The large bouncer looks me over and smirks. His large mechanical arms cross as he smiles in recognition. He doesn’t bother checking my ID and looks at the next people in line. But I see the judgment in his eyes.

  “You got an issue bud? Do you know who the fuck I am? You know I don't take any shit! Not on my fuckin’ turf!” Spit flies from my mouth onto the bouncer. I don’t care how big he is. I’d win any fight against this fool.

  “Just doing my job sir. Enjoy your stay,” he swallows. Probably, scared because he knows how fast I can flip the switch.

  I push through the door of brightly colored beads into the entrance hallway. The hallway is lit by two crooked neon lights. They dimly illuminated hundreds of posters glue and nailed to the wall. I pull off a Vote for Change poster and crumple it up. No matter how many I destroy, an infinite number seems to rematerialize. Behind it rests a tattered missing child poster. I walk into the bar shaking my head at the paper wasted on a dead kid.

  To the left I see the staircase leading to the second floor is roped off, for maintenance. Every booth and table are taken and people stand in groups talking and laughing about the meaningless day to day stuff they enjoy. Even though it's only a Tuesday night Helena is singing tonight and she brings a crowd like no other.

  Sara is behind the bar like every other night. She’s like me, we don't take days off. When she sees me approaching, she walks to take my order first. The patrons who were already waiting before me are visibly annoyed but don’t say anything.

  “Ez. How are you doing tonight?” She leans on the counter and smiles.

  I watch the moving tattoos on her arms dance between images, flowing like a river.

  “Not great. Someone’s been making moves against me. It's got me on edge.”

  She raises an eyebrow.

  “Okay more on edge than usual. Give me a triple hit of Spectre.”

  “You got it boss,” She reaches under the counter and grabs a small computer chip, her hands tossing it to me as she says, “you should really slow down on that stuff boss. You take more than anyone else I know.”

  She goes back to helping the paying customers.

  I take the chip and connect it to my neural enhancer port. Spectre is a rich man’s drug. Only usable by those of us who have cybernetic brain enhancements. It should start kicking by the time the others get here. I walk to one of the front booths. Phillip, one of my lower gang members is sitting talking to some eye candy. He makes eye contact and waves.

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  “Hey Mr. Volkov. How are you doing tonight? This is...”

  I hold up my hand, silencing him, “I need this booth tonight.”

  “Well this is our first date so it would be...”

  Time slows as I activate my time dilation enhancement. My hands are a blur of speed even in slowed time, and I hit little Phil with a four piece combo. When time resumes, Phil’s face is a bloody mess and his confused eyes stare at me. His date gasps, frantically looking back and forth between him and I.

  “That was your warning. Next time I won’t be so nice. MOVE.”

  He looks down ashamed and jogs towards the door. His date runs after him.

  I sit down on the side with the best view of the stage. The patterns on the wall morph into armies of snakes, fighting for territory. I watch as a snake commando kills snake child soldiers before taking his own life. Then a slow trumpet and bass play from the stage. The people around me look freakish, like ghouls hiding behind bags of fake skin. My hand grips my pistol, but I don't pull it out. I'm just tripping. Everything is fine. The music picks up and my heart picks up with it.

  Suddenly a beautiful woman’s voice begins to sing, slow and seductive. All the tension leaves my body and I relax as the half cybernetic model slowly walks into the spotlight. She sings in another language but I know the meaning. It's a song of love and remorse. Her yellow dress sways with the song and her purple hair dances. She glances at me and winks.

  Three half-human half-beasts sit in the booth with me. They shimmer between people and wolves. My pack.

  One sitting next to me laughs and puts an arm around me.

  “Your pupils are massive. You have black holes for eyes, boss. You just take a double hit?” My half-brother Jimmy says.

  I smile and nod, “Nothing like some Spectre before a show like this.”

  The other two wolves look at each other, but say nothing. They are loyal to the enterprise, not to me. If I don’t make a show of strength soon they’ll stab me in the back.

  Jim takes a sip of his water, “Okay boss. We found one of the guys who’s been hassling our dealers. He’s going to be on Lincoln and first in about twenty minutes.”

  “Let's kill this prick,” I lead the way out the door and down the street as my pack follows. The streetlights are colorful suns that burn away the monsters swirling in the darkness. I see the interloper smoking an e cig on my corner relaxing. My hand folds back, releasing the surgically embedded cannon in my forearm.

  Jimmy places a hand on my shoulder, “Boss, let's just beat him down. Any collateral damage is going to seriously hurt our profits.”

  I say nothing as I fire. A bright laser beam hits the demon in the stomach. A flash of red lights up the street. One second he’s standing there, the next his upper and lower half are bisected. He dies instantly, without a sound. My aim is precise, the wall directly behind the body is scorched but nothing else is damaged.

  I turn to look at my pack. They are no longer wolves hunting with me, but sheep hiding in wolf’s clothing.

  “Don’t question my abilities again Jimmy. Let's get the body and give the people a message,” They follow me silently as I get ready for war.