After the incident at the diner - thankfully the waitress seen the funny side, rather than hollering too the high heavens about being accosted by two pervy old men - Red and Nicky had ambled their way to work, a recording studio several blocks away.  There they had met the agent of their latest clients,  pop band [i]Northern Lights[/i].  

Northern Lights where one of those pre-manufactured, tweeny-heart throb deals that sold records to teenage girls as much on their good looks as they did on their talent.  The type of band that Simon Cowell lived for.  Not that the boys sounded terrible, a double platinum debut album and sell out tours around the globe put paid to that rumour, they just weren't Red's cuppa java.  Music had peaked with Elvis Presley in his opinion.  Why settle for the rest when you've already heard the best?  Sure, there'd been some good tunes since then, but it was like comparing a sixty watt bulb to the sun.  No contest.

Anyway, Northern Light's were just putting the finishing touches on their highly anticipated second album [i]The Way You Want it[/i] before heading off on another global tour, beginning with a week of shows at the Roger's center.  Now Northern Light’s agent, Marcus St. Claire, felt that the boys could do with a little extra protection for their shows.  After all, teenage girls can get right tenacious when trying to grab a piece of their idols.   Vicious even.  That's were Nicky came in.  

Ever since leaving the military Nicky had made his fortune in personal security.  He'd started out small time, building his company up brick by brick.  Now he had sixty-three personnel working for him, most of them ex-military or police types, one of them Red.  Nicky was currently hammering out the finer points of the Northern Lights deal with Marcus St.Claire, Red sitting in the next room.  Nicky had insisted that the ex-marine join him mostly as a visual aid.  He'd pointed out that people liked their security guards to be big, tough, vicious looking brutes.  Nobody fitted that bill better than Red, so he'd been told to sit there and look tough as all hell.  Red didn't know whether to be insulted or flattered.  

He'd settled for the former.

Too help pass the time he had brought a paper with him, the Toronto Sun.  News was just as bleak as it always was though.   The two big pieces were about the storm of the millennium that was ravaging Crescent City and the unnamed virus infecting Toronto, though there were other, smaller stories that were no less [i]'cheery'[/i].  An article about folk going missing before showing up dead chief among them, sans several body parts.  Looked like there was some kinda sick serial killer stalking the streets of Toronto.  Most people would see a story like that and think to themselves [i]'What kind of depraved mind would you have to be inflicted with to do something like that?'[/i].  Not Red.  He knew all he needed to about the sick minds of human beings.  He just prayed that all that shit stayed far away from him.  He'd had enough of that kind of excitement to last him a lifetime.  Two, if he was being honest with himself.  

The article was light on details.  Obviously gone under some kind of police censorship.  With everything else going on the cops wouldn't want to cause more panic by letting people get worked up about mad-axe killers among them.  Still, there were enough lines to read between.  There was no real rhyme or reason to the killings, or if there was the authorities didn't want them getting out.  The killer was smart enough to cover their tracks.  Probably someone the victims knew as there was no sign of struggle.  Something wasn't right.

Red was just getting into the piece when he was called over by Nicky.  

[color=darkred]"What's going on Nicky?"[/color]  He said.  

"I've got this guy on the ropes, that's what's happening.  Another twenty minutes and he'll be begging us to work for him.  You might as well head on home buddy, not much for you to do here anymore."  Nicky looked immeasurably pleased with himself and his latest deal.  There was nothing in life Nicky loved more than 'wheeling and dealing', the barren land of [i]negotiations[/i] being Nicky's home as much as the marines had been for Red.  

[color=darkred]"Didn't feel like there was much for me to do here in the first place."[/color] Grumbled Red.  

"Oh, don't be like that big fella.  Marcus was so impressed I managed to stuff a gorilla into a suit he pretty much capitulated straight off the bat."  Nicky's self-satisfied grin was so encompassing at this stage that it was a wonder his head hadn't split in half.  

[color=darkred]"Har-de har."[/color]  Red didn't have it in him to banter with Nicky any longer, instead just making for the exit.  

"Bright and early tomorrow Mr Walker.  Marcus says the Northern Light boys asked for you specifically after they seen you.  Try not to bore them with your old war stories."  That was Nicky.  Always getting the last word, even when there was no one else challenging him for it.  

Red hailed a cab, his route home taking him past Nathan's square.  He really wished it hadn't when he seen what was going on.  Dozens of people floating in mid-air, all looking terrified.  The taxi driver couldn't force his way through the traffic, but he hardly seemed to notice as his attention was fixed on the gravity-challenged floaters.  Shame that, as it made it damn easy for Red to donder out of his cab without paying his fare,
  
The big man's feet seemed to have a mind of their own, tramping him closer and closer to ground zero.  He was dimly aware that this really wasn't his business, and he really shouldn't be getting involved, but he couldn't help himself.  It was like watching a car crash in slow motion in that no matter how much he didn't want to he just couldn't take his eyes off the chaos.  He was right on the rim of the gravity wells now, the police attempting to cordon off the area.  There were people floating to his left, and on his right it looked like some great force was trying to squish them into the concrete.  Only one man didn't look like he was being affected by the chaos.  Red made a point of not looking at the bisected body.  

Red was willing to bet his life savings that the guy who seemed to be the calm in the storm was a hype, and he was the one causing all the havoc.  There was one clear solution to the situation to Red's mind.  It was the kind of solution most folk would call 'final' though.  There had to be a better way of going around this.  Had to be.

[color=darkred]"Hey!  Mate!  You need to calm down!  Get yourself under control, NOW!"[/color] He began calling to the virus ridden hype.