Business as usual

A man in his 40s is sitting on the sofa wearing casual clothes of shirt and jeans. His black hair is back swept, showing a forehead with a scar on it, a little stern but also shows affection. He is Amar, Chief of the "Great Orca", a mercenary group. He is my boss.

Great Orca is a big name, but the group isn't as large as the name. We only have 10 members to do tasks, me included, with them divided into smaller teams per task. Amar will decide who gets to go with who. Most of the times he will send us as duos, getting 4 persons at once usually means the mission is dangerous

I put off my jacket and throw it on the table then sit next to him. Not long after, his daughter comes in with drinks and snacks on a tray, serving it to us. she then sits on the other sofa next to us. The already lively living room with tv and other furnitures became more lively. Cozy and cool, just like a house should be.

The daughter is younger than me, 14 years old. Her long black hair dangles gracefully as she slightly nods, a welcoming gesture to guest.

"Thought we didn't need a new safehouse somewhere" I start the conversation

"We didn't, until i thought we did" The man laughs "It's refreshing to be able to settle down somewhere, especially with a calm environtment like this."

I take a can of soda and cracks it open, it hisses immediately. "Home sweet home, huh? Well, good for you. Though i personally don't think a city is calm enough to be remarked like that" i say

"From the life in it, yes. It gets busy sometimes. That's why i chose the calmer spot. As of the shamans, there is no sign of them here. Those masked bastards must have missed this place." He says

"There are places like this too, huh?" I take a sip

"Yeah" he says, a short pause ensues before he speaks again "A client contacted us yesterday, they want us to escort refugees from Nye'a to Dimor."

"I'm listening"

"Nye'a is a region in conflict, race issues. It is quite severe that genocide has taken place."

"a request from the government?"

"I wish it was... but the government seems to be the one behind the conflict, the borders are tight and there is no information leak except the ones we got." Says Boss, "There are 7 people to escort, except them is not necessary. I'll send you the file. Whatever you do, don't intervene with the local government matters unless it involves the client. I have a feeling that the shaman is also behind it. You may wait for rain here if you want."

I look at the clear sky outside, no signs of rain. Something suddenly blows my curiousity about the girl i had met earlier, not only did we meet quite some times. We also happen to be at Rinston when we meet. Maybe boss knows something about her.

I go and tell him about the girl, where we've been meeting out of coincidence, her red-ish long beautifully tied hair along with captivating bright eyes. Boss laughs in response.

"You sure you didn't just find your soulmate?" He says jokingly "well, rainwalkers who hunt for informations and secret stuffs are not that rare considering the way we've been living. Ah!" He exclaims "I heard a new mercenary group has been estabilished a few days ago, maybe she is a member. The name's White Rose"

I nod at the information "where can i find them?"

"You can find their represantative at South Galactaka, just ask the people there"

I nod again, the conversation turns lightly. Just chatting about how the group is doing, which is relatively good. We usually do jobs involving conflicts or espionage. Somewhere during the talk, boss had to go so his daughter took his place accompanying me. Lara talks about many things, mostly regarding jobs. Seems like she's trying to get a grip of his father's position.

"Don't you think you should think of school more than these?" I ask

"School is important, but what father does is also important. Again, i could learn so many things with just that." She answers cheerfully, having lived under the pressure of getting caught anytime, she brings herself really well. I guess that's the sad truth about us rainwalkers, can't live a normal live without getting killed.

Well, people can choose to become a "legal" Rainwalker. Which just means living under the strict rules the shamans made, and a subject to various experiments.

After a while, it's finally getting cloudy outside. Rain is about to come so i say my farewell and head out. Lara walks me to the door and waves me a goodbye. After i call Adji, my equipment dealer. To prepare my loadout and that i will visit to fetch it. I go to the rain to connect, the cold breeze and drops of water surrounds my body. I close my eyes and in just a blink. I'm in the rain dimension.

I walk around, trying to find the dive point to Adji. There it is. I don't jump dive all the time, as for this one, i just stand and drop my body. I sunk quickly as the water gulps me whole, cold and fresh. The rain dimension completely drowns me. Not long after, i found myself standing in front of a convenient store with several people staring confused at me, some stands still not knowing how to react, some are in awe as they point at me.

Ahhh... What a place to emerge at...

Not minding them, i make my way into the convenience store and to a staff. He looks at me and greets.

"Good evening, sir. Anything i can help?" He smiles

"Yes, i want to buy a peace letter for my enemy. " I say as i slightly lean forward. I chuckle a bit, i just can't help it. It's so ironic.

"Did you have it ordered or do you want to see it first?" He says, still smiling although aware of the keyword.

"I have it ordered by the name Ardon"

"Alright" He says as he checks his phone, scrolling through some list. After a while, he nods. "Please come with me, sir."

He walks me through racks of stuffs, chatters of people picking their grocery fills the air. Then we got to the backroom. We go right to a shelf bigger than me . He knocks it a few times with ryhtmic knocks. The shelf drags open as soon as he is done, revealing a buff person who dragged it, we enter.

Inside is a room with various weapons ranging from pistols to machine guns on the walls and in the counter, heavier stuffs like bazooka isn't limited but i'd have to order it prior. On the corner of the room is a rainwalk port, it looks like a shower but with a tank of water entangled by stiff transparrent hose. The water is from rain. When used, it simulates artificial rain and showers the user, enabling them to rainwalk without relying on actual rain. It is an incredible breakthrough by a group of rainwalker scientists. Too bad they dissapeared one day and not many of these were made, probably the shamans' doing.

The staff brings me to a fairly fat guy with beard on his face, a smile widens. He stretches his arm and hugs me firmly, i hug him back.

"Nice to see you again, Ardon." He lets go of me "come here, i've got your loadout ready" as he waves his head left, pointing the counter. I follow as asked. The staff leaves immediately without being told.

"Glock 30, with extended mag of 13 bullets, 3 of them. I say it's become your best friend, matey" He says with a somewhat funny accent as he puts the gun "A HK416 attached with holo sight and silencer. 5 mags. Lastly, a bulletproof vest. Anything else? "

"I'm gonna need something to conceal these, got an idea?"

"Ah, haha." He nods repeatedly "Many of my clients have asked that and without anything like that in the market. I decided to take it on myself." He goes to check the backshelf then returns not long after with a long bag, it looks tactical with black finish. "I call it the quick bag. It's a bag to pack your guns in."

"So... An average bag?" I say as i raise my eyebrows half-jokingly.

"Let me finish." He continues "Whenever you need it, you can just put your hand into the gap and grab the handle to quickly whip your gun out and shoot."He proceeds to demonstrate as he said. The gap is right at the side, when he grabs the gun inside and pull it out, the bag opens swiftly. And so Adji poses with the gun held high.

I chuckle "quick bag, huh?. Quite a name, Adji. I'll take one and a silencer for the pistol."

"For sure" Then he packs the gun into the quick bag but he gives the pistol to me, i take it and slip it under my belt.

"Thought you're the type to keep your gun, Ardon. Well, not that i'm complaining." He says jokingly

"No need to cling to one if it means death" I reply

"Only when you have the money to do so, haha"

"Been there with a knife, it wasn't that bad " I open my phone and transfer him the money "i need to use the port, may i?" I ask as i put the bulletproof vest on and covers it with my jacket. The mags are put into the slot by him.

"I see that you've also paid the cost, you are permitted"he says as he checks his phone, then he goes to turn the port, one flip on the switch and the machine buzzes smoothly with the water streaming inside the hoses. I stand in it as the water showers over me.

I close my eyes and feels cold drops covering me, a breeze ensues. The makers knew what they were doing, this feels like actual rain. I rainwalked and when i open my eyes, ruins surround me, rumbled bricks all over the place. The air smells dusty and dark scented. People in rugged clothes with their face masked roams the place while one or two soldier with gun in their hands walk among them at some point. Some house have bullet holes on them, some have its roof broken, some were leveled and burned. Some still have blood stains on the walls or piles of bricks. Overall, it's almost a wasteland.

I can only sigh at the view, it's as if the sky turns grey although it's not. Race issue might have been an underestimation, it's a full-scale war already.