It was the hundredth time she’d asked and the hundredth time he’d had to say no. It was like a recording at this point. Play, stop, rewind, etc. He came to recognize the signs before she even entered the room. That careful teeter-totter step-step into the kitchen. That’s where he always got ready for a job.

She enters the room, hands folded behind her back. Her ruddy hair waves in front of her gray eyes. She’s already got her jumpsuit on. Boots too. And before she even inhales to speak, he’s played the conversation back again in his head.

By this time, Clyde could disassemble his AR Karmaload 478 .75 stuttershot plasma rifle, clean all of the parts, check his ammo charges twice to make sure they were full, reassemble the Karmaload 478, reboot the onboard CPU, update the radar drivers, and sling the gun over his shoulder without even putting thought into his responses for his sister Nikki.

“Clyde,” she began, as always. “I’m getting to be a really good shot, you know. I know how to handle myself. You need a reliable partner and…well, can’t I go with you this time?”

“No.”

“But Clyde-!”

“No.”

Clyde’s jet black hair shined in the bright desert sun that streamed in through the window of their lonely domed house. The job had been confirmed via vid transmission. It was a big one. 700,000 unit reward. Jonas Jessiah. THE Jonas Jessiah. If there was ever even an inkling of a chance that Nikki would come along, it would not be this job.

“Clyde, seriously, you can’t keep doing this alone. One day I’m going to be old enough to go on my own. Then what are you going to do?”

Clyde stopped mid stride to the door. A new approach. Well, he thought, fine then. “Okay, sis. You got yourself a deal.” The signs of rejoice were already apparent but Clyde cut them short. “On one condition.”

Nikki raised one eyebrow. “Go on…”

“Hit my sniper target from the front marker. With this.”

Clyde held out his Reston Carver 8 shot revolver. It was a model over 200 years old but still the most popular side arm when a customer was looking for stopping power, and as accurate as the maker himself. But the kick deterred lesser users.

Nikki hid her discouragement and took hold of the weapon with two hands. “Okay, agreed. Uh…where’s the front marker?”

“You’re standing on it, kiddo.”

“Oh.”

Nikki stood on the front stoop of the house. She squinted against the sun rays. There on a cliff about 300 meters away was a 30 square centimeter metal plate with the spray-painted silhouette of a prone sniper looking her way. A couple of divots in the metal around the head of the image didn’t distract from the huge number inside the boundaries of the head. “Over half those hits are with the Reston Carver,” Clyde said. “You hit that once with your eight shots and you’re along. I’ll even let you take point.”

Nikki took careful aim and steadied herself. She fired.

When the stars cleared, she was sitting against the kitchen wall. Some rubber from her boots had left trails where she’d skidded across the room. Clyde was standing over her smirking. “Not today, kid.”

Nikki didn’t argue. She just handed the gun over. Clyde put it over his shoulder like a rifle and fired. The kick rocked him a couple millimeters and the bullet stung the sniper square right where an eye could have been. “When you are as good as me, I won’t mind you going out alone on jobs, much less as my back-up.”

Suddenly, Nikki stood up with determination. “One day, I will be as good as you, bro! I’ll do it!”

Clyde couldn’t help but laugh. “I know, kiddo. Keep practicing. Sit tight for now. I’ll be back by supper. Don’t forget to tap a new well. The north one’s running dry again.”

Nikki nodded. “Be careful.”

“I always am.”

Clyde was still on the horizon when Nikki went to his bedroom and got the spare Reston Carver from under his bed. She loaded it up, marched herself to the door of the kitchen, aimed, braced hard against the door jam, and fired.

The stars cleared. Nikki was slumped back against the wall. But at least she was standing this time. She went to the door. A new divot rested on the very edge of the square. “No way!” She went just past the door frame this time and braced herself against the outside wall of the house. She took steady aim and fired. The kick knocked her back, but there were no stars this time. Nikki saw the bullet strike the sniper around his ear.

“I got him. I got him!”

She was back inside in a flash. She grabbed her favorite gun, a small custom rifle of her own making, reloaded the Carver, and got some extra ammo to. She locked the house up good and tight and took off after Clyde.

Clyde was in the black zone. Had he left his transmitter on, he would have gotten a message from his sister telling him she was on the way. As it was, he had to maintain radio silence or risk being exposed. He wandered through the hordes of crooks and criminals, searching for a specific alley which lead to a specific door. He found the alley and, accordingly, the door. Two knocks.

“Password.” Just like that. Not a question, a statement.

“Ester,” Clyde responded. The latch slid on the other side of the door. Clyde slipped in.

Nikki caught up just in time to see Clyde slip through the door. She wasn’t so stupid as to travel on street level. She knew her appearance was too green. Instead, she’d been traversing the roofs of buildings silently and unnoticed. She jumped onto the building that Clyde was in and began searching for a skylight. Upon finding a good one, she lifted a panel and slid quietly inside.

“Name.” Statement again.

Clyde saw his interrogator was a demi human. Mostly bull but a lick of something reptilian judging by the scales. Reptilian could mean poisonous in some cases, so Clyde made a mental note to avoid close combat with that particular goon. And there was his massive size too…

“Benedict.”

“Reason.” Apparently both inflection and vocabulary were gifts withheld from the man beast.

“I have a delivery for Jonas. He’s expecting it.”

“Wait. Move and die.”

“Understood. And may I just take this opportunity to thank you for your hospitality!”

Humor was also not among the beast man’s talents. He turned and lumbered out of the room past two much smaller and more mammalian guards who kept their cat-like eyes trained on Clyde’s neck. He just stood silently and smiled. “So, you guys get hot with those fair coats out here?”

The left one responded, “Act like a bitch and I’ll make you my bitch.”

Clyde sucked air in between his teeth. “Sorry, I guess you didn’t get your catnip today.” He snickered. The two beasts were silent momentarily, and then they allowed a light snicker out as well. But their eyes weren’t laughing. They were watching the pump of Clyde’s veins on his neck.

Nikki looked down through the rafters. A hulking demi human approached a muscular but small framed man. “Jonas,” he said to the man. “Man named Benedict here for you. He say he got a package or something for you. He say you know he come.”

Jonas looked concerned. He grabbed a set of short-barreled Carvers off the table. They were slightly smaller caliber than her brother’s carvers, but the exit wound would still be big enough to chuck a trash can through. “I’ll take care of…this.” Jonas walked back across the room. Nikki quickly followed along above him.

“Jonas will see you now.” It was the other cat man. He pulled the door open and Jonas came through, walking slowly but with force. It started very quickly. Clyde had anticipated the move and fired return shots into the two guard cats’ chests and faces will avoiding the onslaught of the surprisingly fast and accurate Jonas. The large beast man came lumbering through the door and began opening fire with a minigun. Nikki decided to lay low until her brother needed help.

On the outside, Clyde appeared to be handling the situation with class. But on the inside, he was considering the possibility that he had overstepped his bounds. He was expecting Jonas to have this level of skill, but the minigun was an annoyance to put it curtly.

Clyde took careful shots to manage his environment, blowing shelves apart or windows out to try to manipulate his opponents into playing their hands poorly. He felt a blast graze his thigh but ignored it. Distraction meant death in this battle.

Jonas was acrobatic in battle. He flipped and jumped off of walls, firing most of the time without actually looking. Clyde suspected that his hearing was so acute that he could make out the location and stance of his opponents based on their gunshots. Nothing to do about it though, since the beast man had a good view of Clyde’s position and was lighting up his cover. Clyde had to return fire every time he moved and doing so told Jonas exactly where to go.

Nikki decided to make her move. She jumped down from the rafters and landed skillfully on the top of the beast’s head. The blow disoriented him momentarily, and the minigun slipped from his grasp. He went instinctively for his machete, but Nikki was airborne and on a high shelf across the room seconds later.

Jonas turned. “What the fuck are you doing?” Boom.

Jonas took the brunt of a carver blast to the chest and flew literally through the wall behind him. Clyde looked up. “Nikki, goddammit, what are you doing here?”

“You should be thanking me,” she said as she dodged a poorly timed swipe by the beast. “Besides, I hit the target, bro! I did it!”

No time to argue now, thought Clyde. He fired a Carver round into the side of the beast. The beast was unmoved, even as blood gushed out onto the floor. “Oh shit.” The beast turned, looked at his wound, and roared. He turned back around an in one punch obliterated Nikki’s shelf. With a yelp, she half jumped half fell over his head and landed hard on her side, exposed to the beast’s wrath. Another blast punched through his chest, slowing him slightly. But not stopping him. “Nikki, MOVE!”

Nikki rolled nimbly out of the way at the last second. The beast made a crater where she had been and immediately resumed pursuit after confirming the miss. Nikki walked away backwards, keeping her eyes on his fists. They swung and she leapt vertically, grabbing a rafter. “Hey, fuckface!” The beast turned and, to Clyde’s shock, used his momentum to chuck his machete. Clyde’s arm was hit and pinned back above his head into the wall, through the wrist. The force rocked a book case loose which fell against him, pinning him down. His jaw dropped in anger and shock.

“Clyde!” Nikki screamed. She pulled out her own carver and dropped. The beast looked up in time to take the blast right in the face. He slumped, dead. The kick pushed Nikki back up a bit, but she handled it well and landed perfectly. The adrenaline settled a bit. “Clyde, are you okay?”

“Yeah, Nikki, I’ll be fine. Let’s just get out of here.”

Nikki looked at here brother and smiled. She proved herself. He knew it. She knew it. And surprisingly, Clyde was filled with nothing but pride.

Tink tink tinktinkinkinkink.

Nikki turned in confusion, but Clyde knew right away. Jonas. The minigun. The revolutions picked up and the bullets started coming.

Nikki stared, still confused until right when the first bullet pierced her ribcage and bisected her liver. This is it, she thought. This is how I die.

Jonas didn’t keep the fire on for long. Nikki’s right side was mostly shredded. Tears were streaming down her face as blood welled up and out of her mouth. She just stood for a minute, making barely audible whimpering noises while her jaw was on the floor and her eyes wide. Then, the blood loss was there. Her eyes involuntarily rolled up in her head a bit. Her legs gave. She went to her knees, then sideways against a wall and back, until she was flat.

Jonas smiled and dropped the gun. Clyde wanted to scream to his sister. He wanted to tell her to get up or to stay down or something. But not words would come. Jonas let out a little laugh. Where his chest skin had been torn away, Clyde saw that his bone structure was enforced with metal armor. Even a Carver wouldn’t puncture that. Jonas knelt beside the girl. She was coughing now, little spurts of blood. Somehow, she was still conscious, but Clyde could feel the seconds of possibly saving here slipping away. When would it be too late? Was it already?

“Mmm, you’re a pretty thing.” Jonas licked Nikki’s cheek and she retched, either from disgust or from the taste of her own blood. “Lets see what you’re made of.”

Clyde’s shock and sadness slipped away a bit. That fuck. That sick fuck. Rage began to take the place of other emotions. Jonas yanked the front zipper of Nikki’s suit down and pulled it aside, exposing her. “Well, not bad at all. A nice little package you brought with you here, buddy. I think I’ll partake.” He zipped the suit down further, but completely removing it but removing what was necessary. Nikki convulsed a little, but her eyes showed she was still coherent. Her left arm came up slowly. Jonas didn’t notice it. He began caressing her body. Her breasts. Her stomach. Her thighs. He ran his hand across the ragged wounds in her side. The nerves were too dead to send any signals to Nikki. She just continued to raise her gun, and Jonas continued not to notice.

Then the gun was under his chin. She went to pull the trigger and couldn’t. She was too weak. Jonas’s smile never left his face. “Oh, a pity. I thought you’d want to have a little fun on your way out. But I guess you’re in a rush. Doesn’t matter to me. The body will still be good for a bit. Maybe I’ll toy around inside you after instead.” Like a surgeon, he grabbed the gun around Nikki’s hand and pushed the barrel under her chin. Her head rolled back and she looked into Clyde’s face. She tried to say something, but only blood came.

“Nikki!!”

He didn’t hear the shot, but he saw the top of her head peel off. Pink and red splattered across the wall above her. He body tensed hard for about two or three seconds, then went completely limp. Her brain was almost completely liquid. Her eyes weren’t quite all the way closed. The blood was pouring out of the hole in her skull like a broken water main. There was Nikki, now nothing but flesh and fluid. Just matter that would whither to nothing.

No more coming home to her on the couch asleep over her favorite video book. No more dinners she cooked with all her heart just for him. No more back and forth over whether or not she could go. No growing up. No life for her now. No love. No family. No future. Nikki is only a “was” now.

Jonas continued to toy with his doll. His hands reached up between her legs and Clyde couldn’t watch anymore. His senses went dead. He was free before he realized what had happened. The gapping hole in his wrist meant nothing. The book shelf was in two pieces. Jonas looked up and saw Clyde standing, calm, stoic, collected. The Carver was pointed at his head. Jonas still smiled.

“Go ahead. Skull’s solid too. Won’t penetrate.” He leered into Clyde’s eyes. Clyde looked back. There in his eyes, Clyde saw those little red veins and he knew what to do. “The skull may be solid, but I doubt your eyelids are.” Jonas’s smile faded. The shot penetrated his right eye and entered his brain. The force was strong enough to warp the metal in the back of his head and also send him toppling end over end backwards one full time. His corpse hit the ground like a bag of bricks.

Clyde gathered his sister up, covering her. He carried her out the door and into the alley. Then out into the street. People looked in shock. Clyde just kept walking. He got home, washed his sister’s body and buried her in the back where their parents rested. The sun was setting and it would get cold very quickly. Clyde went inside and stored all his gear as he did after every job. He walked into the living room and looked at the spot where Nikki would have been asleep with her book. He sat down and he cried. He cried until the sun came up again.