It was on.
Asher didn't know why Boris was so familiar with guns, and right now, he didn't care.
He took his own rifle, firing a test shot at the tiny dot in the distance.
But since his vest was deactivated, nothing came from his attempt. Asher could only hide behind a building, chuckling beneath his breath.
The premise had changed into one of predator and prey. His vest's light blinked blue, and the game proceeded.
Using his vest's limitations, he popped his head out of the corner, looking for any sign of the boy.
He cast his gaze to the building that Boris was before, but the boy was nowhere to be seen.
A game of cat and mouse.
Asher lightened his breath, scaling the walls of a building next to him. He lay on top of the roof, peering down at the sprawling maze of buildings below.
There! A rustle of brownish red beneath the neon-black background alerted Asher of the boy's presence. Asher gulped. Only a second passed, but Boris had already crept up so close to him, just underneath the building he was lying on.
In complete silence, as well.
That meant the boy crossed over two hundred feet of terrain in the time it took Asher to climb a single wall.
Just who was this boy?
Asher lowered his gun silently, breathing through his mouth so softly that he could only hear his heartbeat.
Lining his eyes with the rifle's sight, Asher pulled the trigger-
With cat-like instinct, Boris rolled to the side. He whipped his head to meet Asher's eyes with a wolfish smirk.
"Damn!" Asher exclaimed, dashing backward to leap off the building, plummeting thirty feet down to the ground.
He rolled safely to the floor, but not before another beeping noise came from his vest. Boris had shot Asher as he was in midair.
"Gotta do better than that!" Boris laughed, allowing Asher to escape and reactivate his vest.
Asher ran like his life depended on it, hiding in a small crack inside a building's wall. From this, he knew that Boris was no ordinary individual. Was he a Fixer like him?
He took this moment of respite to calm his breathing. A smile surfaced on his face as he marvelled just how fun this 'laser tag' was. Even though he was losing badly, having this pumping adrenaline while still knowing he wasn't in real danger was quite an enjoyable experience.
His mind raced to develop any sort of plan that might work against Boris.
Asher hid inside the shadow of the building's crack.
Since Boris was the one actively looking for him, it wasn't long before he passed by the crack Asher was hiding in.
He waited until the boy's back faced away from him, before pulling the trigger-
*Beep Beep*
'Huh? The trigger didn't fire?' His vest flashed red, and his rifle deactivated before he could pull the trigger.
"You're good at hiding, but your intent leaks too easily!" Boris called out some advice as Asher fled the scene to recover.
As Asher ran, he mulled over what Boris said. Intent? Was this why the boy could predict all of Asher's moves, even though Asher wasn't at any physical disadvantage? And even though he was facing away from him?
He leaped to the roof of the building, distractedly mumbling beneath his breath.
"Intent, intent... What does that even mean?" How could anyone sense intention?
...
Boris vaulted over a piece of rubble, laughing to himself.
"I'm sure he's suspicious by now. Heh." One of Boris's pupils narrowed to a sharp pinpoint, letting out a quiet clicking noise similar to a camera shutter. It rolled to the back of his brain, showing a pale white where his pupils should have been. It locked onto Asher's heat signature a dozen meters away.
Dammit, he forgot his sunglasses.
"Though, I don't see why Capo Stella is so interested in him. Just another Grade 7. And hell, this place is so backwater... I've no idea why Master sent me here."
The boy subconsciously brought his hands to the skull on his shirt, lacing his fingers together. Thinking about this region's subpar Capos, he scoffed.
This region really was the weakest of Section 12's.
In his own region, he wouldn't even dare think about these thoughts.
Boris shivered as he thought about the Capos he was aquainted with.
...
Asher panted, accepting the water bottle Boris handed to him. The boy grinned, shooting a glance at the final scoreboard on a screen outside the arena.
Since it was only about fifteen minutes, Asher didn't have enough time to be destroyed completely.
At least, that's what he wanted to tell himself.
'672-0'
About thirty points were awarded for each shot. Asher got shredded to pieces, no exaggeration.
Asher chalked it up to his unfamiliarity with guns, and that was partially true. The two of them were similar in strength, after all, at least from what Asher could see.
So he had to ask a question.
"Hey, what Grade are you? You're really strong..." The score couldn't lie to Asher, no matter how hard he tried to look at it in a good light.
Every single action he made was countered effortlessly by the boy, to a point where Asher wasn't even mad. He was just impressed.
Boris glanced at him distastefully, refusing to answer his question.
Asher interpreted the silence in a different way.
'Probably 6 or something. Is this the difference between ranks? He could predict all of my actions, like Salvador on steroids.' Asher knew his comparison was faulty, due to how much Salvador was holding back that time, but Boris truly was on a different level compared to himself.
Boris coughed.
"Yo, let's go somewhere else! I wanna see the other floors too."
"Huh- Oh, sure. Where to?"
Asher stood up, allowing Boris to take the lead. However, they both knew which floor they were going to.
"Let's go to the 'movie theater', a floor up from here. I heard that pretty much only Nest folk get to use them; the Sottocapo of this place must've spent a lot of effort into bringing it here. Would be a shame not to see what it was."
Sottocapo Kalo, Boris thought. The grizzled Sottocapo was another veteran of the fabled Smoke War.
Even though the Smoke War was fought only a few years before he was born, Boris had heard all too many legends of the all-encompassing smoke that engulfed the entire City for entire months on end.
Whole populations were culled. Entire Wings were torn from the heavens. Even his Master held great respect for Sottocapo Kalo, a man who succeeded in a time when most cowered for their lives. His Master's respect naturally transformed into his own.
"Ah-" Asher made a noise of surprise as they intercepted with his Fixers on the way to the elevator. "Hey guys! You're planning on leaving too?"
Instead of answering him immediately, Aiko pulled out a plastic card from her pocket. It was a card for storing all the points from the arcade games they played.
"Two thousand~ Should be enough for a big prize! How many did you get??" Aiko, Pete and Mangchi seamlessly merged with their group, also heading to the elevator.
Boris butted in before Asher could speak.
"Hah! Screw that; we had a gunfight in the laser tag arena!"
"Who are you, brat?" Aiko glared at the misfit kid, who was perhaps even shorter than Pete.
Boris froze.
"Brat? Heh."
The boy subconsciously brought his hands to the skull on his shirt, fitting a nonexistent set of brass knuckles on his fingers.
"You're with Asher? Are you Grade 7 as well?" Boris's tone turned icy.
The implied words were obvious.
'Don't open your mouth if you aren't Grade 7.'
Rules in the Thumb were quite simple.
Absolute respect and deference for the ranks above. As a Soldato, that meant treating every Capo as if they were your father, and every Sottocapo as if they were your ancestor.
Same went for Fixers. No Soldato would ever talk back to a Fixer above Grade 6.
But for those under Grade 7?
If a Fixer below Grade 7 didn't respect a Soldato...
Punishment. They disrespected a rank above theirs.
The Thumb's higher ups mostly left Kalo to his own devices, hence the difference in attitude in this region.
In the other regions, such disrespect would have long been uprooted.
The atmosphere turned frigid.
Mangchi hid his friends behind his arm, letting out a deep growl. It sounded more like a whimper.
Boris blinked as he separated his hands, his motions mimicking the removal of brass knuckles. This simple, habitual movement cut through the tension in the air like a blade.
The Sottocapo of this region was not Master. It was Kalo.
"...I will not question his wishes."
Suddenly, Aiko was able to breathe again.
The hair on her arm rose as she lost the will to talk back.
Mangchi gulped, recognizing the boy's subconscious movements. Just how many times had the boy put those metal knuckles on, for the movements to be entirely of muscle memory? To the point where merely mimicking the movements chilled the air?
"My name's Boris. A pleasure to meet you three."
"Er, yeah..." Mangchi shook the boy's hand, and shot a glance at his friends behind him to not speak up. Just who did Asher rope in this time?
Soon, Boris became acquainted with each of their names. Now that he had seen Asher, there was no need to stay here.
And hanging out with these three nobodies would leave a bad taste in his mouth.
"Aight Asher, see ya later. Enjoy yourselves." The boy exited on an elevator without them. All of them were still trying to process what happened.
"O-Okay... How about we stay here for a bit?"
Asher broke the silence with a nervous titter. For some reason, Boris's general aura unsettled him.
His Fixers nodded, following him back into the Arcade.
"Hey, Asher, is he another person that you and Captain know?"
Mangchi blinked as Asher shook his head, denying it.
"I just met him today, right after you guys left. He doesn't seem like a bad person, just a little mysterious. And crazy strong."
They nodded. Right, it wasn't like Captain and Asher were all-omniscient or all-powerful, no matter how much they seemed like it.
Asher gestured to a machine nearby, asking how it operated.
...
Soon Asher also racked up an inordinate amount of points, from a multitude of different machines. He did the best on the hoop machines, courtesy of a good throwing arm.
His nerves calmed down somewhat as he gripped the point card the front counter Soldato gave him.
They had been playing for a few hours now, and there were still machines that they hadn't tried out, but they were ready to move onto the next floor.
More and more people began to enter the floor as the day approached noon.
Gazing down the elevator hallway, Asher couldn't help but feel slightly unsettled as he remembered Boris's attitude.
The tension with the boy and his Fixers was almost like a sign of what was to come, a sign that not all was as it seemed with this place.
Who was Boris, and why did he have a bad feeling about him?
Asher's instincts told him that the boy was someone special.
...
*Ding!*
What floor were they on now?
The one with the 'movies theatre'. A sign on the side helpfully told them of their position on floor five.
The heavy aroma of butter, salt, and sugar penetrated their senses. Asher and his Fixers fell into a near trance as they took a deep whiff of the heavy, almost foreign smell.
Although he ate breakfast only a few hours ago, Asher felt his mouth wetting slightly.
Even so, he first pulled out his phone, waiting beside the elevators. Mei, he had a feeling that he wanted Mei to be here with him.
"Mei, what floor are you on right now? Come to floor five!"
...The 'movies' ended up being fairly unremarkable.
The five of them sat in a row, clutching bags filled with fluffy and crunchy clouds, coated with liquid butter. Beside them were cups of cold juice that hurt their mouths with bubbles whenever they took a sip.
No, it was only the movie itself that was unremarkable; the food was absolutely outstanding.
They had taken five tickets for a showing of "The Seventh Prince".
The details were unimportant, but considering what they all went through, it just wasn't that interesting. This was what the Nest enjoys? How mundane.
And at the last scene, the last kiss, all they could remember from the experience was the wonderful flavors of popcorn and soda.
"Hey Mei, what were you doing when we were on the fourth floor?" Asher picked out the kernels between his teeth as he asked.
She pointed up.
"Their massage really was something~ I haven't felt this energetic in years!"
Aiko's eyes lit up.
Another split occurred. Not due to any tension or dislike, but simply because each person wanted to experience a different part of this inordinately large party. Even Pete, Mangchi, and Aiko, who Asher had never seen apart, ever, agreed to walk their own paths.
The place seemed safe enough that they all felt comfortable going on their own, even Mei.
No, actually, not Mei.
She had done everything she wanted to do, and now she simply planned to follow Asher around.
Though the massage was enjoyable, it made Mei realize that being with Asher was quite pleasant as well.
"Okay. Let's meet up at the top floor, okay? Just come up whenever you want. I think Mei and I will go straight up." Asher looked beside him, and it seemed like Mei had no complaints.
Pete and Aiko nodded, splitting off to head to the elevators.