Today I have suffered I massive blow.
I ordered the classic Ken7ucky chicken, a whole bucket of it, but when it arrived, it was the wrong order...
I sadly had to sit through and eat that saddening piece of crispy chicken, unsatisfied as it wasn't the one I desired.
As I gnawed at the bones that I didn't want, I sadly committed an atrocity and left it aside.
In the end, I passed the rest of it to my family, who gladly ate it, but I now remain hungry...
Aside from that, enjoy the chapter.
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/A few seconds after Dale left the underground garage…/
A man walked out from behind one of the columns…
He was wearing a black coat that went all the way to his legs and covered a portion of his neck as well, black leggings, and black shoes.
He had a mask on his face, covering his jaw and nose, and also a pair of black sunglasses that seemed to glow in faint blue light from time to time.
His face had a long scar from his forehead to his nose, passing through the middle of his eyes, although that was fairly hard to see in the dark.
After making sure there was no one else around, he started walking out of his hiding spot.
"Brime Prime, reporting. Over." He suddenly said in a low and deep tone
As he talked, he approached the broken concrete block on the ground, crouching near it.
'It's as if this cement block was hit by a heavy caliber.'
His brows sharpened, and his expression became tense.
'A portion of the cement got pulverized, the block itself did not resist and broke into 3 big pieces and the area of impact got shattered into... Many more.'
"I can hear you loud and clear, did something happen inside? Over." Replied an old voice
"Yes, Prime-Omega has left Zone-Ht, likely making his way towards Zone-Hn…Over."
As he said that, he started to collect samples of the stone, grabbing a few pieces and putting them inside a small plastic sack.
But he was smiling slightly if that could be seen at all under his mask.
'It hasn't even been a day... Looks like my deployment wasn't for nothing this time.'
'What an interesting kid...'
"What? So suddenly… This is unlike the reports, it just had to be now of all time. Over."
"I likely know the reason for that… I'll be sending in the recording I made of this event, I can't quite put it into words, albeit I'm sure you understand once you see it. Over."
'Sorry kid, but orders are orders...'
"Understood… I have received and confirmed your recording Brime Prime. Over."
"..."
The man remained in silence as he looked at the cement block.
"I'll be now relaying your new orders, stay put and continue protecting Zone-H, but be ready to move out in case of an emergency. Over."
"Understood, orders received. Brime Prime moving out. Over." The man said as he got up from the ground
He turned around and walked into a maintenance staff door, disappearing deeper into the apartment complex.
'We'll meet one day... Prime-Omega... Dale Houston.'
'For now, I'll make sure your parents... Are safe and sound.'
…
/At the same time, somewhere nearby…/
In a dark room, the man on the other side of the call sharpened his eyes as he heard Prime Brime last words.
"Hm…"
'That boy didn't move at all for the past few hours, only once leaving… Why did he have to move now?...'
'The perimeter is still being secured, and our security net has been breached.'
'It's too risky for him to be outside... Will I have to move and completely break the agreement?'
'No, under any circumstances, I cannot move, worst comes to worst I may have to spend a considerable amount of resources to fully employ "them"...'
'Even if I have to pay a hefty fine for breaking the agreement... Dammit it all, if this had happened back in Japan, it would've been fine, but I'm on American soil right now.'
"Is something bothering you sir?" Asked the assistant as she poured him some coffee
"Yes, that boy has started to move."
"You mean Prime-Omega?" She asked surprised
"Who else?"
"Please sir… Stick with the codenames…" She replied annoyed
She then turned her head to the side, gazing at the outside through the window...
"But if he has started to move… We'll have to set up a Squad to tail him…"
"No." The old man said as he grabbed a small tablet, downloading the video he just received
'The Squads would be incapable of trailing behind him without him noticing.'
'If his senses are as high as I predicted, we may suffer a backlash from him.'
"So what should I do sir?"
"Have a small team of our most silent scout tail him from far away."
He pulled a chair from the side and sat on it as he played the recording.
"Then sir, if something happens, we may not be quick enough to react…"
But she suddenly stopped talking, paying attention to the recording…
"Is this?..."
"The video recording Brime Prime just sent me."
She saw the perspective of a man going silently behind a young man…
He was always 10M behind him, no more, no less.
The young man seemed oblivious to his existence, which was strange, considering how cautious he was being...
Eventually, the young man went underground, grabbed a cement block, and…
"?! It can't be…" She said ghastly
"..."
While the assistant face became pale, the old man remained serious…
Once the video ended, he got up from his chair and said:
"As you can see, he won't need our help, instead, prioritize remaining unseen, this is the most important thing to pay attention to."
'I won't commit their mistake, I promised this to myself.'
'Now more than ever, I have confirmed what I came here to do, and learned that I was wrong…'
'He may be more than what I can handle... The first "Adapter" of this generation.'
His face turned to the only window of the room.
He smiled widely and said:
"We cannot afford to lose ground this time."
"?!"
These words rang deep in the woman's mind.
'He is… Taking this situation this seriously?...'
'Someone who has maintained a neutral position for the past 5 decades… Will he finally break it this time?...'
'I knew this time was coming… But to be so soon…'
She turned to look at the tablet, thinking about what she saw.
'It isn't purely due to him… But he is the spark he was looking for…'
She shook her head.
'That is irrelevant now.'
"Understood sir, I'll make it happen." She said with a nod
She turned around and started to relay orders in front of a computer while the Old man sat on a small couch, thinking deeply as he drank his warm coffee.
"This time, it looks like things are going to escalate further than what I'm capable of handling."
'It's time to pull some strings, it's sooner than I predicted, but it doesn't matter, I never did this with the profits in mind.'
'My son… I'll have to contact him soon. He'll need any help he can get if we want everything to pass by smoothly.'
'Especially when his children have their own set of problems…'
'One is childish, but that is mostly due to her not understanding the scale of things at play, she has what it takes to carry on, but I'm getting tired from trying to set her at the right course…'
'While the other one is… A disappointment to say the least… No, that's too harsh.'
'The right description would be… Someone who does not understand how incapable they are, yet try to act as if they are…'
'He thinks he's something with that little club of his… His naivety needs to be fixed. His ignorance isn't a problem, but his arrogance is.'
'But then, without that, what does he have?... Perhaps he himself understands that, and is trying his best to turn that into his own strength actively.'
'He wants recognition, but he won't find any from his blockhead of a father and brute mother... While he is too afraid to come to me, once again due to that blockhead of a father.'
'I cannot even begin to imagine what that son of mine is passing through trying to deal with those two...'
"What a troubling scenario." He mumbled to himself
'At least I can think of some ways to fix his behavior… But for that bratty girl…'
'The only way I can think of to fix her attitude would be to tell her what's at stake…'
He shook his head.
'It's too soon to introduce her into this…'
'But if I don't do so, how am I supposed to have her work and try her best?...'
The old man thought and thought until he remembered her request.
'If I can't have her protect herself… Then I just need her to stay next to people that can do that for her…'
'If I'm lucky, she may end up getting some motivation from all of this.'
He nodded to himself.
'Looks like it's the only way.'
"Would she change if she got herself a boyfriend?" The old man asked himself ironically
'Sigh...'
He turned to look at the young lady next to him, that was currently talking nonstop.
"Larissa, pass me my international cellphone, I need to call someone." He said with a small smile
…
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Notes