Untouchable

Prologue

"There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice." - Montesquieu

***

The faint but steady buzz coming from the vintage thrift shop's neon lights, which also doubled as the sole source of illumination in the otherwise narrow and uninviting alleyway, continued its low hum in the eerie silence of the night — the prelude to the end of a man's life.

A hunter perched upon one of the balconies that overlooked this dark, gothic pathway. The alley was paved with cobblestone that preceded much of the city, and the railings of these balconies also showed their age with rust forming beneath the layer of cracked paint. There was a reason why most locals avoided this area, even if other neighborhoods were more or less cut from the same cloth.

Even in his final moments, the prey would never have had the slightest idea that someone was watching him, carefully planning out his demise. The hunter was an expert in the art of silent assassinations. It was, in fact, an art. There was clinical precision, complex calculation, and a ruthless efficiency involved in every hit. It took years of training to perfect his craft, but now there wasn't a single angle in which anyone could detect his existence.

One shot from his pistol, and no one would detect his victim's existence, either.

The hunter had no personal vendetta against this victim. In fact, much like the hundreds of others that he eliminated, he knew next to nothing about the man in the alley. It didn't matter. Emotions were a liability in this line of work. Numbers were the sole source of truth. And every person in this city, in this world, was worth only as much as the bounty placed on their head. That was the one piece of information the hunter needed to turn a job received into a job completed.

A few minutes passed. The hunter remained still as a statue, protecting his precocious position in the shadows of the balcony. He was too experienced to risk anything that might blow his cover now. Even the slightest rustle could alert the prey of potential danger. The payday was mere moments away. No sense in taking any unnecessary chances now.

The prey, though seemingly ordinary with a nondescript appearance, represented a payday worth a small fortune. His status as a senior executive in a globally renowned pharmaceutical company made him a high value target. There were a few individuals, both inside and outside the organization, that felt personally invested in ensuring this man didn't survive beyond tonight. Not with the policies that he planned on ratifying at tomorrow's board meeting. Invested enough to hire one of the best in the business to seal the deal.

Bounty hunters came in many shapes and sizes. Many factors were in play when it came to determining the pay rate of a hunter. Experience was naturally one of the first factors that came to mind when assessing one's value, and this particular expert brought a spotless twenty year record to the table. There weren't many in the game that could boast a similar resume, mostly because this was a cutthroat occupation, and vengeance often came knocking on the front doors.

Other things to consider included travel, equipment required for specific types of assassination, and difficulty of the mission. All standard clauses, for the most part. However, one factor gained increasing importance, to the point where it held arguably the greatest weight in establishing the compensation level.

Personal connections. The less, the better. What would have been an odd criterion a century ago rapidly rose to prominence as a product of its circumstances.

The twenty first century was marked by a drastic shift in legal policies and regulations. The early years saw increased tension due to terrorist attacks and civilian friction with law enforcement personnel. Concerns over human rights issues and racial unjust led to more violent incidents. The public believed that those who were in positions to impose their will were at risk of abusing this power, and as such, fought the government for control over the judicial system.