"Ah..."
"Crap... crap. craaaaaap!"
A tall, slender man with brown hair was sprinting down a winding corridor. The walls were lined with apartment doors, each marked with faded numbers, while rusted pipes ran along the ceiling and down the sides.
In his hands, he carried several plastic bags filled with stuffed animals and all sorts of candies.
He wore black clothing beneath a white overcoat, and a plastic ID card hung from a lanyard around his neck, that bounced against his chest as he ran.
A door suddenly swung open in front of him as an old lady stepped out of her apartment.
"Whoa!"
Varek jerked to the side, barely dodging the door before it could smack him in the face.
One of the packages in the woman's hands slipped and fell to the floor.
Varek quickly bent down, picked it up, and handed it back to her.
"Here you go, Miss Sammy!" he said with a gleeful grin.
"Why thank you, Mr. Cromwell."
Varek gave her a quick wave before continuing his hurried jog down the corridor.
It took him a few more minutes before he finally reached the door to the Den.
— ARK DATA STREAM —
[DATE: 28-12-2457]
[LAYER: 5]
[SUBJECT: Lucian. A.]
— ENTRY #002 —
Lucian watched as the large metallic door swung open and Varek appeared in the hallway, plastic bags hanging from both hands.
"Mr!"
"Trash King!"
"Weird guy!"
"Captain Bags!"
And various other nicknames were shouted by the group gathered near the door as he stepped inside.
Lucas, his two brothers, and Leif were the first to rush forward, all of them jumping onto him at once.
"What's in the bags, boss?" Mirelle shouted over the ruckus the younger kids were causing.
"I know, I know! I'm late!" Varek laughed, trying to keep the bags from spilling. He then answered her question, "Sorry folks. I got a bonus at work, so I was out buying supplies when I thought—oh! Shoot! I needed to grab gifts for the little ones back home."
Mirelle shot out from beside Ren, pumping her fist.
"HAH!"
She spun around and waved a hand toward the two boys.
"You two owe me."
Then she stepped forward to help Varek, pulling the bags from his arms and peeling the kids off him so the poor guy could actually move again.
'Damn. How'd she know that?'
Lucian glanced sideways at Ren, who now had a faint blush creeping up his face.
Lucian's eyes narrowed.
Without warning, he jabbed Ren hard in the shoulder.
"Ow!" Ren turned toward him. "What the hell was that for?"
Lucian shrugged.
"I may love you like a brother, but I'm not ready for you to actually become my brother yet."
"Eh?!~"
Ren's face turned completely red at the implication.
Lucian leaned a little closer.
"Better hide that smirk before she notices."
Ren glared at him with pure spite in his eyes.
You're an asshole, dude.
'Fu~Fu~. Nothing escapes my special ability, [Cupid eyes]'
In the next ten minutes, everyone began to settle down. Lucian and Mirelle went to the kitchen to bring out the food, while Varek had everyone set up tables and chairs in the main clearing.
Lucian set down plates of pizza, along with silver platters stacked with cookies.
Well… at least they were supposed to be silver platters.
In reality, they were road signs that had been spray-painted with a silver coating.
Same thing basically.
They all ate to their hearts' content. Lucas had cream filling spilled all over his face, while little green-haired Leif had dozed off and face-planting into her slice of pizza.
Lucian took a deep breath.
Life was chaotic.
It changed rapidly.
Sometimes it was nice just to…
Live for a moment.
…
…
…
Alright. Moment's passed.
"Lucas, get your hand out of the lemonade. That's disgusting."
Lucian leaned forward out of his chair and stopped the little mongrel from ruining everyone's dinner. Mirelle gave a look of disgust at the glass in front of her and pushed it away.
Lucian glanced over at Ren.
Just like be was a moment ago, Ren was staring at the people sitting around the table. But his face was more relaxed, and there was a distant look in his eyes.
It wasn't often that Ren looked this sentimental.
What good of a friend was he if he couldn't cheer him up?
"Oi."
Ren looked at him.
Lucian got up from his chair and stepped away from the table. With a small motion of his hand, he waved for Ren to come at him.
"Remember when you always asked me to teach you how to wrestle?"
Ren stood up and pushed his chair in.
"You used to be such a crybaby back then. What happened? You're so cool and stoic now."
Ren couldn't help but crack a smile as he approached Lucian.
"Ooooooh! Fights starting!" Lucas chirped.
"Don't hurt him to bad Lucian!" Varek called out.
The two of them lowered themselves slightly and held their hands out.
"You off your game today?" Ren said. "Usually, you're better at provoking than this."
"Hah."
Lucian relaxed a little as he laughed, but it was a ploy. His dominant arm suddenly shot out and slapped onto Ren's, grabbing hold of him.
However Ren twisted his torso, shifting his weight as he slipped a foot behind Lucian's legs. Leaning forward, he pushed him to the ground easily after catching him off balance.
Lucian let out a whistle.
"So you did learn something."
Before Ren could settle his full weight on him, however, Lucian slid to the side and wrapped an arm and leg around Ren's back. In one smooth motion, he locked him into a choke hold, using his legs to pin Ren's left leg so he couldn't get up.
Ren grabbed Lucian's arm and pried at it, forcing just enough space to breathe and avoid an instant tap out. Still, there wasn't much he could do from that position.
After a few seconds, Ren tapped.
Lucian released him and jumped back to his feet, bouncing slightly as he shook out his arms.
"Phew."
"Nice fight!" Lucas chirped up from behind them.
Little Leif came up and stared up at Lucian, "How'd you do that? You were like a spider!"
"It's cause his arms are so long." Mirelle chided.
Lucian glared at his sister as she walked up from behind them. "Varek says we have twenty minutes left." Her tone shifted a bit when she said it.
Ren dusted himself off, "I should go get ready then right?"
Mirelle nodded, "I sewed up that suit for you. The one you broke might I add."
"Woops." Ren scratched the back of his head, "thanks." And with a quick sprint he ran off to a tent near the wall which encircled the Den.
Lucian let out a yawn, helping clean up the remanents of the party.
Once everything was clean and put away was about the time Ren came out in his suit. Varek had found it in the trash facility at his work.
[ten fifty-seven]
It was almost time.
"Alright, everyone gather round!" Varek yelled so that everyone could hear him.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and came over. Varek placed a hand on Ren's shoulder.
His tone changed.
It always did when it came to this.
"Remember. Do absolutely nothing."
"Question."
"Hm?" Varek looked over at Lucas.
"Who's on the list?"
"Just Ren today. Everyone else is caught up."
Varek patted Ren's shoulder.
"Don't look so grim. We'll all be waiting for you."
Without another word, Varek pushed his way to the front of the group, standing between the entrance to the Den and the children behind him.
[Eleven]
Like clockwork, the door opened.
However this time, two people stood in the doorway. As opposed to the usual one.
The first was a Custodian who stepped forward, but then took a sharp turn to the side, making way for the person behind him.
'Another custodian?'
He wore the same uniform.
Except...
His face.
He wasn't wearing a mask.
The man's expression was sharp and cold. His hair was black and neatly combed back. He looked around the room like he was assessing each one of them. Raising a hand, he pushed his glasses up along the bridge of his nose.
The Custodian beside him handed him a clipboard.
"To Block 5-1-54. I will now read off the citizens' names required for quarterly testing."
The man cleared his throat.
"Ren Halberg."
Ren stepped forward from the group.
But the man didn't look at him.
Instead—
'Is he... looking at me?'
Lucian suddenly felt a cold weight settle on his shoulders. A knot tightened in his chest.
The next few seconds moved in slow motion.
The man wasn't finished speaking.
"And Lucian Albrecht."