“They always send me,” Kael replied. “You killed three people at the off-world colony. Two of them were children.”
Kael had recited that mantra a thousand times. It was the only thing that let him sleep.
“You’re a monster,” Kael said.
The water fell in a chaotic, frantic rhythm. Hitting the stage in a frantic, meaningless clatter. It was just water. blade runner 1982
His target was down there. Designation: NEX-6. Name: Lucian.
“Thanks,” Lucian whispered, as his legs buckled. “For the… pattern.”
“To retire a faulty appliance,” Lucian said. He gestured to the water falling around him. “But I wasn’t running. I came here.” “They always send me,” Kael replied
“Blade Runner,” Lucian said. His voice was soft, almost musical. “I wondered which one they’d send.”
Kael knew the protocol. Don’t engage. Don’t listen. Don’t let the machine trick you into seeing a man. But he was tired. So tired of the rain and the grime and the ghost of his own past. He glanced up.
He took a step closer. Kael raised the rifle, sighting on the center of Lucian’s chest. It was the only thing that let him sleep
“Then you know why I’m here.”
Kael’s finger tightened on the trigger. “Last words?”