Khalif was excited to begin with his training idea. He couldn’t imagine anything better than having his people trying to target him. Not only would it give them all experience, but Khalif was even excited to try to change his modus operandi, he didn’t know if he would forever run around with a baseball bat, but for now, it felt comfortable, and he remembered a time where Arson wasn’t able to pick one up without automatically receiving a scolding from the nearest responsible individual, from child to young adult.
But there Is nothing wrong with a change of clothes, right?
Khalif made his way back toward the dump after a long day of researching different ways of changing how they operated. Which had included first and foremost, following other guards, learning how they moved, and why. Yet Khalif still struggled not to actively plan robberies of their clients while he did so, forcing himself to think of how to protect an individual rather than steal from them in their greatest moment of weakness took most of the morning, and by the time he’d headed back they’d even returned a stolen wallet.
Hope we don’t pay for that…
The possibility of whatever mover they had rebounded the wallet from could take offense, and as they weren’t any longer a part of any official gang, big or small, that may cause issues for them even in the immediate short term if not near future.
You can’t get stuck on every little detail, just focus on completing your next step.
Khalif made it to the warehouse and strode inside to see an incredible amount of work being completed, even though Jasmine had lost her crew that morning, she’d managed to scrape together one team, built from two of Xani’s assistants, one of Khalif’s interested bodyguards, and the twins.
The five team members were able to finish the massive loads that had been delivered that morning and were now working on a second seemingly even larger amount of clothing when Khalif arrived.
“Wow, you guys are really cranking out some orders,” Khalif said as he strode up to Jasmine who was helping his fellow bodyguard sort the finished product.
“Yeah, Xani’s already designed a system for us that allows clothing that has been processed previously to be put into the machine once cleaned in a folded state, and any similar or identical item can be set to come out of the machine folded in the same manner.”
Khalif nodded, continuing to watch them work, truly amazed by the speed the group was achieving. Mounds of dirty and damaged clothes being turned into piles of perfectly folded and seemingly heat pressed garments were stacked on floating tables that Jasmine requested Xani fix from the dump; a standard operating procedure created that made the tasks done in mere moments, rather than large portions of the day or night.
“So did you have something you wanted to talk to me about, or are you looking for a job too?”
“Ha, no, but I do need your help, I need to look as professional as possible. I was actually hoping I could provide you with a service in hopes that you would be able to give me a complete makeover,” suggested Khalif. Jasmine turned around to face Khalif, wide eyed and drop jawed.
“A makeover…”
Khalif looked around at all the clothes around them yet to be dealt with and nodded slowly.
“Yeah, figured it would be easy for you with all this being handled so quickly, I need to look the part if I’m going to lead professionals in any industry, and figured you all probably need to be guarded while delivering product back to your patrons, right?” Khalif’s words pulled Jasmine back from a storm of ideas rushing through her mind.
“Uhh, well Mr. Kim actually picks up the orders with a group of his own people, we don’t have to deliver a thing,” revealed Jasmine, making Khalif’s brow knit.
“Does he charge you for dropping off product and picking it up, most people don’t do anything in business for free, right? Maybe we can get you more credits for each job?”
“I honestly don’t know the answer to that question, but now that you say it, I bet we are charged for every piece of our services that we don’t complete ourselves. I’m going to do my best to figure that out ASAP. If we can make more profit, maybe we can pay more to all parties involved, your people included,” Jasmine said rubbing her chin as she thought.
The young woman immediately pulled her flatscreen from her pocket and begun looking back through the job contracts between her and the Keeper. Not long after she pulled the device from her pocket, she began to nod.
“We are being charged quite a bit per job for drop off and pick up, I’ll have to talk with Mr Kim about this and see if we can make this happen safely, there is a lot of space between us and Alister Industries,” Jasmine said more to herself than the patiently waiting Khalif.
“About that makeover though, do you have time right now? I’m about to send everyone here to lunch and would love to see what we can make happen?”
“Of course, I freed up the middle of my day to make sure that if we worked something out that you would have enough time. Didn’t want to assume that you already had everything you may need on hand.”
“Well if I’m being honest with you, I might. I’ve been collecting clothes found by the twins in the dump. They found a lot of discarded clothing before Xani installed the station table to our laundry container and Jade let me store it in a room over there, why don’t you go to lunch with everyone else and give me some time to find you some items?”
“Of course, I will send you my sizes and grab a bite. Message me when you are ready. You sure you don’t want to join us for lunch and do this after,” Khalif asked knowing how much of a reward quality food was to every orphan, not just himself.
“No, I have a lot of work to do, and the twins are going to bring me something to eat. Just go do your thing and I’ll reach out soon,” Jasmine offered with a smile and Khalif joined the others leaving for lunch as Jasmine walked toward a series of rooms at the back of the warehouse Khalif hadn’t noticed before.
Were all those rooms back there before,” Khalif mumbled underneath his breath, looking over the inside of the warehouse that seemed to have grown larger from what Khalif could tell just by a single glance.
Lunch was even more of a pleasure to enjoy than breakfast had been for Khalif, and before he could even finish eating he received a message from Jasmine and had to excuse himself. Or at least he tried to; a scowl from Jade at his unfinished plate, and a quick shake of the head from Rob told Khalif to sit and finish before departing.
Khalif made the rest of his meal quick, and soon found himself back within the limits of the warehouse. Directed where to go by a string of text sent to his Overlay, Khalif entered a room to a rather excited Jasmine.
“Where did you get the mannequins,” Khalif asked Jasmine who worked on clothing three dummies, until her tight lipped stare in his direction made him roll his eyes.
“People actually throw away any and everything I guess,” said Khalif, stepping toward the middle mannequin. The one to the left was dressed only slightly better than Khalif was now, the clothing’s only difference from his own streetwear the lack of dirt and holes, while the mannequin to the right was so well dressed Khalif felt he’d be putting far too much of a target on his back by wearing the suit.
“I figured you would like this one the best, but still felt I should give you options,” Jasmine said putting the finishing touches to the middle mannequin.
It was dressed with a fine white shirt that had solid black buttons, and even sported Obsidian cufflinks in the shape of an hourglass, that made Khalif wonder if they were endowed with diamonds when he saw them glimmering in the light of the room.
The fine black pants were supported by a leather belt from an unknown source. Whatever beast the material came from must have been incredibly tough, as the belt looked like leather, but felt smooth like kevlar to Khalif who wore a small ballistic vest underneath his hoody already.
He began to change without further thought, Jasmine chuckling to herself as she exited the room to go find the twins and her lunch. Khalif took his time putting on the clothes and felt rewarded by a nearby wall screen that was set to a mirror function. He hadn’t even noticed the fancy shoes that had been put beside the mannequin, but quickly slipped them on to complete the ensemble.
“I guess its true what they say about dressing the part. If you look good, you feel good too.”
Khalif exited to the laundry team having returned from lunch. The groups wide eyed gazes making the young man blush slightly at the attention, especially as they began to clap for him.
“You look great obviously, because I’m amazing. So what do you plan to do now Mr. Sharp-Dressed Man?”
Khalif looked around at the others and then back toward Jasmine with a smile.
“Go see how long it takes for me to get robbed,” said Khalif making his way toward the door with a huge grin.
“Then figure out how to never let it happen again,” he said more to himself than the others behind him. Only for most of the group he was leaving to respond all at once.
“Good Luck!”
…
Is this what we really make people feel like?
Khalif was making his way down an alleyway at a sprinter’s pace. He’d been nearly robbed a dozen times. Only half of which had been his own people trapping him in situations he’d had to escape from, while the other half were fully authentic muggings that Khalif’s use of a bat handled skillfully.
Yet this time was serious, he’d attracted not a few untrained gang members, but instead a large group of 12 Movers, all ready to lose their lives to finish any job.
“You lookin nice, Lifa. Way too clean to be rolling around in these streets, that's for sure,” said a familiar voice that made Khalif’s blood run cold.
“Rem, you can’t be seriously running up on me and thinking I’m not moments away from busting heads, man. Why you got your people circling like that, you crazy or something,” Khalif said laughing as he spoke in an attempt to diffuse the situation before anything could actually occur.
“So you think you can just walk through the blocks cause you used to run something? You know better Lifa, you don’t have privileges here no more. What you think this is?”
“Seriously, Rem? Hasn’t even been half a fortnight, sparks has it even been a day and you are already letting power go to your head? I don’t have time for this. Me and mine gotta train for some tough days, or nights I guess I should say to come in the near future,” Khalif started to tap into his core and truly track all moving shadows in a small proximity around himself, no more than 300 meters. With a glance toward Remy Khalif took in the young man, still staring enviously at Khalif’s clothes, Khalif just shaking his head in shame at not being able to pull his entire gang into the fold, especially after the first night in the dump. Khalif merely sighed and began moving again, his back to Remy as he walked away.
“Sorry Lifa, but I’d love to believe in the gospel that preaches olympians descended and built this grand CityNation in a day and in their glorious image I rise within a new empire…!”
Khalif felt them all moving in on him. A flood of moving shadows rushing toward him all within his sensory range.
“You can’t be serious right now…”
Khalif dodged by ducking Remy first. The silent footed young man able to close the distance more quickly than anyone else had swept a chain through the air in an attempt to wrap it around Khalif’s neck. This was common practice for most who used weapon based chains in the streets of Maelstrom, but Khalif had no plans of fighting any of his ex gang members that day if he could help it.
“This is a bad idea, I can’t run as that would defeat the purpose of building my reputation as a bodyguard, guys, but no part of me wants to treat you as enemies, especially after last night. I promise you that things won’t end the same way they would have prior…”
Khalif rose to his full height, widening his stance slightly. His next actions unreadable through his posturing. The young man looking as if he were either going to keep to his word and defend himself, or be proven to be nothing but a coward and run.
“I’m done listening to this fool. Move on him now! It's bloody embers! Time we got rid of our weakest link!”
Everything from that moment on was a blur for khalif. He was charged from behind, and grabbed around the waist, giving Remy the perfect opportunity to lash out with his chain. The sharpened links whistling as they stretched through the air toward his neck once more.
It was in this moment that Khalif knew that what he’d experienced before joining the others at the dump had been a hollow bond built solely on a coexisting need to survive. It was the enjoyment he felt after a hard night in the dump and a fantastic breakfast that had made him happier than he’d been in a very long time.
A time filled with difficult obstacle courses and a young boy who looked up to Khalif, that now wanted Khalif to reach even grander heights.
“I’m sorry you all…”
Khalif clamped his hands around the wrists of who’d grabbed him from behind and dropped into his own shadow.
The maneuver pulled the brawny young man down into the path of Remi’s chain, the sharpened instrument wrapping around the gang member's neck, as Khalif pulled him through the void that connected all shadows.
A loud scream momentarily cut off only to be heard a breath later in an entirely new location. Khalif emerged further in the alley, the still open portal allowing the chained young man he pulled out alongside himself to come through with Khalif, an ability he’d never used until the night before, unaware that anything could survive the void or transition with him until then.
Although Khalif brought him through successfully, the gang member was choking as there was no more slack on the weapon, that had been latched around his neck before transit. The heavily built young man flailing desperately as Remy looked on shocked at what had just occurred.
Remy dropped the chain, but before it could even loosen from around the Mover’s neck, Khalif closed the portal through the shadows, grabbed the Mover by his neck, and smashed the young man’s head into the wall behind him, knocking the young man out cleanly.
Khalif then looked toward all the shadows that had just been moving. Though the group around him was stealthy, he could still track their movements, though limited, it was far more than the rest of his old crew was capable of. Khalif's slight glances from them and then back toward Remy was enough to unbalance most there.
“Bring it on then!”