Futuristic Reptiles (In the city under a radiation storm)

[Jodyguru]

“I’m nothing but an invader, Ms. Jackson. There is no quid-pro-quo to be had. Now then, Aliya was your mentor. The one who taught you to steal and not get caught. Though perhaps she didn’t train you well enough?” The warden chuckled to himself.

Snake started to regain consciousness, and slowly lifted his head to see the fighting had paused.

“Octo! Stop thinking and just fight! Don’t play his games” he yelled, knowing psychics were dangerous, and if the warden stalled long enough, the prison could get locked down for good. Not only that, he was worried he would hypnotize her, or convince her to join him.

 

[Joyeful]

It had never been that. It had always been the underlying tones of romance that had gotten to her, made her question the why; was she simply another trainee, or was it something more? Octo had always dismissed it- and dammit, he'd found her last name.

When she heard Snakebite, however, she snapped out of the thoughts, looking around at the shield.
There, at the edges- was that an opening? Maybe there was a property in the glass that held mutants away, perhaps that was why it had been so slippery to her?
Stop thinking, rang through her mind, and so she emptied it, doing what she was all too good at- locking the psychic and all her thoughts away into their separate compartments, leaving them for another day. At the moment, she needed to get through this forcefield.

 

[Jodyguru]

As she got closer, she realized that the warden's eyes were looking straight ahead. He was still snooping around inside her head while the forcefield was up, but he himself was not visibly conscious. It seemed as if his psychic powers required enough attention that he couldn't do more than two things at once.

"Now I understand, you're afraid of everything. The stealth, the mockery, and the worry. Afraid of the shadows you use for cover. But perhaps you don't need to be afraid any longer? Gene therapy allows mutants to augment their bodies to match what they desire. Perhaps something less... greasy? Its something to ponder as you sit in isolation."

"Damn it" Snake got on his feet and continued where he left off, charging at the psychic. He reeled back his arm and laid the baton into the back of his head. The psychic link broke, and his shield came down. Now was the time to strike!

 

[Joyeful]

Octo glared, blinking and shaking her head quickly, running towards the man, ignoring the voice. She'd ignored everything else before, hadn't she? It was so, so easy to just block it out, and now, at least, she was able to fight back.

She didn't let herself look at Snake, didn't allow herself to think on gene therapy- she'd admitted long ago that she was going to die fast, so she might as well burn as bright as she could with the time she had been given. And the way to do that would be to murder this man here, the one who decided it was fair to snoop where he wasn't welcome.
When her skin came in contact with his throat, she didn't bother to feel regret as she began cutting off air to his body and brain.

 

[Jodyguru]

Her hands wrapped around his neck and started constricting his oxygen supply. His eyes bulged in his head a bit. Snake had a big smile on his face, like they finally got this bastard. The warden decided to put all of his psychic abilities into one last ditch effort. He bypassed Octo's frontal cortex and went straight for the motor control section of the brain.

"I.. order you.... to... re...lease" He ordered through gasps of breath. Octo didn't want to let go, but she'd feel her hands releasing the control on his windpipe. He was overpowering her own will over her body.

"Fuck it!" Snake exclaimed, reaching a hand onto the warden's skull, grasping him tight and pumping tons of toxins directly into his brain. He pushed Octo off of him, so that she wouldn't get his caustic juices on her as well

The Warden's gasps turned into painful screeches of fury as he started flailing his arms back and forth. The walls of the prison cells started rumbling so badly they cracked and crumbled slightly. His skin boiled, his mouth full of blood. He was dead in seconds.

Snake let out a long sigh through his teeth. His hand was burning really badly, and his fingertips were covered in blood. He reached and tore a bit of cloth from the warden's garb and wrapped it around his hand.

"Man, glad that's over... are you alright, partner?"

 

[Joyeful]

Octo clenched her teeth, furiously putting her hands to the sides of her face, a look of terror over her previously determined, sarcastic, or snarky features.
"No."

That had been why she'd never quite let herself give in to Aliya. The girl played mind games, practically controlled her, and she was free. Right?
"Can we please just burn this place down, now?"

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake looked a little concerned, but he decided there wasn't much he could do besides be supportive. He searched the warden's body, finding a notebook, ID tag, and a few gold coins in his pockets.

"This'll come in handy. I think these vegetables wouldn't appreciate being burned alive. I'll call my people and get them sprung later. Talon Company is gonna deny all knowledge of this place existing once word gets out. Those corporate douchebags always do that." Snake started into the control room located at the end of the hallway. The place was abandoned. Looking on the camera feed, it already seemed like the extra guards were fleeing the place. The men in the black sedan emerged and started picking off guards with their own guns.

"Heh, backup is already on the way. Alright, lets pop this can open" Snake cackled and punched in the codes, opening all the cells at once. Prisoners all started hooting and hollering, climbing over each other to get out of the prison. The front doors flew off the hinges, and filthy inmates flooded into the city streets.

"Okay. Jobs all set. Ready to go? We got a car waiting outside."

 

[Joyeful]

She blinked, looking at the screen. That fucking sedan was for him?!
"Could have warned me you were having the swanks show- what are you, some kind of a celebrity?"

Shit. Not the whole copy-you-mister bullshit again. Octo shook her head in seeming disbelief. "Alright, well, let's go. Have someone else worry about these- them."
Were they even in control of their own minds? They weren't people if they didn't, in her eyes. But she really did have something to do.
Get the hell out.

 

[Jodyguru]

As they ran towards the front door, Snake explained. "Well, I took too long to get the job done. They must've seen you on the hacked security feed and thought you'd make good backup. I don't know what they would've done if you got bailed and just took off, probably just let me die in there."

They reached outside, and Snake breathed a big breath of clean air. Though the definition of clean had changed after the Final Wars.

There was chaos in the streets. All the inmates were confused, disoriented, and looking for ways to survive. Many attempted to steal the black sedan, and were answered with warning shots. A tall man in sunglasses held a machine gun in his arms, and he nodded at the pair as they approached.

"Boss is waiting, and he's not happy" the man said in a deep voice.

"Yeah, I figured. I'll catch up with him later."

"Don't make him wait. He's waited long enough."

Snake waved it off and got in the driver's seat.

 

[Joyeful]

Octo stood uncertainly, looking at her skin, coated with weeks of grime and whatever the hell was in the air. She was far from clean, and really didn't feel like fucking up a nice car and having someone hang her for it.

That man with a gun wasn't too much encouragement, either, even if she was being paranoid.

"You sure it's fine if I end up killing a good seat cushion? Really don't want some big shot after my head."

 

[Jodyguru]

The man looked at her and shrugged. "Ain't the bosses car. Light the fucker on fire for all we care."

Snake rolled down the window and looked at her sideways. "These boys got enough money for a new seat. Anything they let mutants sit in, they pretty much write it off anyways. Now c'mon, get that butt in here."

 

[Joyeful]

She sighed, opening the door to the passenger's side and hopping in, wincing the whole time. "Someone's going to be pretty pissed if they ever find out that slime was on the interior of this thing."

It had been awhile since she'd been in a car, that was for sure. Honestly, she had to wonder who on earth bailed her out- they were crazy. Not as crazy as whoever hired Snake, obviously, but still. Letting a slimy mutant go was insanity.

How had Snakebite even gotten the job? He was literally full of poison. Octo remembered the way the warden had come away with boils, and died so quickly, but oddly enough, it didn't bother her.

Maybe that was because of how horrific her own first kill had been... but those days were gone. She was nothing more than a thief, now.

"Where are we headed?"

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake drove down the block, into an area of town where cars were a bit more frequently seen. It was still early in the day, and lots of folks were headed into Machinetown for parts and drinks.

"Well we gotta lay low for a bit. Talon is gonna be looking for us. We can pick up some fresh clothes in Machinetown, maybe get some grilled rat and Orange Blast. I'm DYING for some Orange Blast, baby!" Snake hooted and punched the roof of the car with his covered fist. He was nearly jumping out of his seat with excitement to finally be free. He turned and looked at Octo, who wasn't riding the same wave that he was on. His smile faded.

"Hey... I didn't say it before, but thanks for helping me. You saved my life. I owe you, so whatever you need, I'll try to give it to you."

 

[Joyeful]

She just shook her head. Octo had all the damn money she needed, far more than that. She had work, when she needed it- which was never, since her first big theft. It wasn't that she was ungrateful for being free. Far from it. But what was the point of freedom if there was no one worth getting out for?

She had no friends. No family. A love interest, maybe- but she didn't want to deal with Aliya. Octo didn't want to deal with anyone, to be honest.
"You would have gotten someone to help you eventually. Besides, I was only looking out for myself."
But was she? At least in the prison, she wasn't alone.

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake shot her a confused look. "Uh, bull-fucking-shit! If you were you would've turned tail and ran off first chance you got. Something inside you decided to help bust me out. Was it honor? Anger at Talon? Or did my dashing looks turn you? Either way, I owe you. Maybe I'll get a chance to save your life. Just don't put yourself down and say it was nothing, it was not nothing."

 

[Joyeful]

Octo rolled her eyes, letting herself smile. "Yeah, with the great lighting I was attracted, obviously," she snorted, letting sarcasm break through, full force, "And you really don't owe me. I just want a shower and some clean clothes before I go off the grid again. Another thing- I don't turn tail, Snakebite. Never have, never will."
Except in one thing. But that... that was to be compartmentalized and dealt with another damn day. Aliya wasn't her problem anymore, if she ever had been. Why couldn't Octo just look around, find some other guy or girl? She was attracted to both. But that damned viper-like bitch...

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake nodded while hitting his thumb on the steering wheel. Little by little, the leather on the wheel was burning away thanks to Snake’s highly potent venom.

“Yeah, Machinetown’s got it all. Do you need money? I picked a couple gold coins off of that prick warden. One should be enough for bath, clothes, and good food, not that cloned-soy garbage.”

They drove onto Metal Street, the main road into Machinetown. A large set of gears sitting on top a painted sign greeted all who came with coin to spend. They quickly hit traffic, sitting for moments at a time without moving. Large signs advertised radios, medicine for rad-poisoning, televisions, and e-cigs. Each sign was hand-painted with varying degree of artistic talent. One shop in particular was an “androids-only” barber shop with a pair of robots smoking outside by the door.

Lots of options, and lots of ways to get pickpocketed.

 

[Joyeful]

Octo laughed aloud. "I've no need for money, but damn, this place is just begging for a good robbery."
It almost sang to her blood, stealing- and Machinetown really, really wanted to set off something. It was working; she was smiling again, honestly excited.

Of course, she didn't plan on stealing anything, but if one or two valuable parts turned up missing, no one should be surprised.
"How strong is your venom? You'll melt the wheel away at this rate."

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake grunted and tossed a coin into Octo’s lap.

“The banks’ll be packed. It’s Friday, I think. Do me a favor and don’t get sticky fingers around here.

I don’t know, the doctors said it was a gland growth in my hands. The venom is toxic enough to corrode materials. Metal and thick fabric have the hardest time being corroded, but skin and leather? Forget it.”

 

[Joyeful]

She rolled her eyes. "If I go to a bank, it'll be clean and to open an account- I'm not an idiot. Sticky fingers happen either when someone hands me a job to do, or when I'm passing someone in the streets."

Octo hadn't known it was a Friday, and pocketed the coin, along with the information.

 

[Jodyguru]

Snake snorted. "What, are you one of those people who stuffs their money in their mattress? I did that once. Fuckers stole my mattress!"

The road finally opened enough for Snake to pull the car into an open lot. A security guard waved them in, looking out to lunch in his eyes.

The orange sky greeted the pair as they exited the car. There was a thin odor of burning rubber present in the damp summer air.

"By the way, I never go by Richard, that's just my birth name. My friends call me Reggie."

 

[Joyeful]

Octo looked over Snakebite. She had guessed he didn't use it. "The question is, are we friends?" she chuckled.

Looking up at the sky, and sniffing the air, the word sulfur came to mind- she had no clue why. She'd rarely smelled sulfur, and this wasn't it. But the sky was open, and the scent was different from the prison.
That was what she needed- different.

"Usually people call me Jax, if they know me well enough. And again, do you think I'm stupid? I don't stuff money into a mattress. Like you gave a pretty clear example of, that's not the best of ideas."

 

[Jodyguru]

Reggie looked at her a moment. What kind of a question was that, anyway? Would they have pulled off what they had done and not be friends after the fact? He decided to just shrug it off and see if she felt comfortable calling him by his nickname.

"Jax... I like that. It's better than calling you an octopus. Knowing you, you probably have stashes hidden around the city, or a big safe bolted into your floor. Whatever. I'm gonna go score some Blast. Come find me later and I'll drive you home. Okay?"

 

[Joyeful]

He wasn't far off from the truth- stashes were a slight bit of an understatement. And he got friendly quick- something she wasn't accustomed to. "Thick as Thieves" had only applied to people she'd been around for a long, long time. And didn't feel uncomfortable around.

"Yeah, go ahead, Reggie," she smirked, "But don't be surprised if I just disappear. I'll send a postcard or some shit."
She didn't plan on coming back, really, she didn't. Off-grid was most logical. He might have had friends to hide out with, but she had herself and money. That should be enough.

 

[Jodyguru]

Reggie lost his smile and he nodded. "Sure, I know how it goes. The world moves too fast for us to get hung up on small shit. Give me a call when you get locked up again, maybe I'll come bust the place for old times sake. Later."

He turned and walked quickly out of the parking lot. He had to get out of there so he could quickly forget what he's been doing and focus on other things. He went to the bath house down the block and got the crust scrubbed off of him, and had his wounds bandaged. After that he got some fresh clothes: A gray t-shirt, ripped denim jeans, and a black bomber jacket. He also got a pair of thick gloves so he could touch things again. He grabbed a bite to eat at McDarby's, and lastly, found a dealer in an alley for a bag of bright orange crystals and a foggy glass pipe to smoke with.