The air echoed with a soft hum as Orphe Zavi lay in his seat, his arms rested on the terminal and his eyes shut. With the system connected directly to his brain, it was not strange that the blondy had the ability to process more than a hundred documents in a minute.
By the time he was done, the slight migraine was unavoidable, softly humming through his head as he got up, allowing the irritating sensation in his temples to fade away.

There was a lot on his plate, from what he had seen from the processing earlier, yet the real annoyance was when he was faced with petty complaints from the Midas's citizens, ignorant in their ways, pest controls, misplaced of cash cards, mongrels in the streets…..those are nothing compared to the bigger issue at hand, the bombing of Apatia.

With so many casualties that involved the pets of the elite class and citizens alike, soon they will be demanding answers. The pressure of their eagerness is not something that Orphe wants to work with.

His thoughts lingered to the conversation he had with Raoul. The mongrel pet once obsessed over by Iason Mink seems to be involved in the collapse of Dana Bahn. He was in dire need to seek for an answer and find the connection between those attacks but with his men deployed all over Ceres and Midas to seek out the ex-pet, there was not much he could do.
Right now, he had to deal with the matters at hand, problems which cannot be solved through the terminals.

"Came to join the party, Orphe?" Aisha Rozen chided "It's rare to see you out of your office these days,"
As usual, Orphe found Aisha at a lounge sipping his wine with a carefree manner. Next to him, Gideon sat leaning near to the window, taking in the breathless sight of Midas spread across him as far as the eye could see, with the sore spot of Apatia's collapsed structure in the distance.
"I thought with the recent case you would not even step away from your terminal,"

"There are some things that cannot be solved through the terminal," He snapped at Aisha, not really favoring his carefree attitude. Aisha may be the blondy that hold the less power in the syndicate but that does not mean he could sit here, slacking the day away.

"Don't be sore, sit down and have a drink with us," Gideon Lagat look away from the window, raising his glass at the head of security.
"Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury of drinking with you both," Orphe refused "Gideon, I heard that your pet was caught in the events of the bombing in Apatia,"

Gideon's eyes lit up, as if he was surprised to be asked by Orphe.
"She was," Gideon replied "She manage to escape with only a few scratches, but is now hospitalized for monitoring, though I think it's high time that I get a new pet, however,"

"May I speak with her?" Orphe asked, Gideon was even surprised that the blondy was asking favors of him, though in truth, it would be more of a hassle for Orphe to seek out other pet owners or anyone else who was involved in the incident.
"If you must, though even if I say no, you would probably use your status against me," Gideon finally said, finding the matter very amusing indeed "She's in the central, room 508 it seems. My furniture is attending to her even as we speak,"

Orphe turned away wordlessly but paused in his track when his wrist terminal beeped in attention. At the same time, both Aisha and Gideon's wrist terminal was sending alerts too. Activating the hologram, Orphe could only frowned at the latest news on the screen.

There was yet another bombing, again.


When Guy awoke, he could hear the occasional beeps and alerts of Riki's data slate. It was high noon and the bright light of day filtered through the gaps of Guy's barricaded windows. Riki was on the bed, donning on a simple black singlet. Guy could see the numerous scars that littered his body, prove that the events of Dana Bahn really did happened, as much as he tried to deny the guilt that followed after it.

However, watching Riki's concentrated face as the mongrel focused over his work on his data slate could send a jab into Guy's heart, as he understood what and who Riki was actually working for, unlike the last time. No matter the circumstances, there was still a twinge of jealousy within him.
Pulling off the sheets, he got out of the couch, recalling his chores for the day. Riki seemed to ignore him, drowning in his own work.

"Morning," Guy finally said from behind the counter after refreshing himself. Only then, did Riki raised his head to acknowledge him and correct him, noting the time on his dataslate that announced noon instead. Guy simply shrugged "Working again?"
"What else would I be doing, now that I no longer am able to go to the office…" Riki's answer was simple and his gaze were still fixed on the screen. This however irritated Guy more.

"Are you sure it's worth it?" He suddenly asked "What would you gain from all this?"
Riki ignored him, casually typing away.
Silence enveloped them as Guy drowned in his awkward attempt for conversation. There was a visible knit of the brow on Riki's face, indicating how the ex-leader of Bison do not want to pursue the matter any further.
"How would you know if that blondy would even want to see you again?" Despite that, Guy just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Riki immediately raised his attention to Guy, who stood idly behind the counter, staring back. He knew he shouldn't have said that, but it somehow had slipped through. Maybe the longing he still had for Riki had not disappeared, maybe it never will, but the look that Riki was giving him right now seemed to echo in pain and longing, one that Guy had never witnessed before.
But that face was completely wiped off without a trace in a mere second when Riki set down his data slate, a terrible air around him.

"Whose fault did you think it is?" Riki replied, his gaze fixed on Guy.
This made Guy stop, considering how he was the one at fault, plunging Riki and Iason into this mess.
"Don't even think for one second that because I didn't say anything I have already forgive you, Guy," Riki spat, switching off his data slate and getting out of the bed.

He grabbed his jacket from the peg and wordlessly left the house, leaving Guy to feel the sharpness of his own words against his chest.


This time, it was Mistral Park's entrance. A particular statue of Jupiter that was erected there had blew up, collapsing on those who passed through. There was minor casualties, due to the fact that it happened early in the morning, when many was still sleeping their dreams away in Midas. Yet thankfully and the damage wasn't as big as the one in Apatia. Orphe stood at the site, arms crossed. He was furious that the terrorist manage to slip through the securities that he had imposed around Midas. The unknown was irritating him terribly.

He had skipped the talk with Gideon's pet and immediately rush here in his car. Drones and rescue men were busy clearing the dirt away to see if anyone was still trapped in the rubble. He look about, taking note of the few cameras in the surroundings. How had the terrorist escape their attention? How did they actually bring the explosive in to the park?

"My lord, you should probably see this," One of his men said from a distance. The blondy walked towards the spot, threading carefully upon the dirt and there, where the sand and rubble were cleared away was a small graffiti on the concrete pavement.

An image of a skull with gaping eye sockets and a grinning jaw glared back at him.


Ceres, the dirt clumping on the street, the inhabitants drowning in their own twisted kinds of pleasure, very much different from the kinds that Midas enjoyed. Drink cans littered the street and the brats freshly graduated from Guardian carelessly rode their bikes around, getting into street racing, plainly causing havoc in their wake.
This is Ceres, the forsaken city that had fought for freedom and yet could only wallow in the bitter taste of their own medicine. To the people of Ceres, there was no meaning to life except to find outlets to cure their boredom, striving not to just get swallowed up by time and age in this gutter.

At this part of the city, it was quiet, shadows stretch along every corner, making it as dark as night. People who traveled through here would just tripped or get lost if they weren't familiar with the nooks and corners of the walls and the pavement. To Riki, it was the path that he took every day so that he could get to Katze's office.

He had stayed coop up in Guy's house for three days already. It was hard for a wild person like him to stay low but what Guy spluttered out a moment ago stabbed him like a million knives and he had walked out of the door in the moment of heat.

How would you know if that blondy would even want to see you again?

The word echoed through his mind, lingering like a thorn in his meat. Of course Riki had considered this before, knowing how Iason had manage to move on without him. He had a new life, maybe a new pet. Jealousy stabbed him even harder as he thought of the possibility of a new pet in Iason's embraced, the place that he loathed very much yet now longed to be.
Riki had lost even the most important thing that would qualify him as a man. What had once been Iason's most favorite plaything had been ripped away from him by force. Why would an elite blondy like Iason Mink would want an incomplete being like Riki?

He felt something sank in him. Why was he carelessly chasing after a shadow that has left him, for good? What was his effort for? Guy might be right. Iason might be curious and interested of him due to the gap of his memories, but if he did found and understand the meaning behind it, Riki would be thrown away, an incomplete existence like all the other pets that had been disposed of because the term of their usage had expired.
It was stupid to let what Guy said get to him. Riki knew that his ex-pairing partner still harbor a longing for him, and jealousy had led the words to be spat out of his yearning lips. Riki had not want to return being a pet again but he was carelessly grasping on to the existence of Iason Mink, who had snatched away everything from him and even deny him death.

He leaned on the wall and sank to the ground, feeling something died within him yet again, the same feeling he felt when he first woke up, with nothing left but his own miserable life.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps in the distance, walking up to him with a steady pace. He smell the smoke in the air and lifted his head, taking note of the scarlet hair and the huge scar across his face.
"What is it?" Riki muttered, clearly not in the mood to see his boss
Katze stared back at the mongrel, seeing how pathetic he looked crouching against the wall, defenseless and sulking yet again, a face that he had not seen ever since Riki left the room that Katze locked him in.

Katze had decided to take a detour on his way back from work when he noticed Riki's tracker was out of place. The wrist terminal that Katze loaned him had a tracker system and seeing how Riki was out of the house in a dangerous time had made him decide to pay the foolish mongrel a visit, only to find him pathetic and wallowing in his own self-pity.

"Get up," Katze said, pulling the mongrel up after he had smothered his cigarette bud on the floor and Riki complied, crawling to his feet and shaking the ex-furniture away.

"What do you want?" Riki spat, pocketing his hand, his usual attitude resurfacing again.
Katze glance back at him as he patted the dirt out of his clothing.
"Iason was really glad that you made it out of the tunnel alive, you know,"

"Yeah," Riki only replied "Whatever," He turned to leave, clearly, Katze was here to remind him of his stupid house arrest again.
Seeing how lifeless he is though, Katze couldn't resist an irritated frown.
"I wonder who was it that announced so proudly that he want to make Iason pay for forgetting about him?"

Riki paused.

"Who was it that do not want to be his pet again but instead yearned to stand by him in equal grounds?" Katze continued.
"Shut up, Katze!" The rising anger within the mongrel propelled him forward, stamping towards Katze when suddenly Katze's own wrist terminal beeped in attention. Still furious however, Riki paused and back away, sulkily pocketing his hand as Katze draw out the hologram from the device.

Mimea was looking back at the screen worriedly.
"Katze, I'm not sure if you should be taking note of this but the Midas police is currently in the central square," Mimea reported urgently.

Midas's Police? In Ceres? Katze glanced at Riki, remembering how the only time that the authorities actually came to Midas is on a manhunt for Kirie. Mimea moved away and allow the camera to focus on the distance where a fight seemed to be going on.

The uniforms of the police were visible on screen, three of them around the square, one was locking a man in his arms and two more others were visibly kicking another on the ground. Riki's eyes widen when he saw the face of the victims.

"Cid! Norris!" He called, his jaws clenching. Immediately turning away from the screen, the mongrel ran in the direction of the square.
Shocked, Katze shut off his screen and gave chase. Clearly he wasn't as much of an athlete compared to Riki who had all his life to train in Ceres. It was not long when he lost sight of Riki, turning into one of the numerous corners of the streets.

Katze could only cursed under his breath. He could not let Riki go into the square and show himself to every eyes, especially with the Midas Police there. Cid and Norris seems to be the name of Riki's friends back in his Bison days, and it was clear to Katze that they were there in order to lure Riki out. That means that Raoul was very much aware that Riki is alive. He needed to stop Riki, quick.

To Riki, his blood was pumping with the excitement and the panic that had gripped him when he noticed the face in Katze's hologram. Why was Cid and Norris getting tormented by the Midas police? Every ounce of strength within him propelled him forward. He remembered the cruelty of the Midas Police. No, pain from being kicked and beaten was nothing compared to what they do if they drag you off to the station.

There's no way he would allow that to happen to Cid and Norris, not after their own experience years ago.

The square wasn't quite far off. To Riki who had grew up in the slums and knew every shortcut that would lead him there as fast as possible, it was only mere minutes when he finally found himself in the square, the afternoon sun glaring to his eyes.

Norris was on the ground and the two police above him was hitting him with their baton, seemingly enjoying themselves as a struggling Cid was held back by the other police.
A loud cry of anger as Riki propelled forward, his fist raised. The next thing he heard was a loud crack and the feel of flesh on his fist. Everything seem to slow down. The blood rushed through him as Riki once again taste the strength that had once cruised through him as he led Bison to the top of Ceres.

The police paused and suddenly got back to his senses, running towards Riki with his baton raised. Riki raised his feet, successfully grounding the latter. "Norris!" He shouted and ran towards the heap on the floor. Cid seem to manage to regain his senses and elbowed the police that held him, managing to jerk out his grip. Using his knee right into the police's face, the latter was soon on the ground with a broken nose.

"R-Riki?!" There was astonishment in Cid's voice. His face was battered and bruises was blooming through but he was far better off than Norris who sat limply in Riki's arms.
However, there was no time for greetings. Norris was in really bad shape. Cid seemed to consider his options for a moment, still speechless at his ex-leader right in front of him.
"What are you doing here?!" He shouted "Those police were after you! Why do you think we were attacked?!"

Suddenly, Riki seemed to remember the position he was in. He looked around and saw the numerous people that had gathered around the square. There was obviously some familiar faces around and he could hear the whispers that started to spread like wildfire among them.

"That's Riki of Bison—"
"I thought he was dead?"
"His back!"

Riki got up, on high alert. In the heat of the moment he had totally forgot that he had a price over his head. What was he hiding all this time for if he was going to carelessly run out in plain sight for all to see?

There was a loud noise from one corner as the crowd parted. A cold feeling rose to Riki's throat when he saw that more men spotting the Midas Police's uniform surrounding them. He turned away and scanned the crowd, noticing Katze and Mimea in one corner, hidden away. Anxiously trying to find a way to do something.

Cid seemed to whisper the warning.
"Run, you fool!"
But Riki was froze to the spot. Confusion, foolishness and fear clamped his feet down as one of the police came at him.
"You are coming with us," He said.

The fist that propelled forward was out of Riki's control as he took down the police. At the same moment, more would rush forward and there were screams all over the square as bystanders started running away as so to not get caught in the chaos, allowing more space for the police to move.
Riki fought, taking down one police after another but there was at least half a dozen there and with the help of an electric prod, the next thing Riki knew was the sharp pain in his chest as he sank into darkness.