Shelf Life

Chapter 1: Assignment

Chapter 01: Assignment

Gio didn't need a reason to get up in the morning; the reasons usually found him, stealing whatever breath he'd had in sleep. Such was the case this time around, as a series of cacophonous alarms and flashing red lights signaled on both floors of the firehouse.

Alamera, Ala for short, usually handled all the calls coming in, activating the alarm based on various codes. This was a code indigo - one of the more dangerous missions. In his eight years spent as a firefighter, four as a paranormal exterminator, he'd never had this many calls in a single week. Something had to be wrong with this picture, and he didn't like the implications.

Gio swung his legs over the side of the bed, rubbed his eyes, raked his fingers through dark reddish brown hair. No time to shower. He pulled a clean t-shirt over his head, pressed a few buttons over on the panel near his bed to access his protector suit. It was a clean metallic gray, open for him to step into as it auto-adjusted around his body, tightening around his torso and legs. It was always too tight around the chest, mostly for protection. He sucked in a breath as it readjusted. He slipped on his visor, which gave him a direct com link to the downstairs monitoring system.

"All right, Ala. This better be good for you to be tapping into my beauty sleep. 3 A.M.'s too early even for the roosters."

"Good morning to you too. Though I doubt a few more minutes would've made a difference." Ala's electronic voice hinted amusement. For a computer, she never gave him a break. "Got a call in from around West 9th and Ricocher. The Pweter Central Library had a report of skeleton ravens flying about the building. You may need a more precise weapon to tackle the flock. May I suggest the electrobow?"

Gio pulled on his gloves and boots. "The electrobow might stun them each in one shot and let me tether them to capture, but it takes too long to load, and if there are a lot of them, it'll leave me wide open. I might as well use the handguns. More shots it might take, and a chance they might overheat, but at least I don't have to spend time reloading. It'll be harder trying to get rid of them on the outside. Can't risk any of them getting away."

"Actually, they're located inside the building, if you were less inclined to assume."

Gio's brows rose. He stood in the middle of the floor, his hands - fingers, wrists - flexing to get used to the gloves he wore. "When was the last time they cleaned that place out to have ghost birds lurking around? 22nd century?"

"Since the last time you had a bath, perhaps." Gio clicked his tongue, but Ala ignored him. "They started showing up out of nowhere, so recalls the attendant. You'd better hurry, Gio. The longer you wait, the more they'll manifest until you can find the source from where they're coming."

"Got it, got it. Don't push me." His boots hit the wood of the floor, and he slid down the pole of the old firehouse in which he lived. His destination: the garage where his blue chrome lightbike waited for him. It had taken him more than a dozen extermination jobs to save up to buy it. Now the bike stood among his very few prized possessions. Every curve of metal, every reflector, every bit of power from its engine. He looked forward to each job just to be able to ride it through the city.

Unfortunately for him, each time he had to go out, it meant running into Caski, his puppy - and a ghost. Caski usually waited for him with a wagging tail, leaping onto his lap or leg at every opportunity. Caski had the appearance of a Huskie, but was much larger than a typical one. He was a gentle giant, more than Gio expected. He would more often annoy in times when Gio had a job, but the man liked the mutt. Gio reluctantly took the pup in after a job where he saved the ghost pup from a much larger ghost being terrorizing the town. Caski had nearly been energy food, but several well timed shots among multiple weapons brought the monster down before it had a chance.