Emergence: Chapter 38

“Lyss Fown” entered Irin after a long, albeit uneventful flight. As soon as he stopped off the ship, he put the hood of his brown jacket over his head; he didn't want to be recognised. He figured that it was unlikely that he would be, he could never be too careful. Hands in pockets, head down, Foton walked out of the spaceport. He'd always had a love/hate relationship with spaceports; he loved the variety of races and their ships, but he hated the crowds. Although he could blend in with the crowd, Foton tended to prefer people separated more sparsely; less chance of recognition.

Reaching into his pockets, he found the small silver cube that the Blind Assassin had given to him. On the flight, he had tried to open it, but it was a sealed unit; the only way to open it would be break it apart. While he was tempted to break it apart, he realised that he might break the electronics within, which would mess up his mission and probably see him killed.

In his other pocket, was a small ID badge with his target's name and picture on. No address, which annoyed Foton. Apparently, his target was Professor Tujin Diank, a balding middle-aged Irinian. Foton didn't know what he had done to whoever wanted him dead; he rarely knew. Sometimes, the Assassins were hired by government agencies or Enforcers to catch and kill criminals that had eluded them; the Assassins could do things that they could not. Mostly, however, they were hired by private parties to do their dirty work. Occasionally it was satisfying work, but Foton figured that this one wouldn't be.

He looked around for a bit, observing the shining architecture; buildings were fluid and asymmetrical, and left Foton in awe of the amount of detail and planning which went into them. The dome which surrounded the city could only be seen if you were trying to see it, and even then you only noticed a slight discretion in the way that the light passed through. Apparently, the beautiful architecture was even better in the capital city, but Foton was glad he wasn't there; too many people and government officials that might recognise him. Luckily, the Assassins had given him a ticket to the right city, which he was thankful for; transport between the domed cities was a pain in the arse.

After asking around the city, Foton was able to find out where he lived; right in the centre of the city. Wanting to get this over with, he called a taxi, which ferried him over. When he arrived, he circled the house, observing it from different angles. Compared to most buildings, this was rather simple; standard cube ground-floor, and a seperate cube for the top floor. However, the top floor was turned 45 degrees on it Z-axis, giving the impression that the architecture had been twisted in a giant's hand.

Leaping in to its back-garden, Foton landed without a sound. That was a technique many Assassins learn; distribute your weight fully, change your centre of gravity, and you will make no sound on the ground. Taking out a small computer-chip, he held it to a panel on the door. In an instant, the chip replicated the necessary data required to enter the house. As the door slid open, Foton crept inside. Sensing movement, the motion-sensitive lights came on, illuminating the room. There was nothing of interest to Foton in the hallway, nor in the kitchen. The living room was empty too, aside from two sofas and a large screen which took up half of a wall. Nodding in approval, Foton crept upstairs. Poking around in the rooms, he realised, as he had suspected, that there was no-one home. He found the room which appeared to be Tujin's study. Rifling through the blueprints and documents on his desk, Foton soon found a printed email from the laboratory where Tujin worked. Most importantly, it had the lab's address on; not far from his house.

When Foton arrived at the lab, he found it quite plain and boring compared to the other buildings. Good; it makes it easier to navigate. Scaling the building with a pair of stat-mag gloves – static-magnetic; can attach to anything with a static charge – Foton broke in through an open window, climbing in silently. Instantly, he heard whistling, but he listened out for other voices. The whistling stopped, giving him a chance to hear footsteps as well. Unsurprisingly, Foton heard no other footsteps; no-one wanted to work this time of evening.

Walking into the corridor, Foton slowly made his way through the building and down the stairs. He could see Tujin now, too busy on a screen to notice. He was smaller in real-life than he'd looked on the picture Foton had seen, but everything else was pretty much spot-on.

Foton waited until he was near to his target, before standing up straight and putting his hidden-blade into a “ready” position. “Tujin Diank?” Foton continued walking towards him as he turned around.

“What do you want? Who are you?” Tujin stepped back, cowering as Foton got closer.

“Don't struggle.” Foton thrust the hidden-blade under Tujin's hips, and up into his heart. Tujin slumped with a grunt, and Foton pulled the blade out, before wiping the blood on it onto Tujin's clothes. Carefully, Foton put a hand into his pocket and pulled out Blind Assassin's silver cube, placing it next to Tujin's bleeding corpse. A crackle of electricity flashed between the box and Tujin's implant, making Foton back away. They both flashed for a moment, before going back to being still. Foton looked at them suspiciously; there was more going on here than the Blind Assassin was letting on.