The Hunt Begins (Ze)

(Several hours before the attack at Savo Building)

(3 days before original incident)

The air was still cold; however, it wasn't anything too serious. Of all the weather that I hate, the cold was very welcoming. Hunters such as I spend a lot of time planet hopping or shipping cargo through space. Alot of the planets, and space itself, is frigidly cold. Sometimes bearable. Sometimes unbearable. However, I never seemed to mind. For I was raised in such environments. Literally centuries ago. However... my memories of those times are a tad bit fuzzy in my old age.Yes, I said centuries. Yes, I still 16. Yes, I am quite older than I actually look. But so are a lot of other vampires.

I scouted my surroundings. We were no longer in the clearing. We had made our way away from the clearing and where now walking along the path west of it. The path was made of dirt and had recently been redrawn into. Possibly by the inhabitants of this area. Trapper, Canabals, Enslavers, and etc. The denizens of this ruined memory that is this park. Yes, Rapture used to be a park. A memorial. A memory. One of the few places on this rock that represented the OLD WAYS. The land before time.

Alot of people used to come here when it was first established. Alot of them looking for a sense of remembrance in a land they were not familiar with. A place where they could find some semblance of home. Now.... it still represents home. But for all the wrong reasons. It is now a trafficking center for those that thirst for blood and viscera.

The Farm. The Farm was, indeed, a main base of operations for the denizens of Rapture. A large rectangular building that was once used for a numerous amount of attraction is now a building that could be seen as hell. It was quite literally an actual farm. However, what they held there wasn't something that one sees at an actual farm. At least by the OLD WAYS.

The Farm didn't farm actual farm animals. It was a huge trafficking spot. Meaning they trafficked and farmed people. Vamps, lycans, other alien races, and anything that could basically be caged and enslaved. The people captured were either imprisoned, breed, slaughtered, or sold. Sometimes... it was all of the above.

However, our mission was a rather unique one. A human? I can't remember the last time I encountered a full-blooded human. A "clean slate" if you will. The idea of one around on this rock is damn near impossible. The people of Luna rarely procreated. Not in a sense that they couldn't. More in a sense that they didn't want to. Plus, most were high-breeds between other creatures.

The people of Luna existed in what I thought to be a fantasy land. To many others it very much was. New Luna City. The Stirring City of Memories. A fitting name for a place so stuck in the past. The people here stuck in a fantasy land feening for a world that no longer exists. A past no longer theirs. Out of reach.

So, they to create a illusion. The city itself. New Luna was the only technology advanced city that retained some sense of the past. Now, don't get me wrong. The city itself is very advanced. The buildings themselves seem to go on forever if you look up and the lights that littered the streets would almost make it seem like it was dream. However, comparing Luna and then looking at the other civilizations.... Something was just off about it.

The buildings, though they weren't made out of it, still had brick patterns on the outer walls that are no longer used any where else. Alot of the inner infrastructure is modeled after early 2000's work. Yet, we are in early 2100's. Then, the biggest thing that through off Luna. The weather. New Luna City was a city under a gigantic dome. Almost like a snow globe. Luna had a "sun". Alot of civilizations across the cosmos had a "sun". Whether it was real or artificial. Some had multiple. However, Luna's sun and moon were just off. They had this eeriness to them. Like they weren't even trying to be real. The glow of the "sun" here made my skin crawl.

The weather changes here. I once read its so the citizens can have a sense of normalcy under the dome...but the citizens rarely went outside. Don't get me wrong the city was somewhat alive, but it was only somewhat. Most if not all of the inhabitants of Luna were "Dreamers". People who spent most of their time in AR. Augmented Reality. They hook themselves up and drift off to whatever fantasyland they can cook up for themselves. The living dead as others call them because they're alive, but they might as well be dead because they rarely move from there spot.

Then, there is Rapture. Now, Rapture was supposedly the blueprint or was the original city. The population, from what I hear, was much smaller. Which shouldn't be something hard to believe. Rapture was supposed to be a safe haven from those who had survived The War. A place to feel at home and if you look up at the moon you could feel it. Rapture was the original dome city before Luna and the moons look real. It wasn't, but it seemed that way. The atmosphere here was, again, nostalgic. There was a certain magic in the air here that you couldn't find in Luna. It was like being an adult rewatching your favorite childhood cartoon that you hadn't seen in years. It was a very welcoming feeling.

However, a conflict broke out. Nobody knows what really happened. Nobody knows why every started fighting. Not even the citizens. But... For some reason...... Janice Jabami was there. The Chancellor. And though nobody remembers why they were fighting at that time; everyone felt like she was to blame.

"Evelyn," I said with my thoughts, "Do we have a map of the area, Rapture? Recent? Up to date?"

A small chirp in my ears as Evelyn came back to life within me. Evelyn was my advisor... or a backup of her at least. The original Evelyn died a while ago on an odd job with me around Jupiter. We... were close. Close enough to have her backed up in my noggin. Sometimes I felt like it was a mistake to back her up though.

Evelyn was quite the "back seat driver". A crude, passive-aggressive canon who seemed to have no problem calling you out over the smallest of things. From how I fold my laundry to the one time I was drunk and forgot to wipe when I peed... she'll critique you over and over. You can't even fuck properly with her in your head. Sheesta. Nothing kills the mood faster than a voice in your head telling you that the guy that your fucking isn't hitting the same as the last one.... YES!!! I KNOW THAT. The poor lad is trying his best. CAN YOU PLEASE SHUT...... off topic.

The map.

"Ring-a-ding-ding," Evelyn chimed, "I got you a thing."

"Cute," I thought. Slightly annoyed.

I closed my left eye and a small vibrant green map formed in my inner lid.

I was not surprised. I seen the map before. However, a cool sense of dread did come over me. This place was still huge and still we had a lot of ground to cover in such a short amount of time. The human could be anywhere hiding wherever. Yes, we had the tech to track him. However, we need to find something to track first.

We kept walking down the path. Keeping my left eye closed, I looked around at the other Mercenaries around me to examine my competition. Yes, I say competition because even though we all get paid there is always a chance that someone might knock someone off for whatever reason. The world we live in was cold and I learned a very long time ago that it can always get colder.