On the surface, having Cclaxions as your personal line of defense could be considered a bad call. Typically, what you want in a guard is the ability to respond to orders in a timely manner, decent to above-average combat skills, and a head that isn’t the largest part of their body. But the oddly arranged aliens did have something going for them that a person like Vander Extemorst would appreciate, which was the fact that typically Cclaxions didn’t ask questions. Seeing how the conversation would take up a whole lot of time and an immense number of unpleasant smells, more often than naught they didn’t bother with second guesses. The second quality was something that all businessmen valued- they were dirt cheap.
However, Alex did not appreciate the guards that were dragging him into the Extemorst Casino, the feeling was rather the opposite. He tried to resist the firm grip of his guard, but his body was too tired to put up much of a defense. He looked over at his friend, Sophia was putting up much more of a fight than he was. Her guard was already a few steps behind the rest, with the girl digging her feet into the ground in an attempt to stop her movement. Still, there wasn’t much she could do as she found herself flung to the floor, Alex shortly following beside her.
The boy immediately felt that something was off about the space around him, and his suspicions were proven correct as he looked around from where he lay. The casino was trashed, head to toe. The poker tables that used to beckon customers now rested in splintery ruins, with jagged wood bent and sticking out from the ground at unpleasant angles. The heads of- hopefully- alien creatures were now defaced as burn marks littered their lifeless expressions. The walls too were lined in round charred holes that burned away much of the once fancy wallpaper. The front desk, where the bronze robot used to stand, was ruined as well. But there was something different about the damage there, though Alex couldn’t lay his finger on it at his angle.
Vander Extemorst, straightening his slick tie, stood before the two as an executor stands next to the lever. It was hard for someone of his squid-like anatomy to appear angry, his face wasn’t structured right to frown, but despite the odds, he managed it. “You!” He shouted yet again, his eyes curling down to the boy on the ground.
“Hi again,” Alex responded timidly. “This place has a new look, eh?”
The businessman did not respond with fury at the chide comments, which was somehow more intimidating. Instead, the man lowered himself to Alex’s level, meeting him eye for oily eye. “Before I cave your skull in, I would like to know where you put my money.”
Alex blinked, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play with me.” Vander chuckled. “I know your little games and I am aware of how you like to lie! You scrapers are all the same. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice I bury you.”
“I don’t lie!” Alex protested. “I just play around with the truth a bit.”
Sophia couldn’t help but roll her eyes a little.
“You think I’m joking?” The businessman scoffed. “Do you think my threats are idle? I will end your life and the life of your vomit-colored friend here without a second thought! Do you hear me?”
“No, I don’t.” Said Alex, as he slowly struggled to stand. “But I do know that I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, and I promise you that’s not a lie.” Back on his feet, he felt more wobbly than usual, like his legs had forgotten how to work and needed a moment to remember. “So, before you kill me, can you at least tell me why you’re doing it?”
The man scoffed, “you think I’m going to tell you anything after what you’ve done?”
“It would be very convenient.” He shrugged. “What’s the harm in telling me something that I apparently already know?”
Vander Extemorst had been taught by some of the best businessmen in the galaxy. He’d spent hours learning Cosmic Law, how to make alliances, interplanetary customs, how to dispose of evidence, and most importantly the art of interrogation. From this class he would know that the first rule of conversation was to be the one in control of the room and not to, for example, allow a prisoner that’s at your complete mercy to take charge. Of course, he should know this, he was in the class after all. But Vander had a habit of never paying attention to anything, ever, and passed his classes purely on his exceptional final submission of his father’s generous check.
“Fine.” He spat, it wouldn’t hurt to tell the scraper, after all, there was nothing he could do to hurt him with this information. “Just a while ago, someone cashed the winning lottery ticket.”
Sophia and Alex exchanged excited looks, “really?” The girl said, jumping to her feet.
The guards behind the two gave their boss a concerned look, wondering why the prisoners seemed to be interrogating him now. Vander waved them off, he had this handled. “You act like you didn’t already know that.”
The girl raised an eyebrow, “I didn’t.”
“Ha!” Vander scoffed. “You’re as much a liar as he is! Don’t give me those idiotic looks, you both know that you’re the ones that did this!”
“What?” Sophia cried. “Why the hell would we want to trash your ugly ass casino?”
“Who said anything about the casino?” Vander said with a roll of his sunken eyes. “The casino isn’t an issue, you imbecile! I was the one that did…” He stopped himself, almost out of embarrassment.
The guards behind them looked at each other awkwardly, clearly, they had seen some stuff.
“You busted your own casino?” Alex asked, his voice wavering with confusion. “Why would you…”
“I don’t take it that you’ve ever lost 40 million credits before, you scraper!” He yelled but he was clearly defensive. “How could you know what it’s like?”
Sophia shook her head; all this talking was getting them nowhere and she didn’t have time for nonsense. “Look, I don’t understand what any of that has to do with us? You said someone cashed in their ticket, good! You made an entire advertisement for that, remember?”
“I didn’t actually mean…” Vander stuttered.
“They cashed the ticket, right?” Sophia didn’t bother stopping, she didn’t care what the man had to say. “So, obviously you know who they are! What are you doing with us? Go catch whoever stole your precious money, and while you’re at it, bring them over to the Candid Cantina! We’ve got a murder to solve.”
Vander tapped his foot, looking angry and defiant. “We… didn’t see them.”
“How is that?” Alex questioned. “Didn’t you set up your robot at the front desk or whatever? If they were in charge of whatever transition needs to take place, then they would’ve seen who came in.” The boy looked around. “Wait, where is ARI?”
Just then the group, barring the Cclaxions, noticed a sound coming from over at the front desk. “You mind as well see.” The businessman spat as he stomped over.
Following quickly, Alex was able to get a closer look at the damage. Unlike the round burn marks that were scattered along the wall, which had clearly been made with some sort of firearm, the burn pattern behind the desk was bigger and more extreme. It was like a bomb had gone off, and it would appear that the robot clerk had been caught in the crossfire. On the ground, scattered into pieces, ARI’s body was slowly pulling itself back together. It was like a million slugs were in a race to meet each other in the middle of the floor, where a blown-out and tattered tire rested sadly amid the damage.
“Jesus, what happened?” Sophia asked, feeling a bit sorry for the machine.
“Some scraper came in here, got past my guards, blew up my bot, then cashed the ticket themselves!” Vander growled.
Alex looked surprised. “They could just do that? There’s not like a verification system or something?”
Vander walked over to the other side of the desk, not caring if he stepped on any loose piece of his reanimating assistant. His tentacle hand reached out a pointed to where a small machine used to sit but now was only bits of wire and rubble. “All you would have to do is insert the ticket into that machine and it would deposit a credit chip with the total sum nearly instantly. The Extemorst brand is renowned for its simplicity and customer friendliness.” That last sentence wasn’t true, but the company sure seemed like they wanted it to be.
“Well, you’re lucky that your robot is so resilient,” Sophia spoke as she helped a little metal part that was struggling to move along with her foot. “This will all be cleared up when it wakes up, right?”
“It better, or else…”
“Yeah, yeah, you’ll cave our skulls in.” The girl waved him off. There was something about the businessman that seemed to garner this response. Sophia knew that his threats of harm weren’t idle, and she’d seen what he did to ARI when he was upset, but still, she was unable to bring herself to take him seriously. “I thought there were rules against that.”
“You can break whatever rules you want when someone attacks you.” Vander spat. “And I consider this to be an attack on my entire livelihood.”
Alex wanted to say something, but he bit his tongue, too many snide comments and Vander might actually come through on his threats. Instead, he looked around, trying to see if there was anything he wasn’t noticing something. It’s obvious that you’re missing something. The voice inside his head mocked. Check your exits.
“Is there a back entrance?” The boy asked, suddenly serious. “Or a window someone could have sneaked in through?”
Vander shook his head, “who wants a window around these parts?” He scoffed. “All you’d see is common gutter trash, and I suppose the actual dirt on the street.”
Sophia replied with the fakest of smiles, “a no would’ve been fine.”
“So, the only way in is through there?” Alex pointed at the front doors. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“What are you saying?” The businessman snarled, growing tired of the thief’s voice.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Alex straightened what was left of his tie- by this point he had realized that it was a futile effort to do so, but he was nothing if not persistent. “I’m saying that your story doesn’t add up! You say someone just strolled through your cleverly selected guards, walked up to the desk, and bombed your robot without raising an alarm? Vander, I mean, Mr. Extemorst, I hope you don’t mind me saying but that story is a load of nonsense!”
“I see,” Vander began, his face starting to grow red. “Now it’s your turn to call me a liar, eh? Well, I’ll tell you something, I will not be accused of such impropriety!”
The girl in green backed her friend, “this all reeks like a cover-up, I bet you’re just trying to place the blame on us! Why don’t you cut the crap and admit it?”
“Watch your tongue!” The squid man snapped. “You’re trying to put this on me, and I won’t have it! None of this is my fault, nothing! If you want to accuse me of something, then you should speak to my lawyers!”
“If your lawyers could explain how someone walked through the front door without being spotted, I would gladly speak with them,” Alex spoke slowly. “Can you explain that?”
Before the increasingly angry man could respond with a blunt ‘no,’ the robot on the floor clicked together. The lights of ARI-47’s eyes turned on, flickering in the shape of x’s before returning to their natural flat lines. The machine hadn’t been fully completed, instead only the torso and neck seemed just functional enough to operate. “H-H-H-Hello Fortune-Seekers!”
Sophia gave the prone machine an awkward wave as Alex bent down to face it. “Hello ARI, it’s nice to see you again.” He said with a smile.
“Oh, stop it with the niceties, it’s just a machine.” Vander spat walking over and picking ARI up by the dome of its head. “You pathetic waste of credit, do you know how much you’ve cost me?”
ARI’s eyes flickered into two narrow lines, evidently to indicate confusion. “Apologies sir, I do not understand!”
“Look!” The businessman shoved the robot’s face into where the broken ticket machine lay on the desk. “40 million credits, all gone because of your mistake!”
“I do not understand!” The machine repeated. “I did not cause such an action!”
Vander’s eyes puffed out as his grip on his machine tightened. His curly arms slowly started to raise in the air, shaking violently as they strained above his head. Either he was about to spike ARI’s head like an overjoyed sports player after scoring a goal or he was making some impromptu offering to a god- Sophia went with the more reasonable assumption.
“Wait!” She cried. “Stop it, don’t you want it to tell you who has the ticket?”
Vander stopped in his tracks and lowered ARI down, deciding not to rocket it into the ground- yet. “Who cashed the ticket?” He spat. “Was it them?”
Alex and Sophia looked at each other as the robot in turn gazed at them. “I am unsure,” ARI replied. “I did not see the lucky fortune-seeker as they entered.”
“But that doesn’t make sense?” Alex exclaimed. “This desk has a view to the only entrance; you must have seen them!”
“Alex, why are you trying to reason with these guys?” Said Sophia, turning to her friend with an annoyed look. “It’s obvious that he’s making his robot say all this stuff, we’re being set up.”
The boy thought for a moment but then shook his head. “If they were lying, why would ARI say he didn’t recognize us? That would be a wasted opportunity to frame us, wouldn’t it?”
Sophia wanted to argue, but her friend made a point. “Then what the hell is happening?”
“I don’t know,” Alex admitted. “ARI, do you mind if I ask you some questions?”
Vander gawked, “I’m its owner, you ask that question to me!”
With a deep sigh, Alex responded, “Mr. Extemorst, would you be so kind as to let me talk to your robot?”
Vander didn’t respond, instead, he simply tossed the machine over to Alex without warning. The boy was too tired to react quickly, but thankfully Sophia had good reflexes. Catching the machine in her hands, the girl held it up in her arms in a cradle position. “Watch it!” She barked.
Bending down to its level, Alex glanced the machine over. “ARI, could you tell me what happened from your perspective?”
“Of course!” The sound of clicking came from deep within its core as the robot recalled its memory banks. “Mr. Extemorst had placed me at the front desk to wait for the lucky fortune seeker to claim their grand prize. Of course, I was instructed to alert my master if I did see such a person and to not talk to them until he had arrived. Unfortunately, I never saw the lucky winner! My most recent memory file was reactivating just now.”
“Is there anything else you can remember? Anything at all?” Alex pushed.
ARI thought, or processed, for a moment. “I registered a small sound behind me before my deactivation.”
Sophia cocked her head, “a sound? Like what?”
Instead of a response, ARI’s eyes fizzled as an audio recording started to play. It started off silent and staticky, but soon another noise rang out. It was the sound of something small but firm clinking across the floor, which was followed by the audio cutting off like a speaker had been blown out.
“A grenade?” Sophia said out loud, recognizing the sound from movies.
Instinctually, Alex turned his attention back to the blast pattern on the floor. He was no expert on grenades, let alone alien ones, nor did he know much about weapons or warfare, but he was prepared to hazard a guess a say that his friend was right about her assumption. “You’re probably right,” he said, tracing his hand across the charred trails that ran up the walls. “Or some other type of spacey explosive.”
“So, you’re saying that some scraper came in here, tossed a grenade at my bot, and then cashed the ticket without alerting my guards?” Vander laughed- it sounded disgusting. “Nice try, but they would have heard…” Sophia, Alex, and ARI all gave the businessman a long, slow look. “…Shit.”
The two Cclaxion guards exchanged glances, both getting the vibe that they were being talked about.
“That still leaves one question, though,” Alex spoke, desperately fighting the urge to pace.
“Maybe it does,” the girl in green replied. “But why do we care?”
The boy looked surprised, “what do you mean?”
Sophia got in close with her friend, hoping that Vander wouldn’t hear. “Look, why are we even doing this? The ticket got cashed, remember? That means Timothy is off the hook! Let’s get out of this place, why should we bother helping this guy anyway?”
“Aren’t you a little bit curious how a grenade got thrown behind a teller in a locked room?” The boy said, a curious twinkle in his eyes that only the deadest of cats can relate to.
“No,” she said bluntly.
“If I may interject into your pointless conversation,” Vander said, his voice covered in the annoyance of being ignored. “But why would I ever let you leave? You seem to know a lot about how this crime was committed and it would appear to me that my first thought was right, you are the culprits!”
The girl rolled her eyes, would she ever be able to escape these types of idiots? “That doesn’t make any sense, we don’t even have any of your space-age technology or whatever!”
“Then what’s that in your pocket?” His oily face curled. “Seems very ‘space-age’ to me.”
Sophia sat ARI-47 back down on the floor and its unrepaired pieces started flying quickly to become whole again. “I don’t even know how this works,” she scoffed. “It’s just a protection.”
Alex’s attention wasn’t on the argument, instead, his mind was wandering elsewhere. I wonder.
Vander didn’t notice as one of his prisoners started to wander off, he was too busy poking holes in the logic of his opponent. “Don’t think that lie will work on me, I’ve heard it a million times! ‘Protection,’ ha! As soon as I turn my back you won’t hesitate to fill me with holes! You rag-tag lowlifes are all trigger-happy!”
“I’m done trying to reason with you, it’s a waste of energy.” Sophia grunted.
Tracing his hand across the wall, Alex walked across the back of the room. He made his way to where the trashed poker tables were, but they were the farthest things from his mind. Curling his hand into a fist, he knocked on the wall as if requesting entrance- nothing happened. The guards noticed this and inched closer to him just in case he was trying to do some funny business.
“What the hell are you doing?” Vander shouted, hearing the knock.
“Just checking a hunch.” He replied with his attention firmly on his task.
“Sir, do you require assistance in locating an amenity?” ARI asked from the floor.
“No, that’ll be alr…”
Without warning, Alex suddenly lurched forward and disappeared.
“Alex?” Sophia cried, running over. “What happened? Are you okay?”
A startling moment of silence passed before Alex, as suddenly as previously, reappeared. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He replied, dusting himself off. “I just tripped.”
Vander marched himself over, neglecting to bring along his robot companion. “What the hell did you just do?”
Alex ignored the businessman and turned to face his friend, “Sophia, do you remember that guy we talked to when we first got here?” She narrowed her eyes. “You know, the faceless one? His name was Handles, no, Havile or something? The guy with the really suggestive listening tool?”
“Yeah, I remember.” The girl recalled. “What does that have to do with…”
“Not him.” The boy clarified. “His door! I forgot that technology existed, but it was the only thing that made sense! Look.” Alex smiled proudly as he reached his hand out into the wall next to him. Instead of slamming painfully against it, his arm slipped right through as though he was immersing himself in a pool. “It’s a false wall, just like Havil’s door!”
The businessman gawked, “what is this madness?” He declared, forcing a tentacle arm through the nonexistent door. “Since when has this been here?”
Over on the floor, still rebuilding themselves, ARI spoke up, “this design is not on my schematics!”
“How couldn’t they be, you liar!” Vander yelled. “I thought I had you programmed with all the latest floorplans and routines.”
ARI attempted to sit up, but unfortunately, that part had not finished adjusting itself and the machine plopped back down. Now with its hands back, the robot instead used its limbs to climb onto what remained of the desk so that it could have a better view. “This is true, however, if the ‘false wall’ was on an earlier schematic I would not have this information.”
Sophia turned to face her friend and caught him smiling. She cocked her head to the side and looked him up and down, it had been a while since she had seen him happy. He looked like a little kid that had just come home to show his parents the A he had received on a test. Alex caught her looking and his smile faded, replaced by a look of embarrassment. “What?” He stammered.
“Nothing.” The girl shrugged with a smirk. “You just looked happy, that’s all.”
He narrowed his eyes, “huh, must be a trick of the light.” With a smile, Alex turned his attention back to his captor. “I think this explains everything! Someone must have known about this other entrance, and then when the time was right, they simply deactivated the wall and used the new opening to sneak up on ARI.”
Sophia turned and mimed tossing something over to the desk. “Maybe they didn’t even need to sneak up, they could’ve just shoved a hand in and thrown the grenade.”
“Then with ARI out of the way, they could’ve just gone and cashed the ticket.” Alex gritted his teeth. “I must say Mr. Extemorst, for someone dealing with a lot of credits, you really have a bad security system.”
By now, the Cclaxions had grown tired of standing in silence and now approached their boss. Vander had his oily face hidden in his hands like he was crying. Of course, he wasn’t crying but rather seething, and the skin on his head bubbled out like it was boiling. One of the guards tapped him on the shoulder, “what is it?” Blurted the businessman.
The Cclaxion omitted a smell that resembled crisp leaves with a hint of honeycomb.
Vander groaned as he reached into his slick suit, retrieving a device that looked like a golden nose on a stick. “I don’t know.” He spoke into it, which was soon followed by the translated smell of thyme and oak wood.
“What are they doing?” Sophia asked, confused as to why the air was suddenly filled with smells.
Alex shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“No, we don’t have to kill them now, let’s wait a minute.” Said Vander into the nose. “They may be useful later.”
The boy raised a finger, “I think I may have figured it out.”
“I think it’s time we book it.” Whispered Sophia, preparing to run.
“How?” Alex asked, looking around. “There’s like five guards in front of the door.” Sophia gave her friend a glance that could only be described as ‘you moron.’ “Oh yeah!”
Quickly, the two dipped through the false wall beside them, leaving the casino in a sprint. They blinked as they found themselves in a cramped alleyway with barely enough room between them. Alex found himself lagging behind Sophia, his tired legs a hair away from buckling underneath him. Outside the crowd was still buzzing around the entrance and trying to catch a glimpse of the sad look on the face of a man they all collectively disliked.
Skidding to a stop, Sophia looked over her shoulder and was surprised to find that no one was following them. “What are they waiting for?”
A few seconds later, Alex finally joined her, already trying to catch his breath. “If I had to guess, Vander’s has got it through his oily head that we didn’t steal his money or maybe they’re just giving us a head start before they kill us? Either way, lets get out of here.”
Walking back to the front, they were alarmed that their friend wasn’t there. Sophia quickly ran into the crowd, ducking and weaving to catch a glimpse of Neil’s tattered coat. Her horrified face said it all as she came out.
“Did they find him?” She stammered, her hand reaching down to the gun. “Did they take him?”
Alex bit his lip, “I don’t think so, we would’ve seen.” He looked around, his heart starting to race. “Maybe he went back to the cantina, that’s what I would’ve done?”
The girl nodded, her nerves relaxing. “Yeah, he probably dipped when he saw us get taken, let’s go!”
Sophia and Alex kept their heads down low as the made their way back to the teleport plate, unaware of how much danger both of their friends were in.