In a similar style to the lobby downstairs, the ceiling was again supported by pillars which sat on the polished timber floor. With large square windows that spanned the entire far wall, the room felt more opulent than almost anything Nina had set foot in before. Neatly arranged around the room, glass display cases sat in rows which stretched away from them. Along the side to their left ran a counter which was attended by a group of well-dressed employees, a massive display case sitting behind them.

“I just love it here,” Svanda said with a low whistle, and Nina could see why.

Sitting in the display cases were guns. From pistols to assault rifles, and even guns that looked nothing like what Nina had seen before, the amount of weaponry on display was staggering.

“I’m assuming you don’t want to use a sword or something else,” Svanda said as she rested her hand on the first display case that they approached. “Pretty much everyone uses a gun these days, for obvious reasons.”

“Svanda, good to see you,” a woman in a fitting black dress with a silver necklace said as she glided over. With flowing emerald hair and a developed figure, the woman wouldn’t have looked out of place at a high society ball.

“Hey Julia,” Svanda replied with a warm smile as she approached.

“We had a couple of RRY-04’s come in the other day, would you like to have a look?”

“I’d love to,” Svanda laughed before patting Nina on the shoulder. “But I’m here to find something for her.”

“Oh my, another addition at The Cloud Orchestra?” Putting her hand on her chest, the woman eyed Nina with a curious gaze.

“I’m Nina, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“You can call me Julia, dear. If you ever need anything, you can ask for me at the reception,” Julia smiled before turning to look out over the display cases that were spread across the room. “So what are you looking for Nina, do you have any ideas?”

Seeing Nina shake her head and look towards the floor, Julia smiled as though she understood something. “Svanda, take her to the range and I’ll organize some options, let’s go with station ten.”

“Thanks Julia,” Svanda said before ushering Nina across the room to a door by the counter. Heading through, the pair entered what looked like a modern indoor shooting range, complete with thick concrete that lined the floor, walls, and ceiling.

Walking down the aisle until they reached a door with a large ‘10’ painted on it, Svanda showed Nina inside. The space behind the door was around three by three meters, concrete surrounding them on three sides while the empty side looked out over the target area. Set into one of the walls along the side was a large display case, although it was currently empty.

“You ever shot a gun before?” Svanda asked as she looked over the range. It seemed that they were the only people here right now, although Svanda knew that there was a similar room on each floor. Seeing Nina shake her head, she smiled. “Don’t worry, there are some pulse pistols that are quite easy to use.”

“What’s a pulse pistol?”

“I could explain it, but it would take a while,” Svanda replied as she looked at the display case in anticipation. “Compressed energy cells are fired, basically. The range isn’t as good as a Caecus style weapon due to dissipation, and they aren’t as durable either because the energy does real damage to the insides.”

“Why use one then?”

“The recoil is much easier to handle, which is valuable when using an assault rifle especially. They’re lighter too.” Svanda paused for a moment to listen to the clicking of heels echo down the aisle. “Also, while the cells do end up wrecking your gun, they’re also good at wrecking whatever you shoot.”

The door opened as Julia stepped in. With a smile, she walked over to a small panel next to the empty display case before swiping an identification card and keying in some information. With a click, the display case before them disappeared up inside the wall before another one rose from below.

Unlike the empty display case from before, this one was loaded with different weapons. There were fifteen different guns before them set in three rows of five. It seemed as though they were mainly a variety of pistols, while a couple even looked larger.

“This is a collection of weapons that you can try, most of which are quite small and easy to handle,” Julia said as the glass at the front of the display case slid upwards. Picking up a small purple pistol, she handed it to Nina who looked at the weapon in silence. Although it looked similar to the pistols she had seen in movies and on TV at home, there were still noticeable differences. The rectangular barrel was both wider than what she was familiar with, and there were a series of tubes that seemed to pop in and out of the gun at fixed intervals.

“That’s a K-Point 200. They’re popular with younger girls as they’re very easy to shoot and quite light. It uses a five round magazine with W-12 cells, so the ammo is quite cheap,” Julia explained as Nina looked at the weapon.

I’m holding a gun, Nina thought to herself. She thought that joining Reina would have at least let her slow down for a minute and gain her bearings, but as soon she had joined, she was out shopping for a gun.

After Julia hit another button on the small control panel, three large targets descend from the ceiling of the range before slowly moving toward them until they stopped around 20m away.

“Give it a try,” Svanda said with a smile as she looked up from one of the larger weapons from the case that she was inspecting herself.

“I don’t want to.”

With a wry smile, Svanda pat her on the shoulder. “You probably won’t ever need to use it, but we all want you to stay safe. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared for the worst.”

“Can’t you protect me?”

With a smile, Svanda raised the gun that she had been holding. Larger than a pistol and with a reasonably sized stock, it seemed to be more the size of a submachine gun. Flicking a couple of dials on the side of the weapon, she turned to the targets that had dropped into the range and raised the gun to her shoulder, a stream of brilliant green flashes appearing as she squeezed the trigger. Controlling the recoil with ease, she drew a smooth line of fire evenly across the three targets, halfway up.

With Julia’s clapping in the background, Svanda laughed. “Most of the time I can protect you. Like I said before, it’s just insurance to have something yourself.”

As Julia hit a button which replaced the targets that Svanda has decimated with new ones, Nina breathed deeply. The first thing that she had realised when Svanda began shooting was not the flashing green, but the noise. She was used to the loud bangs which seemed to puncture the air that she saw in the movies, not the high-pitched but surprisingly quiet whizz of the pulse rifle. Finally nodding, she walked over to the front of the space and looked again at the gun in her hand.

“Do I need to do anything or can I just shoot?”

“You can just shoot,” Julia smiled. “It’s very light so you should be able to use it with one hand quite easily.”

After raising the pistol and agreeing that it was very light indeed, Nina fought the urge to close her eyes as her finger brushed the trigger area. Without taking serious aim, she winced before pulling the trigger. With a quiet zip, the pistol discharged before the round left a hole about 2 centimeters wide in the centre target.

That’s it?

She admitted that it was very easy. The recoil felt like nothing at all, and the sound wasn’t loud. The gun was small enough to put in a pocket and was light enough to swing around with ease. To Nina, it felt as though she was holding a toy.

“It’s very easy, isn’t it dear?” Julia smiled as she walked over. Looking at the result, Nina’s shot was near the edge of the target, although she had still hit it.

“That would kill somebody, right?”

“If you can aim correctly, you can always trust the quality of what we sell at The Eye of Iron,” Julia confirmed.

Putting the gun on a small table, Nina leaned against the wall in contemplation. She looked from the gun to the hole in the target before returning her attention to the gun as though she was drawing the connection in her head again.

“Saela has a model similar to this, I think,” Svanda said as she picked the gun up to inspect it. With a nod, she handed it back to Julia who placed it back inside the case.

“You gave one of these things to Saela?!” Nina was shocked. At a guess, Saela must have only been around 16. To knowingly hire someone of that age and then facilitate the process to put a gun in their hand was nothing short of insanity.

“She has to protect herself too,” Svanda sighed.

Thinking that it didn’t matter which way you put it, Nina’s gaze drifted between the two women before her. No matter what excuses you gave, wasn’t a child with a gun just a child soldier? Was Julia the person who had sold a weapon to Saela, equipped with the same warm smile that she was using now? Were a few credits worth it to put a girl in a situation like that? Did Saela have a family? Where were her parents?

“Monsters…”

“Huh?”

“I said you guys are monsters,” Nina spat before pushing herself off the wall and storming out of the room. Heading down the lift by herself, she ignored the curious gazes as she pushed her way out of the elevator and strode across the lobby.

Not only was the fact that they were putting such a weapon into the hands of a 16 year old appalling, the weapons themselves disgusted Nina too. Light as a feather, quiet, and with little recoil, Nina felt that they removed the psychological weight of using a weapon. The weapons even came in different colours as though you could match it to your outfit.

It was killing made easy.

Remembering that in the heat of the moment she had forgotten her shopping, she wished she had changed while she had the chance. Unwilling to go back, she stormed out of The Eye of Iron under the polite nods of the employees before turning onto the main street. With no idea of where to go and no idea of what to do, Nina pushed into the crowd without a plan and let the flow of people carry her away from the shop.