The Caretaker

REMEMBERGhosts

        :::> I balanced several questions within my inner memory as I calmly walked out of the late Manner’s building: what would I find at the location the pony gave me? This late at night, and with this much rain, the scenario was certainly fitting for a drug trade, perhaps.

        :::> I rounded a street corner, continuing to walk towards my objective, still processing probabilities and questions. Either way, I was going to make a difference, no matter how many worthless lives I had to toss into what they believed was their hell. If I was going to provide Sweetie Belle a safe world, then the cost did not matter.

        :::> Checking my internal map to see if I remained heading in the right direction, I adjusted my trail and pressed on. Time was running out.

        :::> It was of the essence to keep digging myself deeper into the world of crime. If I wanted my wish to become true, not only did I have to make it happen myself, but I had to rip crime from its roots.

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        :::> The condition of the alley only reinforced my earlier assessment: dirty, dark, and abandoned, it was the perfect setting for a drug drop. I sequestered myself among the trash overflowing from a nearby dumpster, away from where the organics would search. The rain slid down the Syntex fibers of my coat, cooling my slightly tempered exterior.

        :::> It was not long until I heard hoofsteps approaching the alley. I looked down upon myself to re-check my weapon as the supposed dealers entered the alley. My motion sensor did the rest of the job, giving me an approximated set of data on the location of the four quadrupeds.

“Alright,” one of them said. “You got the cash?”

“Yeah,” another one, female, replied.

:::> Careful not to make much noise, I stepped away from my cover, revealing myself. The four figures, one pony, three changelings, looked over at me with surprised expressions. Without hesitating, I approached them. Their eyes traced over to mine, my features covered by the night and rain.

“Would you look at this,” the one who asked for the credits said, smiling. “What? You wanna buy? I bet’ya do… Otherwise you ain’t leaving here alive.” He lifted his wing, revealing a small pistol meant for magical grips. Nothing I could not handle.

:::> I adjusted my voice module to make myself sound as an organic. “You sell poison, or is this a joke?” A small play of words by myself, just to ensure that I sounded as organic as possible.

The four of them laughed. “I catch your drift, human…” said the one with the pistol under        their wing. He then glanced over at his changeling partner, nodding. Afterwards, the changeling lifted their wing, revealing a small, hidden saddlebag, from which they produced a sizeable bag of processed poison joke. “Fifty thousand creds.”

:::> I had seen enough. I walked over to the changeling, reaching into my coat as if I was taking out a credit chip, and launched my knee towards his face, breaking the skull. Before the others had time to react, I sidestepped over to the two buyers, grabbing the by the neck and crushing their windpipes. Letting them drop, I turned to the, as I assumed, leader. He was already a few meters away, running. I sprinted over to him and grabbed him by the tail, pulling him over to me. Then, I kicked him in the ribs, hearing a satisfying crack as he fell to the side.

:::> “Speak,” I said as he struggled to breathe. “Where did you obtain the drugs? Did you make them yourself?”

“I-... I-...” he struggled out. I placed my foot against his stomach and grabbed him by the tail, beginning to pull. “Got them… from… some corporate dudes… Mane-... Manehattan, industrial district… Warehouse…”

:::> “Corporate ‘dudes’?” I asked, pulling a little bit harder on the tail.

“Argh!” In the midst of the pain, he muttered out, “I don’t… I don’t know!... They were just wearing suits and… You can just tell… that they’re part of… summin’ big…”

:::> I had heard enough. Letting go of his tail, and taking my foot off of his stomach, I spoke up once again, “Thank you for being helpful,” before reaching down and grabbing his head, twisting it until I heard a loud pop.

:::> Surrounded by four bodies, I regained my calm stance, and proceeded to process what I had gathered from the interrogation. Manehattan… Corporations. Yes, this was what I had been looking for.

:::> I turned, beginning to walk for the tram station.

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        :::> Dark, cold, but yet pristine. The tram station was completely empty. Seats lined the walls, along with unused holoscreens. I moved silently, even if I had turned off the security system. One of the trams was parked, ready for me to use it. I took advantage of the convenience, forcing open the set of doors that led to it. I walked in, amidst a crowd of people that completely ignored me as I moved through the tram. I walked through some of them. Where they really there? I could not differ for some reason. Perhaps the ghosts of the people I had killed were haunting me. No, that would not make sense. They were corrupted, fading in and out the more I stared at them.

:::> I made my way over to the driving console, waving my hand over it and setting course to Manehattan. The people inside the tram turned to me, staring at me. I sat down on one of the seats and looked back at them, engaging in a stare battle with the tram’s users. What did they want? What did they want? ?wHaT thEy wAnT Did…

:::> Want?