In one of the most upscale districts situated near the heart of the metropolis, a fancy, but not overly opulent restaurant, was welcoming the first few visitors of the day. This particular establishment was aimed at a mostly young audience.
While a lot of things were automated and could be easily accessed through personal devices of the guests, they still employed real waiters. The chefs were also still human. They were also true masters of their craft. Every ingredient used by them was natural, while some were even imported from other regions.
The interior design was similarly luxurious, with natural wood visible everywhere. Authentic paintings from centuries past hung on the walls, protected by thick sheets of transparent alloy. Everything was expensive, stylish, and screamed of class.
Such a restaurant, of course, was only accessible to citizens of the highest ranks, who could afford to dine here. It was especially popular among young heirs of the city elite, and had a reputation for being a prime spot for arranged dates and romantic occasions because of the spectacular view.
Strangely, the most striking visitor of the famed restaurant sat alone, it seemed as if his partner was running late.
The young man seemed to be in his mid-twenties, but possessed calm and grace that spoke of strange maturity. He was wearing a stylish deep blue smoking and a white shirt. A few subtle tattoos adorned his fingers and neck. Despite his looks mature attitude, he exuded an air of casualness.
Finally, the doors opened, and a new visitor entered the establishment. He wore casual clothes and had dark uncombed hair. The newcomer looked around for some time and then headed toward the table where the young man sat alone.
"Sorry for being late, I hope you haven’t been waiting for too long,” the newcomer took a seat across from the young man, “Did you already eat? Cause I’m quite hungry”.
The young man smiled politely in response, revealing his pearly white teeth.
“I have already ordered, but be my guest.”
He gestured to one of the nearby waitresses and started talking.
“So… Jake, you probably already know why I wanted to meet with you, right?”
He folded his arms over his chest and leaned back into his chair, waiting for an answer.
“I have a guess, Zack.”
Jake mumbled without looking up from his menu.
“Well, it's two things actually, deepening on how you view them—”
Noticing that the waitress had arrived and stood next to their table, ready to pick up the order, he stopped talking,
Seeing that Zack gestured to him, he put the menu down and looked at the waitress.
“Could I have the 14 and 3 as well as 12 please?”
For a short moment the waitress was stunned by the unusually large order, before she quickly slipped back into her professional demeanour, answering in a sweet voice:
“No problem, Sir”
Picking up the menus from the table, the waitress quickly walked away, her steps meticulous and refined.
“So back to business, ” Zack leaned forward, placing both his arms back on to the table, “you know Jake, lately you have been getting more and more unprofessional. Seriously? A group of high school kids, and you did it in such a poor way as well.”
“…”
“You know, it was still fine with the old man, he didn’t have any relatives and nobody would miss him anyways, but these four kids? Their parents have already run amok trying to find them! Do you know what a mess that will be when the police announces their murder? A group of high school students that just randomly get slaughtered in a nice district of the city, the public will be outraged,” Zack continued his tirade without pause, “With how little thought you put into the whole thing, you can be grateful that you weren’t filmed by a random passerby. Did you even check if there were any security cameras before you took these fuckers out‽”
His tone was getting harsher and harsher.
“…no…”
Jake hated it when somebody talked about his mistakes, it produced a deep revolting feeling inside of him, but he had to admit that Zack had a point.
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“See? That’s what I mean, you don’t do these kinds of stupid thoughtless things normally, where did your professionalism go?”
“What do you expect me to say?! It just happened in the moment!” Jake snapped back at him.
Zack was surprised by his sharp answer before he quickly got his act together.
“Well at least I didn’t have to clean up your mess for nothing. Do you remember their leader, the big guy named Brad?”
“Yea, he was probably the most annoying of them all.” Jake answered in between bites.
“Well annoying or not, he had an older brother who deeply cared for him, and more importantly, is a rather high ranking member of the Iron Wolfes,” Before Jake had a chance to voice his question, Zack already answered it as if he read his mind, “they are a small-sized gang that operates in the districts around your school. Their main income is drug trafficking and human trafficking.”
“I hate it when you do that. It always feels like I don’t have any privacy.”
“Force of habit.” Zack grinned.
“So they are just a bunch of smuggle rats? They should be no problem then.” Jake put his cutlery on the empty plate, so that the waiters could bring him his next one.
“No, don’t be so quick to dismiss them. Their leader is an irregular of unknown strength, and there may as well be more of them that we don’t know of yet. You know, there have been a lot of weird things lately.”
“Even if there is one of them there, that doesn’t change anything. They are still just a bunch of small time rats —But why do you bring this up now, just because that kid’s brother wants revenge? You should no better than anybody, how little that shit means to me.”
Zack adjusted his glasses and picked up his wine before he answered:
“Well no and yes, first of all, his brother has been furious ever since the corpses have been discovered. He has tried a variety of things to find the murderer, to no avail of course. But despite his failure to find anything, he still managed to kick up a storm in his gang with this panic of his. Something that could very well sweep through the district if his leader decides to get involved.”
“So we get rid of them before that happens…”
Zack pulled out his tablet and opened a document.
“Yes exactly, we’re pretty lucky actually, someone wanted to get rid of them anyway, and it seems they are very well off from the price they were willing to pay us.”
“So we have a new job? That’s good, I was starting to run low on cash again.” Jake added in a happy tune, while he dug into the steak the waiter had just brought him.
“Well, you could have just called me if things got dire, there are more than enough people who want to hire you.”
“Tsk, these jobs are always boring as heck.”
Jake finished his steak in record pace and moved on to the next plate.
“That’s not my problem. —But back to business, I want you to wipe out these ants as quickly as possible, before they can do anything we don’t want them to. And do it right for god’s sake this time, will you?” Zack said sternly.
“I don’t need you to tell me how to do my job, I have at least that much sense.”
“Great, I hope you keep it that way… I will send you the details later, as well as someone to cover your footprint, so you don’t need to worry about stuff like security cameras.”
“Hm…ok, let’s do it tomorrow then.”
“Great.”
Zack nodded happily, and Jake could swear he already saw dollar signs blinking behind those cunning eyes of his.
Standing up from the table, he felt pretty good, not only was his stomach full, but he finally had a new interesting job. It seemed their client was a big fish this time. From what Zack hinted at, they would be making a good amount of cash from this deal, it should allow him to buy some new interesting things.
Although I have no idea what these dumb fuckers did to attract the attention of such a big shot.
Leaving the luxurious restaurant high above the clouds, Jake entered a glass elevator.
While he was shot down at ridicules speeds, Jake once again admired the scenery. This high up you could see over most of the city stretching for endless miles in the cold night, shining with bright lights everywhere.
It looked as if liquid gold flowed in between the streets, like water in a river bed, painting an intricate map of the city’s outline from above in a golden glow.
Zisch!
With a small bump, the elevator came to hold. The slim metal doors slid open and revealed the sight of the building’s massive entrance floor.
The lobby bustled with all kinds of important looking people. With his casual clothes and messy hair, Jake stuck out like a sore thump among these elites.
Trying not to catch too much attention, he quickly left the lobby and blended into the bustling crowd of people walking along the streets. Looking around, Jake could see a myriad of different figures wherever he looked.
He saw drunk students that let themselves drift from one bar to the next, celebrating the approaching weekend. Scary figures the blended into the shadows of the quiet side streets and stressed workers trying to get home to their family.
It was a bubbling pot of different cultures and personas.
Maybe I should also relax a bit more…
Deciding that the night was still young and that he didn’t wanna go home any time soon, Jake made his way towards one of the many bars in his vicinity.
He entered the old establishment, it was one of the less crowded ones. A few people sat in front of an old wooden counter, where a bartender in his late forties was cleaning glasses.
The whole place had a mysterious and comforting atmosphere that he really liked.
Jake sat on one of the free bar stools, next to a young man in his twenties who lay with his head on the counter.
He really looks wasted.
The appearance of the man was even poorer than his own, he reeked of alcohol and his clothes were a mess with stains of his past drinks all over them.
“Give me an Irish coffee and a water, please.”
Feeling a bit cold from the fresh air outside, he decided to go for something warm and comforting. The old bartender nodded approvingly and started mixing his drink.
Shortly after, he handed Jake the two glasses.
He took his drink and gave the water to the guy next to him, he clearly needed it.
With his head still lying on the counter, the young man tried to deny the glass:
“…I’m fine…really…”
“What are you thinking about?” Jake suddenly asked.
“…what do you mean…”
The man still hadn’t picked up his head from the counter, but Jake continued anyway.
“I mean, normally people don’t waste themselves this much, without having a good reason.”
“…it’s just work… not really something I can talk about … I have seen things I would rather forget, that’s why I’m here.”
The strange young man slowly lifting his head up from the bar and towards him.
“…thank you my friend, but I have to go now…… try to stay safe —you never know what horrors you encounter out there…”
The stranger walked away, leaving Jake with his cryptic massage.
What a weird guy.
Turning back to his drink, Jake tried to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere for a bit longer.