The Princess, Anoushka Anisimova

Ana was bored. Maybe she was a bit annoyed too. Her father was busy talking to that weird cyborg that pretended to be a priest, Father Mathias. That thing always weirded her out , not to talk about the “Angels” that always followed him around, that was another huge can of worms.

The cyborg always wore a content smile on his face, like everything in his life was as perfect as it could be and maybe she felt a bit jealous because of that, but Ana would never admit it.

She got up from her bed and sat on her desk. Her room was, surprisingly, quite simple in its design. A queen-size bed on the leftmost corner, a desk with an high-end monitor on top of it in the rightmost corner. Strangely no windows, because Ana’s father said they were a security hazard. Whatever that meant.After shaking the wireless mouse for a bit, the screen came to life. Immediately she opened the web and logged into her favorite site. Before that, of course she activated her VPN, her father would admonish her heavily if she did not.

As usual, the net was the shithole of the world. Honestly it always amazed her how after so much exposure to it she still gets back to it. Stockholm Syndrome? Unlikely. It was what it offered, a wealth of information that not even the likes of Legions would easily get hold of.

Maybe not him, but most people are really ignorant to the power this PC can connect to. Even her father. Though honestly, he does not need this kind of power. But Ana, being the caged bird that she is, this was a nice way to have an effect on the outside world.

“Huh, the Black Hand is back to being a pain in the ass…”

Most of the organizations in the world had decided on an alliance with the various Departments of Human Development, even her father. But the Black Hand wanted none of that, they work around Europe as terrorist in trying to undermine them. In a way, it was praiseworthy, but stupid in Ana’s opinion.

A message icon popped up in the corner of her monitor. It was from Hakon, her father’s second in command and her personal bodyguard. These last few days he had been quite busy so he had to delegate his work to some other goons. He was exceptionally upset that she not only snuck away, but she even made out in the streets with some no-named boy!

Honestly, Ana was seriously considering calling him dad or even daddy, but the sheer wrongness of saying that to him made her stop. She sighed, wrote a quick apology to the man and went to the bathroom.

She turned the lights on and with a held breath looked at the mirror. What stared back was the visage of a beautiful twenty years old woman. High cheekbones, lush eye-lashes, blue doe-like eyes. All surrounded by glossy, shoulder-length platinum hair. Just one quick glance was assured to make most people do a double take. She enjoyed it when she was younger, but now she kinda hated it.

Ana cleaned her face and sat again at her PC station. She turned her head around the dull gray room in search of something.

“Where is that flash-drive...”

She had paid a pretty penny for it, so if she lost it, she would be quite upset.

*Knock Knock*

“It’s me Anoushka, please open.” said Hakon from behind the door’s room. If he wanted to, he could easily get inside, he knew the code, but he always had been the gentleman. No wonder he was still single at his age.

Ana sighed and went to open the door. She punched the code and the metal door opened.

There stood Hakon, or Hak as most people called him. A very average looking individual, the only noteworthy thing about him was his style, the man knew what to wear to make him stand apart. Today he seemed to be in a Noir-movie style of clothing, with a black thin trench coat and a fedora to boot. Ana thought it was fitting for him.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Hak?” She asked him with a fake smile.

The man did not answer immediately, he seemed more interested in looking around her room. She hated when he did that.

“If you wanted to go to the Underbelly, you could have simply asked.”

Ana could not resist rolling her eyes.

“I thought I already apologized for that?”

“Ana, this is not about that…” - he sighed. his shoulder dropping, as if he was holding a massive weight over them - “The Polis is undergoing some changes, some that are not in our advantage.”

“The Black Hand?”

“If only…the Church is getting aggressive again in expanding their territories.”

“Didn’t they get most of the Third District last year?”

“They want more now.”

“Damn, it is really messy.”

“This is why if something were to happen to you…” He left the rest unsaid.

“I understand Hak, but tell me, should I continue living like this till I die?” She asked, her hands pointing to her room.

She really understood her importance…but she had grown weary of living in this cage. Sometimes she would run away. In recent years she came to know that those escapades were allowed by Hak or her father, otherwise she would never have been able to. Since all the personnel were busy, no one could guard her. This however did not stop her.

His eyes opened wide and his face turned a bit red. He was upset. Of course he would be, he was talking to his boss spoiled brat what did she know about their sacrifices?

“More than you could possibly know…” She thought while staring at his angry face.

As expected, Hak reigned over his temper and took some deep breaths. A hot-blooded man could hardly reach a position such as his without some patience.

“It is just a few weeks, a month at best.” He assured her.

She had heard such excuses all her life. She wanted no more of them. Ana would not wait for no one to save her, she would make her own destiny.

“If only I could find that damn flash-drive…”

After seeing that he was not getting an answer from Ana, Hak walked outside the room.

“By the by, I am changing the codes to your room.” Those were his last words before the door closed.

She let the words sink in. Immediately her eyes widened and she rushed to the door.

“HAKON! YOU SON OF A BITCH!” She shouted while banging on her door.

“It is for your own good.”

“GO FUCK YOURSELF!”

Only the distant sound of footsteps was the answer to her insult. The fucker dared to lock her inside her room. All Ana could do was punch the door as hard as she could. She stopped when the skin on her knuckles started to break open.

Ana laid on her ground looking at the same dull ceiling she had been looking at since she had been twelve. She turned her head to look up and noticed something on her bed.

“Is…is that it?”

She crawled to it and grabbed the object. It was the flash-drive. A big smile appeared on her face. She jumped up and plugged the drive into her PC. Inside it were three PDFs named respectively Vanguard, Logistic and Officer Mk III and a video named “The Red Oni and the Massacre of Hong Kong”. She would have something to keep her entertained for this month, at least.

Legion

The A-class Unknown was a bit anxious. He had been walking all over the entrance while waiting for the Grinning Devil. He hated being outside of his apartment for so long, thankfully it was a very cloudy day as usual, otherwise he would fear that some of his cybernetics would heat up.

Legio looked down at his forearm, where a pad was installed. On it were various video feeds from his drones going around the perimeter. One could never be too sure, even here in the Third District.

He took one of his marshmallow flavored e-cigarettes and started puffing. Even as an almost sixty years old man, Legion always had a sweet tooth. Something that even his kids had inherited.

Legion shook his head and sighed. In his right eye, a video feed appeared. One of his drones had caught sight of the Grinning Devil. It was only two people, one young man and a kid. The A-class Unknown frowned. Something was amiss, but he could not point a finger to what.

“A job is a job and he paid extra…” This was the only reason he had personally come out.

He waited for a few minutes for them to arrive at the gate. Using his drones he took quite a good look at them. The young man had recently received a beating, from the look of his scuffed face, clothes and slight limp from his left leg. Surprisingly, he had strapped on his shoulder an ancient bolt-action rifle. Possibly a Kar, it had been some time since Legion had seen such old ballistic weapons.

The girl seemed in better condition, but there was something in her expression that made his coolant gel faulty. Legion recalled two of his drones to take aim at them, one could never be too sure.

They stood before him. From this close, Legion could clearly see that the young man was barely holding himself up. Droplets of sweat formed on his face, only to hit the ground. His breath ragged and labored. Legion concluded that he most likely had a cracked rib. The old cyborg took a Numb-pen from his pocket and threw it at him.

The young man was, surprisingly, able to grab it. His eyes flashed with recognition, gave a nod to Legion and injected the content of the syringe in his upper left leg. Legion nodded satisfied, most people tend to inject it closer to the where the wound is, which is correct most of the time, but if the damage is close to the heart, it is best to inject it further, otherwise the medicine could slow the heart so much that one would lose consciousness.

“Quite trusting aren’t ya? That thing could have been filled with toxins.” Said Legion.

“Well…you wouldn’t fuck with someone that has ties to that Grinning Bastard, now would you?” The med had a quick effect, the young man was already able to speak full sentences without problem.

While it was rude to answer a question with another question, he was quite amused by his answer. The young man was able to think rationally even with those conditions. The Devil had found an henchman with potential.

“Let’s go to your new home Ludomir and…” He turned to look at the child that had been quiet this whole time.

He had run some scans of them. Legion found out the identity of Ludomir, D-class Unknown. A talented sniper, especially for one that did not have any enhancement of sorts. But he found nothing on the kid, a possible Unknown in the making that the Devil was raising in secret?

“Evelyne.” She introduced herself.

Legion now understood why looking at her gave her such a weird feeling. He took a sweet from his pocket, Sugar Bomb, it was one of his favourite snack but he was in the mood to share and gave it to Evelyne. She seemed reluctant at first, but after some insistence from Legion, she grabbed and started unwrapping it. The sweet aroma of white chocolate filled the air. Eve, after a few sniffs, started devouring it. After the first bite, her eyes were fully focused on it.

“Nothing for me chief?” Asked Ludomir shamelessly.

“How does some treatment for your injuries sound like?”

“Heavenly.”

“Then follow me.” He gestured ahead of him, inside the Polis and into the outskirts of the Third District.

Eve walked ahead of the adults and Legion’s mind could not resist comparing the child in front of him to his child, even the names were almost the same. This was one of the times he wished he did a memory wipe.

“You have kids Legion?” Whispered Ludomir.

“What?”

“I have met many people in my life Legion and the face that you made, and are making, is known to me.”

Legion touched his face. The young man was right, a soft smile had formed on his face without him noticing. This guy was more observant than he gave him credit for.

Legion sighed. He did not want to answer his question, but at the same time, he wanted to. It brought him pain to remember what he lost, but great happiness to remember what he had. The Church says that people truly die when no one speaks of them any more. Maybe there is something to that.

“I had a son and daughter.” Said Legion curtly, maybe this would be enough to satisfy the young man.

“Oh…condoléances.”

Legion shook his head.

“It’s in the past.”

“...”

The young man silently followed. It was still nice to see people with some tact in this day and age. It reminded him of how his son behaved. Too considerate for his own good. Legion took this silence as an opportunity to change the topic.

“Who beat you up?”

Ludomir tensed up, and he quickly glanced at Evelyne.

“We met some…natives?

“The Vainakh?”

That was some bad luck. Such a shame that they were such luddites. Having any sort of cybernetic enhancement? You are the Devil’s pawn. Your piss is purple? Then you must have been blessed by God. Though only some of them were so barbaric. Most of them are just hermits that want to be left alone, and Legion could relate to that.

“You killed them?”

“I had to.” Admitted the young man.

Legion nodded slowly. Killing a Vainakh was a sure way to make their whole family come and kill you. They had a weird concept about souls. If one of them was murdered, the remanining family had to save the trapped soul from the killer otherwise it would not go to heaven. He had seen his fair share of death caused by them. He hoped that this young man would have more luck.

“They were very interested in Eve.”

Hearing those words made Legion’s face involuntarily twitch. Ludomir did not miss that.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No, go on.” Demanded Legion with a heavy voice.

“After that I was…” - he looked around, as if the words would magically appear through the walls - “able to get the jump of them.”

“They did nothing to her right?” Legion did his best to keep his voice neutral.

“No, sir.”

Legion took a deep breath with closed eyes. In his mind, a scene from years ago played on his mind. He opened his eyes before that vision could swallow him. On his forearm pad, a warning signal started beeping. He looked at the various feeds from his eye and saw what caused the alarm: Angels.

He grabbed Ludomir from his shoulders.

“Follow the drones, do not stop.” After saying that, he let his arms fall to his sides.

Ludomir looked confused at first, but quickly got his bearings and nodded. He hoisted Evelyne on his shoulder and started running towards one of the drones.

“Good, now…”

Less than a minute later, two Angels appeared. Their gigantic metallic wings go from one side of the road to the other. It was quite an intimidatory stance, like a giant hawk ready to fall upon him. But what was more terrifying was what they were carrying.

“My dear Legion, how have you been?” Asked the cyborg in priest’s robes.

“Seen better days.” Answered the other cyborg.

“Of course…I likewise have seen better days…” - the constant smile that was plastered on his face faltered for a second - “but days like these are what give value to the past days.”

“What do you want, Mathias?”

“That’s Father Mathias, for you.”

Legion rolled his eyes.

“Why don’t you come to our safe haven Legion?”

“I am fine where I am.”

“Are you Legion? After losing your daughter, you became a shadow of your former self.”

Father Mathias rubbed his chin in a pensive mood.

“Her name was Eve right?”

Legion pressed hard on his forearm pad. Every drone he had was now aiming at Father Mathias and the Angels.

The man still had the galls to smile.

“The offer stands, Jack.”

“Fuck off Noah.”

The priest chuckled. The Angels' wings started moving. Slowly they reached the top of most buildings and then speeded away.

Legion was thankful that his body did not sweat as much as a normal one, otherwise he would be dripping. Looking over where Mathias stood, he noticed a plastic container. He got closer and picked it up. Inside it there were some purple pills. Legions had the impulse to crush it, but resisted it. He put it in his pocket and started walking towards his apartment, only the lights from the street lamps being his only companion.

Khutulun

Khutulun reached the holding cells, or what remained of them. Most of the place was destroyed, as if an explosion had gone all over the place. She crouched as low as possible and snuck closer. She could hear sounds of combat.

Khutulun learned from over the corner and saw two individuals staring down at each other. Tables, chairs, most of the furniture had been thrown around or broken. Even the walls themselves, most likely made of steel, were dented or deformed beyond repair.

In the middle of the room, the Devil and this stranger stood. The former had most of his clothes ripped apart, even his helmet had holes in, allowing some of his brown hair to poke out. Under the helmet she could see rivers of blood flowing from his head to his bloodstained clothes. The latter was in an even more battered state, yet he smiled, as if the situation was under his control. He held a modified handgun in his right arm.

She had to run to help him, but before she could decide on a plan of action, the Grinning Devil rushed in. The stranger aimed at his aggressor's leg and pulled the trigger. The Devil lost his balance and went head first into the ground. The stranger tried to move back to create some distance but something did not allow him. He looked down and the Devil’s hand was around his ankle.

A second later, the stranger’s body was flung towards Khutulun’s corner, the impact creating a dent in the metal wall beside her. It was time for her to take the stage.

Khutulun took a deep breath and stepped out of the corner. The Devil turned to look at her. She knew his blood vessels had popped, so he was effectively blind, at least for now. She had to take advantage of this.

”Time to rest brother…”

She would take him down this time. Alone.