Conscience

RING!!!

Trevor received a call from Savikar right after dropping Cypher and Darryl off at Frealance Empire.

"Fuck! What do this fucker want from me this time?" Trevor complained before he answered.

"How long does it take to answer?" Savikar chided.

"Bitch, I'm driving! What do you want? And, just so you know, I won't be returning to Tradesville yet if that's the reason why you called. I'll take this well-deserved vacation and make my way with my future wife!" Trevor strongly reasoned.

"Asshole, I'm calling because the errand I was going to run for you when you returned, which I told you about before you decided to go on your messed-up vacation, is no longer your concern."

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Very funny! I didn't know you make jokes, Savikar!" Trevor laughed, ridiculing the joke he heard. "You really got me there."

"I'm serious," he said. "He finally call!"

Trevor was caught in surprise as he halted the car.

"Seriously?" Trevor clarified, knowing exactly what Savikar is implying.

"Yeah, so there will be some changes to our plan. So I want—"

"Let me stop you right there!" Trevor interrupted. "I'm in the middle of my vacation. So, just save that when I return, alright? Oh my! It looks... like... I'm... losing... reception—"

"Asshole, I can clearly hear your car engine without any interruptions!"

"Bye!" Trevor immediately ended the call.

Trevor had just left the empire and was making his way back to the farmhouse. He took the same arduous path, which made him wonder why he was such a good man for going to such lengths to help a friend out. He was perplexed after recalling what Savikar had said about the phone call.

"What problems did that pretty boy encountered for asking that piece of shit his help?" he wondered. "Wait, did he say I'll no longer retrieve those junk he asked me to get? I thought the deal was to translate an ancient language by Savikar and in return, they'll— wait, did they change the deal? Or is this a different matter?"

With Savikar, there are still some things he doesn't understand. He's been with that man since he was a teenager, and he knows there are things Savikar is still keeping hidden. Nonetheless, he is unconcerned.

"I gotta hurry! I wanna see that vicious woman!" he said with a smile.

He was caught off guard when he saw Darryl back in the forest and was about to assault him, but he managed to keep his cool. On the way, he always casts a glance at him, planning how to inflict as much pain as possible. He despises him for hurting Diana, and he will never forgive him for making such a delicate lady cry.

His feelings for Diana remain ambiguous. He's not sure if it's infatuation or love. Is he simply drawn to her because she is beautiful? If that's the case, then it's not worth pursuing, he believes. Trevor may appear to be a flirty type of guy, a womanizer who would date any woman he finds attractive, but in reality, he is the type of guy who will indeed flirt wherever and whenever he can, but he will never force his ways on any woman. He simply enjoys flirting and teasing them, but if he notices that they are becoming uncomfortable, scared, or violated, he will stop and sometimes apologize. He wasn't aiming for any long-term relationship and his actions don't have any deep meaning behind them. He just likes to mess with them and doesn't have any desire to have any lingering attachment to any of them because he thinks that it will give him trouble in the long run.

Trevor is the type of person who will never express his emotions to anyone. He is very picky about who he tells his true feelings to. He keeps his true emotions bottled up and refuses to tell even Athenia or Xian about them. Everything changes the moment he met Diana. He doesn't know why, but he wants to be with her all the time and tell her everything that comes to mind, no matter how stupid it is. When he's with her, he feels a different kind of comfort that he can't explain which he never felt from anybody before. He wants to stay and annoy her until the end of time. He is still unsure of his feelings, but he knows he will not let anyone hurt her. They were already attached to Athenia and Xian. And all he wants is to see them happy. If protecting these strangers bring the couple happiness, then risking his life to protect these people seems like the right thing to do.

It was nearly noon when he returned to the paved roads leading to Craper outside of Chine City. With no time to waste, he rushes towards the forest. However, the path there appears to be a little strange. An unusual sighting that he never remember existed yesterday.

"Why are there trees here? How did these things grow overnight? What is going on?" he wondered as he drives past them.

As he trek the road, a boy became visible on the way.

"What is that kid doing here?"

As he gets closer, he saw the boy collapse. Despite seeing him, he has no intention of helping.

"There's no way I'm getting myself involved with a spoiled brat running away from his rich parents," he reasoned. "Why do kids like running away from their parents?"

Trevor thought of it a moment and halted the car.

"Oh, yeah! I ran away from home too," he confessed as he felt guilty. "I'm such a hypocrite!"

He glances at the boy on his side mirror and bangs his head on the steering wheel for deciding on helping the kid.

"Fuck! I hate my conscience!" he complained as he return to his tracks to check the kid.

As he exited the car, he immediately check the boy.

"Hey, are you alright?"

The boy is still conscious. He thought that it might be because of exhaustion or maybe of the heat.

"He might have come from Bionic and walked under the scorching sun," he surmised in his thought.

Trevor was about to carry the child under a shady area when he felt something strange when he touched him. He takes a step back and looks at his hand.

"What the fuck was that!" he expressed in complete consternation.

He tried again, slowly, and it was still there. As he made contact with the child, he felt the weird sensation again. It was strange, and he has no idea what it was. Regardless of the oddity, if he does not move the child out of the sun, he may face a much worse situation. Without hesitation, he carried the child, enduring the strange sensation that was confusing his mind, and quickly laid him under a tree for shade. He then gets a bottle of water and gives it to him to drink to cool off.

The kid fell to sleep which made Trevor smile at him with no hints of joy behind it. He wants to return to the farmhouse now but he can't just leave the brat out here in the open.

"Hey, I didn't agree to babysit you!" he complained as he stood up and returned to his car. He was about to start the engine and flee but he paused and took a glance at the sleeping boy.

"Fuck this!" he banged his head on the steering wheel countless times for he just couldn't leave the kid alone. Returning him to Bionic while he is unconscious was out of the question because he does not want to go to such lengths to trouble himself. Bringing him along with him was also out of the question. His wealthy parents may file a kidnapping report against him if he does that.

He had no choice but to simply stay with him until he wakes up and then deal with him then. Trevor became enraged when the boy continued to sleep for nearly three hours. He couldn't simply shake him awake because no matter how hard he shook him, he didn't wake up. He gave up on his fourth attempt and decided to simply wait. He, too, has dozed off. After 3 hours, the child has begun to recover from heatstroke and is aware of Trevor's presence. Trevor was irritated because the child was startled and backed away from him the moment he saw him.

"Is that your way of saying 'thank you' to the person who saved you from dying?" Trevor complained as he stand up and return to his car.

"Huh? What happened?" the kid muttered.

"Your foolishness almost cost you your life," Trevor mocked as he entered his car. "Come, I'll send you back to Chine City and reunite you with your family?"

Trevor is irritated because the kid appears to have no intention of returning.

"Listen here, kid! Your problem will not be solved by running away. I run away too, and I'm not encouraging you to do the same. After all, I don't want to be the cause of a child's death because I abandoned him in the middle of nowhere, where dangerous people lurk. I'm not nice, but I'm not heartless either. So you'd better get your butt in here and let me send you back to where you came from!"

The kid has no intention of moving and remains frozen in place. Trevor despises children who act as if they know everything and decide to flee because they are bored with their privileged lifestyle. Both circumstances may be slightly similar but Trevor's case is somewhat complicated, which is why he cannot empathize with the child. He did what he did for a variety of reasons. However, no matter what the reason is, this kid will not listen. And Trevor is dead serious about returning the kid to Bionic.

"Look kid, do you know what will happen to you if you enter the forest?" Trevor asked in annoyance as he stepped out of his car and faced the kid. "Bad people will go and get you, let you do and see things that are not meant for children, and maybe kill you! In addition to that, there are also wild animals too. So you better return home now!"

Trevor tried his hardest to be as convincing as possible as he says scary things to a child.

"Kid, whether you like it or not, I will return you to your parents at Bionic and pretend like this never happen."

"I don't have a parent," the kid replied.

"You're an orphan then?" Trevor asked. "Did you run away from the orphanage?"

"No..."

"Huh? Then why are you here?"

"To find where I belong."

Trevor could see the pain in the child's eyes. He is hesitant to believe him completely because he could be acting.

"Look here kid, you won't find that place out here. And also, you won't fool anybody," Trevor finally snapped because of the kid's stubbornness. "You know what? You're coming with me and I'll have you return to Bionic!"

A strange sensation was felt as Trevor grabbed the kid's hand. It was more powerful than what he had previously felt. He felt as if he had teleported into a dark and empty space. He looked around and noticed brilliance from a distance. When the kid managed to free himself from his grip and flee, he failed to see what that light was. Trevor was still taken aback and was unable to pursue the child who ran into the woods and vanished. Trevor slowly regained his footing after falling when he felt that strange sensation when he touched the kid.

He never once had the thought of chasing the kid and decided to pretend that this encounter never happened.

"That ungrateful brat!" said the pissed Trevor. "Good luck surviving out there."