As soon as Mike chose to proceed, the Sun went down in an instant. His vision went blurry for a second. Mike blinked; and to his surprise, a message popped on his bubble-"Night Vision: activated". He can now see everything even in this pitch black environment."I feel like a superhero, holy shit"- Mike giggled with joy. "What else can i do"- he thought. He looked around to see if he can access his player description menu or something that can tell him about his abilities. "It should be somewhere around here; my palm... No, its a notification screen, maybe left palm? Weapon selection; huhh, interesting!!" Mike tried to open the menu. But unfortunately for him, he didn't have any. "Maybeeeee, Hey Google; open menu.... god I'm stupid, it's not the real world"- Mike said in an annoyed tone."Try asking for what you want, maybe you'll get it"
"Aaahhh, WTF!!! Trish; oh sorry chief, whacha doin here?"- Mike was visibly scared of Trish's sudden appearance, but quickly composed himself to look cool infront of her."Say MENU to see the menu, or stats for stats"- Trish said while opening a soda can.Mike couldn't stop blushing infront of her, he tried to sound heavy and masculine; but instead whimpered- "Menu". His stats are all in front of him now, Speed- 270 MPH Agility - Level 1 Endurance - Level 1 Strength - Level 1 Mood- Ecstatic Facial expressions- Blushing "Blushing huh"- Trish took a dig at him. Mike clenched his jaws in an attempt to control his expression, and said- "I'm not blushing, this code is glitchy; that doc told me". "Oh sure, the code"- Trish smiled "So, you're a runner; like Matt?" She took a chug from her drink. "Everyone told me I'm, I don't even know what it means"- Mike sat down beside her. "It means you can run at very high speeds, even underwater. You can scale buildings or mountains in few seconds; and you can reach stratosphere just by jumping"- Trish explained. "So, Matt can do all these? Crazy stuff"- Mike was in a awe. "When did I say that Matt can do all these?"- Trish looked confused. "You just said runners can do all these stuff right? So Matt is the only runner beside me"- Mike said. "Gameboy, you didn't listen properly. This is one of the three bases of Trident. Trident is a zone, there are 33 zones in this whole world. Each zone has multiple bases and with hundreds of runners and medics and techies or chiefs; it's arrogant to think that we're the only ones."- Trish said. "What? How big is this place"- Mike jolted up on his feet. "Sit down honey, your BP will rise; and Trish, get back to your tent, take your meds and sleep. It's already a miracle that you survived the last Huzilla encounter, don't push your luck anymore "- Becky ordered from inside the med bay. "Go to your tent kiddo, it's late" This order was for Mike. He asked-"My tent? Where is my tent"? "Just ask for it sweetheart"- Becky said while zipping her tent close. "Umm okay, TENT"- Mike screamed. "Yeah scream louder, they didn't hear you properly"-someone said annoyingly from inside a tent. Mike didn't bother replying to that, he turned back; and surely enough, there was indeed a tent behind him. He went inside, zipped the tent and started thinking about this whole crazy day. "They're asleep, sir". "All of them? Even that bitch?". "Yes sir, Trish is also asleep". "And the new kid? How's he doing ". "To be honest sir, I don't think that he'll survive; maybe we made a mistake putting him in". "You don't get paid to think sergeant, I do; cus that's my job". "Sorry sir". Door creeked and opened. It's breezing outside. A man in his thirties lit up a ciggerate. The smoke is getting mixed with the stench of alcohol. The city of Guangzhou is sleeping peacefully. A police siren can be heard deep inside the city. West bank of The Pearl River is now deserted. "I didn't said anything sir, trust me; I'm loyal to this organisation sir. Please believe me". "Oh I trust you, but I don't like the fact that I found a pendrive full of blueprints from your apartment. You know blueprints, like blue-prints, like naked maps of sorts". "Sir, I do know what a blueprint is. But I didn't do anything with them. It was just a copy. I know nothing. Sir I've been loyal to you for 23 years, and I'm getting tortured in return?". The man saw all this. It looks like an interrogation; more like a torture to be honest. Because the alleged accused was hung by his toenails. His cries were muffled by the sound of the river. The mystery man went ahead, he had to do something. He puffed a long drag from his cigarette. "Don't worry, I'll save you from this torture". He picked up a jerry can from which was laying infront of him. Poured it over the hanging man, and threw his cigarette on him. "Listen up everyone, meet me at the headquarters, tomorrow 0900 hours, it's urgent; whoever takes a sick day tomorrow; will have to answer to me directly". It's getting very late in the night. A flame can be seen burning on the west bank. The city is asleep. A police siren can be heard in the distance.