NAKED [Section 0.2]

A Science Fiction Novel about crypto-anarchy

NAKED
[Section 0.1]
[Section 0.2 -Begin]

“Who the fuck?”
I open my right eye a little, since I figure Lexi must’ve gotten their attention. They’ve both turned away. The one holding the skull saw is short and chubby, kinda greasy looking. A white dude with his hair shaved in a bleach blonde polka-dot pattern. He has a gothic number eighteen under his left eye, and a triangular glow tat on the back of his neck, probably a neuropatch implant. He is wearing a jeweled letter “R” around his neck on a thick chain. It’s sitting squarely in the middle of his “King Rufus” shirt. The other guy has a strong build, square jaw and a bald head. I’d guess he might be Puerto Rican. He isn’t really flashy, white tee and jeans. He has a glow tat that looks like the number eighteen written in circuit-like pattern on the back of his neck that stands out, also likely a neuropatch implant. The eighteen tells me they are Thrall Eights… So I must be on the outskirts of Federal City. Whoever hit me was either too cheap or didn’t respect me enough to send professionals. Looks like I’m inside a parking garage of some kind. It’s mostly empty and pretty dilapidated. The two thugs are looking in the direction of Lexi, who is drunkenly stumbling down the ramp.
Her hair is tightly parted in the middle with buns on either side. The left side is bright red, the right white. She is wearing a top that consists of three iridescent squares, one covering each breast, the third square slightly askew off center to the left below the other two. A red gloss latex short skirt segmented in the middle, that seamlessly attaches to fishnet stockings and heels. Around her neck a shimmering mass of tech jewelry in triangular shapes.

“Back the fuck outta here bitch!” Square jaw says sternly.
“Wait, wait, wait, … hold the fuck on Trig. We got a few minutes. This bitch is faded off her ass.” Chubby pleads as he puts down the skull saw, and stuffs his empty gun into his waistband.
“Hold on the client is calling.” Square jaw’s eyes glaze over. “Yes?”
Eyes glazed over he nods looking slightly nervous, and grimacing as though he wants to say something but he can’t. He’s changed his manner of speaking, which tells me whoever the client is… He isn’t street level.
“We’ve got him right here… We’ll have the package to you real soon.” His eyes again focus on chubby. “Let’s take care of this bitch and deliver this motherfucker’s head. We don’t have time for fucking around.”
“Okay, Okay… so fuckin serious.” They start walking toward Lexi. Who I notice is now leaning over a car about twenty feet away, seems like she is puking. Chubby calls out giggling.
“Hey little girl, what are you doing down here?”

I know this is my chance, so I slowly roll to the right, my head and left shoulder aching. I glance at my left shoulder, see a bullet hole and my clothes drenched in blood. Scanning down, looks like I took another one at the edge of my left abdomen.
‘Shiva, I need to you inhibit my pain receptors.’
‘Nervous system modification is protected, memory cipher please?’
‘I close my eyes, I see her eyes, her smile… hear her laugh. Below us the twinkle of the city lights. I feel my heartstrings. The os acceptance chime rings out.
‘What percentage would you like inhibit?’ asks Shiva
‘Fifty.’
The effect is instantaneous and I feel energized. I pull out my gun. A seventy caliber magnetic propulsion pistol with an internally embedded smart seek processor and custom firmware. Capacity of twenty-two multi purpose zero point rounds. Based loosely on the Chiappa Rhino in aesthetics, I call it the Karkadann, you'll have to look that up. It’s a modification of my own design. I'll need information from one of these guys so can get these hitters off me. Chubby is empty, square jaw is the real threat here. He seems like he has the most information of the two, so I’ll need to keep his head intact. I take aim and fire. The round exits the barrel with a low thump followed by a high pitched ring, it hits him heavily, close to his left shoulder blade. He flies forward in a pirouette. Chubby immediately runs for Lexi, grabbing her to use her for a shield. To my surprise, square jaw is pulling himself to his feet, reaching for his gun. He must be wearing armor… smarter than me. I’ll need to empty the clip in the same spot to get penetration.
‘Shiva, enable smart seek, all rounds must hit the exact target of the first. Target is center chest. Full clip pulse burst.’
‘Weapon connection established, fire at will.’

[Section 0.2 -End]
[Section 0.3]