Miyamoto Azusa

MiyaMiya. ^{A disgustingly cutesy version of her surname.}
Akuma. ^{Due to her personality.. Or is it just because it sounds like 'Azusa'?}
銃器の王女. ^{'Jūki no ōjo', literally meaning 'Princess of Firearms.' Idiotic.}

Woman

23

Arms Dealer
Part-time Hitman

5'5"

125 lbs

Athletic, slender. Not visibly muscular, lacking in feminine proportions.

◽ Agile
◽ Resourceful
◽ Pragmatic

◽ Grudge holder
◽ Flustered easily
◽ Money Driven

◽ Firearms
◽ Parkour
◽ Money handling
◽ Acoustic Guitar
◽ Drinking
◽ Drunk Fighting
◽ Target Shooting

With a nickname like 'Akuma', you'd expect her to be extremely merciless and downright evil. That would be half right. While she is merciless toward those who oppose her, she merely chooses to do things that benefit her or whoever her partner maybe. Often taking a neutral stance on things that don't involve her.

Some tend to describe her as 'greedy' and 'selfish'.. They'd be correct. Especially when it comes down to money. Azusa also has some sort of superiority complex that makes her think that she's better than almost everyone, thus she hardly trusts anyone that she meets thinking that she could probably do anything better than them. However such things are easy to work through, it just takes a little bit of proof.

Interestingly, Azusa had always been a quiet student, often seen as a 'model' student. She was part of Gymnastics club and was generally liked by most people, despite the fact that she almost never spoke to them. However, behind this 'perfection' lay a broken background. Her father was a drug dealer and her mother was an accountant for the Yakuza. Azusa would come home to scenes of drug addicts shooting themselves up, getting high and sometimes overdosing. Needless to say, her relationship with her parents was almost non-existent. Her mother was the only one who ever said anything to Azusa, and it was always about becoming an accountant for the Yakuza, following the footsteps of her mother. Azusa didn't really go against what her mother said, the girl didn't have any aspirations, thus having her mother decide her future made things easy on her. Over the years, Azusa's strange obsession with firearms began to develop as her father fuelled it with random guns he'd take from overdosed, deceased drug addicts. A father's way of contributing to his daughter's life.

It wasn't until she was in her final years of high school, when she started getting involved in the Yakuza's business. On her way home from school after a late night at a cram school, she witnessed an arms deal go wrong. The men she recognised as the Yakuza were shot down by their clients. They spotted her and tried to silence her by force, however they didn't think that she'd have a gun of her own. A silenced pistol given to her by her father. That night, she experienced her first kills. Strangely she didn't feel any remorse.

Upon arriving home with the arms cache, she explained to her mother what had happened. Her mother decided that there was no turning back. Her daughter had joined in on their 'activity' prematurely. Some might say it's a rash decision to make a high school girl an arms dealer, but to her mother, there was no better choice.

Throughout the years, Azusa's personality began to show itself. As she grew older, she became more lively but also more cynical. Although she's still not quite good at 'socialising', thus she gets flustered about strange things.

Although she was a well known and respected arms dealer in her circles, there were still those who despised her because of the way she handled business. One night, a deal fell through. The client made one unreasonable offer after another. The deal was called off, but a shootout started. With efficiency, she took down the aggressors, but it was all a set up. She unknowingly pissed off someone that she shouldn't have. Her home was burned to the ground and her parents were slaughtered. Azusa received a mysterious text from an unknown source, informing her that she was going to be erased. She knew what that meant, and she wasn't about to lie down and let it happen. Guns in cases, locked and loaded, she get into her car and drove off into the night.

If you think this girl is going down without a fight, you're dead wrong.

Yamato Kurisawa

Yama. ^{It's short for his name.}
Kurakura. ^{It's a dumb version of his surname.}
(Biting) Dog. ^{A nickname he earned by his violent and aggressive nature.}

Man.

22

◽ bouncer at a nighclub
◾ bodyguard for hire at the private security company attached to the mob he's a part of

5'7"/1.72

149lbs/68kg

fit, athletic, but not like a body-builder

◽ athletic
◾ fearless
◽ no social ties.

◽ hotheaded/reckless.
◾ no formal education.
◽ no connections.

◾ handling weaponry (knives, sticks, pistols).
◽ can drive cars rather well.
◾ lockpicking, hotwiring.
◽ street fighting.
◾ karaoke.
◽ videogames.
◾ partying.
◽ smoking.

↳ Yamato is exactly how he looks - stand offish, delinquent, and an asshole. He generally does whatever he wants, not exactly being a role model. It is lucky, then, that he stays out of the spotlight and stays behind the scenes most of the time in his years in the mob.

For what it's worth, Yamato is quite loyal to his friends and would stick up for them if needed. That said, friends are few and far between, since he's not the most open of people and his mark as a person that is supposed to be erased has separated him from anyone that cared enough to call themselves his friends. It takes some time to get used to him, and most people don't have the patience for that. Mostly those that stick around him are people like him - delinquents, troublemakers, criminals and crooks.

But his delinquent attitude also makes him seem cool (to some people). Frequent smoking, hell the guy is a chainsmoker, as well as drinking and going out, make him seem slightly more cool. Whether or not this affects your view of him depends on you as a person, but it does give him a certain attitude of being a dangerous member of the mob. Suppose that's also why he got marked.

↳ Yamato was born in one of the poorer districts around Osaka, with his father being a car mechanic and his mother being a stay at home mom. Being an only child in a poor family meant there was a lot of pressure on him to perform well to make the investment his parents made into him worthwhile. “Get good grades,” was a thing he'd hear quite frequently even though he used to do quite well for himself. As he became older and moved on to highschool the pressure proved to be too much for him as he became more independent. The lack of income and nice things made him jealous of those around him and ensured that he got in with the wrong crowd - the mob. Although he was merely affiliated at first, not being an official part of the mob but merely.. an associate of sorts that did the odd errand for them, he quickly became more involved in it all and began doing other things for them.

The errands were simply enough. “Take this money to here, deliver that message to there, go take a look at what these guys are doing.” It wasn't even criminal until he started delivering 'packages' that had illegal items in them, but really, what police officer would stop a 15 year old kid? It was the perfect cover, wasn't it?

At 17 he dropped out of highschool after a particular large fight with his parents and he was disowned. And any chance of coming back into the family fold was ruined when he moved out the next day and strayed around for a few days before being taken in by the mob. They saw a chance in him, after all, a 17 year old trouble maker that seemed to be unafraid of causing a ruckus and getting physical. He moved up from being an associate to being a muscle for the clan. Hotwiring cars, breaking and entering, collecting 'enforcement money', it were all new ways to make money and they were all so easy. He learned the ropes quickly and moved up rapidly, becoming more influential within first his regime and then the organization. But he never stepped into the upper echelons of the hierarchy - he was considered too brutish and rash for that, which were just nice ways to say he was stupid. It suited him just fine however.

This continued for some time. Yamato made more money, and began getting involved in the street racing nightlife scene. He purchased a sweet tuned up car, and raced it across town at night, losing a lot at first but gradually becoming better and better until he started winning, and actually earning a bit of money from the prize pools.

This all proved to be a rather short lived success. Five years after he originally moved out and got involved in the scene, he'd be notified he was to be erased. Somehow, someone somewhere had gotten offended with his very existence. Thinking about it, it was probably the father of the person he rivalled in the street racing thing. Usually these things were about offenses much bigger than just beating someone in a race. But this was about a lot of money, and to add to that, the dumb kid totaled his car while racing against Yamato. It'd be little concern otherwise if it weren't for the fact that his father was a mob boss of his own. That must've been where the hit came from. And once it was known in the upper echelons that Yamato was going to be erased - well, his own clan cut ties with him rather quickly. His social life already didn't exist anymore. His history would be erased - if needed his parents too would be erased. Just non-existence.

So when he received the mysterious text that warned him, he had no real other choice. He was already dead. You might as well fight back at that point. Otherwise... you might as well lay down and accept your fate. But not Yamato. He'd fight back. So he packed a bag, grabbed his keys and ran for his car, running off to Tokyo, where the mysterious text had ordered him to go. Hopefully the head start of a day he had meant he could do it without being traced immediately, but these guys weren't just random nobodies. They were better than Yamato at what they did - so he had to become better than them. Not to win - to survive long enough to take revenge.

Better to die fighting than to die on hands and knees begging like a prostitute.

Lee Jian Feng

N/A

A big boi

27

Being a fuckwad mooch off of Daddy's money and reputation.

Almost 6'0.

160

He's a wet noodle not gaining muscle nor fat despite eating a lot and exercising quite often. Can do limited acrobatics from when his father made him take gymnastics but apart from increasing flexibility by a margin it has had no lasting impact.

-He is a run of the mill nerd giving him an extremely wide base of knowledge letting him MacGyver his way out of at least some situations.
-Relatively thin and light frame lets him run the fuck away from a considerable amount of people even if they are somewhat more athletic than him; a skill developed from when he was still a youngling pestering his brother.
-Works extremely well under pressure.
-Strong senses (apart from sight)
-A fuckton of his father's money letting him purchase anything he wants at a moment's notice short of a big house.
-Diplomatic Immunity and father's connections as a sort of get-out-of-jail-free card.

-Horrible Myopia
-Type 1 Diabetic (or whichever the fuck is genetic)
-Is rather dismissive of problems until they are right upon him.
-Aspie level social skills, until of course money is used as an ice-breaker
-Lazy

-Food and Drink Connoisseur
-Plays the piano and flute
-Good at just about any video game
-Fluent in English, Russian, Japanese, French, German and both main dialects of Chinese with little to no accent in all of them though he does sometimes confuse the slang between them.
-Great with software and general IT skills
-Superb Driver
-First aid/CPR

Inferiority Complex: overcompensates for failings in him including those that he only perceives.
Assertive and aggressive in all his dealings making big demands. However, this is like a bluff and if stood up to he can be quite easy to intimidate even if he has the upper hand.
Being a rich kid, nobody ever said no to him and he deals poorly with all sorts of rejections and being disagreed with.
He empathises very well however, particularly with social outcasts and such for he would most likely be one too if life were just a little different.

Born to Zhou Xiao Feng, Chinese Ambassador and black marketeer in Tokyo he grew up with other ambassador's kids and the upper crust of the city. Private schools, wide and varied education, upper class entertainment and bi-monthly trips across Japan or to another country,
luxurious food and drink, all of this was part of his life. He was more or less pumped with the good life that his family expected him to continue on.

However at some point his older brother Hao got involved with almost every drug known to man, and of course Lee had to get him out.
While he did succeed in this he also found the underworld life quite new and refreshing if not exactly good and appealing. After getting his brother home and into rehabilitation he drove back to the poorer districts and simply walked around, a prince among paupers, or at least non-nobles. It was not long before he got kidnapped and told he would have to be ransomed if he wanted to leave his holdings with the same amount of bits on him but he thought quickly. He said that the buyout of him would be miniscule compared to the profits he could bring by making use of his immunity and father's not wholly honest side businesses.

Lee quickly became a big nob amongst the criminal life, driving around expensive cars, gambled, whored around, took drugs and drank (but made sure he never got addicted) and took little care for what he did going as far as combining joyrides and skeet-shooting... on public roads. Eventually he started attracting too much attention and abusing his new found place in the world. He often blabbed about what he and his partners in crime were doing to whores, dealers and friends, he borrowed cars and rarely if ever drove them back in one piece and did a whole lot of petty crime that connected the dots for the Police when looking into gang troubles. Eventually he became a problem which he didn't realise until he literally overheard his boss walking on the street and talking about erasing him. Now, he's trying to hide, too scared for now to hid with his father. After all, they'll know to look for him at the embassy and mansion and his father's wrath would almost be worse than death. So now, he runs.

oh wow im the only guy who's character doesn't look hot and boner inducing/panty wetting wow oh my golly gee did i just self insert oh my oh dear

Sarah Takumi.

Sarah
Lipstick ^{\\ Likely due to the bright shade of pink she always wears.}

Female

26

Private Chauffeur
Housewife

5’4”

128 lb.

Athletic. ^{\\ Works out every day with a long morning run to maintain her figure.}

Mental Map ^{\\ Having worked as a chauffeur for a variety of high-income individuals, Sarah knows how to get to pretty much anywhere.}
Road Sense ^{\\ Chauffeurs for certain individuals need to know when they’re being followed and how to lose a tail. Sarah excels at this, and can nearly always shake a tail given enough road.}

Road Rage ^{\\ Tick her off, and Sarah will fly off the handle. She has crashed a handful of vehicles due to this.}
Wildcat Fighter ^{\\ Sarah is untrained in any sort of hand-to-hand combat. That’s why she has her gun. However, she will claw your effing face off if she can get past your defenses.}
Family ^{\\ There are few people important to Sarah, but those she considers her family come before anything else, even her own life.}

Driving ^{\\ All vehicle types. Although she is not a partier, Yamato might have raced her a few times on the streets, either at night or during the day.}
Handguns ^{\\ Always carries a pistol for self-protection, despite it being illegal. Probably bought from Azusa.}
Tea. Amazing tea. ^{\\ You have no idea until you’ve tasted it}
Situational Awareness ^{\\ Always checking over her shoulder, knows who and what is around, as well as where the exit is}
Arcade games ^{\\ Don’t challenge her. You won’t win. Even if you somehow beat her in the game, you won’t come out a winner}
Recent research on tasteless, odorless poisons ^{\\ Did I mention how good her tea is?}
Bilingual ^{\\ Had a Japanese father and American mother. Can speak English with only a slight accent. Qualified to teach English as a second language.}

Despite being a hothead, Sarah is usually extremely professional when it comes to dealing with clients. She often compartmentalizes her feelings on the job, but there are lines that should not be crossed. Off the job, Sarah treats most people kindly, right up until they piss her off. Once that happens, there’s no telling what she’ll do to them.

The daughter of a Japanese businessman and an American mother, Sarah always felt caught between two cultures her entire life. Her Japanese side tried to turn her into a demure gentle person, while her American side influenced her individuality and spontaneity. You can guess which side won out in the end.

Sarah studied for an English Teaching degree at the University of Tokyo at her parents’, but it was never her passion. Instead of following through on her studies, Sarah spent most of her time at a nearby arcade run by the Akiyama family. There she met a girl named Phoebe who interested her. After a few drinks and an intended one-night stand, Sarah seemed to keep returning to this girl. A second date turned into living together, which turned into a wedding at a nearby chapel. Sarah simply couldn’t say no to her.

Phoebe was excellent with technology, and her job kept her away from home most of the time. Eventually, Sarah figured out what it was that Phoebe actually did, and who she worked for. Sarah wanted in, and was eventually hired as a personal driver for various clients. She excelled at the work, and soon graduated to one of the top drivers for the organization. Her job only keeps her out of the house for a few days a week, and Phoebe brings home most of the income, but it's an enjoyable occupation for her.

One evening, Phoebe returned home from an ongoing job, tears streaming down her face. She explained that the client had gotten drunk and tried to make a move on her, casually suggesting that she wanted him dead. Sarah, being thoroughly unable to say no to her wife and guided by Phoebe’s suggestions, concocted a plan to put some poison in the tea she served her guests while driving them around. Phoebe delivered the tea to the client which did its job swiftly. Although they thought they had covered their trails, Phoebe’s hacking of the camera system ended up leaving the erasers right to them.

But hey, nobody’s perfect.

- Sarah can run quite a bit faster than Phoebe, but never actually tries to outpace her.
- Sarah’s #1 weakness is Phoebe. She trusts Phoebe implicitly and would die and kill for her. She’s already done the latter.
- Sarah was disowned by her father after he learned of her orientation. She still talks with her mother once in awhile, however.

Phoebe Mei Akiyama.

- Phoebs _{It's a shortened version of her first name. Obviously.}
- Eury _{Her "work name".}

Female

25

- Manager at Tokyo Arcade

5’7”

134 lb.

Slim, feminine, but toned. Sarah makes her run in the mornings.

- Technologically savvy ^{| Hacking prodigy.}
- Psychology nerd ^{| Knows how to win people over with verbal + body language.}
- Resourceful + Conniving ^{| Evil schemes abound against those who threaten her.}
- Level headed ^{| Calculating + calm under pressure. Puts Sarah at ease.}

- Sarah Takumi + Kotori Akiyama ^{| The two most important people in her life.}
- Physically weak ^{| Phoebe is incapable of defending herself in hand-to-hand.}
- Heights ^{| Phoebe has a fear of unreasonable heights.}

- Video gaming ^{| It's in her blood.}
- Multilingual ^{| English, Japanese, Spanish}
- Walking thesaurus ^{| She knows a lot of words. It can get annoying.}
- Handguns ^{| Phoebs is a sub-par shooter, taught by Sarah.}

Phoebe possesses a quiet confidence, one that doesn't need a strong physical prowess to alert everyone of her presence in a room. She's sweet and charming, able to win people over with a silver tongue and a seemingly innocent demeanor. Phoebe plays nicely until she doesn't get her way; and then she becomes your enemy with a smile on her face.

Phoebe Mei Akiyama was born in Europe to a Japanese mother and a Spanish father who didn't stick around after the deed was done. Her mother had been abroad on some search for herself, trying to find some peace of mind (or something), and instead got pregnant. After learning of her pregnancy, Kotori Akiyama returned to Japan to be under the care of her family in Tokyo. Nine months later, Phoebe entered existence with that same quiet confidence that she possessed today.

An only child, she was spoiled by her grandparents, taught that she could have whatever she wanted. This mentality, mixed with a certain hunger to prove herself anyway, resulted in an abundance of toys and gifts, as well as a library filled with books she requested. Phoebe may have been overindulged as a child, but at least she made something of it; countless hours spent buried in books resulted in honors throughout her schooling, an expansive knowledge of random and useful topics, and eventually, the top position at the University of Tokyo in technology and computer sciences.

Phoebe had always been tech-savvy; it ran in her family. Her grandfather, also a technophile, owned an arcade near the University, and she was a magnet at his side whenever she wasn't in school or reading. As both she and her grandfather grew older, Phoebe began taking on more of the responsibilities of the arcade, and when he passed away, it was her turn to take care of his legacy. It was there that she met Sarah Takumi, the hot-headed and incredibly fascinating creature that she became taken with. She came out to her family, and while they disliked the idea of having a lesbian for their kin, they could never really say no to her. Much like Sarah, who - though originally opposed to the idea - agreed to marry her after a few years of living together.

Immediately following graduation from the University, someone had contacted Phoebe for her skills, offering money and security in exchange for embezzling money from banks or mixing the codes of some security in order to patch over a sketchy period of recording. Unable to say no to a challenge and opportunity like this, she signed on and began working for this mafia entity. Eventually Sarah found out about it, and signed on, as well.

Life was amazing for a while, with the two of them making plenty of money to live beyond comfortably. But a one-eighty could happen at any moment - something Phoebe took for granted - and it all went to shit after one job. A drunk client, sloppy and grotesquely unappealing, had called her in, which quickly turned into an attempted assault. Luckily, the asshole passed out from too much gin before he could do any real damage, but Phoebe's mind had been made from the minute he placed a dirty paw on her hip.

When she returned home to Sarah that night, tears were running down a face that had been stony just moments before she stepped through the doorway. Phoebe explained the incident and got Sarah nice and riled up, before gently proposing the plan she'd been brewing since she left the client's home. The next time she received a call from the scumbag, Phoebe came with a pleasant smile and offered him poisoned tea, courtesy of her wife. It worked; he was dead within a minute, and Phoebe had gotten her revenge. But karma was a bitch, and fucked with the hacking she had done to cover their trails through the camera systems. She could only guess that something had alerted security to an intruder in the systems, even though the cameras had gone offline.

Now she and her wife were on the run, and while there was a small voice inside of Phoebe that felt badly for ruining the life they'd had, the one shouting that it was worth it was much louder.

- Theme
- Although she can hide and survive well enough on her own, Phoebe is dependent on Sarah when it comes to their physical defense. The two are attached at the hip, and Phoebe wouldn't want it (or couldn't have it) any other way.
- She drinks a lot of tea and doesn't drive too often. Shocker.

James Richard Amson

Kagaku-sha / The Chemist — As a chemistry graduate of Queen Mary University of London, he became involved with the Japanese criminal underworld on his first tour there, conducting cooperative research. Now, owing them a debt, he helps them produce narcotics and drugs for international distribution. They call him The Chemist, because that's precisely what he is.

Male

27

Aside from working with the crime family to produce drugs, he maintains his daily appearance as a researcher for the international pharmaceuticals firm, GeneSynth.

6"1

153lbs

Sinewy and toned, but not exactly strong. Due to his cycling habits, his legs are well developed, and he looks good - but he's light by nature, and appears skinny.

- He forms interpersonal bonds well, enabling him to gain the trust of others, or diffuse unstable individuals with a higher rate of success than average.
- He is an intelligent and analytical person, capable of discerning patterns not immediately visible to most - especially when his specialist subject, Chemistry, is involved.
- Though it has its drawbacks, his pupils do not constrict properly, and overdilate in darkness, granting him a modicum of nightvision.

- Well, for one thing, he's white. He sticks out like a sore thumb in Japan - and his Japanese is poorly accented too. By no means is he likely to blend in with any community but an almost exclusively immigrant one.
- His pupils, due to a genetic defect, are too wide and do not constrict properly. He has decent nightvision as a result, but experiences reduced visibility in bright daylight and is easily blinded.
- He's not terribly fit. By no means is he incapable of running for his life, but he's also no athlete and would be easily outpaced by any experienced assailant.

- From his time with chemistry students, in a central London university, he still has an absurdly high alcohol tolerance - especially considering that the Japanese often has lower tolerances than Europeans anyway.
- Because of his background in chemistry both legitimate and otherwise, he can synthesise a number of basic painkillers and medications from basic ingredients. This also extends to poisons, drugs, explosives and the like. Most of it is quite dangerous to do without specialist equipment, however.
- He can handle a gun, courtesy of his time with the local criminal underworld. He's not an excellent shot, however, and has no real skill with long guns.
- Surprisingly, he is an excellent cook.

James is a generally well meaning, polite, and friendly individual, making him both more trusting than is beneficial, and more persuasive than isn't. He has no particular mental illness, or pathological tendency for conflict, but tries to be funny frequently and usually fails. He usually puts it down to social differences in comedy, however - the British sense of humour is internationally reknowned for being... rather odd. Other than that, there's nothing remarkable about him. He scares just as easily as the next person, and has no particular favourite foods, drinks, or activities that he's ever likely to enjoy again, now that he's a wanted man.

James Richard Amson was one of the best. He hadn't always been, but that was how he'd turned out on the day he graduated from Queen Mary University of London with a Master's Degree in Chemistry.
Having put the work in, having found his heart in science, and having met someone fantastic to share his life with, he had absolutely no reason to not be the best he could be. He was happy, safe,
fed, and in an intellectually stimulating environment. All his needs were taken care of. He was good, and he graduated top in his class. Now, this is the kind of thing that makes a guy a shoo in for the most exciting research programs there are, and he went on to spend two years with his own professors, developing anti-cancers. While he was with them, they were able to produce and replicate three promising new drugs to test, one of which went on to commercial production within the next two years - which is how he got to Japan.

As it happens, that drug that made it to production ended up proving 130% more effective than the next best on the market, with half of the negative side effects of its predecessor - and it was primarily due to his and two other recent graduates' input. In the world of science, this usually has the easily predicted effect of setting private corporations after you; sure enough they were, all three, hired within a month of this drug going into public use. The very company they'd received half their funding from in the first place promised to give them levels of funding never before seen, and a state of the art facility in the land of the Rising Sun. One of them had been Japanese anyway, so she took the offer as a way to move home with a pay rise, but for the first year of their employment there the other two lived very insularly, within the small English speaking community that had grown up around the lab. They learnt Japanese slowly in between hours in the lab, and enjoying the lavish lifestyle of a high level corporate researcher.

And, as all things lead on to more things in turn, this was how he became involved with producing drugs. You see, the local dark economy had taken to using tutors and translators to reach the immigrant communities, in search of individuals with useful skillsets. James was one of these individuals, and although he hates to be called greedy...

The money they were promising was fantastic, and absurd. It would give him opportunities he'd never had before. It would let him move back to England and be with his girlfriend not just as a successful chemical professional, but as a man with the ability to set something up that would look after them both forever - their own company, generating its own profit. They could own their own home, full stop.
No mortgage or anything.

It was too good to be true.

Which is why it wasn't.

For the final year of his time there, he slowly came to realise that he was under the very real threat of murder should he not deliver, continuously, a stream of narcotics. He was perfectly capable of it,
yes, but when he began to see the effects of his work on the local community - teenagers trying to deal with exam stress ending up in hospital, overdosed on his pills, the homeless living only for their next hit of something he'd put into a syringe for them only a week earlier, and the decadent wealthy in his own community, snorting compounds that should never have existed - he thought again.

When he saw his colleague - the other student he'd graduated with, the one he'd had to learn Japanese with - overdose and barely survive at a party, on only her first hit, he thought again.

When it hit him, what his lover, Jean, would think of him now, he thought again.

He sabotaged the production facility, puncturing the feeder tubes and loosening screws in the reaction vessel to fill the whole warehouse with flammable, toxic fumes. And then he lit a candle at the far end of the building, and ran.

The next day, there's a remarkable hole in the pseudo-cartel's production network... and his last reliable contact has informed him that there's an eraser hit on him.

All he could think was that he'd done a good job of it- and that he was lucky they had no idea about Jean.

He has a steady relationship with a woman named Jean, who lives in England and so far remains unknown to the people he is running from. He uses burner phones to contact her occasionally, to let her know he is alive - but he only ever leaves a single message with each phone, and destroys them afterwards.