The two Helian soldiers lifted up the manhole cover, and they dangled Doctor Beck by his ankles and lowered him into the sewers. They then threw inside the hole a medical bag, which the doctor was barely able to catch. Beck walked slowly, ducking beneath a set of overhanging pipes. The sewers were filled with the sounds of dripping water and groaning metal. Beck had to move through grey, ankle-deep water and withstand a terrible stench.

As he made his way forward, he was stopped by three heavily armed soldiers. Two of them pointed their laser rifles at him and the third stepped forward. “Your identification documents?” he asked.

Beck sighed and handed a data pad. “I come here every week,” he complained. “Can’t you loosen up?”

“No,” the soldier nonchalantly replied as he handed back the pad. “You are clear to go ahead.”

‘Typical!’ he angrily thought but was forced to put up a smile, if a rather faint one. “Thank you.”

Deeper into the sewers, Beck approached a small ‘settlement’ of sorts; a number of boxes and bids of bedding. The stench was overwhelming. The people living there were wearing torn and muddy clothes. They had hollowed eyes and stringy hair; they hadn’t bathed in ages.

Beck waved at some of them, and they nodded back. He approached a middle-aged man. He was bald but spotted a thick grey beard. He had dark brown skin mottled with scars, deep lines from his nose to the corners of his mouth. He was coughing and had red eyes and runny nose. He was barely hanging; he was sweating and tense.

“Hi…” the man said with a soft voice, barely able to speak.

“Hey,” Beck replied with a genuine warm smile on his face. He actually knew that man before he had ever come to this awful place; his name was Jamal. A restaurant owner who made some terrible business decisions, he ended up homeless and destitute – and divorced as Beck learned. Usually that would not be damning, as he could stay for up to three months at a government-run shelter until he could find a job. Yet his bad luck didn’t stop and he was unable to find a job; his time finally ran out. As the Helian regime did not want vagrants on the streets of its cities nor did it deem them worthy of public welfare, those who could not find a job in the allotted time were stripped of their rights, termed a burden to society and thrown in underground facilities such as these sewers. There, far away from the ‘productive, law-abiding’ citizens, they could pose no problem nor could they drain resources. Those who tried to escape back to the surface were summarily shot dead by heavily-armed guards.

“I can’t stand it…” Jamal said, his breath heavy. “I can’t stand this fucking place! I… I… want… see… surface again…” His eyes got teary and he wiped them with his dirty, trembling hands. He looked up at the dark ceiling. “I… I…I… need…to… see… the…sun…again…again…I….sun…”

Beck was at loss of words. He had been visiting those sewers for almost a year and had seen many such people, yet every time he looked at one of them he couldn’t help but feel appalled by their treatment. “You will get better,” the doctor eventually stated.

Beck grabbed a ‘med-scanner’ from his medical bag, a handheld portable scanning device that could be used to take rapidly basic vital measurements and to diagnose medical conditions. He began scanning Jamal, getting a low-speed data stream. “That is interesting…” Beck remarked. “Most interesting.”

“What?!” Jamal asked. “Good… good news or… bad news?”

“Both,” Beck replied. “The bad news is that you don’t have a common fever but you have been infected by Ignis Agita or IA-18 for short. It is a virus that is easily transmittable in such… dirty environments. It causes body temperature to rise in the body of the victim and then feeds off that heat.”

“Good for him!” Jamal angrily interrupted. “Is it – cough – lethal?”

“I am afraid so…”

“And what – cough – are the… the… good news?!”

“The virus is at an early stage and can be treated. Thankfully, you have very capable doctor here who can treat you,” Beck smugly grinned. He took a spray from his medical bag and administered it into Jamal’s neck. “This should be a start. You feel more relaxed?”

Jamal nodded affirmatively.

“Good. This spray did not cure you. It is only meant to stop you from feeling excruciating pain. To kill the virus in your body is going to take a lot more…”

Beck grabbed Jamal’s hand. The man looked at the doctor with a worried look but decided to trust him and closed his eyes. Beck injected his hand with a needle. The injection caused Jamal to scream in pain and pant heavily. He felt his whole body burning, he was sweating uncontrollably and felt every muscle in his body hurting. “W-wh-what did-did you… give… give me?”

“I introduced another, non-lethal, virus into your body,” Beck explained. “It will kill off IA-18. You now understand why I administered you the spray… Without it, the pain you feel would be ten times worse.”

“Virus…? Will… another…”

“Relax,” Beck said. “The virus I introduced is far milder. It will only cause you to cough and have running nose for a few days. Considering that the alternative was a long, drawn-out death, I would say it is reasonable price to pay.”

After a few minutes of excruciating pain, Jamal felt better. He was still coughing, had running nose and his throat was dry, but at least he did not feel like his whole body was being canned or burning. “Thanks,” he said. “I feel better.”

“No need to thank me,” Beck replied. “I am just doing what a doctor is supposed to do.”

“Is – cough – that why you come down here? I know you don’t get paid to come and treat people. The government doesn’t give a fuck about us.”

“Let’s just say that I have my personal reasons for coming here.”

Beck grabbed his medical bag and began making his way out of the sewers. As he was walking, a beeping sound alerted him. He grabbed his personal pad from his pocket and activated it. A holographic image of a bald well dressed man appeared before him. Beck knew exactly who he was.

“Filloni. Long time, no see,” he said with a forced smile.

“The Boss wants you to come by the day after tomorrow. He has a terrible headache and wants you to treat him.”

“I told you that I don’t wan-“

“Cut the bullshit doc,” the gangster interrupted him. “If you don’t come, your clinic will be reduced to rubble. You don’t have a choice.”

“Fine!” Beck replied and he shut off the pad. “This bastard is getting on my nerves!”

“No!” he screamed.

John had woken up from his evening nap. He had cold sweat on his forehead and his face was ashen white. He had dreamed again of this ancient elf sorcerer, Vaalyun Ilihice. He had first dreamed of him just before he had regained his consciousness after the land crash. Back then, he had dreamed of him being in a snowy white forest. Now he saw him searching for something in a desert planet, traversing through dunes of sand under a heated sun.

‘Why am I dreaming of an ancient elf sorcerer?’ he wondered.

Nicole and Sara were chatting about something when John had waked up. Seeing him awake, they approached him.

“Another nightmare?” Sara asked.

John nodded. “Yup… those damn nightmares just can’t let me catch a breath.”

“I don’t think we should aid Wang,” Nicole interjected.

“What?”

“I was chatting with Sara about this when you woke up. Do we really want to help this scumbag? You’ve seen what a ruthless bastard he is. By helping him, we might make things here far worse for everyone. We’ve already gotten too much involved with the mafia.”

John sighed. They had been having this conversation for the past three days. “Look, I don’t like the guy any more than you do. Working with those gangsters wouldn’t be my first choice either. But we need a vessel to leave this planet; really fast. Wang is the only one who can provide us with such a means of escape.”

“We could try stealing a starship from a spaceport!” Sara protested.

“That is not really an option,” Sara interrupted. “The authorities know that we are desperate to make a quick escape, so spaceports will be heavily guarded and they will be looking for us. It will be a suicide mission. As much as I hate to admit it… John is right. We’ve got no choice in this matter. It is either this or we allow ourselves to be captured by the Helians; we also lose the X-Corps files we’ve stolen, which may prove invaluable to the Alliance.”

Nicole sighed. “Fine…”

“I’ve done some things I really regret,” John admitted. He paused for a few seconds, bringing to his mind the death of his parents and the destruction of Arcadis and how all these tragedies might have been avoided if it wasn’t for him. “I may have unwittingly caused people to get harmed. On hindsight, I wish I could have done some things differently – I still have nightmares about the decisions I took and they haunt me in ways you cannot imagine – but back then I did what I thought was the morally right thing to do and after long thinking I realized that I will just have to accept what I’ve done, carry the burden of my decisions and move on.”

“I-“

Before Nicole could reply, John interrupted her. “Maybe you are right; maybe helping this bastard will cause more harm than good, it may inadvertently harm others. I have no way of predicting the future. But I know this; I cannot let any more people get hurt because of me. If me standing back and doing nothing out of fear of what my actions may cause ends up hurting you or Sara, then I will never be able to forgive myself. I prefer to take my chances, do what I believe to be right and if things go sour in any way, then I will just have to carry that burden… like I do with other decisions I’ve made.”

Nicole smiled, her smile being bittersweet. “I never realized you carried such a burden. I… I understand what you are saying. Whatever happens, whether your decision ends up causing more good or harm, I at least know that your motives are good and that you are trying to do your best to protect the people you care about; I can respect that.”

“For once I agree with Nicole,” Sara interjected. “You know… from the talk we had… that I blame you for some of the decisions you’ve made. I cannot bring myself to forgive you just yet or like you but I can respect that you are a good person trying to make the right choices under the direst of circumstances.”

John allowed himself to smile. “Thanks.” For the first time in a long time, he felt a sense of relief. His guilt and constant flashbacks to the decisions he took back in Bremman had brought him to the edges of losing his mind; now he was finally coming to terms with his past. Whether or not his decisions caused more harm than good, he knew that he had taken them for the right reasons. He also knew that he needed to focus on protecting the people he cared for rather than dwelling in the past. That was all he needed to know.

Riiing!

A loud ringing sound was heard.

“Come in!” John said and a gangster walked inside the room.

“Mr. Wang wants to speak with you,” the man said. “In his office.”

John, Sara and Nicole walked into Wang’s office. They found him sitting behind his desk and drinking a glass of cognac.

“Welcome once again to my office!” he said with a wide smile on his face.

The three fugitives half-heartily greeted the gangster.

“I see that you are anxious to leave,” Wang said. “Don’t worry, I’ve got good news. Tomorrow we can set our plan in motion.”

Nicole’s face brightened. “Finally!” John and Sara were not any less excited.

Wang laughed. “Don’t be so excited. You’ve got to keep your part of the deal too. Tomorrow, we shall go the Boss’ villa. I will tell him that you want to join the mafia. He will want to do some more background checks on you before accepting you and in the meantime you shall be confined in one of the villa’s rooms. The plan is simple; the Boss likes to send his android to check up on guests to ensure they are satisfied. That is one smart piece of machinery and, lucky me, I've got the codes that would allow you to hack it. I bribed one of the Boss' mechanics to divulge them to me. Hack the android. Then, when I give you the signal, you make an escape and head to the main hall where the Boss will be. For ordinary people, this would be quite the task but for a sorcerer such as you John… it will be rather easy, especially with the android disabling the mechanical defenses.”

“What we do next?” Sara asked.

“I and a team of men loyal to me shall barge into the villa with the pretext of protecting the Boss from the intruders. We converge, attack together the Boss, overpower him and… I become the Boss. Once he is dead, I can give you his best ship; the Eagle. It is docked on the Boss' private hangar, right next to the villa. It will be yours the very minute the Boss drops dead.”

“Sounds good to me,” John said.

“Good. You can leave then. Rest well because tomorrow will be the big day.”

Loud rock music rocked Lutherson’s office. He was in his desk, looking at some papers while Mike was listening to the music and singing the lyrics. It was one of the few luxuries he allowed himself in the little spare time he got as a soldier. The loud drums, guitar and singing nearly deafened Lutherson. He placed his hand on his forehead as he felt a terrible headache.

“For fuck’s sake, turn off this monstrosity!” Lutherson protested.

Mike sighed as he turned off the radio. “You’ve got no taste in music, you know that?” he complained.

“I’ve got taste, unlike you. I play violin, you know.”

“Oh… nice. A man of culture…” Mike chuckled.

“Anyway, I’ve got good news, for a change!” Lutherson said.

“Let’s hear them…” Mike nonchalantly replied.

“I’ve got a friend who… has connections. I helped him catch his brother’s killer, so he owes me a favor. He can introduce us to the Boss as new recruits.”

“What is the difference between doing this and barging into their headquarters outright?”Mike asked. “Is this your grand plan? They will instantly recognize us.”

“I am sure you’ve heard about the Masked Killers.”

“Yup! Those sons of bitches have murdered quite a few people. Their reputation as some of the best guns for hire in the system is well-earned.”

“My friend has connections to them too. He has contacted them.”

“Don’t get it,” Mike said, scratching his head. “They will come with us or… Oh! Now I understand.”

“My friend will provide authentic masks. They cannot be reconstructed accurately by non-members. This will both allow us to get easily hired by the Boss and to avoid showing our faces.”

“And once inside, we can investigate and learn why Wang was lying about the fugitives!”

“Bingo!”

It was late at night. The loud sound of thunders could be heard. It was raining heavily. The sound of droplets falling down was relaxing to some people; Wang was among those who liked that sound. He looked at the window of his office, gazing the rainstorm. He watched the rain come down and every so often there would be a flash of light, followed by the roar of thunder.

Wang sipped his drink. A faint smile appeared on his face. He remembered when he was just a young teenager looking for action, cash and fame. His friend Roger introduced him to the mafia. At first, he was a simple thug; beating up hapless people who couldn’t pay their dues, making small-time theft, delivering packages for the Boss. He liked the thrill, the easy cash he made, the women he swooned with his ‘bad boy’ credentials.

Those were the’ good old times’, as he liked to call them. The simpler times. Occasionally, Wang would be nostalgic over those simpler days; this was one of those moments. He chuckled as he remembered incidents from his past. But those times were long over… Soon enough after joining the gang as a simple thug, he rose through the ranks. It wasn’t an easy rise to the top; he had to use all his resourcefulness and ruthlessness…

He sighed as he was reminded of Roger. A good friend, the one who allowed him to become a mobster… He was murdered by Wang. He strangled him with his own hands, gritting his teeth as he took the life of his former friend. Roger had dared to flirt with a woman the Boss fancied. He needed to be taught a lesson. Wang saw a chance to prove his loyalty to the Boss; if he could kill his best friend for him, he was someone who could be trusted. And men who could be trusted, were men the Boss would elevate to high positions in his crime syndicate.

He cried that day. A part of him hated himself. He had murdered his very best friend for power; it was the first time had had murdered someone. He had beaten up people before, some so badly that they became crippled, but he hadn’t killed anyone up until that day. That was the day when the small-time thug Wang who simply wanted cash and adventure died and the new cold and ruthless enforcer Wang was born. With his last compulsions gone, he was now ready to do anything to rise to the very top; murders, kidnappings, torture.

“At last… I shall be at the top.”

His voice was cold, emotionless, betraying no feelings. It was as if he simply stated a fact he had read somewhere, as if he had no connections to the events that were to unfold. Deep inside, he sometimes regretted the things he had done to rise to the top. But he never dared to admit this nor could he find the strength to deviate from his ultimate goal. He had to do it.

Michael rushed inside the room. He was barely able to contain his frustration. He was fuming in rage. His walk was fast and his fists clenched. ‘I am his eldest son yet he sends that useless playboy William to lead the campaign!’ he repeated in his mind.

The room he had walked in was crude to the extreme, with wooden walls and ceiling and only a short wooden table as the sole furniture. An orc was sitting on a purple mat and sipping a cup of hot green tea. The orc was wrinkled and old, with long white beard. He had golden earrings and golden rings on his fingers. He was wearing a long silk grey robe.

“Lord Michael,” the orc said, “how can I be of help?”

Michael sat cross-legged on a mat. He took a deep breath and exhaled before replying, in order to calm down. “Master Zhao Yu, I need your help.”

Master Zhao Yu was something of a living legend. Unlike most orcs, he was famous not because of his physical strength (though in his youth he was a powerful warrior), but because of his wisdom. He was revered as a sage and a strategist of the highest order. For the past two years, he had been an employee of Michael.

Zhao Yu smiled. “I know. I’ve heard of the news about your brother.”

“Why did my father choose this playboy with no interest whatsoever in politics or war to lead such an important military expedition?!”

“There is no shortage in history of sons overthrowing their fathers,” Zhao Yu said. “The Chancellor knows how ambitious and resourceful you are. He is afraid you might get tired of waiting for his death and attempt to grasp supreme power sooner. That’s why he has brought William into the political scene and wants to give him military experience and connections; he is grooming him to be your opponent. He wants him as a counterbalance to your all-pervading influence. With you too busy trying to counter this new threat to your position as heir, you would not have the time to scheme against him in any way.”

“Makes sense,” Michael replied, “but I had no plan to usurp my father’s office. He is old and it is only a matter of time before the old man passes away.”

“True but the Chancellor does not see it that way; you know well how distrustful he is of everyone around him.”

“So… what’s next? I cannot just accept William being elevated by my father. I need him out of my way.”

Zhao stroked his long beard. “We can place spies on the Ravager. They can sabotage William’s campaign. If his campaign is disastrous, the Chancellor shall give up on him; he will have been convinced that William is too incompetent to pose a serious threat to you and so there will be no purpose in aiding him any further.”

“And then I can lead another campaign, a successful one, that will grand me even more glory!” Michael exclaimed. “It will further reinforce my image in the military as tough and victorious leader.”

“Indeed!” Zhao chuckled. “Do not worry; I know just the right man for the job. He will make sure that William shall be disgraced!”

William stormed into his penthouse, his lips a crack in his face, the anger in his eyes so pure it bordered on murderous. He trashed his living room and punched so furiously on the walls that his fists were to the point of getting bruised.

“Bastard!” he screamed when he realized that he was being watched. It was his friend, Walden.

The CEO slowly approached William, a faint smile appearing on his face. “Why the anger? I thought you would be happy that your father finally decided to stop ignoring you and trusted you with such an important assignment.”

“Bullshit!”

“Is this because you will have to put an end to your playboy lifestyle?”

“No…” William sighed. “Although that too is annoying. But the main reason I am angry is because I am on the verge of reaching new heights with my magical abilities and now I will have to go on a cruise to the remotest part of the planetary system and be disciplined by some bitch! I will have no time, resources or ability to train and further develop my powers.”

“Don’t think of this as a punishment,” Walden said. “Think of it as a chance. A chance to become more powerful that you can imagine. Right now, you have to hide who you really are because if your father or anyone else learns of your magical powers, you shall face execution. If you rise to the top and wield enormous political power, no one will dare to challenge you. You’ve gone so far with all the limitations you’ve imposed on yourself to keep your powers a secret; imagine how much more powerful of a sorcerer you can become if you do not have any limitations on what you can do.”

“Maybe you are right. Maybe the only way I can be myself without any repercussions is to rise to the top…”

The Actium, Xar’s starship, was speeding forward in space. Xar and Iris were in the cockpit of the ship. Xar was relaxing as he could let the machine take care of the flight; he would take back direct control when the shuttle would reach El Salvar. He knew that this mission was much more dangerous than the past ones and that he needed some good sleep if he was to pull this off. He tried to close his eyes but he just couldn’t, seeing how Iris was so tense and nervous.

“Cheer up!” Xar said. “The kid has lots of guts and he much stronger than he looks. He will be alright.”

Xar had to admit that he did find himself worrying over that kid John – and over Iris too. He felt a sense of discomfort; he just felt uncomfortable with those emotions and had no idea how to deal with them. He liked to think of himself as a lone wolf, someone who would do missions for cash, without any care in the world and could move from one place to the next without any regret. Yet now he was feeling connected with people and genuinely cared about them. This just wasn’t him. ‘I really need to stop thinking and get some sleep…’

“Thanks,” Iris replied, bring back Xar from his thoughts. “How long before we reach El Salvar?”

“Let’s see… we began decelerating twelve hours ago, so we should be reaching El Salvar tomorrow midday. You may want to check with the commander? He has been sitting alone for a bit too long.”

“You are right.”

Iris left behind the cockpit and went to see how Darren was doing, leaving Xar alone to finally relax and get some sleep. Iris found Darren seated and gazing at the ceiling. She could tell that the commander was in deep thought.

Travelling back to his home planet had brought back lots of memories. Darren remembered all too well; his parents and what an awful death they had met, growing up as an orphan in the slums, joining gangs and his eventual arrest and jail on K-L556. When he and the others had to go to K-L556 for their mission, those memories were brought back but he was able to repress them and focus on the task at hand. Now, however, so close to his old home… he just couldn’t.

“Sorry,” Iris said as she held the commander’s hand. “Maybe you shouldn’t have come with us… It must be painful to return back to this place.”

“It is,” Darren admitted. “It’s been years since I last came to Frazzar. This brings back so many memories; both good and bad. I underestimated the psychological impact this mission would have on me. It is a part of myself I had forsaken, put away and now I have to confront it once more. However, I cannot let my fears of the past lord me nor can I let my emotions get the best of me; especially now that John, Sara and Nicole count on me to aid them. I will confront the past and I shall emerge victorious!”

A large capital-class cruiser was floating on space, overlooking the planet of El Salvar. Heinrich was on its bridge, looking at the countless of stars before him. He was standing still and had a cold, emotionless look on his face that did its best not to betray his anxiety and impatience. He was waiting for Sergeant Mike to report to him about the Alliance fugitives. Thanks to his military victory on sector AKL-89, he had been given permanent command of the Arrow but this wasn’t enough for Heinrich. He needed more successes in order to prove to everyone that he got his position not because his father happened to be a high-ranking politician but because of his capabilities.

‘Capturing this sorcerer John will be my crowning achievement,’ Heinrich thought to himself. ‘I will settle the score we had back in Bremman.’

“Sir!”

Heinrich turned around to see a young officer saluting him.

“Yes, officer?”

“You’ve got a message on the hologram room,” the officer replied. “It is Sergeant Mike Roberts, sir.”

Heinrich slowly walked to the hologram room. A spacious room with a large circular device stationed on its center, upon the admiral’s entry into the room it was activated and a projection of Mike appeared before Heinrich. The sergeant at once saluted his superior. He then raised his hand. “Hail Chancellor Maximilian, Lord-Protector of the Nation.”

“You can dispense with the formalities,” Heinrich said. “I want you to update me on any news you may have on the fugitives.”

“Yes, sir.” Mike cleared his throat before replying. “I have good reasons to believe that the fugitives may be hiding with the local mafia – or at least the mafia has something to do with them.”

“Good work but you know I do not have jurisdiction to send troops on the ground and aid with you without some really major, indisputable evidence. And the police chief, as far as I know, is not too willing to play hardball with the mafia…”

“True sir but I and Lutherson have found a way to infiltrate the mafia and investigate. We shall be going there today.”

“Are you sure you can pull this off? It will be basically just you, all alone, against the mafia if things go sour and you get discovered. “

“I’ve seen worse, sir. I can take care of some thugs. But I need you to impose a total quarantine, for at least the next two days.”

Heinrich sighed. “I already have a partial quarantine, checking any ship that leaves or enters the planet. Imposing a total quarantine will be too disruptive for the local economy. I need to have good reason to do this.”

“The fugitives must know we are after them since we raided their apartment and did not find them there. They will surely try to escape the planet really soon. I do not think they will sit here knowing that we are after them and if they are working for the mafia, it may provide them the vessel to make their escape.”

“Very well… I shall impose a total quarantine. Do not disappoint me.”

It was early in the morning and the sun brightly shone on the sky. Wang and two of his men were leading John, Sara and Nicole into the Boss’ Villa. It was in the outskirts of Frazzar. The villa had a vast garden with all kinds of flowers and trees. The sweet scent of the blooming flowers mesmerized everyone who walked by and their colors brightened the place.

After being searched for weapons by a muscled man in a dark suit, Wang and the three sorcerers were lead inside the villa. They walked to the main hall. It had a marble floor, golden ceiling and tall, marble statues of men and women in togas surrounded the place, as if they were overlooking the visitors. It was at that moment that Jacob, the Boss, walked inside.

He walked slowly with his walking stick, trying his best to look intimidating and dignified despite his old age. No mob boss would want to look like a frail old man. Upon reaching his visitors, he took off his hat to greet them. “I see you’ve brought the people you were talking about,” he said to Wang.

“I know you are looking for new blood. I can assure you, they will be great assets for our organization. You already know about John.”

“Indeed,” the Boss replied as he turned his attention to John. “I’ve heard about your successes on the tournament – you indeed did not disappoint me. You shall make a fine warrior in my organization. You shall be richly rewarded too. As for the two ladies…”

“They are equally capable in combat as I am,” John assured him.

Nicole and Sara simply nodded in agreement. The Boss sized them up for a brief moment, his gaze examining every inch of the two women.

“Very well…. I shall take you word for it,” the Boss replied. “I shall of course have to make some more background checks on you before accepting you into my organization. Participating in a tournament is one thing but participating in my organization, it is something totally different and requires me to be one hundred percent of your intentions and background. In the meantime, you can stay in my villa here. You shall be given a quite luxurious room. Of course, you cannot leave the room before I tell you to do so. If you need anything, you will have to ring a calling device on your room and room service shall arrive at once.”

“Understood,” John said.

“Good.” The Boss clapped his hands and a droid walked inside the room. It was more of an android actually, looking a lot like a human male. He had an unnatural ashen white skin, as if he was one of the undead talked about in folk legends. His was bald, had a perfectly symmetrical face and bright yellow eyes. He was standing at two meters tall and looked imposing. He was wearing a bright yellow uniform jacket and matching trousers. “He is D-4009. He shall take you to your room.”

'This must be the android we must hack...' John gaped in amazement at the droid. His eyes beamed with excitement. He sure had seen machinery before; some of the wealthiest farmers used machines in the farms back in Winsorsmith. Yet he had never seen an android before. This was to be expected. The government, fearing the societal impact of mass production of androids and the implications it could cause, such as mass unemployment and social unrest, tightly regulated their construction. Their cost was forbidding and only the wealthiest could afford them.

“Greetings, visitors,” D-4009 said in his buzzing, mechanical monotone voice. “I am pleased to meet you. Please follow me; I shall take you to your room.”

John simply nodded in agreement and, along with Sara and Nicole, followed the droid.

With Wang and the three new recruits out of the way, Jacob was meeting with two other new recruits. As they walked into the main hall, he sized them up. They wore a black uniform that covered their entire body and a mask to completely cover their face. The dark red masks had encrusted precious jewels and a fake long black beard. The Boss grinned. “At last… I meet the Masked Killers. Two of you, at least, but that’s something. When my friend told me about you, I thought that he was joking or that you were scam-artists trying to fool me. But now that I see your masks in person… yes, you are masked killers.”

“We wouldn’t lie to you,” Mike said. He tried his best to make his voice sound as intimidating and serious as possible.

Lutherson was standing still, letting the sergeant do the talking. Behind his mask, he was smiling at the irony of what Mike had just said.

“So… why exactly two men of one of the most fearsome groups of guns-for-hire would want to join my mafia?”

“Money,” Mike replied. “I know you pay good and business has been a bit dry lately, so, until some good contract comes our way, I thought we could make some quick cash working for you temporarily.”

“Good. I need men like you; professional killers who can do the job that my more plain men cannot do. You will be an asset to my organization. As is standard procedure, I shall do one more background check on you before letting you in. In the meantime, you can rest in quarters I’ve prepared for you.”

“Stay confined, you mean…” Mike said. “Don’t worry. I don’t hold it against you. I understand the situation and we shall remain confined until you finish your check.”

“Nice… Gentlemen, I hope this will be the start of a long and mutually beneficial partnership.”

John, Sara and Nicole were in the quarters that the Boss had given to them. They were exploring the room. Actually, the room was so huge that it looked more like a small house than a simple room. It had three king-sized beds with pure white, cotton sheets. There was a desk, a sprawling leather sofa, and, on the other side of the floor-to-ceiling windows a private terrace. The bathroom had a large bath and a Jacuzzi.

“Wow!” John remarked. “The Boss really knows how to take care of his guests. I wouldn’t mind staying confined here for the rest of my life.”

“Couldn’t agree more!” Nicole heartily agreed.

“Don’t we have a job to do?” Sara sternly said.

“Yes,” John replied. “You are right.”

He took from his pocket a small, round device that Wang had slipped to him when they were entering the villa. It wasn’t a weapon, so it had passed undetected from the bodily search by the Boss’ bodyguard. He placed it on the room’s desk and activated it. A large hologram projection of the villa appeared; it was a map that allowed them to see all the rooms and corridors in the place.

“With the help of this, we shall have no problem wrecking havoc when the time comes.” John said.

“Indeed…” Sara added. “We should study this well and then rest. When Wang calls from his device, we will have to get out of here.”

“And face quite a few guards, as I see on the map… It will be hard fight. I expect them to be heavily armed. You saw how well equipped the bodyguards are when we entered the place.”

“They may be heavily armed, but their weapons are no match against magic. At least I hope so.”

“Well… soon enough we will find out.” John clenched his fists and smiled, trying to project some confidence.