The Curse

The Curse

Main character: A cocky mercenary who pilots a building sized starship

Setting: A place where machines have integrated with human society

Story: A handgun and the strange fortunes of those who touch it

                “Okay, here we go, time for a smooth landing.” The mercenary says as he enters the atmosphere at an alarming rate. Clouds cruise by as he can see the ground expanding in all directions. He’s pulling the huge ship up but the landing destroys most of it. Somehow the mercenary is unharmed through the ordeal. The ship accordions but stops at the cock pit. “Phew, I really am a great pilot and an even better mercenary. Now, time to look around this primitive planet.”

                The mercenary is currently in between wars. He wasn’t hired by any kingdom as of yet, so he decided to go exploring. Using the money from various kings the mercenary purchased a sky scraper sized star ship, almost completely destroyed now.

                He crash landed on the highly populated planet of Sorg. He just so happened to settle in the trees of one of the planet’s only parks. Joggers looked up as the massive ship crashed on top of the tall maples. He got out and climbed down the trees. He noticed a strange machine pruning some nearby plants while another was walking four dogs at the same time. “This really is a strange place,” the man said to himself. He made his way out of the park, saying hi to the few humans he saw. “Now time to find some work, I bet I could fetch a huge sum protecting this fine town. They would be foolish not to hire me, I’m the best.”

                The mercenary approaches a busy street just as a robotic taxi parks next to him. “Do you need a ride?” The machine asks. “As a matter of fact I do, take me to the mayor’s office.” The mercenary demands. “Yes sir, right away.” The car says as it speeds off. The man looks around the city as he’s driven around. He notices other robo-taxis with people inside, talking on cell phones or reading books. “Hmm, it’s almost as if machines have totally integrated into human life, very interesting.” The man says to himself.

                The car slows down and parks directly in front of city hall. “That will be $50.” Says the car. “See, the thing about that is..” and the man quickly bounds up the stairs and runs inside. He finds the office of the mayor and casually walks in. “Can I help you?” Asks the mayor. “What you should be asking is can you help me?” Says the mercenary. “I don’t follow. Who are you anyway?” Asks the mayor, starting to get a little ticked off. After a long talk the persuasive mercenary convinces the mayor that he should hire him with a massive annual salary for the job of city protector.

                “Allow me to show you the fire arm you’ll be assigned. He walks over to a gold box and opens it. With a gloved hand the mayor removes an antique colt .45 and gives it to the mercenary. “Now I have to tell you about this weapon, something very important.” The mayor says to the man. “Oh I know how a gun works, where am I assigned to tonight?” The man asks. “You must patrol the park tonight, there have been reports of some undesirables harassing people in the area. But about the gun…” Just then the mercenary leaves without listening to the mayor.

                That night the mercenary covers every square foot of the park and only arrests two kids for smoking weed. “Undesirables? I could do this job in my sleep.” Just then the man notices a figure with red eyes shining in the moon light. It races towards him and bears it’s teeth. The mercenary is caught off guard and doesn’t draw his weapon fast enough. The beast tackles the man as a shot gun blast rings thorough the park. The beast runs off limping into the ground cover and past the trees. The mayor walks over from the right of the mercenary, holding a twelve gauge. “Are you alright?” The mayor asks as he helps the man to his feet. “Yeah, that thing surprised me. What was that?” Said the mercenary. “What I was trying to tell you earlier is that that gun is cursed. I was hoping that you would be able to lift it and destroy the beast.” Said the mayor as he reloads the shotgun. “What do you mean by cursed?” Asks the mercenary, unable to catch his breath.  “All the other owners of that weapon have been gruesomely mauled by the beast. It’s cursed. Now it is up to you to kill the beast and lift the curse.”