Chapter3: Unretired

Ralaport was a large place. It was in itself a city although it wasn't classed as one. People had moved in from all over the place as it had created a lot of new jobs. Business had sprung up all over the place as the area had grown until it was now almost as big as Donau or Fletz. Nobody had bothered to class it as a city and so it was still known officially as a large town although everyone thought of it as the former. The men after parking the limo in a dodgy garage and having spoken to a man with a front tooth missing entered into one of the main lobbies of the port. They bought tickets from a desk and were lead away by a staff member who lead them to one of the large green ports. The room glowed green with a small point in the middle where all the light and glimmers seemed to meat up. The attendant was dressed in a white lab coat and he told them all to lay down and put their hands behind their heads. This they did on small black benches that were in the room. The attendant left the room and in a flash of green they all disappeared.

Moments later they appeared in similar room with a jolt. The doors slid open with a hiss and a woman in a lab coat entered.

"Thank you for porting with us. We hope you have a nice day," she smiled guiding them through the doors.

"If any of you are feeling light headed or dizzy please speak to our councillor who will look over any problems or aliments that you may have experienced"

Entering a large blue-carpeted lobby they handed their tickets over to the desk man who said, "Welcome to Bale sir," to each in turn.

"It doesn't feel good to be back," replied Megufu. Turning he followed the two men towards the exit. Passing down some escalators and down some corridors they passed out onto a busy road. The unshaven man hailed a taxi and they drove off again Megufu in the back seat with the former driver.

"What's your name?" he asked for the first time

"Revian," he replied with a shrug, "What's the deal?"

"I just like to know names that's all," replied Megufu, "You work like this often?"

"All the time. I get breaks on weekends. I never do anything serious though, you people do that not me – I just drive or help drive. Rikki over there does other things. I've worked with him before and he's done some serious stuff"

"Like what?"

"Oh that would be telling now wouldn't it?" he replied ominously

They arrived at another dodgy garage where they picked up a different limo that was silver and smelt of Pai Smoke. This time Rikki the unshaven man drove and they went through the city streets of Bale. Bale was different to Donau in many ways. For a start there weren't so many flowers. The city was built up a lot more with skyscrapers and large buildings all over the place. The magi-wheels always seemed to drive slower in Serdio and the journey likewise seemed to take longer. They passed down long roads and finally came to Virage head quarters – a large hotel on the outskirts of the city.

The dodgy men checked in and lead Megufu into the lift where they pressed the button for the top floor. Nobody looked them directly in the eye. The noise of the lift hummed and the two men put their hands behind their leather jackets. Megufu waited anxiously examining the buttons on the lift. Two new sub floors had been added since he'd last been here. They both required keys.

Eventually they arrived at the top floor of the building where the two men lead Megufu to double doors – the penthouse where the boss lived.

Revian knocked on the door.

"Come in!" called a dry voice. Rikki nodded to Megufu and the three of them walked in one on either side. The room was bright yet extremely dry. Sun came in through large wall sized windows at the end of the room yet all the other walls were covered with books and paintings. The boss sat in the centre a slim, tall dark haired man in a bright white suit. He stood up and walked across the carpet. He stood in front of Megufu and looked him up and down.

"Red hair?" he asked coldly

"I felt like a change," returned Megufu equally cold, "I was bored of black, so I'm dying it red now. I was… retired"

"Yes…" said the boss with no trace of emotion in his eyes he turned away and walked back to the desk, "I'm sorry about calling you up Megufu. You're good. The plan fell apart when as you were told on the phone, the agent on the job was killed. There was nobody good enough to take his place except you and you were no longer among us. I can't back down on a big job, its one thing that doesn't happen in Virage. I took decisions and decided that you would be the best person to do it…"

"What is… it?" asked Megufu raising his eyebrows

The waved a hand at the two drivers, "Leave us. I trust Megufu well enough"

The two men looked at each other and then nodding left the room closing the doors quietly behind them.

"Watch this," he said dryly.

The boss walked over to a large image box in the far corner of the room. Taking out a tiny green cube from his pocket he inserted it into a slot. An image came on screen and Megufu came closer. He walked passed the desk and came to stand near but not too near the boss.

"Scientists and experts all over Serdio were today confounded by the discovery of a strange rock. Over the mountains of the lime stone caves a fisherman who fished in one of the small rivers that flowed through the mountains discovered a strange black rock. The rock which was handed over to geologists and eventually top-notch scientists was not identified but seemed to have strange fields of energies round it that could be detected using scientific equipment only. The unidentified rock was taken to the Black Tower in Kanzas the head of magical research in Serdio. There tests will be beginning on it right away to determine exactly what it is. So far the energy detected in the rock is enough to equal that of four city blocks…"

The boss turned the screen off. He turned slowly to look at Megufu with a glint in his eye, "I want it"