Hollow

Sensing something like a colour upon the wind, Luna sniffed several times, like a dog.

She was not mistaken — the air contained a greenish scent. This odour came from mysterious drugs and chemicals.

The smell told Luna that she was at her destination.

Luna continued forward, to a place where the smell was stronger than just now. Peering left and right, she walked on until she was in front of the largest house.

This house was different from the others around it, which were designed with a shop area in front and a work area in the back. It seemed to have been built from the ground up as a workshop.

She knew that she had arrived from the sign that hung above the door and outside the place.

The bell mounted on top of the door rang surprisingly loudly as she pushed open the front door. After she entered, she found herself in something that looked like a guest lounge.

There were two facing benches in the middle of the room, cabinets of books on the walls, and plastic ornamental plants in the corners of the room.

As she stepped into the lounge, a voice called out:

"Welcome!"

It was a male voice, though it sounded too old to belong to a man. Looking around, she saw a sixty year old grandpa standing before her, dressed in a beat-up set of old work coveralls that were stained with juices from oil and some other stuff. His grey hair covered half his face, so it was hard to guess his age, but from his height and his voice, he should be in his late sixties.

"Was sup doc."

The man stared down at her from the top of his nose.

"What do you want?"

Luna stared at the man's old face. The lines on his cheeks were so deep they seemed like a spider web. It was hard to imagine that this man wasn't even sixty five. He also had a thick layer of white stubble on his chin, and the corners of his mouth were stained a deep brown — he looked like a real geezer. Yet, in such a dirty workman's coverall, he looked so out of place amongst the clean surroundings and furniture.

"Nun much, where's my implant?"

The doc stared at Luna, looking at her, up and down.

Luna was a woman in her early-twenties, with shoulder-length white hair. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, revealing her neck and fair skin. But, it was not her beautiful appearance that left the deepest impression on others, it was the fact that she had a body full of fashion augmentations.

She had a wide range of fashionable augmentations, ranging from tattoos to piercings to cybernetics. These augmentations covered her entire body; for example, her right arm had been replaced with a cybernetic arm with an intricate pattern engraved on it.

On her left arm, there was a long tattoo that snaked across her body. She also had a small, circular piece of metal, like a ring, pierced through her bottom lip. As for her clothes, she was wearing a black crop top that emphasized her slender waist and showed off her toned muscles, with tight black pants that clung to her long legs.

"What implant?"

The man asked, his voice gruff.

Luna frowned. From the man's expression, she couldn't seem to determine if he was pretending to be ignorant, or if he was genuinely clueless.

"Don't play dumb. I want the implant I ordered."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The man retorted, still in his grouchy attitude. He crossed his arms, showing no signs of backing down.

Luna felt her irritation increase. She didn't come all the way here just to be met with such resistance from this old man, she sighed and said a password.

"Your ex wife is a bitch."

"Thank you, I've told you to say the password."

In an instant, the man's expression changed completely. Gone was the grumpy old man persona and replaced by a smiling one.

"Well, why didn't you just say so? You had me worried for a moment."

"Why don't you change it, it's fucking stupid."

"I can't do that."

The man chuckled, shaking his head. "That's a rule you've gotta follow. Can't just change it willy-nilly."

He opened his arms, as if to welcome her into this small lounge. "Anyway, why don't you sit down? I'll go get your package."

"Nah, I'll follow you."

"Your wish."

The old man walked further in the building behind his counter into a room labelled "staff only."

As they both stepped through it, the whole vibe of the space had changed. Gone was the collected lounge and instead, was a messy lab filled with metal, blue prints, smell of chemicals with all sorts of artificial body parts hanging from the walls.

The sight would be terrifying if it was anybody else. But Luna had seen and operated enough of these to know that they were nothing scary. As the old man moved to the far corner of the room, opening a cabinet there, he asked,

"Have a look around if you want, but don't touch anything."

Luna nodded and began scanning the room, looking at the pieces of equipment available.

The room had a large working table in the center, with cabinets surrounding the working table, filled with different things. In the corner near the door, the walls were lined with lockers. The walls around were painted a very deep blue.

As the old man bent down to pick up a black parcel at the bottom of the cabinet, Luna's eyes caught something on the top shelf of the locker closest to the working table.

On the locker was a picture of a young man, probably in his twenties. The smile on his youthful face was bright and carefree.

Mikota nakashira.

One of the few doctor's who would get you whatever implant you wanted and install it onto you for a heafty cost.

As the old man held the parcel in his hands and turned around to face her, he caught her staring at the picture before she could compose herself.

"Ah, you've noticed it." He said, his voice carrying a hint of pride. "That is from fourty years ago when I received my degree from Tokyo-university in 2069."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Luna gave a polite nod, pretending not to notice how old the man actually was. The picture looked old enough to be in a museum.

The man set the box on the table and began to open it, letting out a sigh as he said.

"Youngster these days don't know what it takes to be a doctor. A criminal doctor."

"Just show me the damm thing already."

The man — Mikota nakashira — chuckled at her impatience. Then his hands stopped moving as he looked up.

"I'll say, young lady, you're in a real hurry to add a new metal piece to your body, huh?"

Luna's irritation was beginning to show on her face.

"That's none of your business."

A smirk appeared on old man's face. He said, "I'm the one who's gonna implant that thing into you, it pretty much is my business. Or, you can take this to those Kusonoki rats."

"Like hell I would."

Luna spat as the Kusonoki conglomerate was mentioned. "Those rats are the opposite of what I need."

Nakashira smiled again.

"Alright, now behold my greatest implant yet."

He opened the box and what was in it was:

A metal spine.

Luna's eyes lit up, her earlier irritation was instantly replaced with excitement.

"This...?" She breathed, stepping forward to get a better look.

It was beautiful.

Each vertebrae was made of steel, polished so that it almost gleamed. Each one was connected by a series of sturdy bolts.

"That's it."

Nakashira nodded. "It's a masterpiece of mine. Top of the line replacement for your spine."

Luna gently traced it with her fingers. As she imagined, the metal felt smooth and strong as steel and titanium.

"How much?"

"Well since it's military grade, quite a lot to be Frank."

"Just say the price."

"¥14,296,986."

"That's a lot."

Luna said, her voice serious. She had expected that it would cost hundreds of thousands. But she didn't expect the price to be in the millions.

The old man looked at her with a sly smile.

"It's not just a simple metal spine, it had quite a lot of abilities, you know."

"Remind me once again what were they?"

"Well... First off," Nakashira held the spine in his hands, pointing to the bolt connections, "All of these are magnetic. It has two modes, one where the bolts lock and won't let the spine move or twist. And the other where the magnets lock in one direction, allowing you to twist along with your own spine. It also enhances your strength and finally, you can use your titanium bones properly. A super human. How does that sound?"

"Cool. Can't I get a discount doc, I come here frequently enough."

Nakashira's lips moved into a wider smile. He then replied with a sigh of fake reluctance.

"Well you are a good customer.. so I suppose I can give you a little discount. I don't get that many costumers like you."

Luna suppressed the eagerness in her eyes. She'd heard the same speech many times before.

"How much of a discount we talking about?"

"I'll cut down five percent of the price."

Luna's face twitched a tiny bit. Just 5 percent? Was this old man trying to insult her? She opened her mouth to protest but the old man continued, a mischievous look in his eyes.

"But, you gotta do something for me."

The young woman paused at his words. Her fingers stopped tracing the metal and her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"And what exactly do I have to do for you?"

The old man placed the spine back into the box and closed it, before saying with a smile, "Just a small errand. Nothing else."

Luna scowled. She hated it when people used the word 'small' when describing 'errands. And she hated doing 'errands' in general.

She let out a sigh and reluctantly asked.

"What sort of errand?"

He put his hands in his pocket and threw her a chip.

"Jack a car for me."

"U kidding?"

The old man didn't say anything, he was serious.

"Fine. Who's it belong to?"

"A corpo rat."

"Give me the details."

As the old man handed her the chip, he began to speak in a calm voice.

"It's a black liberty belonging to a young corpo executive from Kusonoki. Black hair, blue eyes. Just your normal corpo trash. I want the chip inside. It'll disable all its security systems and make it easier to hack it. The car is quite valuable so try not to damage the car when you take it."

Luna was listening very carefully at this point. The old man then pointed to the picture of the man pined on a locker.

"I have some history with him which I'd rather not get into."

"A black liberty...huh."

Luna's thoughts raced quickly.

She'd definitely heard of the car before, but she'd never seen one in person. It was worth upwards of ¥41,000,000. Only the rich could afford to own and maintain one.

And the man in the picture seemed to be the executive himself. A young man in his twenties. Luna didn't need to know the man's name to know what kind of person he was. A corporate brat that probably never got his hands dirty once in his lifetime.

Corporate scum.

"Sounds like a cakewalk."

Luna said with confidence in her voice.

She was confident she could do it, but not eager. A black liberty was a luxury car that people would notice being stolen.

A part of her didn't want to risk getting caught. But the offer of the implant was very compelling, and she knew the risks involved.

"Post a notice at the merc company, I'll be doing this with my team, they'll need to get paid, you better pay them also, before I go, install it in me."

"No. Sorry. Only after you get me the car."

"Cheapskate."

She muttered under her breath.

"Cheapskate?" Nakashira chuckled lightly at her insult. "I know how much cash you have stashed in your account, you're quite good at stacking your earnings. You can spare some for me."

"It's not for buying shit. It's for my surgery."

Luna's eye twitched slightly at his comment. However, he was somewhat correct. She wasn't exactly poor with her money. The old man knew that.

"Whatever. I'll get it done then."

She said, grabbing and then shoving the picture into her pockets.

As she headed out to meet up with her team, Nakashira called out to her.

"And no killing."

She raised up her right hand and showed him her middle finger while walking out.

"You're quite the feisty young lady."

Nakashira muttered to himself as he watched her walk out of the small building and close the door behind her.

He turned around, looking at the box containing the spine on the table before putting it back where he had taken it out off.

"So much money and yet she still can't afford her surgery to live. Poor girl."

Luna lived with a rare, lethal blood disorder. She required constant, expensive blood transfusions and medication to keep her from dying. It was a hereditary disease that couldn't be cured. She could not survive without regular treatments.

The cost of these medical expenses was so high that she worked as a mercenary to pay for her treatments. For now, she was using whatever money her dead parents had left her to pay for these treatments but soon, those funds will run out.

A sad existence.

Neo-Tokyo, District H.

In a small apartment complex near the edge of the district was Luna's house.

The apartment wasn't impressive. It was small and modest, Luna could afford much better one's but she didn't. The interior was just as simple, a basic apartment that showed no signs of luxury or anything special.

Luna, meanwhile, was sprawled out on one of the sofas in front of the coffee table, staring up at the ceiling.

A few empty beer bottles lay around her. Most of them were near the coffee table, a few were further away, on the floor. The table was covered with a scattering of various documents. Job requests, information on targets, the usual mercenary stuff.

Luna however, wasn't reading them. Her eyes were glued on to the ceiling. They stared right through it, fixated on something nobody else could see.

To normal people, it may seem like he was lost in thought's but instead, she was looking through some information, her eyes projecting it in front of her. She flicked her eyes slightly to the right, browsing through the documents and data in front of her, looking for something.

Her eyes stopped for a minute before she frowned as her brow furrowed.

"Damn it. Nothing."

She muttered to herself, irritated.

Luna let out a deep, tired sigh as she closed her eyes and reached for another empty bottle. But her fingers found nothing more than air.

"Damn it. I'm all out."

She cursed to herself.

She was looking through the information available on her target — the person who owns the black liberty — Tsuyou Masumaru.

Twenty-five years old. Son of one of the executives of the Kusonoki conglomerate. No combat experience, an arrogant brat with too much money and time on his hands.

"That should be an easy enough target."

She muttered as she swiped through the information. "His hobbies are.."

Her eyes widened when she read the information on his hobby. She read them again and then again, then closed her eyes.

She sighed deeply. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." She groaned before rubbing her temples. "Underground borg fights?"

The information said he was an avid supporter of underground borg fights.

People would gather together to watch cybernetic enhanced fighters fight each other in the underground rings. It was a bloody, dangerous game. Luna had gone to a few of those fights a few times, it was a brutal game.

The fighters were usually forced to do it against their will or they were paid to fight. They were basically gladiator ring. The sight of half-dead or dead bodies, bloody fighters being dragged out afterwards was something Luna didn't forget. The fights were brutal, deadly and very bloody.

Sometimes, they. No, most of the time they used lethal weapons, one such instance was when a guy used a hidden bomb to blow the other person up to smithereens.

Those brutal, bloody fights were Tsuyou's 'hobby' and it made him one of Luna's least favorite kind of people.

She sighed.

She picked up a lighter and a cigarette near her.

She lit up the cigarette with the lighter and exhaled a puff of smoke.

She leaned back on the couch, taking another drag from the cigarette, and blew out a cloud of grey smoke in the air. She closed her eyes as she did so, thinking hard.

"This is going to be a pain in the ass."