David looked up from his book as the metro CI called out his stop. Shrugging on his backpack he stood up and waited in front of the doors. When they swished open he was at the front of the flood that poured out.

Making his way topside, David weaved through the people. Some on their phones, others playing AR- games, even more, were just too apathetic to move out of the way.

Stepping over a passed out druggy, probably from Prophets Dream, he finally emerged into the light. Quickly making his way into a side alley to avoid being trampled by the stampede, he paused to put his book in his bag.

It was a paper book, a rarity nowadays. They’d long since lost their favor with the general populous. Paper cuts, bulkiness, why put up with that when one could just read using their V-screen? There was really only one reason why David bothered using them too.

They didn’t have loading times.

While that may not be an issue for most, it was for David. That split second was an eternity to him when he speed read. Using a paper book meant that he could read something as fast as he could turn the pages.

Zipping up his pack he shrugged it on again and rejoined the tide of people. As he walked, dodged, and weaved his way home, the sidewalks became more and more deserted, until, eventually, it was only him and the gangs watching from the alley.

Not that they would actually do anything.

Kill him?

As if.

Doing that would only get the police to come around and crackdown on everybody. Plus, It’s not like they would get away with it. Government surveillance would almost certainly catch them and, even if it didn’t, forensic science would do the rest.

Rob him?

Of what?

He’s a school kid and every one of them knows it. It’s not like he would have anything of value on him. He lives in the same area that they do! No one around here has anything of value.

Every one of them is subsisting on basic government housing and their BMI checks. They don’t have enough money to buy anything that the gangs couldn’t buy themselves.

To be fair, it’s not like they're watching with any ill intent in mind. It was mainly out of boredom. What they’re waiting for is for a rich tourist or a wealthy businessman to get lost and take the wrong turn.

Then they’ll pounce.

That was the whole dynamic that these gangs worked off of.

The main thoroughfares are guarded by the police, so they’re off-limits. Then the less used, but still popular, streets go to the big gangs. After that its a slow degradation as you get further and further from the main roads.

Walking on, it took David another thirty minutes until he reached his and his grandfather’s apartment building.

Stepping into the foyer he greeted Mr. Tomson, the government supervisor for the building. “Hey, Mr. T, how are you?” He asked as he made his way over and called the elevator.

“... I’m doing fine David.”

David looked over, confused by the hesitant response by the usually boisterous man. He watched as Mr. Tomson seemed to struggle with himself for a moment. Eventually, he looked around and waved David closer.

Leaning in conspiratorially he whispered. “Earlier today this blond came by carrying a Las-gun. I don’t know what she wanted or what she did while here. I can’t find her on any of my footage. She left not more than ten minutes later, and I didn’t hear any shooting so…” He shrugged imperceptibly

David paled and nodded. “Got it, Mr. T. I’ll be careful.”

Walking back over to the elevator as it arrived. Stepping on, he stiffly pressed the button for floor number three. As the doors closed he made eye contact with Mr. Tomson and he smiled shakily.

The doors slid shut and David was left with his own thoughts. He had no doubt that the woman from earlier was here because of him and his grandfather. Mr. T said that he hadn’t heard any shooting, but David knew that that didn’t mean much.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Modern-day silencers could muffle any shots enough so that someone three floors down couldn’t hear anything. That’s not to mention the special forces or the GIGN’s Sound Inhibiting Breaching Devices.

SIBD’s eliminated all sound in a defined radius, meaning a grenade could go off next door and you would never hear a thing.

David wasn’t sure what he would find when he entered his apartment. His trussed up grandfather and a GIGN team waiting to ambush him was a possibility he’d considered. Maybe a ‘recruitment team’ meant to ‘persuade’ him into ‘helping’ the state. He’d even braced himself find his grandfather’s corpse rotting in their living room.

That’s why when David finally opened the door to his apartment and saw his grandfather passed out drunk on the sofa with the TV playing an old soap opera, he felt an odd mixture of relief, disappointment, and incredulity. Loudly laughing at his own mixed-up feelings, he woke Axel from his slumber.

“Wha-what is it?” he mumbled as he sat up straight and rubbed his eyes, causing David to laugh again when a few beer cans fell off him in the process. Looking at the boy in near hysterics, Axel was confused for a moment before he too started laughing. It was several minutes later when they both started to breathe again.

“Now,” Axel began, taking a few more deep breaths. “What are you laughing at, Boy?”

“Nothing grandfather,” David answered with a grin. “Just a funny circumstance,” He said as he walked over and hopped onto the cushioned chair.

Chuckling lightly to himself, Axel started to push the cans off of the coach. Then he caught sight of the silver rectangle laying on the coffee table and his good mood vanished.

Axel grunted as he leaned forward and picked it up. Checking it over as he settled back into place. It was a plain business card. On one side it had the name Eve and on the other, it had a phone number. It was so light compared to the weight of the decision it represented.

“...Hey, David…”

David turned away from the absolutely awful plot of the soap opera and looked towards his grandfather. “Yes?”

Axel mulled over the card. “...What do you think of all of this superhero stuff?” he asked flatly.

“Well…” David knew that this was a serious question and thought about the best way of phrasing his next words. “...I still want to do it. I still want to help people. If I don’t, then it just feels like a waste for us to have these powers…” He said, trailing off as he lost what he was going to say next.

Axel just nodded silently, still staring at the card in his hands. “And if we have to do more of what we did yesterday? If we have to harm some people in order to help other people, are you okay with that?” he asked, face betraying no hint of emotion.

“... yes.” David eventually said. “I don’t want to hurt people. But if I have to hurt someone in order to save someone else then I’ll do it. I won’t do it with a smile on my face, or with any joy, but I’ll still do it.” he elaborated quickly, almost stumbling over his words.

A few moments of silence passed before Axel nodded with a sigh. “I was afraid that you would say that,” he said and shook his head sadly. “I guess I have to tell you then,” He conceded.

“I… had a visitor while you were gone,” he began. “She offered us a position in her… organization, I suppose. She said that they were an organization based around 'doing justice' and all that crap.

“I think its all bullshit, but, well, I wanted to discuss it with you.” 

David considered for a few moments. "...I wanna do it."

Axel once again nodded as if he expected as much. "And what if they’re tricking us? What then?”

David shrugged. “Then we leave. Simple.”

The grandfather stared at his grandson for a long time before bursting into laughter. “I don’t know what I was expecting from you Boy, but you surprised me yet again,” wiping away tears, Axel smiled. “Alright, Boy, I guess we’re joining.”

<( o )>

Eve felt like tugging her hair out. “Why is nothing working!?” She shouted to the heavens as she spun in her swivel chair.

“Is something the matter mother?” Pixel’s voice came over the speakers.

“Besides the fact that I can’t figure out anything pertaining to this fucking perpetual motion generator... no, not really.” She stopped her rotation by putting her feet on the floor.

“You may have to abandon this project mother, at least for now. Maybe in the future, you can come back to it with more insight,” they suggested as Eve pulled herself across the lab back to her workbench.

Looking over her half-finished schematics and messy notes, Eve conceded defeat. “Ok, I’ll put it aside for now. We’re still going to have power issues soon though if we don’t find some other source of energy. Maybe something that takes advantage of the magnetic poles? A gravity generator? Doable, maybe-”

Her brainstorm was interrupted by what sounded like an old air raid siren going off. Red lights started flashing and spinning throughout the room.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!” She shouted as she dived from her chair under her workbench.

Then, just as suddenly as they started, the siren and lights ended. Leaving the room in still silence.

“That,” Pixel calmly explained, “was the phone.”

“...Huh?”

“I specially designed it so that you’ll never miss a call, no matter how deep into your work you are. It has long been proven that air raid sirens produce a visceral reaction in the people that hear them. I used this design feature to invoke your primal fear response in your brain, shocking you out of your design mode.”

Eve just laid there under her bench for a second, processing. “So, you designed my ringtone so that it would scare me half to death every single time it rings?”

“Yes.”

“... Ok,” She agreed while crawling back out from under the workbench. “So… who’s calling?” She asked as she brushed herself off, and reminded herself to get a Roomba.

“Who else?”

Eve smiled. “Oh yeah... it’s all coming together.”