It came to the boil a few moments later. Rune poured the steaming hot water into the cup and added some cream she'd plucked out off the fridge during the wait. Using the previous teaspoon, she swirled it all together and sipped a bit, whilst leaving the kitchen and walking out into the corridor.

When Rune came back into the room she put her mug of coffee down on her bedside table and went underneath her bed. She took out a big box with a few oil-greased things within, most prominently her twin Desert Eagle self-loading pistols. There was also an oil-stained white rag, she took that and spread it out across the bed, along with the guns, a thin iron rod, a jar of stain-cleaning rubbing acid and an even smaller cloth. She assembled it all across the large cloth and went to work. Rune dipped the small rag into the jar of acid and pushed the cloth into the barrel of Solidus via the rod, cleaning it.

It was this point that Rune drifted off into thinking about her twin guns. They were not standard-issue weaponry but they were her favourites amongst the firearm world. The Desert Eagle was originally fashioned for sporting and hunting purposes... that was until the Israeli Armed Forces adopted it for use in combat. The two guns, Solidus and Liquidus, followed the specifications for twin-based gunplay. Solidus had a 12.7mm calibre and a weight of about 2045g when loaded with a .50 Action Express cartridge. It could fire seven rounds. Liquidus on the other hand had a calibre of 9mm, a weight of 1760g whilst loaded with .375 Magnum cartridges. It had the ability to fire nine rounds. They were different that way; Solidus delivered a harder punch than Liquidus, with muzzle capacity reaching up to 2025 joules. It was the `tiger' of the two. Liquidus on the other hand was about 285g lighter than Solidus, had a higher level of bullets to wield, and its bullets had an initial firing speed of 435 m/s as apposed to Solidus' 395 m/s. But of course it had a muzzle capacity of only 968 joules. It was the `dragon' of the two. Those differences made it easy to define the role of either gun. Solidus was the more forceful, slower and heavier powerhouse. Liquidus was the lighter, faster, less powerful one. She valued them equally as her weapons of destruction.

Desert Eagles weren't a choice weapon for tactical military use... they were heavy, loaded or not, they had a relatively small magazine capacity and they had a powerful recoil. But in a way, as someone had once pointed out to Rune, they were a lot like a Nodachi. It took a strong person to make the most out of such a troublesome weapon.

After cleaning out the barrels of both, Rune gulped down her coffee and made preparations to leave. She picked out her standard out-and-about wear, a pair of casual denim jeans and sleeveless black top, along with a pair of boots and her long ankle-length black trenchcoat. Also she fitted a harness across her chest and back which had two holsters attached to it. She slotted both Solidus and Liquidus into them. This way the folds of her jacket kept her weapons concealed. Finally she took up a pair of sunglasses from her nightstand and fitted them against her eyes, as well as picking up her car keys and house key from her chest of drawers. The only thing left was the disk she'd gotten last night, which Rune pocketed.

With that she left her bedroom and shut the door behind her. Rune left her apartment and locked the door behind her, walking down the polished marble foyer of the 18^th floor of her apartment building. Once she came to the elevator she punched the button and it came down for her moments later. When inside she pressed the button for the ground floor and it took her down. Rune walked brusquely from the elevator to the revolving glass doors at front of the hall, passing by one of the bellhops who waved to her and greeted.

"Hello, Miss McNeil."

She grunted a reply to him before she pushed passed the doors and left. To be honest it was a bit disconcerting to have someone call her that. No one (other than one very specific person) called her by her `real' name, `Rachelle Maye McNeil' anymore. Rune strode down the long marble steps leading toward the pavement from her apartment building and was greeted by the sights and sounds of Kentish Town, the only inch of this foul city of Junk Town that maintained some dignity and order, pompous though it was. Outside of the central business districts of East New Coast, Kentish Town was definitely the ritziest. The streets were clean and kept that way by the busy work of the 800 or more worker-model bioandroids put to task on street maintenance and park grooming. The strictest authority of the CSMB was held in this area and so crime rates were generally quite low. More than 3000 guards, armed with M9s and AK-108s, patrolled this part of the city too, mainly to keep the cyber-scum, criminals and junkies out of the most hospitable district in Junk Town. Snipers were in position to take out anyone who snuck past a checkpoint into Kentish Town without showing the proper authorization code. It was almost a nation within a nation, a town within a town; only this minute haven was a lot safer than its outer shell. And it went without saying that Rune wouldn't even have been allowed here if not for being a high-ranking field agent for the Civil Stability Maintenance Bureau.

Rune strode around the corner of her street, turning with her hands in her pockets towards the car park that lay behind the building itself. She weaved her way through the multiplicity of cars hanging around in this early morning, until she reached her own, a charming and smooth silver-finished Mercedes Benz imported from Germany itself half a year ago. She took out her keys, unlocked the door and padded in, shutting the door behind her. She slotted her keys in the ignition after buckling up and the reversed out of her parking spot. Minutes later she was peeling out of the car park and driving out into the main road, joining the traffic that was pouring from Kentish Town towards the central business hub of Junk Town, the East New Coast district. But the reason the traffic was so bad was because of the security. Once Rune drove down the bulk of that road she came to one of the 68 checkpoints set up around the district that probed access into and out of it. Cars passed through a square-shaped laser barrier that did not allow any passing until one of the twenty or so checkpoint workers were presented with the documents from each passenger from each car that allowed them into and out of Kentish Town.

Rune exhaled but kept her hands on the wheel, putting her foot down gently only when the line ahead of her started to move. After what seemed to be a half-hour wait, Rune's car veered up at the glassy box-like compartment that the traffic wardens operated out of. A portly, middle-aged man of Mexican origin (judging by his accent) yawned and extended his hand through the thin slit in the window, asking, "Show me your documents, please."

The younger one reached into one of the inner pockets of her trenchcoat and pulled out a wallet-sized leather flipbook. She opened it up for the man and his eyes widened at what was inside it. "...Oh, a CSMB Badge! Uh, sorry, officer..."

Rune glared at him momentarily as he raised the barrier that prevented her from driving on, his stubby fingers fiddling with the switch. It had already started to rise by the time she'd pocketed the badge and drove accordingly. Within the following hour Rune crossed over three districts and more than eighteen sub-districts until she reached a particular building in East New Coast. She reared up from the busy traffic and car-horn beeping of the main roads and cut out into one of the smaller offshoot roads that carved their way in between the crystalline skyscrapers of the business centre of Junk Town. The road that Rune drove up led directly toward the great, towering construction known to this city as the Civil Stability Maintenance Bureau Headquarters. She drove up a ramp into the central multi-storey car park built into the lower right of the CSMB Building's layout. Rune drove to the third level and found her old parking spot waiting for her as usual, empty as a nun's vagina. She parked, turned off the engine, took out her keys, then opened the door and got out, slamming the door behind her and locking it. The walk to the elevator of this level was not long and people were already marching toward it from their own cars. Some of them greeted Rune, the others knew better, she merely grunted a response to the people who did and ignored the people who didn't. Once they all got on the elevator one of them pressed a button to take them all down to the ground floor. Rune shoved her hands in her trenchcoat pockets and waited for the son of a bitch to bring her to the reception bay. A minute or two later she was there. She exited the elevator and stepped out into the busy reception area of headquarters.

It was as bustling as ever. Many people, men and women, white and black, tall and short, fat and thin, cyber-enhanced and all natural, so many different peoples worked for the CSMB. It had more than 60 agents, well over 1100 members of staff as well as 800 common street officers and riot troopers. This building was the nexus of that entire set-up. It didn't seem like much here, with all the receptionists and office clerks about, but this organization was the one thing that kept Junk Town from descending into complete chaos.

Rune exhaled and walked past the other staff at HQ, stopping only when someone said softly, `Miss McNeil...?'. And she knew exactly who that was. She turned with an irate scowl and looked to her left, sitting by one of the reception desks was one of their 40+ worker-model bioandroid secretaries, known around this office as Polly. Rune couldn't stand her. But it wasn't about her, per say, rather than fact that she was a bioandroid.

Bioandroids were a marvel of modern science and the shame of modern morality. They weren't essentially androids, being 94% genetic, 2% plastic and 4% metallic. They were created from human egg samples and modified accordingly, then grown over a space of eight and half months. This was done in test tubes from which their development could be both stimulated (the growth of bioandroid foetuses could only be maintained within a controlled environment) and monitored. The growth rate of the average bioandroid was far higher than that of humans, so after the 8 & ½ incubation period they reached the full legal maturation -- equivalent to 21 years in a normal human being. They were then harvested in the closing days of the final month and it was at this point that their metallic portions were added, the most notable being the Encephalon Gears. Encephalon Gears were, basically put, mechanical brains, ones with so-called `limiter' software uploaded into them, which made bioandroids conform to a certain standard of behaviour, one that suited the constitution of the role they were to be allotted with.

Bioandroids had an overall lifespan of about 10 years, after which they simply `deactivated'. But this was an intentional function programmed into the will of their cells and encephalon gears by manufacturers, a way of preventing them from gaining any sense of themselves, ones dubbed `psychological anomalies'.

The bioandroids had three main vocations and as such, types. One was the worker-model, the most common of all. Their work was menial in nature, sweeping the streets, repairing faulty equipment, pouring coffee in diners, or perhaps carrying crates at seaports. The second type and the least common was the sex-model. These were expensive but used primarily for the sexual gratification of their owners. Ages for them (in terms of looks) could range from between the legal limits of 4ys to 86yrs. Their encephalon gears were re-programmed to facilitate the needs and perversions of their owners; if they had a liking for a particular type of fetish, they were given a computer program that expressed that same lust in the manner that would suit the owner. However it was exactly because of that extreme demand for encephalic diversity that sex-model BAs were so expensive. For example, a model with the appearance of an eighteen-year-old could cost as much as $26,000 in the West. The final general model of bioandroids was the military-grade, with encephalic programming that allowed it great battle prowess and combat knowledge.

However, despite the fact that bioandroids had come to be the world's backbone in this year of 2074, they had no legal rights beyond being the property of their owners. For instance, the rape of a bioandroid was not considered a serious crime (maybe morally, but not legally) and at the most would engender a heavy fine, and that was only possible if the owner decided to press charges.

Since the Great Middle Eastern War of 2014, there had been a significant labour shortage the world over. The population levels on Earth were less than 33% of what they had been during the pre-war era, and thus bioandroids had become an important part of life on earth since their invention in 2041. Bioandroids now made up more than 41% of the humanoid populations on Earth, and yet they faced significant `injustice' and prejudice from normal people. Not least of which was Rune.

She hated them with a passion

Rune grimaced at Polly as she was called. "What do you want, you little pseudo-human?"

Polly remained blissfully indifferent to the term `pseudo-human', the bioandroid equivalent of `nigger'. "I have not yet received your report on the events of last night's databank disk retrieval. When can I expect it?"

"I was tired last night."

"But when can I expect it?" Polly asked in that singsong manner.

Rune grit her teeth. "When I'm damn well ready to write it."

Polly blinked. "Do you think you could have it ready by tomorrow?"

And that was the last button Polly had to push. Rune scowled and turned herself around, reaching into trenchcoat. The few people around who saw what was going on gasped as Rune whipped Liquidus out of its holster and pressed the barrel dead on against Polly's BIT. Yet Polly, even with a gun pointed at her skull, smiled blissfully, as if completely unaware of the situation. But that was no surprise. Most bioandroids were not programmed to feel fear.

"You want a report? I got a 9mm one right here." Rune jibed angrily. "What's stopping me from blowing your robotic brains out, pseudo-human? Who'd miss you?"

"Is Wednesday more reasonable, Miss McNeil?" Polly asked, obliviously.

By now more co-workers were staring dumbfounded at the situation, just as Rune's finger started to coil around the trigger of her Desert Eagle. "One less of your kind, you freak... can't wait for Wednesday."

Then a familiar voice barked, "Knock if off, Rune."

It was Zophie. As Rune glared darkly at Polly, she pulled her handgun from the bioandroid's forehead, twirling its heavy weight around her trigger finger with intimidating skill. "Relax. It's not even loaded. I wasted all of my bullets killing those two pseudo-humans last night, remember?"

Zophie sighed and pulled one of her wavy tresses of blonde out of her eyes. "For a woman who acts so cold all the time, you sure get worked up over bioandroids. Just chill out, it's not like they're real people."

"That's the point." Rune remarked, putting Liquidus away.

The two automatically walked away from the scene, going down one of the carpeted hallways. The other people in the office calmed down, while Polly and the other bioandroid secretaries carried on as if nothing had happened. As they walked together, Zophie took a look up at the taller Rune and watched her face return to its standard cold and irritable contortion.

"You know, you're hard to figure out," Admitted the blonde.

Rune said nothing.

"You always act so indifferent about everything but when it comes to BAs or work you're a nightmare."

"What's your point?"

Zophie smirked. "...Maybe you need to relax a bit. Wanna take me out tonight?"

Rune stared at her as they walked down the corridor. "Excuse me?"

"You know, me and you, a night out. Give you a chance to unwind and have a little fun for once in your life."

"...Not interested."

The smile on Zophie's face lessened but it didn't die off. "Well... give it some thought."

"I just did. The answer's no."

Before Zophie could even protest that they came before the door of the man they intended to see, the commander in chief of the Civil Stability Maintenance Bureau and Zophie's own grandfather, Commander Frank Ellison Kinborough. Rune pressed a button on the unit next to his door. His gruff voice came through it, declaring `come in' to the pair of them. So they walked inside and closed the door behind them. Commander Kinborough stood silently with his to back them, facing the large double-glazed window of his office, staring out into the sunny day that enfolded this part of Junk Town, the one part of the city (other than Kentish Town) that was constantly safe, East New Coast.

Both Rune and Zophie saluted him. Without turning back to them he said, "At ease."

"The mission was a success," Zophie told him. "LeCroix and Clarence are dead. Our retrieval teams picked up the bodies and they'll have them recycled to a bioandroid development company somewhere. And we got the disk back too. Rune has it on her... if she remembered to bring it...?"

Rune closed her eyes and pulled the CD out of her coat pocket. "I got it."

"Good work," the Commander offered. "But for now the disk will remain in our custody until we can determine what LeCroix and Clarence wanted with it."

Zophie tilted her head to one side in thought. "But won't federal administration complain about that?"

"It doesn't matter. The databank that the disk was stolen from is under our jurisdiction, this city. They know that they have no real power here. Besides, it won't take long to discover the truth I should imagine. Those men were reckless. And a common rule amongst man -- recklessness breeds mistakes."

Rune cracked her knuckles idly. "It did seem like there was more to it than theft."

"What did they say?" The Commander asked.

"Not much. Clarence asked me if I was working for Mahrem. Maybe they're involved."

Frank thought about that. "...The Mahrem Conglomerate. Officially they regard themselves as biotechnology researchers but we all know the truth. They dominate this city through the shadows... with deception and subterfuge. But so far we haven't been able to nail anything on them. And even if we could... I don't know how well our weak-kneed governmental system would take to losing one of its most cherished `investors'. America has fallen far in the past fifty years."

"Well, if this is all taken care of then I'll leave the rest to you," Rune put the disk down on the Commander's desk. "Is there anything more you need from me?"

Frank shook his head. "That will be all."

Rune saluted him one more time and turned on her heels. She heard Zophie whisper a goodbye to her before leaving, and grunted back a reply. After that Rune made her exit from the CSMB HQ, passing by a few people who whispered to each other about her earlier performance with Polly. Polly waved to Rune as she walked by, proof that you could even program a bioandroid to be a ditz. Shortly afterwards Rune went back into the car park, got in her car, and drove off. She peeled out of the facility and back out into the main roads. However this time she would be taking a much longer detour than the half hour journey from her apartment to the CSMB building. In the hour and a half long drive, she watched the entire climate of her surroundings change.

From skyscrapers to shanty homes, from powerful Volkswagens to burntout Pintos, from double-glazed windows to broken ones, from armed police to armed thugs, from businessmen to homeless men. Rune soon found herself driving into one of the darker districts in Junk Town, one that truly lived up to that name. This place was affectionately called the Slums. It was, without a shadow of a doubt, the poorest place in the city. There was no welfare system, no health care, and no security. The dilapidated streets were lined with the poor and sick, the druggies and the wasters, dead bodies lay from place to place inert; the leftovers of the numerous gang wars that had overtaken the Slums in the past six years. This was all allowed because there was no law here -- the CSMB never bothered with this place unless the people within it threatened other districts. It also stood important to note that it was a predominately black area. Nearly 21% of the people living in Junk Town were African-American and yet 76% of them lived in the Slums. It was so glaring in that it was not at all unexpected. Though Rune didn't totally hate it. The upside of this place being that because nearly everyone in the Slums was poor, none of them could afford bioandroids -- essentially the Slums was the only place across the city in which everybody was human.

Rune drove down a specific street of the Slums, taking heed of all the boarded-up windows, graffiti-stained walls and cracked pavements. There were no gangs up and about this morning, but this was one of the safer streets in this district. It was home to a very special someone in Rune's life. Soon she pulled up in front of an understated, ramshackle orphanage on the corner of the street. Rune turned off the engine, got out and locked it. At that point, two black kids aged sixteen and twelve respectively, got up from the seated positions on the stoop of the orphanage and reared up as Rune strode in their direction.

The sixteen-year-old grinned at her. "Well, well, well...! There ya have it, y'all. Rich little white girl lookin' to slum it wid' the niggers. Bitch, do you know where you is?"

"Get out of my way," Rune chipped.

The twelve-year-old blinked. "What'd she say...?"

Then at that point, a forth voice penetrated the scene. "Will you idiots back the fuck up...?"

Rune frowned while the two kids backed up, just as another young black man, aged 21, walked in from down the street. He smiled once at Rune, maybe a little bashfully, and then glowered at his acquaintances at the orphanage door. "This is Rune, dumbasses. She ain't like the rest and she's a friend of Nana's. Why don't you dickwipes go make yourselves useful and get the fuck outta here, all right? Oh, and while you're gone, put the word out. If anything happens to her car while she's here, you's all are gonna get it from me. You understand? Now get going."

"Sure, sure... sorry, Sean..." Said the twelve-year-old, who turned to Rune. "Sorry..."

Rune shut her eyes. "It's alright."

The two kids shot off down the street at Sean's command. He himself exhaled and waved a hand through his curly black hair, noting Rune once more. "Sorry about them, Rune. They're new so they don't know about you."

But she didn't want to waste time thinking about them. "Is she in?"

"Nana? Yeah, she's in." Sean answered.

"Thanks."

Rune gestured to him and walked up the stoop, pushing the loose doors open and walking inside. It was the most you could have expected from an orphanage in such a poverty-stricken place as this. There were about twenty children here between the ages of six and fifteen. They played with old toys, did games, sang rhymes, and learned a few things at the hand of the owner of the orphanage, `Nana'. It was nothing elaborate though -- most people in the Slums could neither read nor write -- so that was what the kids at the orphanage spent most of their time learning. Rune took a gander at the chalkboard and saw some of the work the kids had been doing earlier. They were probably on a break right now. A few of the kids in the orphanage noticed her and waved to her a hello. Rune waved her hand at them but kept walking across the room to one of the four doors on the other side. Rune knocked and an elderly voice with a distinctive Southern-State accent chimed, "Come in."

Rune opened the door and walked inside, pulling for the first time in a while, a genuine smile. It was a tiny little room interconnected by an open doorway to the stained walls of the kitchen. Standing in that room was the woman who owned the orphanage, who taught those orphaned kids how to read and write. Her name was Martha Smith. But no one called her that. She'd been called thus far, with the utmost affection, `Nana'. At first glance she appeared to be no more than a portly elderly black woman wearing a worn-out old auburn skirt and a chequered russet woollen blouse. But anyone who knew her personally or recognized the warmth in her bossy little smile knew that she was so much more than just another face in the Slums.

Nana grinned as she turned around from the bowl of candy she was fiddling with. "Well bless these poor old eyes. Is that my Rachelle? Come on over here and give me a hug."

She wasn't big with hugs, but Rune was big with Nana, so took off her sunglasses and hugged the older, shorter woman lightly, feeling the woman pat her back. "It's been a while."

"Sure enough," Nana said, parting from her. "I was starting to worry about you. And it wasn't just me. Even levelheaded Sean was a bit concerned. You know that that boy's pretty smitten with you...?"

Rune rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I gathered..."

Nana chuckled to herself. "Well now, go easy on him. If he knew that you liked other women he'd probably look elsewhere. You know men aren't as bright as they think they are when it comes to women. I guess that's the one thing about the world that hasn't changed since I was your age."

"News flash," Rune replied sardonically. "So... how are things with you? Are you okay?"

The elderly woman waved that off. "Not this again. Sweetheart, I told you, I'm fine here. The boys in this neighbourhood are as rough as they come but they're always looking out for little old `Nana'."

"Nana, this place isn't safe."

"It sure ain't. But it's home. And if I'm not here for those kids, who will be? They all lost their parents to something. Drugs, disease, shootings, you name it. Now they're all alone in the world. You and I both know what that feels like. And kids that young don't deserve to grow up that way. So... I'll stay here. I'll teach what little I can and what little I know. It's better than nothing."

Rune sighed as she reached into her pocket and took out an envelope. She put it down on a nearby table. "That's about $8000 right there. Do with it as you see fit."

"Rachelle," Nana began. "Baby, you don't need to keep giving us money."

"But I want to."

"...Okay. I'll talk to Sean about using this to get the kids some new toys, maybe patch up the place a little bit. They got roaches next door, I sure hope to hell we can keep them out of this place. `Cause you know for damn sure I don't like those blasted roaches."

Rune's hands tightened. "I just want you to be safe."

"Girl, I told you," Nana pressed a hand into Rune's shoulder. "You don't owe me a damn thing. What went on with Gethsemane and all the others... was a long time ago. All I want from you is a visit every now and again. And what I want for you is to be happy."

The CSMB agent snorted grimly. "I'm fine as I am."

"No you're not. You can't lie to me. I can't have kids of my own anymore but I know you well enough... to think of you as my daughter. And I know you're not happy. But you very well could be. When are you gonna settle down and find a nice girl to marry?"

"Nana, I'm only 23."

"You're never too young or too old to know love. You should spend less time on work and more time on yourself, I think. And by damn, if there were anything that'd make me happy, it'd be to know that my Rachelle is happy. Think about it."

Rune exhaled. "...You're not thinking of setting me up with someone, are you?"

The kids in the other room leaned into the door with their ears pressed up against it, listening in as Nana burst into the hardest laughter she'd emitted in months.

**********

There was very little that Nana couldn't talk Rune into. And after all that nagging she was more than usually subjected to, she did what was asked of her -- she planned to go out. More than a few hours later, by the time night had descended on Junk Town once more, Rune found herself pulling up into a parking space within a car lot which happened to be a block or so down from a nightclub she'd often frequented during her first year in Junk Town. It was called Pulsa diNura. Strictly speaking it was a place certain people might refer to as a `dyke joint'. But for a time Rune felt utterly comfortable there. It was in Willow Hill, a part of the city that was considered to be one of the sleazier, more or less part of the whole `red light district' thing. However the population of Willow Hill was quite small (around 3000) and was made up mostly of single women and married lesbian couples. What made it sleazy was that there was a huge prostitution racket going on here that had been defying the CSMB and the regular police for sometime now -- one that involved girls as young as five. None of them were bioandroids either, they were all human and thus it was completely illegal. Pulsa diNura wasn't involved in that scene, but it was always in the firing line, and since Rune was a member of the CSMB it wasn't always the best idea to go there often. But it was Nana's wish for her to enjoy herself and since Pulsa diNura was the only nightclub she knew of, it was best to go there once again.

Rune sighed and leaned back in the seat of her car. She dressed only in the staple non-designer clothing she always did, right now it was a black tank top and another pair of stonewash jeans. There was a moment of indecision when Rune sat with her arms spread out across the wheel of her Benz. It had been a while since she last went bar hopping... how much had really changed? Nevertheless she got out, locking the car and pocketing the keys in one of her back pockets. The girl exhaled and made her way across the quiet stone car lot, out past the surrounding wire fence and then into the curb of the main road. Rune walked down the pavement and passed by some of the young lesbian couples coming to and from all the late night parties, casinos and clubs that had become commonplace in Willow Hill's nightlife.

Eventually she made it to a sizeable alleyway wedged in between another neon light decorated casino and an all-night liquor store. In that alleyway was a set of stone steps that led down to a door, protected by two beefy, oversized bouncers. Soft rock music emanated from it. Hanging above the doorway to it was a sign that read in pink and gold lights `Pulsa diNura'. Rune carefully descended the steps, her shoes clicking against the stone. Then the two bouncers guarding the door reared up before her.

"Yo," the bald one said haltingly. "Password."

Rune shut her eyes. "Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

The second one grinned and lifted up the red velvet rope that cordoned off the entrance. "Okay, you're cool."

She strode by them and entered into Pulsa diNura. And strangely enough, it was much like she remembered it. A dark hall-sized room with soft rock throbbing in the background, gentle blue light illuminating what little could be seen through the darkness of the corners. The club was rife with a very distinct set of smells, the smell of alcohol, leather, cigarette smoke and marijuana fumes. Most of the goers were the same as before, more than 200 of them, some dancing to the beat on the dance floor, some sitting by the bar flirting with the barmaids. They ranged in age between roughly 16 and 40+. And though the world had gone beyond the stereotyping of `femme' and `butch', there were many women here who fit the bill. Most of the women here were working class or at the most lower middle class, and as such there were no qualms about drug use. The dopers alone were enough, but in the darker corners of the club young couples could be seen snorting crack as blatantly as anything. Drug use wasn't illegal in certain designated zones of Junk Town, Willow Hill happened to be one of them. While most of the clubbers drank and joked amongst themselves the waitresses minced between them in scantily clad dress and with overly flirtatious mannerisms.

This... probably wasn't what sweet old Nana had in mind, but it suited Rune just fine.

The young woman sauntered up to the bar across from the dance floor and leaned up against the counter between two other women. At that point she saw a familiar mop of red hair that she hadn't seen in quite some time. A beautiful and adequately underdressed barmaid turned around and gasped joyfully when she saw Rune's face. "Rune! You little bitch; I haven't seen you in ages! Where've you been then, huh?"

"...Work and stuff, you know the spiel. It's good to see you again, Tia."

The redhead grinned. "Yeah, you too. So, will it be the usual?"

"You still remember what my usual is...?"

"Well of course. Irish Cream, on the rocks, right?" she said with a wink. "I don't forget jack about my favourite customers, you know."

Rune parted her bangs. "So I see."

Tia went about fixing Rune's drink, pulling down a bottle of Irish Cream, taking out a short glass and pouring the drink into it. Then she scooped out some ice from a nearby cooler and dropped the ice into the glass. During that time, Rune took out a cigar she had in her other pocket along with her gold lighter. She had lit it up by the time Tia had come back with the drink.

"Still smoking Cubans?" Tia probed, handing her the glass.

"Guilty pleasure."

"Right..."

Rune removed the cigar from her lips, breathed out smoke, sipped some of the Irish Cream and said, "How much?"

"No, no, no. That's on the house. You don't know how happy it makes me to see a familiar face. I mean don't get me wrong, this gig is still great, but it's not the same barrel of laughs it used to be. Fortunately we've been able to keep the fucking pseudo-humans outta here but... it's just different now, you know?"

"I guess."

Tia wiggled her nose. "Still a brilliant conversationalist, I see."

Rune pulled a grim, sardonic smile. "...I don't know why I'm here."

"Okay..." the redheaded bartender half-smiled. "...You know, you've always been difficult to work out."

"So I hear."

"Well, anyways, just relax now that you're here. We got some entertainment lined up."

Rune stared at her. "What kind of entertainment...?"

"Nothing illegal or kinky, `Miss Cop'... although the best things in life are the forbidden ones. She's a singer who's come to Pulsa diNura a few times to perform. I've met her and all's I can say is, `damn!'. Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh..." Tia giggled.

"Have you made a move...?"

"I'm engaged now so no, but damn near everyone else has. That girl is hot, like you wouldn't believe. So you'd better get a good seat to check her out. She'll be performing in about five minutes."

Rune gulped down the last of her Irish Cream and set it down on the counter as the ice cubes clacked against each other. "Get me a refill and I'll go."

Tia smirked. "Humph! Yes Ma'am."

So she swiftly took out a fresh glass and poured more of the same into it along with some ice. Rune took the new drink in hand, dapped the ash off her cigar into an onyx ashtray and strode away from the bar. Tia went back to waiting on some of the other customers (whom had been waiting patiently during her conversation with Rune) while Rune looked through the dancing crowds of the club to find an empty table. She spotted one. Rune squeezed her way through the other clubbers until she got to that empty table and took a seat around it, a cushioned one that was built into the wall. She blew out more smoke from her nostrils and sipped from the glass whilst waiting for what Tia had told her about. Then a few minutes later, Tia herself got on the stage on the far centre of the dance floor. Some of the `butches' started hooting as she did, but Tia waved them off and took up a microphone as the background music died down.

"Hey there ladies and ladies," Tia declared with her voice amplified by the mic. "We have a really special treat for you tonight. I've heard this girl before, and I can't deny that she has one amazing voice, and I hope you'll all make her feel real welcome here at the Pulsa diNura. And now! You don't know her but I'm sure you'll love her! Say hello to Jenna!"

Rune sat quietly as nearly everyone else stated chanting and whistling and clapping. Tia peeled off the stage and the velvet curtains parted behind her. A young woman stood in the shadows and the cheers of the crowds called her out. Rune didn't look up at first. But when she did she couldn't look anywhere else. She was near paralysed when that girl called Jenna so gracefully and so timidly stepped forward on stage. Rune was stunned. Tia was right. She was absolutely gorgeous. She was of medium height and boasted an adorable figure, curvy and yet quite understated. Her little breasts, thin waist, bubble butt and lithe thighs were all held tight under a small sized knee-length skirt, far less revealing than what everyone else working at Pulsa diNura was wearing. Her cute feet were elevated by a pair of white club-heel sandals and a pure white hair band pulled back at her bangs, it clashed so magnificently with her long mane of beautiful, glossy black hair. That hair stretched all the way down to her waist and contrasted hauntingly well with the white of her clothing. There was something that was intentionally symbolic about the way she was dressed -- especially considering where she was. But never the less it suited her in every way. Jenna was stunning. And Rune couldn't take her eyes off of her.

Jenna smiled bashfully at the crowds and pulled some of her stray hair behind her ear as she started singing without any self-introduction. Rune sat on tenterhooks as Jenna cooed to the audience in a highly melodic voice. It was almost as sweet and beautiful as she was. Each soft decibel rang out with both forcefulness and eloquence. It was almost difficult to understand in a way. Rune was startled and overpowered by all of it -- the girl, her voice, her hair and her eyes.

Oh those eyes.

Even from that position Rune could see the wondrous shade of blue that those eyes of Jenna's possessed. It was glorious and endless how deep they were -- if those sparkling blue eyes could be considered an ocean of pale cerulean then Rune could have imagined herself drowning in them.

And yet almost as soon as she had started singing, it was over. Rune snapped out of her trance when the crowds started clapping and cheering for her and Jenna bobbed her head to them with an appreciative smile. With her gaze still trapped on Jenna, Rune finished off the last of her drink. She watched that sexy songstress wave to her fans before stepping off the stage and round to the back of the club. And Rune eyed every single movement Jenna made when she did until she was out of sight.

Rune was so stunned by this `Jenna' that she didn't even notice Tia approaching her table. "So what'd you think of her?"

"..."

Tia waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello, space girl! Anybody home?"

"...Tia?" Rune looked up and saw that she had a tray with another Irish Cream on the rocks on top of it.

And Tia noted that she wasn't paying attention. She took it off the tray and slapped it down on the table in front of her. The look on Rune's face proved she was confused, so Tia held up the tray at her stomach with one hand and threw her thumb over her shoulder with the other. "Complements of that Italian hottie, three o'clock."

Rune glanced at the direction Tia pointed and saw a pretty young Italian woman smiling coyly at her from a different table to their right. Had she made her move three minutes earlier Rune would have been a bit more curious about her but after seeing Jenna...

"Should I give her a message?" Tia asked.

"What?"

"A message. I mean you don't look like you're gonna take the initiative on this one."

Rune dropped more ash from her cigar into an ashtray. "...What about that girl...?"

"What girl?"

"You know, the one who was just on stage?"

Tia smirked. "Oh, you mean Jenna. You don't fancy your chances with her, do you?"

Rune winced. "...Well... I mean..."

"Oh honey, let it go. Don't be like those idiot horndogs over there. You know better. She's probably straight anyway; she's turned down every other woman who asked her out. That girl over there on the other hand is actually interested in you. And she's a pretty-ass bitch too."

It had been a while. Rune tried to suppress the image she had in her mind about Jenna and thought about it for a second. Tia was right. Only the hopeless chased after things they wouldn't get or let themselves be confused by. On the other hand that Italian woman was a genuine interest. Rune tugged a little smile and sipped from the glass that had newly been presented to her. "Thanks Tia. I got this."

"That's my girl," The redhead replied with a wink.

She went off to wait on more tables. While Rune was left exchanging a little eye contact with the tan-skinned temptress that had sent over the drink. They smiled at each other for a moment, with Rune's being maybe a bit more subdued, but it was enough. The woman stood up and walked from her table over to Rune's, smoothing out the folds of her skirt before approaching.

When she did, the Italian girl blushed. "Hi."

"Hey," Rune replied. "Have a seat."

The woman sat down beside her. "...My name's Louisa."

**********

The ride back to Rune's apartment across town had been uneventful enough. Louisa had mostly asked about the sights of this part of the city at night, as they drove, nothing elaborate. And Rune honestly wasn't so outrageously confident as to overlook how long it had been since she had actually done this with someone.

Yet as soon as they stepped through the door into her apartment, there was an explosion. Louisa was swiftly spun around and pressed straight into the frame of the door with an erratic but gentle thud. And the now serious Rune made her mark clear, thrusting her lips up against Louisa's own with a cunning swiftness. Louisa released a muffled gasp of confusion. Realizing only now what was happening. Rune moaned into the contours of her mouth vibrantly, almost painstakingly, pressing her lengthy leg in between Louisa's thighs with firm strokes. Rune's hands soon roamed free as the two teens kissed, launching up the slender outlines of Louisa's sides and then taking a firm grasp. One hand commandingly gripped Louisa's left breast, the other taking the right. Both shielded from her warm touch only by thin black fabric. All the while Rune's abrupt and forceful kiss grew deeper, more sensual and at the same time, more demanding. Louisa was left seeing stars when Rune finally pulled back from their kiss, slowly, dragging her probing tongue out of the stunned Louisa's mouth.

Yet for some reason... when she did that... she wasn't think of Louisa.

"Sorry..." Rune whispered huskily, lips hovering over Louisa's own. "...I don't know what came over me..."

Louisa grinned excitedly. "Don't apologize, baby..."

Then they kissed again, just as forcefully. And Louisa sighed into Rune's mouth gently, while her free hand curled back into the older woman's shortly cut hair. With Rune holding fast and kissing readily, she ambled the pair of them into her bedroom and toward her bed. All the while they devoured each other passionately, remaining that way for a few moments, until Rune slowly pulled back from it, her now moist lips curling into a very breathless smile.

But Rune frowned when she saw Jenna's face staring back at her

"Don't tell... me you don't want this..." Louisa whispered that hard. She was so horny that she had to make an effort to regulate her soft breathing, "from the first time I saw you; I liked you. You're... not gonna... bail on me now... are you?"

Rune stood motionless and transfixed as Louisa leaned against her neck by the tip of her toes, and she continued with her slow, lustful whispers, "Don't you wanna be with me...?"

Why was she thinking about Jenna?

A pretty girl was interest in her and ready to go -- Louisa -- so why was she thinking of Jenna?

Rune closed her eyes and moaned unintentionally when Louisa began kissing at her neck. Light butterfly kisses that trailed up and down. Any concentration Rune wanted to amass was impossible whilst feeling that beautiful girl kiss and suck at the flesh of her neck and collarbone.

Yet Jenna kept coming into mind...

Louisa's tongue licked up Rune's neck until it reached her jaw line. And she said, "How about it...?"

The restraint that Rune had been feeling up to this point was forsaken for sheer animal lust. Her hands reached out for the younger woman's cheeks and clasped them quickly. The change in mood and demeanour was evident when Rune thrust her mouth into Louisa's, almost demandingly. Both women moaned femininely at this; Rune's kiss planted both hard and fast. Her wet tongue took action moments later, prising apart Louisa's lips and entering into her mouth. Louisa sighed giddily at the feeling of Rune's tongue massaging her own in their kiss, running over each other. She placed her hands against the chest of her older lover and stood taken; with Rune kissing her harder and more forcefully than anyone else ever had. Rune guided her hands to Louisa's bare waist and ran up and down it, admiring the soft feel of her bared flesh. As the two remained locked together they stiffly ambled each other backward to the bed. Louisa struggled to maintain their kiss as she was leaned down to the bed, with Rune's strong but tender hands cradling her. Louisa's back came down to that softness. And Rune quickly mounted her from the waist, her boots dragged up onto the bed. Rune's lips descended for Louisa's once more with another painstakingly fervent kiss, thrusting her tongue into the Italian girl's moan-wracked throat.

As Louisa let herself be kissed so bluntly she awkwardly went about taking Rune's clothes off her. In her haste she chipped the lilac nail polish of her fingernails when she scrambled to unbutton Rune's jacket. They all eventually came loose. Rune broke their kiss once more and quickly pulled her jacket off. Then she crossed her arms over her waist and clasped her undershirt. That she also pulled off, causing her considerably sized, bra-covered breasts to heave. A second afterwards she reached behind her back and unclipped her black bra to let it drop from her body. With that; Rune launched herself over Louisa again and grabbed her wrists, both of which she pinned against the younger woman's head. The gasp of surprise that the Louisa felt was muffled when Rune seized her lips once more with that dreadfully overt passion. Rune forced her tongue down Louisa's throat once more, while her larger breasts slowly rubbed up and down Louisa's smaller ones. They moaned in unison through their kiss. With Rune straddling her from the waist and pinning her wrists down on the bed, Louisa was in complete sexual meltdown. Rune handled her with such intensity and firmness that she could barely adjust to it. And yet her touch was so soft. It was the kind of combination you'd search your whole life for but never find.

Once again their kiss was broken. Rune dragged her tongue out of Louisa's mouth and lunged at left side of her neck. Louisa was left gasping of both breathlessness and lust. Her bra-enclosed chest heaved up and down while Rune nuzzled and nibbled at the tender lilywhite skin that was bared at her supple neck. With her hands still pinned to the pillow, Louisa could only moan and whimper decidedly for more of the same; her mouth wide open and her eyes wide shut. Rune's actions led her to Louisa's tasty little left earlobe, which she nibbled at, passing saliva over that little diamond stud earring. Her tongue ran up and down it, back and forth, while Louisa lay there clenching and unclenching her hands impotently. The older woman then brought her mouth down Louisa's neck once more, dropping kiss after kiss after kiss until she found herself before the cleft between Louisa's rising mounds.

One hand she kept on Louisa's wrists, bringing them together. With the other and newly freed hand, Rune grabbed the fabric of the bra, literally tearing it off Louisa's body. But there was no complaint from the high school teen. Because the second afterward, Rune's mouth was suckling at the nipple of Louisa's left breast. Her lips curled around the pink nub and nursed obsessively on it, flashing her tongue around its now erect curves. Louisa tilted her head back even further and bit lightly on her lip as she struggled to keep her moaning in check. Even though her parents weren't back yet, Sarah was downstairs. There was always a risk that she might overhear something. But it was a losing battle. The feeling of Rune's moistened lips around her rigid nipple was almost unbelievable. Louisa had never had a sexual experience before; but she thought she knew what to expect. That was until now. Rune was pushing all her buttons and in all the right ways and places. While the college woman slurped and bit at Louisa's now drenched little bud, her freed hand crawled down the girl's body until its fingertips were touching against Louisa's damp panties. Rune took a firm grip of them and ripped them from Louisa's hips, all the while still chewing at the teen's left breast. She tossed the remainders of the panties away and curled her hand around Louisa's wet crotch.

Louisa cried a hoarse gasp when she felt Rune's finger trace itself between the fleshy folds of her labia. Her premature moisture was more than enough for the purposes of lubrication. There was no friction what so ever. Rune rubbed her hand up and down between Louisa's hips while her finger parted the girl's labial region. With that, and Rune sucking on her breast with almost perfect synchronization, Louisa was about ready to explode. Her face was twisted in pleasure from Rune's handiwork. Her mouth was open, her cheeks were flushed, her forehead was glistening with a light sheen of sweat, the hands of her pinned wrists were tightened into little fists, and she cried out with broken, disjointed moans. It was all too much for her to resist -- in some vain attempt to prolong the moment. Rune's finger glided ever faster between Louisa's wet lower lips, knowing that she didn't have to make any attempt to stimulate that little clit of hers to get what she wanted. Louisa's cries grew in both length and vigour until one final one broke the mould. A loud shriek that was undoubtedly loud enough to be heard from outside the bedroom. Louisa's body jerked in one instant, with Rune still mounting her. A gush of fluid followed the contractions and vice-like clenching of her vagina, splattering against Rune's rubbing hand, which began to slow down into a leisurely, careful pace. Louisa weathered the brunt of her orgasmic screaming by attempting to bite her lip again. But all the same, she couldn't prevent herself from bucking and writhing against Rune's slightly larger form, clamping her thighs around the college freshmen's hand to keep it in place. Eventually Louisa regained control over her body, as the layers of pleasure inundating her torso started to lessen. Rune pulled her mouth from Louisa's breast and stared at the girl beneath her, watching her blissful reactions and the light regressions of her moaning.

Louisa was left staring at Rune with half-open eyes, her chest and shoulders rising and falling from her heavy breathing. Her lips curled into a smile, as did those of Rune. Partly because she'd been satisfied, mostly because she seen Jenna the whole time.

**********

And so came the morning after.

For most women it tended to be a wonderful or horrible moment -- waking up with a smile at last night's events or waking up with a regret of them. Rune was neither. The young woman sighed and let her eyes flutter open as the morning light started pouring in through the windows. Automatically her arm reached out to the part of her large bed that Louisa should have been sleeping on. When she felt nothing but bed sheets she opened her eyes fully. Louisa was gone. The deep apple scent of her still lingered but she wasn't in bed. Rune became confused for a moment, until she heard the rustling of paper, or as it turns out, money. Standing beside her chest of drawers was a fully dressed Louisa -- with her hands wrist-deep inside Rune's wallet, picking $250 worth of bills out of it.

And she did it as plain as day... the filthy, thieving, money-grubbing little whore.

Louisa smiled and exchanged the money from the wallet to her own pockets in frenzy. Just until she heard the distinct sound of a gun hammer... and when she did she turned around... only to see Rune, utterly naked underneath the sheets, pointing Solidus in her direction.

A sweat bead trickled down the side of Louisa's skull. "...I...uh..."

"This is why you slept with me, isn't?" Rune asked with unstable calm. "Isn't it?"

"...I-"

"Answer me, you little bitch!" Shouted the CSMB agent.

Louisa lowered her head. "Y-yeah..."

Rune smirked derisively. "This is just typical. `And she's a pretty-ass bitch, too'. Hm. I could kill Tia. But what did I expect from you, huh? What more should I expect from anyone."

"...I'm sorry..."

"...You're sorry...?" Rune sniggered at that. "...Lets get one thing straight. I don't care about money. If I did I'd be living a lot larger than this. My money isn't my own. I don't care what happens to it. I wouldn't even care what you did with it."

Louisa fumbled with her hands. "...Look, m-my brother has a d-drug addiction. He tried to k-kill himself last year. I-I-I just needs this money to... to help him. I-if I get this money to him he'll be okay. He won't g-go out and, and, and do something stupid... I..."

"Liar."

Louisa visibly swallowed the lump in her throat.

And Rune frowned at her. "You're the one with the addiction."

"Look, if t-there were another way, I'd take it. I just need a little more and then I'll quit! You don't know what it's l-like to do this everyday! Everyone else turned their b-backs on me! Crack is all I have left!"

"And I'm supposed to feel sorry for you? Some people are better off alone. Some people deserve to be that way. Thieving whores like you...? What else could you deserve?"

"Please, Rune..."

Her finger wrapped around the trigger. "Don't you dare call me that! Just... just take the money and get out."

There was a pause for a moment. Then the desperate Louisa snatched all the money from Rune's wallet into her pockets and turned to flee. Rune lowered her gun and leaned back into her bed, gripping her forehead. But then Louisa stopped when she came to the doorway. She peered over her shoulder. "...I'm... sorry if I... hurt you..."

Rune closed her eyes. "...Get out."

She left the room. After a rushing set of footsteps she heard her front door open and close. Rune exhaled and put Solidus back down on her coffee table. Yet less than four minutes later she heard her phone ring. She couldn't be bothered to speak to anyone now so let the answering machine pick it up. Then she heard Zophie's voice leaving behind a message.

"Hey Rune. I guess you're out at the moment. But I just wanted to tell you that we've just got a new mission..."

**********

After getting the call, Rune spent the rest of the day reloading and recalibrating Solidus and Liquidus for the mission. Now it was time for action. At this point Rune had re-dressed in the CSMB combat armour. There was no need to go incognito for this job. Solidus and Liquidus rested in the two holsters at her side, swinging tight from the thin utility belt of the armour. At this point Rune drove (in her own car of course) through one of the many cold and empty streets of the Warehouse district towards the far edge of the city. Junk Town itself was delimitated by a huge sixty-nine metre high wall that wove its way around the outer perimeter of the city. The entire wall was at the very least 4,730 miles long and known to the people of the city as the Gates of Alexander. The wall was made of pure reinforced metal and patrolled by more than 24,000 guards under state mandate. Many of them were expert snipers; carrying nano-tech implants to allow them to receive data on whether or not to attack anyone who tried to escape or get in illegally. This was a dangerous city and the state, as powerless as it was, knew better than to allow the narcotics and perversions of Junk Town to leak out into the rest of post-war America. It was the only thing they were genuinely consistent with.

Rune's drive brought her close to the Gates of Alexander and one of its 547 checkpoints. This part of Junk Town, the far northwest, was the only area that could be considered barren of life. As Rune's Benz drove down one of those streets she could see why. Nearly all of its buildings were in ruins. An after effect of the previous food riots three years ago. She hadn't been here to see them but Commander Kinborough had told her of them. There had been a food shortage because of congestion issues within the Gates of Alexander. Apparently after an exodus of illegal Junk Town migrants to a nearby principality, tariffs were landed by the state on the rations company that ran the food imports through the Gates, Douglass Agricultural Inc. These tariffs had a chain effect, raising the price of meat and grain-based foodstuffs straight through the roof. The uproar was understandable and thus in this area, the district formally known as Northwest New Coast, there were bursts of extreme violence. When the CSMB got involved it left more than 280 civilians and 30 CSMB officers dead, with thousands injured. The fires started during food riots of 2071 had burned down much of old Northwest New Coast and there were no plans to restore it. The whole area had become an informal no-go zone with the public. Most of what could be salvaged or taken from it had been looted long ago.

Rune's destination was an amusement park wedged between the Northwest New Coast borders and Checkpoint #081 of the Gates of Alexander.

As she drove along she mentally willed her nanomachine colony into action to contact Zophie. "Control, are you there?"

After a little bit of transmission static her voice came through clearly. "Hey, Rune. Satellite view from Canaan-3 is picking you up nice and neat. Are you on your way?"

"Yeah. What are the details again?"

Zophie sighed. "I explained that when you came down to headquarters this morning."

Rune said nothing.

"...Rune...?"

Again she said nothing.

"Did something happen last night...?"

Rune's eyes narrowed as she turned the wheel and pulled around a corner into a new street. "What makes you say that?"

"Uh... well..." Zophie giggled sheepishly on the other end. "When you left your jacket in the lockers someone's phone number dropped out of one of the pockets. Who's Louisa...?"

A growl escaped the soldier-girl's lips. "No one I'll be calling anytime soon. Does that satisfy you?"

"...Oh good..."

Rune raised an eyebrow. "...What?"

"Uh, nothing! Nothing! Anyways, uh... you were saying something about the mission?"

"Yeah the details, the low-down, whatever you wanna call it."

"Okay, just gimme a second," there was a slight pause before Zophie continued. "Okay, you're up against a weird one here. A known paedophile and child murderer who's been on our wanted list for a while, a deranged guy in a clown costume who calls himself Coconut."

Rune winced. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. And it isn't as silly as it sounds. This guy is extremely dangerous. Up until now we haven't been able to pin anything on him because he's so good at what he does. But 12 hours ago he was sighted kidnapping a thirteen-year-old girl in East New Coast called Beth Evans. Her parents contacted us and begged us to find her. Fortunately she was born with some form of heart condition so she was fitted with a miniature pacemaker as a baby. We've used that to track her down and we assume that Coconut's with her -- you've gotta nail him before he hurts her."

"What more do you know about him?"

"Not much, really. His real name is Lambert Simnal; he was a member of a Circus troupe that travelled throughout Junk Town in the 2050's entertaining children. Something happened during the Food Riots that dissolved this troupe though. Every member died mysteriously aside from Lambert, or Coconut, whatever you want to call him. I guess his mind must have snapped after that. But his history doesn't matter. What matters is rescuing that little girl before he can lay his dirty hands on her."

Rune kept her grip on the wheel steady. "If it's been 12 hours since her kidnapping it may already be too late."

"Don't say that. You have two objectives this time around. Kill that bastard and rescue the girl. Beth's signal is coming from Cactus Jack Amusement Park, which is where you're heading for now. Do what you can, `cause her parent's are counting on you."

Before Rune switched off communication's she remarked, "Leave it to me."

Half an hour later her car pulled up on the very outskirts of Northwest New Coast and one of the off-street dirt tracks that coated this area. Across from her Benz she saw the destination in its entirety, with the Gates of Alexander lining the distant night horizon beyond. A sprawling wire fenced enclosure possessed of many old palomino carousels, broken tilt-o-whirls, overturned refreshment stalls and non-functioning rollercoasters. Everything about it was morbid, especially at night, as it was now. Because it was so quiet the wind blew in loudly and rustled the dust across the courtyards of the park. Cactus Jack's wasn't the friendliest place Rune could have imagined. The laughter of the children didn't echo hear anymore. And suddenly the idea of Coconut coming here didn't seem so random.

Rune got out of the car and locked it off, turning and walking through the wide, dusty, arc-shaped entrance of the park that had the phrase `Welcome to Cactus Jack's Rootin' Tootin' Amusement Park'. She entered and observed the place from side to side, getting a feel for it, a feel for the loneliness in it. A place that was once so festive had become one so morbid in its dilapidation because of that. Rune prowled around its expanses. She checked out the stalls and the old buildings from which the rides were controlled, the electronic layout of the park on a courtyard was used to scan the place, fortunately it was still running, but not at enough efficiency to track someone. She continued for the next forty-five minutes, walking and jogging to find a clue as to Beth's (and by extension, Coconut's) location. Rune turned up with nothing.

That was until she heard a devious and echoing chuckle coming across from her at a hall of mirrors.

"What the...?"

"...Heh, heh, heh..." the voice laughed again. "Coconut already knows you're here...!"

Rune grimaced and pulled Liquidus out of its holster, thumbing back the hammer. "Are you Coconut?"

"Yes, yes!" he said in that echoing voice. "This one is called Coconut! Have you come for the morsel he has acquired?"

"She's not a meal... she's a frightened little girl. And while I couldn't give a damn about you or her, if you wanna make this easier then just let her go."

Coconut giggled again. "He, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, heh! What makes you believe Coconut hasn't already sampled this morsel?"

Something was telling Rune that this wasn't the kind of man who would haggle. Well, at the very least, it was worth a shot. Keeping her gun poised in an attack stance, Rune stepped carefully towards the large, broken opening that led into the Hall of Mirrors. Rune stepped softly into a twenty-metre long and very narrow corridor lined with mirrors as far as the eye could see. Every time she walked by one it presented her with another reflection of herself. It was distorted and misshapen. She didn't look at them. She walked slowly down the dusty stone floor of the corridor with its slight dip in length. When she reached the end of the corridor she came to a larger and more hexagonal room surrounded by even move tall, curvy mirrors that distorted her appearance.

Then came that laughter. "He, he, he, he, he, he! Ever wondered how you want to die...?"

A clown-like visage manifested in an opposing mirror. Once she saw it out of the corner of her eye Rune pulled Liquidus' trigger and shot at it. The blast forcefully shattered the window, breaking the image of Coconut into shards. Then came his insidious laughter. "This is how Coconut wishes to die! With a laugh! Laugh! He, he, he, he, he...!"

"Come out and face me!" Yelled Rune.

Coconut sniggered. "You know what the one lesson in life is? Life is what you make of it. It's sad... and harsh... and cold and lonely. People like you... adults... you let yourselves be swallowed up in that... the coldness... the loneliness. But Coconut knows the secret. Do you wanna know what that is...?"

Rune frowned.

"Laughter...!" He said with gusto. "Laugh! Laugh away your troubles! Adults are too stupid to know that... too jaded... too lonely. But the children are different. Their souls have all the purity adults have lost. They feel everything so fully and so well... and so Coconut wants them to laugh! Laugh so that they don't feel the same pain Coconut did! It's for their benefit! So Coconut helps protect them... from the world!"

Rune took aim when another reflection of Coconut appeared in one of the mirrors behind her. "You protect normal, helpless children by raping and killing them, is that it?"

"Who can help but taste the flesh of a pure soul...?" he replied. "And besides. Coconut doesn't think... that he is the only murderer here in my wonderful fun house..."

"I'm nothing like you..."

A second reflection popped up to Rune's right. "You are lonely too, aren't you? Just like every other adult. Coconut doesn't like them. He thinks that they're stupid. They don't deserve to laugh. Coconut thinks that it's too late for all of you. But the kids... they get to die with a laugh...! Laugh! He, he, he, he, he, he!"

Suddenly reflections of Coconut appeared from every one of the mirrors. In each one he was laughing like a madman with his voice echoing in the distance around her. So Rune growled with fury and unsheathed Solidus. She immediately fired repeatedly with both guns at each of the mirrors until all of them were destroyed. The sound of gunfire, breaking glass and Coconut's laughter rang in her ears until there was only one left. She saw in that mirror, too late, the actual clown-attire garbed man coming up at her from behind with an old two-by-four.

The next thing she saw was blackness when Coconut clubbed her around the back of the head.

**********

A non-specifiable period of time passed.

Then her eyes started to flutter open. Rune groaned and slowly tilted her head up until she could see her surroundings. But when she did her head banged against something. The green-eyed woman winced at turned her head a bit. She was pressed up against a wall. And when she paid more attention she realized that her wrists were chained to that wall with iron manacles. Rune grit her teeth and yanked at them, but they wouldn't come loose. Then she looked down at herself. Solidus and Liquidus were no longer with her. And when she looked up to find out where they'd gone, she saw the true horror of this room. It was a stone chamber akin to a dungeon. And lying along its cold, damp, dirty, moss-covered floors were the remains of small and haggard skeletons... the skeletons of children.

"Jesus Christ..." Rune whispered with disgust.

By the looks of things this man had been kidnapping and killing kids for years. Some of the bones looked like they belonged to children as young as three. And it hadn't escaped her notice that there were fractures in the pelvic bones of the younger skeletons. This man wasn't just a psycho; he was a menace. Rune scanned the room further. And when she did she caught sight of something else other than bones and stone and moss. There was a rust-eaten cage to the far right of the room. Secured behind its iron bars was a little girl of perhaps nine or more years of age. That sleeping girl had to be Beth Evans. She was still alive.

Rune called out to her in a whisper. "Hey. Kid. Kid, wake up...!"

She groaned a little and stirred. Beth's eyes came into focus a little later, when they did, and when she caught sight of Rune sitting chained to the other wall, she gasped and scooted to the back of the cage. Rune watched her whimper into her arms as she wrapped them around her knees and buried her face in them.

"Don't be scared..." Rune didn't really know how to talk to kids, but... "I'm not gonna harm you."

Beth sobbed into the sleeves of her tee shirt. "I wanna go home...! I want my Mommy and Daddy...!"

"That's why I'm here. To take you home. Just... hang in there, okay?"

She said nothing in reply to that other than her light tears. At least Rune could sympathize with her. She was a kid, she was hungry, she was dirty and most of all, she was scared. But from the looks of things that sick bastard hadn't touched her yet. There was still a chance to do something. But things rapidly accelerated after that. There was a loud echoing bang on the other end of the room from behind its wooden door. The iron lock on it came undone and it opened. Rune frowned and Beth whimpered with terror as the clown maniac, Coconut, walked in impishly with a thirteen-inch long butcher knife in his right hand. There was no mistaking the old stains of encrusted blood darkening patches of the blade.

He stopped for a moment and watched Beth crying in the corner of her tiny cage. Then he looked at Rune. She gripped her hands into fists and yanked aggressively at the chains, struggling to pull free from them. But they were locking her tight against the wall.

"He, he, he, he, he!" Coconut cackled as he did a little jig at that. "You can hear them, can't you? The spirits of the children lingering here! You can hear their laughter! Coconut likes it! Coconut likes to hear them laughing! But why does it frighten you? Can't ad