The Man with No Name
By DK Gaston, first published in The City: A Cyberfunk Anthology
A mysterious bounty hunter looks for a young woman, as she has important yet mysterious cargo that can give a great amount of power to whoever wields it. The bounty hunter, however, is not looking to kill her, but to protect her.
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Plot Summary
A bounty hunter is called by the leaders of rival gangs to retrieve an important package. Its contents are unknown, but are rumored to be extremely powerful. The bounty hunter is given a photo of a young woman; Iset the Protector. He is told to kill her after he retrieves the package. However, the bounty hunter has different plans, and kills the people that put the hit out on her. Now, the bounty hunter intends to protect the girl he was sent to kill. The bounty hunter is not the only one who searches for this young woman. There is a cult that wants to kill her as well. The cult wants to right the wrongs in the world by eliminating the "sinners." Now, their sights are on the bounty hunter, as they try not only to retrieve Iset, but to correct the man's sins. The man travels to different parts of the city without any trouble. He continues to look for Iset, despite obstacles from his pursuers. He constantly has doubts as to whether to help her, as he does not get paid, but the sight of such a young girl in trouble makes him feel as if he needs to be the protector of the Protector. He finds her finally, but she fights him off and runs away just as a new threat approaches. Another assassin from the cult comes to find the girl but wants revenge on the man for killing most of the cult. In order to protect Iset, the bounty hunter decides to pretend he could not catch her, despite the fact that he is the greatest bounty hunter that money can buy. His idea is that if it were to get out that he could not capture her, it would prove nearly impossible for anybody to find her. He is successful in the act, but still has the assassin after him. He is confronted by the killer again, but this time she lets him go, because she only wants to ask him one question: what his name is. However, he doesn't know. He doesn't remember anything from his past life. He only remembers waking up in blood and carnage.