Chapter 61: Kill the Chicken
There was another quote from my world that I thought should be applied to this situation. I just didn’t know exactly how I wanted to go about doing it.
I looked around at all the bodies and the bright green blood painting the floor. "I told you about the definition of insanity, right?" I asked the head at my feet. "Here is another one for you. ’Kill the chicken to warn the monkeys.’ In this case, you are the chicken, but if no one knows who did the killing, then there can be no warning."
I looked once again at the head and then again at the blood. There was no burning smell, nothing indicating that it was acidic, so maybe...
I looked around the apartment for something that I could use to write with. I was hoping for a paintbrush, but I thought that maybe that would be asking a bit too much. I went through all of the drawers and closets in the small space, and the best I could do was what looked like a really long stick.
Taking it out of the closet, I walked over to the front door and stared at its blank surface.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Jun Li, coming through my earpiece comms. "I can only assume that you are thinking about something because yours is the only life signature in the domicile."
"Yeah," I said distractedly. "The earrings are fantastic. Killed them all as soon as they fired a shot. I just had to stand there."
"Then what are you doing?"
"Wondering what type of message I should send," I said as I cocked my head to the side, hoping that maybe the change in angle would help me figure out what I wanted.
"Maybe I can help?" he asked, clearly thinking that I was crazy.
"I need to send a message to those who planned this that we are not people to mess with. On the other hand, it would be a fantastic way to advertise our new business. I just need the right thing. Like an intergalactic business card but without a number."
"Well, why don’t you go with Merciless?" he asked. "I mean, that is the name I have been answering orders under."
"Yeah, I was thinking that too," I admitted as I raised the stick to tap my veil-covered lips as I continued to think. "But then I thought that if I did that, I would be practically screaming that I was a human."
"True," said Jun Li. "Although English is a very similar language to Ethawainian, it is still different. What about your language?"
"My language?" I asked, raising my eyebrows incredulously. "What is my language?"
"Whatever language that you got Jun Li and Sha Shou from," said Jun Li.
"Chinese?" It might be one of those languages that I could speak, but as far as I was concerned, English was my first language. But the AI did have a point.
"But if I were to right Merciless in Chinese, I am essentially writing Jun Li. Isn’t that putting too much of a target on your back?"
Jun Li let out a low chuckle. "Even if someone does figure out the writing, I am an AI; there couldn’t be a bigger target on my back if I tried."
I continued to think about it, but I needed to hurry. I wanted to be able to paint the door with the green blood, but I didn’t know how long it would take to dry, and I had already been wasting a lot of time thinking about it.
This was why I always said I did not have a creative bone in my body.
I let out a humorous chuckle. I was already overthinking things, so I might as well just get it done. Taking Jun Li’s suggestion to use Chinese characters, I decided to use a bit of creativity and make it a bit more obscure.
Technically merciless could be written in a few different ways if I wanted to go that route, but I had a very specific way in my mind. I dipped my stick in the blood, pleasantly pleased when it didn’t melt.
Somewhat disappointed too, but we will go with pleasantly pleased.
I brought the stick up to the door and wrote the Li character first. When I was satisfied with the saturation and look of it, I then wrote the Jun character overtop. Stepping back to admire my handy work, I felt that there was something missing.
A smile appeared on my face, and I reached up to my neck, where Sha Shou rested over the fabric covering my throat. Applying pressure to the left side, my clothing was completely engulfed in the armor, leaving me once again encased in the skintight Nanos.
"Hello, Mei Xing. How can I help you?" said Sha Shou through the helmet’s speakers.
"I need to add something that is unique to me. Is there a weapon or something that I can use to add to the characters?" I asked as I looked at the logo I had managed to make. In fact, if I hadn’t written it myself, I might not even know what I was reading.
"I have just thing," assured Sha Shou. The three long arm blades unfurled from their sheath on my right arm and extended past my fingers.
"Perfect," I said with a nod. With a quick swipe of my arm, I ripped through the Jun Li symbol that I had created, leaving it still as legible as it was before but with three deep grooves going diagonally from right to left.
Shredder would be jealous, I was sure.
"Thank you," I said to Sha Shou as I disengaged my armor, and my dress appeared perfectly preserved. Not even a single showed that it had been covered in Nanos just a few seconds before. Jun Li was definitely the gift that kept on giving.
Opening the door, I stepped out into the dark, deserted alleyway and closed the door softly behind me. I didn’t know if they would be found quickly or if they would even be found at all. But I had just created the calling card for my arms dealership.
And the more people that tried to underestimate me, the more it would be seen.
Kill the chicken to warn the monkeys. I wondered just how many chickens there were in the universe.
