《The Liberal Assassin》 INTRODUCTION: BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO NEW-MAN Before we get started on all the mysteries of a New-Man''s body, let''s get acquainted with Spxtro''s history that led to the rise of modern humans as we now know as New-Man. Introduction to the History of Early New-Man New-Man is the evolution of Human on Spxtro. Due to the sub-zero environment, many humans perish every year from the harsh climate. It wasn''t until the Ten Great Minds gathered to experiment on increasing humans'' ability to withstand the harsh living conditions and formulated a serum that altered our genetic. The first successfully genetically altered humans were called New-Man. The first generation New-Man had the ability to digest plants and animals for sustenance. However, the climate on Spxtro made survival difficult for other species and the Ten Great Minds made a second genetic alteration, allowing New-Man to accept Plantiumite for sustenance, creating the second generation of New-Man. What is Plantiumite? Plantiumite is an energy source most commonly found in the upper atmosphere and explodes when exposed to a certain level of heat. At thirteen capiknots, gaseous Plantiumite explodes. At fifteen capiknots liquid Plantiumite explodes. At twenty capiknots solid Plantiumite explodes. One five-gram Plantiumite pill has an explosion force enough to create a crater the size one hundred metres in diameter. What is Plantiumite used for? Raw Plantiumite can be extracted from the atmosphere and be refined into solid, liquid or gaseous state in Plantiumite Plants for consumption. It is most commonly consumed in the liquid state in forms of tea or champagne. Gaseous Plantiumite is injected and solid Plantiumite made into pills. The concentration of Plantiumite is directly proportional to the energy it provides. Fun fact: Most Plantiumite were stored inside iceberg islands before the Great Explosion to prevent explosions. What is the Great Explosion? In year 824 B.G.E. (Before Great Explosion) second generation New-Man lived on iceberg islands in communities. As various tribes and races strived to prove their superiority in technological advancements, sabotaging was common. An unknown terrorist group known as Black Blood sabotaged the Plantiumite storage on Stelecia City, the biggest iceberg on Luna belonging to the Stelen tribe. The Plantiumite storage exploded and killed many from the Stelen tribe immediately. As the iceberg cracked, Stelecia''s Central Energy Control Tower was affected. A sudden power surge occurred during the tremors as generators were destroyed affecting the Delegation Crystal. The Delegation Crystal* created an Electromagnetic (EM) Wave Explosion on maximum output causing all technology devices to die including those in nearby iceberg islands.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The EM Wave Explosion caused nearby iceberg cities to face Plantiumite Plant equipment malfunction and explosions. The failure triggered a sudden power surge that led to subsequent EM Wave Explosions from their Delegation Crystals. The chain reaction was global, thus dubbed the Great Explosion. Following the Great Explosion was the Year of Rain**. Although widely debatable, the Year of Rain was a phenomenon created by the explosion and heat from the Great Combustion. *See also Delegation Crystal on pg 38, Chapter 3 ** See also Year of Rain on pg 256. Chapter 12 Where are the survivors of the Great Explosion? After the icebergs were destroyed, the survivors of various tribes gathered on the stone island ¨C Luna. The survivors put their knowledge and built a city. To avoid the Plantiumite incident, Pantiumite was introduced. History of Luna and Pantiumite Luna is the island where all survivors of the Great Explosion gathered. Due to limited resources and a rapidly growing population, the elected Parliament* separated the island in half. The northern half was the Inner City where talented individuals who could contribute to rebuilding Luna lived. The Southern half was later dubbed the Slums when the Parliament neglected to care for the less talented survivors causing the deaths of many, including children. Outraged, a third party comprising of citizens from the Inner City and the Slums rose to boycott the Parliament''s practice and proposed to take care of children born on Luna. They were later known as the Academy. The Parliament implemented a Population Limit Rule** and funded the Academy who took in all children from age five to eighteen. Academy graduates have five years to meet the Inner City Citizen Requirements*** in order to become a citizen of the Inner City. *See also Parliament on pg 89, Chapter 5 ** See also Population Limit Rule on pg 92, Chapter 5 *** See also Inner City on pg 100, Chapter 5 What is Pantiumite? Pantiumite is the substitute sustenance manufactured for New-Man on Luna. To prevent another incident like the Great Explosion, Plantiumite manufacturing or possession was banned. Pantiumite''s energy efficiency was less than half of Plantiumite''s. The refining process was more complicated as it had to be synthesised instead of gathered, making it costly to afford. Much like Plantiumite, Pantiumite can be refined into solid, liquid or gaseous states for consumption or injection. To regulate the cost of Pantiumite, the Parliament controls its distribution and sets the price. Credits can be used to purchase Pantiumite of different concentrations. To date, scientists are still trying to perfect the Pantiumite formula for maximum energy efficiency. According to Marsalow''s Theory, Pantiumite could reach an optimum of no more than 70% energy efficiency. The higher the efficiency of Pantiumite, the more unstable it becomes. It is believed that the Ten Great Minds have perfected the formula¡­ Chapter 1 Loud rapping on the desk jolted me back to the present. Just when I was getting to the good part too! Biting back an exasperated sigh, I looked up. The lady with dark hair, thick-rimmed glasses and a much-wrinkled face with a grumpy expression scowled. I grinned in return at the familiar face. ¡°Hello, Mrs Peterman! How are you doing?¡± I gave her one of my thousand watt smiles. It always did well to play dumb. Sociology 101 ¨C when someone expects less of you, you tend to get away with more - made up by yours truly. Mrs Peterman was the Academy¡¯s grouchiest head librarian in all of New-Man history. What luck to have been caught by her! Donning my luckiest pair of underwear today didn¡¯t help much. Lady Luck must have been jealous by how good I looked in red briefs. What a prissy existence! Before I had time to scowl, Mrs Peterman¡¯s high pitched keening had me cringing. ¡°Titus Crowley! How many times must I remind you that students are not allowed to access the physical archive without a visit pass?¡± Ending the dramatically long sigh with a guttural groan, I mustered the best pout I could. ¡°But Mrs Peterman! Alicia wasn¡¯t there when I came in again¡­ You know just how much I hate waiting too, don¡¯t you? All my darling books were crying out to me and I just had to attend to them. I¡¯m really sorry about it so could you please overlook it this time?¡± A practised abandoned puppy look was thrown in to ensure effectiveness. My plans never fail. Despite the grouch she was, the old lady was one of the people I adored. She could¡¯ve been my grandmother if not for her constant need to nit-pick on my habits. Narrowing her eyes, the shrewd woman studied me. I didn¡¯t back down and met her scrutiny without letting up my abandoned puppy look. I pleaded with her once more with a tiny voice that I knew would tug at her heart strings. Her hard stare wavered for a moment and I bit my bottom lip a little to appear as meek as I could. Mrs Peterman closed her eyes with a soft sigh in resignation. I knew I had her where I wanted ¨C hook, line and sinker. Grinning widely and hugging the dear woman, I pecked her on the cheek. The librarian only swatted at me with annoyance as I dodged it. ¡°Thank you, Mrs Peterman! You¡¯re the best!¡± The old woman shook her head and rolled her eyes, well aware of my antics. ¡°What was I expecting?¡± she sighed. I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at her plight. She was up against the almighty Titus Crowley and the battle was decided before even it began. ¡°So?¡± she asked. ¡°What are you reading this time? Dantalion¡¯s Sixteen Strategies to Understanding New-Man? Marsalow¡¯s Theory on Pantiumite Efficiency? Minavo¡¯s Secret to Becoming Top Twenty Per Cent in Thirty Days? Or is it Shirtile¡¯s report on After Crystal Existence?¡± I huffed. Did she really think I would have left those babies sitting on the rotting shelves forever? ¡°You do know that I have gotten my accreditations through official testing, right? Chemistry by eight, System Administration Science by twelve, Medical by fourteen, Law, Business and Sociology at fifteen. I couldn¡¯t have possibly taken those tests without having touched these precious gems.¡± A rare smile graced Mrs Peterman¡¯s features when she saw my frown. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not very surprised young man. You are by far one of the brightest students I know. What are you now? Seventeen? I have never met someone like you before, especially not the first person to use the physical archives in the library in centuries. Kids nowadays like to stay in the comfort of their rooms and browse through the system archive, no appreciation for ancient art and works whatsoever.¡± I giggled at her indignant huff. ¡°Well, those kids who prefer wearing Orion Glasses to read don¡¯t know what they are missing out on. I very much prefer the weight of a physical book. The smooth paper and rough edges combined with the unique smell of aged pressed pulp¡­ they are simply collectibles to die for! A real pity these babies are covered in yuck from the years of disuse...¡± Mrs Peterson was about to comment on my low-key jab when a loud and obnoxious voice announced that there was a mail for me. Swearing colourfully, I fumbled for my Orion dialler while earning looks of disapproval from Mrs Peterman. ¡°You¡¯ve got mail! Pick it up! You¡¯ve got mail! Hurry it up! What¡¯s taking you so long? The mail is here!¡± ¡°Shut it, Kevin!¡± After fumbling around with some settings I gave Mrs Peterman a feeble grin. ¡°Updates,¡± I explained lamely. She looked unconvinced as if I just told her parellel universes didn¡¯t exist. It wasn¡¯t my fault¡­ not really. Sometimes these newer and ¡®more intelligent¡¯ virtual assistants need to learn how to take it down a notch even if I did meddle with them a little. I still like the old beta version best. Maybe I should tweak Kevin¡¯s program when I get back. For now, I should check the mail he was talking about. Mrs Peterman turned around and left without another word while I pretended to fiddle with the Orion dialler and muttered apologies. A sigh of relief escaped me when she was no longer in sight. Turning my attention back to the task at hand, I retrieved the mail and scanned the contents briefly. What¡¯s this? It appears that Felicity Reds, the crazy dog loving heiress to Burnet and Partners - the biggest law firm in Inner City, was hosting a dinner party at her mansion tonight. I chuckled then stopped abruptly to see if there was anyone nearby. Absolutely certain that the room was empty, I scrolled down to read the rest of the invitation. ¡°Huh? Nothing fanciful, just another flashy revenge party¡­¡± I had half the mind to delete it but my finger hovered across the delete icon at the last moment. Yes, the party was a complete waste of time and I had better things to do like making tweaks to Kevin¡¯s program. However, being the infamous playboy of the Academy meant that I had to attend meaningless events as such. If there was a way to travel back in time, I would smack my past self on the head for coming up with such a dumb idea. I could have chose to become a social recluse or even a loony but no¡­ I had to choose the playboy image as my alter ego. Just two nights ago I was at Tracy Fong¡¯s dinner party to celebrate her nomination as the Inner City¡¯s fifth most beautiful woman in a magazine poll. Scrolling back up to see Felicity¡¯s invitation list, Tracy¡¯s name was nowhere to be found. How predictable. One thing is for sure, tonight¡¯s party will be a good source for drama and gossips. The red digits on the Orion dialler flashed four in the afternoon. It¡¯s about time to get myself smartened up for the party if I wanted to arrive on time for the main entertainment. I¡¯m betting everything on Tracy¡¯s unexpected appearance just because. Victory is sweet but revenge is sweeter¡­ all the better for a juicy article. Now the Inner City Daily will owe me one! Insert evil laugh here for dramatic effect if you will. Snorting at my own thoughts, I made my way out of the library via my favourite exit ¨C the window. On my way back to the dormitory, I sent Tracy a text. How I managed without a typo I wonder. It didn¡¯t really matter when the reply came in a matter of seconds. Snorting in amusement, I sent her a short reply. ¡°Wear whatever you want,¡± I murmured. ¡°I¡¯m not the one who threw a party without inviting her ¡®best friend¡¯.¡± Frankly, I didn¡¯t care what she would wear since my natural beauty easily outshone her ugly personality. The female friendship is a truly complex thing. How they could afford to hang out with each other willingly while plotting ways to defame the other remained a mystery to me. Placing my palm on the scanner beside the door for half a second, it let out a soft beep and the door clicked open. I paused and scanned the overly familiar room while the door closed gently behind me. The tidy bed and small desk sat at their usual places and nothing was out of place. It might seem like a completely uneccassary and overly paranoid behaviour but ever since Nash¡¯s lesson in the Slums, I¡¯ve learnt to be prudent. Moving over to the built-in cabinet, I pushed a button. The clothes rack dropped down, ready for me to browse through my collection for tonight¡¯s event. Praise the creator of smart storage! Without this genius invention, the floor of my room would be buried under the countless party clothes serving my playboy image.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Skipping black completely because Titus Crowley had the reputation of an ostentatious party animal, I scrutinised at the colourful range. Green looked too sickly against my blond hair that I usualy wear in a mid-length ponytail by my nape swaying in time to every movement. I really ought to get it cut but procrastination was king. I glanced at the yellow suit and recalled what happened the last time I wore it. The lovely polka dotted tie that usually went with it was ripped to shreds by one of Felicity¡¯s A-59 Blue Terriers. Those new models were full of bugs! I cant believe that monster got aay without demolition... Apparently it was protected under the manufacturer¡¯s insurance. That¡¯s another reason to hate dogs. Yellow was out of the question since there won¡¯t be a good tie to match. That leaves me with either red or orange. Matching the red suit with the black-striped tie I normally go with, I looked at the reflection in the mirror. The image made my stomach twist in an uncomfortable manner. The resemblance to a walking hazard sign was so uncanny and my intuition was usually never wrong. Setting it aside, I moved on to the next colour. Orange wasn¡¯t bad but it didn¡¯t quite fit the image of an innocent playboy out to have fun. I sighed heavily. For a playboy, I have a rather pathetic collection of party suits. I could wear one of these suits but something didn¡¯t feel right. I resigned to the only other solution that I knew was going to cost me but it had to be done. Already I could see the credits in my account depleting. With much reluctance, I called for Kevin to order me a new suit pronto. ¡°Get me Lisa. I want a pink suit with lavender tie, same measurements. Agree to her price and tell her I that I need it in an hour.¡± ¡°On it!¡± Kevin chirped before dialling for Lisa on my behalf. I swear I needed a new hobby¡­ one that is preferably less expensive. A tempting alternative was to learn how to make my own suits. Lisa knew of my taste in Haute Couture and charges exuberant rates ¨C something I would rather do without if possible. Thinking about clothes reminded me of Mia. I haven¡¯t seen her in months now. As a master of embroidery, surely she would know how to make suits! I¡¯ll have to ask Nash to help me arrange a meeting with the seamstress the next time I see him. A shower sounded great while waiting for my expensive suit to arrive. It won¡¯t do good to wear something so new whilst covered in yuck from the library. Normally that yuck felt pleasant like the physical proof of my efforts in the pursual of knowledge. Today however, that yuck had to disappear if I wanted my playboy image intact. Nobody needs to know how much of a nerd I was¡­ nobody¡­ Undressing quickly and jumping into the shower, I twisted the knob and a stream of hot water hit my skin. An embarassing yelp tore from my throat and I hissed once the shock was over. The scalded area was already turning light pink, a sign of cell regenration. Being a third generation New-Man came with benefits. The light pink soon disappeared as did the pain. Rapid regeneration was handy like that but it didn¡¯t mean my body was immune to physical harm. We¡¯re no Gods, just really advanced and improved humans. The wounds I sustained from Nash¡¯s last lesson were still recovering. Looking at the faded marks from the cuts made by throwing knives on my sides and faint scars on my arms from long swords sent an unwilling shudder down my spine. That old man enjoyed himself far too much during the ¡®review¡¯. The system bell sounded, indicating my new suit¡¯s arrival. It was about time too. I stepped out of the quick shower and looked at my reflection. The beautiful blond hair, pale skin, taut stomach and lean muscles would make any men jealous. The only thing I wasn¡¯t too satisfied with was my mediocre height. However mymost strikingfeature made up for it. While it was common for New-Man to have blue eyes from genetic modification, I had a shade that was one of a kind. Cerulean blue eyes must have been an inherited trait that wasn¡¯t overwritten by the modification. In any case, it easy to see how I¡¯ve been blessed with good looks. Wearing pink tonight was only going to enhance it, sure to make the ladies swoon. Five minutes later, I glanced at the mirror satisfied with the well spent credits. Although my hair was still damp, I was ready to leave. There was no need to tie my hair and restrain the beauty of every strand. I preferred them to flow long and proud like how the ladies would cake on makeup to accentuate their finest facial features. ¡°Kevin, prepare to depart.¡± Without hesitation, the virtual assistant booked an Inner City wheeler that was due to arrive in exactly twenty-eight seconds. I cursed at the overly efficient assistant and promised to make tweaks once everything is over. Without wasting another second, I left the room. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< The party was boring. Bouncing on the balls of my feet while maintaining a pleasant disposition, I counted the number of guests present and mentally categorised them according to gender, hair colour and colour of the clothes they wore, twice. No one really important was present and my entertainment had yet to show up. It was a real pity no A-59 Blue Terriers were present too. I had a specially prepared present for them. A real pity how I can¡¯t infect those monsters with a virus to howl my favourite song. Sable Vogel wuld be flattered too! In my opinion, Sabel sings the best and Blue Ivy from her latest album is a masterpiece that everyone should come to love. I turned to mingle with some ladies who were throwing me flirtatious winks. Unfortunately for them, I wasn¡¯t particularly interested in what they had to offer. Then again, the playboy in me couldn¡¯t simply ignore them and move on. Putting on my most charming smile, I strode over to where they were standing. ¡°Hello ladies, enjoying yourselves?¡± One strawberry blonde model pressed her chest against my arm. I leaned in with a smile, attempting to strike a conversation and elicit information about her father¡¯s company. However, the conversation between two gentlemen behind me distracted me from the task at hand. ¡°Are you sure? That Titus Crowley?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve seen him at the official accreditation ceremony for Chemistry. He was only eight at that time.¡± ¡°What a disgrace for such a gifted young man to be wasted on partying and woman!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled. He might be behaving this way to throw us off guard. From what I heard, he has gotten his accreditations for Law, Business and Sociology too. That child is going to take this world by storm. He is in touch with Felix Riggs from the rumours.¡± ¡°What? Are you serious? That¡¯s not impossible then. He might be in the parties to rub shoulders with important people. What a crafty fellow¡­¡± Ten years ago I would have felt very hurt by their remarks. Five years ago I would have beaten them into pulp. Now, I just wanted to laugh. Nash was right. Let those who speak ill of you behind you do so. After all, that¡¯s the only thing they¡¯re capable of. The chatter ceased when someone arrived in a first tier wheeler way about an hour late. I turned around and followed everyone else¡¯s line of sight with a slight grin. Here comes the main highlight of the party. Out stepped Tracy Fong looking as innocent and alluring as a true saint in that smashing white gown. Men leered like the bunch of low lives thay are. Blinded by the lures of flesh, they would never see it coming. I smirked as she greeted Felicity with false joy. If one observed closer, it was easy to see how stiff Felicity had become. The show was about to begin and I had front row seats to it. While wtching the two ladies exchang pleasantries, I scouted for a certain someone. From the left corner of my eye, the reporter from Inner City Daily I tipped off earlier weaved through the crowd skilfully. Not caring if anyone saw the scary grin on my face, I vibrated on the spot in excitement for the true entertainment that was about to begin. ¡°What a nice dress you have Felicity!¡± the latecomer gushed. ¡°It looks kind of familiar. Oh! I recall now. It¡¯s the dress I wore for my photoshoot with Inner City Girls¡¯ Magazine!¡± The smile on Felicity¡¯s face became strained and her voice unnaturally sweet like caramel dipped venom. ¡°Of course, it is! Why wouldn¡¯t I know that? You were ranked the fifth most beautiful woman after all. I¡¯m so happy for you! Unfortunately, this dress is no longer in fashion after you wore it for your photoshoot. It¡¯s so sad that people can¡¯t appreciate fashion right? I mean the journalist was so mean to compare you to a moulding canvas. Well, cheer up Tracy! At least you¡¯re famous now. I heard that article went viral. Also, thanks for attending my party even when you forgot to invite me to yours.¡± A wave of gasps swept across the room with the atmosphere becoming tense. Apprehension filled the room and imaginary sparks flew when both ladies refused to break eye contact. It¡¯s so difficult to refrain from laughing. It was so amusing to observe the reactions of others. Especially the faces of men previously smitten by the main stars of the evening. The twisted expression of fury set things in motion and I spotted the reporter from Inner City Daily¡¯s Publications working that high-specs shutter. Another wave of gasps from the guests swept through the room, this time accompanied by the screamings from two very unglamorous ladies. The view was a little obscured from where I was but from the hushed whispers, they were pulling at each other¡¯s hair. When shoes started to fly and dogs started to bark, I took my cue to leave. The crowd could pick at the remains of the catfight but I¡¯ve had my fill. Now that the chilly wind greeted me underneath the stars, I was reminded of the book I borrowed after Mrs Peterman had interrupted. I might be missing out on the fun back at the party but it wasn¡¯t more important than the book I had left unfinished. It doesn¡¯t really matter since news of the vicious catfight would be all over Luna by tomorrow. For now, it was time to head back before curfew. Yawning widely, I dialled for a wheeler. What a great way to end another ordinary day. Chapter 2 Like every other morning, Sable would sing Shooting Star to start my day. Glancing at the red digits flashing, I smiled. ¡°Good morning Sable¡­¡± I croaked before promptly falling back to bed. As much as I love to hear my beloved pop idol sing, not even she could get me out of bed after an especially long night. With a half-hearted grunt, I hit the snooze sensor. Ten minutes later, the song went off again. Unable to find a comfortable position to fall back to sleep, I gave up. That¡¯s it. I needed a shower. Dragging myself to the bathroom, I stepped into the splash zone, not bothering to tinker with the pre-set temperature. Standing in a daze waiting for the warm water to hit me, I wasn¡¯t quite expecting to be smacked by anything solid. ¡°Blizzard balls! Why is it so cold?!¡± The freezing water rivalled the temperature outside and I was positive half of my shower had already turned into ice crystals. What a brutal but effective way to kick-start the day. I should have known better than to trust myself. Teeth chattering as I stepped out of the shower, I rummaged for clothes while yelling for Kevin to read me today¡¯s notifications. ¡°You have four notifications! Two mails from the Academy, one event marked in the planner and one urgent message!¡± The obnoxious voice had me swearing once more before silently apologising. Mrs Peterman would have my head if she heard it. An enraged woman is definitely deadlier than any hitman. I glared meaningfully at Kevin who remained painfully clueless about what he had done wrong. That was all it took for me to find my resolve. I am definitely altering his new update by the end of the week. There would be carnage in the Inner City if I had to put up with his annoying voice for any longer. Back on topic, it was a little strange. Last time I checked, there weren¡¯t any events for today. If there was, Kevin should have reminded me about it before I went to bed. Was this another bug in the system? ¡°Play me the message.¡± ¡°As you wish sir!¡± It should not have surprised me as much as it did but seeing Alastair Campbell pop up in an enlarged image when the mail started to play was enough to make me lose my balance for a moment. Damn those realistic images! It was almost as bad as having the real deal with me. After all, he once dragged me out for stargazing a few years ago while I was still in my glorious pyjamas in the dead of the night. I was not expecting that and frankly, nobody was. However, over the years I learnt to expect the unexpected. As the holographic message played, a tuft of snow-white hair came to view. Obviously, the boy was unaware that the video had started recording. The frown on his dumb face was enough evidence. The olive-skinned fourteen-year-old asked if the recording was working and laughed sheepishly when his virtual assistant answered affirmatively. ¡°Well, that was awkward for a moment. Good morning my Sirius! Did you sleep well? You know, I was very hurt when I found out you snuck out to another party again. You called the reporters from Inner City Daily¡¯s Publications didn¡¯t you?¡± I rolled my eyes and glared at the boy even though he was a mere image projection. Biting back on my usual retort at the poorly chosen nickname, I chose to listen on. ¡°Well, I am mad at you but that¡¯s not my reason for this video message. In fact, it¡¯s rather important. I accidentally forgot to inform you about the compulsory scheduled briefing meeting for all final year students by the headmaster. I can¡¯t remember the details but it starts at noon. In any case, I¡¯ve sent you an event notification so you should be able to see it. Good luck and goodbye for now!¡± The video faded away, leaving only silence behind. I should have known¡­ Alastair would find out about the party. That boy¡¯s obsessed with writing and intends to follow his sister¡¯s footsteps to become a famous journalist. He¡¯s been tagging on me ever since he discovered my numerous accreditations even if his interest is more inclined to my reputation as a ladies¡¯ man. His sister, Io Campbell, is the only female journalist worthy of my respect. Io has the intellectual capabilities to cover technical research articles unlike her infuriating younger brother who prefers flipping through the gossip column, inhaling every tidbit of information like a starved man. The second half of the message bothered me. There was something about a compulsory meeting this afternoon and I would have brushed it off as a joke since nobody said anything about it before. I had plans to finish reading the book I found yesterday but I suppose that has to wait. I couldn¡¯t exactly blame Alastair since he had apologised for the short notice. I did ask him to be my lookout for the times I snuck out of the Academy and yesterday had been one of those days. Deciding to get over it, I turned to Kevin. ¡°Show me the event notification.¡± Immediately the holographic planner materialised. Refreshing the planner twice, I stared at the reminder highlighted in red. No amount of crying will get me out of it. The compulsory briefing meeting starts at noon in the Crystal Auditorium. Is it too much to ask for a day of peace to do nothing but read? Squishing the need to laugh hysterically, I collected myself and started planning. This is not the time to start going crazy. Although dejected, I readily accepted reality. Sometimes I wonder if being a hitman¡¯s apprentice had anything to do with my emotionally repressed state. Pulling myself out of the stupor, I checked the time and started the cogs in my mind. I had a good hour or so to kill but that didn¡¯t give me enough time to finish the book I was reading. Then my line of sight fell onto Kevin. An evil grin formed as I went through the numerous experiments I would like to do to his newest update. As if the virtual assistant could feel uneasiness, Kevin repeatedly questioned my unusual expression even after receiving no answers. Mandatory system updates were the bane of my existence. If I ever come across the person responsible for all those tasteless modifications, I will gut him and hang him by his bowels. If it turned out to be a lady, nothing short of scarring her face would satisfy me. That aside, I remembered there were still some notifications to check. ¡°Kevin, show me the two mails received from the Academy you mentioned earlier.¡± ¡°Right away sir!¡± I quickly scanned through the contents of the first mail. One was from Alicia apologising for her disappearance and neglecting to help me register for a visit pass. The other mail was from the headmaster requesting my attendance at the compulsory briefing meeting. Scrolling down to see who had been invited, I smirked when I saw my long-time rival - Raoul Harper. How did I make an enemy of such an annoying pest? Long story short, I was lazy and mischievous in my younger days so things happened. In order to avoid all my investigators, I developed the art of stealth. There was no place in the Academy that I didn¡¯t know about. Hide and seek was always fun for me but it frustrated the ones in charge of locating me. The upper cabinet of the chemical storage room was a good place for a nap that fateful day. Those investigators too dumb to look for a child hiding in the cabinets. I was about to sleep too when the sound of many footsteps disturbed me. The door to the room opened and I heard the annoying voice belonging to a certain roly-poly boy. Yes, it was no other than Raoul Harper ¨C the epitome of everything that should never exist on Spxtro. That fat boy was a braggart, an attention seeker, a coward, a bully, a people pleaser and a liar. Nothing good would happen from associating with him. Still, there were many who fawned over him for reasons not known to me. Of course, I avoided him like plague. Books made better companions than people in my opinion. They kept the loneliness away. For me, that was very important. Unlike most children in the Academy, I didn¡¯t know who my parents were. My guardian was someone called Spencer Creed but he was hardly home. I don¡¯t remember his face apart from the iconic thick moustache. As a result, I became obsessed with learning new things but not very much about achieving anything in particular. There was nobody to please and nothing expected from me, only an eternal void of boredom and loneliness to fill but I digress. The voices came closer and there were many giggles. Still half asleep back then, I didn¡¯t register the doors of the cabinet opening. Only when a high pitched scream, that nearly shattered my eardrums, startled me to awareness did I notice what was going on. The stench hit me like an avalanche. As the sleep induced haze cleared, I found myself staring at five-year-old Raoul Harper who had fallen on his behind, screaming his lungs out. Tears and snot ran amok but what surprised me the most was liquid pooling on the ground near his crotch area. The synthesised fabric was already drenched and the smell was obscene. All the girls in my cohort were witnesses to Raoul¡¯s momentary state of incontinence. The commotion had alerted some investigators who dropped by the awful scene. While Raoul was getting attended to, the girls decided to avoid the boy as if their lives depended on it. It went on for several years before they started talking to him again. On the other hand, yours truly was put on an even tighter watch by the Academy for ¡®causing inconvenience¡¯. It was a rather feeble excuse for a bunch of incompetent adults but I didn¡¯t have a say in what they decided. Remembering the good old days never fail to bring a chuckle out of me. It was nice to be young. I never made things easy for anyone in the Academy. Needless to say, after that incident, Raoul harboured a deep hatred towards me. It wasn¡¯t really my fault but he took it personally and constantly tries to get back at me whenever a chance presents itself. The boy was always trying to one-up me ever since then and honestly, it was annoying. He had everything that I couldn¡¯t possibly have but still he acted like a fool. He slimmed down drastically and paid careful attention to his looks because he didn¡¯t want to be unpopular with the ladies. It¡¯s quite funny how he doesn¡¯t seem to understand that the ladies weren¡¯t attracted to him because of his overbearing attitude more than his lack of visual appeal. Everything changed the moment he got his accreditation in the medical field. I don¡¯t know how he did it but he was thirteen when he got his accreditation. I managed to get mine a year after him which was an equally impressive feat but that went unnoticed under all the glamour over Raoul. Raoul shot to fame quickly and became a well sought after doctor even before he graduated the Academy. With the Parliament¡¯s recognition, there was hardly anything Raoul couldn¡¯t do. His ground-breaking research about Pantiumite¡¯s effect on New-Man¡¯s body had garnered him more than enough funds to start working on developing a more efficient kind of Pantiumite. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Currently, a Pantiumite pill can last an average New-Man for about two weeks. With increasing population, the demand for Pantiumite rose. If Raoul succeeds in creating a more efficient Pantiumite that can last three months instead of two weeks per dosage, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised to see his head swell till it pops. Long story short, Raoul was constantly attempting to put little old me down in front of the professionals, another reason why I hate attending meetings. The last conference I went for about the latest model of Medibot, Raoul had been the one answering all my questions that were never directed to him. In my defence, all my questions were relevant and I was there for first-hand information. It wasn¡¯t until Raoul decided to answer all my curious questions that I decided to walk away. Raoul¡¯s scornful answers were enough to make the professionals deem him a promising talent and me a total fluke despite the numerous accreditations. From that day onwards, I received many looks of pity and false concern while getting slugged by Raoul¡¯s merciless bullying. No one wanted to be the King¡¯s next target and I can totally understand why they would rather watch me get bullied. Honestly, it wasn¡¯t their fault. I didn¡¯t start out hating him but through the years of petty pranks, I¡¯m coming close to my limit. Closing the mail with a sigh, I glanced over to Kevin. The new update was a huge patch and time would be required to disassemble the program. Having picked up System Administration Science, it wasn¡¯t too difficult. Cracking my knuckles out of habit, I opened the disassembler program and started working on modifying the newest updates. ¡°Kevin, I need you to go offline for an hour or so. Put all my mail and calls on hold.¡± ¡°Roger that!¡± The screen became blank with a beep indicating that Kevin had successfully gone into sleep mode. Extracting the latest patch update, I copied it and ran it in the disassembler. When I finish with the modifications, Kevin would be my perfect sidekick. I can¡¯t wait to try the new modifications to Kevin¡¯s simulation program. From all the recorded history of my sparring sessions with Nash, I developed a program that will predict Nash¡¯s movements with the help of Horus. The new modification will allow Kevin to calculate Nash¡¯s next moves during our regular sparring sessions based on history and real-time muscle movements before Horus shows me the projected trajectory. The expected accuracy of Kevin¡¯s predictions would be raised to ninety-eight percent with this update. ¡°Tonight will be the night I finally defeat Nash!¡± I grinned crazily as the sound of typing continued on almost mechanically. Time flew by faster when there was work to be done. Being late for an appointment was often the side effect, exactly the predicament I find myself to be in. Usually, it never bothered me as I had an extremely flexible schedule. However, I doubt the Academy will take too kindly to tardiness for a compulsory meeting. New and improved Kevin helped locate my uniform suit while I fumbled around my room to find some socks. ¡°Sir, the time now is five minutes past noon. I suggest we use the charged orb to get to Crystal Auditorium.¡± Decisions, decisions. While getting dressed I had to contemplate my choices. The charged orb would save me a lot of time and with luck, the headmaster may not be seated yet. I might get away with it. However, being a fun-loving person, there were better ways of getting to a briefing. My sight rested on a new gadget I was testing out. Light bending technology was long obsolete until I brought it back. Though imperfect, it will have to do. Grabbing the hair tie, I pulled my long blond strands into a loose ponytail at my nape before slipping on the ring. Much like holographic images, the gadget hidden in the hair tie¡¯s bobble creates a wall of particles around me while I move. This allows me to become invisible to eyes and cameras. Hopefully, it would be able to give me an advantage over Nash for our spar tonight too. As I twisted the dial on the ring to activate the invisibility field, I pondered over the other problem I would face. The only way into the auditorium was through that ridiculously huge door. Deciding it would be best to focus on running to the venue, I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind. No problem would be too big for Titus Crowley. I will cross the bridge when I get to it. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< Outside the Crystal Auditorium, I peered inside through a small vent. The headmaster was already inside and I groaned softly. Not only was the headmaster present, the only strategic place I could sit in that small auditorium was behind the last person I wanted to see. Well, what had to be done will be done. Timing to open the door when the headmaster¡¯s focus was on the attendance list, I slipped inside the auditorium and settled behind Raoul. He was too busy ogling at Monica to notice me as I undid the invisibility. ¡°Lastly, Titus Crowley,¡± the headmaster frowned when he heard no response. Opting not to answer, I smiled and waved from my seat. The old man looked up and scanned the room after calling my name for the second time. I don¡¯t blame the man when he stumbled backwards in shock. After all, I wasn¡¯t there two seconds ago. ¡°How are you doing?¡± I nodded to the headmaster who was still unable to make heads or tails of my sudden appearance. My voice made Raoul jump from his chair. The fall was spectacular in a fashion of tangled chair and limbs. ¡°Y-You!¡± he spluttered with a crimson face and I gave him an innocent look. Sensing an argument coming, the headmaster was having none of it. ¡°Sit right down now young man! I don¡¯t appreciate being interrupted.¡± I smirked at the fuming star student as he reluctantly sat down but not without a glare in my direction. Satisfaction burned in my chest when Raoul was reprimanded by the headmaster for behaving childishly. The smirk on my face widened as the headmaster droned on about the approaching and long awaited graduation ceremony before delving into more details about our credit systems. The talk lasted a grand total of two hours which I found myself sleeping through. Sometimes I wonder why the Academy would rather waste two hours talking about what we could easily read from the student guide they would be handing out after the briefing. Before the headmaster could dismiss us, I was already making my way towards the door. Raoul could find his muse elsewhere since I wasn¡¯t in the mood to entertain. It was only two in the afternoon but my body felt as heavy as obsidian. I needed to sleep for a few more hours knowing that I would probably not survive the night in my current condition. Nash wasn¡¯t going to go easy on me tonight just because I was sleep deprived. After entering the room and doing the paranoid ritual, I flopped onto the bed. The pillow was fluffy and the mattress soft. I was totally at bliss with how they seem to eat up my fatigue. I sank further into the bed after removing my shoes but didn¡¯t bother changing into sleepwear. With a large yawn, it didn¡¯t take long for me to drift off. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< Particle cavities! Pyros was already gone when I looked out the window. The Night Walker had better start running¡­ Glancing at the time, I lamented at how it was already nine. Scrambling around my room while shedding the layers of clothes, I tried to recall where I hid my custom-made suit. Last time, I had to chuck it somewhere when Alastair barged in without warning during a routine repair. Now I can¡¯t remember where that somewhere was. I flipped my storage compartments hoping to find it in one of the racks in vain. It wasn¡¯t under my mattress either. Now, where could I possibly have chucked it? Looking around my line of sight fell to the bathroom. Could it be¡­? ¡°Aha! There you are¡­¡± Triumph at my find, I pulled the suit out. It was slightly crumpled but was looking fairly well. Surely it had seen better days but due to the essence of time, I¡¯m not complaining. Although, who would have thought that such a suit would be hidden in a carelessly tossed laundry bag? I¡¯m only thankful I chose to do the laundry myself instead of having the housekeeping bots handle it. Night Walker¡¯s suit was made to reflect any light and sound waves, a very convenient way for me to get away without detection. It was easy to wear the suit, nothing too fancy. A sleeveless hoodie, some cargo pants with multiple compartments and I¡¯m set. It¡¯s more of an outfit than a suit but ¡®Night Walker¡¯s suit¡¯ sounded a lot fancier than Night Walker¡¯s attire. It was a combat garment and not a fashion piece no matter how it appears. The gauntlets were my favourite thing about the suit. I hide my best blades inside in case of emergencies despite having seventy-two must carry gadgets, recommended by yours truly. After all, one can never be too sure. A hitman must have as many weapons as he can use at his disposal. I prefer fighting from a distance and avoid direct confrontation but having a teacher like Nash meant that close combat encounters were impossible to avoid. Grabbing the new hair tie and ring used earlier in the afternoon, I mentally checked off the list of items that I needed to bring. Even as I recounted all seventy-two gadgets plus the two new ones, I knew there was still something I was forgetting. Everything was a little too light but there wasn¡¯t enough time to figure out what I missed. It looks like I will be travelling light tonight. ¡°The time now is nine forty-two, sir. I suggest we make a move to avoid being caught by the security after lockdown.¡± Kevin¡¯s not-as-enthusiastic voice made me smile. Now that¡¯s more like it. ¡°Plot me the fastest route to Mr N¡¯s place.¡± ¡°On it,¡± Kevin started searching for the best route and I was only halfway through a yawn when he came back. ¡°I suggest we take route B. The patrol-bots we will encounter tonight are after the main fountain and before the main wall.¡± Pleased with the apt and timely response, I pulled down the visor. ¡°Noted. Let me know before we run into them.¡± It wasn¡¯t very high, merely a jump from the second floor. I leapt from the window ledge and shock reverberated from the balls of my feet to my knees upon landing impact. I gave thanks to my third generation body. A first generation New-Man, with the exception of Nash, would have sustained some sort of injury. A second generation body would have been shaky and numb but a third generation body had better pain tolerance and physical resistance. ¡°Take a left turn at the library,¡± Kevin¡¯s voice interrupted my thoughts. Route B was certainly the fastest way to go despite being one of the more risky routes with so many open spaces to cover. Free running across the schoolyard, I made my way to the library building. There were no bots in sight but I didn¡¯t want to take any chances. Checking twice for any nearby bots that were not on Kevin¡¯s intelligence, I found none. It was safe to sprint. The next turn was after the laboratory just before the main fountain. ¡°What is the status of the patrol-bots at point one?¡± Kevin hummed before replying, ¡°Negative. No bots sighted at point one. The nearest bots are fifteen meters away.¡± Nodding, I hid behind the wall. The bots needed to pass before I made a dash for it. Past the main fountain was the foyer that had a large open space. Should I be caught by the bots, my odds of getting away are close to none. Unlike cameras, bots are equipped with heat sensors that I have yet to figure out how to fool. Fortunately, the effective radius for those sensors is ten metres. Bots don¡¯t patrol within ten meters of each other, giving me a way to make a break. I don¡¯t understand how the chief security officer missed something as obvious as this but such a thing would never have been overlooked on my part. ¡°What is the effective radius between my current position and the bot assuming it reaches point A?¡± ¡°Estimated twenty metres, sir.¡± Twenty was good enough. Deviating a little from Kevin¡¯s original route, I made my way around the laboratory. This would be a slightly longer route but it certainly was faster than waiting for the patrol-bot to pass. I cut across the foyer diagonally and caught a glimpse of the huge metallic robot canine before scoffing at the ¡®security¡¯. According to Kevin, turning right after the foyer will bring me to the main walls. On the actual site, the right turned to be more than slightly troublesome and I smacked a palm against my forehead. ¡°Seriously, a bush? At least give me a roof to climb over or something! For crying out loud Kevin, a bush?¡± ¡°My apologies, sir. Would you like me to blacklist routes with bushes for your next trip?¡± His professional sounding tone calmed me down a little. ¡°See that you do it,¡± I hissed. Kevin apologised once more and added bush to the blacklist while I crawl through thorns and brambles. If my clothes weren¡¯t made of special fibre I would be covered in scratches that would only fuel more rumours about my playboy image and wild night frenzies. Once I reached the end of the bush, Kevin informed me of another patrol-bot approaching. I rolled my eyes, suppressing the urge to groan. For such cutting-edge technology, these bots walk slower than a three-hundred-year-old New-Man! Finally, with enough patience, I came face to face with the wall that separated the Academy and the Slums. Twisting the ring on my right middle finger so that the inner dial pointed north, I heard Kevin announce the gravity field¡¯s activation. If a man is as good as the shoes he wears, I¡¯m the coolest one alive. Literally climbing over the last obstacle between the Academy and the Slums one step at a time, a smirk settled on my face. It wasn¡¯t the first time I left the Academy for the Slums but it never failed to give me that same sense of satisfaction every time. Strangely, I felt more like myself when I wore visor glasses and snuck around in the dead of night. The wind felt good, unlike the stifling breeze in the Academy. Taking off with a sprint, Titus Crowley is free again. Chapter 3 The wind was harsh on my cheeks. Sub-zero wasn¡¯t exactly a temperature I was comfortable with. As much as third generation bodies were made to withstand the cold, we still feel the chill although we can¡¯t die from it, a true method of torture. Thankfully the visor on my face, which existed for a solely decorative purpose previously, now served a far more important function of keeping the wind out of my eyes. Slums were the derelict part of Luna, devoid of technology and the people here had barely enough to purchase the Pantiumite they needed. The poorly made rooftops were a poor foothold and I learnt the hard way early on, not to run on top of them like I would do back in the Inner City. Falling into somebody else¡¯s house didn¡¯t appeal to me as fun. When I look at the houses I passed, I was reminded of a young boy I once knew very well. ¡°What? People who live in the Slums are really useless! How can they not know how to program? It¡¯s basic technology after all¡­¡± Shutting the unpleasant memory of my former self, I focused on the task at hand. Nash¡¯s house was still a good distance away, giving me time to formulate my plan. I don¡¯t exactly remember how it came to be but it became customary that I attack him on sight before any other businesses take place. Speaking of business, the feeling of something missing was bugging me. I was definitely forgetting something but it wasn¡¯t as crucial. It¡¯s frustrating when this happens and the worst part is Nash¡¯s lecture. That man is more of a father than a teacher despite being incredibly annoying at times. ¡°Eh? How come you live in the Slums then?¡± Titus Crowley, aged twelve, pouted. Nash Skinner flicked the young boy on the forehead, causing the blond to yelp in pain. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± The former hitman ignored the shrill voice and calmly pointed to a brunette who heaved a heavy basket of silk. ¡°Look at Serra. You have spoken to her before. Is she terrible at Math?¡± Young Titus shifted his gaze to study the clumsy woman who had tripped over and fallen. The bales of silk were scattered all over the ground. Giggles could be heard but Titus merely watched. ¡°No. She can do multiplication and division in her head quicker than I can.¡± Nash smiled. ¡°Of course, she can. That girl has a gift for numbers. However, look at her. Do you think she¡¯ll do well running a shop?¡± Once more Titus observed. Serra was now being reprimanded by her employer, a fat matriarch. The poor brunette could only hang her head in shame and hold back tears while the fat woman yelled at her. Titus shook his head, ¡°No. She¡¯s horribly clumsy.¡± Nash then posed a question to Titus who was only able to answer it many years later. ¡°Why do you think she is in the Slums then?¡± That memory was one that I am particularly fond of. Brushing an obstructing strand of hair in my face, I rounded the corner. According to The History of Pantiumite, many graduates leave the Academy being equipped with skills involving science or finance. Granted, there are a few exceptions like Alastair and his more capable older sister, Io, who develop their skills based on interest. However, the number of graduates who chose to develop their skills based on practicality like Raoul is alarmingly large, only not many of them were as talented or as fortunate as that detestable man. The Parliament decides who is ¡®useful¡¯ and keeps them in the Inner City while the rest are discarded into the Slums. Over the years I have met many people in the Slums while apprenticing under Nash. The people were good natured and friendly. They were often generous, a stark contrast with the false etiquette in the Inner City. However, for those who had never left the Inner City, the Slum was a place full of rejects and inferior people. That was exactly what young Titus Crowley thought when he first stepped into the Slums armed to the belt with gadgets and the latest technology. However, he was humbled after meeting Nash who taught him the ways of life in the Slums. Young Titus had admired how humans managed to live without much technology available in the Slums despite the harsh climate. It was through this that he had come to realise how wrong the system was and his solution was to become the Night Walker ¨C a pest to the Inner City, hero to the Slums. David was a man who taught young Titus how to make furniture and basically anything he wanted from the scraps in the wastelands. Maria was a woman who taught young Titus how to dance and entertain the women when he grew older. Not even the most famous pop idols in the Inner City could compare to her charm. They were all wonderful people but they weren¡¯t perfect. David wasn¡¯t good at talking, he was mute. Maria wasn¡¯t very good looking. Serra was super clumsy. I still remember the day I told Nash about it. ¡°Hey, Nash¡­¡± The bearded old man looked up from his news tablet. ¡°What is it, child? I¡¯m busy.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Why is it that there are so many great people in the Slums and so many horrible people in the Inner City? What did they do to deserve living in the Slums?¡± ¡°Hmm, what makes you say that?¡± Tiny hands balled into even tinier fists, Titus stared straight into Nash¡¯s eyes. A once-dormant fire now burned fiercely in the young boy¡¯s cerulean eyes. With determination, he shouted, ¡°It¡¯s wrong! Everybody here worked so hard and they have what they are good at! Why is it that the Inner City won¡¯t take them in? Why is it that some people can party the whole time in the Inner City and do absolutely nothing but remain there? Shouldn¡¯t those people be in the Slums instead? What did Maria, David and everyone else do to deserve this?¡± Nash set the tablet down on the table gently. He went over to the boy who was sobbing freely. Stubborn tears fell more each time he wiped them away. ¡°It¡¯s not right¡­¡± For once Nash opted not to say a thing. He bent down and looked the boy in the eyes, offering a rare smile while ruffling his blond hair. The tears only came down harder. We never had that conversation again. At the age of twelve, I understood what discrimination was and how ugly the world is. It was that moment when I knew what I wanted to use my skills for. With my accreditations in numerous fields, I decided to create a way to aid the people in the Slums as both as Titus Crowley and the Night Walker. I took it upon myself to introduce new technology as discreetly as I could to improve the quality of life in the Slums. Nash helped distribute them when he could. The first thing I noticed about the Slums was the inability to afford heat energy, resulting in many people freezing to a permanent comatose. Developing something I called the heat cask, Nash helped to distribute it using more questionable channels which improved the lives incredibly for the few who the heat cask managed to end up with. That was around the same time that I started debuting as Night Walker in the Inner City, trying to carve a name for myself. However, no matter how much I did, I still couldn¡¯t erase the power difference between the Inner City and the Slums. If only I could bring more technology into the Slums, it might level their playing field in the society and equip them with the means to make a better place for themselves. Hope came in the form of the Academy. Fortunately for me, most of the materials I require to invent new technology were already provided for. After many trial and errors with new creations to help the people living in the Slums and to improve the Night Walker¡¯s operations, I finally become the Inner City¡¯s biggest baddie. I still recall my first mission as the Night Walker¡­ It wasn¡¯t the most pleasant one. The only thing saving my inexperienced and underprepared ass was the sheer amount of luck I gambled my life with. Those days were long gone and now. Armed to the belt with the most advanced electric field manipulation technology and Neith Silk, I was brimming with confidence. Tonight¡¯s mission was going to be a walk in the park compared to that awful memory. With the new electric field manipulation gadgets enhancing my mobility and stealth, it was impossible for any New-Man to catch me on foot. The Neith Silk that was subjected to many extreme tests, proved to be very resilient against fire and slashing. Additionally, a million volt stun baton was tucked safely inside the belt for assurance. The added edge I have against that one man army tonight is Horus ¨C a computer aided system that allows me to predict close combat attack patterns. Kevin¡¯s modified program will analyse Nash¡¯s attack patterns and the smart screen contact lenses will show me the target areas of impact, allowing me half a second of preparation time. Nash Skinner was not an easy target, as expected of someone who killed for a living in his prime. I remember how sweaty my pamls were and how my heart raced back then. My senses heightened with the apprehension of the hunt as the target¡¯s house entered sight. Tinkering with a few buttons on the visor, I activated Horus¡¯ night vision. Nash Skinner should be asleep as it was already two in the morning, way past my usual bedtime. However, the small reading light in the living room told me otherwise. Through the gap in between the drawn curtains, I could see him still flipping through pages of an old book. Nash was an old man with greying hair and a neatly groomed beard. Other than the change of hair colour, he looked exactly the same as the picture on the records I hacked into. The man looked surprisingly fit for someone in his late three-hundreds! The only other man I knew who looked this in shape at this age was my no-good guardian. Setting the plan in motion, I circled the house to look for a possible entry without alarming the target inside. It wasn¡¯t very difficult to find one as the windows facing Nash¡¯s back was wide open, as if inciting me to enter. The man hadn¡¯t bothered closing it despite the chill and I found it slightly odd but didn¡¯t bother to think twice before slipping into the house. There were only eight steps to where Nash was. The stun baton I stole from a Patrol Guard was drawn and poised, ready to strike. It might seem like a small distance to cover but it was a huge feat to sneak on up Nash. Steadily I moved, trying to hide the sound of my movements. I managed to take four steps without alerting the old man. Four more steps remained but the man continued to read, completely unaware of another person¡¯s presence in his house. My heart pumped so hard it might as well have been drums announcing my presence. Still, the man casually flipped a yellowed and worn page from his semi-decomposed book, things were going as planned. My legs wobbled a little but I clenched my teeth, willing them to move forward. Only two more steps remained. You can do it, Titus! One step. The baton was brought high over Nash¡¯s head, poised to strike. At the crucial moment, faster than my mind could process, it happened. Forest green pupils darted to the side and trained on me. Despite silent movements, Nash had picked them up. Faster than the stun baton could be brought down, a hand darted out to pull my scrawny wrist and send me flying to the wall opposite. The force had me momentarily stunned but it did not stop Nash from taking out a pistol. Pistols were considered primitive technology that only existed in books. Not even the Patrol Guards used them. Homing lasers and plasma guns were more of the in thing nowadays. Nash took a shot and the sound ignited the instinctive reaction to defend myself. It took me a while to understand that the bullet chipped at the reinforced gauntlets, saving my life. Had I not brought my arms up, the bullet would have hit something vital in my chest, killing me instantly. Relatively unharmed but thoroughly shaken, I surrendered when the gun was pointed at me for the second time that night. Needless to say, the mission was a fiasco. Instead of knocking the old man out to get my answers, I was subdued and interrogated instead. ¡°Speak. What is a child doing in the Slums? Does the Academy know?¡± ¡°The Academy doesn¡¯t know. I¡¯m doing this for my personal reasons.¡± The former killer raised an eyebrow. ¡°And what business does a kid have trespassing into someone¡¯s home with a weapon in hand?¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The stun baton was out of grasp but not out of reach. However I knew that if any attempt to grab it was made, Nash would not hesitate to fire. ¡°I know that you are a former hitman and I want to learn from you.¡± Nash¡¯s expression was unreadable but his eyes were calculating. Finally after what seemed to be a long silence he spoke, ¡°Boy, do you know what a hitman does?¡± At that, I admitted knowing nothing of it. ¡°I found it from Spencer¡¯s archive. It seemed very important that he encrypted it several times. I thought it might be someone important and that if I could learn how to be a hitman I would be able to one-up Raoul.¡± Upon hearing my answer, Nash lowered his pistol and told me to go back. ¡°A hitman is someone employed to kill other people for credits. You¡¯re not cut out to do this.¡± I don¡¯t recall how I did it but my persistence and stubbornness had Nash compromising to teach me the skills of a hitman with the promise that I would never take on a job to kill. In return, I was to pay my lesson fees in Pantiumite. ¡°You¡¯re one stubborn little brat you know that?¡± I could only muster a silly smile. Nash shook his head at my goofy reaction. ¡°So? What did you find out about me from the system so you nicely hacked?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± I switched back to being ¡®professional¡¯. ¡°They only had your name and the record that you were a hitman.¡± Nash scoffed. ¡°Typical. Well then, it¡¯s probably only fair I tell you what I did back then. As you know, I killed for credits. That probably wasn¡¯t very amazing. What¡¯s amazing is how Spencer spent the last century chasing me down for my deeds to get the Parliament to exile me to the Slums. In my early-hundreds, I was wanted by the Patrol Guards for killing important leaders in the financial sector. Those who paid me to kill them were their rivals who couldn¡¯t win. I had no significant skills other than my abnormal physical capabilities¡­¡± I absorbed every word he said back then. All his stories about his missions that would normally have made a person ill with the graphic description intrigued me. It was the main reason why I took interest in the medical field. Skidding to a halt and making a sharp left turn, I decided to take a break near a broken wheeler. Crouching down to catch my breath from sprinting the whole time, I went over my plan for the ambush tonight. With every failed attempt, I became increasingly creative. It was always a close fight despite my predetermined loss. Unable to win against Nash¡¯s natural capabilities and experience, I made up with my gadgets and wits. With the newly tested hair tie, tonight will bring my constant losing streak to an end. Coming from someone who had lost close to six hundred times in a spar, it might sound like overconfidence but the light weight of the bobble on the hair tie spoke otherwise. This invention gives me leverage over Nash¡¯s predominant sense of sight and with the ambush he would be disoriented enough for me to take him down. After catching my breath, I walked over to Nash¡¯s tiny abode making as little noise as I could. The dirt beneath my boots crunched a little and I grimaced when I stepped on a small stone. Glancing through the open windows, as usual, Nash was seated on his couch as if expecting my arrival. Normally I would tumble in and launch straight into a fist fight, opting for the element of surprise. Tonight, I was planning something different. It took a while but it was worth the wait. Pulling out three light capsules, I inhaled the freezing air to calm my nerves. Heart pounding in my ears, I tossed them through the window before making my escape swiftly. Nash put away his news tablet and walked towards the noise. As Nash started walking towards the window I was already disarming the security in the back door. The moment I was inside, the capsules went off followed by Nash¡¯s loud cuss. Good luck dealing with the Baby Blues! Those capsule bombs were my latest chemical creation. It makes the person in direct contact with it cry uncontrollably for a period of time. As predicted, that would not be enough to stop Nash for long enough. I had only a few seconds to set up my next trap. With the positions already decided in my head I got to work quickly, familiar with Nash¡¯s home. As each electric stun mine clicked into place along the corridor, I hid around the corner should Nash make it pass the second trap. The mines released a high voltage enough to kill a normal New-Man. The dosage was customised to three times more than what would be necessary to stun a normal person because Nash had a different kind of physical composition. If this doesn¡¯t slow him down, I don¡¯t know what would. Footsteps neared the kitchen and I crouched in anticipation. If it fails, I would have no choice but to engage in a hand to hand combat. That¡¯s something I dread, especially if Nash was going to be my opponent. Of all the skills he taught me, hand to hand combat was the one I needed to improve on the most. I still preferred mid ranged and long ranged attacks or some sneaky methods like poison since they required less effort. The curses down the corridor confirmed my fears. From the variety of cuss words used, I derive they probably felt like little zaps to him. The paint pellet pistol that Nash¡¯s craftsman friend made for our spars sat heavily in my hand. It was time to be serious, no more petty tricks. The moment Nash entered the garage I fired three shots in succession. The first shot missed Nash, zipping past him leaving a nasty splat on the wall behind. The second was dodged by inches and the third cornered him for a while, nearly hitting him squarely in the chest if he did not dodge. It was never my intention to get him with the gun. That would be plain silly. No gun can beat Nash¡¯s inhuman reflex. Thus, it was time to implement my next strategy. With Nash cornered, I drew the hidden daggers from my gauntlets. Being ambidextrous had its advantages and dual wielding helped minimise the number of openings I had. Kevin¡¯s improved program and Horus¡¯ prediction lines assisted me while I exchanged blows. I felt the force of Nash¡¯s kick against my gauntlet, causing my body to recoil from the impact. Wincing at a particularly hard left hook that I blocked, I knew that was definitely going to bruise. Dodging to avoid a lunge, this went on for a good four minutes, a new record considering the previous session that ended in three minutes flat. As Nash¡¯s attacks continue to be accurately predicted by Horus and Kevin, I felt the predatory grin form. Pushing for an offence, I started countering Nash¡¯s punches with blades. At the first draw of blood for the night, a mini celebration in my head erupted. The slightest drop in reaction time was all it took for Nash to cut through my hair tie. Visible in plain sight, Nash told me with an infuriatingly smug smirk, ¡°Your technology cannot defy my senses. Also, you might want to work on expanding the area. Your shadow isn¡¯t hidden.¡± I cursed at not doing something about that flaw earlier. I thought that with the cover of night and Nash¡¯s blurry vision from the Baby Blue, he would miss out on it. Apparently, I was wrong. The old man had keener senses than I gave him credit for. I would figure a way to improve on the light bending technology if I survived tonight¡¯s sparring session. A blade grazed my bare upper arms and I hissed. It was definitely bleeding now. The constant sting made me more focused on Nash. Now that he had his weapon out, things were going to become more interesting. A small part at the back of my mind told me Nash had been toying with me earlier. Left kick. Block. Left roundhouse. Dodge. Right hook. Counter. Upper kick. A backflip. Where was the opening I needed to attack him and end it? Despite being able to counter every move, I was feeling the strain on my body. It appears that Nash had stamina that I failed to account for. The fight would be over in another five minutes if I didn¡¯t find a way to subdue him now. In any normal circumstance, I would never make such a risky choice and opt to wait for an opening. Unfortunately, sparring with Nash called for desperate measures. Taking a gamble, I release my grip on one of my daggers. The dagger fell to the floor with a clink and as Nash¡¯s line of focus fell to the dagger while it fell, I reached to my back and pulled out a switchblade from the belt to deliver the final blow. The switchblade was already aiming for Nash¡¯s throat when I saw it from the corner of my eye. The movement was too fast and my body, unable to react in time, convulsed when a kneecap slammed straight into my unguarded solar plexus. The impact had sent me crashing into the wall behind as if I was a mere sheet of paper. I was by no means light but Nash was that powerful. Curled up on the ground in pain, breathing was impossible. Barely registering the cold metal pressed against my jugular notch and the weight of someone straddling me, I heard Nash grunt. ¡°You¡¯re as good as dead with the way you are right now.¡± Before I could retort, the weight on me was gone and I was lifted into the air. Barely able to grasp my bearings, Nash dropped me onto his couch mercilessly and my wounds ache in protest at the rough treatment. There was hardly any time to protest when Nash left the room abruptly, only to return with a med kit. ¡°Thanks,¡± I muttered and Nash snorted. ¡°You¡¯ve got a long way to go brat. Also, I won¡¯t say it was a bad tactic. It¡¯s only a pity your opponent was me. You should try increasing the voltage by ten times if you want to stun me. That tear capsule was good though. My eyes are still itching.¡± I groaned as Nash pulled off my hoodie to inspect where he had kneed me. ¡°I need some hair ties please.¡± Clucking in mock disappointment the ex-killer chided, ¡°You¡¯re such a lady! I didn¡¯t raise you to be such a wuss.¡± I glared at him half-heartedly while he went to get one of the many hair ties I left here. Only after he was gone from the room did I take time to examine my injury. Apart from the place where he kneed me, everything else seemed to be relatively minor. The cut will heal in three days so I wasn¡¯t too concerned. My solar plexus area would spot a huge ugly bruise later tonight and will last a good week before it disappears. ¡°Still admiring your beauty, princess?¡± I growled as he passed me the hair tie. Pulling my blond locks into a messy bun, I reached for the med kit and started dressing my wounds. Nash was unharmed from our sparring session and he wasn¡¯t even breathless! Apart from the fact that he blinked more than usual, nothing else indicated his discomfort. A part of me wanted to smack him for looking so smug but I didn¡¯t want to die young so I refrained. ¡°You might want to wash your eyes. It could last for a while since I increased the dosage significantly.¡± Nash nodded dumbly and left for the bathroom, leaving me to tend to my wounds. I hissed as the disinfectant stung. This had to be one of the most intense sparring sessions we¡¯ve had in a while. The last time he drew blood was a few months ago. Even then, it was a close combat knife throwing competition. By the time Nash returned, I was already putting the med kit away. ¡°How are things in the Slums of late?¡± Nash sighed. ¡°Nothing different¡­ just missing people and the usual stuff.¡± He tossed me the news tablet and I caught it mid-air before plopping down on the couch beside him, not missing the edge in his voice. Missing Person Found Dead. The headlines screamed at me and I scrolled down a little more to read. Mia Elliot, a woman in her early hundreds, was found dead two days ago. Reported missing several months back, no one could have imagined finding a body in the middle of the wastelands. Mia¡¯s body was found intact, half-decomposed by Eric Maelstrom, a waste recycler. We now interview Maelstrom how he had made his shocking discovery¡­ I skipped the interview, knowing not to believe everything the tabloid has to offer. Nothing special stood out. There wasn¡¯t a description of the condition of her body except that it was an unfortunate accident. The entire story was fishy. Natural deaths left no bodies. New-Man turned into ice crystals and shattered upon death unless the cause of death was unnatural. Moreover, no sane man in the Slums would venture so deep into the wastelands unless they were part of the underworld. There was some greater evil at work. Scrolling further, a picture of Mia Elliot was found. She had blonde hair and navy blue eyes that were a common feature after genetic mutations. However, my heart froze when I recognised her. I was hoping it would be someone different with the same name. Mia Elliot¡­ a few years ago this name wouldn¡¯t have mattered but now, her death left a hole inside of me. ¡°You¡¯re really good at this! What¡¯s this called?¡± I showed her a colourful cloth with cute little animals sewn on it. I¡¯ve never seen anything so cheerful in the Inner City. Most of the clothes worn were designed by the tailors. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just a handkerchief. Do you like it? You can have it if you want.¡± I stared at the adorable kitten. All land creatures had died out with the Great Explosion apart from New-Man. It was hard to find any pictures of them. Here on the handkerchief were depictions of them in the most appealing forms I have ever seen. Granted, they weren¡¯t the most accurate depictions with their eyes too large and bodies too small. However, they were adorable. ¡°I don¡¯t want it. I want you to teach me how you do it.¡± The woman laughed. ¡°You¡¯re a strange kid.¡± With a twinkle in her eye, a gentle hand ruffled my short blond strands. ¡°It¡¯s fine though. I can teach you how to embroider. My name is Mia, what is yours?¡± ¡°Titus. Titus Crowley.¡± My hand went to touch my head where she had patted me. It wasn¡¯t a bad feeling at all. I remembered how I visited her more and more frequently, hanging out until Pyros had retired for the day. Nash used to pull me by the ear and drag me back when I didn¡¯t return on time. Now though, I would stop by occasionally to check out her newer masterpieces. However, two months ago Mia vanished without a trace. Not even Nash knew where she went despite his vast connections with the underground in the Slums. A hand rested on my shoulder and I glanced up from the article. There was Nash, calm as ever. ¡°Are you going to check it out?¡± I returned the news tablet and put on my hoodie again. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know when I find something.¡± A tired-sounding sigh escaped Nash and he nodded numbly as I prepared to leave. ¡°I should have known.¡± He stood up and walked over. I half expected him to flick my forehead but nothing of that sort happened. Instead, a gentle pat on my head had me speechless for a moment. ¡°Live strong,¡± he whispered. It was the motto of people in the Slums. I was about to return the greeting when it hit me like a meteor about what bothered me the whole time. ¡°Nash!¡± The bearded man cocked an eyebrow to which I grinned. ¡°I forgot the Pantiumite again. Can I send them by drones?¡± Nash shook his head at my forgetfulness with an exaggerated annoyed expression. ¡°Dear me, is this how I taught you to be? Whatever¡­ do as you deem fit.¡± I grinned as Nash shooed me away. Mia¡¯s death was still heavy on my mind but I¡¯m glad for Nash¡¯s unwavering support, as dependable as always. I made a promise not to kill for credits and I intend to uphold it. However, killing for personal reasons doesn¡¯t count. Does it? Chapter 4 My numb fingertips were sorry reminders of last night¡¯s personal hell. I had no time for even a small bathroom break while typing endlessly throughout the night. Despite the tortuous hours spent on digging up dirt from the massive information mountain, Cain had been extremely helpful and I got what I needed in no time. Unfortunately, that didn¡¯t make the process any shorter. Sitting in a cosy corner on my favourite chair, I severely underestimated the power of luxury. Fighting fatigue and heavy eyelids, I pinched my cheeks only to wince at the sharp pain. When the distraction didn¡¯t work, I took it up a notch and threw in a few slaps. Not wanting to sleep the day away, I struggled to focus on the book in my lap. Instead of devouring the information like usual, my eyes simply glazed over the squiggles and my mind registered none of it. Blinking once and then twice, focussing became impossible and the image before me turned blurry. A yawn was coming and I regretted the decision to suppress it. As soon as I suppressed the yawn, the words became nothing more than swirls of black on yellowed pages as wetness gathered at the corners of my eyes. Not even the mightiest hitman could defeat teary eyes and exhaustion combined. Sinking deeper into the chair, I wondered if it was always so comfortable. By the time I snapped back to the present, Pyros was already a golden orange outside. That alone shocked me terribly. Where had the time gone? Feet shuffling towards the window to have a better look, I numbly registered bumping into several objects with my uncoordinated body. Pyros was indeed setting and I groaned. An entire day in the library just gone with a blink ¡­ a very long blink. Deciding to salvage whatever time I had left, I leapt from the window back to my room. Every spare second I had left is highly crucial for the preparation of tonight¡¯s operation. Even with knowledge of where Mia¡¯s body was kept, I needed a strategy to infiltrate the enemy¡¯s quarters. A poorly made plan was the road to failure and I couldn¡¯t afford to fail tonight. The Patrol Guards were strangely secretive about the body in the name of protecting the evidence. Nash and I had our theories about it. There is no way the Parliament is unaware about the incident. Shortly after the news was published, the amateur news reporter who had written the article was evicted from the Inner City. Nash is keeping his eye on the poor fellow in case they decide to tie their loose ends. If this didn¡¯t scream suspicious, nothing would. Why human experimentations? It was as good as anyone¡¯s guess. There were a few theories that I hadn¡¯t shared with Nash yet as I wanted to confirm them with the evidence I would acquire tonight. Just as I was about to hit the showers, Kevin¡¯s mechanical voice reminded me of a special delivery I needed to send. Knowing that Kevin¡¯s artificial intelligence was personally modified reassured me greatly. ¡°Prepare two drones to Mr N¡¯s place. The packages are in the fridge, already wrapped. Alert me if there is any interference.¡± ¡°Right away, sir.¡± Heading for the showers, I heard Mini Kevin buzzing about to ready the delivery. Nash was probably going to celebrate when he received the new batch of Pantiumite, courtesy of my most beloved rival. Unlike the other Pantiumite supplies sent, this is the first Pantiumite supply in pill form. The gaseous and liquid Pantiumite served their purpose well enough but nothing beats a solid Pantiumite. The people living in the Slums could never afford the pill version because of how expensive they were. A pill does not expire or deteriorate in condition over time. The liquid version became stale and less effective with time but still worked well. Gaseous Pantiumite was the easiest to acquire but was the least effective as most of it escapes into the atmosphere over time. As much as I wanted to smuggle pill Pantiumite, I had limitations due to how rare they are even in the inner city. Most the time I¡¯ll smuggle the liquid Pantiumite from the labs or trade information with the media for a bulk of gaseous ones. The generous Raoul was in a sour mood for a while even after ¡®donating¡¯ his creations for a good cause. From what I know, they were his most successful batch and the client it was meant for became unamused when it mysteriously disappeared overnight. I ought to thank him for saving me the trip to Centurion but I won¡¯t do it just in case it causes his head to swell and pop. Nobody wants to be accused of murder after all. A long bath sounded just about right. I need to have a clear mind for tonight¡¯s mission and my current state of mind simply won¡¯t do. While I left the tub to fill, I started scrubbing myself clean in the shower. It would be nice to just soak and maybe take a nap while I¡¯m at it. As comfortable as the library chairs were, it¡¯s just not the same kind of quality rest I would get in my bed. A bathtub was not the most ideal of places to sleep but I didn¡¯t have the luxury now. As the last traces of soap rinsed off, the mirror became misty. Absentmindedly I began drawing patterns on the glass. It started off with simple shapes and smiley faces, nothing serious, just completely random. I wasn¡¯t sure when it morphed into something more. The doodles started to make sense and I found myself staring at something akin to a strategy plan. Taking a step back, I took a moment to capture the full picture. There were two triangles to the left and a smiley face at the bottom corner. Spencer¡¯s name was written at the top and a huge question mark was drawn in the middle. Even with Cain¡¯s help last night, there was nothing useful. All we found was an unknown number in Spencer¡¯s call history. With much hacking, we finally nailed a location to the number and of all the places, it had to be Area Forty-One ¨C the famed loony bin that everybody avoids. Sighing heavily, I left the smart glass and slowly submerged myself in the tub. Just having warm water rise above my shoulder was enough to turn me into a puddle of goo. I closed my eyes for a moment and immediately frowned. Something felt off. Eyes snapping open I was greeted by the sight of a duckless bath. Allen! How could I have forgotten him? Allen was a handsome self-inflating turquoise duck that Nash gave me for my birthday when I was younger. Even after so many years, Allen was still my bath time companion. He was simply too adorable and I couldn¡¯t part with him. Without further delay, I grabbed the duck and sat back down in the tub. Allen bobbed in the water as I shifted myself into a more comfortable position as if protesting. Those eyes seemed to chide me and I mumbled apologies. Bath toys don¡¯t speak but Allen was more than a bath toy. He was my very first friend. Those tiny beady eyes bore into my soul and I averted all eye contact. He knows what I had been doing and I felt guilty for making the little guy worry. The stare burned and I just knew what he would say if he could talk. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. After tonight I might be taking a longer break. I just need to figure out some stuff first.¡± Allen seemed to smile with the sight curving of his beak but I¡¯m sure it was all in my head when his familiar baritone voice spoke to me. What is it that you are concerned about? I glanced at the mirror and Allen seemed to follow my sight, bobbing slightly in the water. ¡°I need to run to three different places tonight and do at least three different things. I¡¯m not sure how I¡¯m going to pull this off.¡± Allen chuckled. Titus, you¡¯ve gone out there as at least three different kinds of people. You¡¯re the book lover with Mrs Peterman, Sirius with Alastair, a good-for-nothing idiot with Raoul, a kid to Nash, a major criminal to the Inner City, a playboy at parties and so much more. How can this be any different from what you have been doing? I groaned and slunk deeper into the tub. ¡°It¡¯s not that simple Allen,¡± was what I wanted to say. What came out was a bunch of gibberish in the form of air bubbles from my semi submerged head in the water. The little duck looked at me, unimpressed. Sighing, I sat up properly and took Allen in my hands. ¡°I was one person wearing many hats back then.¡± Tapping his rubber beak lightly, I continued, ¡°Tonight I have to be at three places to do three different things and it¡¯s just not physically possible.¡± Allen raised an imaginary eyebrow. Really? After so many years training under Nash have you really not learnt a thing? What¡¯s a hitman¡¯s true mission? ¡°To kill the target... Nash forbade me to do that and you know it! Besides, tonight¡¯s mission is not that kind of mission. You know better what Night Walker does¡­ he¡¯s no murderer. That man¡¯s just a petty thief stealing from the rich and giving the poor.¡± During my monologue, I raised the turquoise duck above my head to admire the light bouncing off his feathers when he slipped out from my grip. Allen smacked me right in the face and I could already imagine the scowl. You¡¯re truly an idiot. That¡¯s not what I meant. And you know how I feel about it when you talk about the Night Walker like that. Listen, a hitman doesn¡¯t always have to do the killing. He just has to ensure the target is dead. Is that not how it works? There are always many ways of going around doing something and still get the same results. I stared long and hard at the turquoise duck who bobbed uncaringly in the bathtub with his back turned to me. Something clicked and suddenly everything made sense. ¡°That¡¯s it! Allen, you¡¯re a genius!¡± Scooping the poor fellow up in my hands, I placed a slobbery kiss on his head. I could almost hear the annoyance and growling when I did that. No, I¡¯m not. You are Titus. After all, I¡¯m inside your head. Laughing unrestrained for the first time in a while, I beamed. ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right Allen. I¡¯m a genius and thank you. I know what I have to do now, you¡¯re the best!¡± The beady eyes seemed to shine under the light as if telling me to kick some butt. By now the water was already cooling and my pruney fingers were enough indication of the time I spent in there. Setting Allen back to where he was, I drained the tub and grabbed a towel. The scribbles on the foggy mirror were blurry but still present. Suddenly it became very clear. Out of urge, I drew a big fat cross over both triangles and an arrow from the question mark in the centre to the smiley face. Satisfied with the correction, I went to don the Night Walker¡¯s suit. I love the simplistic design as it served my purpose. The suit was made to protect my vital organs but not restrict movement. More importantly, it was infused with medical technology that was connected straight to Kevin¡¯s system. Should anything happen to me, the nanofiber will detect it and send the information back to Cain. Depending on the severity of my condition and location, my artificial intelligence assistants will take the necessary actions as pre-programmed. Tonight is an all-out mission and I needed to be more equipped than usual. Everything I can get my hands on including traps and surveillance will be brought along. Being at three places at once is something only the Night Walker can pull off. I must admit that I¡¯m nervous thinking about it because the success rate of this mission is highly dependable on Cain¡¯s logical analysis and Kevin¡¯s timing. However, after the modifications done, they should be able to pull this off smoothly. ¡°Kevin. Cain. I¡¯m hijacking two droids and equipping them with images of myself. Can you run the virus and upload it to their system when I give the command? Cain, you¡¯re in charge of running the distraction and Kevin, I need real-time feedback on Spencer¡¯s movements.¡± With positive responses from both my assistants, I set to work. Hijacking two service droids near the Patrol Guard¡¯s headquarters and Luna Cryonics Services was easy. The virus was uploaded and their work schedule altered to fit the requirements of my plan. Nothing would seem out of place even if Spencer was on high alert. ¡°What is Spencer doing right now?¡± Kevin paused and ran through his surveillance. ¡°Spencer is currently observing the cameras for interference.¡± ¡°What is the patrol deployment like?¡± Cain ran a system file and pulled up the spreadsheet. It looked a lot stricter than usual. However, most of the manpower were focussed around the Patrol Guard¡¯s headquarters where Mia¡¯s body was supposedly at. The other heavily patrolled location was around Luna Cryonics. Both patrol patterns were consistent and difficult to breach. ¡°Cain, can you run an analysis of the time most favourable for a break into Luna Cryonics?¡± It didn¡¯t take long before Cain came back with results. ¡°Option with the most favourable chance of success is at ten forty-two with sixty percent of success.¡± I glanced at the time. It was only ten eighteen and I wouldn¡¯t be leaving anytime soon. ¡°No. What¡¯s the next best option?¡± ¡°Eleven thirty-six with fifty-two per cent chance of success.¡± I shook my head. It was still too soon. ¡°Any options after midnight, preferably about one in the morning?¡± Cain was silent for a while. ¡°Cain?¡± ¡°Sir, the results are negative. All service droids are to return to the charging station after midnight. There are no options.¡± I smacked a hand over my forehead. I forgot to customise the analysis. ¡°Sorry Cain. Assume that the service droids were in the form of a Patrol Guard on duty. Could you reanalyse that probability again?¡± With a beep, Cain started humming before returning with a different set of results. It appeared that all the probabilities were at least above seventy percent chances of success regardless of the time. ¡°Ok. Here¡¯s the plan. For the first distraction, I want you to have the service bot use the hologram of a Patrol Guard and program the droid to patrol according to the given schedule. At one, the spy droid will break off from the group to a place without surveillance. Kevin, distract Spencer somehow. Tinker with his lights or something for a few seconds so that he doesn¡¯t watch the droid break from the group. Cain, have the droid on standby after activating the light bending device. Activate the virus on my command. The droid should change into a hologram of the Night Walker and run a distraction by breaking into the Cryonics. Cain, you handle the response analysis. Whatever you do, do not let the droid get caught. Once all the Patrol Guards are scattered into a chase, make the droid blend in as a Patrol Guard with the confusion and await my second command. On the second command, I want the same thing to happen to the droid in the headquarters. Let Spencer have his guards give chase. The moment Spencer steps out of his office, have the first droid to run as the Night Walker as well. Both Night Walkers must vanish at the same time headed in the direction of Centurion¡¯s headquarters. Are we clear?¡± ¡°Yes, sir. The time now is twenty-three o¡¯ clock. Mr N¡¯s delivery has reached its destination and the packages are verified. There were no interferences along the way. Shall we proceed now, sir?¡± I glanced at the time, unable to believe it was already eleven. Grabbing the visor and pulling up my hood, I was about to leave until I remembered that the hair tie was broken. This won¡¯t do. Fashioning the hair tie bobble into a clip-on earring, I put it on and did a final check. Now we¡¯re good to go. It would be my first time visiting Area Forty-One tonight. Rumours have it that the place was filled with lunatics and was more run-down than the Slums. If it were a normal situation, I would never have chosen Area Forty-One for a sightseeing trip. Unfortunately, I would be visiting for business. The star of the evening was a famous scientist many years back. Helenos Satchel was known for his obsession with anything dead. The Parliament ordered his confinement to Area Forty-One after they found him guilty of stealing four specimens from the Cryonics and the attempt to murder and obtain New-Man bodies.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. As much as I wanted to use a charged orb or hire a wheeler, neither were feasible ideas with my Night Walker getup. I really wished there was an easier way to travel. After about half an hour of running, I finally saw the rusted signs. Warning, you are about to cross into forbidden zone Area Forty-One. Cross at your own discretion. The words were faded but the message was clear. Well, nobody in their right mind needed to be told that. Ignoring the pathetic warning sign, I jumped over the tall metal fence and started running in the direction Helenos¡¯ apartment was. ¡°Isn¡¯t this funny, Kevin? If the Parliament really wanted it to be a forbidden zone, shouldn¡¯t they pass a law to execute anyone who tries to trespass this area?¡± ¡°Sir, I find your sense of humour highly morbid. May I take the fifth on this?¡± Rolling my eyes at Kevin¡¯s stiff reply, I was about to ask Cain for his opinion when the ex-scientist¡¯s apartment came to view. It was a really plain looking thing, nothing like what the rumours had stated although it was slightly better looking than Nash¡¯s little house. What baffled me was the poor security. I could waltz in there and nobody would be wiser. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. ¡°Kevin, I want an area scan for surveillance.¡± It didn¡¯t take long for Kevin to return to me claiming none was found in the vicinity. I scoffed. So much for the tight security. Making my way over in a calm manner, I went around finding the best angle of entry. The apartment was small and the scientist was hunched over his working terminal, possibly keeping an eye on Mia¡¯s body wherever it was hidden. Curiosity overwhelmed me. I wanted to know how the man Spencer entrusted the body with looked like. He looked nothing out of the ordinary with his curly dark hair, dark blue eyes and stubbly chin. The only distinguishing feature was a pair of thick glasses on his nose. I was prepared to go all out on a dangerous and highly intelligent lunatic seeing how Spencer entrusted this man with such an important issue but seeing him in person was a little disappointing. This man would go down in a kick, anything more would be sending him to the cryonics. Taking three steps back from the window, I sprinted and hurled myself at the window, thankful that there were no neighbours in the area to hear his shriek. The poor man would have peed in his pants if I didn¡¯t end his horror with a swift chop to the back of his neck. After laying the unconscious man on his bed, I peered over to his work terminal. After fiddling with the camera system, I finally got the hang of it. Going through hundreds of live feeds would have been difficult. However, Helenos made my job a lot easier. Zooming in on one of the camera¡¯s he was viewing earlier, I confirmed that the body in the cryonics was indeed Mia¡¯s. Her innards ripped open but the undertaker had it cleaned out nicely. Her blonde hair matted with blood, indicating an old head wound, probably while she was held captive. Despite the calm analysis, none of those registered in my head. Red filled my vision quicker than I thought was possible and I felt the blood pounding in my ears. This was no accident. It was murder. Who and why anyone would do such a thing remained unknown for now. Mia was a poor person living in the Slums and minded her own business. Nothing about her stood out and she didn¡¯t look like the kind of person who would have any enemies. Using the live camera feedback, I traced it to the exact location and noted down the coordinates. Kevin helped me to identify the location on the map but instead of clearing my doubts, it only served to confuse me more. ¡°Kevin, are you certain about this?¡± ¡°Positive, sir.¡± The camera was located about five kilometres away from here underwater. It wouldn''t be surprising to find a hideout in the sewers. However, this was in the middle of the ocean that we were dealing with. Everything about this business was getting more suspicious by the minute. I knew of the underground society in Luna but I never expected them to be able to afford the technology to build a territory in the sea. I would have to discuss this with Nash after I successfully retrieve Mia¡¯s body. She deserved a proper farewell with the people who care about her. ¡°Kevin, I need you to do a detailed scan and find me an entrance to that place.¡± There was a moment of silence while Kevin worked and I decided to give Nash a call. The communicator hummed for a while before Nash picked it up on the other end. ¡°Nash, it¡¯s me.¡± ¡°So soon? I thought it might take you longer to get the samples.¡± ¡°I¡¯m still on it. I just happened to run into some complications. Are you aware of the underground territories in the Slums? This illegal cryonics laboratory seemed to be located off Luna.¡± There was a long pause before Nash asked, ¡°What do you mean? All the underground territories are on Luna. How can anything be off Luna? It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± I quickly explained the situation when Kevin returned with a detailed scan and marked several possible routes. There was one particular route that got my attention but wasn¡¯t mission related. I mentally noted where it was and wrote a reminder to look into it when I had the time. ¡°It appears that the underground society has links with both the Inner City and the Slums. I found a route tonight. It would definitely need more information about Area Forty-One and the Slums. Thanks anyway. I¡¯ll talk to you more soon.¡± Hanging up, I noticed how the abandoned docks in Area Forty-One were the only way into the illegal cryonics laboratory. I hated one-way entrances but there wasn¡¯t much of a choice. Going in invisible wasn¡¯t an option as self-opening doors were extremely suspicious. I had another idea but it was extremely sloppy and full of flaws. Anything could go wrong and it was a gamble. Should I still proceed? At the back of my mind, Allen smiled. Don¡¯t worry too much about it for now. You¡¯ll figure it out when you get there. After all, you are Nash¡¯s student. The knots in my stomach faded and only a warm afterglow remained. ¡°Thanks, Allen. I owe you again.¡± Getting to the warehouse was easy. However, getting in was a problem. Sighing in defeat and settling behind some old structure in the distance, I brought out my spy drones. Nash liked to call them capsule bots because of how they literally fit into a capsule. Armed with only a small syringe of poison or tranquilliser, these bots were hardly useful in battle. Now, they will finally be put to good use. With the spy-bots, Horus will receive all the information they gathered. As much as I hate to go in unprepared, time is something I didn¡¯t have tonight. Even without sufficient information, I would have to charge in blind. The operation¡¯s success depended on getting Mia out of here while my distractions held Spencer off. It has been an hour since I left the Academy and the more time I waste, the higher the risk of failing. Once the spy-bots were inside the abandoned warehouse, I had Horus adjust the lighting. It wasn¡¯t very clear but I could see two men talking as they parted. One of them left the warehouse while the other headed back. I concentrated on the one going back to base, observing how the trapdoor was cleverly hidden. Two taps with the right foot followed by a heel click and a knock from the tip of the shoe of the left foot. The trapdoor started to move and descended. Another trapdoor replaced the previous one as if nothing happened. That had to be the code! My other spy-bot tailed the other man wearing a beige jumpsuit until he entered a camera-free zone. At my command, the bot swooped down swiftly and injected the tranquiliser into his system. The man fell lifelessly to the ground and I recalled my bots. Allen was right. I can cross the bridge when I come to it. A quick wardrobe fix later, I find myself descending from the hidden trapdoor feeling slightly sick from all the anticipation of not knowing what to expect next. Instead of some poorly lit area filled with tough looking men holding weapons, I was greeted by the sight of people hollering at each other and shifting boxes. There were floating delivery platforms and drones all over the well lit underground warehouse, a perfect picture of chaos. I have only seen semblance of this at the bazaar in the Slums where people met up yearly to trade things they made for services. ¡°Hey kid! What are you doing here?¡± I turned around and a middle-aged man was looking at me. ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯m supposed to go to a certain place but I¡¯m already lost.¡± For a moment I was tense. Nobody would believe me when I seem so suspicious and out of place. Instead of grilling me for answers, the middle-aged man broke in a wide grin and slapped me hard across the back, causing me to stumble forward. ¡°I see how it is! You¡¯re new, aren¡¯t you? Don¡¯t worry about it. My name is Shanks, we have a lot of newbies here but you¡¯re one of the youngest I have seen. So, where are you heading?¡± Unable to believe my luck, I stuttered the cryonics. Shanks raised an eyebrow and my heart died a little. ¡°That¡¯s odd. The cryonics can only be accessed by one person. Are you sure you¡¯re looking for the cryonics?¡± I nodded, trying to keep the panic at bay. ¡°I¡¯m not sure exactly what Mr Satchel wants but he told me to head to the cryonics. I have the access too. He said something about specimens?¡± Pulling my best clueless look, I observed how Shanks was conflicted. ¡°Very well, if the man himself said so then I suppose I could bring you there. Be warned, it isn¡¯t going to be a pretty sight.¡± I smiled brightly when Shanks offered to take me there on a floating platform, thankful that Shanks wasn¡¯t going to question any further. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< I could now understand Spencer¡¯s reason for selecting Helenos for the job. That man was paranoid! When Shanks dropped me off, I spent a solid three minutes getting past the first door. The second door was harder to get through and I wasted five minutes there. Time was of essence! There was only so long Spencer¡¯s butt would stay on that seat before he starts poking his nose into my business. The moment I got through the second door, everything was a breeze. I knew where the security cameras were so the light bending gadget came in handy. Making a beeline to where I saw the cryonic chamber, I slowed down as I neared what appeared to be Mia¡¯s body. With heart pounding in my ears, every step became harder to take as I approached the chamber. I wasn¡¯t ready for this. Mia¡¯s body was in a much worse condition from what I saw back at Helenos¡¯ apartment. No amount of mental preparation could have prepared me for this heartache. The damage done to her body was more gruesome than anybody could have imagined. Nobody deserved this kind of fate. Whoever did this was nothing more than a monster! At that very moment I swore to make all those responsible pay in blood. Her lifeless eyes greeted me and it was hard to hold back tears. Mia had the most expressive eyes that reflected her no longer beating heart. Pulling away from them I cringed at the innards threatening to fall out of her midsection. There was crimson everywhere in the places that shouldn¡¯t be. Those gentle hands that held a needle with grace were now stiff and bent at odd angles. Using Horus to take a snapshot of the body for analysis later, I noted with surprising calmness how the wounds were not made by sharp objects. The hole in her abdomen was made by an explosion from the inside. It wasn¡¯t until I walked around that I noticed the fine pin prick marks on the back of her neck that couldn¡¯t be captured by the camera before. Drugs? It had to be. The pinpricks were so numerous it was hard to miss. While some were almost healed, others were still raw. The evidence of needle marks gave me hope. I was right about this! It went deeper than the underground society¡­ I had to let Nash know. Getting to work as quickly as I can, I whispered to Kevin, ¡°Give the green light to the droids. Report to me the situation.¡± ¡°Roger that sir!¡± It did not take long before Kevin reported to me the droids were spotted with many Patrol Guards giving chase. I studied Mia¡¯s lifeless body. The youthful beauty was now an empty husk. The usually well-groomed hair was now tangled and clumped together with traces of dirt and blood. The smile that I never saw her without was now nowhere in sight. She looked so alone in that glass chamber and guilt ate at my heart. ¡°Sir. The second droid is activated but there is still no sign of Spencer leaving his desk. What is your plan?¡± For the second time tonight, my plans were thwarted. I tasted the blood in my mouth as I made my decision. ¡°Get Cain to buy me one minute from Spencer. I want his systems down.¡± ¡°Roger that sir. Cain is on standby at your command.¡± ¡°Start the countdown,¡± my voice was so hoarse I barely recognised it. I felt the nails dig into my gauntlet as I tasted more blood on my tongue. Surely I had broken skin from the way I bit down on my lips. It stung badly when I knew that I would have to leave Mia behind. It was the only logical thing to do at this point even though it felt so wrong, as if someone had stuck their hand inside me and crushed my lungs. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Mia. I really did want to take you home¡­¡± Mia did not answer. The glass felt cold against my palm as I tried to reach for her. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry Mia. Please forgive me.¡± ¡°Ten seconds to systems are down sir.¡± Quickly, I placed a kiss on the glass where Mia¡¯s cheeks were before placing the explosive in place. The bomb clicked into place on the glass'' surface and I backed off. As if a trigger, the shattering of glass had me scrambling to my feet. With precise movements, I extracted stem cells from various parts of Mia¡¯s damaged body. Her brain, muscles, blood, bone and ruptured organs are crucial clues to what might have happened. Without even having time to tuck the vials into my belt, Kevin reported with urgency that Spencer had countered Cain¡¯s virus. I glanced at the time and cursed. It had only been thirty seconds, far sooner than I anticipated. With only fifteen seconds to get myself out of the warehouse before the Patrol Guards surround this place completely, I shut down the emotions threatening to break me. It was logically impossible but I had to do it for Mia, whom I left behind, and the sake of all the other victims. The lockdown was faster than I had anticipated but I managed to breach the security of the inner door. At the second door, my jumpsuit got caught. Without wasting another second, I pulled out a pocket knife and cut the fabric loose before hopping onto an empty floating platform heading for the exit. Tampering with the speed limit caused it to trigger the system¡¯s alarm. ¡°Goodbye Mia,¡± I choked amidst the chaos as the platform crashed into the secret lift entrance. Letting go of my hold on the platform, I felt myself free falling. Landing was rough but I¡¯ll survive with the pile of empty carton boxes below helping to cushion the impact. With the system alarm triggered and a freak accident, it didn¡¯t take long for everyone to scamper around in a haphazard manner. I took that opportunity to use their air vents to escape. That should buy me some time from Spencer. The Chief of the Patrol Guards didn¡¯t disappoint. They were already nearing the warehouse when I had gotten out. ¡°How long?¡± I whispered to Kevin. ¡°I¡¯ll say less than a minute before they are in sight, sir.¡± That was ample time. Already throwing the beige jumpsuit and donning the Night Walker gear, I did a pat down out of habit. All my weapons were still in their respective pockets so I had one less thing to worry about. Pulling out the charged orb from my hoodie¡¯s inner pocket just in time to hear the iconic wailing of sirens, I teleported away to Area Eleven. It would be surprising to see someone in the business district so late at night but not uncommon. I regretted not asking Kevin to check for a clear before jumping to the coordinates. I might have picked the location devoid of cameras earlier but humans or droids could have compromised everything. Cursing my haste and carelessness, I was so sure things would go downhill the moment I teleported. Imagine my surprise when no one was in sight! I guess Lady Luck is feeling slightly generous tonight. Things started off on a really bad note but I suppose not everything has gone off the deep end. Yet. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< Looking up into the sky to see the familiar stars, a comet passed by the moment I thought of Mia¡¯s kind smile. As if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, I smiled back. Shrugging off the fuzzy feeling in my chest, I asked for Spencer¡¯s whereabouts. My trusty assistant replied, ¡°Spencer is currently in Area Forty-One. He left Helenos Satchel¡¯s apartment approximately forty-eight seconds ago and is now headed for the docks to join with his men.¡± Well, Spencer should be fuming by now. Both the infiltrations to Luna Cryonics Services and the Patrol Guard¡¯s Headquarters Mortuary were false alarms. The Patrol Guards must be frustrated after being led on a wild goose chase. I suppose I could spare Spencer the trouble of finding me. After all, third time¡¯s the charm. Or was it the fourth? I pulled out my Orion dialler and sent a message to Cain to be delivered to Spencer using my usual method. ¡°Hi honey, how was the hide and seek? Are you enjoying it so far? Well, it¡¯s getting late and I was thinking of wrapping up soon. What do you think of Area Six as a venue for our last date?¡± I chuckled at the dead giveaway. Bluetonium Research and Development Laboratories was the only building in Area Six. The company was large enough to buy up the entire district, not a very surprising fact. When I reached the research facility, there was only one half-asleep scientist working overtime. I had deliberately disabled the security system to alert Spencer of my presence just in case he didn¡¯t get my hint. There was no need for subtility either since Spencer was going to find me. Strolling in, I gagged the floundering scientist and tied him to a chair. Casually approaching the highly expensive and most advanced analyser, I pulled out the specimens from the vial. As expected from the most advanced technology, the analyser noted foreign substances reported. The results were even more intriguing when none of these substances were matched with anything in the massive system¡¯s archive. Someone was developing a new drug and the idea didn¡¯t sit well with me. What was this new drug and why are they developing it? Copying the data and pocketing my samples, I heard the sirens come closer in a timely fashion. Party time was over for me and I should be taking my leave. Bowing in apology to the poor scientist, I hopped over to the window and jumped from the window ledge onto the high wall below. Lights flashed in my face and I smiled. Spencer was so angry that he looked close to popping a vein. ¡°Surrender now, Night Walker! You are surrounded.¡± Putting on a show I let out a dramatic sigh and raised both hands mockingly. ¡°You got me good tonight. After all the effort I put into our little game, you still seem so angry. Would it hurt for you to smile a little? I know you¡¯ve missed me too.¡± The Chief of the Patrol Guards spluttered in rage and I decided to go easy on him tonight. Pretending to look at the time, I made a dramatic announcement about the time. ¡°It was a little difficult to visit so many places and I don¡¯t know about you but I¡¯m beat! As much as I want to entertain you, I need my beauty sleep. Tonight¡¯s been fun and I look forward to our next date, Spencer. Sweet dreams!¡± After blowing him a kiss, I let myself free fall backwards off the high wall. Spencer barked orders to search the premise immediately and I chuckled. Activating the light bending device, I strolled past all the Patrol Guards with ease. Thinking about the long walk back to the Academy made me deflate. The only disadvantage to the invisibility gadget was how I could not hire a wheeler. How I wish there was an easier way to do things¡­ Then again, with so many things happening, a long walk sounded like something I needed. With a heavy sigh, I squared my shoulders and started the long journey back. Being the Night Walker is not easy. Chapter 5 The pitter-patter of footsteps outside my door was an inadequate warning for a deafening slam against my door so early in the morning. It was as if someone had run at full speed only to go splat. Jolting out of bed with a blade in hand and bleary eyes from my half-asleep state, I prepared for an attack that never came. Nash would be proud of me if he knew how well-trained I¡¯d become. The knocking sound persisted and immediately my mind narrowed down to the few people who had the tenacity to request my attention at this ungodly hour. ¡°Open the door!¡± a keening whine grated on my nerves. That was definitely zeroing my options to one very noisy Alastair Campbell. Another set of knocking had me stumbling for my pants while finding a safe place to hide my Night Walker related equipment. ¡°Cool your jets and let me find my pants!¡± The pounding on my door ceased long enough for me to contemplate ignoring the idiot outside. Maybe he would go away if I pretended to forget. It was over a minute before the sound returned, twice as strong as before. ¡°Sirius darling, did you find your pants yet? If you haven¡¯t, could you find it later? Let me in now, please! I have something important to show you!¡± ¡°Is it very important?¡± ¡°Not really but I wanted to show you first before anybody else!¡± ¡°Can you come another day?¡± ¡°Maybe I could but since I¡¯m here, can¡¯t you let me in? It¡¯s okay if you¡¯re not wearing anything either!¡± Deep breaths¡­ take deep breaths, Titus. You can do this! Just don¡¯t lose it and kill this imbecile. Graduation is only three months away... you can¡¯t act in the heat of the moment and become arrested for something as silly as murder. Checking once again to ensure everything was stashed out of prying eyes, I went over to the door. It clicked open and Alastair tumbled in. I swear someone has to teach this boy some basic form of manners. Giving in to every whim of his isn¡¯t going to help. Io will not hear the end of it after I kick this pest out of my room. That overly doting sister has spoilt this kid absolutely rotten! I deadpanned when Alastair rubbed his nose. ¡°Ouch! Why do you always do that to me, Titus? You¡¯re so mean! What would you do if my nose was broken, huh? They¡¯ll definitely put you under supervision. You should go find someone and get laid already!¡± Pinching the bridge of my nose, I reminded myself to take deep breaths. Alastair Campbell was Spxtro¡¯s biggest moron and as someone more intelligent, I should be more understanding. That aside, it was impossible for a third generation body to break so easily. Alastair¡¯s nose will remain intact unless he annoys me more than usual. The kid loved to exaggerate and was always poking fun at me ever since I told him I wasn¡¯t interested in girls or boys for that matter. My lower half wasn¡¯t malfunctioning. It¡¯s just that the ones Alastair recommended left a foul taste in my mouth. They were all credit suckers that Alastair fell victim to every single time. Some honeyed words and empty promises later, the boy would be giddy and love-struck. I don¡¯t understand how the Academy hasn¡¯t done anything about it, especially when this has become a monthly occurrence. Once I felt the control return to me, I shot the boy with one of my meanest glare. ¡°You have five minutes to explain why you disturbed me from my sleep. I¡¯m busy so keep it short.¡± Alastair pouted. ¡°If you¡¯re going to be busy you would have woken up a lot earlier. Don¡¯t think you can lie to me, Sirius.¡± ¡°Four minutes and fifty seconds. For the record, stop with the Sirius thing! I¡¯m not your shining light to success. Go pester Raoul or someone else.¡± Feinting hurt, he clutched at his heart and bemoaned, ¡°How could you reject me? I came all the way to your room to pass you some first-hand information and this is how you welcome me? You¡¯re a horrible friend! No wonder nobody likes you.¡± ¡°You have three minutes left,¡± I said, conveniently filtering his comment about my social life. This boy must have nerves of steel and guts to be unfazed by my killing intent and icy glare. Then again, maybe he didn¡¯t possess the intellect to pick up on my foul mood. ¡°Ok, ok! Sheesh! Don¡¯t get your panties in a bunch now. I just wanted to show you this article.¡± A news tablet was shoved into my hands and the article read ¡°Partners in Crime: Night Walker Strikes Multiple Times¡±. Several pictures of the Night Walker, that I recognised as my decoys, and the picture of my play date with Spencer almost made me smile. The photographer had a decent angle this time. My handsome jawline was highlighted by the flashlights, not too shabby at all. I felt the corners of my lips twitch a little but stopped them before they could curl into a smile. The last time I let it slip, the platinum-haired boy had overstayed his welcome by an hour. I glanced up and tossed the tablet back to him. With a neutral voice and an annoyed expression I growled at him. ¡°Is that all you came for?¡± The olive-skinned boy looked confused. ¡°What do you mean by that? It¡¯s big news! The whole of Luna is in a frenzy. The ladies are swooning over him as usual and I heard that Spencer refused to make any statement to the press. The Night Walker had outdone himself this time¡­ I¡¯m not sure how he did it but attacking two places at the same time and breaking into two very different places within a night? Only he could pull this off. I mean, Area Forty-One is all the way near the border towards the West shores of Luna and Area Six is way up North.¡± I yawned and started dragging the unwelcome visitor out of my room. There was nothing to be amazed about when you knew all the shortcuts in Luna. Sometimes travelling on foot using the shortcuts can be a lot faster than travelling in a wheeler. The only setback was how physically tiring it proved to be. ¡°Yes, I heard you the first time. Now you can get out of my room and go talk about it with someone else. Good night.¡± The door slammed shut in Alastair¡¯s face and I smirked. The colour language he possessed never ceased to amaze me as I caught a few new vocabularies when the curses ricochet off the door. I casually added them to my vocabulary bank for future uses. The sudden emptiness in my room gave me time to think about last night¡¯s events. Even though there were pressing matters like reporting to Nash about my findings from the lab and digging information about that underground connection between Area Forty-One and the Slums, I found myself playing back the image of Mia¡¯s smile and her cold dead body like an unstoppable record. Deciding to keep my hands busy so that I can push the memories aside, I picked up my knives. Even though they weren¡¯t in terrible condition or in need of attention, I decided to polish them anyway. An unfamiliar feeling coiled at the pit of my stomach, threatening to suck my entire existence like a black hole. Mia¡¯s cell samples were the only things keeping me sane. Replaying last night¡¯s event, I regretted running. It wasn¡¯t impossible for me to take Mia back to the Slums. Why didn¡¯t I do that? A clunking sound jolted me from my thoughts. The dagger laid there innocently but it tempted me to grab it and draw blood. It didn¡¯t matter whose blood, the more the better. With a sigh, I picked it up. This isn¡¯t working. My emotional state is in chaos and it was affecting my judgement. Stowing away the knives, I decided a nap was what I needed. The ceiling was a dull grey as I lay on the bed. Before I knew it, the ceiling had turned a molten orange colour. I didn¡¯t notice when I fell asleep but I was glad I did anyway. With a sigh, I stretched and heard some bones pop in satisfaction. The feeling was now mostly gone and my mind was clearer although I knew the bloodlust was still simmering beneath the calm exterior. I knew what I wanted to do and a shower sounded like a perfect start. After that, I had seventy-two babies in need of my attention. Some of them are in need of some good fine tuning.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. A good shower later, I was back at the desk contemplating what to do first when my communicator buzzed. For a moment I thought it was Nash calling me but I quickly remembered that I had switched back to the Inner City¡¯s network. Nash wouldn¡¯t be able to get through unless I contacted him after receiving a notification from Cain informing me of his attempt to call me. Donning my playboy persona as a precaution, I answered. ¡°Hey baby, you called?¡± A very manly chuckle from the other end of the conversation had me cringing. Big mistake! ¡°Well, my apologies for interrupting your fun night. Would you like to reschedule this conversation?¡± Chuckling nervously I reassured Felix that it wasn¡¯t necessary. For Felix Riggs ¨C the wealthiest man on Luna to call me on his own accord in the middle of the night meant a great deal to me. I met the man at one of the extravagant parties for elite businessmen that Alastair had forcefully persuaded me to attend. In a nutshell, there was a man who was trying to get Felix to invest in his company and I overheard their conversation by chance. I didn¡¯t know who Felix was at that point of time but the man who was trying to get Felix to invest had a reputation for deceiving investors. After the investors made a credit-deposit, he would transfer the investment funds from a back door to his personal credit account before winding up the bogus company. From the goodness at the bottom of my heart, I exposed the fraudster and gained the good graces of Felix Riggs. The wealthy entrepreneur offered to add me to his contact lists out of gratitude to which I agreed, not silly enough to turn down an ally. Never in my wildest imaginations did I expect him to be the founder of Luna¡¯s most successful business empires. That man was said to own half of the Inner City¡¯s wealth. From then on, Felix would occasionally call me out for a city tour to chat. The man always reminded me to approach him should I need any help after the incident. In my opinion there wasn¡¯t a real need as I didn¡¯t help him with the intention of wanting a favour. I just hated dishonesty. I¡¯ve always declined his offer and like a routine, Felix¡¯s parting words every meeting would be, ¡®My offer still stands¡¯. Tonight, would be the first time I¡¯m considering asking him for a favour. With Graduation approaching and a mountain load of things to do, I needed all the help I could get. It was impossible for me to handle everything alone. Unlike the cheap clone stunt I pulled, this is not something I can fool myself into doing. ¡°I see that you have been busy as of late, Titus. How are your preparations for graduation coming along?¡± Smiling fondly, I shared with him about Raoul¡¯s more recent attempts of bullying and ranted about Alastair¡¯s pushiness as usual. The man merely guffawed at my tales and told me not to worry. ¡°I suppose a city tour would be inconvenient for you at this point of time. It¡¯s always a pleasure to chat with you, young man. I only wish you weren¡¯t so insistent on keeping up that playboy facade with the public. You¡¯ve got great potential and there¡¯s no fooling me.¡± I did not reply, opting to settle for a scoff. How typical. It wasn¡¯t the first time the pompadour wearing man tried to recruit me as his assistant. Even if Felix was a man with a weird love for the pompadour hairstyle, he was far from harmless. As a shrewd businessman, he did his dealings with a lot of caution. One can never be too trusting of others in the Inner City. For me to be given such trust, is indeed a great honour. ¡°You know, my offer still stands.¡± There it was again. The momentary silence between us was broken by a sigh on his side. ¡°I know your answer but I still want you to know I¡¯m willing to help. You¡¯re so young and it would be a waste if you didn¡¯t make it.¡± I chuckled at that statement. ¡°Thank you, for your offer but I¡¯m fine¡­ is what I would have said any other day.¡± There was a pregnant pause. Almost as if I lit a fuse, Felix fired away rapidly, making wild guesses. ¡°Really? Can I interpret that as you having a request for me? I can¡¯t believe it, Titus my boy you make this old man so happy¡­ What can I do for you?¡± The warmth in my heart spread when I heard him call me his boy, dousing the flames of regret from last night¡¯s episode temporarily. It was times like this that reminded me of how human I can be. The overwhelming joy from Felix was infectious and I nearly spilt the beans about my plans there and then. If it weren¡¯t for the reminder of how his affections were similar to Mia, I would have caved. Heart pounding and nervous, I did not trust my voice to speak until Felix¡¯s concern at my silence cemented my resolve. ¡°I don¡¯t want it to be a request actually, how do I say this? I have a proposal for you, an equal exchange as two businessmen. What do you think about it?¡± The stumping silence on the other end dragged on as Felix tried to wrap his head around my logic. I was starting to feel insecure and ready to pass it off as a joke to protect the relationship we have when he didn¡¯t answer after a minute. Before I could utter a word, his thunderous laughter had me cringing. Those had to be some powerful lungs. A minute later and with the patience of a saint, I waited till only wheezing sounds could be distinguished. I was a hundred and two per cent sure that the middle-aged man was rolling on the floor in tears and clutching at his sides. That man laughed way too hard and it was always embarrassing to be seen beside him whenever he had one of his laughing fits. ¡°Ah¡­ forgive me. I just wasn¡¯t expecting that¡­¡± Neither was I. ¡°Titus Crowley, you are truly one of a kind. I never expected to be turned down in such a way. You¡¯re going to be a worthy business rival in future. Since you¡¯ve put it that way, I shall treat you with the same professionalism as I do with others. Let¡¯s hear this proposal of yours.¡± I shifted, the nerves acting up again but I squashed them quickly. ¡°I¡¯m still in the finalising stages of this plan and I promise you it is huge. I can¡¯t tell you much as of now because I want to ensure it works perfectly once we set the wheel in motion. However, I¡¯ll need an office immediately and have no time to scout for it with graduation approaching. I¡¯ll work on the business proposal as soon as I am an official citizen.¡± Amusement and interest were evident in the way Felix hummed. I swallowed thickly before continuing. ¡°I might take a few weeks to a few months to gather all my sources and evidence before I pitch my proposal but as of now, I¡¯m hoping for a business joint venture. The interest of this potential market is huge, untapped in the Inner City.¡± It was going to be hard to get Felix to approve the proposal when I had no concrete facts and data to show him. The only thing at my disposal to win Felix over was my ability to convince him. I was gambling everything upon the trust he has in me, which was actually the worst possible move I could make. However, it isn¡¯t impossible to gain his approval with his trust in my abilities. ¡°You know, Titus, this isn¡¯t how I normally work. I like to have numbers and evidence before I place my investment chips.¡± My heart sank a little. I¡¯ll need to try another method as expected. ¡°However,¡± Felix continued, rekindling the dying hope. ¡°As a friend, I will take you for your word. Don¡¯t disappoint me, boy. I¡¯ll contact you once I have your office, don¡¯t worry about this and focus on what you need to do.¡± Jaw slackened, it was hard to believe I had gotten a deal with the wealthiest man alive in Luna so easily. It was a little bit of an emotional tug of war but the mission was a success. A strange feeling choked up at my throat and I felt it hard to breathe much less talk. Struggling to get the words out, the only sounds heard for a while were undignified squawks. Felix¡¯s hearty laughter brought back that warmth back in my chest. The waterworks in my eyes overflowed like a broken dam. It felt like Mia¡¯s spirit was guiding me from afar. Not too long before I was cursing life at how hard and bitter it was. Yet now, I¡¯m being supported by frien- no, Family. If this was what it meant to be human, I¡¯m glad to be born as one. After bawling my eyes out for an incredibly long time and mumbling my thanks, Felix ended the conversation with his blessings. The weight that had been on my shoulders this whole time had been lifted considerably with Felix¡¯s help. I had been struggling, even before Mia¡¯s death, with the righteous part in me who was bitter at Luna¡¯s corruption. Something about determining a person¡¯s worth based on credits bugged me. With Mia¡¯s death, the weight became crushing. Graduation was approaching and I was nowhere near ready to face the world. I didn¡¯t know where to start before but now, I have someone to turn to. Someone whom I could depend on. Slowly but surely I felt my eyes grow heavy as if they were going to sink. There was still something I had to do before I retired for the night. Pulling myself together, I had Kevin dial for Mr N and duly noted that tonight Titus Crowley has officially lost his marbles. Not once but twice, I was seeking help from the least expected people. The dialler finally connected and immediately a grumpy voice greeted me. ¡°State your name and business. If you¡¯re selling anything I don¡¯t want it.¡± ¡°Nash, it¡¯s me. I¡¯ll be sending you the results of my findings with the next batch of Pantiumite due in two weeks. Meanwhile, could you help me scout some information?¡± There was a pause. ¡°Scout information? I¡¯m not the tech wizard here.¡± Ignoring his sarcasm, I mailed him my encrypted file. ¡°You should be receiving a map I just sent you. It¡¯s something I found in Area Forty-One that night. The route is marked out for you. As graduation is approaching and there are many things to finalise, I can¡¯t move around too freely. Please, I¡¯m counting on you now.¡± A groan was heard from the other end, making me smile. ¡°I hate you,¡± he huffed. A small snort came from me. ¡°I love you too. Good night!¡± Without waiting for a reply, I ended the conversation and glanced over at my flow chart. Two items were struck off the list of things that needed to be done and I sighed. The list stared back and me disapprovingly. Apart from graduation preparations, the Night Walker¡¯s gadgets were still waiting to be modified and an unfinished business proposal was on the desk. I groaned. This will take a while. Chapter 6 The dreaded day¡­ The dreaded day has finally arrived. I don¡¯t know how I made it but I did. As much as I wanted to skip the tedious ceremony, it was a compulsory event and probably the last of such things. Red and green blazers did not match my blond hair. As much as I found them atrocious, there was hardly anything I could do. Seriously, the Academy should allocate a better budget to employ more fashion designers than nosy investigators. Lined up in a neat row, the fifteen of us waited for the director to show up and make his speech. Of all the things I hated about the ceremony, Raoul¡¯s valedictorian''s speech took the Pantiumite. It was no surprise about who should be given the honour. With how prominent his achievements are to the Inner City, the Academy couldn¡¯t refuse even if they wanted to. After what felt like forever of waiting, a frail looking old man dressed in ceremonial robes hobbled up the stage with the aid of assistants. Silence swept across the hall. There was no applause and the mood from earlier was replaced by something more solemn. The ceremony was one of meaning and not formality. However as soon as the Academy director began his speech, I slowly tuned out to his monotonous voice. With how late I stayed up last night to finish my tracer bug program, it was a wonder how I didn¡¯t keel over. Then again, better tired than haunted by the nightmares that followed Mia¡¯s death. ¡°Titus Crowley.¡± The burning stares to the side of my head snapped me out of my daze. Turning to the left I was greeted by fourteen pairs of annoyed stares. The head investigator didn¡¯t look particularly pleased either. Sheepishly I gave them a wave and went to the stage. Everything was going so well until my legs got tangled with each other on a short flight of steps. The floor closed up in my vision and I mentally groaned upon impact. Waves of giggles and snickers erupted when I greeted the ground with my face. With cheeks burning from the impact and humiliation, I picked myself back up and marched over to the Academy director. Not wanting to give the others a reason to laugh again, I pulled up my sleeve as rehearsed to reveal the underside of my wrist. Wordlessly, the old man updated my identity chip. The skin became warm where the identity chip tattoo was when the device went over it. A holographic screen appeared and the director entered a few lines of code. It was official. Titus Crowley has become a citizen of the Inner City. It felt surreal even as I made my way back to the line. The tattoo still felt warm under my sleeve, convincing me it wasn¡¯t a dream. For the first time in a while, I didn¡¯t know how to feel. Once the last person had gone through the official ceremony and all fifteen of us were recognised as citizens of the Inner City, the Academy director took his leave as silently as he entered. Raoul was then ushered up for his valedictorian speech. The braggart made his way to stage in wide and overly confident strides. I just rolled my eyes. Knowing him, that poor excuse of a living creature was going to spout some rubbish about having fair chances at succeeding in life. Anyone who agrees must clearly have never experienced ¡®life¡¯. ¡°Ahem,¡± Raoul cleared his throat and I deadpanned when he started, ¡°I believe that with the Academy¡¯s help, we would be able to sail on our own. However, let us remember who it was that paved our road to success and return the favour by giving back to the society.¡± Insert dramatic eye roll here. The society he talks about doesn¡¯t even consist of the ones who really need it. They belong to project funders who guarantee a return for their investments. It¡¯s so funny that it¡¯s making me yawn. ¡°The future of humanity is bright and our future lucrative,¡± He continued. ¡°To each his own and may our friendship still be strong with the test of time.¡± This time, a smile was directed at me and I cringed inwardly. If this isn¡¯t the most insincere speech of the century, I don¡¯t know what is. I gave back a feeble smile of my own when everyone else applauded. What a terrible start. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< The congratulatory ceremony was a party mainly for the attention seekers. While most graduates would stick around and rub shoulders with bigwigs in order to secure their future, your boy here just really wanted to get out of this hell pit as soon as the mission is complete. Inching along the walls, I tried to sneak past a large group of female reporters. Raoul was somewhere in the middle of a press group trying to get his pictures for tomorrow¡¯s paper. Weaselling my way through the mass of bodies, I shadowed Raoul from a distance until there were only two of us. It took longer than I had anticipated but now that it was over, I thanked the stars. The wave after wave of interference was ridiculous! After the media left, a group of scientists approached him and once that group left, some representative of a Pantiumite manufacturing laboratory congratulated him. There wasn¡¯t even a tiny window of opportunity for me to make my move. I¡¯d finished three glasses of Pantiumite champagne before it was my turn. Pretending to be tipsy with a champagne glass in hand to make it believable I staggered over to his direction. ¡°Hey!¡± I scowled the moment I bumped into Raoul like any drunk person would. All I needed was a little contact and the mission would be accomplished. Pretending to brush off Raoul, my ring came in contact with his hand and I heard Kevin whisper in my ear monitor that the virus was successfully transferred to Raoul¡¯s identity chip system. Perfect! Now all that¡¯s left was for Raoul to log into his credit account to activate the virus that will compromise his location and activities. It was by no means legal but hey! The Night Walker doesn¡¯t need a fair play pass, does he? They always say ¡®keep your friends close and your enemies closer¡¯. I¡¯m not paranoid, just implementing some precautionary measures.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. On the plus side, maintaining a good relationship with him will prove good for my future Pantiumite sources. Nash mentioned that the new batch helped cope with the Pantiumite shortage in the Slums for a decent amount of time. Even when broken down, the new concoction was still twice as effective as the normal stuff available. Thin eyebrows pinched together but was quickly replaced with a practised smile when he recognised the drunken fool. ¡°Titus! Congratulations on graduating. Why don¡¯t you give me your mailing address? I¡¯ll be sure to visit you after five years if you¡¯re still living within the Inner City that is.¡± Pretending to have difficulty recognising who it was, I stalled for a bit before laughing. ¡°Oh well, I guess I should. Five years is a long time though. Anything could happen but I guess you don¡¯t have to worry seeing how you¡¯re set and all. Wasn¡¯t that man earlier from Centurion?¡± I could almost see how Raoul¡¯s nostrils flared up at that. His nose pointed in the air and his chin stuck outwards in a display of arrogance. It was always fun to toy with him. As smart as he was, his simple-mindedness towards praise made him dumber than a pile of snow. ¡°Of course! Who do you think I am?¡± ¡°The boy who peed in his pants¡­¡± I muttered lowly. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Nothing!¡± I smiled. ¡°It¡¯s nice talking to you and all but I think I¡¯ll head back and rest. I¡¯ve had a little bit too much.¡± Without waiting for his reply I made my speedy escape. That had been really close¡­ Bad mouth! My inner monologue almost got me in trouble. This is a side effect of sleepiness, making one dumber by fifty percent. The trip back to the dormitory was nostalgic. Mrs Peterman bade me farewell yesterday and gave me my favourite physical book as a parting gift. As much as I loved research books and historical journals, my favourite physical tome was fiction. Fiction archive books were really rare to find as many of them were destroyed alongside civilisation during the Great Explosion. People had no time to read or write new ones while rebuilding Luna. The shortage of resources was a more pressing matter than the lack of literary arts after all. ¡°Legend of Kozzo'''' was a story about a poor and weak boy who became a hero. The kind boy and his mother were bullied in the village they lived in. However despite their conditions, he never lost his kindness. One day he met a fish stranded on land. Instead of taking it back home to eat, he let it back into the river. The fish who turned out to be a god of some kind granted the boy a wish in return for the help. The boy made a wish to become strong so that he could protect what was important. He fought more than bullies. He fought on behalf of the weak and poor and eventually became a respected hero. Unfortunately, the story didn¡¯t have a happy ending. Although he was able to protect his old mother, she was taken by illness due to her old age. The great hero could do nothing to save his ailing mother as death was an enemy he could never win against. I¡¯ve read the story countless times and it struck me odd that the author of this book refused to end the story when the boy was in the prime of his career. It also never made sense to me why the author would not continue the story of how he overcame his depression over his mother¡¯s death and lived his life thereafter. It was a simple children¡¯s story and shouldn¡¯t amount to much. However, I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about what would happen if the boy wished for something different. What if he wished for the power to save lives instead? Wouldn¡¯t he be almighty? Why didn¡¯t he do that in the first place? Was becoming stronger than everyone else the only way to protect a person? Was there any true way to protect everyone? Before I had the chance to delve deeper into my thoughts, I reached the dormitory. My heart wasn¡¯t ready for what I was about to do. Despite knowing that the day would come, I still wasn¡¯t ready. The Academy was home to me for as long as I could remember. Neat stacks of boxes greeted me as soon as I entered. Everything was neater than I liked because the movers are coming tomorrow to help me move to the office Felix found. The man had really outdone himself. Buying an entire building in Area Twelve for my office located on the top floor and subletting the other floors was a genius business move. Letting my fingers glide across the smooth surface of my desk as I walked to the bed, I glanced at the chair. Many years ago, it was too big for me to sit in but over time, it grew to become a comfortable size. That¡¯s probably the one thing I¡¯ll miss most after leaving the dormitory. The new chair in the office will feel far too big and empty. I wonder if the Academy would allow me to take this chair along with me¡­ >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< ¡°Place that box to the left. I¡¯ll unpack that later. The table goes here. Yes, please help me fix the shutters. Ah, you can leave the equipment against that wall¡­¡± Eleven in the morning and I was already busy with the office. Felix really didn¡¯t have to get such a huge office for me. I suppose the good thing was how I had a secure place for Night Walker¡¯s activities with all the security and privacy. I¡¯m not entirely over how the entire floor was made into my private office and even the lift to this level was only accessible with my identity card. The robotic movers helped shift the heavy equipment. Things were progressing really smoothly and everything should be done with it by the end of the day. Of course, the office had everything including a pantry and a bathroom with shower facilities. Did Felix expect me to pull all-nighters in my office? Then again, that man knew how much of a workaholic I was. Perhaps it isn¡¯t a coincidence they were built in. While most graduates would have secured accommodations upon graduation, I was a little too preoccupied to think that far ahead. Luckily that has now been taken care of with Felix¡¯s foresight. It was four in the afternoon when the movers finally left and I started unpacking the untouched boxes. All mye Night Walker related goodies spilled out and they were hardly recognisable. It took a few painful weeks for me to modify them to look like normal objects, picture frames, workstation, hair ties, clips etc¡­ It was a tedious but fulfilling project. Ignoring most of the items on the floor, I searched for my trusted buddies. Even though I couldn¡¯t bring the chair from the dormitory, I brought along Cain and Kevin. It was already eight at night but I suppose it¡¯s a good time to get started on the network configurations. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< A week passed by in a flash and I settled into the routine of multitasking. While training with Nash at night hasn¡¯t been on my list of things to do, I¡¯ve already visited him twice this week. Apparently the route I mentioned was still under investigation. Slowly but surely the credits in my account were running low despite my part time job as an information broker. Accommodations in the Inner City were pricier than I had expected. With much difficulty and some string pulling, I secured myself a two-year lease with a small apartment in Area Thirty, the poorest part in the Inner City. Moving in had been less stressful than setting up the office as I had very little personal belongings, most being clothing and some gadgets unrelated to my other persona. Unpacking took only two hours, a walk in a park compared to the time I took to ready my office. Despite the crappy situation, I was still happy that I got myself a place. Settling down on the first real bed in days, it didn¡¯t take long to fall into a dreamless sleep. Chapter 7 Waking up in a soft and warm bed was one of the most pleasant feelings. I would have given anything for this feeling to last a little longer. Unfortunately, there was no time to be lazing around with so much to do. Slipping into the routine that I¡¯ve become so used to, everything felt perfect until I scrolled through the morning news notifications. On the very first page was the headlines screaming in bold fonts ¨C Raoul Harper, new promising researcher joins Centurion! Unable to feel anything more than disappointment, I sighed. Somehow watching that obnoxious poot get ahead of me again lit the fuse of dissatisfaction at how unfair everything was. A new and different kind of fire burned inside of me. Mia¡¯s murderers, Raoul Harper, Luna¡¯s divided society, the income gap¡­ my determination to finish the business proposal and launch Luna into chaos multiplied. Those were some really tough words for someone who was having trouble putting the finishing touches to the proposal. I grimaced at the prospect of being shot down by Felix with such a half baked idea. I needed more time but that wasn¡¯t possible, the stakes were simply too high this time. Surely it was faster to build a house than an empire. Raoul may have won the fight but definitely not the battle! Fortunately for me, that braggart has no clue of what I¡¯m about to do and honestly I don¡¯t think anyone could think of something as bizarre as what I¡¯m intending to do. Despite the thoughts buzzing around in my head, my feet had taken me to the bath. Renting an apartment in the worst districts in the inner city meant that luxury wasn¡¯t on the top of the list. The bath was cramped and the heater was something that malfunctioned frequently. My only consolation came in the form of a turquoise duck and I relished in that small comfort as I let the water cover my shoulders. For the past week, the measly income earned from selling information helped ease the financial burden of paying the rental deposit. Attending many parties in the past paid off even if there was nothing better than the gossips of bored women. A little attention and affection had them spilling their hearts out which often included their husband¡¯s company secrets. Silently thanking Alastair for the referral to the social scene, I promised myself to make it up to him once he graduates. Tonight¡¯s date was with Jasmine ¨C a woman whose husband paid little attention to and was struggling financially to keep his status in the inner circle. The poor lady had called me out and as usual, everything was paid for. My only job was to show up and keep her happy for the night. Fortunately for me, I had just the thing to charm a lady. A man must dress for any occasion, regardless of his credit status. That¡¯s a lesson taught by Nash. Hitman or not, the old man was a gentleman through and through. Tonight I opted for my lilac suit. Lisa once said that it brought out the colour of my hair and enhanced the sharpness of my eye colour. If the best designer in Luna was saying it, better trust it than doubt it. Glancing at my reflection in the mirror I noticed the length of my hair. What was barely over my shoulders a few months ago now touched the lower half of my back. I should probably get it cut before it gets tangled on something during my Nightly visits. It wouldn¡¯t do to have Spencer to pick up on that and trace it back to his ward. A ping from Kevin alerted me of a much anticipated mail. For the first time in a while there was a genuine smile on my face. Cain¡¯s report just came in informing me about Raoul¡¯s current location, I could finally set the second plan in motion. His Ugliness had been quick to access his credits and I¡¯ve been keeping tabs on his movements for a few days now. From Cain¡¯s report, I knew that he lived in the company dormitory that easily outclassed the level of luxury I could afford. Why does Lady Luck favour all the people I hate? I knew that he was working for Centurion even before the tabloid writers caught the wind of it thanks to that virus. So far, all that happened was some boring lab tours and meetings. The mysterious substance I found in Mia¡¯s samples never surfaced in any of their discussions so it was a little disappointing. Raoul wasn¡¯t making any huge discovery that required my attention so that gave me more time to concentrate on what I had to do. Felix¡¯s business proposal was in its finalising stage and I found myself making calls, attending social meetings more than I preferred. There hasn¡¯t been much progress on Nash¡¯s side and that was worrying with the number of possibilities narrowing significantly. The Night Walker was quiet with the increasing demand for my attention to work related matters. Everyone seemed to be at ease with less news about that menace¡¯s presence but not Spencer. That man was still as tense and unlovable like how I remembered him to be. The new Orion dialler rang and I glanced at the unknown number. No, my previous dialler was still functioning. I simply bought a new one. With practised ease, I answered. ¡°Yes, this is T.C. speaking. How may I help you?¡± Yes, this was exactly what I needed a new dialler for. Another willing victim has just entered my net making this the fourth business transaction today. Playing with the small fishes may be fun and all but my endgame was something entirely different. With all these directors from smaller companies flocking to me for investment tips, I was able to make a handsome profit while using them as stepping stones to hook a bigger fish. It all started with Jasmine¡¯s father who was an avid stock player. His recent losses meant that Jasmine had less to spend. Naturally, the girl was upset and complained about it over the dialler two days back. Like the nice person I am, I decided to help her out. Titus Crowley may not be a rich person but Jasmine¡¯s director daddy might be after some investing tips. With a promise of shopping sprees when her father becomes rich, the lady had kindly agreed to set up a meeting for us. The man, piling in debts, had been more than ready to do as I said. The first investment had been small and the commission he paid was a mere ten per cent for what he profited. I didn¡¯t mind as that wasn¡¯t my main aim. After leaving my contact details that day, I left and simply waited. Needless to say, Jasmine was ecstatic. The girl had splurged without a moment¡¯s hesitation and was immensely satisfied. Tonight¡¯s date was her way of thanking me. Titus Crowley, being the ladies¡¯ man that he was, couldn¡¯t refuse although the Night Walker would have protested because of the work piling up in the office. I thanked the other party over the dialler and ended the call. Long story short, those who knew of that director¡¯s situation had eyed his wealth. With a sudden change in fortune, they pounced on him like sharks. Under pressure, the poor man had cracked and revealed to them where he had his investing tips. Since then, calls had been flooding my dialler, all according to plan. T.C. was an anonymous investor who started dabbling in the stock market about a year back. It was said that T.C. never made an unprofitable investment and all the bigwigs in the financial world kept eyes on the new player with his unusual investing strategies. From then on, T.C. had been a market leader who influenced the market greatly whenever his name appeared. However, T.C. disappeared for months without news or reason, puzzling everyone. His return a week ago to buy all the shares from a company in the red made news spread quicker than the EM Waves during the Great Explosion. Jasmine¡¯s father had been Luna Services¡¯ first external investor and many who caught wind of the news were quick to hop onto the boat. The company was then made dormant after liquidation of its former assets by T.C., staff were retrenched and the director was replaced. Nothing else was done and that only added to the mystery. However, it didn¡¯t stop the speculations. Shares continued rising and jobs kept coming.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. My credit account was starting to look less pathetic with the calls, alleviating my immediate financial worries. Felix was the only one who knew who T.C. was and sent me several mails asking what I was planning. As much as I wanted to reveal what my plans were, I had to wait. It wasn¡¯t the right time to reveal anything, not when the possibilities of failing were still so high. I refused to let Felix make an unprofitable investment, not after the marvellous office he found me. The idea was unconventional and completely unheard of in Luna¡¯s history. Even I am unable to foresee how Luna would react to it when it gets to the public. While tying my shoelaces, Kevin announced that Nash was contacting me. Using the private network, I gave Nash a call. No more than three buzzes later, his gruff voice greeted me. With a chirpy tone fully intended to annoy him, I returned the greeting. ¡°Hey, old man! How have you been?¡± ¡°Cut the small talk brat. I¡¯ve known you long enough. How are things progressing on your end? You haven¡¯t been coming to visit lately.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Aww, how sweet¡­ Are you feeling lonely without me around, papa?¡± I could almost see Nash cringing at the word ¡®papa¡¯. Half expecting him to yell at me and cut the line, I was surprised hearing a heavy sigh from the other side. He didn¡¯t even bother retorting! Is Spxtro going to end tomorrow? ¡°Whatever. Is it tough over there?¡± I got the underlying message and to be honest, I was far from fine. The office was solace but the apartment in Area Thirty could do with some work. The walls are thin and the landlady was always arguing with her husband making it hard to sleep at night. Focussing was an impossible task. Nash had seen me twice since I left the Academy and the eye bags must be terrible if he was asking about my well-being. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I just need some time to settle down although it can get slightly lonely without Mrs Peterman and Alastair breathing down my neck ¡­¡± His low chuckle on the other end of the line had me smiling. ¡°Well, you¡¯ve always complained about them. How ironic you would find yourself missing them someday.¡± Shrugging, I decided to broach the main topic. ¡°That¡¯s human nature really. In any case, you called me earlier. Was there something you wanted to tell me?¡± I sensed the shift from a casual and warm tone to a clipped business one. ¡°It¡¯s about what you wanted me to investigate.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The news hit me like cold water. I was immediately sober. ¡°That route does exist. For a while, there wasn¡¯t any movement. I thought it was unused so I went asking around a little. It seems like things are more complicated than just the dealings of the underworld.¡± I frowned at the last bit of information. ¡°Parliament?¡± There was a pause at the other end. ¡°No, it¡¯s worse. We are talking about Area Forty-One. There is a system within that area related to the underworld in the Slums. I highly doubt Spencer knows of it.¡± That was news to me. As far as I was concerned, Spencer was the only man that knew everything happening in the Inner City. Area Forty-One is also under the Patrol Guards¡¯ jurisdiction. He had Helenos Satchel under his control so why would he be unaware of the hidden path? Even the illegal base that I infiltrated as Night Walker had been something Spencer knew. The route was not very difficult to spot either. ¡°Spencer should know of it. The route was easily spotted with a detailed scan. That man knows better than to overlook something this simple.¡± Nash was silent on the other hand. ¡°Titus, do you know what I saw when I made my way to survey the route on the map?¡± I was beginning to imagine things like abandoned tunnels and broken doors. It was the only explanation why Spencer would not bother checking it. Before I could answer, Nash was already describing it. ¡°It was the making of a madman. You should see it for yourself. High walls, laser traps, deadly chemicals and homing lasers for the welcome party. I¡¯m very sure there are deadlier surprises inside.¡± ¡°Homing lasers?¡± I couldn¡¯t believe my ears. ¡°Only the Patrol Guards possess that technology. Those are supposed to be extremely expensive. What are they doing in Area Forty-One?¡± There were so many questions growing inside of my head but neither of us had any answers to them now. The heavy sigh on the other end told me what I wanted to know. If Nash was clueless even after digging around for a week, this was something that required serious investigation. Unfortunately, it would have to wait for now. ¡°I get it, Nash. Leave it to me. For now, I have something else to ask of you.¡± The ex-hitman hummed thoughtfully. ¡°Am I getting paid?¡± I chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m quite broke right now but I can try. Your next shipment of Pantiumite will be coming soon so I¡¯ll just send it over with that shipment. What is it you would like this time? Another one of those new holographic terminals?¡± Eyes rolled at the snort from the other side. As much he denies it, that geezer was absolutely obsessed with the newest technology from the Inner City. He already has the most outstanding house in the Slums and now he was going to have the most technologically advanced house in the Slums. Men and women alike swarmed to his house in the evenings to watch Sable Vogel perform from what they called a ¡®floating person in a frame¡¯. ¡°I¡¯m not that easily bought over you know? Besides, I have not heard your request.¡± Usually, it was easier to make a request after knowing the payment demanded from me. Many of my clients offered ridiculous amounts for my information, giving me the upper hand in the negotiation. Nash, unfortunately, was someone I disliked doing business with. He always ensured he had the higher ground when dealing with me. Even after five years, I would always be that little boy desperately chasing to catch up with his shadow. ¡°Can¡¯t you state what you want first for a change? It scares me to even think about what you are going to want after you know what I am asking for.¡± ¡°Ha! You¡¯re still too young to negotiate with me, brat. If you don¡¯t like my offer you can take your business elsewhere.¡± The communicator was so close to getting smashed. Calm down, Titus! Nash is trying to provoke you as usual. It¡¯s fine. You can always think about accepting his terms after you¡¯ve heard it. Two can play the game, I smirked. ¡°Fine but just so you know¡­ I can always find someone else to help me out.¡± ¡°Keep telling yourself that, boy.¡± That smug tone made me consider sharpening my daggers and paying him a visit. ¡°Well,¡± I breathed, ¡°I¡¯m looking for a proxy.¡± The smug tone vanished into puzzled silence. ¡°Why the Slums? There are many from within the Inner City.¡± I smiled, feeling a small sense of superiority. ¡°Are you going to take up this offer or not?¡± The sound gritting teeth over the line made me giddy from the adrenaline rush. I could feel the blood pumping through my veins as Nash weighed his options. If Nash had a weakness, I would say it was curiosity. ¡°So?¡± That single word seemed to egg him towards what I wanted. ¡°Fine. What kind of person are you looking for?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to state your price first? Or are you too afraid you can¡¯t do the job?¡± The growl was exactly what I wanted to hear. ¡°Titus Crowley. I am many things but afraid is never one of them. I killed for credits even before you existed.¡± ¡°Oh no, I never meant to offend you! I merely wanted to ensure you were the right man for the job.¡± Hook, line and sinker. ¡°Of course, I am the right man! State what you¡¯re looking for. In return, I want to be in on all your plans. I don¡¯t care if you don¡¯t want it revealed too soon or if it is unfinished. I want to know every single thing.¡± Once. Twice. I blinked again just to be sure I didn¡¯t hear it wrongly. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not very difficult to agree to. Why would you ask for this though? You could have asked for the Orion glasses you were dying to try.¡± There was no reply from Nash and I got worried for a moment. ¡°Nash?¡± ¡°No reason, brat! Go to sleep. You¡¯ll probably have to wake up early tomorrow. Good night.¡± I wanted to ask more but Nash had already hung up. Kevin ended my call and I allowed myself a moment to withdraw from reality. What just happened? As I stepped out from the crappy apartment in a preppy suit, my mind was still reeling from the surrealness of it all. Suddenly I felt apologetic towards Jasmine knowing that she was probably not going to enjoy tonight¡¯s date. Chapter 8 ¡°How was the date yesterday?¡± The red palm print on my cheek spoke for itself along with the stormy expression on my face. Unfortunately, Felix couldn¡¯t see my expression over a voice call. ¡°Anyone who claims that females are relatively fragile creatures should try getting slapped by one. This palm print might become permanent!¡± I hissed in response, still not completely over the humiliating incident. The pompadour loving investor guffawed long and loud without consideration to my bruised pride. Good thing I was prepared for such a reaction and held the dialler a distance away before it could cause some serious hearing damage. I stared at the massive pile of paperwork and vaguely remembered the reason for my call. While my plans for the business proposal are nearly finished, the official documentation for it said otherwise. Trust the Parliament to make things difficult¡­ I managed to look over three pages of contract terms before Felix¡¯s laughter finally died down to hiccups and snorts. ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± The answer should have been obvious but tha didn¡¯t seem to stop Felix from expressing his concern. ¡°You wish. That lady was a demon, end of story.¡± Cue another round of uncontrollable laughter. Nce again the dialler was placed on the desk and I flipped through a few more pages of contract. When it was finally over, the wealthy investor lowered his voice in seriousness. ¡°Jokes aside, what¡¯s wrong? You don¡¯t usually call me to talk about your dates.¡± Squirming in my seat, the words formed a lump in my throat. This isn¡¯t something I could share easily. I didn¡¯t want to involve Felix initially because of the risks but I was running out of options. I needed a proxy for the plan to work and Nash wasn¡¯t having much luck. The thought of asking Felix for another favour was much too tempting. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m simply a little pent up and haven¡¯t had time to take care of it.¡± As soon as the words left my mouth I felt like slamming my useless brain onto the nearest hard surface. Why the hell couldn¡¯t I come up with something better? That must have been the worst excuse anyone has ever come up with. Heck, even Alastair could think of something more believable! Fortunately, the man left it as it was with only a hint of amusement in his voice. ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you glad you are a healthy young man?¡± What a way to be subtle, old man. I rolled my eyes and played along. ¡°Well, then, this healthy young man still has a ton of paperwork to deal with¡­ I hope to be able to give a formal pitch by the end of the month.¡± ¡°The end of the month is a good three weeks away, Titus. You better work hard at it then.¡± Giving him an affirmative reply, I ended the call with a genuine smile. It was nice chatting with Felix despite feeling as if I had ingested a bucket load of lead. Feeling my eyelids become heavy, I sighed. Perhaps it was time for a break. The night was still young, and finishing the papers by the end of the week wasn¡¯t a problem. The real issue lay in how I would find my proxy. Nash agreed to help me search for one but I didn¡¯t have high hopes. The proxy must be someone I could trust to carry on my mission should I fail. Betrayal was out of the question. Standing to stretch, I felt my bones pop in satisfaction. It was only by chance but it was a horrific find. A glance at the mirror had confirmed my worst fears. I was becoming pudgy! Usually I maintained my figure by running around the Inner City. However, being stuck to the desk lately gave me no chance for any exercise. This won¡¯t do! Fortunately, tonight¡¯s schedule was clear and I knew exactly who to visit. I haven¡¯t seen Raoul in a while after all. ¡°Kevin. Can you pull out an image and audio of what Raoul is doing right now?¡± ¡°Roger that, sir.¡± A holographic image materialised and I wasn¡¯t expecting to hear the sounds of tortured groans. The image of some beaten up man on the ground caught me by surprise. The victim was tall and scrawny with a pale complexion. His chestnut coloured hair was tangled long fringe covered his eyes. Raoul kicked the man who was curled up on the floor once more, eliciting another groan of pain. I leaned forward in my chair as Raoul pulled the man up by his collar to meet him at eye level. Hazel brown eyes greeted me and I hurried to find my mobile device to access Cain¡¯s system for the man¡¯s identity. This could be it! ¡°Two weeks. I have given you TWO WEEKS and what have you done? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Is this how you people from the Slums repay kindness?¡± The brunet yelped in pain and trembled as Raoul released his shirt in favour of grabbing his hair. Some locks were torn off and I clenched my teeth, seething. The brunet had tears in his eyes and I made sure to record every moment. They were in Raoul¡¯s room and the poor fellow was a Special Pass worker under Raoul¡¯s name. I¡¯ve seen Raoul interact with him before but it was always about ordinary things such as running errands. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Please give me one more week, no! Another three days. I promise I can get the new batch stabilized by then¡­¡± The sneer in Raoul¡¯s voice made me want to kick him in the face. ¡°Three days? Who do you think is paying the rental and your salary? You¡¯ve been working on that new batch of Pantiumite for a while now. Tell me, how long has it been since you started researching it?¡± The man quivered as Raoul tightened his grip on the chestnut coloured locks. ¡°Two¡­ no, three months¡­¡± With a soft yet dangerous voice, Raoul leaned in and whispered into the brunet¡¯s ear. ¡°That¡¯s right. Three months. The last batch that you had successfully created had been stolen from right under my nose. All you need to do is recreate the formula for it so that I can present it to the lead researchers in Centurion. A week has gone by and you have made no progress at all. Do you know how this could affect my career? Wait, of course you do. You¡¯re doing this to ruin it, aren¡¯t you?¡± At the last question, I saw how his eyes widened as the poor man tried to plead innocence, denying vehemently. Raoul paid no heed and slapped him harshly. The sound resounded for a while even after the poor man had fallen over. A new kind of ugly hatred for Raoul brewed silently as I watched on in disgust. ¡°Ignacio Cross. You have a family to feed on the other side of the walls. I wonder what would happen if I threw you back there. Surely Red Rumble will love to pay you a visit.¡± Despite my churning insides, something lit inside of me when I had a name. Finally something useful! ¡°Kevin, search for the name Ignacio Cross and see what you can find in the Patrol Guard¡¯s database.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± While Kevin worked, I tried to connect the dots. Red Rumble was the biggest gang outside of the Inner City. Rumours were that they had ties with the Inner City and smuggled Pantiumite on a regular basis for the poor who couldn¡¯t afford any. Their leader was Rush Rhodes and according to Nash, that man was famous for being unpredictable. There were many stories about how he forcefully enlisted the people he helped into his group. Women were made to satisfy the needs of men who risked their lives in smuggling operations. Anyone who refused were beaten up and left for dead in the wastelands. ¡°Sir, the information you requested is ready.¡± Just as I was about to leave and check on the report there was another blood-chilling scream of pain from the live footage. ¡°Kevin, keep me updated about Raoul¡¯s location.¡± Without hearing my assistant¡¯s response, I stalked away to grab the closest work tablet. It was slightly disappointing to know that the Patrol Guards didn¡¯t have a lot of records for the people in the Slums. The information was basic but it was all I needed. At twenty-eight, Ignacio Cross was younger than most people I knew in the Inner City. He had numerous accreditations in the science field, rivalling my personal achievements and maybe even surpassing it. Remarks by the Academy investigators about his personality were mostly positive, claiming that Ignacio was a child prodigy with an innate gift for mathematics and physics. The only thing that stood out was a date indicating his official renouncement for his Inner City rights. The reason was left unspecified, fueling my curiosity. There was no merit in becoming a Special Pass Worker when you had citizenship. Anyone who did that willingly was probably part of the underground. Although his actions were questionable on paper, the snippets of information from Raoul¡¯s almost one-sided conversation made me think otherwise. It seemed like a baseless assumption to say that this man was the cure to my poison, the light in my darkness. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< Tapping on the window of the fourteenth floor of Ignacio¡¯s room, I waited for the man to respond. After a minute of waiting and still no response, I decided to let myself in. The room was dark and hardly furnished, to no surprise. To the left was a small desk with a work terminal. To the right was a bed that looked as if someone had slept in it till recently. There were no other doors in the room except the one leading to the main corridor. I approached the bed silently and found that it felt warm. Someone had been sleeping in it until a moment ago. My hitman senses tingled. Ducking down out of reflex from my training, I twisted around to catch sight of a silhouette. A rather harmless looking pillow was held high above my attacker¡¯s head and I lunged forward, catching him by surprise. With our positions switched, I wrestled the fluffy pillow out of very slender hands. A grunt of protest was heard and the assailant struggled beneath me. Pinning both hands above his head with one hand and another over his mouth, I used both legs to keep Ignacio from struggling. ¡°Stop it! I¡¯m not here to harm you¡­¡± I hissed into his ear. It didn¡¯t make the man stop flailing but it did make him calmer. ¡°Please hear me out. I want to help. I know what is going on with you and Raoul.¡± At the mention of Raoul¡¯s name, Ignacio froze. Time stood still for a moment as I observed Ignacio. There was fear in his eyes as well as something else. Our breathing seemed to sync and slowly, I let my hand slide away from his mouth. The hazel brown eyes seemed to speak volumes and I could only place a few words to what he was trying to express. There was fear and there was suspicion. There was confusion yet there was sorrow. There was a tinge of joy but a hint of anxiety from what I could make out. The tiny sparkle in his eyes was unfamiliar to me but I wanted to know what it was. ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯m sorry but could you please get off me? It¡¯s slightly difficult to talk like that¡­¡± The timid voice brought me back to reality and I blinked. I wasn¡¯t sure if I heard it correctly but when Ignacio added ¡®please¡¯ I became aware of our current position. There were two very good looking men in bed with one straddling the other who had his hands pinned above his head. The blush on both our faces didn¡¯t help either. Despite wearing a visor that covered my eyes, the heat I felt on my cheeks remained painfully visible. Ignacio¡¯s awkwardness was rolling off in waves as the Night Walker attempted to get off him, not without several face plants along the way in even more awkward positions. Once we managed to put our hearts and brains back in place, I started introducing myself.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Sorry for the unannounced visit so late into the night. I¡¯m the Night Walker.¡± Ignacio nodded and gave a feeble smile but immediately winced as he did so. The left side of his face was swelling and I was reminded of the purpose of my visit. ¡°Please don¡¯t be alarmed about what I have to say next. I have a few questions that I need you to answer me truthfully as well as much as you can.¡± He nodded and I continued. ¡°I had done a background check on you and know who you are. You should be aware of the Pantiumite shortage in the Slums. My purpose is simple. I want to help the Slums.¡± There was a pause and I allowed Ignacio time to digest the information. ¡°What do you want?¡± I bit my bottom lip. Would he believe me? It was a gamble to have him help me when I knew nothing about him. It would be sad if I had to kill him. ¡°Information. I know about your Pantiumite project since I stole it from Raoul the first time. It was really good. We managed to provide for at least three times the number of people after diluting it and the effects lasted two days longer on average.¡± This time Ignacio narrowed his eyes. ¡°Why should I trust you?¡± His voice may have been soft but his eyes burned with resolve. Answering the question is a slightly tricky matter. Usually, smiling and demonstrating my capabilities to decapitate a person would work. However, Ignacio was traumatised and the negotiations would be a failure. On the other hand, I could try flattery but it wouldn¡¯t work on him. If going by the book wasn¡¯t going to work I would have to deploy methods out of the box. The man wanted proof? I¡¯ll show him proof. A gasp was heard as I removed the visor obscuring my eyes. Ignacio stared at me with slacked jaws. ¡°There,¡± I told him. ¡°Are there any more reasons to doubt me?¡± I smiled when the brunet shook his head dumbly. Not waiting for him to collect his thoughts, I started firing away questions with Ignacio answering without missing a beat. ¡°Why did you give up citizenship in the Inner City?¡± ¡°My family lived in the Slums. There was no way to bring all of them in with me so I moved out.¡± That was a valid point but it was hardly heard of. ¡°You said you needed another three days to get the new batch of Pantiumite ready. Why did you lie to Raoul?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t lie. I needed another three more days to make the new batch. It was a new batch as Raoul wanted but it wasn''t the same as the batch you stole. The new batch is said to increase efficiency by 30%. The previous batch had an efficiency rate of 45%, higher than the usual Grade A Pantiumite at 30%. The new batch I¡¯m making should be about 50% efficient. Unfortunately, the molecules become more unstable as the efficiency rate increases. It is hard to achieve an efficiency rate of 60% even if it was theoretically possible.¡± I frowned. If molecules became more unstable with the increased efficiency rate, did it mean achieving a 100% efficient Pantiumite was impossible from the start? ¡°Why did you choose to work for Raoul of all people?¡± Ignacio had a sad smile. ¡°It was the only way I could contribute to making Luna a better place. If I can make Pantiumite better for all, the people in the Slums can afford the third class Pantiumite that the Inner City rejects.¡± Cringing internally as I pondered over his words, that was the truth to how things worked. Once the Inner City deemed something was newer and better, they would reject the out-dated products and technology to the Slums. ¡°Last question. What is your relationship with the Red Rumble?¡± Ignacio went stiff at the gang¡¯s name. ¡°It¡¯s not something we should talk about.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to put you in any more danger.¡± I snorted. How could he believe a meagre gang would be putting me in danger? ¡°Please, you haven¡¯t seen me do anything yet. The Red Rumble would be nothing when compared to the homing lasers used by the Patrol Guards.¡± Still, Ignacio hesitated and I sighed, deciding to back off on the subject for now. ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to tell me. I¡¯ll have you tell me another day. Last question, would you like to be my partner in crime? I¡¯m going to try to help save the people in the Slums but I can¡¯t do it alone for very long.¡± Ignacio blinked twice before chuckling. Despite the pain, there was a wide grin on his face. ¡°I thought you said the previous question was the last?¡± I glared at him. ¡°You got a problem with two last questions?¡± ¡°No, no! None at all, pleased to make your acquaintance Night Walker. Please take care of me.¡± He stuck out a hand with a cheeky smile still plastered to his face. I rolled my eyes. ¡°It¡¯s Titus Crowley to you. I¡¯ll be counting on you too.¡± He had a firm handshake and I felt as if another huge part of the puzzle had been resolved for me. I had the proxy I wanted and sooner than I thought was possible. Fixing the visor back in place, I told Ignacio to pack all the belongings he wanted to take before I left. It would only take an hour or two for me to ¡®run an errand¡¯ and I would be back for him. ¡°Leave the windows open,¡± I told him. Ignacio nodded and without another word, I was off. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< Slipping into the apartment Raoul slept in was easy. The security system was bypassed as I waltzed in from the window. The man had been asleep according to Kevin but for precautions, I had a sound barrier set up. ¡°Alert me of any approaching patrol-bots.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± While Ignacio was packing, I had to ensure Raoul agreed to free the man from his contract. A Special Pass worker cannot be employed by two people and I wanted that brunet to become my proxy by any means possible. The door slid open and I stepped into Raoul¡¯s bedroom. The lump underneath the duvet lay unmoving, soundly asleep. It was freezing outside and being under warm covers sounded nice. Just before reaching out to the sleeping figure on the bed, I felt a taser pen point to my jugular and an arm holding me in a chokehold fashion. The movement had been quick with my reflexes dulled from the exhaustion. Nevertheless, it was of no big concern. Nash¡¯s training had ensured a taser pen or two wouldn¡¯t knock me out. ¡°What is the Night Walker doing in my room in the middle of the night?¡± Deciding to play along, I smiled. ¡°Well, it looks like I¡¯ve been found out. I never pegged you to be able to subdue a criminal. I guess you¡¯re not as fragile as you appear to be.¡± Snarling, the chokehold tightened and breathing became slightly laborious. The gasping sounds made the scientist behind snort. ¡°Is that the best the most troublesome criminal in the Inner City can do? The Patrol Guards are certainly fooling around.¡± When I didn¡¯t rise to his bait, Raoul became livid. The chokehold became tighter but I didn¡¯t try to break out of it. It was for me to turn the tables around but I needed Raoul to let down his guard a little more. ¡°So¡­ to what do I owe the honour of your visit? Clearly, there is something you want. I¡¯ve heard the rumours. You have been giving Pantiumite to the rats in the Slums. Thanks to you, the last batch of Pantiumite that was meant to convince a client had gone completely wrong.¡± Before I could give a snarky reply the painful jolt of electricity shocked me. Body spasming, I had zero control over my muscles and the air from my lungs was forced out. Lying limp in my nemesis'' arms, I struggled to recover from the sudden attack. Lying on the floor, I spotted Raoul from the side of my eyes. He looked slightly impressed and I knew for sure the taser pen had been modified. No ordinary taser pen would have rendered me immobile after my training with Nash. While I had no idea about that crazy ex-hitman¡¯s tolerance level, I had subjected myself to training to withstand up to twice the tolerance of an ordinary person. The training had been painful but worth it. This would have killed a normal person and Raoul looked nowhere near remorseful. ¡°Speak. Why are you here?¡± There it was¡­ that condescending look again. By now I could feel my fingertips and was able to coordinate my movements but I continued with the drastic intake of air despite the lack of burn in my lungs to keep up appearance. Displeased with my lack of answer, Raoul went for my neck. Finding the air supply cut abruptly, I stared right into his eyes. ¡°Answer me before I call the Patrol Guards over.¡± ¡°Ig-Ignacio¡­¡± The change was immediate as anticipated. The condescending look morphed into one of fury. The grip on my throat tightened and before I could twist my way out of it, a jab from the taser pen reached my side. The effects were immediate and a yelp tore through my vocal chords at the sudden shock. Despite being less intense than the first attack, it hurt enough to numb the feelings in my fingertips. Taking the momentary drop in Raoul¡¯s guard, I grabbed the opportunity to slam him onto the floor, pinning his arms backwards. Restraining the man had been a struggle as I had to wrestle the taser pen from his iron-like grip. It didn¡¯t help that he tried to buck me off while one of my hands was preoccupied with getting my gadgets out. All I needed was for Cain to work out a way to hack Raoul¡¯s authentication on his chip and transfer the credits into Ignacio¡¯s account. The fake documents to say Raoul frees Ignacio as his Special Pass worker had been prepared, courtesy of Kevin. ¡°Sign here,¡± I hissed while Raoul continued to struggle and yell. ¡°Never!¡± I rolled my eyes at his stubborn insistence. ¡°Suit yourself.¡± Before he could retort, a smacking sound was heard. Head thudding onto the floor, I glanced at my handiwork. That ought to put him out for a while. Searching for the documents in his system was time-consuming. I celebrated for a while when I finally found it and had Kevin make a copy of Raoul¡¯s signature. In the short celebration, a shadow my vision was suddenly cut off by an unknown attacker from behind. Years of training had me attempting to flip the assailant over my shoulder. The move was a success and I managed to throw the man off, noticing that it was only Raoul. He had woken up sooner than expected much to my chagrin. However, what neither of us was prepared for was how the visor slipped over my head in retaliation. The scientist was stupefied and I was no better with feet rooted to the ground as time slowed. My vision followed the movement of his hand while I was still paralysed from shock. Electricity jolted through my body, snapping me out of my paralysis but it was a moment too late while Raoul dialled for the Patrol Guards after I was rendered immobile. Fear gripped me and I panicked. Is this how my journey would end? I still had to avenge Mia and do something about Luna¡¯s corrupted system... Raoul pulled me up by the hood, boring into my eyes. ¡°Hello there, Titus. Never thought you had a wild side to you. I suppose it¡¯s too late now to do anything. The Patrol Guards will be coming soon. Anyway, just before I never see you again I would let you in on a secret. The human experiment that killed that Slum girl was done by my client who wanted to test the Pantiumite Efficiency theory. You thought you could play the hero and destroy this balance? You thought wrong. As long as the Parliament is in power, there is nothing you can do. I¡¯m going to ride this wave of power with Slum boy and you are going to confinement.¡± The human experiment that killed Mia was done by the Parliament? The experiment had been about Pantiumite efficiency and Raoul was involved¡­ That was all it took for the last of my rationality to snap. Moving faster than my mind could, I slammed Raoul against the wall who was too shocked to comprehend any of it happening. ¡°Who is that client of yours?¡± With a lead in front of me, I couldn¡¯t help but want to milk what it was worth, consequences be damned! The question came out as an inhuman growl. Shaking in fear, the scientist refused to relent. He smirked shakily and mocked, ¡°Why do you care so much for the Slum woman? I should have known you didn¡¯t belong in the Inner City. You¡¯re nothing more than a fake.¡± There was no room for patience. I needed answers. A blood chilling scream tore from my nemesis'' throat as a finger snapped. ¡°Let¡¯s try this again,¡± I hissed. ¡°Who was involved?¡± Unable to keep up with the false bravado, Raoul spilt. I smirked and let go of the traumatised scientist. Lilith Malfoy a name I¡¯m putting on the list of people to visit. Deep in my thoughts, I did not register movements in the room until I felt the familiar electricity flowing in my veins for the third time that night. Only this time, on autopilot instincts, I kicked hard at the source of my attacker and swallowed when I heard an audible crack. The sound of sirens and Kevin¡¯s voice alerted me of my limited time after my horrible deed. I took one last look at Raoul before leaping off the window ledge. Frozen in shock with his neck bending at an impossible angle, his eyes that lacked life stared straight at me as if blaming me. Raoul Harper was no more and I was the reason for it. There wasn¡¯t time for regrets. There wasn¡¯t time for grieving. The only thing on my mind was to leave the crime scene as fast as I could. Grabbing the visor and fleeing, I ordered Kevin to connect me to Nash. The dialler connected and Nash¡¯s grumpy voice echoed in my ear. ¡°What is it? The night is for sleeping you know?¡± I leapt from another roof and apologised. ¡°Sorry about it. It is kind of urgent at this point. I¡¯m going to smuggle someone from the Inner City and I need you to help me house him.¡± Puzzled, Nash demanded details. ¡°Ask him the details yourself. I have a lot to deal with right now. As for the proxy, you don¡¯t need to search anymore. I found him.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Nash snapped. Being woken up at two in the morning certainly made him cranky. ¡°Do you know how hard I¡¯ve been searching?¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± I panted as I ran along the wall. ¡°You¡¯ll understand when you meet him.¡± Grumbling could be heard but Nash eventually agreed. ¡°I want all the details when you sort out your mess, understood?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I breathed before ending the call just in time before reaching the ledge of the window. My tongue felt numb and my tone felt lifeless. I was hollow on the inside, only acting as I required but not enjoying any of it. Tapping twice, I waited. Ignacio slid open the window and I slipped in. ¡°Where are the belongings you have packed?¡± The man held a single heavy backpack and I didn¡¯t comment on it. ¡°Ready?¡± Ignacio took a look at me and frowned. ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. A simple nod sufficed and it was all Ignacio needed to know. A gentle pat on my back later, the brunet told me he was ready. ¡°Hold onto it. We¡¯re going to take the shortcut,¡± I threw the backpack to him while reaching for the charged orb. Before Ignacio could ask, I had already started the charged orb and locked on a destination. In a flash, we were in front of Nash¡¯s house. ¡°I¡¯ll leave him to you,¡± I told Nash who was already awaiting our arrival. He noticed the dead look in my eyes but kept the comments to himself as I teleported back to my office. Feeling as if the taser pen had sapped all my energy away, I sunk down in the chair and closed my eyes. Those soulless eyes haunted me and I knew there was no sleeping tonight. There was no way for me to appreciate Sirius¡¯ beauty in the night sky while the images haunted me. Chapter 9 It was quiet, way quieter than it usually was in the Inner City. Tension was in the very air we breathed. Every channel showed the same thing. The media had been hounding the Patrol Guards for answers about the murder of the century¡¯s most promising scientist even after four days. While Spencer continued to remain tight-lipped about the incident, there was no doubt he was livid. I felt slightly guilty at what I¡¯ve done but nothing more. After all, I can¡¯t go back in time to undo what I¡¯ve done. ¡°The Night Walker is an extremely dangerous person who should not be allowed to walk in the Inner City. We are unable to reveal any details about Raoul Harper¡¯s murder but we can say one thing for sure. The Night Walker is responsible.¡± As expected of Spencer, he must have caught sight of me fleeing the scene. Tired of hearing the repetition of Spencer¡¯s warning and advice for citizens to lock up at night and add extra security measures, I put the tablet to sleep. When Mia was murdered in cold blood, no one bothered to offer a single word of console or remorse for the unfortunate incident. Now that a scumbag had been murdered, the city floods in panic. The rich and filthy had snapped up all the armed guards. The poorer citizens cowered in the comforts of their home. Only errand bots were seen on the streets as if humans had suddenly been exterminated. As I placed the tablet down and picked up a pen, my mind went back to a certain chestnut haired prodigy. Ignacio Cross is a curious man. At merely twenty-eight years old, the closet genius had made a breakthrough with Pantiumite. Yet, he wasn¡¯t arrogant like the folks residing in the Inner City. How could anyone be so selfless? Even I would hesitate to abandon what I have to be with Nash in the Slums. I would rather make a way for the Inner City and Slums to interact freely than give up my status as a citizen here. Ignacio¡¯s expression from before had made me uncomfortable. I revealed my greatest secret as the Night Walker and the man didn¡¯t resemble anything remotely close to afraid. Despite knowing how kind the man was, I doubted it was a good idea to leave my future proxy at Nash¡¯s place. Powerful as he is, my old mentor might not be able to handle that man¡¯s curious nature. Eyes landing on the innocent Orion dialler on my desk, I looked at the time. It was late and I shouldn¡¯t be disturbing Nash. Pulling myself away from the dialler, I redirected my focus to the final draft for my joint venture contract. It wasn¡¯t even five minutes before a hand reached for the dialler calling Mr N. With thick-framed glasses perched on the bridge of my nose and hair pulled into a messy bun, Lady Luck should be more forgiving today. She never blessed me when I looked my best and I bet that¡¯s just her jealousy but I¡¯m not complaining. I¡¯ll take what I can get. Three rings later I heard some muffled screaming in the background that sounded suspiciously like my mentor. ¡°Nash?¡± ¡°Hello, Mr Night Walker! Should I call you Titus instead? The news is all about you and I can¡¯t believe what you just did! How could you house me with a serial killer? Am I just another sacrifice after all? Why aren¡¯t you answer-?¡± The line was cut off and Nash grunted while scuffling could be heard in the background. ¡°Kid, what¡¯s going on? This madman here is driving me up the wall and it hasn¡¯t even been a week!¡± I swallowed and tried to brush it off with a chuckle except it came out sounding somewhere between a strangled choke when a high pitched scream was heard in the background. A short thud followed after and silence blessed our ears. Nash breathed a sigh of relief reflecting my own. Ignacio appeared mild and timid but any knowledge hungry person could do a complete change when they had something they are curious about. It was best to not test their tenacity in those instances. Knowing Ignacio¡¯s stubbornness rivalled my own I casually posed the question to Nash. ¡°How¡¯s handling a carbon copy of me in a more mature form?¡± The old man had the nerve to snort. ¡°What are you talking about? You¡¯re a lot worse than he is when you were younger. Do I have to remind you how many times I had to drag you by the neck and hang you to the door to keep you out of mischief? Marion still hasn¡¯t forgotten the time you cut up some of her best fabrics to make a bandana.¡± An involuntary giggle escaped at the memory of the fuming widow. Serra had gotten a very bad scolding by Marion that day who threatened to not give her Pantiumite. It was just a childish prank back then but Nash had literally hung me by the back of my shirt onto an old nail on his door so I didn¡¯t cause any more trouble. Feet dangling and all, Nash ignored me for the rest of the day till I fell asleep. Nash was against violence and believes that spanking a child won¡¯t help them grow. Instead, he invents creative ways of punishing naughty brats like me. I¡¯m certain Ignacio should have his fair share by now especially if Nash had to resort to knocking the prodigy out. ¡°I hope you didn¡¯t hit him too hard¡­ he¡¯s not as sturdy as I am.¡± Even without seeing him, I knew Nash was rolling his eyes. ¡°Nonsense. He¡¯s a healthy young man and a little roughing up will be good for him. The man is practically skin and bones if you haven¡¯t seen.¡± I cringed at that. ¡°The last time I saw him the man himself had been roughed up by Raoul.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good thing Raoul isn¡¯t going to be a bother anymore then. I¡¯m starting to understand what you see in this brat. It will be some time before he can become a good proxy for you.¡± I wanted to laugh at how Nash grunted at the last part. Ignacio was giving Nash a good workout from what it was. However, when he continued on in a more serious tone I frowned. ¡°I found out about his family but it seems like our boy is in some sort of trouble with the underworld. It¡¯s Red Rumble to be specific. They have a bounty for this man alive.¡± ¡°Did you find out what they wanted with him?¡± Nash sighed. ¡°They looked ready for blood when I asked why they had a bounty with ¡°alive¡± only. Our man here is tight-lipped about it too.¡± A groan escaped me and I sunk further into my chair. Nash was silent as I massaged my temple. Why do things have to be so complicated? There was also the nagging issue of that secret route and the unidentified substances in Mia¡¯s body. So many questions and so little time¡­ ¡°Kid,¡± Nash¡¯s voice crackled over the dialler. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Do you have time tonight? The brat had made some really good stuff with the limited resources in the Slums.¡± I paused for a moment. ¡°Nash, the entire Patrol Guards are after me and surveillance is tight in the Inner City after the media announced Raoul¡¯s death.¡± Snorting, Nash shot back. ¡°And when has that ever stopped you?¡± Grinning widely, I glanced at Night Walker¡¯s suit. ¡°Do you think I can make it safely as the Night Walker?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what fancy dress you want to wear. Just haul your tasteless self here.¡± Feeling slightly insulted by it, I bit back. ¡°That tasteless self is a loyal customer to the best tailor in the Inner City! I¡¯ve had more than fifteen suits custom-made by her.¡± ¡°Fifteen suits and not a single one that is black.¡± ¡°Black is boring. I don¡¯t want to look like a penguin at any event. You may be fine with it but I¡¯m not ever going to wear anything so morbid.¡± Nash hummed in agreement. ¡°You¡¯re right. Black is the colour of my soul, not yours. Your soul is more like the colour of fanciful grandma workout shorts.¡± Legitimately pissed, work will have to wait. ¡°Oh, just you wait, Nash. I¡¯m coming over to pummel you tonight. I¡¯m not even going to pretend to hold back.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait, boy. Just make sure your bite is as good as your bark because I can already see me patching you up on the low table.¡± My brain did a rewind. ¡°Low table?¡± ¡°The stinking proxy of yours occupied the entire couch. Even as a bag of bones, this man takes up a lot of space.¡± ¡°Ew, no thanks then. I¡¯m not going anywhere near that low table. I don¡¯t even know what you do with it.¡± ¡°Just come over. If I don¡¯t see you here in an hour I¡¯m not going to leave any of the good stuff for you.¡± With the last line in a smug tone, the call ended. I chewed on my lower lip. Things could go really wrong if I got caught at this time. Then again, where is the fun in life if I followed rules like a good boy? Grinning, Night Walker was ready for a late night stroll. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< Three shots later, I was feeling the effects of a premium grade Pantiumite. The woozy feeling in my head made me giggle uncontrollably at times. It was a little difficult to walk but it should wear off after a while. Nash continued sipping on the Pantiumite champagne that he diluted. The effects of Pantiumite binging was not evident in Nash even after five glasses. However, Nash appeared more relaxed and had a small smile so tiny others might have to use a microscope to spot. The geezer had even chuckled to the story of my date with Jasmine, something that would normally not happen. It wasn¡¯t until I had come down from my high did I see a sparkle of something more solemn in Nash¡¯s eyes. ¡°Titus.¡± I turned and saw a rare kind of seriousness in Nash¡¯s eyes. The last time he gave me this look was when he told me that I wasn¡¯t allowed to follow in his footsteps to kill for credits if I became his apprentice. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to come here so we could discuss your proxy. I wanted to ask you. Are you ok?¡± It was a simple question that triggered a lot of unpleasant memories, memories of my first murdered victim staring at me with soulless eyes. I felt my chest burn as if someone had cut my air supply. Air¡­ I needed air. I felt my vision blurring as breathing became laborious. My muscles went slack and the last thing I recall was seeing Nash¡¯s panicked expression before everything disappeared. I must have died because the next thing I knew, I saw Raoul standing before me. His eyes were bloodshot and his neck bent at an impossible angle. ¡°You¡¯re the same as me,¡± he sneered. I tried to turn away or shut my eyes but my body felt paralysed. He continued to laugh mockingly while I was forced to listen to it echo infinitely in the recesses of my mind. ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± Raoul smirked and I watched in horror as his face decomposed rapidly before me. ¡°Really? I could have sworn you were. Then again you¡¯re right. You¡¯re not the same as me, you¡¯re worse.¡± Moving forward to kick him, my leg made contact with his middle. A sickening crack could be heard as what had been Raoul before was now a mere skeleton. The spine must have snapped with the force of my kick but the skeleton continued to speak using Raoul¡¯s voice. ¡°How does it feel to be a murderer Titus? Did you enjoy it? I bet you did. You¡¯ve always hated me.¡± The bony hand sunk itself into my skin and I howled as it tore into my stomach, ruining my organs. ¡°Do you think Ignacio will be happy working with a murderer?¡± ¡°Silence! You don¡¯t know anything. The dead should just stay dead!¡± With a strong punch to the mocking skull, Raoul disappeared. Instead, many pairs of eyes appeared from the darkness and focussed on me. The voices were constantly whispering things I already knew. Murderer. Killer. Demon. The room spun and I felt the floor below my feet give way. The next thing I knew, I landed on a soft couch in a bright room. Navy blue eyes greeted me from my peripheral view. It was a face so familiar to me and it felt nostalgic. I gave the blonde lady a small smile. ¡°Hey¡­¡± She smiled back at me and gently patted my head. ¡°It¡¯s time to get up Titus. Nash is getting worried.¡± Thinking back to what Nash said had made me depressed. ¡°I don¡¯t want to. He¡¯s probably disappointed with me.¡± Mia sat down beside me and sighed. Her fingers did not stop threading through my hair. ¡°You know it¡¯s not true. Nash is only worried because he cares for you. As for me, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re doing your best to uncover the truth. I really appreciate that you came to visit me while I was locked in the cold chamber. It was really lonely until you came¡­¡± Warm tears slide down my cheeks. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry I couldn¡¯t do more for you¡­ I wanted to bring your body back, I really did.¡± A gentle warmth enveloped me and I realised it was Mia wrapping her arms around me. ¡°You did well Titus. You¡¯re a strong boy and very smart. I know you¡¯re a very gentle and kind person on the inside. There can be times you are unable to express yourself with words but your actions speak clearer than anything else.¡± Clutching onto Mia tightly, I felt her getting lighter and becoming fainter. ¡°Remember, there are always people who love you and will be there for you.¡± As she faded into nothingness, so did the guilt and self-doubt shackling me. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< An unfamiliar ceiling¡­ As my brain started to function I felt warm. There was a blanket and I was in someone¡¯s bed. The room was dark and I had no clue where I was. The first thing I did was to check my clothes.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Nope. Everything was still intact as when I arrived at Nash¡¯s house. Suddenly it clicked. Nash! The door clicked open and light filtered into the room while I was recollecting my memories of what happened. ¡°Oi brat, you¡¯re awake now?¡± There was that gruff voice. A hint of warmth and relief was laced in the usual grumpiness making me smile a little. ¡°Yeah. What happened?¡± Nash grunted and plopped down onto the bed that I supposed was his. ¡°You blacked out all of a sudden. Ignacio said you had some sort of panic attack but should be fine after a while. Never knew the man was adept at medicine.¡± ¡°How long was I out?¡± Nash frowned and checked the time. ¡°About two hours. It¡¯s still wee morning and nobody is up yet. You can still make it back to the Inner City without getting spotted.¡± Throwing the blanket off, I thanked Nash and shot him an apologetic smile. Nash followed me as I made my way from the room. A mop of chestnut brown hair in a form of blur tackled me. ¡°You¡¯re alright!¡± The man was slightly taller than I was and the hug made my neck bent at an awkward angle. The moment he pulled away I felt relief. ¡°You know, grumpy over here was fussing over you so much when you fainted. He nearly bawled his eyes out while you were out cold. Don¡¯t take his tough man act at face value. He¡¯s the most emotionally constipated man I¡¯ve ever met.¡± Nash glared at the chestnut-haired guest but Ignacio blatantly ignored him and continued. ¡°I¡¯ve heard what happened to Raoul and I must let you know that whatever happened wasn¡¯t your fault. The man had it coming one way or another. Have more faith in yourself. I¡¯ve also heard about what you did for the people in the Slums and about Mia¡¯s murder. If what Nash mentioned was accurate, you must get to the bottom of it! Human lives should never be a bargaining chip for the progression of science.¡± ¡°I will. Thank you.¡± Nash grunted and scoffed at the overly affectionate display in front of him. ¡°Congratulations on becoming a full-fledged hitman now, stupid apprentice.¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Who said anything about becoming a hitman? I made you the promise I won¡¯t kill for credits didn¡¯t I?¡± Nash deadpanned. ¡°What are you going to be if you¡¯re killing people and not accepting credits? By pursuing Mia¡¯s murderers I doubt you will let the Patrol Guards bring them to justice.¡± Now that Nash mentioned it, I probably won¡¯t. I only had in mind to avenge Mia and seek justice for the people in the Slums over the unfair system. ¡°I have no idea. I just want to help make the system fairer so the people in the Slums need not continue to suffer in silence.¡± Ignacio pursed his lips and frowned in concentration. ¡°It¡¯s very much as if you were killing for the liberation of the Slums.¡± I nodded. Sounds cheesy but that¡¯s just how it was. It wasn¡¯t going to be just the Slums in my opinion. There are many people in the Inner City who faced unfair treatment with the system too. Ignacio was one such victim and he certainly wasn¡¯t going to be the last. Too many students in the Academy specialised in fields that could secure their future instead of them based on interest. The idea was very wrong to me. Different people were born with different strengths and nobody should be conformed to the expectations of society for survival. A person¡¯s worth cannot be measured without identifying their talent. Ignacio¡¯s chirpy voice shattered my darker train of thoughts. ¡°You can be an assassin if you¡¯re not a hitman!¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± I asked, having never heard of such a word. Ignacio grinned. ¡°An assassin also kills for something in return. Most would kill for credits like a hitman but there are some who choose to kill for personal reasons or obligations. I thought it would suit you with your fight against the Parliament for liberation.¡± I thought about it for a while. ¡°An assassin huh? I like it. Night Walker, The Liberal Assassin has a nice ring to it.¡± The silence was comfortable for a while until I realised something. ¡°Wait, how do you know what an assassin is? Even the term hitman was nowhere to be found in the normal archives.¡± Ignacio chuckled nervously and gulped when Nash folded his arms. ¡°I may or may not have peeked at some of the forbidden archives while I was a student?¡± That wasn¡¯t very reassuring. ¡°Can you hack?¡± The brunet shook his head. ¡°No, they were just some old physical tomes scheduled for disposal due to the mould eating into the pages. They belonged to the headmaster at the Academy so I got a little curious.¡± I burst out in laughter when Nash pulled a face. ¡°A-Anyway,¡± Ignacio stuttered. ¡°Just don¡¯t get carried away ok? I don¡¯t know about you but with every death, I feel like I have to carry the memory of that person. It¡¯s a heavy burden to bear. Even though Raoul¡¯s death was not something I had a hand in, it still weighs on my mind heavily.¡± I paused, remembering both Mia and Raoul from the dream earlier. ¡°Yes. I know that feeling too well. It is the privilege of the living to carry the weight of the dead with them in their memories.¡± Without another word, I left. In just a few more minutes the first rays of Pyros would begin to streak across the sky. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< I sat across the table with legs crossed while Felix read through the documents. The suit I wore was sapphire blue with shimmering glitter on the coat. Lisa had outdone herself this time and I loved how perfect it was for me. The high ponytail was teased to compliment the suit and I must say the outcome was pleasing to the eyes. It had been a while since I felt so good looking and from the flirtatious looks Felix¡¯s personal assistant threw me, it wasn¡¯t that hard to figure why. As the wealthy investor put the document down, I felt the palms of my hands become damp with sweat. Trying to maintain the relaxed front, I smiled and asked how the proposal was. The last week had been nothing but torture for me. While filling Ignacio and Nash about the details, I had to collate data and redraft the entire proposal. Ignacio proved to be smarter than I thought and some of his ideas helped make my proposal more convincing. ¡°Now he has no reason to reject your proposal!¡± was what Ignacio had told me over a late-night call. I didn¡¯t doubt his craziness but I wasn¡¯t as optimistic as he was. I was dressed fabulously and from experience, Lady Luck hated me the most on these days. Felix looked stoic for a moment as he set the papers down and looked at me. The tension in the air wanted to make me throw the documents into the shredder and call it off as a joke. When tears cascaded down the pompadour lover¡¯s face, I panicked. Was it so terrible that the man started to cry for me? ¡°My boy!¡± In an instant, Felix was crushing the air out of my lungs in a powerful hug. Tears and snot went amok, ruining my brand new suit. Although it wasn¡¯t something a wash couldn¡¯t fix, it was rather embarrassing to have two grown men hugging each other with one bawling like a child. Felix was a very emotional man so with my limited and clumsy social skills, I pat his back in an attempt to comfort him. While one hand patting his fluffy pompadour rigidly, I was reminded of how emotionally constipated I was like the man who raised me. Ten long minutes later, I thanked Lady Luck for being kind to me. Felix finally allowed me my personal space and attempted to be as professional as his overly excited self could be. Questions were fired and I had hardly any time to breathe in between. ¡°How did you get such an inspiration?¡± ¡°When do we start?¡± ¡°Who is this Ignacio person? What about the Slums? How do you know if they are receptive to this idea?¡± The questions kept coming and one hour slowly became two. By the time I addressed all of Felix¡¯s immediate concerns it was already late into the night. ¡°Oh my, I¡¯m so sorry I lost track of the time! You must be tired. It wasn¡¯t easy putting together a proposal of this scale. We can discuss the details of this joint venture at a later date. I¡¯ll open all my funds to you on an indefinite loan period. I want it to succeed no matter what and it isn¡¯t merely from a business perspective.¡± I gave Felix a questioning look. The man smiled and ruffled my hair. ¡°You don¡¯t know how much difference this will make for the poor people living in the Slums. It can help them afford Pantiumite and give them better houses.¡± My heart was overwhelmed knowing there was at least one person within the walls of the Inner City who saw it the way I did. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± Felix shook his head. ¡°No, thank you. No one else would have come up with such a brilliant idea. That Ignacio person you mentioned is special too. Even if I don¡¯t have the evidence of what you said, I can tell that anyone who endures ill-treatment and abandons the luxuries of the Inner City for the sake of researching a better creation for humanity is worthy of my respect.¡± We chatted a little more before I went back that day. Felix said to leave the scheduling of a press and the remaining legalisation to him. I was ordered to take a good week off work and forbidden to step into my office. Hence the first thing I decided to do was to pay Nash and Ignacio a visit, letting them know the good news. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< Felix made good of his word and Luna Services was revamped in a month including all the necessary clearance required to be completed with the company ready to be incorporated as a monolith that occupied an entire Area district beside Felix¡¯s company. The news of T.C. and Felix joining hands for this new giant that emerged overnight had taken the Inner City by storm. It wasn¡¯t difficult to call for a press interview and Felix had opted to take a backseat on this saying people would like to see a handsome young face for a change in pace. The wheeler halted and I stepped out, waiting for Ignacio to do the same. We were at Lisa¡¯s boutique ready to make new suits for the press interview scheduled after a brief meeting with Felix. The electronic chime went off as we stepped in, alerting Lisa of our arrival. The small woman emerged from the room behind the counter and adjusted her glasses. ¡°Well! Isn¡¯t this my favourite customer?¡± ¡°Lisa! I¡¯m so happy to see you too!¡± I gave the petite lady a hug and she giggled. ¡°What can I do for you and your handsome friend there today?¡± ¡°We need some suits for a press conference.¡± Lisa blinked owlishly and scrutinised me. ¡°That¡¯s new. You usually ask for glamorous suits.¡± I gave her a sheepish laugh because that was the truth. Ignacio raised an eyebrow and I shook my head indicating I will explain later. ¡°Any colour preferences?¡± I scanned her new fabrics. The zesty orange looked very appealing but I couldn¡¯t wear such an unprofessional colour. ¡°Anything but black, please make it appropriate for the event. I¡¯ll leave the design to you as usual.¡± Lisa smiled at the wrinkling of my nose when I mentioned the colour black. It was dull and I hated it. The dear woman knew my preference by now. ¡°Do I need to retake your measurements?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I doubt it. I haven¡¯t changed.¡± Lisa tutted slyly. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t know since you¡¯re still a growing boy. Better safe than sorry since you¡¯re already here. Now off to the measuring room! Your handsome friend can come too so I can do the both of you at once.¡± Ignacio blushed at the innuendo but Lisa took no notice, already tugging at the measuring tape on her waist. Although there was a model scanner to take accurate three-dimensional measurements for clothes, Lisa preferred the old-fashioned method. The shirt came off easily and I dropped it on the plush couch in Lisa¡¯s workshop. It was a place not many get to see. Lisa hated doing customised clothes and would often refuse unless the customer sent her measurements. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever understand why she made me an exception. ¡°Raise your arms outwards.¡± I raised them and allowed Lisa to pull the tape around my torso as Ignacio watched attentively. Once Lisa had finished recording all my measurements she cleared her throat. ¡°You¡¯ve grown slightly more muscular especially around your biceps. Your height did not increase by much but the pants length definitely needs some addition. I¡¯m assuming you would still have some room left to grow in the few years so do drop by the shop when you can.¡± Ignacio gulped when Lisa¡¯s eyes trained on him. ¡°You! You¡¯re a new customer. Usually, I don¡¯t deal with measurement taking but seeing you are good looking and a friend of Titus, I¡¯ll make an exception. I don¡¯t have your details in my database so I would need you to grant me access.¡± The prodigy glanced at me for help. ¡°Just hold out your right wrist to the equipment she brings later. She will scan the identity chip embedded there. It¡¯s been awhile since you¡¯ve been a citizen, have you forgotten how things worked?¡± Ignacio flushed scarlet. ¡°I¡¯m just not used to the privileges. Thank you, Titus. My family is thankful as well. They have found jobs as citizens in the Inner City with your help.¡± Rolling my eyes at his dramatics I told him to thank Felix just as Lisa stepped in. ¡°Bring out your wrist young man,¡± she ordered and Ignacio did as told. The process was quick and Lisa told Ignacio to remove his top while she put the equipment away. Ignacio made it to the second button before he froze. ¡°Could you not stare please?¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Why not? I don¡¯t see you having a problem ogling at me while I was having my measurements taken.¡± Ignacio stuttered but Lisa¡¯s snappy comments about his inefficiency had him moving faster. Before he knew it Lisa was all over him and barking out orders. I snickered in the corner as Ignacio yelped when Lisa tugged at his waistline. It wasn¡¯t long before I found myself kicked out of the workshop. Standing like a fool in the middle of the empty boutique, I decided to browse at some of Lisa¡¯s new creations and as expected, every dress was stitched to perfection. Ignacio came out not long after with the blush still on his cheeks. ¡°I will send it to you when it is ready. Do you want me to send it to your residence or the office?¡± I glanced at Ignacio and then replied, ¡°Send it to the residence, please. You can send his suit along with mine since we are living together for a while.¡± Lisa raised an eyebrow at that remark. ¡°Make sure to lubricate well if you¡¯re going to do it.¡± I blinked once, then twice before yelling at the woman for suggesting such a thing. ¡°We¡¯re not in that kind of relationship!¡± That had us kicked out of her shop. I exchanged baffled looks with Ignacio before the man grinned at me. ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s with the glamorous suits?¡± >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< ¡°Thank you. Dearly beloved gathered today, some of you may recognise me as Titus Crowley, the infamous playboy of my year in the Academy. However, today I come to you as the man who has taken the financial world by storm - T.C.¡± Cameras continued to flash and murmurs got louder at my next statement. ¡°Today I will announce that T.C. and Felix Riggs are launching a new company in joint ventures called Luna Services. Ignacio Cross is the Vice President of Luna Services who will be working very closely with me in future.¡± As rehearsed, Io presented the question. ¡°Mr Crowley, could you share with us how you had Felix - the wealthiest man in Luna, to agree to this joint venture?¡± I smiled at the platinum blonde beauty. ¡°The economy in Luna has been stagnant for the past hundred years. Luna Services is the only company in history that will introduce a new untapped market - the Slums.¡± Many gasps were heard and outraged cries emerged from the crowd. ¡°Everyone knows that we make credits from the people living in the Inner City. The rich continue to get richer while the poor who couldn¡¯t afford to keep up with the ridiculous standard of living are forced to join the Slums. The only connection between the Slums and the Inner City is the sale of low-grade Pantiumite.¡± Ignacio displayed a chart for all to see. I pointed to the graph and continued. ¡°This is the trend of Pantiumite being purchased by the people in the Slums over the years. The Slums have their way of keeping credits circulating in a healthy way as people adopt a system called bartering for what they need. Only Pantiumite is bought by Special Pass Workers who can afford it.¡± ¡°How do you know all this?¡± a male reporter asked. I motioned for Ignacio to step forward. The man stepped forward as practised and took the spotlight. ¡°I was from the Slums.¡± That single line inspired drama that ensued as people started shouting and throwing accusations. I fiddled with the terminal and played an edited clip. It was the clip about Raoul¡¯s affirmation that Ignacio worked for him to develop a new type of Pantiumite. The original clip had been really different but with pro video mastering, I managed to cut out snippets of Raoul¡¯s original conversation to twist the recorded message. Once the short message ended, the crowd was stunned to silence at the new revelation. I cued for Ignacio to take the chance and proceed as planned. ¡°As you now know, I was working alongside the late genius Raoul Harper to create a new type of Pantiumite that was said to be thirty per cent more efficient. I left the Inner City voluntarily previously because of financial issues and joined my family in the Slums. He was the one who offered to pay for my reinstatement to an Inner City citizen after he recognised my talents while I was working as a Special Pass worker.¡± Reporters were busy recording what Ignacio had to say. The next journalist''s question was predictable and I had to remember to keep the straight face. ¡°Do you have any leads about Raoul¡¯s murder that night?¡± Instead of denying, Ignacio admitted he knew there was going to be a murder. Thanks to my foresight, I had Felix contact Spencer asking for the Patrol Guard¡¯s involvement to protect the next potential victim the day Ignacio re-entered the Inner City as a citizen. ¡°Raoul had many enemies who were envious of his talents. He was constantly receiving death threats, which was why I worked behind the scenes. I didn¡¯t know why he transferred a huge amount of credits into my account that night but Raoul¡¯s last words scared me into hiding in the Slums. He said ¡®destroy everything, they are coming for you too¡¯.¡± The crowd fell into a stunned moment of silence before murmurs came out. More shutters clicked but Ignacio braved it all. The questions came fast and relentless, lasting several hours. By the time the event ended, both Ignacio and I were looking worse for wear. Felix had congratulated us for surviving the conference and offered us a lift back to the run-down apartment. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< The weeks passed quickly with our work cut out for us. Felix was busy meeting potential partners and I was busy running between the Inner City and the Slums to coordinate logistics. Ignacio was stuck in the office handling all the legal procedures and fighting with the Parliament on my behalf about the rights to provide goods and services to non-citizens of the Inner City. Both the Slums and the Inner City were having violent reactions to Luna Services. Many Inner City citizens and Slum dwellers were supportive of it. However, members of the Parliament and monolith owners weren¡¯t thrilled with the idea. They were more concerned about competition and the loss of power over the market prices than anything else. It didn¡¯t matter if they were causing trouble for us on the legal side of things as business boomed with no sign of stopping. Company stock price increased by seven hundred per cent after the press conference and was still increasing steadily. Centurion, the company that had rejected Ignacio¡¯s application many years back, was now desperate to arrange a meeting with my second in line for dibs on the new potential market. As my vice-chairman, Ignacio had it tough. However, it was tougher on Nash who had been going around the Slums spreading the news and educating people about the credit system to get them to support the company. The people In the Slums could offer goods or services for more credits without being a Special Pass worker. However, many were still sceptical about it since the majority of the Pantiumite were provided by the Red Rumble in exchange for a little goods and services for a long time. The Red Rumble was certainly the stumbling block to success. Burying my face in my hands, I could cry at just the thought of work waiting for me in the near future. Chapter 10 Two months hurtled by and the weather had gone beyond cold. No one ventured outside willingly. Not even the Night Walker who was cooped up in his office. The pen clattered on the desk as my hand flopped to the side. Despite the hesitation and reluctance to purchase Pantiumite from Luna Services by the people dwelling in the Slums, Luna Services had stabilised and proved to be able to compete with many monoliths in the market. Red Rumble continued to elude Nash as they held their regular customers steadily. There was simply too much work to be done and I wanted out. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of retiring.¡± Ignacio paused what he was doing and looked up from the tall stack of folders on his desk. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, could you say that again?¡± I raised an eyebrow at the utter confusion on Ignacio¡¯s face. Despite the heavy eye bags beneath the brunet¡¯s eyes, I could see the sparkle in them. The man was still as determined as ever and it was a good sign. ¡°You heard me. I¡¯m going to declare you as the official Chairperson of Luna Services. I¡¯ll step down to be an advisor should you require my help. Felix is happy with your performance and you¡¯re doing everything fine without me now.¡± Jaw dropping, he stared at me for about a minute. ¡°Hold on a second here. You can¡¯t just abandon me after all that we¡¯ve been through! I know things are doing well and business is stabilising but this is only the beginning¡­ We still have a long way to go!¡± One, two then three seconds passed before I lost it. ¡°Will you stop laughing and take this seriously? Titus Crowley!¡± Ignacio¡¯s face was red with anger and something else but I struggled with breathing, my sides screaming in protest after the vicious laughing attack. It was unsightly to be seen sprawled across the carpet of a very posh office with drool trailing down my chin. Then again, what happened in the room stayed in the room. ¡°I¡¯m,¡± another laughing fit threatened to escape me but I stifled it to only a few inconspicuous giggles. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± The glare Ignacio gave me certainly reminded me of how cross he was, pun intended. It was incredibly funny and I couldn¡¯t stop the bubbling giggles. Screwing my expression to maintain a serious front, the mask crumbled away when Ignacio¡¯s eyebrow twitched. The dam of laughter broke and tears spilt from their ducts. It became funnier when my proxy slammed the documents down and walked out of the room. His exasperated eye roll had me curling up on the ground in a drunken state of hilarity. When Ignacio returned to the office with a bag of something, I was still in a semi-dazed state, silly from the laughing fits when my vice-chairperson shoved something cold down the back of my shirt. Immediately I jumped and howled at the biting cold. Desperately trying to get rid of whatever he had put down my shirt, I glanced at what had been in the bag. From deduction, my not-so-innocent employee had collected some fresh snow and decided to snap me out from my possessed state of mind. ¡°Have mercy, will you? Are you trying to kill a man?¡± Ignacio scoffed with his signature eye roll. ¡°I don¡¯t see a man anywhere, only a scruffy brat.¡± ¡°Is that how you talk to your boss?¡± I hissed while removing my top. The jacket shrugged off easily but the shirt clung to my skin uncomfortably. The snow had melted faster than I could get it out and now I have to deal with the aftermath of his generous ¡®wake-up call¡¯. There was a reason why I refused to go outside and my proxy had a wonderful idea to bring the outside to me. Ignoring me in favour of getting back to his work while I cursed and swore, Ignacio waited patiently for me to button the shirt before getting back to where we left off. Luckily, I had some spare clothes in the office for unexpected overnights that happened more often than I liked. ¡°Why the sudden urge to retire. You know I won¡¯t approve of it if you don¡¯t give me a good reason.¡± I groaned. ¡°Why can¡¯t you just leave it? Doesn¡¯t the desire to sleep for a year count as a good reason?¡± The smile he had on his face would have put the only hitman I knew to shame. It spelt no mercy and I knew there was no going around it. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a no then¡­¡± Ignacio can be as harmless as a lamb but his darker side surfaces from time to time. These short episodes can cause severe mental trauma for those who lived a pampered life. The last time Dark Ignacio appeared was when I accidentally dropped his Orion dialler into the fountain in the main square. The poor device died and Ignacio snapped. It was also the first time I saw that spine-chilling smile of his. It was a world full of pain in the form of meetings and paperwork for the next week. Days and nights of endless events, meetings with the media and the Parliament had conveniently been arranged on the days Ignacio had an important meeting with some company representative. My torture did not stop there. The man had kindly brought back ¡®urgent¡¯ documents to be signed when I was ready to drop dead in bed. The moment I tried to ditch the sky-high pile of documents, he sniffed me out instantly and brought me back to the work I tried to abandon. There was no freedom and no escaping Ignacio in his enraged mode. It took three days off work and a free front row ticket to Sable¡¯s concert to appease the evil inside of Ignacio. I told Nash about it and we made a silent pact to never wake the sleeping demon inside. Gulping nervously, I met his eyes. ¡°Luna Services isn¡¯t my real motive.¡± Ignacio didn¡¯t relent and held his gaze steady as if demanding for more. ¡°I¡¯m the Night Walker. I hope you haven¡¯t forgotten.¡± A slight nod had me relaxing a little. ¡°Are aware of the murder of Mia Elliot?¡± This got the genius'' interest. ¡°The one they found in the wastelands?¡± Nodding twice I continued. ¡°I¡¯m going to find out the truth about it. She was a victim of human experimentation. I¡¯m going to find out the ones responsible for it and make it right. The Parliament is not being fair. Luna Services is the first step in my plan to close the distance between the Inner City and the Slums.¡± ¡°What do you intend to do about it?¡± I bit my bottom lip. Not even Nash knew what I wanted to do. ¡°Nash doesn¡¯t know about it yet. Can you help me keep it a secret?¡± Ignacio¡¯s eyes softened. A small smile broke the icy glare from earlier. ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can to help.¡± I exhaled, unsure of when I had started holding my breath. ¡°I want to right the wrongs of Luna. There is still a lot going on that I don¡¯t know about. Mia¡¯s death is merely the tip of the iceberg. Luna Services is a bridge for me to slip in and out of the Inner City as the Night Walker. It is also easier to transport Pantiumite to the Slums. My true motive is to find the ones responsible for the human experimentation project and while I have my suspicions that the Parliament is responsible, I have no solid evidence. My only lead was from Raoul before he died.¡± Ignacio nodded as he listened. ¡°What will you do after you¡¯ve killed all the ones involved with Mia¡¯s murder?¡± I did not answer. I had no answer. The brunet shook his head. ¡°It won¡¯t change anything even if you did find out the truth and kill the ones responsible. This city is sick. Luna is poisoned. You can¡¯t save the people with such a weak resolve.¡± A yawn escaped Ignacio¡¯s stern features and I sighed. He was right. I can¡¯t do anything as I am right now. However, he¡¯s wrong if he thought I would sit back and twiddle my thumbs while I let everything fall to ruins. I looked up when I felt a gentle pat on my shoulder. When had he made his way over? ¡°Don¡¯t fret too much for now. You¡¯ll be able to find the answers you seek. Just remember that you¡¯re not alone.¡± With that, he left and I sank down in my swivel chair. A bath sounded good right now. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< ¡°...and we will bring in a new business partner from the Slums. Nash Skinner is a very capable man with great influence in the Slums. He will work alongside Ignacio who will be taking over the position of Chief Executive Officer of Luna Services.¡± Gasps and murmurs at the announcement of my stepping down could be heard. Felix frowned but opted to remain silent about it until the meeting was adjourned. One by one, the board directors and major shareholder representatives left. I tidied the table with the help of Ignacio once the majority had left. Felix remained and I knew he had questions. ¡°Why? Luna Services is doing so well, why resign now?¡± I smiled and exchanged looks with Ignacio. The brunet nodded and took the cue to give us some privacy. The moment the door clicked shut, I turned back to Felix. ¡°Sorry, Felix. This isn¡¯t good enough for me. I want to do more for the people in the Slums and I can¡¯t do that while I¡¯m tied down by obligations as the figurehead of the company.¡± The pompadour loving man frowned. ¡°You¡¯ve done a lot for the people in the Slums. I¡¯ve heard that Pantiumite sales increased and it has become a lot more affordable for people living in the Slums. What is it that you can¡¯t do?¡± Turning away, I found reshuffling the folders more interesting. How am I to explain to Felix that people were dying in the Slums because of some illegal human experimentation? ¡°It isn¡¯t something Pantiumite or credits can solve. Luna is sick and I need to find out what¡¯s wrong with it.¡± Felix gave me a puzzled look. A certain genius came to mind. ¡°Ignacio pointed out to me the other day there was something wrong in the way we live. I want to level the differences between the Inner City and the Slums. The system is wrong and I want to find out why.¡± The shrewd businessman paused for a while. ¡°Are you referring to the citizenship rights in the Inner City?¡± It wasn¡¯t exactly about citizenship rights but that was a side effect from the root cause. I was going to have to eventually deal with that issue too so I nodded and Felix sighed in relief. ¡°I understand. I feel the same way too. We are the survivors of the Great Explosion and while our forefathers worked together to make living better for one another, here we are tearing at each other¡¯s throats over credits.¡± He waited for a reaction of some sort from my end but I never gave it. Resigned, Felix left the subject as it was. ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to disclose your plans but do know that I¡¯ll always be here to help. You¡¯re a really fine young man, accomplishing so much at your age.¡± The ruffling of my hair felt nice. Felix¡¯s hands were always so warm that it melted away my worries. ¡°Thank you. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do it without your support.¡± The investor grinned. ¡°Anything for you, just don¡¯t forget to call me often. I would like to think that stepping down would give us more time to meet in private but I¡¯m already beginning to think otherwise. That sparkle in your eye tells me it is wishful thinking.¡± Eyes widening slightly at how accurate Felix was, I never thought there would come a day I would feel so vulnerable in front of anyone. The way he saw me like an open book scared me in a way that felt strangely tingly. I didn¡¯t exactly lie but the knot in my stomach insisted otherwise. The impulse to blurt out the plans was strong but I kept my head down as he walked out the door, killing the emotions threatening to boil over. There was no way I could drag Felix into my blood-stained world. I simply couldn¡¯t. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< ¡°Why are you here again? Don¡¯t you have better things to do? Unlike you, I have work!¡± The disinterest in Nash¡¯s voice made the inner child in me pout. ¡°Fine! I¡¯m leaving anyway!¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Nash huffed. While it was true I have been coming over a little more often, he didn¡¯t have to be so cold about it! ¡°You¡¯ve been coming over every single day since the official handover. Now that Ignacio is handling the paperwork and I¡¯m stuck with the logistics thanks to your hare-brained plan of putting me on the official employee list, you can find someone else to bother.¡± Every valid point made by Nash felt like laser gunshots. While it was true my whimsical resignation had been tough on both men, I did my part to help by easing the events and media attention with my hard-core partying. ¡°Now if you''ll excuse me, I need to work, Mr Party Boy.¡± Nash left the room promptly and I stared at the ceiling blankly. Might as well get on to doing what I had no time to do before. Mia¡¯s cell samples won¡¯t analyse themselves. With the new income, I was able to afford a better apartment and Ignacio found a place of his own somewhere in the Slums. I don¡¯t know where he goes every night but I wasn¡¯t going to pry my nose into where it doesn¡¯t belong. My new apartment definitely gave me an advantage. It was near the Academy and I could easily bypass the security to utilise their facilities. Although Centurion and Bluetonium are top research facilities, the equipment in the Academy was as cutting edge if not more. Calling for a wheeler that travelled to and fro the Inner City and the Slums, I took a short nap before reaching the apartment. The wheeler had come to a halt faster than I thought and I made my way to the apartment to hit the showers at once. Allen might be a little lonely with only a naked boy for company over the years so I decided to get him a pal yesterday. She was a lime green whale that could squirt water from the rubbery top, imitating the mammal while it existed. Her name was Marie and she was a beauty. Bath time was cut short as I became woozy quicker than usual. The exhaustion I wasn¡¯t aware of caught up on me quickly. My lids felt heavy as I settled into a more comfortable position in the tub but snapped out of my zoned-out state sputtering soap and water, the bitter aftertaste still lingering. Not even bothering to dry or dress up, I headed to bed wearing a towel on my waist with dripping hair. The pillow had to be soaked but I couldn¡¯t care less, it felt heavenly and Pyros knows I needed this beauty nap. By the time I woke up, the stars were greeting me. What a nostalgic feeling. The only time this happened was when I was still in the Academy. Mrs Peterman and Alastair often chided me for having unhealthy sleeping habits and now it felt a little too quiet without their nagging. Trying to go back to sleep would be futile as I tossed about in bed. Finally relenting, I got up and set to work. ¡°Lilith Malfoy¡­¡± a glance over at Cain 2.0 and the gears in my head started turning. Thanks to Luna Services, I had a lead to the internal system the Inner City used. The Night Walker was an expert at hacking devices and systems but hacking the Inner City¡¯s mainframe system would be a different ball game. No one had attempted to alter the mainframe system for as long as it existed. All devices and programs were dependant on it since nobody remembered the man who made the mainframe system or how he did it. Everyone simply built upon what he had created. Then again, there is a first time for everything. What could possibly go wrong ¡°Cain, can you find me the mainframe system¡¯s code? Kevin, help me search for anything regarding human experimentation.¡± A beeping sound was heard and Cain set to work. Kevin buzzed away, running scans through the massive database. I studied the extracted codes and tried to analyse how the inventor of Luna¡¯s mainframe designed the system. There was a saying ¡®set a creep to a creep¡¯. To hack a mainframe system I needed to think like the creator. Obviously, the first thing I would do is to create a special route for myself to access it whenever I wanted to. This would enable absolute control over the city and free reign of any information. Then again, that route might not exist. I needed to know what kind of person the inventor was... ¡°All mainframe system programs extracted.¡± The clacking of my nails on the table surface echoed in the empty apartment. A new window showing a long list of numerals appeared. ¡°Oh my Pantiumite¡­¡± The gibberish stared back at me and no amount of refreshing will change it. ¡°What sort of code is this? It makes utterly no sense!¡± There aren¡¯t any programming languages on Luna that resembled what I was looking at. The code was written in nothing but numbers from zero to four. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious! Where is the linguistics in this code? Is the creator an alien or something? Why would he do this?¡± Being one of the best System Administrators, I knew every programming language used in the Inner City. However, nothing had been remotely close to this impossible puzzle. This wasn¡¯t a programming language, it was a cryptic code. Kevin¡¯s voice interrupted my thoughts. ¡°Sir, the list of all matters relating to human experimentation is ready. Is there anything else you would like me to do?¡± I took a last look at the abomination and told Kevin to search for information regarding numeral code writing. The search had been quick and returned negative. My last bet was the physical archive that Mrs Peterman prided herself over. ¡°Thank you, Kevin. Could you pull out all the security patrol routes for the Academy?¡± While Kevin worked on it I went back to the list extracted, opting to ignore the mountain-sized workload cut out for me over the next few days. Human experimentation had been a much talked about debate but nothing interested me. Most of them were theories about human evolution and the history of New-Man. My search came to a dead end when all the sources proved to be duds. Nothing mentioned the recent happenings about Mia and the wastelands, not even the tabloid. I glanced back at the creepy screen of numerals. Nothing made sense. Why would it be written in numbers? I stared hard at the numbers and went through them line by line. The numbers were becoming a blur but somewhere along the two thousandth line I noticed something. Some number patterns were repetitive. ¡°Kevin. Find me everything you can find about cypher and hidden messages.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The numbers were repeated in a systematic fashion and I finally managed to understand how it was read. I guess I didn¡¯t need to visit the library tonight. Thank the stars for my brilliant brain! The numbers may have been strung together in a line but the repeated chunk of number repeated in groups of fives. I deduced that every five numbers represented a certain data that was used to create similar effects to the programming languages used. Even after hitting eureka, this was going to take a while. The mountain load of work had just become several mountain loads of work. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< Five days and four nights later, my eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sleep. However, it was a small price to pay. I don¡¯t think there will be another moment happier than now. ¡°Cain, run this code that I have written on all the mainframe programs you have extracted. Compile them when you¡¯re done. Kevin, where is that patrol route for the Academy again?¡± While Cain started number crunching, Kevin pulled up the patrol route. Studying the map, I planned the route. Even if I could sleep for three days to make-up the last four nights of sacrifice, there were more pressing matters to attend to. ¡°Wake me up at three past midnight. We¡¯re going to visit the Academy labs.¡± ¡°Rest well, sir.¡± Writing the deciphered code had sapped even my last recesses of my soul and the bed was my only salvation. Fluffy duvets were the embodiment of bliss. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< It was four in the morning and no patrol-bots in sight. The Academy was becoming laxer in their security after my graduation. The laboratory I was headed for used to be Raoul¡¯s personal research facility. If there was one thing the dead researcher was good for, it would be his ability to convince the budget stingy Academy to purchase some really high-end research equipment. Steeling my resolve, I broke into the lab. Raoul would have minded but it wasn¡¯t like he could do anything at this point. It was the privilege of the living to create change and the duty of the dead to remain silent. Placing the small vials on the lab bench, I started with one test sample and ran it through the analyser. The equipment was idiot proof and simple enough to use with the only downside being how long it took to generate a report for the studied samples. An hour and a short nap later, I downloaded the report for all the analysed samples. Deleting the user history before I headed back, I glanced through the report summary. There was a substance never seen before and from what I knew, that had to be the drug or the new Pantiumite the Parliament was testing. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< ¡°No way¡­¡± The results on the screen remained silent as I blinked. There was no way I just breached top-level security. Lilith Malfoy had been one of the names in a list for a top-secret project about Pantiumite evolution. Ignacio¡¯s theory of Pantiumite being unable to provide a hundred per cent efficiency was spot on. The researchers had proven it from the report. New-Man bodies were not compatible with Pantiumite like it was with Plantiumite. Pantiumite is a very stable compound that doesn¡¯t react as much as Plantiumite did. However, due to Plantiumite¡¯s volatile reaction to the environment, the substance was considered unsafe for production. The Great Explosion had been triggered by a large amount of Plantiumite escaping into the atmosphere. As a result, Pantiumite was created as a substitute. That was basic history that everyone knew. Basic science stated that for a substance to be reactive, it cannot be a stable compound. Plantiumite was an element and had natural reactive properties. Pantiumite was a compound found in the atmosphere and extracted. It is said that deep underneath the ocean there are bio organisms producing the Pantiumite that escaped to the surface which we harvest from. Pantiumite in the air is purified and with a more refined process, the better the Pantiumite grade. The more concentrated Pantiumite had longer lasting effects. However, there was a limit to how efficient it would be due to the composition of a human body, most Pantiumite cannot be absorbed to be converted to energy and would escape back to the atmosphere through respiration. To think that these crazy scientists would try to artificially create a mutation of the Pantiumite mimicking Plantiumite properties to seek a substance most compatible with the human body is insane. Over fifty participants were roped in this crazy experiment and the project had been going on for a good twenty years. This had to be a recent thing. The underground place off the main island had been built by the Parliament and apparently, Area Forty-One was involved. The Parliament had initially used the people from Area Forty-One, kidnapping them for testing. However, when they ran out of test subjects, they moved to the Slums. Records about the victims¡¯ progress were tracked and there were no survivors. The new substance was a mutated form of Pantiumite and it was called Vivamite. The more mutated it was, the more unstable the reaction with the human body. Finding Mia¡¯s personal folder, I read. Mia had been used to test versions one to three with all the results recorded. It was version four that killed her when it exploded from within. Versions one to three were proving more efficient than the ordinary Pantiumite. However, terrible side effects like nausea, hallucination and extremely sensitive nerves were present throughout the testing. From all the records the scientists have created up to seven mutations with each one becoming more dangerous than the last despite the increased efficiency. The compounds were so unstable that success rates were close to none despite what the theories proposed. The furthest a test subject had survived was on the fifth version but the man died from internal bleeding. The Vivamite got absorbed into his blood and reacted violently causing all sorts of damage that not even the scientist could classify. Reading the reports had been the last piece to the puzzle. I knew what I had to do. These people won¡¯t pay with just their lives. It isn¡¯t enough to do justice to the fifty over victims of this cruel experiment. Luna has the right to know what is happening and the Parliament must fall. The identities of Parliament members were kept secret and there were twelve seats. Five seats were fixed and the rest were nominated by the top one percent living in the Inner City. The final decision will lie in the decisions of the five members in the fixed seats. Lilith was a nominated member ten years ago. The members of the Parliament can be changed without notice as long as the five members in the fixed seats agree. The only issue I had now was identifying the mastermind behind the project. I have no doubts it was one of those in the five fixed seats. The list had twelve names and I would have to start with Lilith. I needed any information I could get and show the Parliament that the hunt was on. There will be no mercy given to those who showed no mercy. Blood will be paid in full with blood. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< ¡°You¡¯ve been really quiet for a while.¡± ¡°It is for good reasons. I trust that you are doing well under Ignacio¡¯s leadership?¡± Nash sighed and sank into his new fluffy couch. ¡°Not really. There are still shareholders who disapprove of someone from the Slums and someone who had been a Special Pass worker running the company. The Parliament is also giving us pressure and some monoliths formed alliances to cut off trades with us. However, the kid had dealt with them well. He¡¯s asking the Slums for trades and expanding the logistics department, giving employment to the people in the Slums and the ones struggling in the Inner City. Many rich folks see this as a golden opportunity and share prices are still rising.¡± Chuckling to myself, I have to say Ignacio wasn¡¯t a genius only in title. Luna Services will be in good hands. ¡°I¡¯m more curious as to what you¡¯re planning,¡± Nash grunted as he shot me a half-hearted look. Shrugging twice, I tinkered with my Orion dialler. ¡°I just sent you what I¡¯ve been up to. This is what I discovered. It took me a long while to get through the mainframe. Whoever created the mainframe had to be a genius.¡± Nash¡¯s eyes widened at the report. ¡°This is unexpected. I knew those money grabbers were crazy over Pantiumite but to want to create something even better than that at the expense of human lives? Did you inform Ignacio?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I couldn¡¯t find the time to tell him. The meetings he has to attend are crazy enough. I don¡¯t need to add to his troubles. I¡¯ll see to it myself that the Parliament will be brought down. This ends with Mia, I won¡¯t allow another victim. With Luna Services I hope to be able to extend our protection of the people in the Slums in whatever way we can.¡± Nash nodded. ¡°You know, for someone who is still registered as the chairperson of Luna Services, you seem very relaxed.¡± I flashed him my thousand watt smile. ¡°Don¡¯t be jealous! I¡¯ll hand over the company officially soon enough. For now, I¡¯m just letting them know what that man is capable of. So far it was always Titus Crowley the boy genius in the stock market and then there was always the unknown man behind the late genius researcher Raoul Harper running the show. Now that I step down they need to see Ignacio as the man who leads Luna Services to ground-breaking territories and lead the market as the leader of a monolith. I can¡¯t throw everything to him and pull my name out when they don¡¯t know what Ignacio is capable of, Luna Services will collapse.¡± Nash sighed. ¡°You planned this even before you incorporated Luna Services, didn¡¯t you?¡± I got up and collected my things, ready to leave for the night. ¡°My motive has never changed since the day I met you. I still want to be stronger and cooler. I still want to set things right, to rid Luna of this poison as Ignacio had mentioned. The only difference is how I now have people who will fight alongside me and people who have my back.¡± Giving Nash a gentle smile, I left. The door shut behind me as the icy wind greeted me. The warm feeling in my chest, however, never left throughout the freezing walk back to my new apartment. >>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<< Author¡¯s Note: Hi all Thank you for reading. If you liked it, please consider supporting the author on Amazon or P@treon. This book can also be found on the author''s personal website. I also write other works such as Godfather World and TIme Cross Academy so do check those out if you like my writing style! Thank you and hope to see you join the Tiny Army! Signing off Destiny Aitsuji