It itches.
You stop thinking about them for a while and the itching stops, but once you look down at your wrist; at the small tattoo and you can't help but feel the electronic currents flowing through you. It had become illegal to cover it up; something about the satellites not picking up a good reception. It's not like sleeves or a wristband were a good idea to wear anyway. You needed to show off the tattoo whenever you bought something or if an officer demanded proof of who you were, most schools even required them. They keep order and piece. Or so I've been told.
There's some people who don't bare the tattoo. The computers (or Intelligence) call them R38372, but we, the followers, simply call them Rebels. Rebels are the ones who refuse to get the tattoo. They say we don't need them. That it's illogical to let Atlantis rule us with their computers. That the world worked just fine without them.
They're wrong. We need Atlantis. They saved us. So it's logical to follow them. The rebels are the illogical ones. They think we can overthrow the corporation or maybe there's something bigger going on than just the Intelligence controlling us. But I think the Rebels are just afraid of the tattoo. Like something so small and so insignificant is a good reason to start all this trouble.
Why do we follow the Intelligence so faithfully? Well, because during the Great War, when our side was on the brink of losing, my father, founder and head of Atlantis, created the Master Computer. It helped us defeat the enemy. We owe our lives to it.
My name is Roxas Rourke and I am a Barcode.
*~0~0~*
The sun had barely risen over the city of Hollow Bastion but there were a few bodies that dared to go against the curfew. There were three of them and they all wore the same long black coat with the hoods pulled over their heads.
"Man, why do we always get the tough jobs," a voice that was a bit to whiney and childish moaned from the middle of the group.
The figure to the left scoffed, "Paa-lese, you mostly do recon so stop your crying before I give you something to cry about," A shrill female voice said, "We need to locate our target before it's too late. If we go back empty handed we'll have to face Boss' wrath, and you know how much that sucks, don't yea Firecrotch," She directed towards the figure to the far right. The hooded figure stayed quiet with his piercing eyes focused on the road ahead of the trio.
As the sun threatened to rise the hooded group quickened their steeps. Soon they found themselves outside of a large mansion where their target was located. The mansion took up almost the entire lower half of the city and it was so tall that it was almost impossible to look all the way up without getting vertigo. All of the entrances had at least one guard stationed, all of the windows were bared up, not to mention all of the security cams that were located pretty much everywhere; ensuring no one would be able to enter…or leave.
"Fucking Hell," Said the man to the left, "How are we going to do this?"
The girl quickly studied the surrounding area and sighed in defeat as she realized that her companion was right. There was no way in.
"I have an idea," The man on the right said.
*~0~0~*
Two of the hooded figures were perched on the rooftop of the closest building and waited for the signal form their other companion. It was only an hour or so until sunrise so the trio had to hurry with their plan.
"This has got to be Firecrotch's worse plan ever," The female mumbled under her breath with her eyes fixed on the mansion while running her hand across her thigh in anticipation. The plan thus far was simple; wait for the man's signal (which nether of the other two knew what it was) and charge the mansion, all the while that they'll find their target before they got caught.
And what was this target? Well, as far as the trio knew, it was the son of the leader of Atlantis, the sole heir of the corporation that threatened the fate of the whole world. They were to bring him back to base alive and with minimum damage. And they needed to be back at headquarters before nine. Direct orders from the Boss. If they failed then it would be severe punishment varying anything from a thorough whipping to having their nails pulled out with pliers.
Smoke started to form from one of the towers before there was a large explosion light up the dull sky.
"Was that the signal?" The child-like man said with a nervous undertone in his voice. The woman looked over at her companion and rolled her eyes. It looked like the idiot forgot to bring a weapon…again"
"Yeah, I think it was. Common before Firecrotch gets caught or we lose the target," The smaller said as she jumped from the roof and started making her way towards the flaming tower with her head bowed low and her hands resting on her thighs, just in case anyone got in her way. The other hesitated for a split second before he started to follow.
The duo encountered a set of guards before they even reached the front gate. The men wore dark blue uniforms with large helmets that covered all the way down to their nose. Where their eyes should have been were replaced with night-vision goggles. In their hands they wield large weapons.
"I got this. You go ahead and find the target!" The girl yelled as she pushed the flaps of her coat out of the way to revel the eight daggers she had strapped to her thighs. With lightning quick reflexes she managed to dodge the swings aimed at her and retaliated with quick slashes at the men who attacked her.
The other figure in black nodded his head and ran away from the guards with his female companion blocking the men from following him. As the man ran past the fight a second explosion came from the front of the mansion and it blew out the windows by the main door. The hooded figure ran through the thinning flames and jumped through the closest window. After finishing with a barrel roll he found himself in the main hall.
The hall was extravagant. The plush carpet (or what was left of it) was a deep emerald color and it looked like once upon a time it was made from the softest material. The walls were covered in expensive paintings that may have been originals; this the man felt was a waste since they now sported burn marks.
Not wanting to stay in the same place too long, the man ran towards the closet flight of stairs to where he believed the bedrooms were.
*~0~0~*
A small blonde boy was rudely awakened by a band so loud it made his whole room shake. He could hear the maids screaming down the hall and the guards stomping around as they looked for the source.
Out of curiosity the young man slowly slid from his bed and slowly opened the door a crack to see what was happening. His blue eyes widened at the scene. The guards were unorganized and running back and forth as a fire slowly made its way down the flight of steps. As he was about to step outside there was another loud bang sounded that made some rubble fall around the boy and the blonde could see over the banister as the bottom floor light up.
The boy quickly closed his door and backed away, like the wooden barrier would protect him. A small whimper came from him as he thought about what he should do. He had to get out. But how? The fire was spreading fast and by now it was probably outside his door. The windows were sealed off. He was doomed.
A loud thump was heard outside his door and the wooden barrier opened to reveal a tall hooded figure. Its shadowed face scanned the room before it landed on the blonde. Without another word it approached the blonde and grabbed him around the wrist and tried to drag him out of the room and into the fires outside. Naturally the boy fought back. He knew who these people were. They were part of the Rebels.
"Aww, common now. I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanna talk. Honest," The figure said with his hands up to show he was unarmed and didn't mean any harm. The smaller boy hesitated and looked passed the other at the scene going on outside. The fire had calmed down a bit but it was still traveling freely throughout the house. There was a shadow hiding in a corner and every time a guard would run passed, it would through a knife in their direction and would always get the men right in the throat.
The blonde wondered if he could run passed the hooded man, escape the rage of the fire, then make it passed the marksman and make it out in one piece. His father had given him tutors while growing up; one of which was in self-defense. He could do it. He knew he could.
Apparently he had been spaced out while thinking about his great escape that he failed to notice the figure approach him and grab his wrist and pulled the smaller boy to his chest.
"Let me go! I'll call the guards!" The boy yelled as he punched the man repeatedly in the chest with his free hand only for the man to grab that one too.
"Heh, good luck with that one; it looks like they're all busy at the moment," The man said with a slight chuckle. And then in the blink of an eye he kneed the smaller boy in the gut making him double over in pain before he brought his elbow down on his head successfully knocking him out.
*~0~0~*
"Good job Dem. Didn't think you had it in you," The girl said as the trio plus one walked down the sun light streets. Her hood was down revealing her shoulder length blonde hair that had two cowlicks and observant green eyes.
After their attack on the mansion they met up in the charred entrance once the guards' ether retreated or died. The target had been successfully obtained and was quietly sleeping on the Demyx's back with his hands tied around the man's chest to insure he won't fall and if he did wake up he wouldn't be able to escape. A black and white checkered wristband had been placed over his left wrist so he couldn't be traced.
Demyx's hood was also down, showing off his dirty blonde mullet and dark blue eyes. He had a quirky smile and judging by the lines around his mouth it was always there, "It's all thanks to Axel! Without him I wouldn't have been able to get to the little one," He chirped.
The tallest of the three still had his head covered with a hood and he refused to talk and was trailing a bit behind the others. He only grunted in response. As they make their way down the street they had to take to back allies to avoid the people of the city slowly waking up and going to their jobs and any cops who would stop them to scan their wrists.
By a quarter after eight they made it to the Base without catching any attention or the target waking up. As they approached a rundown hotel a man who was just as tall as he was wide (which made him at least the size of a baby giant) with black dreadlocks came out from behind an ancient looking pillar. He looked down at the small group with dark beady eyes, "Welcome back Young Master," A faint smile crossed his serious face when he saw the sleeping blonde, "And I can see you completed your mission. Boss will be happy about this," The tall man steeped aside and let the trio pass.
The inside of the hotel was just as ugly and rundown as the outside was. But they weren't at the base yet. The trio made their way towards the back of the building where a set of elevators waited. The dirty blonde hit the button to summon one of the elevators. They climbed aboard when it arrived.
"Larxene, if you'd please?" Demyx said to the blonde girl with a mock bow minding the boy on his back. Larxene rolled her eyes and jabbed the button that light up the L floor. The sleeping blonde on Demyx's back moaned making all eyes lock in on him. He started to shift a bit, making Demyx grab onto the handrail that went along the side of the moving box so he wouldn't fall, "Guys, I think he's waking up..." Demyx whispered.
"It's fine. We're almost there," The tallest said in a bored voice. He was leaning against the back wall in the farthest corner and watching the numbers light up as the elevator made its way down to the lowest level.
"Where…?" The small blonde mumbled as he tried to pick his head up off of Demyx's shoulder but found it to be too heavy.
"Hey fella. How you feeling?" The cheerful blonde asked over his shoulder only to get no response which made him frown a bit, "Hey!" He jostled the boy and nothing happened. A worried look spread across his face, "Guys, I think I broke him!"
Larxene leaned back to get a better look at the boy, "He's still probably recovering. How hard did you hit him?" She said as her electric green eyes gave the unmoving figure one more glance, "We'll have Aerith look him over," As soon as the words left her mouth the elevator dinged as it hit their floor.
"Common, we're running late," Axel mumbled as he pushed past the other two and made his way down the twisting hallway as he made his way towards a set of what looked like an elevator.
They were large and a golden bronze color and they looked like they were reinforced with some sort of metal to prevent it from caving in on itself. They called it the Bathysphere
Standing guard in front of it was a man who was just as large as the first guard. He had short rust colored hair, a stern face, and small blue watchful eyes that always seemed to be glairing. In his hand he held a giant axe sword.
"Hey big guy!" Demyx chirped as they walked past the man and climbed into the Bathysphere followed by the other two. There was a large lever where the buttons should have been and with a very unfeminine grunt, Larxene managed to pull it down.
Once the elevator started to move she looked over her shoulder and glared at the two men, "Thanks for all the help boys," She all but growled at them making Demyx cower back to the corner farthest away from her.
The tube traveled down for a few moments before it suddenly stopped. No one in the small space moved to get out, in fact in the if you looked close enough you could see Demyx counting under his breath like he was mentally preparing himself for something.
With a harsh tug, the tube started to travel to the left causing all of the occupants to trip in their place a bit. It kept moving to the left for about a mile before it hit a gut wrenching sharp right. Demyx's face turned green as the tube kept moving and he had to free up one of his hands so he could cover his mouth just in case anything tried to come up.
"I swear to God, Demyx, if you get sick in here one more time I'm going to tear your stomach out so you'll never get sick again," Larxene growled under her breath. The last time the blonde male lost his lunch in the small space it had splashed around their feet till they got to their final destination. The smell was so bad that everyone in the tube with him almost got sick too.
Demyx shook his head as he attempted to rid himself of the nausea, "I-I'm fine. We're almost there right?" His voice was weak and his knees were shacking to hold up both his and the sleeping blonde's weight. Without saying a thing, Axel reached over and picked the smaller blonde off of the other, "Heh, thanks man," Demyx stretched his arms above his head until he heard his back pop.
"Whatever," The hooded one muttered as he shifted their captive in his arms. With a ding the tube had stopped moving and signaled it safe to get off. Larxene was the first off followed by a motion sick Demyx, then Axel.
The room the Bathysphere led to a large room that was made completely out of glass but instead of showing the morning sky there was water. Lots and lots of water. The Bathysphere had taken the small group to the Base which happened to be under the ocean that was only miles away from the headquarters of Atlantis.
"Nice to see you finally decided to show up," A tall blonde woman that was standing in front of the Bathysphere with her hands on her hips. She stood tall and confident as the trio walked up to her but to her surprise Axel unsymmetrically dumped the unconscious blonde in the woman's arms. She managed to catch the boy just in time and turned to the retreating figure, "You know you can't keep sulking like this!" She yelled as Axel turned a corner.
A genital hand was placed on her shoulder making her turn Demyx, "I'm sorry about his attitude, Boss. Is there anything you need me to do?" He flashed the older woman a smile.
"You have nothing to apologize for. He'll come out of his slump eventually. And no, you three did well and earned yourselves rest and a great feast," The boss said as she shifted the boy in her arms to help balance herself, "So you two go freshen up and I'll bring him down to the hospital wing,"
And with that Demyx and Larxene followed Axel down the long halls. Once the small group was out of sight the woman looked down at the blonde with watery blue eyes, "I can't believe you're finally home," She pulled the boy closer to her chest in an awkward hug for a moment before she started off to the hospital wing.
.This was meant to be a oneshot but ideas kept popping in my head so it's going to be longer. I don't know how much longer though xD
And before anyone points it out, yes I did steal some elements from BioShock lol.
Reviews are always loved