Black Market Merchant

Zane finished up the last of the rabbit soup Lisa had warmed up in several quick gulps. He hadn't eaten since yesterday morning and his stomach ached nearly as bad as his wounds. Looking around at the desolate parking lot and rusting buildings he couldn't understand what Lisa had meant by, "work for her". It didn't look like there was all that much around here. Besides Lisa was the only person he had met around here.

Zane had several questions to ask Lisa, but before he could ask them, Lisa spoke first.

"Of course, I won't have you work right away. You need to heal first. I can tell you what I want from you later." Lisa replied a bit more relaxed sounding than before. "Soon the gangs as they are now, will be gone and things will be much more civil around here. I don't plan on living in a slum town in the middle of nowhere for much longer."

“What do you mean by gone?” Zane asked skeptically. “Do you actually think you, by yourself, could take on the gangs of this town?”

“Perhaps.” Lisa responded without the faintest sign of hesitation. “All that in good time. For now, there is someone I need to introduce you too.”

Just then Sadie came out of the Powerhouse building giving a big yawn. Her hair was unbraided and a bit messy. Pulling her blue green jacket closer around her she came and joined them by the small fire.

"Morning." Sadie said sounding rather half awake.

"Ah, the here she is now. Zane, this is Sadie, my manager." Lisa said gesturing to Sadie.

Still sleepy, Sadie gave a slight wave. “So, your name is Zane, nice to meet you. Don’t mind me until I wake up some more.”

"Manager?" Zane wondered aloud. "A manager for what?"

"For the Match Fighter Association." Lisa replied. "I only just started professionally."

"Match Fighter?" Zane though with some excitement. "That's what that monster, Dilly, said he was a part of. Maybe I can get some training or tips to get back at that man. I guess staying around here might be worthwhile."

Then speaking aloud Zane replied. "I see. Would I be able to…." Then a twinge if pain hit him and he clutched his side. His entire middle throbbed uncontrollably, and his breathing became labored.

"Let's get you laying back down. You'll need plenty of rest." Lisa said patting him on the back. The two started heading back for the building to get Zane back on the mattress.

As they left, they heard Sadie call out. "Awe, you ate all of the soup. What am I going to eat?"

"We can get something later." Lisa called back. "After I do some of that training you wanted to see."

"But my tummy is rumbly." Sadie pouted aloud to herself as she looked hungrily at the empty pot.

…

After making sure Zane was laying back down in the office, Lisa retuned to the slightly grumpy Sadie waiting for her. Sadie had come back inside and had taken that time to re-braid her messy hair.

"So, let me see how you plan on staying in shape." Sadie said as they walked together outside into the breezy parking lot. The sun was rising quickly into the morning sky and the temperature was noticeably rising.

"This ought to be a good chance to kill two birds with one stone." Lisa thought to herself. "I still need to block up the southern and western roadways."

Then she spoke to Sadie. "Well, I need to mainly focus on my strength training. I especially focus on my shoulders, back, abs and legs. They are my most vulnerable areas to injure."

Sadie nodded slowly and produced her tabloid and started typing out what Lisa was telling her. "Alright, noted. I'll be needing to keep an updated profile on you, just for references."

Lisa just had to ask seeing that holo-tabloid again. The holographic technology was still a dream to scientist back in the early 21st century. "So, what exactly is that device you keep using? I haven't seen that kind before. I saw the security guards using them back at the Arena too."

"Really, you have never seen a holo-tabloid before? They are pretty common." Sadie replied puzzled at Lisa's question. "Practically everyone got some form of these. This one in particular is a Silicon Valley AI Robotic Products (SVAIRP) byproduct called, Solarium 6. It’s a tabloid designed for basic data storage and transfer in real time. I can also use it to communicate, but the satellite reception is so bad out here it's not even worth the trouble. If I were to connect it to Wi-Fi or the internet directly it would function the same as any regular laptop or smartphone."

"Really? Seems like technology nowadays would be advanced enough that connectivity would be obsolete." Lisa remarked.

"Well as you should know the big three North American governments and the Astra Aeronautical Industry (AAI) and a few other companies control all routes of communication. They put restrictions on any communication and all data transferring is tracked. The only reason I can use it out here is because of my MFA connections. Even those are sent through the headquarters transmitter back in the compound." Sadie said before giving her an odd look. "What did you mean by 'nowadays'?"

Lisa cleared her throat. "It was just a figure of speech." Lisa said brushing off the question. "So, it's for the MFA. That's how you were able to pick out that guy, the Skinner, for me to fight back then. You looked up his profile or something?"

"Yes, I did. The Solarium 6 has facial recognition software, and all the MFA Fighters and employees’ profiles are uploaded onto these devices. It makes the Fighters statistics much easier to track." Sadie replied.

"Facial recognition…" Lisa thought to herself. "I probably have made a mistake. If my identity can be tracked through the MFA, then the AFR probably already know I am here! Especially, since I attacked that officer. Crap!"

"So, about your training? Can you show me now?" Sadie asked breaking Lisa's train of thought.

"Ah, yes." Lisa said putting her thoughts aside for the moment. "Let's go down the hill towards the storage unit buildings. I can use the stuff down there."

"Alright." Sadie replied curiously.

As the two ladies walked down the road Lisa was sure to start stretching her muscles. Though most of her strength, power and speed came from her prosthetic robotic limbs, she needed to keep her physical self in tip-top condition. Otherwise, the strain brought on by the robotics would injure her badly. She also had a military secret in her that assisted the functionalities of her muscles, but she never had any intentions of telling anyone what that might be.

Coming up to a very rusty small car, Lisa stopped behind its rear. "This car I am going to take back up the hill.” She said speaking to Sadie and rubber her hands together in anticipation. “I plan on fortifying the entrances better and the cars will serve as a temporary solution."

Then tightening her Yankees hat on her head to hold back her long black hair from the wind, she squatted down by the back of the car. Then she placed her hands under the back bumper of the car and adjusted her fingers to get a good grip.

Sadie's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you're going to carry that car! That's too heavy for you!"

Lisa chuckled seeing her reaction. "I won't carry it. I am going to lift up this end, then spin it around towards the gate and then repeat this process. This will work on all of my muscles for sure."

Lisa tightened up her hands and lifted upwards with her legs, being sure not to put too much pressure on her back. She gave out an exasperated breath once reaching her standing height. To Sadie’s astonishment, the bumper was raised all the way up to Lisa’s waistline!

Sadie's jaw dropped. The car had to be well over three hundred kilograms. Yet Lisa lifted it like it wasn't all that much trouble. Lisa continued walking from end to end, slowly rotating the car up the hill. The wheels had long since rusted and were locked-up, so there was no danger of it rolling back down the road.

Once halfway Lisa paused to catch her breath, even though she actually wasn’t breathing all that hard at all. "Thank goodness that these tires aren't air filled anymore. These airless tires are much more convenient."

Again, Sadie had a confusing thought. "Car tires haven't had air inside them for over a hundred years. You talk a lot about old things and ask about a lot of normal stuff. Did you come from a completely rural area or something?"

Lisa felt embarrassed at her slipups being pointed out. She didn't want to just come out and say, "I am from two hundred years ago. I am running away from the military now after waking from my cryo-sleep." That would just be a mistake.

"You could say that." Lisa replied scratching the back of her head. "That’s not really important though. Well back to training." She continued to get back to working on the car before Sadie could pry further.

Though Sadie wanted to know more about Lisa, she was sure she had her reasons to hold out on her private life. Besides, it wasn’t her place to know in the first place. They were just work partners. Then she recalled seeing Lisa bathing in the river and thought to herself, “I still wonder how she got all those scars on her back?”

Eventually Lisa got the car up to the southern gate. The gate’s blocking arm had long since fallen away, but the machine that controlled it was still there, rusting away. It was relatively close to the fence, but not far enough that the car could be wedged behind it with all four tires on the ground.

"Well here goes the harder part." Lisa said aloud. Reaching down at the middle of the car she grabbed it just under the back door. Then giving a grunt lifted the car up and flipped it on its side. Whatever glass from the windows that was left tinkled all over the parking lot when it thudded on the concrete.

Next, Lisa went to the trunk of the flipped car and pressed her shoulder onto in. Putting some effort into it, she slowly wedged the car in between the fence and old machine. The whole time the cars rusting metal frame grated noisily on the pavement and sparks spurted here and there. It sounded so badly, in fact, that Sadie had to plug her ears.

"Few!" Lisa said once getting it into place. "That almost didn't fit. See it's even scrapped off the rust on the fence." Lisa pointed at the area she mentioned.

Sadie just glanced at it, dumbfounded. "How are you that strong! It's your secret, right?! The one you won't tell me for your profile." Sadie asked excitedly.

"Might be." Lisa said wiping at the sweat beads on her chin. She had built up a decent sweat at this point and had to now take off her jacket. "Alright, let's go get another one."

They were about to go back down the hill when a voice suddenly called from behind them. "Well, that was impressive!"

Lisa spun around quickly arms ready to fight. "How did someone get near me like that! I let my guard down." Lisa thought angrily.

"Easy now! I won't be fighting you." A man said raising his hands up defensively. He was coming across the parking lot seemingly casual.

Sadie spoke upon seeing him. "Aren't you the Skinners manager?"

The man put down his hands and nodded. "Yes I am. Now please miss Queen, no need to worry. I couldn't accept that defeat you gave one of my men. So, I am here to offer you another Fighter to challenge. This time you won't be able to have such an easy win."

Lisa relaxed slightly, but still was at the ready. "How did you find us here? And why are you inside the fence? Are you spying on us?"

"Oh, not at all." The manager replied waving his hand back and forth. "The MFA tabloids have a tracking system. If the tabloid isn't set to stealth mode, any MFA manager can track your location. I just came in through the other gate just a moment ago."

"The tracking system is still on?!" Sadie replied slightly panicked. She tapped a few buttons and then turned to Lisa with an apologetic look. "Oops, my bad. It is still on. I'll turn it off now."

Lisa sighed and lowered her arms. "I guess I'll let it slide this time. See Sadie, this is why I need to block up the area. People can just waltz right in. Also, after this please go over the tabloids settings and read them over."

"Ok." Sadie replied apologetically.

"So, who's my opponent?" Lisa asked eyeing the manager.

"Him." The manager said pointing over his shoulder giving an overconfident smile. There was a man standing at the other entrance. Looking at him one might mistake him for a giant, because he was nearly taller than the fence!