The next day, the coffin-like machine opened up. Kenny sat up just after he woke up, his head swirling in dizziness. "Ah." He grabbed his head to compose himself.
"Good morning," someone said.
Kenny turned to discover it was Orange who greeted him. Beside him was Pupu, who smiled at him.
"Are you feeling better?" asked Orange.
Kenny looked at his hands and worked to move his arms. "Wow," he reacted when he realized the damages to his body was gone. He could move his body freely, just like before. "Amazing," he reacted his amazement. He hopped out of the machine and stretched to determine if everything worked fine.
Suddenly, he felt a light pain in the ribs. "Ah," he winced.
"You should not get too active right now," suggested Pupu. "It will still take a week for you to fully heal. You should stay away from life-threatening situations until then."
"I see," Kenny reacted.
"But first, you need to dress up," said the nurse, peeking at the thing which should be covered and not exposed. "Your bandages have melted."
Kenny glanced down and realized the bandages were all gone and he just stood there, naked. There was a girl in the room and he had no clothes on. "Oh, shit!" he immediately covered his weewee from his hands and asked for his clothes in embarrassment. "Where are my clothes?"
A masked staff brought his clothes.
Kenny noticed they had fixed the damaged part of his pants. "Oh, you have fixed it," he reacted, putting it on.
"Alright, Kenny, now it is time for some serious talk," Orange mentioned, his face turning serious as his smile faded away.
"What is it?" wondered Kenny.
They went out of the chamber, entered the metal-passageway after exiting the elevator and entered the third room of their left. It was an empty chamber with stairs in a corner.
Kenny discovered they were in the middle of the woods after they exited through a gate on the surface.
"Wow," reacted Kenny, watching Orange cover the surface of the exit with grass and twigs. "What is it you wanted to tell me?" he asked, walking into the woods with Orange.
"Kenny, I have forced you to join the organization," said Orange. "But I must tell you, you are still not a member."
"I understand there must be procedures," reasoned Kenny. "I will work it out somehow."
"Yeah," Orange shrugged. "But our procedures are not just some shitty paperwork, or something like that which happens in companies. We are a group of organized resistance. We need members according to that."
"I am unable to understand," reacted Kenny with a puzzled face. "What do you mean?"
Orange sighed. "You just have to prove your strength, so that the executives are convinced of you."
"What if I could not?"
Orange gave a grim look. "Then you will become a lab specimen, or be disposed of."
Kenny nodded without showing a hint of fear or unease. "Understood. What do I have to do?" he inquired.
"A week from now, once you are fully recovered, you will enter our chamber of death," explained Orange. "If you manage to survive in there, you will be officially in."
"Chamber of death," Kenny reacted with a quizzical expression. "Sounds dangerous." He looked at Orange with burning eyes. "I will do it."
Orange smiled as he could notice the fire inside Kenny. "I knew you had something in you. Looking forward to meeting you again." He signaled to his front. "If you keep walking that way, it will take you to the Kanugo slum area. You must know your way from there."
Kenny stepped ahead in the signaled direction. "What if someone shows up again? How would I contact you?"
"You do not have to," Orange responded with a smirk. "We will know if you are in danger."
Kenny did not bother to ask how would they learn about it. He guessed maybe he would get the answer in the future. His priority was to heal perfectly and prepare himself for the trail of death. He turned to walk away, but halted midway to ask a vital question.
But before he could do it, Orange mentioned something. "If you are stuck in an extreme situation, our helpers will assist you."
"Helpers?" Kenny wondered. "Where would I find them?"
"They will find you," replied Orange. "You were saying something?" he reminded him.
"Ah, yeah. If I had some cool ability like yours, did I still have to prove my strength?" Kenny questioned as he knew he would ultimately be a burden on others with such a shitty ability.
Orange shrugged and answered, "I am not sure."
Kenny nodded. "Understood." He walked away with a resolved expression on his face. His forehead had a frown, his eyes unwavering, and his fists were clenched.
"Kenny, you are not afraid to have blood on your hands when you are protecting someone," Orange said to himself when Kenny was gone. "You are already one of us, even if you are not a member. But now, your fate depends on you."
***
In the Office of the Governor, there was a present that was delivered this morning. The sweeper had opened the garbage bin and discovered severed limbs and a heart.
It was soon leaked into the news and every mass media covered it as a headline.
< "A heart and severed limbs were found in the garbage bin of the governor's office. There is a belief that it belongs to Hagambo Dryer, the businessman whose head they had found yesterday. The terrorist organization 'The Outliers' had taken responsibility for his murder. The question is - why are they doing it? Why the governor's office? Is it to instill fear about their closing ties with the pro-skultar ideologists of the empire? Are they giving a warning?" >
Jagambo, the minister, waited for someone in his car in an isolated alley. He was infuriated with the humiliation he had received after the death of his brother. He could do anything for the eradication of those murderers.
Suddenly, the mustached old man arrived to him and said, "Sir, The Faceless has sent Scribble Mask. He will be here shortly."
Jagambo nodded. "So they have sent this lunatic to do my job. Fine."
Suddenly, a dagger came flying by, invaded the window of the car, and hit the window glass on the other side. Jagambo was shocked, as it had just missed him. "Who is it?" he shouted, his bodyguards loading their guns and covering him.
"Hahahaha!" They picked up a laughter.
"So it was you," reacted Jagambo when he realized it was the guest he waited for. It was Scribble Mask who dove from the fourth floor of the building nearby.
As the name goes, the man wore a white mask with uneven circular patterns designed on it. It looked like a child scribbled on it with a pencil. He wore a black magician's hat, a white long coat, black pants and white boots. He was a lean man who looked like he was on a diet since his mother delivered him.
The guards of Jagambo had pointed their guns at him, but Jagambo told them to put their guns down.
"How are you, my dear friend Jagambo?" said Scribble Mask.
"How do you think I would be?" replied Jagambo with a pissed off face.
The mustached man opened the car door for Scribble Mask to enter.
"So," Scribble Mask directly came to the point after he sat in, "you want the head of the killer of your brother. You know that The Faceless do not work for anyone but the emperor. I wonder what temptation you gave the boss to take up a secret job for you. You know the risks. Any mistake would mean the end of your career. His majesty would not tolerate this."
"I just want his head," declared Jagambo. "Whoever was involved in Hagambo's murder. I am willing to take the risk. Just locate him and end his life. Anyone else involved must be eliminated, too."
"Understood," said Scribble Mask, fixing his hat. "Give me a week's time. I will bring their heads to you." He suddenly laughed like a devil. "Hahahahaha! It will be fun."