The stars were gleaming bright in the clear night sky when Michael left the shed and even clenched his eyes at the sight of the full moon. He couldn't believe that only a day ago he had been riding in a carriage with Rose and having the best night of his life. Heck, only a week ago he had been at the Peak City living an ordinary life as an ordinary miner with ordinary friends. Within these few days, he had watched people die, watched his new home burn to the ground. He had also killed.
Now, he was going to kill again.
One-Eye Owen's car was a heavily customized muscle car with heavy terrain tires that were built to drive through the desert environment. The car looked menacing with sharp spikes protruding throughout the whole body of the car. There was a small opening in the back of the car where a person could fit. There was also a turret gun attached there which made Michael shiver. It reminded him of the respawner he had killed at the Peak City.
Owen noticed Michael eyeing his car and said with a degree of pride. "That all ain't there for show. Them spikes are for when I'm being chased down by other cars. One ram into them and their whole car falls apart. Sometimes I even end up skewering a person with it like a chunk of meat."
Michael looked at the spikes and could see a reddish rusty colour that reminded him of the dried blood that had stayed on his hands after he had killed the respawner. He looked at his hands and wiped the sweaty palms against his pants.
"That though," he said pointing at the turrent. "Well, that's for chases too. Sometimes even being chased by respawners. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Otherwise, well, you don't know how to drive so."
Owen pulled out a flask from inside his jacket and took a deep gulp. He had been drinking from it the whole time they had waited. He offered it to Michael this time swirling it in his hand.
Michael took a sip from it and gagged. He offered it back to Owen.
"I'd recommend you drink more of that. You don't drink it for the taste, you drink it to think less and trust me, you're gonna want to think very less tonight. The less you think, the more rested you'll be."
Michael took a deep gulp as he sat inside the car.
***
Michael was surprisingly at peace as they sat in front of the fire that flickered and ate pigeon that Owen had shot down from the sky. He had done it so flawlessly in the pitch dark that Michael had been awe. He had asked him how he had done it.
"Magician never reveals his tricks," had been his reply.
Now as he sat in front of Owen, he wondered if it had been because of his augmented eye.
Owen smiled at him as he bit in to a cooked pigeon leg as if he knew what Michael was thinking.
"Look's like you found out my trick. Though to be fair, it still requires great skill," he said. Michael looked into the flames for a while before he grew bored of it.
"Who are you?" asked Michael. "You already know my name."
Michael sighed. "You know what I mean." "Well, I'm Owen. I have a magic eye." "And…?"
"And what?"
"What do you do?" asked Michael. He knew Owen was a shoddy character with some sort of shoddy job but he wanted to hear it from him.
"I'm well… I was… kinda an assassin," replied Owen. "How can you kinda be an assassin?"
"Well, an assassin is supposed to kill, right? I didn't technically kill cuz well respawners can't really be killed."
Michael was confused. "Why would you kill respawners if they can't die?" "I'm guessing you ain't heard about the Lodge of Assassins, have you?" Michael shook his head.
"The Lodge of Assassins is like… well how do I put it. They give you objectives to complete, kill a respawner with a headshot, kill a respawner with acid, kill a respawner with a spoon blah blah blah that kinda stuff and give you money based on that. You also get paid based on how dangerous the respawners are you face. The whole things filmed and people bet crazy money on it."
"So, it's a competition. A sport," Michael said annoyed at the idea of killing respawners a sport.
"Yes, you could say that. Though the Lodge is much bigger than that. Much bigger than governments even."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, kiddo," sighed Owen laying down and placing his head on his satchel. "It's getting late. Need to sleep. We'll practice your shooting at the crack of dawn, head to the stables near the town and then complete our mission."
He placed his hat on his head and within minutes was snoring. The snores sounded funny because of the robotic tone added from his augmentations.
Michael too laid down his head and stared into the flames. His mind felt groggy. The rum that he had drank had clearly helped but Michael did not want to sleep. He was too scared of facing the next day and wanted the night to drag on as long as it was possible.
He looked up into the stars in attempt to keep awake but it was a struggle that he eventually gave up. He fell asleep looking at two stars glimmering in the clear night sky. They turned to purple eyes the moment he closed his eyelids.