Barren Lands

The hoverbike whirred noisily as it came to rest outside of the Burnbranch Saloon. Kurt lifted his sand goggles off of his face and wiped the sweat from his brow. It'd been a scorcher of a season, and it didn't seem like the heat was going to let up any time soon.

Kurt swept his leg over to the right side of the bike and stood to his full six feet tall. He shaded his eyes and surveyed the surounding area. The streets were empty except for a few desert rats and a lone tumbleweed that slowly meandered across the road to his left.

"Well, damn," he thought, "These folks certainly know how to take French leave."

He strolled to the swinging doors of the saloon, pushed them open and stepped inside.

A wanted killers head was in Dalias right hand. She carried it by the hair. The blood dripping from the neck said the kill was still fresh, the expression on the face said death was horrid and painful and the state of the neck as it was a messy separation said that the head had been torn off with pure strength. Outlaws knew Dalia. She was their worst nightmare, rumored to be the devil in person. When outlaws learn of her whereabouts they try to leave the area as soon as possible. Only the few who didn't know her stayed.

Dalia walked into the sheriffs office wearing a sleeveless black turtleneck top and long camopants. In her mouth was a half-smoked cigarette. She threw the head onto the table and said: "I have come here for the reward." Her voice was sweet, only the fewest would noticed it being slightly metallic. It was so little that her voice would come across as human for the normal ear. For trained ears and modified ears, it was a well done human voice but still hinted a cyborg. The sheriff looked up and noticed slightly visible lines on and around Dalias face, they were like extremely thin cracks. "Cyborg eh? Here is your reward. 50 gold coins." The sheriff said. Then Dalia said: "I get that a lot. Might be the cracks." Dalia then left.

She then entered the saloon and said down near a brown haired man.

The doors swung open with a creak. Kurt stood in the frame for a moment, his shadow draped across the bar.

The saloon was mostly empty. There were a few other bounty hunters in the back corner, but other than them, the bartender and Kurt himself, it was deserted.

Kurt approached the bar and sat down a gold coin.

"Mule Skinner," Kurt said simply.

The bartender nodded and came back with a glass of dark fluid. Kurt took it and sat down at a nearby table.

He stuck his hand into his coin pouch and counted what he had left.

"Only 15 coins?" He thought, dissatisfied, "I've got to find a bounty soon, or I'll starve."

He took a large sip of his beverage and a warmth spread through his chest.

Suddenly the quiet was interrupted by the doors swinging open again. This time, a woman who looked to be around Kurt's age stood in the door.

She walked into the saloon and crossed the room, taking a seat at Kurt's table.

He stared into his drink for a moment, quietly assessing the situation.

"You know, it's probably not safe for a lady to be in a saloon at this time of the day," he smirked, "She might find herself in a bad box."

"Not safe? What? I not just some lady. I am feared here. I am Dalia Waran, bounty hunter." Dalia answered. Then after hearing her name, one man ran out of the saloon. Dalia then showed her pistol. "If I have the choice between dead or alive, I normally bring them dead, maybe even just their heads. You shouldn't judge someone by their gender. By the way who are you? Are you also a bounty hunter or are you a convict I would probably have to turn in? There are too many of them these days, especially after those rumors of that huge treasure."

"There are too many of them these days, especially after those rumors of that huge treasure."

Kurt blinked, but remained staring at his drink.

"Beg your pardon, miss. Didn't mean to offend," he replied, "You won't have to turn me in. I hunt 'em just like you do."

Kurt drew his revolver and placed it firmly on the table.

"Though I try to keep 'em alive if the reward is higher."

He took another sip of his drink and looked up at the woman across the table.

She had dark hair and fierce, golden eyes. She was clearly cybernetically modified.

"Name's Kurt, ma'am. Most folks call me 'Doc,' though. I'm a bit of a tinkerer."

The man apologized and introduced himself as Kurt but nicknamed Doc. He also stated that he would rather keep criminals alive if the bounty was higher. "Well Doc, there is a mass wave of criminality and it is expected to get more in time. Should we maybe team up for higher odds of getting rewards and to make work somewhat easier? Maybe we will find the treasure before the outlaws do and use it for something reasonable."

At that moment, a man burst into the saloon with pistols in his hands. He was followed by his own gang. "Everyone! Put your hands gun and give us your valuables." He said. Then Dalia said: "This will be interesting and pulled her gun. Within a split second, she pulled the trigger of her large caliber handgun. The bullet ripped up the arm of the bandit. It shredded the arm but revealed that the bandit was a cyborg as instead of blood a blue liquid sprayed and metallic pieces fell to the ground. That's when a shootout started. The bandit retreated while his gang intruded into the saloon. Dalia jumped to the other side of the bar counter and pulled Kurt with him. Meanwhile the bartender pulled a rifle and joined in.

The woman grabbed Kurt by the back of his shirt and yanked him over the bar. Bullets tore holes through the wall over his head.

Kurt clutched his revolver and took a deep breath. He focused his cybernetic eye and turned to face the direction of the men. Releasing his breath, Kurt stood up and prepared to fire.

"May as well hang up the fiddle now, fellows," Kurt said, mockingly, "You gents opened fire in the wrong watering hole."

Before the men could comprehend what was happening, Kurt had already fired his revolver three times, each time creating a neat bullet hole between the eyes of a different offender.

The remaining men were too much in awe of the pair that had returned fire to even raise their weapons.

"Now that we have your attention," Kurt said, a smirk slowly rising to his face, "M'lady, would you like to help me finish these boys off? They're apparently a bit too big for their britches."

Kurt allowed his smirk to grow into a twisted grin that stretched across his face as his finger twitched on the trigger, itching to fire again.

Dalia had a sinister and twisted grin on her face. A creepy giggle came from her and she then asks: "Do you know why people fear me?" Then after a short pause she said: "Well let's say I like to kill outlaws, hear them scream, tear off their limbs, paint the area with their blood." What came out of her mouth was sadistic and psychotic serial killer talk. Dalia then stood up and quickly pulled the trigger three times consecutively. If someone could stop time, they would noticed that the bullets left the gun all within 5 cm of each other. Each bullet hit, each of the remaining culprits in the shooting arm. The same process for the remaining arm and the legs followed. Now they lay on the ground squealing in pain. Suddenly Dalia stood over them. It looked like she was becoming seductive to one of them. As soon as her lips touched the bandits, there was a loud bang and blood shot from the mans head. Dalia had a gun barrel hidden in her mouth. After that she just ended the suffering of the other two.

Kurt holstered his revolver, thankful to save a few rounds. His funds were low and he wasn't sure when he'd be able to buy more.

"Now THERE'S a modification I've never seen," mused Kurt, "I suppose the saying, 'Sticks and stones,' might need a new definition."

He chuckled quietly to himself, appreciating his own joke.

"As for your offer earlier, consider me in. Let's find that treasure. Who knows? Maybe we can send a few deserving souls up the leafless tree while we're at it, eh?"

Kurt allowed himself a smile and extended his hand to the woman, offering a handshake to seal their alliance.

"Pleased to be on your good side, Miss Dalia."

"Now THERE'S a modification I've never seen. I suppose the saying, 'Sticks and stones,' might need a new definition." Kurt had said. "As for your offer earlier, consider me in. Let's find that treasure. Who knows? Maybe we can send a few deserving souls up the leafless tree while we're at it, eh? Pleased to be on your good side, Miss Dalia."

"Well I have many other modifications. My whole body has been modified. My organs are artificial but pretty close to real ones just more durable with a bit faster healing time. And look at this." Dalia said. Her left ear detached and split in two and out came a round metal object on a mechanical moving rod. Also a data transfer port was revealed to stick in data storage devices to upload to her brain co-processor. "The round object is both my actual ear or hearing device as well as a telecommunications transmitter. Beneath my fake "human" ear, it gets the normal hearing strength while when its out my hearing is two to three times better and the telecommunications only work when its out. My brain is still human but is augmented some with a co-processor for processing data as well as a separate storage unit. If I get a virus, it wont affect my brain. But to get a virus, it would have to go through a massive firewall first. Any questions?"

"...It would have to go through a massive firewall first. Any questions?"

Kurt was silent for a moment while he allowed all she had just said to soak in.

"None that I can think of. I suppose I should show you mine since you showed me yours," Kurt said, smiling.

"See, I've got a cybernetic left eye. I lost the genuine article quite some time ago in a lab accident."

He paused for a moment and switched his eye into scan mode, causing a small green light to turn on within his iris.

"I've also got a completely cybernetic nervous system that allows me to react to situations within 10 picoseconds. It also allows me to perceive stimuli that a normal human cannot. Proud to say that I designed it myself."

With this last remark, Kurt crossed his arms and allowed himself a smug look. He was quite proud of his inventions, especially his nervous system.

"So this treasure," he said, "Any ideas as to where we should start our search?"

"Well cool." Dalia said. Then Kurt said: "So this treasure. Any ideas as to where we should start our search?" "Well I heard that there is increased criminal activity about ten towns over. It is about five days by foot, a full day by horse or about eight hours by motor vehicle. We could make it in two if we had a fast vehicle and they would finally make a straight paved road. But anyways, the increased criminal activity could probably mean that the treasure might be in that area and that it hadn't been found yet, probably means that the criminals are either not smart or permanently fighting each other."

"But anyways, the increased criminal activity could probably mean that the treasure might be in that area and that it hadn't been found yet, probably means that the criminals are either not smart or permanently fighting each other."

"Sounds like that town's just about gone up the flume," Kurt replied, scratching his chin.

"It'd be dangerous," he thought, "but even if the treasure is nothing but gammon, there's bound to be more bounties round those parts than a body could shake a stick at. Lord knows I need the coins."

He pulled two of the last four bullets he had left for his revolver and reloaded his gun.

"Well, Miss Dalia," Kurt said as he slid his revolver into the holster at his hip, "What do you say let's make hay while the sun shines and get moving?"