Prosperity Junction. Didn't seem very prosperous to Rhys. The stupid little machine in his hand was beeping nonstop at this point. He knew she had to be close.

"Fiona? Fionaaaaa!" He sighed. "C'mon, we can work this out!" He yelled again. Then, someone came up to him, dressed in a lot of clothing-they must have been burning up in this heat!-and some sort of mask, holding a big, heavy gun. "Fiona? What, is there some sort of radiation leak I don't know about?" He laughed, just as he got clocked in the face with the butt of the previously mentioned big heavy gun.

Out he went.

When he finally came to, he was being dragged through the desert by his feet, he realized. His arms were bound to his sides with a shit ton of duct tape, and even his cybernetic metal arm couldn't break through it when he struggled. Seeing no other option, he settled for asking questions.

"Where exactly are we going?" Rhys asked, more than a bit disgruntled

"I ask the questions." Was the man's response. His voice was gravelly and almost robotic sounding.

"Okay, then... Do you mind asking yourself where you're taking me?" Rhys pressed. He let his sarcastic side get the best of him sometimes. His feet were suddenly dropped and the stranger came up to his side, and promptly kicked him in the ribs. "Ooh, owww! What the hell!?" He glared lightly at the stranger-that's what we'll call him for now, The Stranger-as he knelled down beside him.

"Tell me about the Gortys Project." The Stranger said.

"Is that what this is about?" Rhys scoffed. "Look, Gortys is bad business. If you want a real hot investment, I am on the ground floor of some property on Eden-" He stopped when he heard the sound of a gun being cocked, and then saw said gun being aimed at his crotch. "Okay, okay!"

"Don't be a smart ass." Was all The Stranger said, pulling the gun back. "I'm not a patient person. So just start talking." And he picked up Rhys' feet and began to drag him along again.

"Just where do you start when you're getting dragged through the desert and, uh..." Rhys almost laughed. Almost.

"From the beginning." The Stranger grumbled.

"Right..." Rhys muttered, noting that he was being dragged into a desolate town. Yeah, Prosperity Junction looked very not-prosperous. It was falling apart, but it looked like it was in better shape than some other towns he had seen in his time on Pandora. "I guess you could say it all started with a promotion. See, I had spent my entire career working at Hyperion. So, I suppose in a way that makes me one of the bad guys in this story. And Handsome Jack? He was the baddest guy of them all. And I wanted to be just like him. Everyone did. Which lead to a company overflowing with assholes. When Handsome Jack died, it somehow got even worse. It took some time to fit in... But a few stabs in select backs, a new haircut, and help from a few friends, and I was on my way to get the promotion that would change my life. I was a little distracted, but luckily, Vaughn was focused on the important things." He sighed, his mind going back to the memory of the day everything started. He had been walking down the hall with Vaughn, going to see Henderson for his promotion.

The walls of Hyperion were all metal and grey, but Rhys had spend the majority of his career in those walls. He had worked with the corporation everyone on Pandora despised, but he didn't care at the time. He was on his way to the top. "So, what are you gonna buy first? I know what Henderson is making. I do his payroll." Vaughn, Rhys' best friend and money man, asked him as they continued their trek down the halls of Hyperion. "If you're getting even a fraction of what he makes, you'll be rolling in it!" He grinned.

Rhys shook his head with a small smile of his own, not saying anything. Vaughn continued on. "Yeah, there's this sniper rifle I've been looking at for a while now. It's a Dahl, right. Called, uh, "Reaver's Edge". And it's awesome. You just feel so powerful holding it." He waved his arms around excitedly as he spoke. "We're meeting up with Yvette after to celebrate." He added.

Rhys nodded at this. "Yep. Sounds good." He said simply as they came to the door to Henderson's office

"Look, we've done a lot of awful stuff to get you to this point. Do i regret some of it? Sure I do. Every night it haunts my dreams. But that doesn't matter now! Cause you made it. You deserve this, man." Vaughn smiled proudly. "And don't ever think you don't." He paused, then added, "And don't think about the Eridum mine deal we put together."

"Thanks for the help, Vaughn. Really, I couldn't have done this without you and Yvette." Rhys told his friend with a smile.

"Hey man, don't sweat it. I'm just glad we got you here. You know I crunched the numbers one night and figured out there was a 45% chance someone would kill you before this day." Vaughn explained with his hands on his hips.

"Glad... That didn't happen." Was all Rhys could say with a nervous chuckle.

"Me too. It was, uh, real touch and go for a while there." The money man smiled nervously, and Rhys's smile fell rather quickly. "Uh... Alright then! Let's get that Hyperion face on."

"Oh, right. Yeah." Rhys thought for a moment, then raised his right eyebrow, looking at Vaughn for him to judge the look.

"Hmm... No, we need some condescending. It's a little too friendly right now. Okay, tell you what. Tilt your head back, like you asked me if there was something up your nose."

Rhys did just that. "Like this?" He muttered.

"Perfect, you don't respect me at all." Vaughn said approvingly. Rhys flashed him a thumbs up with his cybernetic arm, and then walked into the office as the doors slid open.

"Mr... Henderson?" He asked in an unsure tone. Something seemed wrong to him, but he couldn't place what it was just yet.

"Have a seat, Rhys, I'll be with you in just a moment. No, I wasn't talking to you. Yes, I'm talking to you now." A voice said in the chair behind the desk, but the chair was facing away from him. He walked towards the desk, glancing around. That voice sounded familiar, and not like Henderson's voice... "Yeah, but I don't want it in red, I want it in black. Because black is better! Look, don't concern yourself with "why?" Okay, Jerry? Concern yourself with how. And just send the car over when it's ready." Oh no. Rhys knew who it was now based off of the name plate facing him. "Company car. Didn't even have to ask." The chair spun around.

Facing him was none other than Hugo Vasquez, Rhys's nemesis at Hyperion, with his stupid head full of hair and really nice beard./p