Y/n pov:
Siracuzsa
"I wonder what our potential client would say." I thought. This boy, Is quite interesting, to say the least.
I grabbed my spy camera from my jacket and placed it near the corner of the room. It's just enough for me to be able to view the entire space, but not enough for my camera to be completely open.
"A little spying could not hurt. I would love to learn more about him, and his secrets." I said. I opened up the window and left the house. They should have locked the windows in the first place.
It will be some time before he returns, which is perfect for me to return to my secret location. A lovely old abandoned factory, perfect for suitable hiding.
After a couple of minutes of walking and I finally reached the place. Damn, I need a car, although it would be too risky for me to drive. Damn bounty hunters.
I enter the factory through one of the windows because every entrance of the building was boarded up except for that one window, through which I entered. I then walked to a room where I keep all of my electronic devices. I walked up to a chair and sat down, staring at my holographic watch, waiting for the right moment.
I sighed, "This will take a while. I'll just take a nap."
A few minutes later I heard a voice from my camera; it appears that my client has returned, and looks like he has a partner. I listened to their conversation.
"Boy! Are you sure that you want to see him? Cause if you do, you are definitely entering a minefield." an older-looking sarkaz said, he closed the door, then glared hard at his friend. "Of for fucking course John! That guy, he is the only one who knows who started that fire, the fire that killed my family. I got to know who!" A white lupo growled.
"There he is, my client." I whistle in content.
"I fucking wanna avenge the death of my family." The white lupo replied, shaking his head in distress.
John sighed, knowing what his friend is getting himself into.
"Look Sane, I don't know why you are willing to put yourself at risk getting info of the one who started the fire from this guy but let me tell you this man is dangerous! One wrong step... And BANG! Game over dude!" John warned.
I smirked in response to what he said. True, I am a dangerous individual. However, what this John said makes me appear to be some kind of demon. I'll take that as a compliment.
"I know the man's reputation John, but is he really that scary of a man?" Sane gave him a troubled look. Oof if only you had seen me in action.
"You're not pulling my leg are you?" Sane replied.
John was shocked, then he looked down at the floor, recalling all of the stories he heard about this man.
"This broker... He is not your typical average broker. He is like, "The broker. People called him "Neutral Network" he crosses his arms and shakes his head.
I was shocked by this, I never really paid attention to what people call me, but this? This is horrible!
"That is an awful name they gave me; of all the names they could have given me, they chose this one!?" I grunted. I prefer they call me something cool like I don't know, like MY real code name. I think my codename is cool right? I mean it is better than that idiotic of a name.
"Out of all the Information brokers in Terra, he is the best one. Chances of him knowing what happened to your family are high Sane." John stated. He then went up to Sane and placed his hands on his shoulders.
"Remember, do not piss him off! If you do... The chances of you staying alive is closer to none." He warned. "I don't want to lose another good man. Let alone someone so young."
I agreed with the man, yet he looks familiar. Have I seen him before?
I saw the boy named Sane show a mix of emotions after they just heard. Looks to me he took his word deep into his mind. Sweat starts to drip down his face as he expresses terror at his friend's warning.
"John, How does he fight? Like... have you seen him fight?" He asked. I raised an eyebrow at his question.
"Well... Yes." He nodded. He begins to recall the one and only time he witnessed Cypher in action.
"He's not your typical Info broker. He is also a professional killer, and he is undoubtedly one of the best I have ever seen." John breathed deep then let out a sigh. "I saw him one time back at my place back in Leithania." John scowl. "Bloody walls, corpses, fucking guts spilling around I tell you..."
I Saw Sane gagged at the image he had conjured up in his mind.
I smirked "Ahh, I remember you know. How could I forget the same old face you got seeing you scared." He closes his eyes remembering the events that happened in the past. "Forgive me for forgetting. I just happened to do this with a lot of people to the point that I don't remember their faces. Mostly because they were about to die." He thought, then he continued to listen to their conversation.
"I remember counting more than 50 bodies. Hell, there might be even more." He gagged, then wiped his mouth clean of saliva.
"67 bodies to be precise, excluding the mutts of course. Most were expendable grunts." I whispered.
"But... there is one thing common about those bodies."
"What is the thing?" Sane replied.
"All of them have one bullet hole in their heads!" He added.
"Ahh, of course, they were headshots. A bullet to the brain kills quickly"
The lupo was even more shocked at this point. If there is a bullet hole on everybody that John encountered, then not only did he manage to kill more than fifty lives in a single moment, but all of them are headshots. He began regretting going after him just to meet him, but he can't back down now.
"Unluckily enough, I got caught by his trap while witnessing the massacre." John went on.
"My traps are for them, you just happened to trigger them," I said, looking at the hologram.
"What! If you got caught... The-Then how in the hell did you survive!?" Sane yelled, not believing what John just said.
"Well, for the trap that caught me... It was some kind of tripwire." He mimics what the tripwire looks like. "I could not get out of it. Like the wire just attached itself to my leg. After a couple of seconds, It shocked me. It was enough to disorient me quite a bit, but not enough to knock me out"
"What happened next" Sane questioned, his head getting deep into the story.
"Well, he revealed himself. Said he anticipated me following him. He then placed his gun at my head." John shuddered. "I begged for my life, told him that I was not part of the group he was killing." John quickly slapped himself in the cheek, trying to keep himself from shaking out of fear. Not caring about the reaction his friend gave.
"Jeez, I gave the man PTSD. I am indeed scary in the eyes of my enemies. Well and the ones I interrogate." I said
"Fucking he was one scary man. It was a miracle that he, for some reason, believed me." He sighed with relief.
Bah, I have no intentions of killing you anyways. You do not look like one of the soldiers. Although it was a free opportunity for an interrogation, So free info for me.
"He told me, that in exchange for my life, he ask me a few questions. Coincidentally what he ask, I knew the answer." John wiped the sweat from his brow as he grew tired of recounting his tale." So I told him what I have and in the end, he let me go." He mumbled.
"Fucking Hell..." Sane sighed heavily. He then gave John a worried smile. "Glad you got that through." Patting his back. John gives his friend a sad smile.
"Ok, I think I got a picture of him. Now it's time for me to go" Sane said. So the boy is willing to pursue him just to know. Interesting, I hope he can make this worthwhile.
Sane turned and made his way to the front door. As he was about to walk, John said something to him one more thing.
"Hey, remember what I said. Or else he will put the "in" on your name." John taunted, yet showing a little bit of worry on his face.
Good one.
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Don't get your horns in a twist" John replied with a sarcastic remark while giving him the middle finger.
"I know exactly what you want, from the beginning." I chuckled. I pointed the camera at Sane and fired a target dart at him. "Careful now." I whispered, recalling my camera. "I'll meet you there. Little white wolf."
I look at the hologram my watch emitted, noting the location of the lupo. I grin as I see the lupo approaching the right way to my temporary base on the screen. "He does know where I am at," I said. I went downstairs, set up a couple of tripwires. "Here you go, This should do."
Timeskip
For the past 30 minutes, everything I've heard from the boy's mouth has been worthless rubbish. I've never met someone in my life who likes to put sardines in their peanut butter sandwiches. I can definitely say that only psychopaths love this combination in my opinion.
Back to the lupo, according to the map, he's two minutes away from the location. I can't wait to meet the client in person. Suddenly, I heard a voice from the hologram.
"Alright, Sane I know what you're getting yourself into. Just be ready to pay the price." Sane tells himself.
heading towards what seemed to be an abandoned factory, the place where he was told he was supposed to be. I see him walking through the busy crowd of people, going on their usual day. Must be a busy day. After a couple of minutes of walking, the boy finally ended up at an old abandoned factory not too far from the city.
"Well, now it's my time to enter the stage." I said as I was turning off my hologram.
Sane Pov
"Of course, He would be here." I thought to myself. I studied the facility and saw that the entrance and windows had been boarded up, except for one near the backdoor. I entered the factory through the window.
"It was easy... Too easy." I said, looking suspicious of any traps. "I'm starting to think that he kno-" I suddenly felt something hooked on his leg. "Oh fuck no!" I cursed, as he realized he'd passed right through a tripwire. The tripwires sent a shock through him, knocking him to his knees. I feel disoriented and unable to move as a result of the shock.
"Well now, what do we have here." A cloaked individual said, stepping out of their hiding spot. "Another potential client I suppose or a treat to my existence, I will be the judge of that." They start to move closer towards me.
Y/n pov
I see the boy is still disoriented by my trap, as he tried to focus on me, trying to see what the "Neutral Network" looks like. "Are, are y-you Netwo-work Neutral?" The lupo murmured, still feeling the effects of the shock.
"Still using that horrible name for me I see." I grumbled, taking off my pistol. "Now tell me little white wolf." I placed the barrel of the pistol on the lupo's head. What do you need from me."
At first, he had looked frightened, then I noticed the lupo's expression change from fearful to resolute after a few seconds. "Look Mr. Network-" "Please no, Just call me Cypher." I interrupted. "Ok Cypher, I- I've heard about it from all over Terra and I wanted to ask you some info." Sane said.
I smirked under my mask. "Of course, I know what information you want Little White Wolf." I said. "You wanted to know who started that fire, the one that killed your family."
Sane was shocked at what Cypher had said. "WHAT! HOW!" Sane shouted, causing Cypher to cover one of his ears.
"Do not shout at the man who placed his gun on your head Little White Wolf." I warned. "Your life is still at the mercy of. You can't even escape since you can't move." Sane's face had turned pale at his warning. The lupo promptly apologized, I sighed, I removed the pistol from Sane's head, then I deactivate my tripwires.
"And for your question, I happened to know your goals earlier. I heard your conversation with this "John" you were speaking to." Shane nodded dumbfoundedly, although a bit frightened at the revelation of him spying on him"
"I'll get straight to the point Little White Wolf. Or should I say, Sane if you'd like me to call you that?" Shane nodded again, he wasn't surprised at all. "Now ask me again, What truly do you want to know." Sane nodded in response and thought.
After a couple of minutes, he finally speak. "I want to know what really happened to my family. The entire event." Shane replied.
I saw the saddened look on the boy. He knows the incident that happened but never knew truly what occurred. I have been in his shoes before.
A couple of minutes pass of me thinking and I see Sane has lost his patience. "Look Cypher, If you don't know what happened, just tell me and I'll go." He snarled. "I have wasted enough time."
I was annoyed by his answer, wanting to leave, but after a quick thought, I decided to tell him everything I know. I placed my hand on his head and started to pat on his head. The lupo seems to accept it and just let me.
"Ok Sane, I will tell you what I know." I remove my hand from his head.
"On May 23nd, 5:45 pm A fire started in the suburban areas of Lungmen, near the slums." Sane looked at me and nodded. "Your home was set ablaze along with the rest of the neighboring houses. Your parents and brothers were trapped inside." Sane was well aware of the circumstances surrounding his family's death. "Your parents died, but your brothers managed to escape." Cypher told, which surprised him. "How... How... HOW!" I-ITS NOT POSSIBLE!" Sane yelled in disbelief.
"Yes, it is the truth. Your brother Bob managed to break out and escape, along with the rest of your brothers." I said. "After they escaped, People saw them weeping on the streets. They must have known both of your parents were perished in the flames, based on what I can gather."
Sane felt a mix of emotions right now, happy that his brothers are alive, sad that his parents did not survive, and angry that they left him or so he thinks. "As for the person who started the fire... Well, you don't need to know her name, as she's no longer alive. She was killed due to burning debris falling on top of her." Sane felt angry, that he can't get his revenge for the death of his parents.
"I'll give you an extra. As for the whereabouts of your brothers, the last time I have heard them was 3 years ago, they joined a group called Reunion."
Sane was stunned that his brothers joined Reunion. He is well aware of Reunion's Goals, to fight against discrimination against the infected. He doesn't agree with the methods used by Reunion to convey their message. He was against all of the unnecessary slaughter and destruction of innocent people.
"That is all I can tell you." I said as he adjust his hat. I then locked on Sane, giving him goosebumps from my aura.
"Now, for the price, You can pay me any amount." Sane was confused for a bit, but then he took some LMD, count it, and gave the LMD to me.
I took the money and started counting it. He gave 30000 LMD, which is a bit too much. So I gave 28000 LMD back to Sane, to his confusion.
"Before you say anything, The info you asked is on the cheaper side of my prices. Plus an extra discount since I like you Little White Wolf." I chuckled. I see Sane gave me a grateful look and took the LMD. The deal has been made. I saw the kid looking happy for some reason, it made me smile. I decided to ask him a question. "Kid before you go. I want to ask you a question." I saw the lupo is a bit confused about why I asked him suddenly. Nonetheless, he nodded. "Ok, have you ever heard of Rhodes Island?"
Sane knew what Rhodes Island is, so he nodded. "Good good, now tell me, what is your opinion on Rhodes Island." Sane raised his eyebrow. "That's two questions your asking" he smirked.
I was dumbfounded, then sighed for a bit at my common mistake. "Ok Little White Smartass." Sane chuckled at that statement.
"All I can say is, that I trust them. They are good people. I met their operators a few times, and I see good people. Although from what I heard their leader Is a bit ruthless. I won't mind working there as an operator even if I'm still a kid." Sane replied.
I nodded at his answer in satisfaction, I turned around, and started walking away. "Kid this is goodbye, for now if I were you, I would start finding your brothers. The last time I heard of them, they were at Sargon." Sane nodded and said, "Well wish me luck then." I suddenly stopped walking. I looks back at Sane and nodded at him. I Turn around and resume walking again.
I can hear Sane sighing in the distance, If he does ever find his brothers, then dealing with said brothers is even more difficult by the fact that they are members of a terrorist group. "He should ask people for help. I know he can't do this alone." I thought.
Timeskip
"You're an idiot, Cypher. If you don't want to be trapped with a group of armed mercenaries, then next time, leave an exit." I frowned, having forgotten one of the oldest survival strategies in the book. I forgot that there is only one exit in the factory. So I waited for the boy to leave the area before I left, I don't want to get embarrassed by the boy. Thank goodness that awkward event is over.
I was able to secure a night's stay at a nearby Hotel. I was exhausted by the events that had transpired, mostly due to walking, and wanted to rest.
I opened the door and saw the insides of my room. For a hotel that is run by the mafia, not bad. I lay down on the bed after putting my belongings on the floor.
I thought for a minute if I really should join Rhodes. If what the previous people he met said about the pharmaceutical company is true, then I could secure myself a great job with my expertise.
"It has been decided then." I thought. "I will join Rhodes Island."
He snickered for a bit, thinking how interesting his stay would be on Rhodes Island. "It will take some time getting into their mobile base. Ursus is very far from here, maybe 6 days at max." I thought. "I should get going by tomorrow." I placed my hat by the lampshade and closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to take me.
"I don't want to miss the operation they're planning. It would be fun seeing her again."
An: Criticize my work, now!