Anna’s fingers interlaced and her elbows rested on the table. She placed her forehead on those fingers in dismay, trying to piece together the information she just received. Her head raised after a minute of gathering her thoughts, “I want to scold you so badly right now,” she clasped her hands together in anger and irritation, “but at the same time I’m grateful,” she admitted, almost trembling. Marissa weighed heavily on her mind, and the thought that Cennet could snuff her sister’s life away was no doubt the deciding factor in her leniency towards me. That thought was also the reason I couldn’t say sweet words of comfort to her, it’d feel like a lie to tell her everything would be okay; it would be a lie.

The door opened and that straight-laced woman stepped in. “Hi,” she greeted, “I’m Esther Serrette,” giving a quick handshake to Anna. “I’ll just get straight to the point. Word has come from the higherups about that incident. We don’t know what they plan to do, but we know that the minister of national security is now involved. Nine of out ten times, nothing good ever happens when orders come from people out of the field. Because of the videos circling around it’s hard for government to cover up anything, so they’ll make a statement to the public soon enough. Just,” she looked at me, “expect anything.”

And that’s how my house-arrest began. Sure, I didn’t have a tracker tied to my ankle, but it felt that way. The security minister, Michael Asher, made his statement, announcing the confiscation of all my equipment and lab apparatus. Actual soldiers were placed around my house for the coming week and of course UGO was under heavy investigation. In this time, they hunted Cennet down like a dog, but he was quite elusive. The few encounters they had with him ended in the demise of any officers he faced up against. He was becoming more and more of a monster than they realised.

It wasn’t long before the TEO, Esther visited me, along with a Michael Asher. We sat down in the living room and Esther placed a tablet on the table in the centre. They were both quiet, but much more so for the minister. His bodyguards didn’t even step into the house. This is personal, I thought.

“Well?” I asked impatiently.

“Play the video,” she pointed at the device. The minister’s face looked like all the colour in it was drawn out, his very life essence missing. What the hell happened?

I tapped the centre of the screen and leaned forward to see properly.

“Good evening, honourable minister.” I should’ve known… It was Cennet, his face taking up most of the space.

“Now I know you’re quite the busy man so I don’t wish to take up too much of your time. It’s a beautiful day out so I decided to have some evening tea with these two lovely young ladies,” he moved away from the camera’s frame to show a young girl and woman strapped tightly to chairs. “Now,” he moved towards them and rubbed the woman’s shoulder gently, “Michelle, I understand your husband has taken away important things from an important person in my life, and we can’t have that, now can we?” Cennet reached into his jacket and brandished a pistol, shooting the girl adjacent in the head without a moment’s hesitation. The woman began screaming muffled cries through the cloth wrapped around her mouth. “Shh, shh,” he tried quieting the woman, “it’ll be okay. You can just make another one.” He walked back to the camera and propped his glasses up, “I don’t mind burning down the whole family tree. You know what you must do, minister.”

The video ended.

None of them said anything, and neither did I. I internalised it for a couple minutes. It was obvious those two were his wife and daughter. It was obvious they came here because he felt like he had no choice but to adhere to Cennet’s demands. But I had to ask anyway, “Why are you here?” I glared right at Michael Asher.

“Ugo, we nee–”

“Stop,” I raised my hand up before Esther, “I want him to tell me.”

He was slouched forward, his head hanging down without shame. Silence continued to reign supreme until I balled my fist and slammed it against the table, his meekness agitating me, “Answer me!” I yelled out, “Why are yo–”

“Why do you think?! Why do you think I’m here, boy?!” he bellowed louder than me in a fit of rage and stood up, “I don’t have a fucking choice, do I?!”

“You always have a choice. There are always two paths. One easy, and one difficult. If you’re here, telling me that the minister of national security is giving up on a criminal because he lost his daughter, then you might as well resign,” I said calmly, contradicting my ebullition seconds ago.

He pocketed his sweaty palms, “Giving up? Who said I was giving up? I want an execution. And for that, I need all the help I can get,” he clenched his fists inside his pockets, as if it would hide his seething choler. The white in his eyes were pink from tears shed earlier on. He was more than ruffled about the situation. “You’ll get your lab back, you’ll get all the support you need from the military. In turn…”

“You’re asking me to commit murder in the name of justice? Or are you asking me to avenge your daughter?”

“They’re the same thing,” he composed himself, “either way, you don’t have to be the one to do it. Just lure hi–”

“I do. I’ll do it. Now,” I leaned back, “when you say military support…”

“Round-the-clock protection. Acquisition and transport of any materials or machines you might need.” He handed over a business card, “You can directly contact me with the number on the back,” then promptly left.

In about an hour, I flew back to my lab and a military truck returned all my equipment. I had a while to think about my strategy in the week I was home. The real issue is his speed. Once I can find a way to slow him down or stop him, then not even Vasc can’t save him from Z-21. But how the hell do I do that? I wondered as I began repairing the TK. My mind then drifted on the search for Cennet, and the fair ease at which the military found him. Either they were better equipped than the TEO or he purposely let himself be found.

In a few days everything was back to normal. All my gear worked again and the gaping hole in the wall was fixed. Physiological advancement, huh? I juggled those words in my head, looking at my repaired TK. Sure, I thought about evening the playing field and trying to get a vial of White, but despite Cennet being easily found, wherever he kept Vasc and White was impossible to locate. I called it a day and headed home, hoping a change of scenery would foster some revelation.

Submerged in my thoughts, the doorbell’s ringing got drowned out in the noisy oceans of my mind. Sean Murray was picked up on the camera. “Do you always take this long to answer?” the lanky man nudged his glasses up with his index and middle finger.

“I was busy, and still am,” I hinted at him to get to his point.

He helped himself to a bit of coffee, ensuring I was in full view. You’d think they’d send someone else, I thought to myself, knowing fully well this was their own way to perform a whatever mental stability test they needed to.

He brought me a mug and I looked deep into the swirling dark, inhaling the punchy aroma in stride. “How are you feeling about the other day?” His legs were crossed as he sat opposite me in my little lounge area of my lab, the mug of coffee resting on a saucer.

“Psych eval?” I bluntly placed what I thought was going on to the forefront.

His eyes opened slightly in surprise, but a sigh of relief and faint smile followed soon after, “You’re growing up way too fast, Ugo. Yes, I’ve been sent to evaluate you. Orders from up top. However, that’s not the only reason I’m here.”

“Hmm,” I took a sip, “too sweet,” I mumbled under my breath. “I want to get back to work quickly. Ask your questions, doctor Murray.”

His face contorted mildly, “Please, we’ll probably be seeing each other more often. Just Sean is fine. You didn’t tell me how you felt about the incident.”

“How I feel?” I leaned forward, elbows on my legs and my mug clutched in both hands to combat the air conditioner’s cold. Really, I scoffed at myself for running through every single turn this conversation could take in my head, for turning to lies so that others could never see or know the real me. Frankly, telling the truth about my feelings was equivalent to giving others a sword and removing all of my armour, then painting a nice red target on my jugular. I sat there, rubbing along the rim of the coffee mug for a good minute as I simulated this conversation. What’s the point? I asked, becoming tired of myself, of having to look both ways before crossing, of having to highlight my hardiness and apathy as a means of distracting others from what I really was – a coward.

“I’m terrified,” I finally admitted, but donning a less than convincing face.

He nudged his head down an inch, “Of?”

“Cennet, who else?”

“Ugo,” he said my name, as if to pull my eyes from the coffee to his eyes, “you’re not afraid of David Cennet, no. You’re afraid of something he’s capable of doing, isn’t that right?”

His gaze blotted out some thoughts I sought to answer with. Just be honest to yourself. “Your accuracy is disgustingly good.”

“Then what are you afraid he’ll do? Are you afraid he’ll kill you?” the man asked, reflecting my initial frankness.

“No. At this point, I feel like I’m the very reason Cennet hasn’t killed himself.”

I’ve done some stupid things since Theresa died. I went through a lot of shit. But I didn’t think I’d ever feared someone as much as I feared Cennet. I kept drawing up plans but they all had holes in them. I kept asking myself what would’ve been of my life had Jonathan lived.

“You told the media about your bully in kindergarten,” the slender and prying man leaned forward. “Murder. Is that something you would do aga–”

“It’s about time I get back to work…”

He glared me right in the eyes, with an expression I couldn’t make head or tails of, then sat upright again. “Thank you for your time,” he placed his mug on a nearby table, “and coffee. I’ll see myself out.”

I wondered for a bit who sanctioned his visit here, but the thought slipped away as fast as it was conjured; the phone rang.

“Ugo speaking,” I answered.

“Hey, sword kid!” Marissa replied, chipper as ever. “How you mind accompanying two beautiful ladies to lunch?”

“Oh, so, Anna and her mom then?” I joked, purposely leaving her out.

“Oh my gosh! You got a thing for older women, huh? But isn’t that a little too old, though?”

Geez, I can’t keep up with her. I obliged, and met up with them. Soldiers drove me over to a simple burger joint. Marissa and Anna were already seated inside. I got out the vehicle and peered at them, and all the other civilians with them. Reluctance weaselled through my nerves. Some people might’ve viewed me as a hero because of the hostage situation I was involved with, but it more felt like I was a walking hazard. The frigid air prompted me to slip my hands into my pockets and make my way inside. Thankfully, the soldiers wore normal clothing.

“C’mere!” Marissa pulled me into the seat and treated me more like a giant teddy-bear than an actual person with the need to breathe. “Look at you, walking around the place with,” she lowered her voice, “those big scary guys.”

“Rissy, leave him alone,” Anna said, looking at the menu. Marissa still didn’t let me go though. We all chatted, and eventually asked the two soldiers who came inside with us to just sit because they attracted more attention standing like statues. They refused politely.

We left soon enough. Anna and Marissa went back to their vehicle and I went to mine, or the government’s issued vehicle at least. But before I could enter, a woman came running towards me, her heels giving her a hard time. The soldiers immediately stopped her at gunpoint, “Wait, no! I’m just a reporter!”

“Interviews are off-limits ma’am,” one of them said, and the other ushered me into the vehicle. We drove off and left her there, but somehow or the other, she seemed familiar. I paid it no mind and got back to business at my lab.

“Can you send over the interrogation files?” I asked Ferris, but his brother and my ex-teacher dropped it off instead.

“How are you holding up?” he asked, the soldiers with me weary of him.

“I’m alright. Coffee?”

“No, I, uh, gotta be going soon,” he folded his arms and took a look around my lab. “Ugo, why did… No, how did you get clearance for those files? How’d you even know about it?”

The soldiers quickly told him it was classified, answering on my behalf. Sometimes I forget he’s a TEO again and not a teacher. “It involves Cennet. Cennet wanted me to be involved. Can’t tell you much more than that.”

“Nothing new then.” His fists balled for a second then returned to normal, “Be careful, Ugo.” I didn’t know how to answer his concern. A simple nod would’ve had to satisfy him, because I could not guarantee my own safety.

How did things get so far? I asked myself, but shunted the thought after playing the recording of the interrogation. The abandoned Boundless Hope facility where the two men tested drugs on children didn’t give us any good leads. All we had was this interrogation video. Most of the questions were answered with the men feigning ignorance of many things. But a few questions yielded interesting answers.

“Does David Cennet have anything to do with the malpractice you were involved in?” The interrogator asked and the suspect finally looked him in the eyes.

“He is a fool.”

“Why is that?”

“Why? Mr policeman, what would you do if you had the power to recover from anything? What would you do if you could run faster than a jungle cat?”

“I don’t know. Win the Olympics maybe? What would you do?”

“Sell the secret and make a fortune.”

“Isn’t that would David Cennet is doing?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, cop. You know what he’s doing.” The man leaned back, somewhat tired of the conversation.

“I don’t. That’s why we’re here. Do you know what he plans to do?”

“How would I know?”

The policeman propped his glasses up. “I don’t think I need to remind you how dire your situation is. You illegally practised unethical medical procedures without the consent of the parents nor the children, some of which are dead. The list of charges will make sure you get a lifetime sentence. That can change if you cooperate with this investigation, like your friend is.”

A long period of silence followed, until the man decided to finally reveal what he knew. “Fine. Cennet’s a lunatic. He’s damaged up there. That hero kid from the videos, the man’s obsessed with him. Now, I don’t know where he’s hiding the finished versions of Vasc and White, but I know that the boy is your key to finding it.”

“Why do you say he’s the key?”

“Why wouldn’t he be? That boy is the only person besides himself that Cennet gave the completed Vasc to. I’d bet he knows where to find White as well.”

But I don’t… I sighed. After it was just useless drivel in the video. The other suspect outright refused to speak a word without his attorney. The TEO lied about him cooperating to get his partner to talk.

I thought back on our fight in the streets and how one-sided it was. Should we even be looking for White? If the military runs into him every now and then, all I have to do is find a way to beat him and go on their hunts.

The minute I decided to focus on stopping him, an email came through to my phone. ‘Don’t go, kid.’ A couple minutes after viewing the email, it vanished from my inbox. I didn’t know who the sender was and what they were warning be about, but I’d soon find out. A knock was heard on my door. Esther Serrette, the control-freak of a TEO barged in after showing her ID to the soldiers stationed outside my lab.

“Ugo. We have a problem downtown.”

“And?”

She leaned in, not wanting others to eavesdrop, “Bomb threat in the subway. It’s Cennet most likely. The minister of defence told us to have you on standby.”

“Standby for what?”

“In case more of those robots appear. Or Cennet himself does. Listen, Ugo. The head of the TEO already told you, but if something happens, we will deny ever having put you in danger. And so will Michael Asher, I’m sure. Tread carefully.”