Minutes Left

10:02:36

“Yes,” Elhisia said coldly. “I can meet and before you ask. I haven’t forgotten our deal, but as things have changed I’ll be making some alterations.”

“Such as?” I asked.

“We’ll see when I arrive,” Elhisia said.

“Fine.”

“Cypher…” Naedon said, chiming in. “I thought we were to wait.”

“Change of plans.”

“Humph…I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Me either, but I’ve found myself in some trouble, so the timeline’s been shortened”

One of the Mangol’s ‘husbands’ buried his pistol into my skull. I wanted to wince, but I let my body scream from the pain, and never gave him the satisfaction by eyeing him defiantly.

“Understood,” Naedon said.

“We’ll be in touch.”

“Aye.”

A wave of pain throbbed my side, sending me to the ground. The Mangol’s husband stalked on over, flashing a sinister smile whilst the SMB on his right temple flickered intermittently. “A reminder.” The Mangol said tone stern. “That we have you collared and if anything goes south. You go up with this.”

My lips curled into a smile, whilst my side pulsed from the pain. I nodded, signifying I understood, but mostly from the pain. The collar was cold, metallic and left me with a strong urge to scratch my neck.

I ignored that, allowing my thoughts to drift to Elhisia.

The woman was tough, I had to admit it. Organising her people out of Bridge City for a few months, so she could take the lineagecube to take over her father’s position.

The only problem was, her father read her like a chess piece. The only challenge he ran into, was the fact that Elhisia had taken the linagecube with her. A move he didn’t anticipate, which forced him to send a message to Elhisia, by killing her people.

I’m not surprised. I thought bitterly, thinking of how she viewed what I did to her, but I don’t regret it, not for a single second. You can’t save people when you don’t have the power to. At least, Elhisia sought the power to save her people and company, but to gain something you must lose something in the process….sadly.

Luckily for me, Naedon and the cobra squad would’ve never gone along with her plan. So no matter how much Elhisia hated me, later on in life, she’d understand why I did what I did. No regrets.

◆◆◆

The Mangol sat opposite me with her bodyguards on her left and right. I had my bodyguards at my sides, not that I wasn’t surprised.

My current dilemma, sitting in this van with The Mangol and her bodyguards. The irony of my deja vu hadn’t passed me by. The funny thing was if Nova hadn’t noticed the tail of Akatani’s goons and requested a weapon to fight these bastards off with Shedrick would still be alive.

The raid on that bastard’s operation was a dud, as I got Jix injured, who by the way, would probably take months, possibly years of recruitment. It didn’t help either that he had a wife and daughter to take care of his own.

I’d yet to face them because of what I’d done, by bringing Jix into this, but I had my troubles to focus on. Troubles I brought upon myself.

The more I thought about it as I looked at the Mangol, everything started with that piece of shit Gonzada. I trusted him, but he was nothing but a rat bastard. This was my fault. I’d ignored how everyone treated him at BLED, thinking they were just corrupt when he was the most corrupt bastard of them all.

You fucked up Cypher I told myself, how the hell are you gonna get yourself out of this one now?

The ride towards the safety deposit box was short but felt long. The heavy atmosphere within the SUV Limousine was intoxicating, and not in a good way. The Mangol’s muted guards just creep the shit out of me, especially their swirling textile pattern.

The blinking SMBs at their temples didn’t help either. I discovered that the tech was experimental, but the mere fact the Mangol had it, showed the power she held within her hands, which made me curious about what the hell this serphandias was.

Nothing came to mind after a few minutes of staring through the window, just bitter resentment with not completing my mission.

I fished into my pocket and felt a nozzle burrow into my side. The side that the Reaver punched, made me whimper from the pain.

The Crystalline phone dropped to the ground with a thud. “I’m just getting checking something for fucks sake, you heard the conversation!” I hissed, stretching my arm down to collect the phone. “Hearing a conversation means nothing. You could be speaking in code.”

“I’M NOT SPEAKING IN CODE. I need to come out of this alive!” I roared.

A husband punched me in the face, snapping my jaw right, and sending ripples of pain from my jaw. The pain extended from my jaw, crawling down my chest and spine and swarmed around my left side. It then erupted like a hive of bees trying to escape a hive buried underwater. “Is that all you got? I hissed, licking the blood away from my lips.

“Enough!” The Mangol said, raising her hand. The husband’s fist was a few centimetres from my face, before he pulled it back, eyeing me down with a stiff grin. He mouthed the words “you’ll get what’s coming to you.”

I’ll get what’s coming to me? I pondered, but felt stinted, noting his lack of tongue. They are mute guards I noted.

I would’ve given it more thought, but I was too miserable and cranky to care, because, not did I only fail In getting these serphandias, I don’t even know what to do, when I face Akatani.

Part of the plan was to discover Akatani decoders, find the rat, but that had to be done swiftly.

I wasn’t sure if Akatani was smart enough to see through my plan, but I couldn’t put it past him. It was a chance I had to take, and hopefully…just hopefully, he wasn’t rash enough to take the loss of contact from his spy was enough to warrant for him to kill my wife and daughter.

The risk was big, but so was my plan to get into Underwent. I failed miserably…but all I could do was hope that both Shin-Lee and Hannah were still alive.

Men, Women and children stood still, watching as we descended from the sky. They wonder in their eyes said everything that needed to be said. ‘Royalty’ but not figuratively. It was rare to see such an expensive vehicle arriving in such an area.

The SUV Limousine finally landed, taking up spaces that’d usually be taken up by three cars.

The door sprung open, and the bodyguards closest to it follow. I tried to get up, but the one on the left, press his hand on my shoulder, signalling for me to not move yet.

The Mangol got up, then me, a few seconds later. My eyes were meat with steam wafting from the sewers.

The area was thick of mist, making it difficult to see. From above, it wasn’t that evident, but I guess not everything is it seemed.

People gathered around, whispering to each other. No doubt fascinated by The Mangol’s mask and the bodyguards that surrounded her.

I’m sure my appearance didn’t help either. My only concern was though, was word about this, getting back to Akatani.

Fingers crossed

The bodyguards marched us through the Burrough. Everyone moved from out of their way, as they should.

It was like marching through a parade hosted by The Emperor of Latrine, the only thing…the streets weren’t smeared in blood at his request.

The thought of my days in the Latrina Empire came back to me. I hated those days, barely having anything to eat. I wouldn’t have survived with Shin-Lee’s help.

She ran a small bar, one, in which I helped with doing mundane services. She was indebted to some local gang because she needed money to start the bar.

It ran well and was successful. In turn, the gang wanted to take over the bar, but Shin-Lee wasn’t having it.

Did she fight them off? No. She got pregnant, I killed the Hortot Calisum and we left. It wasn’t the most romantic or dramatic tale, but it was our situation. Was she pissed when she found out my real name wasn’t Anfeo Tarlon? Of course, but with me genuinely taking her from that morbid Empire, she was grateful…or so I hoped.

But to come to the Antillean Federation to have your finger severed. That shouldn’t have happened …and it was all my fault.

The Vault-like doors of the slashed open. The cold vapour of the air condition flooded outside. The Mangol, her trope and I marched in.

The receptionist, who sat in the corner to our left. Painted a smile on her face, then stood up. An alarm chimed off and the automated system kicked in, with an array of machine guns appearing from everywhere.

The door slammed shut behind us, and the bodyguards moved to circle The Mangol, protecting, her leaving me in the open.

“Welcome to the Archion Deposit,” The Receptionist said, “all weapons are to be placed in the conveyor belt until you leave.”

The Mangol turned to me as if she didn’t expect this. I smiled, giving her a wink and walked on over to the water cooler, which sat in the far right corner, next to a small palm tree.

Each step I made, followed the cameras for the machine guns touted in the walls. None of them zoomed in on me, which meant they had X-Ray vision and considered me a none threat.

I pulled a cup free, placing it on the centre of the water cooler. I hit the blue button on the right of the red button and the water flushed out. I picked up my cup and sat on the chair, right next to the water cooler and watched as The Mangol’s men, stood there stupefied.

“Thirty Second Warning Engaged!” The Automated system called out. The white lights in the room went dim for a second, then turned red, flashing intermittently.

“The Credits are coming, if you and your men don’t feel welcome leave. You can wait for me outside.”

“For you to run?” The Mangol scoffed.

“Run…to where. I’m not foolish enough to believe you don’t have this building watched. I’m not going anywhere. So be rest assured.”

“Ten Seconds…”

The Mangol turned to the receptionist, who still had her arms clasped in front of her, unphased by the situation. “We’ll take our leave.”

The Mangol’s husbands’ SMBs began blinking violently between red and yellow as if they were objected to the idea. The Mangol turned, daishiki dress swaying behind her and strutted through the door, followed by her bodyguards.

The Husband that punched me in the face turned to me and smiled grimly. I raised my middle finger and watched his grin turn sour as the door to the Archion Deposit slashed shut.

“Jesus Christ” I grumbled, feeling some form of relief. The tension I felt for the past two hours came over me like a wave. I fished into my pocket, noting the time.

Minutes Left

7:34:39

The Receptionist walked up to me, hands still clasped and giving me a cheery smile. “Is there something I can assist with sir?”

“Yes. Kaiden Cypher, I would like to make a withdrawal, but the second account holder isn’t here yet.”

“Is it a joint account?”

“No, it’s my account, but my security parameters require a second person. She’ll be here soon.”

“You care to wait?”

“I do.”

“Then feel free to grab any refreshment, all of them are at your disposal.” The receptionist said, tapping a button on her belt.

A holographic menu popped up, in the form of blue light. The Menu spun slowly, showing a variety of dishes differing based on meat. “How do I order?” I asked.

“Just tap here and here.” The Receptionist said, showing the buttons on the table.

“Thank you.”

In the end, I didn’t order anything. I was too worried about whether my plan would work. It wasn’t the best plan, nor was it the shittiest, but all I could ponder was whether to risk it…or not.

The doors for the business slashed open with a groan. Light from outside beamed through the door running shadows from a few corners within the room.

Naedon came through the door, wearing a suit. I switched my vision to X-Ray and noted his pistol. Elhisia followed behind Naedon on a hoverchair. She wore sunglasses and a mask that covered her mouth, hiding her identity no doubt. Tryzer, Stelig followed and Rynord followed suit.