Following Baun’s directions, Violet quickly caught the faint scent of chemicals in the air. She followed the scent through alleyways and streets, often backtracking when the scent got too weak. She eventually stumbled into a marketplace full of stalls, and people perused the items, gawking at street performers as if they were dumb sheep. It then occurred to Violet that these people were a bunch of dumb sheep.

As she realized this, a small smile curled her lips, and she sniffed the air again. The scent mixed with that of spices and herbs. She felt half tempted to buy some food to cook but decided against it. Stealing the food would be much cheaper and a lot more fun.

Forgetting why she came here in the first place, she meandered over to a stall with an assortment of herbs. Taking a quick whiff of the herbs, she found that several of the herbs had been artificially made, judging from the smell of food coloring, and only a few sprigs had been grown naturally. She picked the few naturally grown herbs: thyme, rosemary, and oregano.

While the man working the stall looked away for a split second, she slid the sprigs up her right sleeve and moved on to a different booth. As she casually strolled over to the next stall with raw food on it, she casually swiped a bag from a busy stall selling souvenirs and dropped the herbs in the bag. ‘This is getting fun,’ she thought as she approached a stall selling an assortment of synthetic meats.

The stall had thick, chilled glass that allowed people to see the meats but not touch them. As she examined the butcher’s stall, she thought, ‘I just might have to buy the damn food. But that would be no fun! No! There’s got to be a way to get the meat without paying.’

She walked a short distance away and hid behind a corner to watch the stall from a short distance away. Taking a deep breath, Violet calmed herself and waited patiently. It wasn’t long before she noticed one of the workers step off and disappear into an alleyway.

A smile cracked Violet’s lips, and she wandered over to the alley. The woman who leaned against a dumpster wore all-black clothes similar to Violet’s, plus an apron, and her blond hair had been tied in a ponytail. Violet gently set her bag down, took off her leather jacket, and tied her hair back to match the other girls.

Creeping up behind the girl as she released a large puff of smoke, Violet struck. Putting the unsuspecting girl in a headlock and pulling her against the far wall to minimize the chances of being spotted. The girl struggled and fought to escape, but she couldn’t escape Violet’s iron grasp around her neck. After twenty seconds of struggling, she went limp in Violet’s arms.

Violet gently laid the woman on the ground and removed her apron... then an intrusive thought occurred to her. She knelt and squeezed the woman’s breasts a couple of times and said, “beeker beeker,” then threw on the apron and gathered her belongings.

She then casually approached the meat stall, and before she could swipe any meat, a customer walked up and said, “Three ribeyes.”

Violet looked up and looked at the customer. The man looked at his comm tablet intently, generally ignoring Violet. She then looked to her co-worker, who kept busy with another customer. Then she looked back to her customer and said, “Sure! Would you like them wrapped?”

“Yes,” the man said rudely.

Violet smiled as she fought the urge to rip out the man’s spleen and said, “Of course, sir. It will just be a moment,” she then grabbed four ribeyes and found a small thing of saranwrap, and wrapped up the four ribeyes. She slipped them into her stolen bag and left. Removed the apron and tossed it aside in favor of her leather jacket.

She quickly melted into the crowd and got away from the meat vendors. As she walked through the crowds of people, Violet walked through a patch of steam and smelled the familiar scent of sulfur. She stopped and looked down at the steam vent, ‘He’s underground,’ Violet thought as a rye smile curled her lips, ‘You cleaver boy.’

Looking around, she reached a nearby alley and found a maintenance hole. She pulled it up and jumped down into the darkness without hesitation. The stench of the sewage pipes hit her like a punch to the face, making her stagger a few steps, but she remained standing and plugged her nose. Without a clear direction to go, she walked forward toward where the market should be relative to her.

After a few seconds of walking, opera music began echoing down the pipes and slowly grew louder as she walked. Soon enough, a small, makeshift building appeared around a corner. The walls are made of transparent plastic and had been put up around a collection of stainless steel tables covered in test tubes, vials, beakers of mysterious boiling liquids, and other machines. A man worked tirelessly in the center of the test tubes and devices.

Or rather, half a man. The person’s lower half had been replaced with eight mechanical arms that mixed other concoctions and moved the man around the room. In contrast, the man wore a simple lab coat and goggles around his bold head as he read a recipe for some chemical concoction.

Violet smiled and walked around the plastic until she saw the man’s slightly burned face, then she smacked the plastic with the flat of her hand hard enough for the bang to be heard over the music. The man jumped in surprise, and one of the mechanical arms spilled some chemicals.

Looking up from his recipe, the man saw Violet, and a broad smile spread across his lips as he flicked his wrist and the music stopped playing. “Well, well, well. Why, Isn’t it Violet V. Vermillion. The fifth reaper herself. And in the flesh too. To what do I owe the honor?” The man’s voice sounded pleasant and calming.

“Hello, my old friend. I want to ask for the assistance of an old Jin such as yourself,” Violet answered.

Jin’s old wrinkled smile spread across his lips as his many mechanical moved him over to a zipped-up exit, “Oh, it’s good to see you, Fives. Let me freshen up and get some tea going for us. Then I’ll listen to what you have to say,” Jin said as he exited the enclosure and opened a hidden door next to Violet, “Please make yourself comfortable, and I’ll be right with you.”