Chapter 1

I stood around on my own, staring at my phone, a cigarette half used in my hand. I blew out a puff of smoke. I swiped through my phone and sighed, turning it off and slipping it inside my pocket. I brought the cigarette closer to my mouth and inhaled a long, satisfying breath, burning through the cigarette. I let out the smoke, rubbing the bud of the cigarette on the trash can before throwing it away. My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I took it out, wondering what it could be.

The Lock Screen of my phone was nothing much, just a picture of me and my sister. My sister was still a student while I was working. We lost our parents when we were younger, and have been relying on each other ever since. It was fine, ever since I got a job, our life has been better, much better. Speaking of which, my sister had sent me a text message.

I opened the picture. She had taken a selfie of herself, winking, a pot in the background. I focused on the pot, there was some sort of orange-brown liquid inside, along with chunks of yellow or orange. She also sent me the following text: 'Just got some cooking done in school! 🥳'

I chuckled to myself and sent her a text back, my fingers flying across the keyboard as I tried to type fast. 'Pay attention in class!'

'K K' she sent another text.

I put my phone away, smiling to myself. I guess my sister really enjoys school. I got a job and managed to afford her education. It isn't the best job, but it allowed us to live a somewhat normal life here in Horus City. Now, some of you may be thinking of just where Horus City is. To be honest, I haven't the slightest clue. People rarely left the city, and those who entered don't seem to know how exactly they got here either.

Well, whatever, as long as we can live our lives, right?

I walked out of the smoking area in my workplace and passed a few doors on my way. the first door I passed has the words 'Investigation' on it. The second door had the words 'Research' on it. The third door I passed, which was also the door which I entered, had the label 'Control' on it. I looked into the bustling workspace, where people sat in their own little cubical, rapidly typing and whispering into their headphones. Many voices could be heard, and the rustling sound of paper flipping, along with the scratching of pens on paper. This was my workspace, the place where I come to almost every day to keep my family afloat.

I walked past one of my colleagues, who threw their headphones down in rage. I gave him a look, the others too busy to notice him. He had his elbows on the table, his hands covering his face as he took heavy breaths. I patted him on the back, asking, "Did you lose another game?"

"I betted on horse 5!" He complained. "I just received the news that the horse went and fucking fell down." He sighed. "This bad luck, who should I blame it on?"

"Calm down, dude," I said.

He was the office's eccentric figure, Kogen Taksony. We all knew he liked betting on horse races, and barely cared about the way he spent his money. However, some would say that he was too obsessed with money. If he had it, he wanted more. That was just the kind of person he was.

I worked in a normal office, not much gets done here anyways. We receive calls, we direct them towards the necessary help by our company. I just did my job, not much thought into it. I get paid, and I leave, that was all. I walked past Kogen and sat at my own cubical not too far away. I put the headphones over my ears and waited for a call to connect to me. I wrote down a few things while listening to the person's words with not much interest of my own. All these people with their own problems, reaching out to people thinking their problems could be solved. I just did my job, not much to it.

I laid my headphones on my table, ready to leave. My shift was over, I had full rights to get the hell out of this office. I heard someone talk to my side. I turned my head to the door of the office where some people were. I knew them. They were the higher-ups of the company, those in charge of the more complex stuff.

"It is a promotion, and the pay will be exponentially higher than what you are being paid currently." The big boss said. "You will be working the same hours, and this offer is open to anyone daring enough to take it up."

A higher pay? Hmm... my sister's birthday is coming up soon. It would be nice to surprise her with a nice meal and gift. Maybe I can buy enough stuff to throw a party. Actually, I think that if I can get a higher pay, I'll be able to get a better house. Our current house is pretty run-down and not too suitable in my opinion. In addition, there's still the debt we were in because of my jobless days, Besides, it's the same working hours, a person would have to be insane to reject such an offer. Besides, how stressful can such a job be?

I raised my hands. The entire office stared at me, including the bosses, with looks of shock on their faces. What was wrong? The deal seemed too good to be true, so what were the looks of horror on their faces? The big boss himself walked up to me, the office being quieter than it has ever been. Did I do something wrong? Of my three year career, I don't think I ever did something to receive so much attention before.

The big boss stood in front of me. He looked me in the eyes, a look of regret, or was it pity in his eyes. He placed a hand on my shoulder and said to me slowly, "Son, do you have a family?"

"I don't have parents, but I have a sister I'm taking care of." I replied.

"Do you love your family?"

"Yes."

"Then you shouldn't try this job." He said to me.

Wait, so I'm not allowed to get a promotion just because I love my family? What kind of logic was that? I love my family, that's why I wanted a higher-paying job. And there's still that debt we were in. I want to clear that debt as soon as possible and let my sister live the best life she could and get the best job she could. Of course I would want a higher paying job.

"I want this job because I love my family, boss," I said, staring him straight in the eyes. "I want to ensure that my sister lives a safe life."

My boss seemed to be hit by an invisible force. He patted my shoulder and said to me, "That's a good attitude. A very good attitude indeed. For the greater good, yes?"

The boss stood straight up and said to me, "Follow me to my office. I'll discuss the details of the change in department with you there."

I did as he told me, standing up and walking away. There were stares from other people, and honestly, I would rather they didn't. Noone talked to me as I walked out, following my boss. This promotion... I started to doubt my decision more as time passed. Was a promotion supposed to be so ominous? I mean, wasn't it supposed to be a good thing?

I sat down from across my boss, looking at him. He sat down too, documents in front of me. He referred to it and told me, "If you would, could you please read the terms and conditions?"

I didn't want to read the whole thing. I was orphaned since young with my sister, so I never received proper education. I committed several questionable acts, along with working odd jobs when I was a teenager. I somewhat taught myself to read and write, but I can only read short texts, not something as long and complicated as a contract. I skimmed through the contract, not wanting to make my boss think of me as an idiot and fire me on the spot. I counted the magic number of ten seconds before looking up, nodding. With a serious expression, I told him, "My decision remains unchanged."

The boss nodded and passed me a pen. "Your name is Apollo, yes?"

"Yes." I replied.

"May I know your family name?" He asked again.

"I don't have a family name, sir." I replied.

"Birth certificate? Passport?" He asked me.

"Registered as Sage, boss." I told him. "But my parents are no longer around."

"I see. But your full name is Apollo Sage, yes?"

"That is correct, boss."

He reached out after I signed the contract. I shook his hand, his grip firm and professional. I looked in his eye, he had determination and grit. He told me, "This is a hard line of work, son. I wish you the best."

"Thank you, boss." I nodded.

"Why don't you enter the investigation office tomorrow?" He asked me. "It'll be your new office from now on."

So I guess I got the promotion, huh? That was nice, I managed to get promoted easily. I should probably tell my sister about this. I made my way back home, walking along the streets, looking through my phone messages. I stopped when I saw something land in front of me. I looked at my feet. It was an envelope. I reached down and picked it up, looking at the envelope. There was no sender information, nor receiver information. I wonder why there was a blank envelope just lying on the side of the road, but it was rude to open it. I stuffed it in my pocket. I'll probably just report it to the police at a later date.

Today wasn't a bad day at all, I managed to get promoted. It'll be smooth sailing from now on, and I'll live a happy and nice life ahead.

I pulled my keys out and opened the door. It was pretty dark, but it wasn't that late. The light was on. I looked around the small apartment we lived in. There was a short table where we sat on the floor to eat, a study table for my sister, two thin mattresses in the corner. There was a kitchen inside and a bathroom, so it was liveable. However, we didn't have much space for anything else. I walked in, my sister sitting at the low table, paper spread across the table as she bent low to write. My sister, much like me, had black hair with strands of brown. Our eyes were dark brown, and we looked quite alike.

She looked up when I walked in.

"I told you not to use this table when you study." I scolded her. "It'll hurt your back."

"It's more convenient though." She said, packing her stuff.

She stuffed the worksheets into her bag and threw it aside. I took off my coat and slung it over the chair at the study table. I sat down, crossed legged at the short table, elbows on the table. My sister stood and got a pot out from the kitchen. She also brought two bowls of rice and a spoon. I looked at it and nodded as she placed the pot in front of me.

"I learnt to make curry in school today." She announced.

"Good for you." I said, picking up the spoon.

"I also learnt some math equations." She continued rambling. "You know my friend Suzy? Yeah, turns out she has a boyfriend now, can you believe that?"

"I don't even know who that is." I said to her.

"How was your work today?"

I nodded, eating a mouthful of rice. "It was fine. I managed to land myself a promotion."

She dropped her spoon. I looked up at her shocked expression as she stood up, a smile on her face. she ran to the kitchen which was a few feet away and aggressively opened a drawer, pulling out a small packet. I saw it and asked, "How did you find where I was hiding that?"

"You were hiding it?" She asked, smiling.

It was a packet of red rice. It was pretty expensive, and I had cooked it not long ago when my sister enrolled into high school. We viewed it as something like a celebration, only for certain events. She turned the stove on and got a smaller pot, saying, "You should have told me earlier! I would have cooked this before you returned home!"

"There's no need to do that." I said.

"No! This is a special event!" She insisted. "You celebrated when I got into highschool, now I'm going to celebrate your promotion!" She cheered, dancing as she manged the cooking.

I didn't stop her, that was just how my sister was. I smiled and asked her, "Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"School's less important than your job!" She argued.

"Sure, sure, sure." I said.

We overcame so many adversities together as brother and sister. From young to now. Our lives were going to change after this single promotion. Except, in Horus City, my life was about to get much, much worst.