Millie the Gunsinger

Day One - Afternoon.

I had a call in the late afternoon from Daniel-san to come into the office. This was Danny’s Bonds & Brokers in the Spit. It was a short walk from my room in the apartment block so I made sure I had all my gear before I headed out the door.

Cell phone – Check. Heavy duty Doc Martens for kicking heads when needed – Check. Cute Cargo shorts and black T-shirt – Check. Ballistic vest in case some a-hole takes a shot at my petite little self – Check. Panties & Bra – None of your damn business you pervs.

I shut the heavy steel door to my room and made sure I double locked it. The Spit is not a place to leave your valuables unprotected. Even my one little window to the street had steel bars and a shutter. Had to pay for them myself but at least I slept soundly at night in my one room fortress. Well, actually two rooms because I do have a separate bathroom. It’s not some kind of prison cell with the toilet right next to the bed you know!

Going down the three flights of stairs was OK but I had to hold my breath in the foyer. Some junkie had taken a dump in the street entrance again and it had stunk up the place something fierce. I hope Mr Singh the building supervisor would sort it out before I got back. It was a really bad one and I reckon it would even reach my top floor room given time.

Out on the street the air was noticeably warmer but at least it smelled a bit cleaner. For those who don’t know the Spit (and why would anyone want to?) it was situated in the far northern tip of Queensland, Australia. Except it isn’t called that anymore. Technically this whole region was the Pan Oceanic Special Zone, politically independent of Australia.

Everyone on the planet has heard of Pan Ocean City, that great metropolis of advanced technology research and Awakening Centres. That is about 20 kilometres away from where I was standing right now. If someone in Pan City takes a dump, the Spit is where it ends up. Probably in the foyer of my apartment building.

I hurried down the street. It was still quite light out, but even in summer it gets dark really fast. Not much twilight time down under. Its either day time or night time. Black or white, no grey areas in between.

Danny’s office was in a run-down part of the city. In a place as run-down as the Spit that is really saying something. I mean the city was only built about 25 years ago, as a support centre for Pan City. It just went downhill really fast.

I pushed the door open with my boots and peered into the reception area. The usual couple of dead beats looking to make a deal with Danny over the money they owed. Not my problem. My problem was Erika, his rather large and terminally unhappy receptionist. Her beady brown eyes locked onto me as soon as I came into the room.

“Well if little Miss Sunshine hasn’t finally arrived to grace us with her presence” snapped Erika. She flicked her black bangs with a sniff of disdain and looked back at her monitor. The screen gave her skin a weird blue tinge that made her look like something out of an old horror film.

“How is the Bride hanging today” I asked her, clomping up to the desk with as much noise as I could muster. I wasn’t sure she would get the reference but I really did not give a shit what Erika thought anyway. She may work for the same boss as I did, but I always counted Daniel-san as a friend first. Erika hated me for that closeness.

I could see her brain trying to work out what the hell I was talking about. She was single and had been at least all the time I’ve known her. It wasn’t because she was particularly ugly or anything. She just has a mean bitch personality. I guess most folk find that a real turn off.

“Just take a seat Millicent and Danny will see you when he is ready”, Erika finally said to me. I guess she gave up on trying to work out my latest insult. She always called me Millicent because she knows I hate it.

So I went and sat in a vacant chair as far away as possible from the two bozos already waiting. They had that aroma of desperation you could smell on a lot of the people here in the Spit. I wondered sometimes if I gave off that same stink.

Anyway, I sat there and took out my phone. It wasn’t a fancy one but it cost me plenty of Pandas so I looked after it. No new messages so I played an old Tetris game to while away the time. After about 15 minutes of sitting under the glare of Erika the inner office door opened. Some other deadbeat wandered out. Behind him came Daniel-san, my boss.

He was once a really fit big guy. Word on the street was he once served in Special Forces someplace, fighting the good fight when the wars were raging around the planet. He was in his fifties now and a lot of his muscle had turned to flab. He was a desk jockey these days but he could still crack a skull when needed. His family name was Watanabe so I guess he was from Japan at some point.

“Hey Millie, put the phone down and get in here” he growled. I grinned back at him instead and pocketed my phone. Inside pocket of course, under the armour vest. Away from pick pockets and bullets. Here in the Spit you gotta keep the things you love nice and safe.

Daniel-sans office was always crowded with old paper files, memory disks, storage boxes and other assorted crap. It smelled of stale man sweat, cigarettes and cheap booze. I loved this place more than anywhere on Earth.

As my boss went back around to his side of the desk, I checked the old office chair on my side before I sat down. No nasty wet spots or new stains that I could see so I plonked myself down.

“Can’t you ever just sit in a chair?” rumbled Daniel-sans deep voice. “Why do you always just throw yourself into them?” There was no real answer to that so I just gave him my best grin. The one everyone reckoned made me look cute. He took one look and just muttered something under his breath. I am sure it was a compliment.

“A new case has come in on the message boards” he began. I leaned forward a bit and tried to look attentive. “Some accounts guy in Pan City made off with funds that belonged to the company he worked for. Would have been an internal case for the City Guard but he got over the wall and made his way here they think. Rather than waste their precious time looking for him they just posted a bounty on his head. Five thousand Pandas on delivery to the Guard offices here at the Spit. Alive and unharmed, with whatever gear he has on him”.

Wow! Five thousand Pandas! That was not a lot from some Pan City executives viewpoint, but it was a huge amount to me. “I’m in” I declared to Daniel-san.

He looked up at me from the file he was reviewing on the monitor. I could see a look of concern cross his face. This was the biggest bounty he had set me onto and I knew he was having second thoughts. I was acting too excited and that tended to get me in trouble.

“Look Millie, I did a little digging already on the target. He is supposed to be just a low level salary man but something is just not right about it” said Daniel-san. I had to act fast or my boss would give this job to one of the older and more experienced hunters that freelanced for him.

“Come on boss. It will be a breeze. I can take down any office flunky with one hand tied behind my back and Erika sitting on my shoulders” I said with real bravado. Daniel-san just harrumphed again. I gave him my ultra-best winning smile of all time.

“Don’t do that. It makes you look fourteen again” he responded. So much for my cuteness overload. “Just please be careful out there. If it looks like turning into a turd pile, back off and contact me”

“I promise on Erika’s life” I swore. He actually smiled at that and sent the bounty details to my phone. I bounced out of his office before he could change his mind.

On the street once more (having avoided the dragon slaying gaze of Erika) I headed to my favourite coffee shop. It was just down the street a bit. It was getting darker already, so nightfall can’t be too far off.

I was already thinking of how I was going to spend all those lovely Pandas when I literally bumped into a wall of muscle. Armoured muscle in the dark blue of the Pan City Guard. I looked up into the helmeted gaze of a Jack. Another came up next to him and glared down at me.

As far as I knew I had not done anything wrong. At least not today. Or at least not anything that would have been reported to the Guard. I took a step back and mumbled a hasty apology. There was not a word from either male Guard. I lowered my head and tried to look a lot less guilty than I felt. The foot traffic was streaming well out to either side of our little scene.

“Ident” came the electronic voice from inside the first Guards helmet. I knew he was flesh and blood in there,but folks reckon there was a lot of cybernetics as well. He stuck out his huge muscled and armoured left arm to me. I could not help but notice how his right arm was holding his black 5mm caseless auto rifle casually downwards.

To be fair I was kind of panicking a lot right about now. Keeping clear of all authority figures was a number one priority in my life. I was still unsure of my legal status since I skipped out of the orphanage at 14 and I didn’t want to show my Ident to a Guard unless I absolutely had to.

“Stand down trooper. No need for her to Ident” said a strong but gentle female voice. Coming up alongside was a Jill, one of the female Guards. She had her helmet off and was looking down at me with a gentle smile on her lips. That was all kinds of bullshit I knew, because they had no real emotions of their own.

All the City Guard are clones. Popular rumour has it that the Jacks and Jills were created using DNA from some of the best looking film stars and athletes the Asian world had. They have human brains of course, but implanted in their skulls are quantum linked processors that are run by the Pan Oceanic Defence Force Artificial Intelligence. An AI known officially as Archimedes but Archie to all his robot mates. Or so I have been told.

“You look like a well-mannered young lady” continued the Jill. I checked around me in case this was some kind of weird prank. “We are just hoping to ask you a few questions”.

“Is it mandatory?” I stammered back, trying to look into her eyes. There was absolutely nothing there that I could see was human. The smile and the voice were fine, but if the eyes are windows to the soul then the blinds were down.

The Jill actually seemed to pause and consider this. I reckon Archie back at base was weighing up the trouble of talking any more to a little snot like me.

“No, it is not mandatory. You are free to continue on your way” she replied. And just like that all three of them stood aside so I hurried past with a mumbled thanks.

Once more a part of the throng moving along the pathway, I glanced back at the three Guards. The Jill was still watching me and I felt her gaze on my back all the way down the street until I was out of sight. It seemed unlikely but I wondered if it was the same Jill I encountered the other day, the one who helped me out with my Bounty.

=====

I was still feeling rather rattled when I got my fave coffee shop in the whole city. The Coffee Coffin was a long, dimly lit place that served the best hot drinks you could find in the Spit. The fact that my best friend in the whole universe ran the place and gave me discount does not sway my opinion in any way. The friend in question was on duty behind the long narrow counter that ran all the way to the back. I called out a hello to her as I clomped in and made my way to the very back table.

Her name was Di. Or Dianne Somersby if you were her parents or any other kind of adult. She was only 5 years older than me, taller by about ten centimeters, and had the most gorgeous green eyes and long auburn hair. Which was currently tied back in a plait that went down to her butt because she took hygiene seriously in her little café.

She came out from behind her counter and gave me a quick hug. There have only ever been two people in my life that I let get so close to me. She was one of them. In case you are wondering, Daniel-san is not the other. It’s not Erika either!

“How are you going Shorty?” she teased me. Those ten centimeters are not a lot but she makes way too big a deal out of it if you ask me. I rested my forehead on her shoulder for a moment and let her calm wash over me. I had not realised how on edge I was until her warm presence made it go away. “I’m fine” I said into her shoulder and stood back. Don’t want to give the other patrons here too much of a show.

“Coffee and some dinner?” she asked me. I had forgotten it was getting to that time of the day already. “Uh-huh” I replied and sat down in a chair facing the door. The solid, hopefully bullet proof wall of the café was at my back. Mmm, nice comfy brick to guard my back.

While Di fussed about grinding beans and frothing milk, I looked over the file Daniel-san had sent me. The target was Hector Otaki, an American Japanese who was listed as being 21 years old. He had come to Pan City with his family five years ago and ended up working for the Yamaguchi Reseach Labs. Apparently he was a pretty junior Salary man in the Accounts department. No details of how much he had managed to pinch from the company and little else in the bio provided.

I looked at the picture supplied. It was a standard security pass kind of image, with the young man wearing a short sleeved shirt and dark tie. He was probably good looking in real life but the photo did not do him a lot of justice. I suppose everyone looks rubbish in Licence photos. The only official photos I had of me were one from the orphanage with Sister Venerae, when I was twelve I guess. And my Bounty Hunter Licence photo.

That one always made me laugh. I tried to look so serious and grown up, trying to be the 21 year old that my faked records from Daniel-san said I was. I think I just looked constipated.

I must have been smiling at the memory of that when Di brought me my order. Always the same. A big Latte coffee and grilled ham, tomato and cheese.

“You are looking a lot happier now Millie” said Di as she put down the food. “Your very presence lights up my life good buddy” I said back to her. And it was the truth.

Only ever two people in my life that I let hug me. And only three people in the world I would kill for. I would die for them too if I had to, but I would rather take out the other guy first.

Of course Daniel-san was in the second category. I would let him hug me if he ever wanted to, but I think both of us felt that would be weird. Older guys and young women shouldn’t hug unless they are related I felt. And he had his reputation as a mean old bastard to maintain.

I bit into my toasted sandwich as I read through the data that Daniel-san had found. And squealed in pain as I dropped my phone and dealt with the incredibly hot piece of molten tomato I had stuck to my lip. Di rushed over with a glass of cold water and I gulped some down. I felt the hot lump sear its way regardless down into my poor little tummy.

“You know you gotta wait til the tomato cools off a bit” Di admonished me, once she was certain I wasn’t going to actually drop dead in her coffee shop. Sad truth was we had been here many times before. I tended to gulp down my food as soon as I got it in my hands. I could blame my days as a poor little orphan girl, but I think I was just a greedy pig sometimes.

Once I let the tomato cool down from its hotter than the freaking sun temperature, I chowed down the rest of my dinner. I gave Di an appreciative burp and went back to my phone.

It looked like our little company runaway had some street smarts. Nearly everywhere in Pan City has some kind of scanner or camera watching over you. Here in the Spit the coverage was way less comprehensive. Fixed cameras cost money to instal and maintain, especially when the residents would steal anything not bolted down.

Around here the Guard relied on remote surveillance drones. You could usually spot them buzzing around overhead. When something nasty broke out they congregated up in the air like a flock of buzzards. My hot tip - always walk away from any place where they are swarming.

Anyway, the point was there were only a couple of hits from the surveillance cameras. He had been spotted near the main transit station from Pan City, and a couple more hits in the high end region around that. Once he got into the guts of the Spit he literally dropped out of sight.

I leaned back and sipped my coffee. A bit more carefully than usual due to my burnt lips. If this Otaki guy wanted to hide out, some places in the Spit were definitely better than others. The best place to hide was of course the worst part of the Spit. We all called it the Hole.

I knew a couple of guys who operated in the Hole. I would check up with them in the morning to see if they could give me some leads.

I stood up, knocked back the rest of my coffee, yelped as it burnt my lips again, and put the cup down. My phone beeped disconsolately as I paid the bill to Di, with a generous one whole Panda tip. She knew I was skint most of the time so she never ragged me about how stingy I was with my money. If I scored this bounty I was gonna buy her something nice.

Stepping out into the now night time street I paused for a moment, watching the people move past. I looked up to the rooftops across the street and could not see anything out of the ordinary.

Yet I was certain someone was watching me. I turned towards my apartment and hurried home.