Mo’s eyes got huge, and if the monocle he wore hadn’t been attached to a chain would’ve shattered on the floor. “Look Black, even if I could tell you that, I wouldn’t. You don’t need to get gunned down in a fit of anger.” I stared at him deeply. “Mo, this isn’t anger, or hate. This is about those people. How many more of them have to die?” “Look Black, give it a day and if you still feel this way I’ll do some digging. Maybe I can find something out for you.” I extended my hand; he took it, his being engulfed by mine. But he didn’t waver; he looked at me and smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow then?” I laughed, and told him he knew it. I strode through the CM, looking for something useful. The first dealer was wares. “I need to see and hear better. He smiled and pointed out a few options. I took the goggles and had him add a smartlink, low light, flare comp and a VIS enhancer. I found a pair of headphones, with an AUD enhancer and Spatial Recog. The goggles were a tight fit, but after a few minutes of wear they were fine. The headphones were harder, my horns made them awkward, so the guy gave me a different set. He had a medkit in a corner stand and I bought that too, stashing it in my backpack.
I walked out of the Crime Mall, wondering the next step. Was I really going to go to war with an entire Humanis chapter? I got on my bike and rolled away. I kicked up the speed, hitting the highway cutting off an older model Americar. The wind was strong, but wearing the goggles it didn’t bite me in the eyes. I could see almost a mile out, clear as day. The license plate ahead of me said L3T3MD!E, I sped past giving the driver the finger. He honked his horn at me and tried to catch up but I was gone. I let the road take me that night, all the way into Tarislar. I could see the dirty looks coming from the mostly elvish crowd. I rolled through the area looking for trouble, but for some reason it avoided me that night.
I rolled back up to the club house, the front of it being boarded up. James stood watch, and as I stopped the bike he ran up to me. “Black, good to see you in one piece. See you got some new gear.” I looked at him, he’d been up all night and day, making sure the events from yesterday didn’t repeat. “Yeah, I gotta question for you.” “Shoot.” I told him about Anselmo finding Caleb Roth, the trid and everything. “Sheeit, so what? You’re gonna go in guns blazing, find Roth drag his breeder hoop back here and do what exactly?” I thought about it, “Well he’ll be made an example of, not just for everyone here. But for us metas everywhere.” He looked at me, “You’re serious… Well damn, we need more guns.” I looked toward the building, “We?” “Yeah we, I’m not gonna let you get your fragging head blown off by yourself. What are we gonna tell Marj?” I thought about her, the way she looked at me in the basement. “We’re not gonna tell her.”
James and I went to the Crime Mall, first we went to Mo. He looked like he’d been up all night or crying. “Alright Black, since I can’t convince you to let this go, I’ll give you the skinny. Roth has a humanis compound out of Orting. They set up shop about two years ago, after the one down state got raided. Once a week they ride up to McMillin and help the prison there “Relocate released inmates” Since last month sixty people have gotten out of there and thirty two of them have been found dead.” I looked at the spread, nineteen orcs found shot multiple times, five trolls found chopped up and placed in dumpsters across the city. Six elves dead faces carved into with H.P. with gunshot wounds being the cause of death, and two dwarves ran down by vehicles, coroner put a note *Most likely a GMC Bulldog. “Jesus, anyone not human released into Roth’s custody has been murdered.” Mo had his face buried in his hands, “my nephew was one of the dwarves ran down. He told me he’d been receiving letters about work from a guy named Roth, but until now I hadn’t suspected anything.” I looked at him, he’d been crying alright eyes bloodshot and the bags under his eyes were heavier than I’d seen them. “Take care of this Black, and I’ll owe you big.”
James went to a weapons dealer; I went around to a couple of the cyber shops and asked a few questions. “How long would I have to wait after getting spurs done before I could have full mobility?” The kid standing in the booth looked at me strangely. “Three days max, but what do you need spurs for?” I laughed and looked at my arms, “Well they just need something extra.” I found James toting around a golf bag, like I had when I first came here. “What’d you find James,” I looked at the bag and realized it was bigger than the one I’d had. “Just wait buddy, you’ll see.” He grinned widely and we rode back to the club house. We ended up going to my room; he had given his up for some of the kids whose parents had died in the firefight.
“What is that thing James?” He brandished a heavy piece of equipment that he rested on his shoulder. “This, my friend is an Onotari Interceptor, a missile launcher capable of putting some good holes in their front door.” He pushed it around his shoulder so it rested flat against his back. I laughed at him, “Christ James, you think we’re gonna need that thing?” He eyed me carefully “Yes.” “Thing must’ve set you back.” “All’s fair in war. I figure Roth will have some money sittin around. I’ll make up for it then.” I told him about getting spurs. “Head to Ft. Lewis, they got this holistic spa over there. Tell them you need to speak to Dr. Weisman. Best body doc in the city.” We finished laying the plan out, and he asked if he could stash the gear in here. I showed him the false panel in the floorboard and he put the missile launcher and the rockets inside.
Fort Lewis, it was different from Puyallup, hell it was different from all of the plex he’d seen. It was still dirty, but the street lights mostly worked. Bullet holes didn’t cover half the cars or street signs. Every few blocks a convoy of trucks would roll by, or a squad of G.I.’s would be doing their regimen. He finally found the spa, on the corner of 140th and Yakima Ave. Ft. Lewis didn’t mind blasting its name onto every surface though. That reminded him Puyallup and the Fort didn’t change that drastically. I parked the bike outside and strolled up to the front door, but when I tried it, it didn’t budge. I looked around, “What the hell?” A buzzing noise surprised me, “Thank you for choosing the Fort Lewis Sauna and Holistic Retreat. What business do you have here with us today?” “Uh, I need to see a Doctor Weisman.” “Thank you; please move away from the door.” I stepped away and the door shot open. Walking into the lobby I smelled things I’d only smelled in restaurants. The woman behind the counter looked up at me. “Please take the elevator to the basement, Doctor Weisman, will be with you shortly.” “Where’s the el…” She cut me off, hand shooting through the air pointing around the corner. “Thank you ma’am.”
I rode the elevator down to the sub-level basement. A sort of music filling the elevator while I waited. I felt nervous; the club house elevator was quiet except for the whining it did as it went up and down. This one was meant to relax, but all it did was put me on edge. The elevator dinged, as it opened to the basement. A giant sterile white room, sheets covering different cubicles, the floors, walls, and ceiling were all blindingly white. An older dwarf stepped out of his cubicle to meet me, “Ahh, you must be Charles. James called ahead for you, and told me you were interested in a procedure.” I looked at him puzzled. “Yes, I am and that was nice of him.” “Yes very nice, James has quite a history with us and told me to charge to his account.” Again I was puzzled, but the dwarf didn’t allow me to say anything. “Come, come, let’s get you to your room. He led me to another sterile white room, this one much smaller in comparison. He pointed to the chair in the middle of the room, “Please sit.” I sat down, while he wheeled around the room, searching for something. “Now Charles, what kind of equipment were you interested in?” I told him I wanted spurs, and he clucked his tongue at that. “Very well, what grade?” “Grade?” He clucked again and, found a sheet of paper. “Our Alpha grade is very nice, but the Beta is…” I cut him off, “I just need some metal doctor, and if I feel the need to upgrade I’ll definitely come back.” He sat shocked, for just a moment and sighed. “Very well sir, please sit as still as possible.” As soon as he uttered the words the chair clamped me down. “Now, I’ll give you an anesthetic but with your build you may not feel it until after the procedure.”
He pulled a needle off a tray, and squirted a little out of it, and pushed it into my right arm. It said, five hundred ccs and he pushed all five hundred into me. He then pulled the needle out and smiled. “I hope we can still be friends.” He grabbed a scalpel and went to work, I tried not to watch but, the pain was excruciating. He flayed open the top of my hand, all the way back into my forearm. I sat stunned, trying not to scream or cry or both. He pushed a rod into the muscle tissue and shocked me, I watched the muscle relax and he pushed it out of the way. He grabbed a hook and something else. He grabbed one piece of muscle with the hook, and placed it on a stand. Grabbed another piece and put it on another stand. I blacked out after seeing the muscle moved and played with. The agony and the disgust got to me. I awoke to him drilling into the bone, and I screamed at him. “WHAT THE FUCK!” He looked down at his watch “Oops, I forgot to administer another anesthetic.” He grabbed another needle and plunged it into my neck. The last I saw, was a long piece of metal attached to one part of my bone, he was in the process, of adding another.