3: Destined Meeting

Bezel saw the text transmission.

Bring him over to HQ. V

V. That was the VorteXia call sign.

"Shit." Bezel hissed. She rang up Rage but he was not picking up so she rang one of the Blaze Twins instead. It was Scythe who received the call.

"Hiya Bez! How's the monitor duty?" She asked.

"Cut the chit-chat. Where's Rage?" There was urgency in Bezel's voice and Scythe picked up on it.

"Why? What's up?"

"It's VorteXia. They're involved. Just let Rage talk to me."

"Rage isn't here. He went out with his little hunting party."

"Already?"

"Yeah, Bez. Don't worry. I'll call my sister and tell her about it. She went out with his party."

"Kay. Thanks. Do it." She calmed down.

"Yeah, Bez. Anything." And Scythe cut off the communication.

Bezel's focus was back on the screens. A lot was happening on that day and she wondered what it all was leading to.

… … …

Zalez got out of his carjet with his hands in the air. The pistol was tucked away in his inside pocket with the other stuff. The cop had a standard-issue stunner aimed at him.

"Get down. On the ground, now!" He barked out at him.

Zalez had no choice but to comply. He would have a nice chat with the cop about how he had no memories of himself and wanted to know if they could help out. It sounded like a good plan and for that he had to deal with all the formalities of being arrested.

Then he heard the click of the safety being released. The whizz of a stun being charged with energy. Zalez realized that he was about to be shot and his hand went to his pistol instinctively. He could not reach it in time. A quick flash of blue and Zalez fell to the ground, paralyzed but awake.

The concrete crunched under the metal boots of the cop who now stood in front of Zalez.

“Go to sleep, punk!” And then he kicked Zalez in the face, sending his consciousness into a frenzy as the world faded into nothing.

… … …

Artor Velgrave wanted to leave. Due to the Reset, there would be no profit for the company. All money gained would just return to the hands it was in 24 hours before. His position at VorteXia had become useless. They were now just filling in for roles that meant nothing in their world. Even these meetings were nothing close to the vision the VorteXia Corporation had held. Artor had seen the numbers. VorteXia was an entirely self-supporting company now, and the positions they help were advisors to a king that did not care. In this case, Savexil. The only child of Mr. VorteXia.

Ruben Varzteg stood up and reached out to the keypad on the IceBox; the box opened.

Like a presenter on a stage, he introduced the poor sod, frozen like a popsicle.

“Nickname: Opaque. Real name unknown. One of her men, that wicked Soothsayer.”

The man in question was alive, he was just frozen for the time being. He was in his 20s, quite young to be involved in the rather unpleasant side of the city.

Artor spoke up: “You captured one of them? I thought VorteXia had a truce with the …uhhh… what did they call themselves again?”

Artor expected an answer from Aura and saw she was offline. He had to look at Ruben for it.

“Our esteemed friends, the Sons of Destiny, did have a truce with us. They don’t bother us, and in return, we don’t break down their door and wipe out every last one of them, starting with that Soothsayer of theirs. This gentleman broke it. Found him sniffing around one of our warehouses.”

He interrupted himself with a small bout of coughing and continued. “Here’s the funny part. It was the warehouse that stores mineral water bottles. Somebody must have given him the wrong info. Poor Bastard.”

The poor bastard in question lay on the table like a feast for the beasts.

Jarvin did not like it at all. In his deep booming voice that seemed to emanate from his chest like an earthquake, he grumbled: "No No, that won't do! Not at all."

Savexil looked disinterested in the matter. He wondered why Ruben made it sound so imminent. It was probably one really thirsty guy, and now Ruben had VorteXia preparing for war against these underground folk. And what did it matter? The Reset would not let their actions linger for any longer than a day.

He spoke. “We will decide on further action if they challenge VorteXia again. We forgive them now.”

Ruben lost the fun he was having. So he spoke as he had so many times before at these IceBox meetings when Savexil’s father had been the boss.

“Master VorteXia, decide his punishment.”

Savexil said as he had seen his father do: “Ruin him.”

He wondered if he could ever escape the shadow of his father. Darkness fell across his face.

… … …

Rage got the message. VorteXia had become involved. Messing with the big fish meant trouble. Had it been anyone else, he would have stopped the pursuit, but capturing Zalez was too big of an opportunity to leave. Rage had to make a decision by himself. Asking the higher-ups would be a mistake. He knew Cypher would tell him to leave it, spouting some random prophecy that the Great Mother shared. Rage wondered if he could pull it off and if there was anyone crazy enough to take the job.

That was when Fuse came to mind. Positively proven insane. That man had a penchant to do the riskiest things and still make it out to the other side alive with his brain intact. And he was strong too. The right man for the wrong job.

Rage thought to call his handlers, Opaque and Jemz. From her hideout, Bezel heard the conversation. The directive given was simple: Tell Fuse to capture Zalez from VorteXia Tower.

This was interesting stuff. Rage trying to act on his own in direct denial of their treaty with VorteXia. Her lips shone from the glow of the screens marked by data, as she smiled and added her own contribution to it. A simple message to Cypher, forewarning him of what was to come. Even in the Reset, Rage’s actions might have consequences.

… … …

Zalez was dreaming.

Were these memories?

He saw his own reflection on a dark screen. Hollow eyes looking at a dead face. Floating in some glassy tube. And he saw it move. His own face beyond the reflection. He watched its similarities and thought if it was his own reflection that had betrayed him.

The face beyond the reflection smiled and its lips twisted, forming words. Zalez, trying to understand, suddenly felt a jolt, as he was pulled out of that vision by his own consciousness waking up.

Zalez had no memories. What little he had seemed to be present beyond a wall in his mind. A few snippets leaked out but the whole shape of his past remained inaccessible.

At the current moment, he remained unable to move, paralyzed in the trunk of a policejet. Was this how policemen were supposed to act?

The future was uncertain and Zalez let the moment take him wherever it would go.

… … …

After Savexil had issued the command, Ruben proceeded to cut the fingers off his victim. It was a clean process, thanks to the frozen nature of the said victim.

Aura, who had not been present for the meeting, suddenly came online. Her hologram began to move, and she spoke.

“Hey, Savexil. Want good news?”

Artor and Ruben did not like how she addressed him directly by name. It made sense for Old Man Jarvin to do so, seeing that he had pretty much raised their boss, but Aura had only joined them after Savexil’s father died.

Savexil gave her the signal to speak.

Her hologram stood up. She materialized a wooden staff out of nothing and dramatically pretended to use it to cast a spell. It was just theatrics that she enjoyed.

On the table, a small car appeared. More holograms.

Everyone looked at the car in silence. They wondered if this was Aura’s idea of a prank, or if had she really found him. That man.

“An Endeavor 256. A one-of-a-kind carjet used by nobody on the planet.” Artor spoke what everybody else knew.

Old Man Jarvin said in his deep rumbling voice. “So, he lives. No No, this won’t do! Not at all.”

Savexil came to the realization that he was back. The man who had ruined his life, and the only one who could fix it.

Aura had a big smile on her face, “He’s on his way. One of the cops under our payroll is bringing him. He says that the rumors are true. He has become hollow.”

“The Sons of Destiny will be moving too.” Ruben mused. "They all want him."

Savexil spoke the name. “Zalez.”

In his corner, GenX07 Hakaba opened his eyes. His senses were fully alert, and he grabbed the hilt of his blade, ready to draw.