Lillian and I walked down Roland Street, a long main road up in the northern part of Brontri. It was a somewhat commercial area dotted with a few bars, market, and other various things. There weren't very many people for a main road but it's not like a slum sector would, though the looming grey clouds didn't help either.
We passed a pair of middle aged folks who sat outside a bar and I managed to catch a bit of their conversation as we passed;
"So did you hear the news?"
"I hear a lot of stuff; you mean the one about Sever?"
"Yeah, apparently he's made an example of another Gold Sector resident"
"Really, who was it this time?"
"Rumor goes it's the second eldest son of the Crest clan, some fool nicknamed Riot"
"Wow, no kidding? How do you think Mr. Crest is gonna react?"
"There's really no telling, but something in my gut tells me it's not gonna be pretty..."
"Nooo, really?" The man hastily finished sarcastically, but it was easy to see he simply wasn't keen on talking about it. Not surprising, news gets around easily but you didn't need a picture to see people usually felt uneasy talking about the name 'Sever', like it would draw bad omens or something more unholy.
I glanced at Lillian after we passed, she seemed to be deep in thought, maybe about what the couple had said, or maybe something else was on her mind. Just as the sun rose, it seemed to reflect off her dirty-blonde hair and her sparkling blue eyes, a kind and adventurous face I was so familiar with. I owed a lot to her after all, who knows where I'd be now had we not met a years ago. Maybe I didn't give her enough credit for everything I owed her. I suppose it could be my pride but we'd done so much for each other in all that time it's just common understanding,
"Like family..." I thought but quickly pushed the word out of my mind. I did care about her that much but If I wasn't careful I'd think of things better left in the back of my head. I scavenged my thoughts to distract my mind, get off the subject; I felt like I should probably say something to Lillian but quickly decided against it, looking down at my watch.
7:23 am. It'd been roughly two days since the night of the assassination and yet the news still seemed to reach all the way out here in such little time. Well that was Evercross for you. It was almost laughable; the boy Wyot was apparently the drunken family drop-out and yet people still acted like he was the god of all happiness in the world. One more reason to declare me a menace I suppose. TV reports, eulogies, columns in the paper, it was everywhere, though typical. I'd expect nothing less of them, the lowly city wretches they were.
"You hear them?" Lillian asked suddenly and I looked at her for a moment like I didn't know what she was talking about, then I nodded,
"Yeah, It's comforting to know that the big man's influence doesn't take on so much affect out here. These people can see through it because they already know just how twisted the authorities are. "
"I don't get it, Sever"
"hm?"
"People die every day until one prep gets killed and next thing you know every gold and entity sector snot is on their knees for 'em"
"Disgraceful isn't it? It's because they hate my guts, and there looking for reasons to get the public on their side. They're right too though, I'm wondering what course of action Mr.Crest is gonna take it, something doesn't feel right..."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it, I've never been able to get a clear shot at the boy until now, there were always subtle things that made it not worth my time, but this time 'round..."
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"Wait, hold on, are you saying you actually think they made Riot vulnerable on purpose?!"
"Could be, He abused his family's money, his bad habits smeared their name, and he didn't meet any of his expectations as part of the Crest clan. Maybe they just decided they could use his death as a reason to make me look worse, if that's possible. It wouldn't surprise me, though it's all a bit of a stretch..."
"I heard that... So what'ya say we- hey alley, now!" Lillian proclaimed breaking my thoughts, pointing down the street where a group of cop cars were driving down the road towards us with their lights on. Lillian and I ducked into the nearest alley. We both waited in the damp and dreary silence of the darkness until the car had passed at an oddly slow pace. I heard Lillian let out a breath she'd been holding, it took me a few seconds to do the same when I realized I'd been holding one too.
"You think they found the hideout?" Lillian asked in concern. In response I shook my head doubtfully,
"Not likely, remember were not the only criminals in the city...probably a fluke."
Suddenly there was a shifting noise behind us and I spun around to see another figure standing in the alley. I felt guilt hit me when I realized I may have just blown my identity. In response I whipped out a gun (making sure not to use my arm blade in case they hadn't guessed who I was yet).
"Who are you?" I demanded in a sharp monotone but when I looked closer I realized the figure was hunched over and curiosity replaced my adrenaline. Lillian gave a confused look indicating she'd seen it too.
"Sever..." A male voice rasped as he stepped out of the shadow. My heart dropped like a stone when I realized I knew exactly who it was. Without warning he collapsed in front of us, a small puddle of blood quickly forming beneath him.
"Jermiah!" Lillian gasped sprinting over to him and turned him over onto his back. Maybe I should have been more concerned like Lillian, but that wasn't really like me. At that moment I had different first thoughts,
"Where the hell is the rest of his team?"
Jermiah was a pretty much a kid compared to the rest of his outfit. He was only fourteen and yet he was the strongest fourteen-year-old I'd ever met. People often misjudge him because he's so young, even I did the first time I met him and it cost me a pretty bad wound to the knee. But despite this he almost never went on missions alone, he was always with his team that consisted of four of my most trusted colleagues including him. We, and by we I mean me and Lillian, have multiple contacts throughout the city but Jermiah's team were suppliers of ours and supported our cause to the last breath. If anything happened to that group of outlaw thugs, it was personal. After all they also supplied money and food to us and other muckers. Without them, I'd say a major mortality boost to say the least.
We were back at the hideout now, a place crafted from an abandoned military lab in the massive basement of a factory on the outskirts of Maudry. Nice place, all things considered, though most of it was Lillian's handy work, which was good because her advanced technology was essential.
We set Jermiah on an operating table, one Lillian usually used to treat my injuries or examine bodies. I wasn't able to get a good look at him in the alley but under the light that shone down on the table I could see almost every detail. He was filthy. There were noticeable Head-to-toe stains and mud splatters all over his body, not to mention blood. It was splattered out from a large gash on his arm, dotting his skin and staining his dark, almost black hair that hung down over his light skin covering his thin structure. Heck in this condition he looked like a half-starved puppy. For a second I actually wondered if he was in a critical condition until I saw his eyes flutter and open slowly.
