As he drank another sip of champagne from the glass he held in his hand, Isamu Rodriguez took a moment to reflect on his life. By all accounts his life was fairly enviable; he had just finished shooting scenes for the latest sequel in the hit action series “The Killer Assassin” in which he played the villain. The script was absolutely horrible, but it was almost guaranteed to make money because roughly ninety percent of the movie was either gunfire or explosions, and the other ten percent was women in bikinis. And, to keep the girlfriends who no doubt would be dragged to the theater happy, he spent the majority of his screen time with his shirt off. 

Leaving aside his burgeoning acting career, he was also an accomplished television and movie stuntman and a champion martial artist, holding mastery level in five different styles and a proficiency in an additional three. 

He was a total badass and he knew it. Screw all the assholes who said he couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag, he still brought in the crowds. They were coming to see him, not that jackass pretty boy co-star or the bimbo with the giant tits. Him. And he knew it.

“Hey Sammy!” Isamu was pulled from his thoughts by the boisterous voice of his agent, Micah. He turned to see the slick looking man in a grey power suit sidle his way through the crowd to his client’s side. 

“What’s up, Micah?” Isamu, or Sam as he was sometimes known, choked down the irritation with a sip of his drink. His slime ball agent always left him feeling like he needed to take a bath and check to make sure he still had his wallet, but he couldn’t fault the man when it came to doing his job. 

Of course, getting studios to sign Isamu Rodriguez, the hottest thing since The Rock, probably wasn’t all that difficult. Sam was pretty sure he could do it himself. 

Now there was an idea… 

It wasn’t long before Sam tuned Micah out. The older man was droning on and on about contract negotiations, studio power lunches, promotional tours and god only knew what else. None of it was particularly interesting. 

What was interesting, however, was heading his way dressed in a black string bikini. Her friend in the red one-piece wasn’t bad either. 

“Hey! That’s great Micah, really sounds good. Text me about it later, but right now I… yeah bye.” 

Leaving the bemused man behind, Sam dodged through the crowd, trying to catch up with the two hotties heading for the pool. He stopped for a brief second to check his appearance in the mirror behind the bar. He had exotic good looks, a mix his of father’s Latino and Japanese from his mother. The catch was he ended up playing all sorts of “vaguely brown” characters, but the upside was he set himself apart from all the pretty-faced white boys that were a dime a dozen around those parts. 

Still, he did more than all right with the “fairer sex.” Satisfied that his appearance was perfect, he weaved his way through the crowd after the hot redhead and her beautiful brunette friend. 

Several hours and many shots of tequila later; Sam and the two women, whose names he was having a hard time remembering, were naked in the Jacuzzi of the out of the way luxury cabin that Sam occasionally remembered that he owned. 

They’d been in that Jacuzzi for the past hour, getting to know each other better, so to speak. The redhead was currently seeing how long she could hold her breath and the redhead was nibbling on his ear.

“I love your tattoo!” She gushed, planting kisses on his shoulders. She was referring to the large picture he had between his shoulder blades. “What’s it supposed to be?” 

“It’s uh, the eagle from the Mexican flag, only instead of fighting with a snake, it’s a dragon.” 

Her brow creased. “Why would you get that?” 

Sam blinked. “Because I’m half Japanese and half Mexican. And, see, they’re kind of in a circle, like a yin-yang and…” He found himself trailing off at the vacant stare in her eyes. “I, uh, just thought it looked cool.” 

Okay!” she shrugged and went back to what she had been doing previously. Sam rolled his eyes. 

Suddenly, Sam was distracted by what sounded like a loud buzz saw. Or several of them. 

“Is there a wasp’s nest in here or something?” He sat up in the Jacuzzi.

“What?” Redhead pulled away, a grin on her face, “Who cares if there is?” She giggled and moved to kiss his neck again, but the noise was getting louder. 

There was a splash as the brunette resurfaced. “Hey, why’d you move? I was almost d…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened. “What the fuck…?” 

Confused, Sam looked over his shoulder. The whining buzz was now deafening. He felt his own mouth drop open and Redhead’s arms fell away from his neck. She suddenly fainted dead away and he barely caught her before she fell into the water. 

The object hovering in front of them looked like a massive black helicopter, easily an acre across. Bright white search lights dotted its underbelly and Sam found himself momentarily blinded when one of them passed over his face. 

“What the fuck is that?!” The brunette yelled fearfully next to his ear. “What is it doing here?!” 

The sound of the mysterious object was all encompassing now; they could barely hear each other over the roar. 

Sam hefted the redhead’s limp body, trying to keep her head above the water, meanwhile there was another splash as Brunette sank to a seated position. The water only came up to her chest, so her head was above the surface. 

She had a half-crazed look in her eyes, which were wide open and completely unfocused. It looked like she was in the middle of a panic attack. 

“What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck?” she muttered to herself, over and over. 

“Calm the fuck d-” The bright light increased to blinding white intensity, there was a high pitched whining noise that threatened to deafen them all. 

And then everything was silent, everything was black. 

*.*.*.*.*.*

Renna Tolemtra sighed as she set the heavy tub full of dirty dishes on the conveyor belt that led to the back of the kitchen. She slapped the big blue button on the side of the machine and with a creak the un-lubricated metal gears ground together and the belt whisked the tub towards the washing station. 

The young woman, barely twenty-three years old, had just finished an excruciating fifteen hour shift as a server at Continuum; one of the most upscale, and therefore expensive, restaurants on the continent. She absolutely hated her job, but if you could keep a smile on your face and the spoiled rich kids who dined there happy enough, the pay was decent. And there were many jobs out there that were much worse. 

The worn out waitress cracked her back and groaned. Finally finished, she was looking forward to returning to her tiny apartment and passing out for the night. She just had to go find the shift boss so she could collect her wages. 

She tried to feel more excited about the prospect, but she suspected that it would end up being more depressing than anything. Just like every other shift. 

She pushed the door that separated the kitchen from the dining area open and stepped from the steamy, overwhelmingly bright kitchen and into the softer lighting of the dining room. 

Around her the upper class (and those who liked to pretend they were) dined on ridiculously priced food and acted like they enjoyed each other’s company. 

“Hey, sweetheart?” Renna jumped as she felt a small pinch on her rear. After taking a second to calm herself, she reflexively plastered on her “work smile” and turned to face the customer who’d gotten her attention. Inwardly, a deluge of curse words was running through her brain. Her shift was over and she just wanted to go home.

“Yes ma’am, how can I help you?” Visions of blinding the woman with her own dining utensils danced through Renna’s mind, even as she kept her voice soft and pleasant. 

“Why don’t you go get us our check?” The lady had that smirk, the one they all seemed to have tattooed on their faces. The smile that said they’d never been told ‘no’ in their entire lives and they weren’t about to start now.

Renna blinked, the smile still glued on despite the overwhelming need to shove one of her extremely comfortable shoes down her throat. 

“I’m sorry ma’am,” She grated through smiling teeth. “I’m afraid I’m off shift at the moment, but I’ll be sure to tell one of the other servers to facilitate that for you, okay?”

“You do that.” The loudmouth jerk grinned at Renna before pinching Renna’s ass again. And in front of her date too.

The young waitress choked back the irritation. Still, it could be worse; she could be the one stuck dining with the slag.

She turned away and kept moving through the crowd of occupied tables towards the manager’s office in the back. 

Fortunately Renna managed to make it to her destination without any other customers needing something from her. She breathed a deep sigh of relief mixed with irritation, then reached out to press the small page button on the intercom beside the door. 

She could faintly hear the buzzing sound through the door and after a second there was a loud click and the door in front of her opened. 

She entered to see a small dingy office with a utilitarian metal desk and leather office chair. In this chair sat a blonde titan who was several years older than Renna herself. He was starting to go bald, with a receding hairline, which was very visible to the young woman as he bent over the data pad in front of him. Renna had no doubt he was working on the previous evening’s tally. 

Renna waited patiently for a moment, before her own desire to leave as soon as possible won out. She cleared her throat to attract his attention. 

The man looked up, his gaze lingering just a second too long on Renna’s chest, before finally meeting her eyes. 

“Oh! Hi Renna, I didn’t realize you were there.” This was a lie, of course, and a rather stupid one considering he’d buzzed her in. Nevertheless she put a polite, if slightly stiff, smile on her face. 

“Not a problem Jex.” She reached out and handed him the black electronic notepad which kept track of her service totals, efficiency statistics and customer satisfaction ratings and then used all that data to tabulate her earnings for the shift. 

Personally, she thought she’d had a good night, but sometimes it was hard to tell. 

“Okay then, let’s see how you did.” Jex tried to give her a charming smile, it came off repulsive. He opened the notepad and typed in his manager access code. The lens on top of the machine lit up with an electric blue light and a small holographic sheet appeared before his eyes. The numbers on it flashed as the small data pad calculated and tabulated the numbers she’d pulled in.

After a few seconds there was a small dinging sound and Renna’s nightly wage was finally displayed on the screen. 

“Wow. One hundred and fifty credits. That’s not a bad night’s work, eh darling?” He grinned at her; and she tried not to shudder, another tight smile on her face. 

“No Jex, not at all.” Of course, she knew better than to celebrate just yet. 

“Of course…” Jex’s tone turned regretful, which was another lie. “There are a few other matters that need to be factored in.” He typed in another sequence of numbers into the pad. 

Renna didn’t know why he always insisted on telling her this, she knew the drill. Some form of twisted sadism was the only explanation she could think of. All she could do, unfortunately, was bite her lip and wait for him to finish his little game.

“First, there’s the small matter of taxes,” He pressed a button and instantly Renna’s total dropped by fifteen credits.

“And there’s the share for the bar staff and table cleaners of course.” He tapped away at her pad entering another equation, unfettered glee shining in his beady little eyes. “We can’t forget them.” 

With the press of a button, another ten credits vanished into the void. 

“And finally…” Jex’s eyes narrowed maliciously, although his smile was still some twisted attempt at friendliness. “There’s the matter of the garnishment to pay the money you still owe to the company…” A single keystroke and Renna’s daily wage dropped like a stone down to seventy credits.

More than half of her take for the night, gone… just gone. 

“There you are, my dear.” Jex said jovially as he handed her pad back. “Don’t you spend it all in one place, okay?” 

“Right.” Renna replied bitterly as she exited his office. Her shoulders slumped and her legs felt like she had spent the evening walking in lead shoes. 

As she exited the restaurant portion of the complex and passed by the casinos she felt the familiar tug in her abdomen at the sounds and bright flashing lights. Against her better judgment, she sopped and peeked inside. 

Come on, one game. The insidious little voice in her head spoke. What’s the harm? You could win big, pay off your debt and leave this stupid job forever.

Oh, it was tempting. The data pad in her pocket seemed to become heavier, as if weighted down with the credits she’d just earned. How much harm could it do? One game of slates, maybe? Or putting a few creds down on a Tol’bot match. She was bound to hit a hot streak sooner or later… and then…

No! Her mind screamed and she shook her head, tearing herself away from the enticing colors and sounds. The image of her wages being curtailed to pay off her debts was like cold water in her face.

With a sigh she left, stepping through the brightly doors and into the cold dreary night. 

*.*.*.*.*.*

Syon Fand, multi-billionaire, entertainment mogul, media darling, and underworld kingpin, sat at her expensive heartwood desk, staring at the screen in front of her with an amused smirk. She watched on the display as the live feed from her security cameras showed Trell Pria, her little errand girl, enter the building and cut through the crowd to the back where the entrance to her private work area was located. 

Syon had, of course, been aware of her minion’s impending visit from the moment she’d entered orbit. Few things of note happened within the planet’s atmosphere and escaped her notice. 

So she watched as Trell bullied her way through the crowd of patrons at the bar, as she talked her way past the doorman at the back of the room, as she rode up the elevator and finally as she reported to the bodyguard stationed outside the door of Syon’s own office. 

Syon pushed the button on the side of her computer that opened the office door, revealing Trell in the flesh. The two of them locked eyes, employer and lackey. Syon could sense, and was somewhat amused by, the other woman’s nervousness. 

There was the briefest of hesitation on Trell’s part as the door opened in front of her. That just wouldn’t do. Syon frowned ever so slightly and tapped her perfectly manicured fingernails on the hardwood top of her desk. 

The desired effect was achieved. Trell slinked into the room, a small package clutched in her hand. Syon could tell, even though the blonde woman was trying to hide it, that Trell was unnerved by being in her office, or maybe by being near Syon Fand herself. Either way, the superior woman relished the emotional response that was created.

“Did you bring me what I asked for Trell?” She asked imperiously, arching one eyebrow and leaning forward to pin the younger woman to the floor with her gaze. 

“Y-yes. Of course I did.” There it was again, just the smallest hint of the effect Fand was having. Delicious. It made the older woman smile, just a little. The perks of being the one giving orders, instead of taking them.

Syon leaned back in her chair again, tenting her fingers on the desk in front of her. “Good. You’re not entirely incompetent after all.”

There was an expectant pause as Syon waited for Trell to deliver what she’d ordered. The silence stretched for entirely too long, and Syon could feel her patience wearing thin. 

Finally she sighed exasperatedly “Well? Let me see him then!” 

Within moments a visibly frightened Trell produced a long thin cylinder of glass and metal. Syon smiled as she took the tube into her slender hands. She ran her long fingers over the surface of the tube and stared at the sleeping figure inside. The tiny creature’s chiseled physique, tanned skin and that artfully designed tattoo that perfectly identified him as the human she’d been looking for. 

Oh yes, this was exactly the human she had wanted. Her lips curled into a sinister smile. 

After a few moments of admiring her latest acquisition, Syon set it inside the top drawer of her desk for safekeeping. There would be ample time for her to play with her new toy later. For now, she had other business to attend to. 

She turned her gaze back on her subordinate, who was currently doing her best not to attract her attention. 

“Well, you’ve proven to be an effective errand runner, at least.” Syon folded her hands on the desktop in front of her, and leaned forward, arching one perfectly sculpted eyebrow inquisitively. “Now, what news of your actual assignment…?”