Manipulation

Manipulation: A Short Story by Stacie Legacy

I sat up against the wall in an old office of what used to be the biggest warehouse in the city. I was frantically working at my commpad, planning my next steps in fleeing my former master, Orion Scarr. Ever since he had discovered that I had lied to him, he had gone from my protector to my greatest enemy. In short, he wanted me dead, really dead. Like, so dead that the people who found my remains would have to scrape me of the floor: he abhorred me that much.

As I worked silently, an indescribable indignation swelled up within. As much as Orion Scarr hated me, I hated him a thousand times more. He had taken me away from my family when I was seven as a motivation to pay off the outrageous sum of money they owed. The things he ordered me to do over the past twenty years were horrible. Anyone who was considered a traitor was ordered to be eliminated. Whether it meant murdering just the person of interest or the entire family, it didn't matter, just as long as they were eliminated from the equation. He had been pleased with my work until he found out the truth that I had never killed a single one of his targets. He had become so wroth when he found out that I had faked every murder and that he immediately ordered the deaths of my entire family. Within five minutes, all of them, including my two-year-old nephew, were lying dead at the supper table. After I had found out, I had no time to mourn because he came for me next. I quickly gathered my things and fled, not knowing where to go.

Luckily for me, I had a few contacts unknown to Scarr. Being an "assassin", I never had any friends but I did have allies who hated Scarr more than I did. I quickly contacted the one ally that I knew I could trust with my life. Contacting her took a while, but when Blackbird answered my comm, I was relieved. We had never met in person, but she knew more about Scarr than anyone else outside his league and had offered me assistance when I was trying to fake the murders of the more famous targets. I told her my predicament and within an hour or so, she had lined up a place where I could lay low for a few days. The warehouse was ginormous and had multiple exit routes increasing my chances of escape should Scarr's cronies find me. Much to my relief, I had been hiding there for five days and no one had come.

I was deciding where to hide next when I got a ping on my commpad notifying me of a change to the top ten most wanted criminal list. Curious, I pulled up the page. For years, I had been at the very top (Scarr wanted people to know and fear my name, rather than concealing it) and I would periodically check to see if anyone bumped me from my prestigious spot as public enemy number one. I looked at the list of names and realized that my name wasn't at the top anymore. I quickly scanned the page and found that my name wasn't even in the top ten, which was odd, because yesterday I was on the list. I typed my name into the general wanted database and a single word had been placed beside my name: captured. I was perplexed as to why the government thought I had been captured when I had not been and decided to ask Blackbird about it.

"Hey, I was looking at the databases today and it says that I'm listed as captured. Unless I'm dreaming, I'm still in the safe house. What do you make of it?"

She quickly messaged back "That's odd. Perhaps it's a glitch?"

I thought about it for a moment and realized that she could be right. Although, why would the system have a glitch concerning the most wanted individual in the country? I was about to type this question when I received another message from Blackbird.

"Hide. Gov. agents headed your way. 2 minutes."

Shivers ran down my spine. "What do you mean? How do they know I'm here?" I quickly typed back.

"No time to explain. Just hide." Came the frantic reply.

I was about to ask how she knew that the government agents were here when I thought I heard a door opening across the warehouse. I froze. I heard more noises and I quickly scooped up my things and pulled the loose wooden boards from the floor. I threw my few belongings in the hole and quickly settled in, quietly setting the loose boards back in place and sealing the tiny space in pitch blackness. I held my breath, not daring to move a muscle. I heard voices in the warehouse below and my heart was pounding.

I breathed as silently as I could and wondered how Blackbird knew that the government agents were coming for me. I knew that since this was one of her safe houses that she probably had cameras for surveillance, but still, why give me only a two-minute warning with only enough time to hide, not escape? The one thing that kept eating at me the most was the fact that they knew I was here in the first place. How was that possible? How could I have successfully kept myself hidden from Scarr's cronies who knew this territory better than the agents downstairs, and yet, the government found me first? The only thing that made sense made bile rise in my throat. Blackbird had tipped off the authorities.

I had to get out of here before they found me, but how? I could risk fleeing my hiding place and taking the secret passage out onto the roof, but if Blackbird had cameras throughout the building, they would know. As it was, she probably knew where I was at that very moment. I sighed at the thought of being taken into the hands of the government. I didn't know what was worse, being locked up by the government and left to rot, or dying a slow, painful death at the hands of my former master. My heart skipped a beat as I heard the office door creak. I heard a man's voice say "Infrared shows something underneath the floor boards. That's got to be her." Any hope I had of escaping was shattered at that moment. I had escaped the clutches of my former master only to be captured by my former ally.

A minute went by before the floor boards were removed and blinding light streamed in. I held my hands over my eyes, and heard a voice command: "Juniper Stitch. I hereby order you to surrender any weapons and come out of the floor with your hands up!" As my eyes readjusted, I saw a small figure with brown hair pointing a blaster at my face. I considered taking her down, but I noticed several others with their blasters drawn around her. Irritated, I threw my blaster out of the hole onto the floor followed by my bag of supplies and commpad. I then pulled myself onto the floor above. The agents kept their blasters trained on me and once I had put my hands above my head, the woman pulled my arms down and handcuffed them behind me. "Good work, Blackbird." Someone told the her as she pulled me up and guided me towards the door.

As we cleared the doorway, she spoke softly "I'm sorry it ended this way."

"So you're Blackbird, huh? Some ally you are. You're nothing more than a government snitch!" I spat.

She didn't speak for a moment. Then she leaned close to my ear and whispered "I'm doing what I can to make you look like a valuable asset. So, just do everything I tell you."

I laughed bitterly "And why would I believe you?"

"Because," she said and paused as if she was looking around, "Doing otherwise than what you are told will unimpress them and you will either be imprisoned for life or shot."

I turned my head around and stared at Blackbird. I realized that doing what she said would probably be the best idea at the moment, even though I was still angry that I had been deceived.

"Okay, I'll play along for now."

Blackbird looked relieved. "Good. By helping us, Orion Scarr won't stand a chance."

The thought of Orion Scarr on the opposite side of my blaster was very appealing at the moment. "Well, if you do end up capturing the bastard, I want to be the one to finish him." I said.

"I make no promises; you aren't the only one who's life he has manipulated." Blackbird replied as we walked out of the warehouse and I was loaded into an armored hover car.