Arc 1: A Witch’s Request||Chapter 1: Death Or Love Tonight

11:20 pm, June 18, 2483. The Workshop

Account Balance: 2,000 RMB

“We’re so broke…” Tori groaned as she turned off ‘The Bank’, which was actually just a remodelled ATM that Declan linked to his account to ‘keep track of things’. It had been a few days since their last job, and funds were running low once again. Not helped by some spending on Declan’s part. But that was just how things worked down here in the workshop. As Outcasts, a small group of people who didn’t feel the need to adhere to any faction or group, they weren’t very trusted, so it all evened out into a pretty meagre existence in the lower-middle section of New Kowloon. Which wasn’t exactly helped by Declan’s hoarder tendencies.

“Hey, don’t look so worried, Tori,” I’m sure work will come soon. We can pull through until then.” Declan said, polished some new additions to his collection of spare parts.

“You say that like you didn’t just blow all our money on parts…”

“Hey, hey, these are certified originals and prototypes from when N-Corp was called Cubic Co. Sure, you could call it obsolete and ancient junks, but trust me, Tori! They go for a fortune in the right circles, so, honestly, I got them for a bargain! Besides, think about yourself for a change: what kind of bubble tea costs 4500 RMB?”

“Boss… that was a one time thing. I thought it was 450! I just misread—“

“I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?” the sultry, smooth voice of a woman floated through the air, causing both to jump, before slowly turning to the door.

A tall (almost scarily so) woman stood in the doorway, her long red hair draped over her body like an elegant, bloody veil. She wore a sparkling navy evening dress with a lace shawl, and her entire body was dripping in ornate jewellery. And she was gorgeous, almost to the point that it was unsettling. She laughed a little at the duo’s sheepishness, but did not yet cross the threshold into The Workshop.

At first, Tori thought that they, once again, were dealing with a client from the upper levels of New Kowloon, perhaps someone from the casino scene in Star Tower? Either way, someone to be treated with the utmost respect, and so, did not expect Declan’s reaction.

“You witch! What are you doing here?” he yelled, a combination of terrified and angry.

“Relax boy,” the woman… or witch cooed, “I had my grudge with your father, but it does not extend to you. You can rest easy.” She then turned to Tori.

“And you must be the cyborg I’ve heard so much about. A pleasure to meet you, dearie, but I fear I cannot chit-chat or linger for long. I’m here strictly on business.”

“I have no need for your business, witch.”

“Declan Chan. How unlike you to turn away a client… like I said, if you don’t trick me like your father did, there is nothing to fear. Besides,” the woman removed one of her many rings, “this is an urgent matter, one I am willing to pay any price to see done.” She tossed the ring on the counter in front of Declan, like an offering… or a challenge.

“Pure onyx with an inset blue diamond. Sure to fetch a pretty penny anywhere. Take it as a sign of my… goodwill.”

Declan stood immobile for a few moments, gaze flicking from the witch, to the ring, then back to the ring again.

“Fine, I will take your business. Take a seat.” he grumbled, snatching the ring.

“Smart boy. And please, call me Orchid.”

“So, uhm… Orchid, what brings you here?” Tori said, nervous, as it looked like Declan didn’t really want to talk to the woman.

“My dear friend and housemate Ou has gone missing.” Orchid said calmly. Even while sitting, she seemed imposingly tall, rigid and refined.

“She was supposed to return today by 9pm, which has not happened. I need you to find her.” She slid over a few pictures of a rather frail looking woman with bleached ash blonde hair and a tired smile.

“Sounds easy enough, right?” Tori said, sincerely hoping she hadn’t just said the wrong thing.

“I’m afraid not, dearie. As you can see from your companion’s demeanour towards me,” Orchid glanced at Declan, “I am a woman of many enemies. That could be reason enough for someone to take my friend.”

“So why did you come to me?… Of all people.” Delcan mumbled.

“Declan Chan, can’t we Outcasts rely on each other in this city? We are so mistrusted by the others already, all we have is each other” Orchid said with a fake pout, “But, in all seriousness, you’re the only establishment who has the resources to find someone down here. And, of course, I will reward you handsomely for your trouble.”

“Alright, what’s the catch?” Declan said, scooping up the photos.

“Nothing. I am not one to joke about a friend’s disappearance. Just make sure she comes back alive, or I will be having a serious word with you.” Orchid said, pulling out a… tarot card? from her purse and writing something on it in silver ink.

“Summon me when you find her.” she smiled again, placing the card on the counter before walking out into the New Kowloon night.

“So, uh, Boss, I didn’t want to ask before, but what’s up with your dad and her?” Tori said, glancing at Declan.

Declan glanced at Tori, and sighed.

“Right, figured you would want to know all about that. Let’s start with this: do you know anything about witches?”

“Uhm, they fly around on broomsticks and cast spells?”

“No, not exactly.” Declan said with a slight laugh.

Sometimes he forgot that Tori was basically born three months ago, when he fished her out of that gel tube in the storeroom. She took a small fortune to repair, with all her parts being at least 10 years out of date. Not to mention, he had paid a guy he knew to scan the microchip information of Tori, through which Declan found out that the poor cyborg had been educated through data from before the inception of New Kowloon. She was probably some scientist’s experiment from years ago that got forgotten and sold. Honestly, he felt kinda bad for her. But at least she was alright and working now.

“In New Kowloon, witches are mages who sell their magical services for a price. The market is pretty saturated, especially nowadays, so only the best of the best can really make a living out of it. And that inhuman witch is the most powerful black magic witch still alive.”

“Black magic…”

“Yeah, it’s an old way of categorising power disciplines. White magic is healing and regeneration, red magic is anything that is strictly for attack purposes, purple is psychic magic and green magic is enhancement. The definitions used to be pretty rigid, so no one really uses them anymore, but that’s another issue. But black magic, that’s the magic that involves contact with the ‘otherworldly’ forces that be. Like telling fortunes, reading tarot cards, as well as organising curses and hexes. I’m sure you can see how lucrative that kind of power could be.”

Tori stared at him blankly for a few moments, before the wires in their brain finally seemed to kick in, and they nodded slowly.

“And that witch knew it too, which is how she grew rich out of performing just a few spells. Then somewhere along the line, she met my father.”

Declan stumbled a little over his words here, not used to telling something that hadn’t been told to him already by his father.

“They formed a business deal, as she wanted to access a wider range of clients, which my father was happy to do for a price.” Declan sighed, “but then it fell through, like some business dealings are bound to do. The witch wasn’t too happy about that, and so, she, like any black magic witch gone mad on a power trip, put a… curse on my father.”

“Oh,” Tori said, eyes widening, “well, how bad of a curse was it?”

“Killed him bad.”

“Oh.”

“Only probably. Magic is a tricky thing, there’s very little evidence of it left behind if it ever gets used for a crime or something like that, so there’s no way for me even to be certain that she did anything, but then again…” Declan gritted his teeth, unable to hid away his hatred, “My father was perfectly healthy before, so it had to be her.”

“Okay, I see why you didn’t want to take her business now… so, why did you accept?” Tori said, looking even more concerned. Almost to the point to which Declan almost suspected that she might back away from the job on the whole. Which could not happen. They needed the money.

“Easy, I know that witch would never have come to me if she wasn’t desperate. If we take this job,” Declan began to rub his hands together, “and you saw her earlier, she’s definitely willing to part ways with a lot of cash. That means that we can get a lottttt of green out of her.”

“I should have known…” Tori said, starting to sound pretty unconvinced.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that, we’re not going to trick her into paying more: she looks pretty willing to give us a small fortune already. I’m not foolish enough to think I can pull a fast one on her…”

If dad couldn’t do it, how could I?

Decla put the tarot card in his pocket, making sure not to touch the silver writing.

“So, I say we just get this job done, and we hopefully won’t have to cross paths with her anymore. That woman better thank her lucky stars that she’s rich…”

Dec began to study the photos that the witch had given them. The girl was extraordinarily… normal. She just looked like any other denizen of the middle levels of the city: not rich by any means, but not suffering in poverty either. He was seriously starting to think that the witch must be fucking with him. But then his thoughts returned to the ring he had been given. He’d need to get that appraised first, then he’ll decide whether to take the job seriously. Beside him, Tori was also intently studying the photos, but she looked up, unable to recognise the subject either.

“I don’t recognise her face,” Tori said, “do you know this missing girl?”

“Nope,” Declan said bluntly, “do you really expect me to know everyone in this city?” He flicked through the photos, searching for any defining marks or logos that could tell them an allegiance to an organisation or faction. “My best guess is that she is an Outcast, which narrows our search, but not by much. Her name is also pretty unusual, but still pretty vague, since that damn witch didn’t bother to give a last name.”

However, as he spoke, Declan’s gaze fell on one of the photos, one where the missing Ou was walking around in the higher levels of New Kowloon, probably taken there by the witch. That wasn’t what drew his attention, though, as he focused on a gauze patch on her hand. It wasn’t carelessly placed, either: it looked to be the work of a professional. And there was only one person in this city who would provide medical services to an Outcast who wasn’t one of the elites.

“But, I know someone who might know her,” Declan said, picking up his coat, “Come, we’re going to have to pay a visit to the ‘doctor’.”

AN:

Quick note: 150rmb in this universe = 1usd in real life