“Yeah. It’s the most dangerous route, too. Better to haul ass the long way around, through the other clusters.”
“You mean the cluxes?”
“Yeah. We changed that too, to make it easier to remember. We’re from cluster 17... A total clusterfuck.” The goblin suddenly gritted his teeth, wiped his eyes with his palm, almost dropping his bottle. “It’s shit!”
“It’s shit,” I agreed, giving him the nut. “But life finds a way everywhere.”
“True. So long, dude!”
“So long.”
The goblin headed off, muttering something angry and almost inaudible under his breath. I caught a few snippets, something like ‘greedy Lamer bastards’, ‘damn clusters’, and a completely unexpected ‘fucking elves!’ The goblin shook his fist violently at the ceiling, and finally dropped his bottle. He picked it up, straightened, then seemed to wilt and continued on his way, fiercely slurping the isotonic...
I decided to crack a nut into my water bottle, help myself feel a little better...
Shower required immediately.
“Damn.”
It was pointless to argue. I groped for the narrow door that slid open twenty steps ahead of me on my left and dragged myself towards it, knowing the system was watching me intently from the ceiling. I had to get myself tidied up after all...
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, I came out of the shower a new man. Ha... That wasn’t quite right. A new goblin. A clean, refreshed goblin in quick-drying clothes. I had managed to keep my belt bag dry.
Balance: 67 sol.
Sipping the sweet-salty-fruity isotonic, I strolled over to the two most interesting trade points and peered at the goods on offer. There was nothing particularly special, but a few things did catch my eye. Last time I had only taken a quick glance, so this time I studied them more closely, with the firm intention of making some purchases. For myself — and for my team, too.
Should I have them come with me and pick things out themselves?
I wasn’t that callous. No. I’d pick out weapons and equipment for them. And then I’d teach them to use it all correctly. That was the way I would do it, and no other amateurish strategies interested me.
I’d start with...
My habit of looking around was the only thing that saved my life. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a swift, silent shadow. I jerked my head backwards at the last second as a long awl, tightly clamped in a fist, passed less than half an inch from my temple. The bastard had planned to stick it in my eye...
“For Johnny!” The attempted assassin grunted triumphantly, then stopped short, frozen in an uncomfortable position. It finally hit him, even if a little too late.
I grabbed tightly onto the arm holding the weapon. I used my left hand, feeling the familiar pain awaken in my flexed elbow. I held on and stared into the tear-filled eyes of this rat-bastard trying to kill me.
“I loved him! And he loved that whore!” The man hysterically spewed his words in my face and tried to pull his hand away. I staggered after him. The sound of ringing glass echoed... He shuddered, letting out a short gasp, and his head fell to rest on my shoulder. Without letting go of the dead man who now embraced me, I looked up at the ceiling, then all around me. Everything seemed quiet. There were no domes around, and the closest orc was twenty steps away with his back turned to us. I lifted the corpse and dragged it to a bench, then laid it on its side, facing the wall. I stepped back, surveying this ‘still life’, then turned and walked away, sliding my left hand back into its sling as I walked, hiding the wrapped handle of my blade underneath it. The broken glass blade itself was still in the corpse’s heart, keeping the wound shut. His heart had stopped instantly. If any blood had spilled, it only would have been a few drops at the most — no conspicuous bloodstains.
I had recognized the man — he was a survivor from Johnny the Lion’s crew. Turns out one of them decided to get revenge after all, but for personal reasons. And if his dilated pupils were anything to go by, he was on some pretty hard drugs. Probably needed something to give him courage. Well, at least now I knew there were drugs here, although I would have preferred to get that information some other way.
Five minutes later, I was back by the same trade spots on the cluster’s other wall. I took a look around in case another avenging angel was waiting to swoop down on me. No one in sight. I started browsing and checking prices.
I was sorry to lose the glass blade. When I stabbed my attacker, I heard the characteristic crunch of breaking glass. My elven flower drank as much blood as it could, then remained in the heart of its last enemy. A poetic end for such a fine weapon.
