Mysterious Frank

After keeping up a jog for a couple of minutes Kitten came to a stop by a near deserted restaurant with a quaint looking garden and outdoor dining area. She was about to take stock of her situation and check the time when Jennifer screamed in her ear.

“What the hell are you doing! there’s a Hunter right on top of you!” Flinching from the volume of her friends warning she whirled around but there was hardly anyone in sight. Just a woman in a business suit touching up her make-up with a compact and a young couple holding hands at a table inside. Hunters tended to stick out a little, capture equipment was rarely subtle and she would hear a drone in the early morning stillness.

“Are you sure Jen? I can’t see anyone over here can you get a visual your end.” Kitten was still on edge as she waited for confirmation, sweeping her gaze over the nearby rooftops.

“Found a security cam and i’m watching the feed from the nearest cam bots and they don’t tell me much, but a registered hunter is dangerously close to your location.” Following her friend’s statement she was about to dash into the cover or confines of the restaurant when she heard a click behind her.

The business woman had pulled some kind of device from her handbag and was pointing it right at her. A split second later Kitten was diving over an ornamental hedge when something whacked against her butt and she was yanked back in a tumble of limbs.

“Leaving so soon little kitty cat, but the fun just started.” The woman pouted sarcastically as a dreadful wave of realisation swept over her prey.

“You’re Mysterious Frank”

“Francesca yes, clever little kitty cat aren’t you i’ll have to give you a treat for working that out so fast, none of the others even noticed me, but they were so dreadfully dull in person. Not like you little kitty cat.”

Looking up into intense blue eyes that swept over her like she was stripped already, Kitten was suddenly a lot more afraid than she thought she’d be. Male Hunters were positively graphic in their intentions for the Hunted but this woman was terrifying just by being such an unknown quantity. She appeared well built under the suit and would be tall even without the cruel looking heels she wore, wavy blonde hair shimmered in the lights of a dozen camera bots that suddenly appeared. It seemed everyone was surprised by this turn of events and Kitten realised that was why she was doing her make-up just now.

“You look so cute with that surprised and fearful look on your face, thankfully these little friends are here capture it for me.” She said with a gesture at the waiting cameras. “Remarkable how people react to some things huh, is it so strange a woman would want the chance to catch a pussy like you little kitty cat, we’re going to have so much fun.”

Francesca lifted the device again and Kitten finally recognised it, a chameleon grapple, it fired small nets covered in micro vacuum pads and polymers that conformed to a surface as it latched on. Modeled after the lizard’s tongue it trailed cables that could be retracted by a deceptively powerful motor, but its main selling point was that it could be used on almost any material. Notably glass, cloth and other material not compatible with standard hook or magnetic grapples. I was rare to see in the field on hunts but with a firm grip and a fair amount of effort it could be an effective tool in the right Hunter’s hands.

And right now it was snagged on her combats leaving Kitten with a very critical decision to make.