Chapter 17: Ursula

Seeing Dona worked hard on the counter was enough for Jakob. Still, when he looked at the news on the communicator device, he would frown. On the device shows, "Magnate, Etherian, dies of an accident."

The style of the headline, the font, and the author was the same. The difference was that he knew that it was a coverup regarding the death of someone with a status like Dion Bismark. The first etherian to die with a bullet inside his head would prove to be a dark mark. He was sure that 'fate' would correct the path. And it seems like he did. But looking at Dona, he understood he had slightly changed things.

That's not enough.

Jakob affirmed that thought with a stiff drink. A bourbon was enough to wake him up. Five days have passed since he moved in to the room given by Haven with Dona. They changed the room, carried Dona's belongings to Haven, and had them set it up for her to become Helga's assistant.

She was doing fine. She could work with Helga and serve the customers. The protection of the Haven was good enough for anyone who worked under Haven. Those who go against the rules of Haven and treat its personnel like trash don't meet a good end. They also came to understand on what their relationship should be. It was still the same shameless relationship based on cash, but in a way they were happy with it.

They sleep together, eat together, and watch other's back. Even it's for a while Jakob would watch over her. She still has time. And that was good enough for him. Hope was an opium, he thought to himself while talking to Dona. Though he had done the deed of putting a bullet inside of Dion.

Fate was a bastard that would correct itself. He was waiting for this news. This article to come out and prove him right. That there was no changing what will happen. Even the same gossip was on the side of this article. Even the weather outside remained unchanged. The difference was that Jakob Recker was not fighting belua without a care in the world.

However, there is one truth that Jakob could accept. Among the tests he had done, Jakob Recker understood that he was a spectator, a loose cog that thrown. He understood that he could not change things. But it didn't mean that he couldn't change himself. Jakob Recker will die. But that day would come when he's flesh wrinkled.

A spectator who can only watch the world burn. Tasting the regret on his lips, he scrolled to the bounty list with a finger. Finding the job for today, Jakob went to the garage, rode the Karnifex out of Haven, and went to work. The job was straightforward in a way that he positioned the Karnifex mid-air and punched a hole in the target as he pass the skyway.

Although he couldn't call himself a genius despite many calling him. Jakob allowed them to imagine why he was capable. Further, all missions would require boldness in order for them to survive. Jakob couldn't count how many times he took a crack shot against a flying belua on top of a high-speed train.

It shouldn't be mistaken. In those times, he was a footsoldier that fought bitterly against the dying world. Watching the City of Aured decline into a pathetic state, where the worst happened and none could hope to do anything other than protect itself.

Flying passed the iron dome of Aured, basking in the lights of the pagoda district, and turning his eyes at the factories. The district of the military governing Aured turned the place into a heavily guarded fortress. Jakob saw the armed full-metal soldiers composed of heavily plated heavyweight exosuit standing eight foot tall. They were carrying rifles and on their left wrist guard was a harpoon launcher that could pierce through a 10m belua's skin.

A full-metal soldier scanned the Karnifex. Seeing that glowing eyes scanning his flyer, Jakob couldn't help but reach out to the cutter sword near his hand. Behind the Karnifex was the anti-material rifles, and the sniper rifle he used to take a shot at his target. Jakob had faced a lot of enemies as he became old. He didn't survive because he has the gifts of talent. But the collective experience of a footsoldier who had lived through the darkest times of the planet.

Even against these metal men, he did not fear them. In this era, he was confident that he could take on anyone that did not reach the third layer of skin that made the etherian's powerful. Dion Bismark died because he did not reach the third layer of skin. Though Jakob things that he was lucky that this was still the time where etherians thought of themselves as unkillable evolved humans. Dion Bismark's accident triggered a wave that would eventually lead to the divide between humans and etherians.

Jakob would not interfere. He had no qualms about what he did. If this was his reward for fighting his entire life. He held no regrets. To die at the end of the world was an honor. He died fighting for what he believed in.

Zipping past that guarded place. Jakob flew the Karnifex to the beacon district. The walled district that entertains the rest of humanity with stars who provide the propaganda needed to keep humanity fighting. As his thoughts swam, he thought of the etherian star who kept her beauty until the end of times. Looking at the bright lights that pierce through the gloom above Aured, Jakob nodded his head, and drove the Karnifex out of the district, heading straight back to Haven. Landing the Karnifex on the garage of Haven. He spotted other flyers of the other bounty hunters flying up. It was then that he spotted Helga sauntering towards him.

"Yo," she greeted.

"Helga, you sure like taking breaks now. Abusing Dona's kindness already?"

"It's part of the job," she shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, shame for someone capable like that to end up like that. Then again, Aured City ain't the place for those who do not strive."

"So, what do you want from me, Hel?"

"The Boss needs you to guard someone," Helga said. "And this someone needs a bodyguard that could kill an etherian. And that someone is you."