The Liberal Assassin

Mia Elliot (2)

*** Flashback***

Nash Skinner was not an easy target, as expected of someone who killed for a living in his prime. I remember how sweaty my palms were and how my heart raced back then. My senses heightened with the apprehension of the hunt as the target's house entered sight.

Tinkering with a few buttons on the visor, I activated Horus' night vision. Nash Skinner should be asleep as it was already two in the morning, way past my usual bedtime. However, the small reading light in the living room told me otherwise. Through the gap in between the drawn curtains, I could see him still flipping through pages of an old book. Nash was an old man with greying hair and a neatly groomed beard. Other than the change of hair colour, he looked exactly the same as the picture on the records I hacked into. The man looked surprisingly fit for someone in his late three-hundreds! The only other man I knew who looked this in shape at this age was my no-good guardian.

Setting the plan in motion, I circled the house to look for a possible entry without alarming the target inside. It wasn't very difficult to find one as the windows facing Nash's back was wide open as if inviting me to enter. The man hadn't bothered closing it despite the chill and I found it slightly odd but didn't bother to think twice before slipping into the house.

There were only eight steps to where Nash was. The stun baton I stole from a Patrol Guard was drawn and poised, ready to strike. It might seem like a small distance to cover but it was a huge feat to sneak on up Nash. Steadily I moved, trying to hide the sound of my movements.

I managed to take four steps without alerting the old man. Four more steps remained but the man continued to read, completely unaware of another person's presence in his house. My heart pumped so hard it might as well have been drums announcing my presence. Still, the man casually flipped a yellowed and worn page from his semi-decomposed book, things were going as planned. My legs wobbled a little but I clenched my teeth, willing them to move forward.

Only two more steps remained. You can do it, Titus!

One step.

The baton was brought high over Nash's head, poised to strike. At the crucial moment, faster than my mind could process, it happened.

Forest green pupils darted to the side and trained on me. Despite silent movements, Nash had picked them up. Faster than the stun baton could be brought down, a hand darted out to pull my scrawny wrist and send me flying to the wall opposite. The force had me momentarily stunned but it did not stop Nash from taking out a pistol.

Pistols were considered primitive technology that only existed in books. Not even the Patrol Guards used them. Homing lasers and plasma guns were more of the in thing nowadays. Nash took a shot and the sound ignited the instinctive reaction to defend myself. It took me a while to understand that the bullet chipped at the reinforced gauntlets, saving my life. Had I not brought my arms up, the bullet would have hit something vital in my chest, killing me instantly.

Relatively unharmed but thoroughly shaken, I surrendered when the gun was pointed at me for the second time that night. Needless to say, the mission was a fiasco. Instead of knocking the old man out to get my answers, I was subdued and interrogated instead.

"Speak. What is a child doing in the Slums? Does the Academy know?"

"The Academy doesn't know. I'm doing this for my personal reasons."

The former killer raised an eyebrow. "And what business does a kid have trespassing into someone's home with a weapon in hand?"

The stun baton was out of grasp but not out of reach. However, I knew that if any attempt to grab it was made, Nash would not hesitate to fire.

"I know that you are a former hitman and I want to learn from you."

Nash's expression was unreadable but his eyes were calculating. Finally after what seemed to be a long silence he spoke, "Boy, do you know what a hitman does?"

At that, I admitted knowing nothing of it. "I found it from Spencer's archive. It seemed very important that he encrypted it several times. I thought it might be someone important and that if I could learn how to be a hitman I would be able to one-up Raoul."

Upon hearing my answer, Nash lowered his pistol and told me to go back. "A hitman is someone employed to kill other people for credits. You're not cut out to do this."

I don't recall how I did it but my persistence and stubbornness had Nash compromising to teach me the skills of a hitman with the promise that I would never take on a job to kill. In return, I was to pay my lesson fees in Pantiumite.

"You're one stubborn little brat you know that?"

I could only muster a silly smile. Nash shook his head at my goofy reaction. "So? What did you find out about me from the system so you nicely hacked?"

"Oh!" I switched back to being 'professional'. "They only had your name and the record that you were a hitman."

Nash scoffed. "Typical. Well then, it's probably only fair I tell you what I did back then. As you know, I killed for credits. That probably wasn't very amazing. What's amazing is how Spencer spent the last century chasing me down for my deeds to get the Parliament to exile me to the Slums. In my early hundreds, I was wanted by the Patrol Guards for killing important leaders in the financial sector. Those who paid me to kill them were their rivals who couldn't win. I had no significant skills other than my abnormal physical capabilities…"

I absorbed every word he said back then. All his stories about his missions that would normally have made a person ill with the graphic description intrigued me. It was the main reason why I took interest in the medical field.