Chapter 3: Prep
The motel room was a symphony of shadows, the only light coming from the flickering neon sign outside, casting an eerie glow through the thin curtains. The air was thick with anticipation, the quiet hum of the city outside a distant, disconnected melody. Brando Rek sat on the edge of the bed, his cybernetic arm whirring softly as he cleaned his blaster, the metal parts clicking against each other with a rhythm both comforting and ominous.
He looked up as Alice Chen entered the room, a small smile playing on her lips. She was holding a duffel bag, the weight of it causing her muscles to ripple under her skin.
“Well done. You run into any trouble?” Brando asks.
“None yet, but someone is going to wonder where this went.” Chen responds. She lifts her shirt to wipe the sweat from her brow.
“When we pull this off, they’ll know exactly where it went.” He notices her abdomen as she lowers her shirt back down. He turns his attention back to the charges he is making.
“What do you plan to do with those?” She asks walking toward the bathroom to change. Also noticing that Brando is working shirtless and is in phenomenal shape.
“Mini EMP’s. When we have him cornered I want to be able to kill power to the building. You’ll have night vision so he will be at your mercy.” He says, occasionally glancing up to meet her gaze.
She stands in front of the bathroom sink in her underwear. “And security?” She asks.
“Pass me the rifle, please.” He says, sliding the finished micro charges to the side of the work table.
She does so, wearing a crop top and boy shorts at present.
With the skill, precision, and speed unseen by her, he dismantles the weapon and begins modifying everything from the barrel, to the scope, to the firing mechanism. He ejects the magazine and opens each round of ammunition and adds a tic tac sized pellet to the cartridge and then closes it up and reloads the weapon. Out of instinct he cocks it and lays it in front of him. She cannot help but be impressed.
“You will run point of infiltration and sabotage. I will be your overwatch. With this rifle as it is now I can see and shoot through cover as if it isn’t there. My eye has gotten used to your heat signature and even without infrared scopes I’ve never hit anyone on accident.” He gives her a sly smile.
“I trust you.” She says.
“Plus, think of my reputation and future in this business if I did.” He winks with his good eye.
“Was that a joke, Rek?” She smiles. Teasing him.
He chuckles. Not answering her.
“You know, I was worried at first when Colton put me with you.”
Alice admitted, leaning against the bathroom doorframe, her arms crossed under her chest. “I’d heard the stories, seen the dossiers, and let’s just say, you have a reputation.”
“Oh?” He looks up at her.
“Another hunter is typically competition. You have to watch your back and stay vigilant or you can get killed easy. But you’re different. This is more than money to you. You approach it with a discipline unlike most others, and that’s including most of the vets that get into hunting once their time is up.”
“I trust Colt and he trusts me. If he trusts you, then I trust you. And if we are in this together then we both make it through to get paid or neither of us do.” He says, resolute.
“All the same, I’m grateful. It’s nice to keep both eyes in front for a change instead of having one on the side at all times.” She says.
“Tomorrow night will be fine. We have planned for as much as we can. Our skills and wits will get us through the rest of the way.” He says to her holding her gaze.
She smiles and goes into the bathroom to start the shower.
As soon as she is out of the room, he stops pretending to calibrate the charges and feels his pulse. “Fucks sake, Colt. You did this on purpose.” He chuckles to himself in a whisper. He lights a cigarette.
She exits the shower having already dressed herself in a crop top and underwear.
"You done?" He asks, getting up to use the bathroom.
"Yeah, but the water's cold." She says.
"Oh, good." He says, entering the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.
He turns the water as cold as it will go and endures until his breathing is steady and his pulse slows. Relief washes over him, and he is able to relax. He steals himself, dons a new pair of underwear and re enters the room. She is on her bed with her back against the floorboards, going over the infiltration route and looking for weaknesses they can exploit. He cleans his rifle and prepares his armor and ordinances, along with his secondary gear. "Good night, Chen." he says, rolling laying on his left side due to the weight of his cybernetics.
"Night, Rek." She smiles.
Sounds really nice, the way she says that.