Snippet #1251198

Mitch, feeling himself be picked up and carried along, smirked slightly, before stuffing it away and adopting the necessary blank expression. He relished the sound of the doors opening to allow the foolish guard and himself inside. He hated how he needed to act completely helpless in these situations, but it was an act that requiered the utmost discipline, and he was not going to allow his years of self-training be wasted on an act of laziness. Mitch's memories, supressed with the ethanol he had consumed earlier, came bubbling to the surface, as the chemical's properties required him to be in active motion for the effect to be in place. He had been called upon to use this particular gambit once in the past. He was a few years back from what he was now, but nowhere near as green as he once was. He had to gain access to the mayor of the colony in question, but the only way in was through application of citizenship, followed by years of service in the militia the colony kept to keep people such as him out. After 'coming to' in the infirmary, he snuck his way into the mayor's dark, empty office and waited. Propping his feet up on his desk, and sitting in his obviously stolen pre-war chair, Mitch took a cigar from the desk and smoked it, casually holding it between his teeth as he waited for the poor fool to enter his office.

Two cigars later, the mayor entered, and began shaking his head slowly. "I take it you're here to kill me?" He asked sadly, a depth of sorrow evident in his eyes. "No, I'm here for the water chip. But, since you suggested it, yes, I shall kill you. It will be a perfect distraction." Mitch replied coolly, his goggles covering his eyes and lending him a certain malevolent air. "I knew it would come eventually. Please, make it quick; I don't want to see my people suffer, and I wish to die before they do. I wish to find peace for once." The mayor replied again, proffering his wrists towards his killer. Mitch nodded curtly, rose, and took out the kukri he had recently obtained. "Just business, sir. I hope you have a pleasent afterlife." Mitch spoke in a businesslike tone, before cutting the man's wrists wide open. He helped the man sit in his office chair, lit a cigar, and put it in his mouth. "I hope this isn't too unpleasent for you, sir. I wasn't told to directly kill anyone, and I've been feeling a bit, shall we say, pacifistic of late." Mitch said over his shoulder as he strode for the office door, absently wiping his blade off on a coat hung on a hook. "Comrade, nothing about death is unpleasent to me at this point. It shall be a well-earned rest." The mayor replied around his cigar. "I should hope so. You'll bleed out in another fifteen minutes. There's no help for you, so just sit here and wait, alright? I'll just take the chip, return to my employer, and be on my merry way." Mitch said coldly, before slamming the office door closed behind him.

The populace of the colony was devastated; their beloved leader, dead, with a bemused grin on his face and a stub of a cigar in his mouth. They didn't notice the chip was missing until a day later, when the water came up irradiated. By then, it was too late; Mitch had already set out for his next bout of wandering, which ultimately ended up with him at the Norman Raider's Riverwalk encampment.

Mitchh shuddered slightly as the memory invaded his mind, despite his best efforts to avoid doing so. He did not yet grasp why the human spirit was able to give itself up so readily, as both his mother and the mayor of the town did. It disgusted him, the lack of self preservation in both cases, but alas, it was beyond his control.