She anxiously tapped her fingers on the counter, her head turning side to side to make up for the lack of peripheral version from her gas mask. Her contact was late, and she didn't like the feeling of it.
The location had been carefully chosen, the dilapidated dance club was out of the way enough that patrols were unlikely to come by, but distinctive enough to be found if you were looking for it. The dΓ©cor also provided a bit of security, nobody in their right mind would fire a focused light weapon in a room full of mirrored orbs. Her reflective suit served a similar purpose, but the thin fabric could only deflect a small part of the blast, maybe enough to keep her alive. The heat had also forced her to unzip the suit down past her navel, making it even less effective.
"Five more minutes," she thought to herself as she started counting off the seconds in her head. She had gotten up to 137 Mississippi, when she heard footsteps approaching. She ducked behind the counter and readied her laser rifle, rising far enough to keep watch.
A man entered her view, similarly dressed in reflective suit and gas mask, cautiously sweeping the room with his laser rifle, a worn satchel hanging at his side. She waited until he was facing away from her and rose, keeping her laser rifle train on him. "You're late." she called out.
He swung around, fixing his laser rifle on her. "I was being trailed," he replied, "Had to lose 'em."
The who stood there for a moment, guns uneasily pointed at each other. Eventually she spoke again, "Sorry to hear about your dick."
"Yeah", he replied, "Shot clean off."
They both slowly lowered their weapons, code words were a necessity in her business, and she liked to have a little fun with them. "Alright," she said, "Let's see it."
He approached her and reached inside his satchel, removing the item and placing it on the counter. She began examining it, it was a power converter alright, a little dirty, but there didn't seem to be any damage. She looked up at him, "How do I know this is any good?"
"How do I know your merchandise is?" he responded.
Their eyes locked, they had no reason to trust each other and every reason to be suspicious. Eventually she spoke, "Okay."
She reached inside her suit, pulled out a small metal container, and placed it on the counter. He picked it up and cautiously peeked inside. There they were, just as promised, five tomato seeds. He snapped the container shut before the radiation could destroy his precious new cargo. "Well," he said, "I guess our business is done he..." Suddenly he was interred by three serpentmen crashing through the door, and apparently they weren't in their right mind as they began firing wildly in the two humans' direction.
She ducked behind the counter and he hit the ground as laser blasts bounced wildly around the room, each clutching their new acquisitions. He scrambled over to join her behind the counter and turned to her, "Does this place have a back door?"
There was a back door, and she knew exactly where it was, but she was also kinda hoping he'd provide enough of a distraction for her to use it. She tried to come up with a reasonable argument that would get him to cover her escape, but came up dry. "Yeah," she finally said, "Follow me and stay close." At the very least she figured he could be a shield.
She pressed up against the counter as lasers ricocheted around the room, waiting for a chance to run. Eventually one of the serpentmen cried out and the firing ceased. She peeked over the counter to see one serpentman lying on the ground, obviously felled by one of their ricocheting blasts, and the other two looking down at him confusedly. "Now," she said before taking off running from their cover. He stumbled to his feet, taking off after her as the serpentmen return their attention to them and resumed firing. Lasers shot around the room as they jumped over debris running for the exit. She led him into a narrow halfway, around a few corners, and finally through a door and out into the daylight.