It's a Long, Long Way to the Johnson Nebula (Shiva x LFP)

[Shiva the Cat]

“Ugggggggh, Vicarro? Really?”

The woman's exasperated growl seemed to echo endlessly off the metallic walls of the cockpit as her pearlescent white eyes rolled back in her head. Of all the backwater dirtballs to find a target, she needed to go all the way to Vicarro? Shit, it hardly seemed worth the price. Granted, fifty million sol could buy her a lot of upgrade parts for her old rustbucket of a ship, but it wasn't enough to retire on. Not by her standards anyway.

“Look on the bright side, Miss Shanna. There are very few inhabitants on Vicarro,” a soothingly helpful, vaguely masculine voice replied from overhead. “It should be quite easy to locate him once we get in range. It's not a particularly large planet either, and the light gravity should give you quite the advantage versus that nasty-looking fellow.” Shanna grunted and tilted her head forward as if to avoid the speaker, but considering the faceless AI basically inhabited the entirety of her craft there was no escaping him.

“How about you go look for him then, Hiram?” the bounty hunter growled, pulling up the navigation system and setting what she hoped would be the shortest course to their destination.

“Unfortunately, madam, that is quite impossible. However you did suggest possibly obtaining a mobile unit for me some time back--”

“Oh yeah, that's the last thing I need. You following me out on jobs and chattering my damn ear off,” Shanna snapped, rising to her feet and stretching her arms over her head, the lights of the different displays and consoles reflecting off the metallic surface of her mechanical right one. Silvery fingers with points sharp as tacks combed carefully through her thick mass of graying black hair, scratching deliciously at her scalp for a moment before the woman headed for the door of the cockpit. By human standards she was about average height and possessed a mostly human body (at least when it came to the organic parts). But besides her white, pupil-less eyes and disconcertingly pale skin, there was something in the almost supernaturally fluid way she moved that most purebred humans found off-putting. Clearly someone in her family tree had fucked outside of the race, but it had to be at least a generation or two back.

“I'm gonna take a nap, Hiram. Wake me up when we get there,” the woman yawned as she exited the room.

“Madam, it's at least six weeks to--” But the automatic door had already shut behind her.

The six weeks passed uneventfully by the AI's standards, but to the bounty hunter they felt painfully long. Her ship was capable of short bursts of speed, great for evading pursuers in a tight spot, but the Javert's engines simply couldn't maintain that velocity for long distances. Besides, the cruiser was technically designated as a “research vessel” (thanks to some forged documents from a well-known academic institution) and it would have raised some eyebrows if Shanna dared give it the upgrades she longed for.

So they drifted farther and farther away from the inhabited planets and satellites until they only passed the occasional resource centers, and finally approached the atmosphere of Vicarro. There were only a handful of settlements on the surface of the planet, and outside of those the dry, hot climate would be hard to survive for most beings. After working out a search plan with Hiram, Shanna decided the best thing to do was to check each town one by one. Besides, a nine-foot-tall, four-armed, goat-looking motherfucker like Number 508 couldn't be that hard to locate, right?

After docking on the pitiful little shipyard that served as the town of Purgatoria's spaceport, Shanna shrouded herself in a lightweight black cloak that concealed the blasters on her swaying hips as well as her metal arm, then set out for the nearest bar to hear the latest gossip.

 

[LocalFriendlyPsychopath]

Viccaro. A little mud ball of a planet. One that had, at one point, been quite the hub of trading and even mining. That was decades ago though. The planet was spent, just another floating piece of dirt in space now. A few thousand lived on the planet, hangers on and people who never had the money to leave. That and of course the usual fugitives and less than law abiding people who needed somewhere to lie low.

It had been two weeks of day light, the mining of out of the planets core and its minerals slowing the what should have been very quick rotation of such a small planet. It went from a standard 24 hour day to three, to nine, and rested now at about 14. Night was the worst time to be on the planet of course. A planet like this? With night lasting weeks? It got so cold that most things would die. Most. The critters that lived in the mines find the night and the cool air quite pleasant. And they came out in number.

They were only a few hours away, maybe 12, from that final sunset putting them at the mercy of the little crawling bastards. The only thing that could stop them was bright light, not that flashlights offered much protection, and the planets lack of moons meant night time was pitch black. Hours away from hell on Viccaro.

Most were getting drunk. Getting ready to go into the mining complex's, the bunkers that were converted to living quarters. Issue was the old things had caretakers. Caretakers that were very strict on company policy. If you wanted a drink, or a smoke, or any kinda fun, you had to do it now and get it out. The bots down below tolerated nothing of the sort, but at least the kept things clean. Two weeks under the care and protection of nanny bots was hardly ideal but it was better than risking ones life up above ground.

The folks who were getting shitfaced were more than happy to talk. The fuckers name was Jacques. Or at least that's what he wanted to be called and no one was going to call him out on it. His crimes were everything from armed bank robbery, train robbery, theft, and even out right murder. Some people even believed he was responsible for a host of nasty spree killings in a neighboring system, where the men and women were ripped limb from limb. Either way, no one fucked with him. He had his own little set up out on the frontier. A small bunker he claimed as his own, an old military outpost with out any nanny bots. What he did there was anyone's guess, no one ever really got in his way or bothered him about it.

The truth though? The truth was far FAR more... mundane? Corporate espionage. He had quite the brain and with his arms he was able to make magic with some electronics. A machine he was making in his spare time with parts he had paid for on his own, was taken from him. A small cybernetic limb. His contract said anything he worked on, even in his free time, belonged to the company. He was quite upset about that. The limb was as simple as it was cheap. And a cheap cybernetic that he wanted to put out on the free market, maybe even allow people to build at home for pennies on the dollar? Well thats just bad for buisness! So the hit went out. His mind was full of trade secrets and things that they coudl pry from it. Hell hooking his mind up to a machine and using him like an organic processor wasn't out of the question yet. But getting him back first was. Hence the bounty, and why this young woman was now about to enter a lions den looking for him.

 

[Shiva the Cat]

One of Shanna's many flaws was that she had an apparent aversion to research. To be fair her ship didn't exactly have the best access to any kind of network, but Hiram had been programmed to update his own knowledge banks whenever a secure connection could be found. If the bounty hunter had bothered to consult the AI, he could have given her an adequate rundown on the situation, but unfortunately he'd only managed to volunteer a slight history of the mining company before she got bored and asked him to rerun some old radio plays instead. So she was completely surprised when she strolled into town to find the streets mostly deserted, and the buildings full of people scrambling to complete their business before sundown.

Of course, the woman had no idea about the most dangerous inhabitants of the planet, and the panicked miners were more concerned with looking after themselves than convincing her of her own precarious situation. Indeed, the only person willing to chat with her for more than five minutes was a stumbling drunk who demanded twenty sol before he would do more than stare at her chest. Once the money had changed hands though, and the drunk took a closer look at the holographic image of Shanna's target, he suddenly seemed to have developed a severe case of amnesia. Luckily, a swift cure was found as soon as the bounty hunter's metal claw closed around his throat and one of her guns pressed into the soft flesh of his belly.

"Looks...like...Jacques," the drunk had gasped, shaking in fear as Shanna's colorless eyes began to narrow. "Lives at the old outpost...on Paradise Road..."

"Alone?" Shanna hissed, dropping him heavily into the dust at her feet.

He coughed a few times as he climbed onto his hands and knees, shaking his head and trying to avoid vomiting. "Of course alone. No one can stand the guy. Everyone keeps hoping the behemoths will eat him one of these nights." Leaning heavily on the nearest wall, the informer looked warily back towards Shanna, then turned his gaze to the growing darkness on the horizon. "Hope they eat you too, bitch."

"Whatever," the bounty hunter remarked, turning to leave. She paused a moment, and the drunk thought she might have had another question to ask, but no. She just wanted to deliver one good punch into his stomach, and once he'd crumpled to the ground again she continued on her way.

Despite the growing darkness, her strange eyes had no trouble making out either the road leading out of town or the far off building that, at best, may have once been an oversized storage shed. These days though it barely resembled a crumbling ruin, and if she didn't know better she might have thought it was abandoned. Yet as she circled the building, there were a few signs of habitation. A refuse pile, for one, set back far enough away that it wouldn't draw scavengers too near to the building. A severe lack of holes in a building that must have taken a beating from the elements. And every now and then, Shanna was sure that the strange depressions in the dirt resembled footprints.

Night was almost on her now, and she could hear a far-off rumbling like a storm. But there were no clouds in the sky, and when she crouched low to the ground Shanna was sure she could feel vibrations. Something was out there.

But that wasn't her concern. No, the bounty hunter only cared about what was inside of the building, not what was outside. She just needed to get the target, get back to her ship, then get the fuck out of here. Taking a deep breath, she made sure her cloak was fastened tight around her to conceal her weapons, and keeping her right hand firmly out of sight, Shanna ran to the door of the building and began to pound on it with her left.

"Please!" she screamed in a desperate voice, trying to inject as much terror into it as possible. "Please let me in! They're coming!"

 

[LocalFriendlyPsychopath]

There was no response. The man on the other side was cautious. Careful. He knew people were looking for him. He sat back in the small bunker and listened at the banging. Things were getting worse out there. The beasts were coming. He could feel the shaking. The floor would become a living carpet, like a sea of nanites, devouring anything and everything that is left out. Hell its half the reason he left his trash out there. It would all be gone when the night was over. He listened to the banging and begging and he looked at a camera he had on the front of the building.

The woman was...cute. Beautiful maybe. He tilted his head as he sat in a chair before a row of monitors. Everything was shaking and they had maybe ten minutes, "Turn around, run back, you might still make it," he said finally over an intercom. His voice was like a thick gravel concrete. It was so harsh and strange but at the same time... there was something so nice about it. It even had a nice melody to it as he spoke once more, "Do you even know who I am, little girl?" he said. He didn't want to open the door. He was hoping she would run... but of course...

A beast came out of the woods, bounding. It looked like a terran K-9 but insectile. Instead of fur it was covered in a thick brown mucus like armor, covering its muscles on most parts but leaving a little exposed. It had mandibles that gnashed and dripped a green goo that was clearly dangerous. It hissed loudly and angrily as it charged the door and got closer and closer until...

The door swung open and she felt a pair of hands grab her. Before she could react properly he was throwing her through the door behind him onto the floor as a loud bang came from his two hands. Two revolvers. He fired shot after shot after shot at the beast as the door shut behind them. Both guns clicked empty as it finally slid home and the man, towering over her pointed one at her as he stared deep into her own eyes, "Who the fuck do you think you are? You new here? You an idiot?!" he snarled, "GOD... DAMN!" he said as he stared at her. The gun was empty, any one who knew weapons would know that... but the question was did she know? He smirked, "Maybe I should rip you apart like my victims. Two weeks alone with a monster little girl... if you know whats good for you, you'll keep your space," he said. He was slow. His reactions weren't that great. He wasn't a combatant, wasn't trained in combat, it was clear from how he moved and handled himself. He was a step above your average citizen and that was only because of his race's weight, height and muscle mass advantage.

 

[Shiva the Cat]

Although on the outside Shanna kept up her panicked performance, inside her doubts were beginning to grow. Had she come to the wrong abandoned military outpost on the only road leading out of Purgatoria? Had her target already made his escape from the planet? Or worst of all: had a rival hunter sniped the bounty out from under her? Dammit if Raz hacked into my system again... she thought with growing annoyance, but she was quickly reminded that Number 508 wasn't just any old bounty. He hadn't even appeared on the public boards, and if it weren't for the shady men in black suits that had approached her back on Yolea, Shanna herself wouldn't have known a thing about him.

She still didn't, really. They'd only give her his picture and last known whereabouts, along with his price of course. But the representative didn't see it necessary for her to know what exactly it was Number 508 (or so they'd dubbed him, a name was just as irrelevant as a crime in their opinion) did, but the bounty hunter assumed that for a reward of fifty million sol on his head, it must have been something bad. Interestingly enough though, the client hadn't specified whether they wanted the target brought in dead or alive, which seemed like a pretty loose end for such a heavy bounty. Considering his size Shanna hoped to bring him in still at least somewhat mobile, at least until she got him on his ship. She was strong, but not strong enough to drag around a body that size unaided if she killed him.

And when a voice came over the intercom, it sounded exactly how the bounty hunter had imagined her target to sound. Low and gravelly, but with a weirdly aristocratic flow to it. What the fuck is this guy? she wondered, but didn't allow anything beyond pure terror to cross her face.

"Please mister, let me in! There's too many! They've cut off the road into town, please you have to let me inside! I'll do anything!" she shrieked, even managing to force some crocodile tears out of her colorless eyes. When she glanced over her shoulder though, Shanna could see her ploy wasn't entirely deceitful. An enormous ugly mutt of an abomination had locked its sights on her, and was galloping towards the building with alarming speed. The bounty hunter cursed under her breath, and with a soft clicking beneath her cloak her metal hand began to change shape, while the other reached for one of her blasters.

She was about to draw both weapons and open fire, when a rush of cool air brushed over her bare neck and she felt something seize her shoulders. Shanna immediately braced her booted feet against the cracked doorstep of the building, but her efforts stood about as successfully as a toothpick before a hurricane. The bounty hunter could see several shots blasting past her on either side of her head towards the approaching monster, but neither one came from her own gun. For one moment, she wondered if there were multiple people in the building after all. One person had a strong grip on her torso, while the other was shooting at the monster, unless...

Four arms Shanna reminded herself, recalling the image of her target. Yep, he was her guy. For one brief moment, she considered using his distraction as an opening to take him out. But whether she killed him or knocked him out, it was still going to be a bitch dragging him through the darkness outside back to her ship. No, better to keep up the act for now and watch for a better chance down the line. Shit, if she was careful, maybe she could even trick him to going with her willingly, and once he was on board the Javert she knew just the holding cell for him.

So she relaxed her body and allowed him to jerk her around, just a little (although she didn't appreciate his taking such rough actions with a lady, hunter or no hunter). When he finally seemed to calm down a little, Shanna sniffled pitifully and shrank away, glancing around the room for other signs of egress or possible weapons he might have access to. "P-please don't hurt me," she gasped, eyes falling on a surveillance console that allowed the inhabitant to monitor the entire area surrounding his building. As she'd suspected, the outside was completely overrun with monsters now, but the ground was beginning to take on a curious, almost sparkly quality. Nanites she noted, grateful she hadn't been caught up in their devouring swarm. Instead, she looked back up at the four-armed monstrosity.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you," Shanna murmured, taking one wary step forward. "But I'm a member of a research crew, here to study the wildlife. I got separated from the rest of my party, and I didn't realize--" Her organic left hand fumbled in one of her cloak's pockets and withdrew a small metallic cylinder. As she pulled apart then ends, a holographic image of her credentials, along with those of the Javert, were clearly visible for the horned man to see. The credentials were authentic, albeit stolen, so unless Number 508 was intimately acquainted with the Gûdahl Institute, he had no reason to doubt them.

Circling carefully around him (but taking care never to let him out of her sight), the bounty hunter approached his surveillance monitors and watched with wide eyes. "How...how long will they be out there? I need to get back to my ship as soon as possible. The others will be worried..."

 

[LocalFriendlyPsychopath]

The man kept his eyes on her as he glared at her heavily, "Researcher?" he grunted as he took her credentials from her, "Researcher? You think I'm an idiot?" he said to her, "WHatever the fuck you were smuggling is gone," he said to her carefully, "And your friends left you to die. Its two weeks of night. You would know that if you were a researcher," he hissed. He took her credentials nad looked over them before he raised another eyebrow, "The Javert?" he said to her, "And you... you're a biological researcher? Looking at the little bugs and creatures that live below in the caves?" he said.

He moved over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, "Weapons, drop them," he said cocking the gun again. Still hadn't reloaded. Still empty, but did she know that? He let out a slow and intimidating sound, "You aren't a researcher, I'd know who the hell you were. I keep tabs on academics coming out here," he said, "Having a talk with someone who isn't a dirt eating moron or a criminal bastard smuggling poisons or weapons," he said.

He forced her into the chair and grabbed some wire from a nearby workbench before tying her up. The way he did it though was... poor. Very poor. He pushed the chair back before getting on the computer glancing at her every few seconds to make sure she wasn't doing anything, "You're going to find I'm much more dangerous than you thought, I'm not some common criminal idiot," he hissed at her as he looked through everything on the computer, "You know that there are seven creatures on this planet, each one has been studied to the point where the Gûdahl Institute has set them up in the 'completed knoweldge,' section of there library," he said

He kept his eyes on her as he moved over to the large workbench, "So who the fuck was it?" he asked her, "Who did you come here to find? Cause the only person you're going to find is Jacques," he said to her, "Employee number 508gc32n-B is fucking done. I'm not a slave anymore, and I'm not giving them my fucking help." he said sitting on the desk, which groaned under his weight. He glared at her before pausing a moment, his eyes softening as he reached out and moved a loose end of the wire that was digging into her, "I should have left you out there to be eaten by the bugs," he said to her, "Those things are like a carpet. You can't kill them, and you can't scare them out. You try to leave this fucking bunker? The door opens, we're both dead," he said to her, "Even if you have your ship land on my fucking building, you're not fast enough to get inside. They eat anything biological and a handful of things that aren't. Concrete and steel stand up to them for a bit, but they'll get through it eventually if they can sense something alive on the inside," he said with both of his arms crossed over his chest.

He paused a moment as there was a ring on his computer. He hit the button and a scientist appeared on the screen, "Hello Jacque, how are you OH MY!" the doctor said seeing the woman, "When you said you had a problem I didn't think you meant.... well, uh... you asked... asked if we approved of any researchers..." he said, "From a... uhm... Javert... " he said, "N...no..." he said softly as he stared at the woman, "Who... who is this? Is this the supposed researcher? I can run her through facial recognition for the institute, but as you know we wouldn't send ANYONE to that backwater planet especially having them land on the DARK side of the planet... night is far too dangerous for our people and..." he began to say droning on and on.

Jacques nodded, "Sure, please do that," he said to him, "Meanwhile, I'm going to try to figure out where I can lock this woman for two weeks. I'm lucky I have enough food saved up but..." he said softly as the building shook. The Doctors signal breaks apart as he tries to speak again before fading away, leaving the two alone, with the four armed monster staring at her, "And there they are...' he said, "We should get downstairs, turn out the lights and be careful, "he said as he moved towards her and reached out to grab her again.

 

[Shiva the Cat]

Figures. Of all the targets she could hunt down she just had to pick the one that just so happened to have connections to the very people that could disprove her cover. Clearly some god or another was determined to make this as difficult as possible for her. Scowling up at the beast, Shanna complied and carefully set her guns on the ground, knowing full well that her arm would more than suffice at a close range. "I can see why there's a big price on your head," she snapped, narrowing her eyes at him. "If I were richer and lazier, I'd offer one hundred million sol for someone to put a bullet in your smug face, asshole."

"By the way, you're not as clever as you think you are," she continued, kicking her guns to the side. "Hiding in the one fucking abandoned outpost on the planet, and making such an impression on everyone in town that they were able to point the first bounty hunter that came looking for you right to your door? Please. Kill me if you want, I sincerely doubt I'll be the last person to come looking to put your ass in a cage. Not for the amount of money those suits are offering. Give it time buddy, and eventually someone bigger and scarier than me and you is gonna cash in on that bounty. And when they do, I am gonna laugh and laugh and laugh...oof!"

She'd been too busy running her mouth (hoping to cover the soft whirring sounds coming from her arm as it shifted from a utility to weapon mode) to push back when he forced her into the chair and began to tie her up. It was just as well she didn't fight him though, she wanted to keep the last trump card close to her chest until the last possible moment. So she didn't try to resist as he tied her to the chair, though she did cross one leg over the other and raise an eyebrow as she watched his conversation with the woman on the screen.

"What, scared of a few bugs, Mr. Big, Bad, Bounty Target?" Shanna asked, leaning back comfortably in the chair. "Gee, maybe if you'd been less of an asshole to the folks in town they might have let you stay in a real shelter. But then again, you must have been hunkered down here for what, a few months at least?" Her eyes scanned the room for any sign of prior skirmishes. "Doesn't look like you've had too much trouble keeping them out so far. So what are you afraid of?" A sardonic grin crossed her face. "Couldn't be little old me, could it? Why, you took my guns, Mister. You tied me up. What threat could I possibly pose to you now?"

Her tone had taken on that same false, simpering tone she'd used outside. "If you're really that scared, feel free to go hide under your bed and leave me out here. I'm certain I can look after myself..."

 

[LocalFriendlyPsychopath]

The beast of a man let out a groan as she revealed herself. Great. Another bounty hunter. Now he'd have to run again. Hide. He gripped the side of the metal desk, with the desk groaning under his weight. He stopped and sighed, cursing as he moved back over to the woman who was tied up, mocking him. He raised an eyebrow, "You're arm is mechanical, I'm sure its got plenty of gizmos, I could shut it down or rip it off," he said, "But I won't, and I don't kill." he said to her before turning to the door as the building shook again," We need to go down," he said lifting the chair she was in easily.

He carried her down the stairs, keeping a close eye on her before putting her down and two bunker doors slamming shut, "Those bugs, can eat us alive," he said to her, "They can literally devour you're entire body in under thirty seconds, they have actively seek carbon for bio mass and devour it to make other things, this planet used to have lots of mines which had plenty of semi-useless coal and the like, that was part of the reason those monsters were here," he said to her in a low growl, "They grew more and more with the coal being left behind and they spread rapidly. They fucking kill EVERYTHING," he hissed.

He turned to her as the place shook again, "Kill me now, this is gonna be a long two weeks," he said to her, " And I'd rather you do that then them hook my mind up to a fucking machine and abuse my brain to exploit people," he said as he sat on a chair across from her<" I'm not going to bullshit you, the few bounty hunters I've run into? I've got them off my back by helping them out. Scratch my back, I'll scratch yours, how much are they paying you? I have benefactors who will help me pay you off," he said to her carefully as he sat down, "We both know that we can kill one another, but I'd rather not have to... kill anyone," he said, "I've never done it before and never planed on...' He paused, "You're mechanical arm is still whirring. Is it busted?"

 

[Shiva the Cat]

Shanna smiled back at his assumption, although her eyes were narrowed and when she revealed her silvery arm only a single finger was raised in response. "Figured that out all on your own, did you? You really are a tech genius. Color me impressed," she sneered, although the noise was cut off in an awkward "ack!" as she felt herself being lifted, chair and all, and carried down a dim staircase into a somehow even more bare room. It was only due to her good reflexes that she managed to avoid smashing her head into the bulkheads above, and she had snapped out more than one curse in her targets direction before he finally set her down again.

Having had enough of the charade, she easily maneuvered her metal arm behind her, and with a soft swishing sound the fingers immediately changed to a knife. Cutting through the ropes like butter, Shanna rose to her full (if inconsequential compared to her captor) height then stretched both arms over her head. If she was concerned about the ominous sounds coming from outside the building her face didn't show it, but she was still careful to keep a good distance between the four-armed man and herself, just in case he decided to change his mind about the whole 'killing' thing.

One thing was for sure though. As she examined the door to the staircase Shanna could tell it was sealed tight, and as far as she could see there weren't any other obvious ways of egress from their current location. Of course that didn't guarantee anything like trap-hatches or secret wall panels, but the bounty hunter knew better than to hope for such luck. "If you don't want me to kill you, stop making it sound so fucking appealing," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest as she finally faced her target full on. "Every sentence you say makes the idea of spending two weeks locked up with a corpse sound like the better option." Sitting back down on the chair, she crossed her legs and draped her organic arm over the back, eyes casually examining her metal hand for damage.

"But then I'd probably have to pay someone to drag your sorry ass out of here back to my ship, and I fucking hate poachers. So no, I'm not going to kill you, at least not unless you drive me to it. The price on your head is fifty million sol for 'dead or alive' either way, and up until you decided to go all macho-asshole-brute on me I was planning to take you in on your own two feet. But if you can't keep your hands to yourself I have no problem getting rid of them." The metal fingers retracted again, replaced now by a two foot long, white-hot beam of energy the reflected an eerie light in Shanna's eyes.

But...was it just her, or did it take a split-second longer than usual for the beam to generate? Growing a little, she switch back to her normal hand and clenched it into a fit. "It's not busted, but not for any lack of effort on your part," she accused, crossing her arms again.

For a few moments she didn't say anything else, too angry at the idea something might have gotten misaligned and without any privacy to examine it without her target's prying eyes. Eventually though a growl in her stomach broke the silence, and she was forced to look up at him again. "So, I'm locked in with you for two weeks. Got anything to eat until then, or do I need to cut pieces off of you bit by bit and survive off that?"

 

[LocalFriendlyPsychopath]

The four armed beast was clearly intimidated by her show of force, the beam making him cringe a little as she fired it off, "ALRIGHT!" he said to her as he watched her, "Alright, fine! Good god, I've never hit a person let alone a woman, and I'd rather not start now," he said, "Not that I think I could, you seem to be a notch above the others, they must be getting desperate," he said to her softly. He listened to her spout a number and he winced, "Yes, well, I doubt I could come up with that much money, but if I can't convince you to let me go by the end of this," he said, "I ask that you shoot me in the head... just... get rid of my head... my brain, completely," he said to her, "If you can promise me that at least, then we should be able to get along," he said.

He looked over at a large metal wall and paused in front of it. He put his hand to part of it and a panel popped out, which he put his eye up too. The walls slid apart, revealing a small living area with a little entertainment set up, a large workbench area with plenty of tools and things, that merged basically with the one that was already down there. On the far side against the wall was a well stocked kitchen. A bit of fresh food sat there, along with a replicator and a large pantry of canned goods. He nodded at her and sighed, "I can live here for MONTHS if I have too," he said to her, "So I would assume you could live off of this..." he said before pausing.

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow at her, "Since you are stuck here at least," He said to her, "Maybe I could ask what they said I did?" he asked, then without pause he continued, "Because I can tell you. I worked for the company. I made things for them," he said to her, "It was a good job but I was always tinkering. Doing things in my off time. I made something for a friend, one who couldn't afford an arm after an accident, and I was going to release it for mass production by... anyone. Its a simple biotic arm, one that can be made relatively cheap," he said, "The company saw this as cutting into profits and intervened, because anything I made while working for them was THEIRS, since I was basically a slave to the company... so I uh... let," He said to her, "They want me dead or alive so they could put my head in a jar and keep me alive and use me as a massive... computer basically. Its a hellish existence," he concluded.

The entire time he was explaining he had moved into the kitchen and produced a few bottles. He mixed the contents of a few of them into a shaker, and produced two tumblers, making drinks for himself and one for her as well, using all four of his hands to produce the concoctions. He made a quick drink with some ice, before garnishing with a small local vegetable before pushing the glass to her. He raised an eyebrow at her before sipping at his, "Same mixer, if your paranoid," he said to her as he settled in uneasily at the bar.

 

[Shiva the Cat]

"Hit them? No, of course not," Shanna might have been rolling her eyes, but without pupils in them it was hard to tell. "Pick them up like a sack of potatoes, tie them to a chair, that's way better. No wonder you have so many friends clambering to help you out of your troubles, you're such a swell guy." Despite the edge in her voice, the bounty hunter's posture was relaxing just a little. It was becoming clear to her that now the hunter and prey were sealed in together, the latter wasn't any more interested in sharing the space with a corpse than she was. Of course that didn't mean she trusted him, but at least her reflexes could take a little break.

She was genuinely surprised to hear his request that she actually kill him though, assuming circumstances ever came to that. "Uh...sure, whatever you want," she remarked, tilting her head in confusion. "I mean, I'm not gonna do it before I get you on my ship. Like I said before, you're a big guy and I'm not carrying your ass all the way back through town. But if you come along quietly after the bugs are done...doing whatever they do," she jabbed her silver thumb upward towards a disconcerting scuffling sound. "I'll make it quick and painless for you. The suits never said anything to me about your brain, so I don't really give a fuck as long as I get my money."

As her eyes scanned the room, Shanna couldn't help but wonder what purpose the bunker had served prior to its current use as a fugitive's stronghold. The upstairs room had obviously served as a security headquarters, which meant this area was...what? Living room? Kitchen? Office?

All three, apparently. With only the touch of the button her target had easily converted the spacious room into something that, while certainly not a five-star hotel, looked almost in the neighborhood of comfortable. The food replicator was the most reassuring part, as long as they had plenty of fuel for it she wouldn't need to worry about needing to eat her companion. Still, she did her best not to appear impressed as she strolled over to examine the device. "Yeah, I guess it'll do," Shanna shrugged, pressing a few buttons and removing a small red apple. After giving it a quick once-over for any imperfections, she raised the fruit to her teeth and took a crisp bite before sitting down on the table.

"They didn't tell me what you did, and I didn't ask," the bounty hunter replied after the first few tastes of the surprisingly tasty apple. "They just told me the price, showed me your picture, gave me your last known whereabouts, and said I was supposed to bring you to Billes 903 in the Johnson Nebula to cash in. And frankly, that's all I need, so if you think I'm going to back off because you give me some sob story about how 'it wasn't really your fault' or 'you were framed' you're wasting your time. Put up the money, and then we'll talk."

She had hoped that would end the conversation, but nope. The four-armed fugitive insisted on explaining his side of the story (like they always did) and why the ones who had posted the bounty were so awful (like they always were) and Shanna only stared back blankly (like she always did). She was a little bit curious regarding the arm he'd built, but she doubted it could live up to her own-custom built piece. Still, the bounty hunter had to acknowledge there was a certain nobility in wanting to give such technology to the masses, even if the illegality of the move was so blatant even she could see it.

"I can see why you're not the best fit for the corporate world," she acknowledged, finishing off her apple and tossing it in what she assumed was a trash bin. "I'd have fired your ass on the spot if I was your boss and you pulled that shit. Dunno that I'd put a bounty on your head, but then again I don't have millions of sol to throw around." Her expression grew suspicious again as he placed the drink in front of her, and she waited for the beast to take a drink before raising it to her own lips. A little on the strong side, but nothing she couldn't handle.

"Don't think you'll get out of this by getting me drunk, by the way," Shanna commented, sitting back down on the table. "In fact, if you get me too wasted I'm more likely to kill your ass than let you walk out of here free. Just a friendly warning." Lifting her cup, she began to make another slow circuit of the room, observing the other unexpected features of the area. "How in the world did you find this place anyway? Seems like kind of a weird place to hide out..."

 

[LocalFriendlyPsychopath]

The man grunted at her insinuation he wasn't fit for business, "You can market things to people of lower money. The ability to mass produce lower quality limbs for those who are less fortunate is just as useful as the larger more intense models such as your hand," he said to her, "Its insane that they'd put a bounty on me, but frankly I think its because they want to.... use my brain... enslave it and pick it," he said shivering, "I'm assuming you use cryo pods to preserve things... they'll hook my brain up like a battery and pick all those little ideas out of my head and use work for it," he said.

When she mentioned getting her drunk would be a good way to get killed he smirked and laughed, "Ha, kill me?" he said to her, "You wouldn't want too, you kinda need me to get you out of here, and trust me, you'll lose track of time waiting for those little bastards upstairs,' he said to her, "They can some times take longer than usual to leave," he said, "And you wouldn't know without the proper equipment," he said.

He hesitated a moment as he looked around before downing the rest of his drink and slamming the glass on the counter, to the point it shattered. A small automated drone buzzed to life on one of the counters and came out to pick up the pieces, taking it back to its corner to reassemble it slowly. It seemed terribly inefficient, and the bot seemed to be hand made, most certainly not anything that she'd seen before on the market. He moved his way to a sofa and slowly sat down, keeping his head turned to watch her as he settled in a little bit, "So can I trust you to maybe at least sit down with the enemy and relax?" he asked her, "I promise, no more surprises and if you ask any questions, I'll answer them as best I can," he said as he picked up a small tablet device.

The thing flicered to life and a few moans and groans came from it, with the man looking a bit shocked before he quickly closed whatever he had been watching on the device. He broke eye contact to stare at the old device, flipping through a few things as he let out a few nervous chuckles, "I have a lot of stuff.... downloaded, but sadly we can't get a satellite connection out, and the cords that connect my bunker to the others are long eroded away, never kept them up..." he said.

He paused a moment before looking over at her again, clearing his throat, 'To answer your earlier question, its a place to hide out that I can guarantee my safety MOST of the time. No bounty hunter can get to me while those creatures rampage across the surface... and like I said, they eat everything," he said to her, "This one was government owned, better built than most and after a simple bit of hacking I got it open, and of course I made it my own," he said to her, "Its a fourth or so choice of the ruling class," he said, "Or was before they all left," he added. He paused once more, "I found it because someone I knew, a fellow scientist who was a biologist here to study those creatures up top side, told me about it. Hence why I knew immediately you were bullshiting me," he said as he split his attention with her and the pad in his hands.

"Poor planning on your part, but I doubt you could have found out I had the connections I have, they're layered in so many dozens of false identities that most people got lost... I've had three bounty hunters come for me, one got killed by the beasts above, I eluded him for long enough and he was too afraid to come into my shack because of the bots I used to have... he took out most of them sadly," he told her, "Then the second one asked me my crime, when I told him what I did, he investigated a bit, then promised to keep my secret," He said, "I guess they had a moral code or something..." he said before finally turning his full attention back to her, "And you, are miss number three," he said to her as he focused on her now, "My turn. How much do you know about my race?" he asked her.