Around thirty minutes had passed.

Without a word, Samuel, who had been keeping an upset frown, turns back and makes way to the exit.

“Ay,” Deck calls. “Where are you going?”

“Home.” He deadpans. “I was already expecting rock bottom from you but this has to be a new low.”

“I gotta agree.” Hawk states, seemingly equally disappointed. “I was expecting a job, not some Hollywood garbage dump.”

“Y’all being real harsh on the facts without seeing the proof.” Deck reiterates.

“Ok.” The man in black starts. “A secret military organization that has been redirecting governmental funds to create some anime level enhancing drug. Really?”

“Yeah, and I have leaks to prove it.”

“Yeah, ‘leaks.’” Bloom says sarcastically. “Definitely not poorly edited garbage.”

“Don’t call us again.” Samuel’s words come off more as an order than a simple statement. And not waiting for a response, he walks out, Jane right by his side.

Almost two hours later, they’re back home and tired from the experience.

“It’s not like you to be aggressive like that.” Jane comments after jumping on the couch. “What was the deal with that?”

“It was an act.”

Confused, she looks at him. “An act?”

“Deck is a nut head and listening to him is as reliable as flipping a coin.” He says. “But if you pick up on the good stuff, you may win the lottery.”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Like the plane heist?”

“Nah, that wasn’t his doing.” He corrects her. “He outsourced the information.” He then stretches his arms. “Well, he usually does, anyway.”

“...you actually believed him?”

“Yeah, because I had already heard about that thing, Project: Trigger. Some guys I know have been discussing leaks months ago.”

“Then why…”

“Do you really think I want to have anything to do with that?” He finally points out. “Secret military group is just another name for mercenaries who would be very happy to silence us if they figured we were prying where we shouldn’t.”

“...fair.” Is all she says, noticeably discontent with how everything played out.

“Now, we have merch to sell. Check your inbox.”

…

Earlier, shortly after Samuel’s departure.

“Well, bummer, I guess?” Deck says, half disappointed, half not caring. “Two men less will make the job tricky but I guess it can’t be helped.”

“Are you still on about that? I’m leaving” Hawk makes way to the exit, both girls following suit.

Not wanting to lose the remainder of his ‘team,’ Deck unpockets his phone and plays a voice recording at max volume.

“...umber 177,” an unclear but still audible voice speaks. Recording static can be heard throughout. “Codename: Prime.”

This sudden action perks the criminals’ interests enough to halt their departure.

“After several hundred failed attempts, we slowly reached a level of consistency that pleased General Waterloo’s standards. From there, we moved onto human testing. 177 failed attempts, 177 corpses now registered as missing, but their sacrifices will not be in vain. We finally-”

The recording’s static intensifies, taking front and center of the audio feed. It goes on like this for a couple more seconds before Deck pockets his phone again.

“One recording with no context won’t be convincing enough.” Crimson states, still gesturing to leaving.

“I got my hands on this a few weeks ago. It’s the most concrete piece of evidence we have.” He then sighs. “If it ain’t convincing enough, then I’m better off without you. Be my guest.”

The three criminals look at each other, pondering their next move.

With a sigh, Hawk goes back to his place. Seeing at least one of them was willing to buy this story, the girls follow suit.