In a tiny room, a metal door suddenly slid open, and two men entered a dark room. Clicking started randomly, and a light flashed onto the two of them.
A man's voice echoed from the shadows.
"So, how have things been, you two?"
Facing the direction of the voice, the two bowed down.
"Good, lieutenant."
"Fantastic, lieutenant."
The man started to laugh.
"Fantastic? Tell me about it."
One of them came back to a stance.
"We've got intel regarding the kid from Doc's death."
A skeptical intensity made its way on the lieutenant's face.
"Lay it on me."
The two men looked at each other, the one standing began to speak.
"We found the kid from the footage."
He started to laugh again.
"That's great! Now, what else?"
"Well, there seems to be a problem, the NPA. seems to be protecting the kid."
A loud bang sounded from the direction of the Lieutenant's voice.
"Fuck! Does that sound fantastic to you?!"
"No sir."
The lieutenant sighed deeply.
"Give me more, how are they dealing with this kid?"
"After spying on the kid's movements, we noticed one of the NPA's agents accompanied him."
A shuffle could be heard in the darkness.
"Which agent?"
"After doing some research we found out the man goes by the name 'Anderson Brighton,' he works directly under Marko who is responsible for the NPAs investigation unit."
"The investigation unit?"
He laughed again.
"Haha, that's perfect, it's not a combat unit, so I might not even have to get involved."
"I should warn you lieutenant, the feats of the investigation unit far surpass those of their combat units."
The man reached into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette along with a lighter, he slid one end in his mouth and brought the lighter close to the other. He rolled his thumb back, and the room suddenly became bright. He was wearing a green uniform, barely holding on by its buttons. The man was big, he had no hair on his head, just a gray beard on his face.
Smoke appeared in front of his eyes and he grinned.
"Then let's attack while they're down!"
His laughter suddenly became louder, sounding ever so slightly quieter as the echo from the desolate room began to disperse…
***
"Hey kid, wake up."
Len sat up, rubbing his eyes. Anderson stood just beside the mattress looking at the dazed Len, still wrapped in a blanket.
"It's almost time for class."
He gazed up at Anderson, noticing a full attire already attached to his body, a nice white shirt with its sleeves clinching his forearms, and as usual, the same black pants he always wore with his jacket.
"C-class?"
Anderson nodded.
"Yeah, class. You should probably wash up and eat something before we leave."
"are you coming with me?"
Anderson smiled.
"Yes, just for the first day, I want to make sure you get there safely."
Len quickly arose from the mattress, leaving the room, heading straight to the bathroom, bringing his uniform along with him. As soon as he entered, he closed the door just behind him, he approached the shower, and swatted away at the curtain that covered it, reaching the knob. He suddenly started twisting it, but nothing happened, so he pulled on it, and water started flowing from the metal shower head above. He put his hand below the water, and suddenly his body shivered, the water was freezing…
He got out of the bathroom, and Anderson looked towards him.
"You're looking sharp, kid!"
Len wore a white shirt, covered with a royal blue jacket, and a black tie to finish the top. On the bottom half he wore matching pants and black shoes to go with the tie.
"Seems like you're ready to go, take this."
He threw something at Len, he caught it. It was a sandwich tightly wrapped in plastic, full of turkey, cheese, tomato, and a clean leaf of lettuce hanging out the sides..
"You should eat it on the way there."
Anderson swung the front door open, and the two headed around the corner, stopping at the bus stop. The two sat down on the slowly rusting bench, waiting for the bus to arrive at their stop. Len's stomach began to make noises, he brought the sandwich in front of him and slowly unwrapped the surrounding plastic. He admired its fresh look, and slowly took a bite out of it, tasting something sweet, then after, something tangy. He seemed to be enjoying it.
During his feast, a man with long hair suddenly approached the bench from the other side, he sat on the opposite side of the bench. He wore a black shirt with long sleeves, over the man's right arm was a black jacket that lay loosely on the bench, not covering his left at all.
The man bent forward and glared towards Len who sat just past Anderson who stared intently at the man.
The man noticed Len's uniform, causing a spark to freshen his mind.
"Ah, so you're a student at the academy."
The two looked at the man.
"y-yes."
The man smiled.
"My son goes there as well!'
Anderson's caution slightly loosened at the man's words.
"He must be pretty talented then."
The man looked down at his feet, and lightly smiled.
"He sure is."
His voice was shallow…
"What year is he in?"
"He is currently in his second year, but he should have skipped a year. He's been telling me that school is too easy for him and the results he's shown so far, prove it."
Anderson chimed in.
"Even though this is his first year, Len here will also be in the second year, maybe the kids are in the same class."
"Maybe…"
The man glanced at Anderson, examining his body with the slightest twitch of his eyes, but stopped as Anderson continued.
"If you don't mind my asking what is your son talented in?"
Anderson genuinely seemed curious about the man's son.
"He excels in anything scientific, he's always telling me he wants to become a surgeon! But hey, kids like to dream."
"That's a pretty tough job, he must be pretty good with his hands and his coordination."
He smiled.
"Yeah he is, he definitely takes after his father."
Suddenly, the man reached into his pocket.
Anderson quickly noticed something was off.
The man flipped a silver knife out his pocket and swiftly lunged it towards Anderson's neck, he quickly lifted his left hand up, absorbing the sharpness of the blade.
The knife became lodged in the center of his palm, Anderson gritted his teeth, and his face, full of pain, compressed itself.
Blood began oozing out of the fresh wound, staining the blade that was still pinned to his hand.
Anderson reached for his neck, his big hand wrapped itself around the man's skinny neck, restricting his breath.
He stood up, lifting him from the bench along with him, bringing him just arms length out, separating from him as much as he could while maintaining his strength.
The man's neck started to beam red, the veins in his neck began to extrude through his skin, showing strain with every breath he took.
"Who are you?"
The man stayed composed, and quickly reached into his pocket again.
He pulled out another knife and threw it to the far right of Anderson.
Anderson tracked the knife with his eye, smirking as the knife glided by his head.
"You missed."
The man grinned, the knife suddenly wrapped behind him, heading straight towards Len, slicing him across his chest, tearing his uniform's shirt.
Anderson quickly glanced back and saw a black string attached to the knife's handle, one which the man used to control its direction.
The man dropped the string, then put both hands in his pockets digging for another knife. Anderson reached his right arm out, quickly grabbing the man's right arm, preventing him from releasing it with the pressure from his strengthening grip, but his left arm was still free...
The man quickly pulled a knife out of his left pocket and slammed it down into Anderson's forearm, causing him to release his grip.
"Ahhh! You fu-"
The man shuffled back looking at Anderson, he was gasping for air, the man watched Anderson, then switched his attention to Len who was unharmed behind him.
The man closed his eyes, abruptly opening them to a small gray light beside him, dust began to form, from all directions dust combined to a single spot, directly next to him, creating an image of a man with the same face and clothes as him. The dusted figure opened its eyes, looking at Anderson who stared at his fuzzy life.
The figure was like a spitting image of the man, all was identical except the impurities in the state of matter in which the two differed.
Shaking his head the man stared at the particle formation next to him, he commanded the figure to attack with the slight lift of his left arm, which remained unharmed.
Quickly, the figure darted towards Anderson who seemed ready for his arrival.
He swiftly lifted his right leg, kicking towards the man's chest, seemingly making contact…
The man dissolved into a dust that enveloped the leather of his shoe, the identical man out of sight…
He glared towards the man in the back who slowly opened his mouth, directing a few words at him.
"It was nice talking to you, Anderson..."
A dark mist suddenly grew rapidly from the man's core, engulfing him in its shadowing opacity… the man disappeared…
Anderson drew a sigh, blood dripped onto his clean white shirt, and to the side, Lens' face was unbothered by the sudden attack, but his heart was at a different pace.
Anderson turned around and looked at Len, who was still on the rusty bench.
"Len, take my phone, it's in my front left pocket."
Len walked up to him and reached into his left pocket taking out a silver phone.
"Click on the green square at the bottom of the screen, and click on 'Team Leader'."
The phone started ringing, and quickly it stopped.
"Who is this?" A voice came from the phone.
"It's Anderson, listen, the kid and I were attacked."
"Where are you at?"
"We are just in front of the bus stop near my house."
"That shitty place."
"Just hurry up, I've been injured, I've already lost a lot of blood."
Anderson suddenly felt dizzy, he couldn't keep his feet down on the ground. His head tilted sideways, then he lost his balance.
A loud thud sounded through his phone…
"What was that? You there Anderson?"
The phone's screen shattered from the fall's impact, rendering the phone's screen ineligible…
A small hand picked it up, and a quiet voice sounded through its microphone.
"he fainted."
Marko seemed surprised.
"It's you kid! Just watch over Anderson for a bit, and don't worry, people are already sprinting over as we speak. Anderson will be okay!"
***
Anderson woke up, he looked around and saw white walls around him. He looked down and saw Len at his feet, sitting there, staring at him with worry on his face. He reached over towards him, patting him on the head.
"You seem to be alright."
Len's pupils shifted to the corners of his eyes.
"yeah."
Anderson started laughing.
"What are you so worried about, kid? I'm alive, be happy!"
To no surprise, a knock came from the door.
"Come in."
A faint voice could be heard just outside the door.
"he's awake."
The door quickly slid open, Marko and Pline entered the room together, their faces eased as Anderson was now awake.
"How are you doing?"
"Are you alright?"
Anderson stared at the two as if they were children.
"I'm doing fine."
"So what exactly happened?"
"Did someone try to kill you?"
Anderson grinned
"Did you ask Len yet?"
"Yes, but it seemed like he didn't want to talk."
He sighed.
"Looks like I'll have to explain then"
He explained what happened at the bus stop, explaining that a mysterious man had attacked them, then suddenly disappeared.
"It's probably 'them' again. Do you think he was after something?"
"It seemed like the man just wanted to kill us."
"Both of you? So, they did target Len…"
"Yeah…"
The room fell silent.
"I don't know if I am cut out for this, I mean look at me, a single man did this to me."
"Don't put yourself down Anderson, you said he used knives right?"
"Yeah…"
He pondered for a second.
"Well it seems like this was not our first time encountering that man."
Anderson
"Huh, when?"
Marko went back to his mind, trying to remember when exactly the man appeared.
"About two years ago I think it was."
"That was when the first combat squad was abandoned!"
"Yes, and we believe the man that you encountered two days ago to be the reason. The whole squad was nearly wiped out by him, only Morin survived that incident."
"The detective was a part of the first combat squad?"
Anderson didn't know much about the rest of the N.P.A., only that they were previously trained fighters.
"He was a fine soldier, but chose to stop acting as the sole fist after seeing his team get dismembered in front of him."
A swift noise quickly passed by outside the window, and the room went silent.
"If I may interrupt."
The two looked over at Pline, who stood there as they talked.
"Ah Pline… I almost forgot you were here, what do you need?"
"Well it's about school, we noticed Len didn't show up and I stopped by your house, but you weren't home, then we went to your office and they told us you were hospitalized."
"So Len didn't attend?"
A stupid question to ask.
"No, apparently he's been by your side for the whole time."
Anderson looked at Len and gave him a smile.
"I don't think it's a good idea for Len to go to school anymore, he might be in danger and the other students could potentially be at risk as well."
Marko suddenly chimed in…
"Don't worry about that."
The two looked at him.
"What do you mean, we should worry about student safety."
"You only worry because you don't want to get sued, Mr. Pline."
Knowing Marko was right, Pline didn't respond.
"I was suddenly interrupted and I didn't get to finish talking about the man. To let you know, Morin was not the only one who encountered that man."
Confusion grew around.
"Who else?"
"No specifics, but we know what he's like and how he acts."
"Explain…"
A spark of annoyance appeared over Marko.
"I was, but yeah, he acts quite unusual, he doesn't go after the innocent, just those who he deems worthy enough."
"He went after Len though."
"And Len was deemed someone worth watching, you're trying to overcomplicate things, just listen to me."
Marko was tired of being interrupted so much.
"O-okay."
"So, based on what we have, he won't just attack without a notice or out of nowhere, so I'm willing to bet the school should be fine."
"So you're saying we should just leave them alone and take the risk?"
"If it makes you feel any better we can increase your security to take care of you."
"I mean, that helps a little, but that doesn't fully guarantee my money is safe."
"You worry too much Mr. Pline, just think about it, our soldiers are top notch, far stronger than those when Morin was a leader."
"Really?"
Marko nodded.
"Yeah, so against that man all should be fine."
Pline drew out a sigh.
"If you say so…"
***