Camila was always amazed how a city built in the wall of a crater and under tons of Martian top soil could be humid. Yet here she was dripping sweat as she stepped in the alley at the back of the cafe where she worked. The heat and humidity also carried the smells and helped them linger. This part of the DKRD, Damon Knight Residential District, was not known as the safest nor cleanest and always had the faint scent of spoiled milk. Camila winced as the smell filled her nose. Luckily all she had to do was dump the trash from the day and then she could scuttle back inside to the cool, clean air.
It was the night cycle and one of the moon lights flickered on and off casting the auto dumpster in long shadows. The machine was in a similar state of repair as the rest of this neighborhood, barely functional. It chugged and whined as she deposited her refuse into it. With the last bag she could have sworn it made an unusual wet thump at the end. Out of frustration born of lack of sleep and the heat, she lightly kicked it. It stoically refused to make any sound.
Brushing her dark hair away from her sweaty forehead, she turned to go back inside and finish her shift. Then she heard the wet thump again. The auto dumpster was quietly blinking a green in service light. Camila stood paralyzed by a moment of indecision: should she hurry inside or should she see what the sound was? Her legs twitched momentarily before she headed down the alley away from the cafe. Curiosity and concern had won the internal struggle.
"Hello? Hola?" she called as she reached the open end of the alley. The alley had spilled onto a small street, barely two glide carts wide, called Hubbard street. The sudden openness made Camila wary and slightly self conscious. As she pulled her brown arms close over the turquoise and black top of her uniform she called out, "¿Hola? ¿'ayu shakhs allá?" Then with a shiver she remembered herself and translated her native creole, "Hello? Is anyone there?"
She stepped out into the silent street. She didn't need the graffiti to tell her that this was Diablos Marcianos territory and that the building she was facing, emblazoned with the DM's stylized goatee'd devil head, was known to be one of their starshine dens. Hesitantly she stopped in the middle of the road. Wide-eyed, she looked to see if there was anyone, or anything, that could have made the sound. As her nerve got the better of her, she turned to leave, paused, and gave the building and the alley across the street one last look.
There, in the opposite alley, sticking out from behind some discarded boxes, she saw legs in slacks. These legs were clothed in slacks that one did not associate with this neighborhood. Then the legs twitched.
"¡Dios mio!" Camila hurried across the street.
"Hello? Are you okay?" she inquired as she entered the alley. Then she saw the whole person behind the boxes. They were definitely not dressed for this neighborhood nor anywhere in the DKRD. Only their eyes, moving rapidly behind closed eyelids, gave a sign of life. As camila knelt she felt the pinkish blood on the ground seep into the pants of her uniform. The blood was still flowing slowly from three large wounds in the person's chest. Slowly, too slowly the chest rose and fell.
"Can you hear me?" Camila pleaded. Clumsily she fished her handheld out of the pocket of her pants. Shaking, she pressed the icon on the screen to call the emergency services number. An automated voice asked what services were needed.
"Ambulancia y policia," she answered.
***
"Ambulancia y policia," the terrified voice answered from down the street. They were doing an admirable job of trying to remain calm. Little did they know that it was futile to get help. The victim would die just around the time help got there.
Normally Wisp wouldn't be casually hidden in a doorway after a job. They would have left as soon as the target had been dealt with, but this was a special job. One that required remaining to ensure that the authorities found the body in a timely manner. The innocent bystander was an addition that would help add authenticity to what followed. If the spiker has done their job.
Within a quarter hour of the call, an ambulance glide cart and two police carts filled the street and alley near the body. The cloaking silence had been shattered long before they arrived by their sirens. Now it was kept at bay by the shouting of bewildered voices trying to assert authority. The noise and light had the added benefit of filling the area with bystanders. Some had stumbled out of the starshine den while others seemed to have simply materialized. Regardless of their origin they provided cover for Wisp as they made their exit.
The job, or their part in it, was done. Time to fade away like a barely noticed streak of clouds. Like a wisp.
***
Camila stood there hugging herself as the medical and forensic staff attended to the person she had found. No not a person anymore they had said. Just a body now. Police were trying to question her, but the strobing lights and noise made it difficult for her to concentrate. She just stared at the body.
"Where did you find the body?"
"Here! Right here," she answered while gesturing towards the spot where the body was with her right hand.
"Have you seen this before," The officer said as they held up a plastic bag. Inside was a silver chain and a pendant. Camila was still too disturbed by how her night was going to take in much detail, but the brown, white, and blue jewels caught her attention.
"No. Is it theirs?" she said as she gestured towards the body. The officer did not answer.
"Did you touch the body?"
"No."
"How did you get blood on you, then?"
"I knelt beside them to make sure they were okay." She answered the rest of the questions coldly. Eventually she was asked by an officer to change into standard issued workout gear they offered. This caused a look of curiosity and indignity to spread across her face. The officer just simply pointed to her blood soaked pants.
It took several hours to process the scene. Camila missed most of it. After changing she had been guided to one of the police carts and driven to the local station. There she was questioned again and given a cursory medical check. When it was all done, the sun lights were coming up as she walked out of the station.