Pax Humanis makes a deal with the deadly Lucker. They will not monitor them as they monitor others, and the Lucker only has to wear "the colors" when in Alliance areas. Their life, and travels, are their own.
@internutter/challenge-04188-k170-kill-list -- Anon Guest
What I don't like about Pax Humanis is their insistence on control. The other killers in there tolerate it. They know they're dangerous and they actually care about the health and wellbeing of the innocent. They know they're monsters, and accept a cage and leash of their choosing.
In return, they are sent out to eliminate worse monsters.
The ones who don't care about the lives they ruin or the misery they create. The self-centred, self-serving narcissists who only care about their gains, and the praises that their lickspittles shower upon them. The ones who have power, but never should have been granted it. The megalomaniac, mega-ultra-quadrillionaires who are malevolent growths on the face of civilised society. Some people just deserve to die.
They're all on a list. Several lists, as it happens. Some are on mine. Some are on theirs. Some... overlap.
And that's when I meet Mr Sunshine.
Just. My. Luck.
This time... he offers a compromise. In the shape of a little pin. A snake in the shape of an ouroborous. Coloured like a coral snake. The warning colours of the Galactic Alliance.
"Pax Humanis is aware of and approves your activity," said Mr Sunshine. "We only ask that you warn others of your... nature... when traveling through Alliance territory. For public health and safety."
I scanned it of course. An ordinary enamel pin, such as one might acquire from any given jewellery shop. No trackers, no tracers, no bespoke chemical signatures. Nothing traceable.
"What's the game here?" I asked.
"The same game as always. Murder most foul according to your whims, and a warning for the true innocents to stay out of your way. Everybody wins." Mr Sunshine let that sink in, then added. "I would appreciate a letter now and then. I worry about you."
He was capable of worry? "I've survived so far," I allowed. "Why worry?"
"Luckers tend to rely on their innate gifts a little too much, and inevitably pay when their luck runs out. Further... you appear to be friendless. It's never nice to be lonely."
I considered the pin, and Mr Sunshine's bland statement of concern. "I'll be fine," I said, picking up the pin, and adding it to my satchel. "But I will write to you."
[Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash]
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