Shadows of the past (OPEN)

Whisky burns going down, at least the first one does, in a few more it'll all be numb. Everything will be. The pain of loss drifts off as blurred thoughts of violence filled his mind. A big guy across the room has been playing pool with his other gang looking buddies. This man was exceptional though, bulky, scars and tattoos all over his body. All the hallmark signs of a life drowned in the darkness of the criminal underworld seemed to be there.

Eain lifted a photo. That was the guy alright. No one could miss an ugly mug like that. Hiding out a world away, Eain gave him props. Most lowlifes couldn't conjure up that kind of cash, let along sustain it. This guy was able to move around and lay roots, and deep ones from the look of it. They all seemed like real friends. There where seven of them in total. Each packing heat, it wasn't blatant but the small change in gate and some of the newer guys kept fiddling with the weapon, changing the angle for their comfort.

The burning returned as Eain took another shot. His guns hung heavy on his jacket. They where tucked into his coat jacket and pulled it downward in large bulges. Guns where messy for this job though. Eain had a plan already, all he had to do was sit around and wait. Liquid slid down his throat, more of a numbness now. The whisky wasn't the best here, after all it was Moscow, maybe he should be drinking vodka, the thought drifted away as another man joined the group he was watching.

They began to head to the door. Eain pulled a wad of rubles out of his pocket and smacked it on the table. Sticky with last nights party, he left it, brushing off the remnant of liquid on his jacket he calmly followed them out. They started down the street and headed for three different vehicles. The cars started up, lights turned on, and moved forward.

As the vehicles came to a light on the corner Eain watched as they exploded in turn. His vision blurred slightly and he leaned on a stony building wall. Pulling a few american cigarettes out of his pocket he light it up. Soon the sound of police and ambulance filled the street. Eain headed back inside to finish up the night. "Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky." He thought finishing his cigarette.

Her flight to Moscow had been uneventful. Some may question why one would want to spend their winter vacation at Russia considering that Russia was cold even when it wasn't winter however she had heard some rumors in the deep web that Russians had invented something amazing and her reaction to this was to naturally want to learn what it was and how it worked. She understood that she probably wasn't going to be able to find what the thing was however at the very least this was going to give her a great oppurtunity to actually test the things she made. She could technically test them at home but after many lessons she had learnt that one shouln't create explosions where they lived.

She had already rented a warehouse in Moscow intending to use it as a laboratory and the best part was she had gotten it extremely cheap because it was next to a junkyard which was an advantage for her in the first place. After getting off of her plane using google translate she managed to make her way to her new base of operations. She had packed rather light bringing merely her costume which she had created back at home in order to not to have the local authorities recognize her while she was scavenging. Sleeping bag and copious amounts of energy drinks and chips.

Right after receiving the keys to her warehouse and putting in her costume she made her way to the junkyard and immediately she started spotting treasures. A broken television,A toaster and an old computer. She immediately took out a multitool from her costume and started harvesting them for parts intending to combine them in order to create a computer when she saw a big flame going up. It was an understatement to say that her eyes went big when she saw it though unfortunately it seemed way too far for her to actually track down.

Deciding she could perhaps use the cameras in order to determine what had happened and hopefully find someone whom could test her tools for her she worked fast on gathering parts fearing that the trail might go cold before she found the person in question and as the morning sun shone through she had managed to finish five energy drinks and six bags of chips along with a computer that looked like a fusion between a television,a fridge,Two televisions and a car engine that gave out large amounts of black gas as it worked. Though regardless of the aesthetics and sustainability and danger to life the computer functioned as well as a military grade computer for the whole hour it managed to survive before it's parts started melting down which had been enough for her to track a certain persons movements.

An hour,two energy drinks and a bag of chips with pickle flavor later she was in front of what she hoped to be a person who wasn't going to refuse her offer to give free tools along with tech support and future tool creation services for an affordable fee or free depending on how interesting the tool she was asked to make was.

Eain was eight or nine shots deep. The burning has been gone for a long time now and the party was just getting started. Dancing on the floor was easy, most people had gone after the explosion. The owner of the place looked concerned but he kept it open. Russian music blared over the speakers as Eain began to dance in drunken motions.

He noticed a short young american walk into the place. She was a cutie for sure. Red hair, freckles, smaller than what he would like but at this point, Eain shrugged. He walked over to her. "How'd you like to dance?" he spoke with a tongue trained not to slur.

He reached to the bar for his beer and took a quick swig. Even in Russia he was able to get a Coors light, this was a happy surprise.

There was an old lore in these lands. The story of Rasputin. He was a man who refused to die. A man many believed to be invincible, unbreakable. They poisoned him with enough to kill an elephant, yet he still drank more. He was beaten, bones broken but he could still flee, sand fend off more than ten men. He was shot, but he still ran. Until he made it to the ice. When he fell through, that’s where the legend differs. Some believe that his body was recovered, only to learn that the cause of death was drowning. Others don’t believe his body was ever recovered.

Zodiac wouldn’t have believed a person to be capable of such ternacity, such determination and persistence. He still wouldn’t if he hadn’t seen it for himself. He was following the bane of metahuman existence, and the trail led him to Russia. Moscow, the home of St.Basil’s, the home of the Kremlin. A corpse in a glass coffin, it was all so stunning but the damned cold was enough to make one’s bones rattle. A light snow blanketed the ground below, while Zodiac sat like a gargoyle upon the ledge of a roof. His mind racing back to his encounter.

He had one job. Defend the Minister of Defense. The General of the army. It’s true, his job was primarily as an assassin. But tonight he had the simple job of killing a man before they killed the Minister of Defense. He recalled the screeching sphere, the high tech rifle that refused to be manipulated, as if it were a living thing. The horrifying blade that shred through his armor, even when he was vibrating at such intense speeds. He could run fast enough to do laps around many speedsters in this world. That was WITH his inhibitors still in place. This man, a human…

He looked to his shoulder, his coat drenched with the sticking dark liquid that pierced through. There was a huff, a shift of it’s eyes. That was everything he should have been expecting. Humanity was everything he was played up to be. A hero to mankind, a scourge to all with a metagene. He was undefeated, and now Zodiac knew why. The Black King better beware, he had lost a useful piece. It was barely on the news yet, but Zodiac was already beginning to fade. In a flash of a cyan-green light leaving a faint streak behind as he sped off only stopping to lean against a brick wall. He needed to get off the streets. Very quickly vibrating himself; he attempted to phase through the wall, but it was no use. He just left his body as an impression on the bricks. With a deep breath in, the speedster sped again maneuvering himself into a well lit neon club with the words of the native tongue overhead. With a hood up, Zodiac slipped into the corner and sat as he brought up a small disc-like device. Placing a hand over it he began to send out an encrypted message, a cry for help.

“Intelligence: Aries. Fortify firewalls.” The man whispered to himself as his mask began to display information before his eyes. He attempted to look and determine if there were any potential threats to his well-being. Facial recognition stuttering and stalling at some points, blipping on and off for some moments as his consciousness was phasing in and out, like the tired old man he was.

She paused for a brief second when she was asked how she wanted to dance as she had close to no dancing experience in dancing. After getting over her pause she spoke:"Well i was actually here to talk to you rather than dancing. I saw you and i noticed you had no technical help so i wanted to make an offer to you. " She had used her most James Bond villain like voice possible though her voice was too small to actually pull off anything of similar nature and the attempt caused her throat to tickle which resulted in her coughing.

She then added:"Anyways i am great with technology and i also have high tech tools that could be of use to you so i was here to offer you my services. All i ask is that you test some things for me and help me out if something i need comes up that requires some muscles." attempting to add to her talk with some movement by flexing her imaginary muscles. She was actually trying to replicate the things she saw on television as she wasn't actually used to making deals with anyone face to face. The closest she had was text to test messages which weren't even close to the real thing.

While walking there she had initially tried to practice what she had to say but then she had seen a squirrel that jumped on a street lamp and she had started to wonder if these were smart lamps and if they were was it possible to take the movement detection chip in order to combine it with the foot massage tool in order to create a power glove that would trigger when someone moved to punch something. Suffice to say it had taken all of her mental capacity just to not to lose track of the GPS map in her phone and wandering off to somewhere and getting lost.

Eain waved his hands dismissively, “what are you talking about?” He’s speech still steady. “I’m just here to work in the factory down the street. I don’t need no special equipment.” He lied. Setting down his beer he looked around in motions that would convey he was more drunk than he actually was. He took her by the arm and moved to a corner table.

Pulling up a hard wooden chair for himself he took a seat. With a deep breath and a run of his hand through his hair he attempted to sober up. “Maybe we can help each other, the factory has been needing some new hardware.” He continued the story, trying to throw off anyone that would over hear. Being a hit man has taught him a thing or two about what and when to share information.

As he spoke his hand moved on a napkin, writing down a time and place to talk. It read, ”0100 Sally’s Diner” it was scratchy but could be made out alright. The time was only an hour away from now in a diner down the street.

Eain slid it across the table, “I’ll talk later.” He attempted to whisper over the loud music. He left the table and asked the bar tender for a glass of water then went into the restroom slightly disappointed the lady didn’t wanna dance.

Time moved so slow for someone who moved so fast. Normally he’d simply slow his perception down and let the world flow at a regular speed. The pain, looking to his shoulder he couldn’t help but notice the dark liquid that gushed from his shoulder. The loss was getting to him. He looked around, waiting for his distress to be received, waiting for Progenitor to patch through. For the first time he called for help…

...Nothing came.

Facial recognition faded, his mind wasn’t able to keep trained upon it, let alone keeping his body from moving at the speeds it was used to. His eyes scanned the room as he let out a deep sigh when his eyes fell on two different individuals. His audio-sensorys fixated from areas to area around the room, looking for anything to feel threatened by.

“-i also have high tech tools that could be of use to you-” As if it was spoken right to him. He began to look about, frantically searching for the voice again. There were many benefits to the use of machinery, but when it was broken, you needed an expert. His “father” was someone he feared to return to for help. Progenitor was not answering. He had little option other than to just die, and he refused to be just another Zac Effron meme.

Focusing he saw every move. With the last of his focus he transfixed upon their audio. It took some effort to lock in simply on the vocalizations, especially when you had so much noise to source through. He did it though. Zodiac was irritated to hear the comment about factory worker. Though the words needing muscle had truly garnered his attention. He watched the man pull up a chair and speak about maybe getting factory hardware, disappointing Zodiac quite a bit. The woman and the man seemed to be on two different levels, however. The one was acting more...theatrical in a sense? The other was just so plain and unsuspecting. Being who he was, Zodiac was cautious, always paranoid and always waiting. His theories only amplified when he watched the man whisper, too quiet for him to pick up with his receptors.

Were they onto him? No. But which one did he need to worry about more? He needed the “high tech” help that the woman might be able to provide. At the same time, it’s always the ones who act natural, the ones who are so good at the guise that it’s like a second skin. Basically it boiled down to the fact the only people Zodiac had to worry about were people like Zodiac. He had no proof, and he would not utilize The Purger for something he was uncertain of. He simply couldn’t. A written note in scratch was simple enough to read, especially when Zodiac could move as quickly as he did. A small spark in himself he moved just within eyesight of the note. Faster than any normal man could see or follow, but for him it was just a leisurely walk as he examined the writing.

“0100? Military time? I know medical professionals use Military time. But do workers?” He asked himself, without another word he stepped back to his seat. The man had walked off to the restroom, or os it appeared. Zodiac didn’t truly care to keep much of an eye on him after that point. Zodiac needed to focus on his objective. He began a small diagnostic and found that he had approximately 1 hour and fifteen minutes until basic function shutdown. After two hours vital system shutdown. Three hours, the twelve System shutdown...for for Zodiac, it meant true death. One hour until they met up? That was more than enough time… Standing up, Zodiac would walk out of this place calmly and quite collected as he slipped into an alleyway. By the time anyone arrived at Sally’s he’d be in his place. Away from the actual action as a lone motorcycle sat, kicked up on the sidewalk by the front window.

She seemed rather confused for a second before seeing the napkin having her eyes widen as she realized what was being implied and giving a nod though perhaps with a bit too much vigor. "Understood. We can discuss the 'hardware' later on. " clearly appearing excited to do all of these agent stuff with note passing and such. Picking up the napkin she gave another nod and almost literally skipped out of the place with a big smile on her face . She hadn't actually heard the whisper but she had seen enough spy movies to know what an address and a time written on a napkin meant.

Reaching to the diner proved to be slightly hard for her as she had to use the location service on her phone and determine which place she was actually supposed to go to though she did manage to find her way in the end. As she walked inside while somewhat pretending like she was in a spy movie eyeing left and right while tilting an imaginary hat. Her antics combined with the fact that she was clearly not a local made the locals somewhat anxious but through a combination of not being a socially savvy person and being somewhat in her own world she didn't realize the gazes drawn her way.

Five minutes later everyone had returned to their meals and she had ordered herself chips through the help of google translate and she was fiddling her fingers as a great battle occured in her mind with one part of it planning out how to turn the call button into a mini EMP bomb and wanting to grab the tool while the other part struggled to supress it not wanting to ruin the first time she actually got to make a deal in order to have her stuff tested with the chance of actually getting paid for it.

*The bathroom window seemed to be the best route. Just disappear into the empty bar, or let everyone think he passed out, it really didn't matter to him, he just didn't wanna deal with the awkward moment of him walking past the lady again. Not to mention if anyone overheard the conversation. Eain attempted to shake off the nerves, promising himself everything will work out, that no one could suspect a thing.

Shoving the window open was easy, the building was in alright shape for the apparent age. Eain crawled out onto the street, hands grasping at the ground and finally he was up. The fidget cold didn't seem to penetrate his whisky filled armor as he walked down the road. The diner didn't cause him any anxiety, it was the first choice for his Job, but because of the bystanders he didn't wanna risk it; even if he spent three days casing the place.

The diner was comfortable. It had an american 60's feel to it. Eain finally felt how drastic the temperature difference was after he walked in. Taking a glance at the exits, both clearly marked, one was at the back of the place and another the front, the main door seemed to be the center. Eain's glance was masked by a friendly smile and nod to the women he had met earlier, as if he was only trying to find her. We walked over and sat down without asking, looked at his watch, 1258, almost right on time. he thought.

"So, what is this offer you have for me?" He asked quietly. The people around him where few, and the ones that were there seemed to be intoxicated, busy in work, or just plain too tired. The waitress walked over and with a point to the menu and a word in Russian, the only one he knew, "Coffee", he ordered then nodded at the young lady...

Zodiac was listening, intently. Waiting. Watching. He wasn’t even suspected. How could they suspect something so casually placed. His focus was on the woman, always as she seemed to be the key to perhaps being able to fix his lingering problem. He didn’t need a full recovery, just a patch up to get him through the night. To stay alive just long enough for his distress call to be properly weighed and processed by the Progenitor. She entered, sat and waited for the man. Waiting to meet with the contact.

Zodiac himself felt a small rush. Impatience beginning to kick in, processing everything he could as quickly as he could. The odds of him walking up to a woman and demanding assistance didn’t normally go over well. He’d been turned away for much less, let alone denied assistance for it. He truthfully wasn’t even entirely sure that the woman could help him. But this was a risk he needed to take. He just needed an opportunity to see what this woman could do. For a person such as Zodiac he had plenty of time, even if he was down to double digits in minutes.

Let’s see what we can hear... He thought to himself, focusing as he might. His focus seemed to wane in and out. Part of him hoped to receive coordinates for an extraction, though he knew that the chance was slim to none...and slim just left town.

She paused for a second as her mind reviewed what she could offer to the man trying to decide on what she thought to be her best idea which she thought she could make using the things she saw at the junk yard but in the end her mind only found different possibilities nearly sending her through a rabbit hole as there were many many possibilities. She could make a laser gun or a gravity boot or gravity glove or a cat claw that sprayed acid or a shirt that kept you cool regardless of weather or an EMP or an encryption breaker or...

She snapped out of it after a second. "Well i usually work on demand though any tool you might need i can make within a few hours and i will always be available in order to provide tech support as well as covering for you when you get caught by cameras or red light. I can also access any building plans you may require and if you need a distraction i can make all of the alarms in a certain vicinity go off right at once or something similar." while giving a big smile as she had great confidence in her hacking skills.

Perhaps some of the things she promised were a bit too much for a single hacker but she knew many people over the deep web she could call upon in order to aid on her electronic assault on some sort of secure facility. She would owe them a favor but she enjoyed paying those favors back as they made a rather interesting challenge for her not to mention the fact that after every hack she learnt a bit more about computers thus allowing her to hack bigger badder stronger systems which made her even more happy with her skills and made even bigger improvements on them.

Eain listened intently as she spoke. The words seemed to flow out of the ladies mouth in speeds that even his sober mind would have trouble following. But he got the general idea of things. This woman seemed to be a tech wizard. Maybe he could use her in the future, but nothing was for sure, ... it never is he thought while sipping his coffee.

"And you'd do this for anyone huh?" He questioned her loyalty. Some of the jobs he did wouldn't be a good topic for church, unless you where in the confessional, then you could spout them off one by one. But killing drug lords, crooked cops, socialist, communists, leftist, rightist, people with two legs, people with no legs, Eain didn't discriminate as long as the cause matched with his. Would it match with her's?

Black coffee hit his tongue. The whisky started to brush off. An hour after his last drink he was surprised to start sobering up so soon. Eain hoped the feelings wouldn't leave too fast; the love of taste and blur of thought replaced with a messed up stomach and foggy head.

Tracking lip movements was much more difficult than Zodiac had initially believed. He could barely trase the noise through the glass, over the other conversations. Optically objectifying the mouths of the individuals he studied. The woman had either said “i can make all of the alarms in a certain vicinity go off right at once” or she said “I can bake all of the Asians in a section of the city grow-off right at once”. Zodiac almost couldn’t remain still as it considered both ideas. Out of the sheer desire to not have to purge a potential saving grace from the filth of those despicable flesh-bags.

Zodiac was quite comfortable in his given formation. Though that was quickly changed as a hooded figure walked up and began to try and steal the motorcycle, trying to kick at the kickstand and straddle it. The second the man got on the alarm went off. The lights flashed and the man still attempted to steal the motorcycle. He seemed to have problems with lifting the motorcycle off of it’s kickstand. Zodiac groaned as he attempted to continue watching the man and the woman of interest. No one seemed to come and stop the man from trying to steal the motorcycle, though if the man didn’t desist his attempts at theft justice would render itself. Karma had a funny way of working.

She shook her head. "I mean if you agree to work with me i wouldn't provide things for people that would attempt to hinder you though if they offered to give me resources in return of things that was unrelated to you i would be willing to aid them though i promise i will do a good background check on them to make sure there is absolutely no conflict of interest. " continuing to speak rather fast. As the man drank coffee she wondered if she should order herself coffee as well before deciding against it as she usually lost track of what she was doing and focused obsessively on whatever fancied her at that moment as soon as caffeine kickedd in which was terrible for actually making deals.

Pulling herself from the brief daze she got into as she stared into coffee she spoke once more:"Anyways before we continue i should say this. I specialize in explosives and weaponry. I can make all sorts of gadgets and such with great efficiency with almost non-existent errors. " She also muttered under her breath:"It's not my fault if they didn't tell me the hover boots had to stop rising from the ground or that they had to have an off switch. " remembering her somewhat early life where she had offered to make a cool tool in return of no longer being disturbed while she did her thing.

Listening carefully was getting tiring. After all it was one in the morning. Eain tried though, keeping with each word. "Wait... ALMOST non-existent errors?" He questioned. The mumble escaped his focus. "I don't know about you lady...I feel like you'll end up killing me someday. Exploding isn't really the way I wanna go, you know?" He continued.

A sip of coffee later allowed his mind to work. "Maybe I can give you a chance. I have another job coming up in a few days. Right here in Moscow. Would you be interested in letting me try out some of these things for free?" He smiled. He wasn't sure what the job was exactly yet. He had only a text that read something like, "Offer: American Emissary. 3days. Usual spot. ~Umber Ki" Details would be reviled at the drop.

He watched as the pretty Russian lady brought his food over. Wasting no time at all he grabbed the hot sauce and a fork  then started to shovel it into his mouth. Hash browns, three eggs, wheat toast, bacon, all cooked to the normal standard. It was heaven in his mouth. Drinking did that.