Hello everyone :) This is my first story for Motorcity and I wrote it to inspire more Motorcity stories! I love reading them so I figured I'd contribute to the collection. I know I'm not the perfect writer and there are probably mistakes I'm not aware of, but I did this for fun so I hope you have fun reading it. p.s. I know nothing about cars so that why that area is light.
The end of the day for Motorcity wasn't until literally the sun came up the next day. Before that the underground city was always roaring with car engines revving and cars crashing. Night time was the perfect time for racing and stunts, but once it started getting close to sunrise- that's when Motorcity got quiet (well as quiet as any city can get). Mostly everyone was heading back into their shanty like homes; to get a few hours of sleep in before starting the cycle all over again.
Mike Chilton loved racing and performing stunts more than anyone in Motorcity, but he also loved the Motorcity quietness more than anyone. It was his routine to stay up a couple hours more than anyone else and enjoy the relatively silent sunrise in peace. Most people wouldn't think he'd like a calm sunrise, considering he was the proclaimed leader of the most car crazy group in the U.S., the Burners. Despite his title, his beloved title, he liked to have a little bit of silent time to himself before battling Kane bots within the next several hours of the day.
Mike relaxed his lanky build onto the hood of his car Mutt and put his hands under his head. A smile crossed his lips when caught the first hints of the sun as they hit the grey sky. He enjoyed it for a few more moments before surprise hit his ruged features.
A car's engine echoed through the empty streets, and started to approach his direction. He didn't sit up to check who it was because once the sound was close enough, he knew exactly who it was. He was Mike Chilton wasn't he? He waited for footsteps once he heard the car pull up to his far right.
"Hey Jules." He said when the footsteps reached Mutt and himself.
"I thought I'd find you here."
He finally turned to face her, when he gave up on his quiet time. A friend was more important than watching the sunrise. He scanned her face, she looked worried but he knew why and kept himself from smiling. Mike knew his friends better than anyone and at this point he could read Julie like a book. He asked her anyway.
"What's up? Have something on your mind?"
"Can I sit?" she said seeming even more anxious now. He shook his head internally. This wasn't the first time she tried to tell him, but he'd be surprised if she went through with it today.
"Yeah, take a seat." He said patting the space next to him. She sat down, and for a moment she just lay there, watching the sunrise also. He supposed she had to gather the courage first, but he didn't see why she would need to. He'd always told her she could tell him anything. He waited.
"We've all been through a lot together right? We all count on each other no matter what?" she breathed when she was ready to start.
"Right." He said purposefully strong and certain. 'You can do it Jules. Believe in me.' He thought.
Of course he knew. There was no way he couldn't have known. Julie had overlooked too much about him. He grew up with no parents. His life in the beginning was Deluxe. His life was to protect it, and who better to teach him than Abraham Kane himself? Of course he had to prove himself first. He had to stand out of all the other thousands to earn that honor. The man was almost a father to him too. It wasn't hard for him to discover his daughter.
He never looked for Julie back then, because then he had no idea she existed. Kane's personal life stayed that way, personal. Though, it was only a matter of time before Kane's right hand man or boy at the time, found out a little bit about his mentor.
It wasn't that Mike didn't trust Kane in those times. Quite the opposite, he trusted him too much which eventually ruined their relationship of course. Mike was always a natural when it came to anything about cars, some people are. New technology was another story. It didn't interest him, so he didn't care for it. Kane insisted that he learn everything there was to know about the latest Kane Co. product. Mike eventually agreed, and borrowed Kane's most recent prototype facial recognition program to study. The program was created to track any criminal in Detroit instantly even if had only scanned the person's face once in their lifetime.( Thorough huh?)
Mike played and tampered with the program as much as he could without getting frustrated. After several hours he grew tired and a little curious. He had learned enough about the damned thing to look through its history. Deluxe was so sheltered and Mike loved danger. He thought it wouldn't hurt to see what past criminals had been caught by Kane. He figured he'd start with the very first face.
He was instantly disappointed. He had expected hideous, middle aged men with piercings, scars, and tattoos. The face before him was a woman's. A woman in her late twenties at the most, but then again he wasn't good at estimating these things. She was beautiful in her own way. Her eyes were enormous and her lashes were thick but they were thicker on the bottom. Her eyes seemed sad, more so than her face would allow to show. Her hair was straight, long and if possible jet brown. He wondered why she would ever be scanned. Maybe she was a double agent; no one would ever expect it. Or maybe Kane had his own reasons to look for her? Her was name at the very bottom. Esther Kane.
Mike was shocked. He had maybe once or twice thought about whether Kane was ever married, but he never thought to ask. He wondered why his wife would be in the program. Was she a traitor to Deluxe? That seemed unlikely if she had married Kane. Mike also wondered if he wanted to know the truth enough to look for it. Add a little excitement? Why not?
The next day Mike decided to do a little investigating. He spent more time with Kane than usual and insisted on assisting him in his own home complex. Kane had enough confidence in Mike to allow him to come. Mike served as his body guard for the day so he dressed as such; in a full white body suit including a helmet.
Mike walked with Kane through the long, white hallways of his giant complex. Kane talked about how well Mike was advancing and how a promotion was not far away. Mike was pleased of hearing it, but distracted by what he really came to find out. There were no family pictures anywhere in sight but he hadn't been in a specific room yet.
It wasn't until a couple speeches later that Kane led Mike into a room full of computers. No one was in either of the three rows except for a dark figure in the back. Kane was about to activate one of the computers to show Mike a new program before he saw the figure too.
Kane suddenly started to walk to the person in the back the room, and Mike followed like a loyal body guard. As they approached, Mike could see the person was a girl slumped in her chair and her face buried in her arms. Her long brown hair nearly touched the floor but he could see past her hair she was wearing a white Deluxe suit, so he wasn't alarmed. The girl noticed them walking towards her and quickly lifted her head from the table she rested on.
When Mike saw her face he gasped at the similarities of the young girl and Esther Kane, who he'd assumed was Kane's wife. She had the sadness and intensity of her mother's eyes.
"Out Chilton." Kane said definitively. Mike took his tone seriously and exited quietly. As he slide the door closed he managed to see Kane put an arm over the girl's shoulders in a comforting manner. It was something he'd never witnessed before. This girl had to be his daughter otherwise he would have scolded her for not working instead of consoling her.
When Mike met Julie for the first time, she had only recognized him from Deluxe's depiction of him but he had never forgotten her face.
"I'm Julie." She said sticking out her hand.
'I know, Julie Kane.' He thought then.
Even though he knew the truth from the beginning, he never doubted Julie's loyalty as a burner. There was something about her eyes. Her eyes could never lie.
As Mike thought back to the past, Julie brought him back.
"Mike? Are you listening?" she said nudging his shoulder playfully. She had opened up a little bit he thought. Good.
"Yeah, I'm listening. You just interrupted my quiet time Jules." He laughed and nudged her back.
"Haha what?" she said not completely hearing him.
"Nothing. What were you gonna say?" he smiled
She laughed and realized what he said earlier. "Ok, we'll just be quiet right now." She said relaxing and coping his position facing the sunrise.
"Are you sure? You seemed like it was serious."
"Yeah, I don't want to talk about it now." She said closing her eyes enjoying the peaceful moment. After all she was a burner too.
Mike smiled to himself. 'She'll tell me when she's ready.' He thought and soaked up the Motorcity quietness.