Now I need to tell you the story of how I lost my father and why I went down this path, so you can better understand me and my guilt. Two weeks ago, on a Sunday evening at 8 PM, we were sitting in our usual place in the Avalon nightclub in the underground city of Avalon.
The Avalon nightclub is the jewel of the underground city. It's a place where you can find every kind of criminal imaginable. It's the heart of crime. Don't think of it as an ordinary nightclub; this is a nightclub built and run by the Avalanche company, operated by thousands of artificial intelligence systems. The size is enormous—it takes about 10 minutes to walk from one corner to the other. Thanks to the speed bots provided by the artificial intelligence at the entrance, you can move around quickly. The most interesting part is that the technology is so advanced that you don't even realize you're speeding up or that the people around you are moving faster.
Inside, you can find all of Avalon's underworld: mafias, gangs, bounty hunters, anarchists, assassins, and human traffickers. This is the center of drug trade—you can find all kinds here. The reason this place is used for drug trafficking is because Avalanche has bribed the governor and controls it, so the police don't intervene. That's why this place is where drugs, prostitution, child trafficking, and countless other crimes are traded. Avalanche gets a cut of every sale and transaction that takes place here, making them an incredible amount of money.
We're part of this system, but we don't deal with such things. We're bounty hunters—we're given a job, usually killing or stealing, and we do it. Isn't it interesting that there's no fighting even with hostile teams inside? Avalon has very strict rules, and believe me, you don't want to break them.
The Empire is a corrupt system. The entire planet Avalon is ruled by the Avalanche corporation. Of course, there's a so-called governor appointed by the empire, but this governor is just a corrupt politician on Avalanche's payroll. The planet is divided into two parts: the upper cities and the lower cities.
In the upper cities live the upper classes: corporate executives, politicians, clergy, and people with ties to the Empire—in short, the rich and powerful. We live in the lower cities with the lower classes. The lower cities are very densely populated, and all kinds of things happen here. Crime is rampant, but the empire doesn't show the lower cities; they always show the upper cities and manipulate the media. They brainwash people with religion and try to make them dependent on them. They crush those who try to oppose them, but if you don't harm them, they usually leave you alone.
We were one of many criminal groups in this galaxy. As a small group of bounty hunters, we were good at our job and well-known in Avalon. Our jobs weren't bad; we were all happy doing smaller jobs. My father was our leader. I don't know about his life before I was born—neither my mother nor my father ever talked about it. What I do know is that he was very talented, though it seemed strange that someone like him would stick to bounty hunting. He could have done much bigger things, but for some reason, he didn't want to pursue them. My mother always described him as adventurous, but I never had the opportunity to experience that side of him—and now I never will. Looking back, I never really got to know my father. I knew nothing about his past, and now I never will.
The other group members are Kevin, Max, Ragnar, Nebula, Keith, and Lena. Lena and I were sitting next to each other, flirting, occasionally kissing, and having fun. On nights like this, we would always drink and flirt, making love at the end of the night. We had been friends since childhood, and as we grew up, our friendship slowly turned into love.
I was planning to ask her to marry me soon, but I'll have to shelve those plans for now. Lena was too beautiful for the underground city, with her red hair, green eyes, nose like a small slide, slightly freckled face, full lips, white skin, thin waist, nice hips, and full breasts. She was the kind of girl who would suffer greatly in a place like this. That's why she always tried to be strong—there were many bad people here who would line up to kidnap someone so beautiful.
I met Lena when she was just 10 years old, when two punks our age were trying to rape her in an alley. Yes, I hated this disgusting place where even kids of that age could attempt such heinous crimes. I hated this damn place and was ready to do anything, risk anything, to get out. I was using the alleyways as a shortcut to get home quickly when we met. She looked at me with her innocent green eyes, not saying anything, just asking for help with her gaze. I killed those two right then and there—it was the first of countless murders I would commit in my life. I think I fell in love with Lena at that moment, though I was too young to call it love. From that day on, we became friends, trained together, and worked together. She got along well with my father, and when we grew up, we started working for him, completing countless jobs and killing countless people together.
Each team had its own guild, and we were sitting in ours, drinking, chatting, and having fun while waiting for work. Just then, a woman entered our guild—she was unusually high-class. We didn't know what such a woman was doing here; we were surprised. She asked who our leader was, and Kevin, my father's right-hand man, pointed to my father.
The woman began to speak: "I am from the upper city, the only daughter of the Gold family. You know my family—it is known as the most powerful family after the Avalanche family. After my father's death, there was a civil war within the family. As his only child, I was supposed to take over, but my uncle sold a very valuable item of ours to the Avalanche company. With their support, he won the civil war and became head of the family. I'm not asking you to kill my uncle—I'm asking for a more sinister and difficult task."
My father leaned back, looking interested. He raised his hand, gestured for her to sit, and said, "Go ahead, madam. What do you want us to do?"
The woman sat down with elite grace and continued, "I want you to infiltrate the Avalanche corporation and retrieve my family's most important possession—the chip my uncle gave them. That chip contains our family's most important secrets. I don't know what's on it, but my father always protected this chip and warned me never to let it fall into enemy hands. I believe there's a reason why Avalanche wants it so badly, and I am scared. The chip is encrypted, but it won't take long to break. Please complete this job and get the chip back before the encryption is broken. You can name your price."
My father thought silently for a while before speaking: "I'm sorry, but we have to refuse. This job is beyond us and too risky—I'm not sure we can handle it."
The woman was upset and pleaded, "Please accept this job. My family's future depends on you. I will provide equipment and cover all expenses. I beg you to accept it." We were all surprised to see someone from the upper class begging those from the lower class. My father refused again, and the woman, seeing there was nothing more she could do, left the guild.
But I thought about what we could do with the proceeds from this job. This woman could truly pay enormous sums, and we could use this opportunity to get rich. With enough money, we'd never have to work again. I could marry Lena and live a quiet life—we could move to the secure parts of the lower class, have children, and live happily. How foolish I was. My greed for money had already convinced me.
I ran after her, put my hand on her shoulder, and turned her toward me. She was surprised and a little scared. Realizing I was acting strangely, I immediately apologized and said, "Madam, I'm sorry for approaching so suddenly, but could we talk more in private? Even if you couldn't convince my father, you've convinced me, and believe me, I can persuade him. We just need to talk and I need some information from you."
A smile appeared on her face—I couldn't understand it at the time, but it was a strange smile. We moved aside to talk, while Lena watched from a distance, likely jealous. Though Lena was very beautiful to us, this woman before me was like a goddess. Her beauty obviously made Lena jealous, especially since I had suddenly run after her.
I asked her name—it was Emilia, and she was 20 years old, the same age as Lena and me. We chatted briefly about our lives, laughed, and had fun before I got to the point: "Enough fun. Now let me present my conditions."
Emilia nodded, and I continued, "First, you will give each of us 2 billion IMP (Imperial coins). You will cover all preparation costs for this mission, give half the money before the mission, and guarantee our safety after the mission is completed."
Emilia listened carefully and agreed. "Of course, Mr. Beren. All your conditions will be met, as long as you complete the mission." After getting her approval, we prepared and signed a contract. Now all I needed was my father's signature.
The woman stood to leave, and I rose to say goodbye. Before departing, she said, "Thank you for everything, Beren. Thanks to you, my family's future will be saved. I owe you." She blushed slightly, appearing happy.
"Thank you for giving us this opportunity, madam," I said, kissing her hand to show respect. Emilia smiled and turned away. I watched her walk away gracefully, noting her beautiful legs, white-skinned, slender, and smooth. Then I turned and went back to our guild to convince my father.