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‘One month’s pay for every shot you miss.’
I remember the bastard telling me that when I was hired. He said it with a coy smile while handing me the case of bullets whose count exceeded my own savings.
I took him seriously to start, this is The City after all, making sure not a single bullet is missed. When I first missed a shot, though…
I still remember it, it was during a job in T Corp’s nest. My head was hurting like bloody hell and I was struggling to keep my aim straight because of it. It felt like my brain was trying to grasp something that had been forcefully torn away from it.
That’s when I missed the first bloke I ever shot at. I hit the wall centimeters away from their face. The boss nearly got squashed by the blasted stray dog member because of it. And you know what this idiot did when I apologized to him?
He LAUGHED! He just gave a chuckle and patted me on the shoulder, saying that he was joking about the rent and that, ‘if you think ammo is expensive, you don’t even want to know the debt you’d be in if you let me get injured!’
The smile he gave me was the same he gave me when he showered me with those bullets.
During the night after that mission, I couldn’t sleep. I blamed it on the headache.
And now we’re here on another mission. I rub the shell in my hand, an Atelier Logic bullet. It was beautiful, engraved and all types of shit like that. He practically proposed to me with it, having come in its own velvet box. I wonder if fixer couples get each other expensive gifts like this if they’re high ranking.
…
But that doesn’t mean we’re a thing! I mean, I’m already committed to someone.
Someone.
Someone who is…
… Agh, blasted, my head’s killing me. Why can’t I-
“Heathcliff!~” The sing song voice pulls me to the now, my boss standing there in view of me.
“Hong Lu,” I reply, shoving the Atelier Logic Bullet into my pocket, a pocket only for it.
He gives a lightless chuckle, kicking the smoke around his boots around as if it were snow.
“May I need to remind you we’re about to enter the next section? I need my best sniper in the game!” He gives that same, coy smile. His ponytail bobs with almost playful intents to snag my eyes as he sways around so confidently.
“We’re running pretty low on bullets…” Sinclair adds in, sounding near sobbing from how overwhelmed he could get. I’ve learned to ignore it, bloke’s got a trigger finger faster than anyone else I’ve met.
“Ah, so we are.” Hong Lu surmises the thought, idly cleaning his gun of the viscera, a lot of it the brain matter of the Gears around here. He taps the gun’s muzzle against his chin, I’m worried it’s still loaded for the briefest second. “Ah, looks like I only have one reload left in me.” He quickly replaces the clip, placing it into his holster. “Make that zero.”
“Then, what’s the plan…?” Sinclair clutches his gun to his chest, considering his own bullet count. As the sniper here, I have the most bullets left, just one good shot is enough to put them in the ground.
“Heathcliff~,” I flinch as he looks to me with a smile, “Can I depend on you?”
I don’t think twice about it.
“Of course.”
“Perfect, Sinclair. Handle the gears that get too close to you two, Heathcliff?”
“Your order and your order only.”
“Correct!~”
The plan has shifted, it’s riskier now, especially with himself being more stringent with his own ammo. However, I really don’t want to miss out on a month’s pay.
As expected with our boss, the plan goes on without a hitch. He dives into the smoke, separates, singles out, and lets me handle the rest. He trusts me so much.
Was there anyone I could trust just as much?
I finish off another damned gearhead as Hong Lu dances and pirouettes in the smoke, looking far more graceful than he has any right looking. He stops on his heel, looking to me with a smile.
He closes an eye and makes a gesture, making a V with his hand towards me and it’s like something in my head short circuits at the gesture. I stare at his hand through the scope, finding myself wanting to put my chin into his hand and stare at his eyes.
I think the bastard’s toying with me before I see him raise his arm into the air where the smoke splits apart and what he was signalling towards emerges from within. An aggressively large fanatic with two gears embedded into their noggin.
I quickly raise the rifle into position just as the damned lunatic raises its own arm. Time stops, Hong Lu doesn’t move out of the way, if I don’t fire.
If I don’t fire…
No. Don’t think about it. I fire as quick as I can, and the bullet seems to move like a slug as it splits the air in two before, finally, causing the firework of red I was hoping for, missing the boss’s thumb just barely.
The giant is knocked back by the blow of the bullet, causing it to stumble. I grab another bullet from my ammo carrying case, aim, and fire. It slams into the wall it was in front of. I load.
I fire.
Load.
Fire.
Load.
Fire.
I’m out of the bullets as I reach into my ammo carrying case, panting as I try again to shoot the hulking giant. I rummage for that pocket-
“Heathcliff.” A scratchy version of the voice of Hong Lu emerges from my receiver into my ear. “You can stop firing now, you must really hate your paycheck.~” He emerges from the smoke with that same, confident stride. I stare at him, clutching the rifle tightly.
I feel like I almost lost someone precious to me for a second time. A second time. There’s again that headache as I try to grip onto the memory of her.
Is she really that important to me as I seem to be forgetting her as the seconds pass?
Hong Lu is now in front of me, I didn’t realize he approached before he was right there. I gasp in surprise and damn near drop my gun, which he catches. “I thought I told you to fire on my command, didn’t I?”
“W-well, I, you almost got squashed again!” I shout at him, feeling flustered. Where’s Sinclair? Shouldn’t he be around somewhere?
“Ah, and why were you so worried?” He reaches up, gently taking my chin and leading my head down a bit to look into his eyes. His purple and cyan. I… could feel my face burning up.
“I…” I’m choking out the words, I can’t bloody think of anything.
I feel something warm touch my lips, something gentle and soft. Then, it’s gone. Hong Lu has left my side, striding into the smoke to search for Sinclair.
I question what happened as I rub my hand with my gloved hand. Did I imagine that?
Hong Lu returns with a weepy Sinclair, he’s giving me a more devilish smile than usual, as if taunting me. “How many bullets do we have left?”
“I’m… out,” I admit as I check my ammo case. “Ah, except for the Atelier Logic.” I pull it out from my ammo pocket, he beams at me.
“Sinclair has 3, and I have 2. We’re squeaking by under the budget, we’ll be able to do this and turn a profit!” He strides past me as he looks to the entrance ahead. “And I think up ahead’s our mark.”
“Is it really the best idea to do this with Heathcliff out of ammo?” Sinclair asks, “We don’t know how many are ahead.”
“He’ll find the best use for his last bullet, won’t you Heathcliff?~” He asks in a tone that goes over Sinclair’s head but I pick up quite well.
My face burns with… embarrassment? I’m not quite sure what the feeling is.
“O-on my month’s paycheck.” And the affirmatory gaze of Hong Lu is like he’s saying ‘good boy.’ And I don’t hate it.
“All right… b-be careful!” Sinclair affirms as he strides forward.
The last room is much easier compared to what we just handled. Three fanatics are handled by Sinclair, one is dealt with by Hong Lu’s bullet, and the last is handled by his knife. This just leaves our target standing at the chair made to turn people into gears. Hong Lu lines up his last bullet to disable her and fires.
A blue blur runs in just as he does, deflecting the bullet.
Even just his presence alone weighs us down. A weight that’s born from his overwhelming strength. A color fixer, Hong Lu’s brave bravado quickly shifts.
“
Blue Reverberation
! Fall back! Fall back!” Sinclair and Hong Lu run past me as the situation quickly becomes dire with the presence of him there. I think about what to do, I grab my sniper rifle.
It’s a Colored Fixer, there’s no outrunning him.
“Heathcliff! Fall back!” Hong Lu shouts into my ear as I hear them run away.
I reached into the pocket, grabbing something that felt cold compared to the rushing adrenaline and heavy thud of my heart.
“Hong Lu. Keep running.” I reply into my headset as I lock in the bullet, feeling the gentle thrum of my gun’s internal works beginning to heat up as the bullet is inserted. “Keep running.”
I aim the gun at the smiling, eerily calm figure. I can hear the gift in my hands hum as the power begins to reach its peak.
My finger hovers over the trigger as the wedding band’s silver glow overtakes my gun.
I fire.