“There you are! We’ve been knocking for hours. Also, is your phone off or something. You’re dressed in some fancy looking clothes so I can only assume that you went out.” Roy said while crossing his arms.

“Hey guys. I’m sorry, It was work. The boss wanted to get some photo’s taken but then time flew by and boom. Sleepover.” Keagan said.

It wasn’t really a lie since Andre Astali was technically Keagan’s boss and they did attend a mini conference.

Keagan opened the door, allowing Roy and Cory inside.

Keagan closed the door and the three found themselves on the couch.

“What exactly have you been up to? Sometimes I get here to find smoking hot babes and other times I arrive and you’re nowhere to be found." Roy asked as

Keagan turned on the TV.

He put the sports channel and rested back into the couch.

“How many times do I have to tell you, she was here for work.” Keagan said lazily. He hadn’t been able to relax at all back at the Astali house.

“I know that, but even you have to admit it’s weird. Unless a woman completely trusts a man, there’s no way she’s entering his house.” Roy said.

“When did little bro become an expert in woman? Does this mean I’ll he an uncle soon?” Cory asked without facing his brother.

“Who knows… anyway, this isn’t about me. Also, you can’t talk bro. You didn’t see the lady who graced Keagan’s shabby joint with her presence. She was like what I imagine angels look like.” Roy said.

“Is that so? Too bad Keagan said that they have a strictly professional relationship.” Cory said.

“Yeah.” Roy agreed.

Keagan, Roy and Cory then spent the next three hours lazing about and watching movies.

The time eventually came for Roy and Cory to return home.

“That was… rather relaxing.” Cory said as he stretched his huge arms.

“I know right! Hanging out has never been simpler. Get together, watch some movies and eat some of Keagan’s stupid microwave meals.” Roy said while placing his hand on his tummy.

“Hey, you’re the ones who came here. In an alternate dimension, we hung out at your place and had some of your godlike food.” Keagan said as he escorted them to the first floor.

“You make a compelling argument. Then it is decided. Since you have all the entertainment and we have the food. Why don’t we force Roy to cook before coming to your place?” Cory suggested only to punched in the arm by Roy.

“Why am I the only one who cooks around here?” Roy cried.

“Because anything I cook is legally required to be disposed off under the classification of toxic waste and Keagan… can Keagan even cook?” Cory asked as he turned to Keagan, who waved his hands dismissively.

“Don’t even bother. I can cook about as well as a toddler.” Keagan said.

The three eventually bid each other farewell.

Part of Keagan wanted them to stay over, but another, much larger part of Keagan feared Cory.

Keagan returned to his apartment. Spread his arms and jumped onto his bed.

His head was clear.

LIE.

And he absolutely wasn’t thinking about Catalina and Karisa.

LIE.

Keagan eventually fell asleep.

.

..

The next day, unfortunately, was Monday.

Keagan got up, completed the morning ritual and went to work.

He crunched some numbers and organized some data.

Something that worried Keagan was the fact that they’d stopped running physical tests.

Dan had prioritized getting blueprints to the other departments as quickly as possible, but Keagan couldn’t help but feel like that would only end up in non functional units, rejects and a whole lot of dissatisfied customers.

Keagan got up and walked to Mercy’s office, while avoiding going near Catalina’s office. He then knocked gently on Mercy’s door.

“Come in.”

Keagan entered, but what he found inside was a rather confusing sight.

Mercy was there, yes, but her appearance was strange. She had bags under her eyes and her face was beat red.

Her outfit was also rather odd.

Usually, Mercy would wear loose fitting clothes and little to no makeup, but the mercy in front of him had unnervingly bright pink lipstick among other things.

Keagan shook himself out of his perplexed state.

“Umm… I just realised that we haven’t run any physical tests in a while. Will this be ok?” Keagan asked.

Mercy looked at Keagan with distant eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sure everything will be fine. Our numbers add up, plus we have our prototype if the higher ups want to see the CryoPod in action.” Mercy said.

Keagan nodded before turning to leave. He stopped halfway before completely leaving.

Something was going on with Mercy and he really wanted to ask if she needed any help. But he and Mercy weren’t that close.

Keagan didn’t want to come of as nosy or anything.

“Hey Mercy.” Keagan said with his back facing her.

“You ok?” He asked softly.

“Who? Me? Yeah, totally. Now get back to work. If you’re really worried about the CryoPod, then continue running the simulations. If you run into a problem, come straight here, ok?” Mercy said.

Keagan nodded before leaving.

At least I tried, right? Keagan wondered as he returned to his desk.

The working day went on and eventually came to an end. But as Keagan left the office, his phone began to ring.

Keagan answered the phone as the person calling him was Dan.

“Hello?”

[Yo, Keagan. How are you doing? Listen, I have a favour to ask of you.]

Dan said.

“It depends. What’s the favour?” Keagan asked.

[Yeah, do you have any other female co-workers in R and D department?]

Dan asked.

Keagan’s brows furrowed.

“What do you mean?”

[You see, we’re doing some marketing for another product and the models we hired bailed on us. We could get others, but that would be expensive. So we’ve opted for a cheaper alternative.]

Dan said as Keagan left the lobby.

Roy was working late, so Keagan didn’t have to wait for him.

“What about the other departments? My team is a sausage fest. The only woman is Mercy, but she’s too busy to come help.” Keagan said, his eyes narrow. He got onto the train and headed back home.

[Mmm… I came to you because you’re on the ground and with the people. It would be weird if an executive just randomly asked an employee to model for the company.]

Dan said.

So you’re asking me to do it instead? Keagan wondered.

[Anyway, you have a point. The R n D department is a boys club. Why don’t you pass by the testing department tomorrow and see if anyone wants some extra cash. Tell them marketing sent you and if that doesn’t work, call me and I’ll talk to them. Anyway, got to go. Call you later.]

Dan said before ending the call.

Keagan sighed as he entered his dark and empty apartment. His stomach growled, begging for food and so, Keagan microwaved up some quick meals and ate away as he watched the local news.

Nothing really interesting was going on and so he decided to get some ice cream to brighten up his day. He slipped into some warm clothes as winter was fast approaching and left his apartment.

He made his way to a nearby store, got a small tub of ice cream and left the store, but as he left, he saw a group of men standing just outside the entrance.

Keagan ignored them and made his way home. But, as he walked, he noticed that the group was following him or they were heading in the same direction.

Keagan decided to cross the street and the group of four did the same.

Keagan increased his walking speed, but then the group broke into a full sprint.

Keagan did the same, but the group caught up to him and one of them tackled Keagan to the ground.

Keagan desperately tried crawling away, but two of the men grabbed both his arms and house him up.

“Listen closely, met us here tomorrow at six PM with your employee access card.” One of the men said.

“What?” Keagan asked, only to receive a punch to the gut.

Keagan held his screams in.

“Make sure not to touch his face.” One of the men said.

“Yeah, sure. Anyway, tomorrow. Here. Access card. If you don’t, we’ll make you fear leaving that little apartment of yours.” The man said before punching Keagan several more times.

The men then left Keagan writhing in pain on the street.

Keagan looked around and saw no one, which was pretty suspicious in itself, but worried Keagan more was how the guys who beat him knew that he worked at Lezzaro.

Keagan stumbled onto his feet and saw that his ice cream tub was still in it’s plastic bag.

Keagan took his bag and walked back home.

Upon entering he put his ice cream in the fridge, took a shower, rubbed some ointment on his wounds, retrieved his ice cream and plopped onto the couch.

There he painfully ate away at his desert as he pondered on what had just happened to him. He decided to notify Roy about his situation.

The phone rang for a bit before Roy answered.

[What’s up, buddy?]

Roy asked enthusiastically.

“Just got beat up, man.” Keagan said.

[What? By who?]

Roy asked.

“No clue. They looked like random Joe’s. But they knew I worked at Lezzaro.” Keagan explained.

[Mmm… this is bad. Do you know what they might want?]

Roy asked.

“Nope. They didn’t say anything. Just that I should meet them where they beat me up with my employee access card.”

Keagan said, before releasing that his ice cream was finished.

[Did you call the cops?]

Roy asked.

“Not yet. I’ll first have to contact Dan and see what he thinks. I am the spokesman after all, lord knows what people will say if Lezzaro’s employee’s are being attacked?” Keagan said.

[Ok. Cory and I will pop by tomorrow and check up on you just in case. You may not have noticed, but my brother is like a tank. Dumb as a bag of bricks, but built like a brick shithouse- Ow!]

Keagan heard Roy yelp in pain.

Keagan ended the call before letting out a pained chuckle. He then dialled Dan’s number and the call was answered a moment later.

[Yo, Keagan. What’s up? Did you already complete the favour?]

Dan asked.

“No. Not yet. I did, however, get beaten up by some guys who knew I worked at Lezzaro.” Keagan said as sadness filled his heart. Not only was his ice cream finished, his tummy was also rather painful.

[What? Are you ok?]

Dan asked.

“Yep. But it’s not me I’m worried about. Should I call the cops?” Keagan asked.

[No! Not yet. Let me think about this. I’ll tell you what to do by tomorrow so just sit tight.]

Dan said before ending the call.

Keagan looked at his phone, then called the police.

He really didn’t want to take any chances.

The police eventually arrived at Keagan’s apartment and he answered whatever questions they had, before they left. He did, however, leave out the but where they knew he worked at Lezzaro.

Apparently, they planned to deploy more police officers in that part of Acan.

Keagan didn’t care, as long as he could walk around without getting beat up.

Keagan then crawled into his bed to sleep, but before he could even close his eyes, his phone rang. He checked and saw Catalina’s number.

Nope. Keagan told himself before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

.

..

Keagan woke up the next day with a pounding headache. He had barely managed to get a wink of sleep as he feared the men from before would break in and break some of his bones.

Keagan nervously climbed out of the bed, took a paranoid shower, slipped into his clothes and left for work. He took careful steps until he made it to the train station where he nervously waited for the trains arrival.

“Keagan, is that you?” Keagan jumped as a voice called.

He turned around and faced a worried Roy.

“H- hey, there.” Keagan stuttered as the train arrived.

“How you doing?” Roy asked.

“I’m ok. I just need to work the stress away.” Keagan said with a weak and tired smile.

“That doesn’t make any sense. People usually relax the further they are from work.” Roy pointed out.

“You have a point, but I often find myself getting lost in the data sometimes. It’s cathartic.” Keagan said as the train approached Ix Chel.

“Cathartic? Not gonna pretend I know what that means, but you might wanna ask for some time off. You’ve been through what we scientists call a traumatic experience.” Roy said as the two arrived at the Lezzaro building.

“Oh? Well ok then, Mr. Scientist. I might just do that. See ya.” Keagan said before ascending to the R and D floor.

There he met a flustered Mercy who seemed to be waiting for someone. Catalina also had a rather worrisome look on her face. Keagan didn’t care though.

Keagan looked behind him to check if anyone else was coming, but then Mercy ran and grabbed him.

She then hugged him as tears fell into her eyes.

“Oh, Keagan. You’re ok. Tell me, did you go to the hospital?” She asked.

Keagan struggled to breath as she increased her chokehold on his neck.

“No, but I’m fine. There’s no need to worry.” Keagan said.

“What happened?” Tommy asked.

“No clue.” Johan said with a sigh.

Mercy led Keagan to her office as she wiped the tears from her face.

Keagan didn’t know why she was crying but she seemed rather emotional-

Wait a minute! Keagan exclaimed internally.

“Umm… Mercy, maybe I should go to the hospital. Dan hooked me up with a doctor in Cynosure. Would it be cool if you accompanied me?” Keagan said.

Mercy nodded frantically.

“Of course. It’s just so sad that one of my people would have to go through so much suffering.” Mercy said.

Keagan knew that she wasn’t being dramatic. She genuinely cared for him, but something wasn’t right.

“Ok. Let’s go. I promise I’ll work really hard when we get back.” Keagan said with a smile as she packed her things.

The two then made their way to Cynosure via the usual and uncomfortable means. The vectrain.

“Dan told me to make sure that you were well taken care off.” Mercy said, her eyes looking into the distance as they rode a cab to the hospital.

“Dan…?” Keagan droned. He really wanted to make sure Mercy was ok, but with the way she was and the way she behaved around Dan in recent times, Keagan couldn’t help but feel worried.

They eventually arrived at Dr. Xander's office and Keagan got checked up. However, he also asked that Mercy get tested and checked as well. Keagan told her that she may as well get checked.

Her tests showed that she indeed had Rapture in her system. Dr. Xander then told her everything about Rapture and it’s effects.

Mercy understandably broke down into tears.

Keagan did his best to comfort her as Dr. Xander gave her the medicine she needed to counteract Raptures side effects.

Keagan and Mercy then left the hospital and made their way back to Ix Chel.

During the trip, Mercy was unnervingly quiet.

“Hey-“

“I know. I really wish I’d talked to you about all this, but… it’s just Dan and-"

“Does this have anything to do with Andre Astali?” Keagan asked as he rolled up the window that separates the taxi driver from the backseat passengers.

“Y- yes…” Mercy said.

“Mmm… listen Mercy. You and me, we’ve both been ensnared by the Astali’s. It would be best if we shared as much information with each other as possible before it’s too late for both of us.” Keagan said.

“Ok.”

The two eventually arrived at the Lezzaro building where they worked the rest of the day away.

Keagan told Mercy to lay low and that he’d call her later.

.

..

The working day came to an end and Keagan went home along with Roy. He made sure to keep his employee access card with him at all times.

He then made his way home.

Keagan checked his phone for the time and found that it was thirty minutes to six. He decided to give Dan a quick call before giving his card to the men who attacked him.

[Yo, kid. You ok?]

Dan asked.

“Yeah. I’m about to hand over my card to the men who attacked me.” Keagan said.

[Yeah, no problem. I’ve prepared a little surprise for anyone who dares enter our building. So stay safe, give them what they want and get back home.]

Dan said before ending the call.

Keagan nervously got up and left his apartment. He walked to the spot where he’d been attacked and saw several men waiting for him.

He then stopped as the men approached him.

His heart rattled and sweat poured out from every possible pore.

“The card.” The man from before asked

It was in the afternoon so Keagan could see his features clearer. He was tall, bald and wore casual work clothes.

By the looks of it, he was a construction worker.

Keagan handed his card over.

“Is this all?” Keagan asked even though his throat was tight.

“Tsk! Just do as you’re told, that’s all.” The baldy said as he walked away.

Keagan then turned around and returned home as quickly as possible.

Whatever Dan was cooking up, Keagan hoped that it would save him from living a fearful life.