Crackling from a phone speaker, “Jack! Where are you? Some kind of Multi you are. You can’t just bail on the Job! Call me back or so help me…MESSAGE DELETED.”

Cass takes the phone and tries to place it in the pocket of the one piece jumpsuit he is wearing before giving up and just holding it. “She is mad. I’ll explain it sometime but that is future Cass’ problem. Hey Smiley? Will other clothes affect my abilities?”

Floating next to him, “No, but you can just alter the jumpsuit you are wearing. It’s memory wear. Think it and the fibers shift. It’s how you are making jackets and stuff when you transform.” 

“Oh. I was wondering but I assumed it was just a part of the deal.” Cass closes his eyes and focuses on the image of Thompson, a young Multi he ran with a few years prior. A red Faux leather jacket, Black pants, thick dark brown boots, and a graphic t-shirt with an image of a robot meditating underwater. 

He opens his eyes and finds himself wearing the same clothes and then he stuffs the phone in his front pocket. “Now that is handy! Why didn’t you tell me before?”

Smiley looks confused then flickers through multiple outfits from different time periods before reverting to his usual self. “I thought it was obvious.” 

Cass shrugs, “Fair enough, let’s head over to Omni-rides. They aren’t picking up so we’ll just go to the regional store.”

After going a few streets off the main road, Cass comes face to face with the defaced storefront that was Omni-rides. The single room building with an attached, multi-car garage is now plastered with red, white, and blue graffiti. The front glass is shattered and images of skulls with mohawks frame it. The sign has been ripped off and in its place, in bold multi-colored paint, is the name ‘LIBERTY PUNKS’.

A multitude of people are scattered about, playing guitars, sitting on defaced couches, and working on bikes. Cass looks to the nearest one, a 20-something with red denim pants, a white t-shirt, a blue denim jacket, and a tall mohawk. “Hey, what happened to the Omni-rides?”

Without looking up, “It closed down so we moved in.”

“Nice bike. You know where I can get a bike in town?”

Pointing with his wrench, “Last garage door. Ask for Sock.”

“Uh, thanks.” Cass says as he walks away.

He reaches the third garage and sees a two wheel bike suspended above the ground in a stasis field. A large, broad shouldered man wearing overalls with multi-colored tattoos running down his neck and around his shoulders. His hand, a separated metal instrument containing all sorts of tools, is tweaking the inner workings.

“Excuse me, I was told to talk to Sock about a bike.”

The man raises his hand and it shifts and folds in on itself until it looks like a human hand. “That’s me. What can I do for you?”

“I need a bike. Wheeled is preferred but I’ll take whatever you got. I can pay, of course.”

“All my wheeled bikes are taken by the other punks except for this one.” he says as he flips a switch on the wall and the bike slowly descends to the ground. 

“What do you do, friend?” Sock says as he wheels the bike over to Cass then sits on it.

“I’m a Multi.” 

“Hmm. how about this. I’ll build you a bike that you will pay for but in the meantime, you can borrow my bike.” he says as he pats the handle of the bike. “In exchange for a favor that I will call in at some point in the future.” 

Sock extends his hand, “we got a deal?” 

Cass looks him up and down, “like I have many options right now. Deal. The name’s Cass, by the way.” He said as he returned the hand shake.

“Good! I need to run some checks but it’ll be ready in a couple hours.”

Cass nods and turns to walk away, “I need to run a few more errands anyway.”

Cass walks a few buildings down and a street over.

“Okay, this map says that SixShotSurplus should be around here.”

Smiley flickers into view, “why did he agree to give you his bike for a favor? Sounds like a bad deal for him.”

Not looking up from the map, “a Multi’s entire life revolves around favors and reputation. The more trusted you are, the more it’s worth. People will take a chance if it means a Multi is indebted to them.”

Smiley starts rotating in mid-air, “I suppose that makes sense.”

Cass turns another corner and is assaulted by a giant neon glow. He looks up to see a giant neon skeleton cowboy and the giant letters, “SixShotSurplus.”

“There it is.” He says as he puts the map away and opens the door. 

The entire building is one giant showroom. Stasis displays show off the high caliber weapons as well as weaponized accessories like taser gloves and drone attachments. At the counter, sits a single employee. A skeleton in a duster jacket and a large brim hat.

“Welcome on in, sir!” The skeleton emotes like a real person.

Cass walks up to the clerk. “I don’t mean any offense by this but you really seem real.”

“I am real! Haha, but I understand what you mean. For the record, I am in fact a living breathing person. Well, maybe not breathing anymore!” he says as he taps his head. “All that’s left of me is my brain. A full body change to align with the corporate image and before you start, my body was dying already so it is no problem.”

Smiley floats around him and starts excitedly pointing to the clerk and Cass, “Twins!” he said as he laughed and floated away.  

“Not my place to say anything anyway. I came in to see about a six shooter, nothing too fancy.” Cass says as he looks at the guns in the counter display, landing on a solid black one with silver skulls decorating the handle and barrel. “That one is perfect.”

The clerk grabs the gun and hands it to Cass. “a beautiful choice, sir. That is a Snake special!”

“What’s that?”

“It’s not a what but a who. Snake is the premiere design specialist here at SixShotSurplus. This particular model is called the Black Viper.”

The clerk takes out a box of store branded bullets. “Now, these guns are a tad special. You have to use these bullets or it doesn’t shoot but when it does shoot, it packs a punch.” He takes out a bullet and holds it up to Cass. “It’s all thanks to the special process that goes into making each round. The gunpowder is a special blend.”

Cass smiles widely, “I’ll take it.”

The clerk rings up the bullets and pistol, both taking almost half his earnings from the herb job. As Cass walks out of the shop, the clerk calls to him, “if you take a liking to that gun, come back and I’ll show you some more!”

Cass leaves the shop and looks for a nearby and secluded alley. Smiley floats by, “you’re doing this now?”

Cass takes out one of the bullets, “yeah! My curiosity is killing me!”

He holds the bullet in his hand but nothing happens. 

Smiley floats real close to his hand, “squeeze it.” He said with a shrug.

Cass squeezes the bullet and it gets hot. Hotter and hotter until it explodes! His hand is coated in blood and black smoke but after the smoke clears, his hand is gone and all that’s left are the bones. “Wait, that doesn’t hurt.” He begins to move his fingers as if the muscle was still there.

He holds out his other hand underneath the skeleton hand and focuses it. After a moment, the bones start drying and breaking off and turning to dust as they hit his good hand.

Still staring at Cass’ hand, “what is it?”

A smile grows large across Cass’ face. “It’s gunpowder! I knew the rumors were true. I bet my life that SixShotSurplus has one of the A.I.’s.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Human made cyberware and tech can do a lot but you are the only one that feels almost like magic. It’s a safe bet that the others can too or am I wrong?”

Smiley looks annoyed, “No, you aren’t wrong but i’d prefer if you didn’t call it magic.”

“Fair enough.” Cass says as he focuses on the feeling of the explosion reversing and in a flash, a small portable boombox appears in his reverted hand. “Well, that’s new.”

Smiley floats around his head, “maybe you’re right about the A.I. thing. Maybe this is how a power from one of them manifests?”

“It only seems to change my hand though.”

“Hmm. long shot but maybe the same reason it was only your hand is the same reason the boombox is small. You got the power from an incomplete or lesser source.”

The smile grows across Cass’ face again, “I think I need to go shake his hand.”

“Alright, let’s grab some food at the Wasteland Pantry then grab the bike and find those Funguys.” Cass says as he pulls the map out, stares at it for a second and walks off to the next road.