Sebastian

For some reason, Sebastian felt like he was getting overshadowed by his teammates. This troubled him greatly. He’d always been aware of his limitations with Hope. He was her guy-in-the-chair and that was the end of it. Sure, sometimes he’d step out into the field and even help out on accident. But in general, he enjoyed staying out of the spotlight. He’d say: “Getting attention is for clowns, gigolos, and talentless actors.” That would usually prompt a very awkward conversation with his partner.

This time, however, he wanted to take on a more direct role in the upcoming heist. From the moment they’d set foot in Noor, his eyes had been set on one goal and one goal only: building a drone. He locked himself in his room all day under the pretense of sleeping and made blueprints that would’ve brought tears to an engineer’s eyes. That was the easy part. For the next part of his plan, he required, well, parts. Some of them he got from Harroun’s armory. The ‘security’ outside that place was distracted by a candy bar.

As for the rest, he had to take apart his phone. Some people might consider it an unpardonable crime, Seb had been doing it since before he had milk teeth. In a matter of hours, the flying drone made out of just an army rifle and a mid-grade smartphone was complete. Seb beamed at his creation with pride. “You’re a gosh darn treasure, bud. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

The machine, being a machine, gave no answer.

The door was swung open by a voice that sent his heart barreling into his mouth. “How are you doing, boy?”

“Trent! Sir! Trent sir! I-I’m okay. Thanks for asking. What are- what are you doing here?”

The man blew a puff of smoke in his face. “You were speaking with someone, were you not? And what is that curious contraption?”

The kid jumped to conceal the drone with his body. “Oh, this? This is nothing. Just a tool to help us with the mission.”

“Is that right?” Trent stepped forward with a questioning smile.

“Y-yeah! I-I control it with my laptop and then I can have a bird’s eye view of, well, wherever you guys are going. Sir!”

Trent concealed a playful grin. “You are far more skilled than I gave you credit for, boy. I can’t believe I got you purely by happenstance.”

“Oh! You’re too kind, sir.” He laughed.

Seb had this notion in his mind that Trent would leave after a few meaningless questions. The former Knight did the exact opposite. He seated himself in a corner seat and stared into his soul.

“I checked your file before we left for the Empire, you know?” He continued, breathing in another puff of parthume.

“You did, sir?” He gulped nervously.

“I’ve seen your record, boy. A man of your skill shouldn’t have been wasting away in a community college. You could’ve easily made state or even national level if you tried. So, what happened? Couldn’t have been money issues. I know your family’s filthy rich.”

“Adequately well-off,” he muttered softly enough that Trent couldn’t hear him.

“Don’t tell me you stuck around for Miss Hastings? I mean, I know you have a huge crush on that girl but to jeopardize your entire career? I for one, find that difficult to believe.”

Sebastian made no attempt at denying his feelings nor did he blush like a tomato. He took a deep breath, fell back in his seat, and droned on in the most passive-aggressive voice known to man. “What do you want, sir? Do you want me to admit I’m a failure? Should I say it out loud or hand you a letter or an email? I mean, I’ve got no problem with that. I’m just the funny guy, you know? I can do whatever.”

Trent clicked his tongue. “Not that, drama queen. Although, we should talk about that, at some point. I just wanted to make sure I can trust you for tonight’s operation.”

“Oh! Wait, tonight?” His eyes widened with surprise.

“Yes. And while my plan is set to ensure the success and safety of the entire team.” He paused to cough. “Should something go awry, I want to know I can trust you to guide them out of the area.”

“W-why… but, sir. I can’t. I mean, isn’t there someone else?”

“Mr. Collins.” Trent emphasized with a smile that looked ready to murder him. “We are dealing with one of the most powerful men on the planet. There is a very real possibility we could meet our demise tonight. I would like to avoid that. And for that to happen, I want to be sure you are capable of acting with a level head. Can I trust you? Try to be honest. Lord knows your friend’s life depends on it.”

Sebastian looked into his eyes, but his mind was still fixated on the words “we could meet our demise tonight.” That was a possibility he had not considered before. Death. He told himself it was alright, but every fiber of his being screamed otherwise. Oh, shut up. You’ve seen enough messed-up stuff in your time. He bit his tongue and nodded. “Yes, sir. You can trust me.”

Trent gave him a long assessing gaze. Finally, he spoke up. “Very well, then,” he said with a smile. “You may join us on the ground floor for the briefing.”

The meeting was, like last time, a terribly boring affair for Sebastian. He tried to pay attention, God knows he did. But despite his best efforts, his brain checked out fifteen minutes into the briefing. It wasn’t that big of an issue, honestly. Years of sleeping during college lectures had trained his mind to capture the important stuff on its own. In the end, he managed to learn not one, not two, but three fundamental details.

One. The plan was to infiltrate the Great Arcane Temple atop Muntassir Mountain in the middle of the city. Apparently, the server was built underneath the temple.

Two. There was going to be some sort of festival tomorrow. As a result, tonight, the temple would be closed for something called Purification of the Soul. So, no civilians.

Three. All four of them would approach by scaling a different wall of the temple. And Seb had to make sure they didn’t run into any guards. He came damn close to waking up when he heard that.

“I pray that all of you understood every facet of the plan. Mr. Collins?” Trent asked.

“Yes, sir. Every last detail. Totally seared into my head. And you explained it so well too,” he answered in his sleep.

Once the debriefing was complete and everyone else had departed, Hope woke him up with a slap across the back. He got up rubbing his eyes, saliva still drooling down his chin. “How do you never get caught doing that?” she demanded.

“It’s a talent, Hopie.” He grinned like an idiot.

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I was thinking-”

“Really? I had no idea you were capable of that!”

“Thinking.” She emphasized. “About what we’ll do when we get back home.”

“If we get back home.” He corrected her softly.

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?”

He didn’t have the heart to tell her. “A-anyway, you were saying.”

“We gotta rebrand.”

Sebastian’s expression was one of surprise. Although, it could also be interpreted as “is this woman for real right now?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“I mean, we can’t just go back to old school Vega, now, can we? We gotta rebuild our image. Get a new outfit. New catchphrase. Overhaul the website. It’s gotta be a whole thing. Just imagine how many followers that’s gonna get us on Blink.” The sparkle in her eyes terrified him.

“Sure. Whatever makes you happy.”

“Seb!” She gasped. “It’s not about me. It’s about sending a message. It’s about how many people we can make happy. Just imagine, an entire city full of people cheering Vega’s name in unison. Think of how they’ll love… I mean, just think of how big an impact we can make with that voice.” She laughed with a hint of discomfort. “I mean, that’s gotta be worth something, right? Otherwise, what’s the point of all of this?”

Sebastian sighed in dismay. Vigilante work was always a thankless task. In seven years, Hope had earned thirty-five dollars, a couple of shopping vouchers, a handful of candies, and an expired coupon for dry-cleaning from one very grateful old lady. It was a fine present but not enough to put a roof over her head. And yet, every night, she’d be out patrolling the rooftops with her head in the clouds and a song on her lips.

He never quite got how she kept that energy. But it didn’t bother him that much. As long as she was alive and happy, he was more than willing to go through just about anything. He laughed, “Of course, it is, dummy! You’re like a huge inspiration for an entire generation of kids. They all look up to you. That’s gotta leave a mark, right?”

Hope smiled, then dragged him into a tight embrace. “Thanks, Seb. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

National college, huh? Nah, this is way better.

∆∆∆

At a quarter to midnight, the drone was flung from Sebastian’s window. By midnight, it reached the top of Muntassir Mountain. Sebastian had, on his laptop’s screen, a complete view of the Golden City illuminated by the full moon. The drone’s camera panned across the cityscape. He saw countless huts of mud and brick sprawling like a tree within the snake-shaped embrace of the walls. From up high, the houses glowed with the flickering light of oil lamps like tiny fireflies all over the desert town. It was almost enough to make him want to leave his room. Almost.

His earpiece vibrated with incoming noise. “Speak what you see, boy. The team is standing by for entry,” said Trent.

While the Great Arcane Temple is a grand destination for visitors from all over the Empire, its appearance is anything but. Constructed of brick and cobblestone, the holy place is no visual marvel. Outsiders have often dismissed it as just another brick temple but only a true patriot knows the value within these walls. The Divine Spire built in the center represents the thread that tethers the mortal realm to the afterlife. The central shrine, a courtyard the size of a tennis court, puts even the vistas of New Manhattan to shame with its intricate statues depicting each of the Ten Arcane Deities. All this incredible history has been locked away from the rest of the world for centuries because of a handful of proud men.

Sebastian, not knowing this, flew his drone all over the holy place, searching every corner like one ogling a naked body for the first time.

“Well, the place looks clear so far. You guys can go ahead.”

Sebastian’s drone flew to the top of the spire. “Darn it, I can’t see anything.” Even with the full brilliance of the moon cast over their backs, the central shrine was hidden in darkness.

“Go lower,” Hope spoke into his earpiece.

“Wait, I hear something.” His drone retreated into the shadows beneath the spire. Sebastian felt a creeping sensation as he looked through the camera.

Three cloaked figures emerged from the shrine. Their faces, obscured by hoods, were impossible to make out. Even looking closely, he couldn’t guess whether they were Lucidean or Wadinese or some other race. More importantly, they had firearms. The two leading the charge each carried a sniper rifle. The one behind them sported a machine gun. Sebastian nearly soiled his trousers when he saw three more cloaked figures follow closely behind the first group.

“Uh, guys. We got company. Big time.”

“Of course.” Hope groaned. “How many?”

“I see three, no four, five, six coming out of the central shrine. All armed and wearing creepy clothes. Jeez, it’s like that cult you busted in Aldonia Church.”

“It can’t be helped, then,” Trent muttered. “Give us their exact location. We shall neutralize them first.”

“What do you mean, neutralize?” Hope demanded.

“Render them such that they are no longer an active threat. You might call it taking out the bad guys. Would that make you feel better, Miss Hastings?”

While Hope did not answer him per se, she made herself clear quite soon. Less than a minute after their discussion, a scuffle arose among the hooded figures. Sebastian did not know their language, but he was certain they were hurling swear words at each other. They sounded something like “what is wrong with you?”, “why did you pinch me?” and “did you just slap my buttocks again?” Before he knew it, they had each other at gunpoint. “I swear, I’ll kill you, you scared me, you idiot,” they seemed to say. Having seen his fair share of death threats in the last few days, he felt like he could sympathize. But before he could convey his message of condolence, they were knocked out cold by one very angry Ghost of Haven City.

“The targets have been neutralized,” she said in an irritated voice.

“There’s more coming from the temple wall,” Trent added. “Looks like they were lying in ambush.”

“Sons of bitches.”

Before they knew it, the entire temple was overrun by a platoon of hooded figures. Sebastian tried to help his teammates, Lord knows he did. “There’s a guy on your left. No! The other left. No, behind you. No, the other behind. Forget it, he’s gone now.”

At some point, the team voted to mute their earpieces. For stealth, of course, they told him as much. The infiltration seemed to go much smoother after that, for some reason. Sebastian felt like he’d been sent to the kid’s table while the “real” adults enjoyed dinner.

He tried calling Hope. No answer.

He tried again with Trent. No response.

He tried phoning Ren. Again, nothing.

In a last desperate bid, he dialed Alicia. To his not-inconsiderate surprise, she actually picked up. But before he could get a word in, she yelled, “Eat my farts!” and ended the call.

He sighed and flew his drone away from the action to avoid incoming bullets. It’s not like they were aiming for it, anyway. No, they were probably fighting someone more interesting.

This time, the feeling was more akin to being left with a babysitter while the parents went for a night on the town. With Hope, he’d always been an equal partner in her exploits. With this team, it felt… it felt like they didn’t need him anymore.

Before he could completely give up on life, however, his childhood friend’s voice echoed from the earpiece and shook him awake. “Seb!”

He gripped the earpiece with an impatient finger and yelled. “Hopie? Yeah, I’m here. What is it?”

“Can you go check up on Trent? I haven’t seen him in a-” Her voice was cut short by a volley of gunfire.

“Hopie? Hope? You there?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Alicia and I are in a cave of some kind. They’ve got us pinned down here. It’s the Malaks. Yousef’s army. I don’t know how but they got their hands on Lucidean weapons.”

“What? You mean, the guys from the city? That can’t be a coincidence. How did they know about our plan? Do you think we were sold out?”

“I don’t know! But you have to find Trent. He got separated from our group a while ago.”

“O-okay! No worries. Leave it to me. You be careful out there.”

“Thanks. I’m… counting… on…” The signal went dead before she could finish.

With a renewed fire in his eyes, Sebastian scoured the temple from head to toe. He tracked their signal, searched the building schematics, last known location, anything, and everything within his power to locate their team leader.

In under a minute, he found Trent’s signal inside the central shrine. The place where the first platoon had appeared. That’s odd. He should’ve been nowhere near that area. He ran the search a second time. Again, he appeared to be inside the central shrine. How the frick?

He decided to see it for himself. For what can only be considered a cruel play of fate, the central shrine was the only building with a proper roof and no clear openings big enough for a drone. While anyone else would’ve cursed their luck and turned back, this was Sebastian. The same man who’d hacked the city’s police network to stop people from saying mean things about his favorite cartoon.

Even in pitch black, his eyes caught a narrow crevice covered by cobwebs on the Eastern wall. With surgical precision refined by a decade of playing FPS games, he led the drone through the opening with an effortlessly smug grin. The cobwebs blinded the camera but if you can imagine an ant standing between a dog and his favorite bowl of snacks, that’s how much they did to slow him down. This was his dimension. He could’ve gone through with a blindfold on.

“Let’s see what we got here.” He stared into his laptop’s screen with an impatient grin. The camera, being covered by spider webs, displayed nothing. “Or not. Let’s hear what we got here.”

As if on prompt, Trent’s voice returned from the drone’s speaker. Although, it didn’t feel directed at him. “Let me get this straight, Justin. You, of all people, want to talk.”

Wait, Justin? As in, Justin Roland?

A familiar voice echoed in return. “Yes, old friend.”

Trent belted with laughter. “Oh, forgive me. I was under the impression that you had no intention of talking.”

“Come on, pal. If I didn’t wanna talk, would I seriously come in person? You know me better than that. Let’s talk about this. I don’t want to hurt you. And I’m sure, deep down, you don’t want to either.”

No response came in return.

“For fuck’s sake, Trent. You’re better than this. Is that all you got for me? After all these years, just silent treatment. That’s all I deserve?”

“Don’t you fucking talk about deserving, you monster!” Trent roared. “If you got what you deserved, you would’ve been dead a long time ago.”

“I… I didn’t want this to happen. Believe me, I loved her as much as you.”

“Don’t go there, Justin. I have my finger on the trigger and I’m not afraid to kill us both.”

Wait, what? What does he mean by both? Wait, no. Oh, no! Oh no no no no. Sebastian tried speaking but the voice died in his throat. Once again, he tried calling Hope. No answer. Ren, Alicia, no one picked up. His insides were getting twisted.

“Easy there, pal,” Roland spoke in a reassuring voice. “Look, I’m sorry. From the bottom of my heart, I beg for your forgiveness. I didn’t want this to happen, but I had no choice. No one regrets it more than me.”

“You think it matters? Your apologies, your regret, any of it? Do you think it is enough to bring my Lisa back?”

“No. But we can move past this. Trent, this hatred’s gonna consume you and everyone you love. It’s not worth it, man. I don’t know what more I can do. I just want to save my friend.”

Trent laughed. His voice sent a chill down Sebastian’s spine. “You think you can save me? No, Justin, you are far too late for that. Fifteen years too late. Goodbye.”

A trigger was pulled, and the drone crashed with a thunderous roar. There was nothing Sebastian could do.