บท 7: Blue Rose
Nightingale was a bit surprised by the request she had been given by the grand elder. Blue Rose was the last resort that would be used if diplomatic means failed. However, no diplomatic solution had been deployed. Was there something the grand elder was trying to hide?
She brushed off the thought. After all, she was not qualified to question the grand elder, well, none of them were. She got into her office at 'The Pinktail' bar, and took out a small note. She quickly scribbled something on the note, and put it into a bottle of rum. After that, she went upstairs, where the bar was, and handed the bottle to the bartender, who was a burly one-eyed man with a black eye-patch.
She then returned to her office and sat down. A girl, who appeared to be fourteen or so, entered the office shortly after. She was wearing a black hoodie, tight pants and a mask covering her entire face. On top of her head, was a headband that looked exactly like bunny ears.
"You called for me?" said the girl.
"Loosen up will you, we have been friends for how long now?" said Nightingale as she offered the girl a seat.
"Well, rules are rules Nightingale. We might be friends outside, but in Sky Haven, you're still my boss. No two ways about it!" she replied with an indifferent tone.
Nightingale sighed before saying, "Fine fine. If you insist then so be it. With immediate effect from today, you have been activated. Here's your mission. If you accept the mission, there's no going back. Failure is not an option, and should you fail, you'd be sent to meet the maker. And all other conditions apply."
She handed the girl a scroll tied with a blue ribbon. The girl removed the ribbon, which puffed up into blue smoke. As she unfurled the scroll, it glowed with a golden hue.
She spent about five minutes reading the scroll, after which she said, "Consider the mission as good as finished, however, I have one question to ask. Why would you go through the trouble of activating me just to clean up this kind of mess?"
Nightingale was silent for some time; after all, even she didn't know the answer to that question. After a while, she replied, "Frankly, I have my orders, and I carry out the orders with no questions asked. I advise you do the same."
"I see. And my weapons?" asked the girl.
"They'll be provided at the usual pick up point."
The girl stood up to leave, and Nightingale said, "Godspeed, Blue Rose. Take good care of yourself, and don't underestimate this one."
"No problem, take care of yourself too, Nightingale", said Blue Rose as she left the room.
Nightingale sighed as the girl's back disappeared from view. It had been a long time before she'd seen her friend again. This mission was dangerous, cleaning up after Hartmann's mistakes. She would have wanted her friend out of this mission, but orders were orders, they had to be followed.
Blue Rose went to the weapons supply shop, in the Northern district. The shop looked quite small when one peered at it from the outside. There was a large sign overheard written, 'PINKATONS' with red letters. She went inside and headed right to the back office.
"Excuse me miss, you're not allowed to go there. It's reserved for staff only", yelled a short, young man with very short black hair, who came from the counter. He was wearing a shirt that showed he worked at this place. However, she had never seen him before, so he might have been recently hired.
"Where's Carter?" asked Blue Rose.
"He's not here, miss. Would you like to leave a message?" said the young man.
Blue Rose frowned. This guy was a total idiot, dealing with him was difficult. She thought to herself, if she hit him with a tranquilizer hidden in her sleeve, it would be over in a matter of seconds.
'No. That would only bring me more trouble', she brushed it off.
The young man kept looking at her. She hadn't replied and he didn't know how he could help such a customer, if she was even one. She didn't look like the kind that would buy baby products, after all, she didn't look like a mother. No normal teen would be inside a baby shop, and no normal parent would send their kid to do the shopping for them.
"Actually, call Boswell for me. Tell him Rose is looking for him", she said.
"Okay. Hold on miss."
The young man rushed off and came back five minutes later with a fat, short middle-aged man.
"My apologies, Miss Rose. Excuse Sheldon, he's still new", said the middle-aged man.
The young man looked confused as he turned to look at his boss.
"Don't worry. I'm just here to collect the order", she dismissed.
"Right this way", said Boswell as he led her towards the 'Staff only' entrance. They went through various corridors until they arrived at a room hidden carefully. The room was spacious inside; it was difficult to imagine it was inside a small shop. There were about ten people inside, and there were many crates. It was easy to guess what was inside these crates.
"So what have you prepared for me?" asked Blue Rose.
"This time, we were given orders to pass you top of the range products", replied Boswell, as he opened a small box which was on a table. Out of the box, he took out two small daggers, a small gun and a device that looked like a remote control.
Blue Rose frowned upon seeing these 'weapons'. It seemed that they were trying to dispose of her. Why would they be giving her these weapons if she was fighting an indestructible robot? Wasn't that just telling her to go and...
"Miss Rose, what do you think?" asked Boswell, crashing her train of thought, as he handed the small daggers to her.
"What are these things made of?" she asked, out of curiosity.
"The daggers are made from star metal. In other words, they can cut through steel like a hot knife cutting through butter. The bullets for this small gun are made of the same material. They can piece through bulletproof metal, and caviar. The gun is designed to absorb the force of the recoil, so you won't feel it when you shoot", he paused, before continuing, "This is an electromagnetic pulse device. It produces electromagnetic waves that can shut down any electric device within a ten meter radius."
Blue Rose could not believe what she had heard. These items were basically designed for her mission. If she was going to be fighting against something made with star metal, it would be great if she use it as a weapon as well. The question was, would it work?
She took the small daggers and swung them three times in the air.
"Be careful not to cut yourself. They're pretty sharp", warned Boswell.
After another swing, she placed them on the table. She then took the small gun. It was very light, too light in fact. She pointed it in front of her and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.
"The safety is on. Please don't fire in the premises; you might end up injuring someone."
"I see. Then I'll be taking these with me", she said as she handed the gun to Boswell.
"Okay Miss Rose. Please wait a moment as we package them for you."
She waited for Boswell to put the weapons in a small box labelled 'Diapers', which he handed over to her. Blue Rose quietly took the box and walked towards the entrance.
"So if you need anything else, feel free to get in touch. Let me see you out", said Boswell as he walked up to her.
When she was outside the shop, she looked at the small box in her hands and sighed. The most difficult step was just ahead. She wanted to be prepared, but she didn't know what to do. Time moved slowly at first, and then kinda sped off as if someone was stepping on the accelerator.
When she arrived at her tiny apartment, she was just feeling melancholy and empty. She had never felt like this before, some feeling that she couldn't quite explain. She wished she could stay home and forget about the whole mission, but she knew she couldn't. Like Nightingale had said, they needed to follow orders.
Thinking about Nightingale, she couldn't help but feel a bit sad. Ever since she joined the Sky Haven, Nightingale had helped her, becoming the only person she'd trusted. In an assassin organization, the most important thing is to trust no one. The person you'd think of as your friend would stab you in the back given the chance. Nightingale supported her, even during her most difficult times, making her feel as if she wasn't alone. However, recently, she'd been distant lately. It all started sometime after the assassination of Derik Avariz. Did something happen?
Well, whatever the case was, it was none of her business. That was her conclusion. She put the small box on her table and went straight to take a shower. After her shower, she put on a black hoodie, black gloves, black leather boots and black pants.
She opened the baby diapers box, and took out the daggers. Then she placed them on holsters hidden under her sleeves. She took the small gun and placed it in the holster located by her ribcage. She then took the EMP device and placed it in her right hoodie pocket. With this, she was ready to go and do her job. However, something didn't quite feel right. She still couldn't shake off that feeling in her head.
She locked the door, from inside and then exited through the open window. Her apartment was on the third floor of the building. She jumped onto the next building, over the alleyway, and then ran on the roof towards the setting sun.
****************
On the PI Robotics main campus, in Megapolis, Joel Hartmann was sitting in his office, reading some documents. His life had been stress free these days, besides of course the regular enquiries about the Pirin. He had managed to get off the hook from the board members.
An opera song was playing on the computer.
"Sir, someone is here to see you", a female voice came in.
"Do they have an appointment?" asked Joel.
"No sir", was the reply.
"Tell them to book one, simple."
"But sir, he said it's urgent. It's about a Pirin, or pill, I'm not sure if I heard correctly."
"Who is it?" asked Joel with a look of surprise on his face.
"He said if I tell you y2j you'd understand."
"Tell him to come in immediately!"
"Okay sir", said the secretary as she left in a hurry.
A few minutes later, a man who had brown hair and a bushy beard walked in, ushered by the secretary. He walked over to the table and sat down without waiting. Joel signaled his secretary to leave and then locked the door.
"Never thought I'd have to wait just to see you. This is disappointing!" said the brown-haired, bushy-bearded man.
"My apologies sir, to what do I owe the visit?"
"Straight to the point eh? I like it. Well, from now on you're now the new informer. You're going to be reporting everything that happens in the company to us. The higher-ups have come up with a solution to the robot problem. You don't have to worry about it anymore. What I want you to do now, stop selling weapons to the mafia!" said the man with a stern face.
"Okay sir, but there's nothing wrong with that right?"
"Lopez is in way over her head. She betrayed us, you don't need to know the details."
"Her? She? I thought Lopez was male..."
"It doesn't matter. Just stop thinking and everything will go well for you. Obey us and you'll live long enough to enjoy the wealth you have been accumulating all these years. If you don't, well...You'll find out. From now on, you should report to us twice per week. Also, make more of those Pirin robots. If you want funding, just ask for it and we'll give you."
While they were still talking, a robot hovered by the window, and pointed its left hand towards Joel.
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