Byte Back | 6 Underground

2. Foxxy

March 29th, 8:58 a.m.
Haunted House, California Desert

One directed me into a dark room where five other people were waiting. A blonde woman, a bearded man, a blond guy, a woman with dark hair, and a dark-skinned man were gathered around a table, looking at documents.

"Everyone, this is Eight. Eight, this is everyone," One said, dramatically motioning his hand at everyone.

I timidly waved. The dark-skinned man walked up to me. "I'm Blaine, what's your name?" I saw One rolling his eyes behind Blaine.

"Please go by your numbers, Seven."

Seven turned his head. "Bullshit. We all know each other's names. It's only fair that she meets us properly."

The blonde-haired woman said, "Fuck it," and shook my hand. "I'm Camille."

The bearded man said, "I'm Javier."

The blond dude's name was Billy and the other woman's name was Amelia.

I felt pressured to present myself. I looked at One and said, "I'm Blake."

"Isn't that a boys' name?" Javier asked.

"Yeah. I'm a twin so my parents thought it would be fun to name me Blake."

Before anyone else could say anything, One interrupted. "Eight, she is Two, he is Three, he is Four, and she is Five," he said pointing at everyone. "Now can we please get back to the plan?"

We all nodded and he directed us to a wall where Roman numerals were hung. A picture of Rovach Alimov was on the far left.

Realization hit me. "Wait, you guys are the ones that planned the coup?"

"Yes," One said, "don't get your panties in a bunch and pay attention." He unhung the Roman numeral next to the picture next to Alimov's. A man in a suit was revealed. "That is Dominic Foxwell. CEO of Foxwell Industries. He is a fellow billionaire but he is the evil kind."

"Aren't all billionaires evil?" Four remarked.

"Uh, ouch. And no, some of us like killing each other for the good of human kind. Anyway, his company is known for its numerous dating apps, especially one called Foxxy."

"Hold up. Foxxy?" Seven said. "You're kidding right?"

"What kind of billionaire CEO names its app Foxxy?" Three said while cackling.

One squinted his eyes. "What the fuck does that have to do with the mission? How hard is it to focus? Jesus." Five motioned him to continue. "His company has been making profit from his consumers' information, pictures, and videos. Some people have noticed but their claims have been quickly dismissed by Mr. Foxwell. People's reputations have been ruined and some of them have lost their houses, not to mention their wives." I snickered. "Any questions?"

"This is a first world problem," Two said.

"Yeah, so?"

"The coup wasn't a first world problem. Florence wasn't a first world problem. Foxwell doesn't—"

"Foxwell is a very powerful first world man. First world countries have a very powerful global impact. If people from first world countries are unhappy due to a personal problem, they will not be able to focus on other things until their personal problems are resolved. In other words, our actions won't have the support of privileged people because they will be too busy trying to get rid of their leaked dick pics."

"You do know women also use that app right?" Four asked. One nodded, clearly annoyed. "Alright, just checking."

One looked at me. "Do you have a question, Eight?"

I subconsciously bit my lip. "Why does he look like Christian Grey?"

"So that's why he looks so familiar!" Five said at the same time One exasperatedly said, "Fuck my life."

"In my defense, you asked me if I had any questions," I reminded him.

One put his hands on his hips. "Why do you have to be so complicated?" He asked in a whiny voice.

"Uh, excuse you. You came looking for me."

He realized this quickly. "Whatever." One sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"So why do you need me?" I asked him.

"Because we need an eagle, but most importantly, a hacker. The coup was more action than technicality. This mission will require more technicality than ever."

"So what am I doing?"

"Other than hacking, you're going to give us information about everything and everyone."

Five raised her hand. "I could have done that." Four snickered beside her. "What's so funny?"

"You are terrible at giving information," he said.

She scoffed. "You weren't even there."

Four got serious all of a sudden. "Yeah, but I do know that it ended on a ferocious masturbating accident."

Seven and One laughed along with Four, recalling their shared memory.

"You have it all planned, don't you?" I asked One.

"Fuck yeah, I do," he confidently answered. "I'm the leader."

"That's debatable," Three said.

"What do you mean 'that's debatable'? I'm clearly the leader. Who recruited you? Me. Who provides all of your resources? Me. Who is the billionaire? Me. You're just a dumbass who can't control his nitrous."

"For the last fucking time," Three said, clearly enervated, "that was an accident."

Three started screaming at One and reminding him that there was no leader. One, of course, disagreed.

At some point, Two had to slap Three in order to shut him up. Surprisingly, he obeyed her. My eyebrows raised at him.

He shrugged. "She's hot. What do you want me to do?"

"Oh, that's right. The relationships," One said mockingly. He sighed. "Two and Three are fucking, and Four and Five are making love although we all know Four is a virgin."

"I," Four said while pointing his finger at One, "am not a virgin, thank you very much."

"I still don't know the difference," Three said.

"Between wha—" I was about to ask but Two cut me off.

"Don't worry about it," she said. It was too late though because Three was ready to answer my question.

"This one time in Hong Kong, One asked Two if we were fucking or making love. She said fucking," he said as though he expected me to connect the dots. "What do you make of that?"

Two looked at me firmly. "That you guys are fucking. What do you want me to say?"

"But what is the fuckin' difference, damn it?"

One shook his head in disapproval. Two held Three's face as if he was an innocent baby. Four laughed along with Five. Seven cackled like a maniac.

This six people were all I had left.

Goodie.