[2086] Lady's dog/monster boy

7th March 2086, two hours later.

When Sudsakorn came to, he was strapped to a chair, with a metallic hat covering his head. It was removed as soon as he tried to take a look, signaling that whatever process was being done on him while unconscious, it was now over.

“Who are you?! What are you doing to me?!”

He could see the small old man walking over slowly.

“I don’t need to explain. Hmph, unmodified brains are such a pain.” He pressed a button to the side, and the chair slid into another room, where the boy was unstrapped. As soon as Sud got up and tried to run for the door, the floor beneath him disappeared, and he fell down, sliding into some kind of pipe.

He screamed, and when it was all over, he was launched onto a pile of rubbish that cushioned his fall. He could see the grey clouds above him.

It was an abandoned building that smelled of the sea. He could also smell something burning, and his eyes sting.

“Well, the exit’s got to be somewhere…” He got up, and his face went pale.

The pile of rubbish was in the large basement of the building, and the hole he saw was the roof. The pile was not large enough for him to climb to the first floor, where the exit would be. He either had to pile up more rubbish or dig through the pile to find the basement stairs.

When he got up, his legs hurt terribly. He must have hit it on something when he fell. The rubbish pile was not exactly soft.

“Help! Anyone! …Nil! Sin! Dad!”

It suddenly dawned on the boy that this was not his safe home paradise, on that peaceful faraway island. This was the life his father and brother lived, and they made him stay in the house to protect him from getting into all this.

Sud cried. His legs hurt, and he felt guilty. He thought of Nil and wondered what happened to the cyborg.

If he hadn’t rushed out here like an idiot, and if he had not trusted that stranger, none of them would be in this mess. So, the boy cried, clutching the golden bracelet that Nil gave him the first day they met.

Nil was locked up in a room while the others prepared for data extraction.

The cyborg knew that the mafia just wanted the data, and did not care so much about their brain’s safety throughout the process.

What worried them most was that Sud was still around. They knew from the bracelet’s location that the boy did not go home, but was trapped somewhere around here. The signal was weak, so Nil did not know where exactly.

“You didn’t keep your promise, damn it!” They kicked the door with their back legs. The door almost fell off its hinges, and so they did it again. This time, the door flew and crashed into the hallway.

Nil hurried out, thinking that it could not be that easy. They were right.

“I was on my way to you.” It was the same voice as that drone, only now the owner of that voice was in front of them.

It was a man with long, white hair, wearing a white cloak just because he thought it looked cool. He usually spilled one thing or another on it during lunch, especially on days he ate noodles.

“Where’s the boy? What did you do to him?”

“I let him go, and if he got into trouble after that, it’s none of my business.”

Nil grunted.

“You’re not having this data, Haschai.”

“Big talk coming from a horse.”

Nil lunged at the man. He dodged easily, but his frame was not strong enough to take Nil in a head-on fight, so instead he pulled out a gun.

Nil paused. They knew Haschai wore a computer in the form of a pair of lenses, and he had a shooting software installed, which meant that he essentially would not miss.

“Bro.” A communication window opened on his lenses. “Crystal’s people are causing a ruckus at the warehouse. They demand to see you.”

“I’m busy here.” Haschai replied without moving his mouth.

“You really need to get here. It’s the lady’s dog and that monster kid.”

Haschai’s face twisted. At that moment, Nil leapt away. He shot a few bullets, which grazed the cyborg’s legs, but did not do much damage.

“Take care of Nil. I’m heading over.”

“Roger.”

The nondescript warehouse was actually the mafia’s center of operations. Chan and Sin got there after rushing out of a strategic meeting. They realized Sud ran away when Nil contacted them, so Sin opened the gate for Nil to go fetch the boy. He had no idea his brother would end up getting captured.

He received two messages during the standoff between Nil and the drone. One was a code which allowed him to crack into the location of his brother’s bracelet. The other was an encrypted file, where Nil confessed that they had data necessary for Malee’s grand plan, and they would self-detonate with the data, worst-case scenario.

Haschai came into view. The man in white seemed calm, walking in a confident stride.

“Haschai, I demand an explanation.” Chan cut all greetings before they even left the other man’s mouth. “Why did you not report that one of your scientists ran away with the all-too-important data we assigned to you, and why did you use one of our people’s family as bait?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, sir.”

“Where is the boy?” Sin stared down at the man. Haschai was about a hundred and seventy tall, while Sin topped him by fifteen centimeters.

The man in white gulped. He knew what this tall ‘monster boy’ was capable of.

Sin was a monster that Chan bred and tamed, as far as he was concerned. A few months ago, he witnessed the young man take down a whole squad of fully-equipped cyborgs on his own.

Haschai stood paralyzed as the figure covered in vital fluids walked past him and towards the next target. The sight still gave him nightmares.

“I really don’t know. I think the old freak got him.”

“If I don’t see that old freak when I get back, I’ll put your head on a platter for milady.” Chan cracked his knuckles. “So, where’s the horse?”

“Chan?” Sin widened his eyes.

“What? We still need the data for Khun Malee.”

The port mafia was a cover for a research base, operating under Crystal. Haschai was a trusted man, Sin knew that much, but he was surprised that Chan thought the data more important than his half-brother’s whereabouts.

“We’ll begin the extraction process shortly. I count on the data being preserved.”

“Good. And find the boy. He’s kind of important, you see.”

“Wait.” Sin called out to the man in white before he rushed to his mission. “Will Nil be alright after the process?”

Haschai raised a brow when Sin addressed the scientist by name. Sin averted his eyes, angry at himself for not realizing that Nil had something to do with Malee’s project.

“That depends on how Nil stored the data. Best case scenario: their self is intact, and everybody goes home in one piece. Worst case scenario: they die.” As he spoke, Haschai received another communication from his underling. He replied without letting others hear. “What do you mean, Nil broke free?! It’s a damn unarmed horse we are talking about here, you damn useless assholes!”

“What’s up?” Chan raised a brow.

“Nothing, sir. Just hourly reports with my coworkers. I’ll begin the data extraction shortly.”

Sin’s hand went to the hilt of his gun, and seeing that, Haschai ran without looking back.

“Get the damn horse back!!!”