Chapter 5

HIRO

Two days had passed, making it only one day Hiro had left to get back to his boss about the Planet Z Project. The man had been blowing up his phone since he woke up in the morning but Hiro's answer still remained the same. He wasn't going. He had a sister to take care of and he couldn't abandon her.

Night had fallen now and Barney was still texting him. Half of the messages said that he was the best scientist of the institute and he should be the one to represent it on the Planet Z team while the other half said that if he didn't reply by tomorrow, Shawn will be the one to represent the institute.

Shawn was one of the scientists that had also been working on Project Earth and he strongly felt that Barney should make him the one, not Hiro, to represent the institute on the Planet Z team. Hiro had no problem with that and had already told Barney to pick Shawn but the man didn't want to.

Hiro was currently in the living room, sitting on a couch next to the window as he watched the buses and cars driving down the road. There was a patrol car parked by the side of the road as patrollers stopped people to check their identity cards. He looked away from the window just in time to see Omi about to open the front door.

"Where are you going?" Hiro asked his sister and she lifted up the garbage bag in her hand.

"You can see this in my hand and you're asking that."

He knew she was headed to the garbage disposal chute with was down the hall but that wasn't why he stopped her. He stopped her because she wasn't wearing her gas mask.

"Yes, I can see that in your hand. I'm not blind so I can also see that you're not wearing your gas mask."

She gave him a blank stare for a couple of seconds before she monotonously said, "It's just down the hall."

"Oh wow. I had no idea. Mask up or go back inside and I'll go throw it away," Hiro stated before he looked back at his phone that was in his hands when another message came in from Barney.

BARNEY SMITH, 9:07PM: Hiro, I know you're getting my messages.

He replied with a 'yep' as his sister dropped the garbage bag on the floor next to the front door. "Go throw it away then. I'll go cook the last pack of meat."

'Last pack?' Hiro thought as he remembered that he bought seven packs of plant based meat from the supermarket. 'Did she really just say last pack?'

His head shot up from his phone. "A pack of that thing costed three hundred credits, you glutton!"

"And you're a rich man... Oh, wait, you won't be any more if you don't go to work," she replied as she stroked her chin.

That was true. He hadn't gone to the institute after he found out that Project Earth had been scrapped. There were other projects to work on but the only one he wanted was no longer available to work on and not going to work was his way of rebelling.

'Barney wouldn't fire me... Right?'

He quickly deleted the 'yep' he just sent the man and typed in another message.

HIRO, 9:08PM: Oh, I'm so sorry sir. I went out and left my phone at home... just got back. I'll let you know what my final decision is tomorrow morning.

'It's still going to be no," he thought as he hit send just as Omi let out a gasp.

"Did you just call me a glutton?"

"Yes, I did. You're a glutton. You basically eat like you've been starving for days every time," he answered without looking up.

BARNEY SMITH, 9:08PM: Dude, I saw the 'yep'. Smh

'Shit.'

"Whatever, I'm still cooking the last pack," she shrugged before she headed towards the kitchen, leaving the garbage pack on the floor.

HIRO, 9:09PM: Sorry, that was meant for someone else.

'Please, don't fire me,' he thought and his eyes were wide open as he waited for a reply from his boss. He could definitely find another institute to hire him if he got fired from the Falone Institute of Medical Research but he liked where he worked now. Besides, finding another job was a lot of hassle nowadays.

"Well, then you'll need to rethink your career choice because you can't afford your gluttonous lifestyle as a musician. They earn two hundred credits per week, you know. They live in those lousy apartments and eat lousy food. You'd probably die in a week living like that."

He wasn't joking. Musicians died every week either because their gas masks failed them or they ate contaminated food.

"Well, I have you so nothing can happen to me," she said in a sing-song voice from the kitchen and Hiro smiled.

His sister's voice was lovely and she could definitely become a successful musician if the world wasn't like this.

BARNEY SMITH, 9:10PM: I know you're lying but no problem. I'll be waiting for your final decision tomorrow.

He smiled at the message before pocketing his phone and wearing his gas mask which was next to him. "I'm not going to live forever though."

He liked keeping it close in case of emergencies and he always encouraged Omi to do the same but she was quite stubborn. He knew that it definitely wasn't with her right now in the kitchen but he still didn't know why she disliked the object so much.

"I get all your money if you die suddenly so I should be good on my own for a while before I die."

Hiro snorted as he got up from the couch and walked towards the door before he grabbed the garbage bag that was on the floor.

"Go get your mask from wherever you left it and keep it close, Omi. You're so cavalier about death," he stated before he opened the apartment's door and walked out.