*An older (non-erotic) story of mine that's on my rewrite list. I wrote this with mostly cyberpunk influence in mind and the end which was the idea for the story.
*
Chapter 01
Terri watched the cars go by in the street lit up by streams of neon lights on either side. She sat on top of a graffiti covered utility cabinet next to a group of teenage punk girls discussing the latest obscure band playing at their favourite club soon.
There was hardly any difference between day and night in this district. It was always busy. There was always noise, different kinds of music, same sort of people, hustlers, security, trippers, sellers.
Thanks to her canine genes her nose was as overwhelmed by all the different scents like her eyes by all the different lights, but she didn't really mind. It was interesting as long as she sat on the sideline. Which was usually the case with people who were born half human, half animal and in her case looked like a canine walking upright.
An idea for a piece of code came into her head and she wrote it down quickly in her trusty paper notebook, then put it away again. She had bought a large cup of tea before and continued sipping it to keep her awake long enough after a couple of sleepless coding days.
She watched the thick crowd pass by in front of her, keeping an eye out for her friend Mitsy who'd pay her tonight for her last job. Nothing illegal this time, but the client wanted to keep something new under wraps before launch to prevent competition finding out about it. They just needed her help on a search algorithm.
She recognised her friend, in bright colour cloths as usual, hurrying down the street and she flexed her toes. She stared into her cup as her friend slipped the tube with payment address and key between her toes while passing her. They never made eye contact nor exchanged words which could be recorded by the surveillance system.
Terri drank the last bit of tea, tossed the cup into the bin next to the cabinet and dialled her favourite takeout restaurant. She hopped off the cabinet and leisurely made her way down the street to pick up her order.
The restaurant was located in a small, nearly deserted and intermittently lit side street and served simple meals based on rice and pasta. Since she loved about anything with noodles and it was located close to home she went there almost every other day.
It was also convenient there was a lot less security coverage around that area.
'Hello Terri.' the pudgy chef said as she opened the door.
'You really know when it's me, Roberto.' she said while he still had his back to the door.
'It's easier to tell when you call first.' he said wrapping up the takeout dinner for the middle aged man in jump suit standing at the counter.
She sat down on one of the cheap plastic chairs along the wall. The place looked shabby, white walls with menus, food posters, local news, a couple of neon signs, white floor tiles, cold overhead lights, the air humid and thick with the smell of ingredients. Even the sign outside buzzed from old age. Still, the food was great and despite the aged look it was clean.
The man said his goodbye to Roberto and left the restaurant after a brief glance at her. She chuckled internally. Men would still check her out, even with her shaggy mutt looks. Some girls were lucky and turned out to be very pretty with smooth and light coloured fur and usually ended up in the media business. With her beige and brown unruly fur she just avoided other people after some time getting bullied in school.
She was glad she had at least a good brain.
'Yours is ready.' Roberto said, wiping his forehead and adjusting the bandanna he wore.
'Thanks.' she said and walked up to the counter with the money when a couple came in.
'It's like the street is redder with her blood than her coat.' the girl in a drunken mix of pink and blue tight clothing said while looking at her mobile.
'They got her good all right.' the guy in a long grey overcoat said and turned his attention to the menus on the wall.
The girl put her mobile on the counter to search her pockets and Terri recognised the red colour of Mitsy's coat. She wore bright colours to keep the attention of any surveillance on her and not on those she hired.
'Enjoy your meal.' Roberto said, handing Terri the bag with her meal box.
She smiled at him. 'I will as usual.' she said and left the restaurant.
***
She kept her normal pace walking home to her apartment building, listened inside for any unusual noises, walked up the stairs to her floor, checked the hallways quickly, went up to her door and checked the position of the inconspicuous mark she had made on the doorknob. If it had not been exactly where she had turned the knob she'd know someone had been here or was still there.
It was just as she had left it so she unlocked the door and went inside feeling relieved. She dropped the bag on her couch and hurried to her terminal, punching up a search for local accidents and the last entry had enough information to confirm her fears. Mitsy had been shot by what seemed to be an old-fashioned sawed-off double barrel shotgun. Witnesses had been so shocked by the primitive way that they had not paid attention to who actually pulled the trigger.
'Fuck!' she said and slammed her hand on her desk.
Terri stared at the terminal for a while, disbelieving what she was looking at.
'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Goddammit!' she said and turned to kick the waste basket across the room. 'Fuck!'
She paced around the couch to get rid of the shakes and went over all the jobs and talks she had with Mitsy to think of any reason why she got killed. Nothing came to mind and she kicked the basket again out of frustration, spilling the remaining trash from the first kick against it on the floor.
She crashed down on her couch, putting the food on the floor and looked up at the concrete ceiling. She pondered about being targeted at well, if she'd need more than the tazer she had for defence, and if taking a trip out of town for a while was a good idea.
***
Knocking on her door woke her up. She realised she had fallen asleep and cursed at herself.
Groggy she rolled from the couch and checked the corner shelf where she kept her tazer to make sure it was still there.
'Miss Terri Willis?' the male voice on the other side asked. 'I'm detective Pietuk and would like to ask you a few questions.'
She moved to her window silently, checking her escape route.
'Miss Willis, I know you're there.' the detective said and she could hear a faint ping.
"Shit. Wallpinger." she thought as she recognised the device to see what's on the other side of doors and walls.
She sighed and went to open the door, hoping for a coincidental reason for why he was here.
He held up his ID for her to see through the spy glass and she opened the door.
'Apologies for coming this late, but I'd like to ask you a few questions regarding a miss Sugimura.' he said and held up a picture of Mitsy.
He didn't have the aura of a detective that tried to intimidate with threatening looks or dominating manners. Wearing a cheap dark red suit and his clean shaved face made him look younger and more of a rookie. In contrast to the impression she had looking at his blue-grey eyes and grey hair.
She expected him to know a lot more about things than he let others on to believe. They had to have a good reason to make him detective at his age.
She let him inside and he took out his notebook. 'I think you know just as well that it's no use denying you know her.' he said, looking straight at her. 'The surveillance footage we have collected while tailing her shows several people with too high a statistical probability of coincidental encounters. Even though it seems nothing gets exchanged or said, we know you two are in contact.'
Terri suddenly remembered the tube but no longer felt it between her toes. Once again she cursed at herself but kept her demeanour cool. 'Then just tell me what you want to know.' she said, turning away to check the floor and couch with a few glances before sitting down on it. She felt relieved seeing the tube under her desk between other junk.
'We know you're a programmer specialised in algorithms. She provides software to all sorts of businesses. What was she working on lately?' he said kicking a crumpled page with notes aside.
'I have no idea.' she said and held up her hand to silence him before he could speak. 'I know, default answer, and often enough I know more about the projects she sends my way, but this time I only got the specs to build an algorithm around.'
'What was it supposed to do?'
'Extrapolate patterns from short pieces of data.'
He wrote in his notebook. 'Do you know anyone else working on this project?'
She shook her head. 'I keep isolated. Easier to deny knowledge.'
He nodded in agreement. 'Anyone you recognised tonight who might have connections with her?'
She thought of the last minutes on the street for a moment. 'No.'
He looked over the shelves filled mainly with books on mathematics, statistics and machine code. 'Not many people keep books nowadays.'
'Works better for me than reading from multiple monitors.'
He put away his notebook and went back to the door. 'Thanks for your time. Please stay close in case I have more questions.' he said and let himself out.
Terri pulled up her knees and rested her head on her folded arms. 'I really have no idea.'
Chapter 02
Terri didn't feel like working the next day and spent her time going through the specialised shops she found the most interesting. Antiques, electronic parts, books. Although there was nothing worth buying she did feel better after a while of just browsing. She just started on a sandwich she had bought at a stall in the shopping street when a familiar voice called out to her.
Detective Pietuk walked up to her. 'Good afternoon miss Willis.' he said with a little smile.
She gave a nod because her mouth was still full.
'Good idea.' he said and ordered a sandwich for himself. 'I haven't eaten since this morning.'
He leaned against the rail next to her and took a bite from his beef and lettuce sandwich. 'That's better.' he said after swallowing the second bite.
'Any news?' Terri asked.
'Maybe, that's why I'm glad to see you.' he said. 'I'd like you to come with me to the office to have a look at another victim that had a connection with miss Sugimura. See if you recognise him.'
She looked sideways at him. 'You weren't just in the neighbourhood, right?'
He chuckled. 'Actually, I was checking up on a lead around here. But I did do a search to find you to contact you and saw you were close.'
She took a deep breath. That was why she hated the abundance of cameras everywhere. 'All right then, lead the way.' she said and tossed her napkin in the bin.
