RAVAGE CITY

THE POISON APPLE

9:30PM

The neon colors of Ravage City illuminated the fixers red green eyes. Wild abandon had hit the citizens as nightfall sparked to life. It was time to party. A time to give into primal desires. Fucking, drinking, dancing, all of it could be done with no qualms. For Rhi, this was a time to hunt, and she had her  gaze on a target.

Rhi found the hotshot heading towards The Poison Apple--a stripper and sex joint that catered to high fantasy with gene junkies. Rhi snorted with a low growl when her target disappeared into the confines of the red light establishment. There was no way in hell she was going to waste her time going in there to look for her mark. Not with the headache that was pounding the side of her head like a drummer banging  with wild abandon

A migraine didn’t compare to the pressure splitting numbness that built up in her nasal cavity and frontal lobe. She felt like her face had been socked in by a pro wrestler thirty times over. At this point, Rhi wished some idiot would come up and do just that, deck her hard so she wouldn’t have to deal with the irritation of her nose being set on fire from the putrid musks that filled the crisp night air. Her olfactory zone was overstimulated from the scents of humans around her. Tar and bile, candy and oil, artificial strawberry and lemon zest all permeated from the the sweat of people that passed her by. Like a trained bloodhound, Rhi could pinpoint anyone as long as she had their smell. In a large group however, she tended to get overwhelmed. That’s precisely why she didn’t find her target Flint Jasper until now, the bastard caught onto that weakness of hers earlier in the week as she spied on him.

While waiting for Flint to come out, Rhi mentally went through her assignment. First Casey Moniker, a crime boss, had contracted her to go after Flint on suspicion of embezzlement. Second, she needed capture the thief and bring him to Casey. Third, if Flint tried anything Rhi was allowed to take matters into her own hands. Granted that meant getting her bounty fee cut in half considering Casey wanted Flint alive. Before she could continue further, Rhi grimaced upon catching a whiff of expired milk and jelly emitting from a woman that bumped into her during a drunken haze. Rhi forcibly pushed the intoxicated gal away, earning a fit of laughs as the scantily clad female swayed off.

Why do people have to stink so fucking bad? Rhi thought to herself after taking out a Crime Wave cigarette, shoving it into her mouth and quickly lit it up while waiting for her target to leave the establishment. Probably getting his dick wet with cunny juice. Who could blame Flint? Sex was good. The ladies and men that worked in The Poison Apple were sexy for gene junkies to boot.

The aroma of peach and weed musk filled her taste buds with a fervor. Nothing could ever beat the natural taste and smell of Crime Waves. Best of all Rhi couldn’t get high from them. The marijuana however allowed her to tune out most smells. Rhi could feel a pleasant hum floating in her nose now, the marijuana in the product saiting her olfactory zone for the time being. It was a terrible habit of hers, smoking. Rhi didn’t care. It helped her fit in with the local nightlife and spared her a couple hours of smelling genetic defaults in human sweat. Once upon a time when she didn’t have Crime Wave cigarettes to tame her senses, Rhi would get so fed up with the smells she’d end up killing the people that stood out the most in the crowd. Now that she learned to adapt to human society, Rhi realized that was a big no no to kill on the spot. Well, unless she was having a treat yourself day.

Inhaling for a final time, Rhi allowed the smoke to snake through her nostrils as she exhaled then put the rest of the cigarette out. She took a moment to gauge in her surroundings. There were hologram commercials playing on every corner, with the same stout middle aged man in everyone but with different attire from glittered out tuxedos to wearing nothing but a cowboy hat or doing an impersonation of Prince. Pop up Wheezy was the name of the actor. DNA havoc! Ravage’s favorite alcoholic beverage! Try out the new doberman flavor! Exotic and raw! Straight to your tongue! The Vipers Den has everything! Sex, drinks, 80s music, and personal rooms to cater to whatever devious shit your little heart can think of! Book a conference room now! You win some you lose some, but you’ll always be welcome at Drongos. Ravage’s finest watering hole! Let us cater to you! Rhi wasn’t sure which was more annoying: Pop up Wheezy, or humans in general. Both probably.

A couple passed by Rhi as she watched The Poison Apple doors like a hawk. Rhi caught the actions of the two for a brief moment out of curiosity.  Their eyes were a mess of blues, reds, and greens. Eye coloration like that was usually a dead giveaway that said person was a gene junkie. It was quite common on the streets of Ravage to encounter people who have dabbled with animal genes. Using high powered chemical cocktails to enhance one’s physicality via the traits of other organisms. It became an overnight sensation in the black market, genie, once upon a time, but had the worst side effects.

Their laughter got under Rhi’s skin. Especially the male who doused himself up with a genie cocktail of cat and frog DNA. He had bulbous eyes like a frog but the fleshy orbs had that signature cat slit as the pupil.  His feline features, the whiskers and button nose, were enhanced by his laughter, though he couldn’t help but make a ribbiting sound in his throat as the flesh would bob in time. The female, whom Rhi assumed might have been a girlfriend or fuck buddy, had canine DNA. She had two big floppy ears, a saggy face, and a semi snout. To Rhi she looked more like a baboon than a dog. Rhi assumed the female was a newbie to the drug scene, from her jittery behavior and single genie dose. More experienced genie users loved to mix and match animal genetics to obtain unique attributes. The young twenty something nearly barked when her gentleman caller tried his luck at tickling her. Like a rabid dog, she bit him hard and thrashed around like she was tearing up a newspaper. He let out a harsh meow, but laughed it off. His first three fingers on the left hand were dangling by a tendon, blood pooling slowly around him, but he didn’t seem to mind.

To be young, dumb, and fucking stupid.

The two swayed, bumping into one another like a couple of drunk high school lovers, shushing each other as if their parents were going to find out they were wasted from a prom party. Rhi turned to face them fully for a moment. They were annoying, but she couldn’t help letting out a chuckle at their antics, especially once their temporary tails poked out of their pants started feeling one another up. It made Rhi envious. She hadn’t been able to get out of her meatsuit in a month. Her own tail was chafing for all she fucking knew. Rhi could almost feel it trying to break out of her flesh prison.

Rhi’s attention went back on the establishment. Now that the Crime Wave smoke filled her nose, it helped her tune everyone’s scent out minus her target, which she was able to give her undivided attention. She thought back to how he smelled. His sweat was a combination of tar and peanut oil, greasy and bitter. Rhi allowed that scent to flow back into her skull, almost to the point where she could taste it with every deep breath. Clicks and deep guttural growls escaped her throat as she tasted the air for her mark. Her nostrils flared, flexing like a cocaine users after taking a hit. There was no chance in hell Flint was going to be able to escape her. Not tonight.

Her red-green eyes widened. Rhi’s pupils went from dark abyssal orbs to reptilian slits as the blue neon lights across the street lit up. Rhi blinked a few times to adjust to the new lighting, then noticed her target was moving out of the stripper joint and heading down main street.

Pfft. Didn’t take long. Twenty minutes tops. Flint must be ‘fun’ at parties if he couldn’t last an hour in there. Before pursuing her hunt further, Rhi took another deep inhale through her nose. Nope. Her guy didn’t get lucky tonight. There was no smell of sex lingering off the poor bastard. She almost felt sorry for the poor fella. Almost.

Rhi observed Flint Jasper duck for cover into the farmers market. The smell of rancid dog shit hit Flint like a pound of bricks and he brought up a part of his tattered t-shirt to cover his nose. Rhi could tell the barking was intense for him, and he looked like he wanted to throw up whatever contents he possibly drank at The Poison Apple. Rhi had the impression Flint purposefully came here assuming the smells from the canines approaching the slaughter houses would throw her off.  

Casually, Rhi took notice Flint would observe the food auctions going off. People buying the canines for meat resources. Flint jumped as a large doberman breed being shot between the eyes with a needle gun, stunning the animal while the butcher went to work cutting and separating the meat out to their customers. Rhi recalled overhearing Flint mention at The Vipers Den that he had eaten dog, but could never bring himself to butcher them. Flint was a rare type of man in this day and age. He didn’t like to get personally acquainted with his food. Rhi on the other hand, was quite the opposite.

Rhi could remember when she first encountered Flint at The Vipers Den when Casey first contracted her. She tried not to appear intimidating. Not on direct sight. Rhi flaunted her haughty nature, and bragged about how she was one of the best fixers in Ravage. A person whom made arrangements for people especially of a devious nature. It was much like bounty hunting, but with style. She could tell Flint was taken aback by the statement given that she was playful and a little too cocky. Even by first appearances, one wouldn’t think Rhi would be involved with some of the darker aspects of Ravage but here she was, talking to Flint like they were old school chums.

Her and Flint had hit it off well. She could tell he had a thing for her eyes. He even went as far as to compliment Rhi that her eyes reminded him of the rare emerald gemstone. She had him charmed like a snake. Upon seeing the red in her green hues, Rhi could tell Flint was thrown off and grew more cautious around her. Though he did compliment the scar under her eye. It was crescent shaped but flipped with the bowl of it turning up, meeting directly with those piercing orbs of hers. He said it was pretty, then quickly bolted once he put two and two together that perhaps Casey hired her and she wasn’t really into him. Rhi had a feeling too Flint got the vibes that she wasn’t a run of the mill gene junkie. Even with some of her animalistic attributes, there was something off about her compared to them.

Rhi could see Flint visibly swallow nervously after doing a quick scan of the farmers market and adjusted his shirt accordingly as he moved out of the area and away from the putrid dog shit. Flint was an idiot for assuming Rhi would never be able to get him. Besides for having a rep, Rhi knew people. Knew how to get the right connections to find her targets. He was impeccably stupid compared to other targets Rhi had taken down in the past. Most people that knew Rhi had a bounty on them would go to her at this point, saving themselves the trouble of being hunted down. They’d either try to kill her themselves or would make a plea bargain. Rhi loved it when people owed her favors. That’s why she was quick to take up those offers and half a bounty fee instead of the whole. Flint was running away like a coward, thinking he could outsmart her just because he got a tip about her sense of smell and how her head could get overstimulated from scents. She had to give him credit, at least he tried.

Rhi was so close to Flint now, she could practically taste his flesh.

“Hey tuna melt.” Flint froze, turning around after he felt hot breath creep against his hair and neck. Rhi’s voice penetrated his eardrums, and his heart thudded deeply in his chest. He was scared out of his wits that Rhi could almost clap in time with the sound his pulse was making. Like a deer in the headlights, Flint was locked in place, ready to meet the headlights of the vehicle. His skin was littered with goosebumps as he tried to hide a nervous swallow. That got Rhi to chuckle as she came around to talk to him face to face.

“You wouldn’t be trying to run away from me now, would you Flint?” Her tone was mocking, albeit playful in nature. Rhi was toying with him and enjoying it thoroughly.

“N-no. Nothing like that!” Flint managed to choke out, trying to sound normal. “People know better than to run away from you, Rhi. Look--I was in a hurry. A lot of errands to run, you know, for the boss. I need to be getting back to Casey. You know how he gets about people being late. I mean--he’s hired you before.”  

Rhi raised a brow. Looking over Flint like a parent would after catching said child in a lie. Playing dumb. Most targets of hers pulled this shit. It got old real fast.

Sighing, Rhi shook her head scratching the side of her cheek and smiled wide. Flint noticed how unnatural her lips looked. Almost like her mouth wanted to expand, grow larger, but restrained itself. Like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Meeting her red green eyes didn’t help the fear that was creeping up in his spine. Flint wanted to shit himself.  His body was bracing itself for a fight or flight response. His eyes widened as he noticed one of Rhi’s sharp shark like teeth poking out.

“Look Flint, I don’t know you too well even after during our little swaray at The Vipers Den. You seem like a nice bloke, but you pissed off a very powerful guy. You done fucking goofed, asshole. So don’t lie to me. Casey wants you dead for your little side business embezzling money from his personal account, but I’m going to give you a couple options to get out of this mess because--” Rhi was cut dangerously short as Flint in a moment of weakness and terror, pulled out a handgun and fired.

Flashes of light and the piercing sound of machinery went to work, the guns gears clicked rapidly  with the slick sound of flesh being pierced echoed throughout the marketplace. Rhi’s blood flew all over in a spectacular splash of different shades of red, her body flailed as it followed the impact of each bullet that hit her skin. The customers and owners of the dog farms moved out of the way, some screaming, others not caring in the slightest. It was another night in Ravage after all.

After Flint had made his move and bolted from the scene, the smell of the gunpowder began to recede and the strong stench of blood began to emit in their air. Everyone went back to business leaving Rhi’s body to whatever wanted to scavenge her corpse.

Rhi breathed heavily after five minutes of stillness. As she felt air fill her lungs, Rhi sounded like a feral beast catching a first wind after running. A gal smoking nearby watched, taken aback as the cigar she was chewing the butt end of fell from her chapped lips and toppled on the ground. The young twenty somethings eyes held a petrified look to them as Rhi slowly stood up. She was bathed in several streams of blood that stained the white over shirt she wore, seeping into the black t-shirt underneath the soft fabric.

“Mother fucker—” She gasped as a worn out series of chuckles began to escape from her mouth. These didn’t sound like the carefree childlike ones she had been displaying earlier. These were more sinister. And as the slick muscle of her tongue darted out, revealing it to be a dark blue color and gently swiped at her own fluids that painted her face, she vowed that Flint was going to regret putting a bullet in her hide.

Getting up, Rhi patted herself down, wincing occasionally from the bullets bee like sting. Her eyes glanced up at the woman who was still gawking. Smiling and giving an inhuman chuckle, Rhi shrugged her shoulders and gave the woman her full attention.

“You heard me right? I said I was gonna give him some options! Can you tell me where my shooter ran off too?”

Rhi had never seen a human pass out so quick.

“Well, fuck you too mate.”

RAVAGE CITY

THE ABANDONED AIRPORT

10:00PM

Flint’s right leg gave out on him after he  hit one of the light poles. His running became more weak over time. He pressed himself  to keep going, to get out of the area. He had pumped twelve bullets into Rhi’s body. She wasn’t going to be his problem any longer unless, but the repercussions for killing someone with notoriety was well on his mind. There were people in power that would be pissed off to hear a fixer such as Rhi went six feet under considering she was one of the best at taking care of people’s personal problems. In retaliation and in honor of the fallen, those in power could send out lackeys to pick off whoever did it.  Flint had to get out of here. Had to get out of Ravage, and maybe migrate to one of the other thirteen tribal cities. Carnivora sounded good. The violence and crime wasn’t a high point compared to Ravage. It meant he would never have to deal with embezzling scandals ever again.

He tried to calm his erratic breathing. His pulse had skyrocketed. Flint covered his own mouth to get his body to chill and took refuge in an alley. Now came the hardest part of this whole ordeal: waiting. Waiting for his body to calm down before moving on. Flint was near what was once an old airport. He could see one of the hundred year old planes in the distance now a decaying relic of the past with rust and vegetation growing from it. Planes hadn’t been used since the early 2100’s in Australia, not since the Resource Wars. The place was incredibly silent. Flint could only hear his own heartbeat, the warm air flowing from his nose and the semi humid Australian air that breezed by.

He had tears in his eyes now.  This was not how he wanted to go. Flint had dreamed of getting out of Ravage for a long time, and he thought stealing money from crime lord Casey would help him get out fast. He didn’t want to be in Ravage too once he found out the plans for city some folks had in mind. Flint slid down against the alley wall, hitting his head on the brick a couple of times. He felt stupid for believing that he could outsmart someone like Rhi or Casey, that no one would catch onto the embezzlements.

Flint remained in place for five minutes as he collected his thoughts. It felt like hours as his pulse ticked by like the hands of a clock on its last limbs. Somehow through the fog of adrenaline and anxiety he forced himself to look around the corner of the garbage bin. His dark eyes roved the area, not seeing anyone or anything. He quietly brought his head back.

Red green eyes stared at him mere inches away. Close enough he could see their reptilian slits Those hadn’t been there before. Flint felt several pops in his face that had a similar sensation to being bitten by a swarm of hornets; warm breath hitting his face like a steam bath and his vision disappeared in a wave of sickle sharp teeth and a blue tongue with its own set of miniature knives. He screamed loudly into the unhinged mouth of Rhi as she ravaged and skinned his face off with her mouth. She shook her head back and forth, sounding like a dog chewing up a toy. Warm blood hit her skin and Flints screams became deeper and echoed down her throat. She’d pull away after growing tired of using Flint as her personal pacifier, the skin of his face caught on the bottom section of her teeth as she could see the porcelain glow of his skull underneath delicate layers of muscle. She swallowed the last bits of his face. Flint was still screaming, his eyes now so big and bulbous without skin covering them that for a moment it made Rhi uneasy, recalling a zombie in an old 80s flick that looked like poor Flint in this sorry state. It didn’t stop Rhi from grabbing Flint by the head and bashing his skull into the brick wall behind him. It was like a bowling ball dropping on a watermelon. Bits of brain and bone flew in every direction before the body slumped over. Flint was no more.

Deep growls left Rhi’s throat as she collected herself. Her face was twisted in a glare that wouldn’t go away as she got up and decided to walk off her high. She stopped herself short feeling the sting from the bullets beginning to make their strike yet again. She leaned against a giant light pole nearby, her eyes closing while she focused on the sounds of the city. The various screeches from cars being stopped at the last second, the piercing sound of an angry group getting ready to fight, the voice of the warm summer rain hitting the ground, even the smells in the air had their broken promises and endless bounty. She could easily fall asleep right now.

Rhi took in a deep breath and another. Several bystanders appeared, exiting out of some night clubs and other establishments. Rhi composed herself and began to walk back towards Flints carcass.

“This is the worst walk of shame I’ve taken since I tapped that drag queen last spring,” She muttered to herself.  Such fuck ups in life made her laugh. It made it easier to get through the day. Rhi didn’t care for the outcome of this job.

Contrary to popular belief, the fixer didn’t like killing unless she had to. Unless she was hungry. Something she was reminded of when she came across the violent aftermath of her glorious display of power. Petrichor and the metallic scent of Flints blood intermingled in a lovely dose of a natural perfume. She devoured it like candy. Rhi didn’t want to kill him, didn’t intend to but he made his choice. Technically he’d done her a favor: One, she didn’t have to give him a backdoor out of Casey’s possible death penalty. Two, she got to sate her animal needs that had been neglected for a while.

Rhi licked her chops before her mouth receded back. No longer was it that huge snake like gape, but now she carried about her regular appearance. No big ass Cheshire Cat like mouth could be seen, and no sharp teeth either. She stepped through the oozing tar pit of blood, guts and skin to come across Flints wallet lying beside him. She pick pocketed then started shoving some of the brain matter and bone bits into her mouth. Rhi sat down and picked up bone and tissue like crumbs off a pizza. Her lips smacked in pleasure as she treated herself before having to haul the body.

“Jesus fuck. Flints mom should have been shot when she found out she was gonna give birth to this cunt…” Cursing was her personal therapy when she got shot.

Rhi was beginning to head out with Flints corpse dangling from her left shoulder like a stereotypical caveman carrying a woman to his den, when she felt the vibration of her phone below her knee in a pocket of her cargo pants. She sighed, feeling like perhaps maybe there was some deity out there that just wanted to see her bend over and burn from her wounds. Rhi reached for the cell phone in her pocket. She dumped the corpse down beside her feet while she took the call.

“Yorgi! You grade A cunt, how’s it going?” She tried to put on her most cheerful voice to keep her associate from picking up on her not sounding well.

“Hey Rhi we need to talk about the--”

“Look mate we can spit in the wind later I’m in the middle of tagging my mark.”

“But Rhi I need to--”

“Yorgi I love you, but piss off mate.”

While hearing her associate chat it up on the other end, there were more folks coming into the area, taking the party scene with them. As when Rhi got shot, no one really cared about seeing a corpse by her feet. A body could be lying on the street and no one would bat an eyelash until it rot. Such was Ravage life. A couple people had some perplexed looks when they saw Flints body next to Rhi. She knew she needed to get out of there before anyone got too curious for their own good. After being able to hunt and feed after such a long while, Rhi would love more than anything to tally up the body count. She needed to tend to her wounds instead.

“Yorgi I’m gonna have to call you back. I’m about to get some fast food and head home. Anyway if you bump into Casey, let him know I took care of Flint. We came to a mutual understanding on the embezzlement case.”

With that she hung up putting the phone back into her pocket, bent down and swung her prize carcass over her shoulder and began to head back home whistling an 80s tune she couldn’t remember the name of.

RAVAGE CITY

THE FIVE POINT FLATS

11:30PM

The clatter from the flats elevator came to a halt when Yorgi arrived at his and Rhi’s pad. A large yawn escaped his mouth as he scratched the dark stubble on his face with two cybernetic fingers. One was getting rusty after the first month. The cheap metal was wearing thin. His back shivered, still not use to the cold his new limbs emitted before he pushed the elevator door up and out of the way. Home sweet home, he thought to himself. Yorgi paused for a moment to observe his and Rhi’s flat. 80s memorabilia such as posters littered the walls. Intricate tapestries hung from the ceiling. Ten of their fans were spinning at a snail's pace, doing little to get rid of the humidity. The flats deck area was covered in lights, some were blinking rapidly while on their last limbs. Pillows and shirts were littered on the living room floor nearby the L couch. He could smell Rhi’s scent which was like peaches and cream permeating from that area. Yorgi needed to remind Rhi that her nests needed to be picked up after she was done phasing. He’d wait until tomorrow to fight with her on that. He was exhausted. Besides earning his fixer bounties for the night, he had been trying to track down Rhi. He was still mildly irritated at how she had hung up on him earlier. He then proceeded to the kitchen to get a much needed drink.

Yorgi kicked off his boots near the fridge and rubbed the sweat off his face with both his palms. Yorgi stopped midway after taking a big inhale. Something smelled god awful coming from their secondary living room. It was a rancid flavor. He followed the trail, inhaling occasionally before he found the source, a corpse on the couch, and nearly leapt like a gazelle evading a lion’s frontal attack. Panting heavily, Yorgi observed Rhi watching television. 80s and 90s esque shopping commercials played on the Nostal-Channel. Her four fingers dipped into Flint’s carcass, pulling up intestines and god knows what else like it was a bag of popcorn and munched on the organs contently.

“Crikey!” Yorgi breathed out loud.

Rhi’s nostrils flared when she picked up on Yorgi’s scent, smoke and whiskey, and she turned her head to face a highly irritated associate. His arms were crossed, looking down at her like a parent catching their child sneaking back into the house after they had been on a drunken rave binge with friends. She smiled big then grinned to show off those sickle teeth, stained with blood.

“Hey buddy!” She exclaimed.

“You got shot. You’re bleeding into the couch. You fucking suicidal imbecile!”

“How observant of you.”

Yorgi sighed and face palmed, rolling his eyes as his head shook.

“Rhi, you said you were off getting fast food.”

Rhi looked down at Flint’s carcass that was sitting beside her on the couch as if she were having a movie date night. The arms were even resting at the top of the black furniture like so. Not batting an eyelash, Rhi once more dipped her hand into Flints stomach and pulled out an organ and plopped it into her mouth. As she munched, Rhi gave an innocent shrug to Yorgi’s remark then looked him dead in the eye as she chuckled.

“Well he ran, didn’t he?”

She wasn’t expecting Yorgi to backhand her upside the head that quick.

RAVAGE CITY

THE FIVE POINT FLATS

12:15AM

“That looks bad Rhi.” Yorgi murmured as he sat in on one of the stools nearby, his dark brows furrowing tightly as he observed how deep the bullet wounds traveled. In the bright lighting and with her shirt off, the injuries looked more grotesque. It didn’t bother Rhi as she took a pair of tweezers and sunk it into one of the fleshy pockets. The gurgling sounds from metal meeting squishy flesh bothered her ears as she winced, digging around for the bullet before clamping down and ripping the bullet out. To Rhi, this was the equivalent of ripping a botfly maggot from the skin. Bullets behaved a lot like them, wanting to burrow further and greatly resisted being pried at.

“It could have been worse. I’m getting better at pushing them out. Gotta give me some credit there.”

“Last month you could handle up to five bullets after shooting yourself.”

“You got a point to that?”

“My point being is you took twelve hits!” Yorgi gestured with his hands, counting the amount on his fingers, exaggerating some but nonetheless was trying to get his point across to her. “Twelve my friend, twelve! Twelve shots tonight you crazy bitch!”

“I could use twelve shots of another kind after this if you catch my drift--”

“No, no drinks for you after tonight.” Yorgi interrupted.

Rhi couldn’t help but smile, trying to suppress a laugh as she went to work digging another metal seed out. Yorgi was right about one thing, even though he didn’t outright say it. She needed to take it easy when it came to testing her body’s limits. Then again Rhi wasn’t one to hold back when it came to pushing past the envelope, even if it ended up killing her in the process. If she could push science past the edge of no return, then surely there was a way for her to expand on her meat suit.

“You sound like my ex when you worry.” Rhi said.

“Well if your ex was alive, I’m sure he’d have a heart attack knowing the freaky shit you dab in.”

Rhi smiled again as she ripped another bullet out and placed it into a tray nearby with a solution at the bottom that would eat away any traces of her blood. Sighing, she took a moment to wipe off the sweat that had been trickling down her face with the backside of her palm.

She decided to change subjects while the ball was in her court otherwise she wouldn’t hear the end of his lecturing about self care. “I’m going to need a clean up crew at the site where I killed Flint.”

Yorgi rubbed at the fine black hairs on his chin. His eyes held a sadness in them. Yorgi knew what she was doing, once more trying to push him away. Even though Rhi had a hard ass nature, he had the feeling  she often downplayed her personal bullshit, getting shot or otherwise, so others wouldn’t worry too much about her wellbeing. Or it could have been her animal nature telling her not to appear wounded for fear of being challenged.

“You’re perfectly capable of ripping apart a human body, you’re perfectly capable of handling the cleanup by yourself. Not to mention you could have licked the place clean.”

Yorgi snorted as Rhi looked at him via the rustic cheval mirror she was using to help see her body in the bathroom.

“True I could take care of the mess, but given half the women Flint slept with I wouldn’t be surprised if I catch an STD and die tonight after eating most of him. I might be too sick to clean up. Besides you wouldn’t send poor little me out there after I got shot up, would you?”

The quietness of the room was interrupted by Yorgi’s booming laugh. Despite not knowing much about Flint, it was well known in Ravage he was a bit of a man whore. Rhi could attest to that given how he had come onto her at The Vipers Den.

“Poor little you? Don’t make me laugh. It’s funny how Flint had a penchant for fucking women according to Casey. Didn’t think the poor bloke had it in him. I thought for sure Flint was under the belief to never trust something that bleeds for days and doesn’t die. Much like yourself.”

“The period joke is a little juvenile, don’t you think Yorgi?”

“Hm..you’re right I need to work on that. Considering you don’t go through what most females endure.”

They both snorted, then went back to enjoying a few moments of silence. The two knew as soon as Rhi would haul the last of the bullets from her body the serious talk would begin. They’d have to be quick and on the clock to get their shit done. As Yorgi let out a puff of air, he nearly regretted going out for the night to take care of his own marks. Then again he wasn’t expecting Rhi’s meet up with Flint to end this bad.

Once the final bullet had been snatched, Rhi fell back into the chair in full. Letting out soothing breaths. Her chest would slowly rise and fall almost to the point where she could easily fall asleep. There was still work to be done in the young night, and her red green eyes shot open and she adjusted in the chair accordingly to face her associate.

The three large claw scars on the left side of her chest illuminated more under the light after she moved, and Yorgi’s throat bobbed as he briefly gazed upon her breast area at the patches of rough pink skin. Even after all this time they had known each other, he felt intimidated by her body . He found it honoring and scary he could sit in the same room with her at times and hold a conversation like two old school buddies, especially when Yorgi knew what Rhi was. Truly was.

“Let’s get something straight, I would have cleaned up the scene, but I got sidetracked.” Rhi began, giving a brief pause as she locked eyes with Yorgi, making sure he was listening in full. “Flint was involved with Dingo Snake Exy.”

The raised brows and the “o” shape at Yorgi’s mouth showed his shock. Nine times out of ten, if Yorgi thought something was up shits creek his face would contort into a variety of obscene features.

“You being serious?” He asked.

“As serious as I am about purposefully letting Flint shoot me up so I could get a few days off from this fucking job.”

“Wait, so you allowed yourself to get shot just so you could take a fucking day off?”

“Duh.”

Rhi smiled and winked much to Yorgi’s chagrin. “Anyway…what makes you think Flint had it in with the ‘mother nature’ cult?” Yorgi asked.

“On the way back home I dug through Flint’s wallet. He had some sticky notes cramped up where his money should have been. Apparently he was helping Dingo Snake Exy smuggle in GMOs. Fifteen specimens were promptly delivered to them.” Rhi said.

“Flint never gave the impression he was a smuggler.”

“You learn something new everyday about humans,” Rhi paused and continued. “The only place anyone can get GMO’s is from Carnivora, but their security is so tight I don’t see how a guy like Flint could get in, much less persuade someone to let him leave the city with any modified creature. I remember when we had to smuggle GMOs it was a pain in the ass. We barely made it through. Hell we don’t take those gigs anymore, but how did he do it?”

Yorgi sighed. “There’s always Rikers Enterprises. They’re within our borders. God knows what kind of stuff they are up to in there when it comes to genetic engineering.”

Rhi had to agree with her associate, except there was something that didn’t set right with her. Rikers was a secretive company within Ravage. They worked on biological enhancements to help save humanity from the impending doom of global warming and resources near run dry. The company was founded in 2112 around the time the Australian civil war subsided and worked on creating genetically modified animals that could adapt to an earth that lacked clean air, water, and other valuable natural resources. After a number of years Rikers tanked, money ran dry, but they still continued to produce product and work with the other tribal cities in the area to de-extinct plants, clone dogs and cats for the farmers markets since bovines were permanently extinct, and the like. Rikers was a humble company. They kept to themselves, provided resources for citizens in Ravage and the other tribal cities, and people left them alone.

So after all this time of keeping a low profile, why the hell would they be involved with Dingo Snake Exy? If Flint wasn’t smuggling from Carnivora, Ravage’s sister city, then what business did he have taking from Rikers Enterprises?

Rhi was in deep thought. She hadn’t said a word in a while. She contemplated about her possible connection to Rikers. Given that Rhi wasn’t human, not in the slightest, it was assumed the company had something to do with it.

“So what are we going to do?” Yorgi asked.

“First, I want you to take care of the cleanup for me while I recover. Then I want you to do me a solid and go to The Poison Apple where I caught Flint poking around. See if he talked to anyone from Dingo Snake Exy or otherwise. It’s not our place to get involved with the cults business unless they pay us, but I gotta figure out how the hell a cockroach like Flint was able to get his hands on GMOs.”

“Why the urgency?” Yorgi asked.

“Yorgi, think about it. The last time we had a job smuggling GMOs we nearly got our asses handed over. If we didn’t have enough money bragging the cops to get off our butts we would have been executed given how valuable the assets were that we stole for Richfield Rex. Figuring out how Flint pulled it off would be a business opportunity for us.” Rhi’s enthusiasm leaked in her words.

“You got a point Reese.” Yorgi smirked. He liked the direction she was going. There was more money to be made in smuggling GMOs than taking care of people’s personal problems in the fixing world. Rhi and him needed a new scene.

For now, Rhi needed to rest. Maybe have a few drinks before taking a dive into the covers of a warm bed. She couldn’t do much when she had taken quite the punch.

Yorgi sighed and got up from the stool, looking down upon her as he mentally prepared himself for the long night of work ahead. Cleaning up murder scenes was his forte. He had seen brutal shit, but there was something unsettling whenever he had to take care of Rhi’s killing sprees. Which is why most of the time she took it upon herself to do his job for him cause most cases were so ghastly, he’d end up hurling.

“Before I go I got a call from your pal BWM. He was wondering if you’d help him out on an assignment in the Ruin District. Said he’s willing to make a cut with you, yeah?”

The tired, almost glossy look in Rhi’s eyes were subdued by intrigue as her orbs widened subtly. She seemed to perk up rather quick.

“Did he mention what kind of assignment it was?”

Yorgi shook his head. “He said he’d give the details to you personally either by phone or in person. You know how eccentric the mother fucker is.” He smirked. “But since you’re hurt and now on a temporary vacation I guess I could take the job in your stead and—“

“Nah I’m good. I’ll call him first thing tomorrow.” Rhi said.

Yorgi had an exasperated look on his features as he groaned.

“You went through all that trouble getting your ass nearly blown up just so you could have a few days to yourself, now you’re suddenly feeling better to go help BWM?”

Rhi smirked, shrugging as she closed her eyes again. This time letting the gentle coax of sleep take her momentarily.

“Hey, I need money still since I lost out on the fifty grand killing Flint in a rage. It was worth it to me at the time, but I know Casey wanted to do it himself. He’s not going to happy with the results. And more money equals food and paying off cops.”

Yorgi couldn’t argue with that. He swallowed roughly. Trying to keep it subtle but Rhi knew this part of the clean up job when it came to her dealings always bothered him to one degree or another. It was a fact of life, and considering what the woman was, this was only natural.

“Do you want the remains of Flint on the couch rare, medium, or well done?”

She could almost smell the flesh again upon hearing Yorgi’s words. Her long dark blue tongue darted out slowly from her mouth like a snake exiting its den as she licked her chops. Her eyes half open as she looked over at Yorgi with a carnal smile.

“Just put them my freezer when you’re done. G’night Bushy Baba. Owch!”

Strike two for Yorgi backhanding her.

“You know I don’t like you using my old stripper name.”

Rubbing her head, Rhi smirked. “Why, is it giving you an existential crisis?”

“Nah, just further proving my point that nothing matters in the world. At the end of the day we’re all lousy strippers. Trying to put our bodies out there for someone to take interest intermingling their genes with ours so we live on somehow. Life is about fucking and getting fucked over.”

“If nothing matters then why did you care about me calling you Bushy?” Rhi countered.

“I--well--” Yorgi was at a loss for words on his hypocrisy.

Rhi shrugged not knowing anything clever to say. She always felt put on a spot when it came to Yorgi having one of his nihilistic rants. Most people in Ravage had a passive aggressive approach to nihilism much like Yorgi. It was the staple diet for people’s minds in the day and age and fit well with their Roman empire culture where everyone knew society was collapsing, so they drank, fucked, and were merry until it was over.  Rhi could wrap her head around it to a degree, but like a child, she was still learning the mechanics, the deeper meanings.

“Hey Yorgi,”

“Yeah?”

Rhi figured before the night was through for her, she’d amuse her associate. Snap him out of his funk.

“Last month when I got out of my meatsuit, a man saw me.”

Yorgi’s eyes widened. “Is this something we are gonna have to worry about?”

Rhi shook her head. “I took care of it. But he called me something I never heard of before. Dray-juh.”

“I think the proper term is drah-geh.” He corrected.

“Ring a bell since you’re the language expert?”

“Eh, not really. But it sounds like old Norse. If I could compare it to anything in old English it sounds like dragon, chimera maybe?”

Rhi leaned back in the seat, nodding in approval. She whispered the word to herself several times. For years Rhi had been trying to find something, a word that separates her from the two legged apes she had to share the planet with. Finding her name was easy, but a species name was a whole other job in itself. This new word seemed to fit the bill.

I have 1,088 followers. It’s amazing, really. I’m truly thankful to every one of you, but to be honest I am not happy at all with it and how I got here. Here’s my perspective: I barely interact with people versus when I had a small cluster. Hardly anyone interacts/threads with me except maybe sending in a rp meme or two. I only have lengthy threads with one to three people. I feel like I’m being used mostly as a meme resource for other rp blogs and not being taken in interest.

That’s part of it. I’m also saddened that I haven’t been able to talk to people intimately ooc like I use to. I miss getting to know muns and seeing how people are doing outside of the internet because I am one of those people that legitimately does care about the persons behind the character(s). I miss having time for it. That’s a big reason for why I started this blog in the first place. I’m also crushed that many people I interacted with have either left or we just don’t click any longer. I know people come and go, things change, and I accept that in earnest but it hurts when you’ve grown with these people and to be left on the sidelines feels intrusive in many ways for me. Like to know another human being so intimately and platonically for a long period of time then to have that uprooted like it was never there, feels intrusive. I don’t feel community anymore.

I feel burnt out for the strangest of reasons. In between health problems and college, I think I might be suffering from ‘social media fatigue syndrome’. I’m tired of tumblr. I’m tired of many social media platforms. I feel pressured to use them in order to not only keep up with people, but to get my name out there so I can be successful in what I want to pursue career wise. It’s essential I do partake in social media, but at this point I’m wondering at what cost. 

I know I haven’t been as active as of late because of health issues and college (so please don’t assume I’m blaming ya’ll for this shit I am talking about), but this burn out has been happening for a long period of time and I think in combination with the life issues mentioned, these feelings finally spilled over. It finally got me to see the bigger picture that I’m not happy at all role playing or writing in general. That has to stop. I have to nip that negativity in a bud because if I can’t write or do art of any kind, then I’m fucking myself in the worst way possible. 

I plan on archiving this blog until further notice. I don’t expect people to care, to respond, or to do anything. And I don’t mean that negatively (so for the love of god don’t assume a guilt trip). I merely mean that I truly don’t care anymore what people think of what I do or say. It’s a strange kind of zen that I have been experiencing. Like you can be cool with all this or not, whatever makes you happy then awesome. I’m glad for whatever you feel. Fuck, you don’t have to agree with anything I’m saying or think the worst, but I really don’t care. If you’re happy with the thought, then I’m happy too. 

Rhi is still with me and I will be finishing up my novel about her and the world I have created. I haven’t lost my muse. She’s too strong of a character to simply flick away in the back of my conscious. Rhi’s here to stay, and maybe when I am feeling better and maybe when I feel ready in mind, I’ll return here with fresh eyes and a better outlook. 

If you want to keep in contact with me, hit me up with a message and I’ll be more than happy to give you some other platforms I’m on. I may continue to talk with people on tumblr via messaging, and may reblog on here occasionally but I’m not rping on here until further notice.