The running, part 1. Ambushing the ambushers

Sly took us to his home. It was similar to my own home. Broken, abandoned house in a bad neighborhood. Homey and cozy, maybe. For me at least, it felt like home when I could hear the rats in the corners, and cries of pain every once in a while. Things with bad luck had an ugly ending in Redmond Barrens.

I had never known any deckers before. That’s why I made a mistake by promising to go and look after Nerdy when he wanted to do some research online. I will never, ever make that mistake again. It’s more boring than sitting at home waiting for something to happen. At home there is a possibility that something really happens.

We went to a hotel. It was a pod-hotel, where all the people buying a room went into small pods to sleep. They were smaller than the cage I had lived for months. Nobody could ever force me to go in one.

Nerdy went in and stayed there for seven hours. Maybe he did research online, maybe he slept. I don’t know, but I was bored. My skills in English are not enough to tell how bored I was. I sat there, in the lobby, sharpening my sword. I tried to get a reaction out of the receptionist, with no luck. I tried my best though. I went next to her, stared at her and cleaned my sword. She didn't even look at me. She seemed to hate her job, and apparently her life as well. I thought briefly about killing the next customer to get something out of her, but I decided it would not be wise.

After I was almost seriously thinking about exploding the door on Nerdy’s pod, he came out. Lucky for him. I was a bit cranky, hungry and annoyed. Nerdy seemed to be a bit tired, and he wanted to eat something. We went to a pizzeria nearby. I tried human-food. It’s wasn't that bad, but I prefer rats, or if possible, rabbits.

Later on we met the rest of the group. Opium wanted to take me to some examination. She wanted to have my head examined. It sounded scary, and I felt a flashback coming. They tried to convince me, it wasn't bad, I wouldn't be harmed, it would be OK. Because of my hesitation Opium tried to make me go by threatening to put me to the pod-hotel for another seven hours. I promised to go, if Sly went first. He agreed and we all left. Nerdy wanted to do some more research, and Jinx agreed to go with him.

We went to place with some people. Sly sat on a chair. I was curious to know what was happening, and the person doing the tests was more than happy to explain. I had never heard so messy explanation. He tried to speak like a doctor, but mixed some slang words to his speech. I wasn't sure what happened, but Sly seemed to be OK through the whole procedure. He wasn't in any pain. I agreed to sit on the chair too. It was over quickly. The person who was doing the tests said that I had probably suffered some brain damage or developmental disorders. That didn't sound so good. I assume it was the damage that I had from the laboratory, which destroyed my ability to see colors. I was happy no one was interested about my damages. I didn't want to explain, or make up a story. It was better this way. Nobody cared.

We started making some plans and preparations for the oncoming happening. We had chosen Slys apartment to be our base. We hired a human female named Blackie to give us some support with her machine gun. Then Jinx needed some protection for summoning elementals. I promised to go with him. It sounded more interesting than what Nerdy did.

We went to a seemingly quiet place in Barrens. It was more interesting to watch Jinx summon elementals than wait in a lobby. I saw that nothing appeared to happen in the Physical Plane, but in the Astral Plane had some action. Mana, that is apparently magical power or something, gathered around us. Apparently Jinx was doing it. I didn't understand, so I focused my attention to some gangers that had come to see what was happening. They stayed out of reach, but carefully watched the situation developing. I was ready to kick them further if they tried to make any trouble.

The summoning went well, and finally Jinx was ready. We returned to Slys apartment. There was yet again a new face for me. An elf-woman named Lina. She watched me carefully and suddenly I noticed that she was shining in the Astral Plane. Normally this means that she was either a shaman or a mage. I know now that whenever people stare at my aura, they read it. I myself have learned aura reading, it gives information about people. More information than what you can get by staring at the physical body. Now she knew I was a shifter. She said something quietly to Opium, and I am sure she revealed my true self to her as well. Better that way, it might be a bit startling if your team-mate transforms into an animal in the middle of the fight, without any warning.

We waited. Apparently there was going to be an ambush against us, but because we knew it, we had the upper hand. We were able to ambush them first.

It took couple of days before anything happened. Then, at night, it started. I noticed some auras moving quietly forward next to a wall. I grabbed my shotgun. I tried to show them to Opium, but she didn't notice. Maybe because she didn't see the Astral Plane. Hiding people were less hiding in the Astral Plane. The shined.

Suddenly Nerdy fired his pistol. Others started shooting as well. Because we were trying to stay out of sight, I didn't fire my shotgun. You can’t get a good dampener for a shotgun. Finally we were noticed. They tried to shoot at us, and I could finally start shooting myself. I killed one, and then my team wanted to go further away. I followed reluctantly. They wanted to stay away from the fight. Opium threw a smoke grenade.

I was there, waiting. From the radio I heard my team talking about the location of our enemies. They didn't know. It was hard to see in the smoke. I got bored and left. At first I of course told that to my team, that they knew I was on the move. I left my shotgun there and took my sword. It was more quiet than the shotgun. I moved stealthily. I noticed a person. I sneaked in front of him, jumped on a table and raised my sword. Apparently he was waiting for an attack, because he shot me. I hit him with all my strength. He fell down, and then I lost my consciousness.

When I woke up, I was hurting. I got up. A bullet dropped down from my forehead. Then somebody shot me again. I got mad. I transformed and launched after the shooter. At first there was three people running in front of me. Then two of them were shot. I kept on running. Then the first person was shot too. He got down on his knees, and I jumped on him. He smelled like the one who shot me. I bit him on the neck. He died. I decided to make a point and chewed his head off.

After killing my victim I walked calmly back to others. They were looking at Sly. He had also transformed. He was lying there, unconscious. He didn't have any wounds. Opium grabbed a hold of him and carried him to a car our enemies had come there. Others grabbed Slys and my stuff to the car and then threw all the bodies there too. Apparently two of them were alive. I didn't want to go in the car. It seemed too small. I felt out of breath. They lured me in anyway. I didn't want to transform there. I felt stronger in my feline body. I was still scared and anxious.

We arrived to a place. Apparently that was some persons clinic. I didn't care. I jumped out from the car, took my clothes with me and transformed. I dressed up and went to see what was the problem.

There was a human female named Nanny. Others gave all the bodies and the two living persons to her. Opium gave Sly to her as well. She didn't seem too happy to treat animals. I made it clear to everyone that I thought there was something seriously wrong with Sly. Shifters should heal quickly, and he didn't.

We got the information we wanted from the two living people. Other one was very helpful. He promised to arrange a meeting with the Mr. Johnson in question. Apparently my team had a bone to pick with this Mr. Johnson.

The meeting with the group

I had lived alone for a while when I was contacted by Juggler. He told me that a group of runners needed some firepower, or something. I was starting to get bored, no one picked fights with me, and the rats had moved further away from my territory. I agreed to a meeting in a pub on the same day.

I packed up my things and left. I checked the time and made sure I was there on time. At the same time as I walked in I noticed two human males walking in too. Other one shined in the Astral Plane. That was the first time I met Nerdy. The one who shined in the Astral Plane introduced himself as Sly. He was a fox.

We sat on Jugglers table for quite a while. They tried to talk something, but I was a bit out of place there. I knew only Juggler, and apparently he knew Sly. I got my sword in front of me and started sharpening it. It made me feel calm.

Finally Jinx arrived. From all my teammates I have known Jinx and Nerdy for the longest. Neither of them are my good friends though.

After Jinx had arrived Juggler left. He wished us luck before leaving. Then Sly and Nerdy told us about their problems. They needed some firepower for their job. I suppose they needed to capture some people, and to take a revenge on some Mr. Johnson. I didn’t know why, but it didn’t matter. They promised some money and action, and I was in.

I left with these people. We went to an abandoned building, and down on its cellar. I understood that there was one more person on the team, but wasn’t there yet. We had to wait. I found me a nice corner and started sharpening my sword again. I didn’t pay much attention to others, only enough to know what was happening. Everybody seemed to be waiting.

At two o’clock in the morning the last member of this team arrived. She was an elf female called Opium. She talked something with the others and said that we should leave the place immediately. I followed the example, got my things and left with them

Life alone

At this point I was a bit scared. I had only one contact. Juggler knew my number and some of my skills, and he promised to call if he had jobs available. He wasn't my friend. He was an acquaintance. He didn't need to know about my past, or about what I was. To him I was a human female. I think that he knows now about my true self. I haven’t kept it hidden that well, and if he listens to the words on the street, he knows that a certain Bitch with an attitude is not a human but an animal. A magical animal, but still an animal.

I had lived in a better place with Luis. He had paid the rent there, but now that I was left alone, I had to move. I didn't have much money. I took over a small, ruined apartment in Barrens. I had to kick some ass to claim it, but after a while all the residents around the area avoided me. They knew they were in trouble if they started fighting with me.

I was afraid that someone would steal my stuff when I was wandering around my area, so normally I kept everything with me. I needed to stretch my cat-muscles as well, so I hid my property every time I went out for a hunt. One time I saw some lowlife idiot going through my stuff. He had found my hiding place, and apparently decided to make good use of my things. I had to make known who guarded the property, so I revealed myself by growling. When he saw me I smelled the fear. He dropped everything he had and ran, screaming. I transformed, put my clothes on and followed him. It wasn't hard. I made sure he knew not to touch my property again. I also said that my pet knew his scent, or stench, and he should stay away. After that no one tried to steal my stuff.

I had made quite comfortable life for myself. It consisted of struggles, fights and hunting. It was exciting. My home wasn't comfortable, but I always slept as leopard, so that the hard ground didn't feel so hard.

One of my activities was to go to a local pub. Well, actually I had to walk quite a while to reach any pubs, but anyway. I used to sit there, watching people. They seemed to be afraid of me, but sometimes there were people who didn't know me. They tried to pick a fight or then they hit on me. Both situations normally ended the person getting his ass kicked.

Goodbye Luis

My style wasn't compatible with Luis’s style, not at all. He was dressed well. For jobs he had expensive body armor. He looked like a professional, and that’s what he was. Even though we shared an apartment and a bed, we weren't similar at all. At first I had felt like we had something in common, but when we arrived to Seattle, I knew we had to go separate ways. He knew it too.

We lived a couple of months together, did some jobs together. He had a good contact in Seattle, a fixer named Juggler. I met Juggler a few times as well. When Luis gave me my share of the pay of our jobs, I bought loads of things from Juggler. He’s cool. He has gotten me jobs and weaponry, and also armor. He’s a professional.

Luis didn't feel at home in Seattle, but I loved it. I kinda missed the woods from our previous place, but in Seattle there was Redmond Barrens with loads of rats, devil rats and demon rats. I moved my hunting-grounds there. Rats aren't the only creatures there, but they are the most common. Of course there are the lowest of the low, lowlifes, some runners and such, but I fit in perfectly.

After a while Luis had accepted a job somewhere further away. When he left never to return, I felt a bit sad. At the same time I felt free. I didn't have anyone around me who would know my past completely, and I wanted to keep it that way. I hated the pity in Luis’s eyes. I have gone a long way since then, and I need to be strong. If I ever want to return and make those people suffer, I need to be strong.