Paper

Grief and 'unfortunate' mistakes

Shuko pressed his finger against a man's mouth as his wristband rang. "One moment. Hello, Merrick-san, what can I help you with?"

The man who was silenced scowled but said nothing, only crossing his arms and leaning against Shuko's desk while he waited. 

"Of course you can! I've been meaning to go through some files, anyway-" The lanky 19-year-old spun around in his swivel chair as he spoke. "Don't worry, I'll send a hovercar to pick you up. It'll be there in... 10ish minutes, I'd say."

After Shuko had hung up, he switched his attention back to the man he had been conversing with beforehand. "You're going to the 7th district?"

The man ignored Shuko's slight incredulity. "I thought you could predict things-" "I merely observe to do so, Neith-kun," Shuko cut in, running a hand through his choppy hair. Neith grit his teeth. "Whatever. I need to borrow your cloaking code- mine's bugged and I can't fix it yet."

Shuko grinned widely. "Oh? Neith-kun asking me for assistance? This is new-" "Just shut up and give me the damn code you annoying screwball!" Neith snarled, slamming both his hands on top of Shuko's desk. The hacker smiled up at him, only making Neith more irritated.

"You'll get it in a minute, Neith-kun. I just want to ask you something first."

Neith paused, seeming to be fighting an internal battle. Finally, he gave Shuko a stiff nod. "Fine."

Shuko leaned forward in his chair. "What happened to the high ponytail? I thought you looked super dapper with it- not that low pigtails are any less, I'm just curious is all."

Neith deadpanned. "Gimme the code already."

"But your ponytail-"

"CAN I JUST HAVE THE CODE PLEASE?!" Neith bellowed, losing his temper completely. Shuko wasn't fazed in the slightest, spinning around in his chair again. "It's 'may I', and yes-" Shuko typed something onto a keyboard that he materialized from his wristband.

"It's been transmitted successfully."

Neith's knuckles were white as he glared at Shuko. "Thanks," He muttered through his teeth. He spun on his heel and marched toward the department exit. Shuko grinned to himself. "At least he didn't set my desk on fire this time."

A little while after Neith left, Rhydian arrived in the office. He set his bag down on his desk and Shuko waited patiently for the writer to get himself situated, watching him with interest. By the time Rhydian had finished, Shuko had another bag of shrimp chips and was lounging around on his desktop.

"All set?" the hacker asked, his mismatched eyes sparkling excitedly. "Let's get to it!"

~~~

Luca tried to catch his breath as he stopped by the front doors of the hospital, his heart pounding. He had taken his bike to the hospital, which wasn't exactly close to his house. Reuben called earlier telling him that Mr. Kedi was at the hospital and was being moved to the morgue. Hearing Reuben's usually strong and confident voice waver and shake made Luca's chest ache for him. The photographer had chosen to leave his camera at home.

Luca entered the building, looking into the large room that had chairs and a cafe for those who were waiting. He scanned his wristband over the large Visitor Sign In tablet and he spun around, his eyes flying around the room. Where are they?

Finally, he spotted four figures sitting around a coffee table. Feeling wretched for his friends, Luca recognized the faces of Moren and Caio. On the other couch, Reuben was sitting with a man Luca didn't know; he had pink hair and looked around Jasmin's age.