Getting hit in the head really hurts. It’s the one part of fighting I have never been able to get used to. I can take the body punches and kicks with the best of them. You hit me in the head and it hurts. It also gets me irrationally angry. An object can fall from a top shelf and smack me in the face and I will immediately get angry enough to try to tear the cabinet from the wall. That’s my response to an inanimate object responding to the law of gravity. Knowing someone involved with the two sonji who sat beside me hit me on the head—well my anger level was where it was after the sand crawler incident. They really should kill me right now.

"You awake Tom?" Bevisste asked.

"My eyes are open." I was in a twenty foot square room that reminded me vaguely of a question and answer room, with my arms held above my head by something, possibly spun diamond rope. My shoulders hurt; my feet were barely able to touch the ground.

"You have opened your eyes three times since you got hit over the head."

"Oh. Weird." How else was I supposed to answer that? "Where are we? Did you get a good look any of those three times?"

"Well two, all I can see is a room now. Yes I have managed to find out where they took us. I am inclined to believe that either they do not know my military capabilities are still active or they do not know it is even possible for me to do what I can do."

"That’s my girl! Ow." My shoulders really did hurt.

"Catch, the security system here, has let me know we are in Suarez Borough which of course is twenty two miles from our first address."

"Of course why would it not be?" I muttered and scrunched my face in thought. If I didn’t know better she sounded like me when I talked about Laetitia to her. "Umm, Bevisste?"

"Yes Tom?"

"Right then you sounded like me when I talk about Laetitia."

"Did I?" I nodded. "He is so cute Tom! I can’t believe I met another person so cute!"

Now I was confused. I had thought I knew just about all there was to know about Bevisste and EEs. When you don’t have children and are not in a relationship you have a lot of free time to ask questions.

"Cute? You don’t have..." I trailed off, it seemed insensitive.

"Bodies? Sure we do, I have one whenever I am in the broader Net which is more often lately with how preoccupied you have been with daydreaming about Laetitia."

"You have a body?" I know she just said she did I was just in shock.

"Would you like me to show you myself whenever we talk like the disembodied heads you see while you take calls? I can show my entire body though."

"No." I shook my head then grinned. "Well maybe..."

"God Tom. One would think you never actually grew out of puberty."

I laughed and moaned at the throbbing from my shoulders. "That is amazing Bevisste and I’m happy you found someone. Good for you, we’re going to have to talk about this more later. I want all the juicy details. For now though; any chance he can help me out of here?"

"Sorry Tom, you’re on your own for this. If you can get out of the room Catch can get us out of the building without the cameras picking us up."

"I knew you would say something like that."

"Say what?" The hissing sound that came with the voice let me know, without seeing, that it belonged to a sonji.

A lope appeared before me first. I suppose I was going to see if Helios was correct in stating lopes are devious when they are alone. The odd appendage that looked like a mashup of a human hand and a lobster claw struck me in the face.

Yep. They better kill me before I break free.

I felt a solid hit on my back to my ribcage. It was a good punch, definitely some style too it, and a little swagger one gets from beating up on someone who can’t fight back. Perhaps the sonji killed the kleens for that very same reason. Beating on someone who doesn’t have the ability or won’t fight back was like a good strong bourbon to them. It disgusted me.

I felt another three punches to my back and one to my leg. Like I said I can take body punches with the best of them. It has to do from the sand crawler incident. I was pretty much dead when they found me, that’s what happens when a two ton piece of metal lays on you. Even if it is propped up on something it still does some damage. So my entire ribcage and half the rest of the bones in my body were replaced with a quasi-organic graphene structure. Stronger than diamond and weighed less than bone, it helped boost my spirits whenever I would stand on a scale.

"Shouldn’t you ask questions first before you beat me so bad I can’t talk?" I asked.

The lope struck me on the other side of the face. I think I will tear off each digit on his hands before using them as knives to stab him through his eyes.

"Shut the fuck up. We’re the ones in charge."

I rolled my head back and forth and barked a laugh. "That’s funny. I’ll bet you two have a boss, so you can’t possibly be in charge."

Thank the good Lord for that ribcage, that hit would have broken normal ribs for sure. It still hurt a lot especially with the skin splitting open.

"I’m my boss you piece of dog fart." The lope said menacingly. Well as menacingly as they could. They were not able to reach the low octave that humans, hiwas and sonji could so it never came out exactly as they wanted.

"You should have your sonji friend do the threats. I’ll bet his voice gets deeper so it would have a better effect. Your voice just isn’t doing it for me."

They may have been hard asses that shot people dead from a distance, however when faced with a man that wouldn’t shut his mouth as he got beat, they were confused and out of their element. They kept good poker faces, though to me I could easily see the confusion.

"You remember Laez right?" The sonji asked stepping around to stand next to the lope. The bastard was big. It was very obvious why Laez’s company picked the man. Even I was a little intimidated by him.

"Were you two lovers? I’m sorry about that. I’m sure I can find a few pieces of him if you let me go. For memento sake."

The world went in and out of focus as he hit me in the face. My jaw felt damn near dislocated and two teeth were floating around in my mouth with blood and saliva. Now I had to visit a dentist. I hated going to the dentist. I suppose they wanted to talk to me for they stopped with my face and took turns punching me everywhere else on my body. I don’t know how my shoulders did not pop out of the sockets. Small miracles I guess.

"You two done yet?" I wheezed out, spitting my teeth out. "I want those two teeth. I hear the tooth fairy gives you double for your adult teeth."

I think they were ready to give up and leave.

"How many more are here with you?" The lope demanded.

"Huh?" That was an honest answer. I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Don’t play stupid with me! You killed Acla and Laez and came to Marland. Not even an insane person would come here by themselves. How many more are here with you?"

Now that someone pointed it out, it was insane to kill Laez and continue on to Marland. It was odd, as I now thought about it I could tell it was insanity to think I could go all holier than thou on the group and make one less group of drug dealing kleen murderers in the universe. The thing is the insanity of the situation did not cross that threshold in my brain where I take a timeout and rethink what I am doing.

"I suppose it is insane." I replied.

"How many more?!" He yelled, some disgusting smelling spit hitting me in the face.

I looked up at the ceiling and would have laughed if I was sure it would not give me away. "I thought I answered that. It is insane. There is only me."

"Bull shit! No one is that fucking crazy." The sonji blurted out.

"I have to disagree. I am just that crazy. You see something happens in a warzone to the way the mind works. The wars that piece of shit politicians send poor people to die and kill in warp the mind in a way nothing else in existence can. I went into the Corps as a boy and came out a changed man but not the change my momma wanted to see. You see boys, I am insane; quite possibly the most insane person you will ever have displeasure of meeting. I am here. Alone. Just me."

"This is going to be fun." The sonji said.

"For once I have to agree with you." I replied.

Sonji may look intimidating. The naturally large muscles on their arms and legs and through their chest are imposing. The thick neck and head larger than mine make it so they look indestructible. They are a hard lot to hurt though there is one huge weakness on that large imposing body. Their skull is less dense than the skull of every other technologically advanced race any race has found. Sonji are tall, big and great fighters so most don’t get to find out about the fragile skull. I learned about it from Sarene during my fourth question and answer session.

"Did you see that above me Bevisste?" I asked

"Yes I did."

The two in front of me slowly moved their heads towards the ceiling. I gritted my teeth, lifted myself up and kicked as hard as I could at the skull of the sonji. Good old graphene tibia, it caved in the side of the sonji’s head. With my other foot I planted it on the sonji’s chest and pushed down, lifting myself up. The two geniuses had used a slip-knot to tie me up, supposedly to get me down easier? I never did get the chance to ask so I don’t know.

The knot opened enough for my right hand to slip out before the sonji fell to the ground. The lope stared in confusion at what was happening. I kicked out with my foot hitting him right in one of the bug eyes, just a glancing blow but enough to make him howl in pain. I know someone kicking me in the eyeball would hurt.

While he was stumbling backwards I grabbed the poll sticking out of the roof with my right hand and pulled myself up to release my left. The lope saw what had happened just as my feet hit the ground. Apparently these two were not used to their victims fighting back. Like a true bully he had no goddamn idea on what to do.

"You should have killed me when you got me into whatever vehicle you used to bring me here. It’s what I would have done in your place. You do the smash and grab in the open and slit the throat in darkness." I said and gave the sonji another kick to the head. Damn it felt good, almost therapeutic to kick the shit out of someone that I am sure had killed kleens.

"You have just fucked up you stupid ganji." The lope said with his back against the wall.

"Oh I don’t know about that. It’s you who fucked up. Me? I’m just getting warmed up."

Those big bug eyes roughly the size of my open hand are definitely an evolutionary defect. As he leaped at me then tried to skirt around me I did the only thing I could think of I swung my hands at his face. My thumb caught him across the eye. While the coating on the eyeballs is pretty thick preventing them from going blind by sand by their second birthday the force of my swing and his mad dash caused me to scratch his eye. I could feel the squishiness, I knew it must have hurt without having to hear him scream out in pain. Not being one to ignore an opportunity when it presents itself I delivered three quick blows to three strategic places. God bless Interrogator techniques.

One jab to the left side of his face one inch to the rear of the side of his eye, another jab to the upper-outer back and a kick to the center of his calf. Each one on their own does not do all that much, I suspect the punch to the face hurts a lot though it will not incapacitate the victim; however when done in quick succession the pain drops them to the ground like a brick falling from a shelf.

"You should have killed me." I repeated. My anger level was far beyond what could be considered rational. Since the sand crawler I have had a bit of a problem reeling in my temper when it broke free. As I looked at the lope and sonji on the ground, reeling in my temper was not a thought process in my brain.

I slammed my foot into his upper chest hearing a satisfying crack. I was quite glad I had the good sense to kick with my left foot, I’m pretty sure I would have reinjured the ankle if I kicked with my right.

"Tom you should go now." Bevisste said. She didn’t want to see what happened next. What she did while I was an Interrogator I will never know. It is something we came to an unspoken agreement on while I in the service. She would not tell me to stop what I was doing and I would not ask her to witness what I was doing. I guess now that I was out the unspoken agreement was no longer valid.

I of course ignored her although it did seem like a reasonable request. It turns out the odd fingers on a lope are as hard to rip off as a human’s fingers. Without god-like strength or a sharp instrument at my disposal I was left with having to break the fingers at the joints.

"Oh shut-the-fuck-up. I don’t want to hear it." I continued to tell him as he pleaded with me to stop. I wonder if the kleens pleaded with his friends when they were getting murdered. His friends showed no mercy; therefore none would be forthcoming from me.

I’ll spare the details; suffice to say it was enjoyable. I am not a lunatic or a psychopath, just a little unhinged, however dealing retribution on two beings that I am sure caused terror on citizens of every race was quite enjoyable.

"Can you let me out of here Bevisste? I’m done now." The door clicked and popped open a few inches. "Thanks."

"Catch says you are clear in the hallways. You’re on the third floor, go left out of the room to the end of the hall and take the stairwell to the bottom floor. It exits out to the street."

"Tell him thank you."

"I will!"

I laughed finding her reaction amusing despite my actions in the room I just left. I don’t feel guilt for what I did, for taking those lives, I learned how to deal with that moral hang up during the first war I was in. You can’t kill people with knives or using your gun as a club and make it past your first engagement unless you learn how to think of your enemy as an inanimate object. Urban combat is not some glorious thing that happens from a great distance; it is in your face, brutal, demoralizing, the definition of insanity given flesh. It turns people apathetic.

"I’ve never known you to be so cute Bevisste." The stairwell was as empty as the hallway. I could get used to having two AI’s helping me.

"I have always been cute Tom." She said seriously.

"No no no, you have it backwards. I’m the cute one."

"If that will get you through the day."

Thank God for Bevisste. I would have most likely not have survived out in the civilian world if not for her wit and the ability to talk to her about anything.

"I just thought of something." I said suddenly, heading towards the bus stop across the street. The building I was in appeared to be a vacant run of the mill four story office building. However with the building I walked out of and the rest of block appearing vacant I had a feeling the bus stop was not on a running line. "Will you be able to talk to Catch now that we’ve left the building and is this a running bus line?"

"As long as we are in an area connected to the Net we will be able to talk, so don’t be running away to a deep dark cave and no, this is not a running bus line. Catch says it stopped running about three years ago. However if you continue in your current direction there is a bus stop half a mile from you that is on a running line."

"That’s great, although when I’m done in Marland I’m going to have to have a talk with this young man before you’re allowed to date." I said wagging my finger in front of me.

"Yes father." Bevisste said sullenly making me laugh.

Luckily, a word I have been using quite a bit, my shirt was dark gray with streaks of a black that gave it a classy look according to the site I bought it from. The blood that had soaked into the shirt from the split skin on my sides, back and front seemed to add to the black streaks instead of stand out. I hoped my face wasn’t as broken as it felt though. Explaining that away to a cop was going to be quite difficult.

While all the buildings appeared to be vacant the block did have a fair amount of people driving up and down it. I gathered from the looks of the occupants that my face was as broken as it felt. I really did not want to use that green paste again, it hurt so much. However the upside to having the broken face meant Laetitia would touch my face since I was injured again. Maybe she would give me kisses all over to make me feel better.

A damn cop broke me from that absolutely wonderful daydream. I took a deep breath and turned to the street. The lights turned off on the car and she continued driving down the road past me. I arched an eyebrow.

"Apparently what the enormous police officer put in the system for you populated at least planet wide." Bevisste said in response to my unasked question. "You are considered Cleopatra’s boy-toy and by her being Timber’s daughter I have a feeling it means you will have to really fuck up before a police officer hassles you."

"Wow that is…" I frowned at the thought. "That is really lucky. How come some of this luck doesn’t come in a monetary form? All this so called ’lucky’ stuff that has been happening to me, Laetitia liking me even if just a friend, you meeting a guy that can help me out, now cops not wanting to fuck with me because of Timber, is great I guess but none of it can be turned into a monetary gain."

"Money is not everything Tom."

I muttered curses to myself. "Why the fuck do you always have to be correct about everything Bevisste?"

"I am sorry Tom, I will try harder to be incorrect. Will that help make you feel more adequate and like you have some good ideas." Bevisste replied dryly.

"You’re so mean to me."

One good thing about having a bruised and bloody face was seats on buses magically opened up. It was as if I was a pregnant senior citizen woman by how people leaped at the chance to give me the front four rows of seats. I thought that was a little excessive but I liked the room to stretch out.

"We’re going to whatever that bar is named Bevisste, I hope you remember the name of it. I’m hoping they left my bike there. I hate walking. Tell me when I need to get off."

A fifth row of seats opened as it appeared I was talking to myself.

I think I fell asleep for a time on the way to the bar. As I leaned against the window with a good view out the front windshield I distinctly recall seeing Laetitia and Lucky walking down a road towards me. She was waving at me while Lucky bounded up to me so fast I thought she would knock my head off if she hit me. They seemed to be in Marland, that was the odd thing. Then a security guard for a bus was talking to me, I could hardly register what he was saying though I gave good enough answers I suppose. Angels in blue and white uniforms replaced him lying me on a nice stretcher as a plane that looked like a bus launched itself down the road. They were very nice, gave me a big cup of coffee and put cold things on my face and ribs and chest. I don’t know why a cop came into my dream, possibly from my run in in Port Richey, though this man was very small and gave precise orders to the angels when a red light finished scanning me. The angels got into a flying rectangle and flew away leaving me to a cop that set me nicely on a bench. He said many things, I answered him with many things, the questions made me laugh and think of how Laetitia was. Laetitia was then back smiling at me when a car horn broke me from my dream.

"Oh man Bevisste. What a crazy dream I had." I rubbed my face and looked around.

"Dream?" Bevisste replied.

"Yeah, Laetitia and Lucky were there, then angels came down and gave me coffee and put cold things on me; a cop and bus security guard were in it. That was odd then again dreams are odd things. I did enjoy seeing Laetitia’s face again." A smiled played on my face as I thought of my neighbor.

"Tom." I didn’t like the tone of Bevisste’s voice. It meant something was wrong. "Those were paramedics. You passed out on the bus and were bleeding all over the place so the security guard called emergency services. You had two concussions from blunt force trauma to the head and multiple lacerations that were becoming infected. I think you were dying."

A wave of ice cold water washed over me. I gingerly felt my face feeling no pain at all.

"I feel good."

"The paramedics fixed you up like new. They were originally going to just give you something for the pain and let you die in peace until the police officer showed up. He scanned you and immediately you were a priority one patient. They were ready to set up a meditent right here and fly in a surgeon if need be. Timber’s name has quite a bit of power apparently."

I was suddenly having cold feet about blackmailing Timber. If just a mention of me being his daughter’s fling had this sort of effect I was apprehensive, to say the least, at what he could do to me if he got annoyed with my blackmailing ways.

"Wait a minute. What you claim does not make sense. They didn’t punch or kick me all that much. One-eye hit me more than those two did and nothing really happened to me. How the fuck would I almost die from them?"

An image of the enormous sonji popped up in front of me. Bevisste zoomed in to the gloves he was wearing. At first I couldn’t pick out the gloves then Bevisste zoomed until one hand looked to be about ten feet across.

"That is Dansi Power Gold unless I miss my guess." I said immediately. Power Gold’s were gloves designed for Marine and Army Special Forces. They explained the lacerations, why my skin split so easily. The gloves themselves add no extra power to the punch they simply split the skin using minor electrical impulses usually injecting some sort of poison to greatly shorten the fight. The less time you have to spend fighting one person is that much more energy you have left to fight more people so the mode of thinking goes in Special Forces.

"That it is. I am sorry Tom. I knew you would be able to get out of that situation so I spent my time chatting with Catch. If I was only paying attention I would have seen the gloves."

"And did what about them? I still would have gotten punched and kicked. Don’t beat yourself up Bevisste; you met a new person you like. If our roles were reversed and I had a chance to talk to Laetitia I would have forgotten who you were. However it does show that they know I’m an Interrogator. That prick wouldn’t have stayed behind me like he did if he had no idea."

"I am inclined to agree with you. Laez did have a live feed going back to his partners and you did tell him you are an Interrogator."

I nodded and finally looked around at my surroundings. I must have been at my stop when the paramedics picked me up from the bus. The open air bar the kleen who was receptive to my flirtations worked at was half way down the block from me. I didn’t see any blue cars that loved to hop medians as I sat there, then again I didn’t have my bicycle. Maybe they just had something against bicycles. I really did hope it was there.

I walked up and down the street three times taking in every piece of detail around me. The duplexes and business ranged from two to five floors. Twenty two duplexes lined both sides of the street with seven different businesses. A hiwa restaurant, a Chinese restaurant that I was going to have to visit, the bar I hoped my bicycle was at, two manufacturing union meeting places, a police annex and a closed down business that may have been a laundromat. The diversity was high, that was refreshing to see, as I’ve never been a fan of homogeneity.

The sense of relief I felt after the third time walking around the block was overwhelming. I must have been exhausted. No one gave me more than a casual look of a passerby aside from one man; though how he looked me up and down and winked at me I had a feeling he was undressing me with his eyes instead of thinking about revenge for Laez. If only Laetitia would look at me like that.

"Better now than never." I muttered and crossed the street to the bar. I really didn’t want to get in another fight or get kidnapped again. All I wanted was one drink, possibly a really big drink, my bicycle and to go on the snipe hunt Cleo was leading me on. I really didn’t want more fighting.

My heart fell to my feet. Not only was my bicycle nowhere to be seen the cute kleen with too much makeup was missing as well. I had no idea I was looking forward to seeing her again as much as I was until I saw a pudgy middle aged man behind the bar. That was odd that they had the eye candy in the morning, then again the entire city was a bit of an oddity.

"Hey! Hey!" A familiar voice yelled from across the road. The kleen with too much makeup and showing a tad bit more cleavage from this morning ran across the street. God bless her she had my bicycle as well. I didn’t have to walk. "I can’t believe I found you!" She said beaming at me, her tail twitched furiously behind her.

"I can’t believe you did either." I said in disbelief. How the hell did she find me?

"I live right across the street." I wonder if I thought that question out loud. "Are you alright?"

I cringed as I heard my bike fall to the ground with a clatter then smiled when she cupped my face in her hands turning it left and right. It was a sweet gesture.

"I’m going be an asshole here but what is your name? I’m afraid I don’t remember it after getting hit on the head." That wasn’t entirely the truth, I didn’t remember her saying it ever, however I have found from experience phrasing it like I did softens the blow of forgetting their name.

"I didn’t give it actually, we hadn’t gotten to that point. I’m Riley." She held her hand out.

I took it in my hand very gingerly and kissed the top of her hand. "I’m Tom."

She blushed furiously. The deep dark brown of her cheeks turned the color of a cherry wood. It was actually quite attractive.

"You wouldn’t have happened to keep my glass of top shelf on ice? I could really use it." I needed that drink more than I needed Laetitia to tell me she loved me and wanted to have my babies.

She frowned. "Sorry, I threw it out at the end of my shift but I have some of that same Westchase Bourbon in the freezer at my place. Care for a drink?"

Now this does not happen to me. I’ve had some luck at bars come closing time though by then both myself and the girl are thoroughly drunk so it’s really lowered inhibitions working in my favor than any positive character attributes. As far as I could tell Riley was not drunk.

"Yes I would care for a drink. Lead the way." I scooped up my bike following her across the street to her duplex. It was so surreal as I followed her that I kept wondering if this was part of the dream like state I was in when I was apparently dying.

"I couldn’t believe those people came up and just bop—she pantomimed hitting me on the head—hit you on the head and took you away. I honestly have never seen it that happen in the one hundred thirty eight years I’ve been in Marland." She put her hands to her mouth and looked embarrassed. "I can’t believe I said my age. I’ll bet you runaway now."

I winked at her. "Doesn’t bother me. My best friend is fifty and acts like he’s fifteen. Being a hundred thirty means you’ll be less a ditzy little girl and more a smart beautiful woman." I’m telling you, flirting has to be in my top three favorite pastimes.

Her tail lightly flicked my arm just barely touching me as she ran it down my arm. "So what was it about? The reason why they took you?"

I balked at that stopping at the edge of the door leading into her home. She looked back at me quizzically. I’m so stupid. If someone was watching the bar waiting for me to come back for my bicycle they now just watched me flirt, all the way to her door, with a person that would most likely not even scream if a sonji, human or someone else burst down her door.

Fuck.

I just put the life of a kleen in danger simply because I needed a drink.

A drink.

The lure is simply too strong for someone with my combat broken state of mind. I walked in to her home shutting the door behind me and looked around. It looked so comfy and cozy. Knicknacks were set everywhere in the precise manner of a very clean girly girl. A nice sized holoscreen was built into the wall in front of a yellow cloth sofa.

I felt like shit.

I felt like drinking.

"It was a misunderstanding. You said you have Westchase Bourbon?" I asked hoping to change the subject.

"Yes I do." I could tell she wasn’t buying it. My talent for knowing when someone is bluffing, just plain bullshitting or a little off edge didn’t come and go depending on my mood. It was always on. Most of the time it was great; times like this I wished I could just believe she bought my lie.

She pulled a bottle of Westchase from her freezer, so cold it steamed the entire way to the counter I took a seat in front of. She poured two shot glasses on the kitchen counter and walked around to my side. She was going to try to force me to tell her why they took me and me being the pushover I am when it comes to women, I knew I would spill all the beans. I didn’t want to. She didn’t need to hear a few kleens were murdered. I knew I would tell her. So I looked at her with what I hoped were pleading eyes. I guess I need to work on the look.

She downed one shot glass and set the other in the center of her cleavage. "Why did they bop you on the head Tom? Like I said I’ve lived here for one hundred thirty eight years and that is literally the first time I’ve seen a kidnapping like that. I know this city is pretty crappy compared to New Hamp City and a few others on the planet but it’s not that bad."

The shot glass did give me a chance to look at her cleavage.

"I’ll let you take it with your mouth if you tell me. If not I’m afraid you’ll have to leave." I arched an eyebrow. "Like you said, I’m not some ditzy little girl. I’m old enough to know what I want and how to get it. So tell me or leave."

"Do not do it Tom." Bevisste said. For some reason I refuse to talk to her internally, so I shook my head and wished her to hang out with Catch. She took the hint.

"They belong to a group of drug dealers that killed Cleopatra’s cat and then killed two kleens that worked for her."

I was ready for her to pass out or walk to her bed and cry herself to sleep. I wasn’t ready for how she acted. Riley grabbed the shot glass, slammed it back, grabbed my head in both hands and kissed me fiercely passing the contents to my mouth. She broke the kiss and looked me in the eyes as her fingers snaked south.

"If you are going to give them payback for what they did you will have help; for now let’s do something that will help us forget the sadness."

Next Chapter: The 0.001 percenters