Novel There are Two Gods in Heaven

Hey everyone, it's my first time writing a story on novelupdates but I'm happy to try this new adventure with all of you! I have already posted the first 50 chapters or so on other websites, but I want to try reaching new people here too You can also find me on Twitter (@MaitreyaGem)

There are Two Gods in Heaven​

Synopsis:
"So, you want me to make a short summary of our adventures?
Fine, I'll try:

'The code names DIANA and ARTEMIS belong to two members of a mysterious underground secret agency.
After their first mission as a duo's immense failure, their own financial crisis will force these soul mates to work alongside in the crime world.
With the help of the small IT expert and surgeon genius Abhi, they will try to find their place in a world that has erased their names from any folder.

Come discover these lost souls' gut-busting way of life and heart-wrenching backstories...
Love exists in the abyss but its name is CLASSIFIED!'

So, what do you think?"

"Damn we're cool as fuck..."

//This is a comedy-tragedy about two dangerous soul mates who will try to break free from poverty thanks to a mysterious criminal organization. POV switches, unreliable narrators and lots of bad words rain on pages like bullets, and useless things like ethics aren't part of their training. Illustrated by an amazing artist (@Iciriini), you may enjoy reading through their stupid Bayesian mind games, pop culture references and childhood traumas, because in the end, it's a story about healing and finding peace with one's identity.//

Here is a spoiler-free review from a user on another website! ​

Genre: Action, Comedy, Girls Love/Yuri, Seinen, Slice of Life, Tragedy, Romance

Content Warning: Strong Language, Violence, Depiction of Cruelty

Table of Contents

Arc 1​

EPISODE 1: BODYGUARDS

• I didn’t plan to play in Ghost in the Shell!
• This robot can’t get away with it!
• Ultimate weapon

EPISODE 2: EMERALD

• In the Prince’s honor
• Siblings
• The birth of an urban legend

EPISODE 3: HIDEOUT

• The Batcave
• The mysterious power of cocoa milk

EPISODE 4: HEADHUNT

• The Queen of the Hunt's Tribute
• The young genius entrepreneur
• The press conference
• Symphony of darkness

EPISODE 5: EPHEMERAL

• Three-month-old Beretta
• Home
• Mail from the agency

Arc 2
​

EPISODE 6: TRIADS

• The Master of Romance loves women so much…
• What I would do to my shidi
• How can this get even more confusing?

EPISODE 7: SISTER

• SIRONA
• I will always protect you
• I’m alive
• Scars

EPISODE 8: OCEAN

• Logbook
• This month’s best employee
• The Count of Massilia
• It does be hard to be a bottom

EPISODE 9: AUCTION

• A deck rating has worked too hard
  
• Baby don’t hurt me
• 6 p.m.
• Italian for beginners
• 12 a.m.
• 6 a.m.

EPISODE 10: FIRE

• But he didn’t do anything!
• Michelangelo’s deal
• Inexplicable anger
• Life is a bet and you should all-in!
• Are diamonds overrated?

EPISODE 10.5: BLAZE

• The fool’s gold
• 12 p.m

Arc 3

(WIP)​

EPISODE 11: DESERT

• Moonlight encounter
• Unpredictable like the laws of quantum physics!
• Smile under the moonlight
• All’s well that ends well!
• That’s what you get for messing with me!

EPISODE 12: RAID

• The best day of my life
  
• Title drop?
• The cavalry has come!
• A stupid life’s meaning
  
• The Major

EPISODE 13: LIGHT

• A proof of humanity
  
• The price of a good action
• Rohini’s response
• The lightened path
• Nubians
• A short and unique word

EPISODE 14: WINGS

• Double trouble
• A crying country
• The last bastion
• The flames of freedom
• Unrivalled Under Heaven
• The eternal egoist

EPISODE 15: CLOUDS

• A barely edible curry
• The shattered cage
• A new shelter
• Only good things to come
• A sweet and yummy carrot cake

Arc 4
(WIP)​

EPISODE 16:

• An empty office, and a not so empty corridor
• One hell of a mess
• The Pain Song
• Unlucky number eleven

 

1st arc cover
DIANA
ARTEMIS/Schwa
Abhi


I didn’t plan to play in Ghost in the Shell!

“If they seem aggressive, beat them up first, if they are armed, destroy them.”

That’s what he told me before the mission started but even though I wanted to, I couldn’t follow his orders.

Running away from that place as fast as possible, I turn left and right irrationally through the empty alleys and the dark streets, although there is nothing behind.

Of course, they didn’t need me at all, they were there for him.

“Now I’ve fucking done it!” I sigh facing upward.

Shining brightly in the sky, the white crescent reveals a high wall, the dead end of my run.

Slowing down, panting, I lay my back to it and let myself fall on my butt.

What I thought were raindrops that curved down a coil of my hair was actually my own sweat.

Opening a button of my shirt to let the cold night’s air cool down my body, and exhaustion mixed with a bit of irony turn my panting into small laughter.

“I messed up so hard it’s actually hilarious,” I contemplate.

Remembering the events, I don’t think anyone could have fought and survive anyway. But even I knew that dying for that man was more important than saving my own life.

Indeed, my first mission as the Prince’s bodyguard has ended in immense failure.





EPISODE 1: BODYGUARDS



“His Highness the Prince’s bodyguard, code name: DARIUS.”

“His Highness the Prince’s bodyguard, code name: ESMERALDA.”

“His Highness the Prince’s bodyguard, code name: ARTEMIS.”

“Ah, it’s my turn? Sorry, the last bodyguard, it is I, code name is DIANA.”

I feel so stupid now that all those serious people’s judging glares are on me, but all those ceremonies are beyond me. I couldn’t care less about sounding serious and trustful, I’m not here because I want to.

That being said, that Prince is way too scary.

First of all, he looks like he’s a 70-year-old devil with a cane, and that’s scary. Nobody would expect a Prince to be an old man, right?? I mean that word has a very young and knightly tone, and when I heard I would be in contact with the actual Prince, I didn’t expect him to look like the concierge or something.

What’s ALSO scary is that he looks like he’s about to smite my existence out of this world with his thunderous eyes, and that’s very scary.

Regarding the three other fellows in that room, they look average. The kind of people you’ll find in any book.

You have the big muscles.

The big brain.

And the big boobs.

As for me, I’m the big idiot.

We are all standing in the luxurious suite of a way too high budget hotel, a fair distance from each other, in front of the old man who seems pretty in shape, but while I am looking for a convincing escape plan from this skyscraper, the Prince actually murmurs something.

“ARTEMIS and DIANA…”, he says.

Well, yes, even I noticed this stupid thing. Artemis and Diana are basically the same goddess from Greek and Roman mythologies. Except that looking at her, uh no I’m nothing like this succubus.

“Yes...?” she inquires with an obnoxious voice.

What?

Everybody is looking at her now. I can’t believe this imbecile thought the Prince was calling us and not just pointing out the fact we have the same signifying name.

Oh no, now I feel very insulted, this black leather idiot is an even bigger idiot than me, and in no world, I will let her and I be associated!

I don’t know how these guys got recruited, I basically got involved because my sister is indebted to the bone and sold me to this shady-looking high-risk high reward company a few years ago. The kind where you have to sign way too many insurances for it not to seem extremely unsafe.

I honestly thought it was some kind of weird fetish brothel with code names and bondage and at that point, I was ready to accept prostitution, but then they actually formed me into infiltration, hand and armed combat. Some weeks in, I still thought it was a very realistic form of sadomasochism training.

And then I followed the indications for my first mission, so here I am teaming up with folks I don’t know so we can be the Fantastic 4 for an old man, whom I’m not even sure is a real prince anymore!

God, I wish my name was a cool Russian one like ESMERALDA, I could play the Black Widow and smash people’s necks with my legs and wouldn’t that be hot and awesome? Wait, was it Russian? Whatever, now I’m stuck with DIANA and I really hope the whore who owns my alter ego’s name will get smite by the almighty old Prince’s glare, thank you very much.

Unfortunately, that Prince did not kill anyone with his eyes and my hopes for him disappeared in a few seconds.

He’s so old anyway, and why would he ask for people like us and not some powerful knights trained in a castle or something?

It should be mentioned that I never fought with anyone before my training, except that time in middle school when that girl called me a whore so I tore her hair up so violently that it bled a little. Uh, that was disgusting. She had a big hole on her head since then that she tried to hide with a new haircut but it was so ugly that she shaved it entirely. People actually went from mocking her to being nice because they thought she might have had cancer, and she received presents with “good recovery” on it, not that she hated it.

Wait, wait, wait, this geezer has been talking for a few minutes now and I didn’t listen at all! I can’t believe I got distracted by Chemotherapy, what a ridiculous way to miss on important events!

“-so if that’s the case, then you may as well leave now.”

What did he say? Should I ask him to repeat? I’d really like to know the conditions I need to fulfill to be able to leave now!!

“Excuse me, your Highness? I did not follow the last minute, please could you say it again?”

What the fuck?! It’s Boobies again, and damn what a helpless person she is. Not listening at a time like this is so ridiculous, and she dared ask the Prince to repeat.

“That’s fine, I only said that if you’re not ready to die, you may as well leave.”

“Oh yes, me! Me! I’m not ready to die, sir! May I leave?”

!

I knew that getting punched wasn’t the best feeling in the world, but did you know that an iron reinforced cane could hurt much more? Ah, I feel like my arm is broken. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.

The odd thing is that the girl next to me is hurt as well.

But she didn’t say anything, did she?

Maybe it’s the pain but I can’t recall which of the two of us said something so stupid as rudely.

I hate that old man now, why would he offer us to leave if he hit us in return?!

“DARIUS, STOP!” Someone shouts.

SCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

“If you break it too much, we won’t get the information!”

What the hell is going on? Why is there so much noise here? Wait who hit me?

What I thought was an iron reinforced cane actually was the iron reinforced arms of the very luxurious and expensive hotel’s room service robot.

This is ridiculous! The mission hasn’t even started that I got caught off guard by the modern evolution of a vacuum cleaner.

Now that I looked at it, said vacuum cleaner, which is around 1 meter and a half’s height, has clearly malicious intentions with its angry red alert eyes, that scream “I vowed to destroy humanity,” which makes me shiver even though it is currently being secured by Mr. DARIUS’ big muscles.

“It’s definitely controlled from a distance. That, or it has been pre-programmed before we came in.” adds Miss ESMERALDA, as if she has done that her whole life.

Well, good for you, smart ass, but for normal people like me we just entered the ‘what the hell’ zone. And when I woke up this morning, I didn’t plan to play in Ghost in the Shell!

 

This robot can’t get away with it!

As my first job in this new agency, I have to escort a Prince as a mission.

I’m used to another kind of work, what a pain.

But that one pays well and I really need that money.

Thinking is not my forte but I’ll find a way to do it without messing up.

The names I go by are usually more scary sounding, like Vritra or Bashmu, or even the letter Schwa, but today it’s ARTEMIS.

A goddess of the hunt. Sounds fitting.

In this beginning of Fall, I put my leather outfit and my reinforced boots on and take my “bow” with me.

I follow the company’s instructions and arrive at the top floor of a prestigious hotel. The highest tower in the surroundings.

Unfortunately for them, with its mere 60 stairs, it’s not the highest tower in the city since that’s the Stargazer, twenty kilometers away but twice as long.

I’ve heard many things about this hotel, the Meritocratic, but I had never set foot inside before. That being said, I’ve set foot in many luxurious hotels for my jobs so I’m not really impressed by this one.

I thought the Meritocratic was paid by our agency to close their eyes on all our stuff, but two clerks at the reception ask me to leave my “bow” before going further.

This is ridiculous, I hate having others keep my stuff because I’m worried, they forget who has left it in their care and then someone else barges in and says that it’s their own very convincingly… And then they would give it to them and I would be fucked and this thought alone makes me want to cry.

But I follow the rules and leave it behind, not without showing them the scariest look I can before walking away.

I push the button for the elevator and finally get to the rendezvous point.

At the 60th floor, after a short corridor, there is only one entrance for the deluxe suite, and after knocking like I’ve been ordered to, I push the door and get inside the lobby.

Apparently, there are other people waiting there.

A muscle head and a head muscle? Both have short and straight blonde hair and they seem pretty friendly. It’s like they know each other, I can tell that because they’re murmuring into each other’s ear.

The guy is around 2 meters tall with 100 kg of muscles. Probably the kind of person who needs to get shot around 10 times in different places to get taken rid of. It’s almost like they have a “revive” skill in their character build.

The girl is the hot secretary know-it-all type with high heels and long glasses. A goody-two-shoes with pretty green eyes, who can probably name the 20 first decimals of pi backward in an instant if asked, and I wouldn’t be smart enough to tell if she said various random numbers with so much self-confidence that they can only be true.

They both wear formal looking suits as if they came for a job interview in a business agency but they most likely have Kevlar jackets hiding underneath.

I would like to make sure of it by feeling them with my hand but I realize that fondling someone else’s body without notice might seem extremely awkward.

I just noticed the back of an old man’s head floating above the comfy armchair, in the living room, facing the large window. The skyscraper’s height gives a great view of the city at night, and with the docks nearby, I can’t help but think it would be a great place to do my work.

Knock knock knock.

“OOF! I’m not too late, thank God!”

The last person who came in … looks outrageous!

What idea of fashion does this person have! She looks like she’s wearing everything she has found in a trash can.

Her oversized shirt is badly rolled up inside her skirt, and she definitely doesn’t know how to wear a tie, so why is she using one? And what’s that? Sports pants? Under her skirt? And running shoes?

That being said, her face is not too ugly, with her slightly curly and long black hair and her big glasses… She could look kind of cute after a relooking, and if she removed the baffled look in her eyes.

The ribbon on her hair and her earrings were the only ornaments that didn’t look totally out of place on her body, even though they actually ARE out of place for this kind of job, what the hell was she thinking?

“Your Highness, all your guests are here.”

The voice came from the unplugged phone on the low table, lying next to the armchair, on which the old man is dozing off maybe.

So, he finally stands up and approaches us with the help of a beautifully carved ivory cane.

He wears a very fashionable and expensive brown suit with waxed black shoes, and if I cross him in the streets, I would think he is some kind of super-skilled British secret agent, or a time traveler from a steampunk 19th century Victorian era, since he only misses the top hat, the eyeglass, and that fancy pocket watch with a chain.

“Four? So that’s the most they could send us? I know our budget is tight but still, they’re not taking us seriously…” he sighs. “Come into the living room and state your names!”

...



Now that hurts!

“What happened?” Asks a voice nobody but me can hear.

Shut up! Because of you, parasite, everybody here must have thought I’m an idiot or something!

“It’s Abhi, can you hear me?”

SHUT THE HELL UP!

At the other end of my earphone, a young boy’s voice is speaking non-stop, asking obvious questions and being an annoying brat since the reunion started!

Flashback:

“Good evening, Schwa, it’s Abhi, I just woke up.”

This kid is finally awake, but the reunion has started so I can’t answer that it’s already 9 p.m.

“I notice on the radar that you’re already at your job, should anything interesting happen, don’t forget to fill me in.”

“ARTEMIS and DIANA…”

“The top floor is guarded by 21 surveillance cameras, and the suite is a sort of high-tech fortress. It is the highest skyscraper around so you shouldn’t expect snipers or physical interventions. Look around you, is there a robot of any kind?”

“Yes…?” I notice the cleaning robot standing behind us and answer aloud by reflex.

Shit, what a mistake, I didn’t mean to speak now.

“If they’re going to attack tonight, it must be by hacking it. They might render the cameras useless and use the robot to engage hostilities. As long as there is only one, you don’t risk anything. I see on the heat signal that there are four more people around you, so maybe you should let them tank the aggro and watch from afar. By any means, don’t break it, we need the information it can give us, so if it can get immobilized, you should keep your rifle for—.”

Why does this brat need to speak so much! I missed half of the conversation now!

“Excuse me, your Highness? I did not follow the last minute, please could you say it again?”

There you go! With that he should understand that I can’t listen at the moment.

“Bitch.”

I smile.

End of the flashback!

This robot punched me in the back with the strength of a professional boxer!

Good thing I’m not the only injured one or I would feel like a clown, even though being as bad as that girl doesn’t sound glorious either…

“DARIUS, STOP!” ESMERALDA shouts.

SCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

That inhuman screech isn’t from the colossus but the robot. It makes my head hurt in addition to my back.

“If you break it too much, we won’t get the information! It’s definitely controlled by distance. That, or it has been pre-programmed before we came in.”

“The hardware is barely injured.”

“We’ll see, give me the time to plug my computer in.”

I can’t care less about the meaning of all that commotion, the only thing I can think of, is that this robot can’t get away with it!

And so, I stand up and give it my best kick on what looks to be its head, conveniently lying at the height of my foot. Not that I couldn’t do it if it wasn’t. My body is very flexible!

CRACK!

And now my leg hurts too!

But that wasn’t the sound of my bones.

“What the hell are you doing, you idiot!” says DARIUS who is holding down the body.

The robot’s head got smashed to pieces under my foot.

Unfortunately, that was the place where we’re supposed to plug the computer in…

“Don’t tell me you…”

I can hear this brat facepalm in my earphone, just by his bewildered tone.

ESMERALDA who was getting her laptop out of her bag took a few seconds to realize what had just happened.

“Hehehe…” I laugh awkwardly.

Now I’ve done it…

 

Ultimate weapon

“CRACK!”

I try to contain my laughter, as the most ridiculous turn of events unfolded before my eyes, but at the same time, I’m pleased with it.

This Boobies’s sheer wits make her rise up in my estimations, and the amount of satisfaction this robot’s destroyed face gives me is incommensurable.

“Ha haha hahahaha HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

I can’t contain it anymore.

As everyone’s confused and baffled gazes fall, in order, from the deceased robot, to Boobies, to me, I keep going:

“HAHAHA WOW!! What a move! I’m soooo impressed, for real! You didn’t leave it any chance! Hell, I wouldn’t have done it better! That kick was so cool, where did you learn to do that?! Here, high-five… OUCH! Wait, no high-five actually, my arm still hurts. How come this ambulant trash can hit so hard!”

“ARE YOU FOR REAL?!”

Now it’s ESMERALDA’s turn to shout.

“THIS IS NOT GOOD AT ALL! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO FIND TRACES OF THE HACKING NOW?!”

“Which of the two should I punch?” asks DARIUS with a terrifyingly serious tone.

“Uh, not me, I didn’t break it.”

Boobies on the contrary is not as cowardly as I am and took on a battle stance.

“I’ve done it, come at me Schwarzie! I’ll blow your head to pieces too.”

“Punch the two of them, they’re equally irritating.”

Stupid woman, I would be confident if I had a bodybuilder pet too.

“Don’t punch anyone.”

The geezer finally decided to open his mouth, and his tired look betray the fact he didn’t expect to monitor a kindergarten.

“The hardware is located in the body. As long as it’s undamaged, we can find the information.”

“I knew that!” puffs ARTEMIS.

I did not.

“It is true but you made it impossible to plug my laptop in, and we’ll have to entrust the robot to a hardware expert, and we’ll only find the answers we’re looking for in many days instead of minutes!” complains ESMERALDA.

“I know a trustworthy hardware expert.”

“Maybe you do but nobody trusts YOU.”

As they continue debating with each other, I can’t help but think about what our enemy’s purpose was. Why would they go all their way to hack a stupid cleaning robot which could do no harm? They most likely knew that we’re all here tonight.

What about … a decoy?

While everybody is here, occupied with the robot, they could definitely infiltrate the building, silently killing everyone like in cool spy movies, and if they hacked a robot, they can hack video surveillance cameras, right?

I know we’re not allowed to but I wish I could ask this Prince what he has done to make such dangerous enemies.

With all that in mind, I try to sneak out of the suite by the entrance hall.

“Where are you going?”

The Prince silently followed me.

“I- Uh, I’m just going to look around if there is no sign of threat! No running away, I swear.”

I really hope he’s not thinking I’m betraying them.

His cold stare almost makes me sweat and I have no idea what he could do if he happened to want me dead.

I can still hear the frenzied commotion in the living room and that just makes me want to leave as fast as possible.

“If they seem aggressive, beat them up first, if they are armed, destroy them.”

Destroy? Isn’t that too brutal? But that means I’m allowed to go.

I nod silently and see him walk back to the living room.

As I step in the corridor, I shiver at the thought that all the stairs below might be filled to the brim by armed professional killers. And as I silently close the suite’s main door, I can’t help but whisper a goodbye to maybe the last people I’ll ever see.

My last thought goes to that girl with a hot body who didn’t hesitate a second to blow the shit out of this stupid robot. It was a short meeting, but certainly amusing.

And my soft prayer is being answered by her inquiring voice that sneaked out from the closing door’s small and smaller interstice:

“Does anyone have a screwdriver?”

...



Slowly but surely, I sneak out of the corridor and head in the staircase.

I’m not dumb enough to take the elevator in this situation.

Without turning on the light, I count on my good ears and walk down the stairs, with one hand in contact with the wall, and the other holding my most important accessory.

Sixty floors to go.

Sixty floors where one or multiple people could be waiting for someone to walk past them.

When I reach one and see the plate number’s dim light, illuminating the staircase like big stars in the night sky, I think, “maybe the next one.”

With my eyes quickly adapting to the darkness, I control my breath and my steps in order to make as little sound as possible, and I try to hear anything unusual.

But after 30 floors have passed, nothing unusual happened.

Nor after 45.

Nor after 60.

Arriving at the first floor, I take a big breath and slightly open the door to the lobby.

Seeing that no one is there, I walk out the staircase, relieved.

The hotel’s bright lights hurt my eyes after staying such a long time in the dark. But considering I’ve almost been in semi-apnea for 20 minutes, breathing normally again re-

Uh… What the hell?

But the relief didn’t last.

At the reception, behind the desk.

Two people dressed as clerks. Armed.

One of them is checking on his small gun, while the other has a fucking assault rifle, and my eyesight is still too bad to tell what model they are.

I panic but they haven’t seen me yet. I look left and right and notice the emergency exit at the end of the corridor behind me.

On the sides, I notice more people who didn’t even take the time to change clothes. They are in armed force suits with Kevlar jackets and automatic weapons. Some of them even have shields, we can’t do shit against the FBI!

I run as fast as possible but a third guy dressed as a bartender circled me. He has a violin case and I’ve seen enough movies to know there is a gun inside!

“Hey! Are you okay?”

Shit, he’s noticed me and is going to call his friends, I have to get rid of him.

I get my ultimate weapon, a pocket knife, out of my trousers and unfold it in a hand movement.

Don’t laugh!

With my run’s momentum, I let myself slide and dribble on his legs, causing him to fall.

“HEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYY-”

Getting back on my feet, I plunge my knife in his throat before he gets the time to scream more than he has, and pull it out as fast.

Then, in a single movement, I rapidly squat and pierce his balls, his heart and his temple while standing back up. The same way I’ve been taught to. The weight of his body falling on my blade makes it effortless, the rest is a matter of speed.

No time to hide the corpse and wash my hands. I run out of this hell but by almost slipping on the blood that abundantly sunk on the floor, I recall my pain.

“OUCH, my arm! Fuck this shit I’m out. Good luck with the rest, fellows.”

As I leave the hotel, I hear a terrible detonation from the rooftop.

“Haha hahaha what the fuck.”

A dark cloud of smoke veils the skyscraper’s 60th floor, as the alarm rings.

A helicopter I had not even noticed before flies around the building with spotlights and gunfights start echoing in the night sky.

Running away from that place as fast as possible, I turn left and right irrationally through the empty alleys and the dark streets, even though there is nothing behind.

 

In the Prince’s honor

“Does anyone have a screwdriver?” I inquire.

This robot seems pretty well designed and I don’t think we can open it safely without the proper tools.

“You should be able to find the opening in its back.” Says Abhi.

I move it around while DARIUS and ESMERALDA are busy phone calling people on the balcony. ‘KC’ is written on its back under the nape, but I find the opening there as he said.

“There is one in that case.” Says the Prince by pointing a box on the table with his cane.

How convenient.

I open the case and find a bunch of useful tools, along a cross type screwdriver with the perfect size.

Is he a fan of construction? Isn’t he too old?

I open the robot effortlessly.

How practical it is that the perfect screwdriver to open this hotel’s cleaning robot is here.

Looking more closely, I notice the same ‘KC’ is engraved.

What is that old man hiding?

I take my smartphone out of my bra and type ‘KC robot’ on the search bar.

‘KC (company)

Kingdom’s Castle or KC is a technology company established in 1991. It designs and manufactures household appliances such as vacuum cleaners, air purifiers, hand dryers, bladeless fans, heaters, hair dryers, and robots. As of February 2018, KC had more than 12,000 employees worldwide.[7] In January 2019, it was announced that KC would move its headquarters to […]. As of today, KC’s CEO’s identity is still a mystery, but rumors […]’

It starts making sense.

“I’m going to use the bathroom.” I speak.

“You’ve barely started.”

The client who sat at the edge of his armchair, stares scarily in my eyes from the top of his cane. I can see my puzzled face’s reflection above his shoulder, in the large panorama window.

“Are you not going to let a woman use the bathroom?” I ask. “What if I mess up and further break it?”

He sighs and lays his back down in the armchair.

“Fine, but be quick.”

I head into the bathroom and start pouring the water to hide my voice from him.

“Schwa to Abhi.”

“5/5.”

“I need you to find who the client is by any means possible. I have a track: look up KC. The robot is a Kingdom’s Castle and the client’s code name is ‘His Highness the Prince.’” I speak in a single breath.

“I’m on it.”

My eagerness makes sense, this mysterious old man had all the tools necessary to open a very specific high-tech robot. Furthermore, he was facing us when it attacked our backs and thus should have seen it coming, but he didn’t say anything. What’s the meaning of this?

With all those questions in my head, I cut the water and put my hand on the door handle, while I hear the old man screaming from the living room.

“IT’S YOU!”

“SCHWA! VERY STRONG HEAT SIGNAL FROM THE ROBOT! GET OUT OF HERE ASAP!”

BOOM!



EPISODE 2: EMERALD



This company is my whole life.

I have spent so much time building it that I’ve neglected everything I loved.

My wife and my friends, but most importantly, my son. My ‘Prince,’ that’s how I called him.

“Daddy, if I’m the Prince, doesn’t that make you the King?” He once asked me with his beautiful smile.

When he was a kid, he used to come see me once a week in my office, and sit on my lap while quietly drawing while I was working.

“No, I’m nothing like that.” I answered. “You see the Kingdom is the family and the Castle is the home. This is why I named this home furniture company the Kingdom’s Castle.”

That was probably the most developed interaction I had with him.

At that time, I naively thought he was such a mature kid that he could understand everything.

And so, the minute he left, I pinned his art on the wall.

It was a lively piece of a medieval castle surrounded by water, with the sun shining on the king, the queen, and the prince who were happily smiling to each other.

The next morning, the king and the queen divorced.

But I kept calling him the Prince, the short times we met.

I think that’s when he started hating me.

He lived with me every other week, in my gigantic empty house, surrounded by three robots, who did my work better than I.

One night, to give me a message, he broke all the three of them while I was away, as most of the time.

The next morning, I replaced them with three others.

And when he reached 16, he left and never came back.

I barely had the free time to take some news, and I was afraid to do so, thus the years went by without hearing from each other.

Until one day when he reached 25, he came to my office.

“Hey, mh what’s up?” He asked awkwardly.

“Hi… Nothing as you can see.”

“Indeed, nothing has changed here in 10 years, except the facade’s paint…”

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

“NO- Uh, I mean, yes maybe. I’m going to get married, so I think you’d need to know that. That’s why I came.”

“Oh. That’s great news. What’s her name?”

“Mn, she’s an old friend from my art school. Her name is the Spanish for emerald.” He showed me a picture of them on his phone.

“She indeed has gemlike green eyes… I’m happy for you two.”

“Also, this is our new address. I’ll keep you up with the dates and everything.”

And thus, he left. I’m genuinely happy for them, and so the next morning, I sent to their home, our trendiest robot model.

But that robot had been hacked by malicious individuals, maybe our concurrency, and even though I did my best to stay anonymous and keep my family safe from these kinds of threats; today they found me.

The robot went on a rampage and killed the Prince before self-destructing.

And then starting a few months later, I received death threats almost every week for three years until one week ago, they offered me a rendezvous in this hotel.

Since I was curious to know who exactly could go that far, and with a slight desire of revenge, I contacted this underground bodyguard company.

In his honor, my code name is the Prince.

I’ve put a bomb in this hotel’s robot and the moment our aggressor reveals himself, I will be the one who presses the detonator.

...

But it’s a contemptuous voice that wakes me up from my daydream.

“We’re finally alone, old man.”

The blonde woman and her giant friend have taken the opportunity that DIANA went downstairs and ARTEMIS is in the bathroom, to move from the balcony and sit down on the couch in front of me.

“What are you waiting for? The robot won’t open itself.” I say nonchalantly.

“Oh, I couldn’t care less about that robot. You still haven’t got any idea of who I am?” She removes her glasses revealing beautiful gemlike green eyes.

I should have seen this coming.

Instantly recognizing her, I stand up furiously and point at her face with my cane.

“IT’S YOU!”

“Yes, it’s me, ESMERALDA, the emerald!” she smiles. “I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to finally have you in front of me, and I’m going to make you pay for-.”

This witch approached my son in order to kill him! And now she plans to kill me too! I’m gonna take her to the grave!

Without hesitating a second, I press the detonator hiding at the top of my cane.

The robot which is lying a few meters in front of us is going to blow me as well, but it doesn’t matter.

Biiiiiiiip.

“-Crimes… What?” She stands up.

The exposed robot’s temperature exponentially rises in a second and with a terrifying abyssal detonation, outbursts in a scorching razor-sharp plastic rain.

“Hasta la vista!” I say proudly as I get propelled on the armchair. Hiding my head inside my arms, I realize maybe it was not the best moment to flex my Spanish.

“DUCK!”

It was ARTEMIS’s voice. Crap, this idiot is gonna make it fail.

“DARIUS!” ESMERALDA shouts in the same instant, but that monster throws her behind the sofa, where she would be protected, while he takes the deflagration full force.

 

Siblings

“DARIUS! DARIUS! ARE YOU OKAY?!”

The explosion was so strong it blew the window away.

A cloud of dust gets in front of my eyesight and I have no way to tell if the Prince is still alive or not.

Every single cell of my body and the boy in my earphone are shouting at me to leave, but…

I REALLY NEED THAT MONEY!

And thus, I rush in like a madwoman.

“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED, SCHWA?!”

“ABHI, LOCATE THE CLIENT FOR ME, I CAN’T SEE SHIT!”

“He hasn’t moved from his chair. Five meters from you. 1 o’clock.”

I run full speed toward the sofa until it hits me in the abs which makes me lose my breath and roll above it with the velocity.

“SCRMBLGSTKKKKKKKKK”

“A-are you okay?”

HE DIDN’T TELL ME THERE WERE OBSTACLES!!

“DARIUS! DARIUS!”

SHUT THE FUCK UP STUPID WOMAN! HE’S DEAD OKAY!

I get back on my feet and bell to the armchair.

“Hey, are you okay?” I ask the Prince.

I get close enough to see his face and put my hand under his nose to feel his breath.

He’s still alive, but he has fainted from the looks of it, and bits of burnt plastic pierced his flesh. The biggest one, the size of a hand, got deep into his left shoulder.

I grab his other arm and put it on my shoulders, then carry his legs and run for it.

“SCRMBLLLL I CAN’T BREATHE!”

I rush toward the exit until my rush gets interrupted by the blinding spotlight of a helicopter.

What the hell is it now?!

“I’m afraid you have a new obstacle.”

A fucking helicopter!!!

“ABHI, YOU FUCKING BRAT, HOW COME YOU DIDN’T TELL ME THERE WAS A HELICOPTER?!”

“I’m not omniscient, you know!”

“LOOK AT YOUR FUCKING MONITOR!”

The sound of a machine gun’s engine is followed by a bullet rain that barely grazes my super-thin body, thank you my diet!

I reach the front door and kick it open.

“AAAAAAAA MY FOOT!!”

The pain and panic make me lose all kinds of consideration for the old man’s body and I throw it out in the corridor before graciously rolling between the ammos and closing the door to the sound of hissing bullets.

I pray for the fog created by the miraculous explosion that saved my dear client and myself from the helicopter’s certain death. I also give a prayer to the annoying Chad and Stacy couple who are most likely dead now. You were exasperating but I didn’t hate you…

“Abhi, we need to do first aid on that old man quickly.”

“Get here with him as fast as possible. I’m preparing the equipment. I’ll tell you everything I found about that man too.”

Aren’t I forgetting somebody...?

OH YES THAT GIRL! WHERE IS SHE?!

X​

Panting, I lay my back to the wall and let myself fall down on my butt.

“I messed up so hard it’s actually hilarious,” I contemplate.

I planned to stay there a bit longer and then head home, but my phone starts suddenly ringing.

I slowly get it out of my pants since I already know who’s calling.

Indeed, the name written on the screen makes me shiver but I have to answer.

“Uh, hello?”

“Yo bitch, what the fuck? Why did you leave your work?!”

“Are you spying on me?”

“Bet I am, and for good reasons! I can’t believe you left when all the fun started!”

“I’m not a warmonger like you, have you seen the helicopter?”

“What are you, a baby? It’s just one helicopter.”

I have no clue what this person expects normal human beings to do against helicopters.

“What about your partners?”

“They’re not babies so they can probably take care of one helicopter.”

“Hey listen, I’m not gonna play games with you, if you get home without our pay, I’ll beat the shit out of you and the police will find your body in the river, clear?”

How am I supposed to respond to such threat? The scariest thing is that she can do it.

“IS THAT CLEAR?”

“I guess so…”

“Good! I really hope for you they’re not all dead or you’ll have to find yourself a new home.”

BIP.

“Nyanyanya you’ll have to find yourself a new home~”

Fucking bitch, why are you spying on me instead of doing your own jobs?! This is why we’re still indebted!!

I can’t believe my super dramatic introduction in the first chapter was all for nuts.

No way I’m running back there, though, if I do it, I’ll need to find a vehicle.

A motorcycle is conveniently lying down with me in this dead end.

“Thank you for this present, my good fortune.”

It’s time to make use of my burglar skills.

X​

I carry the Prince to the elevator and press the button for the first floor.

I’m not dumb enough to take the stairs in this situation.

The sound of the helicopter starts slowly fading as I get away from that hellish suite.

This man is heavier than he looks, and his body is scorching hot!

Looking at his pale face, he doesn’t have the dignified air he showed a few hours ago anymore.

He’s sweating abundantly and has some difficulties breathing.

I hope we can save him in time…

I really need that money after all.

“Abhi, find me a vehicle I can use near the hotel.”

“On it.”

It’s a matter of minutes.

I finally get to the first floor and run to the reception, then lay the Prince on one of the sofas.

The hotel is in full motion since the explosion happened and I can hear the firefighters and police’s sirens from afar.

I need to get out before they arrive.

“Hey you, my ‘bow.’”

“Y-yes ma’am, there you go.”

The clerk on the right hands me back my beloved Gandiva in beautiful shape, and I have to focus not to make tears of joy.

Oh dear, I’ll never leave you again.

“Hey, give me the other guys’ weapons too, they won’t need them anymore.”

“W-we can’t do that.” They say while making big hand movements.

I point Gandiva at them.

“I can tell that you touched it. My Gandiva is like a third hand for me, and I vowed to shoot between the eyes of anyone who put their dirty fingers on it without my consent, but I can be merciful if you do what I say. Give me their weapons, now.”

They hand me a beretta APX and some ammo in a brown leather pocket. How old school.

Is that it? They must have fooled these idiots, saying they only have that and kept their main weapons with them.

They were smarter than me, too bad they died first.

“That will do.” I say while wearing my Gandiva as a strap.

The feeling of its touch in my back soothes my mind, as I pull the beretta’s trigger between the eyes of the closest guy.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” shouts the other one, his colleague’s blood painting his face.

“I can tell you’ve touched that one too, and I forgave you for my Gandiva, but I cannot let you live after putting your dirty hands on a partner’s tools.” I answer calmly while pointing the beretta on his forehead.

“In their loving memory.”

BAM!

The truth is that I killed them because they have seen my face and the police is coming. That excuse was cool though, I like to seem like a caring person.

Rushing toward the exit with the old man in my arms, the sound of a motorized engine blocks my run.

A motorcycle blows up the glass-door entrance and drifts in the lobby like in action movies.

“Ha, like in Akira!” shouts the idiot I was thinking about earlier.

What the hell is an Akira?!

“I found you a vehicle, Schwa.”

Okay, I admit that was pretty cool, but…

“WE CAN’T GET ON A MOTORCYCLE WITH THREE PEOPLE!”

X​

“STOP SHOOTING, YOU IDIOTS!”

The cloud of dust finally lifts, revealing a sacked hotel suite.

The blinding spotlight and the deafening sound of the helicopter, mixed with the raw emotions make me want to vomit/

I’m sitting down on the carpet behind the blown-up sofa, and holding DARIUS’s hand.

“Hey miss, what’s up? Did we get them?”

“YOU DIDN’T GET SHIT! COME HELP ME CARRY DARIUS OUT!”

“Eh, who?”

The big guy who jumped in the hotel room is the man I paid as an escape plan. His services were pretty cheap so I’m surprised he has partners and a helicopter with him.

He’s holding a small shotgun with an arm and a cigarette with the other. As if there wasn’t already enough smoke in this place.

“So, where’s the old man?”

“I don’t care. How did you get this helicopter? If I knew you had one, I would have made another plan. Help me carry him, I need to do first aid in a safe place.”

“There is no room for him on board.”

I take my gun out and point at him.

“Make some.”

“Eh, little girl, don’t tell me you think you can threaten me with this tiny gun. You were all this evening with an old man and couldn’t even shoot him dead and you think you’re scaring me?”

“That was not its purpose. Make some room for him, I’ll pay one million.”

“He’s fat, so two million. Shit is heavy.”

I put my gun down and nod.

The guy throws his cigarette next to me and grabs DARIUS’s arm; which he puts effortlessly on his shoulders and walks toward the helicopter waiting behind the blown-up window.

“You’d better come too or we’ll leave you behind.” He says without looking back.

I hate this kind of greedy person but I recognize that without his help, I wouldn’t have been able to save this other important person.

“Why are you going to pay that much for him? Your boyfriend?”

I smile and jump on the flying machine.

“My brother.”

 

The birth of an urban legend

Boobies is staring at me, dumbfounded, with the unconscious old man in her arms.

My epic drift made big tire tracks on the before spotless lobby, and the receptionists seem to have died of heart attacks or are hiding behind their desks maybe.

“Oh, fancy meeting you here.” I say.

I’m not even faking my surprise since from all the people in that hotel room, I expected her to be still alive the least, which is probably mutual.

“Is the old man still breathing? Dashing! Also, hell yeah, we can get on it with three peps, have you never seen those guys in India? They get on with five or six sometimes. Though I’ve never done it before, doesn’t that sound like a funny experience? Hm just a second, let me check something really quick.”

I drive slowly in the lobby, under that girl’s bewildered gaze, until I can clearly see that corridor with the emergency exit at the extremity I took earlier.

Yes… He’s still here…

“Hm listen, it’s not like I committed a crime here or anything but I’d really appreciate it if we could get moving now, especially since the sound of sirens gets closer and closer every minute.”

I can see behind the reception’s desk from my new angle…

“Hey, oh, that wasn’t me-”

“BE QUIET, I’M THINKING!” she finally yells.

“Okay but no need to show off.”

“Abhi, I’ll give her the address- No, don’t worry, it’s not as risky as it sounds like, she’s basically inoffensive. Yes, I know, do you have any better solution? I’ll find a way to come later, the client’s safety is our biggest priority. No, I can’t just kick her out, you know I can’t drive a motorcycle. No, it’s not just a matter of discipline, can you stop speaking for a minute?!”

Damn that sounds complicated in her head… Is that personality disorder?

“Shut up! It was MY hideout and MINE alone before. Remember our deal? I’m still the one giving orders here! The idiot will come with the client so you save him and if anything happens, I’ll take full responsibility, as always. Hey, you shrimp!”

“Yo, what? Be nice to me, I came all the way back to help you.”

“It is your job too! SHUT UP ABHI OR I CUT OUR CALL!”

“Yeah, and? That’s not a reason for being disrespectful, I’ll have you know that-”

“We have no time, please shut up and take the Prince with you! Get him to this address with your motorcycle. There’s my associate waiting for you. He knows exactly what to do when you come so, please, just be quick and when you’re there, wait quietly for me to come back. Don’t talk to him when he’s working and just DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING AT ALL. Actually, it would be best if you could GO AWAY when you’ve safely delivered him. Go eat at a restaurant or go back to your home I don’t know, but please-.”

“You speak too much, Sis. I’ll handle my mission with care and finesse, don’t worry about it. But I have no money for the restaurant, and going back home is a no-go so I’ll just hang around.” I say while taking the old man and having him sit in front of me.

Easier said than done, it is pretty hard to see the road since he’s taller than me…

“A-are you really going to be okay?” she asks in panic, while the sound of sirens got so close, they’re ringing right outside the hotel.

“Guess it’s time for the grand escape!”

I turn the accelerator a few times in the air before rushing out like in cool movies.

A few firefighter trucks are just setting up their things while I blow my way out in the same explosive way I got in.

In a sparkling cloud of broken glass, I klaxon so they make room for me.

The sirens are blowing loudly in my ears and panic rises quickly in front of me.

While the trucks try to block my way, I ride in a vehicle corridor they have left empty on the side. Empty of obstacles but not empty of humans, who run, jump and roll away to avoid the crazy race.

“If only you were a few centimeters shorter, old man… You’re making your own saving difficult.”

I finally find a way to look at the road by moving his body’s weight a bit and putting his right arm above my shoulders, so my head can fit in.

We look extremely ridiculous, I hope I’ll meet no police control tonight. We aren’t even wearing helmets.

Riding full speed on the highway, I slalom between the cars’ lights and disappear toward the hideout.

That being said, if anyone we crossed paid close attention to us, they probably witnessed the birth of a new urban legend.

X​

“You’re going to regret that.”

“Maybe.”

As I watch her disappear in a thunderous light and sound show, I remember the police is coming so I need to fuck off too.

Finally free from the old man’s burden, I run swiftly in the corridors to find the emergency exit.

What the…

There’s a dude’s butchered body lying in front of it.

My curiosity gets the better of me and I stop to look at it.

They didn’t leave him any chance… Ew the balls too, such a savage way to kill.

Four hits: Throat, testicles, heart, temple. Masterful precision and speed. He died in seconds.

His body is still warm and it hasn’t lost its colors, so he must have died not too long ago. But who could have done that?

The image of that girl who disappeared before the explosion and miraculously came back last minute to take the client away flashes in my mind.

No way…

What if I totally misinterpreted her? This knife ability isn’t the one of someone inoffensive.

Fuck! I’m so stupid!

If she baited us into thinking she was an idiot but actually has set up the bomb in that hotel room before leaving and counted on a skilled bodyguard from the agency to save the client in extremis, then she would have a dying old man worth millions between her hands, and I just fell into her trap!

“What’s taking you so long to leave?”

“Abhi, you might be right, I made a huge mistake.”

“Eh, called it.”

“Don’t expect anyone to come tonight, this mission is a failure. She’s probably taking him to her own hideout right now and will dispose of him in the next hours.”

“I suppose that things like that happen, don’t be too harsh on yourself. There will be other missions. Head home promptly, though, if you take more time, you will truly be in trouble and there will be no next time. Your next vehicle is waiting for you at that point.”

I take a deep breath and get moving.

Indeed, I see outside a bunch of armed forces’ professionals with helmets and shields. They probably called the anti-terror brigades.

But they are badly covering the perimeter and I avoid them without panicking even though they see me and start yelling in my direction.

“Thanks for the support, Abhi. I’m heading home.”

A few meters away from the tower, lay the decks I saw from the top.

I jump with all my convictions onto a motorboat waiting for me and start the engine, my vehicle of predilection.

The whole city is built around a river and scattered with multiple canals that I have a perfect mental map of.

“No worries, Schwa, I prepared cocoa milk for you.”

I smile and push the accelerator.

With the foam sparkling around my way like a thousand stars, I shine elegantly above the shore, proud as the moon.

“So why didn’t we use this way to carry the Prince?”

…

“Abhi...?”

…

“Well, fuck it.”

The brat probably went to play video games.

The thought of cocoa milk made me lose all worry.

 

The Batcave

I really love coffee.

Honestly, I’m probably addicted to it. I can’t have a single day without drinking an entire mug of it, or I would get terrible headaches. So, since I woke up a few hours ago, I’m still having my first coffee of the day.

But there is nothing better for me than the soft bitterness of a good coffee, so I don’t take people seriously when they say they like coffee and then pour sugar or milk until it loses all its flavors in exchange for a terribly pasty and thirsty aftertaste.

They don’t like coffee, they only drink it as a caffeine syrup with as much rejection as they would with medication.

I like honest people who say they’d rather drink something else better. I have nothing against tea or milk, I actually like them too, and couldn’t care less about the stupid warm drink wars or whatever British people like to have ridiculous debates on.

I hate Brits too, but that’s common sense.

They ruined my homeland and killed people I love.

Oh, don’t worry, I’m not racist since I hate everyone else anyway.

In fact, I even hate my homeland’s people for being massive idiots.

But that’s not relevant for now and I silently sip my coffee while watching the latest episode of a popular anime that is currently airing on my computer.

It’s not very interesting, so I keep myself busy by playing games on my phone and regularly checking the red blinking dot on the top left screen.

The multiple screen’s artificial lights reflect in my big glasses, as I’m comfortably sitting, legs crossed on the desk’s chair with a blanket on my shoulders and nobody would guess I was restlessly working a few minutes ago.

Not a sound gets out from my perfectly isolated headphones and if I wasn’t living with the wildest lunatic, our neighbors may think this place is uninhabited.

How boring. These soulless, mass-produced, garbage are all the same with no exception. Good anime is rare nowadays…

I get sick of this one so I close the player and delete the episode before declaring it as ‘dropped’ on my list. I give it a 5/10 rating because it wasn’t horribly bad, but it still wasn’t worth my time. And then I proceed to watch the next one.

Ah. This one seems fun.

It actually begins really well, what the hell… It’s been a while since I didn’t feel enthusiastic about a new anime.

The music is great, it’s from one of my favorite composers, and the directing is also very nice!

It’s only the first episode and the plot and characters are already well developed! And this twist in the middle actually draws a smile on my face and makes me feel some kind of excitement!

“This time, I’ll make sure he didn’t -DING DONG- nothing.”

What?

Who the hell is ringing at our door at this hour? Because of this crap I missed some big impact on the episode’s climax!

Schwa would never forget or lose her keys… Maybe…?

I frustratedly pause the anime a few minutes before the ending and walk to the front door.

DING DONG!

I step on the stool behind the door and look in the peephole…



EPISODE 3: HIDEOUT



“Hello! Is anybody there?!”

I’m about to ring the doorbell a third time before it unlocks.

It took me roughly one hour to get to the first floor of this apartment, in the outskirts of the town.

“Ah finally, I feared I got the wrong address!”

I say while pushing the door with my feet, since my arms are busy holding the old man’s legs who I’m carrying on a piggyback.

“A boy…”

I get inside the pitch-black flat and a dark skin white-haired boy in pajamas is looking at me with his shining blue eyes.

“So what? Follow me to the basement.” He says while his small legs run quickly deeper in the darkness.

“SO CUTE!” I shout.

He’s so cute with his big glasses and headphones, and his pajamas and the sassy tone of his voice!

He’s so cute he actually makes me smile and blush and I have the sudden desire to hold him tight and carry him around.

So, I run after him.

“YOU’RE SO CUTE! WHAT’S YOUR NAME?!”

“Be quiet! Gosh, you’re as loud as the other one. And don’t run, you’re going to hurt the injured. But don’t walk slowly either, we don’t have much time, so come swiftly to the basement now!”

He’s so serious… That’s so cute!

“Uhuhu, don’t worry sweet little boy, my back is as comfortable as the gods’ sofas in Olympus!”

“Don’t call me that my name is Abhi.”

“Oh, that’s a cute name, where is it from?”

“Shut up.”

He might not realize but I don’t plan to shut up.

“How do you and Boobies know each other? Family? Are you brother and sister? Why is your hair white? Are you an albino? Are you her associate? Is it you who can save the old man? Where did you learn medicine? Aren’t you too young?”

“Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. No. Yes. Yes. Shut up. NO!”

“Hehe, you’re even cuter when you’re angry.”

After the lobby, I follow him in a mundane looking living room with an opened kitchen on the left. We quickly get through it, then he opens the door to a workshop illuminated by the screens of TVs and computers.

“Oh, is that the new anime… ‘Mecha Dinosaur Impact?’ Wow you’re watching it too? It’s so cool, I love it so far, it’s so unlike every other anime airing currently! I liked it when the MC said, ‘This time, I’ll make sure he didn’t die for nothing!’ about his best friend, but don’t worry, I’ve actually read the manga and he-”

“DON’T SPOIL ME YOU SUBHUMAN!” He shouts.

“Eh, no need to cry, I was not about to spoil anything relevant.”

“I am not crying! Come here.”

The next door he opens heads to descending wooden stairs and I have some trouble keeping my balance while stepping on it with the tall old man on my back.

“This feels like a superhero’s hideout. Are we going to the Batcave?”

“No.”

Indeed, it was not a Batcave. But close enough.

After a laundry room, a reinforced door is hiding behind a curtain of drying clothes.

Clever security, nobody would expect something to be hidden behind the D cup bras and pink panties. Everybody would stop at those thinking THAT was the thing to hide! Then they would probably steal and sell them to perverts on the black net.

The reinforced door is also secured by an 8-digit code and handprints but I think they could have stopped at the panties.

“What the hell…?”

My excitement reaches the stratosphere when I realize I’ve just stepped inside the Alibaba cavern. From the multiple weapons hanging on the walls, the boxes filled with different types of ammunition, the decapitated training mannequin riddled with bullets, to the spotless surgery table with professional lamps and equipment lying in the middle of the basement, everything here was measured to be the perfect hideout for people like us.

A 50 meters wide, 2 meters high haven illuminated by a row of neon on the ceiling and with different rooms I can’t explore yet.

The boy didn’t wait for me to analyze everything and put an oversized white blouse on.

“What are you waiting for? Lay him there.” He says while cutting the air with scissors and juggling with a scalpel.

For a moment I find him quite cool so I hold back my urge to rush and carry him, but with his oversized blouse and serious gaze, he must currently be the cutest boy on Earth.

 

The mysterious power of cocoa milk

I can’t enter.

This brat Abhi cut our communications to watch his cartoons or play video games, and now I can’t get home from the secret passage.

If he doesn’t open me up, the cocoa milk will get cold!

With the motorboat, I normally can get inside an infamous giant pipe in the suburbs that leads to the sewers. From there I can navigate myself toward our apartment, and only a reinforced door blocks the way to our basement.

Unfortunately, the door can only be opened from an inside mechanism, so I’m currently stuck outside and my associate doesn’t pick up my call despite the many times I ring.

The ladder to get to the surface is nearby, but I don’t want any neighbor to see me in my working clothes.

It’s not even a question of fashion, this hideout is really neat so I don’t want to move away again because of some suspicions.

But I can’t stay down there any longer, the smell is unbearable and watching this closed door is too frustrating.

So, I go up the ladder and pray that the late hour will play in my favor and no one sees me.

I get out of the manhole cover that leads to the yard in front of our building. I look left and right and head swiftly into the apartment.

Thinking back, today’s work didn’t last long, only a few hours, yet so many things happened… I’m physically and mentally exhausted.

I try not to think about it but the mission is a failure and I almost died. I knew being a bodyguard wasn’t something for me. I should go back to my old job.

“Ah… I need a shower… And my coco-”

“Ah, good evening…”

Holy fuck he startled me! It’s the old neighbor from above… AND HE SAW ME!

“Oh, haha, hello there… What brings you in front of our door at this late hour?”

I’m actually this close to murder him and hide his body in the sewers.

“Hm, you see, my wife and I have nothing against you inviting some friends, but we were wondering if you could ask them to make a bit less of a ruckus. We can hear them from everywhere in the building and I had to pause my favorite show to warn you. I might get blind but I’m not deaf yet!”

What the hell is this geezer talking about?! He’s probably senile, I don’t have to take him seriously. I’m confident that no one can get inside without my notice, so it must be Abhi who forgot to switch his headphones on while watching movies or something.

“We’re really sorry about the noise.” I say, smiling. “I’m going to tell my friends to stop.”

Whose friends? Abhi doesn’t have friends, even though I would really like it if he could make friends his age and invite them home. But not tonight, I’m exhausted.

“Good, thank you. Please be careful next time.” He says while pushing the button for the elevator.

“Naturally, you won’t have to worry again.”

Because next time you come, I blow your head up, burn all your hair and your fingerprints, give your genitals to a tiger in the zoo and sell your organs and teeth on the dark web.

I won’t let anyone ruin this perfect hideout!

I wait until he gets inside the elevator and starts moving upward before entering our flat.

The lights are off but that doesn’t mean nobody is there. Abhi dislikes illuminated places so it’s been a habit to live with as few lights as possible. It’s also more discreet.

I find my cocoa milk patiently waiting in a softly warmed pot.

I gently mix it with a wooden spoon until it gets homogeneous and then pour it in a mug.

I carry it to my lips and… It’s delicious.

The preparation is exactly as I taught him, from the quantities to the slow heating technique. He has been a diligent boy, I should buy him some cakes tomorrow…

I take the mug with me and head into the computer’s room to thank him but I find it empty.

Weird, I would have bet he is there.

What the…

My heart twinges. I walked on some mud, and looking back, there are some weird traces on the floor all the way from the entrance.

Is there someone else here? No way, Abhi…

I rush to the basement and grab my bras and panties in my hurry to open the gate.

I precipitately bite my right glove off, press my fingerprints and type the secret code on the pad before the lock lifts with a click.

So, I finally open it with my heart running at 200 bpm…

“Hehehe, so what do you think of this one? No, that one! What do you think of that one?”

The scene that is unfolding before me is beyond comprehension.

Abhi is abundantly sweating over the table of operations, trying his best to save the old man’s life by extracting every single piece of melted plastic out of his body and stitching the open wounds on his own. He’s switching between tweezers, needles and scissors with his usual dexterity, but I feel from his facial expression that he’s close to his limits and is about to lose all forms of sanity.

The cause of this is that imbecile of a girl who ended up coming here anyway and has been doing some kind of stupid defile with all the different wigs and hats that I’m keeping here as disguises for my missions.

“D-do something… Schwa…”

So, she was not a traitor after all, but as a spectator of this disaster I almost wish she was.

X​

“Mwahaha, so do I look good? Oh, hey it’s Boobies, you took your sweet time! Such a cool place you have there, I’m in awe! Where did you find such fancy hats?! I look like a cute anime girl, and is that a scimitar? Oh, why are you holding your underwear like that? Don’t worry I didn’t touch them-”

She grabs my left hand with her own and wrenches my shoulder before I have time to react.

Twisting my arm with such speed and strength, I lose my balance, she only needs to give a small impulsion on my shin bones with her right foot for me to trip and fall on my knees. In the same movement she swept my legs with, she lifts hers all the way above my head, tracing an impeccable semicircle in the air, then drops it on my nape and slowly squeezes with the sheer strength of her calf muscles until I can barely breathe.

Keeping her upper body straight on a single leg like a professional ice skater even after doing such broad movements and despite my escape attempts, she makes a beautiful effortless neck lock, using her remaining arm as a counterweight.

With my arm and neck stuck in her grip, I am perfectly subjugated without any counterplay possible.

“I-I always wanted to learn to do that…” I say with difficulties.

“You fucking moron, drop the Talwar, it’s not a toy for the likes of you.”

If the thing she’s talking about is that saber, I obey and drop it on the ground.

She proceeds to take the wig and hat off my head with her right hand and throws them away.

“Do you remember what I said when we left each other?”

“If I’m going to be okay? Well, I’m fine as you can see so if you could-”

“BEFORE!” She says as her leg squeezes harder on my neck.

“G-g-g-g-go eat in a restaurant! But I told you I don’t have money so-”

“DON’T. TOUCH. ANYTHING.”

“Ouch ouch ouch!” It gets really painful so I try to stop her leg with my remaining hand but her grip is too strong.

“DON’T. SPEAK. TO. MY. PARTNER. WHILE. HE. WORKS.”

I start tapping on her leg like a martial artist saying they surrender.

“AND. GO. AWAY.”

She stops her grip and pulls me up on my feet, which gives me room to breathe only to kick me out of the Batcave that locks itself behind me.

“Scary…” I murmur while massaging my neck.

Well, I’ll just find something to keep myself busy upstairs.

I would have liked to watch anime on Abhi’s stuff but I would pierce the ocular globes of anyone who touched my knife without my permission so I’m empathic enough not to do that with others.

I sit in the living room and notice a warm mug of cocoa milk on the table that reminds me of my own thirst and hunger after tonight’s emotions.

“A sip won’t kill…”

What a divine taste… How do they make that? What brand of cocoa is it?

The milk is soft and creamy like having a cloud in your mouth and the chocolate doesn’t give any bitter aftertaste.

The sweetness perfectly satiates my palate and a bunch of unwelcome memories come bursting out in my head.

It’s been years since I haven’t tasted something like that.

It’s like…

A mother’s embrace…

Lying further on the sofa, I close my eyes.

With tears uncontrollably rolling on my cheeks, I fall into a deep melancholic slumber.

X​

In the dark, highly secured basement, except for occasional words, only the regular sound of heavy inhalations and exhalations can be heard.

The agitation caused by the troublemaker is long gone and the blinding neon got shut down to let the spotlights hanging above the operation table do their work.

With sweat abundantly flowing from our scorching foreheads, we must admit saving our client is revealing itself to be one of the most challenging surgical experiences we’re going through.

We’re standing face to face at the edge of the table, and since we can’t afford vital signs monitors, I’m assisting Abhi by checking the patient’s heart with a stethoscope regularly. I’m keeping a defibrillator nearby in case of necessity.

After five hours that seemed like an eternity, we’re finally taking out the last bit of plastic out of the old man’s leg.

“Tweezers.”

I hand him the tweezers I was holding and he gives me scissors in exchange.

His voice is steady but painful. He grabs the last piece of plastic with dexterity and by moving the skin apart with his left hand, he removes it from the muscle successfully.

I grab the basket I’m keeping near my foot and stretch it to Abhi so he can throw the bloody foreign body inside along all its comrades.

He proceeds to throw the tweezers above his shoulder, most likely because he’s sick of this and is glad it’s almost over.

Taking the needle and string from his blouse’s pocket, he skillfully stitches the last open wound as I fall to the ground from exhaustion.

“Schwa…”

“I can’t keep my eyes open.” I give as an excuse.

The ice cold of the basement’s floor helps me cool my overheated body and I truly feel like I’m about to fall asleep.

“I need the scissors.” He finally says.

So, I throw them in the air.

“Hey-”

He doesn’t even have the strength to yell at me.

So, the scissors flip in the air before getting caught in extremis from the handle nearly hitting the patient.

“We almost did all that for nothing.” He sighs.

“I trust your superhuman reflexes.”

I laugh with my eyes closed and the last scissors cut clang is followed by a thud.

He probably decided to sleep on the ground too…

“We should install a bed here… For the next time…” He murmurs.

“A sofa would be more useful…”

“But we already have one upstairs.”

“We also have beds upstairs, you know?”

“You’re right… We should install a TV too…”

“You’re kidding? We need a vitals monitor, I got sick of checking his heart every minute. We should also buy oxygen masks and the equipment to make intravenous infusions. And blood, we ran out of donor blood.”

“Are we turning into a clinic?”

“Maybe we should, we would actually make money!”

Loud easygoing laughter is followed by a peaceful silence.

In our incapacity to resist our strain any longer, we quietly fall asleep.

 

The Queen of the Hunt’s Tribute

“Hey, are you sleeping?”

This familiar deep voice wakes me up from my nap.

Bathing in the sunlight, my golden hair softly sweeps along the gentle wind as I slowly open my eyes.

I was reading on a bench in the park lying close to my university before falling asleep.

“You’re going to get an insolation.”

The blonde man who is leaning in front of me is my younger brother. With his 194 centimeters and 95 kg of muscles, he might seem like a brute, but he’s actually kind and smart.

“Is your class over?” I ask him, yawning.

“Yes, it is, I need to head home to work on my assignments. Wanna come?”

I stand up without answering and begin to walk with him.

“What’s the topic?” I ask.

“Persia.”

“Again?”

“It’s my favorite.” He claims, smiling.

“So, you can choose your assignments?”

“To some extent.”

We chat casually like we used to for half an hour while walking under the setting spring sun.

But I know this might be the last time we share this walk, and I try to find a way to tell him.

My brother who has noticed my disarray guessed what was the cause and when we reach the house, he finally asks me:

“So, when are you moving in with your fiancé?”

“Tonight…” I awkwardly announce, blushing.

“Tonight?!”

“Sorry, I couldn’t tell you but I’m not going home, I was just walking with you.”

“Oh, I see. Is it solved? You know… With his father?”

“Yeah, he found the strength to tell him a few days ago…”

We silently stare at each other until I burst into tears and hug his big body with all my strength.

“Oooh why all that? It’s not like we’ll never see each other again.”

“Thank you… I’m so relieved… We can live together… If his father… Refused that to us… I would kill him… I’m so happy… Yet, I can’t stop… I’m going to miss you… I love you…” I articulate between my loud sobs.

“There, there.” He says while cuddling my head stuck in his embrace. “You really love him, right?”

“Yes!”

“So, everything is going to be alright, I’ll come see you once in a while and you can come see me too.”

“I will!”

“And if that old fart decides to put himself in front of my dearest sister’s happiness, I would be the one to kill him.”

“Really?”

“Of course, all those big muscles have gotta be of use.”

Still stuck to him, and with snot hanging from my nose to my chin, I make the most ridiculous smile. At this precise moment, I feel like the most blessed woman alive.



EPISODE 4: HEADHUNT



I suddenly wake up with a massive headache.

That sounds like something Abhi would say…

But this brat was right, we should have installed a bed and blankets down here.

While I silently stand up, I realize I forgot something important…

MY COCOA!

I jump upstairs at the speed of light and dash into the living room, only to find this stupid idiot girl who definitely had a sip of it before fainting on our sofa.

“What the heck is wrong with her?”

Her shirt’s sleeves are stained with dried blood, and she’s got small cuts and scars scattered all around her arms and hands. They’re thin enough that nobody would notice them from afar.

I look at her face more closely to check if she’s just asleep only to find out she has been crying all night.

I can’t be mad at her now if she’s like that!

I try to take the mug back from her hands that hold it firmly despite being asleep but the moment I do, she instantly opens her eyes.

“I… Uh…” She stutters.

“This is my mug.” I answer.

“T-t-t-t-this is your mug!” She finally let go of it.

“Is your brain damaged?” I ask while moving away to the kitchen and pouring the cocoa back in the pot, which I put on the hotplates.

“N-no! I’m sorry for taking it without asking, I-.” She quickly wipes her face with her sleeves.

“So, you are? Well, I don’t care anymore. Good job for getting the old man here in a single piece.”

“I-is he okay? Wait, you call him an old man too… Isn’t he a prince?”

“Of course not, we live in a republic, there is no king or prince in this country.”

Did she even go to school?

“I knew it … he’s an impostor…” she says in a low voice.

“It’s just the name he chose to contact the agency-”

“Wait, what time is it?” She interrupts me while standing up.

“It’s almost 7 a.m.”

“Oh crap! I’m going to get scolded!”

“By whom?” I ask while pouring the warm cocoa back in my mug.

“My sister… She’s crazy…” She answers nervously.

I sip a bit of my favorite drink and walk back to the living room.

“Is she the reason you cried?”

“I CRIED?!” she yells while wiping her own face again.

“Sorry it was insensitive of me to ask that. In the end you were a big help and even though you’re an airhead, you seem pretty skilled for someone your age. If you have nowhere else to go, you’re welcome to stay here-.”

Why do I say all that? I thought I didn’t like her. Is it pity? I thought I didn’t have that anymore.

But my surge of benevolence gets once again interrupted, not by this girl, but this time by Abhi who ran up here from the basement.

“Schwa! He woke up! He’s saying something! Come quickly!”

I jump around and ready myself to run to the basement again, but I turn to DIANA instead and hand her the cocoa.

“Drink this, I don’t want to spill it in my run, and warming it a third time would waste it.”

She accepts it while bowing her head, and so I run after Abhi to the basement.

Indeed, he’s murmuring something, so I get beside his head and put my ear to his mouth while Abhi is checking on his heartbeat and blood pressure.

“-Kill ESMERALDA.”

Did I hear this right? ESMERALDA? The woman who was our partner just a few hours ago? I thought she was dead!

“But she died in the explosion!”

“My phone…”

I look around the place and try to recall where we put his phone. It must be inside his jacket’s pockets.

I finally take it out and show it in front of him.

“Read the notes … everything is explained there… ESMERALDA is a traitor… She killed my son … kill her… I will pay you … with all my fortune … 500 million … and then you’re free to go…” He achieves pronouncing before fainting again.

All that money… You know how to motivate people, old man!

“His vitals are low but he’s fine,” says Abhi. “I’m going to sleep.”

“500 million…” I repeat.

“Hm, I said I’m going to slee-”

“ABHI!” I shout. “DID YOU HEAR? 500 MILLION TO KILL ONE BITCH!”

“Yeah, I heard it, I said I’m going to sleep we can do it tomorr-”

“ABHI LOCATE THAT WOMAN IMMEDIATELY! I’M GOING TO LOOK INTO THAT OLD MAN’S PHONE AND SEE IF I CAN FIND ANYTHING! FIVE HUNDRED FUCKING MILLION! DO YOU UNDERSTAND? JUST THINK ABOUT ALL THE THINGS WE CAN BUY WITH THAT MONEY?”

“Right now, I’d like to buy more coffee.”

Watching Abhi’s tired face despite my hype makes me burst into laughter. The real reason why I’m so happy is because I’m finally given a mission that is in accordance with my specialty.

Indeed, I might be bad at keeping old men safe, but if someone needs a bullet, I will deliver it wherever it may be.

Tonight, when the moon will rise, the Queen of the Hunt shall exhibit her prowess once again, and two green jewels will be paid as a tribute.

 

The young genius entrepreneur

I rarely remember my dreams but this one was vivid.

I saw a colorless night, where black ink painted the ground.

It took me a few moments to realize I was lying down, at the edge of fainting.

I got stabbed in the stomach by a sharp knife and I felt like suffocating.

The ink was my own blood.

As I lowered my sight, I saw the silhouette of a tall and thin demon crushing my neck with its boot.

The pain was fictitious but the fear was not.

When it was happy nor when it was sad, the lunatic demon never stopped scaring me.

And that night, it was terribly angry, its most frightening form.

I could feel my trachea being forcefully closed and the air’s path stopping midway. The oxygen was unable to enter my lungs despite my efforts.

I was terrified of dying so I silently cried.

“You shitty spoiled brat, this is the last time you’re running away, you hear me?”

Its deep and spiteful voice was unforgiving, and I knew deep down that the next time I made it angry would be the last.

It was not a scene worth remembering.

I stare vacantly into the cocoa, watching the cream’s foam pop and pop on the brown drink in asynchronous rhythm.

“Why is this crap not reflecting my face dramatically like in anime…?”

I take my phone out of my trousers and open it.

“You have 11 missed calls and 39 unread messages from…”

I close it to lie down on the sofa and look at the ceiling.

I sip a bit of the cocoa and murmur for myself:

“I guess I’ll never see the end of Mecha Dinosaur Impact…”

“Hey you’re not busy, right?”

I lower my stare to realize Boobies came back upstairs.

“You said I can keep the cocoa so no need to ask for it back.” I declare clearly.

“I’ll make another one! If you’re not busy, you should be aware that our next mission is to kill ESMERALDA for the old man. He’ll give us 5 million each.”

“Five million…”

“Y-yeah! Isn’t that awesome?”

“FIVE MILLION?!” I jump on the sofa with my two legs and spill some cocoa on my face.

What the hell?! Five million? Is it a dream?! With that sum maybe we can stop living in debt and I won’t be forced to do those jobs anymore!

Maybe she’ll even forgive me for this time…

“W-w-where is she?!” I say while trying to catch the drops of cocoa around my mouth with my tongue until Boobies hands me a handkerchief.

“I have a plan to lure her out.”

I look into her eyes for the first time to notice their blood-red color.

Shaped like a predator with her silver hair shining in the dim light, she grins terrifyingly like a snake.

But unlike a certain demon, I feel not spite but comfort in her presence.

So, I smile awkwardly as an answer while wiping my face with her handkerchief.

Indeed, for me, she’s sexier than scary at that precise moment.

X​

An entire week has passed and I’m abundantly sweating inside that black suit.

Panicking, I try some breathing techniques and pour myself a huge glass of water.

The flashes of different cameras, the ruckus in this wide, crowded room, and being the center of attention are all sensations I discover nervously.

My hair is attached in a high ponytail and the slightly oversized shirt prevents me from suffocating.

My usually loose tie is now holding my neck a bit tighter under my comfortable vest, and my running shoes are replaced with perfectly polished black leather ones.

From the outside, I might look like a proper young businessman.

“Stay calm, I’m covering you!” Says the woman in my earphone.

“E-easier said than done! I feel totally naked without my glasses, my ribbon and my earrings, without mentioning the fact I can’t see for shit!” I murmur as an answer.

“Your fault for disliking contacts. If you’re scared of people, it’s better if you can’t see them anyway.”

“It’s even scarier when I can’t see them!”

“Can you see the target? Is she here?” Says the young boy in the same earphone.

“I have no clue! I can’t see at all for fuck’s sake!! Why isn’t it Boobies doing it?!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I can disguise all I want, I’ll never look like a man! And how would you be able to cover me with your small knife?”

“I want to go home!!”

I start tearing up as the reception begins.

The animator on my left takes the microphone and announces:

“Welcome, good evening, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to the very first press conference of the long-awaited Kingdom’s Castle president: the young genius 33-year-old entrepreneur Dianon Mask! It’s been ten years since he inherited the company from his father who built it from scratch. After hiding their identity for two generations, they finally decided to drop the mask and reveal their face to the world, so let’s begin with a short presentation of their achievements-”

The two idiots in my earphone chuckle when they hear ‘Dianon Mask.’

“I can hear you laugh!” I cry.

Get me out of this…

X​

“FIVE MILLION?!” She exclaims.

If I knew she would be so happy with so little, I would have said only one.

She almost dropped some cocoa on the sofa, though, but I’m too happy to keep 99% of the money to yell at her.

Plus, I need her help.

“W-w-where is she?!”

“I have a plan to lure her out. Come with me downstairs.”

I lead her to the basement where Abhi takes a mannequin with a black suit out.

“It’s a bit dusty but with a bit of laundry it’ll look as good as new.” He says yawning.

I give a look at DIANA and smirk:

“It’s going to fit her perfectly!” I exclaim.

“W-what the?” she hesitates.

“In order to lure her out we need something big, and that asks for a bit of preparation and acting skills. Hehehehe! Get in that suit to see if it needs adjustments. Abhi, take control of the old man’s company databases thanks to the ids on his phone. I’ll send some emails from his phone too.”

“H-how long is it going to take?”

“Oh, I don’t know, a week, a month… You can stay here as long as needed. Go change behind that door. I’ll buy some groceries, what do you want to eat?”

“Chicken curry.” Says Abhi.

“Uhhhh, borgar?”

I squint my eyes in her direction. Is she trying to be funny?

“Curry it is. Hamburgers are not diet-friendly.” I answer while leaving the basement.

I head inside my bedroom, get into the shower and change my clothes for more mundane ones: blue-jean pants and a short-sleeved purple blouse.

I put on some make-up and take my purse before leaving the apartment for the grocery store.

When I come back with the curry and some seasonal fruits, I find this idiot, perfectly wearing the suit, running around the flat with a screaming Abhi on her shoulders.

She only needs some work on her haircut to look like a pretty young man.

After yelling for a few minutes, we finally sit together in the living room to eat the curry.

DIANA and Abhi talk about their favorite cartoons while I try changing the topics to movies to be part of the conversation.

When we’re done eating, we end up watching the new episode of Mecha Dinosaur Impact on the TV.

I didn’t get anything because I didn’t watch the previous ones!

Exhausted, we fall asleep on the sofa, sharing Abhi’s favorite tiger blanket for us three.

The next day it’s DIANA’s turn to bring dinner.

I hand her some bills and seeing her stupid grin, I almost expect her to come back with a bag full of candies.

She unexpectedly comes back with a bag full of hamburgers…

 

The press conference

“Sho what’sh ze plan?” I ask while munching my hamburger.

Abhi points his finger at me. “Don’t speak with your mouth full!”

“Yeah, it’s seriously disgusting.” Spits Boobies with her mouth full of hamburgers.

“You too, you mongoloid!”

I swallow and point my finger at him in exchange. “It’s a waste of time to wait ’til you’ve swallowed your food before speaking when all you said is perfectly intelligible! You’re just bad at understanding simply coded messages, Mister IT genius!”

“Are you looking for a fight, you uneducated simple-minded scrounger scavenging homeless freeloader shameless parasite?!!”

This succession of insults gives me a headache.

“Are you still mad because I spit cocoa on your tiger blanket? I said I’m sorry, okay! I even humbly licked it to show my good will.”

“I didn’t ask you to lick it! You have been raised by savages! You deserve to stay homeless forever!”

“It was a pure accident! I put it in the laundry now, there is nothing more I can do!”

“Hey are you done fighting? The neighbor is gonna knock again. If he calls the cop, I’ll kill you on spot.” Says Boobies while pointing at me.

“I’m not the one shouting the loudest!!” I say trying to save my ass.

“Yeah, but you’re the most useless.”

The two of them stare at me frowning and I have no other choice but to stop talking at all if I want to sleep there another night.

“Okay so now that you both calmed down, I’ll tell you what we’re doing tomorrow…”

X​

“Mr. Mask, would you say two words about yourself? Why did you decide to reveal your face to the world?”

We just watched a ridiculous presentation of the old man’s financial achievements but I could barely see anything without my glasses.

“Calm down and just do as we trained.”

“If I have to say two words, it would be uh … rich and cool!”

I had to say something quickly while Abhi was making up the response, but this is just too ridiculous and I feel like fainting.

“My company has faced some traumatic events recently: the acts of terrorism using our recent models of robot vacuum cleaners you have all heard of. In order to put an end to the rumors, we have taken the decision to appear in public.”

I repeat religiously what Abhi recites in my earphone without any transition between that and my stupid response.

I sense a wave of confusion rise in the audience and can hear some whisper to each other, wondering if this is a prank.

“You’re a big fucking idiot, you know that?”

I’m trying my best!!!



The animator tries to save my face by changing the topic “A-alright, let’s try some questions now. Please raise your hand to get a microphone.”

A bunch of people raise their hands but I have no way to tell how much since I can’t see past 2 meters in front of me.

“Yes, Mister in the front.”

They pass a microphone through the ranks until the designated person takes it and speaks.

“Hi Mr. Mask, how are you? You look rather young for a CEO, are you really 33? How are you handling everything?”

I KNEW IT!!

It’s been days I’ve been telling these two morons that there is no way I can be taken for a 33-year-old!!!

“Uh uhhhhh, I’m doing great, thank-!”

“Thank you for asking, I am indeed fairly young but I’ve been learning the job with my dad since I was little. We naturally have several associates who help me all day long so I don’t have to handle the whole company by myself.”

I proceed to repeat but this time I have “thank you” as a transition. I’m getting better at this!

“Good job, idiot.”

Cold sweat drops from my forehead.

“Great! Let’s ask somebody else… You, Miss on the left?”

“Thank you. I was just wondering… You talked about the “terrorist” attacks in your introduction, but for most of us, they looked like incidents provoked by their bad manufacture! How can you explain to your clients the fact that already two of your company’s robots exploded dramatically? How can you ensure that it won’t happen again? Have you been sued by the Meritocratic for the incident? You lost a lot of stock actions in the week since that event and your sales are in free fall, what is your next move? How are you going to save your company from bankruptcy?”

“Please, please, one question at a time!”

Thank you, animator…

I can hear the gears in Abhi’s brain operate from my earphone while mine just decided to give up and with my blank empty eyes, they might think I’m having a stroke.

Remembering our training, I press the button on my remote control to start projecting the slides we prepared beforehand. I take a deep breath and in a moment of clarity, I instinctively respond.

“Please look at this: This is our robot’s composition from the materials we used to their chemical composition. Ask any expert, they will tell you there is no way these robots can make explosions like the ones we saw at the Meritocratic without additional help: real powerful explosives. Why? Because the materials we use are fireproof to prevent exactly this situation. Even during a short-circuit, the ignition should be minimal since the system is protected by ventilation, water-cooling and is built with programs and inverters that automatically block the current in case of emergency. It is not our goal to sabotage our own product and we’re doing everything we can to prevent a similar situation in the future. We haven’t been sued by the hotel because we have been working with each other for a long time and our insurance can take care of the bills. The actions we lost are a shame but that’s exactly the reason why we’re here today. We want to publicly apologize to the victims and show our good will to our clients so they don’t feel betrayed and understand how critical and exceptional the situation is.”

I actually have no clue of what I’m talking about and if the hotel hasn’t sued anyone, it is mainly because we’re protected by the agency.

“What the hell is going on, Schwa? The idiot has found a brain! Quick, begin the second phase!”

“Now, the information I’m about to share with you is perfectly confidential but I need everybody to understand what kind of crisis we are facing.”

The screen slides for the photofit of a sturdy blonde man, and in a wave of whispers, the audience starts taking huge bursts of pictures. My mind feels empty like in a kind of trance.

“With the help of the Meritocratic’s security cameras we could reconstruct the face of the most likely culprit of those acts of terrorism. He was helped by a woman that we could not identify, but they were both present in the hotel before the explosion, stepped inside the suite and have disappeared since. Their bodies could not be found in the rubble. This information has, of course, been sent to the police but I want everyone here to work together with us in order to find those persons and bring them to justice. We have one last piece of information concerning him and that’s his name: at the most critical moment, we could find a recording, from seconds after the detonation, a recording of the woman who is calling him Darius-”

“NO!!!”

From the crowd of whispering journalists, restlessly pushing the button of their cameras and taking notes, a scandalized voice emerged.

Standing up in an indignant manner, those enraged green eyes belong to ESMERALDA.

X​

“Why would she come in the first place? The trap is so obvious!” I ask.

I am sitting, cross-legged, on one of the open kitchen’s high bar stools, turning on myself as fast as possible.

Boobies was typing on her laptop in front of me, a leg on the other, but she stops to take her glasses off and begins munching the frame. She looks in the air.

“There are many reasons, you see. First of all, I’ve been spreading the rumor that some information about the two culprits of the hotel’s explosion will be revealed, but only through the agency. She has somehow access to that since she was at the rendezvous in the hotel. Secondly, the press conference has some rules: no smartphones, no TV, no radio, no internet-connected tools. You understand what that means? No direct. I like old school, hahaha. If you want to know what is going on there in time, then you should be there in person. All the info will be released to the public afterward.”

“Will journalists agree to that in this time and age?”

She shrugs, “It’s actually not that hard to set up. The character we made up is an eccentric. We just have to say you like vintage like a person with good taste does! Lastly, she is an amateur. Proud and selfish. She’s got her reasons to step in the crime world but they are ridiculous. A smart person would have gone on with their lives but she decided to put an end to it.”

I can’t help but agree with that, people who do this by choice are the stupidest.

“The dumbest part is that she didn’t do it alone.” She continues, “That guy, DARIUS, he’s her real weakness. He looks like he’s protecting her but it’s the opposite, he’s her weak point. He got blown out by the old man so we don’t have to think about him at all, he’s not even on the bounty, but it’s so obvious she cares more about him than her own life. That’s just the proof they didn’t think about anything. So, if we do the opposite and totally ignore her to aim for him… Then she’ll be forced to put herself in between.”

She grins and puts her glasses on again. Back into typing, she joyfully announces: “Mat.”

X​

SHE’S HERE!

“Schwa! We got her! Schwa!!”

Why is she not answering?

“Miss, do you have something to say?” Asks the animator.

“YES! This person is a usurper! I’m putting an end to this joke of a conference!” She spouts.

“You have no right to do that.” I say, “What are the proofs of your claim?” I’m too invested in my role to stop now.

“I don’t need to prove anything.” She says while walking backward. “Because you are all dead!”

That is the beginning of the third phase.

Since everybody here knows the face of her beloved DARIUS, everybody here has to die.

And so, with the joints popping, four men armed with shotguns blow their way into the press conference.

 

Symphony of Darkness

I burst out of my trance-like state and crouch under my reading desk. Plunged into darkness, the symphony of death begins.

For the choir: journalists, their cries resonate passionately in the isolated conference hall.

For the percussions: shotguns, from the clicks and puffs of their sliding fore-end to their terrifying fortissimo impacts.

For the brass: the alarm solo, showing off its trumpet’s most beautiful vibrato.

With the lights off, I can’t count on Boobies, so I have to get out of this on my own.

I close my eyes and listen. I try to find the tempo.

“120 bpm, ta ta ta ta ta ta-”

It doesn’t fit, so I try faster.

“180 bpm, tatatatatatata-”

It’s still not right, the instruments are not synchronized and the screams always fall a third time too late.

So, it’s ternary and slower.

“144 bpm, ta-ta-ta ta-ta-ta ta-ta-ta”

The scream falls perfectly and the impact follows on time.

My eyes should be adapted to the dark now, so I take my glasses from my suit’s pocket and put them on.

Holding my knife, I click my tongue, alarm rings, I click, shotgun puffs, I click, journalist screams, I click, boom, I click and jump out.

Someone is right in front of me.

It’s the animator, I click, he pushes me away.

What a nice person, I’m sorry I can’t save you.

I click.

He raises his arms and begs for mercy. I’m hiding behind his back.

I click.

His head is blown out. My eardrums are whistling from the clang.

I click.

I slide between his legs that are falling to the ground and slash the tendons of my first opponent.

I click.

The alarm wails. I stand on my feet.

I click.

I pierce his balls, his heart and his temple in a single time. The blood spurges on my forearms. But I didn’t hit his temple. They have helmets with infrared vision. So, this is why they could see… Good thing Kevlar doesn’t stop knives. My other hits were enough to deal with him.

I click.

The screams get weaker as there are fewer people alive. I hold the guy from his armpits to use him as a shield.

I click.

I look above his shoulder to gauge the situation. There are fewer than 15 people standing in the hall. A group of them are crying in the furthest corner, their faces contorted by fear and incomprehension. But nothing falls on my tempo anymore.

It slows down. 98 bpm.

The other closest shotgun is just a few meters away, shooting on the back of one who fell down.

I click.

You’re all very unlucky fellows. I drop the guy I’m holding and throw my knife right to the other one’s face.

He’s taken by surprise but has the reflex to block it with his knuckle. It pierces his leather gloves and blood rushes out.

I click.

With a roar, he takes it out and throws it away.

I’m weaponless now, what should I do?

I take the broken leg of one of the steel chairs on which the journalists were seated on.

His shotgun puffs.

I click.

I roll and aim for his wound. The metal rod is thin enough that I can nail it in his knuckle. The pain should be strong enough that he can’t press the trigger.

He yells, “What the hell is this madman?! He killed Santa too!”

I killed Santa???

I’m really tempted to look behind me to check if that guy truly was Santa Claus and if I did kill the guy who gives gifts to children at Christmas but my instincts tell me I shouldn’t think about it.

“Fuck, he did! Hey Dream, this one is serious business.”

The two last shotguns stop caring about their herd of scared sheep, and slowly walk towards us. The slaughter can wait.

I click.

They get closer and closer and I keep pushing on that guy’s arm but he holds still, roaring in pain.

I stomp on a chair back that was lying near my feet to make it jump in the air. I grab it with one hand and put it behind the guy’s nape while holding the nail with my other hand.

When the two stormtroopers are only a few steps away from us, I shout.

“DON’T MOVE!”

They stop walking. Ritardando, 51 bpm.

By pulling the chair back like a leash and slowly walking backwards, I force my hostage to walk with me.

“IF YOU COME CLOSER, I KILL HIM! I CAN BREAK HIS NECK!”

I want to walk backwards until we reach the furthest wall, but the guy I’m holding responds.

“HE’S FULL OF SHIT, HE CAN’T KILL ME IN THIS POSITION, COME AND KILL HIM!”

Yet, those guys don’t move as I told them, they must take me seriously…

“WHY I DON’T HEAR ANY BULLETS ANYMORE? WHAT’S TAKING YOU SO LONG? Ew, that’s disgusting!” Yells ESMERALDA who peeks inside the hall for the first time after the assault. She frowns at the sight of this massacre and tries not to stain her high heels with blood.

The few journalists who survived this long are still crouching in the corner, wailing, waiting for this carnage to finish. I click.

ESMERALDA comes to fulfill their wish and takes out her beretta to reduce them to silence.

She walks slowly towards the stage, “So what? Have y’all become deaf?”

I hold my breath and pull the guy with me a little closer to the wall. I close my eyes.

“Why are you so scared of one single bitch?!” She exclaims.

From the estimation of her voice’s distance, ESMERALDA is probably standing just behind the two who stopped moving.

I click.

In a blinding burst, all the hall’s lights shine anew.

“WHAT THE-”

They yell and jump in surprise. After staying so long in the dark, their eyes aren’t fit to support such exposition.

I drop the chair back, pull the nail out of the guy’s knuckle and pierce his throat, right under his helmet.

“Good job, Abhi.” I whisper.

“YOU FUCKING BITCH! WHERE ARE Y-”

SHHHZDONG~!

The guy on the left falls down, a hole in his helmet and blood flowing out of it.

The tinkling sound of broken glass and the feel of the wind, makes the two final opponents finally snap out of it and realize what just happened.

“SNIPER!!!” Yells the last shotgun guy while jumping down, spreading his whole body on the ground and using his arms to defend his head.

With the lights back in the hall, the sharpshooter can finally enter the stage.

X​

“-And with the lights back in the hall, I, the sharpshooter, can finally enter the stage!”

That’s what I just said in the narration! Oh, wait it’s a flashback so never mind, I’m just going to copy what she has said.

Abhi and I are lying down on the sofa, watching an anime, while Boobies is standing between us, all proud, showing off her rifle.

“Hey, can you move out? We can’t see the TV-”

Wait a second… What the heck is that?

I jump on my feet to take a closer look at the rifle…

“Yoooo! Can you both not stand in front of the screen? I’m going to watch the rest on my computer!” Exclaims Abhi.

I feel shivers running down my back. What the hell is this monster?

“His name is Gandiva! Isn’t he amazing?”

What I am looking at is closer to a bow than a rifle.

The barrel is flexible like the body of a snake that can go up and down and rise in size. The telescopic sight is shaped like a golden arrow, and the bolt handle looks ignited. A thick white thread hangs in lieu of the trigger. The buttstock is wide and hollow so one can put their whole arm inside, like a crossbow, and squeeze it with straps. It’s possible to shoot accurately while standing up with the arm straight and one only has to clench their fist, while softly pulling the string-trigger with their fingers, like playing the harp, to shoot. The whole white body is ornamented with intense red and purple lines and character prints in an obscure oriental language.

It looks alive.

An awkward smile draws on my face. My mind is so obsessed by this absurd weapon that I can’t even process the angry door clap that signifies Abhi’s resolution to finish the episode without me.

X​

Across the gigantic wall-size blown-up window, in a tower a hundred meters away, I can tell the beautiful busty angel of death is smirking, “Show me your moves, ESMERALDA!” she says in our earphone and I silently thank her for saving my life.

Pulling the string a second time, the bullet crosses the sky at inconceivable velocity, swirls between the air particles, shrieks like a thunderbolt and pierces the guy’s head, having calculated the perfect angle after he jumped down.

SHHHZDONG~!

The sound it makes is closer to a sitar than the normal ‘BAM’ of a cartridge and is followed by the whistling of boiling water and the crackling of fire.

It’s the last instrument of this symphony.

Astonished by this melody of the abyss, and maybe the clear realization of the blood bath under her feet, ESMERALDA’s body freezes entirely.

She is ruthless but, as an amateur, she was never ready to see the aftermath of such a massacre.

After carefully waiting for our target to step deeply inside the battlefield, we could begin the fourth and final phase of our plan.

The headhunt!

 

Three-month-old Beretta

“Show me your moves, ESMERALDA!”

Standing on one foot with my right one sitting on the frame of a window, my bow lying on my leg, I grin as I watch carefully at the scene inside my Gandiva’s telescopic sight.

The target is stunned on her two feet, probably pissing her pants in this blood bath. The idiot is standing a few meters in front of her with an iron stick in hand. Heavy breathing, she’s dripping in blood from head to toes, ruining the efforts we did in cleaning and ironing her black suit.

Yet, she comes out unscratched… You did a good job, DIANA.

With a finger on the trigger, I aim for the target’s legs.

This is a bad habit of mine, I can’t help but toy with people like her.

I want to smash your condescending smile since the moment I first saw you.

Yet, the moment I was about to shoot, a low scratching sound from somewhere nearby and the smell of smoke distract me.

I give a look behind.

I’m positioned in front of a small rectangular window from an office in a 10-floor building, the press conference taking place right in front of it, at the last floor of a slightly smaller one.

There is only a large desk with a computer and some folders filled with papers scattered all around between me and the door.

With just a look, my instincts tell me I can’t pursue my mission.

“Finish the job.” I say with regrets in my earphone.

“What’s going on, Schwa?”

I restrain myself from answering Abhi.

Someone else is there.

I was thinking I already took my revenge with the helicopter guys but I might get proven wrong in a minute.

The door in front of me gets suddenly blown away by the shell of a powerful shotgun.

I quickly change position and hide behind the desk, waiting without a sound for the situation to clear.

“Good evening, Miss! What the heck is this lack of greetings? I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Exclaims the deep and strong voice of a middle-aged man, that almost sounds like a scolding uncle.

Does he know me? I mean… I must admit I’m somehow famous in the underground world but it’s been a while since my previous mission and I didn’t expect anyone to be looking for me here.

“Who are you?” I ask carefully.

“Oh, come on! You forgot about me! What a cruel woman you are, and here I thought we liked each other!”

I raise an eyebrow but I can’t seem to recall who that voice belongs to.

I’ve seduced a bunch of dangerous guys for missions in the past so I can’t tell who is who anymore.

“Where did we meet?” I ask him, ready to jump and shoot.

Heavy footsteps and the tinkling of metal echo in the office and stop right in front of the desk.

“You killed some of my friends again, but I finally caught you, White Snake of India.”

All my hairs rise on my head.

From all the names I could get attributed with, that was the one I couldn’t stand most.

I freeze, with my head spinning. A bunch of hellish pictures come dancing in front of my eyes: The scorching sun, dehydrating bodies, mouths tasting like sand. The smell of dried dirt and nauseating polluted water. Sheltering oneself under a pile of plastic garbage. Steeling minds and pressing the triggers. 10, 20, 50, 100000 times, machine guns, rifles, shotguns, knives, hands, flags, water, “anything is a weapon in the Punjab desert…” The sound of heavy footsteps along the tingling of a metal chain. Shotgun shells dropping on the ground. Flamethrowers howling and calcinating villages. The cries and wails of women and children. Stone constructions with “school” inscribed on it exploding. The moon, a boat, a river and smoke. Fireworks. Not wanting to hear anymore, screaming, running, jumping in the water, drowning, coughing, spitting, drying, crying, stealing food, vomiting, playing with snakes, falling from a plane with a bomb in hand, praying for the parachute to never open, wishing for an abrupt and painless death.

How did they find me here? There were absolutely no traces of my presence in this world left. I literally died there, this name, Vritra, died there!!

“You…”

I hear the clicks of his shotgun reload just above my head.

If I don’t react now, he’s going to blow the desk off with me behind.

“Your past will never leave you.”

Yet, the moment he casts this spell on me, the floor suddenly crumbles and crashes in a deafening noise.



EPISODE 5: EPHEMERAL



Communications with Boobies are stopped.

“Abhi, do you know what’s going on with her?”

“No idea, if there’s anyone else inside her building, they’re invisible from my heat signals. I’ll find a way to help her, you focus on getting rid of our target.”

ESMERALDA is standing just a few meters in front of me. Her look in the vague with all the people defending her dead, killing her mercilessly now almost seems unfair.

I walk slowly toward my knife and lean forward to grab it-

BAM!

She took her Beretta out and threatens me with it.

She didn’t hit me but I’m defenseless in such an open area.

“What do you want of me?” She asks.

“What?”

“I SAID, ‘WHAT DO YOU WANT OF ME?!’ WHY CAN’T YOU LET ME KILL AN OLD FART WHO GOT NO FRIEND, A MURDERER WHO KILLED HIS OWN SON?!”

What the hell is she talking about? Did the grandpa kill his son?

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I respond.

She shoots near my face, “STOP MESSING WITH ME! WHY DID YOU TRAP ME HERE, WHAT DO YOU WANT? WHY CAN’T YOU LET ME HAVE MY REVENGE? NOBODY CARES ABOUT THAT GUY!”

I put a hand on my chin and think really hard on what to answer.

“We were offered a huge bunch of money for your head, nothing personal really. If you offered us more to kill the old man, we would do it instead, but I doubt you can afford his capital. Life is a bitch for the broke ass like us.” I shrug. I always dreamed of saying that ‘nothing personal’ catchphrase.

But ESMERALDA gets furthermore exasperated and cries, “WHY WOULD HE PAY YOU TO KILL ME! I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO HIM! HE KILLED HIS OWN SON AND PAYS TO KILL HIS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW! WHAT KIND OF HUMAN BEING IS THAT?! PAYING FOR PEOPLE TO DIE?!!!”

“But isn’t that exactly what you do?”

“What?!” ESMERALDA’s face grows dark.

“I mean, you literally put a lot of money and energy into killing that old man, right? Even a dummy like me can get that much. He might have killed his son and that’s kinda lame but even if he asks someone else to do the dirty job, you’re just the same as him. If you have some regrets now, you should have thought about it and not becoming the enemy of a billionaire who has all the means necessary to get rid of you. Revenge is such an outdated concept anyway, it’s only cool in anime.”

“You bitch! I’m going to shoot you down!!!”

I juggle with my knife.

“I’m really not scared of you, you know why? Because you’re an idiot. You could have killed me twice earlier, the two times you shoot, yet you didn’t. What were you going to learn from me? Absolutely nothing. There is no need to threaten me with that cool gun you bought 3 months ago, because you’re never going to hit me with it. Even if you do hit me, my partner with the sniper will kill you before you have the time to feast on your criminal achievement.”

“You… You’re not as dumb as you make it sound, actually?”

I try to hide my embarrassment with laughter, “Hahahahaha yes, yes, of course I am. Please pay no mind…” I continue without giving her time to react. “Abhi, can you do it again?”

“Naturally.”

The lights go out.

Plunged again into darkness, ESMERALDA panics and shoots blindly.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

I click.

The lights come on again, and only one meter separates me from my target.

“YOU FUCKING BITCH!!”

She pulls the trigger only to get the disappointing tic of an empty magazine.

“You can’t even count to 6.” I smirk, very proud of myself.

With a rapid and clean movement, I slash in her direction.

Yet unexpectedly, she throws the gun in my face at close range, hitting my nose full force, stopping me in my action.

“HEYYYYYYYYYY!”, I scream.

Blood starts running from it and she takes the opportunity to turn around and shamelessly run away.

“HEY! WHAT THE FUCK?! COME BACK!!!”

I throw my knife in her direction, hitting her shoulder, neatly nailing itself in.

“AAAAH!”

She cries rolling forward because of the knife’s propulsion, yet at that exact moment, my sight gets diverted by a loud rumbling.

Looking across the broken window, the tower in which Boobies was covering me suddenly collapses.

 

Home

The floor suddenly collapsing under my feet, I restrain myself from screaming.

The shadow of that man with the shotgun disappears in the rubble of the office.

Yet, as I start freefalling to the previous floor, I hit some rough and cold arms in the air.

A white, one meter high, cleaning robot jumped over to catch me.

“What the hell? Abhi?!”

“I clearly didn’t expect this to be of use, but I positioned a bunch of that old man’s cleaning robots everywhere just in case. Did you meet someone there?!”

I stay silent.

BAM!

The explosive noise of a shotgun shell is being heard above my head.

BAM! BAM!

SCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

He’s fighting with the robots.

While I’m hesitating, the one that is still holding me is quickly rushing on its small wheels in the building, cleverly avoiding the falling pieces of roofs and other obstacles.

While I am lamenting over my past, Abhi is helping me with everything he’s got!

“Sorry Abhi, I… he’s just above! Let me down!”

It’s time for me to snap out of it.

“No, I can’t let you, the whole building is collapsing!”

“So, what’s the plan? I don’t want to let him go!”

“You have to! The robots are going to slow him down. Hopefully, he’ll get buried inside and die! Let’s just leave for now!”

Before, I was alone, I committed atrocities, but since Abhi is with me, I can get hold of myself.

Before I noticed, his presence in my life became invaluable.

Under his command, the dozens of robots are currently fighting my nightmare.

“Let’s get the fuck out.” I whisper.

Jumping out through the emergency exit, the robot throws me to the roof of the building right next to it.

Only a few meters separate the two and I safely grab the gutter, 25 meters above the ground. When I look down, I can witness the devout robot that saved my life crash on concrete in multiple bits.

As I pull up my body to the steady rooftop, I silently watch the building collapse in cacophony, and thank the robots for their hard work.

“Were you the one who made the tower crash?” Abhi asks.

I frown. “I thought YOU did it.”

I take the rooftop stairs leading to the first floor.

“What? No, I can’t do anything like that from where I am. Was it the other person? He was invisible from my radar by the way.”

“No, it can’t be him, that would be too irrational. He was about to kill me there…”

“Do you know who it was?”

I don’t want to respond now, so I just change the topic. “More importantly, is our target d-”

“BOOOOOOBIESSSS!!! YOU’RE STILL ALIVE!!!!!!”

Ah… It’s this idiot again… I didn’t miss her…

“You… I hope you finished the work while I was busy.”

“NO!!”

I put a hand on my forehead. “What do you mean, no?!”

“SHE FLED! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! SHE RAN AWAY WITH MY KNIFE!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”

“Be quiet! My ears are still thrilling from the noise! So, you just let her leave, I can’t believe it! How useless can you be?”

“I’m sorry!!! Please don’t kill me, I didn’t do it on purpose!!”

I sigh. “I am not going to kill you, can you stop being so dramatic for a minute? You said she got your knife?”

“Yeah, I stabbed her in the shoulder before she ran away. I can’t tell where she has gone since I was busy looking at the building you were in. The crash made such a mess, I thought you were buried under! You can’t believe how worried I was!!”

“You’re such an idiot… Just go home now, I’ll bring you your knife…”

“Wh-what?! For real?!”

“Yeah, for real. See you later.”

I just noticed I was smiling during the whole conversation.

What the hell is wrong with me, saying ‘see you later’ like we’re best friends?! This imbecile is just making my work harder!

Yet, I can’t help but feel relieved.

Some people are worried about me, and that’s such a strange feeling…

X​

S-she told me to go back home…

Home…

Does that mean she considers their home to be my home too??

Overfilled with joy, I start jumping around.

“Home! Home! Home!” I sing in the street just between the building on which the press conference took place and the one that crashed.

With the morning rising, I hear the sound of sirens, but they can’t ruin my mood.

I jump on the scooter I used to come here and drive away of the district, in the hideout’s direction.

On my way, I notice a pizzeria.

“Guess I’ll buy dinner too. What a lovely home mate I am!”

I enter the restaurant and notice a few strange looks on me.

“Hello! What’s up? I’d like to order 3 pizzas to go! One with chicken curry, do you have that? Yeah, that one. One with salmon and cream cheese. Yes ‘Norwegian’, however you call it. And one last, hmmmmm… What would Boobies like…? She seems like a vanilla woman, right? Oh yeah you don’t know her, hm… I’ll take a margarita, it’s the classic, everybody likes classics! Haha, I’ll eat it if she doesn’t like it! I can eat 2 pizzas easily. She’s on a diet anyway, so she’ll thank me for eating it! Oh, get me some soda too and chicken wings. The spicy ones.”

After I finish ordering, I sit down on a chair waiting for the food, yet, the strange looks on me don’t go away.

“Hm, Mister, excuse me, are you okay?” Finally says one of the waiters.

“Well, yes, I’m perfectly fine, why??”

“Are you sure you don’t need me to call an ambulance?!”

I just realized I’m dripping with blood all over!!

Oh my god, I’m so stupid!!

I look at myself on a glass and notice my nose is still bleeding and my whole suit is stained with dark red spots.

“Hahaha don’t worry I just got into a scooter accident, it happens all the time! Please don’t call anyone!”

I head swiftly into the bathroom and clean myself as much as I can.

When I come back into the restaurant room, my attention switches to the TV that is showing the recent news.

I recognize the street and the building I was in just minutes ago.

“Haha, I wonder if it would be possible to have a look at the weather reports, I’m planning a picnic later today!” I laugh awkwardly.

Thankfully, the sound is mute and the owner switches to another channel.

But that’s not a weather report! On that channel, there are people in a studio talking around a table and pointing at blurred pictures of male bodies that have been stabbed in their genitals. They seem to be debating on their murderer’s modus operandi.

I quickly run to the counter and ask for my order, then pay with Boobies’s money and leave as fast as possible.

Taking my scooter, I drive home with both dinner and shame.

X​

Panting, swinging, tripping, with blood dripping from my shoulder all the way to my fingers, I walk away.

Holding my injured arm with the other, I aimlessly fly away to save my life.

Sweating from fever, I see my life’s happiest moments again before my eyes.

When I first met my fiancé, the first time we spoke, the books we shared, our first date, our first dinner.

The first time we kissed, the first time we slept together, the first time he said he loved me.

The first time he talked about his dad, the first time we cried, the first time we fought.

The first time we lied, the first time we ran, the first time we said ‘sorry.’

I recall the first time we talked about marriage, the first time we said we wanted children, the first time we did it unprotected.

I pant, I sob, and I cry.

I think about my brother, the fact he was always with me, ready to kill my lover’s murderer so I wouldn’t dirty my hands.

“I’m so sorry! I’M SO SORRY!!!!” I wail.

He always was my most valuable ally.

I thought I was walking aimlessly, but my feet led me to the remains of the place I first shared as a home with that man.

A burnt-to-the-ground house with scraps all over.

The place he died.

With a shivering hand, panting and sweating, I slowly open the broken entrance door, that loudly crumbles to the ground.

With a tired smile drawing on my face, I put a foot inside and pronounce, “I’m home.”

SCHZDONG!

And falling down in this once-warm devastated coffin, my consciousness fades away.

 

Mail from the agency

“Hey, idiot!”

I crouch to look at her dumbfounded eyes, while she’s reading a comic, seating upside-down on the couch like a moron.

“Stop calling me idiot!” She spouts.

I totally ignore her and ask what I came for. “You… Do you have nothing but a knife?”

“Why do you care?” She disdainfully answers, doing broad kicking movements in the air.

I sigh. “I’m making the plan to make money, remember?? Show me your knife. You’re not using it right now, and you’re clearly useless for brainstorming.”

“Fine, but don’t break it!” She pouts, handing it to me.

I give a single look at it.

It’s a very uninteresting, unimpressive, unexciting folding pocket knife, and I can’t help but feel disappointment.

I want to ask her why she’s only using this, but it’s not the kind of questions I would like to answer myself.

I know her answer will be disappointing anyway.

“Your eyes…” She whispers.

I lower my gaze from the knife to notice she was looking at me in the eyes.

“What about my eyes?”

“They’re not red anymore.”

Ah, I get it… This idiot thought my eyes were naturally red or something.

“You are right, I’m wearing contacts that increase my sight in dark environment.”

“So cool… Like a snake.”

“No way, snakes have bad eyesight, they find their way by smelling with their tongues. It’s more like a cat or a tiger actually.”

“Snakes smell with their tongues???”

I let a small laugh escape.

“Yeah, you should watch animal shows on your phone, you can learn a bunch of funny things.”

I stand up and start walking to the computer room so I can barely hear her whisper.

“I wouldn’t be able to do it even if I wanted to.”

My mind is too busy to pay attention to what she said, and I’m already in the next room where Abhi is tinkering with a cleaning robot.

I put my chin on his head, silently watching him for a little bit.

“Is it really that fun?” I ask.

He looks above his shoulder to stare at me with his blank eyes.

“You wouldn’t get it.” He snorts.

I laugh while handling him the knife. “Yeah, you’re right. Here, check this out.”

“What do you want me to do with this crap?” He says while getting back to play with screwdrivers.

“I want you to put a beacon on that. I don’t want this crazy stray mongoloid to run away anywhere. We need to keep an eye on her.”

He finally drops his tools to take the knife and analyze it.

After carefully looking at it, he straightens up and frowns.

“You know it already has a beacon on it? Thankfully, our hideout is blurring it.”

My heart leaps.

Has this girl been on constant watch? For how long?

I can’t help but look behind my back, in her direction, even though a wall is standing between us and I can’t see her.

“Remove it and put another one.” I say coldly.

He frowns. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t remove it if I were you.”

“Just do what I say.” I finish, walking away.

The idea of being watched constantly, like I used to be, makes me want to puke.

If that girl truly is in this situation, I can’t help but empathize.

Paradoxically, I’m currently putting her in this situation myself…

X​

TIC!

TIC!

TIC!

The smartphone in my hand keeps ringing as I get closer to the devastated house.

This place… I recall seeing this address on the old man’s notes.

I pull the idiot’s knife from the now-dead woman’s shoulder and roughly clean it.

In the end, this radar served to help you… no, to help us in getting rid of the target, and not to keep an eye on you.

My curiosity gets the best of me and I step in the house, looking around for anything interesting.

I’m still wondering how this girl got access to the agency… And where is that other guy… DARIUS?

Who were the ones in the helicopter? Mercenaries? Who commissioned them?

The contact with the agency, the mercenaries, the guns, was all that her doing? It’s impossible, she was a total amateur.

Who did that for her?

That’s what I’m trying to find in this place, being the sole hint toward the solutions of this mystery.

X​

Abhi opens the flat for me, and I barge in with pizzas in my hands.

“Home sweet home!” I yell. “Abhibhi, guess what I bring you? Food! Dinner! Yummy yummy chicken curry pizza and spicy chicken wings! You love that, right? Oh yes you dooooo~”

“Don’t call me like that, and what the hell are you taking me for? Some kind of animal that eats only the same thing?” He spouts, grumpily.

I put the pizzas in the kitchen, and run down to the basement to change my clothes.

“Aaaaaa, I’m finally free from this stupid suit!! My ribbon!! My earrings, aaaaah, how I missed youuuu~.” I sing.

I give a look at the old man, still soundly sleeping on the operation table, who is just looking slightly paler than usual but I put my hands in prayer and thank him for the money he’ll grant me.

I jump to the living room again, only to find Abhi sitting on the sofa with a slice of the chicken curry pizza in hand.

Our eyes meet and I can see him blush.

“C-come, it’s time for our anime.” He stutters.

“Uhuhuhuuuuu, you’re so cuteee when you’re blushing! You don’t have to be shy, it’s normal to eat the food I brought…”

“Shut up. I’ll begin without you.”

I plunge in the kitchen and grab my own pizza and then plunge again on the sofa, making Abhi slightly fly from the impact.

I smirk. “I hope Boobies come quickly or I’ll eat hers too…”

DINGDING!

I got startled by the ringing of my phone, in this empty and silent house.

Normally my phone is totally muted, but I was using the radar to guide me just earlier.

Looking whom it came from, my heart skips a beat.

“Oh fuck…”

‘Dear ARTEMIS,

We are very displeased to hear that you’ve concluded your mission with failure.

To this day [XX/XX/XXXX], client [XXXX] codename: Prince, you were supposed to protect, has died.

Your rank in the agency tumbled down from XXX to XXXX.

From now, your credits and benefits will be seized until further notice.

Entering debt, your next missions’ credits will be used to repay what you owe.

Please, keep in touch for the next news concerning your case.’

It gets almost instantly followed by a second ring.

DINGDING!

‘Dear ARTEMIS,

Your next mission has already been chosen.

The clients from the Chinese Triads clan Shensu Shu, located in your town, code names: TIAN HUO and TIAN SHUI, will come to your residence in a few instants.

Your mission will be to respond to their needs for the next three months, namely [XX/XX/XXXX].

We wish you the best of luck.’

“FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!” I scream.

First of all, I need to contact DIANA and Abhi!

“DIANA! Abhi! Can you hear me?!”

Fuck, they’re not responding!!

I can’t believe the old man is dead! What the fuck!!! We did all that for nothing?!

I need to rush to the hideout as fast as possible!

X​

DING DONG!

In the middle of our episode, with pizza still hanging from our mouths, the doorbell suddenly starts ringing.

“Eh, it must be Boobies, if she forgot her keys, she’ll just wait until the episode ends as a punition!” I say proudly.

It’s my home too now after all…

But it rings again once, twice, thrice.

DING DONG DING DONG DING DONG!

I frown and stand up.

Abhi looks around, anxious. “Schwa never forgets her keys.”

I shrug. “It can happen to anyone, maybe she actually lost them in the building that crashed? I’ll go see who it is anyway.”

With a slice of pizza in my hand, I slowly approach the entrance door.

Opening to Boobies… it really feels like it’s my home now!

With a burst of pride and malice, I open the door while munching my meal. “Hey, hey, hey, who might that be? Forgetting your keys like an imbecile, should I let you enter my ho-”

My body entirely freezes and I drop the pizza to the ground.

What was facing me in the lobby wasn’t ARTEMIS nor anyone else than the tall and thin demon I see in my nightmares.

With a thin and terrifying smile spreading from one ear to the other, the demon finishes my sentence.

“Home? Your home? Is that what you wanted to say, bitch?”

My thought process abruptly shut down and it takes me a while to notice I am currently falling on my knees.

With blood bursting from my belly, the thin demon grabs my chin and makes me look into its eyes.

“Did you forget me, you fucking piece of garbage? It took me a while to find you here! Did you remove my beacon? You’re going to pay for all the trouble you put me in!”

Holding my wound with a hand, I start tearing up.

Home was an ephemeral concept but I sure loved it.



END OF ARC 1

Spoiler

ESMERALDA and DARIUS

 

The Master of Romance loves women so much…




EPISODE 6: TRIADS



Set on an isolated spot in the south hemisphere of the Pacific Ocean, more than 2000 km from the closest piece of land, this average size island ought to meet the same fate as Rapa Nui.

Yet, with its gigantic number of natural resources and strategic economical localization, it has built itself into one of the richest harbors in the world.

As a natural checkpoint in the most dangerous ocean, the island has claimed water territories of more than thrice its diameters, owning the monopoly of the largest trade routes, putting taxes for every commodity that goes in and out, assuming embargoes and customs as they see fit.

The local legend says that it was discovered only 2 or 3 centuries ago, at a time of great migrations, by a French explorer who had fought all night against a dreadful storm and found himself stunned by its almost perfect circular shape, like a haven ring in the dawn’s light.

That’s how he came up with the name Aube-Ronde, which later derived into Omond.

The few hundred natives he discovered there spoke an isolate that had a few similarities with Austronesian languages. He called it Aubaine, now Omen.

The legend ends with the people helping him build a new ship to leave the island, but the explorer disappeared and nobody knows what happened to him.

Word of this island’s existence started to spread in Europe’s courts, and control over its strategic position was deeply coveted.

Russia quickly sent an expedition in its direction, followed by England, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Germany, and of course, France and Belgium. A few decades later, America, Asia and the Middle East would join the party as well, but that would be after the Revolution.

From the moment they set foot on the island, conflicts between countries for its monopoly were non-stop, until a few generations later, when social and economic movements started slowly rising.

Official history states that the natives had peacefully “melded” with the newcomers, yet the rise of a terrifying secret society that existed long before colonization proves the opposite.

First acting as a militia, it silenced one by one every country’s official envoy and ambassador, cutting communications with the continents for years, at a time where the internet or telephones didn’t exist.

Quick and precise, they used fear, money, but also diplomacy and charismatic ideas in order to recruit people from all the factions to join their cause in unifying the island and make it as prosperous as it could be.

At wit’s end, some countries decided to use force and brought their naval armies in order to clash in a gigantic Pacific war, but the secret society was too powerful and it was a loss for every country that participated, who ended up fighting each other instead of solving the problem at its roots.

From there on, the people who claimed to be from this island weren’t French, English, Russian, etcetera, they were the people of Omond. That was their Revolution.

The secret society established the Republic, with the yet to become a megalopolis Tanumm as its capital, as their siege.

The modern Omen is very different from before the European migration and evolved into a creole with a large number of Indo-European loanwords, like the capital itself, that the newcomers named after the vast titanium deposit that lay nearby.

Nowadays, the island is a tax haven for a lot of billionaires, and with its luxuries, tropical weather and breathtaking scenery, is also considered one of the most beautiful places to go for vacations and work, becoming the top 1 most prized location for business and tourism in the world.

For this reason, and the island’s limited space to live in, the housing market skyrocketed in the last decades, making it incredibly difficult for anyone without citizenship to buy real estate.

On the other hand, the huge financial attractiveness of the island brought some modern conflicts and tensions from the different countries, especially with the new American and Chinese superpowers.

It is an enigma whether the secret society still exists, but the way some of these conflicts are mysteriously solved with very little difficulty makes me think they’re far from gone.

I close my computer as I lay deeper in my chair.

With a hand massaging the beard on my chin, and the other scrolling mindlessly on my phone, I meditate on my research.

Who could give me the information I’m looking for?

Well, I actually know someone… This woman…

But how can I ask her without her turning me down?

I need to bargain… If I have something she needs, then I might be able to trade it.

I realize her face has appeared on my phone.

My mindless scrolling had unconsciously changed into calling her.

“Ah! Ah! No! No! NONONO!”

I quickly press the “hang up” button before it starts ringing.

I don’t have anything to trade yet, so it’s too early to call her!

Even though…

I really like her…

I would kill to have a date with someone like her, such a jolly and voluptuous lady.

We only spoke a few times, but I was subjugated by her mannerism, her professionalism. She was not only charming in personality, but her body was one of an angel… No, a goddess!

Yes, with her provocative breasts and her provocative hips and her provocative smile and her provocative way of calling me worthless…

Ah, this is too much for me! I have completely fallen under that snake’s charm!

No! I need to focus!

I know exactly the way to stop thinking about that witch!

I grab my long black coat, my black leather boots and my black hat and jump outside my house.

Wearing such heavy clothes makes me sweat abundantly, on this tropical island, but I’d rather suffer than look like an idiot.

The light of morning hurts my eyes after an all-nighter, but I walk swiftly in the streets that I know, greeting the neighborhood that I love.

“Hello, Master!” Says a passerby.

“Good day to you, Sir.” I answer back with a smile.

“Good morning, Master!” Says a young lady.

“What a lovely morning it has become since I met your eyes, m’lady.” I answer back with a bow.

“Salutations, Master!” Says a little boy.

“My my, haven’t you grown up since yesterday! Here, I didn’t forget my promise.” I answer while throwing in his hands a lollipop that I hid in my hat.

After causing commotion and laughter everywhere I go, I finally reach a silent alley with nobody to greet.

I enter a small and quiet Chinese restaurant that lies there.

An old woman I know well runs it and she greets me in Mandarin when she sees me.

“It’s been a while, Master. Are you here for work?”

I remove my hat and coat that she comes to take, and answer in Mandarin as well. “No, today I come for distractions.”

“That’s good, too. I don’t need to show you the way.”

“Not that I would dislike your company, mademoiselle.” I say with a wink, but her eyes roll in disdain and she signs me to go away.

I knock at the backdoor thrice and a voice comes from behind.

“Who?”

“The Master of Romance, Langman Shi.”

The door opens to a clandestine club where a waiter guides me to a table with bottles of whiskey and coke waiting for me.

I notice a man I know, who probably spent the whole night there, is visibly drunk like hell and is laughing like a madman with a girl in each arm.

He screams in my direction: “Don’t steal all the women today, Langman Shi!”

I smile. “I won’t steal what is yours, Lianjie Shi!”

I sit at my table and start drinking.

A few girls are already surrounding me and I quickly feel like I’m in heaven.

I laugh, I shout, I cry from laughter in an unparalleled ecstasy.

Yet… I can’t remove that woman’s body out of my mind.

What has she done to me? Even though there are so many pretty girls around me, some that I can kiss and touch, some that are far gentler and sweeter than her!

I head into the bathroom and wash my face with cold water.

“What the fuck am I doing?”

I take my phone out to check the time.

I messed around for so long already, I should go to bed.

DING DING

DING DING

The picture of that woman appeared on the phone I was holding.

SHE’S CALLING ME?!

“H-hello?!” I am so surprised I burped.

“Hello Dick? I have a big problem!”

“Stop calling me Dick! I’m Master of Romance, or Langman, or just Master!”

“Never in my life will I call you Master of whatever or long man since you’re pretty short.”

“LANGMAN! IT’S CHINESE!”

“WHATEVER! I need your help now! Some members of the Triads are coming to my hideout, but I’m not there yet! I need you to stop them! I don’t want them to barge in or mess around! They have to wait ’til I get there!”

“What? Why? Who? Do you have their names?” I say while running out of the bathroom.

“I can’t tell you… Names are TIAN HUO and TIAN SHUI!”

My heart jumps. I know these guys and they’re no joke.

But this is the best opportunity I could wish for. “Hm, fine. I know them. I’ll help you but you’re going to do something for me in exchange.”

“Naturally.”

“So how about a date so we can talk about—”

“I’m sure your hands are pretty full, and I’m busy too, so see you later.”

CLIC!

She hung up.

What did she mean by ‘full’? Like my hands are full with helping her? Just giving a phone call to some subordinates isn’t that difficult.

I laugh at myself and quickly try to make contact with TIAN SHUI, the most reasonable out of the two.

“Langman Shi?”

“Oh, TIAN SHUI, I’m glad to hear you! May I ask where are you and TIAN HUO heading to?”

“We’re on a mission from Jinqian Shi’s orders. And why are you in the club at noon?”

“You disrespectful bastard, don’t speak to me like that! Wait, how do you know that?”

“I can hear the noise and music, and Lianjie Shi posted a shameful picture of you in the discussion group.”

FUCK! That means this woman heard EVERYTHING TOO! TECHNOLOGY IS TOO DAMN GOOD NOWADAYS!

“What can I say…? I love women so much…”

I’m going to beat the shit out of Lianjie Shi when this is over.

 

What I would do to my shidi

“Not now…”

I put my hand up to cover TIAN HUO’s mouth that is leaning toward me.

It’s almost time for work and we overslept.

He mumbles something unintelligible as he pushes my hand by leaning further.

His two arms are stretched out right and left of me so there is no escape from his embrace.

Our faces are only a few centimeters from each other but I don’t want to accept his kiss. My mood is always terrible when waking up.

“Fuck off.” I puff.

But he doesn’t seem willing to let go and he bites my hand with determined eyes.

“Ouch!” I spit. “Fine, you searched for it.”

While he’s still pushing my hand with more strength than before, I remove it in an instant, which makes his head fall right on top of mine.

But before it fell on my lips, I turned my face a few centimeters on the side and grabbed the back of his head with the other hand to push it to the other side.

With his face crushed on the pillow, I use it as a support to balance my body on top of his.

Thus, I am now standing on his back with great elegance.

“The Swan beats the Phoenix once again.” I smile proudly.

With his face still crushed on the pillow, he makes more muffled noises before turning his face to the side and take a breath.

This whole situation amuses me and I step on his cheek with my barefoot.

“I don’t understand a thing if you speak in the direction of the pillow!” I tease.

This show keeps going for a minute and I know from the face he makes that he’s actually enjoying it.

“Because of you we’re going to be late for the job! Don’t you think we played enough during the night, eh?”

“I apologize.” He finally lets out.

“Good.” I say before jumping off his body with a backflip and landing on the floor. “Now get ready to leave, we have a meeting with Jinqian Shi in 30 minutes.”

I grab my blue with white patterns hanfu and throw TIAN HUO his red with black patterns one.



I get dressed quickly unlike my partner’s nonchalant rhythm, and I find myself helping him wear his clothes correctly like I do every morning.

We leave our room simultaneously and head into the bathroom that gets suddenly silent and quickly empties itself the moment we enter.

I enjoy the usual liveliness of the dormitories, even though I believe sharing bathrooms is a form of evil.

“H-hey superior TIAN SHUI, superior TIAN HUO, I really need to use the bathroom now, may I go first, it’ll only take five seconds, please I beg you?!”

Eh, who is this again? Someone I don’t recognize … must be a new recruit.

His petite stature and his cute pajamas make up for his lack of manners but unfortunately for him, we can’t afford to lose a minute.

“No, you wait, we’re in a hurry.” I answer coldly.

“I-I’m really sorry but I’m about to pee on myself, I come from the East building and all the bathrooms were in use. I came all the way here and this was free—”

A rapid kick grazes his face to crash explosively in the wall.

TIAN HUO’s power and precision is thus that he shouldn’t have missed the boy, but just before the disaster happened, I pushed him away slightly with the tip of my finger so his head doesn’t get blown up by the bullet fast high-kick.

“You know, the reason why this one is empty is precisely because we’re here, every day, at this hour. Same case for the others. The only solution is to pee somewhere it won’t smell and to adapt your schedule so you don’t need to use the bathroom at this time of the day. Thank your mother that you look so cute, I wouldn’t have saved your life. Now go away, you’re wasting our time.”

Something is odd.

First of all, he doesn’t seem startled in the slightest, and secondly, he had the reaction time to raise his arms a little to defend himself.

“I’m terribly sorry for wasting your time!” He says while running out of the bathroom with eyes that didn’t show fear nor anxiety.

“This shidi is not bad…” I whisper.

After washing our faces and brushing our teeth, we head downstairs to the superior square in the dining hall.

Here we’re finally meeting with the Master of Finance.

“TIAN HUO, TIAN SHUI, are you trying to make me lose patience?” He says while sipping his cup of tea. “I did teach you that time is money, right?”

“We greatly apologize.” I say, bowing.

The Master of Finance is a scummy 80-year-old capitalist who’s only speaking about money, but elders say he’s necessary to the clan for some reason. I guess it’s impossible to survive in this world without caring about the economy.

“Your comrade is acting disrespectful by not saying it himself.” He spouts with a grin.

He knows perfectly well how proud TIAN HUO is and is messing with him on purpose.

I’m sure TIAN HUO hates him too, but he bows adding two simple words that probably cost him all his patience.

“I regret.”

“That’s good enough, let’s see what your mission is.”

Jinqian Shi puts his cup on the table and pulls a sheet of paper from his sleeve.

“After months of research, the Master of Intelligence has finally made contact with the island’s infamous secret society.”

I gulp in trepidation … this was the first step of our mission on Omond.

“But it’s almost impossible to reach the high grades right now, it’s almost like trying to have a meeting with the king of flies.” He continues. “So, the simplest method was to make them a direct request, which we did… But because of all the unknown variables and the risks we might encounter, our budget got extremely tight, so we only could afford some low rank scum. Your mission is to find out anything you can about the secret society in the next 3 months you’ll spend with those insiders.”

“That sounds like a mission the superior students of the Master of Intelligence should have taken. Why would you need superior students of the Master of Defiance?” I ask.

“That’s because if you figure out it was all a trap, or judge that you will never be able to find anything relevant, we want you to kill them, and that’s not something anyone else can do.”

“What—”

That’s crazy.

Killing insiders of the secret society after asking for their help, that would mean to declare a war…

Considering we’re on their territory, I don’t see how we’ve got any chance to win it.

“Would you consider yourself not capable of accomplishing this task, you shall both go back to the mainland to get judged for desertion.”

“This is stupid.” TIAN HUO pronounces.

I look at him with wide eyes.

“What?” Jinqian Shi coughs.

“There is no need to doubt us, TIAN SHUI and I will find everything you want to know without causing any casualty. As you elders know it, we’re the best there is. So just tell the place to go and we’ll come back to Shensu Shu with success.”

A long silence follows this terribly bold statement that makes me seriously flustered.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA! You’re the real deal, TIAN HUO! Fine! Very fine! I’ll show you where it is!”

I am relieved that Jinqian Shi didn’t take TIAN HUO’s statement wrongly. This old man slightly rises in my esteem.

“The elders said to order a cab which I was against since we’re already so tight in our budget but…”

I take the paper and put it in my sleeve, then look up the address he gave me on my phone’s GPS.

“It’s really not that far, we can walk.” I say with a shrug.

“Oh really? You’re both so young and dynamic, I fancy you guys very much!” He answers by scratching a line off his notebook.

Never mind what I said, this person still disgusts me.

“Off we go, Jinqian Shi.” I say with a bow.

I want to get away as quickly as possible.

“Good, good, make the Shensu Shu proud! And don’t forget to contact me when you get there!” He finishes with a smile.

As if! You’re the last person I’m going to warn!

And thus, we head off.

And begin a long, long walk…

The address we’re walking to is actually almost 15 km away! But I’d rather die than spend a single more minute with that creep.

Walking silently with TIAN HUO is far from being a bad feeling too.

“What a piece of shit.” He says sometimes.

“Yes, I know.” I sometimes answer.

“I should kill him.” He continues sometimes.

“No, you should not.” I sometimes respond.

While walking I enjoy checking my phone, reading what the shidi and shixiong post in the group chat, their memes are always amusing.

“Oh, TIAN HUO, check this one out!”



Then I can catch TIAN HUO laughing and that makes me happy…

BZZZ BZZZ.

“Oh, the Master of Romance is calling me… Langman Shi?”

Damn it’s noisy where he is…

“Oh, TIAN SHUI, I’m glad to hear you! May I ask where are you and TIAN HUO heading to?”

“We’re on a mission from Jinqian Shi’s orders. And why are you in the club at noon?”

“You disrespectful bastard, don’t speak to me like that! Wait, how do you know that?”

“I can hear the noise and music, and Lianjie Shi posted a shameful picture of you in the discussion group.”

“What can I say…? I love women so much…”

That’s a really pathetic answer…

“Did you need anything?”

“YES! Actually, can you two slow down? The place you’re heading to is empty right now.”

“But we’re already there. Are you sure it’s empty? There is some noise inside.”

TIAN HUO opens the main door of the building, where a truly intriguing event is currently taking place.

“What? Hello? TIAN SHUI? Are you still there??”

Before our eyes, a murder is taking place.

Right on the side of the flat on the left’s door, a woman just stabbed another person in the stomach.

And against all odds, we were not related to this crime.

 

How can this get even more confusing?

So much noise is coming from outside the flat.

I knew it was a bad idea to let the idiot open the door.

Maybe it’s some Jehovah witnesses asking for money.

Or worse, agents coming for the census of the population.

Or maybe the worst option…

Schwa forgot to pay her taxes!

She’s taking so long to come back…

Well, of course she is, that stupid girl is not supposed to be here so they must be asking her infinite questions!

This is crap, she might be saying bullshit to the federal agents!!

I walk to the lobby and try to peep at the front door.

The light of day enters through the glass doors of the building and slightly hurts my eyes so I take a few seconds to understand what’s going on.

What is that idiot doing on the floor?

And this stranger doesn’t look like a government official.

All the red flags are wavering quickly in my head and I hide myself in when my eyes almost met those of the newcomer.

What a terrifying look, that person has.

I rush to the computers’ room and barricade it with some chairs.

I still have the bunker if something happens.

I turn the camera videos on so I have a view of the outside.

It turns out the person isn’t alone but has two companions behind.

I put my headphones on.

“Schwa, can you hear me?”

“For fuck’s sake, Abhi! I’ve been trying to reach you for so long!”

“My bad, something crazy happened…”

“Me first. If she ate everything in the fridge or broke something, it can wait. For now, two people are coming to the hideout, so they might ring. Don’t open the door before I come in, act like it’s empty, okay?”

“Two? But I see three.”

“Oh my god, they’re already here? This fucking short man did nothing at all! Wait, three?”

“Yeah, and the stupid girl got stabbed.”

“SHE WHAT?!”

“She thought it was you at the door, except I told her you would never forget your keys, but she opened without thinking and now she’s on the floor losing her blood.”

“I wish I died in that building.”

“Now, now, don’t say that, look at the bright side of things, she won’t destroy our belongings, eat our food, and take hours in the bathroom trying different kinds of shampoo anymore.”

“Yeah, but she was partially responsible for our loss so I wanted to stab her myself.”

“What loss? You didn’t kill the target?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, yes, I did kill her but the client is dead. I don’t know how the agency found out but we have a corpse in our basement.”

Hearing this news, I lose strength in my neck and it can’t support my head anymore, thus falling on the table in a loud bonk.

“SO WE’VE SPENT 10 HOURS REANIMATING HIM FOR NOTHING?!”

“Don’t talk about it, I want to cry.”

“And where are you now?”

“Heading home, of course, but it will take a bit longer. What are they doing out there? Wait, are you safe right now?”

“I locked myself in the computers’ room and I’m looking at the camera. I plan to barricade myself in the basement if they enter the flat.”

“Figures, good reflexes.”

“I’m learning from the best.”

“I would have already killed them, though!”

“Yeah, you’ll have to teach me how to do that. Wait, they’re moving. It looks like they’re talking.”

“Can you hear it?”

“Only partially, it seems like the microphone is bugging or they’re messing with it somehow.”

“What do they look like?”

“One is very tall and thin, something like 180 cm, wearing a dark blue suit with a black bow tie and sunglasses that they keep on their dark curvy brown hair that is tied in a high ponytail.”

“What? That doesn’t seem like someone from the Triads.”

“That’s the one who stabbed the idiot, praise her soul, they have a simple knife in hand.”

“And what about the others?”

“They’re two men with Chinese clothes, one blue and the other red. The blue one is slightly shorter. He’s the one speaking with the stabber. They seem like they’re arguing.”

“These are from the Triads. What is the pattern on their clothes?”

“White and black clouds. The blue one has short straight black hair and a piercing on the lower lip and another on the right eyebrow. The red one has long straight black hair and eyeliner, he seems uninterested in the situation. They’re both wearing golden bracelets at their left hand.”

“Clouds… Tian… The sky. That’s the two guys who were supposed to come.”

“Ah, they started moving. The tall person seems to be menacing them with the knife.”

“I’m almost there… Abhi… What are they doing now?!”

“I-I can’t describe it with words… The time I say something, ten other things happen!”

“WHAT ARE THEY DOING?”

“They started brawling! And it’s a sight to behold!”

And now I wish I could watch this with snacks.

X​

“Hey you, what the fuck are you doing?” I ask.

The person looks at us, then at the body, then left and right before looking at us again.

“This might look like something it is not.”

I can’t tell their gender based on voice, clothes or body shape.

“You’re literally holding the weapon of crime.” I say while pointing at the knife dripping with blood that they’re holding tight.

“She’s not dead, don’t worry, I never miss.” They say with a shrug.

I approach slowly after giving a look to my partner.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Come with me.”

“No, please, don’t call the authorities!”

“I won’t do that, I just want to ask you some questions.”

I know TIAN HUO is waiting for my signal to engage.

I try to reach for their shoulder but they answer with a slash.

Of course, I avoided it.

“Are you trying to make it worse?” I ask.

“Please understand, I hate being touched.”

“Who is this?”

“My little sister.”

“Why is she lying on the floor?”

“I stabbed her.”

“Why did you stab your sister?”

“She was being disobedient.”

“Is this a valid reason to commit a crime?”

This dialogue makes me remember the shidi I bullied during my time at Shensu Shu…

Actually, I feel like I’m not legitimate at all to ask this question!

“You have to beat reason into these children.”

“Are you going to leave her to die?”

“Of course not, I would already be saving her if you didn’t interrupt.”

“Then, let me look at it.”

I bow to have a look at the girl’s wound, yet at that moment, I feel the knife scratch my cheek.

“Don’t fucking lay your hands on my sister.” They spit with a terribly serious look in their eyes.

With the few seconds I could observe their sister, I can tell they look related.

I put a hand on my cheek and notice that a slight line of blood appeared.

“So, you didn’t choose diplomacy, then we will save your complaint in the grievance book.”

At this signal, TIAN HUO jumps at the opponent with a bullet-fast punch.

What I expected to be finished with a blow, seems like it will take far longer.

The enemy not only avoided it but found the time to scratch his arm while he was retracting it.

In a single moment, we both noticed.

It’s been a while we haven’t fought an opponent like that.

“I didn’t know this island counted people this talented.” I say with a smug.

“Oh please, I’m just a normal citizen.” They shrug in return.

My partner and I look at each other and in perfect rhythm, the choreography begins.

Jumping, kicking, catching and throwing each other with great speed and power, we try landing blows one after the other, yet none of them reaches their target.

So frustrating.

Considering their frail body, if only one blow could hit our target, they would be done.

How long has this person trained to be able to match some of the Shensu Shu’s best fighters?

In the middle of a battle, I hear them humming.

It’s like they’re making a melody from the combat.

Little by little, they stop just avoiding our blows, as if they got used to our rhythm, they start being able to scratch us with their knives between our moves.

Some kind of hit-and-run.

Completely overwhelmed, I try out synchronizing myself from TIAN HUO.

When he tried a kick, I waited for half a second before following up with a palm blow.

And that miraculously worked.

My palm hit their torso, breaking their momentum.

For the next few seconds, they shouldn’t be able to breathe.

“NOW!”

TIAN HUO hits their legs and they fall head on the ground.

But when I get closer and crouch to see if they’re unconscious, they jump on me and put their knife under my throat.

Incredible, they still have the strength to keep on.

“Please stop. I don’t wish to kill you, we have questions to ask.” I speak.

Yet their evil smirk didn’t leave their face and their knife pushes my skin slightly but strongly.

“What the fuck are you doing, you motherfuckers?”

Some woman’s voice rises from behind us.

I sigh. Another problem.

“Who are you?” Asks TIAN HUO.

If he’s speaking, that means this person is not anybody.

I give a look behind my back while trying not to get my throat sliced.

A busty woman with white hair is pointing some kind of monstrous gun at us.

“I’m your bodyguard, gentlemen of the Triads. What kind of fucking mess are you doing in here?!”

Wondering how to explain the situation, the knife menacing me suddenly gets away.

“Hahahaha, I give up, I give up.”

That person who was so difficult to reason with suddenly raises their hands in defeat.

Their eyes seem to shine with a new light.

“And who the hell are you?” She asks.

“I’m this girl’s dear sister, coming to take her back… And who are you?”

“I… I’m this girl’s kidnapper.”

How can this get even more confusing??

 

SIRONA

EPISODE 7: SISTER



“I… I’m this girl’s kidnapper.”

Am I fucking stupid? Why did I say that??

I had to think of something really quickly and this person presented themselves through the idiot, so I felt like responding by presenting myself through the idiot too.

But what am I to her? What kind of relationship do we have? How do I explain this?!

I remember the face she made when I woke her up that day.

When I thought about why she never went back to her home, it occurred to me that maybe, she didn’t want to go back.

She needed an excuse not to go back…

She was probably happy, in those few days away from her responsibilities. Maybe it felt like holidays.

Our harsh and cruel way of life was, for her, escapism from reality.

So, the reality she lives in is far worse than any of that.

And now she’s dying because she couldn’t run away from it forever.

But to me, it didn’t seem like she deserves to die.

Yes, she was clumsy, egoistic, nasty, loud, messy, scruffy, silly and troublesome.

Actually, I can’t think of a single redeeming quality!

But the time we spent together was incredibly fun!

It’s not like the time I spent alone with Abhi was boring, but it wasn’t always as lively.

Abhi never spoke to anyone but me before, and seeing him make a friend for the first time truly brightened my heart.

She also has some incredible skills, she did her job almost perfectly despite all the danger.

So, when I see her lying there, I can’t help but feel irritated.

We spent a short time together but we faced death alongside and despite all the bad mannerism, that makes us comrades.

And what kind of comrade am I if I were to let her die in front of me?!

If someone is trying to take a comrade away, be it their family or anyone, I’d be happy to take on her burden.

I don’t care if I make more enemies, what is one more when you’re one of the most wanted women on the planet?

She’s looking for an excuse to stay? Fine, I’ll be that excuse.

Yes, I personally kidnapped this girl and won’t ever let someone take her back.

At least until the day she leaves by herself…

“So, you’re the snake I’ve heard about…” The sister answers.

“Call me ARTEMIS.” I hiss, then point at the Chinese. “And you two, help me carry her inside.”

“I’m sorry?” The red one says.

“Are you deaf? You help me carry the dying girl inside so I can save her!”

“Not that fast, there is one word we—” Continues the blue one until he gets interrupted by the sister.

The Triads members proceed to carefully carry DIANA inside, making sure not to hurt her.

What the fuck?

“You can speak Chinese?” I look at her in disbelief.

I kind of expected her to be as useless as her little sister.

“How do you think we argued all this time? They can barely speak Omen.”

This gives me a glimpse of how difficult my new mission is going to be.

What a headache…

“I hope you don’t plan to leave after all the mess you caused. You come in too.” I say while pointing to the entrance with Gandiva.

“I just waited for you to invite me.” She grins and enters.

It’s quiet inside, and I don’t see the two guys from the lobby.

Abhi is smart so he probably showed them the way to the basement.

“Have a seat.” I say while showing her the living room.

I exceptionally don’t remove my boots because I might want them if I need to smash that girl’s teeth.

She sighs and drops herself on the sofa, lying on the back.

They are truly sisters…

I get inside the open kitchen and start boiling water.

“Tea, coffee?” I ask.

“Tea.”

“I have green or black.”

“Green.”

“Eh, pathetic.” I puff.

“What?”

“The better is black.”

“I don’t think so. Black’s taste is too strong.”

“That means you’re not strong enough.” I shrug.

She becomes silent.

“Give me black.” She finally spits.

“I knew you would say that, so I already made two.” I smile and put two mugs of black tea on the living room’s low table.

“You actually don’t have any green tea, do you?”

“I don’t.” I say, laughing.

She decides to stop lying on the sofa and sit up straight. She puts one leg on top of the other, and starts sipping like a dignified person.

Afterward, she looks at me into the eyes with a smile that would make anyone shiver.

“So, what are you doing with my sister?”

“Right now? Keeping her alive.”

“Not right now, all the time.”

I sip.

“All the time, I keep her alive. And I’m pretty sure I do a better job at that than you… How should I call you? Sister? No, that sounds ridiculous…”

“I’m SIRONA.”



“And what are you doing with your sister, SIRONA?”

“I keep her alive.”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“Do I need to show you a recording of all the times I fed her and washed her shit?”

“Do you actually have a recording of that? Are you bragging for something any sibling should do?”

She falls silent.

“You know, I’m not the best person there is, but I’m pretty sure you’re being abusive. Did you educate her like that? Where are your parents?”

“Don’t speak to me like I’m a child.”

“You’re pretty much acting like one.”

Her smirk finally fades for a few seconds.

“I don’t know what your circumstances are but you’re an adult and your sister is an adult too, so you shouldn’t force her to stay with you if she doesn’t want to. And you shouldn’t stab her because she’s not obeying you like a dog.” I continue.

When I thought I could beat reason upon her, the smirk comes back.

“How bold, from someone who sequestrates a child and kidnaps someone else’s sister.” She spits.

My heart jumps.

“What the fuck did you just say?”

“Do you think I don’t know everything you just said? You don’t know our circumstances, that’s perfectly exact, and … how unexpected! They are special! Did you think nobody has told me that?” She starts taking a higher pitch voice to imitate me. “‘Oh no SIRONA! Don’t punch your sister! Oh no SIRONA! Don’t call her dumb a trillion times! She will end up believing it!’” She takes her normal voice back. “She is, by all means, my thing, my property, my sister, not yours, not anyone else’s, she’s mine and I can do all I want with my sister. I can stab her, I can shoot her, I can bury her, I can drown her, I can kill her, and I can kill you if you think you can take her from me.”

This show of madness makes me want to puke.

“You’re fucked in the head.” I articulate.

I bite my lower lip in anger.

So, this is the kind of person you lived with…

“Are you going to give me back my sister?” She asks.

You don’t deserve a sister like that.

“I won’t.” I answer.

So, I won’t go back on my thoughts.

I have already vowed that I would defend her.

And this utterly despicable person gives me all the reasons not to stop.

If I wasn’t entirely convinced yet, I’m now resolved to do it.

“You are enticed by law to give her back to me. I can call the authorities on you.”

“I can’t wait to tell the authorities all the bad treatments you gave her.”

“You can’t prove anything.”

“Her body is a proof, you degenerate.”

“So, what about I tell the authorities you keep a tiban in return?”

I finally lose it and aim for her jaw with a kick.

She unfortunately expected it and keeps smirking with the top of her head just a few millimeters under my leg.

“So what? The topic is getting heated?” She laughs.

Yes, this has gone too far.

I want to kill her so much, but I need to calm down.

I actually don’t know DIANA’s take on the situation yet.

I shouldn’t kill her before I have all the information I need.

I step on the low table to close the distance between us and pull her up by the bow tie.

“This is the last time I catch you speaking about either of them. Get the fuck out of my home before I obliterate you and your freaking irritating smile.”

“Can’t wait to see you try. You seemed more competent than the two Jet Li.”

I let her go so she can walk away.

“Your home looks pretty comfy. I’m sure she must have enjoyed it.”

“She has.”

“Tell her not to eat too much junk food, and not to watch too much anime.”

I clench my fist.

The fact she seems almost really caring sometimes makes it so much more painful.

I open the front door.

I wish she simply walked away without raising more conflict, but she suddenly turns around and started shouting toward the inside of the flat.

“REMEMBER WHERE YOU CAME FROM, AND I WILL SAVE YOU!”

She finally walks away with a smile, and murmurs: “I always did.”