Hollow Point Happiness

Contract 5: Millie Witword

"Defrag?"
"Yes?"
"I want you to start digging into the downloaded info. Also, put out a bounty for any info on Millie Witword, make it 30,000 Neuro, with an additional 20k for exact location data."
"It will be done."

The robot powered down and its AI returned to the satellite. Mana drove the car into orbit, the city receding into the fog the permanently covered Earth's sky behind her. Mana thought about her next moves, she could continue to take contracts but that might get in the way if she got time-sensitive info, plus it was clear the Stellers were after her. Not that it mattered if they were after her though they had nothing on her but fake DNA and fingerprints.

A voice filled the car, "I've finished sweeping the data, everything that Mr. Cartwin said was the truth, although there were some issues with the data."
"Such as?"
"About 2.54 years of data is encrypted, its standard police codes, it doesn't seem relevant. Shall I decrypt it anyway? It would take about 3 months."
"Encrypted? No, don't worry about it. We can come back to it if it's important."
"Should we go back and question him about it at least?"
"No, it'd be a waste of time if the data was irrelevant and it would be dangerous to go back now. We'll have to work around it."
"I won't decrypt it then. I will also let you know if anything comes through the bounty."
"Thanks, Defrag."

The car returned to silence, Mana put it on autopilot and leaned the seat back to lay down. She pulled the pistol out of her holster and ran a finger over the designs. The gun was completely matt black except for two things: the first was two identical golden engravings on both sides of the grip, a caduceus that had a single two-headed snake biting into a bleeding apple, and the other was golden text that ran down both sides of the slide that simply read "Do Harm". Her father had left it to her, he had handed it to her as he bleed to death in an alleyway on Mars. His dying words to her had been quite simple, yet endlessly vague,

"I want you to do what makes you feel alive baby girl. I want you to know your the love of my life and because of that, I don't want you to avenge me Mana, be free. Forget me and move on...my...love."

Mana had never felt happy, not since her father died, she had barely felt anything actually. She had tried to move on, to forget everything. She tried to take up odd jobs, tried to go to school, tried to love, but they all ended the way things always did for her, with puddles of blood and a stone-cold heart. At one point she considered getting a memory wipe but she could never bring herself to lose the only things that still made her feel anything at all, the memories of her father. 

And because of that, she became exactly what her father never wanted, a lost emotionless girl trying to avenge her father through oceans of blood, tears, and greed. She was just a hitman, an assassin, a gun for hire. It was the family business after all, as much as her father did like pretending to be a scientist sometimes. Her train of thought eventually lulled her to sleep.

Defrag's voice cut the silence scaring Mana, "I've received a notification about the Millie bounty."
Mana shaking away sleep spoke, "What is it?"
"They claim they saw Millie approximately 2 days ago at a bar in Allizia, on Pluto. Shall I pay them?"
"No, we have to confirm the info. Send them the usual message with the usual response."
"Which usual, threating them or threating their family?"
"You pick."
"It will be done. The message has been sent."

Mana sat up and adjusted the chair and changed the autopilot course to Allizia, Pluto. It was going to be a day-long trip even with gate travel.

"Pluto. I always end up back home, don't I? How long has it been, 4 years?" holstering the pistol, "Just like dad always said, when you leave you're always destined to come back."

Mana's car pulled into a line of others waiting to go through the gate, her turn came and the universe started to change, the stars distorting, and the light of the sun warping. The car past into the gate and vanish. 20 minutes or so later Mana regained her sense as the car exited the other side of the gate and the distant image of Pluto looked back at her, like a pupil against then endless black of space.

With sarcastic excitement, she spoke, "Home sweet home."