Regona City: Phantom

Seed of Doubt

When there's a lot to do, time tends to fly. It was the same for Terrell and the boys. The underground location got cleaned and filled with furniture. Pretty soon it become a headquarters of sorts. Even though the group's network spread, they limited the number of people who knew about the underground. For the time, it was hidden, which made it perfect.

As weeks passed, the group worked together. Marcus spent his days testing different types of smoke bombs and electric pulse generators. The group had to evacuate more than once due to failed attempts, but they mostly did so in high spirits.

Roman's tech skills improved as he experimented. Terrell found himself rescuing him from more than a few close calls where he was almost tracked.

Troy, who was still around, turned out to be a better boarder than anyone expected. He gave Noah a run for his points. Ezra and Noah spent their time making connections to expand the network while Terrell did the same. Marcus' crew helped out where they were needed.

On a typical evening, Marcus could be heard rummaging around in a room nearby. Noah and Ezra were out while Roman and Troy lounged around. Kimble was spread out on a floating couch from which she watched something on her bracelet. The others, who were usually around, were all out. Their and Marcus' sleep schedule was slowly turning to normal.

Terrell worked silently in a corner. His black board was laid out before him. While it didn't look much different to the day he had picked it up, the inside consisted of more parts than before.

"What you doing today?" Roman asked as he slid over, curiosity written on his face.

Terrell twisted a wire. "Connecting the accelerator and sensor."

Roman came to a stand behind him. He leaned over to try get a closer look at the process. "I thought you couldn't afford those?"

"Couldn't is correct," was Terrell's uninterested reply. He twisted another wire.

"How much?" Roman voiced.

Terrell winced. "More than you want to know."

"Wait." Troy got to his feet. A scowl appeared on his face. "You still haven't paid me back and you're buying new parts?"

"Huh." Terrell stopped what he was doing. He shot a glance over his shoulder. "How much do I owe you again?"

"Three fifty," Roman helped out.

"Five sixty," Troy corrected. "It goes up every week."

"Right." Terrell returned to his work. "I'll get them to you in a week."

Roman cracked a grin.

Troy's eyes narrowed. "You've said that every week since you borrowed the original three fifty."

Terrell let out a sigh at that. "If you don't believe me, you're free to leave anytime."

"I'm not leaving without my points," the other boy shot back.

"And I'm still waiting to witness that miracle," Roman added.

"Oh please." Kimble shut her bracelet down and sat up. "We all know you're both here because you like being around, not because of some measly points."

Roman lifted a finger and opened his mouth to argue. However, no sound made it to his lips. Instead he dropped the finger and gave a shrug of agreement.

Troy stared at Terrell's back. "You don't plan to ever pay me back, do you?"

Knowing they couldn't see him, Terrell's lips twitched into a smile. "I'll pay you soon." He picked up a small marble like object. It dropped and floated next to him. A hologram keyboard popped up from it. Terrell began to type away. When he was done, the little marble floated forward. A laser shot from it and it began to solder together wires.