Rainy Donuts With a side serving of life and death

RAIN

The first job our subject got with our new friends was in a derelict subway station down 3rd Avenue. Apparently a group of scouts wandering somewhere deep within the subsystems of the rundown city metro were in an abandoned segment of the network, when all communications with them went dark. One of the scouts managed to ping a distress call back to the Pit, and requested for immediate medical help .

"And how acquainted was our girl with the team by then?" the man asked, as cupped his mug tightly with his hands, to feel the warmth of the plastic surface. The woman looked out of the window into the beautiful green planet orbiting outside. The light seeping into the dark room lit her face up partially, revealing only her cold focused eyes. "An advanced synthetic model could easily form a pattern of behavior in just a week or less on humans around it. Considering she had about a month or so mingling with the people of the Pit, I would say that she should have at least developed a foundation-level understanding of the medical crew." the woman said.

The man leaned forward, and took his hands off the cup. He rested one arm on the table and raised his other as a support to hold his chin up. "Humans aren't as predictable." he replied. The woman gave a light smile. "Of course." she answered.

Anyway.

Clang. Clang. Clang. The rusty metal chains holding the fence doors together shook and rustled as a man in a white and green outfit pulled on it. A nearby woman in a similar outfit was illuminating the chain with a torch, which was necessary as the tunnel was covered in total darkness.

The silent tunnel echoed back whatever sounds they were making. The rustling of the fence chains, the footsteps on the mag-rail tracks, the shuffling of bags and equipment. "Scared?" the man asked another younger man, who was looking around the tunnel, standing stiff. "No, uh... I... This is the first time I am here... You sure this leads to...?" he stuttered.

The man checking the lock turned his head back at the younger man. "Trust me. I know the systems. Years ago when we still ran deals through the Edna Metro we would often use these abandoned tunnel segments to transport our goods. Nobody ever comes down here anymore. In fact it seems improbable as to why Jas would want to scout these parts of the subsystems for supplies." he said, as he turned back to the lock. The man pulled a small lighted chip out of the lock, and the lock clicked open. He pushed the heavy fence doors open, which made creaky metallic noises as they swung on their axes.

The team continued to walk down the tunnel, a long stretch of pitch black and emptiness. "So, uh. Parker." the man asked, his voice echoing throughout the tunnel. Rain walked slowly behind, with enough speed to keep up. "Yes?" she replied. The man brushed his hands against the round tunnel walls. "You alright with getting your first assignment so late?" he asked.

"It's fine. I prefer to learn the ropes first anyway." she replied. The man shone his torch around. "Yeah. Well, its kinda customary that new med ops spend at least three months mastering basic field knowledge and operating procedures. You are considered fast since it has only been a month. Your reputation as a doctor precedes you, Parker." he said, boots crunching on stray objects on the ground.

"How was Qing?" the man asked. Rain looked back at the man. "Qing. Yeah. Well, they have great noodle-balls. The Intergalactic Review often praises it." she replied. The man laughed. "Intergalactic Review? That stuff is ancient! Which Era did you come from? I am surprised you didn't know about the closure." the man echoed back.

Rain only had downloaded information on the city of Qing. Of course, she was never there. She was never really Parker.

"Light!" the young man shouted from behind. A set of dim blue and yellow lights came into view, revealing an abandoned station with advertising billboards and yellow striped walls vaguely visible from the soft colored lights. "We are getting close. Check that transponder." the man said. Rain looked at the device in her hands. She held the button at the side down, and the device beeped. "Seems to be very close." she replied, as she gauged the information by the rate of beeps.

"Found them." the man shouted, voice bellowing across the quiet ambiance of the derelict station. "I'll prepare the meds..." the young man replied as he hurriedly climbed up the platform to catch up. "Don't bother..." the older man said in a low tone, as he bent down into a crouch and sighed a heavy breath. "They're gone." he said, as he reached out and closed the eyelids of three corpses laying on the ground, before picking up the transporter from one of the corpse's hands and fitting it snugly into his pocket.

The man pushed himself up from the ground, and placed an arm on Rain's shoulder. "You okay?" he asked. Rain nodded. "These kids were navigating the subsystems without communication equipment. This area is totally off the designated routes... Lost and without much supplies or ways out of here... Things can go horribly wrong. They could have activated that distress beacon earlier... Something's not right." the man said as he looked around the area for clues.

"Motion tracker's picking something up!" the young man said in a panic, hands trembling as he held the tracker firmly in his grasp. "It's moving fast!" he shouted. The older man immediately pulled his pistol out from his sheath, and stood firmly in place. "Hush. Listen up." he whispered.

The silence of the tunnels was dreary, a piercing sense of the darkness of the abandoned station. The only sounds heard were the low thumping sounds of the motion tracker. Then they came.