Paper

Well damn, Ace

They all got the message at 11:20 in the morning. Hover cars would be coming to pick them up in half an hour to take them to the Wisdom headquarters. Shuko made no explanation as to why. So, at approximately 12:10 PM, six hover cars dropped off someone at the front before driving off to their next priority.

There were light greetings amongst them as they went inside, but it didn't last long. The ride to the 5th floor was silent.

Shuko waited for the glass to slide back and met them as they came out of the lift. He gave them all a grin.

"Glad to see that you're all here in one piece. Now then, to business."

As he led the way into the hacking and technology division office, everyone except for Ace exchanged a glance with one another. What had Shuko meant, 'all in one piece'?

The office itself was surprisingly quiet, but it seemed tenser than anything. Either the workers were whispering with one another or they simply weren't speaking at all. All of them were rather jumpy, too; one knocked over a stack of papers as the door opened and another jumped so badly that coffee slopped over the side of their mug and it spilled onto some official-looking documents.

"Take a seat," Shuko said as they reached their desks, sitting in his swivel chair. Hesitantly, they all did so- except for Ace, who simply stood.

The rest of the office got incredibly quiet, and some people even began to leave. Shuko watched them but said nothing. Once everyone who wanted to leave had left, Shuko crossed his legs and faced the others, an unusually calm expression on his face.

"I apologize for making you come here on such short notice, but it's not something that can wait," he explained. Jasmin furrowed his eyebrows. "You could've texted or called us-" "That's too dangerous in a situation like this," Shuko replied shortly, folding his arms across his chest.

Jasmin opened his mouth to retort, but Oscar beat him to it. "Just spit it out," He snapped, in a bad mood after being woken up so early.

Shuko gave Oscar an even stare. "The Murder has requested a meeting," He said casually as if it wasn't a big deal at all.

Silence.

"And I have accepted the offer."

It had barely been two seconds when Ace forcefully grabbed a handful of Shuko's shirt, lifting him slightly off his chair. "Are you a complete fool? You're playing right into their hands!" Ace hissed. The few remaining employees who had been in the office chose that moment to make themselves scarce.

Shuko watched Ace cooly. "Let me go. You have no say in this. I've made my decision, which was not for you to make. Am I clear?"

Ace did not let Shuko go, keeping his iron grip tight on Shuko's shirt. "I don't have a say in this? Alright then, at least tell us the details."

"That's classified information."

Ace slammed his fist on top of Shuko's desk with such force that it left a dent. "CLASSIFIED MY ASS!" He roared, Reuben and Rhydian wincing at his loud voice. "WE'RE ALL A PART OF THIS AND WE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!"

Luca was sure that Shuko was going to shout back at Ace, but he didn't. Instead, he calmly said, "None of you have the clearance. Now let me go."

Ace's grip did not loosen. "What do you mean none of us have clearance? I know for a fact that I-" "Just because you came back here does not mean you are given your status back. You left. You could have given intel to the government, for all we know. You can't be trusted right now, Ace. Not with classified information."