“Stand up straight boy.” The bald man said.

I ignored him. He was probably just going to send me off to one of those places where rich people torture the poor. I heard a news report about one of them. The rich were picking beggars off the streets and using them as test subjects.

Although I certainly didn’t enjoy the life of a thief, torture or servitude wasn’t in my future plans, which meant I could walk as crookedly as I wanted.

“So tell me boy, why is someone like you crawling around the streets?”

“I could ask you the same thing baldy.”

He didn’t seem fazed by my name-calling.

“My name is Tobias Exeter. Tell me, what can you do, boy?”

“Nothing that you care for.”

He continued without batting an eye.

“Can you fight?”

Now that’s a strange question to ask someone you want to be a servant.

“If I couldn’t then I’d be dead by now.”

“What did your parents do?”

Also a strange question.

“I don’t have any.”

“An orphan then. How’d you survive without parents?”

“Oh you know, a pack of wolves raised me till I was ten.”

“Bullshit.”

I smile and act surprised.

“Wow! You’re much smarter then I thought Tobias.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“You will refer to me as either Sir or Mister Exeter.”

“Ok then Sir Mister Exeter, what do you want me for?”

“Can you handle yourself with a gun?”

Here we go again.

“If whoever I’m shooting at doesn’t have one.”

He grinned. “Hand to hand combat?”

“Always go for the testicles Sir Master Exeter.”

“Can you read?”

I sigh, this was getting old quick.

“What do you actually want?”

Tobias just grinned his annoying face at me. Before I could say anything else, a pitch black limo rolled up next to us. It was one of the newest models, with the latest self-driving bot sitting at the wheel. The door to the limo opened by itself and Tobias hopped in.

“Come along now boy, I have places to be.” He said from within the limo.

“Rich assholes and their self-driving limos.” I muttered under my breath.

I sit down in the limo and make myself comfortable in the black leather seats. Tobias is sitting directly behind the driver, facing backwards in the car. His legs are crossed and his arms spread out, completely relaxed. On his face he sports a predatory smile.

“Have you ever heard of the Apex Corporation?”

I snort at that. Who hasn’t heard of Apex, they’re the richest company in the world. They’re everywhere, from tech to airplanes, or weapons to bots. They have a hand in almost every industry.

I take another good look at Tobias. From the override code to the attitude, this guy screams rich. But even the rich don’t compare to Apex.

“Judging by your reaction, you do know Apex. You might also know that Apex is very involved in the aerospace industry. Well about 50 years ago, we found a habitable planet. We named it Hope.”

He paused for a moment.

“On Hope, we found signs of life. No advanced civilizations, but there was life. More importantly though, we found a substance called Aether.”

Tobias reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small vial. Inside, a crimson liquid swirls around, sparkling under the light.

“Aether is incredible, a substance that can send humans into an age of prosperity beyond your wildest imaginations. It can burn as a fuel millions of times stronger than ones that we have. We can travel to places we thought UNTOUCHABLE! That’s not all we found on Hope though.”

Tobias removes a small dark metallic marble from his pocket.

“This is Hopium. A miracle metal that is lighter, stronger, and better than any metal on Earth. Make a tank out of it. It’ll take over twice the damage as an Earth tank. Make a rocket out of it, it takes less than half the fuel to get to the Moon.”

He gestures at the suit he’s wearing.

“Weave it into clothing, and it’ll take a gun to pierce it.”

I made a note to myself. Don’t try to stab Tobias through the clothes, aim for the throat.

He goes on to say things about Aether helping humanity reach its manifest destiny.

This was all well and good though, but where did I fit into this? Why did a higher-up in Apex randomly pick up a thief? Could they know my secret?

Suddenly I didn’t feel comfortable sitting alone with Tobias.

“I bet your wondering where you fit into this, Silver.” He said, looking into my eyes.

I just stared back without answering. He obviously wanted me to ask him, to feel as though he was the shepherd and I was a sheep. I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.

He frowned, but continued talking.

“Apex’s founder has died, and now it needs a new leader.” He said.

Ah, a power struggle then.

“The founder was the sort of man who liked to play games. So in his will he left the potential successors a game. Whoever brings the most Aether back to Earth in three years gets the company, gets the money, and most importantly, gets the power.”

He looked at me, watching for any reaction that I might have.

“Stop the car.” I say.

Nothing happens.

“I said stop the fucking car.” I said in a low growl.

I wasn’t going to fuck around in this. It was obvious that Tobias knew more about me then he was letting on.

Tobias raised his hand and the car stopped.

“What makes you think you can leave.” He says, an easy smile across his face.

I see it in his eyes though. The deadly gleam, the crazed enthusiasm. This man is dangerous.

“You don’t want to mess with me Tobias. You have no idea what your getting into.”

I grab the door handle and open the door.

“I wouldn’t leave if I were you…Alexander.”

There’s a long pause, but suddenly I’m in front of him, a knife at his jugular.

I thought I covered all my tracks, but I should’ve known someone would find me one day. Too bad for you Tobias, you shouldn’t have messed with me.

“That’s the worst option you could’ve chosen Alexander. If I die, the fact that you’re alive will be revealed to the whole world. I don’t think you want that, do you?” He said.

This bastard.