Game Of Life [ No.6 Fan-Fiction ]

Parasite Bee

" I pledge my loyalty to the city without regrets ... " I muttered as I placed one hand on the blinking blue screen and it beeped once in satisfaction and I heaved a sigh of relief as I passed through the gates which scanned the heavy cuff-like technology and I once to ensure I had brought no weapons with me as my line of work had no need for one. 

" Hey Yuu ! Shion's here already, he's over there checking on one of the walking droids, " Yamashi greeted and raised a hand to acknowledge my presence. As usual, he was busy sitting in front of the thirty over monitor screens and watching each and every movement of the droids. That job required keen eyesight and a specific level of IT skills, but of course no matter how good Yamashi was, he'd never be able to reach my standard of breaking the Correctional Facility's security system or to cancel out the VC chip, not that I told anyone about it of course. 

" Shion ...? " I asked warily as I watched some men exit a room adjoining to the one I had entered through, hoisting a person shrouded with a white sheet on their shoulders though a smartly-dressed man in a business suit stayed behind to question Shion. I strayed at the door for a bit until those men had finally left but when that smart looking one did, I was sure I'd notice a glint in his eyes, the type of look that showed Shion was going to be made some scapegoat for something important soon. 

" Yuu ? "

" Would you fill me in please ... Shion ? "

" Ok, I understand. In the morning, one of the walking droids found a body in the park which we were monitoring. The body had gone into rigor mortis in a simple 10 minutes which is impossible since its the middle of summer, " Shion informed with a heavy sigh and I nodded, deep in thought. He was right, from the years of experience I'd gained over here, the least I knew was that in summer, rigor mortis settled in only around 60 hours, give or take a few hours. Shion proceeded onto typing some long string of command into the computer and a few pictures from a heavily guarded file popped up. The dead man ? The same figure who had been carried away ? However much you said it, he looked waaaay old, white hair and those wrinkles the elderly gained, the small black spots and the thing bony hands. The only surprise now was why rigor mortis had settled in in just 10 minutes. 

" So who came in just now ? " I enquired again, best if I could extract answers without suspicion and in a place like this, best to gather as much information as possible on those men who looked too familiar. 

" An inspector of the Medical Department, Yoshi. He came to ask a few questions and then he left, " Shion answered honestly and I winced inwardly, how many times did I have to control the urge to grip his shoulders, scream in his ear that this place wasn't as innocent as one thought. But I could be labelled crazy and that would just attract more attention from the Correctional Facility if they found out I was the same VC who escaped them during the major breakout 4 years ago. Most of the fugitives had been recovered and shot but two had gone missing, VC-103221 and VC-001229, namely her and another boy supposedly older than her by one year, should be the same age as Shion is now. 

" I'll stay behind tonight to supervise the droids so that means you can go off early and Yamashi can be let off at the usual time, " I said as I sat in front of the main computer which overviewed every operation carried out currently at other stations. 

" I don't have to leave early if you mind, I'm sure Safu wouldn't get mad ... " Shion trailed off uncertainly and I smiled. I had specifically chosen this job since it wasn't one which would attract too much attention and I got to see Shion everyday, ensure he was fine. I still remembered the first time I met him, apparently he had treated to VC-103221's injuries and letting him off free unlike what proper citizens should have done --- to report the VC to security immediately.By that time, no one had been willing to remain as his friend as a citizen who had done wrong would remain an outcast forever but Safu and I still continued talking with him and I found him extremely interesting to talk to. He had been the only one, excluding Safu, who explained certain things to me without being suspicious of my intentions and was always smiling, constantly emitting this aura of needing to be protected so I couldn't help it, I just had to get the same job as him. 

" No, you can go. I'll be fine alone, " I assured him as I tapped the fake No.6 ID bracelet and watched him leave with an apologetic smile before he continued work. A chance which I needed to grab quickly, I turned my back to the door which was the only wall that separated us, should any of them suddenly enter while I was in the midst of all this work, should I risk it ? But night was equally dangerous, if not, even more and I'd need to be on the lookout 24/7 until tomorrow morning, hacking data while supervising a bunch of robots, shouldn't be too difficult. Flipping the bracelet over, I typed in the code which was hidden in a microsopic chip on the right of the bracelet, it was simple to invent something which passed me through those troublesome gates and yet be a storage for important information, best was it didn't attract suspicion either. 

The computer blinked green, different from the usual blue and I quickly scanned the rows of figures and numbers, jotting down a few lines quickly. I could decode them afterwards when Shion and Yamashi were gone. I scratched the mousy brown hair on my head, just a wig which I needed to cover my original hair colour though I would have preferred some longer and hair of a more beautiful colour but that would just make me stand out more. I checked the daily news with the bracelet, it seemed they were still searching for VC-001229 although they had already given up the search on  VC-103221, highly suspicious indeed. I should check on that too while I was at it. 

It wasn't long before both the troubles were gone and I got down to some serious business. Codes were quickly decoded though some took more than a few hours but it was crucial to get everything right, the last person before me who'd suceeded in more hackings had failed just once and the security bureau were at his doorstep in a flash, what following was gunshots and blood splattering on the walls and over the floor. The person had only been around 19 or 20 but he was shot down mercilessly, even his parents were killed and the house was demolished the next day, under the pretense of the previous family moving out and building a new house. I wasn't a bad stalker.

I ran the commands for the walking droids on night patrol for the park as usual, heh, if only they could patrol the streets as well which was obviously impossible since the streets were No.6 treasured hunting grounds, the park was just a decoration. I had considered requesting a change of jobs which was possible since I could modify my level any way I preferred, making the certain degree higher or lower than my current one without anyone noticing a thing. But then Shion would be more at the mercy of No.6, that couldn't happen, I wouldn't bear to watch his mother's crying face should that happen. The breads she gave me as a snack were delicious and I took that as some ' payment ' to ensure Shion didn't get accused of any crime he didn't do, No.6 is a petty bunch. 

I plucked out the chip from the bracelet and inserted it into the computer, transferring all files from the main base into the chip for me to slowly and comfortably run through at home so I could keep up to date. The idea of running from No.6 had also occured and I could have brought Shion with me but it would only trouble him and confuse him further, he might not even trust me anymore. Shion might also become some wanted suspect by them and that would just impose on him more. But the idea had still continued being a possibility I kept at the back of my head should trouble arise. 

I shook my head, nothing would happen if Shion just stayed the way he was, like right now. No one could tag a blame onto him or anything but should they find out I was ... as long as I hid the possibility enough, it shouldn't happen. Shion would stay safe, safe when Safu is gone. He'd grow up and live a happy life with a new family in No.6, however much I hated this place, if Shion regarded this seriously as ' home ', I'll have no arguments, he should live the way he wanted. 

I whistled as I slid the chip back into the bracelet and repaired some damaged droids, often damaged by some drunk teenagers who would be shot in 15 minutes, I pitied them. 

But seriously, 

why did I have that feeling that something was going to happen tomorrow ? 

Something ... very very bad indeed ...