“The thuckingthace is thold!” Arson mumbled

“What?” I huffed confused.

“This fucking place is cold you bastard!”

“I know, now shut the fuck up and let me think,” I growled.

I hit the back of my head against the wall and closed my eyes for a second, contemplating what my next move would be.

Bringing Arson here wasn’t the smartest move, as I didn’t have a way out of the Mess Hall other than through the front door. If a shoot was to take place, taking out the lights and gunning down everyone would be my way out, as risky as it was.

My main concern was that Eltessa was negotiating with the Doasians, something I didn’t see coming. What made it worst was how the villagers perceived me just now, as if I were some sore thumb they wanted gone. “This is bullshit,” I said softly. “I should’ve found the console and get the fuck outta here.”

“But then you wouldn’t know what would be taking place,” Nova said.

“I thought you were against this.”

“I was, but now that you’ve accumulated enough data on how to proceed,”

“I need to know where Stryme is, once I do, I can make a better decision.”

“What?” Arson asked, turning to me.

“I’m talking to myself,” I grunted.

“Sounds more like you’re answering yourself too…are you going mad assassin?”

“Piss off Arson,”

“Right, just trying to help.”

“The fork you slipped into your pocket won’t help. So either you put it back where you got it from, or your hand will end up like your nose…broken, but in a few more places.”

Arson’s lips drew a line and he stared at me as though he had the power to fight me. I rest my feet on the ground and tapped the pistol holstered in my flack jacket. “I don’t need you Arson, you keep forgetting that.”

“Stop lying to yourself Assassin. You. Need. Me.” He scoffed, twirling the fork in his hand. “You needed me the moment you realised the shit storm these savages are about to unleash on your ass if things don’t go their way!”

“What?” I growled, biting the word.

“You think by chance. I can read a fucking room Assassin. Those savages don’t trust you. They’ll sell you out the moment they get just to protect their burnt skin ASSES!”

I grit my teeth and balled my fist. Arson was right, I could sense the animosity they held for me on the wall. It didn’t help either on my entrance here. I killed six Doasians on my way here, which meant, they had the leverage to sell me out. Fuck, I’m fucked!

The gears in my mind churned for tens of minutes as I tried to muster a plan. At that time, the only solution that came to mind was to surrender to Lieutenant Ranton.

No, that’s a shit plan…I can only hope these people won’t sell me out, but they have no choice but to keep me alive if they want to avoid the Doasians fury. If I tell them who Arson is, they’d say they brought him and usher their freedom. “I have no choice here, I have to wait on Eltessa and Stryme or my family dies…fuck,” I whispered.

“Sir, someone’s approaching…” Nova alerted.

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I sprung off the bed, unclipping the submachine that had been latched behind my back. I looked at Arson and pointed to the left of the room. “Someone’s coming,” I whispered.

He pushed himself up from his chair and ran towards the far side of the room. I ran towards the wall using my toes to lessen the sound of my feet. I unclipped the safety of my submachine gun and trained it at the door. “Echosight,” I whispered.

Sound waves rippled towards me coming from the corridor. As the third wave fluttered toward me, nervousness began to creep in, because god knows who it was.

Luckily, it was one set of footprints, which meant, if this was Eltessa, I could end them and retreat into Sceleratus and leave this bastard Arson here, then I could find a way to get out of the bunker once I’ve acquired the Hedgehog, then god knows how the fuck I’d escape from this shit place.

A bead of sweat dripped from the right side of my face. Each ripple, slid down even further as though it was mimicking the violent waves that fed into my contact lens and cybernetic eye. At least my SMB wasn’t clutching my brain anymore, I grumbled to myself.

The ripples stopped at my door, a snap echoed and the door groaned out as there was no WD40 to keep the shrieks from howling door from penetrating my precious ear.

“Don’t...Move!” I said firmly. “Or a bullet’s gonna go right through your skull.”

“Cypher…I hope to go you have fucking Hedgehog or I’m gonna jam that submachine gun up your ass” Eltessa hissed, turning to me with raised hands.

“You’re back,” I said, dropping my shoulders.

“Do you have the fucking Hedgehog?”

“Not Yet,” I answered, rolling my neck and clipping my submachine gun back into place

“What the fuck!?”Eltessa roared, stomping towards me. “Are you shitting me? THIS PLACE IS ABOUT TO GET RAZED AND YOU DON’T HAVE WHAT WE NEED!”

“I don’t have yet!” I said, stepping forward. Eltessa stared at me defiantly as I looked down on her, reminding her that I was more than enough to put her ass on the ground. Still, she tried to show me who was in charge with the way she stared back at me. Then, her lips curled into a smile and her eyes glinted for a second.

The fury within me that was there when Akatani kidnapped my family, roiled within me like a furnace. The urge to slip my hands around Eltessa’s neck and watch life slip from beneath her lips was there.

I know what that smile meant, it was a warning. ‘We have your family, don’t fuck with us.’ Eltessa told me. I ground my teeth and brought my eyes down to her. “Don’t ever talk to me like that again. Or I'll put you in the ground.”

“by the time I'm back on your feet, what you cherish most...would be gone. Remember that.” Eltessa said, then leaned up. “Mr Cypher.”

The heat from her lips tickled my air, sending a wave of goosebumps down my spine that repulsed me to no end. I felt as though someone had spat on me and left me to wonder about the desert with sand tarred to my body.

“What happened with your negotiation with the Doasians?” I finally grunted.

“You don’t get to ask that Cypher. Where's the fucking Hedgehog?”

“It’s in Lieutenant Ranton’s office,” I growled.

“Then why the fuck are you here?! When you know the fucking Hedgehog is!” She hissed.

A snort echoed across the room, followed by the sound of lips smacking. “She’s spicey, I like her.” Arson laughed, drawing Eltessa’s attention. She turned left finally seeing the bastard twinkling his eyes as he looked at her whilst he fixed his damp clothes.

As Eltessa looked at Arson for ten seconds, trying to decipher who he was. I could feel her angle stifle what little coldness the room had to offer. Once she was finished, she turned to me eyes bloodshot red and filled with fury.“WHO THE FUCK IS THAT CYPHER?”

“A piece of shi…” I said, but Eltessa wasn’t having it.

“THAT’S NOT HALLON EFRONIZ!” She growled stomping towards me.

I turned to her, then made one step, stopping her from invading my space, but in turn, invaded hers. “Are you gonna let the entire FUCKING base hear you? Or will you shut the fuck up, listen and use that little pea you have for a fucking brain!”

Eltessa’s eyes went from bloodshot red. She grounded her teeth on the right side of her jaw, which made it protrude. She then turned to Arson and eyed him up and down once more., as if she was trying to figure out who he was. “I don’t fucking know who he is Cypher. Why the fuck is he here..”

“He’s here because he’s the reason the Doasians are at Sceleratus.”

Eltessa looked at Arson again, eyes gleaming as though she finally found something she needed. “So you’re the bastard that orchestrated the theft of the Experimental Reactor.”

“Experimental Reactor?” Arson said with a laugh, “My dear. You’ve been duped. I’m not a Nuclear Engineer.”

“Eltessa, that bozo is Arson Fellis a geneticist that specialises in cloning. He orchestrated the kidnapping of Doasians children.”

“Doasian Children? What bullshit are you talking about? The Doasian said that an Experimental Reactor was stolen and the reason they were able to track it here was that it was leaking waste.”

Arson chuckled a laugh, shaking his head as he looked at Eltessa. “The prettier they are, the dumber they can be. Woman. The Doasian’s children are in the bunker below us. There’s no Experimental Reactor here. Trust me.”

“What the fuck is going on Cypher?”

“A lot, have a seat. I recorded the conversation between Hallon and our Guest. You’re going to have to hear this.”