First Night on the Job (1)

Zero pulled me outside told me to follow him. I was still unsure about all of it. None of it really seemed real to me. However, I did know that I was getting paid for whatever I was about to do, so I wasn't too upset about it. What I would be doing though, I had no idea. Zero mentioned something about solving things with violence which didn't seem really appealing to me. Maybe Zero just liked to get violent and never really tried to talk it out with people.

As I was walking with Zero I realized that he had his hood down. It was odd because he had worn it the entire time he was in the building. I still didn't understand why he wore that big hoodie and sweatpants when it was warm out. I decided to ask him about it, "Aren't you hot with all those clothes on?"

"It doesn't bother me too much."

"Why are you wearing them anyway?"

"To keep me away from the light."

I chuckled, "What are you allergic to it or something?"

"Pretty much yeah. I have a rare skin condition that makes me really sensitive to light. Even artificial lights burn my skin and direct sunlight can give me third-degree burns or worse."

"Oh, sorry," I apologized, "I didn't know."

"Don't worry about it, it's not like it makes me disabled or anything I just have to wear more clothes."

"So moonlight is fine?"

"For the most part. I might get a sunburn If I stay out too long, but no worse than a sunny day is for you."

"What are your thoughts on garlic?"

"It's disgusting, why?"

"No reason, just one more thing."

"What?"

"Do you prefer to drink the blood of guys or girls?"

He realized what I was getting at and glared at me. I felt a little bad, but I think I would've felt worse if I let the opportunity slip by. Although it seemed that he didn't find it as funny as I did, so I diverted the conversation. "So, where are we going?"

"We're going to meet some guys who are transporting illegal goods."

"What kind of illegal goods are we talking about?"

"People."

"That's horrible."

"It definitely is, but they're not using the people for what you might think. They've been rounding up some of the most talented hackers in the area and forcing them to do their work."

"How many have they kidnapped so far?"

"Well they've only gotten a few so far, but they're still in the process of transporting them."

"Then you mean..."

"Yeah, Lisa told me about it a few days ago. She also knew where they are about to be taking them. That's where we're going."

"You really think that she can see the future?"

"I don't think she can, I know she can. I have yet to see any of her predictions be wrong and I've been working with her for over two years now."

"There has to be some trick to it maybe she's the one that causes events to happ—"

"Shut up we're here."

We stopped outside a large, abandoned warehouse. It didn't seem like the most likely place to have hackers work for you. I was beginning to think that we were in the wrong place, but my doubts started to fade as a van pulled up to the warehouse. Zero and I hid on the side of the warehouse and watched the van. Five men dressed in black stepped out of the van along with three people who were blindfolded and bound at the wrist.

"There they are. Time to get to work." Zero said as he stepped out of hiding and started to walk towards them.

I stayed in cover and whispered to Zero, "What are you doing? There are five guys over there you can't seriously think that you can take them all on."

He looked back at me and smiled, "You're right, you'll never learn how to do your job if I don't let you get some experience. Since there are five of them, I'll take three and let you have the other two."

Was he crazy? there was no way I'd be able to take on two guys and despite his confidence, I doubt that he could take three. I was about to object when he grabbed me and pulled me with him. I tried to break free, but his grip was much stronger than I thought it would be. Once we got a little closer, the men in black noticed us.

"You shouldn't be here."

Zero, still with me in tow replied nonchalantly, "I don't think you guys should be here either, but here we are." He then proceeded to toss me over where two of the guys were standing.

The two men looked confused at the pile of flesh that was just casually thrown at their feet. I staggered to my feet as they regained their composure.

"Can't you just release those people and then we can forget we ever saw each other?"

The men ignored my perfectly good suggestion and the light around them began to shift. They each formed a sword out of the light and then just stared at me as if I was going to do the same. I had never really thought of making weapons with my Photon before, but the idea excited me. It kind of annoyed me that with all of the possibilities of the Photon, all these people could think to make were swords.

I needed to think of a weapon to make fast, or else they would just attack me. I quickly racked my brain for ideas until I finally came up with something. I realized that I didn't necessarily need to hold something for it to be a weapon, I could freely control the light with the Photon after all. I formed a small sphere and a large box.

"I guess we overestimated him, all he can make is simple shapes." one guy said to the other.

They determined that I wasn't a threat and closed in on me. When they got close I threw the sphere into the air and opened the box so I could step inside. I was able to close the box off before their swords hit, deflecting them in the process. They just smiled as they continued to hack away at my box. They really had no reason to worry since the box was starting to break after each hit. Though I didn't need the box to last for too long.

As they were focused on breaking the box, I maneuvered the sphere through the air above them. Since the sphere was so small I could move it at high speeds. All I needed to do was get it far enough away where they wouldn't notice it coming. Once I had the sphere an acceptable distance away I launched it at one of the men. As he was about to swing his sword, it slammed into his jaw, twisting his head and knocking him out.

The other man saw him drop to the ground and realized what happened. He immediately shifted his focus from the box to the sphere. While he was distracted, I opened up the front and back of the box. I stepped out the back and closed it again while I slid it towards the man. Before he realized it he was inside the box and I was able to close it up before he could escape. I couldn't have him breaking out, so I opened a small hole for the sphere to pass-through as it hit its mark on his jaw and knocked him out.

"I didn't think you could do it. Turns out you were somewhat useful after all," Zero said as he narrowly avoided a sword.

It turns out that He had been watching me the whole time while also being attacked by three guys.