Of Serpents and Jade

The building was dumpy and small, with no name painted above the door. It was in an area of town long ago zoned for demolition, but due to the city’s managerial absentmindedness it had been allowed to thrive, bristling with black-market warehouses, brothels, N2 dens and this place, marked with only the twisted green coils of a spray painted dragon over its door.

Dear Mr. President

         The doors slid shut behind the imposing figure of the President’s personal body guard, his slender but rippling muscles looking like they were about to spill out from under the light standard-issue ceramic armor he wore. He turned to the slight woman beside him and whispered in Kathleen’s ear.

Welcome to the Serpent

         John’s heart raced in his ears as he looked down at the body of his dead partner. Alex’s face was half-buried in the snow, her eyes glazed and facing forward, the shotgun blast that killed her having transformed her head into a half-shell, like an egg smashed on the pavement.