2 Chapter 1

An upbeat music filled the interior of trailer home. A man nodded and tapped his foot to the beat while he combed his hair in front of the mirror. Droplets of water continued to drip down from his head down to his exposed torso since he just came out from the bath. In the background, his laptop, subscribe to a news channel, broadcasted the latest news for the day. At the moment, it broadcasted a woman who met a gruesome death in an alley. "Damn. That's near here." The man commented. "Hope the bastard who did that gets caught soon." He resumed combing his hair but was disturbed by the loud banging of his door. He sighed since he knew who this was. He then lowered the volume of his music before answering the door.

"Hale!!! Where is he?!! It's past due his rent!!! Is he here?!! Are you hiding him?!!! You are friends with him so I have reason to suspect!!!." The woman who was the rent collector of the trailer houses bombarded at him. Since he already knew what this was about, he took the opportunity to give his home a quick scan while the woman was still ranting. Just as he suspected, he saw a shoelace peeking out from under his bed. He knew that this wasn't from his shoes since he didn't keep them under his bed. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't know where he is. Maybe he's just waking up at a pub or somewhere." He lied in a calm tone. The woman seemed to buy his act so she calmed down. "Well you tell him when you see him" She said then left.

Hale then closed the door after the woman left. He then sighed since he had to cover for his friend again. "Steve. You can come out from under my bed now." There was shuffling from under his bed. Surely enough, a man came out then stood up. The man known as Steve gave him an apologetic smile. "Thanks for covering for me, Hale. Sorry I hid in your home." Steve said. Hale on the other hand wasn't amused by any of this. Steve was his coworker and friend in the carnival they worked at. They were close. They shared many interests and they also shared fun. However, this was something he can't overlook. "You're here to borrow money, right?" He asked. "I promise I'll pay you back!!" He said while looking at him with puppy dog eyes. Hale just sighed and went to get some money. He wasn't bothered with loaning him money since he always paid him back. "Here." He handed him the money. "Thanks, man. I knew I can count on you." He said, genuinely. Hale then put on a shirt and grabbed his bag. "Lock the door when you leave, Steve. I'm off to work." He said then left.

****

A woman stood behind her desk. Her hand held her phone against her ear as she engaged herself in serious phone conversation. Her face remained expressionless but she was actually in the brink of screaming some sense to the person on the other end of the line. "You have to understand. This is all so sudden. I thought it would still be a while before the launch. Why is the time table moved?" She asked. She stayed quiet for a while and listened to the one barking on the other side of the call. "Fine. Fine. I'll go." She relented. The call soon ended, making the woman sigh deeply. "Impatient, are we? Won't take no for an answer, huh?" She said as she let her pent up irritation out. She wanted to scream but she will not allow that conversation to get to her. "Lucille Adineatha. Don't let that affect you. Find your center and calm down. Breathe in and breathe out." She did as she told herself and began some breathing exercises. "There. Much better."

Afterwards, she sat down and opened her computer. She then opened her own private server where a file called Project: VANGUARD. This was the topic of her phone call earlier. It was a project regarding a merge between her company and a weapons manufacturing company known as Doron Industries. She looked at her watch, checking her time. Her executive assistant won't be here until later. Using the spare time, she decided to review the files to prepare for the sudden meeting.

****

After a short commute, Hale made it to his day job. He served as a dishwasher at a small restaurant. He alighted from the bus and before he went to his workplace, he took a moment to look at the tallest building in the city. AICorp or Adineatha Innovation Corp. was the biggest company in the country of Lumina. It's success was due to their revolutionary technology in power generation and distribution. Their planet has two separate layers of rich energy called Mana. One layer was found underground and was the most used source. The other layer was found in the upper atmosphere and was considered the untouchable holy grail. That was the case until AICorp found a way twenty years ago. Now, the capital city of Lightspire truly lived up to its name as the City of Light thanks to AICorp.'s technology. It's a company that most dreamed to work at, including him. Sadly, that would only remain a dream for him.

A female shriek yanked him out of his daydream. It was then followed by his own scream when he felt something scalding him. It turned out that hot coffee was spilled on his shirt. In front of her was a woman who was clearly shocked by what happened. Under that shocked face, it can't be denied the she was pretty. "Lady....You spilled-"

"Why were you standing there?! This is a sidewalk!" She snapped at him. Hale had a confused look on his face. He was expecting an apology not a berating. "Hey!! You're the one who spilled coffee on me!" He snapped back. He looked at her and saw her holding her phone on her other hand while another cup of coffee in the other. He deduced that she must be on her phone while walking. "And clearly, you're the one who wasn't looking on where you're going." He added. The lady squinted her eyes and pouted at him. Clearly, she was not expecting him to snap back at her and it made her irritated. Rather than prolong the confrontation, the woman instead shove him to the side as she walked past through. "Hey! Watch it!" Hale said, trying to avoid another coffee shower. "Crazy lady." He then took out his handkerchief and tried to wipe off the damp part. He went to his work afterwards.

****

The woman entered AICorp, still irritated by that guy he bumped into. He was the one in the wrong. A person with common sense wouldn't stand on a sidewalk. She tried to get it off her mind. Starting work while upset was not the way she wanted to start her day. She rode the elevator then exited on the twentieth floor where the Office of the CEO was located. After putting her belongings on her desk, she went inside her boss' office. "Good morning, Ms. Adineatha. I brought your coffee." She greeted. "Good morning, Alyssa. And how many times have I told you to call me Lucille or Luz." The woman behind the desk said as she received her coffee. She took a sip and the caffeine gave her a blissful feeling. "That hit the spot." She commented. It was then she saw that she wasn't drinking her own. "Did you finish yours?" She asked. "No. I spilled it. I bumped into this stupid guy earlier. He was so irritating. He even tried to put the blame on me." She ranted which only made Lucille smirk. "Looks like this guy left quite the impression. Was he cute?" She teased. Alyssa blushed a bit. Recalling her encounter, the guy she bumped into was quite a looker but she would never admit that.

"Enough of that. Here are your schedule for today." She dodged the topic and put out her phone to tell her boss her schedule. "Oh. Clear it. I have something......important to attend. Ready your things. We're gonna go to the plant today." She said. "But you just had a site visit last week." Alyssa said, confused by her boss' decision. "Oh. This is for a different reason. Sorry but I can't disclose this one to you." Lucille then picked up her bag then went out of the office with Alyssa. Usually, she would share information with Alyssa regarding any work they have. She wasn't just her executive assistant. She was also her closest confidant. She personally handpicked her because of her great records and outstanding work output. Therefore, she decided to groom her since she intend to make her the next CEO once her time with this company was over.

However, this meeting she was going to wasn't related to the work her company engaged in. In fact, this project officially didn't existed. It was a project that had started five years ago, sanctioned secretly by the government and funded by AICorp and Doron Industries. She thought that it would still take another two or three years for this project to come to fruition but now it seemed that the project would be hastened. Today, Project: VANGUARD was about to be born.