Chapter Seven
A Good Person Has Fate
Kino slammed the apartment's door behind her. She was halfway between being furious and being embarrassment. The words to describe her thoughts did not exist. Confusion comes the closest. Yes, she is confused about herself. The way people see her and the way she sees other people. It might seem trivial, but right now it is infinitely complicated.
She stomps across the apartment, nearly tripping on the oversized sweats. The first time is little more than a stumble. On the second she barely catches the counter to keep from plummeting to the ground. She straightens herself and curses the sweats while feeling the sharp sting of the old injury. Not as brutal or aching as before, but there nevertheless. Annoying and debilitating.
There is a bottle of 6th World Crown on the counter top. Kino stares at the amber liquid for a moment. It is motionless, uniform, and ordered. Even calm. All the things she isn't. As she reaches for it she thinks about her sister whom had done the same thing just before her death. Always reaching for a bottle when she couldn't accept failure in her life.
She shook her head, no. She isn't her sister. Kino didn't want to be like that. She is responsible, intelligent, and won't allow herself to fall into the same pit. She knows when to stop. Now isn't the time, though. She takes the bottle in her hands. The plastic feels comforting against her trembling fingers. Trembling? Yes, her fingers are trembling. When did that start?
There is a knock at the door. Kino curses to herself. She isn't in the mood for company, but she opens the door anyway. Boxer is standing on the other side. Suddenly she feels exposed, but can't understand why. Defensively she crosses her arms and spares an subconscious glance at the bottle of Crown. Boxer knows how she is. Did he see it? Why does she care? She doesn't! Of course she doesn't. That's just what her sister had always said.
"What in the name of Dunkelzahn's scaly hind quarters do you want?" She snaps.
Harsh words for a simple hello, but Boxer isn't surprised. He expected a greeting like that. She glances at the floor immediately after saying it. Boxer has noticed that Kino had a habit of doing that whenever she was embarrassed about something. The first time he was it during a run in Ft. Lewis where Kino, in a nervous fit trying to program one of her drones, had knocked over a ammunition bin, scattering nearly a thousand rounds of explosive rounds across a parking lot.
"I came to apologize for Tommy."
"Okay," She shut the door, but he stuck his foot out before it could close. It looks could kill Boxer's foot would be a charred stump by now.
"I thought you would want this back." He produced her Browning and holster.
Kino had forgotten about it. She took it from his open hand. The synthleather felt like an old friend even though she didn't particular like using the pistol to begin with. The weapon's return left her at a bit of an crossroads. She couldn't decide wether to slam the door in Boxer's face or invite him in. She chewed her lip, trying to make up her mind. Boxer picked up on her indecision.
So he decided to solve the problem for her. "Can I come in?"
She didn't answer with words. Instead she just turned and walked away. On the bright side she left the door open. Boxer took it as an invitation. As he stepped inside the quietly closed the door.
"Kino I-"
"I am not a bad person!"
The abruptness made Boxer's well laid train of thought derail. The best he could manage was a blubbering, "Wha?" Not even a complete word.
"You're brother said I was a no good breeder. People like me are the ones that killed so many orks on the Night of Rage. Breeders-" Kino stumbled over the word. "Humans always look down on orks because of what they are. That's what your brother was talking about. Orks are different. They're not pretty elves or handy dwarfs or tough trolls. They're just ugly. Humans treat orks like second class citizens, like they are stupid or barbaric. " She regarded him. "That's why you hate humans, isn't it? That's why Tommy hates humans."
"Don't listen to him, Kino. He's just a kid."
"That Night of Rage was over twenty years ago! I wasn't even alive! I didn't have anything to do with it! Why does he hate me for it! What do any of you hate me!? You, you're brother, the Crimson Crush. Why?! Mad because of what happened to people like him a quarter of a century ago. You can preach on about how horrible the Night of Rage was, but when it comes down to it more than half the metas alive today weren't even alive then."
"It's-"
"I have more reason to hate metas than you have to hate me!"
Boxer was stunned into silence. It was something she never expected her to say. In the time he had known her Kino had never acted prejudice towards any metahuman. He and his sister were both orks and Kino always got along great with them. Several of the shadowruns she had been on involved runners who were metahumans. She never had any problems getting along with them either.
Kino is quiet now. Not screaming at the top of her lungs or waving her arms about like someone on the edge of sanity. Boxer took a tentative step forward and another when she didn't protest.
"When I was a kid I lived near Redding. Right next to the Tir Tairngire border. The elf nation came rolling over the hills a few years before. It had been a war zone ever since. The elves killed my parents." She looked at him with accusing eyes again. "But I don't hate elves for what they did to them."
Boxer watched as she dropped into an old sofa. Taking the cue he quietly lowered himself into a chair next to a small trideo.
"I don't hate orks either. Even after all the things Jimmy did. He said he would take care of me. He told me I would make a fortune. Enough nuyen to pay off my sister's debts. Enough to make a good life. He convinced me to go under the knife, put metal in my head, gave me a job, told me everything would be okay. I believed him." Kino crosses her arms defensively. Her open eyes tracing invisible lines across the floor.
"Kino-"
"What makes someone good, Boxer? Is it the kind of life they live?"
"I can't answer that."
"Why not?"
Boxer stuck out his lip. "Probably 'cause I don't know in the first place."
Kino chewed her thumbnail. She pressed it so hard against her teeth that Boxer felt she bore it some malice. It wasn't just the thumbnail. It was like she was holding something against the cards fate had dealt. Maybe she thought screaming at fate would change it. Naturally it wouldn't, but Boxer couldn't blame her for trying. When it came to playing cards fate often stacked the deck in favor or against certain people. Fate had a sense of humor that way. However cruel and twisted it might be.
"For what it's worth, Kino, I never said you were a bad person." Boxer offered. She seemed happy with that. "I do need your help on something."
She looked him.
"What happened this afternoon at the Stuffer Shack-"
"What was that thing?"
Boxer paused, again not having the answer. "I don't know exactly, but it gave us clues. I would say it was a hitman of some kind. It was fast, had enough cyberware to build a few Americars, and was dead set on geeking something."
"A shadowrunner?"
Boxer seemed to think about that for a second. "Could be, but I doubt it. Metal like that costs a lot of nuyen. I know of a couple runners who have a lot of metal, but this guy didn't seem like one of them. He was more crude and not very professional."
"I think this is a good week to spend away from Seattle." Kino continued to chew her thumbnail. "You said you needed my help?"
Boxer nodded. "Yes, I do. I can understand if you want to skip town for a while. Frag, I wouldn't mind joining you, but I can't. That thing said Grubber's name."
"Grubber?"
"The chummer of mine I was suppose to meet at the Shack. He said he wanted to talk to me about my brother, Trevor."
"What about?"
"That's not important. What's important is that the metal beast knew Grubber's name. I'm worried that he might be after Grubber too. I'd like to go check on him. That is where I need your help. Grubber lives in the NAN lands. I know you have contacts with the border patrol. I don't have time to make up fake papers."
"You need my help getting across the border?"
"Yes. I just need a name and their price."
Kino hummed. Boxer couldn't tell if she was doing it to herself or in response to him. "I can't." She said. "Danny, my contact, won't trust you. He'll suspect something. If I go with you he will let us through."
"You don't have to come." He said immediately.
"He will not let you through by yourself. Not unless you have papers."
"Let me rephrase that: I don't want you to come."
Kino appeared shocked at that. It was like someone had slapped her in the face with a cold fish. The voice she spoke should normally carry a whining tone. It also had a distinct angry quality. "Why not?"
"I didn't want you to come to the Stuffer Shack today, but I let you anyway. Against my better judgement. You almost got killed." Boxer admitted. "I think asking you to come with me to Grubber's would be tempting Fate once too often."
Kino gave a smile of apathy. "I'm fine, Boxer."
"Now."
"That's right, thanks to you. If anything I owe you something or at least your sister for helping me. This will be my way of repaying you. I'll get you over the border and back. After that?" She shrugs. "I'll skip town for a while. Deal?"
"I wish you wouldn't come with me."
"I don't think you have a choice. Unless you want to wait until you can get forged papers." Kino glanced at her watch. "If we are going to go we better get ready. Danny goes off his shift at three."
Boxer frowned at his position. She had him between a rock and a hard place and she knew it. Without her help it will take a few days to get into the Native American Nations. Boxer had to find out what happened to Grubber sooner than that. Maybe this was another piece of fate's handiwork? If that was true perhaps it wasn't just a minor annoyance on Boxer's part that Kino had come with him to the Stuffer Shack. Perhaps that had been fated too? If that was the case then the two of them were destined to get to the bottom of this together. Boxer gave another frown at that idea. There was no use in going against fate. His or anyone else's.
Because fate wasn't going to be changed by the hands of any man.