Chapter 2

He groans and whines as he slowly pushes himself upright. He opens his eyes and looks around.

He rubs his eyes and looks down at the empty vile and up at DJ. His stomach drops, Atlas is alive, DJ isn't.

He literally just gave up his life, or what was left of it, for Atlas.

He can feel the difference, he's healed, enhanced even, in so many ways. He isn't sick anymore or dying. He's strong and faster, inside and out. He gets to his feet and looks at DJ again.

"Thank you...I'm in your debt."

He looks at the suit and weapons he created, he hurries to get dressed and straps on his knives, sword and elemental pistol.

He picks up DJ and thinks of where he can bury him. Someone will see him and he will be arrested. He decides to bury him the only way he can logically see.

He pulls his sword and touches the wood shelter, a tiny stream of smoke rises and quickly grows bigger, the flame that caught almost instantly grows equally fast.

He then touches the blade to the clothes of DJ and lights him on fire. Atlas then turns ans bolts out of and away from the alley.

What does he do now? Where does he go? He slows as soon as he's out in the open and walks down the street.

Luckily having weapons on you so openly is common, but Atlas assumes he looks so much like a bounty hunter, that people still stare for a few moments.

But he pays them no attention. He just became his alter ego...he just got his life back. What does he do now? He has nothing and no one.

DJ gave up his life for him, sure he was dying, but regardless, he gave up his life for him. Atlas wants to help others, he doesn't want to waste away his life, especially since Atlas went through so much to create this technology.

Atlas walks to a corner and watches people walk back and forth along the busy street. The moon glows above them, Atlas looks up and admires it.

He looks down at the people again, but something caught his eye. He looks up at a building and stares at a tiny drone, floating outside a building window on the....28th floor he counts. It's at the very bottom of the floor level, like it's trying to be hidden. Something is very off.

The person controlling it has to be close. But he decides to lean against the wall and wait until the drone drops down three levels and flies away from the building. Atlas quickly pushes off the wall and follows it two buildings across and one down the street.

Atlas watches the drone fly into a large hole in a window. The huge ones where the window is the whole dang wall. 22nd floor is where it flew in. The whole building is dark, even the reception desk through the glass front doors. This person broke in and didn't want to be seen.

Atlas's heart races. But he knows he can't just let that go. He bolts to the front doors and pulls, it's unlocked! Wait it's unlocked?

He rushes in and to the stairs. Please still be there, please still be there. He can't take the elevator, it'll alert the figure. When it dings. Maybe even the sound of the elevator moving.

Ugh...22 freaking floors he has to climb. He'll be far too late. He decides to take the chance that the person won't hear.

He signals the elevator and waits impatiently, it finally dings its presence. Atlas hurries in and presses the button for the 19th floor. The doors close and he moves upward.

The elevator dings and opens he rushes out and to the stairs, he opens the door and closes it softly behind him. He then silently rushes up the last few floors and as quietly as he can, he opens the door creeps in and shuts the door behind him.

The room is dark, it's an office. Atlas soundlessly moves to the corner of the room, occasionally looking behind him to make sure the person isn't going to attack or escape.

Atlas walks to the corner of the last cubicle and peeks around. He can see the leg and part of the hand of the figure.

Atlas pulls his pistol quietly and creeps over. Atlas holds up his pistol and pulls back the hammer of the pistol.

Click.

The figure jumps and looks back at Atlas. "I suppose you're maintanence? Nice drone."

"Thanks. Here I was thinking I was being pretty careful."

"I like looking at the sky."

The man nods, "Alright, just my luck. What say you don't use that and we pretend this never happened?"

"Tell me why I shouldn't. I like stories."

"Hah...unfortunately I don't have the time to tell it personally. Just watch the screens."

The man then jumps up and tackles Atlas to the ground and knocks his pistol away. The man doesn't hesitate to headbutt Atlas, then punch him in the gut.

"Agh!"

Atlas rolls over on him, straddling him, a little dazed from the blows and hits the man hard in the face with his fist just as the man knees Atlas in the back. Atlas falls to his side, he groans and takes a moment to gather himself. He kicks the man's knee, as he had just gotten to his feet.

He yells out and falls to his side, he crawls a few inches and taps his open laptop. Then touches his ear, "I need backup!"

He has managed to get up and hobble away with his computer in one hand and drone in the other. Atlas throws his legs up to his head and rolls back to his knees. Atlas grabs his pistol off the floor and lifts his arm.

Puh-tcht! Glass from the window beside Atlas explodes all over him. Atlas yells out and falls to his side, but he jumps to the cubicle wall and waits a moment, he stands and turns and finds the man at the elevator.

He fires twice before another 2 shots shatter another window and hot a the cubicle wall around the corner and force Atlas to sink and hide again. But the man yells out, letting Atlas know he hit him.

Ding!

The man groans and whines. Atlas hurries down the wall of cubicles, away from the windows and looks down the hall.

He runs down as fast as he can, no shots fire again. Atlas runs around the corner but the door has closed. The man is going down. Crap.

Atlas groans and hurries to the staircase and rushes down the stairs. He's going too late. He reaches the 12th floor and Atlas's lungs feel like they are about to pop and his heart feels like it's going to explode. He stops and catches his breath for a few seconds and hurries down again. Finally he bursts out the door and coughs hard as he walks to the front doors that are slowly closing.

Atlas rushes out and looks at the ground, scanning for drops of blood.

"No! No! You screwed up!-"

Atlas jumps and looks to the street, and realizes the building was the perfect spot, kind of away from the street. But the voice catches him and everyone off guard.

He sees the video is playing on all the screens on the street.

"You were supposed to kill them! There weren't supposed to be any survivors! Do you know what it cost me?! These idiots are annoying little Nats! We need to hunt them down and finish them! Now I have to come up with an excuse for the board."

The screens turn dark, Atlas walks to the sidewalk and watches the figure in the dark, sitting at a desk. You can barely see their hands, Atlas can tell though it's not the same person.

"This is our first time coming public. But...it's vital you know. The world is at a hidden war, we are the Syndicate, many of you know us as evil, rebels, terrorists and whatever other names they decide to call us. But do you know where those rumors originated? No? That's because they stay hidden. They lie and call it truth. What they want, is their own world where they rule. What they do, is evil. But they distract from that by telling that we are evil. We are the Syndicate, I suggest you find out who the terrorists really are."

The screens turn black for a moment leaving the world around them in darkness and then the ads and images and videos previously on the screens return, shining on the confused faces and whispering and panicking people.