Day 35

[from Project Nero]

"WARNING. UNIDENTIFIED INTRUDER."

Nero reluctantly tore his gaze away from the television screen, looking over at the elevator doors that led directly into his penthouse apartment as the cool female voice sounded its computerized warning. "You've got to be kidding me," he muttered with a sigh. "Now of all times…"

Picking up the remote, Nero hit pause and got to his feet. His programme was going to have to wait. For now, there were more important matters at hand. Heading into the kitchen, Nero pressed his palm against a tile and a moment later a section of the worktop shuddered and slowly descended into the floor, revealing a hidden passageway.

Ducking through the gap, Nero found himself in his apartment's secret control centre. This was just one of the special perks he had asked for when he had slipped the building's developers a couple of extra million during its construction. Another of the perks was the special elevator access system. The elevator did not contain a floor button for the apartment; indeed, officially the apartment did not exist at all. Instead, it was accessed by pressing a special combination of five buttons that changed every week. Only Nero's closest friends knew the combinations from week to week, and his clients only received that week's combination. Nero would then program the elevator to recognize them when they arrived. Whoever this new arrival was, he wasn't expecting them.

 Nero made his way over to the security monitor, where he had a high-definition view courtesy of a hidden camera in the elevator roof. Inside the elevator was a girl wearing black biker leathers, her helmet clutched in one hand. She had short, sky-blue hair, with a long fringe swept to one side that obscured one of her eyes. Though it was hard to tell - one hip was hidden by the helmet and the other was facing away from him - it looked like she had handguns holstered on each hip. Nero recognized the look in her one visible golden eye: it was the look of someone determined. It was the look of a killer.

Nero crossed to a wall-mounted rack containing several gleaming swords, and selected his favourite, a one-handed blade that he had had specially manufactured. It was reinforced with carbon nanotubes to make it almost indestructible, and obsidian-edged for incredible sharpness. There were still a lot of things it couldn't cut through, but it could cut through flesh and bone just fine.

 Sword in hand, Nero left the control centre, the worktop automatically sliding back into place behind him. There were only seconds left before the elevator arrived at the apartment, but that was all the time he needed to prepare. Whoever this girl was, and whatever the reason for her visit, she was in for a surprise.

***

The elevator glided smoothly to a halt, and there was a soft ding as the doors started to open. Taking a look around, the girl could not see Nero anywhere. Perhaps he wasn't home, she thought. Nonetheless, she began to step forward, trying to get a better view. "Hello?" she called out.

The moment she crossed the threshold, there was suddenly a blade at her throat. The girl froze, her eyes transfixed on the blade. "Don't move," said a voice from above her.

The girl dared to look up. Crouched on the wall above the elevator doors was Nero, his expression blank as he held the sword against her neck. The elevator doors were already sliding shut behind her, leaving her with nowhere to run even if she wanted to. Nero's gaze lingered for a moment on the holsters at her hips, then he looked deep into her golden eyes. "Why are you here?" he asked her.

The girl tried to remain calm despite the situation. "Are you Nero?" she asked.

Nero did not answer. Instead, the blade pressed a little harder against her neck. "I asked first," he insisted. "Why are you here?"

The girl backed up against the closed elevator doors. "If you are Nero," she said, "then I need your help."

"Why not call me?" asked Nero. "Why perform what amounts to a break-in?"

"I don't have a cellphone," claimed the girl.

"You could have bought a disposable," suggested Nero. "Borrowed someone else's. Hell, you could have used a bloody phone box. You actually still have those over here."

The girl's calm façade started to slip. "Well, I'm here now," she said, "so are you gonna help me or not?"

Nero, keeping his eyes trained on the girl and his sword pointed at her, walked casually down the wall and back onto the floor, righting himself before crossing to stand in front of her, keeping the tip of his sword pointed at her throat. Though her explanations seemed somewhat flimsy, at the very least it didn't seem like she was there to kill him. For now, Nero decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. "Depends," he said. "What with?"

"I have people after me," said the girl. "The mob. The police. I need protection from them. A safe place to hide. I've been running for a while now, and I can't run any farther. Not now, anyway."

Nero couldn't help being intrigued. "What did you do to get the cops and the mafia on your tail?" he asked.

"Killed a whole bunch of each," said the girl bluntly.

Upon hearing this, Nero's stance relaxed a little. He slowly broke into an amused grin, then nodded in acknowledgement. "I see," he said. "And what made you think that was a good idea?"

A shadow passed over the girl's face briefly. "I don't wanna talk about it," she said.

"I see," said Nero again. Realizing he had touched a nerve, he decided to move things along, since the girl seemed genuine enough. "Alright then. Take off the holsters and leave them at the door. Then we'll talk."