Vivid (BoyxBoy) {Pipe Dream: Book I}

Chapter Twenty-Five: First Job

"Get moving," Mike prompts with the jut of his chin.

I frown as I get off, Lady not far behind me as I try my best to look like I was ignoring the billions of eyes now turned in my direction as I head for Siem's room.

The door slides open without anyone needing to open it.

I see Siem hunched over his desk, staring down at the screen.

Before I could even open my mouth to ask just what was going on he spoke, "I would like your help."

I frown, "With what?" Last time I checked, I'm probably the most useless person here.

"We're low on people at the moment. That last operation was not...as successful as I had hoped. It's left us in a spot but I can't call this off either."

"And that is...?"

"There has been reports of a Keystone spotted in the city-"

"And because I've come back not wanting to gnaw on your bones, you thought of me." How sweet.

He gives me a grim smile, "Exactly. I simply need you to confirm whether or not it does exist and what developmental stage it may be at."

Then Hanna decides to grace me with a jump scare as she starts talking from behind my ear, "Any saturation in a surrounding area of a Queen above 36 percent will start causing 'infestation zones'. But because no one is overtly turning into zombies, the nest, if there is one, is still young. The Queen may still be in its juvenile state, depending on what strain of Hexer it may be. And you're the only one so far who hasn't come back crazy. Even X can't handle anything above 40 percent. Everyone else starts feeling the effects at about 20 percent satuaration." ...There are strains...? What nightmare did I walk into?

"Just what are Queens?" I glare at them. They're referring to these unwilling victims as 'it'.

Hanna looks away from me bitterly, "It's a bioweapon-type infectious disease that is produced by a host that someone started developing about thirty years ago. It's only become a 'popular' way to cripple a city recently when someone found a way to accelerate the process."

"Why?" Why do this to anyone?

"If there was a way to take down your enemy from the inside by one single tiny seed with no consequence, what would you do?" Hanna proposes to me.

"But these are people!" The image of the kid that I had destroyed painfully flashed through me.

She shows me a sad smile, her voice only a whisper, "...I know."

Siem comes over to me, "Can I ask this of you? If what I've been told is true, you may be able to decrease the risks that we face."

Why was he asking? It's not like I have an option. "I'm 'yours', right?"

He let out a breath, ignoring my comment. "X, Rain and Seth will be accompanying you."

Say what? "...You do realise that Rain hasn't exactly put me on his 'favourite person's' list, right?" In fact I think I'm so far away from that list that it's a spec on the horizon at this point.

"Not many of us are," Siem chuckles. Well that's given me hope. "Give him time. Seth is another matter."

"And Seth is...?" I do not need any more people hating my guts. But then again ninety-nine percent of people in this establishment have so far hated me, so he's probably in that area.

"Interesting. Hopefully you'll find him helpful –depending on his mood. He will be my direct communicator. All you need to do is look around and see if you can find anything. And I expect all four of you back at dawn. Don't attract attention. You aren't registered and if they find that you're an Outsider, that arm of yours is the least of your problems."