The Dreamcatcher

"Fear's a strangely effective weapon."

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In the middle of a conversation between a gunsmith, and a roaming stranger, whose interest has been piqued by a strange firearm sitting atop a shelf behind the gunsmith, who had a role in its creation:

 

"Now who said overkill existed in the first place? I never believed in that nonsense. I doubt anyone else would disagree with me here. If you look at all the weapons we carefully crafted now and over the years, you can see that we genuinely don't care about the safety about the enemy. Why? Well, we just answer that ourselves with another question: 'why should we?' Now this right here, what I'm showing you, is a true example of that tenet. I personally call it 'The Dreamcatcher,' simply and only because this thing right here is a nightmare to behold. After all, it was meant to match the client in terms of intimidation. If you ever do get to meet the original owner of this gun, you'd think to yourself, 'there's no way she could've been the one to shoot, let alone hold and even ask for this weapon to be made.' You'd think some big, menacing guy would be the one massacring enemies of the state with this but no, it's a slim woman about your height. Completely the opposite of what you'd expect. Looks aren't everything. After all, that's one of the basic things an assassin like her learns, but I'm no expert on that field. I'm a creator, not a destroyer."

 

"Tell me more about this 'Dreamcatcher.'"

 

"Oh this? Like I said, it's a nightmare to behold. Not only does it look menacing, it behaves menacingly. Of course, you probably already knew this. Our weapons essentially are made to match the person who's going to hold and use them in the future. I already told you about the person this was meant for."

 

The gunsmith picks up The Dreamcatcher from the shelf and places it on the counter.

 

"Look here. See this blade? It hasn't been cleaned off still. That was an order straight from the client herself. She said something about the weapon's condition being a way to store memories of battles and such, like a museum or something of that sort. You can really picture what this thing went through. The tip of the blade right here is razor sharp. Some poor fellow was too unfortunate to find himself on the receiving end of this, and the blade didn't even go in far. You might be wondering why the blade is this size too. Well, let's just say it's because of the overkill thing. Can't ever have a blade that's too big. Of course, we did keep weight in mind so it's not that ridiculously big...

 

Now the main component of this is the SMG itself. The rounds hit hard for their little size. More bang for your buck, as the saying goes. In terms of fire rate, I'd say this thing competes with assault rifles more. Same with the accuracy."

 

He then holds The Dreamcatcher and aims at a target, emptying out the magazine loaded in the gun. All of the shots landed roughly around the middle of the target. The gunsmith reloads the gun and puts another magazine in, before setting it down on the counter once more.

 

"See? Accurate. There's also a few gadgets here and there to help you really stay on target. The front sight has an integrated laser sight so you aim better and readjust your aim when necessary. The beam goes roughly as far as the effective range of the gun, so you can better assess your range from the enemy and move up if you need. There's tritium iron sights so you have some sort of visibility and hope of target acquisition at night. I personally don't believe in all of this complex nonsense about having the best tech on the market and having a gun be 99% extra attachments, so when I headed the production of The Dreamcatcher, I made sure it was not only effective, but simple. It's a proof of concept that complexity isn't always mandatory or necessary."

 

I point to the gun right under the blade and ask what it is.

 

"This? This is my personal favorite part. It's a sidearm that can be attached to the gun as an underbarrel weapon. What it does is that it charges up energy and then boom! Laser beams! Deadly ones to be exact. It's experimental so you won't see things like that around too much. Those beams are strong enough to melt through and pierce not only armor but human skin as well, but the energy output needed is so high that it's nearly impossible to create a sustaining beam. You have to wait a while before firing your next shot. In seconds, I'd say that's roughly 3-4 seconds of your time. I know, I know, 3-4 seconds are a lot but what can I do? Technology is like that sometimes."

 

"What's this?" I then point to the ornament on the weapon.

 

"That ornament was put there by the assassin. It's a good luck charm to be exact. You know, one of those things that people use because they think it'll help them or something. Well, I think this one right here is one of those times where it actually did help. Don't worry, these lasers are harmless. They're merely for decoration."

 

The weapon was indeed interesting, but it didn't deserve to just sit around here idly.

 

"Is it possible for me to acquire this gun?" I ask.

 

"Oh, well uhh...it's not for sale. I'm not sure how the original owner would feel if I just gave it to some stranger," the gunsmith said.

 

"I'm looking for her anyways. I think it'd be nice if it came back to its original owner, don't you?" I reply.

 

"Well, that's true. Hmm, actually I think you're right. It should be where it belongs now. Tell you what, since you're on your way, you could give this as a gift. That way, it won't end up with a stranger. I don't think many take interest in war artifacts anymore either so it'll just end up collecting dust if it stayed here with the people that worked on making it. At least it can be put to use, even if nobody pulls the trigger."

 

He hands the weapon to me.

 

"It's more than just a weapon, remember that. Like everything that's made, it carries a story with it too, and I entrust you to bring that story back to its author."

 

"Very well. Farewell, and thank you." I place the rifle on my back and walk off on my journey to reunite this weapon with its distant owner.

Done