From the point of view of Neowulf
Another fucking Johnny. I thought I’d have enough on my plate focusing on capturing the target and dealing with this almost regrettable group of misfits, but these Johnny’s always piss me off. And it’s not just the Machinehead with that half-assed attempt to look “inviting”. The stagnant smile, dull blue uniform top, and white gloves, but the interiors of these are all the same; shiny stainless steel plates squaring off every corner inside, the worn out khaki couches, and devoid of anything else. Even the console the Machinehead sits at is blank. I imagine every Machinehead’s programming is as dull and empty as these shithole cabs.
“Last Hope. Fast.” Being as direct and short with these things saves everyone a headache, like slamming my I.B. card for payment. “Thank you for your payment! Your destination is: Last... Hope. We will arrive as soon as we can. Safety First! Please sit back and enjoy the ride.” Enjoy my blade not splitting you in half along with your ride, tin can. But taking this ride and blending in is better than trying to deal with whoever was controlling those cam drones. Now I just have to hope we survive this ride. Not sure if we’re going to make it; this one Litho is built like a frigate and her suit takes up the space; the other smells like one and won’t shut up. The one Elf looks like he’s about to ask a pretentious question and the other a dickish one. Either way I want to punch both in the face. The human isn’t who I’m looking for and is extra baggage now. The only calm one here is a motherfucker named Earl.
“So you haven’t killed me and you were running from those cam drones. I’m guessing you guys must be in over your head like I am.” I’m still trying to figure out Leyawiin’s part in all of this; she does seem pretty in over her head but is acting like she’s got an ace up her sleeve. “You’re lucky we found you first.” “Ha, yeah that’s what my boyfriend said to me a lot, that I’m lucky. Meeting him seemed to be the only lucky thing to happen to me but even that appears short lived.” That response didn’t have any fucks given at all. I now know she doesn’t have anything up her sleeve. She’s treading water in the Warped Sea here. “Sounds like you weren’t lucky at all if he left you high and dry like that. Why were you meeting in Miller’s Zone? What can you tell me about what’s going on with your boyfriend and what he’s up to?”. Full eye contact, direct and to the point, like I do everything. She’s giving this shit up now. She’s looking at me like I’m part crazy and part she wants to spill her guts. The hum of the engine and the rustling of everyone’s gear seems to defan the whole cab. The blur of landscape filled with greens and browns are plastered on all the windows making it seem like time is suddenly standing still. She turns away from me to look at the blurry window as if she’s going to see, well, anything. “I met him in Arlandria.”
Ah shit, here we go…..
At that moment she snapped her head toward me, almost as if she heard my thoughts. I didn’t take her for a Prodigy. I don’t smell it on her like I do on that dumb Elfine. Leyawiin gave me a I’ll fucking cut your throat look. I’ll admit, it impressed me a bit. “And don’t you think for one second that what I’m about to tell you makes me want a pity party, or that I’m going to help you in anyway that’s going to hurt him, OR that I’m some dumb girl that’s with him because he’s some sweet talker. Got it?” I don’t even flinch. “Talk.” Given by her facial expression she could tell I’m not judging even if her boyfriend was a Metamorph cockroach that wore velvet robes, called himself King Cake, and shot rainbows out his ass. That roach was a dick.
“Fine. I met him at Arlandria. I was an “industrial worker” there. The only difference between that and full on slave was that we were fed. Once in a while.” Her attire made more sense; she didn’t have the full industrial get up, mainly her tattered jacket was the standout from the dull red clothes, but I can see her blending in with most industrial settings. My guess she’s been blending in a lot with that scene and why she hasn’t been caught till now. “Wait, I thought slavery was pretty much banned or not needed at this point, especially in Arlandria with all the tech Infinity Core has been pushing out?” I knew the answer already, but figured if I just showed I “cared” for a second she’d spill more info. “Yeah right; those greedy assholes will start programming people like Machineheads if they figure it out. They still have us working in droves, grinding up Sevendust, cutting parts, soldering, you name it. If the work doesn’t kill us they will. I only got out because of ‘him’.” She fell in love with the person who saved her. Typical. I keep a straight face so she keeps going and gets to the point.
“He says it was ‘love at first sight’ which I called bullshit on. I still think it’s the fact that I’m the only person to ever run into him while he was basically doing recon work. He thinks I must have some luck, hence my comment earlier. Anyway, right there on the spot, he decided he was going to get me out, that ‘there must be some forces at play here’ and it was too important not to do it. I told him I didn’t believe him. What if he was a company person in disguise looking for an excuse to kill one of the workers, you know? Those sick fucks. So he handed me all his weapons and said ‘Well if I betray you, you’ll have your pick on how to kill me and a few others on your way out.’ It was a pretty convincing argument. He snuck me out of the facility, and I still don’t know how he did it but we didn’t even run into a single person and walked right out of the place.” Sounds like a real sneaky motherfucker; this is going to be fun. “I told him I wanted out of Arlandria and he didn’t even hesitate.” She trailed off at that point. Sounds like she’s tired from running. Or tired from life. I can’t let her off the hook that easily. “So that’s it? He just randomly rescue’s you and you two go sneaking around the countryside? For real, why did you stay with him? You know a lot of people are looking for him and it’s not because he’s been so stealthy like you mentioned.” “He proved himself, probably more than he needed to. I thought it’d be a nice fling on our way leaving Arlandria and we’d part our ways but he was dead serious on having me stay with him, despite the shit he was getting into. I’m not giving any particulars away; you’ll need to hear it straight from him. But let’s just say the things he’s doing is an effort to stop assholes like the ones that kept me working till I would be dead and worse. I will tell you what he did for me; saved my sister.”
Leyawiin went on to fill me in on all the stuff her and her “boyfriend” got into. Saving her sister from a sex slave ring in Paradise, sabatoging factories there as well, gaining intel on AeroWeb industries in Kontra, and bombing multiple industrial facilities handing imports of Sevendust and Machineheads in Last Hope. They left heading for Cypress Hill and split up about halfway since the heat was pretty high on them. The plan was to meet within Miller’s Zone since it was easiest for her to blend in with the industry scene, but there wasn’t any talk of actually doing any “work” in Cypress Hill. She talked about how the stuff they did felt like revenge for her but doing something noble at the same time. But they did most of their “connecting” when traveling and hiding out. “And lastly, he is good looking. That never hurts ya know. (glancing at Earl) Probably his type, you know what I mean?” She awkwardly smirked, throwing that last line like she was trying to lighten the mood but quickly looked away as if she didn’t say anything. I couldn’t help myself but give a slight grin at Earl’s expense. Her story sounded like your average damsel-in-distress story but damn if she wasn’t genuine about wanting to save her sister and getting payback on those who have been screwing people over like her since forever.
“What’s your story? What do you want with him?” She was definitely tired of talking and wanted to know how bad her situation was. Fortunately for her it’s her lucky day; unfortunately she’s not going to like the answer. “Well much like you, I can’t say. But let’s just say the people who hired me don’t want your boyfriend dead; just to stop him and find out what in the Downward Spiral is going on.” I can tell she didn’t care for that answer with her fake laugh. “Guess there’s that ‘luck’ for me. I just hope you and the people you work for have even an ounce of the heart and brain he does.”
I think she’s done at this point. She slouched pretty hard there into her seat staring back at the blurred landscape. Time to give it a break and gather my thoughts on how to approach this boyfriend of hers. Better sharpen my sword here while I’m waiting. If everything she says is true, and I think it is, this shit is about to get A LOT bigger than what I’m even paying these assholes to help me. And the clan back in Everlong is going to have their hands full dealing with this info.