Chapter eight
Alexander was lost. Utterly lost in a city he knew like the back of his hand. Seemed like he didn't knew the back of his hand that well. Not if he could get lost in the town he grew up in. He played in these streets like a little kid all up to his teenage years.

The DUP member had gone north till he hit the wall that surrounded the city, parting Seattle from the rest of the world. He knew it was meant for safety, but now it was like a cage. In the past Alex viewed that as something good, it gave him the feeling of security, but now with wild conduits that could attack at any given moment that feeling had faded. They couldn't just be up and about when the conduits were going to attack, it was always first over the wall, through the wall or under the wall.

The man could be the key to the solution and why he thought that was a mystery even to himself. This weird aura surrounded the stranger and somehow it allured to Alex. He just felt like the guy had something to do with it all, maybe he could save them, because if he was realistic Alexander knew that the fight between conduits and the DUP was lost before it even began. A lost battle they still were going to fight, but he knew their loses were going to be gigantic comparing with those of the bio-terrorists. It wasn't hard to see coming, even without a freaky power to see in the future, but those who led them were all too stubborn to see their own faults, their own faults in their own system.

In a way Alexander understood them, accepting your failures was harder than it seemed and he knew it better than others. The faults ran through his family's blood. His grandmother had been a failure, injecting god knows what into her veins. His dad had inherited the same habit from his mom, like it ran through his blood and he took to it as easily as others do to breathing and sleeping. Fleeing when Alex was born didn't help him get his standards up, however he came back after seven hard years and the good old man bettered his life for sure. No longer did drugs rule his entire being and he actually cared for Alexander and his wife. He went out with more respect from his son than expected. It didn't mean that he himself was a pure saint, not at all, but at least he could say he never let his own kid and girlfriend behind and he was quite proud of that.

The DUP system was far from perfect but it was all the small town of Seattle still possessed as any sort of defense mechanism. Police was long gone from the street, paramedics were a foreign concept and being a firefighter didn't mean what it once meant.

A firefighter in the Seattle of now meant you liked to set people and buildings on fire, was blunt out a pyromaniac, it was mocking the system and it worked quite well, got under the higher up's skin, but not good enough to bring the man in red back. There were no resources for and getting the casernes up and running again wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

The system had it flaws, many at that, but it was the only thing the people could rely on. It was safe, because they all knew that the new and unknown was seen as danger. Who knew what it brought with it?

It had brought them the bio-terrorists. The conduits, even though that word was weird when spoken out loud nowadays. The bio-terrorists had powers beyond their imagination and what had they, the DUP? Mere human weapons, rifles, launchers and some grenades, just scratched their skin, if aimed right on the soft spots, and sometimes if they were lucky it would be burrowed into their flesh, hurting for a second before they bit through the bitter apple. When they bit through the bitter moment it'd just plop out of the wound and suddenly the wound was just soft skin like that of a baby. Alexander knew, had seen it plenty of times.

A lost battle really. It hadn't even started and he already knew they were never going to win.

Just as lost as Alex was at that moment. Somewhere in the outskirts of town, dragging himself through the streets of ruined Seattle. Wondering about things he should've already forgotten, but still thought about every now and then.

He lifted his head up, eyes shifting from his shoes to eye level. He saw a few old buildings to the side, looking like they almost were going to give out, probably were. In front of him the street was empty, here and there a lost animal and sometimes, if he kept a watchful eye out, he could see some shady figure sprint through the open street, illuminated only by the soft light of the lanterns.

This was one of the slums of Seattle, not many people lived there anymore and if they did it was because they wanted to be left alone. And why they wanted to be left alone was better left unspoken. It wasn't legal, but no one who looked around for that. The police wasn't around anymore and the criminals damn well knew the DUP had their own slur of problems. Bio-terrorism troubles. They didn't mend in with their business and vice versa. All was fine if they just kept to themselves.

He knew for a fact that he stood out. With his uniform still on and with his pistol swinging at his belt. It was no wonder he was easy to spot between men and women, who kept their heads down, wearing layers and layers of dark clothes. He wore a bright yellow and black suit, almost glowing in the dark night. You could see him coming from China. Not quite the undercover suit.

He also knew for a fact that the man he searched for would blend in perfectly fine. The ripped clothes and tattoos indicated he came from the street, had the smarts to survive in the hood. Yes, his mystery man would blend in just fine. He kept his own head down, had scars to prove he wasn't an easy target and his backpack looked suspiciously heavy. Armed probably. Alexander didn't doubt his mystery person could defend himself.

Lost in his mind, Alexander didn't notice the shady figure that came his way. He looked like he was in haste, missing an appointment or coming too late. Neither of these things were true, but in haste he was. Alex didn't see the scars that defined his face or the tattoos crawling up his arms and peeking out from under the hem of his almost dissolved shirt.

A solid shoulder bumped against Alex's and damn it hurt. He stumbled back a few steps, trying to regain his balance before looking up at the stranger. Said stranger didn't walk away right away, took a moment to study the DUP member in front of him and Alexander mirrored his actions. Both men took each other in, neither ashamed they were staring.

Which resulted in a surprised gasp of Alex's. Mystery man right the fuck in front of him. Same tattered clothes, same spiraling tribal tattoos curling up the flesh of his arm, same scar on his face; going from his cheekbone to his collarbone; white and fade and some vivid piercing eyes fallen back in his face. Yes, this was for a fact Alex's mystery man. He eyed the bag on the man's shoulder with care and saw indeed something glister under the fabric. It wasn't your normal gun, it was something Alex never had seen, not even in the shady alleys from a long, long time ago.

Mystery man took his own time to take in his form. What a sight he must have made. The man, a boy really, dressed in a suit too big for his thin form, with his hair messy and his eyes misty. He smirked, bright and wide, and shook his head, before swirling around and walking away. Like Alexander wasn't looking at him with wide, surprised eyes. Like Alexander wasn't there.

The kid wore a bright yellow and black suit, five sizes too big and it swallowed him whole. It was a comedic sight to Cole and he took his damn time taking in the slender form of the young boy. If he met the kid seven years back he'd have laughed at his form, would have joked around with the other, but it wasn't seven years earlier and Cole hadn't got time for small talk and a smirk made its way on his face. Any other day Cole would have taken the clear invite to a cat and mouse game anytime, but now on his way to his new partner, he didn't have time for such fun activities.

Shame.

He was a DUP, no doubt in his mind and he was looking for him, if the wide eyes and the gaped mouth were anything to go by and yes they were. So long for his undercover work, but from the reaction he received, the boy didn't know he was indeed the beast, the leader. Or even a conduit for the matter. Which could work in his advantages.

He threw a glance over his shoulder, the mini form of the surprised DUP member was still there. Hadn't moved one tiny bit and somewhere inside of Cole a little small voice told him to go introduce himself. But Cole, even though he didn't look like he got any, did possess a tiny notch of self control and could if clear think quite rational, he still could come up with the thought that it wouldn't be the best idea to go over to the DUP boy and say: hi, I'm the leader of the conduits! Nice to meet you. That wouldn't work out well, not in any scenario.

But maybe, just maybe, he'd meet the boy later. Somewhere in the near future, maybe he possessed the gen.

''Just one way to find out…''

With a sigh he depressed that feeling to get to know the boy and stretched his palm out and concentrated. A invisible pulse vibrated through the air and when he opened his eyes again they were glowing slightly pink. He shot a look over his shoulder, the tiny figure of the boy now had a clear and shining aura around his contour.

The boy was entirely pink.

Shame.