No one is looking lonely tonight

She danced persuasively, drop of hips, lift of hearts. Shimmies, shivers and vibrations, going from side to side of the stage.

Her loose dress painted an image behind her. Kimono being freed from her shoulders, swindling around her desire painted a golden tree on a black canvas. Its exterior had golden branches and leaves. Black skirt and crop top with white tertiary colors and a healthy amount of gold. A girl is nothing without her glitter after all.

She was one with her dance, alluring, seducing, depressing. All must have carried different thoughts about her, or so she hoped.

“Dance like crazy, and I will get close to you until you notice,” a disgruntling noise whispered from her back.

Entice stopped and froze. Was it him, the man who invaded her memory, her dreams. All in all, taking something that did not belong to him, her interest.

There stood a mountain of a man, dark blue sentinel jacket, a body odor that could be described manly at best and animalistic at worst. He had a half-burnt cigar in his mouth and a dullened look in his eyes. There was a slight bulge under his jacket as well, likely a gun.

“Oh boy, umm, mister sentinel…” Entice pointed one finger towards the cigar at his mouth, her red nail polish glittering under the red and white lights dancing around. “That cigar isn’t allowed.”

“Then speak fast so I can leave,” He puffed a screen of smoke to her face. She tried her best not to cough, not to give this man a chance to look strong. “Did someone named Forty-one drop by?”

Entice stared down the Bear with narrow eyes. While not everyone was smart, he was beyond dull.

“Sure, let me check it, sir police officer,” Entice walked forth and grabbed the microphone at the stage.

She turned the mic on and waved at the crowd. “Are we having a good time? Scream and dance if so,” She swiped her hair aside, red and white threads flowing with the air. She belly danced a bit more, tempting the onlookers to gaze at her more and more. Lost with the idea of her, with the excitement of being with her. “Now, now, before we all go deep in the night and deeper in the bottles of gin, tell me, is any one of you named Forty-one. It is the nice police officer behind me asking him, so no no, don’t be a bad boy… or girl.”

The crowd erupted into cheers and then grew silent, all staring towards Bear. Entice faced Bear with an enigmatic smile and a raised eyebrow. She brought her index finger to her chin. “Oh, it seems like the naughty boy you were looking for is not here, officer.”

Bear pinched the cigar at his mouth and threw it aside. “How did you know it was a he? Forty-one is a unisex name.”

“I just wanted to assume you would ask the loveliest girl in the room for where to find a naughty boy. It seems like I was right,” she stuck her tongue, head tilted to the side.

“It takes more to trick me, girl,” Bear walked towards the door separating the corridor of dressing rooms and the stage. “Show me your room, I have some questions.”

Entice rolled her eyes as she walked away from the scene. She could hear the cheer of the crowd behind her back, but she didn’t bother to look back. Or suffer the odor of Bear more than she was already going through. Towards the end of the corridor stood her room. There was a glittering yellow star and her name on it.

She opened the door, as it wasn’t locked. Walking beside her dressing table, she hid her diary behind her back and then sat on the sofa before Bear entered. She got a thin elongated black smoking pipe from the table beside the sofa and crossed her legs as Bear entered the room.

She decided to at least teach this vile man on how to smoke properly.

“Now, officer, why did you invite me to my room?” She gasped and widened her eyes, covering her mouth with one hand. “Or is it a trick to isolate a lady where no one can hear her,” She brought the pipe to her lips and puffed. “Surely not, am I right, officer? My scream would be heard by bodyguards, not that they would come to all my screams. Maybe they might ignore some.”

She doubted if they would be enough to stop this man. Well, eventually, they would overwhelm the Bear.

“Tell me, Miss…”

“Entice.”

“Miss Entice, tell me what you know about this Forty-one,” Bear leant back to the wall. “I promise you won't be charged.”

“And I promise you can’t charge me,” Entice faced back, grabbing her hair to show her neck to Bear. “See?”

There was a red emblem of two circles intertwined with each other, forming an eye symbol. It was the mark of her family, Foresight.

“If you tell me what you know, I will tell you what I know,” Bear didn’t show any changes to his attitude. Same boorish look as if he was bored out of his mind.

Yet it seemed like he did know how to sweeten the deal.

“Let’s say I did dream about him, and I know he will cross the border tomorrow,” She puffed her pipe, letting the smoke go in Bear’s direction. It dissipated. “You?”

“He goes around with two peopl…”

“Blondie and that gray haired girl?”

“Yes. For all you gave, this is what I will give.”

“Tell me, how does he look, this Forty-one?”

Bear faced Entice; she guessed he was observing her. Likely suspicious.

She couldn’t care less, she had to be sure.

“Nothing significant, somewhat thin, brunette… and slightly big nose with freckles on his face? I didn’t have much chance to look at him,” Bear looked down and to the right, he was likely trying to gather his memory.

“Show me his file,” Entice insisted.

“He doesn’t have one,” Bear said. He looked around but couldn’t dare do much under her watch.

“Anything else, officer?” Entice said, puffing the pipe. “If not, I would like to cool for a while, alone.”

Bear only bothered to grunt and left the room, hitting the door behind him.

He likely left to avoid orders. If he stayed longer, she could’ve dug for more. Oh well, she did have an idea on where to run at him.

She slightly got up, getting the diary under her to take a look. She skimmed through the pages, there was no mention of this Forty-one and his two friends. She was sure of it, she didn’t know about him before.

Then why did she dream of him and her memory told them they met before?

She didn’t like not knowing things, especially when those things knew about her.

***

This might have been the best state brothel she had ever been, dozed in flammable oil.

Daughter poured another can of oil all around the carpet while her new colleague, Forty-two, handled the seats and the tables.

She expected Swan and Pearl to be against burning the brothel, or at least sad to say goodbye, but after one talk with Forty-one their enthusiasm knew no bounds.

They were laughing, pushing each other to see who dozed what in oil first, breaking everything they could. It was as if the mere existence of this place was a mistake for them.

“Maybe we should let them do it?” Forty-two said as he walked past her.

She had to agree, they did seem to enjoy the process.

Cecil seemed to agree, grinning as he watched the couple’s enthusiasm. Or heard, she wasn’t sure how to put Cecil’s situation in words. You didn’t run into people lacking senses in City. It wasn’t that hard to buy another visor or microphone.

She wasn’t even sure how Cecil managed to detect Jackal. Was he telling the truth or did Forty-one tell him to lie?

Daughter wanted to ask why and how, also, maybe, just maybe, letting others do all the work. She already poured down several oil canisters. Forty-one’s car for some reason had a trunk full of oil canisters. Maybe he was a closeted arsonist.

“Get down,” Forty-one’s shout startled her.

Before she could turn back, Forty-one suddenly rushed her down to the floor along with Forty-two.

Bullets started flying overhead, buzzing like deadly bees. Shatters of glass and piercing of the concrete wall deafened her. There was smoke and glass dust all around them.

It felt like a scene through hell. The bullets' trajectory were easy to see by the blue hue left behind them. She wasn’t an expert on bullets, but she felt like they shouldn’t be like this.

Daughter barely managed to see what was in front of her, Cecil lying on top of Swan and Pearl. It seemed like he managed to tackle both down, but she wasn’t sure if all of them were okay.

Well, she wasn’t even sure if she was okay. Forty-one was eeirly calm about the bullet rain while Forty-two was shouting. She did find it interesting for him to be the only one shouting, but she couldn’t blame him. If her mouth weren’t stuck with the oil oozing floor and her head pressed down by Forty-one, she would’ve joined the screaming.

Unlike her, Pearl decided to join in anyway.

The bullet rain stopped right after, the deafening sound left its place for shouts, mostly from outside a few of them.

There was a flurry of activity, to which she had no idea how to react. Her whole body felt frozen.

Cecil rushed towards the door, grabbing his bat, while Forty-one ran towards Pearl, checking her leg. There was a pool of blue liquid beneath her, coolant fluid.

Forty-one ripped part of his shirt and bound it around Pearl’s leg. There wasn’t time to check up on her, so he pulled the girl on his shoulders, got up, and began to run behind the building.

“Go towards the car, watch the windows. Run,” Forty-one shouted as he kicked the back door open.

Swan followed right after them.

Daughter forced herself to get up, only for her head to get grabbed by Blondie in his mad dash to the door.

Well, he at least didn’t abandon her behind. That was nice. Sadly, Blondie was much slower than her. When they reached the door, it wasn’t clear who was dragging whom.

Yet she had to halt her dash as Forty-one stood at the backstreet, not moving.

She turned to look why that was the case, and saw the reason.

His smile was reminiscent of a crescent. Golden tooth, chain and gun glittering in the haze of bullets. There was nothing positive she could put about the man's looks. It wasn’t humane. He looked at him like a toy, to be played and thrown aside. There was no doubt about his posture either. He was sure they were in his trap.

“Did you miss me, my dearests? Don’t worry, Jackal has enough love for you all.”

“I lived through this shit thousands of times, but my god, you never get any better,” Forty-one said.

***

Rabbit was having trouble staying awake, her systems had been running for a day straight now.

She needed rest.

She was standing in the border control between Love town and the suburbs of Glitter City, namely the Iterative Town.

Her hand on the gun’s grip, watching the horizon. She was given command to shoot if someone didn’t slow down while coming close to border control.

Not that she was needed, without identification auto-canons would deal with the target.

In ten-meter-high concrete towers, they stood at the top, judging who should live or die.

Standard procedure, either you have the papers or you will be donated bullets in the swiftest way possible.

Rabbit’s grip tightened as a cherry red sports car neared the gate. Sleek design, cherry red glittering exterior with black mirrors. From the car alone, it was clear they were citizens, but it was better to be sure.

The incident on Unity Street also had a luxurious sports car, until it blew up and killed tens of people.

The car slowed down when it neared next to her and the passport control.

The jet black windows obscuring her view slowly fell, leaving her sight to a white haired lady with light brown skin. She had red eyes and a fiery look that would scare the devil. Or allure. Red lipstick and bleach white teeth, it was clear she spent time to look good.

“Miss, may I pass the checkpoint, my dad is getting worried that I’m being late,” The lady opened her palm, revealing a family logo and an identity marker.

Entice Foresight

Age: 24

Status: Education

Occupation: N/A

Citizenship Tier: Family Member

Height: 174

Weight: 126kg

She was surprisingly light, but considering her slender physique, it was to be expected. It was clear that she was a family member, no need to check further.

Rabbit was about to open the gates until the lady talked.

“Ah, may I ask something?” She leaned out of her window, gesturing Rabbit with her hand to come into whispering distance. Rabbit leaned to hear. “Did Forty-one passed here yet? I asked your mean superior, but he just grunted and growled whenever I asked anything to him.”

Rabbit's eyes narrowed upon hearing that name, her hand instinctively grasped her gun, yet the better side of her decided otherwise. Drawing gun against a family member would be testament to suicide.

She stood back straight again, unsure how to answer.

Her eyes searched the horizon for an answer, catching the silhouette of an armored sentinel car, likely from the night operation Jackal did.

Last time Rabbit heard of Jackal was when he confirmed the arrests of Forty-one and his accomplices. Considering one of them had no file, and the other had a security clearance above even enforcers, he had trouble registering them. In the end, however, if Jackal got his teeth on someone, he would bring them in.

Rabbit turned back to Entice, who was still looking at her with those mischievous eyes.

“He is coming in that truck behind you,” She had enough time for Entice to look back through the mirror or the camera in her car. “Now, honorable Foresight, please make way for the oncoming vehicle.”

“So he did manage to do it…” Entice paused for a moment. “Tell him I will be at my favorite bar… no, cafe. I want to make a good first impression. Anyway, see you later, I feel like we will get along well together.”

“Shall I tell your name to him, miss?” Rabbit rolled her eyes.

“No, tell him that Forty wished him a lovely day.”