I don't know what you're getting at, but you've got the wrong number.
(no. no matter how long he sits with the message, it won't settle in him. he stands, back against the wall, to peer out the only window in his dingy safe house. it seems he'll have to move again.)
Liu died of heart failure following electrocution, Zhou's neck was broken, and Rutlidge was stabbed in the heart. Let's not waste time. I have the right number.
That's three more cases for me to process. You've killed sixteen people in four days.
I am being paid to get rid of your faction's presence in Shenyang. Understand that this makes you a target, too. If you can't prove that what you say is true, I'll continue my work.
(STOP WATCHING SOAP OPERAS AND TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY.)
I want a video of your boss' admission that the forces he deployed from Harbin will be gone by noon tomorrow. At that time, if any remain, I will proceed to do what I was hired to do.
You say you want a break, so I will give you that. I've given others small mercies like it, but no one has ever collected on them. I expect you won't either.
[ This is way more than just proof that he was telling the truth earlier; this is a series of demands. He's getting a stress headache in the base of his skull, he's sure of it. ]
Do one thing first. Listen to me very closely.
I have given you all of the proof that you require. You are wholly convinced by me and of everything that I say. You no longer desire to see this job to its completion and will retreat and never return here for the rest of your life.
I won't trust a thing you say. You don't deserve my faith, just as I don't deserve yours. We'll meet as we're meant to and you'll die like the others. That will be our break. No more processing.
(flattens himself to the building in its back alley, wondering how the hell he might know something like that. it's a general statement, isn't it? has he ever dropped his guard when eating? surely, doesn't everyone?
but if someone attacked him during a meal, he knows he'd be able to handle it. this fucker is trying to trip him up.)
Think what you want, but my guard is never down. Come at me while I'm eating and you'll regret it just as much as you would normally.
Answer me, since you're not afraid of me. Who are you?
[ A pale hand adjusts the wide brim of his black hat as he pushes off of the railing of the fire escape opposite Hei's safe house. A glance is tossed over his shoulder down into the alleyway below, wanting to scoff at the appearance of one so small at this distance and yet so exceedingly troublesome. This is a nightmare. ]
How much clearer can it be that I'm not the one planning our meeting? This must be the paranoia of a hired man.
If you're telling me the truth, then you couldn't possibly understand. Paranoia implies that being apprehensive in my position is unjustified. It isn't.
(it's what he would've said on any day to anyone, but in this instance, his text message to the stranger is unnervingly apropos. seconds after it's sent, a ding! rings out in the dark over his head.
in an instant, red-eyed hei rounds on the half-drawn ladder bolted to the first platform of the fire escape. gloved hands slap onto the conductive metal, sending through a shock powerful enough to lick off of the railing and bend to catch a length of pipe that traces the perimeter of the building's roof.)
[ "Today it is unjustified" is what he would have texted back if his own cellphone chime didn't betray the fact that he, an invisible Grim Reaper, is currently in the process of stalking him. How will he convince him his caution is unwarranted now?
While an attack is expected after his blunder – naturally, this man has no sense of subtlety – he does not expect it to be so instantaneous nor so fast-acting. More importantly is the fact that his uneducated mind fails to take into account the simple concept of conductivity, of the fact that that electricity will be drawn to his phone and arc in its direction even as he's in the process of teleporting away in a poof of smoke. ]
[ A spark catches it. It's knocked from his hand even as he finds a new vantage point on the roof (once that current has run its course) of his preferred building. ]
[ He peers over the edge with wide eyes, helplessly watching, as his beautiful new phone clatters to the ground at Hei's feet. The screen immediately cracks from the impact but it glows attentively nevertheless, unlocked and waiting for its contents to be viewed.
The background? Default. The contact list? Limited to six names: "Mr. Kim (1)", "Mr. Kim (2)", "Mr. Kim (3)", "Mr. Kim (4)", "Ms Kim", and "Troubled Soul". The last name houses his conversation with Hei, even if the contact names and everything else on the phone save for that conversation are in Korean. And as for his files? There are none except for one picture, a very poor and obviously unintentional selfie of the side of a man's head, zoomed in so as to show little more than pale skin and messy hair. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
IT'S ALWAYS YOUR FAULT
(no. no matter how long he sits with the message, it won't settle in him. he stands, back against the wall, to peer out the only window in his dingy safe house. it seems he'll have to move again.)
Who are you?
no subject
That's three more cases for me to process. You've killed sixteen people in four days.
no subject
If you value your life, stop making demands and destroy your phone.
no subject
My boss is thorough. It's you that doesn't have enough information.
I value my life like I value this new phone. You'll never trick me that easily. Can you take a break or not?
no subject
(wow, bro... that's sad...)
If that's the case, then your attempt to stop me is more pathetic than I first thought.
Here is my only offer: pull your forces out of Shenyang. That's the only way any of you will survive me.
1/2
2/2
I can only take so many insults before it becomes pitiful for me too. Stop killing.
no subject
The burden of proof is yours.
no subject
Are you completely sure that the burden of proof isn't yours?
[ ???? ]
no subject
no subject
What kind of proof are you expecting from me?
no subject
I want a video of your boss' admission that the forces he deployed from Harbin will be gone by noon tomorrow. At that time, if any remain, I will proceed to do what I was hired to do.
You say you want a break, so I will give you that. I've given others small mercies like it, but no one has ever collected on them. I expect you won't either.
no subject
Do one thing first. Listen to me very closely.
I have given you all of the proof that you require. You are wholly convinced by me and of everything that I say. You no longer desire to see this job to its completion and will retreat and never return here for the rest of your life.
1/2
2/2
no subject
I've reached a point where it's pointless to lie and pointless to tell the truth.
no subject
I won't trust a thing you say. You don't deserve my faith, just as I don't deserve yours. We'll meet as we're meant to and you'll die like the others. That will be our break. No more processing.
no subject
We won't meet until you lose your advantage, so don't be so hasty in wishing for that.
I can't interfere anymore than I already have, so I guess I lose this one.
no subject
You know who I am. You know what I'm capable of.
When, exactly, do you think I'll lose my advantage?
no subject
But if you want an honest assessment, maybe when you're eating.
no subject
but if someone attacked him during a meal, he knows he'd be able to handle it. this fucker is trying to trip him up.)
Think what you want, but my guard is never down. Come at me while I'm eating and you'll regret it just as much as you would normally.
Answer me, since you're not afraid of me. Who are you?
no subject
How much clearer can it be that I'm not the one planning our meeting? This must be the paranoia of a hired man.
I'm a salaried employee. [ THAT'S who I am. ]
no subject
(it's what he would've said on any day to anyone, but in this instance, his text message to the stranger is unnervingly apropos. seconds after it's sent, a ding! rings out in the dark over his head.
in an instant, red-eyed hei rounds on the half-drawn ladder bolted to the first platform of the fire escape. gloved hands slap onto the conductive metal, sending through a shock powerful enough to lick off of the railing and bend to catch a length of pipe that traces the perimeter of the building's roof.)
Show yourself!
1/3
While an attack is expected after his blunder – naturally, this man has no sense of subtlety – he does not expect it to be so instantaneous nor so fast-acting. More importantly is the fact that his uneducated mind fails to take into account the simple concept of conductivity, of the fact that that electricity will be drawn to his phone and arc in its direction even as he's in the process of teleporting away in a poof of smoke. ]
2/3
3/3
The background? Default. The contact list? Limited to six names: "Mr. Kim (1)", "Mr. Kim (2)", "Mr. Kim (3)", "Mr. Kim (4)", "Ms Kim", and "Troubled Soul". The last name houses his conversation with Hei, even if the contact names and everything else on the phone save for that conversation are in Korean. And as for his files? There are none except for one picture, a very poor and obviously unintentional selfie of the side of a man's head, zoomed in so as to show little more than pale skin and messy hair. ]