May 23rd - 11 h 5 PM

the cherry on top of the shit sunday.

Of course Tayla McKenzie was in coercion with this bipedal death machine. Athomas Killian is trapped, a broken body and mind to accompany this nonsense revelation. This vile woman and this machine stare him down, a pack of wolves salivating over a wounded rabbit. Police sirens are blaring through the night, as the main road behind them quickly bathes in flashes of blue and red.

“Surely they called for backup. Toska, how much damage did the district take so far?”, ask Tayla, sounding curious, without a hint of worry in the way she speaks.

“Only 0,13% of Atmoscian infrastructure has been compromised”, replies Toska with it’s terrifying voice.

“Goodness, you throw these tiny numbers all the time. Pinnochio should have told me you kept screwing up basic maths still, cause I’m pretty sure we did a lot worse then just 0,13%”.

“I am positive master told you, but maths are not my specialty”. Toska’s reply would sound a bit funny without the glitchy, ear-busting voice “master” granted him. Tayla sighs and shrugs, annoyed by the situation.

[ Blood Censorship - Blood transfusion: Enabled ]

Toska’s core, open for all to see, produces the sound of a computer, imitating a heartbeat monitor. The machine looks at Tayla for a split second, before quickly redirecting their gaze towards the fugitive. Athomas’ body, his clothes, everything about him is turning into a deep red liquid, like red velvet ice cream melting in front of them. The two assaillants remain indifferent by this metamorphosis. More concerning are the cops waiting behind them. The damages donne to the streets might have alerted local authorities already in hot pursuit.

“Damn, we really oughta finish this now. All because I wanted the diplomacy angle.” states Vil de Ville’s director.

From the great pool of blood resurfaces Athomas. As his body emerges, the red puddle disappears. A deep seethed anger accompanies the fugitive, staring down the woman he deems responsible for the disastrous end of his career. Tayla looks back, playing naïve towards his fury.

“I hope the sauna was refreshing. I also hope our cooperation will be as comfortable for you, Athomas. After all, I’m curious as to what a mutant could have found in my library that makes you wanna run around like a scared squirrel.”

Athomas couldn’t care less about cooperation.

“You! You have the gauls to accost me for your pathetic library, after destroying my life!? You think I don’t remember what you did, huh!? Enticing me like the snake you are! You poisoned my marriage, my career, my life! I’m not cooperating with the likes of you!”

Tayla’s facial expression shifts from annoyed to curious.

“Huh… You do remember… “ confirms Tayla, surprised. “If it can make you feel better, I already assumed you’re not the one who stole from Vil de Ville. I would suggest you tell us who, unless you wanna lose your life on top of everything else, big boy”.

Before Athomas could contest this threat, the sound of a passionate voice filtered through a megaphone yells out from behind them.

“This is the last time we give you grace, Athomas Killian! You are to leave your premises, get the heck out that alleyway and put your two hands in the air, you understand! If you don’t cooperate, we will not hesitate! We’ll blast you until that mutation can’t resurrect you anymore!”

That voice is Richard Young.

Tayla ends up smirking without reservations. The cop’s voice cracks, almost emasculated by his discombobulated emotions. The last hectic 30 minutes of his life reflects poorly on his performance.

Toska intervenes in Tayla’s quiet mockery of Richard.

“It seems Athomas will not talk. We are still left with a dangerous monster in front of us. We cannot let the police force capture him or analyse his body”.

Tayla responds with a hand sign directed towards Athomas.

“In that case, I’ll gladly let you deal with that piece of work. His powers have nothing to do with our reasons to hunt him. Plus, I’m sure your master would die for a sample of his power, so have your fun. I wish we could have found the stolen data tonight, but we’ll get it soon regardless”.

Tayla walks out of the alleyway, biting her lower lip before she grins, almost ecstatic for what’s going on in the bright lights. She places her hand on top of her forehead to block the hostile flashes of the cop’s sirens.

“Too many people are in the know”, says Tayla, sinister.

May 23rd - 23 h 8

The director comes out the alleyway, to the unamused bafflement of the cops.

Richard in particular is at an initial lost of words, shaken that everything seems to be going completely against his fantasies. Now this ludicrous woman is in his way again. It’s one thing to be controlling and overwhelming in what Richard considers her area of expertise. It’s another for her to be stalking his moves while he’s on duty. It’s an unhealthy, harmful amount of anger and lunacy that’s invading his brain right now.

“And what makes you think, you scumbag of a bitch, that you can just walk in a fucking crime scene huh!?” Yells out Richard, looking and sounding insane. 

The other cops in his squad are barely keeping him on a metaphorical leash. He’s already caused a big enough ruckus, still denying the two citizens he got murdered by his “elite” squad of rookies. 

The only reasons they’re still keeping him around right now are the amount of Troposville cops that have decided to not answer the call. Tayla knows this. The police body of the city is understaffed, for most officers chose to switch to a different city when possible. McKenzie is so aware Richard has no idea.

“I wonder the same. What makes you think you’re onto the right suspect. You haven’t gotten me my guy. I warned you I would interfere, and so here I am”, speaks the director with such fake politeness it’s rotting the crazy cop’s remaining braincells.

It’s her little smile, mesquine, that sends Richard back down the spiral.

He lets go of the megaphone, pushes over a few cops that stops him with a sudden boost of physical strength and walks without a care in the world towards Tayla. He grabs the woman by the collar of her coat and slams her on a wall adjacent the alleyway. Tayla lets out a moan, exaggerated on purpose, as if to solicit a reaction from the other officers. It works, as a three of them go and wrestle with Young to try and force him to leave her alone. Their bodies are oddly close and the whole debacle makes it hard for Richard to grab the handcuffs in his pockets.

“Listen here, McKenzie. I’m getting sick and tired of your shitty library. You chose the wrong city to be making ridiculous demands and pushing nonsense politics! You’re not fucking special, you hear!? I MAKE THE LAWS HERE! I’M THE ONE WITH THE RULES! I’M IN CONTROL!”

Richard yells while contorting his body against a squad of policemen unable to stop him from gripping this woman in ways that suggests some wild innuendo, as their bodies are but a few centimeters away from being glued to each other, he’s pushing her head on the wall, handcuffs in hand. All this time, York is observing the scene, disgusted and about to fall unconscious. The last hour of his life has been the equivalent of purgatory. From being considered the future of the police force to now having his future scrapped by a pathetic man.

Tayla begins to giggle. She gives a suggestive look to Richard, before stating:

“Right… I just remembered… You and Athomas both come from Thermosville. I really have a thing for men from there. They have a level of professional and academic maturity other guys just don’t have. I also remember my last time with you. We had handcuffs too that day. It was really fun”.

A devious look in her eyes.

In one fell swoop, all that strength Richard had vanishes. The other cops drags him off Tayla McKenzie. He looks mortified.

“The…last time…Wha-what do you mean by this??”, he asks

“You know what I mean by that. I think that was… two and a half weeks ago, if my memory’s good”, continues Tayla, dusting herself off as if nothing happened.

Above her floats a screen of the system, much more different, a glowing rectangle with grainy patterns traversing the screen, like a broken TV invaded by white noise. It reads the following in quick succession:

[ Player {Tayla McKenzie} - subsystem {Memory Devourer}: Enabled ]

[ Memory Devourer - quick trigger: Enabled ]

Images of a bedroom, filled in pitch black, and a naked woman he immediately recognizes as Tayla, flashes in a split second in Richard’s mind.

“appalled” wouldn’t begin to describe how stunted he is.

Behind them, in the alleyway, another intense light is set ablaze; a fire burning through this tiny corner of the city, engulfing the darkness of the area in heat. The scent of smoke perfumes rapidly the area as a scream of agony echoes through the night.