Chapter 14: Safety Deposit Box
"Chet," I greeted him, keeping my tone casual. “I need a favor.”
Chet and I had a history, one built on mutual benefits and an understanding that went deeper than most friendships. But despite the camaraderie, he was, at the end of the day, just a business associate. There were lines I couldn’t cross, and secrets I couldn’t share—not if I wanted to keep Lois and myself safe.
The café was quiet with not many customers coming and going.
Chet looked up from his work, his expression lighting up with both surprise and amusement. "And here I thought I wouldn’t see you again—I was almost certain you were getting hitched, yet you came back to me. So, what services may I offer today?"
I reached into my jacket and slid a series of photographs across the table, each one showing Lois from different angles. The pictures were in four-by-four format, clear enough to capture every detail: the ones where she didn’t have her freckles.
Lois had lost the freckles because of the incident, and pretty much her memories. Her old cover story wouldn’t work for the current Lois.
If I wanted to keep her safe, then I had to do what I must.
Chet picked up one of the photos and examined it closely. "She looks familiar," he mused, his brow furrowing as he tried to put a name on her face.
"Yeah," I lied smoothly, "she’s Eloise’s twin. Her name is Aloise. I need you to set up the same package you gave me before—fake dental records, fake licenses, everything. She’s an illegal like me."
Chet glanced up at me, his interest piqued. "This is going to cost you. But really? They’re both a Lois, huh? The parents were either lazy or they just loved symmetry."
"I broke up with Eloise," I said, continuing the fabricated story with ease, "and now I’m with Aloise."
Chet threw his head back and laughed, the sound echoing off the walls. "You monster! Ha ha ha~!" he teased, shaking his head in disbelief. “You saw the sister and thought she was prettier, so you switched lanes! It takes a special kind of bastard to do something like that.”
I forced a grin, playing along with the joke, but inside, I was annoyed at how everything turned out to be. This wasn’t just about a cover story—it was about survival. And if that meant weaving a web of lies, so be it. I couldn’t afford to let Chet—or anyone else—get too close to the truth.
Chet leaned back in his chair, his eyes narrowing as he considered my offer. The café was quiet, with only the faint hum of conversation from the few other patrons. I could feel the weight of his gaze on me, measuring, calculating. He was good at what he did—too good, really. He could sniff out desperation from a mile away, and I knew I was reeking of it.
"You know that the things I fake wouldn’t be uploaded into the government’s system, right?" Chet finally said, his voice low and serious. "If a tough enough enforcer came at you and investigated you two, most likely you’d be deported from this planet…"
His words hung in the air, heavy with the grim reality of our situation. Deportation was a death sentence in this part of the galaxy, well pretty much in any World Order territory. If we got caught, we wouldn’t be sent back to Origin Earth—not that Earth was any safer—but to some forsaken rock where we'd be nothing more than lab rats or spare parts for someone’s twisted experiments. The thought made me shudder, and I sighed, trying to push the dark possibilities out of my mind.
I had always wanted to be more than just a ghost in the system, more than a fugitive barely scraping by. Being a legal citizen, with rights and protections, sounded like a distant dream. Even my ambition for a hotdog empire was nothing but fantasies now.
Since getting my power, I’ve always entertained of taking a different future. At one time, I seriously thought of the possibility of even becoming a licensed therapist. It would have been nice. But in the end, I was just a stateless nobody.
To insert myself in the system required connections I didn’t have, and resources I couldn’t even imagine. So, I had to settle for Chet’s forgeries—good enough to fool most mid-level to high-level enforcers, but not infallible.
If I had Ebony Knight’s connection though, I might be able to make it work.
The old Lois’s cover story was always on point and was properly backed up in the government system, and that was saying a lot. Unfortunately, it would be hubris to pretend as Ebony Knight since we had completely different fighting styles and habits. I’d rather not shoot myself in the foot.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"It’s 50K, right?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady, even though I already knew what was coming.
Chet shook his head, a sly smile creeping onto his face. "Nah, there was a change in the market. It’s 70K now. Same rules. You pay half upfront, and then pay in full upon the completion of the items in question."
I clenched my jaw. I was already scraping the bottom of the barrel just to get this far. "We… are friends, right?" I ventured, hoping to appeal to whatever shred of goodwill might be left between us.
Chet’s expression hardened, and he gave me a look that said he wasn’t buying it. "Don’t give me that BS, okay?" he snapped.
I swallowed hard, trying to keep my composure. "The best I got right now is 25K..." I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. It was the truth, the bitter reality after selling everything I owned, including my apartment and my hotdog stand. I was crashing at Lois’s place now, but even that was starting to wear thin. Her mind, fractured as it was, made every day a new challenge, and I couldn’t afford to let her know how dire things were.
"I promise, I will pay you right on time," I added quickly, hoping to salvage the situation. “Even if I have to get it from unwilling hands.”
Chet studied me for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Finally, he let out a sigh and nodded. "I’ll take it," he said, his voice tinged with resignation. “I am looking forward to the other half of the money, and by then, I should be done with your request.”
I had never owed Chet a debt, nor had I made any promises to him that required repayment, which allowed us to remain friends. But that was no longer the case. I left the café and made my way to Lois’s apartment. It wasn’t hard to find; I had discovered that the place was owned under one of Lois’s many aliases. She used it to launder money, simply paying rent to keep things clean. It was a basic scheme, but it had stood the test of time. I couldn’t help but wonder if the enforcers were even serious about their jobs.
Nah, the enforcers weren’t the problem.
The galaxy was becoming more and more corrupt thanks to the taint of humans.
Most of all, the World Order must be severely lacking human resources, considering that they kept waging more and more wars. Since the Order had enemies from multiple fronts, it would be a very big shock if they managed to discover what I did with Ivory so soon.
The idea of robbing a bank briefly crossed my mind, but I dismissed it just as quickly. I was a lone operator, and I wasn’t a heavy hitter by any means. I could be a formidable foe, but I wouldn’t pack enough punch if things got heated. Then there was Chet. The thought of taking the product and making him forget we ever had a deal was tempting, but I couldn’t risk putting the only information broker I trusted in danger. Kane City was infamous for backstabbing people like Chet, but he at least had a reputation for seeing through his deals.
As I approached Lois’s place, I saw her coming towards me.
“Tom!” she called out. “Thomas!” she repeated.
She ran towards me with open arms, like a child eager for a hug, except she was a grown woman around my age. It sure was a sight for sore eyes as Lois ran to me, wearing nothing but a t-shirt.
I sighed as Lois finally reached me. Lois flung her arms around me in a playful hug. I couldn’t help but smile, despite the nagging thoughts in the back of my mind.
“How many times do I have to tell you to wear clothes like a proper person?” I asked, half-exasperated and half-amused.
"A hundred and twenty-seven times," Lois replied without missing a beat.
I let out another sigh, more out of habit than frustration. Lois’s ability to recall information with perfect accuracy was becoming more defined with each passing day. It was a gift and a curse, all wrapped up in the fragile mind of someone who had lost so much. I wouldn’t know about Lois, except for the game and the six weeks we’ve been together. I hoped… no… I prayed she’d recover her memories so that I could have my Lois back.
Honestly, I had yet to have enough of knowing more about Lois.
If the old Lois could see the current Lois now, I wondered what the old Lois would feel and do.
“You know what?” I started, but she cut me off.
"I’m a fast learner, so how hard could it be?" she said, her tone light and confident as if she’d foreseen what I was about to say. The truth was she did anticipate it, considerably at a superhuman level outside of the normal mechanics of her powers.
The words ‘you should return back to reading more books’ never left my mouth.
“Limited clairvoyance,” explained Lois, “Or maybe it is called heightened perception, or was it accelerated thoughts?”
I raised an eyebrow, surprised at her sudden shift in demeanor. It was true, though. Lois was a fast learner, and she had been devouring books like they were going out of style. I had discovered that old Lois had a personal library, a treasure trove of knowledge she had hoarded and monopolized.
“Did you at least finish the books I assigned for you to read?” I asked, hoping to steer the conversation back to something more productive. It was a breath of fresh air, seeing Lois boast though.
Yesterday, all she’d done was whine.
Lois grinned with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Maybe," she teased.
I shook my head, unable to suppress a smile. Lois was a handful, but she was also one of the few people I had left. And in this world, that meant everything.
A day passed. I spent most of my time playing with Lois, cherishing the moments, knowing I wouldn’t have much free time in the coming days. I also bought a tarp to cover the hole Lois had left in the living room. It wasn’t much protection for the secret underground base, but it was something. I’d like to seal the hole with concrete or maybe install steel doors, but that would be time-consuming work. I had a deadline to work on. While Chet didn’t give me an exact deadline, I knew the earlier I could pay him, the better.
Another day passed. I was studying the kind of technology Ebony Knight had inventoried in her hideout. There wasn’t much left—mostly unfinished products. The Ebony Knight had a habit of only finishing a piece of equipment if she had a need for it. That way, her tech wouldn’t be stolen.
"I need that cash," I muttered, frustration creeping into my voice.
Finally, after long hours of searching, I found a safety deposit box. This surely had something important. I was banking on emergency funds or the like, but what was the password? I tried Lois’s birthday: 10-25-07. It didn’t work. There were six blank digits, and I had a one-millionth chance of guessing it right.
"Bollocks," I cursed. The odds were against me, but I knew I had to keep trying.