FSE

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Year: 2080, May 14th.

Time: 17:10pm

Location: Club Nova, Room 27.

I woke up slowly with my ears ringing and preventing any noise from reaching my ears as I slowly blinked and looked around my familiar surroundings; everything in my room was the way I left it, my wardrobe lying open, revealing my two other biosuits whilst my third was strewn about the floor along with someone else's clothes. My memory returned only a few seconds later, along with a sudden jolt of pain working its way through my head; I looked around the room until I my eyes stopped at the door, making note of the Red Fox standing just to the side, right next to my intercom. I still couldn't hear anything, but my mind told me that he was on the phone with someone.

The ringing in my ears began to die out as I forced myself up slowly, grabbing the Fox's attention with the effort; I looked around my surroundings once more, now making not of the large, sticky stain covering almost half of the bed sheets; luckily, I was underneath the stain, and it hadn't sunk through just yet. The Fox walked over to me, hanging up the intercom and picking up his creased clothes along the way.

"What time is it?" I asked bluntly, flexing all of my joints and running one claw along the spines of my beard, making sure they were not ruffled. Almost my entire front felt dry and awful; I reached over to my bedside table for some painkillers as Viggo got himself dressed.

"It's just gone five o'clock." Viggo replied, watching me humorously as I expanded my beard in anger, up to the point that my flesh was just visible underneath the spines that naturally turned black in discomfort. "Fawx just called, by the way; you have another job to do."

I blinked once out of curiosity, my beard starting to contract and my spines returning to their normal, pale colouration; over the past two weeks or so, Fawx never said that I have a job to do; he made it sound as if this was going to involve just me, not the Bunch...what was he up to. Viggo noticed my curiosity, even if my facial expression didn't so much as hint at it; once fully dressed, he almost sat down on the bed next to me, but managed to stop himself from sitting in the large stain left on the bed from this afternoon.

"One of our clients, a Grand-Dane, has been with us for exactly five years now." Viggo explained, picking my biosuit from the floor and holding it all in both arms as I got up, heading to my bathroom for a hot shower; "as a gift of good faith, we...or rather you...are going to show him a good time tonight."

I turned to him and blinked once, just at the door leading into my small cubicle of a bathroom; I knew what a Grand-Dane was like. They stood about two feet higher than an average Great-Dane, but about one foot smaller than an average Dragon, with naturally radiant fur, no matter what colour it was. It wasn't really the size that worried me, but more the 'showing him a good time' part; eighteen years in solitude isn't the best experience to have, no matter what race you were.

"Why would Fawx have me do it?" I asked, grabbing a towel from the rack in the bathroom and turning on the shower, waiting for it to heat up.

"Because this this guy likes the Lizards." Viggo said humorously, grinning at me as I blinked once in surprise; "it's Scales and Long Tails all night with him; and since you're the only one that's free today, you end up with the job."

I let out a long sigh through my gritted teeth as I closed the bathroom door, stepping into the hot shower and letting the water land on my front, cleaning the mess from my scales. It barely took five minutes of showering before I was fully clean (no fur to get in the way, you see), and by the time I had dried myself off and stepped out again, Viggo was already gone. The bed had been stripped, leaving my room tidy, as if nothing had happened the previous afternoon; I picked up a small note from my bed as I walked over to my wardrobe, picking out my red and white suit. I slowly read the note as I clicked the three locks of my chest-piece into place; it simply read:

Race you to the bottom floor.

I screwed up the note and tossed it into the bin in the far corner of the room, now zipping up all of my limb-pieces and locking my helmet into place, letting a white sheet of silk run over the back of my head, only revealing the spines in the back half of my head. I was now fully prepared to head out, with the exception of one thing. I quickly reached back to my bedside table and picked up two containers; one containing painkillers, the other holding some antibiotics; I quickly took one pill from each and swallowed them down forcefully, clicking my re-breather back into place.

I wasn't even sure what would be waiting for me tonight...other than the Grand-Dane. Hopefully someone would elaborate once I got down there...

**********************************************

It barely took me fifteen minutes to navigate around the club to the front entrance, which was pretty well considering it was 'rush hour', when everyone was heading into the club instead of out; even if no one was around, the corridors that made up the building turned it into a maze; one would need years of experience to know their way around...experience that I had. My timing was almost perfect as I stepped out of the large double-doors and into the now-busy streets, barely able to spot Viggo in the crowds; I stepped over to him as soon as he beckoned me over, keeping to his side as a large limousine pulled over right next to the entrance, keeping most of the crowd on the kerb.

"Now when this guy gets out, we're going to escort him inside." Viggo explained, patting my shoulders and trying to tidy my suit up...as if there was anything tidy about wearing it at all; "you take the left, I'll take the right...and for once, please try and make a conversation."

I nodded at him slowly in obedience and turned to face the back door of the limousine, watching in anxiousness as a Feline got out of the front and stepped over to the back, opening the door quickly but calmly. Viggo stepped to one side of me, keeping to my left as I approached from the right, keeping my speed equal with his as we stepped over to the Grand-Dane stepping out.

I felt my heart jump suddenly as the Canine stood straight, measuring around two metres high, whilst I was just over one metre; his most distinguishing feature, however, was the amount of muscle he had; in terms of muscle, he was somewhere between a Dragon and a Bear, though it was the kind of muscle that still looked natural considering how tall he was. I quickly made a note of how curious the Canine was dressed; he was wearing a pair of large leather boots, barely visible behind the baggy pair of black jeans he was wearing, which in turn was covered up partially by a long, black-leather trench-coat; his light-grey fur was just visible in the area where the coat would be buttoned up.

My heart suddenly jumped again as I saw the Grand-Dane look at me for a moment, though it didn't throw off my pace as I finally made it to him, mimicking Viggo's movements and turning around on one foot, letting the Canine rest his left arm over my left shoulder as I placed one claw on his wrist and the other on the lower half of his back carefully so that I wouldn't end up shredding anything. I started to feel the Canine run his hand along my shoulder, making me slightly nervous as I wondered if Viggo was getting the same treatment from him...

The commotion coming from the crowds outside was immediately drowned out by the Club's Music overhead, the constant thumping sinking into my ears with ease as we 'escorted' the Canine to one of the more 'private' rooms; in short, a soundproof room where people - who can afford it - don't have to listen to what's going on outside the room...especially the music. My thoughts suddenly returned to reality as we reached the private room, by which time Viggo had already let go of the Canine, preparing to make his leave. I turned slightly and blinked at the Fox twice; he blinked once and smiled, nodding his head at the corridor leading back into the main area of the club.

The Canine slowly entered the room; I followed behind him quickly but calmly, closing the door behind us and leaning back on it, instantly killing any sound that wasn't coming from the room. I took a brief moment to look around the room; the walls and floor were tiled and sterile-white, completely bare - with the exception of the two bath robes hanging up on the far wall. The centre of the room was replaced with one large, circular pool at least ten metres in diameter with a large bottle of champagne resting on the edge in a bucket of ice.

I began half-consciously observing the canine as he began to strip down, revealing his well-toned body as he did so; I immediately followed, unclipping the locks and unzipping the limbs of my biosuit, finally letting it fall off completely as I unclipped all of my helmet, leaving me completely nude with the Canine as we both slowly set ourselves into the pool. My eyes suddenly darted upwards from looking at my submerged claws as the Canine started to speak.

"So...your name's Rush. Right?" The Canine asked, pouring each of us a tall glass of champagne. I began to wonder if he knew how little tolerance Reptiles have for alcohol. "I'm Orion; Orion Artsua; fifteen years of military experience, twenty five years of...Reptile experience."

"It shows." I smiled, barely revealing my right rows of teeth whilst doing so, trying to follow Viggo's advice, if only a little; "the Military experience, I mean...not that I'm trying to say you're inexperienced in Reptiles..."

"Relax, kid; I know what you mean." The Dane laughed, holding up on paw and signalling me to stop talking; though I couldn't help but react to the word 'kid' by flexing and expanding my Beard partly in anger, partly as a sign of dominance which only made his smile widen.

"...so I'm guessing you'd like to know about me?" I assumed, letting my beard contract back into place as I took one long gulp from my glass of champagne; Artsua shook his head slowly as he drank down the entire contents of his glass, pouring another as soon as he finished it.

"A little bird told me all about you." Artsua replied; I immediately knew that he meant Fawx, my son-of-a-bitch adoptive father. I let out a sigh under my breath, though the Canine had managed to hear it. "We've been friends for five years now, kid; almost every time we met, he'd talk about you...how he was very proud of you. Great man, you're dad."

"He's a little...unexpected at times." I smiled, an edge of humour in my voice as I took another slow sip from my glass, watching Artsua as he slowly snaked around the pool (well, as snake-like as a muscular, two metre tall caning could be...) right next to me; I slowly turned to face him, placing my claws gently on his hips and looking up at his face. "He's a good...person..."

My mind slowly drifted away from the conversation as I observed his facial features; his eyes were brown, the irises trying to mask the bloodshot lines approaching from the outer area of his eyes; his face-fur was damp and slightly ruffled...not caused by the pool...he looked exhausted; deprived of sleep. I blinked once slowly as he mimicked my movements, placing his hands on my hips/ I slowly withdrew my left claw, placing it on his chest to stop him from coming any closer.

"You're not ok..." I said semi-consciously; realising what I just said, I half-expected the Canine to push me away and leave; however, Artsua just stood there, letting out one deep sigh and bowing his head, looking partly defeated.

"I know I'm not ok." He said, now frustrated as he pulled away and leaned back on the edge of the pool, facing the ceiling and rubbing his eyes with one hand; "I haven't slept right in...it has to be days now. Everything feels...out of place..."

"Tell me about it." I said with an edge of sternness in my voice; the Grand-Dane brought his head down slowly and gazed at me, letting me see his bloodshot eyes again; "tell me what's bothering you..."

"I don't want to bore you with..." Artsua began to speak, trying to turn the conversation another way; but he saw the look I gave him with my eyes; the look that demanded him to tell me what was bothering him. "...fine; but this might go over your head..." my look had intensified; now almost threatening him to tell me.

"I'm not a good talker." I said bluntly, replacing my expression with something a little more sympathetic; "I'm a good listener."

"After my military experience..." Artsua began to explain as we both turned to face each other; "I began working as a...construction manager here; in Vega City. That was years ago; when the city was almost completely finished. I'm still in charge of the South-East district - your turf."

"So you practically control this district?" I asked in the uncomfortable silence; Artsua shook his head slowly, swallowing another glass of champagne.

"Technically I'm part of a team." He explained, pouring himself another glass; "but it's a small team, and they don't really care what goes on in the district, so long as all the construction goes as planned and their wallets are filled...but every now and again people see past our exterior and learn how corrupt we really are...in fact, that's why I became one of your 'clients' five years back; anyone who was going to whine to the police would be silenced, and I'd make sure this club would remain standing...I'd even notify you if there were any changes in the layout of the district."

"But now someone has gotten hold of me again." He continued, sighing and rubbing his bloodshot eyes once more; "a Seeker was sent to deal with it a few days ago, but so far I haven't seen or heard any news. When I asked around the Club, all that could be said was 'it's being taken care of'; I haven't slept or eaten right in three days straight..."

I slowly stepped over to him, wrapping both claws around his chest and putting a small amount of pressure on it, signalling him to come closer; Artsua obeyed and quickly pressed his body against mine, even though he was about twice my height. He quickly locked his muzzle on mine, probably trying to find some sense of comfort in the situation he was in; I kissed back, letting him run his tongue around my mouth slowly. Luckily, I was practically swimming in antibiotics, so there was an incredibly low chance of any infection or illness...but something was off...as if I was playing my role in this...like someone planned it.

"...this is why Fawx assigned me to this job, isn't it?" I assumed, receiving a nod from the Canine in agreement, making my beard turn dark in anger and causing dark patterns to form on my scales...it was about as angry as a Bearded Dragon was known to get. "...he always has a habit of doing things like this."

"He said this would be a good test of your abilities..." Artsua admitted shamefully, bowing his head and trying to look anywhere but at me; "this is my fifth year as your client, but it's a rather shit one, if you ask me. Your dad asked me to persuade you to sort this whole mess out, then he'd explain everything after you did the job; he cares about you, but it's not as if he was going to go up to you and order you to go and risk your life for me - he needed to get me to ask you...lure you into this situation so you would want to do it...he'd never force you to do anything you don't want to."

"I know." I sighed, placing my claws on the edge of the pool and lifting myself out, reaching over for a towel so I could dry off; "this isn't how I expected my day to go...but we're here now...so what's the job?"

"Fawx has traced these blackmailers to a hideout, right under our noses." The Canine explained, staying in the pool; "they're in this district, hiding out in an apartment complex about seven streets North-West of the club."

"Was a Seeker really sent there?" I asked, finding most of the story hard to believe as I slipped into my biosuit, now zipping up the limb-areas. I received a nod from Artsua as he continued explaining what I had to do.

"The Seeker was found dead and left in the streets." He continued, looking up to the ceiling as I clipped in the three large locks on my chest-piece and began locking in my helmet; "one shotgun blast to the chest and that was it. There was a trail of blood in the alley where your people found him though, so he must've tried to crawl away afterwards...died from blood-loss."

"What am I looking out for?" I asked bluntly, returning to my antisocial and emotionless personality as my suit was fully locked in; I slowly walked to the door as the Canine answered.

"Any dirt they have on me." He replied bluntly, now turning towards me; "destroy anything and everything they have that can be used to blackmail us. They also stole a fair amount of money from me a week or so ago; five-thousand dollars, to be exact..."

"Got it; I'll return with six-thousand dollars." I said humorously, intending to take an extra thousand from these blackmailers...for the trouble, of course. I turned to exit the room, but asked him one more question as I left; "so...do you really have a thing for lizards then?"

"Most females, yes." Artsua replied awkwardly, turning away from me as I made a slow exit; "males, however...let's just say there's a reason why I drank so much alcohol in one go."

Artsua couldn't see me smiling as I left the room, letting the club's music sink into my eardrums yet again...at least I had something to do other than charm some stranger into bed; it'd save a hell of a load of antibiotics and painkillers...not so much for ammunition...

All I needed was a driver to get me to the apartments...and I knew just who to go to...