Rowan found himself twenty stories up staring at the gray edifice of the presidential manor. The buildings reminded him of old earth photos of termite mounds. It was supposed to be grand, a monument to humanity but here near the surface you could see the corruption and decay. Tall pillars rose around the manor, itself thirty stories high.

The office meant nothing.

President of a country that no one paid any mind too.

Rowan supposed it gave those on the ground the illusion of choice. But all you had to do was take a sky car up and see the opulence above the clouds.

He turned to Dik who sat next to him. "I'm supposed to kill the president. Why? He's worthless."

Dik gave him a blank stare but after years of working with him Rowan could read him better than most.

"Don't give me that, Diiick. What's the game plan here?"

Dik shrugged and looked over at the building. "I just do my job, Rowan."

"You don't ask questions?"

"Not out loud," Dik said. 

Both men continued to study the building. Rowan had had them out here for a few weeks, checking every angle. It had to be natural causes which meant getting in and out undetected. The man might not have been important but the security was. Oligarchs kept this man on a leash - he wasn't important. The office was laughably in control of whoever had the most credits. 

Rowan whistled. "We'll need to disable every camera from twenty to twenty five tonight."

"Oh?" Dik straightened. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, he's pretty punctual - President Enerez has a new girl every other day at 4 o'clock. Probably has a heart issue or it would be every day. Except for Sundays. Apparently he goes to church with his family. Stand up guy." 

"And that gets us in?"

"Sure," Rowan turned to Dik. "What's more natural than a guy having a heart attack in the middle of a roll in the hay."

"Roll in the hay?" Dik shook his head. 

Rowan focused his attention back on the building. It had been a two fold movement. He needed as much info on Dik as he did on this job. Dik for instance grew impatient with the amount of time spent casing a place. Dik did the job by the book, there was very little creativity on his part. But he was also took pride in his work and managed a stellar record. Until Rowan had quit.

"I've got my m'tats. You?" Rowan flashed Dik a grin. M'tats were a specialized camera device, they erased the wearer from all recording activity. The human eye would still pick you up, but to the camera and any watching AI, you were all but invisible. 

"Serious? No long range shot, no build up, just get in, heart attack, done?"

"You don't like it? Wait outside." Rowan stood and stared at the ground. A memory roared  up at him before he could stop it.

He stared at the ground a hundred feet below. The wind kissed his face. He could end this, be done with the whole job. It wasn't unheard of for a watcher to kill himself off when he was done. 

"Hey!" 

He turned at the sound of the voice. It was a woman, long dark hair, tanned skin, yellow sundress with a jean jacket wrapped around her waist. 

"You aren't thinking of jumping are you?"

He stepped back, plastering a wry smile across his face. "Nope, just enjoying the view."

The woman blushed but stood her ground. "I'll walk you back?"

"Yeah, ok," Rowan got out. He wondered if she knew what he was, as she had at no time asked. 

"You're not dangerous are you? They aren't going to find me in an alley somewhere?"

"No," he chuckled and the tension broke. Her accent said Brooklyn, but it was softer. 

"I'm Miranda."

"Rowan."

He shook his head, letting the memory fade. Now wasn't the time. Dik was still next to him muttering about 'damn M'tats.'

They descended the building at a rapid pace. People moved out of their way. Rowan remembered what it was like to have this kind of authority. He could walk into the President's office and shoot him cold and no one would bat an eye. 

But for whatever reason, this one required more finesse. 

Make it look natural. The guy was a rutting bastard and everyone knew it. He had position though. You wanted his favor... you'd supply him with whatever his black little heart desired. The prestige he had was from maintaining an appearance - but again.

"If this goes south - ," he started.

"It won't." 

Rowan looked at Dik, surprised. 

Dik shrugged. "There's too much at stake here. See you on the other side."

Rowan closed his eyes. He looked at the front door watched who went in and out. The guards were no problem. If they didn't let him pass he had no issue taking them out. 4pm rolled around rapidly. 

He elbowed Dik. "Let's go."

"Put your game face on," Dik muttered. Another part of their long ago pre-game ritual.

The presidential villa used to be called The White House, could be called the entrance to the heavens. It was a gateway to the oligarchs, a de facto ear to those above. 

He strode in with Dik at his right. The pattern was familiar even if the reasons were wrong. Rowan didn't give two shits about the man he was about to murder. He consoled himself with the thought of what a piece of shit the man was.  In the back of his mind he knew his Miranda wouldn't like it, would question the necessity behind it. But he'd need to push that away. Getting through this was the only means of getting her back. He'd go through hell and back. If they wanted a monster, he'd do it gladly.

"Just like old times," Dik muttered as they walked in through the open doors. The guards took one glance at them and stepped back. Their jackets, unmarked but the unmistakable gray said everything. 

----

No one stopped them. He both loved and hated this part.

Rowan put his hand in his pocket feeling the 9mil he had there. He preferred something heavier to get the job done but a 9mil was just the right size for a small often referred to heart attack delivery system. They'd done away with the 'heart attack gun' a few generations ago. Carrying was suspect, if you had one, that's exactly what you were doing with it. But a 9mil, that was anyone's guess.

The plush carpets were a fractal pattern of blue and red all the way down the hall. Rowan noted the floor as he stepped over it, muffled their footfalls. The hum of humans moving around them was often the best hiding place. 

He spotted the elevators, bleached white against the colorful background. 

"Guess they wanted them to stand out," he muttered.

Dik only grunted in agreement. 

Rowan punched the twentieth floor. 

Ding.

The doors open to a ritzy floor. It was quiet - both men stepped out. 

Rowan had his hand on the 9mil just in case, but there was no need. 

"Are you sure the universe just doesn't hate this guy?"

Two guards came to attention as well as a woman at the desk. Her face was flushed and for a brief moment Rowan thought maybe it was her unlucky week. But no, behind her audible moans could be heard. He met her eye and she looked away and the snapped back to both of them.

The moans continued. 

Dik stood idly by, and exchanged glances. If the matter of the man's death wasn't so serious Rowan would have laughed at the situation. Leader of the free world, about to be offed, is the worst cheating bastard in the whole damn country. There was plenty of precedent. Rowan briefly wondered who the client was this week and then decided it didn't matter. None of this would help get the job done.

He walked forward.

"I really don't think you should go in there," The secretary started to say as she stood up. 

Rowan snapped a quick glance at her. She had more balls than most men. She glanced between him and Dik and closed her mouth. 

The guards aside, Rowan didn't bother to look at their faces. They'd given way easily enough. They either knew they were coming or didn't want to antagonize the uniform.

He pushed the door open to a scene that would have fit in at any frat party. 

Enerez himself was half wasted and giggling like a drunk college girl while a rather shapely brunette tickled his chest. The music was loud - the man was corpulent, his office had obviously gotten the better of him. He hoped the escort was being paid her weight in gold and then some.

Rowan pulled out the 9mil, pointed, and fired. The weapon was silenced - the bullet with a lethal dose of heart trouble pinged straight into his let buttock. It would sting in the same way a shot would. But as he wasn't expecting it he shot off the poor escort, fat flopping around. The president let out a screech and grabbed his ass. 

"What is this?" He turned, finally realizing he had company. "How did you get in here?" 

"We walked," Rowan said. He looked around. "This seems in order." He turned to Dik as he pocketed the 9mil. "We're going to go."

"How dare you, do you know who I am?" President Enerez was on his feet, dragging sheet up to cover his naked body. "No fucking interruptions from four to six, how is that difficult?"

"No worries, Sir," Dik said. "We're on our way out."

"But-" 

The door was already closing behind them. 

"I think that went well," Rowan said. He nodded to the secretary where she stood. It was unfortunate she was about to lose her job. But perhaps it was best. They kept walking at a brisk pace. Rowan pulled up his arm and looked at his wrist. 

"We've got five minutes before it hits, I suggest a pick up."

"On it," Dik tapped the side of his head, his right eye flashed as he called in the ride.

They hit the elevator, maintaining silence all the way down. The familiar cadence of a job almost done. Both monitored the airwaves as they rode, any kind of distress call. So far there was nothing. The timing for the presidents heart shot would be embarrassing enough, he wasn't about to break his protocol for a couple of watchers. Especially when he'd appeared too drunk to recognize them for what they were.

"I can't believe they voted him in," Dik muttered as the elevator dinged their arrival to the first floor. 

"No one voted in that fat fuck, he was bought," Rowan snapped. And why is he dead?

Three people managed to get onto the elevator after they squeezed off into the throng of people on the first floor. Constituents popping in to see their leaders. Rowan rolled his eyes. He hated politics and politicians. Just being in the building was setting all kinds of alarms off for him. 

"Nothing on the air," Dik said. "But, our (8K) ride is here."

"Keep moving." 

Fifty feet from the elevator the alarms went off. 

"Shit," Dik said.

"Rule ten, no panicking," Rowan said. 

"You!" The guard pointed at Dik and Rowan stepped to the side hands up. People melted away from Dik in a tide. Rowan stepped away with several people into the crowd.

"Everybody clear out that way," a burly guard snapped pushing people back. 

Rowan followed the crowd, keeping with protocol. Someone would be along to pick up Dik later, but for now the authorities would want him for questioning for whatever reason. The other operatives were to get out. The shot must have worked faster than he'd anticipated. 

Five minutes later, Rowan cleared the doors and headed straight for a black car parked on the sidewalk. Climbing in the driver paused and waited. "Dik?" His accent was heavy but Rowan couldn't place it.

"Fell behind," Rowan said leaning back. "Follow protocol."

--------------------------------------------------

"You let him get caught."

Rowan stared at the woman in front of him. Dana Margrave was still wearing Miranda's skin. But now she sported a business suit with her long hair pulled back behind her head. The icy look she shot him was nothing like Miranda. 

This was going to take considerably longer than he'd thought. 

"I did nothing of the sort," Rowan said. "I took the M'tats' I got us through security, delivered the heartache, and we were out."

"But you wasted our best-"

"Please," Rowan interrupted standing. He leaned over her desk watching her sit back in the chair. "We both know if Dik was the best I wouldn't be here. Besides, you disabled my m'tat camera and Dik's was working perfectly." Rowan tapped the side of his head watching Dana swallow hard. "I switched them, but I have a perfectly acceptable one working already embedded." 

"It was supposed to be a natural death," Dana said lacing her fingers. 

Rowan lifted an eyebrow. "Nothing more natural than taking a shot up the ass."

Rowan leaned in closer dropping his voice. "You wanted me caught, that's not part of our deal. Maybe you shouldn't fuck around with the inventor of the damn device."

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