Mercury - Part 12

Part 12 – Conflict Management

SECURITY CAMERA 12, BIO-TECH, 01/02/2025, 4:24

(A six-year-old ocelot recom and a six-year-old mouse recom, both wearing what seems to be blue Bio-Tech pyjamas, appear from off-camera on the left, carrying a ladder. The mouse recom also wears a headset. The ocelot recom climbs up the ladder to face the camera, so its face is the only thing visible.)
NEPTUNE: "This is my last message to you as a piece of your property. I have warned everyone involved, everyone who signed off on Mercury's euthanasia. This is the only camera's information I will leave intact for you."
JUPITER: (In the background, calmly) "Neptune, Three and Seven are having an encounter with Two."
N: "That possibility was anticipated. Five has orders, Three knows procedures."
J: (nods, steps back)
N: "The only reason I'm letting you keep this information is so that I can tell you this: I told you that you would not hurt her. I failed to keep her from harm, and this is my failing. However, today you will know the success of your project. Congratulations."
J: (holds the ladder as Neptune descends, and they both run off)


SECURITY CAMERA 31, BIO-TECH, 01/02/2025, 4:26

(A six-year old snow leopard recom wearing a bio-tech jumpsuit, gloves and with several weapons strapped to it runs down the hallway, holding the hand of an arctic fox recom who also wears the same style of jumpsuit, and who appears to be strapping on a headset. They both stop suddenly, staring off-camera.)
MER: "Mars? Oh, Mars, you're here to help, right?"
V: (into headset) "Three and Seven run into Two."
MER: "Mars! You're going to-"
(A six-year old wolf recom, larger than the other two, runs in from left of the camera view, grabs Mercury by the throat and throws it hard into the wall without very much apparent effort.)
MARS: (To Venus) "I suggest you look away." (Venus complies)
MER: (Getting up slowly, now has a nosebleed. Speaks in a shaky voice.) "Mars? What are you doing? Just help us. Everything will be better if you do. Don't you care about us? About me?"
MARS: (Punches Mercury in the face) "You're defective. Now die for real."
MER: (slumps down again, nose bleed worsening and a wound opening up on the cheek, but reacts by pulling out and pressing a taser against Mars's inner thigh and dry tasing) "No, no, no, don't make me do this to you!"
MARS: (stumbles back. It is surprised, eyes wide and fearful at the electricity arc that continue to run.) "Get that away from me!"
MER: (drives Mars into a corner and straps down the trigger so that it continues to arc) "We'll come back for you." (puts the taser on the ground while Mars cowers. Mercury grabs Venus' hand and runs away)

***

To be honest, I was more annoyed than anything. I had dealt with the Mad Dogs before. They were nothing more than common thugs, and since I did that job for Lewis, they were all but disbanded anyways. But having people recognizing me could seriously jeopardize my job for Olne. That's not something I wanted to screw up, since it pretty much guaranteed job security for the rest of my life. Both Sam and I ran in opposite directions, using the tunnels as cover from these Mad Dog punks. It was unlikely that they were using guns. Like smoking, it was a bit of a taboo on Mars, even to the lowest of lowlifes. There's just so much that a stray bullet could cause to go wrong in this kind of environment. Before I disappeared around the corner, I grabbed Lewis by the wrist and pulled him with me.

I leaned up against the wall around the corner of the tunnel and started preparing my modified taser. It was, at least, a weapon that I could fire inside the Martian tunnels without getting the law enforcement after me. I had altered it so that I could tailor the shock for different body types of recoms, or even so I could "accidentally" electrocute someone to death.

Samara was at the other side of the intersection, preparing something else. I wasn't exactly sure for a few moments until she shifted to show me what she was doing. I raised my brow at her and she offered nothing more than a shrug at my perplexed expression. Who carries a blow dart around, anyways? I made a note to myself to ask her about it later.

For that moment, though, I just showed Samara a few hand signals. I was the senior worker in this situation, and I was quite happy to be the one to make the plans. Even though Rusty was a fair bit older than me, he always let me lead the way anyways, since I was very good at thinking on my feet.

This situation wasn't very difficult to puzzle out. If Samara was any good with the blow dart, and I assumed anyone eccentric enough to carry one would have to be, this should turn out favourably. What I wanted to do, though, was to scare the piss out of Lewis without actually having to threaten him again: if he saw what we could do to these thugs, he would be unlikely to seek out another gang for protection. So the goal was to be quick and make it look effortless, and we couldn't kill them, since that would alert the police. Better to risk having our cover blown than blow our cover. All this, and my plan, I signalled quickly to Samara, who just gave me a single nod.

What happened next was poetry. I could hear their footsteps approaching, and I emerged from my position behind the tunnel to smash the front runner in the face with my taser, knocking him square on his back. The blow was pretty powerful, so I expected he would be at least dazed for a bit. Even as he fell, I fired a powerful jolt into one of the other Mad Dogs, dropping him instantly to the ground.

While all this was happening, I couldn't help but passively notice that one more of them fell, presumably from Samara's blowgun, his muscles quickly falling limp from whatever paralytic it was that she was using. Casually, once there were three men on the ground, I looked towards the last one while Samara continued to hide out of sight. I could see her out of the corner of my eye, reloading her primitive weapon. "Just bug off. You're wasting my time," I pronounced before I turned around and started walking towards Lewis. I could hear the Mad Dog's footsteps retreating. I would be scared if I was in his shoes too, after seeing three of his buddies go down in less than fifteen seconds.

I kneeled next to Lewis, who still looked like he was coming down from an adrenaline rush, and said, "Just get me the blueprints I need, okay? And try to get them to me sooner than later. I don't want to dilly-dally after that little encounter. Now get out of here." I patted him on the shoulder and gave him a quick nod before standing back up, letting Lewis scurry off down the tunnel.

I turned around and directed Samara to follow me. We were getting close to a nice obscure exit from the undercity, and it would be best if we didn't stick around until the Mad Dogs stood up again. After a short while of walking, I looked over my shoulder and then towards Sam. "A blowgun? Are you kidding me? I mean, sure, whatever works for you. But what the hell, Tam?"

Samara chuckled softly, "It was a gift from the people of Jalan after I did a search and rescue mission there. It's well designed, compact, easy to use and even easier to hide, so why shouldn't I?"

I shrugged and said, "It's primitive. You've got access to better, more sophisticated technology. Don't you think it would be good to actually use it?"

Samara shook her head and started climbing back up to the street level, saying down to me, "Just because I have access to something shinier, heavier and more conspicuous doesn't mean I've got to use it, just because it's new. I've been thinking of getting a taser, too, but only for situations where blending in isn't a concern."

She peeked out for a moment before pushing all the way up. I figured that there was nobody watching, so I climbed on up after her, brushing myself off once I returned to the regular street level, looking around to get some bearing on where I was. I pulled out my cellphone and glanced at the time to confirm that it was around noon.

I tilted my head slightly at the time display and then looked up at Samara. "Hey, do you want to catch some lunch now? I'm starved."

Sam turned towards me and blinked a couple of times, coldly suggesting, "Why don't you go back and ask Nova?"

I gave her a confused look. I didn't really know how to make heads or tails of the remark, but I brushed it off. "She and I, we wouldn't really have anything to talk about. She'd talk about whoring, I'd talk about knocking a few guys out, and then there'd be nothing but awkward silence. She's damn pretty, but I doubt I've got anything in common with her..."

Samara returned my look, unsure of how to respond, and then nodded. "Yeah, sure. Let's go somewhere nice. We're getting paid enough for it."

"I know just the place." I smiled and gestured for her to follow my lead to the restaurant.