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New York, Hudson - June 25th | 12:05pm
The target was James O'Neill. One of the worlds most notorious gun dealers. He was a normally reserved and rather paranoid man, going so far to switching his locations every two weeks, but this time he overstayed his welcome, he thought it was a good time to lean back and relax for once in the cozy Hudson. Little did James O'Neill know, that this was the perfect opportunity to take him out.
Mr. O'Neill had stayed in a five-star hotel with a grand view of the city. He was overseeing the colourful parade from above, only to be strangled from behind mere seconds later.
New York, Hudson - June 25th | 3:35pm
-> Mission Accomplished
47 effortlessly eliminated his target, disposed of his body and made his way down to the busy streets to disappear in the crowd.
Once there, it didn't take 47 long to realize that the citizens currently held a 'pride parade' in the city (if the colourful flags were any indication) and he was in the midst of all of it.
Eventhough 47 didn't much care for politics, he once read an article about these 'pride parades', apparently it was a celebration of one's sexuality and identity, he didn't exactly catch the point of this celebration but he supposed he doesn't 'get' a lot of things the average person tends to do.
As he made his way through the crowd and to a nearby park, he spotted several groups of people that had also taken a break from the street festivity to reside in the city's park.
47 was scanning his surroundings, while a adolescent approached him from the side tapping his shoulder. He quickly turned his head. 47 was on high alert, taking in every single detail from the young girl in front of him.
She had short brown hair and brown eyes, with a round set of glasses, eventhough she didn't look under the age of 18, she was relatively short; around 5'0ft. She also had a purple, black, gray and white striped flag wrapped around her shoulders.
"Hey! You enjoying the parade?" She asked him.
Confused by the sudden small talk, 47 took a few seconds before answering. "I'm not particularly interested in street celebrations."
She eyed him suspiciously, which didnt go unnoticed by 47. "Huh." She said. "Then why were you in there? I mean, I just saw you exiting the parade."
Only calm blue eyes stared back at her as he gave her a calculated response. "I was trying to better understand the necessity of this celebration."
"And?" She prompted.
"I still fail see the point." He said, hoping the conversation would soon be over.
The adolescent couldn't help but role her eyes at him, getting a slight shimmer of curiosity from 47.
"The point, Mr. Cleaner, is to support eachother, to support yourself and be happy of who you are. These people you see," She said while gesturing towards the street. "they are all kind of sad on the inside. But on this kind of day we come together, all of us, and celebrate the way we were born. We show those bastards who hate us 'because we're different' that we at least stand together. You know?" She said with a smile.
Curios.
47 decided gather more information about this person and the celebration so he asked: "What does your flag stand for? I understand that all of them have a different meaning?"
At that the young girl practically beamed. "Well my flag stands for Asexuality!"
"Asexuality?" Was she able to clone herself?
She nodded. "That means I have no desire to have sex and do not experience sexual attraction."
47 was not one to emote, but if Diana could see him now, she would know that he was surprised.
"Why should the lack of feelings be celebrated?" 47 asked, being now interested in her answer.
She slightly shook her head. "Just because I do not experience sexual attraction or desire, does not mean I do not have feelings, I am still a person who is capable of loving another person without the sex part. There are also people that are aromantic, they do not feel any romantic attraction, but having a deep connection with friends is just as fulfilling."
47 understood the reasoning of the teenage girl very well, he appreciated and cared for Diana and Lucas deeply (as much as he was capable of anyway).
After a moment she continued. "I have been told by many that I was broken and this 'celebration' helped me realize that I wasn't, and most importantly that I am not alone, that there are others like me, that maybe I was normal."
The worlds greatest hitman, was speechless. He didnt know what to say or what to think after having heard that.
He never felt like a 'normal' person, never felt the things 'normal' people felt or enjoyed, like sex. He thought it was because of the experiments he never felt these things, it was just another weakness that was ripped from him to make 47 into the perfect obedient killer he was meant to be.
Even if it the lack of sexual feelings or romantic feelings, were a result of the experiments, knowing 'normal' people that have not undergone biological experiments, were experiencing the lack of these feelings as well and even celebrating them... it was a strange thought for 47 to say the least.
He watched the girl carefully, while she smiled at him seemingly understanding that he was thinking deeply about her words.
Then he took a glance back at the parade on the streets. "Aromanticism and Asexuality." He hummed thoughtfully.
"Or AroAce for short." She chimed in. "All of us are valid, you know? No matter the age."
He looked back at her, she apparently understood what he had been thinking about and he in turn understood what she was trying to tell him.
"Well, I'm going back in there. Do you wanna come?" The adolescent asked him with a smile.
Yet he adverted his eyes away from her and back to the parade. "No thank you, I will admire from afar."
She shrugged and turned to to join the colourful streets. "Maybe next time." She said with a wink, he responded with a firm nod, but before she went, she undid the knot of her flag and reached it out to 47. "This is for 'next time'."
When it was clear that she would not accept a 'no thank you' for an answer he accepted it and graced her with something that could have been the littlest hint of a smile if you looked close enough.
After he watched her disappear in the crowd, 47 sat on a nearby bench, with the flag firmly wrapped around his wrist and watched the cheering crowd, from afar.