Walking past the security forces blockade Mark made sure to give them a smile and a wave, he was still covered in the blood of his victims, he carried his sword and kinetic rifle openly however he wasn't stopped or even questioned. Seeing the psychopath that had spent the past 2 days slaughtering people walk free many of the security forces present questioned their choice of employment, education and personal morals
"Don't think too hard about it"
Leaving his unwanted advice Mark continued walking until he reached a public inter-station metro station, where he casually lined up at the platform waiting for the train. Needless to say people quickly took their distance from the obvious mass murderer, and sure enough when he entered the metro people quickly piled out, whether it was their stop or not
"Oh right…"
Mark took out his personal console and snapped a quick picture of himself doing a peace sign and sent it to the gunsmith with the caption 'I lived' before he was approached by a man in his early 30's, he had the build and bearing of a soldier and even without his marksman rifle or light combat exosuit, Mark recognised him as a sniper that had tried to eliminate him. Mark sized him up before he asked
"How's the arm?"
"It's fine, they are made to be quick-swapped in case of damage"
"Neat"
The two remained silent for a while longer before Mark asked
"So, what can I help you with?"
"You could stick the barrel of that rifle in your mouth and pull the trigger?"
"I could"
Further silence followed until the sniper let out a sigh and spoke with clear reluctance
"The powers that be have assigned me as your personal bodyguard while you are on Towo station"
"That blows"
"I concur"
Mark showed a smile, the next moment all the blood and viscera slid off him instantly before he extended his hand to the sniper
"The name is Mark, nice to meet you"
The sniper stared at Mark with pure disgust, however, he nevertheless shook his hand as he gave his name
"Nathan"
After the two shake hands, Mark sat down on one of the many open seats and removed the magazine from his rifle before he cleared the chamber and began field stripping it, most of the internal components could to with a cleaning, however that wasn't why Mark was disassembling it, he carefully inspected each part before he assembled the rifle again and sent a message to the gunsmith
"The barrel is on its way out, the gas system is still mostly operable. The other parts held up well, no obvious wear"
Finishing up his report Mark looked up at Nathan and declared
"You seem like a nice person Nathan"
"...And you seem like a total psychopath"
"No, that's the trait of a person, I merely wear the skin of a person"
Listing to what was obvious the raving of antisocial psychopath Nathan knew he should dismiss anything Mark was saying, however having hunted him for almost 2 days his gut told him he wasn't human in the slightest
"Then how would you describe yourself?"
Mark stroked his chin as he thought about it for a bit before he arrived at an answer
"As a being capable of unfathomable violence that's trying to be nice? Something like that anyways"
"That's some mighty fine bullshit for a mass murderer"
"Well, it wasn't my first choice to start that massacre"
"Then why did you slaughter so many people?"
Mark showed a thin smile before he simply stated
"Well, if you can't be respected you can always be feared instead"
Nathan closed his eyes and remained silent, to which Mark simply shrugged and went back to focusing on his console until the metro arrived at the station closest to Hangar 1 where he got off and walked a short way before stepping into Carol's bar
"Hey Carol"
"Hi Mark, can I get you anything?"
"Yeah, a beer and a glass of water for my friend here, he's on the clock"
"Alright"
Mark sat down in his usual seat and folded the stock on his kinetic rifle before he placed it in the seat next to him, and when Carol came with his beer, he downed it in one go before he leaned back and closed his eyes. Mark had a lot of work to get done before he would be satisfied with his design
-
Nathan kept a close eye on Mark from across the room, he sat in a booth directly across from the monster he had watched being not only pardoned but now also ordered to protect with strangely mixed feelings. Everything he knew told him to regard Mark with pure disgust and disdain, however somehow he couldn't hate him completely
"He's a strange person, right?"
Nathan clicked his tongue before he responded to the bar owner
"He is a psychopath that should be hanged"
Carol shrugged and placed a fresh glass of water down on the table in front of, Nathan took a sip without taking his eyes off Mark to which Carol laughed before she spoke
"You are definitely not from around here"
Nathan looked at Carol before he asked
"How can you tell?"
Carol sat down before she explained
"How can I not? You are straight as a board, you keep your eyes locked on what you believe is the greatest threat in the room while carelessly drinking what's placed before you"
Nathan glanced down at the glass of water, which only earned him another laugh from Carol
"Relax, I didn't spike your water. I could have, and many bars on this street would spike your drink the moment you step in… I guess you've lived on a high-security station? That or the upper administration of a middle-security station, right?"
Nathan nodded before he simply stated
"My mother is a highly placed bureaucrat in a station about a hundred light years away"
Carol nodded before she spoke
"I see, well, you better learn some street smarts soon then"
Nathan looked at Carol's amused face for a few moments before he asked
"And why is that?"
Carol showed an amused smile before she looked over at Mark and asked him
"Well, because I imagine it would be terribly embarrassing for you get your ass saved by Mark"
Nathen and Carol kept eye contact for a bit longer before Nathan simply stated
"...I will leave that to your imagination"
Just then Nathan noticed Mark twitch and immediately put a hand on his sidearm, the next moment Mark's sword floated off the floor, Nathan tracked it with his eyes as it casually floated across the room before he gently laid itself on a mantle behind the bar, a few moments passed before Carol spoke
"Yeah, it just kind of does that. I have no idea how or why, but Mark asked me to make a place for it where people wouldn't touch it behind the bar… I think it likes the place"
"...A gravity engine?"
Carol shook her head before she casually stated
"No, the waste heat would cook most of my booze, not to mention the what the gravitational micro radiation would do to my hardwood bartop by passing so close"
Nathan found himself agreeing with Carol's assessment before he asked
"How do you know about gravitational engineering?"
Carol showed a nostalgic smile
"To make conversation, my late daughter's husband worked on the gravitation engineering on half the outposts in the system… 50 years of blood, sweat, education and brutal hours all to get his brains blown out for leather shoes he was wearing"
"...My condolence"
Carol waved her hand in front of her face before she dismissed Nathan's apology
"Don't be sorry about that, you weren't the one that shot him"
Nathan blinked before he asked
"...And how do you know that?"
Carol showed a smile before she casually stated
"Because I spiked his drink with half a dozen stim sticks when he walked into my bar wearing those very leather shoes, the fucker convulsed on the corner the street for 3 days before his heart finally gave out… I considered stomping on his neck more than a dozen times, however I'm glad I didn't"
Nathan nodded, more than a little taken back at what he had falsely assumed to be a sweet older lady running a hanger-lane bar, he took another sip of his water before he asked
"Could you teach me a few things?"
Carol nodded
"Sure thing, business will probably be slow for a couple of hours more anyhow… But first I'll tell you what I know about Mark, he's more likely to kill you than any street thug you'll run into anyhow"
"...How long have you known him?"
"Not long, well, long enough to know he's not human. He is still a person though"
Carol looked over at Mark before she continued
"He's out cold right now, but he is still aware enough to wake up instantly if something comes close"
"I see, I already knew he had freakish instincts from hunting him…"
Carol nodded before she continued
"He cleared out a checkpoint of gangsters right after he arrived, he killed a dozen enforcers with his hands and their weapons in about a minute… Oh right, he was wearing a different face at that time, his build was different too"
"Can he change his appearance?"
"He sure can, though if you ask me, the face he's wearing right now is his real or at least his preferred face"
Nathan looked at Mark across the room, he was reminded of Mark's description of himself in the metro and muttered
"...A being capable of unfathomable violence that's trying to be nice… He sure wasn't kidding…"
Carol shrugged before she asked
"Have you touched him yet?"
Nathan was snapped out his thoughts for a moment before he answered
"We shock hands in the metro, why are you asking?"
Carol glanced at Nathan's arm, then at the other, before she spoke
"Bionic arms, huh… Legs too?"
"...Yes, but what does that have to do with it?"
Carol shrugged
"Fuck if I know, however, it apparently only works by direct contact… Whatever the fuck it is he does… However, it's way more effective than therapy, even the most expensive shit I've ever tired"
"...Right, duly noted"