Claymore (Fortune)
Alex Knight (Kagetenshi)
Kyoto Kid (Kyoto Kid)

As the doors of Seatac slid open, Jiro Hatamura got his first look at Seattle. The smog was heavy and a moderate drizzle quickly began to soak his business suit as drops of water ran down the hard lines of his face. As he paused for a moment to get his bearings several painted joytoys, of both sexes approached him shouting propositions, ideas, and prices. Jiro fought hard to keep a sneer from appearing on his face… He’d heard of how forward American society could be, but it was much more so than he’d imagined. If any of the punks knew that as little as a few months ago he would have likely killed them all where they stood for their impropriety with almost total immunity from any consequences they may have acted differently… but that was a different man, in a different world, living a different life. The old rules no longer applied, he had to adapt, evolve and relearn his skills if there was to be a hope of accomplishing his goals. He muttered something about not being interested and pushed his way past them to a line of waiting taxi’s.

Pulling the door open he shoved his small suitcase into the far side of the passenger seat and settled into the cracked, greasy synthleather seat. The driver, a grinning Rastafarian with no more than a half dozen teeth in his head turned to look at him.

“Hey mon, where ya headed?�
“I would like to be driven to an… inexpensive hotel near downtown please…� the English still felt strange on his tongue.
“No prob mon, you here fer business?�
“Yes… you could say that.�

The cabbie continued making small talk as the car wound its way through the rain slicked streets before pulling up beside a shabby mid sized building with a neon vacancy sign flickering in the evening light. As Jiro stepped out of the cab another streetwalker leaning against a streetlight smoking a cigarette shouted something at him. As she was across the street Jiro simply ignored her as he paid the fair adding the ten percent gratuity that his guidesoft assured him was customary in Seattle. Judging by the cabbies reaction the guidebook was wrong… ten percent was high, and he made sure to give Jiro his com-address in case he needed a ride back to the airport.

As Jiro walked into the hotel room and flicked on the light a naked fluorescent bulb bathed the room in a sick yellow light. He slowly removed his suit jacket and hung it to dry smoothing the creases that had formed around the armor plates concealed in the chest. Crossing the room to the window he gazed out at the street, apparently there was a club that was just starting to get busy but already the noise from the crowd and the thumping bass track could be heard clearly, sleeping might be a challenge tonight. Still though his eye caught the antiquated fire escape bolted to the side of the building, that was good, it always helped to have an escape route.

Moving to the bathroom he turned on the water and splashed some on his face. Pausing he gazed at the reflection in the mirror. His fingers slowly traced the hard line of his jawbone and across the thin lips that were still completely alien to him. It had only been two weeks since he’d emerged from the tank in Keruki San’s shadowclinic. Kanaye Sanesha had died in that tank and Jiro had been born. The rounded face that had earned him the nickname “kiddo� had vanished, replaced with angular, predatory features that looked vaguely like a bird of prey. Jiro was even taller, a fact that became readily apparent on the economy class flight over. Kanaye had sacrificed everything to come to Seattle and now it was up to Jiro to finish what Kanaye and so many others had died for.

After quickly drying his face Jiro activated his contacts list and found the one Seattle number in the list. His old fixer Hakari had given him the number, apparently Tinman was a friend of his. Hakari had gotten in touch with him and Tinman had agreed to try and find Jiro some work once he got here.

“Tinman-San, this is Jiro. I have just arrived in Seattle. Could you possibly return my call when it is convenient? I must purchase some items and find some employment and was told that you might be able to provide both.�

Jiro then began looking through the matrix hunting for some of the legal item that would be necessary to start his new life. He flagged a listing for a four-year-old Americar that would likely suit his needs for now, but had a difficult time finding a listing for an apartment that met his criteria. Perhaps this Tinman might have some suggestions.

Jiro quickly changed into jeans and a t-shirt and began organizing the rest of his possessions around the room. His armored working jacket went on a chair beside the bed. He mentally popped a catch on his cyberarm and removed a small compact pistol from the hidden compartment. He checked the clip and placed the pistol on the bedside table. The rest of his cloths were carefully folded and placed in the dresser drawers. With nothing left to do but wait and his sleep regulator preventing him from actually sleeping Jiro lay back on the bed and stared at the slowly rotating ceiling fan thinking back on the chain of events that had brought him here.

This piece took me a little over an hour simply because it's the first time I've tried to draw something completely digital. Everything was done on the computer. I'm sorry if it's a little sketchy but that's kinda the point of the thread...