Maniac’s Mayhem

There is no evil in weakness, just in power.

-- Evelin Maniac Vance

I walk the streets of the Milan necropolis at a sedated pace, trying my best not to draw any attention to myself. Not that there are that many people on the street who would pay attention to me, besides some zombies shambling around, upholding some level of security in the city. That did, however, not mean that I could drop my guard.

The zombies in the city might look dumb, only reacting to cries for help and sounds of violence, but I did not, even for a second, believe that was the limit to their capabilities. The necro queen was an old beast and not someone I would choose to encounter if I had any other options.

I finally find the shaft I was looking for, and after four rounds around the area to make sure the coast was clear, I head into the dilapidated building. The inside smells horrible, and I quickly click on my gas mask as I lift my visor slightly to peer into the dark.

After making sure that the building was only filled with discarded trash and other rubble, I let out a sigh of relief. Failing at the start would have been rough. I quickly grab a flashlight from my supplies and clip it to my shoulder, allowing me to properly see the interior as I prepare.

I take a few breaths, mentally taking myself through the breathing exercises. Once I feel I am sufficiently mentally prepared, I take out the climbing gear. A mess of jerry-rigged devices that hopefully would make the climb up a lot easier. I put on the magnetic gloves and attach the retractable knife to the sole of my boot. Lastly, I take out a big yellow pill and throw it in my mouth.

The sour taste makes my mouth pucker up, but the effect of the boosting pill almost instantly becomes apparent as I feel my body warm up. I quickly swing the backpack back over my shoulders and start climbing up the inside of the building.

The structure was at some point a big corps headquarters, a massive building housing floors and floors of offices, but with the emergence of Milan’s Samurai overlords, many companies fled, leaving the buildings and most of the city to rot as the zombie queen infected every part of it.

Not that it mattered to me; I was here for a mission and was less than interested in the city's problems. The only thing I currently cared about was the fact that the broken building allowed me a way up without being seen by any surveillance.

Ascending the floors was not difficult; there were loads of handholds, and I had not caused a cascade of diorites to fall down yet. On the other hand, however, I did not have the blueprints of this place, which made me waste a lot of time just finding a place where I could ascend to the next level.

Two hours later, I made it all the way up to the top of the building, and start setting up in a small outlook that would not be easily spotted. I grab my weird four-legged tripod and attach the grey box to it, making sure that the whole construction is stable and level. A lot of time tinkering in my workshop and money had gone into this, so I had to make sure this would go absolutely perfectly.

Lastly, I connect the computer and camera to it and make sure I have a signal on the remote controller. I do some more checks, making sure I could move the contraption with no issues and that nothing had been damaged.

Once every check comes back as positive, I allow myself a small smile. “That undead bitch won’t know what hit her.”

I quickly make the climb back down. This time it's going a lot faster since I am descending, but it feels a lot sketchier. Once I am at the bottom, I do a quick check on myself, but nothing is bleeding or feels out of place. I grab an old, oversized raincoat out of my bag as well as a different pair of pants and quickly change my clothes before heading out onto the streets again.

I don’t stay on the lower levels for long, ascending slowly through the different lifts and stairs to about midway into the stacks and find the quiet corner that I had scouted out several months ago and sit down, dragging the hood over my head. Any onlooker who would notice me now would see me as nothing more than another vagrant wasting away on the streets.

I reconnect to the machine on the building and, through its camera, start scouting around, looking for my target. As a principle, I don’t tend to leave flaws in my plans with the prey I am hunting that would, in most cases, only lead to disaster, but in this case, it was fine since the only flaw was me not knowing when or if the target would show up.

So I had made sure to pack several nutrient bars, bottles of water, and even some Samurai energy boosters I had managed to buy on the black market. So if worse came to worse, I could sit here for several days without any issues. And me having set up in a rather central location made it at least more likely that I would see the monster once.

Luckily, instead of days, my wait time was just some five hours as the monster walks into view. The collections of bones and sinew that made up the dread queen was always disturbing, and seeing it all move made me count my lucky stars that I had not really eaten yet.

The creature was moving itself to one of the more busy streets, as the few people that were walking the street gave it a wide berth. I start making some last checks as I aim my machine at the creatures, making sure to put in the correct trajectory.

Then, once I could not be any more sure, I take a deep breath and fire. The machine was powered by some weird type of gas I had found rather than gunpowder, creating no flash and only minimal noise as the payload was sent flying over the gap and into the window, shattering it without issue and flying further.

On the camera, I can see the small rugby-shaped object that was the payload collide with the bony creature, barely moving it. Then the capsule explodes or implodes. I was still not sure of the actual mechanics of the dimensional shunting grenades my last target liked to use. But as I saw the tendrils of distorted space rip the cyber-zombie apart, it was safe to say that it was more than effective enough.

As the distortion subsides, I let out a quick breath, reaming the machine. I did make sure to give the machine a second, if not slightly smaller, payload just in case something went wrong. But as the seconds pass and the broken remains of the creature still don't move, I smile to myself. I quickly stand up, walking to the main street and following the general throng of people who have come out to investigate the commotion.

Personally, I would like to make my way out of the city, but I felt that in this situation, it would be better to hide myself in the group. As I move, I glimpse some of the city's zombies. Most of them are lying flat on the ground now that their master is dead.

Once I make it to the spot where the demon had fallen, there is a large crowd gathered, everyone trying to take a look at the corpse. Making getting closer to confirm my kill almost impossible, so instead I decide to circle around the area for a bit.

This is where I notice a problem: a small streak of black goo coming from the direction of the corpse and going into a small vent. It seems like someone or something has tried to clean up, but probably because of the lack of time, did a more rushed job.

I curse to myself if the bone horror was still alive; getting a second shot would be almost impossible. On the other hand, it was heavily wounded right now and most likely was spending every point available trying to stay alive.

Against my better judgement, I decide to go in. As long as it did not have the points to completely rearm, I could still win.

After a few very claustrophobic moments, I finally make it to a small room that is lit with a single light and the loud sounds of passing steam. It was probably the boiler room of some building or whatever, making for the perfect hiding place. Once I can stand again, I take out a small pistol just in case.

I slowly make my way further into the room. After I walk around a particular big pipe, I am surprised to find not a bony undead monster but instead a little kid hunched over a piece of metal debris, prying into it with her scuffed hand. Her short reddish-brown hair covering her face.

“What are you doing?” I ask in confusion.

The kid jumps, bolting up as the piece of metal clinks down and lands on her left foot.

“Owwh, owh” the girl cries out as she pushes the thing off.

“Oh, shit! I am sorry. Let me help.” I say, walking up to the kid and taking the thing off. “Sit down. I am going to put some medicine on you.”

The girl, too surprised to argue, sits down, and I quickly get one of her shoes off; her foot is already starting to turn a nasty shade of blue. I quickly grab my nanite spray and give a small spray to the area.

“Okay, that should fix it. Now, do you want to explain what you were doing with that?” I ask, pointing at the box.

“Uhm, I, uhm, I am sorry. I did not mean to steal.” The girl says, looking at the floor.

I smile at the girl. “It is fine; it is not mine, anyway. I just wonder why you would take it? You know that stuff is dangerous,“ I say, noting that one of the girls' hands is missing some fingers.

The girl raises her little chin. “So what? We all need to make money somehow.”

I nod, finding it hard to argue with that logic. “You're right, but there is a safer way to do this. Like, where is your screwdriver?”

“I don’t have the money for one, and even if I have one, I would buy food instead.” The girl says getting more combative.

I let out a sigh. There were no words I could use to convince this girl not to mess with the dangerous samurai tech. Sadly, this was not an uncommon sight. I lost count of the number of street rats that would die because they thought they could get paid by disassembling some Samurai tech.

“Okay, fine,” I say, wiping my face. “Put that in your bag and come with me. Let me at least show you how to work with Samurai machinery without losing any more body parts.

The girl gives me a suspicious look. “You are not going to steal it from me?”

I point at my gun. “If I wanted it, I would have taken it. I have no need for tricks. Now, come, if someone else finds you with Samurai gear, they’re going to ask more questions than I am willing to answer.”

The girl finally nods, putting the machine in her backpack and following me out of the cramped room and back into the street.

Now that I had suddenly acquired a dependent, getting out of the city was more important than ever. So, with that thought speeding up our extraction, we were making our way to the holo rail. One of the few places that allowed people to leave the city for what could in some cases be considered a good price.

I make sure to keep the little girl close by, holding her hand as I drag her through the streets that are increasingly getting filled with more people. I thought this city mostly held the long past due, but apparently, as soon as their lich overlord kicked the bucket, all the still-breathing citizens seemed to come out of the woodwork.

This, however, means that things are way easier than first planned. A lone person walking around might be seen as suspicious, but with this many people around, the two of us would blend more into the background.

It is therefore that I am slightly surprised that we are stopped right before the holo line station. The person who was standing in our way is rather imposing, making the little girl cling to me even more than before as the demon woman’s red eyes brush past her. The little demon spawn Samurai was well known for being temperamental and overall dangerous to deal with, sending all my alarm bells on edge.

“Hello, would you mind telling me where you are going?” the red skinned Samurai asks.

I point ahead of me with my free hand. “The holo rail, it is not safe here at the moment; so my little sister and I are going to leave and maybe come back once things have settled down,”

“I see, did you happen to catch what happened in the incident?” the woman asks, seemingly studying me, making the hairs at the back of the neck stand up.

“No, we just heard that the Samurai died, so we are trying to leave,” I answer quickly, making a small tremble seep into my town to look even more diminutive.

The she-devil steps even closer. “Do I know you?”

I blink. Not knowing what was suddenly happening and feeling rather uncomfortable with the sudden proximity. I might be able to take her out on account of her lacking any of the chips that allowed normal Samurai to adapt to situations, but it would send a rather loud signal. “Uhm, no ma’am, I have only ever seen you on clips on the internet.”

“My mistake, then. You look rather familiar.” Apocalypse says taking a step back.

I quickly raise my free hand up, making sure my goggles are still in place. “That is fine, miss. Maybe the person you know is wearing similar equipment. Are we free to go then?”

The demon nods, “Yes, just be careful. There are some dangerous people out there.”

I nod as I start moving again. Of course, there were dangerous people out there with the bloody Samurai playing god in every last pocket of civilisation. It's a small wonder that humanity has not completely collapsed yet.

The two of us quickly make it to the holo station and get on one of the carts. I spend a bit more credit than normal to get us a private booth. Once we sit down, I activate my signal jammer, hoping to block any prying eyes.

“So, what is your name?” I ask the girl now that we are finally sitting down and have some time to relax.

“I am Jenny,” the girl says, looking down. “Though most people call me by different names.”

I try my best to give her a reassuring smile. “Okay, Jenny, my name is Alana. I hope we can get along from now on.”

Jenny still looks nervous, but there is not much I can do about that now; instead, I decide to order some snacks and drinks for us to make sure that she has at least some food in her. While trying to suppress the feeling that picking up this child was a mistake. I was only an adult in the weirdest and loosest interpretation of the word. The little girl was, in reality, probably even older than me, a thought I did not know how to acknowledge.

A few hours and several transfers later, we make it into my apartment, where I give Jenny some spare clothes and tell her to clean up before we do anything else. While Jenny is taking care of that, I make it to my workshop.

I am doing some checks on my gear, making sure that everything is still working fine after today, as the little kid walks in with her hair wet and her clothing slightly damp.

“Wow, this place has a lot of stuff.” She says, looking around with big eyes.

I smile at her. “It sure does. Want to get your piece of metal and see what it actually can do, and if we can fix it.”

The girl smiles, running out of the room and quickly coming back with the metal cube thing and putting it on a free space on the bench.

“So, do you know what it is?” Jenny asks, looking at me with wonder in her eyes.

“Not yet, but as long as we figure out what the separate parts do, I am sure we can come very close,” I say as I grab some of the tools we might need.

“You do this often, then?” Jenny asks.

I give her a small nod. “It’s how I make most of my money.”

“Is that why you have a board with a bunch of Samurai on it?” Jenny asks, pointing at the board. “Also, why are some of them crossed out?”

I blink, looking at the board and panicking slightly, telling the girl that I hunt Samurai for a living might be a bit hard at the moment. “Yeah, kind of the crossed-out ones are Samurai who have died.” I quickly inform her, assuming that giving her most of the truth would probably be better than straight-up lying.

“I see, and when a Samurai dies, more of their stuff is getting sold, so you need to know who died to figure out what it could be.” The girl says, nodding to herself as she comes to the “correct” conclusion.

“Yeah, anyway, let’s get to work.” I say, cutting off the conversation for now.

We spent only an hour on the little project since it is already late and Jenny is slowly nodding off. Once I have secured the tools, I put Jenny to bed and finally clean myself. As I go over the day in my head, there were definitely some areas I could still improve, and grabbing Jenny was definitely a wild thing to do, but overall, my mission was complete, and there was one more monster that dared call itself the hero of humanity in the ground.