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    "Dammit... my arm's aching again..." said Jacob as he withdrew his right arm from the location of the punching bag. His left arm wasn't as in good shape as the man's right. No, it was cybernetic engineering from when he lost his right arm. To him, they felt uneven as he switched places on the spot with his arms. As he began to pummel the bag quickly with his mechanical arm, it began to lock up and stop moving. It happened often whenever he began thinking of the past, or his family. As it became rigid, Jacob then cursed under his breath and sat down on the wooden floor of his apartment, number thirty-one. Sliding his working hand across the floor, Jacob grasped a screwdriver tightly as if a small boy were playing with a rattler.
    "Why the hell does it lock up on me?" he questioned himself, although he knew the reason why. It was just one of his ways to blame everything around him; the death of his family. When Jacob was nine years old, his family died in the 'War of Gojik'. They died in an explosion when the opposition bombed Manhattan, leaving him without a family and a left arm.
    Years later, he returned from the other side of the world with a new left arm to Manhattan, only to find that nothing had changed. The city was as destroyed and rundown as he had left it, but the apartment that his family lived in was still fine and began to live there.
    Standing up, Jacob wasn't fixing his arm, per se. Every step he took was the sound of the screwdriver hitting his left arm loudly. It wasn't the most orthodox way to repair it, but it got the job done. Looking up at his rusty clock up above his stacks of books, he saw that his training session was long over.
    "Whoops... wonder if I'm late?" he said calmly, not caring about the time or his condition; his arm had start working again. Walking into the kitchen, he took a bottle of water while opening the refrigerator. Peering inside, he found what he was looking for: a half-drinking glass bottle of Jack Daniels.
    "Nice!" said Jacob, sounding greatly satisfied. Jacob opened the bottle and took a swig out of it before running towards the door quickly, grabbing his messenger bag along the way. Locking the door behind him, he walked down the old steps and down the hallway where the exit could be clearly seen.
    "Time for another day.." muttered Jacob, opening the door and walking out into the city. Stopping before he fell off, the city could be seen. The streets were gone, destroyed until only darkness could be observed, but rubble was still falling into the abyss. The buildings were old and crumbling badly, so at any moment one strong storm could make them fall, but 'Atomic III' annihilated the clouds from ever forming there again. So instead of using automobiles, they instead used 'Basics', which were hovering cars that ran on carbon-dioxide instead of gasoline.
    But Jacob's car wasn't working at the moment, so he backed up against the apartment wall, flat against his back. "All right... let's go.." he whispered calmly. Suddenly, he dashed forward and jumped right before his feet hit the edge of the streets. Launching from one side of the street to the other was no small feat, however. So he grabbed the sidewalk and built up tension before releasing and flying through the air.
    Jacob felt the wind through his dark brown hair, flowing through it quickly. His clothes whipped around wildly and the bag flopped by his waist. He closed his eyes momentarily, but soon opened them after landing hard on the ground, feeling the ground beneath him crack slightly.
    "Heh...” he chuckled, getting up and walking through the alleys quickly.
    Darkness shrouded around Jacob slowly until his figure was gone. Puddles splashed beneath his feet, covering his boots in dirt and grime. Soon after, he arrived at a very high-class building, seemingly unstruck by the disaster fourteen years ago. The ridges were obviously lined in gold, while the walls were made out of marble stone.
    “Maybe Kraig has a good job for me. I need more liquor.” he said, sounding bored. Walking towards the building, he opened his bag and took out a paperback book. On the front was a bright red horse running down dark red plains; the title was ‘The Catcher in the Rye’.
    He opened it to the first page and began to read as a small silver levitating drone flew over, “Authorization needed.” it beeped, floating in front of the man’s face.
    Not looking up, Jacob brought up his right arm, “Jacob Hunter. Identification number, 232-69-00250-06040.” he replied.
    The small drone began to scan the arm slowly, with a thin red light traveled over the panels until it made a small beep. “Authorization confirmed. Welcome to the ‘Travelers Haven’, Mr. Hunter.” it beeped before floating away.
    “Thanks.” he murmured, walking inside.
    Not paying any attention to his surroundings, the place was beautiful. The walls and floor were made with marble again, and the furniture were made with red and gold silk, at least that what he thought; he never stayed long. These kind of things never interested him.
    But he wasn’t the only one there. Dozens of other people filled the rooms and hallways, making it hard for Jacob to pass through unnoticed.
    Business men and women, political figures, and other types of VIPs were present: an assassin’s dream. This was one of those ‘multi-service hotels’. Important people weren’t here for business meetings, only, of course, services. Around the VIPs were women, but different kinds of the usual women. Around three-hundred years ago, a different species arrived at Earth. All women of the species, they had the unique ability to change into whatever the ‘client’ desired. The women, or more commonly known as ‘The Consorts’, were highly intelligent and successful. In exchange for their services, the client had to pay them, and if it turned out that they couldn’t pay them, they had to do a favor, be it killing someone or retrieving something.
    “Waste of money.” Jacob said loud enough by accident that everyone could hear and notice who it was.
    “Holy Christ! It’s Hunter!” one man said, making all of the shady persons at a gold elevator door snap their heads in his direction and glare heavily. Glancing at the stares, he shrugged and stood at the end of the line. But he didn’t have any time to relax. As soon as his back touched the wall, the elevator door opened and said in a great monotone voice,
    “Lord Rafferty will now see... Jacob Hunter.” bellowed the voice from the elevator, making everyone groan and yell.
    “What?” asked Jacob, offended at the reaction of the others.
    Walking forward, he stepped into the elevator and watched as the door closed. Feeling the elevator riding up, he sighed and began to read his paperback again.
    Elevator music cued, playing softly, attempting to calm the nerves of the person on the elevator. Although Jacob drowned out the music, he still read the book in his hands; he was on chapter six at the moment, the forty-second time reading it. He thought he related to Holden in some way, for they both lost someone, and lie frequently. Jacob also knew that he was losing his mind, almost literally.
    "Elevator takes too freakin' long.." muttered the young man, impatiently waiting. But he ate his words that second, as the elevator stopped and opened, where a very large room was situated in front of him. "Always so exaggerated, huh," Jacob trailed off as he strode into the room, "Mr. Rafferty?" he finished his sentence, looking up from his book to his employer.
    "Of course Jacob. I need you to feel comfortable, for the assignment your about to take on is owned by a diplomat." replied the lizard. The lizard, or known as Kraig Rafferty was an upright standing reptile with the upper left side of his head replaced by cybernetics
    His left eye was completely red, as it was artificial. The mouth was long and wide, with many teeth sharp and strong jaws.
    "Diplomat? Is it your dad?" joked Jacob, but was only partly hoping to get a good look at his employer's father. The lizard laughed, "Yes, and my mother!" he tried joking back, but to no avail.
    Shaking his head, Jacob sighed, "Dude... no." he said bluntly. Not caring whether he hurt Kraig or not, he closed his book. "Anyway, is the mission around the upper area?" he asked. Nodding, Kraig replied, "Yes, actually. Near The Melody." The Melody was the central building in Manhattan, the only building untouched by 'Atomic III', the weapon that was released during the War of Gojik. The Melody was made from gold metrillium and hardened steel, and is to last over 400,000 years.
    "Good payout then...” Jacob said, walking over the glass floor which held gallons of pure water. Knowing that the glass could hold his weight, he sat down quickly and heavily, not making a crack in the glass. Looking down at Jacob, Kraig hissed slightly at Jacob’s
    rudeness.
    “The diplomat is Rajuo Mazajuk, and he’s holding something of interest that I want.” Kraig informed him.
    “Okay.” Jacob replied quickly. He liked risky missions, that’s why the man was so successful. Placing his book in his bag, he began to rub his left arm out of habit. Feeling silence forming between them, the lizard continued to inform his employee.
    “Rajuo is said to hold the artifact close in his room. It has the shape of a sword handle and is of bronze-” stopped Kraig, seeing that Jacob interrupted him. Just plain rude.
    “Bronze? The man lives near--in--The Melody, and his most prized possession is a bronze sword handle?” Jacob said, seeing the dirty look from Kraig. Standing up on the glass floor, Jacob nodded and began to walk away.
    “Oh! And expect opposition and security!” Kraig added, but it was too late; Jacob had already closed the doors.
    Opening his book once again, Jacob was lost in it's pages, reading the content that filled it. But he stopped momentarily, forgetting that he wanted to ask Kraig a question, but it was too late.
    "How much is it going to pay?" he asked himself. Walking through the open doors of the elevator, he glided through the crowded hallways and avoided questions. Back in the city, Jacob began to strategize his situation. The Melody was one of the most guarded building in the world. And to add, many VIP had important meetings.
    Over four thousand guards and around twenty business people. It was his assignment, and his alone. Jacob was definitely excited, or least ready for what lied ahead.
    Out of habit, Jacob started to rub his right arm, completely unaware that he was about to
    ram face first into a wall.
    “I should stop thinking about them….” Jacob muttered, finally realizing that his nose was pressed up against the marble wall.
    “Oh shoot…” Backing away from the wall, he shook his head out of the daze and put his book away. He readied himself as he stretched his legs and arms, glancing at a foothold on the wall next to the Traveler’s Haven.
    “Nice opportunity.” he said to himself, crouching down and creating tension in his legs. Finally, when he felt the burn, he jumped up to it, grabbing a hold of the space. Not stopping momentarily, he began to jump to another hold, then another. The feeling of infinite agility and flexibility felt great to Jacob. Reaching towards the ledge, the man grabbed the rocky edge, but felt it break away from his grip.
    "No you don't!" he muttered to himself, thrusting his left hand towards a stable edge of the building, pulling himself up onto the roof.
    "All right, one building down..." Jacob said as he peered out at the city. Darkness filled the sky, forever a reminder of the tragedy that once happened here. A shining bright light flashed in his eye, seeing The Melody.
    "Eighty to go." he finished, breathing the air out and took in fresh air. He took a step towards the other ledge, but quickened as he felt the building starting to crumble.
    "CRAP!" he yelled, running towards the ledge, finally jumping across the small chasm. Jacob landed on the other side, seeing the building falling to the ground, only leaving the column that barely held it together. He sighed, then immediately continued on.
    That was another danger of the city; most of the buildings there were so fragile and unstable. The destruction left behind from the warhead infiltrated the buildings and broke down the insides, like a virus.
    So Jacob had to be extremely careful. But despite his vow, the building he was on began to break apart, resulting in Jacob cursing under his breath and jumping to the nearest but farthest building away in jumping distance. Thinking that the danger was over, Jacob started to walk across this thin walkway to another building, each time getting higher in altitude. Suddenly, he had heard a person calling him loudly, with around five other footsteps.
    "Hey! What the hell did you do?!" one man called. Turning around, Jacob saw six men with different weapons facing him. "Was that me? Sorry 'bout that." Jacob replied, a very bored look evident on his face.
    “THAT’S IT?! You’re going to pay for that!” another man yelled. Shrugging, Jacob nodded and began to walk away, “Literally, or figuratively?” asked Jacob, not looking behind.
    "What the hell you talkin' about?!” the first asked. He obviously sounded drunk. Jacob began to think he needed the ex
    “You’re drunk. You couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with that weapon!” he replied, easily egging the drunkard on. Jacob noticed that the weapon he was holding was a standard Drone Army AK one-hundred-ninety-four; Jacob stole one of those from an armory in Outpost sixty-seven in Moscow, or what‘s left of it. He’ll be a slight challenge if he fought him. The others held different versions of the hand cannon, but weren‘t perfected. It’ll be a piece of cake for him.
    Jumping onto the slim walkway, he dashed across the weak boards, in front of the leader in at least five seconds.
    “Go home... oh, wait..” he joked, a slight smile on his face as he made contact with the man’s face with his left arm, barreling towards the rest of the group. The group was amazed yet scared of what Jacob could do, but they couldn’t move. Looking at them, Jacob made several strategies to defeat them. He picked the quickest way: a shockwave. Grinning slightly as he lifted his right arm up above his head. Jacob’s arm began to slightly shine as it was slung down. The shock was to destroy the building and the ones around in a quarter mile radius would be obliterated.
    “See ya..” he whispered, feeling his cybernetic limb slam down on the weak concrete.
    A shockwave quickly hurdled out in all directions from the ‘epicenter’ of the wave.
    The ground cracked and broke, flew out of its place, instantly breaking the other buildings. Wasting no time at all, Jacob withdrew his arm and sprinted off outside the blast radius.
    Suddenly, his arm jerked back, seeing that his cybernetic arm was still in the blast radius. Turning around, Jacob planted his feet and left hand on the 'shield' of the blast, trying his hardest to pull it out. "Come on, I don't want to get another arm!" muttered Jacob, feeling his arm beginning to slip out. Finally, his arm broke free and immediately sent Jacob flying backwards to The Melody.
    "All right!" exclaimed Jacob, twisting his body so that he would again face The Melody. Hurdling towards the golden building, Jacob smiled once before grabbing his right arm with his left. “Wish me luck…” he muttered, crashing through one of its windows.