“Mercy, you there?” Keagan asked as he held the phone close to his hear.

[Yes, I’m here. How about you, are you safe.]

Mercy said. Her voice hoarse.

“I’m fine. Now, I’m going to have to ask you to be completely honest with me. What have you been doing with Dan?” Keagan asked. His voice low, but concerned.

[I- uh…]

Mercy struggled to speak.

Keagan reasoned that she didn’t feel comfortable talking about what she may have experienced.

“Listen. I understand. One of the Astali's did some messed up things to me as well. So, no worries.” Keagan said as he removed his phone from his ear.

[Wait!]

Mercy cried.

“What?” Keagan asked as gently as he could.

[I’ll tell you, but- can we meet up?]

Mercy asked.

Keagan checked the time and saw that it was a little past seven.

“Ok, but where? I live in Acan.” Keagan said.

[I live in Ix Chel. Would it be too much trouble if you came over?]

Mercy asked.

Keagan thought about it for a moment.

“No, I don’t mind at all. Just send me you address and I’ll be there.” Keagan said as before ending the call. He then took a quick shower, slipped into some casual clothes and left his apartment. He then took the vectrain to Ix Chel and navigated the scarily empty streets until he found Mercy’s apartment building.

It was a tall and rather luxurious looking building, which made sense since it was located in the science hub of Unity.

What also made sense was how Mercy was able to afford living in such a place.

She was a genius. Top of her class and she was set to become one of sciences leading woman. Well, she was one of the leading women at Lezzaro.

Keagan eventually made it to her apartment. He gently knocked on her door and it wasn’t long before the door opened, revealing a cutely dressed Mercy.

But Keagan hadn’t gone all that way just to look at her. They had important issues to discus so Keagan steeled his mind.

“Hey. Come in.” Mercy said weakly.

“Hey.” Keagan greeted as he entered her lavish apartment.

Mercy led him to a nearby sofa and the two sat down.

“Can I get you anything?” Mercy asked.

“Do you have coffee?” Keagan asked.

“No.” Mercy said with a lowered head.

“Then some water would be perfect.” Keagan said and Mercy got him a glass.

The room then fell silent.

Keagan had carefully laid out the questions he had for Mercy, but he didn’t want to force her to answer any of them so he sigh patiently.

“Firstly, I’m sorry.” Keagan said.

“For what?” Mercy asked as she fiddled with her cute blue pyjamas.

“For everything. Dan, the Astali’s… just everything. I thought that I was the only one those sick bastards messed with but… what happened to you? Because I’m trying not to come to any conclusions, so…” Keagan asked.

Mercy looked further down, her lips shut.

“I see… would it make you more comfortable if I told you what Karisa did to me?”

“Karisa?” Mercy gasped.

“Yep.” Keagan then retold his story of madness.

.

..

“My goodness, you poor thing.” Mercy exclaimed softly.

Some time had passed and it was now well past midnight.

“Yep. Story of my life. But I’m still curious. What happened to you?” Keagan asked.

Mercy took a brave deep breath before speaking.

“It was Dan. You see, we’ve known each other for a while, but we weren’t really that close. After we presented the CryoPod, he started calling me and checking up on me. I didn’t mind cause he was fun to talk to, but one day- one day he asked me to meet him. We met at a hotel and when I arrived at the room, I saw Andre Astali sitting next to him. I asked him what was going on and he said that Andre was his old friend and that he needed me to… comfort him. I said no, but then Dan said that if I didn’t do what he said, he’d cancel our project and my career would be ruined. That meant that seven years would have been for nothing!” Mercy broke down into a full cry.

Keagan grabbed her shoulder and pulled her closer. He didn’t have any other intentions that to comfort her as she cried.

At least she’d have a shoulder to cry on, unlike he, who had overcome… or more accurately, succumb to the madness Karisa and Catalina subjected him to.

“Shh.” Keagan said and eventually she calmed down.

“Anyway, I ended up agreeing, but the things Mr. Astali made me do were strange. He made me-"

“No, it’s ok. I don’t need to know. It must have been horrible for you.” Keagan said.

“It was. Mr. Astali then began requesting that I dress more… explicitly. It’s as though he enjoyed watching me in my embarrassment.” Mercy said.

Keagan’s jaw clenched as he pieced together the fact that Andre would do such things to Mercy.

In Keagan’s eyes. She was a saint. Or maybe a shepherd. She guided the research and development team when they were lost and encouraged them to work through the long hours of the day.

Part of Keagan wished that the Astali’s had made Keagan their one and only target, but it was too late. Mercy had seen and done things that would scar her forever.

“So what do we do now?” Mercy asked.

“To be completely honest, I have no idea. As it stands, you and I are in deep, which is incredibly unfortunate.” Keagan said as he checked the time.

“Anyway, thanks for sharing. I’ll do what I can to get Dan and Andre off your back.” Keagan said as he stood up.

“Wait, you’re leaving?” Mercy asked. Her voice sounded much better than before.

Keagan sighed.

“You want me to stay?” He asked.

Mercy nodded her head slowly.

Keagan sat back on the couch.

“Ok, I’ll stay. But we have work tomorrow so let’s get some sleep.” Keagan said before Mercy brought him a blanket.

After hugging Keagan one more time, Mercy walked into her room.

Keagan’s eyes slowly fell as he wondered whether Dan was successful in his plan, whatever it was.

.

..

The morning eventually arrived and Keagan could smell something sweat in the air. He opened his eyes to find a bowl of cereal on the table in front of him.

Sitting next to him was a fully dressed Mercy. She had returned to wearing her usual conservative clothes and her intelligent eyes burnt brightly.

“Sorry, but we’re a bit late. I didn’t want to disturb your sleep. You must have been so tired.” Mercy said.

You have no idea. Keagan thought as he gently smiled.

“You don’t have do go so far for me. Remember, I’m an intern. A nobody. My concern is with the one who actually matters, you.” Keagan said as he sat upright.

Mercy’s eyebrows furrowed at this.

“Please don’t say things like that. Remember that it was you who tricked Dan into thinking our project was flawless and it is you who came all this was to comfort me. You’re not a nobody. Well, not to me.” Mercy said before prompting Keagan to eat.

Keagan did so with great vigour and the eventually left Mercy’s apartment.

Fortunately for them, Mercy lived in Ix Chel so the Lezzaro was a short drive away.

Keagan and Mercy arrived at the building to find all sorts of security personnel and police walking about.

They were stopped and asked for their access cards.

Mercy showed hers, but Keagan didn’t have his.

Keagan tried to explain to the guard that his had been taken from his, but the guard didn’t listen.

Then Dan showed up.

“Let him through.” Dan ordered and the guard did so.

“Hey kid, we did it! We caught the bad guys.” Dan said with a wide smile.

“Yeah. Awesome. Hopefully I can go back to walking outside in peace.” Keagan said as Mercy walked past the two of them.

“Oh yeah, later today I need you to accompany me to the testing department. You know, for the favour I ask of you.” Dan said before Keagan left for the office.

Keagan then worked the day away, but as he did, he felt as though someone was watching him.

Keagan then beamed his dark eyes at Catalina’s office door to find that it was slightly open. He could see her as clear as day, but he decided to ignore her.

“Hey Keagan, I saw you coming in to work with Mercy. What’s that all about?” Tommy asked.

“Ooh. Someone is jealous.” Johan teased as he worked away.

“I’m not jealous! I’m just curious.” Tommy said with his nose raised and chest puffed.

Keagan wondered what the hell Tommy was doing, but it would probably be better if he cleared things up.

“Mmm… to be honest, Mercy and I recently experienced something unpleasant so we met up to talk about it.” Keagan said.

“You didn’t have to say anything Keagan. Tommy, leave Keagan alone and get back to work.”

.

..

The working day eventually came to an end and Keagan made his way downstairs.

There he met Dan who greeted him with a smile.

“For a businessman, you sure do love standing around.” Keagan said.

“Don’t be mean and besides, this is part of business, so there.” Dan said as he and Keagan entered his car.

They then took a short drive to the testing department, which was one of several buildings that Lezzaro designed for testing purposes.

Dan and Keagan entered the building and Dan spoke to the head manager about what he needed, the tough part was actually getting some volunteers.

Keagan had a bad feeling about what Dan was actually up to.

After an hour or so, Dan and Keagan had managed to get some of the testing department’s prettiest women. Well, Keagan did. Dan just watched.

Funny thing is that even though the women of the testing department had their hands covered in grease and motor oil all day, they had a strange beauty to them.

Keagan and Dan eventually left and returned to the R and D building.

Keagan headed straight the train station and went straight home, but once he arrived at his apartment building, he saw a weeping woman.

She was dressed in her wok clothes and was sitting by the Street side. She looked slightly older than Keagan and had long, but graying brown hair.

Keagan ignored the woman and entered the apartment building, but as he entered the elevator, he heard a bunch of footsteps.

It sounded like some people were running.

Then in the next instant, four masked individuals entered the elevator and began beating Keagan up.

“Watch the face!” One of the voices yelled.

Even though Keagan was in intense pain, he recognized it.

“Shut up!” The other, very familiar, voice said as they continuously beat Keagan up.

Keagan could feel them targeting his fleshy bits. They were taking care not to break any bones, but at this point Keagan was covered in bruises.

“Ayt, let’s go!” One of the attackers yelled as the elevator reached Keagan’s floor. The attackers stormed out of the elevator and took the stairs down.

Keagan crawled out of the elevator and stumbled his way to his apartment.

FUCK! He cursed internally.

Someone was targeting him and Lezzaro and whatever they were looking for wasn’t in the R and D building. Not to mention, Dan had buffed the security in the building.

Keagan entered his apartment, took off his clothes and threw himself into the shower where he painfully cleaned himself.

He then ate two of his microwaveable meals and sat on the floor as his body convulsed in pain.

He was tired.

Tired of receiving the short end of the stick.

He called Roy and asked that he come over.

In no more than twenty minutes, Roy and Cory were in Keagan’s apartment.

Keagan was shirtless so all of his bruises were clearly visible.

“Oh my goodness!” Roy exclaimed as he helped Keagan onto the couch.

“What happened?” Roy asked as Cory sat down next to them.

“It was the guys from before. They got me in the elevator.” Keagan wheezed.

“How can you be so sure it was the same people?” Cory asked.

“Their voices. That and the outfits they wore. It looked like they had just clocked out of work. Same as last time.” Keagan said.

Cory’s eyes narrowed upon hearing this.

“So what are you going to do now?” Cory asked as Roy helped Keagan rub pain soothing ointment all over his body.

“I have no idea. Kinda wanna jump off a bridge to end my suffering, but that’s stupid right?” Keagan said with a sigh.

Roy’s brows the sunk.

“No!” He said while staring at his friend.

“I’ll help you get through this, just promise me you won’t do something so like that.” Roy said.

His eyes burning with anger and a bit of sorrow.

“Ok. But if I’m going to behave, you’re also going to have to behave. I don’t want to see you on the news.” Keagan said.

The three then sat in silence as Keagan’s body took in the various pain relieving medicines he had taken.

Roy eventually fell asleep on the couch leaving a wincing Keagan and Cory.

“So they were targeting Lezzaro through you?” Cory asked as he stroked Roy’s hair.

“Yep.” Keagan said.

“Any idea what they were looking for?” Cory asked.

“No clue. Judging by their appearance alone, I can tell that they were greatly misinformed. Our building is only home to prototypes and various other new technology. Lezzaro may be a pharmaceutical company, but our building does not deal with that stuff.” Keagan said, even though his chest pain begged him to stop talking.

“I see. What do you think their real target was?” Cory asked.

“Mmm… like I said. Lezzaro is a pharmaceutical company. They were after drugs of some sort. But… one thing about Lezzaro is that no one and I mean no one is allowed inside their… production sites.” Keagan said.

Cory let out an understanding hum.

“I see. Then I’m sorry you got beat up for nothing.” Cory said.

“What do you mean?” Keagan asked as his eyelids fell.

“Your attackers attacked you because they thought you had access to one of those production sites right? But you don’t. So it really is a shame you got involved in their scheme.” Cory said.

Keagan’s consciousness snapped back into the waking world for a moment.

What’s with Cory? Keagan wondered.

Cory then got up.

“Anyway, I’ve got to bounce. Tell Roy I’ll be back at his place.” Cory said as he opened the door.

“Oh and Keagan, just out of curiosity, do you know where one of those production sites might he located?” Cory asked.

“Why?” Keagan asked.

“I have a hunch that the guys who beat you up may be targeting the place. Just wanna see if I’m correct.” Cory said.

“Err… that’s the problem. I don’t know. You’ll have to talk to a high level Lezzaro employee. Remember, I’m an intern.” Keagan said with a yawn.

“I see…” Cory said before leaving.

Keagan fell asleep next to Roy.

.

..

The next day arrived painfully.

Keagan kicked Roy away, as they were sleeping practically on top of other on the small couch.

He then got dressed as Roy hesitantly ate one of Keagan’s microwaveable meals.

They had a short argument about health and stuff, but Keagan was in too much pain to care.

They then took turns at showering. Keagan borrowed Roy some of his clothes, but since Roy was slightly larger than him, they were a bit tight.

The two made their way to work and Roy changed into his uniform at the speed of light.

Keagan sighed in amusement as he made his way to the second floor.

There he sat down painfully on his chair and went to work.

.

..

A couple of hours passed and that’s when his pain meds wore off.

His entire body burnt and his head ached incredibly.

Keagan checked his pocket, but found no trace of his anti pain tablets.

Tommy noticed Keagan’s pained expression.

“You ok?” Tommy asked as Keagan got up.

“Y- yeah, I’m good. Just gotta use the bathroom.” Keagan said as he left.

“Must be a tummy ache.” Johan reasoned.

“Stop coming to your own conclusions. Next thing you know he sat on his balls or something.” Tommy said while raising his nose.

“You really hate Keagan, don’t you? Anyway, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Meanwhile, inside the men’s room Keagan writhed as his body ached.

Part of him wanted to ask Mercy if he could go back home for the day, but such actions wouldn’t help him as he was an intern. He needed to give this job his all.

After all, he wanted to work at Lezzaro and nothing was going to stop him.

Keagan splashed some water on his face before returning to his, seat but at this point, Tommy and Johan could tell that it wasn’t a tummy ache that was bothering Keagan.

“Dude, are you sure you’re ok?” Tommy asked as Johan walked towards Mercy’s office.

Keagan tried smiling as best as he could.

Johan then returned with Mercy and Catalina who both had horrified expressions.

“What’s going on?” Mercy asked.

“It’s Keagan. I don’t think he’s feeling too great.” Tommy reported.

“Ok, bring him to my office.” Mercy said, but Keagan kept his eyes on his monitor.

“Guy’s, I’m fine.” He said without knowing what kind of expression he was making because at this point his mind had gone numb from pain.

“Tommy, Johan, carry him to my office.” Mercy instructed and Keagan two colleagues did as they were told.

Keagan was then sat down on a sofa that was on the furthest end of Mercy’s office.

“Ok, give us some space. I’ll call you if things get worse.” Mercy said and Johan left.

“But-" Tommy tried saying.

“Just go.” Mercy said softly.

Tommy left, leaving Mercy, Keagan and Catalina.

“Listen. I’m fine.” Keagan said with what he thought was a smile, but in all honesty, it looked as though he was in excruciating pain. Which he was.

“Clearly, you’re not.” Catalina tried saying in her professional cold manner, but Keagan looked at her with overflowing hatred.

“Do not speak to me.” He whispered.

Mercy then sat next to Keagan, but in the process, she accidentally bumped against Keagan’s left arm, which was heavily bruised.

Keagan held in his screams of pain, as he fell over.

“Catalina, help me undress him. I think the problem is his skin or something.” Mercy said as she removed Keagan’s jacket.

Catalina helped remove his shirt and that’s when they saw the pitiful state Keagan’s torso was in.