Chapter 67 Luke's investment

"Luke, what's wrong with your inner rage?"

Luke looked at him.

"Excuse me?"

Uther grinned.

" I mean, Tes always said you were Pur Agro in the fight against the holos."

Luke looked at Liz.

"Well. Training always cleared my head, that I actually always came out even in the end, when I killed the first infected I was relieved. I mean, I saved the hottest one in my level like that and she still didn't want anything from me. 

Messed with klutzes and the biggest jerks...and now..." He continued stroking Liz's head.

"I'm supposed to take responsibility just because I shagged Saskia drunk..." 

He looked at her.

"Where's the justice in that? The others in my class get drunk and shag too, but they don't have to do it ... Every now and then in training, a voice has told me that it's only because Skasia's family has influence and..."

Uther took a drag on his cigarette.

"Is it okay to be selfish about something like that? "

Uther ashed into the ashtray.

"Luke, you're allowed to be selfish. Keep it, see what comes of it. You don't know what's coming. Look at Alex. He had no idea about the four at the start of the eruption. His original plan was to drop off on an island. "

Tes woke up yawning, blinked, looked around. Smiled when she saw Uther and snuggled up to him. Then she looked at Luke.

"But what if..."

Tes looked at him, then at Uther, who took a drag on the fag.

"Luke, you'll have good times with her and bad, maybe even times that make you despair. But don't give up. "

Tes looked at him askance.

"What advice ..." He looked at her.

"Well, better than, everything will be fine and you'll be happy with her."

She tapped her finger against her own lip.

"Hhmm, yes..." she looked at him.

"He's right about that. "

Luke blinked.

"But... What if I mess with her..."

"Do like your dad, let her sulk. Just don't give in right away like he did with your mom. "

"You guys never fight..."

Tes grinned.

"In that sense, yes, but when we first met, from time to time. I even wanted to force my will on him a lot, control him and so on, the whole package. But believe me, it's not worth it. So don't let her wrap you around her finger. You can get involved with her, but don't give up on yourself, if she offers sex, you can accept it, but always remember. What do I get in return? "

Luke nodded and thought about it. 

The car stopped and the door opened. Luke looked out into the bright Hawaii.

"Uh bright," came from Luke. 

He tried to get out, but Liz held on to him.

"You have to get her out," came from Tess.

Luke groaned. He struggled to squeeze out of the car with Liz in his arms. They were really standing in front of his mother and grandfather's house. He looked at Liz, who gave him a confused look at first.

"Um, thanks," she said quietly. Luke let go of her, Liz hugged him, then Tes and Uther and walked into their house, yawning. 

"Luke where have you been? " came from Sarge, who came out of Alex's house with Alex, Gitte and Jannet in tow.

"Uh..." he began. 

"Tes took him shopping, little belated birthday present. " Uther said, walking past him. They fell silent.

"Alex, no orders for Liz. Until," he looked at Sarge.

" When registry office? "

Sarge didn't seem to have an answer.

"No later than when George and I go together and hold her hand."

He nodded mutely. 

"Luke's gone for two days, after all, and shopping can't take that long."

Tes smiled innocently.

"Yes. He had Dan's exam before that. There were complications because they messed up scheduling him properly."

"You kidnapped him for that?" asked Jannet.

Tes tilted his head a little.

"And the best hot dog in all of Japan."

Alex grabbed his face.

Sue came out of the house with garbage bags. 

"Hey Tes, thanks for the photos and the video."

Gitte looked at her.

"Sue?"

She looked at her.

" Yes?"

" Ah oops, forgot to log it off. Mom's been slamming me with files." 

She ran to Luke and hugged him.

"Congratulations, I hope you kicked some of their asses good," she whispered the last part in his ear.

Luke nodded.

"Sue, I don't think so," came from Gitte. 

Sue looked at her.

"Yes, I do," she pulled out her cell phone, scrolled and turned the message to Gitte.

"Look, it says she's taking him with her and here."

She clicked on the work order that came in 10 minutes ago.

" So and I still haven't finished everything. "

Tes picked up shopping bags from the limo and set them down next to Luke. Jannet saw the trophy sticking out of a bag.

"And what's that?" 

Tes looked.

"A little something, it came with the dan exam."

Sue took out the trophy and looked at it.

" Oha. International martial arts master, Asia district. " 

She fished out the official documents.

"I'll put it with the others, okay?"

" Okay. " 

Everyone stared at Tes.

"What? Do you know how hard it is to find association officials who recognize his dan degree? He's not in a dojo, he's not in a club, he's not in an association, he's not a celebrity champion. And then he has to fight with all the infected people. It's a good thing the Asian district hardly got anything."

Uther patted his head.

"In short, she used the back door, a few donations, and Miles was the sponsor. "

Tes stuck his tongue out at Jannet. 

"George, go see Liz, she's asleep right now, just be with her and Alex now," he grinned.

"The Megacity building project is starting."

" Uh-huh, beer? " 

" Always " Luke saw Uther come in with Alex. Tes stared at Jannet.

" You two are coming up against me. "

" Tes at what? "

" Let's see, you two are in a small world now. Ah I know, we do nipple flicking."

" The last time we did that was 30 years ago ..."

Tes grinned.

" Are you scared Jan? "

They stomped off. 

George watched them silently, then Luke.

"Is Liz all right?"

"Yeah. Uther said she panicked and that the missions aren't really helping her."

George nodded.

"Are you going to be okay in class tomorrow? "

Luke nodded.

"It's scary Luke, that Uther was upset by the situation alone. We were so into it. I saw the look on Alex's face when he was told Liz wasn't getting assignments and I ..." He looked at Liz.

"I'm taking Liz to the office today."

Luke looked at him questioningly.

"He was just asking."

" No. It was an order Luke and Alex knows when he's messed up when it comes from Uther. "

He went on his way. Luke watched him go, grabbed the bags and went into the house. His mother had somehow managed to put the trophy in the display case with the others.

His papers slipped into the leather folder where she'd put everything of his that he'd ever started in sports or music, and luckily it wasn't that noticeable.

He wanted to go upstairs.

"Luke, put some decent clothes on."

" Why?" 

" We're going to the registry office with Liz and Sarge."

He groaned, slid up, found a pair of dark pants in the closet that still fit him, then a short-sleeved dark blue shirt. He left his sneakers on. Then he went downstairs.

His mother looked at him and took a photo.

"You look so decent."

"I wore school uniform for years, too."

They went outside, the limo was gone, Sue knocked on her car, he got in and she hurried to the office. Rushed into the room where Liz and Sarge were. What surprised Luke more was that they were both standing there in normal clothes. 

"Wuh, not too late," came from Sue. The officer looked at Sue.

" You are?"

"Liz's sister and this is my son." 

"He was taking notes. 

" Good, we can start when they present the processing fee."

" Didn't they say ..."

The officer looked at her.

" If it said, appointment made, etc., but they're here today ..."

The constable gritted his teeth.

" Good. How much?"

" 2,500,000 credits." 

Liz looked panicked at Sarge, who was holding her hand. He didn't look any better, nor did her mother. 

"The payment is over the net, you can also pay in installments, then interest will be added," he pulled out the finger scanner and typed in the amount. 

Luke made up his mind and pressed his finger on it, and the result was positive. The clerk looked at him with irritation.

"I'd like a receipt."

The clerk printed out a receipt, signed it and stamped it. Luke took it and looked at his mother.

"What, tell me to spend the money on something worthwhile. Liz and Sarge are worth it."

The clerk cleared his throat.

"Fine, let's get started." 

They talked monotonously for an hour and in the end Sarge and Liz signed. Liz actually seemed a little more relaxed when they came out.

Luke was put on a motorcycle by Sarge because Sue had to go to work. So he witnessed a race between Liz and Sarge. He got off the bike, swaying. Liz hugged him and they both drove off. He just wanted to get home, staggering in that direction.

Tes appeared next to him unexpectedly, as usual.

"You must have had quite a drink."

"No, just sat on the back of the bike with Sarge and ran with Liz."

She walked around him.

" I see. So why are you dressed so clean?" She pulled the receipt out of his pocket and opened it.

"Oh, George did that, but why is your name on the receipt?" she looked at him. 

" Uh, because they were blank, to judge by faces. "

Tes grabbed his hand and pulled him towards Alex.

"Tes, no. I wanted to spend the prize money on something good."

"You did, just want to give Gitte a whack."

Luke sighed.

He was pulled into the living room. Uther was sitting in the armchairs with a beer in his hand, Tes let go of Luke and whispered to him. Whispered something in his ear and showed him the receipt. He looked at it, folded it up and put it in his jacket.

Alex and the others looked at him, confused. 

"You'll get the money back from me."

"Money?" came from Gitte.

Tes grinned.

"Luke paid the registry office bill for Liz and Sarge."

"What?" Alex stood up.

"When?" 

" An hour ago, they have to go back tomorrow for the rest of the red tape that's included in the price."

Uther lit a fag.

That seemed to really upset Alex. 

"Who else was there besides you?" asked Jannet.

"My mother."

Gitte rolled her eyes. 

Uther typed something into his cell phone and Luke's phone buzzed and he looked at it. He had received a notification that money had been sent to him. He looked at it.

"But ... there's more than ..."

Tes grinned.

"Shh."

"But I must say, Alex, the Council is not to be envied for asking so much money from the bride and groom." 

"How much?" 

" 2,5 M" 

He turned pale.

"Can't be anything, should maybe only cost 200." 

He reached for his cell phone as he sat down powerlessly, dialed a number.

"Give me the head of the wedding department..." 

" 2,5 M.. " He looked at the receipt that Uther handed him. Looked at Luke.

"I had 300k in my account, well with the prize money I came up with that amount. "

Alex remained silent.

"Why does a wedding at the office cost 2.5 million?" 

He listened.

"I see the bill, my grandson gave up his savings so my daughter could get married. "

He listened.

"What do you mean, bureaucratic error. I'm coming over now to hear it in person." He hung up, stood up and walked out in silence.

Gitte looked after him.

"I don't like him being so quiet. " She hurried after him.

Jannet stared at Uther. 

"Yes, Jannet?" he asked.

"You deliberately ..."

Uther took a drag on the fag.

"Jannet, he's been avoiding proposing to Liz. Ever since they started going out and you know yourself. That he's just as mentally broken as Liz."

"Watch your mouth," she growled.

"Jannet, why aren't you happy?"

She blinked.

" What?"

" I asked why you're not happy for your brother. He's managed to officially marry that woman. Since he's had her, he's cut down on his binges, the fucking is down to 0. Only Liz, he gives her security, she gives him security. So why aren't you happy for him? "

She stared at him, wanting to say something.

Uther stood up.

"Relax."

She growled.

"Excuse me? The world is drowning in infected!"

Uther looked at her.

"No Jannet, it's true, it'll be a few more years before they're all gone. But it's over Jannet. "

"No, Alex hasn't found the manufacturers yet! " 

Uther took a drag on his cigarette.

"So you're telling me that you can't relax because you're scared. That it's beeping next to you, yeah?"

She looked at him.

"Yeah... I'm in front of the camera all the time..."

Uther tapped his forehead with his fingers.

"Only because it's you. But don't forget. One day I won't be around, Jannet, hopefully. There'll be someone around to make a slug of you like I did and clean up the mess you all make. Now you call your brother and congratulate him. Then you're going for a bath, with the vanilla stuff."

His eyes narrowed.

"Jan, you smell like vanilla right now. "

He left, Tes walking beside him.

"Luke, practice tomorrow! See you Miss Nipple Champion."

"Nipple champion?" came from Uther. Tes laughed.

" Jan has just been unbeaten at nipple flicking for 30 years."

He laughed dryly.

Jannet stared at the two of them, sighed in surrender. Sat down on the couch. 

Luke went to the door.

"One word to the others, and I ..."

Luke looked at her.

"I won't say anything."

She nodded and leaned back.

" Why anyway ..."

She looked at him.

"Why ... " She looked in front of her for a moment. "Well, he's like a father who comes home and sees what his children have done. Alex accepts it, says it just reminds him of his dad. Gitte and Babs, well, they've seen how their parents were treated like children by him. Min and Lee cower and I ... My dad died in a plane crash and my mom was desperate to find someone to replace him. 

Luke the First Breakout traumatized us all back then. I was locked in a bunker with people I couldn't stand. My escape attempts failed every time. "

She lights a cigarette.

"When Alex and I and the others were doing it, busy with the little world The one we had created. Watching over us, exploiting the technology, building the world we have now, and even now he continues to build. "

She reached for her cell phone looked at something.

"Huh?" 

She turned on the TV, the news channel was on, showing clips of 65 buildings on fire, then the live image of a laser beam briefly appearing from orbit and obliterating a mansion. 

"Oh shit," came from Luke.

"According to press releases, an old military satellite has gone off course and malfunctioned, firing its systems."

Images of a crashing, burning satellite were shown. 

"And so the problem goes away, just so I can shut down.... Damn it," she closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Luke came closer, she wiped her tears. 

"I'm fine, go home Luke. "

"Okay," he left her alone.