I woke up lazily and weary from a good nights sleep and crawled out of bed. My hand placed softly on the phone that was charging at my bed side.
No messages were received.
I didn't care.
Unlike the last few weeks where, upon me awaking, the apartment was filled with the aroma of batter and syrup, today I smelt nothing. I heard no pots clanging in the kitchen or sinks turning on to wash off spoons that had been used to mix.
I heard no laughter or sweet talk from my roommate and her girlfriend.
No TV in the background to fill the empty, void silence- I wasn't even sure if I could hear birds outside or if I just wanted to hear them so my brain played a tape from my memories.
Sitting in my bed still, I scratched my head rather tired and then kicked the covers off me.
I didn't bring my phone with me to the bathroom, it needed to charge.
I brushed my teeth and stared at myself, rather drably, in the mirror.
It seemed as though the world around me was in color but I was stuck in black and white. Everything seemed so mono-toned, so boring.
I needed more excitement in my life- I couldn't keep sitting around in that damn guitar shop all day- It wasn't going to help me. It wasn't fun.
That's when I remembered what I was told.
What Nicole told me.
A job.
I shot back to my bedroom, tripping over my own clumsy self, and grabbed my phone to message my old friend about her... offer.
Now I know what you're thinking, ' Jack, You're losing your mind! Working for a gang?'
And to that I say, ' I don't need to explain myself to you, Who asked for your opinion in the first place?'
I'm kidding, of course.
I was in this gang before- They were a family to me. I trusted them and they could trust me and I was near certain anything they gave me I would be able to handle.
I wasn't looking to become a thug again- To start picking on the innocent.
But I needed something to keep me going- Something to hold my interest longer than metal heads and hipsters.
I found her contact in my phone and called.
It rang.
I sat.
It felt like a year as I waited.
I began to realize that maybe I was going in too deep. Maybe this was a sign, Maybe I didn't need to get back into the gang life. Maybe I-
" Hello?" I heard Nicole's voice ring from the other side, " Jack? You there?"
" Y-Yeah. I'm here." I stuttered.
" What's up? You need something?"
" I need a job."
The line went almost silent. I could hear some whispering in the back, shuffling as they moved around where they were.
" Jack? You still there?" Nicole asked after a few moments of silence.
" Yeah. I'm here." I responded.
" Meet me at Smiling Jacks at two? We can talk then?"
I agreed.
I hung up and made myself a mental note.
Two o'clock. Smiling Jacks Diner at Two o'clock.
It was two thirty now and I was stuck in traffic just a block down from Smiling Jacks diner. I could see it in sight and the thought occurred to me that I should've left sooner- but me and logic had a falling out a little while ago.
I honked my horn in annoyance, waiting at the red light. I knew it wouldn't make things go faster and all I was doing was pissing off the roided up guy in the monster truck in front of me, but it was an impulse.
Finally the light turned green and I pulled into the parking space nearest to Smiling Jacks.
I threw the door open quickly and hurried over to the booth where I saw Nicole sitting. She was in the back of the Diner- No cameras seemed to be focused on where she was sitting.
She had a hoodie covering her, but I knew it was her. She bought that hoodie for Cody on their 5th anniversary.
" I'm sorry, I'm late- There was traffic-"
" Please, Jack, You're always fashionably late." Nicole interrupted with a laugh, " Sit down. You said something about a job?"
" Yeah. A job. Look, I need things to do. I'm hardly getting paid at this Guitar thing- I-I'm not askin' to be a lieutenant or to go off on a murderous rampage- I just need something to keep me busy. Something that'll get me paid well enough that I can do consecutively that could be considered almost steady living, Ya know?"
" I hear ya..." Nicole nodded, " I might be able to use your help, actually." She grinned, leaning closer to me. " You hear about the Deckers in these parts?"
" Yeah- The're part of the Syndicate." I shrugged, not sure what her angle was.
" They're a hacking group- They do crazy computer shit that I personally have no clue how to keep up with. We have a chick on our team- Kinzie- She's a great hacker, but there's always room for more people who know their way around a keyboard."
" So what's the plan?" I asked impatiently.
" Kinzie isn't... the best of fighters as of right now. She's not the most social and... she's probably listening to our conversation right now-"
" Oh- ew." I looked around me for anything that could be bugged.
" The thing is- Kinzie can do a lot of good things with just a computer- but just a computer can only go so far. The Deckers territory is almost completely untouched and Kinzie can't hack in and get us a lowdown because their servers are off our grids. We need to get their servers down- Make them vulnerable so she can get us in and we can start relaying any information they can give us on the Deckers. That's where you come in. You're better on the field than Kinzie, You've had more time sparring with Johnny than most of us- and you know a thing or two about computers still, right?"
" As long as a thing or two is good enough." I laughed.
" It'll be more than good- All you'll need to do is establish a virus into their mainframes... or... er... something like that- To be honest I really don't entirely understand this computer shit- look- Virus goes in with Kinzie's network attached. Kinzie takes control. Saints get in."
" Ok but the problem now is, Once the Deckers start realizing the Saints are hacking their shit wont the Syndicate be on your asses?" I took a bite of the fries that were delivered to our table.
" That's the thing- They wont have a clue. Kinzie has a way to disguise her network so we can't be detected. You're gonna be Jack- Clumsy Decker agent. We know someone who can set you up a meeting with Matt Miller, The leader of the Deckers."
" Wait- You want me undercover? No offense but... you know where Lin ended up right? I'm pretty sure they're still fishing up body parts of hers."
" Look, Jack- I know it sounds dangerous- But all you have to do is act like an idiot. Say you were... I don't know- Looking at porn. You got a weird email. It gave you a virus- You tried to login to their database but it spread- Just- Act stupid. If you play it off right- They wont know." Nicole shrugged, taking a sip of her drink.
" Right..." I sat quietly, looking at the table.
Could I really do this?
Going undercover would be hard- It would be way more difficult than anything I'd ever done before- But at least I wouldn't necessarily be set up to kill people.
But if I fucked up and gave my position away, The Syndicate would kill me.
" Look, I know its dangerous and I know it's a tough choice. But once we're in the mainframe- It's done. We can connect and take out their services. Take out their clients. But we need someone on the inside to make sure it all goes down and Matt Miller and the Syndicate know us WAY too well. You have the advantage. You were only a Saint for a short time back in Stilwater. They have no frame of reference to you. But look, If you can't do it- If you don't want to risk it, I understand."
" I'll do it." I spoke up, twiddling my thumbs under the table. " I can do it... Don't worry about it. Get me the meeting with Matt and the virus from Kinzie."
Nicole smiled brightly, standing up.
She picked up her purse and gave me a small wink before heading to the door.
" I'll let you know when the meeting is... A pleasure doing business with you."
" And you too." I smirked, sitting in the booth still.
I was back home now. It was later in the day, and I had just gotten the email about meeting with the Deckers.
Surprises of surprises I wouldn't be able to meet with Miller himself, But I figured it'd make sense. Why risk your leader if you don't know if you can trust the person yet.
And it worked out for us anyway.
He wouldn't meet me right away, He wouldn't have a chance to determine if he could trust me, or decide if I was worth it.
This would work.
I walked outside and to the meeting place I had been emailed- It was an alley just a few blocks down from me.
Just once I'd like to meet with a gang somewhere nice.
Somewhere classy.
Instead I get stripclubs, which aren't really fun for a gay man, and alley ways.
I perked my head up once I noticed the few Decker agents standing before me.
Now, normally I wouldn't make such a judgement so soon on someone until I had something to base it off of- But they were far from a subtle gang.
They wore black leather... everything with neon blue trim on it that was glow in the dark.
And I thought the Brotherhood was tacky- If I have to wear something like THAT. EVER?
I'll probably die.
No I'll actually die, that is the tackiest upon tacky.
That is trash lord supreme.
However, I put aside my judgement's and shook their hands.
" It's good to meet you."
" You're the agent we were told to meet here?" The Decker member standing in front of the other two asked. He must've been the Lieutenant. " You want in, You got in. We need all the help we can get right now breaking the Saints."
" Right." I shrugged. I don't want to be stuck on this- and drag the topic on and on but of all the alley ways I've ever been in throughout my lifetime, This was probably the darkest, grimmest alley I've ever seen. The paint on the buildings looked as though they were chipping away- The stone walk-way had some stones missing and others raised so high you'd fall flat on your face if you weren't careful walking.
Wires hung down low from the buildings and the dumpster beside us was filled and probably hadn't been emptied in months.
Did I mention it stunk?
" So where am I going?" I asked impatiently, my arms crossed.
" You can come back with us to the Deckers HQ. We can discuss more there." Their Lieutenant spoke.
" I-I can't right now I uh... I need to go pick up my grandmother. She's sick. Was in the hospital- Ya know... Family things." I thought up a lie. Probably not a good one. Oh well.
" Oh-... well uh..." The Deckers Lieutenant shrugged and scratched his head in thought." Our territory is located at the Burns Hill and Steinfield districts on the far north-west side of Steelport.
" Understood." I nodded.
" The main HQ is in the Burns Hill Reactor. I'll keep by the door and watch for you to come by. We'll discuss more there once we're in safer territory." The Lieutenant waved me off and got in his car with the two other members following. " We're having some guests tonight. You can stop by then- We hope to see you."
And just like that, they sped off.
I know I said before that I don't really think over my situations very well- I don't normally take in the consequences of what I may be about to do- but it was all becoming a little too real to me now.
I was going to have to get in to the Burns Hill reactors- Find their mainframe and hack it- And keep it vague enough that they wont notice it.
I could do this- If the Saints needed me to do it, I certainly needed the money- I could hack it and get out.
Now all I needed to do was head off to meet with Nicole and Kinzie. They'd give me the virus I could inject.
I pulled out my phone and began to dial Nicoles number- However, I was stuck half way through the number.
These Deckers- They were good. Now they knew me. At least some of them did- Including their Lieutenant.
If Kinzie was as good as a hacker as Nicole claimed she was- and the Deckers were able to block her out- Certainly they'd be able to tap my phone calls.
I'd need a better way to meet with Nicole. But how?
It'd have to be vague and discrete so that no one noticed.
I was only a block away from my home- So I could go and get dressed- Change into a more shady appeal to cover my face- and then just walk into the Penthouse that was now owned by the Saints, However, if I looked shady the Saints, themselves, would probably shoot me. None of the Steelport Saints know me very well- I have a hard time believing I would be able to reach Nicole before one of them tried to stop me.
Thats when it dawned on me.
I was a block away from my house, But I was maybe a minute from Daves.
I was sure he had a phone- One the Deckers wouldn't have suspected. I could call Nicole from there- Even if I told Nicole a fake name, She'd certainly recognize my voice- especially once I told her I had met with them.
The only difficulty now would be explaining it around Dave.
I still didn't know him so well and I wasn't sure how much he particularly liked gangs. I figured, as most civilians would, he probably didn't.
But it was my best choice right now.
I had to get to Daves apartment.