The Art of Magic

Under a poisoned silver sky

When Nex Went out the Warehouse the two corpses she left there were already gone. The place was cleaner than when she arrived. She put her hand on her chin as she pondered.

"Huh, How convenient, He should seriously consider a sanitary job or something, after we're done with this shady deal." She mumbled to herself as she went inside the car.

She turned on the autopilot and sat back, examining the box in a daze. A few seconds turned to minutes. She sighed and silently moved away her gaze and stared at the High rise buildings in front of her. Flashing with Neon signs filled with invasive ads targeting everyone. As if it was tracking their every move. It was bright and flashy giving life to the drab grey skies that occasionally has sunlight peeking through the pollution.

Staring at the air traffic of the Hover Cars that line up seemingly endlessly. She put her palm on her cheek as she leaned in. Immersed in watching the inhabitants of Paradise City.

Staring at them walking lifelessly towards a dead end job as if it's a robotic routine, if you stare long enough you'd see the worry in their eyes. They might be replaced by an Android anytime if they didn't keep this pace up. A Bleak life and an even Bleaker future.

They may not be Human, but almost every inhabitant here has the same eyes. Hopeless. Their future blocked by the large corporations that won't budge. Struggling to maintain an independence against forces greater than their own.

The Hopelessness, the isolation, the trauma lead to people Forming gangs, doing drugs, living inside the Cyberspace. Forming their own small reality they can escape in. A Bubble of comfort blocking everything.

This however, only gave the guys from above a reason to "Cleanse the Streets." Driving and even bigger gap between the people and the so called gods of this time.

She stared at the towering skyscrapers of those types of people that like to play God. Powerful corporates with a private army. People so rich and powerful they can even escape the end that awaits all. They upload their conscious to the cloud and living in their cloned bodies.

The inhabitants Muddy the waters even more with a dark and gritty underworld of illegal trade, cyber enhancements and vice. In between all of this is politics, corruption and social upheaval. A world that is morally stumped.

She sighed as she couldn't escape this cycle herself. Perpetuating and sometimes even propagating conflicts. For power and for revenge. She stared at the cube in her hand, tempted to take it for herself to further the means. She clenched her fists and popped open the car compartment opening a bottle for herself. She started to drink, courtesy of Alessandra's finest wines.

She drank it like it was soda. Scrunching her face, She spat and said, "This fucking tastes awful." But before she could take another sip she was interrupted by the robotic voice of the Auto-Pilot.

"We have arrived at our destination, please press 1 to open the doors. Or Press 2 to Set to another destination."

She opened the door and tossed the key card to Alessandra's guard as she sat down in front of A.U.'s CEO, seeing that her employer was extremely casual, she herself finally relaxed and removed the tension from her body.

"How is it Miss Nex? You look like you've seen a ghost." Alessandra brightly smiled at Nex as she stared at the Black box she was holding. Nex on the other hand shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah, the traffic is ruining my complexion."

"You're awfully efficient for someone who has a certain... let's just say your reputation is tied behind your trigger fingers. I honestly thought you'd take all day." She took the Box from Nex's hands and carefully examined it. Deep down however she was surprised on how quickly she did her assignment. Raising her confidence towards Nex.

"It wasn't that Hard, it was just a couple of augmented guards at the front and a couple of lambs inside." She said as she called the Android that was serving another table. She was awfully hungry since she haven't had breakfast and only a sip of shitty bourgeois white wine.

As she waited for Alessandra to stop marvelling at the Military A.I., the man beside A.U.'s CEO finally spoke. "That was one of Viktor The Meat Shredder's Hideout. It's filled with security drones and Heavily armed Augmented High-Bounty crooks. It's extremely impressive that you returned unscathed and alive even."

Nex stared at the youth who just spoke, He was a Young Man not younger than herself by about a year or so with messy Brown Hair brushed to the side, black eyes, a lined jaw. A normal scrawny pretty boy. A camera was strapped on his neck.

He was wearing a Black polo and a black sweater underneath that has red outlines. With the sleeves rolled until the upper half of the forearm. His black torn jeans and almost worn red shoes to complete his look. This however was completely ignored by Nex as she stared at the index finger of the youth.

The Silver ring with a blood red Ruby adorning it was emitting faint traces of Mana. She was surprised, just like Nobody said nothing could escape these eyes.

"I barely had to lift a finger, besides if someone calls themselves meat shredder they're bound to die in the same way or another." She said as she finally stared straight into the man.

The man smiled awkwardly as he reined in his curiosity towards the matter. Alessandra snapping from her daze she softly coughed and finally introduced the man beside her.

"Forgive my forgetful nature, This is the person I want you to take with you. Nick "The Flamer" as he's called by their circle. His insight and I guess passion? towards taking down these corporations such as Magitech is what earned him his nickname."

Nick laughed, "And of course my viscous words that could burn them miles away." He said jokingly.

Nex finally took a good look on her 'Partner', he may look frivolous and casual at first glance but she could sense that this man has quite the power hiding behind his lofty demeanor. It's something with the way he carried himself and her instincts that was honed with countless battles could feel the danger.

"I served in the army for three years, if you're ever wondering why." He said as he sensed Nex was examining him from top to bottom.

"Which one? where?" She said as if she already knows the response. Nick shrugged his shoulders, "Does it matter? aren't they all the same?" Nex chuckled then she smelled the food going her way. She focused her attention on the food and started chowing down.

Alessandra smiled as she continued sipping her cappuccino. Nick on the other hand stared at Alessandra, signalling her to start the briefing. "Nex although I am pleased by the results, Magitech made an even bigger move awhile ago. Magitech's information network is as strong as mine if not stronger."

She gave Nex a small thumb drive covered in blood. "This drive contains data about a bounty for your head and Nick's issued by Magitech."

She inserted it on her wrist drive and carefully looked at the data before her and caressed her chin. She then laughed, "Is this real?"

Alessandra puzzled by her nonchalance, "You are being hunted down by your own guild... How are you not worried? You may have one of the highest ranks but you're still one person."

Nex grinned, "I guess not even your information network could get the sensitive data from the guild. These punks, I'm guessing are just low rank hunters that just joined the guild right?"

Nick nodded his head, "Yeah, fresh faces with a lot of potential even. Or so I'm told." He solemnly looked at Alessandra, "I honestly think this operation is compromised..."

Nex shook her head, "Certainly this looks bad from another person's perspective but to S-Rank Bounty Hunters they are mere cannon fodder." She patted her jacket and reached for a pocket. inside it was a badge with a number 12 on it. Adorned by three silver skulls and blue gems adorning the eye sockets.

"You see We have certain privileges being in this rank. One is no one can just target S-ranks. Two is that they must be issued to the guild in advance 'As a form of challenge.' and Lastly The guild must agree. If they don't follow these rules then the result is just one thing."

She leaned in grinning fearlessly as she whispered, "Execution."

Alessandra gave a knowing look as she pondered over the information, she looked towards Nex and asked. "So that's why it took so long to get to you..."

Nick however had his own thoughts, "Then... could this mean that we could use this to take down Magitech? They are after all trying to go against the Guild."

Nex chuckled, "Hmm, who knows? I am after all just their executioner. Who knows what the guild would do? they have hands and eyes everywhere. So you better keep this to yourself." She said as she stared directly at Nick.

"Aren't you going to threaten me?" Alessandra jokingly asked. Nex on the other hand narrowed her eyes, "Oh please Ms.Alessandra the guild would rather have a beautiful partnership, perhaps this could even be the start." Alessandra nodded her head, "Perhaps, anyways since you're not worried. Are you set to go?"

Nex nodded her head, "One last thing before we go..." She looked towards Nick "We're both going to stop by the guild." Nick raised his eyebrows as he puzzledly looked at her and pointed at himself, "What? why?"

"We're going to paint big targets on our back." She said confidently. Nick on the other hand furrowed his brows, "Isn't the point to avoid them entirely? After all espionage is often approached with stealth." He said as he stood up and followed Nex towards the guild.

Alessandra waved goodbye, "My men will meet you at the space terminal with your reward." She said as she gracefully stepped inside her car. Noticing the Half drunken bottle she scoffed And looked towards Nex's departing back. "This is not juice that's drunk straight from the bottle!"

Nex laughed, "It's fine! I didn't drink much it's shit anyway!" She said loudly as her figure slowly blended in with the crowd. Alessandra clicked her tongue, "It's an acquired taste." She ordered her guard to drive home slightly pissed.

The two quickly arrived in front of the official guild headquarters. A multi storied building filled with people of all shapes and sizes. Nick was a little dazed at the sight. It was his first time to see many of the humans and other races blending together without starting a brawl or a full-blown fight to the death.

Then he saw the reason why, the security cameras were armed with Four Artillery guns strapped around it each. Plus the multitude of Secu-Bots just patrolling the floors, it's no wonder they're not causing a fuss. This also made him wonder about the backers of such a guild.

Nex however ignored all of this and headed straight to the receptionist, "I'm here to take a mission. She showed her badge towards the Argothian Receptionist, His lizard like eyes looked at Nex seemingly exasperated. "Any specific location?" He said as he hissed whilst staring at the badge.

"Preferably Ganymede or somewhere near it." His razor sharp claws scratched his cheeks covered in green scales. "That's pretty far... I'm surprised you're taking another one after that last debacle that happened on Jupiter last year." His fangs showed as he gave a knowing smile at Nex.

"That's cold blooded Khar'si. You know it wasn't my fault." She said as she shrugged her shoulders meanwhile he just stared at her with a deadpan expression. His tail hovered over his head pretending to wipe his sweat, "Besides I'm taking an S-Rank only mission there." As soon as those words left her mouth the Argothian turned serious. His long snout creased as his tongue slithered softly. "I never thought a day would come where you took your job seriously..." He said as he stared at Nex with sparkling eyes.

Nex rolled her eyes and urged Khar'si to do his job as well. "Fuck, just get it done." After a while The huge Monitor in the lobby where the Available missions were posted flashed. One of the missions suddenly was outlined with a red color.

<<Ganymede Prison Colony - Retrieval | Issued to Nex>>

Nick stared at the screen grimly, "What the fuck are going to do in Ganymede?" While the nearby hunters were excited as an S-Rank Bounty Hunter was here. The other newbies were smiling coldly their hands hovering on their weapon of choice. One by one those Hunters silently left the place. The other Hunters with B-Rank or higher sighed knowingly. Shaking their heads at the idiots who would try to ram their head on a steel wall.

Khar'si bid goodbye to Nex with a little tear in his eyes, "They grow up so fast." He said towards Nex's departure as he pretended to wipe his eyes. Nex on the other hand just gave him the middle finger.

The two picked up the pace as they bypassed a lot of traffic by riding on the bullet train above. Nick however kept pestering Nex about why she made all the people targeting them know their location.

Nex ignored this however. Soon enough, They arrived at The Spaceport. Nex found the UA guard earlier and went near him. "Where to now?" The man silently pointed outside. Her eyebrows raised her eyebrows at the man, "You want us to go out there? Where the ships are at? did Alessandra bring her own ship or something?"

The guard however was still silent as he nodded. They followed him awkwardly. Nick on the other hand was puzzled. He thought they'd be riding a first class public Ship.

Soon they arrived at where the ships were docked. In front of them was a larger than normal Black stealth ship. It's black sleek body and thin like frame fits it's aesthetic. It had two diagonal purple streaks on both it's wings. Seemingly added to suit Nex's tastes. She whistled as she observed the beauty right in front of her.

Soon she received a call on her wrist watch. She patched the call to the loud speaker and soon a beautiful and melodic voice entered their ears, "Forgive me for not being there to send you guys off. But,I take it, you like your reward from your little excursion? It's a B-710 Raider a Direct descendant of the famous B-21 Stealth Bomber. Our people had to reverse engineer that derelict and make a new version that has enough juice for space travel all around the Galaxy."

Nex caressed the side of the ship, "Can you tell me it's specs?"

"It runs on an Anti-Matter cube so no need to do quick runs to Space-Stops. Carries Two Anti-Air Railguns on each wing. Fitted with as much thermonuclear bombs it can carry for your own mission. This ship could turn the tide by itself, undetected by any radar except for The UCP ones of course." Alessandra confidently stated as she described the ship to her. Stairs descended from the door of the large ship, "Please enter." A robotic female voice came from the ship itself.

The two quickly moved up and entered the ship, and was surprised how neat the inside was. "It has twelve rooms, including the captains cabin. One lounge, and A leisure room. This is one of a kind mind you." Alessandra said as the two roamed around the ship. The two were surprised when they reached the cockpit. For what awaited them was an Android in a gothic Lolita maid clothing.

Nex raises her eyebrows, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're sending us for vacation or something." Alessandra chuckled, "All of my business partners get these perks. Now imagine if you were working for me?" She said jokingly.

"Tempting but no, so anyways who is this? Attempting to promote your products to good old Nick here?" Nex asked through the comms.

"This girl is the new top of the line Combat Android equipped with the latest A.I. you just borrowed from God knows where. Although we haven't decrypted everything putting it on our latest model isn't such a hard thing to do." As Alessandra spoke the Android courtsied towards the two.

"Hello I am Model B-2-710, I serve as the ship's A.I. also it's chief maintenance officer." She said in a beautiful monotone voice. As she lifted her skirt up lightly and bowed. Her beautiful blond silk like hair draped down flowing freely. Her perfectly sculpted face turned at Nex's direction as if expecting something.

Nick whispered, "Name. I think she wants a name." He spoke softly towards her, waking her up from her stunned state.

"Blair."

Said Nex simply,

"So you're saying that you're the ship itself right?" She asked softly. Blair bobbed her head up and down mechanically.

The two also introduced themselves to Blair almost immediately. Alessandra then finished up the conversation, "Well now that everyone is ready you may depart at your leisure. I'm going to take a nap."

Nex shrugged her shoulders as they Revved up the engines and lifted off. She stared at Paradise City's fading figure as they went beyond the grey sky. She chuckled softly towards her home. A world of rain and slick streets and Hazy Neon lights where the morality, dreams and fears of it's inhabitants are submerged in the shadow of the City that waits for no one. A place where hope is often inert and waiting under a poisoned silver sky.