Trigger Warning: Strong Language

Chapter 3: Sound The Alarm!

Aster glanced up at the single light bulb hanging from the ceiling that was barely illuminating anything.

Damn it, I can barely see anything except for those lasers. They could've at least added more lights; how cheap can they be? Aster thought as he rolled his eyes.

Unable to resist the temptation, he wandered closer to the prison cell, wanting to catch a glimpse of who was inside. He kept an arm's length away from the lasers to prevent anyone who was inside from trying to reach out to grab him. Not that they would unless they didn't value their limbs.

Creak! Creak! Clack!

Aster's eyes widened, and he jolted backward from the sudden loud screech of something metal quickly rolling across the floor. Due to his poor vision in the nearly dark room, he could barely make out what had been thrown near the lasers.

"Hey, you're out of your cell," a man blurted out in astonishment.

Aster narrowed his eyes when something crawled out from the darkness.

The green glow from the lasers softly illuminated the man's messy, raven shoulder-length locks. His crazed gray eyes locked onto Aster's face.

Aster's body shivered from the look this deranged man was giving him. Shit, this guy's creepy as hell. Now, I see why this room is designed the way it is, he thought, wishing he had resisted the urge earlier to see what was lurking behind the lasers.

"How'd you get out of your cell?" the man asked with a raised eyebrow, not believing that a prisoner was actually able to break free. The man reached out and placed his hand forward before quickly retracting it before the rapidly moving lasers had a chance to sever his wrist.

"I've tried, but these lasers change way too much for my liking," the man stated. He moved his hand in and out of his cell multiple times to prove his point.

This guy's fucking insane! How the hell hasn't he lost any body parts yet?!" Aster screamed inside his mind. A sweat droplet ran down the side of his face as he anxiously watched the man.

Aster's eyes widened when he realized something. What the hell am I even doing? I shouldn't be listening to this psycho ramble on any longer. I need to get the hell out of here while I still can, he thought to himself as he turned on his heels to leave.

"I'm honestly surprised you made it this far without a weapon; it must have been luck. But, even if it was, you won't make it out of here alive, especially once you reach the main headquarters of the building," the man said as he rose to his feet. His statement caused Aster to stop in his tracks.

"Like you know anything, you psycho. I'll be just fine just you watch," Aster remarked as he looked over his shoulder.

"Oh, yeah?" So, do you know how to fly a ship?" the man asked, leaning forward. "Oh, and this psycho has a name, and it's Null," Null mentioned, not bothered at all by any of Aster's insults.

Oh, just my damn luck. The psycho's name means zero. Based on the crazy look in his eyes, I bet he isn't afraid to lose anything, Aster thought in disbelief. He never imagined in his wildest dreams that he would be relieved to be protected by those lasers to keep that maniac a safe enough distance away from him.

"Like I'm concerned with that. Besides, I'm sure I can figure it out with one look at the ship's controls," Aster declared with a blazing determination in his eyes. But, it died down when he heard the man chuckle.

Null shook his head. His lips curved into an amused grin at Aster's idiocy. "Damn, you're more stupid than you look."

Aster's right eyebrow twitched. The vein on his neck popped out from restraining the anger circulating within him. "I must be smarter than you since I'm outside while you're still inside your sweet little cage," he mockingly countered.

Null's grin only widened when the vein on Aster's forehead looked like it nearly wanted to burst. "But, you don't need to be smart to be lucky?" he threw back at Aster without any hesitation.

"Wait!" Null shouted when Aster became fed up and ready to bolt out of there. He didn't want to pick apart Aster's nerves anymore. After all, he didn't want to ruin his chances of getting a free pass out of this hell hole.

"You want to get out of here, right? Well, so do I. But your plan is full of holes. You don't know the layout of this facility or how to drive a ship; you're unarmed, and you look like you barely made it here in one piece," Null pointed out the facts as he counted on each of his fingers the number of problems surrounding Aster.

Null implied it was only a certain amount of time before that so-called luck of Aster's would catch up to him.

Damn this asshole! Aster thought as he gritted his teeth, knowing Null wasn't wrong in the slightest. But he didn't need this guy to say it out loud.

"What the hell is your point anyway? I've already wasted too much of my precious time listening to you," Aster snapped, his eyebrows furrowing in frustration.

"I know everything you need to make your plan successful. So, how about you and I make a deal? If you let me out of here, I'll help you escape," Null offered as he crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't the least bit concerned; as a hacker and gunslinger, he had Aster right where he wanted him.

Aster couldn't help but laugh out loud unconsciously at his ridiculous notion. For a moment, he forgot about the guards lurking around outside. It felt as though some of the tension held up in his muscles had eased out.

"Why would I trust anyone in a cell like this?" Aster remarked, gesturing toward all the lasers to prove his point. "There isn't anything stopping you from trying to kill me once I let you out, and on top of that, I don't even know the code to let you out," he declared, feeling quite proud of himself for having thought things through, unlike poor Finlay who he seduced to let him out.

"Since you claim you're so smart, you would know I wouldn't gain anything from killing you. Plus, it would put me at a disadvantage; one person against all those guards wouldn't play out so nicely," Null mentioned. He could tell that Aster agreed with him but was too arrogant to admit it out loud.

"I know the code to get me out, and I bet you don't believe me," Null declared with wide, crazy eyes. "They thought I was unconscious, but I wasn't and memorized the twelve-digit code to let me out of here," he said. He walked over to the other side of the cell where the black box was located.

Aster raised an eyebrow when he remembered an important detail when typing in a code dealing with a prisoner's cell. "If I get this code wrong, the alarm will sound off in this section of the prison," Aster remarked with narrowed eyes, still not believing that Null was being honest and he only knew about the alarm because Finlay typed in the code wrong once in the past.

I still remember that damn annoying alarm. If that thing goes off, I'm screwed, Aster briefly thought while keeping his focus on Null.

"I already told you I have no reason to lie to you. But all your whining is only draining the minutes we could use to escape. Now, quit complaining and type in the damn code already," Null roared with a glare.

Aster bit his lower lip but shook his head. It isn't like I have any other options to rely on; why not add a little more danger? Aster thought as he recklessly typed in the code to release someone who could likely slaughter him faster than he could spell his own name.

"We really made a mess of that inmate, Brett," the woman declared as she placed kisses along the side of his neck. She gently sucked on his skin, earning her a low groan.

"It's hard to hold back when you're around; Irene," Brett declared as he lovingly ran his fingers through her beautiful fiery red locks. "But, as much as I wanna fool around, I don't want the boss screaming at us. So, let's check on cell thirteen before anything else," he whispered in her ear, causing a shiver to run through her body.

Irene playfully rolled her eyes before moving away from him. "Fine, but only because the boss scares me," she claimed, which caused Brett to chuckle.

When they arrived at cell thirteen, their eyes widened in shock, and they found the room completely empty.

But they weren't stupid. They knew what had happened.

They knew for someone to have gotten this prisoner out of their cell, it meant another prisoner must have escaped and overpowered a guard.

"You know what this means, right?" Irene said with a giggle. A twisted smile appeared on her lips.

"It means we don't have to hold back playing with the criminals," Brett declared with a cold, murderous look in his eyes as he wore an overjoyed smile. He swung his arm back, his hand slamming into the red button in the room.

Within a matter of seconds, the alarm in the section released a high-pitched cry.