A Tale of Assassination

	Coffee. It’s what brings some people to life in the mornings. Dark roast, Blonde roast, whatever it is that people would like, loaded up with every single condiment known to man. For some, it’s their lifeblood. For others, it’s something to keep them awake long enough to get things done. For her, though, it was what got her through the day.
	“Aaaand here you are, miss. One Venti Macchiato, extra caramel syrup.” The barista places that large cup onto the marble countertop, and gets back to work a moment later. The recipient of that cup, a female canine with dark fur, long dark hair, and a business suit that could make any sort of politician jealous, takes that cup and simply makes her way over towards a nearby table. Once there, she opens the lid, pours in a torn-open packet of sugar, uses one of the nearby plastic stir-sticks to mix the entirety of that drink up, and puts the lid back on before taking a small sip…
	She grimaces. Not her choice of drink, to be sure, but it was enough to keep her awake, at the very least. For now, though, she simply reaches into the backpack at her side, and pulls out her smartphone. After punching in the seven-digit long code, she flips through her apps and files before opening up a lone e-mail.
	“Subject: kshUlh9347” The standard for her emails to say. After all, with what she was doing, it wouldn’t be good if someone found out about it, right? She opens that file up, and downloads the file that came with it. Local device storage size was always on the cusp of too small sometimes… Nevertheless, after making sure that file was downloaded, she deletes the email, and opens up the .pdf file that came with it.
	On that file, a picture of a male turtle, dark blue marks on his face, and a scar running under one cheek over to the opposite side of his chin. That picture looks back at her for a moment or two before she flicks her finger upwards along that touchscreen, showing the rest of the file.
	TARGET: Reshef T. Butller
	AGE: 52 Years
	SEX: Male
	AFFILIATION: Tech Mogul, CEO of Butller Ergonomics
	CHARGE: Distribution of Drug Paraphernalia and Sex Trafficking (Found Innocent in Court).
	LOCATION: Hasterre Research Laboratory for Medical Advancement
	VERDICT: TBT

	Well, at least this time it was someone that could be taken out without burrowing in on her conscience. She looks over the file and the picture for a few moments longer, making sure to commit them to memory before deleting that file, turning off the phone, and pulling off the back cover. She takes out the battery, and uses her fingernail to pull out the Micro-SD card that came with it. She takes it, puts it into her mouth, and bites down as hard as she possibly can before spitting that piece of plastic out into a small napkin.
	She wraps it up, and tucks it under her cup for the moment. After all, she had a lot of coffee that she needed to guzzle down, right? For now, though, she simply goes on her own, people-watching and struggling to get that cup of tar down her throat. Soon enough, though she manages to get through that thing. Without another word, she leaves a twenty-dollar bill on the table top, gets up, and starts to make her way out of that place. She had a bit of a walk ahead of her, after all.
	Once she’s near the doors, she takes that napkin-wrapped SD Card, and tosses it into the trash can, along with her empty coffee cup. There, now no one can say she was here, or use any of that data as evidence. Without another word, she shoulders her backpack, and starts to make her way down the sidewalk. Early morning greeted her with the sounds of chirping birds, busy streets, the occasional “HEY, GET MOVING, YOU BIG LUG!”, and the sound of the nearby harbor. Certainly a nice part of town, for those that live here.
	She starts walking down the sidewalk in her flat-soled shoes. Heels would be too problematic to move in, and she absolutely hated the way that they left marks on the backs of her heels… Flats are just as good, and they don’t make you look any less dignified. Every now and then, she hefts her bag onto her shoulder a bit more. She hated the feeling of both straps on both shoulders. One strap was enough, and she could leave the bag quicker than normal, should she have to get out of there.
	After a while of walking, she turns to her left, placing her hand out against the revolving door that led into one of the smaller skyscrapers in the city. When she walks through, she’s greeted by the sight of a name, embossed in light green cursive lettering along the opposite wall:

	HASTERRE PHARMACEUTICAL, LLC.

	Just what it was that she was looking for. Without another word, she makes her way towards the front desk, the receptionist waving a petite feathered hand.
	“Hello! Welcome to Hasterre Pharmaceutical. How may I help you?”
	“Ah, yes, I’d like to take one of the guided tours of the labs. You are still doing those, yes?”
	“Ah, yes, but we’re booked for the next thirty minutes. If you’d like, I could put you in for the next tour. Is that alright, miss?” The canine smiles the fakest smile she cane.
	“Of course, of course. I’ll wait over here, then.” And like that, she walks her way over towards the side of the room, towards a set of benches lining the wall. Well, that was a bit of a bust, but who was she to not try the most obvious method first? She rubs her face, the caffeine from the coffee starting to give her a headache… All she had to do was wait for the time being, and she could get into the place. In the meantime, though, she could take a look at the room, and see if there were any-
	Bingo. Security cameras. Three of them in different parts of the room. She’ll have to be careful when going through those… Soon enough, she straightens up at the sound of the receptionist’s voice.
	“Ah, miss? We’re ready for you now!” The female avian makes her way out from behind that desk, and trots her way over towards that bench, the canine standing up a moment later.
	“Ah, good, good. Shall we?”
	“Yes, please, follow me!” And like that, the two of them start to make their way down the hallway on the far side of the room. With every step she takes, the canine’s eyes rotate inside her skull, looking out for more of those security cameras… One can never be to careful, after all. Nevertheless, she walks along before making her way off towards a small side room, a good distance’s walk down the hall. “If you could just wait here for a moment or two, I’ll get Mister Butller to take you on that tour. Now, if you’ll pardon me.” And like that, the avian makes her way out of the room, towards the left, presumably back towards her station at the front desk.
	The canine rubs her face for a moment, that headache finally subsiding a bit… She needed some water, at the very least, to get rid of it fully, but there was no such machine or dispenser anywhere in her field of view…. She looks up. More cameras, though, less than the previous room - only one or two at the most. Her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of knuckles rapping on the door she had entered from, followed by said door opening to reveal her target - that turtle. Scars in the right place, and the coloration was good, too… Seems as though she’s found her target.
	“Ah, welcome! Welcome to Hasterre Pharmaceutical! My name is Reshef Butller, I’m the CEO of the company, and the one that give the tours here.” He puts out a claw towards the canine, who at this point has stood up, and made her way towards the new body in the room.
“A pleasure, sir. My name is Lena. I’m here to take one of your tours today.”
“Ah, good, good! It’s always good to see such bright young minds interested in the medicine business. Please, follow me!” And like that, the turtle waves a hand and starts towards the door once again, causing the canine to follow suit. The two of them make their way into the hall, and turn right. “So, welcome to the business, then. Tell me, what got you interested in taking a tour today?”
“Well, my mother was a nurse, and she had always told me that she wanted to see me excel in the field.” An absolute and utter lie. Like she would want to do something like that, anyway.
“Oh, absolutely wonderful! I’m glad to see someone that takes their time and puts effort into wanting to learn. Now, follow me if you’d please.” The two of them make their way down the halls, and through a set of sliding doors. The canine is greeted by the sight of a set of orange rubber suits with plastic visors attached to the face. Hazmat suits. Just what she needs. The turtle smiles, grabs a suit, and starts to pull it on, legs first. “Now, put one o’ these on, so we don’t have to take you out back and wash you down. I certainly doubt you want that to happen, right?”
The canine lets out a small chuckle before grabbing the suit nearest to her, unzipping it, and stepping into the dense boots that came included in it. After pulling the limbs onto herself, she reaches behind herself, grabs the zibber near the small of her back, and pulls it up, letting out that elongated “zzzzzzzzzzzzzzip!” sound. Once she had rolled her shoulders to try and get the fabric away from chafing against her fluff, she looks to the turtle. How long had he been ready, even?
“I do believe I’m ready, sir.”
“Heh, good! Now, let’s get goin’, then.” And like that, the two of them step through a set of double-doors on the opposite side of the room. The sounds of machines and people clamoring around meet her ears, and soon enough, the same sight fills her vision: people in light green suits going about from one machine to another, to another machine, to a box, to yet another machine, and on and on and on. “This is where we make our signature medicine, Polyhexalin. What we do is, we take algae from our specially-grown farms in the basement, grind them up, and then do a bit of chemistry to ‘em.”
	The turtle smiles, walks towards a small table by the side of the far wall, making sure to wave the canine over towards him at the same time. “Y’see, we end up using diluted methanol to break down the algae, and then use a special solution to…”
	The turtle’s words fall on deaf ears as the canine starts to look around the place once more. There were cameras here, too… She’ll have to pay the security office a visit, it seems. Especially with how gaudy this suit made her feel. She makes her way up towards the table, and starts to look at the contents on top. Vials, chemical bottles, even a dropper, how fun. She lets out a small sigh before turning her attention back towards the turtle.
	“...and based on that little experiment, we can use this medicine to treat canker sores, stiff muscles, even overactive nerves! It’s basically a Diabetic’s dream! How’s about that, yeah?”
	“Oh, it’s absolutely wonderful, sir. I think it would be good to see such a thing in the future! Oh, I’d love a sample, if I could get some.”
	“Hehe, yeah, I know what you’re sayin’... Tell y’ what, how’s about I take y’ to my office. I got some samples in there I’m willin’ to part with.” The entire time, the canine is looking through that visor of hers, at the turtle’s own face. That smile he was giving had more to it than he was letting on… She smiles, though, and lets her mind wander for a moment. How she’d love to see that face wide with surprise…
	“Well, if you’re offering, I doubt I could refuse such a thing, now, could I?” At the sound of that, the turtle grins, and gestures for the canine to follow.
	“Well, good! Let’s get these suits off. As much as I like the protection, they do chafe the shoulders a bit, don’t they?”
	“Oh, absolutely.” There was some relevance there, I suppose, but it’s not exactly on topic… She raises a brow for a moment, and simply follows along, making sure to take that suit off once more in that half-way room. After shouldering her bag once again, she looks to the turtle once more. “Now, your office, was it?”
	“Oh, yes, yes, please, follow me!” And like that, the two of them simply make their way down the hall once more, this time going farther than the room she had been in while waiting for the turtle to show up. The turtle leads her down that hallway, making sure to stop at an elevator about half-way down. After pressing the now-glowing “up” button, the elevator doors open for the two of them. They step inside before the turtle presses the second button from the top.
	“My personal elevator. I gotta have at least a little bit of opulence, right? Besides, I think we could use a little bit of a ride after all that walkin’...” He grins a small grin before looking to the canine.
	“I suppose so, yes.”
	“Hm… y’ don’t talk much, do ya’?”
	“Whatever do you mean sir? I’m just trying to take in as much information as I can. After all, I want to join the medical field, so I’d think it helps.”
	“True, true… Hey, I want’cha to know somethin’.” And like that, without missing a beat, he leans over, and presses the “Emergency Stop” button on the panel, causing the elevator to jerk to a halt with a “buzz” sound filling the air. The canine looks to the turtle for a moment or two, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Not unexpected, but still something she could look out for. “In this place… I am the King. Not Yolanda, not the workers, me. Got it?” He jabs a finger at the canine’s breastplate for a moment, as if trying to get send the point home…

	WHAP!

	The turtle rears back at the feeling of the canine’s palm pressing against the spot where his nose should be. “Hnngh…! You little…!” The turtle’s face becomes awash in a mix of fear, anger, and disbelief. She just punched him. Him of all people! With a grunt, the turtle throws a haymaker to the side. The canine just puts her hand up, and smacks him in the face again, making sure to block the sloppily-thrown punch he’d used. He falls backwards against the side of the elevator, the corner of his mouth dribbling a bit of blood.
	“You… you bitch! I am KING in this place!”
	“Certainly more of a jester from what I’m seeing.” Thank goodness, she could get rid of that ‘goody two-shoes” act. It made her feel sick using it, and judging by the look of surprise on that turtle’s face, her words are getting to him. “What could be worse than a jester than a jester that doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing, hm?”
	“W...What…?”
	“How about this, then. You attack me, I kill you, I will be on my way. Sound fair, then, sir?” She puts a bit more emphasis on that last word, causing the turtle to tense up a bit.
	“K-K-Kill me!? You rotten bitch, I’ll skewer you and turn you into fertilizer for the algae!”
	“Hm, yes, yes, do keep going on about that, will you? I’m sure that all the dme store whores you bought and OD’d were eager to hear about that. I’m sure they’re turning in their graves at the thought of you getting away, too.” At this point, she’s taken to picking at her nails. Sarcasm was something that she loved to do, especially in the face of people like him.
	“How… how DARE you!” And like that, he swings once more, the punch swatted away a moment later by the canine. Did she even look up from her nails?
	“Really, now, at least try to do something, you simpleton.”
	“You dirty bitch, I am a king in this place! A GOD-DAMNED KING!” One more punch, straight to the canine’s face. This time, after knocking it away, she grabs his sleeve, spins around, and throws him over her shoulder, to the tile-covered ground. He lands with a dull “thud”, and the canine presses a knee against his chest.
	“And I, my dear, am a god.”
	WIth a swift thrust of her fingers, she slams them into the turtle’s windpipe, cutting off his circulation. His eyes go wide, and his mouth opens as much as he can get it, gasping for any sort of air that was forced from his lungs. He wouldn’t be able to survive from a strike like that. You can certainly try to open up your windpipe again, but that takes major surgery to do it, and even then, from the distance they were from the first floor, he’d be dead by the time he’d get there. With the struggling turtle on the floor, she simply stands up, and moves out of the way of his grasping claws. Before long, she takes a handkerchief out of her backpack, and wipes away the blood from her knuckles. No trace. None at all.
	And like that, she straightens up, and watches the turtle stop his thrashing and flailing. With that done, she turns towards the panel, presses the “emergency stop” button once more, causing the whining sound to stop, and the elevator to start up again. She could certainly make her way to the security office on the way down, no? Without another word, she steps out of the elevator, and heads towards the nearest supply closet. She needed to get out of these clothes, and fast.
	With a practiced hand, she steps in, and immediately starts to disrobe. After stuffing her clothing back into her backpack, she pulls out a second set: a worker’s uniform. Maintenance, most likely. No one would bother her about it. After pulling those clothes on and placing a hat onto her head, she walks out of the closet, making sure to grab a caddy of cleaning supplies as she makes her way out. No one was the wiser. After everything, she needed to find the security room. No doubt that they were getting ready to review the tapes soon…
	A glance around gives her just what she was looking for: a map of the building. Oh, thank goodness. After a cursory glance, she heads towards the stairs. After opening the door, and heading down those concrete flights, she stops a few floors down from her original ascent. She opens the door, heads down a hallway, and knocks on the door a few times.
	“Housekeeping.” She speaks in a stereotypical “janitor” voice. A few seconds later, the door opens, and she steps inside. Once there, she takes her caddy, and slams it into the worker’s face, making him fall to the ground. Once there, a swift kick to the temple knocks him out. There… now, she could do her thing. She reaches for the bottle of cleaner that was thrown across the room, unscrews the lid, and pours the entirety of that bottle onto the nearby workstation. Sparks and electricity fly for a moment or two before the system goes dark. She smiles, reaches over towards a nearby console. After fiddling with a few buttons, a slot opens up on the side of the console before ejecting a small USB drive.
	She smiles, takes that drive, and puts it into her mouth. Just like the SD card before, there’s a slightly satisfying “crrrunch” sound as that thing is destroyed. She reaches for that caddy once again, taking the roll of paper towels with it, tearing off one, and spitting all the drive pieces into it before folding it up and putting it into her backpack. Good… job’s done. Now to get out of there.
	Without another word, she gathers her things into that caddy, and takes it out of that station… Now, to drop it off somewhere where people won’t care for it. She makes her way to the stairwell, and starts to head off towards the bottom floor. Her job was to take care of the CEO, not the things under the place. So, after placing that caddy of cleaning supplies under the bottom stairwell, she makes her way out towards the first floor stairwell’s door. She cocks her hat down a bit to hide her face, just in case, and walks out towards the revolving door. Good… now, to log the completion.
	Once she’s out on the sidewalk, she makes a left, and heads out towards the nearby park. There should be a payphone there, unless the local ruffians have done anything about that. Another long walk later, thankfully supported by a good pair of shoes, she makes her way into the park, reaching into her pocket to pull out a small coin. She makes her way towards that relic of ancient telephones, steps close, and puts that coin in before picking up the receiver.
	While there, she punches in a long string of numbers, around fifteen long before stopping and waiting… A moment later, she dials seven more. The sound of something ringing on the other end of the line gets her attention before the sound of a receiver being picked up meets her ear.
	“It’s done.” She speaks into the end of that phone for a split second before putting that receiver back on its hook. With that done, she starts off towards a random direction. They could find her if they needed to. They always do. Nevertheless, she simply starts walking down the sidewalk towards one of the more run-down ends of the city. After glancing around a bit, she gives a bit of a “stink-eye” towards a group of thugs that were hanging around one of the corners… after making sure to give them a few twists and turns in her route, she made sure to pay them no mind. If they came running, then that was their problem, not hers.
	After finding what amounts to a shell of a motel, she walks into the front desk, reaches into her backpack, and puts down a pair of one-hundred dollar bills.
	“I’ll take the cheapest room you’ve got for the night.” The attendant blinks, nods, and hands the canine her change before handing her a small key. A single “Thanks” is all the canine gives before making her way out towards the rooms… After finding her number, and turning the key into the lock, she makes her way in, plops her bag onto the bed, and locks the door… She lets out a sigh before heading towards the bathroom. She needed a shower. Badly.
	After cleaning herself up as best she could with what little water pressure they had, she makes her way into the bedroom, plops onto the bed, and simply closes her eyes for the moment… Honestly, she’ll have to wake up in a few hours for some food, but by then the money would be wired to her account. So, with that, she lets out a sigh, turns over, and tries her best to drift off to dreamland.