The deep guttural voice of her rescuer brought her out of tears. “Why are you all freaking out in there? Your brother is not dead.”

“What?” she asked, not sure if she heard him right, not sure how could he even tell.

“Don’t you know they hit you guys with tranquilizers? Don’t you see no bleeding wounds on him?”

“But… but his pulse. I can’t feel his…”

“Well, you’re just too stupid to find it, you little dork,” he said dismissively.

Tala sniffed and rubbed her nose, wiped the tears off her cheeks, and then realized her folly, looking now carefully at the chest of her brother that was hardly noticeably moving up and down. “Oh, thank you, thank you, kind stranger. That was so stupid of me. I thought I lost him. So-”

“I can’t believe I saved three kids, but I’ll get paid only for one. The worst one yet.”

“What? Who’s paying you? And who are you?”

“We’ll talk later. Let me just get us to a safe place.”

“And why, why did they shoot tranquilizing bullets at us? What do they want? And who are they?”

“You’re asking too damn questions. Didn’t you hear what I said? Give it a break. We’ll talk later.”

“Just tell me… you know… Who were those guys in black?”

The man sighed. “Nobody good, that’s for sure.”

“Some government?”

“Shhhh!” the man quieted her down. “Put your head down and stay quiet. Cameras record everything, don’t you know?”

“You killed them.”

“Someone of them, not all of them.”

“You killed them.”

“Someone had to. Now, what did I say??” He said it sternly, even turned around to give her his killer's stare.

It did not work.

“Everyone is going to be after us now,” she added.

“Quiet!"

Then he sighed, and before she could say anything, started to talk with hardly moving his lips. "They’ll mop the place up, probably doing it as we speak, and when the police come, they’ll find nothing. Not even a single piece of shattered glass. Which… does not mean we do not have a problem. Bigger one if you keep on distracting me. Do you fucken’ understand?”

She nodded, her brother's loosened head in her lap as she sat with her back against the back seat.

“Okay, but soon enough you’ll give me some answers,” Tala said.

The big guy shook his head and muttered to himself, “Can’t believe they missed you. Should have shot you, shot you with like with ten bullets to quiet you down good.”

Tala heard those words and remembered to feel the sore spot where the bullets hit her, and pierced her skin. At least three different places. So, why was she up? She shook her head, thinking it was one more mystery to solve.

After driving for about fifteen minutes in peace, Tala suddenly felt they moved lower and the garage overhead lights substituted for the sun.

“Where are we going?” she asked, breaking the silence.

“To a safe place. I told you.”

“You’re not going to hurt us, are you?” she asked.

“If I was, would I not do it already?”

“I don’t know.”

“If I was, would I tell you all about it?”

“Depends… how creepy you are.”

The big guy nodded his head. “You’ve got nothing to worry about me. I’m to bring you safe and sound, keep you away from anyone that wants to-”

“You have to bring me where?” Tala interrupted him.

“Well, here for now. And then, we’ll see.”

“And if I don't want to... be brought anywhere?” she asked. "Can I leave?"

“You can. Won’t keep you locked up. But those guys… they’ll be watching after you. And if they get you, there are only so many times that I can help you. Next time, I might not be able to. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“So, be smart. Use your head.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I don’t want anything. I was told to keep you safe.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“And how did you do that?”

“Too many damn questions. Maybe later, now, let’s go to the safehouse.”

He parked the car next to the two elevators, and Tala could right away tell that this was a fancy place, probably unlike she ever visited before.

The elevator got them to the twenty-seventh floor and opened to a floor with two opposite doors. They moved to the right, suddenly standing in front of Apartment 27-A.

The big guy passed the wireless key next to the chain and the heavy dark door opened to reveal a very special and light-filled apartment. The beige porcelain tiles covered the floor, interrupted by only a few pieces of furniture, a modern-looking leather couch, a few matching loveseats, and a few bar stools. A very opulent look was enhanced with a panoramic view through ceiling-to-floor glass windows. She looked around, especially admiring the kitchen as the big guy carried and dropped her brother’s and Daiji’s body on the couch.

“Nice. If you had money for a place like this, why would you ever need to do anything in your life? I mean, this is really nice.”

“Yeah, and you concluded that this belongs to me, how exactly?"

"Gee..."

"Still... This place is good. But... Not so nice if you have to run. But… It’s the one they offered.”

“There is only one way in and out?”

“No. Actually not. There is a backup staircase behind the kitchen pantry, so if I’m not here and someone breaks in… you can use those. Now, before we do anything else, wear this bracelet,” he said and tied the dark plastic bracelet around her ankle.

“Has a tracking device?”

“Yes. In case you are gone, I can always find you.”

“What if they…”

“Don’t worry about them ripping it off. Just put a sock over it, okay?”

“Okay.”

Tala looked around the place. It was too sterile for her, too luxurious, but a hundred times better than her parent's place.

“So, what do I call you?” she asked.

“My name is Howard, but you can call me Howey,” he said politely for a change and even offered his hand.

Squeezing it, she realized how small her own hand was, almost like a baby's.

“Okay, Howey. Do you think you can have some time for questions now?”

“I need to take care of the van. It cannot stay parked there.”

“I see… And then, you are coming back?”

“More or less,” he answered, turning her back to her as he picked Chitto up as if he were a feather and put him over his right shoulder while his left hand raised Daijin’s body by lifting him from the back of the pants.

“What are you doing?” Tala asked.

“There is a bedroom there," he said as he nodded his head against the far right wall and a closed door there. "So, let the sleeping beauties rest properly. So, open the door and never say I did not treat your brother right."

It was a big bedroom with a queen-sized bed, full of comfortable pillows, all plush and cozy.

But something bothered Tala, “I’m not staying here with him,” she said, looking at Daiji.

“Well, there are only two bedrooms, and one is all mine.”

“Well… you brought him along. You keep him with you.”

Howey sighed and dropped both of them on the bed, not paying her protesting pose any attention. “We’ll deal with this later.”

“You'll need to deal with him,” she insisted.

“And how would you want me to deal with him?”

“I do not know. Dump him in a garbage for all I care.”

“Gee... you've got a heart of jellyfish. For now, he stays. I need to figure things out. They must have taken him for a reason. You would not know about it, do you?”

“Maybe they got him because he’s an asshole just like them.”

“You know him?”

“I wish I didn’t.”

“Oh. Maybe then I’ll keep him for a bit longer. Something tells me there is more to this than that. If for no other reason than to bug you.”

“I don’t think you will get anything extra for him.”

“Then that’s on me,” he said.

Tala looked over at her brother. He seemed completely out, and her lifting his limp hand over his face and realizing it meant that it dropped down and slapped his face.

Howey sighed. "Damn, I think I've insulted jellyfish."

“He looks fine, but how long till he wakes up?” Tala said, suddenly pushing a pillow under her brother’s head.

“Well, first of all, don’t let him lay on his back. Keep him laying on a side so his tongue does not suffocate him.”

“You tell me that now?” she said turning him to a side.

“He should be fine within a few hours.”

“Well, at least we have a place to stay now,” she muttered to herself, looking at the room. “Don’t know if I can trust you, but… this is way better than with my parents. I know I sure as hell could not trust them.”

Howey raised his hands up, not ready to deal with Tala now. “Well, before I go, if you are hungry, I have…”

“I could eat. Something with a lot of nutrients.”

“Say no more. I have plenty of that around. First cabinet to the right. It’s a special shake. Milk is in the fridge.”

Tala watched him go then went to make herself a shake.

A minute later, with a frown on her face, she admitted to herself. “This is like the worst shake I ever had in my life.”

Still, she swallowed a bunch more. “I guess it’s not about the taste. This will… recuperate your whole body up, and give your muscles absolutely everything they need to recover.”

She moved to a comfortable lazy chair next to the window and watched outside, letting her mind wander off, waiting for the sound of the front door and Howey's return. But her mind drifted away and she dozed off.

It must have been hours when she woke up with the sound of dinging inside her head. The sun had made it across the sky and was now a red ball a few notches above the tall buildings in the distance.

*Ding, ding, ding

“You again,” she sighed and noticed the apartment still empty, no noise coming from the bedroom. “What is it?”

[Integration has been completed.

You are free to look at your system information and statistics including titles, standings, attributes, options, and rewards.]

“Okay, show me my titles?”

[Due to your current attributes that we have detected, we are happy to offer you to start a:t

Title: Enigma Trainee

Rank: 0 Stars Apprentice

Class: 1

Level: 0

We also would like to offer you one free Analytics]

“Enigma Trainee … Kind of like that. Well, that's not that bad. My rank is not without any stars. Good.

[Do you accept the Integration and would you like to read the terms of the contract to continue?]

"Sure. I accept integration. I guess I do not need to drink this shit no more," she said, looking at the almost empty glass of shake she placed on a coffee table.

[Would you like to read the contract of employment?]

"Yes, but not right now. I bet it's just a bunch of disclaimers. I'm good. Don't have time now to read anything. I have like a million questions. You said something about rewards. What is that about?”

[As a token of our appreciation, you have been awarded with a boost in some of your Physical Attributes that were found to be lacking.]

“Say what?”

[Your Strength, Speed, and Ability had all been given a boost of 25 percent.]

“And when did that happen?” she asked, suddenly ready to test her boost.

[It happened gradually during the Integration.

Any improvement in your attributes usually requires an adequate amount of time and energy to complete.]

“Oh, that makes sense then. At least one mystery solved. That’s why I was so fast and strong. Tell me more. What else am I? Give me that free Analytics now.”

[Analytics:

You seem to be highly mistrusting of any authority and ready to fight against anyone who you deem to be trying to control you. Due to this and other reasons, the projected success rate of your job as our agent is very low.]

“That was not fun. No wonder it was free. Can’t you say anything funny?”

[Your lack of mission completion is as encouraging as eating yellow snow.]

“Please stop, that’s not funny. Just… Stop.”