Heartthrob

Oh God. Oh God. Product Reclamation was serious goddamn business. What EJ knew of them, from seeing files on them in the company database, they were hard bastards. The equivalent of Tsang's paramilitary, often employed to brutal use at IRE sites, they were the strong arm of the false law of Vitus. They were sent to 'lobby' politicians in the UNAC HQ, they were sent to capture rogue dissidents within Tsang's infrastructure, and they often delivered the requisite beatdowns to protestors who thought they could make any kind of social change within the great grey city of the dead.

Thirty seconds? Fuck. She didn't have time for anything, really, but her eyes went to Judas's items on the table. The pistol. That thought practically screamed into her mind, every neuron in a frenzy as it bounced around her weary, emotionally exhausted noggin. Enhanced reactions helped to push her to fish it out of the pile, from where it lay within the fur coat's sizable pockets, hand wrapped around the grip. The only time she had ever fired a gun was the other night, but hell, she had played plenty of video games. She had seen how the protagonists held and used them in firefights. That was like practical experience, right?

Purity, on the other hand, froze up. Her eyes widened in absolute shock, mouth agape, seconds ticking by like hours as she considered what she had heart. Product Reclamation? Who were they here for? What were they here for? Technically, under contract, anyone who was second-living or made use of Tsang's biosculpting offerings was filled with Tsang's product. Those biosculpts could be taken away, legally, and the result was even worse for second-living. The result was said to be excruciating. But also, those could very well have been leaked scraps of gossip just to ensure as few debtors defaulted on their debts as possible. Hopefully.

Seeing EJ grab the gun snapped Purity from her stupor, scrambling to a stand and nearly falling over as she did. Her eyes briefly flicked to the bedroom door, still open and so very tempting, but they they went back to EJ and her expression hardened. The pinkette said nothing as she rushed towards the kitchen, nearly diving behind the island in the center of it as she took some form of cover, whatever cover was available. Anything to be safe from the impending exchange of gunfire.

Thirty second passed. A thud against the door, hard insistent, and then a second. EJ got down on one knee behind the table, aiming Judas's pistol at the door as it shook and shuddered beneath the force of the soon-to-be intruder's attempts to knock it down. And then, the hinges gave way, the door slamming to the ground like a fallen soldier. Standing there was a single Product Reclamation officer, wearing the red and black fatigues of his position, short brown hair mostly hidden beneath a black beret that had a single badge pinned to it. He was unarmed, at least not yet, but the mechanized holster at his hip could vomit forth a sidearm in an instant.

The trigger was pulled, EJ's trembling finger spurred into action by sheer adrenaline. The kickback was expected but still notable, even with her ghoulish fortitude replying against it, and the flash of the muzzle was blinding. The officer, who was so confident in entering, staggered back and collapsed as a red, sanguineous rose blossomed cruelly and finally upon his sternum - centre of mass proving to be the most immediate target. He let out a gasp of pain and finality, incapacitated by pain as his bone structure was rent to shreds by the force of the projectile. His dying gasps and gurgles were drowned out by a second gunshot, EJ's shaky fingers and fried nerves causing her to fire again, bullet piercing the wall behind where her adversary had once stood. Whoops.

As realization of what she had done began to set in, she cried out, fear and pain and shock mingling into the single bellow of a newborn murderer. The pistol dropped to the table with a thud just as Esper James's hands went to either side of her head, internal conflict raging in her mind about what she had done. Had he deserved it? What had he even been there for? How would she continue a normal life now that she had killed someone?! Judas couldn't cover this up. And if she could, she wouldn't. She wouldn't dare. EJ had killed someone, even if it wasn't true death, it was still death. It still bore the pain and trauma that death always did.

She staggered back, tripping over a displaced chair and falling to the floor. From the kitchen, sudden movement and sound - Purity, having heard the gunshots and EJ's cry of despair, had managed to grab a kitchen knife and now stood to rush out to the blonde's aid. However, seeing her unharmed but wailing in fear and outrage at her own actions, the other woman turned instead to the dying officer in the doorway. Her feet moved with surprising speed and decisiveness as she made her way to him, dropping down to straddle his waist, knife turned round in her grip. Something about the force of her motions, driving the steel into him to speed his death in an act of mercy but also defiance, spoke of her resentment of him and everything he stood for.

Once finished with her wetwork, Purity used the doorframe to steady herself, standing back up and making her hurried way over to the blonde in crisis. Her nerves were notably steely as she grabbed the gun from the table and grabbed the blonde by the forearm, dragging her to a stand, the blood now covering her tank-top and exposed flesh doing little to assuage the secretary's emotions. Sticking the gun into her waistband, Purity also made sure to grab the choker from its box, putting it into her pocket - the sentimental value enough to make it worth it for her, at least in her mind.

"EJ. We've got to get the fuck out of here, now. He didn't see who shot him, probably, and all he'll remember is me stabbing him, so... So you'll be clean. Probably. Hopefully. I'll keep the gun, and... And you can leave this behind. I'm so fucking sorry that I got you caught up in whatever this is, that I... That I even entered your life at all. I fucked up everything for you. But you, you still have a chance. You can still live a normal life. You can be normal, keep working for Tsang, just lie and say I was... keeping you hostage or something. Fuck. Fuck. Please. We've got to move. A-And if I don't get a chance to tell you later, if I get gunned down on the streets..." She let out an enormous sigh, the grim determination on her face now replaced with a softening expression of remorse. How had it all come to this? She had tried to free herself, and now she was going to end up even further imprisoned. Oh well.

She lowered herself to get eye-to-eye with the frantic blonde, pink meeting emerald for a single, meaningful moment. Purity smiled, but there was no mirth therein; it was just to comfort her friend. "I loved you. I always will, probably, but... Well, when they kill me, we won't see eachother anymore. I'll get shipped off to an IRE site. But that's... Not to worry about for right now. Just remember, I always... I always loved you." Her smile widened and the edges of her eyes raised as she feigned warmth and comfort, speaking not of the leaden weight of dread and pained acceptance behind said mask. The truth was too painful to bear, as it usually was. But then she would bear that cross, and face that future willingly, if only so that Esper James, an innocent in her mind, might be free of it. Might go on living after all, even if living was a strong word for what they did here in Vitus.

Footsteps from down the hall. Purity drew the gun with a trembling hand, whipping around towards the sound of it, even as EJ tried to formulate a response and began to stammer out what she had managed to dredge up from the deepest, dankest halls of emotion. Her emeralds followed the barrel of the pistol down the hall, to where a familiar figure was racing towards the pair of them. Long raven hair that fell like a one-sided curtain in a single wave, a white t-shirt beneath a sleeveless denim jacket, amber eyes furrowed into a businesslike scowl as a new weapon was raised... Someone EJ had seen earlier that day, someone that she had met for the first time still so soon, but had spent such time with them in those hours that she was immediately recognizable. Kell.

Kell raised her own gun in a practiced motion, the single ebon barrel sawn off to be barely longer than the pump mechanism's handle, and the sights leveled at Purity. She hesitated, however, upon letting those scowling eyes flit down to the dead Tsang officer and his myriad stab wounds. Purity was covered in his blood, and she had not been trying to help him. It was plain as day. Even as Kell's mouth opened to speak, the shivering little blonde of the gunwomen's shared acquaintance stumbled forward, nearly falling as she did, going to stand between the two of them. Just like that, all eyes were on her - guns beginning to be lowered, but never fully put away.

"No! N-No, don't...! Don't shoot! Please, don't...!" She looked frantically between Kell and Purity, her chest heaving up and down with each strained pant that escaped her lips. A new crisis arose in her mind: her friends, or her 'friend'? If she had to choose, then she would, but it would be hard to - And as her desperate plea fell on either other woman's ears, Kell let her shotgun fall to her side, now only holding it by the grip, not the pump. She continued her approach then, still hustling, each foot thudding softly as she rushed up to EJ. Esper James warbled out a cry of relief and deep emotional pain as the fear of her two friends killing eachother began to subside, her own trembling arms going to give herself a feeble, pathetic hug.

Purity stepped forwards then as well, the pistol she held in her hands going back to where it had been only moments before, her newly-freed hands resting on EJ's shaking shoulders. Kell knelt down in front of EJ as the trio made contact, her own free hand going to similarly offer comfort: caressing the ghoul's cheek and wiping away some wetness with her thumb. "Oh? Fuck. I guess I got here too late. But we've got to fucking go, you two. I know a place... it's in a seedy part of town, sure, but we've gotta take you guys somewhere they won't bother looking. Come on. I'll explain on the way. Bring the gun with you." Kell gave Esper James a gentle pat on the cheek and a sad-looking smile before standing back up, pushing off the ground with her shotgun to help herself up.

Purity opened her mouth to speak, likely to protest, but EJ's frantic nodding stopped the words in the club girl's throat. "Yes! P-Please, Kell, if you know a place...! We'll come with you! Just tell us what to do, please!" The desperate, groveling tone of EJ's words struck at the pair of women on either side of her like a chisel brought to a block of stone, softening Purity's expression to one of melancholy and causing Kell to sigh deeply. "Ok, EJ and friend, let's go. Down the stairs. No one uses them, and they'll be expecting us at the elevator, so like... God. There were more outside. In the lobby. We'll take the back exit."

There was no more time for rebuttal. EJ quickly ran back into the apartment, grabbed her phone, and then rushed out into the hallway - where the other two women waited expectantly, surveying either approach for hostiles. With Kell leading the way they raced down flight after flight of stairs, always wary to look down the stairwell for approaching Product Reclamation goons, but finding none, their descent was speedy. Once they finally reached the basement, Purity was struggling for breath, but the two second-living of their trio worked together to gain entrance. Kell knew the door code, apparently, and dictated it to EJ so she could open the thick, steely maintenance door. With a click it swung wide, revealing a large rectangular room of cold concrete and thick metal cables, littered with crates and other accoutrements required for proper procedure within a housing complex like Kehler. Once it was open, Kell ushered the other two through and slammed her hand into a large red button marked 'IN CASE OF EMERGENCY'. The door re-locked itself, and there was a loud sizzle-hiss as concealed thermite charges set off, welding it to the doorframe.

"Alright. There's a maintenance hatch on the far side of here that goes out to the next street over, and we've got - I've got friends there who can give us a ride. We can be in the old industrial district within the hour if we're fast, and I can... I'll explain on the way over. Come on. I'll take point." Kell's house shoes made soft clips and clops against the cold concrete floor as the trio made their way past boxes full of old appliances and spare parts, heading towards a solid metal hatch set into the far wall. When Kell got there she yanked it open, all the way to the ceiling, revealing a dim downward staircase lit only with small, impotent maintenance lights. She ushered Purity in first, then EJ, and then went in last, closing the hatch behind herself using an internal handle.

The passage was dim, poorly lit, and dusty. Months of disuse alone were made apparent as they made their way through, and it looked like a cleaner had never been here, but eventually they reached the other side - traveling in silence allowed them to make good time, but an already-winded Purity was barely chugging along by time the other hatch presented itself. Kell shoved this one open, too, letting her charges have some moments to rest; in the meantime, Esper James went to check her phone, taking only a brief moment to look at notifications on the lock screen.

No city-wide notice yet, which was usually sent to all Tsang personnel when their field operatives couldn't locate a target. A few notifications from tAsT, mostly other girls in the feed Purity owned messaging eachother or limply asking where Purity was, as she hadn't been active all day. Some other social media notifications. A few pings off of Graveyarde, a dating app targeted towards the second-living. And then, most recently, one that stood out from the rest and which made EJ's stomach leap into her throat and caused a new wave of panic to flood her sorely overworked body. A single text from Judas, a single query, so innocuous and yet sinister in its simplicity. It was accompanied by a picture of EJ's empty desk.

"Hey, EJ, where are you?" - J. ALIGHIERI