"Hey! Careful with those boxes or you'll be selling your cybernetics to pay for the damages!" A boy around the age of nineteen shouted, his windswept white hair looming over his green eyes, a black line running down his left.
They stood in a warehouse, taking in crates and stacking them on each other for storage, the morning sun peaks inside the warehouse from the entrance illuminating the dust particles that rose as they moved the boxes around, the musty air now being released from the inside.
The boy leaned against the desk, his blue high-collar jacket pressing against the desk, the insides laced in a thick black fabric, a gun being held by one the pockets of his sheath, its trigger sticking out and pressing against his side.
"Kai," He heard someone call his name, his gaze shifting to the entrance of the warehouse to see me, both of my hands in my pockets, my head slightly tilted to the side, and both arms in my pockets, not giving a fuck about my posture.
"Oh it's you," Kai sighed, as I approached him, "What do you want?"
I stood beside him, leaning back against the same desk he was at, my eyes on the floor as I spoke to him.
"I need your help," I muttered, my hands delving deeper into my pockets as I spoke, ashamed of the scar that was left behind.
"You got some nerve coming here for help," Kai adjusted his posture as he spoke to me, his hands now in his pockets, looking over at me with a look of annoyance. "I thought the nine-to-three life didn't suit you, thought you were gonna make it big and leave all of us blue-collared bitches in the dust, those were your exact words, right?"
"Ok look," I muttered, my hand raising to scratch my head in frustration, starting to get annoyed myself, more so at past me and the predicament I dug for myself, "I'm sorry, ok? I was wrong I shouldn't have tossed you guys out like that and you being mad is totally understandable but-"
"But what?" Kai interrupted, "We should just ignore everything you've done just because you need help? Because you're sorry? You weren't even a good worker, you were lazy you would often sleep in, miss curfews. So we don't owe you a thing, Cade Vortex."
"In fact, I was glad when you quit, saved me the trouble of having to give you severance after firing you."
I couldn't respond to his insults because they were true, I just stood there leaning against the table as I continued to listen to his words piercing at my ego, my fist clenched in my pocket trying to get the anger out with the small sense of strain it gave me.
"Look, I don't expect you to help me, I almost didn't come here because I knew you wouldn't," I muttered, cutting through his rant. He looks up at me his face riddled with confusion as to where I was getting at.
"I came here because If I don't do this, both I and my sister are going to end up on the streets again, and I don't think we can pay this without your help, and I owe her a lot," I looked at him, handing over the paper I got from the table back home.
"What's this?" Kai muttered as he took the page from me.
"An eviction notice, they're planning on tearing our house down unless we pay that much, I informed, my gaze shifting to the floor once more.
"Thirty million, huh? I assume you have a plan then since you came to me," Kai inquired as he looked over the paper.
"I do," I handed him the tournament paper, the third prize being ten thousand dollars, the second fifty thousand, and the first prize being the drifter gear. "We need to steal this."
"I didn't know why I thought you were going to actually compete there," Kai sighed in disappointment, grabbing the tournament paper from me and looking it over. "It says this is being hosted by Ray Tech,"
"Yeah, which means the security is going to be tight, and that's why I need your help, please, Kai," I gritted my teeth, my gaze not leaving the floor as I spoke, "If you need me to go on my knees or lick your boots clean I'll do it, please.."
"You're pathetic," Kai sighed, pushing the flier into my chest, pushing me back a bit. "We'll help, but let's get one thing straight, we're getting a cut of whatever extra cash there is got it?"
"Deal," I said with a slight smile on my face after they decided to help me, part of the weight that had been lying on my shoulders finally lifted.
[Connor's POV, C.C.C.A Headquarters.]
"They're dead," the woman muttered as she performed the scan, she had brown hair done in a ponytail, her green eyes heavy with bags, wearing the lab coat of a scientist. The bodies of Jax and Riya lay naked on the table. "Their outsides seem fine apparently but the insides are totally fried,"
"I can't believe it.." I muttered under my breath, my fists clenching together from rage. "They would really kill themselves, and throw their lives away? Over something as stupid as this."
Lights flickered from the machine, and the heart rate monitor's constant beeping rang in my ears as I thought about it.
"Some criminals would rather die than give out their comrades, for the walking shit stains on earth they have some morals." The woman sighed, reached into her pockets, pulled out a note and pen, and started to write.
"Prof.Adams, Isn't there anything you can find?" The old man, my supervisor and caretaker, Maxwell spoke up, his hand scratching his head in confusion, hoping to find any way to uncover this mystery.
"As far as I know," Prof. Adams turned around, handing them the slip before turning to the body. " you're going to have to find some other way to find out who this 'Decryption' group is,"