Chapter 10:

"Ray Pov"

I woke up by Cale's voice, "Ray, wake Ashu up, we have arrived." The car came to a sudden stop at the side of a winding country road.

Cale stepped out and stretched his arms above his head, feeling his muscles protest after the long drive. I turned to the back seat and reached out, whispering, "Ashu, wake up. We've arrived." Gently shaking him and pulling the blanket off him.

"O-ouch! Ugh! My neck hurts so much!" Ashu sat up, rubbing his eyes and placing one hand on the back of his neck. "Well, you did sleep in an uncomfortable position," I said.

"Where's Cale?" Ashu asked as he too stepped out of the car and stretched his limbs, his face expressing the pain he felt from the long drive.

"Outside. We have arrived," I said as I too stepped out of the car and stretched my limbs, the cracking sounds of my bones and muscles echoing in the quiet countryside.

"So, where's the base?" Ashu asked, looking around finding nothing but grass fields all arounds and two ahead us.

"If I remember correctly, it might locate on 7th street of the red-light district, at this time of year. We need a passcode to enter," Cale explained.

"And I presume you know the passcode?" Ashu asked, and Cale replied with a nod.

"Then let's go. The sun is already over our heads," I said, and so we put on our fake masks before entering the city gates. We parked our car in the nearest parking spot and headed for the red-light district.

As we made our way through the busy streets of Kyiv, we were met with a chaotic maze of people, cars, and buildings. The sounds of honking cars, chatter, and construction filled our ears, and the smell of exhaust and street food wafted through the air.

Street vendors were loudly marketing their products, trying to attract customers. We weaved our way through the throngs of people, dodging bicycles and street vendors.

After roaming for a minute or so, we finally made it to our location, the 7th street of the red-light district. We were surprised to see the dynamic shift in the scenery in front of us. As we passed through a small alley with a board hung at the entrance gate, the dimly lit street welcomed us.

Neon signs advertising various forms of entertainment lined  along the street, and the sounds of clinking glasses and raucous laughter spilt out from the bars to bars and clubs to clubs on either side.

Our eyes scanned the crowds, shops, and the gaggle of scantily clad ladies standing outside of the shops, calling out to any men who passed by. "This place..." I said out loud, as I followed my companions. "First time visiting a place like this?" Cale looked at us over his shoulder and asked, ignoring the seductive calls from the ladies that flocked around us, especially him.

"Y-yes..." Ashu said, avoiding the stares and walking nervously without paying attention to them. I replied with a nod and continued staring, smiling, and waving to the beautiful ladies. "Nowadays, places like these are way too common. With the advancement in artificial intelligence modals and robotics, many have lost their  jobs permantly . So, to feed their empty stomachs, many have turned to using their bodies. Thievery and other criminal activities are also on the rise," Cale said.

"I too saw many horrible things during my service," I spoke, my thoughts drifting back to the war.

"Hunger makes people do things, that I dare to imagine, sistuation gotten quite worse, since the last supreme king disappeard seventy five years ago."

After roaming for a few minutes, Cale stopped in front of a dimly lit pub with a neon light nestled between two large buildings. We approached the door and swung it open, entering the fine establishment.

Inside, the pub was cosy and warm, with a roaring fire in the fireplace and the sound of glasses clinking in the background. The group made their way to a table in the corner, where they settled in for a night of good company and even better drinks.

"Welcome, gentlemen. What can I get for you?" said the bartender as he cleaned his glassware with a rag.

We approached the counter and took our seats, the bartender looking at us with a friendly smile, waiting for our order. "Zaltaa laabuulaa havasia..." Cale said, causing the bartender to look shocked for sec and droping the pleasent smile that he had before.

He stopped cleaning his glassware and glanced around the room, scanning our faces with a sense of recognition. "Wait a minute..." he said before disappearing into the kitchen. Ashu and I exchanged puzzled looks, unsure of what was happening.

"Is everything alright?" Ashu asked Cale, who seemed unfazed by the bartender's reaction.

"Yeah... I think so, don't worry," Cale reassured us with a sly grin.

After a few minutes, the bartender returned with three white wooden masks and handed them to us.

"Please come with me," he said, his tone serious. We did as we were told and stood up, following the bartender into his kitchen. I could feel all eyes on us as laughter and chatter stopped and people turned to look in our direction. I nudged Ashu and whispered, "Did you feel that?" He nodded, looking just as uneasy as I felt.

"Don't worry, they're fake customers. They're paid to act like customers as a disguise to make the store believable. We don't want to attract the military's attention, now do we?" the bartender said, leading us through the kitchen.

He reached for a lamp on the wall and pulled it, revealing a hidden entrance through the wall. Ashu and I exchanged surprised looks. "Please head inside," the bartender said politely as he made way for us to enter.

“Can you tell us more about this organisation?” Ashu directed his question to Cale, as we were walking the long corridor.

“During the great revolt against world nobles, many people lost their jobs as well lives. Planetary economy crumbles, during those dark times, so some of the revolutionaries, thought of making an organisation, where people can freelance based on set of skills in the field of violence and other form of… illegal activities, they possess. Think of as an inter-galactic- freelancing company but for dark activities, more of a black market.” Said Cale.

Cale entered first, followed by Ashu and then me. We climbed down a set of stairs and arrived in a massive underground hall filled with diverse groups of people of all gender, race, all wearing white masks and carrying various weapons.

As we looked around, I felt eyes on us, as we made our way to a counter, where a female bartender was serving drinks. "Where can we get our guild IDs?" Cale asked her.

"Oh! So, you guys are new here?" she asked with a pleasant smile. Cale nodded in response.

"Then here. Please place your hands on this device," she said, pointing to a small slate-like device.

"It will sting just a little bit so the device can take a few drops of your blood to create an temp ID and register you guys," she explained. Cale placed his hand on the slate, and a second later, it shone brightly before dimming.

A black, silvery card with a random number printed on it popped out. Cale took it and passed it on to Ashu and me. We followed the same process, and soon all three of us had our guild IDs.

"So, your registration is done. Now you can choose the job of your liking from that board and if you find a job that interests you, please tell me the serial number so that I can register you guys as an applicants," she said, pointing to a digital screen displaying a list of jobs sorted by category and level.

"So, what type of jobs are we looking for?" Cale asked as we scanned through the options.

"Today, I'm not in the mood for something massive. How about we pick something simple, easy, and quick to complete? All we need is enough money for a good meal and a comfortable bed to sleep in tonight." Said Ashu, as he places to back of his neck, depicting that he still hurts.

"Hmm… then how about this." Cale touched a link on the screen and a small window popped up in Infront of us.

"Jerry Low key.  An upstart drug dealer recently started harassing people in this city. His organisation activities suddenly broadened, interfering with other drug lords territories.”

“They’ve been doing business on someone else's turf now…" Asked Ray. In response Cale replied with slight node.

"And the bosses of this city aren't happy with him."

"So, we must make this guy and his gang disappear from this city. Simple enough, the pay is good and might not take that much time. So how about it?" Said Cale, as he turned to Ashu for a reply.

"So, all we have to do is make them disappear, so they don't harm the people of this city." Said Ashu, as he started contemplating what to do.

"Well… something like that, we must either kill them if it's necessary. Know this Ashu, they are the kinds of people who like a cancer. If not treated early then they will infect and harm others to the point of their demise." Said, Cale.

"Yeah, he's right." I too said and knowing from my past, These people are like a cockroach. They don't disappear that easily.

"Sure, let's take this job!" Said, Ashu.

Upon knowing what to do next Cale clicked on a link and a code appeared in Infront of us.

We returned to the counter and told the code of the job, we took. She registered our IDs onto that job.

After that, we made our way to this guy's current location. Cale, I and Ashu stood outside the building; our expressions serious as we surveyed the three-story structure before us.

 It was the base of an upstart drug dealer, Jerry Lowkey, who had been causing trouble in the city. Ashu turned to Cale, "So how many guys are we going to face?"

Cale shrugged, "About 20 or so, it's a small-scale organization, not too many thugs." The sun was setting, painting the sky orange and pink. Ashu looked around, noticing that the streets were relatively empty.

"And what about the bodies?" Ashu asked, his mind already calculating the logistics of their mission.

Cale's expression was grim as he replied, "First thing is we don't want to attract attention, so we need to finish the job as swiftly as possible. As for the bodies, we don't need to think about them, other Cartel deals with of that."

With a nod, Ashu Cale, and I made their way into the building, ready to take out Jerry and his gang. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but we were determined to rid the city of this dangerous criminal organization.

To be continued.