“P-please… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Less than two minutes had passed since Riddick had become physical with Lenny and yet he was already in a sorry state.

At this moment, as the dim hallway light flickered ominously, Riddick’s figure could be seen holding a beaten down Lenny by the collar.

Riddick’s other hand was raised into a fist coated with Lenny’s blood… continuously pounding into Lenny’s face after every breath.

*bam!* *bam!*

The loud pummeling noise that resonated from this action echoed through the empty halls creepily.

Lenny’s thoughts were blank, absent even as he faced the constant barrage of hits.

What this experience all the more horrid for him was that each time he got hit, he would see Riddick’s plain expression.

It was like he was really being looked down upon. Despite feeling like this though, he couldn’t fight back.

Thus, soon dropping into his current pitiful state of pleading. The average person can only take so much before they crack mentally, unable to fully process all the shock.

Riddick knew this and stopped here. After having such an experience, most people would have a permanent sense of fear instilled in them for the rest of their lives.

Sadly for Lenny, Riddick wasn’t so merciful against those he genuinely disliked.

After seeing Riddick stop, Lenny crawled against the wall and trembled frantically while keeping his gaze on Riddick.

Riddick however, only shook off the loose blood on his fist and casually met Lenny’s gaze.

“You know Lenny, I live my life in accordance with the beliefs I set for myself, to be the best version of myself I can be. Do you know what those beliefs are?”

A trembling Lenny felt his heart rate spike at the question. He felt like if he answered wrongly, he would be beaten again.

His mouth began to tremble as well and his eyes became teary as he brought his hands together to plead. “P-please, I won’t do it again, please…”

Ignoring Lenny’s pleas with a dormant expression, Riddick proceeded to answer anyway.

“Lust spoils devotion. Anger spoils knowledge. Greed spoils sacrifice. Attachment spoils meditation.” As Riddick recited these words, he raised his hand to count each one as he spoke.

He then held out his hand to show Lenny his four raised fingers. “These are the four core values I try to follow. And in the same way you would purge a disease that infiltrates your body. I will rid you in the same way for disrupting the peace of my emotions.”

As Riddick said this in a slow, but very ominous way, he suddenly raised his leg and kicked Lenny in the knee.

*Crack!*

The immediate shattering of bone resonated on the scene and was soon followed by Lenny’s loud cry.

“*Argh!*”

Lenny held onto his leg as he writhed in pain. Riddick however just turned to the end of hallway and spoke.

“Zoe, call the building’s disposal robot here.”

“Calling for Langitech Cleaner-bot X23L now.” Zoe promptly responded.

In the the next moment, a quiet humming could be heard as a rusty and dirty rectangular shaped droid, roughly 5 feet in height, approached the scene on its wheelbase.

It stopped just a few feet away from Riddick before a robotic voice resounded from it.

“I’m am at your service, what do you wish for me to dispose valued tenant?”

Riddick shifted his gaze to the now very panicked Lenny who couldn’t help but call for help.

“Help! *argh* Somebody help! This kid is crazy!”

Lenny’s pleas were lost into the hallway’s machinery humming, finding no helper for him. Riddick simply looked away from Lenny and instructed, “that.”

The droid followed Riddick’s gesture and looked at Lenny, before it’s circular eye-screen emanated a green laser to scan Lenny.

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Upon scanning Lenny, the laser flashed red and the droid responded.

“Sorry valued tenant, I detected a living specimen within the area of requested disposal. Please ensure they are no living specimens in the area as it is dangerous.”

Hearing this reply, Riddick quickly instructed, “Zoe, override it’s safety protocols.”

For a sophisticated new age A.I like Zoe, overriding the measures within what they called “aged droids” was as easy as solving 1 + 1 with a calculator and an instruction manual.

The droid suddenly jerked uncomfortably, causing its mechanical parts to clank as it scanned Lenny again.

But this time, the scan remained green.

“Disposal site scanned, how would like your waste disposed?”

Riddick flatly replied, “shredded.”

The droid quickly confirmed this response.

“Acknowledged. Proceeding to start waste disposal process. Please be warned, this disposal process will include the use of dangerous tools. Please vacate the outlined area to avoid injuries. Starting in 10… 9…8”

As the robotic voice began to countdown, a light emerged from its rounded head that outlined a perimeter of 5-feet.

What followed were a set of small rusty limbs with thin, circular jagged blades rotating at the ends.

Riddick, turned away from this sight and reached into the pocket of his pants to retrieve the card Nikolai had given.

“Zoe, I need you to set up a call for me…”

----------------------------------------

"Somebody help! Fire, there's a fire!"

A chaotic scene had now sparked it what was formerly the quiet hallways of an apartment building.

Smoke clouds were quick to fill many poorly ventilated areas, a good chunk of those being people's units.

As numerous tenants rushed outside where emergency services were gathered, an especially shaken woman was being held back by a police officer in armored sentinel uniform.

"Ma'am please stand back, it isn't safe. A rescue team is already combing through for survivors." The burly officer calmly addressed, while keeping the woman shield from bypassing him.

"J-just how do this happen? Lenny! I swear if this your fault…" the woman, Melissa, looked incredibly shaken at the site of the burning building.

Her first and most worrisome thought was that the cause of the inferno was none other than her abusive spouse.

After all, it was almost routine for him to leave messes for her to clean in their unit due to his drunken actions.

As her worry and anger grew, another officer who was standing much closer to the apartment's entrance began walking over.

The officer immediately turned to his fellow officer and reported, "sir, rescuers have determined that they are no more civilians within the building, we can assume those unaccounted for hadn't yet returned home. No casualties either."

Hearing this report, the superior officer gave an understanding nod and turned to talk to Melissa.

"As you've just heard from officer Montrez ma'am, they are no people inside. But you mentioned a Lenny and this possibly being his fault, could you please elaborate?"

The moment it was reported that they were no casualties, the superior officer had switched priorities. After all, the firefighters were already close to extinguishing the flames and now it was about to become a matter of finding the cause of the fire.

----------------------------------------

However, just a few streets over, Riddick could be seen casually walking down the dimly illuminated sidewalk with a duffle-bag in one hand.

Having left a somewhat confusing scene back at the apartments, he knew it would be days before they even considered his being missing suspicious.

For one, as contract killer, he was often gone from his unit for several days. Something every tenant on his floor would likely point out if an investigation was opened.

This would only be strengthened by the fact most would describe him as quiet and reserved with no confrontational history or criminal record. This would present a lack of motive and also make investigators doubtful of him being involved.

The focus would instead be on Lenny, who was known for his often aggressive behavior and run ins with the law.

But then the police would discover the charred remnants of what was formerly Lenny's body after doing a deeper crime scene investigation.

However, this would present another distraction, the droid used. With the technology now available to authorities, a connection would quickly form.

Unfortunately, given the droids old model and lack of updates, officers would have no choice but to believe it malfunctioned and considered Lenny to be waste.

After all, although droids were now widespread and popular in many households, users are warned that malfunctions are not impossible.

In conclusion, with so much evidence pointing toward the droid being the cause and Lenny being a drunk unfortunate victim… the case would be closed.

Riddick's assurance? He knew they wouldn't care enough to expend more resources on trying to find his whereabouts, after all, he was just some Lowtown kid and the events surrounding the explosion earlier were of greater significance.

All in all, Riddick was sure he wouldn't be found out… for a time at least.

----------------------------------------

To ensure the success of his plans though, Riddick needed to avoid areas with surveillance and areas that required any form of identification.

For someone with his mild experience and on familiar territory, it wasn't a hard thing to do. It was however very arduous given the longer distance he now needed to travel on foot.

'At this rate it'll be hours before I reach Hightown. Just what the hell is Nikolai planning there?' *sigh* Riddick regrettably admitted.

Redemption City was an engineering marvel when it came to cities. It's size alone matched a small country.

It's purpose was after all to act as a city state in which the government kept potentially dangerous citizens.

But to everyone's surprise, it developed to an astonishing level over time. Becoming one of the top cities within the Allied Federation.

It's three towns, Lowtown, Midtown and Hightown more or less represented the value of people and life in each area.

Each town was several hundred kilometers from the other. This was done so that the areas in between could be used for farms, factories and other industries that required large chunks of land.

Because of this, the only way one could commute from town to town within hours was by missile trains.

Despite this, numerous roads, both tarred and gravel, existed in the vast expanse between towns.

And Riddick was now on one such road, with a desert on either side.

But rather than being barren, much of the desert land was fitted with solar panels and tall wind turbines.

Luckily for Riddick, after walking just a little longer, he stumbled upon a charging station for EVs (Electric vehicles)

Humanity had come a long way and now the batteries within most EVs could more distances without needing to be charged, hence the lack of stations.

Seeing this one though, Riddick felt inwardly relieved. Just because he could endure the long walk through cold desert winds, it didn't mean he found the experience enjoyable.

'Finally, a break.'