Mission Report (Otherwise Untitled)
#206 of Short Stories
A synth reports on the failure of a mission.
~ The old rabbit stirred in his bed a bit as the station shuddered. Another heavy cargo ship had docked with too much load, a regular occurrence these days, and easily ignored. However, the soft crackling sound in the room caught the boss' attention. Sliding up out of the blankets and into a more seated position, he could only see a vague shadow of a figure hunkered in against the door to his room.
~ "Hey, hey! Why the hell you not having talked to my guards, eh?"
~ The odor of chem-weld filled the room as the bond strips anchoring the door in place to its frame cured. A passing ship's navigational lamps cast through the window, and the bun could see that the figure was a Synth and one of the panels of his ceiling had been removed. Boss reached over to flick on his nightstand lamp, the Synth turning around to face him.
~ The entire right half of the Synth's face was torn open, and only glimmering fragments of the emotive display remained. Sheared wiring dangled from amongst the gleaming metals, and an exposed sensory gimbals seemed to rattle along a damaged track. With only one arm, she dropped the chem-weld applicator to un-holster a sidearm.
~ As it settled the sights of the pistol on him, Boss recognized the arm as being from one of his preferred bounty hunters. The torso to which it was attached, marked with incomplete armor and a number of holes clean through was slower to be recognized until her voice provided some clue.
~ "I am pleased to report that the men you sent have failed.", the Synth calmly explained.