| From: | "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Following Through |
| Date: | Sat, 31 May 1997 17:31:02 +0100 |
make no comment as to who hired me, precisely what for, or why I am
required to do this.
+++++begin video
A rundown street in Auburn: the view is from a worn camera rather than a
cybercam, moving along the garbage-strewn sidewalk with assurance,
passing a heavily-shuttered Stuffer Shack, a storefront advertising "XXX
ChIPWAREZ!!!!" complete with lurid vidcaps, a burned-out shell too
charred to be identifiable, a pawnshop (the glimpse of reflection shows
that it's Mani wearing the camera): and a door with a lounging Troll who
glances curiously at him.
"Hey, man, you looking for a good time? The girls in here can-"
The doorman's words are cut off, a long curved knife flashing across his
throat: he raises his hands to clutch at the gaping wounds, breath
hissing through the slashed larynx, and the cameraman finishes him with
two precise stabs to the chest. As the Troll collapses, Mani closes the
dead man's eyes, whispering something in a strange language.
A quick glance back confirms that the murder was unobserved, before Mani
closes the door, jamming it shut with the Troll's corpse, and brings out
an AK-97. Locking a magazine in place and working the bolt, he opens the
inner door and steps into the reception area
The woman at the desk has time to scream, and Mani's first burst is
aimed at the terminal: it explodes in a spray of sparks and plastic, as
Mani whirls with the rifle aimed at the three men sitting on the cheap
chairs.
"Stay here. Do not run, do not make noise. I do not wish to waste
ammunition on you, but I will not allow you to interfere with my
mission." Mani turns and is already firing as the gunman emerges from
the doorway, the 5.45mm bullets hitting him in the chest and the guard
falling: Mani is through the door before it can close, moving up the
stairs.
A balding man peers out of a doorway and Mani aims the AK-97 at him,
saying calmly "Stay in your room." The head vanishes and the door
closes. Moving along the corridor, Mani pauses by one door, unfolding
the rifle's stock and then smashing the door's lock with one buttstroke.
Inside is a middle-aged man wearing only an undershirt and two teenage
Ork girls in expensive lingerie, huddled in a corner.
"Ladies, please step away from him." Mani says in his rich, accented
voice: both girls move as if the man was suddenly red-hot, and the man
has time to shout "I can pay you double, triple, whatever-" before a
short burst kills him.
Mani turns and empties the magazine into the wall at shoulder height,
the bullets punching through the thin walls effortlessly: screams and
shouts indicate how far through the cheap building the 5.45mm ball
travels, though by now everyone's probably on the floor.
Changing magazines, Mani walks to the window and smashes the glass and
frame with half-a-dozen strokes of the AK's skeletal buttstock, climbing
out to descend the rusted fire escape. Dropping the last distance rather
than fight the seized-up counterweighted ladder, he folds the rifle's
stock and replaces it under his flowing jacket. The first sirens can
already be heard.
+++++end video
I trust this discharges my obligation.]<<<<<
-- Mani <17:28:51/05-31-58>
*****PRIVATE: Mani
>>>>>[Excellent work. Neat, not too bloody, no unnecessary bloodshed.
+++++include credit transfer: >>encrypted<<
Thank you.]<<<<<
-- Jolson <17:34:31/05-31-58>
