Overtime

Criminal activity had been at an all-time low on Millenium's sub-district in recent times, which wasn't to say it was any less present, there was just an odd shift of focus for most criminal activity to other cities. It meant his services were much more required now that your average cannon-fodder was getting beaten to near-death somewhere else. Junk had properly debuted a couple months back, yet now that business was booming, it felt much easier to get some crime lord or other looking to hire him. Sure, he didn't take hits nor did he take long-term contracts, but one can definitely benefit from a pair of extra hands dealing with turf wars and your average robbery. Trent's unparalleled knowledge did prove useful in his second professional life, way more than the customary services his company required of him.

Besides, being your own boss at age 24? A dream come true.

The gig this time was checking some shady figures doing some shady business. Not your usual shady too, these folks seemed to dissipate into thin air whenever the police or the mafia got close to investigating, traces of them made no sense, no credentials anywhere, no ties to any family nor group, legitimately a shadow agency if he had ever seen one. Junk was equipped to handle these sorts of things, the HUD helped picking evanescent trails of a smoke-like substance wherever they had been sighted, heatvision showed a mass of cold air inexplicably cut through the fuming pipes of alleyways. Junk had been after these weirdos for almost a week now, their modus operandi was still a mystery, but pulling an all-nighter or two, he could pinpoint the probable area of operation they had been acting from. Some quick research, a few info brokers tipped here and there, he could tell a couple abandoned factories and ancient metro lines where there could be activity. Tonight he had been systematically hitting these spots, his gut told him this time would be the time.

Juice pumping into his stealth system, the mechanical marvel crawled through some broken glass, the crackling of severed shards underneath his metallic weight alerting any small critter of his presence. "Crap..." He mumbled under his breath, hoping whichever insane cultist used this garbage heap as a hideout hadn't been made aware of his presence. Hopefully a leaking pipe or two would have the sounds muffled. Not that it would have mattered much, for as soon as Junk managed to recollect himself, the suit's adaptable sight only showed the absolute emptiness expected from abandoned places, a still air that clearly indicated the utter lack of human presence within the walls.

Those weird traces of smoke and the cold temperature, however, seemed to be present even moreso than normal, although nothing too decisive either. Trent walked around for a moment, scanning every nook and cranny, it felt like a barren location straight out of a horror flick. Which was weird, especially considering all the other places he had hit thus far. It felt way too empty, way too abandoned, like it had been done so on purpose. His suspicions would soon prove somewhat justified, when amidst the dusty air of this desolate place, a single box stood, untouched by time.

Trent stopped, carefully circling the object, inspecting it in every possible way. No radioactive properties, made out of standard wood, containing an unidentified body inside, no trap mechanisms, no technology associated with it's lock at all - other than the technology used to make an actual box. He kneeled closer to it, heart palpitating on his chest, and opened the lock. Nothing came leaping out, no accursed dark mist leaked, no demon was immediately summoned and released within this plane of existence. Instead, what seemed like a female body, frail and lifeless, with bolts poking out of her skin. Some horror movie murder, that was for sure.

Curious as he was, though, Braddock couldn't help but gently poke the metal chunks protruding out of the corpse's body. A terrible, terrible idea, for as soon as he touched it, a blue spark coursed through the metal, his very own energy drained from his very body, now connected directly to this strange artifact, and no matter how much he tried to pull away, it was as if forces beyond his control stuck both together.

Until, as abruptly as it started, it ended.

The room slowly fading back into that eerie darkness.