Chapter 73

“Young, Dumb and Broke.”

‘Hi! Can we get an order for two double scoops of hazelnut crunch. One with honey drizzle and one plain?’ Nica said with the sweetest smile, making the clerk of the ice cream stand blush as he took their money and prepared their order. In all honesty if he didn’t need to punch in a quota at the end of the day he’d rather not charge them for ordering and knowing his boss, he was sure he’d permit him.

But with that said, he knew if his boss did find out, he was sure he would take over and sell the ice cream for free under “certain conditions”.

‘Nuh-uh I ain’t stoopin THAT low…’ He mumbled to himself as he finishes the order. Normally the standard protocol was to call the customer’s name in order for them to claim their ice cream. But for some reason the clerk was feeling extra generous today as he decided to step out of the lonely ice cream truck to serve the girls their orders.

‘Two double scoops of hazelnut crunch. One with honey drizzle and one plain!’

‘Ohhh the honey drizzle is mine!’ Aida said as she hops up from her seat all jolly and sweet as Nica curtly reaches out for hers.

‘And the plain one would be mine.’ She said with a subtle chuckle.

For some pleasant reason he was feeling quite at ease with these two girls. He doesn’t know whether it was because of the weather getting colder that amplified his feeling of loneliness or the comfortable familiarity that he felt with the two as they are repeat customers of his.

Ever since his boss decided to make him the sole in-charge of the branch he had noticed their appearances became more frequent. Though he does not want to think that there was anything charming about himself that kept them coming back, his growing ego told him otherwise. But whatever the reason was, he decided to stay and have a chat, seeing that there was no other customer to serve at the moment.

‘So umm… I’m guessing you’ve grown fond of the ice cream we’re making here.’ The clerk said, throwing his shot to deepen his rapport with the girl’s.

‘Mmm yup! This place has become our secret little spot! Right Nica?’ Aida answered.

‘I know right? I’m actually baffled that this place hasn’t blown up on social media yet.’ Nica responds with the same enthused energy that Aida was displaying.

‘Well I think that’s okay. I mean… If it means you can continue to have this as your secret spot then… Yeah… I’m okay with that.’ The clerk said as the two girls suddenly fell silent, both turning to look at each other after hearing the words he just said. Immediately the clerk understood how much of a creep he sounded as he started sweating bullets, fearing that he might’ve just blown his chance at getting close towards the two.

Both Nica and Aida smile.

‘Aww that’s nice of you Mr. Ice cream man but I don’t think your boss would be happy about the low sales.’ Aida responds sympathetically as the clerk breathes a sigh of relief, thinking the girls saw past his earlier foolish words.

‘Oh umm… My name is uhh… Stephen…’ Stephen, the clerk of Sebastian’s Ice Cream truck, answered.

‘Oh.’

The pair simultaneously answered.

‘Nice meeting you Stephen.’ Nica follows up, sensing the immediate awkwardness of the situation. ‘ SO…. umm… Stephen? Uhh… you study in the same university as your boss?’ She continued as Aida kept her smiling gaze at Stephen as he felt encouraged to speak, seeing how interested the girls were at knowing him more.

‘Yes! I study at the same university. Actually I also pledged for the same brotherhood which is how I came to know my boss who is umm…my senior in college.’

‘Oh? Really? How long have you been a part of Omega Epsilon?’ Aida asks, her eyes brimming with curiosity, making Stephen feel genuine joy at their interest towards him.

‘Well umm… I’m actually a new pledge. I’m just a freshman in college. I’m not even an honorary member yet… hence why I’m doing mundane tasks such as tending to this shop.’ Stephen confessed.

‘Oh don’t feel bad about yourself Stephen. What you’re doing is wonderful and honest. I mean… compared to what the others do to try and get into the brotherhood. Yours's is pretty honorable. You should be proud of it.’ Aida said, as Stephen felt his heart skip a beat and his cheeks blush.

‘Y-yeah… I’ve heard. Honestly I’ve had my doubts about joining them but my parents recommended me to since it would help us pay for my tuition and all. I honestly thought I wouldn’t be allowed in because I was not like the “others.”

‘What others? You mean those war freaks?’ Aida interjects.

‘Umm- yeah them. But when I showed them what I could do... and the higher ups immediately took me in.’ Stephen continued as the two girls looked at each other once again before Nica broke their short silence.

‘What did you show them?’

‘Oh! Wait, I'll show you!’ Stephen immediately runs back to the truck to retrieve something from his belongings as the girls look at each other with a puzzled expression. It wouldn’t be long before he’d return to their side carrying a destroyed looking laptop, with all its wires hanging on the side and a couple of unidentifiable parts, shabbily strapped on to it.

‘Okay first I just want to ask your permission if I could take your photos with the truck as background?’ Stephen asks as Nica shoots Aida with a worried gaze.

‘Umm… what for exactly?’ Aida asked.

‘Oh it’s for my software. I created something that would take 2D images and make them into a 3D space. If you guys aren’t comfortable with it it’s okay I can just take the picture of the truck, but I guarantee it’s much more impressive if you guys were innit.’ He answered with the most childlike expression of excitement that the two have ever seen.

For just a brief second they actually found him quite adorable.

The two girls looked at each other and saw that they agreed on a decision as they unanimously nodded to let him take their photo. Stephen the ice cream man then excitedly grabbed one of the lens looking devices hanging by a wire from the laptop and pointed them towards the two with the truck in the background. Counting down from three and ending with the word “Cheese!”

The girls put up peace signs with their hands and posed for the shot as immediately after he had taken the photo, Stephen placed down his laptop on their table to show evidence of the freshly taken photograph.

‘Oooooh I like the lighting.’ Aida said as she took a gander at the screen. The photograph he was showing looked clear and crisp and the scene looked soft and cozy as the afternoon sun was about to set, giving it a slight orange glow with the two girls smiling in the foreground.

‘Thanks! I had to invest five months of my pay to afford this lens that I’m using.’ Stephen answered as he showed them the professional lens he had used to shoot the picture with. The two girls had zero idea of what lens was for but just by looking they could tell it was for professional use.

‘So then, I made the program so that I could actively shoot pictures directly while using it so now… all I need to do is to push this button and--’ He leans in to tap on a key on his laptop and the screen immediately blacks out with a single loading bar. ‘It’s a small scene so it shouldn’t take too long.’ He said as a couple of seconds passed by and the bar had only grown by ten percent.

‘Well maybe a bit long but not all day.’ He said, as he notices the sluggishness of his software.

‘It’s okay we can still chat.’ Nica offers some positive reinforcement as Aida nods in agreement.

‘So umm… Stephen? You said the higher ups took you in? Does it mean that someone other than your boss helped you get into the brotherhood?’ Nica asked, remembering what he said earlier about his admission into Omega Epsilon.

‘Umm… About that.’ He looked quite unsure when he answered her as if he was internally regretting his slip of the tongue but since he’s been “politely” cornered by the two, he had no choice but to answer.

He sighs.

‘The people under Sir Remo immediately dismissed my applications. Mostly because I was a nobody who didn’t get in through conventional means but then the girls at Theta Sigma Mu, the sister organization, happened to be having tea outside their house when I was thrown out and was immediately interested in my late application to the brotherhood.’ Stephen recounts as the two girls listened intently.

‘Why were they interested?’ Nica asked, bridging the gap in his sudden silence.

‘Well they said it was unusual for someone to take interest in the brotherhood this late in my life even though usually freshman years is where students should be pledging for the organization. They said that Omega Epsilon's weird way of doing things has accelerated their search brackets towards younger hopefuls who are not even enrolled in any universities, making actual college freshmen applicants quite a rare sight.

As they put it: “In normal terms it would be like a college junior suddenly pledging for a spot in a conventional organization.”

‘I see…’ Nica responds as she was starting to get a clearer picture of how things worked with the fraternity. Further reinforcing what Pete had told them during their meetings in the underground room.

‘So based on your story, it was the sisterhood who gave you an in?’ Aida follows up with a question that steered them back on track.

‘In a way… yes. They were the ones who introduced me to the dean who had connections with the fraternity.’

‘Wait the dean was connected to the fraternity?’ Aida asked in surprise.

‘Yeah. They said he was an alumni of the university and a former member.’ Stephen answered.

‘Former member? So he left the fraternity?’ Nica inquired.

‘Oh… umm apparently it’s another one of the brotherhood’s weird policies where the fraternity only exists within the confines of the school and one would no longer be part of Omega Epsilon upon graduation.’

‘Huh…’ Nica responds with more question marks in her head rather than answers.

‘So the dean? How did he get you in if, based on what you said, he has no right nor power to do so since he’s no longer a fraternity member.’ Aida questions him, stringing together what he had told them so far. Stephen however, looked as if he had no clue as to why or how he got in, but a single name came to mind.

‘Well the dean knew Remo’s father. And he got me an audience with him. Showed my creation and he was impressed. Told me I could be the key for the brotherhood to find its roots again. Well… whatever that meant.’ He said with an air of confusion.

The two girls stared blankly at each other, not knowing what to make of what they heard, but nonetheless Aida made the call to push on sensing that what they heard could be a clue.

‘Oohh interesting…. He said you are the key to something. He must find this program of yours pretty impressive. Though I doubt it took you this long for it to produce results.’ Aida said as the ice cream clerk sighs, disappointed that his program wasn’t performing as efficiently as it was supposed to.

‘I know I guess I have some ironing to do with the programming but yeah even if he did say that, I have no idea what he meant by it. But I guess beggars can’t be choosers. My tuition is paid and I have a job on the side even though I know the reason my boss employed me was so he could avoid seeing me inside the house… but… well… yeah. As long as it solves my money troubles I'm fine with it.’ He said as the two gave him a sympathetic smile, resisting the urge to express how adorable they found him as looked like a sad teddy bear that needed a hug.

The uncomfortable silence was thankfully cut short as the laptop finally sprang back to life with the program finishing the processing of the photo, much to Stephen’s relief. He quickly took the controls and showed the girls what his program had just created as the once two dimensional picture suddenly rotated and pivots around the very table where they sat, giving the two girls a full 360 degree view of the area they were in.

‘Wait is this some sort of trick?’ Aida looked shocked as she sees a detailed map of the parking lot where they were in.

‘It is not. Check your poses. It's the same one you made when I took your photo.’ Stephen answered as Aida grabs the screen and takes a closer look. She even spots their bags hanging under the table which she was sure was just partially inside the shot and yet it is all rendered and modeled completely with all the detail her bag has.

‘All this from a single photo?’ Nica follows up as she sees the amazement in Aida’s eyes.

‘Yes. The program uses satellite data to get a detailed scan of the area we’re in then with the use of my own trained A.I, it models all the props based on all the common earthly things that one can find in the area of the satellite feed. Once all that is done the same A.I will use the photo I took to gather all the textures in the scene and make an image search to build a database of what clothes were used and what color. Are there any companies, brands, logo’s it can use as reference? And once it has all of the info it starts to “color” the 3d scene, hence why everything is all perfectly recreated.’

‘Gimme that!’ Aida swipes the controls from Stephen’s hand and turns the laptop away from him. HE tries to protest but Aida just gave him a death stare which sent shivers down his spine as he made the sound judgment to let her be.

‘Hah! Looks like it's not so perfect!’ She said as Nica squints her eyes in suspicion.

‘What did you do?’ She asked.

‘Look! And you! Turn around!’ Aida commands as she waits for the clerk to turn his eyes away before revealing the screen to Nica. ‘See… not all was captured.’ She said as she showed Nica the bottom end of her skirt which was nothing more than a flat plane, not detailing her unmentionables underneath.

‘Don’t! Ugh… why mine? Why not yours?!’ Nica protested. Stephen couldn’t hold his curiosity at bay and sneaked a quick look.

‘Oh! Yea the program does have its limitations. After all it can't render what it can’t see.’ He said as Aida stares him down for prematurely looking.

‘Don’t get any ideas though.’ Nica bashfully responds. ‘I know that thing is still in development. I hope it doesn’t evolve into doing something perverse. But besides that… I can see its applications for businesses and stuff.’

‘Yeah, well in truth I made this program because I was too lazy to model interiors and city blocks and stuff for a game I’m making but once I got it up and running I was starting to see some of its use outside what I intended it to be.’ Stephen said with a proud puff on his chest, delighted that he gained the interest of two new people today which is more than what he hoped for.

‘Hmph! You’re a guy. There’s no guarantee he won’t program it to simulate panties in the near future or worse simulate the actual “things”. Aida accuses him with a glaring stare as the beads of sweat from the pressure she brings start to accumulate on his brow.

‘WHa--N-No! I mean what use would I have for--’

‘Uh-huh?’ Aida looked at him suspiciously with a raised eyebrow as Stephen the ice cream clerk stammered to come up with a reply.

‘Just joking!’ Aida quickly followed up before he fainted from the pressure. A thankful relief had allowed him to breathe once more.

‘Anywho are you gonna be here over the weekends? Or is this a weekday thing?’ Nica changes the subject so she could disperse the awkward air around them.

‘Oh, I'm here from Thursdays to Sundays since those are the days I’m without classes.’ He replied as he wiped the sweat away with the towel he has hanging off his waist, which looked like part of his equipment for manning the store.

‘Oh wow, the dedication you have. Do you even take breaks?’ Nica asked with concern.

‘Oh don’t worry I like being able to move around. My body hates it when I’m at home doing absolutely nothing. So… yeah, I’m happy with my schedule.’ He gladly replied. He looks at the girl’s ice cream cups to find them cleaned out and empty, taking it as a sign to adjourn their interaction. Which for him, though short, was sweet since it was rare for him to find people he could resonate with even with the other’s who were in Omega Epsilon.

‘Well ladies I believe I had taken a lot of your time this afternoon so I’d be taking this… and leave you to your devices.’ He said with a pep in his step as he took the empty cups from their tables.

‘Oh please, It was not a bother for us. It was a nice chat and it was nice meeting you Stephen.’ Nica said.

‘Yeah we had a great time mister Stephen Ice cream. I think you should fully take over and change the name of the business. It rings much better than Sebastian’s’ Aida said

The two girls said their farewells to the lonesome college freshman whom they've just recently found out was sent to that lonely nook so that the president of the club wouldn’t have to look at him during his day which made them feel bad for leaving as early as they did.

But still they have other pressing matters to attend to.

‘So…’

‘So.’

‘Score!’ They simultaneously said, sharing a high five the moment they were out of ear shot from the ice cream clerk. The two of them quickly made their way out of the parking building, excited to report back their findings after frequenting the place for the past few weeks.

‘Well… whatcha think Robbie wanna come back just to humor the guy?’ Aida said, trying to gauge what Nica thinks about the ice cream guy’s situation.

‘Yeah why not… Though I wanna suggest to him to add coffee to his menu next time… It’s getting close to Christmas and eating ice cream is starting to feel counterproductive.’ She said as she embraced herself feeling the cold December chill.

‘Yeah… true it is getting colder… though I’m a bit on the fence about coming back… I mean what if he gets the wrong message? What if he’s an incel type and gets angry when we finally tell him we’re not interested in him “that” way?’

‘Well we shoot our shot and hope he doesn’t go berserk for being the “nice guy”. Besides, he doesn’t seem that much of a creep. I feel like he’s more interested in the tech that he made rather than scoring with us.’ Nica counters.

‘Hmmm… maybe… still if you feel like coming back then I’ll tag along as your bodyguard and hmm… come to think of it we can still learn more if we keep at it… I mean… who knows right?’

‘Right.’

The both of them agreed as they made their way back to St. Rita’s. Though most of the talk on the way were the usual conversations she’d had with Aida in the past, Nica, for some unexplained reason, had her mind towards what the ice cream clerk was going through. Almost as if she felt like she resonated with his situation.

Alone and okay with it. Forlorn and unaware. In her mind she figured the man sorely needs a friend but doesn’t realize it. Somehow she could relate but then again she knew she was lonely and never made steps to alleviate it. Meanwhile Stephen was unaware and possibly thought that this much is all he could hope for with his own life.

The very thought of it made her heart sink.

She wanted to do more about it, but she was also aware that he was a he. She could not just swoop in and help without it being misread. She curses this thought, and the awareness of this thought towards Neeya. In the few downtimes she and Yukino had having tea with her in the parochial she would spout things about her knowledge with men and how easily led on they are when it comes to friendly girls.

It frustrates her that knowing this she knows she couldn’t just be a friend to him and at the same time she also thought it as a blessing, since in knowing what she knew from Neeya, she could avoid potentially hurting him in the future.

Either way she knew best not to think about it that deeply for the moment. Hiding her agony internally as she replied with a smile to whatever Aida was talking about as they walked.

‘...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘Whaddya want?!!’

The agonizing back and forth stares between him and Pai had annoyed him to the brink as Denzo confronts why Pai was being more than the usual weirdo that he is in his view. Pai was startled, looking back at him with a wide eyed stare as if he had just been woken up from a nightmare with his mouth wide open struggling to find the words to say.

It was a peculiar situation, the kind of which can be attributed as an act of fate. There had been a notification received by all members of their committee that a meeting would be held after classes had ended. Since Denzo knew from Aida that they wouldn’t start until she and Nica arrived, he figured he’d take advantage of the situation and get a few sessions in the the sole remaining Maximum Attack 8 cabinet in existence.

At the moment the school bells rang for the final time that day, he rushed towards the parochial, down the stairs to the tunnels and into the spare storage room where they were to meet. Much to his dismay, he wasn’t alone as upon entering, Pai was already seated at the table.

He did his best to ignore him at first but as he failed to get the cabinet working after getting it plugged in, he figured he should just wait until Pete comes in to get it working, otherwise he feared he might accidentally destroy it, killing off the last functional machine in the metro.

What followed was an hour long silence. With Denzo blatantly trying to ignore Pai’s attempts to speak and Pai timidly trying to get his attention. Suffice to say, it was Denzo who ran out of patience.

‘I- - I…’

‘Dude you’re being weird! You keep staring and flinching everytime our eyes meet. If you have something to say then just say it!’

Denzo irately responds to Pai’s indecision to speak, driving him into his shell as he looks more reluctant to speak his mind now than he did before Denzo caught him. He looks at Pai as he shrinks down into his chair ever so slightly lower as he tries to avoid eye contact, especially now since Denzo was giving him a piercing look as waits for his reply.

Pai took a deep breath, followed by many breaths as he started to knowingly hyperventilate. Denzo was feeling the urge to end this pathetic show but he reeled himself back and gave Pai a few more moments to get himself together.

Finally he composed himself enough to look him in the eye without flinching and barely delivered a line. ‘About t-that day… with the c-cops-- umm…’

‘Goddammit!’ Denzo scoffed, making Pai visibly pull away. He did his best to reel himself in, but the sheer amount of negativity was too much for him to keep at bay. Especially since he found the question Pai decided to open with as “annoying” as he distinctly remembers eloquently elaborating everything that happened.

‘I already told everyone what happened. What else do you need to know?!’

‘I- it’s’

‘What?!’

‘I just wanna--’

‘Wanna what? What else do you want to--’

‘Can you stop cutting me off?!’

Pai shouted.

His hands trembled.

Denzo sat back in silence curiously waiting what Pai had to say. Half of his silence was from the shock of him witnessing Pai shout, half was because in his mind Pai had finally earned his respect.

For now at least.

‘So what now?’ Denzo cues him, ending the short silence.

‘Why did you lead me on back then?’ He finally asked.

‘You mean during the cop thing?’

‘No before it. When I asked, you could’ve easily said no.’ Pai looked at him with a newfound determination in his eyes that Denzo found quite amusing. Letting out a subtle smile before answering.

‘I really didn’t think about it.’ Denzo replied with a short snappy answer. Pai looked at him dumbfounded as he thought Denzo had some grand plan with him in mind and thought it would be too risky to include him so he sent him away. But seeing the plainess in his posture and the way he sounded aloof with his answer gave him a disappointing truth.

That he just said yes because ‘whatever’.

‘Wow…’

‘...’

‘...’

‘But then again… I guess… yeah… It’s my bad… I guess…’ Pai answered after a long silence in between his reaction and his clarity. A clarity of which had captured Denzo’s curiosity.

‘Your bad? Why?’

‘N-no… it’s nothing…’

Pai replies as Denzo sees him regressing back to his shell again. This irritates him as he thought he’d finally broke him out of it and was now becoming what he considers as “normal” but seeing Pai physically tucking in from answering was getting into his nerves for some reason and was once again making his blood boil.

‘The fuck Pai just spit it out it’s just us here no one’s gonna judge you!’

‘No! It’s… It’s nothing, it's my fault and it’s that.’

‘No it’s not! You’re hiding something! And you’re confusing me as well. Don’t you fucking think you can just say shit without getting confronted by it cuz that’s not how the world works so tell me. Why the fuck is it your fault?!’

‘...’

Pai shrinks his stance ever more as Denzo spots this and a shot of adrenaline makes him lose control for a moment as he slams the long table that stood between them. Shocking Pai as he jumped out of his seat in distress.

'ANSWER ME PAI!'

‘Why do you care?!

WHY DO YOU CARE NOW?!’

‘NO! You don’t fucking get to ask a question when you haven’t fucking answered mine! Now why is it your fault? And why are you even asking why I let you tag along? What were you planning Pai??! Are you trying to sell us off to Omega Epsilon? Are you a spy? Did you set this up to fuck us over? I know! You used to be friends with Neil! I think you’re Neil’s crony! You’re selling us out to hi--’

‘IT’S BECAUSE I THINK YOU'RE COOL!’

‘...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘...’

‘Wow…’

Denzo’s only response as Pai loses the energy from his body as he falls back into his seat. Denzo had blank stares on his eyes as they wandered around the room trying to find the words to say but the sudden admission was something that he himself was never prepared for. He had spent his new life being content with living quietly in the shadows that he never expected to be someone that was qualified to be “admired” and hearing those words fly off from Pai’s mouth had -at best- nullified his ability to think. At worst - shut his brain entirely.

Pai on the other hand was sitting at his side of the table and shaking. Looking at his hands he could visibly see them nervously vibrating unnaturally that it seemed alien to him that these were his actual appendages. He felt numb from the shoulder down and was just sitting in silence looking at his hands and any wonder that could come from his mind was swiped off by his nerves as of right now, Pai didn’t really feel like the person who just shouted was himself.

‘Shit.’ Denzo finally spoke. ‘So that’s why…’

Pai heard him speak but at his current state, even if he wanted to react he would have a hard time doing so as he was ultimately struggling to regain control of his body. He heard him speak and he heard his answer, but he was so overwhelmed with fear that his thoughts about it didn’t register.

Denzo looked at him and only saw a husk of the person that shouted at him earlier. He rolled his eyes seeing the ridiculousness of this reaction and balled up a piece of torn paper from the floor and threw it at his face to wake him.

‘So you think I’m cool?’ Denzo said as Pai’s face reddened the moment he said it.

‘Cringe… Don’t idolize me. You wanna get yourself killed?’

‘Hey hey!’

‘...’

‘...’

The conversation was abruptly cut off as the two of them heard Tisha’s voice burst through the door, followed by Pete who looked severely drowsy for some reason.

‘Oh it’s just you two?’ Pete remarked as he saw the two boys seated at the long table.

‘Yeah. What took you so long?’ Denzo said with a hint of ire in his voice which Pai had picked up as he felt a slight sting in his chest.

‘Well we knew we were gonna talk about the duo’s progress so we kinda waited till they were done with their current sesh with the ice cream guy. Dunno what happened why it took them too long to finish though… must be the ice cream.’ Pete replied and as soon as he finished Pai quickly got up from his chair and went straight for the door.

‘You guys talk without me… s- something came up…’ He said as he took his abrupt leave. Leaving the couple feeling something was bizarrely off about his sudden departure.

‘The fuck was that?’ Pete asked Denzo.

‘Must be an emergency.’ Denzo replies, his face as blank as a poker player, making both Tisha and Pete suspicious, but since it didn’t look like too much of a deal, they shrugged it off, taking their respective spots on the long table.

Meanwhile Pai was rushing up the stairs looking at his phone.

iCasper Arce!

(Pai?)

(Call me asap!)

(Like now!)

(Trouble!!!!)

He reads the text as bursts out of the door of the Parochial and looks around to find a secluded spot just by the nearby football field.

‘Hello Cas?! What’s going on?!’ Pai questions on the line as soon as Casper answers the call.

‘Pai! Is there anyone around you now??!!’

‘No why? What happened?’

‘Where are you??!’

‘I’m by the field why? What’s happening?!!’

‘It’s-- It’s Julian! He… He stabbed himself.’

‘...’

‘...’

‘WHERE ARE YOU!!’

‘Edward’s Chapel I- I don’t know what to do Pai I--’

‘Hold on, I'm coming!’

Pai quickly drops the call and makes an attempt to charge towards the chapel which was only a building away from where he was but he hesitates on whether or not to run back to the Parochial to get some help. He knew the right thing was to get more people involved but he also knew he might be running out of time.

With seconds ticking down, he made his decision.

‘No one there would care anyways.’

He thought. As his feet leaps into a sprint towards Julian and Casper’s direction.