Chapter 3: Arrest
The figure quietly looked at the police vehicles that stopped in front of him. Groups of cold faced police officers looked at him with piercing cold eyes.
Dressed in cool looking armor, with a design of blue, red and black colours that looked aesthetically pleasing to the eye and a holster that each held a gun of some sort on their waists, the police radiated an intimidating aura.
The word "police" was beautifully printed on the backs of the armor in a milky white colour as the ranks of each officer was attached to the left arms of the armor in a dark purple red theme.
All in all, with their imposing demeanor, the police looked like people one would not easily provoke, and yet the figure was calm, unfazed even, as he stared at them with blue lights.
"I will only say this once more. It would be in your best interest if you were to lay down your weapons and surrender." The husky voice spoke again, this time from one of the cars in the lead, as an imposing man alighted from the car.
He was a Caucasian male, about 30 to 35 years old, with spiky blonde hair and a rough looking face. He stood at least 6ft tall and possessed a buff physique. With an imposing aura and a heavy frown on his face, he calmly looked at the figure.
"And why should I do that?" The robotic voice said stoically.
"Do not try to play games with us. Now get on your knees, discard any weapons you have on your possession and calmly, quietly put your hands behind your head." The man roughly spoke.
"It's all good that you're trying to protect the safety of the city and all...but I'm gonna have to say...no. Sorry." The figure said as his figure briefly flashed.
"Shit! He's trying to escape! Open fire! Shoot this motherf**ker!" Another high ranking officer said, as glowing blue lights shot at the figure's direction.
An inconspicuous officer's eyes suddenly glowed as a red mark appeared on the figure's back. The figure suddenly sensed something, and smiled underneath his mask.
"Sorry I can't stay around and play with you guys right now. See ya later. Hope you'll be more of a challenge by then. Ciao!" The figure's silhouette disappeared as his voice drifted into their ears.
"Dammit! He escaped! What do we do now boss?" The Caucasian male said as he opened the rear door of the vehicle, while a female figure alighted from it.
A petite female was seen, with red hair, red sclera and dark purple irises on her face. She had a confident demeanor as she calmly peered at her surroundings. She frowned.
"There's nothing much we can do at this point. Get Mr. Romanov's body to the forensics to see if we can get any data on our killer. And notify his family. Oh, and do inform me if that guy shows up again." She said calmly. Her voice was cool, like a spring breeze and it made others feel more comfortable around her.
The Caucasian male nodded.
"Alright boys, you heard the lady! Get things going and let's bounce." He shouted.
The police quickly carried the corpse into one of the vehicles as they departed from the area, rendering the somewhat busy place silent.
About roughly an hour later, a silhouette arrived at the scene. This person's figure had faint red sparks trailed behind him as he calmly surveyed the place. Nodding his head slightly, he took out a strange watch shaped device as he unhurriedly tapped on it a few times.
Five seconds later, the holographic image of a man in a black suit with a golden necktie firmly tied into a Windsor knot appeared on the air above the device.
"What happened? Did you make it in time?" The man with the suit asked faintly.
"No. I didn't manage to make it in time." The figure answered lazily.
It seemed as if the man with the necktie was ready for that answer as he nonchalantly waved his hand.
"Alright. By the way, did you find anything? And what has become of the target?" He inquired.
"No, it seemed the item was not in his possession. Plus, the target is dead. It seemed like someone else did the job." The figure replied.
"Hmm. I see, no matter. He was of no use to us anyway. And the police?"
"Didn't spot them here."
"Ok. Report back to base. We have to get that item as soon as possible. It seems we're going have to reorganize our plans."
"Roger." The figure cut the transmission as the hologram dissipated.
Holding what looked like a piece of charred clothing in his hand, the figure smirked.
"Hmm. Now this is interesting."
His figure disappeared a second later.
***
Rushing through the panic filled streets of Night City, the black figure manoeuvred his way towards a fairly populated residential area. As he leapt into the air like a bird soaring through the skies, a bright white light which no one else could see, crashed into his body. The figure nearly crashed, but quickly stabilized himself and fled hastily.
The black clad silhouette appeared in a narrow alley. Leaping up the walls and jumping the metal rails that lay beside them like a cat, his figure deftly made a flip and gracefully landed on a small stairway like a feather. At a few paces beside the stairway was a window, which he immediately slid open, making a small creak.
"Zayn! Is that you? Did you sneak out again?" A womanly voice was heard.
'Shit. Now, this is awkward.' The black clothed figure thought.
"No I didn't! Now go back to sleep!" The figure deactivated the robotic voice and spoke in a boyish tone.
"Ok. But I better not come up there and meet you still up! Go to sleep! Remember you have school tomorrow." The voice reprimanded.
"Okay." 'Jeez,' The figure grumbled.
"Good night son." The woman sleepily spoke.
"Good night." The figure replied.
"Sigh. I feel so tired. Those idiots probably thought they could track me with that shitty gene tag. So stupid. I'll leave it here for now. But I'd better block off it's connection to my gene signature. It'd be a waste if I didn't use their tracking device against them.
But what was that white light? I could feel it hit me, but I didn't feel any pain of any sort. It seemed as if it just passed right through me. I feel so beat up right now. Speaking of which, my armor was a bit damaged in the fight. I'll have to fix it. And that costs money. Good thing I completed this mission, saves me some effort. I guess I better turn it in though." He took out a phone and quickly inputted some details into it as soon as he made sure the coast was clear.
{A/N: Momma troubles.}
A strange interface lit up as a robotic female voice spoke.
[Logging in user...]
[User confirmed...]
[Codename: Shock]
[Welcome...]
Quickly navigated through the interface, Zayn quickly submitted the required details for the mission completion.
[Would you like to complete this mission. Y/N]
[Mission Complete.]
[You have acquired a 5% bonus reward.]
[A total of 210,000 euro-dollars has been sent to your account.]
[A data file has been sent. Please check the details.]
His communicator pinged. Looking through the details of the message for a few seconds, joy flashed across Zayn's face.
"Sigh. With all that's happened, I'll probably need a very, very long nap. Time to get some shut-eye." He rubbed his eyes.
Falling on to his bed, Zayn drifted into sleep.
***
In a secret location, a place filled with endless darkness that seemed to devour all light, six faint silhouettes could vaguely be spotted.
"The Seeds spread across the universe have begun to show signs of activity." An ancient voice reverberated in the dark place.
"I do not see the reason why we should bother ourselves with the trifles of mortals. The Ethereal God Seed has never been assembled for one hundred thousand millennia. I don't think that anyone of those ants chosen by the Seeds will be able to do so this time." Another voice replied. This one clearly had an inherent disdain for all things, as evident of the arrogance in its tone.
"Who knows. We may be lucky this time. Maybe someone capable enough will be able to wield the power of the Seed." A female sounding voice spoke.
"Luck? Do you really believe that something as benign as that could possibly happen after so many years?" The arrogant voice grouchily asked.
"You're the Primogen of Fate, you tell me." The female sounding voice said cheekily.
"Alright, stop it you two. Have we found out the seeds which have chosen their hosts?" The ancient voice inquired.
"The Seeds of Fate, Dreams, Fire, Water, Space and Mystery have all chosen their hosts." Another voice, one with a dark tone to it, said plainly.
"Hmm, not even ten of them have chosen their hosts yet? This doesn't bode well. How long has it been since the awakening of the stones?" The ancient voice asked gloomily.
"Five months." The dark voice was crisp.
"Five yea— wait! Did you just say five months? Are you sure about this?" The ancient voice was dumbfounded.
"Yes." The dark voice said nothing more than that.
"This is a great start! Maybe you are right! Maybe luck is on our side this time. Usually it takes a year or two for Seeds of that number to choose their hosts! What has changed this time?" The ancient voice had traces of joy in it as he asked no one in particular.
"Contact the holders of the Seeds. Try and reach out to them through the mindscape. Make them aware of their situation. The earlier the better. There is not much time. This council is dismissed." An ethereal voice, who had not said a word until now, suddenly commanded in a voice that left no room for hesitation.
"Understood." The rest answered as their presence vanished from the dark place.
The place immediately went silent as the owner of the ethereal voice silently pondered.
"The Seeds of Fate, Dreams, Fire, Water, Space and Mystery huh? This is an unexpected development. Three Omega level and three Alpha level Seeds found their hosts within the first five months of awakening. Things are going to get very interesting very soon. Now then, let's take a look at our candidates shall we?" The ethereal voice seemed to pierce through the depths of the universe as seven huge golden orbs suddenly lit up the dark space.
In one of those orbs, a sleeping Zayn was reflected within.
In the depths of Zayn's mind, an indiscernible voice was heard.
[Ethereal Seed Assimilation, commencing...]
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