Braided In Bribery

The boy glanced up with tears in his eyes. He took a few steps back. His hands were a bloody mess.

“Hey…” Val crouched down. Her voice instinctively pitched higher. “It’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you.”

He froze in place. Even his tears seemed to have stopped halfway down his cheeks. His clothes were tattered at the ends. And the room… It was so dirty. Bits of debris and junk were scattered around him, and a table was overturned like some tornado had run through the place. This was no place to keep a kid.

“Are you stuck here?” she asked.

The boy awkwardly nodded.

“You can’t leave?”

He nodded again.

What was this place? What were they doing kidnapping kids like this? It didn’t sit right with her one bit.

The sight of the poor kid suddenly made her determined. She’d get him out of here. She’d take him away. But taking him back to the entrance wasn’t an option. He would still be there—Azan. Then how?

Teleportation!

She pulled out the teleporter fob. But then she had to wonder… Would the kid teleport with her? Or would the teleporter just send her away, leaving him behind? It was too risky to try. But then what? She didn’t have another teleporter for him to use. How was she supposed to get him out of here?

“I’ll—I’ll get you out…” Options, options, options. Her thoughts were in shambles. What other options did she have?

There was a window in the room. She could see the bottom of the city almost a mile below. Would she survive the fall? Would the boy survive? There was also a chair next to the table…

She grabbed it.

“Stay back,” she called out to the boy.

He moved behind her.

She pulled the chair back and smashed. The window reverberated but didn’t crack. She tried again. The chair splintered at the joints. She grabbed a hold of one of the larger pieces and smashed it into the window again. And again… And again—

“I wouldn’t suggest that.” A familiar voice. “It’s programmed to be impenetrable. Plus, it’ll sound off an alarm. And I really don’t like turning off that alarm.”

Shit. It was Azan. She dropped the piece in her hands and got into her boxing stance. She’d fight her way out if she had to.

“Mr. Azan?” The boy took a step towards the man.

“Kid?” she called out. “What’re you doing?”

Azan knelt down before the boy. “Aren’t you lucky? You found yourself a savior. And it happens to be your very own idol.”

She pulled the boy back. “What are you doing to him?”

“Me?” Azan got back up on his feet. “Nothing.” He pulled out a golden coin and flung it over.

She snatched it from the air and had a quick glance. It looked familiar.

“A million simuls. And…” He pulled out a glowing orb, small enough to fit in his palms. There were symbols—in reds and blues—revolving around it, constantly changing with every second. “A chenkey.” He tossed that over to her as well.

“What is this?” She held the orb closely to her face. The symbols swirled around in orbit like planets. It was kind of mesmerizing.

“I’m sure your coach will know.”

“You know about Coach too?”

“I know a lot of things.”

“Why’re you giving me all this?”

“You need money, yeah? I know. I’ll give you another one”—he rolled another golden coin across his fingers—“if you take him out of Simular.” He motioned towards the boy.

Take him out? Was he trying to bribe her? “What do you mean, ‘take him out’?”

“What do you think I mean? Take him away from this place. Kill him. I don’t care.” His voice suddenly lowered. “Just don’t come back. Not him. Not you. Not even your coach. Yeah?” Then he grinned. It looked so fake. Something about it just didn’t feel genuine.

The boy pulled closer and held onto her leg. She could feel his tiny body trembling.

Val didn’t like the man. It felt like he was challenging her, commanding her to follow his orders as if he were at the top of some kind of imaginary hierarchy. No, she would show him who had the actual upper hand—

“Make it five.”

“Five… what?” Azan asked.

“Five of those.” She pointed at the coin in his hand.

He scoffed. “You do realize you’re in no position to be making counteroffers, yeah?”

“You’re trying to get rid of the kid. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m not an idiot.”

“And what if I said no?”

She pointed to her eye. “I’m recording all of this.” It was obviously a lie. She didn’t even know if her eye had that kind of functionality.

He caught his breath. “You’re playing a dangerous game here, Ms. Valerie.”

“Well, I got nothing to lose.”

“Delete the recording and I promise ten times the initial offer.”

“And how do I know if you’ll keep your promise?”

“My word. I assure you that’s worth more than a measly ten million simuls.” He paused. “Or if you keep pushing, I can make this a much more regrettable experience for the both of us.” The coin rolled delicately across his fingers. “I suggest you take the offer.”

She took a moment to consider his words. Then she replied, “Fine.” He was right. She was pushing her luck. “I deleted the recording.”

Azan flung two more coins in her direction. “That’s three. I’m sure this is more reasonable for you. I’ll send the rest once I’ve confirmed your departure from Simular. And if I see this recording anywhere online—”

“Yeah, I got it. It’s gone.” Actually, maybe she could push her luck just a bit more. “So why’re you doing this?”

His eyes briefly glazed over. Then he was back. “Don’t dig too deep, yeah?” There was more sharpness to his tone. “Stick to what you’re good at. Boxing.” His words dug deeper than knives. “Or it’ll all come back to bite you. Hard.” He pulled out what looked to be a teleporter fob. The edges were outlined in gold and silver. “Get him out of here within the hour. Do you understand?”

“Yeah…” She reluctantly nodded. “Sure.”

“Wonderful.” He pointed the device towards her. And without warning, he pressed the button. “Bye then.” He waved with that same grin from before.

There was a sudden flash of light, and a surge of nausea. She fell to the sandy floor, retching her empty insides out.

The boy pulled at her sleeve. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it, kid.” When she pulled herself up, she recognized the place—a lonely beach paradise with the same crushed beer cans and worn-out beach chairs she had seen just this morning.

She was back at the Coach Lounge.