Neon Lights

34

Erik had walked out of the bar that night without looking frazzled. He simply adjusted his glasses and gestured at the car as if he hadn't waved a gun at Angelo's face and threatened to take him down with him. Wisely, Callisto didn't make a comment either.

By the time he had reached home with Draven eyeing him with a cautious look in his eyes, Callisto was exhausted. Managing to push Draven out of his space and let him leave him alone for the night hadn't been the easiest, but as the quiet settled over him when he entered his apartment, he supposed it would have been better if Draven was here instead.

Luna was far away from him.

He had no idea if she was fine or if she even thought about him.

Was he even supposed to look for her?

Callisto wished he had all the answers and the further he let his brain dwell on it, the worse the aching feeling in his chest got.

Had his only family abandoned him?

He couldn't wrap his head around it.

Why would Luna know that man? Those neon green eyes would forever burn behind his eyelids. Nothing made sense anymore.

A low sign escaped him as the night slowly ticked away to welcome the early rays of the sun, morning bidding him to be awake. Not like he needed the help. His body ached and his eyesight blurred with a headache threatening to overcome his senses.

As he stumbled out of his apartment building and head to work, his motivation for the day began dwindling to him wanting to lay on his bed and stare at the ceiling. If he had it in him, he would have called off from work today to do just that. But the quiet in his place would also drive him quite literally up the wall. However he could manage.

Taking a step into his company lobby after the rush hour, once again having to deal with tons of bodies threatening to slam against him during traffic, his headache became worse. Hissing underneath his breath, he was about to head to the cafeteria for something strong like coffee when he heard someone call for him.

He turned, expecting to see Rye or someone he knew, but a frown crossed his lips when it was someone he didn't know. A woman with wide eyes, messy lab coat with one side falling off her shoulders and glasses that skewed off her nose stopped right in front of him. Trying hard not to let the anxiety bubble in him, he waited with bated breath for her to speak.

"Callisto, I found you." She struggled to take in deep breaths, bending down to place her hands on her knees.

"Yes?" Really, who was this woman?

"Sorry, need to catch a breather." After a second, she stood straighter and adjusted her lab coat and glasses. "I rushed down the stairs hoping to meet you by the door."

"I'm here." Callisto frowned deeper, the anxiety in him didn't help make him feel better at the way she searched his face with frantic flicks of her gaze. "Can I help you?"

"You're being requested in Meeting Room 2," she said. "There's— I'm part of the team and... never mind, someone wants to meet you."

Confusion coloured his mind as she turned and hurried to the elevators. Callisto remained standing there for a bit until she looked over her shoulders and gestured him close. Hesitating only for a second, he followed her instructions, moving to stand next to her.

"Who wants to meet me?" He couldn't help the wariness from leaking into his tone.

As far as he was concerned, his only experiment had been taken away from him and he hadn't been assigned to anything else yet. Rye was assigned away from research so it was not as if he had a lab partner in crime to talk about this either anymore. So... what was happening?

"Someone important," she said, glancing at him before she looked away. She had her hands in her lab coat and she shifted her weight from one feet to another every few seconds. Fidgeting at where she stood, it almost seemed like she was nervous. "Someone very important. I don't understand it either but... he named you by name."

The anxiety in his stomach fluttered further, spreading to cover every inch of him. He hadn't been a prolific researcher, preferring to be on the down low. There could be only a few people in his mind that would name him and the flash of neon green eyes had him stiffening where he stood.

Could it be...

No.

There was no way the man was here.

Didn't he say that Callisto was no longer useful since he didn't have the notes?

He opened his mouth and then closed it again. There were a million questions he wanted to ask her but there was no way they would leave his mouth. Not when the familiar tendrils of anxiety at the uncertainty of the situation took a tight reign of his rationality. Worst case scenarios threatened overwhelm his mind.

With the lack of caffeine and the things he had gone through — all of it was making it hard for him to rationally understand that this wasn't his death sentence.

Someone wanted to see him. So what?

So what...

Not 'so what' if it meant he had done something wrong and he was now about to be sued, hurt, yelled at — whatever bad thoughts that flashed through his mind, they became his new nightmare.

With a knotted stomach, he followed this woman to Meeting Room 2.

She gestured at him with a flick of her wrist when they stood in front of a door with the plaque that announced what room this was. The coolness of the surface when he touched the door to push it open had him startling, waking him up from the minor anxiety trance he had placed himself in.

And when he looked straight ahead into the room, at the furthest to his right sat two men, looking almost similar to each other. Right opposite of them was another woman and a man, both wearing lab coats and papers were scattered all over the glass table.

When he forced his feet to move and lessen the distance between them and himself, his breath caught in his chest when he recognised them.

The man on the right had longer hair with one part neatly combed back with burning blue eyes while the other part of his hair were let down to cover his android plated face. He had meet this man before once — at a hotel lobby the night he had a huge fight with Draven. Jean Fournier.

And next to the Jean was... someone he had met last night.

Those colourful eyes and the sickening smile met his gaze. Angelo.

"Well then," Angelo said, smiling wider. "Nice to see you again, Callisto."