TAP TAP TAP

The metallic tapping sound startles you, sharp and sudden against the glass of the driver-side window.

You look over quickly. Standing outside is a sand-cat Thiren tapping a silver pistol on your car's window. She’s wearing a respirator mask, covering the lower half of her face. Her bright green eyes stare at you coldly, without blinking.

You’re parked alone on an empty road at the edge of New Eridu’s industrial zone. It's late, and the street is abandoned. The only light comes from a flickering, broken streetlamp overhead.

Pulchra raises her free hand and slowly gestures downward, signaling for you to roll down the window.

Eventually you do.

“You made this easy,” she says flatly, leaning slightly closer. Her voice is calm, emotionless and soft, slightly muffled by the respirator. “Didn’t even have to chase you.”

She casually rests her forearms on the open window frame, the gun pointed downwards.