Friends in Odd Places
An inFamous Story
By The Enigmatic Man
Rating: (T)
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Disclaimer: The characters in this story are from the video game inFamous and therefore they are all owned by Sucker Punch. All other characters belong to me.
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Author's Note: This story takes place on the same day as Chapter III making Chapter III & Chapter IV both Day 43.
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Nature is a truly wonderful thing that hardly anyone ever stops to take notice of. Some people go their entire lives without ever simply looking up at a beautiful full moon or play games to guess the shapes of the fluffy white clouds in the baby blue sky. For some, it takes the worst of times for them to stop and appreciate the beauty of nature itself.
Richard Branson seemed like the ordinary cutthroat businessman to everyone else but everything he earned was spent to financially support his adorable baby girl along with his amazing wife Linda. Although unlikely in this day and age, Richard was the "bread-winner" for his family but only due to unfortunate circumstances. In an act of love and hormones, Richard accidentally turned his girlfriend Linda into the only pregnant teenager in the small town of Union, Connecticut. Linda's parents were devastated and threw her out of her only home and when Richard's parents refused to be the town's main topic of gossip, both teens soon found themselves without a place to stay. Linda became a drop out while Richard had to work several minimum wage jobs just to keep their stomachs barely full. They both moved from homeless shelter to homeless shelter trying to figure out how they were going to raise this child once it was ready to be born.
Months later, Richard was accidentally tripped by the man who would eventually turn his life around. When the man asked Richard why he was in such a hurry, Richard explained as fast as he could his current position. The man, Sam Turner had been touched. Mr. Turner was the head of a large billion dollar corporation and offered Richard a job that would help get him out of his predicament. Richard's job would be in the always busy Empire City.
Richard quickly bought a home for Linda and the baby in Connecticut while he worked for countless hours back in the office at Empire City. The only time he left Empire City was when his daughter was born. He promised his wife he would make enough money to start his own company and then he would be with his family all the time. Shortly after Richard Branson became a dominating force in the business world, there was an explosion in Empire City. Everything he had worked for was gone and the realization that it might be months until he sees his family again drove him into a depression. Not even the heroic Cole MacGrath that everyone was talking about could rejuvenate his hopes.
The midnight breeze blew gently across his face as he noticed the moon's crescent appearance. After several minutes, he finally opened the door and entered the bar. Business was slow like everything else in Empire City but there always was a decent amount of people willing to drown their sorrows with a cold drink and Richard was no exception.
"Hey Rich, it's a nice night tonight huh?" The bar owner said cheerfully as he saw his old friend make his way to one of the stools.
"The moon looks beautiful…" Richard answered quietly as he took his seat and rested his face on his knuckles.
"So, what'll it be this time Rich?" The owner said with a smile as he placed an empty glass in front of him.
"How long Lou?" Richard asked gravely, ignoring the glass and the question.
"Today makes it day forty-three Rich…Come on, have a drink. The quarantine's going to be lifted any day now." Lou stated with an ample amount of hope in his voice.
"Did you hear about Electric-man?" Richard inquired as he began examining his glass.
"Yeah, I heard he was taken to some top secret government facility. They're probably doing all sorts of tests on him." Lou declared as he crossed his arms.
"I wonder what's going to happen now that Empire City doesn't have its hero." Richard asked as he finally put his glass down. "I'll take Jack Daniels on the rocks."
"I can only imagine…Here you go this one is on me. No free refills though." Lou said as he poured the drink in front of him.
"…I miss them so much Lou. I miss my family." Richard said as his head fell into his palms.
"I know Rich. But hey, that guy over there is having just as much of a hard time." Lou said after putting Richard's drink down. He then began pointing at the man sitting at the end of the bar.
"What's his story?" Richard asked before taking a sip of his drink.
"I'm not entirely sure but he was mumbling something about it being his fault that his buddies' girl is taking a dirt nap. He's been coming here every day for the past couple weeks. I heard he didn't even go to get the cure on the bridge because he's so miserable. Well, I guess he's lucky seeing how that whole thing got scrapped once Electric-man showed up." Lou said as he picked up a cloth and began cleaning an empty glass cup.
"Damn, I guess we all have our demons to face…What's his name?" Richard asked curiously.
"Zack…No wait, Zain, or maybe Zaid…Oh yeah, now I remember. His name's Zeke." Lou answered.
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The windowless grey walls, cold metal chair, long flat table, and one small light fixture that seemed to hang from the darkness became overwhelming after the fourth hour began to slowly creep past. Suddenly, the sound of a door opening pierced the emptiness of the dark room. Footsteps slowly made their way toward her chair but then began to circle around to the other end of the table.
"Ms. Amy Dailey, graduated valedictorian and went on to study medicine. Ms. Dailey excelled to the top of her class and immediately enlisted into the E.C. Relief project weeks after the blast." The voice read out loud.
A thick folder filled with all sorts of papers and Amy's picture paper clipped onto the cover dropped onto the table.
"So how is it that an intelligent, lovely young lady such as you ended up in this horrible place?" the voice asked.
"I don't know you tell me. I was in Empire City when a group of soldiers kidnapped me onto their helicopter and I fell asleep on the way here. I woke up and saw this giant building in the middle of nowhere and I have no idea what's going on." Amy answered with her arms crossed across her chest.
"Well let me inform you on your task Ms. Dailey." The voice declared.
"Listen, I just want to get out of here. I'm supposed to be helping the people in Empire City right now." Amy demanded.
"Don't worry about that, the entire project has been put on hold for you." The voice said calmly.
"For…me? Why?" Amy asked with a puzzled look on her face.
"You're such an important person to us that we didn't want your mind wandering elsewhere. Anyway, I'm going to try and keep this as short as possible. We need to know everything you know about Cole MacGrath." The voice stated.
"I knew that's all you wanted me for. Well I'm not telling you anything about Cole!" Amy shouted.
"Haven't you ever wondered what happened to your sister?" the voice asked maniacally.
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J. Edgar Hoover Building, Washington, D.C.
He speed walked with a steady pace as he quickly passed by his colleagues with his papers in hand. The odd looks and soft whispers bounced off of him as if he were unstoppable in his quest to get the information from his head to someone else's ears. When he finally arrived at his destination, he let out a sigh of relief for making it that far before looking around him with paranoia. He finally opened the door to the patiently waiting woman who sat comfortably in her office chair.
"Oh my God, I feel like everyone is watching me. Are you sure about this?" the man asked as he began to close the blinds from the inside of the room to ensure no one will be watching.
"Yes I am and no one is going to come after you so calm down." The woman said as she sat in her chair that faced the wall.
"They could have my badge for this you know." He said while still holding onto the papers for dear life.
"I know that, now shut up and tell me what you found out." The woman demanded.
"Flight information confirms that the Air Force One took off three hours ago." The man stated as he began placing papers down one after another. "I couldn't get a confirmed destination but he did leave with a large amount of armed soldiers and considering the footage of Cole I found after the President's meeting, I would assume that his destination is where you'll find Cole."
"I can't thank you enough Peter. I really owe you for this one." The woman said as she turned her chair around and stood up in her neatly pressed suit.
"Don't worry about it Moya. You saved my skin plenty of times already. So what are you going to do?" Agent Peter Stanton asked.
"I have to break him out of there." Moya answered with firmness.
"Are you crazy!? I thought you just wanted to know where he was. I can't let you go through with this." Peter shouted.
"I have to Peter! You might not understand why but it's something I know I have to do." Moya replied as she started to take a look at the papers on her desk.
"Just tell me why at least. Why would you risk everything you've worked for to break that freak free?" Peter asked as he grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around to face him.
"Because I made a promise that he'd see freedom and I'm afraid of what plans the president has for him. I'm not asking you to come with me." Moya said as she quickly broke eye contact.
"You do the craziest things, you know that? First you volunteer to head down to Empire City because of the rumors that there's some super light bulb guy and then you actually confront him with only some glass separating you. Once your lie about that NSA agent gets brought into the light you still try to reason with that guy. I'll never understand you…but I can't let you go alone." Peter said after finally calming down to a more relaxed tone.
"…Thank you." Moya said quietly.
"So what's the first course of action?" Peter asked.
"Well seeing as how no one else is willing to risk their badges for this, we're going to have to get some back up." Moya declared.
"And where do you expect to find people willing to commit treason?" Peter asked as he crossed his arms.
"Empire City…" Moya said plainly.
"Wow, you really are insane." Peter stated with a smile.
"Fidelity, bravery, and integrity is our motto Peter. It's about time we followed it." Moya said.
END
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Author's Note II: I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you patient readers because I know the last few chapters haven't been the most exciting but this is where it gets good. Prepare yourselves for the most action packed chapter so far. Moya and her unlikely team break Cole out and believe me, there will be hell to pay! I also have a surprise twist for everyone in the next chapter so I hope you will join me for Chapter V: Jailbreak.
