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Hello, let's talk , i can write your scripts for you , i use trelby for scripting.

"Just pick anyone!"

Some gestured at me where i shuddered and shook under the cold blistering snow that was determined to end us all if our choices didn't.

Laid in front of all eight of us where the pots of 99 death and 1 life. Each Pot filled with a different kind of poison that explored death in its own fancy manner and one that was filled with an antidote for all.


We bothered not to look for the masters, they were always watching and observing us, by now you would think we were any better trying to be what we desired most; well, i taught i was amongst many yet we were all in a way children, desperate for something other than sudden death.


Striped naked and left thirsty for the last two days didn't do us any good either, if we could fight the cold, if we could defy our need to quench our thirst, could we defy the commands of the Masters whose penalty was taking our tongues from us?

The numbers were against us here, the seniors had passed a warning about this test, it wasn't to teach us a lesson or something, it was simple and finely orchestrated murder on a mass level, the seniors had been reduced to little over ten from a count of fifty three, we were a lot lesser than that.

Perhaps Okiho's miserable attempt to escape the training camp and find his way to the world below which had been meant with punishment worth more than a thousand death still somehow infuriated the masters? I wondered.

"As the snow bites deeper and your throat yearns for a bit of liquid, you can be certain, reasoning becomes a death sentence and you can never know which is antidote but you will know which is the poison!" one of us declared to us as he was told by a senior.

Someone came out and walked into the labyrinth of pots, he had been trying to get someone else to take a leap of faith.

I watched him closely, as he moved from one identical clay pot with pure colorless liquid to another, he seemed nervous and edgy as he withdrew back but just then the cold wind blew and there he fell to the ground, his body could no longer take the cold.

Rishi rushed out and grabbed the boy; rishi was a no good boy who gladly sacrificed anything or anyone to stay alive but then again, we all had a little of him or more in ourselves and maybe this one, i rooted for him to do something or anything to help us stay alive.

Rishi pulled the almost lifeless boy by his head and began to force him to drink as many as he could.

"Poison...Poison...Poison...Poison...Poison.........."


"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8....12..13"

Rishi pulled the boy closer to realize the 13th pot had been the poor soul's last attempt to help us.

Rishi screamed angrily and tossed the kid away like trash and how it did anger me but rishi wasn't done just yet.

He pulled away and seemed to give the pots a thought before settling his eyes on me.

I took some steps back even though i knew I would never be able to win a fight in this condition.

"Come quietly, there is no reason for all of us to die tonight, you just need to get the right pot and you won't die!"

I shook my head in disapproval as I withdrew my steps quickly which only gave rishi more excitement to grab me.

I disappeared into the midst of the others who only pushed me out, it was certain they would be next, after i was long gone.

"Got you!"

Rishi held tightly to me, his grip and the cold threatened to peal my flesh off my bones.

This was it, I imagined, my own death seemed closer than ever.

"Don't drink it all, have a taste and get over it and be quick about it, the others might die soon from the cold, I will need them to continue from where you stopped!"

I took my first taste and soon realized, there was a taste once it was about to slip into my throat.

I spat hard and went for the next pot; a startled rishi was taken a back by my sudden willingness to participate in this game of death.

"Poison...Poison... Poison... Poison..."

I vomited and spat terribly each time i felt that foreign taste in the liquid.

"Hurry up, I need something to drink!" A cowardly and ungrateful rishi said.

"Poison... Poison... Poison.... Poison... wait...wait..."

Rishi kicked me so hard i crashed into a clay pot whilst he and the others took the antidote for themselves.

I tried my best to get up and get a drink myself, aware i had swallowed a vast amount of that pot which i had crashed into.

Rishi and the others had their fill and did the unthinkable.

"Kplah!!!"

Rishi kicked hard the pot so that it broke and shattered.


I managed to stand up, stared at rishi and the others, my sadness and hopelessness soon turned into a vicious smile.

It was right there, Rishi and his cohorts realized what had happened.

"You crashed into..."

His brain didn't get to add up the maths but rishi spiteful kick had just saved my life.

I watched them fall, never to rise again, buried by the snow.


SHADOW OF THE NINJA: LABOR OF TASTE

Here and Reading This looks good!

EPISODE I - DEAL MAKER PART ONE



The church remained quiet even though the evening communion service was finished and many had left for their houses.

Rhoda's Message Gospel Ministry sat at the edge of the town just close by Rhonda's eatery, the bishop and founder of both establishment was beloved 98 year old character, a daughter of the town, now barely able to leave the house, her last born, 32 year old Wilson McGregor stepped up into the big shoes.

Three years had gone by since that became stale story, the small gathering had amassed a large population over those three years, such that was only a testament to Wilson McGregor's deep spiritual connection and healing communion ministration.

"Hello and Good evening!" Mrs Peterson, secretary to Wilson beamed a bright and infectious smile at the last worshipper who remained after everyone had now took their leave.

"Good evening!"

"Yeah, I am Mrs Peterson, the church's secretary among other positions i can assure you (scoffs), i haven't seen you around here before, you are visiting?"

"Visiting!"

"Oh really, that's splendid, If you..."

"Tell me something about the healing communion ministration,"

Mrs Peterson felt delighted to give an answer, in fact she did expect the tourist to ask, previous occasions had left the church with big donations that had earned her quite a reputation.

"Well, you see it all happened a year after Pastor Wilson took over, The church and the eatery was going bankrupt, it was a terrible time, then one day after 14 days of deep and powerful spiritual meditation and fasting and prayers, it was all revealed by our Lord Jesus to pastor Wilson, to heal all who came to him through the communion and that was what he did and hallelujah!... he has been healing..."

"Am not asking about that, I want to know what is in the cup you serve congregation?"

Mrs Peterson held a startled expression for a quick second and then went on to try and explain her best.

"Well, its natural pressed..."

"You don't see it, do you?"

"Mrs. Peterson, That's enough, thank you now, I will handle the stranger, you go home to your kids, I will lock up and check up on the eatery before retiring for the day, thank you!" Wilson walked out, it was certain he had been listening to discussion.

Mrs. Peterson did her best to hide her confusion over Wilson's reaction that took her out of the Picture completely, she took her leave and hoped the good lord forgave her for swearing some foul language at the stranger.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"Nobody, just want to..."

"Did it send you?"

"You have been expecting it, haven't you?"

"So it sent you?"

"What was in your contract, what was given for what was received?"

Wilson thought hard over the question, this young man had had eyes on right from the start and somehow this scared him more than it did.

There was something about his presence that threatened his very existence as it seemed, could he be one of the higher ones, it talked about? Could this be it?

"I...I...want you to know that i didn't mean to..."

"And yet you did, You made a deal with it,"

"It was just a little, it promised to take only just a little off the lives of the old ones," Wilson felt overly embarrassed.

"16 teenagers have lost their lives to suicide under the last two years in this small town..."

"I swear, I only got to realize what..."


"Shut up!"

The demonic voice knocked the poor pastor's spirit out of his body rendering him unconscious.

Behind Elijah Laimech, stood Mrs. Peterson, eyes all rolled up inside and blackened.

TO BE CONTINUED. EPI-PART B

PROLOGUE


Midnight, Down town Ithaca, New York buzzed considerably enough to get a few people wondering the streets , enough for them to even appreciate the beauty and quietness the small town was known for.

Except one ventured to pass by the old and soon to be demolished apartment floor building that housed just about anyone and anything that could pay its so called owners the monthly rent, a whopping $50 bill.

"Don't use the elevator, amigo it's broken, can't you read the sign, papi?" Someone screamed his gut at father Luis who had his focus shared between navigating his way around the building and making his call.

"What, when? I took the elevator coming up here a while ago...oh never mind, yes, just you wait for me, i am coming to you!" He reaffirmed his determination to get back to the ground floor.

He took fewer seconds to locate the stairs and made the descent with much fuss for it was the eight floor.

But there was much to occupy his mind, Seline, the sixteen year troubled soul was in dire need of help, help, he couldn't render for he was merely not trained in what was required neither was he certain of his willingness to do such.

The young girl was the daughter of a friend of a deacon of his parish here in the small town.

When the matter of possible possession was cited, it did trouble him greatly but how was he to know that the poor girl had become so tormented and violent, she had been restrained in a manner less befitting of a human being and sedated consistently.

Yet he had seen it all happen, The unexplainable rage and madness that had shook him to his core, such his lack in the matter was outrightly exposed.

But he wasn't without help, his superiors at the diocese seemed calm on the phone when he explained his shortcomings on the matter.

"We will get in touch with a specialist there in new york he is one of the very best, you can be certain will assist and help the child, you will get in touch with him soon, do not be alarmed any further," He had been told.

"Oh, you are him? I mean, welcome, I am father luis!"

He stood rather startled by the presence of the man before him.

He was an afro-america, young, probably around his late twenties, nothing spoke extraordinary of his appearance except his overly calm demeanor and steady gaze that spoke volumes, silently.

"We will have to take the stairs..." He hadn't quite finished the statement right there in the lobby before he watched a not so decently dressed latino lady who anyone could have swore was a hooker and her daughter matched into the elevator with their laundry basket.

'That son of...' He cautioned himself thoughtfully, "never mind that, i hope you don't mind us sharing the elevator!"

"Go for it!"

It would take the closing doors of the elevators to remind father luis there after that his visitor hadn't joined him in the elevator.

Elijah Laimech began his ascent up to the source of the terrible demon smell, it had been so obvious right from the premises of the building he had began to wonder which of the three classical cases he was up against.

Firstly, there was the possibility this was a huge bait for something else, a charm, a spell could force the innocent to become an unholy bait for even more powerful *

Secondly, he was in fact dealing with a very malignant and powerful *


And lastly, there was the chance, his host had become a resident of multiple *

The setting was indeed right, drug dealers, criminal elements of all sorts and the destitute filled every corner, hopelessness and man's sinfulness seemed too perfect for any *
to pass up.


"Hah, you made it i was just about thinking of getting back down and..."

Elijah paid less attention to him, father Luis hadn't known it yet but the young exorcist was at work already.

He trailed the smell and ended up right in front of the door where it was all happening.

"What are you doing there, no, that's not the right place, excuse me..."

Father luis called out as Elijah banged hard on a different door.

'Exorcist or crazy fellow?' father luis wondered as he joined him unwillingly.

'Hey punta! Que lo que amigo? What is it papi?"

The Spanish speaking guy towered over them in height and statue, he seemed ready to result to violence for no good result even though father luis immediately desired a clap back on the elevator prank he had pulled on him much earlier.

"está todo bien señor, eh, me and my friend here, will like to ask for your finest collection of recreational drugs,"

"Wait, what, Certainly..."

"Are you f**king with me right now or what?"

"Your establishment here says it all, you sell the good stuff, right?" Elijah continued much to the horror of luis.

"(Chuckle) come on in, you too will do nicely for entertainment, i hope you know what you are asking for, papi!" The man taunted as he let the door swing wide for his unsuspecting visitors like sheep for the slaughter.

Once inside, Elijah came face to face with three others who seemed less likely rational than their host, drugs, alcohol and even guns of all kind filled the entire scene.

"Hey amigos, we got ourselves..."

Elijah knocked the giant's spirit out of him in one standing resulting to a mild panic as he slammed hard into the ground.

His colleagues fared no better either, their spirits were out rightly called out leaving their body in an instance; suspended until commanded otherwise.

Somewhere inside the room, the source of the smell laid await, it had already sensed his presence right from the very moment he walked in.

"You should leave now, go to the girl, she will need your prayers to save her soul,father!"



ELIJAH LAIMECH IS COMING SOON

So work is about to resume and I may decide to slow the pace once more. Thank you all for reading. Hopefully, I will be here more often. To drop updates for you all.

So work is about to resume and I may decide to slow the pace once more. Thank you all for reading. Hopefully, I will be here more often. To drop updates for you all.

Continued





"Sheesh, its cold I know!" The horse seemed to have a problem with something as it's occupant alighted down amidst the blistering cold.

There was something off about the residence but most importantly there was no source of heat, the chimney wasn't puffing out smoke, the lamps had no light to give off and somewhere probably in the barn, the chicks and pigs screeched and gruntled, tormented by the strong snowy conditions.

"Is any one home!?" He rapped his knuckles on the door aware of his horse's discomfort, he took one quick look in and decided he would fair better inside.

He pushed the door open and soon came face to face with the gruesome scene, both the tracker, his wife and daughter laid frozen; they had died from the cold many days ago.

He had no time to get over the shock, the castle bells had been rung, there was an emergency and need for all soldiers to return back, he took his leave and returned back to his horse, the snow relented not and the people were becoming hopeless and scared by the day.


Morning came very quick for the occupants of the castle.

Anareg more than anyone was anxious to get out, the guards hadn't let him out of his room nor did anyone come visiting, oh how much he missed boyle he thought to himself as he made his way out.


Anareg joined the other servants at the quarters, the soldiers were no fun to be around at such times.

"Oh, I hope the poor soul is okay?"

"He is going to be fine, his lover is taking good care of him, I am pretty sure he is happy right now..."

"Oh shut up!"

"Its true!" The other replied.

They soon left the issue of thulip and lorgareth and deviated to other interesting issues.

It was here, anareg felt welcomed even when he was treated like he wasn't really there , the servants his little from his presence and sometimes seemed to enjoy his silence.

"Oh my prince, have you checked up on your brother this morning?"

"You know, I don't get it, Why won't the prince wake up?"

"Yes, even I wonder, whatever did that crazy old man do to the poor boy?" Another said.

Indeed anareth hadn't woken up and now master abott was no more it seemed unlikely that he ever would.

Anareg took his leave and decided to go see his brother.

Just as another servant had left to go dry out the laundry.

The walk to the laundry lines was quite a distance that none of the servants liked, it was one that went through the castle's courtyard perhaps what many servants hated most was the designated space where the heads of the beheaded were hung on spikes, rotten and an eye sore.

It was such a busy morning, there was already good enough reason for the soldiers to be on edge over the recent activities within the castle, there patrols were more demanding, their training more excessive, there was no liveliness in their mannerism anymore.

The servant avoided as many as she could eben going behind the designated space to avoid a few a far off, it was that very moment she realized something was amis.

She dropped the laundry basket and ran as far as her legs could take her back to the soldiers for many heads and bodies had gone missing on the spikes, yet again another mystery.

A few minutes later, thuram appeared before king vhamare.

"Sire, there has been another accident?"

Vhamare scoffed and beckoned on thuram to give his report.

"Something has happened to some heads and some bodies on spikes,"

"They are out to get me, aren't they?" Vhamare shuddered.

"Sire?!" Thuram stood confused.

"I know this day would eventually come, she taunts and haunts me in my dreams, all of them, each wretched day I spend in this throne, I have to ..."

"Sire, if I may, I think something else is happening here and I wish to investigate..."

"All you ever do is investigate, investigate, mark my words, the dead are coming for us all and there is nothing we can do to stop it !" Vhamare sounded off his warning before slipping back Into his chair.

Thuram bowed and took his leave immediately, it was certain there was no help anyone could render to the king at this point, he was no better than a sick and depressed man begging for his death.

CHAPTER TWO A CASTLE, A CAST OUT A PLAGUE

"Of course it's not a bloody accident, the old man didn't pull himself into the damn hole did he?"

Thuram reacted to one of his men's suggestion once they discovered the body and took it to the mortuary, usually Master abott would be able to tell them what could have gone wrong, it was things like this that he was worth calling upon for.

"And i don't think it was the maids either, to get into the chimney hole would mean a lot of soot and ashes but we have checked and nothing of sort has been found on any of the servants and master abort certainly is not gonna fit into that smoke chimney very easily, something else happened last night, I need a list of all patrolling soldiers and servants who may have heard or seen something yesterday night, we will get to the bottom of this,"

thuram's determination was much appreciated by all, master abott was an old and respected man even amongst the soldiers for many owed him their lives.

Knocks came on the door soon and a few soldiers had walked in to report their findings.

"What is it?"

"General, we did a head count, there are three people missing, a chief, uhm thulip and one of rhamon's men,"

"Okay, listen up everybody, the king and the princes must be protected at all cost, I want extra bodies on guard but do not alarm them for we are not certain yet of what is happening here, the rest of us will divide ourselves into patrol groups, we are searching for three people, call the others if you find any or are in need of more bodies, one of you, get to the village, find me a tracker, I can't rule out the play of dark magic Here so stay vigilant, let's go!" Thuram drew his weapon out, it was a quick moment to respond and take action.

The soldiers took new positions and marched out gallantly, each to a different location as they set out on their new mission.

"I bet it's a wizard who has managed to get into the castle,"

"I bet you should shut up your mouth and stay focused!" Another cautioned as the soldiers search party roamed the endless dungeons of the castle's basement.

"We should go, no one in their right minds would come down here in the middle of the night!" Another soldier said squeamishly.

"I find it quite perfect for a little get together with the maids you know!" Another laughed cheerfully.

"That's disgusting and unromantic,"

"Its actually adventurous and thrilling!"

"Shussshh!" A third suddenly brought their chatter to a halt.

They could all hear it, the groaning of someone.

"Do you hear that?"

"Of course I hear that, the question is do we want to go there ?"

"Let's cast lot, dare I say!"

"No way, we all go together and check it out, some how each time you all cast lots I end up been the least unfortunate one, no way we all go!" Another said and with that they all drew their weapons and matched on cautiously without an ounce of courage to face off any threat.


As they drew near , there hearts began go sink deeper until their torches caught the sight of what was.

"Oh my god, thulip!?"

The scene was a bloody mess, thulip laid covered in his own blood and tumor ridden body, somewhere in the background laid an even horrendous sight, a huge were wolf like monster half wolf and half man laid lifeless, his head crushed with stone.

"Oh my...oh my, call the general immediately!"

chapter 2 part 4


The city trooper headquarters had suddenly come into spot light for Mr. Osazuki Morusaki, Head of The Ghosts Retribution.

It was quite rare to see one of these top boss walk into a trooper headquarter but there he was in the flesh; literally for osazuki was one of the few known retributors who solely relied on external weaponry; a strong believer and follower of the fleshist Movement, a group who believed bodywares were a disease and a corruption to the human soul.

He was of good age to be considered retirement but there is a popular saying "it is better to try and outrun 100 cyber terrorists than 1 old retirbutor".

" why is Mr. Osazuki, here!?" Reece asked his older colleague, much too confused about the old man's presence.

"Well, butch certainly bleeped it up it seems, remember their scene we cleaned, I don't think the old man is happy about it!"

Osazuki went straight to butch Hartman's office uninvited; the chap had just conducted one of his many anti-retributor on-net session when his visitor walked in.

"Mr. Osazuki!?"

"Mr butch, so good to see you!" Osazuki took his seat, eyes steady on his host.

"To what do I own..."

"Do you know why 85% on-field retributors I employ and work with daily are androids, humanoids and robots, Mr. Butch?" Osazuki asked.

"Ehmm, well I figured it must have been because of the accident..."

"F**k the accident, do you think my last 8 years have been motivated by self pity or a need to prove something if you think so then you are clearly mistaken, Loyalty, Efficiency and Neutrality, If you pay a retributor well enough, tell them how nice and special they are, maybe they won't sh*t on you, maybe they can just be loyal and efficient but neutrality, the ability to act without compromise or sentiments, hah alas, a human's greatest weakness and it is why I..."

"Ghosts..they are invincible, oh they are neutral, I see..."

"You finally see it, I have been watching you for some time now, Mr. Butch, in fact I am an ardent follower of a few channels, I may have my personal opinions about your Inquisition about retributors in general but none the less, I do not see you as an enemy hence I decided to drop this message for you, I know you and your men sought to reclaim this city, pry it out of our hands, I have no problem with such, competition is good business but let me warn you, the next time you compromise my employees either dead or alive, on scene or off-scene, on-net or off-net , I will make sure to give you a well deserved reply, do I make myself clear?" Osazuki's words could have cut through polymethium steel.

Butch gulped harder than usual, even the sweat off his face seemed to have defied time out of fear.

"It was a slip of...I mean I gave the order but I can assure you that ...I will have them deliver your bots to you personally, I just wanted to be..."

"You have 2 hours, to get every nuts and bots, parts and piece of scrap metal registered to me and my company which you took off my scene returned to me, Mr. Butch!"

"Wait, there is something I think may be helpful to you sir, I mean ..."

"What is it?"

"The scene, we found traces of bineth in what killed the primary target, the analysis came out some minutes ago, your team was set up, someone hacked and leaked your intel, a cross-retro job maybe, I think we can help each other Here if I do say so my self,"

"And here i thought there was a man who could be neutral, without sentiments even, 1 hour and 57 minutes remaining, Mr. Butch!" Osazuki took his leave leaving butch to wonder if he did listen to anything he had to offer.

But of course osazuki knew all this even before the attack had began, it was quite unfortunate the primary target was already enroute to death haven and communications had been compromised, even now he was close to finding out who took out one of His top teams and killed his prize target.


Meanwhile somewhere in district III

"Talk!" Mr.Olga barked at the unidentified incoming caller.

"There is a small issue needed reporting,"

"So, report!"

"there was a short circuit hack at one of the old towers, a power grid tap was registered some hours early,"

"What district is this and can you verify the source?"

"District II and negative, it was primitive and quite insufficient for geomapping, what would you want us to do?"

"There are 8 facilities within the district, send some maintenance drones, find out if it was some glitch or something else then report back to me!"

"Yes Sir,"

"And listen, keep this under wrap, nothing goes to the heads until I say so, we good?"

"Loud and clear!"

Mr. Olga took a back seat, it was days like this that made him wish he was off world, from a crazy bastard spewing nonsense about possible bineth poaching to this yet his new job was worth the hefty pay check, he agreed.

He veered off road into much of the lesser known parts of district III, where the real fun was.

CHAPTER TWO A CASTLE, A CAST OUT A PLAGUE



"You killed me!" Vhamare's nightmare came to a dreary end as he screamed back to reality, he sighed earnestly for an end but found none hence when he rose he found little comfort in a cup of wine.

Thuram came in quickly, the war general had learnt that it was only mornings like this he could get anything reasonable from his king.

"My lord, Boyle and King rhamon have rode off to tharash on their mission, we estimate that..."

"I am hungry, tell the servants to serve me breakfast!" He interrupted with little regard for his general's word.

Meanwhile anareg had joined His brother at his sick bed.

"Oh anath, whatever did happen!?" He groaned hopelessly where he sat.

He was still groaning and wondering what had happened when his eyes found Master abbott's ink pot and a book by the table close to the window.

"Was master abott here recently?" He wondered, a spark of curiosity had been ignited.

The night's candle though left as wax hadn't been removed yet perhaps this was last night after all.

Abott's personal study book laid on the table without a care for who it was that could have stumbled upon it, certainly something was wrong for the old man would never part with the book without a reason, it was a rare book whose details they say could only be understood by the old man for its language was old druidic language, a mysterious book filled with ancient monsters, curses, charms and spells, many hadn't realized it for none ever came in contact with it but the young Prince had studied the druidic language; in his own nature he understood every word.

Somewhere along the passage, a servant rang the bell for breakfast and at the royal dining, there was in fact an already tense moment that would certainly have ended with heads rolling.

"He is going to find out!" One of the two servants responsible for the care and storage of meat used for cooking seemed to communicate with her eyes to the other.

"He won't, just shut up and let him have taste first!" The other reassured.

There had been a rising issue of missing chunks of raw meat they feared could been traced to them over their own short comings; they wouldn't be the first but surely many heads had seen the axe already over much smaller offenses.

King vhamare emptied a jug and a bit more before he ever decided to put a piece of bread in his mouth.

He chewed dully and mulched like one who had no life left in him.

He seemed to have a conversation with himself resulting in short burst of laughter every now and then startling those who stood watch.

Then he turned his attention to his favorite, potato porridge stew, it smelt good as always and sure was his breakfast highlight.

It was prepared with an assortment of spices, herbs and meat chunks that excited his taste buds so when he took the first spoon under the watchful eyes of those two servants, he nodded with great approval as always and cared not for a moment more, he swallowed each spoon's content until he hit a little obstacle.

So when he ran his teeth along that obstacle and then proceeded to bring it out it didn't take a minute more before one of the servants fainted.

For inside the stew bowl was more; human hair, an eye ball or more.

************

"Lorgareth, you are not to go out, all servants have been confined to their quarters for the main time while the soldiers investigate," the castle keeper cautioned, she had noticed her restlessness amongst many others that night unfortunately there was nothing anyone could do.

The entire day had been thrown into chaos, thuram had thrown the entire serving members into jail and was had turned his focus on the kitchen staff consequently.

There was already a rumor, the culprit and his or her allies of such bloody joke would be made to hang if caught.

This resulted to some sort of curfew that was imposed on everyone within the castle grounds.

"I found something?" A soldier called out to the others.

It took quite a bit of time before they had managed to drag out the remains of Abbott lodged, up inside the kitchen's fireplace chimney where food was prepared in the kitchen.

Meanwhile Thulip's patience had been exceedingly tested, he was certain that lorgareth had gotten his message, she was to meant him in the basement, a secret place where he felt he could contain whatever answer she would give to him once he explained everything, he had spent the entire day there not like anyone ever asked for him or acknowledged his presence when he was not around so he hadn't realized the castle was on lockdown or the accident at the dining.

He roamed through the empty spaces and openings beneath the castle and soon stumbled upon his own mystery yet from somewhere perfectly and well hidden; something evil had already set eyes on its next victim.

Chapter 2 Part 3




Rolland waited just the right moment for Mrs Pearson to take her sleeping dose before sliding out of the house without notice, he was already good at evading even the most sophisticated robot in the house, Big-AO and hence when he reached the last block down the street on his skateboard, he seemed satisfied with himself.

"Hey Rollo, you made it, let's go there is no time!" Chloe replied.

Rollo gleaned cheerfully at Chloe; many hadn't realized it but Rollo did like Chloe; his sophisticated chip allowed him to inhibit a few emotions such as love, anger, confusion and even fear.

Chloe was a 15 year old street girl, the leader of a rag tag group of orphan kids who went by the name deserters, by day they worked for less and tried to earn a living whatever means or manner that came but by night, the deserters poached old and abandoned factories and buildings belonging to the old world, such where they hope to find enough treasure to last them a lifetime and maybe live a happy ever life on the off space station world or moon base or even better with the wealthiest of the wealthiest on planet mars.

"Hey, why is he with us tonight?" Choco asked quite upset about Rollo's presence.

Choco was fairly new, another member of a rival gang who had found out he was better off with Chloe and her crew yet he detested Rollo for what he was; a non organic life form, a scrap metal l to be sold.

"Do you have any problem with Rollo?" Chloe asked as four more members joined them.

"Just don't want him screwing us up like the last time, that's all!" Choco lied; in fact he had been the one who made it happen so members of the gang were caught when a trooper came by.

"That wasn't me!" Rollo defended himself.

"Its okay, we know it was you, come on let's go, we don't have much time, we need to beat the other gangs to the place, pretty sure words have gone out already!" Chloe stressed.

She turned up her skates and rocketed out of the scene.

"The last one is a spumk!" She taunted in the distance.

And so the crew zapped through the street, mowing everything and anything they fancied much to jeers from onlookers and concerned citizens; not that they cared it seemed.


They arrived soon after at the location and it seemed anything but promising, a demolished decommissioning building yet the deserters held out hope for something worth their time.

"We all go in twos, so who's coming with?" She asked.

"I will go, I figured you may need some muscles..."

"Pick me, pick me!"

"Super! Rollo let's go!"

Choco stood there dumbfounded for a moment, it was the third time he had been overlooked for a tin can and how he hated it.

'Very soon, I will have my day!' he thought to him self.

Chloe and Rollo blasted their rocket powered skates into the building and with Rollo's PGM ( promixity geomapping ) they had an edge been able to determine hidden or forgotten compartments of the building.

"So it seemed your mom got you out of impound, I was worried about you!" Chloe revealed as they went in deeper.

"Oh no, Johnnie got me out!" Rollo replied.

"The retro?"

"Yeap, the retro, he does it so that my mom can lay off his business, she has a way of getting into everything about you but in a good way and only if she likes you!" Rollo reminded her.

"You mom sounds nice, I wish I had a mom!" Chloe revealed.

"Well, You can get one!"

"Haha, too expensive plus the latest caredriods unit suck but if we find a big haul which I doubt we will tonight I will get a mom, dad and a brother..."

"what about a boyfriend!?"

"What?"

"Ehmm!" He hadn't thought about that before saying it loud but there it was, his hidden affection for her and he certainly wasn't ready to leave with the nightmare that followed for he was still a teenage boy and he felt just about everything one would feel, the awkwardness and guilt, thankfully something had interrupted.

"What's that?" Chloe asked suddenly, Rollo's projected map had started to beep a signal that meant something was ahead.

They got to the spot quickly and as soon as Chloe called on the others to track them, she and her Rollo continued to investigate the scene.

It seemed like the most trashed and damaged area of the building, the repairs and automation section yet the beep hadn't come from there but beneath the surface.

"It's coming from beneath!" Rollo replied.

They soon set out to work, Rollo was a natural in this things, he had inherited some sort of residual intelligence for all things electronics.

He found a damaged power outlet and brought it to life, sharing his power and then went on to patch into the building's AI system or whatever that was left of it.

"What's going on here?" Choco asked as he and others turned up.

"We found something, a hidden part of the building which isn't in the building's blue print, Rollo is..."

Chloe hung up as a secret elevator opened just behind a set of damaged shelves.

"...now that's a good boy!" Chloe beamed with a smile that made Rollo excited the more.

The crew went in and and descended into the unknown and soon after they arrived at yet again another section that housed a massive collection of older robots, antiques, gadgets and prototypes of unknown origins, yet they hadn't realized the danger they were in for their presence had tipped off a group of very high profiled mercenaries.

"Yes! Look at all this, wow! Yes!" Chloe beamed with gladness as they walked into the large space filled with bots and nuts, each with a price tag that would get a citizenship on mars if they wished.

"Rollo you did it!" she placed a kiss on Rollo's cheek sending a massive overload of current down the spine of the bot.

"That's a ASPR-prototype, my big brother says an ASPR could fetch around 360k digits a prototype would sell triple the amount! Do you understand what this means?" Choco asked half ecstatic and half shaken by the loot.

"Well it means, the next time you see me, I am gonna be mod up in platinum bodyware 100%, I am gonna be on Mars, maybe own a couple of businesses in district III and maybe on the moon or on the..."

"Guys, look at this!" Rollo called out, soon after he regained his self from a kiss he had been drawn to something else hidden from plain sight.

"What is that?" Choco asked.

"I don't know, it looks like a prototype of some chipset, its still in its cryo tube" Someone replied.

"Yeah but look at the frame, it says..."

"Bineth Industries!"

"Bineth industries, that can't be right bineth is a mega global corporation..."

"Well according to their database, a little history dating back to close to the end of the fourth world war and the threat of a fifth, Bineth first came into existence as a small time weapon manufacturing industry for the..."

"Wait, does this mean?"

"It would appear, we may have just stumbled into one of Binet's older facility dating back to..."

Phiash!

Lazer bullet cut off the arm of choco before anyone could react, his scream came consequently as they all came under huge gun fire that instantly killed another member.

"Take choco and go, I will cover you all!" Chloe said mounting her stun whip blaster on her hand.

"No, you go, I will..." Rollo's words fell into chaos as someone threw a stun grenade into their midst.

The resulting explosion rendered all of them unconscious quickly.

CHAPTER TWO A CASTLE, A CAST OUT A PLAGUE




"My head!" Carlo, the personal aide to rhamon suddenly drew steep breath as his eyes opened drowsily to the burning candle within the room.

He had been in and out of a severre fever; a result of his wounds.

"Hmm" he murmured gulping balls of saliva as a unusual thirst for something to drink began to crawl up his throat.

He dragged himself off the bed and roamed clumsily in the room, knocking whatever stood in his way and stood in his way it seemed; all things.

He found an half empty jug and quickly gulped down the content but this was a terrible mistake, his thirst was only made excruciating and even more painful to bear.

He let out a yell that sounded less human and began to have seizures that threw him to the ground without haste; a birth of something ungodly, witnessed only by the shrieking rats that scurried out of sight.

Somewhere inside the castle, Abbott raced down the stair case, his torch barely lighting his way, he battled with the various thoughts that pointed to an alarming fact he had overlooked right from day one.

He raced past a few doors and a few patrolling officers maybe if he had known what really was, he wouldn't have gone to check up on Carlo alone.

Suddenly he heard a soft growl somewhere in the darkness where his torch could not penetrate, he wasn't close enough to any doors for safety and as the growl greeted his skin, he realized he was out of his depth.

"Oh my!" He muttered as the monster revealed himself in the dimly lit passage finally, even his torch could not wait for the full reveal before it went bleak.

Abbott gave a loud shrieked; his last shrieked.

Anareg woke up, he had managed to escape one of his many nightmares but somehow there was that sensation that his nightmare had woken up with him.

He took to his feet and rechecked the oil in his lamp before opening the door.

It was cold, quiet and lonely as the night was far at its peak.

There was no particular place in mind to go except a need to confirm his doubt that he hadn't let loose one of his nightmare.

A few indifferent chatter somewhere in the servants quarters, a marching patrol elsewhere, he could afford not to listen to, He walked steadily and just when he had had enough wall for a night he could hear it, as clear as he had imagined been spoken to would feel.

A growl, a terrible and frightening growl greeted his ears.

He turned sharply only to be rushed by a mob of squealing rats who ran past him for safety.

This startled the young prince, his curiosity spiked to the max as he peered into the darkness from where they came.

Then it saw its eyes; devilish and wicked, two red blistering and fiery evil eyes peaked at him as they suddenly began to rise up.

3 meters...4 meters...5meters...6....7...8meters.

It stood taller than anything Anareg had ever seen.

His imagination bore the horror of what starred him and so he ran away abandoning the torch.

He ran as his breath yet the monster seemed to be just right behind him.

He stumbled and rolled over many obstacles in terror of what pursued him.

Until he found his room and slammed it shut with every ouce of strength he could muster, he wasn't certain if the heavy doors could protect him but what was he to do rather than lay beneath the sheets, still and silent as possible as he could.

He could not hear it but he felt its presence close lurking outside his door, screeching and growling for only a time before disappearing into the darkness.

"Gbam!..Gbam!!..Gbam!!!"

The thud seemed to force Anareg to the morning light that pierced through the window of his room.

He ran quickly to the doors only to find Boyle all dressed up.

"I will be going with your uncle to tharash, we are going to get huntsman!" He anomic happily; much excited about the journey for he rarely ever visited anywhere ex except when the king was on a hunting trip.

"There is something I need to tell you!" Anareg motioned to him but Boyle was much too excited to listen rather he displayed himself and his shinning armor before dashing off.

"Farewell my Prince!" He disappeared down the hall.

He looked around and seemed to be in doubt, nothing seemed out of the ordinary now he thought about it, the soldiers patrolled the passages and the servants seemed to be up and about as expected, was it then all in his head, he wondered.

He returned to his room and there about to the window to take another look; below there was nothing that seemed out of place even thulip lanrgid seemed to have found feeding the ducks amusing as did logareth who cheered him.

Somewhere in the distant, he found rhamon and Boyle saddling their horses on their way out of the palace.

A huntsman Boyle had said, perhaps this was for the good of them all, a huntsman would take no time to find out what was going on and slay whatever monster if there was any inside the castle.




Larngid Climbed up the stairs eagerly to his tower where the village bell hung although it wasn't his duty to ring the bell, the tower itself was one of his first home when he was brought into the castle at a tender age.

It was the peaceful and serenity of this place he missed the most so when he had a wonderful moment to share he thus shared them with the silence that prevailed In the tower.

Even more was the beautiful scenery that laid below its height, from here thulip could see everything and everyone going on about their business, it was here he had seen her, lorgareth, oh how beautiful she was as she dried the laundries, she had caught him looking and reciprocated with a big smile that caught him by surprise for many would jeer and point fingers at him for his horrid nature but she was approving, her eyes bore the affection of one who like the old books described "Fair and Noble of Heart" soon she had often visited him with lots to eat and talk about, she had often displayed her efficiency in acrobatic displays for her father was the castle's first jester until his death and soon it had dawned on thulip that was his calling.

He smiled brightly at himself, sitting at the window as his mind fancied the moments before.

Lorgareth had helped him feed the ducks and swans and in her nature she had made it the most fun thing to do that morning and didn't he need it afterall having spent the previous night on duty.

He wondered if it was right, could he? was he ready to tell her about his secret, the one he kept away from her the most.

Would he dare risk loosing her affection just to let her know how he truly felt about her, about his most shameful fantasies he had most of the night.

Could he ever stop thinking of her sweet, sensual body he had caught a glimpse of one night he came looking for her.

It was shameful and despicable for one such as himself to spy on her while she washed yet he was but a man consumed by his feelings and desire for her.

So even though his guts warned him of the dire consequences he sought out a way after all.

He was unfortunate to never learn the books but lorgareth had volunteered to read him most of her books, they always seemed interesting and soon he began to borrow and some he bought and exchanged for something else with the castle's library keeper.

"The princess and The Wizard of Gremlen" He murmured in the way only he understood as he searched his personal stash.

There was a beautiful poem that lorgareth so much loved, she had willingly volunteered to read it to him more often than most books, he could see her eyes lit each time the wizard read his poem to the princess, thereby winning her heart over.

"Found it!" He said happily, he produced a blank sheet and an ink pot and began to copy the words of the poem, tonight he would do what he had dreamt off for so many nights.

"The guy you are looking for is known as shark real name odike Emmanuel Kelvin, drug baron and inter state weapons dealer, Has some sort of ranking on the Nigeria police most wanted list, not too bad nor too good, he has been able to keep his face off the news for the past eight years after the bloody mess he made with the Five man gang who robbed three banks with sophisticated firearm that was eventually linked to him, thread with care, he has guys carefully observing those around him, follow the script and you may just walk out with a smile!" 3face explained over the secret comms.

James paid for a bottle and dragged it towards his target, his fake beard and moustache was top notch, Evelyn may have out done her delta-nine work after all he thought as he got closer.

1...2...3, mildly armed and undercover, he sniffed shark's boys out pretty quick and reminded himself of the angles each had taken and could have taken if they were to have a better shot at him; hr was the best shot no doubt.

"Do I know you, is there something you want?" Shark's voice raised a decent fuss over his unwanted presence.

"Me? I don't want, you of course need something!" James paused for a quick moment, one of shark's boys, the one he had thought seemed experience enough to be in a strategic and uncompromising place had began to draw near them, a hand tucked in for his weapon.

"You can tell you man and the others who are in terrible positions by the way to calm the f**k down, my name is el-nasir Jamal..." James had caught the spark in shark's eyes quick enough to see him motion some inaudible command to his man who quickly turned around.

"Who did you say you were?"

"You heard me the first time, you are only asking to make sure I am who I say I am, I know so because I have sat where you sat and shot people over much simpler acts of deception over where I am sitting, call your man, farouk, he will clear me for a conversation with you quickly!" James lied with such confidence and presence that it was almost a blight on shark's person to doubt.

There was such confidence and body language that ticked just the right boxes, much too perfect for some deception shark thought before replacing his phone back to the table.

"Wow I dare say, how is it that a small time runner like myself has been found a worthy dealer man for an organization as yours!?" He asked.

"Well you see...hmm, it appears you are not ready for business, even now you are still trying to toy with me even though this is not the first time you have conducted business with my organization, so you know what, I will send a report..."


"I am..I am sorry, you know this line of business, we all..."

"What trust does anyone find if he finds none in himself?" James quoted, he was getting good at this; his mission briefing over the past three weeks had led up to this moment.

"Famous quote by Garrett Wilson, I am impressed, I am huge fan of him you know, you see one time I got one of his books signed and delivered to me from overseas, it cost a fortune about 19,811,811 naira but it was worth it!" Shark beamed with joy, James was certain he was now relaxed and all thanks to 3face who had intercepted the trick question before he answered it.

"Very good now before we discuss business, I would like some pleasure first, my beer is all warmed up already, let's order, shall we?"

Shark signalled for the bar lady and made some order as did he.

She took their orders and disappeared.

"There is a war coming and I am sure you must have heard, the joint northern state security commission has been inaugurated hence all hands have been put on deck for a showdown, a holy war is near and by his grace, we will wipe the infidels and their transgressions off our lands once and for all,"

"Oh yes, oh certainly yes, I trust in your organization's ability to wipe out who ever needs wiping, I must say your work up in the northern region has been excellent and I am only a servant here in this war of yours, just tell me what you need and I will make the calls!" Shark replied anxiously, oblivious of the fact of what truly was going on.

"Very good but you see there has been a lot of scrutiny within the organization and its dealings, infidels everywhere, both inside and outside, we have been conscious of the outside influence within the group and its operations, there have been some permanent demotions from top ranks recently and some major changes in our tactics and operations, we want to go from big operations to bigger operations, if they hit us with one bomb we hit them with five bombs!..." Again he paused and waited briefly.

"Yes, go on, tell me!" Shark replied.

"Hah, I see you are paying good attention, excellent, now as I was saying, we have been looking at a bigger operations and as such we are in demand of bigger and sophisticated suppliers..." He paused as the waitress returned with their orders, a little mishap had occurred as a bottle fell off the tray and into the ground causing a scene.

"What!"

"My shirt, do you have any idea how much this shirt cost me" Shark replied angrily.

James threw a dirty slap at the waitress and followed it up with another so quickly and loud that it did worry shark.

"Eh, it's okay, it's okay, she didn't know!" Shark defended the waitress's action.

"What nonsense is this, from where I come from..."

"I understand, she doesn't know, such is the rotten mannerism of the south, its okay, I will have to excuse myself for a while,"

"Yes indeed, maybe 3-5 minutes and you should be okay, I will go with you, it seems all those slaps have woken up my endo-mileterin," James replied, holding his crotch.

Shark obliged, such were some personalities one meet in this sort of business he concluded, he waived his men to keep watch while he and his new found associate used the rest room.

In nothing less than two minutes, shark reappeared and returned to his table and then signalled his top boy over.

"Let me have my book, we have just concluded a very important business deal that would stun even the likes of the cabal when I cash in, I Need to make some transfers and calls immediately!"

His bodyguard put up a mild frown and then produced an OTG USB drive.

"The password...the password sir!" The body replied.

"What did you say!?"

"Sir, you always ask us to ask you for the password to the black book, you said on no account..."

Shark stood up angrily, vexed beyond comprehension.

"Look at this riff-raff I picked up from the gutters daring to question my command, daring to...the password of course is 19811811"

"The Password is correct sir, are you sure you don't need us to call miss Victoria to run some checks too for you?" His boy asked.

"Victoria? Are you saying I am incapable of making a simple transfer or would you ask me for for my own password again?" Shark barked angrily.

"No boss, it is just that..."

"Its just that I pay you to do your job too well, go and check up on our new business associate, you and the others, you do nothing here all night long anyway!" Shark replied.

Like a dog with its tail between his legs, the security team disappeared.

"Intel guys almost f**ked up a three weeks special ops mission, why wasn't the password mentioned for the black book?"

"We didn't know but how did you figure it out so quickly?!"

"His files reads how poor he is with figures yet when i talked about his recent autographed purchase, he was able to quote the exact amount he got the book signed for, it was quite easy to piece the dummy's secret password after then but i needed a moment to make the guess after all a man's heart is where his treasures lie!"


"Well played James, lydia is more impressed with your fake slaps, your waitress has used the exit point some four minutes ago, we cloned his phone during the slip and replaced it all thanks to your theatrics now we have the black book, well done, you should leave now though you got three minutes before they realize the real shark is lying somewhere unconscious and in dire need of medical attention, good job once again agent 7!"

3face applauded his team behind the comms who had contributed to the success of the mission, there next mission was set for their most prized agent on ground: Mission Niger.

James bodi; Agent 7.

Chapter 2 Part 2


S.O.W HEAD QUARTERS - DISTRICT II



"frankly some horse sh*t is going on around here and I don't like it you know why...?"

Cox asked without waiting for an answer from any of the two.

"...because I am loosing money, the S.O.W can not run like this every time, what is this huh? Some sacrificial house for greenies? "

Cox was feigned her surprise very well but she knew john and mildas saw through her charade in fact it was quite the opposite, she had hoped to get a scape goat all week long but each one had threaded with much care in operations and case filings and now she was taking her frustration on her two most beloved operators.

Cox Giovanni was the second in command at S.O.W behind the old man who until now played a more active role, now cox bullied her way into everyone's thought at the corporation.

She had a chromium steel plated jaw that also ran down her throat and down her spine.

Legend has it that, she possessed an uncanny body ware that rivaled the likes of the old man back then, such reports were considered myth and legends in the world of retributors where the old man considered one of the first and greatest pioneer of modern day retributors existed.

Cox was a no nonsense "get the job done" woman who would gladly sacrifice just about anything and anyone for the course if it demanded, she gave no smiles at all and always made it seem she was after everyone; she was after everyone, indeed but she was right at heart, a Darling if she ever wanted to be and a Shepherd the retributors could count on to stick with them and stand by them.

"Boss, it was..."

"Shut the hell up, mildas!" Cox reacted her eyes towering over the two men in her office.

"You guys are getting cocky than the spumks we are trying to clean off the streets, you lads better be careful now, I will not hesitate to cut anyone down who decides to play psycho in the line of duty, I am watching out for all of you and you know it, get the hell out of my office!" Cox commanded indifferently.

Both retributors used the door and came almost face to face with saxo, mildas calm and easy go facial expression exposed his obviously safe ass considerable cox found nothing to make a mess out of.

"I take it she flipped her lid and gave you both some stern warning?" Saxo asked.

"Something like that and maybe a bit more!" Mildas replied.

"Oh that's good meaning she is going to go easy on the rest of us then, alright you ate not gonna like this but..."

Saxo beamed footage of one of the Wait rooms; showing a well suited gent with the bineth global corporation logo on, waiting.

"Who is that?" John asked.

"Helson Olga, New Head of district I operations for bineths, he is here for mildas over his reports!" Saxo revealed.

"My report, What report?"

"Dude, you said the second gang seemed to have said something about keeping you for your bineth, what were you thinking, you somehow work for these rich motherf**kers of course they are gonna come, asking you questions!" Saxo replied with some justification for he had warned the brute over the issuance of his report.

S.O.W reports over the past few months were directed to be shared between S.O.W and their parent company, bineth globals for "research and survey purposes" and whilst they (bineth) seemed not to Interfere over the course of this little adjustment, of recent it had became a normal occurrence to see one of the men in suit walk into the headquarter over something found in one or two reports.

"Ah, sh*t!"

"That's what I said when you decided to play smarty pants with your reports," saxo replied.

"Go talk to them, if you need a shoulder to cry on to, call cox, am sure she would be more than willing to lend you hers, I will be at the training facility when you are done, find me there!"john took his leave.

" and I will be at..."

"Nobody asked you, spumk!" Mildas cut saxo off as he took the way to the waiting room.

"That's the irrational and unhealthy work relationship I will never get used to, enjoy your day,filling files and debriefing your entire history with that f**ker, mildas!" Saxo blasted, his ego quite hurt it seemed.

John hadn't settled down for action when he received a call from the boss himself.

He took the elevator and went straight to the top office building that saw little to no action; the other one person who frequented this section was cox herself.

Hogan drifted slowly and almost lifeless in his support tank a part of him and his entrails remained submerged and ever under constant and careful observation by socket; a level 7 medical care-driod, one of bineth's finest fully custom made, tailored to serve whatever medical purpose it was programmed to.

"Take a seat, john!' The old man's voice came from one of the speakers neural linked to the old man's brain in the office.

"Care for a drink?" Circuit served a glass of whiskey to which john took.

The current state of holgan was not really or fully understood or known by many except for a few within the S.O.W.

Holgan was sick and slowly dying, he had suffered a defect in one of his internal body ware that led to excessive radiation leak into his organs that had slowly caused him to a type-7 synthetic cancer; damage irreparable just managed barely, he was way too old to undergo a transplant to a new body, the prospects was slim considering the delicate nature of his brain.

In medical terms, he was living his best option in the tube and so it stayed whilst cox handled the majority of the operations.

"How have you been boss?" John asked raising a glass to his health.

"Been worse, the usual but circuit has been a real piece of ass lately still I owe it my life," Hogan replied, there was a bit of sadness in his voice.

"We all owe someone our lives, and they all owe bineth shit!"john revealed.

" hahaha, yeah bineth still been a d**k as ever, anyway I got something I need you to handle for me, I want it off the books, John, strictly for your eyes only"

There it was, John's relationship with hogan hadn't really started off on the right foot in fact they barely saw eye to eye until the old man was regulated to a life in a tank then by chance they met and over those times, john had formed an almost unbreakable bond with the top man, this little side gigs comprised of the jobs he did secretly for the old man, nothing much really, some old cases that never got finished, some more personal than the others.

"ST. RUS's orphanage, district 1, some kids totaling 4 have been reported missing over the last two weeks, there is a general suspicion of meat poachers been at work here, normally I would suspect the rouletins but the manner of operations Here have been somewhat secretive and hushed away from the ears of everyone, i did a little bit digging and turns out there has been a series of such; three or four kids taken out of orphanages over the last two months, I need you to find and stop whatever this is, get to it Johnny!" Hogan commanded.

"You got it boss..."

"And Johnny, if you ever consider climbing a bit higher, don't hesitate to let me know, you have been a solid and a great performer, sure the boys would love it to see one of their own climbing up the ladder!"

"Pretty sure the boys would love it but cox is doing a swear of a job and the boys? we love her besides sitting behind a desk isn't my thing, I love getting my hands dirty!" John replied.

"Haha, good luck kid, I want this done off the map and off the record, you hear me, stay safe kid!"

John took his leave and made his way into the busy streets of district III, a district I train station was a few miles ahead.

Chapter Two Part One



Somewhere in district II, The car park elevators sluggishly cranked open. The visitor had just installed a new organ mod to better suit his other needs.

"The SE-8X is an copy upgrade of a prototype stolen off permatech corporations, I got one of them Chromaes to sell out, if you want it you gotta pay big, 12k digits, more but no less!" The designer revealed fancying the mod before the visitor; an ex-retributor turned bounty hunter by the name miles Hank.

He made his way out of the elevator still feeling a bit screwed up, the pain inhibitor drugs pumped in hadn't really done enough to minimize the after effect of the 18minute mod operation still it was worth it, he thought.

He connected to his car and seemed to wait for a signal but the car hadn't responded but this hadn't tipped him off yet that something else was going on down the dark and lonely car pack.

For his craft had been begging for some massive repairs and upgrades; changes he had delayed over the course of the last three months.

He groaned dully and continued to walk past the rows and sections of hovercrafts and landcrafts.

"What the hell is going on here?" He murmured suspiciously as he began to realize his vehicle was neither where it ought to be.

"Miles hank,"

The female voice was as cold as steel, ominous and much to be revered, its echo seemed to bounce off every steel components that formed a mod off the ex retributor's body.

He turned quickly, producing a standard SCR-glock.

His scanners attempted finding the source of the voice but quickly turned up scrambled.

"Who said that?" He growled cautiously turning around, eyes pitched to pick even the slightest movement.

A dark chuckle emanated from somewhere as footsteps trailed his presence.

"F**k this!"

He broke his composure, there was really no confidence to stand his ground and with the elevator door still close by, safety was to be found in numbers he concluded.

He turned quickly and made for the door only to have zapped by something that seemed to disarm him in one instant, wasn't a human, an android or something else he cared not as he intensified his push for the door.

"Running away so easily, I am disappointed!" The voice came from behind.

Her speed was unparalleled by anything within the area.

In a blur, she had reaped hank's head , allowing his body to slump on the elevator door and fall to its doom.

Kath, stood proud of her execution, their mission had been a success.

"Get the body, We will pry it off any mods that's worth a dime!" She said.

Her cohort only revealed when he walked into the flickering light in the car park, stood over 7.8 meters tall, a hulk of a man, a total disjointed piece of flesh and metal, a horrible cyber freak show that scared the shit out of any man; Grundy was a sad story much too familiar on the streets of the city.
Once a metal worker turned mercenary for hire, his lack of intelligence had made it quite an ordeal to carry out reputable jobs all by himself and had found no relevance in the under net world but there came Kath, ex trooper, ex-retributor and private militia personnel, the smart one who had given his muscles purpose.

They dragged the body off the scene and light out a mild-EMP grenade wiping off whatever evidence that could have been left off the scene.

They were ghost workers working for a ghost with an unusual shopping list that paid them handsomely upon each success they had and tonight was just one heck of a successful night.


It would take another fifteen to thirty minutes before the state trooper or private emergency teams would be called to the scene , another scene that was getting swept cleaned by members of the state trooper force was a rather bizarre that had happened some hours ago.


Butch Hartman was a sturdy cowboy character whose face was as unique as the scar that ran down his eye lid to his chin, he was an authoritarian and pacifist whose dealings with the law had been somewhat obscured by hatred and phobia for the retributors and private bodies, his gaze fixed on a mix of Brain matter in a putrid bloody mess.

It was a cyber gang member whose skull had been left with a gaping hole, it seemed the scene was littered with such and assault robot personnel and vehicles belonging to the ghosts and their would be attackers.

"How many minutes do we have left?" He asked wiping his nose off as he made to go check on another bloody mess.

"Not enough, sheriff, they are probably 10-15 minutes away!" his subordinate replied.

There was never enough time but he was adapting really fast, according to the first Correspondence emergency laws, he had the scene for as along as the retros hadn't arrived yet and thanks to one of his many tip off channels that poured in dozens of tips for a little dime or more he had secured this scene as the first correspondent, but a quick breakdown of what had happened seemed inconclusive even now.

A 3D holographic after-event map had only rendered just about what they thought; members of the cyber gang leader been transferred by the ghosts had hijacked transport and that had led to a gun battle.

The massacre was an eye sore.

"Just look at him, he must be so over the moon barking orders and taking charge over nothing!" An older colleague or Reece Willson; a greenie of the state trooper force whose first job happened to be that night.

"what? You mean butch?"

"No, I mean that sack of bagels whose gonna get us in a lot of trouble in the next few minutes if we don't leave this damn scene?"


"But he is doing the right thing after all, we are here, everyone is working, when was the last time troopers had sh*t to do in the city apart from sitting around in the offices and..."

"Sitting around in the offices keeps us safe, sitting around in the offices ensures we don't lose our limbs, heads or lives over retro business, kid, if you have been here long enough you would know there are reasons while there were amendments to the State Security bi-laws eons again, we troopers are just desk officers, passengers in this rot of a city like everyone else, butch is just using us for his personal glory and fame, putting us in the direct line of unnecessary attention and trouble!"

His older colleague seemed to have unpacked just what about many of the troopers had come to agree; butch was no saint.

"Well at least he got us working again, this uniform stands for something after all, the state troopers have been..."

"Kid, the state troopers have been what they were even before the bi-laws were passed, unprepared and unequipped for these no good cyber terrorists, do you know how it felt going to work, each day felt like it was our last, we were no better than the civilians we swore to protect and even now we sure ain't sh*t but maybe you will, as for me, I have seen enough come and go to know butch's crusade against the retros is just asking for trouble, and when fools make trouble, do you know who pays for it? Everyone!"

Trooper Reece stood there without a reply, sadly elements of truth were etched in his colleagues words about the dangerous lives troopers lived.

He would know a lot about it; his father and mother served this very city till they dropped, it was why he put on the badge, to serve.

Chapter One Part 5


"Hey Johnnie boy, listen I am sorry I wasn't planning on melting the spumk, he was trying to get away and the CSRs weren't..."

"We hit another dead end tonight, I can't keep you on a leash pluckett and that's gonna hit us differently each time we are on a job and I am running out of jobs with you, we needed him Alive, that easy, so you fix this, call me when you got something, for now, lay low, butch and his gang of troopers would be sniffing up the entire scene and soon after every damn retro in the city!"

John cut off comms before pluckett could say anything, the mission was a complete disaster, somehow the CSRs were better armed and prepared for the transport than Any of them were.

Whilst he drove down town, Fredd called in; a trooper down district II who owed him a favor for life and had been a great help and a great friend along his line of duty.

"Johnnie, we got the kid again, yeap! was found on 2nd street spray painting private property and causing public disturbance, he is climbing up the ladder fast!" fredd revealed.

"Okay, I am on my way, get him off the impound, Mrs Pearson would bark her head off if anything happens to the kid!"


John replied, his conversation with fredd had been threatened by incoming calls by mildas still has paid no attention to it, tonight had been quite uneventful, trip back to headquarters wasn't on his play card so he switched gears and increased his speed down the lane.

A few more minutes passed by before he arrived at the district's impound.

Where everything impounded was kept waiting upon fulfilment of various fines before release. Fredd's man at the impound had been waiting quite impatiently, john wasn't the only one did business with hence his impatience.

"I want to go back home, now!" Rolland groaned annoyingly.

"Shut the hell up for the seventh time I say! You are one f**king spumk I tell you, you had ..."

"I will be taking the kid now!" John replied announcing his presence as Rolland sensor's picked him up.

"Uncle Johnnie, you are here, did mummy send you to get me?!"

"Get into the car!" John replied as the car door opened to which Rolland strolled to, happily.

"I know a friend of a friend who can get you a much cleaner deal than that piece of tin can, its not worth a memory chip inside, causes a lot of..."

"Thanks but I am good!" John returned back to the car, it was going to be long ride back, a familiar one though riddled with questions about everything except the obvious fact that he was an outdated and obsolete robot series fitted with an improved bio- memory chip of a 12 year old.

Such was the strangeness of the cyber dystopian.

Nothing really was ever lost and for old Mrs Pearson his caretaker and next door neighbor, the horrific accident that led to her son's death had opened up a new experience for her, adopting all forms of cybernetic life forms including Rolland, a manual who had been poached for parts but somehow found haven in Mrs Pearson's arms.

Rolland was cherished by Mrs Pearson and somehow the manual seemed a little bit more than he truly was even to him.

"Uncle johnnie, what does spumk mean?"

"Why are the neon lights so colorful?"

"What's better a landcraft or an hovercraft?"

"Have you been to district 3 before?"

The questions could go from endless very intelligent to plainly obscure and strange yet it asked with such innocence and desire for the truth, it felt human most times.

More human than the most advanced androids that walked to and fro the streets of district 3.

After handling Rolland over to his mom, refused to stay for tea, refused to have a plate of apple pie and refused to be drawn into issues bothering the society, Mrs Pearson had said her thanks and he was free to get back to his life.

He found his self back In his apartment pretty quickly and undressed; his bathtub was ideal for him to enjoy whatever moment he could.

"Hey, John, cox wants you in first thing tomorrow, she is blowing a lot of lids over the greenie who died on mission with mildas, she wants a full debriefing and a trauma evaluation report, she thinks mildas must have f**ked the poor kid up!"

"Okay, got it, did you burn the F.C.W.Rs?"

"Of course I did, why do you think she is asking you to come in, mildas definitely f**ked the kid up, cox is gonna be so mad she isn't getting anyone to pin the mess on!" Saxo chuckled.

"Good job, stay on her, will you and what about the old man?"

"Old man has been silent, got retirement on his mind, maybe I mean cox is everywhere, what do you think the old man will be doing once he retired, play golf on Sundays, that's just terrifying!"

"See you tomorrow saxo!"

It didn't really matter whatever had happened, a retirbutor's life was marred in violence and enough gore to last a lifetime.

That thick skull would get in a lot of trouble if he wasn't around to clean his mess, he sighed dully and let the water swallow him up to his waist line, a cold beer sounded just right , somewhere in the room, he managed to turn on the music, the old world had great music taste.

"Night Spills by Punk kid" rented the air over the player blasting a funky ethereal sound as the lone retributor sunk into his darkness.

Hala:
That is the business opportunity I was talking about. Can we not develop it again. Deeperlife Mirror is still a comic book and goes for free. I think the problem is possibly with content development.

I am a comic script writer, I have written a few over the past decades, developed some stories and characters too.

There are a lot of challenges faced by the Africa comic industry at large but I can tell you the potential are there, I am currently still holding out on starting something on my own some day, I see the potential, I sees market , I see ideas and plans that would work and turn this into a success.

The story is told in an unorthodox manner that tries to help the readers imagine the characters and scenario as realistic as possible.

Chapter One Part 4


Somewhere in the undernet, beyond the long arms of the laws and retributors, the criminal underlings and their sponsors and benefactors thrived, the ever tight knit cyver meta verse careened the efforts of designers and modders of various ages and for various purposes to what it was today.


A virtual space unaccessible to the majority of neon city, a safe haven for all who had something to hide.

Speaking about neon city, over the last courses of events such as the fourth world war, horde devastation, five names have stood firm and struggled for ultimate power and recognition in the undernet-world , The cyber- sakuga, led by Tochi Kazawa; a firm grisly character who started out as a police trooper before turning rotten , led the cyber-gang with a strong arm that demanded loyalty above all else, his name topped the list of lists of baddies with a huge bounty of 150 million digits, slightly behind trailed The Chromaes led by Austin Cage, An old mysterious figure said to have made his digies as a protégé designer, in fact there were links he had something to do with the horde virus at some point, of course cyber hacking was his and his gang's domain and for some reason, even most retributors seem to shudder at the top of claiming his bounty, a whopping 120 million digies.


The Roulettins has always been a tight family business ran by a once wealthy Russian family, the russevs, they had fallen prey to a cyber -fraud that impoverished the head boy, Mr. Russev Almatov, he died in a mod room wanting to sell his organic parts for a bit to feed his family, 15 years later, The new head is Sakav Roulettins, A woman of chroma infussed double pantheon steel literally, sakav have over the years made millions of digies in the illegal trading of organic body parts, anyone ever wanted meat, you get it for the right price whilst her many operations could have been pushed off the top lists of criminals, her repayment schemes for disloyalty, betrayer, lies and deceit (a trait that can't be helped in the undernet) included all the terrible things many refused to talk about alias the slogan "don't f**k with a Roulettin, you won't live to see the outcome!", The Bastard five, comes in forth, a total reject by the retribution cooperation, Alan Gokov, Martin Ornelli, Screw Binger, Foxy-Nine and Blackin the founders of this cyber terrorist group could be describe as the house sweepers in the undernet, with no specialty or choice of operations, the bastard five is a reject even by the top criminal elements of the undernet for lack of some sort of ethical codes, the so called " honor among thieves "

Bastard five has long been a thorn in the hearts of all, their many operations steamed from the dirtiest and laziest to the most sophisticated and cleanest operations, cyber hacking, nets swapping, body trading, cyber-offloads, even burglary was never out of the question.

They among others had the largest followings and gang members activity making them a popular treat for retributors however over the recent years, there has been a notion of their activities been funded by overzealous private entities and then there is Roman Dest aka Robin hood ; a new age not like the oldies before him, said to be the illegitimate son and heir of one of the biggest cooperations in the world, Permatech Globals, Roman has made an unusual name for himself in neon city for his cyber hacking skills and authentic high class designer gears and mods that many says rivals those of Austin cage and his gang, Roman a one man rule the world has been a voice to the poor and totally forgotten in the city, attacking private entities and their many secret off net accounts to feed off the poor and needy hence the name Robin hood, robin hood is an exceptional case of an anti-hero who has been known to help all sides of the law provided he was credited for the job, a genius level hacker with a sense of pride and a code of morality if you may call it, these five have battled for supremacy until the now.

"If this is some joke, I can promise you by the Time I am done with you all, none of you will be laughing!" Sakav Roulettin warned.

The scene had startled her, it was one she hadn't seen for quite a while, right there in the undernet space , all other nine (counting all members of the bastard five) were present within that space, they even seemed not to be arguing or threatening chaos.

"Madam sakav, we have been waiting, come take a seat!" Austin Cage asked, quite a polite spumk he was.

"What is this? If this is some..."

"I can assure you, anyone of us would rather be f**king with some hordie than seating here in the same space with you all!" One of the bastard five outrightly said.

Such was the tension in this near life digital space all five suddenly found themselves in.

"Are we all calm the f**k down?" Tochi said finally, he held some sort of authority here and his due respect was given by the others , who nodded silently.

"Two weeks ago, a division of my crew got a hit, it was supposed to be an easy job with a good price tag on it, around 25 million digies, an HSC (hit 'n' swap 'n' clone) job, I sent in my too boys, they got it done in record time only for them to be hijacked on their way out, someone hacked their modd and instantly made them
Bait for every gang across a mile stretch, none of them made it out." Tochi concluded.

"I got a job around same time, some private corpo head needed some files erased from the cooperation's database to clean his money laundering trail, I got one of my boys to do it, the pay out was good enough, It was a level 5 system security encryption database, meaning the only way in was within..."

"Huh!?" Roman scoffed, drawing everyone's attention to him for a moment, there was the uneasiness between roman and Austin that announced their rivalry wherever they went or were, even now it couldn't be helped.

"...as I was saying, he got in, cleared the files, stole some , replaced some and took his leave but not before something or someone tried by passing his neural firewall and hacking him, in the end, my people use my tech to delimit bypasses and designers hack yet someone or something tried it," Austin explained.

There was a bit of silence before Roulettin and the others relieved themselves of almost similar cases that had happened to them, supposedly small jobs with big rewards botched by some unexpected and undetermined entity, even roman was not left out of the saga.

"I reached out to Tochi who reached out to the bastard five and you all seated here to confirm out suspicion!"

"What is that? You think someone has finally decided to grow some liver and take us all down at a go?" Roulettin asked, with some mockery in her voice.

"Let them try, they won't see the night of the day!" Another of the bastard five boasted.

"I would like to propose a truce between all five of us for now, you all may not like it but if there is some one targeting our operations with such sophistications that rival ours, we will need to be cautious and be on the lookout, it is possible, those attacks will not be the last, we need to know who or what this is about, Austin and roman..." Tochi paused and sent his accident data file across the space which both cyber hackers downloaded automatically.

"..that's my accident file, don't try to f**k with me, it is been cleaned already, use it, see if you can find anything,"

The others soon released their accident files as well, the two cyber hackers were frenemies at this point, bonded by a common cause.

"Stay on the alert, those retro spumks might be on to something this time around, keep your eyes out, do the rounds before you take a job, its bad business if it smells good money, we will converge here when Austin and roman call us up!"

With that Tochi had went off the undernet, likewise Roulettin, and the bastard five. Yet Austin and roman stayed for a bit more.

"What was that at the start of my speech?" Austin asked.

"I don't know what you are talking about?" Roman lied.

"You think there was a better way other than a neural hacking, didn't you? ...."

"Of course there is always better way than your way, its why I get the job done and I know what happened to your boy, that so called attempt, you may have lied to save your reputation but I know your boy got wiped off his data, the attack on your boy swept him off, trying to save face here isn't going to help you but I am not going to snitch you out on that, soon everyone would realize you and your chromaes got nothing to offer to the new world anymore, see you soon!"

Roman went offline, leaving Austin to ponder deeply upon the kid's words. He grinned dully and remained in the space long enough to download a mysterious cache file off roman's absence space.

"Kid, even the new world isn't ready for what I can do but I hope you are!" He concluded.

I was bad at this, the masters knew how to get to us, the pit was dreary, cold and alive, filled with light and life that wasn't ours.

A millipede gnarling on a leave, a roach escaping the jaws of a small scorpion, a bunch of fire red ants unsettled by our presence, we were five yet I felt I was all alone. The masters were up above, eyes peeled on our every action.

The goal was as hard as all labors were and I wondered who would do better this time.

Our heartbeats were in synchronization so how then could I pick which of my brothers were and with us, this was dreadful, the labor of smell was still far away, rumors had it the masters could tell from the very air breathed, who was from who and we had no doubt in thus parts about the rumors that followed the shadow clans and its masters.


I listened to our heartbeats, it boasted of a rhythm I was impressed with, the masters laid silent, their heart beats could never be detected not by the likes of us but I knew they were there.

Han told me, this was the intuition of Ouki which laid dormant in my shadow form.

Thumb! Thumb! Our heart beats went as I tried hard to guest all other four without touching them least I had my hands chopped as would the loser of this challenge would be.

"A true ninja's intuition must be as strong as his will and deadly as his steel,"

Gbam! Gbam!!

The pagoda bells rang up above us, telling us to get ready to be taken out yet I hadn't figured out just who yet I was in the hole even after a week but what had I been doing over a week in the pit?

Thump!..Thump!!...Thump!!!

"Katuyah!" I beamed with joy, He had given us all I believed the slip, his heartbeat and nervous breath was his let down and I could bet my arm that was the ninja who swore to kick my jaw the night before.

The others ghosted me very well and I realized there was only one way to draw the remaining all out.

I copied katuyah's breathing pattern and waited for them to pick the bait, the reaction was a chain reaction that would end up ultimately exposing us all, I was desperate and sad.

"Why?"

I guess that would be the question for katuyah!

SHADOW OF THE NINJA: LABOR OF THE SIGHT