1.4|THE BATTERING BRIDESMAID

1.4|The Battering Bridesmaid

 

At the stroke of 3'O clock evening, the crowds chants beat like a drum in the streets. The sheen of metallic bands strewn across their bodies was only offset by the shade of their signs, one would see the mob moving as one unilateral mass moving through the streets. They came to a dead stop with the peacekeepers baring electric nightsticks. both groups met in the middle, where in came a crowd of soldiers on levitank WRAITH artillery from the intersections. The troops made a quick move around the patrol, backing up their forces with military might. Uncertainty loomed abound.

'WHAT DO WE WANT?' A thousand voices said as one.

'SYNTH RIGHTS!' They followed up.

'WHEN DO WE WANT IT?' The crowd continued in an unending chain.

'NOW!'

'NOW! NOW!' An audible response echoed from the crowd

'NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!'

Ella's teacup shook, rippling the soothing liquid within into a mire of panic. The clock on the wall ticked, its hands frozen by the fear of this age. "How long until the rabble turns into a riot?" A man in a dark suit and tophat lowered his gaze from the window. "They're exercising their rights to block the streets and advocate for artificial replacement, Karman." Ella replied, sipping her tea, a briefcase with a copper handle laying by her seat.

"Buncha rats. This world is going mad. The old order is crumbling and these uninvited children will bring chaos upon us. It's not the first time. I recall the days of the Martian Revolution. Boys n gals took up arms, became men. I don't remember any of this sissy protest.” The client replied, staring out the window. "I only got that one night off, I had no time to get a change of clothes." he sighed, looking down at his hands. "Too bad I had to wear these instead of my nice suit. If I'd known a fancy dame like you was my hire, I'd dress to impress." he said as he tugged at his necktie.

"Nonsense." Ella took out a scarlet stick of wax and reapplied it to her lips.

"You would never have impressed me."

"Ain't you such a flirt." He said, watching a peacekeeper officer on a megaphone yell at the crowd to disperse.

"You used to be a State Silencer? You? Heh, ehekeke. Crazy." He dabbed a cigarette into an ashtray, offering her one in the process and lighting it, eyeing the way it illuminated the microchip on her scalp.

"You don't have to worry about being a slave to the system. I'm a man with the means. I have money. Quit this gig, come getaway with me doll." Karman waggled an eyebrow.

She breathed a puff of smoke in his face. "Oh, the gub still hires me on occasion. This is just a little extra cash. But I have a tipoff, this one's going to be a little bigger than both. However much money you have, ain't enough. You're just middle management, Karman."

She leaned back, checking her watch. "The payday I'm 'bout to gets much bigger than either of us.. I could finally buy that Patori'Lavinski self-portrait, hang it on my studio back home."

"Art collector huh?" His lips curled a slight.

"Bit of a romantic.”

"Don't say.. cannot be Sophy Sinnavah is it? Activist leaders are gabby but, that's a job for a crowbarter, not a silencer." He pointed at her gun for a sec. "That's a 87 Hz frequency pulse-sniper. The ammo's worth more than anything her head is."

"I said, that's just the tip of the iceberg. That little toy's not cheap, and if it ain't on my back, I ain't never seen it." She took another drag, then crushed the cig into the trey. "Why don't we take a walk Karman." With a toss of 200 credits, she waltzed towards the back of the diner and up the stairs. The man followed suit, until they reached the top roof. "Sure we won't get-"

"Owner's paid off. We were never here." She began to setup her rifle stand and got into good position.

The glow of the screens was like the sun of a nova. One could hear the shouts, the passion from the crowd.

'This city is being ruled by tyrants!'

'Let us re-instate our machine brothern!' voices shouted.

Ella looked into the scope. Her violet split-dress   The crowd is all that stands in the way. Her Sophia had to make a move. She needed someone on their way to safety, at least that's what she wanted them to think. She had to get the power of the mob flowing through her veins, she was counting on Karman. "I've been listening to the crowd." He said as he scanned the monitor.

"What are they doing?" Sophia asked.

"Posing for a selfie in front of the statue of the hero of the last revolution. They're all dressed in the colors of the national flag. "

The scope soon had Sophia in her sights. She moved her barrel and turned towards several figures behind her, setting her pulse-sniper to electrostun. With a jib of her lip and the sweat of her brow, her finger nicked the notch. "Autofire algorithms in place. Targets locked. Time to get our ass in gear."

The gun went off not with a bang, but a silent whimper.

A soundless, transparent set of beams rapidly dropped twelve figures in the crowd. She pulled out a noise grenade.

"Tally-ho!" She whispered, giving it a shake and lobbing the cylinder at the crowd. The sound of an explosion and smoke went off harmlessly below, sending the entire event into a violent frenzy. Peacekeepers moved in on the protestors and the crowd pushed back.

"Hunt's on. Come with me." She shook her head and let her hair fly about freely. Ella ran down the stairs and ran a block behind her, Karman catching up with her, slipping by to get on a levitank. "What the h-." The operator saw her flash a State Silencer badge, and began to escort them down into the tank's operating chambers. There a woman covered in military metals and a pith helmet waited eagerly, crossing her legs. "I'm Commander Kaphro. The machine suppression division has taken an interest in your work." She reached a hand out to Ella, who handed her the paperwork.

"Are all these documents confirmed?" She flipped through them, looking into the workings of Operation R.I.N.G. and smiling cooly.

"And these 12, the founders are.."

"Going into custody right now, as we speak." Ella added, looking at herself in a

pocket mirror.

"Excellent. The usual local Cell code?" Kaphro asked.

She closed the mirror. "I didn't say they were in government custody."

"What?"

Karman snickered, "Looks like making sticky with the off the clock boys down

dock paid off."

She continued. "They're in private custody. I'm sure you'd much rather interrogate them alive, or have them taken out off record. But y'know, funny to mention it... there are a LOT of organizations that would love to have those twelve delivered, giftwrapped. The White Mercenaries, the Saturn Syndicate, Xi has got a lot of frustrations around machines it seems." Ella checked her nails teasingly, flexing them out. "Wonder how much they'd bid for it?"

She folded her arms, "Not bad. I'll give you that."

She sighed, "This is my work. You think you can do better?" She snapped, "I'll find a different way to deliver the goods. I want triple pay. No, a lifetime severance package, and free travel. A 5-star luxury cruiser, with a private shoestore just for me."

"This work is a contract." She said, her hands crossed at the wrists and in a finger-nipple salute. "If you can't cut it with me, then it's just not worth your time." Kaphro's eyes narrowed, an unspoken tension flaring. "Did you think I would give you costly petty concessions that easily?"

"Oh, and I'll need to go by the factory one more time. To check on the goods." She waved her hand at the machine, "It's my one concession." Ella smiled thinly and nodded to the tanks captain, who opened the heavy hatch. She signaled Kaphro to come up and look at the scene, the machinist protestors not yet dispersing and peacekeepers struggling to quarrel the mob. "See all this?"

Several Wraith Tanks were climbed by the crowd, who were pelting it with home-made electrobombs. The machine hummed to itself, humming in a deep, malevolent bass before it crackled and ceased operating.

Her heels stepped over a peacekeeping officer. "I need a drink."

"You know the best part? I didn't even have to kill their leader to do this, just threw a noisemaker. Imagine this kind of dissident, but with Synths. What do you say, want me to free the R.I.N.G. honchos right now? We could bring the machine menace back in the game. Hasn't been a sight of that in 72 years."

Kaphro watched the chaos, streets ablaze. She sighed heavily, Ella had made her point.

She tapped a foot impatiently, turning to the assassin. "Private shoe store huh?"

"Vintage pumps!"

Ella took the papers from Kaphro and quickly scanned them. The name on the document was of the R.I.N.G. commander and founder, the anti-Xi machine philosopher Hitscan. Sophia would find it strange to be dealing with someone of that rank. A lot of times the government was just as bad as the terrorists Ella worked against, it was just cheaper to deal with them. She gave the papers to Kaphro.

The officer took them, checking for a signature. "Who is this for.." She was met with a glare from Ella.

"Ella Brighton's forever home. That's who!" Ella snapped. "Legally binding, thanks Commander."

"Aye. Destroy the past. Make way for our glorious future!" The Commander cheered as she left the tank.

An hour later, Ella checked that the massive pay had been processed, the luxury cruiser and enough money to bury crushing weight of responsibility already on the way. She walked the crowd, what was previously a virtual warzone between local and law, the conflict now inhabiting the digital datasphere instead of the streets. She hated being the middleman, but the deed was done and she could live out her life as both a patriot, and a very well-off woman. She pulled out her comm.

"Hitscan. The funding's on the way. Even bought your first Armada a startup vessel. My fiancés waiting for me on a luxury gala downtown. Love and kisses, Ella out."