Tipping the bottle, a steady stream of whiskey pours into my glass. "Let them in." All my business partners shuffle in and the president walks in with his secret service. "Leave us." My hunters close the doors behind them. I stare out the rainy bulletproof glass window. Half of the only city on Kinelt lies underwater or flooded. "Nice to see you, Cornelius." I wave, "Let's get this over with." Lionel Fox starts us off, "As you know, the market has completely crashed to hell, the people are scared and getting desperate. Money isn't worth anything." The president retorts, "That's what fear of the demons is for. Money doesn't matter because they'd rather have their families stay alive than have it." I clear my throat and they all look to me, "Things are slowly getting better."

Lionel snickers, "Because of Bullet's assistance, right?" I smile, "He is following my instruction, naturally." They all look at each other, then back at me. Lionel leans in, "Our previous deals won't cut it anymore, Cornelius. My daughter almost died at your banquet. And-" The president cuts him off, "Your people are failing in our sewers. There are still demons walking around. We took all the gasoline from the people and gave it to you, to clean out the sewers. For protection." A laugh escapes me, "I'm doing what you people are afraid of doing. I'm tackling terrorists as we speak. I have the best people hunting down scum that you people cannot even hope of catching up to. And Mister President, you have all the agencies in the galaxy at your disposal." The president opens his mouth and I talk over him, "You both have the gall to come here and tell me you're not strong enough to do your own jobs?" Lionel snaps back, "Your son is doing yours!" "He could never amount to what I've done." He snickers, "You used to be in control. You can't hide how you're grasping at loose straw. How many hunts is your son at now? And where is he now? Why isn't he here?" Not just them, everyone sits back in their chairs as my silence lengthens.

Sitting back, I hold up my hands with wide eyes, "So what are you proposing, Lionel?" He quickly looks away and gulps, "We all came up with something, together." A scoff escapes me, "Just you clowns? That I helped make? There's barely a crack in all your brains combined." Carter barges in with General Wilkins and Commander Kaylin at his side, everyone stands up as I watch. The silence breaks by Carter's voice, "I came up with most of it." Instantly, I catch on. That is NOT Carter. "What's wrong?" Pouring another drink, I smile at him, "Nothing at all, Colonel." He smiles, "Good." Kaylin sits down and nods up at me, all the while Carter greets everyone, sneaks a peek at us too, "Onyx." Something is very wrong here, Kaylin. Carter shifts his face away as I turn to look at him. I saw you, bastard. "Carter." He turns with a smile from his small crowd of small-time investors, "What is this deal you came up with?"

He smirks, "You know all the crimes we have on your little group?" I look down and smile, "So much it makes even the devil blush." Kaylin hacks and spits. With a yawn, I lean on the table, "So you intend to arrest the hand that feeds you? I trust you're smarter than that." He knocks on the table, everyone but Lionel, Kaylin, Wilkins and the president pull out guns and put them into their own mouths. Lionel shouts, "Holy fuck!" My heart sinks as he smiles, "No. I want you to work with me." I turn to Kaylin, "The alternative?" He sighs deep, then looks at me with defeat in his eyes, "It happens either way. He's got-" Carter waves his finger and everyone points their guns at Kaylin, "That's all he gets." It suddenly dawns on me. If Carter got to everyone here AND Kaylin- "You want Scott because he saw something he shouldn't have. So why do you want him alive? Information?" He connects his fingertips together, "Do you have him?" I pull out my radio and turn it on, "Onyx Explorer, this is Cornelius Onyx. Respond this instant."

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Static floods the room, "Onyx Expl-" Bullet's voice comes through, "Are you alone, father?" Carter waves and the gunmen turn to me, "Get on with it." "Your men had other ideas than catching them all. I sorted out the problem." "Victor-" He cuts me off, "He was the problem." He isn't telling me everything. "What of your little pet?" "Like you care." Hmm. "Son?" Nothing but static again. "Son?" I drop the radio, "We don't have him." Carter's smile hasn't faded a bit at all, I stand up, "Did I pass your silly test of compliance?" A smug grin grows on his face, "Yeah." Everyone lowers their guns as I smile, "So Carter, you control the government?" "Everyone that didn't put a gun in their mouths. You people get to have your own fun as long as the public is ok with it." Lionel bangs on the desk, "And what about our families!?" Wilkins laughs, "You and Kaylin didn't want to conform. You're lucky he doesn't turn em' into these poor puppets." Lionel snaps back, "You sicken me." The president puts his hand on Lionel's shoulder, Lionel slumps as he pats it, he then bows his head and walks out.

Everyone else leaves, I spring up to scan and feel the table for bugs, then pick up the radio again, "They're gone." "Lemme guess, Carter?" I nod and he replies, "He's not human." I shout into the radio, "I know!" "No one fucks with the Onyx Family, did you get senile and fold to him?" I growl, "He's gotten to all of our partners within an hour of his arrival." He sighs, "That bad?" "Mind control. He has everyone. Maybe even our people."

I finally shout into the radio, "Another matter, why did you kill Graves?!" "He wanted them to escape. So I killed them." Them? "I should also mention the brave souls on the Explorer, they all went down with the ship." The glass breaks under my grip. "You killed them all!? You sunk an asset of our company!? You are a wasteful little shit!" "I wish I had the pleasure, it was a giant monster even I failed to kill. The ship doesn't matter and I'm as much as I'm hungry for some sea monster, Carter's a monster worth more mounted on my wall." Pulling the bloody glass shards out my hand, I abhor the words coming from my mouth, "Come home." "Sorry?" I shout into to the radio, "Come home!" He laughs, "After all the times you've tried to kill me? Fuck you." "Bullet! Come home right this instant or I will kill you myself!" "Bullet!"