Outhouse

A falcon soared regally through the air. The morning sun warmed its feathers. Banking to the left, the falcon perched on top of a decrepit, red barn. It cocked its head, detecting a noise inside. Hopping to the ledge, it peered into the dirty window. Light pierced the darkness, giving way to two figures inside. A woman brushed the blonde hair of her daughter, singing a soft melody. A shadow appeared underneath the entrance to the barn, listening to the sweet sound. After a moment, a man unlocked the door and entered the room. The woman stopped singing, giving him a disapproving look. Locking the door behind himself, the man placed two bowls of food down on the floor. He had brown hair and wore all black, a golden eye symbol on the sleeves of his jacket.

The woman made no move to retrieve the nourishment. He sat in front of her. Smiling, he tapped his fingers against the pistol on his hip. “Good morning, Mrs. Raido. I hope my men weren’t too rough extracting you from your home," the man said.

“I’m not sure you’re entirely sorry,” responded Mrs. Raido.

“I sincerely am. It was supposed to be a peaceful thing. I did ask nicely for you to remove yourself from the bedroom.”

“I guess this is where I say this makes me feel better.”

“Good,” said the man. “You may call me Jack.”

“Ok Jack, what do you want from me?” asked Mrs. Raido.

“I am wondering how you came about the locket your husband gave to you.”

Mrs. Raido shook her head. “He gave that to me as an anniversary gift. What does it have to do with you, you plonker?”

Jack stared at her for a second, looking for indication that she was lying. “My associates in Watchdog know that the locket was a USB stick ma’am. In detail, it was a security key that held blueprints and locations of the servers for Revo.”

Mrs. Raido stopped brushing her daughters hair. “There must be some kind of mistake. There was no way-"

“Let’s cut to the chase Mrs. Raido,” Jack said impatiently, cutting her off. “I don’t like my time to be wasted. What do you know about the locations of the other servers?”

Mrs. Raido pursed her lips. Jack stood and straightened his jacket. Strolling over, he knelt next to the little girl. Mrs. Raido sucked in a little breath. He pulled the pistol from his belt holster, making a show of how it glinted in the ambient light. “Hello little girl, what is your name?”

The girl shrank closer to her mother. “My name is Sarah.”

“That is a nice name Sarah. Do you know what this is?”

Mrs. Raido went to open her mouth. Jack flashed her a dangerous glare, warning her to keep quiet.

The girl shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

“Well Sarah, what I hold is a Wilson Dynamics XDC-9, one of the finest handguns in the world. At twenty-five yards, there is a one-inch spread variance in how the targets are hit,” said Jack. He got up and headed back towards the door. “At this distance I am currently six point twenty-five yards, or a quarter of the distance for a standard target, I have a two-point seven percent chance of missing.”

Jack raised the pistol towards the woman, cocking back the hammer. “I will ask one more time, Mrs. Raido. What do you know about the locations of the other servers?”

Mrs. Raido gasped. She shielded Sarah from the gaze of the handgun’s barrel. “Okay, okay! I will tell you what you want to know. Just please don’t hurt us.”

Jack smiled, relieved at his small victory. He didn’t lower the gun, keeping his guard raised in case she had other ideas. Or has, depending on how dangerous she was.

Mrs. Raido raised her hands in submisson. “I do know of another server in Sector Seven. I don’t remember where the others are right now.”

Jack put away his pistol. “I gave you such a fright Mrs. Raido, but I had no choice. I will leave you to your meal now.”

Exiting the room, Jack made his way outside to where a small group was gathered. His leader, Ace, spread his arms wide with excitement. “What news do you bring me Jack?”

Jack smirked. “A little convincing was needed, but I got some of what we were looking for.”

Ace nodded. “Tell me we at least know where one of the servers is located.”

“We do,” responded Jack. “It is located in Sector Seven. I do have a contact that I can ask a favor from…”