It's two in the afternoon in the city of Soutriver, the city where Tayna "Komet" Bambadi lives - or lived, according to some people, who believe she is no longer alive. The day is cloudy, and the time of the year makes it not warm enough to go out without a sweater. On a positive note, it's not raining, nor it's going to rain anytime soon, which means Gabriel Smith doesn't need to worry about carrying an umbrella around this time.
Gabriel stands in front of a low cost apartment building. The building doesn't look good, but at least the owner tries to make it not look abandoned either. Next to him, stand his secretary - Sheila de Jong, a tall, white skinned woman with long brown hair - and a private detective - Arnold Fanger, a dark skinned man, short graying hair, smaller than both Gabriel and Sheila.
"Good lord, is this really the home of Ms. Bambadi? Pardon me, but I believe she could afford living in a better place, unless Diamlock Tech decided to not pay her well. It feels like someone will jump out of the alley and attack us anytime" asks Sheila, feeling a bit unsettled.
"I'll not question her choices or preferences" says Gabriel. "When are they arriving?"
"Anytime now, sir"
Only one minute goes by before they see a silver van going in their direction, parking next to where the trio stand. The driver leaves his seat and opens the sliding door, revealing a couple around their mid 40s. The woman has dark skin - darker than Komet's - brown eyes and curly light silver hair that goes down to her shoulders. The man has light skin, short curly dark hair, also brown eyes, short mustache and beard, and he wears glasses.
Gabriel raises his arm for a handshake. "Janaina and Inacio Bambadi, correct? I'm Gabriel Smith, your daughter's boss. I thank you in advance for helping us find the truth behind the attack on her"
Janaina is the first to walk towards him. She holds his hand with both her hands. "Mr. Smith, please, tell me… Do you also think there's no hope? That our sweet Tayna is probably dead…? This is what the police told us…"
He shakes his head. "I know the situation is dire. But if a body or any concrete proof of it is found, then we can't take her death for granted. Since we still have none, I still believe we can find her alive"
Janaina smiles, looking very grateful, although still sad. "Thank you, thank you very much! I… I thought I was crazy for believing we can still find her in life"
Inacio approaches Gabriel after Janaina releases his hand. "Oh, no, no, it's nothing! We will do everything we can to help find our daughter and make the criminal suffer! We are the one that should thank you for providing us a way to come here… Thanks to you, we had the time and the money to come, and now we can also take her belongings away before the stupid property owner throws everything away. He threatened to do it, after all… Are you sure you don't want any kind of compensation for that?"
Gabriel shakes his head and gives him a smile. "Money is not a problem for me, really. Don't worry about it, okay?". He gets closer to Arnold Fanger. "This is Detective Fanger. He will help us get to the truth"
"It's a pleasure to help you". Fanger waves at them. "Shall we go?"
They all nod and go inside, except Sheila, who goes in a small limousine and drives away. Since Fanger already arranged permission to enter Komet's apartment, the group goes straight to the set of stairs to reach the fifth floor, since there's no elevator there. They walk down the corridor and stop in front of a door.
"I-is that… Her home…?" asks Janaina. It's easy to notice the pain in her voice.
"I know you are afraid to see certain things, but don't worry, the apartment is mostly intact" says Fanger
"You can stay outside if you think this is better for you, honey" says Inacio
"N-no. We are taking her things together, especially when this is the first time we are coming here. I… I want to see how our sweetheart was taking care of herself…" says Janaina, still feeling a bit distressed
Gabriel looks at her, worried. "Mrs. Bambadi, I wouldn't recommend putting yourself through so much if this is gonna cause you nightmares…"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm a strong woman"
Gabriel sighs. "Pushing through your limits, huh? I see now where Tayna got those traits…"
Fanger opens the door. The apartment is a bit dusty, since no one's been around for three weeks. All four of them go in and look around: the apartment is small. In front of them, they see the bigger room. It seems to be the living room together with the bedroom, since a bed can be seen next to the wall. They also see a desk with a computer on it, and a small opened wardrobe on the left wall, revealing another computer. Also on the left wall, there are two entrances. One has a wooden door and the other is covered by a beaded curtain door. On the right side, there's another door. Some clothes and other stuff are scattered on the floor. They are not sure if it was Komet's or the investigators' doing.
Janaina looks at the room on the right. She walks towards it and reaches her hand to the doorknob, but she gets intercepted by Gabriel, who shakes his head.
"You really shouldn't go in there. It will only put you through unnecessary pain" he says
She looks at him, swallows hard and nods, walking away to go check the other areas.
"Aside from her mess, this is a nice apartment. I really hope they find her, so we can sit here and enjoy a day together…" says Inacio, lowering his head and leaving a long sigh.
Gabriel observes the poor parents in pain and also leaves a sigh. Fanger puts his hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "Whatever happened, we are going to bring justice for you all. I'm going to the room now" says Fanger
"I'll take a look too"
"Are you sure? They haven't properly cleaned this place yet, they only removed the blood smell at max. This might bring you some nasty nightmares"
"It really is fine, Detective Fanger. You can go ahead"
"Don't say I didn't warn you, kiddo." Fanger carefully opens the door and gets in. It's not an actual room, but a closet. Gabriel takes a look inside and sees everything dark. Fanger uses his flashlight to make the surroundings visible, revealing the crime scene.
The wall and the floor still have a lot of bloodstains. People who watch true crime documentaries can tell they were stabbing attacks. Gabriel doesn't get startled by that, since he has seen that in pictures already. In the end of the closet, they see something that seems burned down.
"Is that computer molten?" asks Gabriel, pointing at the burned object
"Wait, is that a computer? I couldn't even tell!" He takes a closer look at the object and looks back at the blond man. "You are right, it was a computer! But now it's just some burned leftovers of what was a screen, desktop and stuff". He puts his hand on his chin and cocks his head. "Looks like someone really wanted to destroy some evidence… How was this place not burned down? Impressive"
Gabriel clenches his fists and shakes his head. "How did that happen? That can be more problematic than what we accounted for… Do you know if we can take that with us?"
"Well, the Bambadis can. Do you want me to ask for their permission? I can arrange that"
"Yes, please. I'm sure that will give us answers the police will be incapable of finding. Now, if you excuse me, I'll leave you alone and go help the Bambadis. Take all the time you need". He waves at Fanger and turns around, looking at what the couple is doing.
Inacio is getting Komet's belongings and putting them in a corner outside. He goes back inside and gets the monitor from inside the closet. He turns around and goes outside again, and doesn't notice he drops something in the process. Gabriel looks towards the object that just fell: an item that looks like a pendrive with the logo of the Diamlock Tech. He knows very well what it is: the random pass generator to allow an employee to get access to the company's network remotely. Gabriel picks the object and puts it in his pocket, since it's his company's property. He looks towards Inacio, who is coming inside again. "I'll help you". He picks the desktop and takes it outside.
"Don't worry, you don't need to help me, Mr. Smith! I'm used to carrying stuff already. This job doesn't suit a businessman well. You get it? Suit… Businessman…"
Gabriel gives him a surprised smile, mostly because he doesn't want to be rude and honest about the quality of the joke, if that could be called a joke, that is.
Janaina groans while leaving the room. "It's okay, he does that very often… Especially when he is feeling very tense and sad…"
"A coping mechanism, huh… And often, you say…?" thinks Gabriel
Some time passes. They load the van with everything they can take with them. Detective Fanger goes down stairs and meets with the rest, while Sheila arrives with the car, parking next to them. Gabriel opens the middle door.
"Could you accompany us? We would like to talk more about your daughter" says Gabriel
"Sure! This is also why we came, after all" says Inacio. He holds Janaina's hand, who looks too embarrassed to get in the car. "What's up, honey?"
"O-oh, nothing. It's just that the car is very fancy… It feels like I'm overstepping something" she says
"You are doing nothing wrong, trust me" says Gabriel. "You are more than welcome inside!"
Janaina nods, still feeling shy. She carefully gets in the car. Inacio is less subtle: he goes in curious to know what it's like to be inside a limo. He would be very excited if the reason for being there weren't talking about his missing - potentially dead - daughter. He sits next to his wife. Fanger and Gabriel get in, sitting on the opposite side of the couple, facing them.
The car starts moving. As expected, the mood is down. The couple nervously waits for the questions. Fangers looks at Gabriel and nods.
The blond businessman looks at Janaina. "Tayna's hair is fully white just like yours. I've always wondered why she died it with such a different color, and it seems it's to look just like her mother"
"Oh!" Janaina brushes her hair with her hand. "It's not dye. Our hair is naturally like that… We have a rare genetic condition that makes our hair lose color at a young age. She was just unlucky enough to inherit it from me"
"Really? This is the first time I hear about this condition. Why would you say 'unlucky'?"
"Doctors said she would have a very small chance to get it from me, and it happened. Because of that… Well… You know how ruthless some kids can be sometimes… They would and did make fun of her when her hair started to lose the original color"
"But this man here raised no weak child!" says Inacio, pointing at himself. "I taught her to get back at them"
Gabriel blinks in shock. "Hold on. Did you teach her to beat up those kids?"
"Well… As much as I'd like her to do that-"
"Inacio!" rebukes Janaina
He grimaces. "Yes, yes, I know! We taught her to be better than that, of course!"
The atmosphere isn't tense anymore. Gabriel feels proud for making them warm up a bit, which will help the rest of the conversation go smoothly.
"She is a good girl," continues Inacio. "Since she usually got good grades in school, many kids wanted to be in her group, including the bullies. This is when we told her to not help the bullies with school activities, since she always liked to help her classmates. That would make them suffer the consequences of their actions!"
"I don't think she changed much from her childhood then. She's always helping her colleagues when they are in trouble" says Gabriel
"Our sweet Tayna!" says Janaina, looking proud
"But something went 'wrong'" continues Inacio. "At some point, she started to try to listen to the bullies and help them. Of course, some of them were just hopeless pieces of crap-"
"Inacio! This is not how you should talk about someone else's kids!"
Inacio looks and Janaina, feeling betrayed. "C'mon, honey! They were making our sweetie cry!" He looks back at Gabriel. "Ahem, anyway. As expected, some of them were just mean bastards in the end, but some of them actually changed and became less of a bully? This really caught me off guard, but I was proud of my daughter regardless! Even one of her best friends was-"
Inacio is interrupted by Janaina, who pokes him. He looks at her, and she gestures 'no' with her finger. His eyes widen a bit and he nods. Gabriel and Fanger look at each other but say nothing yet.
"Ahm, anyway, don't think she is a pushover. She pretty much knows how to stand up for herself, and this can make her a bit too stubborn at times" continues Inacio, scratching his head.
"Well, I can guarantee that she is still the same nowadays. Except for dealing with bullies, because we don't tolerate these kinds of people in Diamlock Tech, so we don't give her the chance to deal with them. Was Tayna always passionate about coding and programming?" asks Gabriel
"Well, she always played games and did things on the internet with supervision part of the time, after all, you know, there are too many people on the internet with bad intentions. But at some point we had to get extra jobs, so we couldn't supervise her as much anymore. We didn't even have much time to spend with her anymore… We noticed that her grades in school were dropping, and we decided to talk to her. This is when she told us she was doing 'computer things', and she believes she was doing very well at that"
"Computer things?"
"I think it was this programming stuff. Sorry, I don't understand technology much aside from doing some tasks on computers and using a cellphone" she says embarrassed
"Don't worry about it, I'm well aware that not everyone has the same interests or opportunities. Regarding the 'computer things', how old was she when she started studying about it? Did she always do it alone, or did she meet people with the same interests as her?"
"She was around 13 I think… And.. Oh… Yes… Yes, after some time, someone else was helping her…". Janaina holds her own hands and starts shaking her leg, looking away from them.
Gabriel and Fanger notice that she is feeling nervous again. Fangers leans closer to her and looks at her in the eyes. "Mrs. Bambadi, we are not here to judge her or her friends, or point fingers at them. We just want to find your daughter and whoever did those cruelties to her. What you tell us now will be kept between us. We guarantee we'll tell no one"
"...not even the police…?"
"Not even the police. Don't worry about it"
Janaina nods in silence. She gets her phone, scrolls for some time and selects something, then shows her phone to them. It's a picture of two young teenagers gesturing for the picture: Komet and Drake. "This boy… He is Richard… The police say he is the main suspect of the crime… But I don't believe he would harm her in any way. He is a good boy! They would always do computer stuff together. I know they were studying together. At some point she got a scholarship in a great school with great grades in that field! Then she had to move out of our house. And now she works for an amazing company, and even got promoted! If Richie was really a bad friend, do you think he would let her get that far?". She starts to get teary.
Gabriel stares at the picture for a few seconds. "They indeed look like they enjoy each other's company". He closes his eyes. "I can't tell if she doesn't know about their hostile encounters or if she just refuses to believe it. I guess I won't bother her with that"
"So, please, help us prove that he is innocent…"
"We will do anything that's within our reach"
"Thank you, Mr. Smith… You are in fact a great guy, just like Tayna said. She is very happy to be working for your company. She admires you, did you know that?"
Gabriel smiles. "She is a great person too. It's not for nothing that she got promoted after a short period of time, after all!"
Time goes on, and they talk some more, until there's no more questions to be asked. Sheila drives back to the apartment, where the van is waiting for the Bambadis. Gabriel opens the door and leaves the car, standing next to it. Inacio and Janaina leave after him, and lastly, Fanger. They exchange handshakes, and the Bambadis walk towards the van. Janaina turns at the two guys one last time. "I… I believe you will bring justice again"
Gabriel nods and waves at them. Janaina gets in the van after Inacio, and they leave Soutriver to go back to their hometown. Gabriel and Fanger get back in the limo. "We are going back to Diamlock Tech, Sheila". The woman nods and starts driving.
"Looks like they are aware of your huge help in solving that crime two years ago. I wonder if her daughter mentioned that to her. In any way, when they chose to not talk about something, especially when the police were mentioned, I thought it would be something severe, but they were worried about the guy that happens to be the main suspect. I wonder what's the reason for all that fear, and what you think about all the information we gathered" says Fanger
"I know very well why they dislike the police, Tayna told me the story involving her grandparents" He shakes his head. "Let's just say those bastards were too inefficient and brute more often than they should. Regarding the other things… It seems they are not aware of what she was doing during their absence. Nor they were aware of her depression, but this I knew as much. I just needed to confirm it"
"And what was she really doing during her parents' absence…?"
"Hacking"
Fanger looks surprised. "Hacking? As in… Hacker hacking? Invading systems and whatnots?"
Gabriel nods. "She was a gray hat before she joined my team. She breached our system to show her skills and try to get a job" He smirks. "You really need guts to do that. I'm sure she's aware I could have sent her to jail instead, and for that reason I interviewed her myself. But in the end, she abandoned her hacker handle and became part of the team, and proved to be a really hard working person. So hardworking that she overworks more often than not…" He slowly facepalms. "Now I see she learned it from her parents… She really needs to learn to moderate that"
"Ha, is that really coming from the biggest hardworker himself?" he laughs. "So… Who was she in the hacker world? What was the name she used?"
"Sorry, I can't tell that. In Diamlock Tech, only the person can reveal their own name to others, and only if they wish to"
"Tch, alright... So, what do you think about Richard Heion? Do you think he is innocent?"
Gabriel sighs. "That only makes me believe even more that he has something to do with the crime. He was probably her partner in hacking in the past, which would explain why he is so aggressive towards her nowadays. By the way, their last encounter was actually the second time he harassed her"
Fanger looks shocked. "Wait, really? Why didn't you mention that to the Bambadis?"
Gabriel looks at the window. "I'm sure you know they would stop revealing valuable information as soon as we started talking about Richard as a suspect…"
The car arrives in front of Diamlock Tech's main building not long after. Gabriel, Fanger and Sheila leave the car and start walking towards the entrance, but Sheila spots someone.
"Mr. Smith, I think there's someone waiting for you" she says in an unhappy tone
Gabriel looks at the 'guest'. It's an old guy wearing a police uniform and a badge. He has his arms crossed.
Fanger looks at the old guy and looks back. "I guess I'll go back to my office. Good luck, buddy". He taps Gabriel's back twice and leaves.
Gabriel looks at the guy and crosses his arms, visibly unhappy with the sudden visit. "Police chief Hawks. Did you make an appointment to talk to the CEO of Diamlock Tech?"
Hawks walks towards Gabriel. "Don't meddle in, Gabriel Smith. We are more than capable of solving this crime by ourselves. Go mind your business, literally and figuratively"
Sheila looks at the businessman, worried. "Mr. Smith…"
"Don't worry, I won't go overboard. I have an image to keep up, after all". He looks at the chief of police. "I am minding my business. That's about my employee, after all. As far as I know, it's not illegal to hold a private investigation"
"And then what? Are you going personally after the criminal? This is the police's job, Smith. It's our job to put order in this place"
Gabriel opens his arms. "Oh, that's great to hear! That's what I'm paying taxes for, after all. Because, you know, some years ago it felt like we were just funding donuts for your men, since apparently your force could do no better than just eating"
"It's been almost three years since the department has been restructured already" growls Hawks
Gabriel smiles incredulously. "Three years! Do you really think three years is enough time to clean the image of the police? I'm sorry, Chief Hawks, but just like the first time, I'll put my hands in this case. I know you hate to be reminded of that, but if it wasn't for my help two years ago, not even your donuts would trust you anymore"
He starts fuming. "How dare you talk back to me like that? You kids have no respect to the authorities anymore"
"How was the cybercrime division back then? Oh, right, inexistent. The only reason the police finally decided to move is because of The Dragon's terrorist attack, and you know this very well"
"I sure do, and this is why we accepted your help back then. We are thankful for your service, but your job is done already. The police can and will carry on alone now" he says in an imposing tone.
"Does it still hurt you that the police didn't take all the credit for capturing that dangerous hacker Hydra? Sorry for showing the people that maybe there might be hope for your force. I could just watch it for afar, but, you know, I don't want to see the society plunged into chaos because of collective incompetence"
Hawks grits his teeth, but then just rolls his eyes. He knows Gabriel is not wrong
Gabriel closes his eyes, slowly inhales and shoves his hands in his pockets. "Look. I can't take myself to fully trust the police yet. And I'm not the only one who thinks that." He shakes his head. "This is what happens when the police are a disservice for the population for years…" He then looks at Hawks in the eyes. "You can throw your tantrum all you want, I won't stop. Just like the last time, I'll keep doing my own thing, and you know you can't stop me. Now, if you excuse me, I have business to mind". He starts walking towards the entrance of the building with Sheila.
"Come back here! We are not done yet!" he yells, but Gabriel doesn't stop. Hawks punches the air in frustration. "Just don't go hiding crucial information from the police then". He shakes his head, turns around and leaves.
Sheila looks at Gabriel. "Pardon me, but you might have crossed the line a bit again… I recommend that next time you leave it to me. I can always make something up to prevent you from interacting with him"
Gabriel sighs while placing his hand on his forehead. "Yeah, I might have… I guess it doesn't matter how hard I try, my blood still boils when I remember how ineffective and indifferent they were back then... The nation was thrown into chaos, with all those scammers and hackers wreaking havoc. I can't believe a mass murder had to happen for them to finally move their butts out of their chairs". He shakes his head in disappointment.
"Mr. Smith… I know you always work hard for the people you actually enjoy it, but please, don't burn yourself out"
"Don't worry about me. This hard work will lead us to a peaceful future, and you know I'm not alone in this. Don't underestimate the power of the Diamlock Tech family-". Gabriel reaches for his pocket when his phone starts ringing. He motions to Sheila that he will be excusing himself, and walks away to a quieter place. He answers the call. "Hi, Doctor. Hopefully you are not bringing bad news to me"
"About that… I got the results… I compared the DNA from the blood with the database, and… Yes, it belongs to Tayna Bambadi. We have now the confirmation that-"
Gabriel's eyes widen in shock. He grits his teeth and clenches his fist. "No…! This… This can't be!"
William and Ferdinand lean on the corner, observing Drake packing up his stuff, especially his computers. He has to leave soon because Willian's parents will be returning from their long vacation in a few days, and they wouldn't be pleased knowing that their son is hosting a fugitive. Since Drake stated that he wants no one touching his machines, the two boys decided to take the time to talk about random things.
"Ugh, did you see the preliminary referendum poll released yesterday? Things are looking very rough for us… The votes are slowly shifting to the side of drastically changing privacy laws! They are willing to kick their privacy out of the window and give unrestricted access to the government just like that!" says Ferdinand, with his both hands on his head, almost about to scream in panic
"This is what happens when people are desperate for a solution. If you take all the food from them, they will eventually be grateful when you give them only crumbs" says William
"Did they already fucking forget how useless the police are?" says Drake
"Well… I know you hate to be reminded of that, but-"
Drake glares at him. "Don't you fucking dare mention it"
William throws his hands up, still looking calm. "Okay, alright. There's also something else. The police are making sure to show competence investigating the weird and brutal attack on a Diamlock Tech employee, and the media is making sure to broadcast their progress. You know good marketing does wonders, right?"
Drakes grunts
"L-last time I saw the news, they were suspecting that the attack was done by The Dragons. They are speculating that The Dragons are trying to get revenge on Diamlock Tech for…" Ferdinand swallows hard, already scared of Drake's reaction. "Y-you know… For what… happened… to Hydra…"
Silence reigns for a few seconds, making Ferdinand more tense and nervous. But for his relief, Drake breaks the silence less explosively than he expects. "Great. This is exactly what I needed. If they are not coming after me, then they are coming after The Dragons, which happens to have who? That's right, me!"
"So… How's your group right now, boss?" asks William
"Shambles. After Hydra died and Wyvern left, The Dragons mostly became a disorganized bunch, but still manageable. We can't always agree on what we are gonna do next. Lots of arguments and infighting. Some of them were enjoying the chaos before The Dragons became a target. Our group is only still strong because I exist"
"Sheesh, that sounds rough. Can you keep them on reins at least? You are the leader after all"
Drake grunts. "I was doing that actually. But, you know, now I need to focus on running away from the cops" He punches the table and shakes his head in frustration. "Fuck Tayna. Of all the days she could have died, it had to be on the same day I met that bitch. It's as if she wants to ruin my life even in death!"
"Woah, calm down, will you? That was out of the blue. Could you at least tell us why you hate her so much?"
"That's between me and her, regardless of her being dead or alive"
William stomps towards Drake. He puts his hand on Drake's shoulder and tries to forcefully turn him around, but Drake doesn't move. "Boss, Richie, Drake. We are helping you get through all this trouble. I think we deserve to know at least a glimpse of the story. I'm not saying that if you don't tell us we will think you are the assassin, but we are friends, you know?"
Ferdinand just stands out of the room, peeking through the open door. He is too scared to approach, especially now that William decided to actually confront Drake. The glare and silent treatment that Drake is giving to William makes him feel even more tense. So Ferdinand tries to go back to the original subject to try to deescalate the situation.
"W-well, we are still a few weeks away from the referendum, right? T-there's one last debate before we go to the polls, and the CEO of Diamlock will not skip that one, which means there's still hope for team privacy, r-right…?"
Drake quickly turns towards William and presses his finger against William's chest. "Listen here, William! Keep being nosy and you won't like what I'll do with you"
William just stands in place without even flinching. "Whatever, man. If you are gonna beat me up, then you can start already. I don't plan on stopping, you know?"
Drake glares at the nerd, who still remains in place. He slowly lowers his hand and looks away in frustration. "That bitch was a hacker. Hacker Komet to be exact. That's all I'm gonna say"
"Wait, WHAT?" say both William and Ferdinand in unison
"B-But… Hacker Komet was still active around, right? Are you saying that she was a hacker and worked for Diamlock Tech?" asks Ferdinand
"Was she threatening The Dragons or something? And how do you know her in person?" asks William
Drake just shakes his head and raises his voice. "Don't tell this to the police if you don't want to witness a shitshow"
"Well, yeah, especially when your answer gives us even more questions. This doesn't help your case, you know?"
"Which is exactly why I don't want to take part in that damn investigation. Do you get it now?"
William shakes his head while looking downwards. "Boss… What did you get yourself into…" He sighs. "You become a suspect for some recklessness. Then we find out that you are Drake from The Dragons. Then we learn that the victim, Tayna Bambadi from Diamlock is hacker Komet, in which you held a grudge with. Ugh, that means a strong rising hacker is gone… Let's just hope the police don't connect the dots, am I right?"
"You don't need to rub in my face that I'm very fucked, asshole" he gives William the middle finger. Then he gets the boxes that he packed and takes them to another room, next to the exit. Ferdinand quickly gets out of Drake's way, observing him going and returning a few times, until all the boxes are taken to the other room. Drake looks at Ferdinand, who flinches and looks away.
"Out with it" says Drake
"Oh… Oh! Uhh… I… I was just curious about how your life was… Your friendship with the Big Three… When you were all together… H-how they were like… I-I hope this is not a problem…!" Ferdinand stammers
Drake looks at him for a few seconds and then looks away. Then he sits on the boxes, rests his head on his hand and sighs. "Fine. It's not like this will hurt me"
"R-really? Thanks, boss!"
Drake nods. "It's no news for you that my blood family was, and still is, very shitty with me. My brother is clearly their favorite. When I still lived with them, it didn't matter how hard I tried, everything I did was wrong, while my idiot brother was always in the right. So I started to spend most of my time away from home, and of course, they hated it. If I was in school, I'd be at the computer most of the time. Out of school? In a cybercafé. Unfortunately I needed to go back home to sleep. I was 12 when I learned how to hack to bully my dumb family, especially my shitty brother, that excuse of a man. Boy, that was fun"
Ferdinand nods. William gets closer to Ferdinand and starts hearing the story too.
"Then I eventually learned about hacker groups. First, I was part of one that enjoyed stealing social media accounts and stuff like that. It was fun at first, but that wasn't making me any stronger. So I left the group. The leader of that group thought he could get back at me, but guess what? I was much better than that loser already, so I took his account" Drake says, while proudly pointing at himself
"And then…?" asks William
"Then I found this guy called Hydra, a very known hacker already back then. I wanted to see if he was really as great as people claim, so I attacked him. Let's just say it didn't work" He looks away and squints.
"Did he… Take your account…? Your data…?" asks Ferdinand
"That's not relevant to the story!" growls Drake
William and Ferdinand can very well see that Drake just had his pride shattered and doesn't want to show that. They giggle.
Drake looks back at them. "I'm skipping irrelevant parts. Turns out that Hydra is indeed a strong hacker and I wanted to learn more from him, and I proved that I deserved it" he shrugs while sounding smug. "I learned a lot from him, and then he decided to found The Dragons, and because of that, I started going by the name Drake, while he was already Hydra. He established some rules for the group, of course, like 'no attacking innocent people' and 'no meaningless fights with other groups'." he rolls his eyes. "He wanted to get into some kind of cybervigilantism. He wanted to do what those dumb authorities couldn't do. He wanted to put scammers in their place. He wanted the group to be the hero that people needed. And, damn, that was a hell of high dreams. And pretty damn cool too!"
Ferdinand whispers to William. "I didn't expect it to be a big story about the group. I'm loving it!"
"Done whispering? Then lemme continue. Not long after, Wyvern joined us. I didn't take to that person, but at some point Hydra forced us to work together" Drake rolls his eyes. "But I couldn't deny that Wyvern had skills, just not better than me. Over time, The Dragons got some more members, but Hydra, Wyvern and I became the leaders, since we were the first and the strongest. At first, we had meetings in a VR room, without revealing our real faces and stuff, of course. But at some point, our trust became so big that the three of us decided to meet in person"
"Wow! That sounds dangerous and exciting! Does that mean you and Wyvern got over the animosity?" asks Ferdinand
"I guess. Wyvern didn't always care about how much of an ass I was being. In the end, we grew much closer than I anticipated. We met each other, and that didn't stop there. We, the Big Three, celebrated together. We partied together. We exposed damn scammers together. We even invaded places in person so that we could access systems of suspicious public figures or corps. We were fucking delinquents that made corrupt grown man shit their pants off! Well, except for Hydra, he was a damn adult already. Anyway, we were The Dragons!" Drake smiles, feeling nostalgic
"So they were like your family…!"
"A family that I never had in my life before… Those were some amazing 4 years, man… Until… Until two years ago, Hydra…" He clenches his fists. "I… I don't know what Hydra was fucking thinking, trying to play the superhero alone… We should never start a dangerous mission alone… This is something he established himself…! But this time… He went to the confrontation alone… And that bastard lost his life for it!" Drake punches a box. "He was executed for murder! He was no murderer! He wasn't the bad guy the media made him to be! He would never sacrifice the lives of innocent people just to kill a dangerous criminal!" He punches the box more times and stronger.
"Boss…"
Drake shakes his head. "He… He didn't mean to set everything on fire… The government and the police must have set this up to destroy our group…" He shakes his head harder. "He was my closest friend… My brother… My family… That laid back cheerful moron was everything my family could never dream to be. But everyone started seeing him as a villain… A despicable person… A monster…" He starts shedding tears. "T-then… Then after the execution… Wyvern just left… And never explained why… And this is how… This is how those fucking pigs destroyed my family! Gah! The trial was all wrong! It shouldn't even be possible for him to get the death penalty! Damn it! Damn it!" He places his hands on his face and cries harder.
William and Ferdinand quickly walk towards the crying guy to comfort him. They say nothing, but they make sure to show their presence and willingness to help him with anything. About two minutes pass, and Drake starts wiping his tears. He grabs the dragon pendant that hangs on his neck and intensely stares at it.
"This necklace… It was given by Hydra to us, when we had our first meeting in person… We all proudly wore them. It was a sign of our friendship. Our strength. Our… Whatever the other things he said. I don't care that people can easily grab a necklace like this nowadays, those will never have the same value as mine… And I'll never stop proudly wearing it…" He sighs. "You know what? I'll just shut up now, I don't even know what I'm trying to say at this point…"
"Can I ask something…?" asks Ferdinand
Drake slowly turns his face at Ferdinand. This startles the shy boy, but this time it's not because he's feeling intimidated. But because this is the first time he has seen Drake looking so devastated. "You… You said you Wyvern just left without explanations, right…? We could help you find him and confront him together… You just need to describe how he looks and stuff…!"
Drake shakes his head. "No. I have morals. It doesn't matter the situation, I won't go revealing their identities like that. But…" He sighs. "I'll get the answer in a way or another… Hopefully". He checks his phone and notices it's past three in the afternoon. "It's getting late for me. I'll be leaving as soon as I put those stupid boxes in the trunk"
The two boys nod. They help Drake as much as they can and finish it in a few minutes.
"So, what do you plan on doing while you are hiding?" asks William
Drake grunts. "I guess I have no choice but to try to find who murdered Tayna and why, because if I don't do that, I'm sure the police won't stop trying to come after me. I'm not going to involve my team, mostly because helping an 'enemy' would be 'out of character' for The Dragons, if you understand what I mean"
"Do you mind if we pay you a visit, boss?" asks Ferdinand
"Don't you fucking dare. This can make it easier for the cops to track me down. It's not because they already asked you some questions that means they don't have their eyes on you anymore. By the way, don't call me either, calls are trackable too. It's not like I'll keep my current number anyway"
"You say all that, boss, but we are not going to be contactless either, whether you like it or not. I know ways we can safely call to each other" says William
Drake smiles. "Whatever. If you want to go to jail for being an accomplice so bad, then I'll lend you guys a hand on how we can keep in touch as soon as I settle down"
"We won't go to jail, don't worry!" Ferdinand gives him a thumbs up. "We will try to help you whenever you can! E-even though I have no idea of how I can help. But we will prove your innocence!"
"Thank you, guys. Now it's time to burn the tire." He looks at both boys, sighs and waves at them. "Don't worry, I won't be captured. I'll not let The Dragons die"
Aaaaand that's it! That is the current situation in the Human World, almost three weeks after Komet vanished.
Also, no, Drake doesn't have his own car yet, but he needed to get one in some way to escape to safety