6 Honeycomb
Jamie felt his heart threaten to beat out of his chest. He was in the attic with Amanda, looking down at the frail and sickly figure of a sleeping Aiden, occasionally letting out a groan of pain.
His eyes were puffy, his cheeks wet from crying. This was different from a simple cold or fever. This was a deadly disease. One week. In just a week, his brother turned from a happy boy riding a mecha to this ill and vulnerable boy.
"...How did this happen?"
"I don't know. Apparently it's been becoming commonplace here in the slums recently, so it might have just made its way to him."
Jamie pulled up the corner of Aiden's blanket, revealing his ankle that looked like someone had taken a stick and poked a bunch of holes in it. They were red, raw, and a little bloody. Jamie felt like he was about to lose it just by thinking of how much pain his brother was currently in.
The disease that Aiden had contracted was called Honeycomb. It was a disease where a parasite made its way into a person's body and started feeding on that person to the point where the cells break down, leading to holes opening on the infected's body, making them look like a…
"Honeycomb." Jamie sighed shakily, covering Aiden's leg back up. "How long does he have?"
"..."
"Amanda, please, how long does Aiden have?"
"...From what I've heard about Honeycomb beforehand, he has at most a month without treatment."
Jamie nodded after hearing the information. One month before his brother dies painfully. Jamie kept nodding as he felt his emotions rise, squeezing his fists. One month WITHOUT medicine… but what if he had medicine?
He got off and ran downstairs without saying a word, leaving through the garage and running off into the streets.
"No! Jamie!"
Seeing him leave, Amanda just sighed and sat down. She knew that he was going to do something to try and find help for Aiden. She knew where he was going. She knew that she should stop him, but then she looked at Aiden.
"Be safe."
Jamie was already halfway across the slums, having resorted to being carried by Prime while the mecha did the running. The slum was still the size of a large city, after all. Human legs wouldn't get him where he needed to go in time.
"Place 5 Attribute Points in Agility."
Almost immediately, he felt Prime become faster. That was the last of the spare points he had from leveling in the wasteland outside the slums the past week.
==Mecha Core==
Level: 28
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength: 9
Agility: 13
Durability: 10
Flight: 9
Energy: 12
Attribute Points: 0
==Mecha Core Abilities==
Rocket Punch
Wrist Missiles
Thermal Vision
==Magic Core==
Level: 14
QUALITIES:
Capacity: 10
Control: 9
Affinity: 10
Quality Points: 0
==Magic Core Spells==
Fire Blast
His destination was the black market. Not just any black market, but the best one in the slum. The one ran by the top dog of the gangs in the slum, a guy that even did deals with Dynamos. Beck's Market.
This would be the first time Jamie went to this part of the slums. Amanda always told him to never go near Beck and his crew, much less try and make a deal with him. Murder, Trafficking, Kidnapping, there were few illegal activities NOT associated with this guy.
Aiden flashed in Jamie's mind, and he grit his teeth as he knew this was the only option that yielded fast results. He couldn't exactly go and raid a Dynamos base for medicine, nor could he make one. His only option was the black market.
Finally nearing the building, Jamie had Prime set him down as he checked his pocket, only finding a few crumpled bills and a few blue crystals. The bills were Old Earth money, worthless, but the blue crystals were pure credits, the currency of the present time.
Usually, credits were held in cards made specifically to store credits, but Jamie was a street urchin. What he had in his hand wasn't even enough to reach the minimum credit requirement for a card to hold.
"I'll owe him a favor if it comes down to it." Jamie took a deep breath, throwing away the bills. "Or kill him for it."
Looking at the building from a distance, Jamie had Prime stand next to him before activating his latest upgrade, something the Mecha Core gave him upon reaching level 25. Thermal Vision.
A screen appeared over Jamie's eyes, replacing what he was seeing with what Prime was currently seeing. Everything turned infrared, and Jamie could suddenly see through the walls of Beck's Market.
16 armed men, all glowing orange. 2 upon entering, next to the receptionist, 1 in the bathroom, 1 guarding the staircase leading upstairs, 4 in the upstairs office with a man sitting down, presumably Beck, 2 sitting in a room behind Beck's desk, and 6 in a hidden basement below the ground.
All carried what Jamie made out to be rifles. Unfortunately, Thermal Vision at most let him see through walls and surfaces (aside from actually seeing heat signatures), so he couldn't tell what level the men were at, or if any of them were Wizards.
Jamie hadn't killed any humans yet, so he wasn't sure if they even HAD levels. What he did know was that he was about to do something risky and dangerous, all for Aiden's sake. Another thing he knew was that-
"There's a first time for everything."
Shutting off the Thermal Vision, Jamie left Prime hiding behind a corner of the building across from Beck's Market, a clear view of the upstairs office should a quick, loud entry be needed for a quick escape.
Jamie walked up to the entrance of Beck's Market, noticing a security camera above the door that began to follow his movements. He glanced at it before entering, seeing the 2 armed guards where they were, the 3rd stepping out of the bathroom to watch Jamie, the 4th by the staircase, and a receptionist behind a counter right in front of the entrance.
"Name and reason for visit?" The receptionist sounded bored as she prepared to type into the computer she had next to her, which was a very rare sight for Jamie. He took small glances at the device as he answered.
"Jamie. I want to make a deal with Beck."
"Family name?"
"Don't have one."
The receptionist sighed and looked at him. Jamie heard a click behind him, and realized the guards were preparing for a fight, much earlier than Jamie wanted should a fight happen. He quickly thought of a last name.
"Prime. Jamie Prime."
"Jamie Prime. You got money or weapons?"
"Money, no weapons."
She nodded to the armed guard on the far side of the room that was guarding the staircase, coming over to Jamie.
"Empty your pockets and spread your arms and legs." The receptionist yawned.
The guard patted Jamie down thoroughly before making him empty his pockets. Jamie presented a worn picture of him and Aiden as kids, along with the pitiful amount of credits he had on him. The guard snatched the credits and pocketed it before stepping back into his position.
"Hey!"
"You may see Mr. Beck now." The receptionist interrupted before Jamie could confront the guard. "I also recommend no sudden movements."
Jamie closed his eyes and took a deep breath, deciding to let the credits go. Guess he would have to get medicine off an IOU. He had half a mind to blow up Beck's Market right then and there, but he didn't dare to think of how he was going to find medicine if it wasn't in the building and was instead hidden in some safehouse somewhere.
He climbed the stairs to Beck's office and knocked on the door. The door opened from the inside, revealing armed guards. Jamie entered the office, which was hot, messy, and had nothing but a desk behind which Beck sat.
He was a middle-aged man, with black hair, black eyes, and some stubble coming on. He had a variety of devices on his desk, many of which Jamie didn't recognize. It appeared he just finished talking to someone when he saw Jamie.
"...Beck?"
"Jamie, I hear. Take a seat."
Beck gestured to the chair in front of his desk with a smile. Reluctantly, Jamie accepted, stiffly sitting down. He silently had Prime, who was waiting outside, prepare his back thrusters to fly into the office.
"So, how can I help you, Jamie?" Beck interlocked his fingers under his chin, gazing at Jamie.
"Do you know what Honeycomb is?" Jamie fidgeted a little. He could feel Beck's gaze analyzing him.
"The disease? Yes, it's very terrible, very hard to cure."
"Can you?"
"Hmm?"
"Can you cure it?" Jamie turned serious, looking Beck in his eyes. "Do you have medicine for Honeycomb?"
They locked eyes in silence for a while, before Beck shrugged and leaned back in his chair.
"I do, actually, but it's quite expensive. 1000 credits for each dose."
Jamie let out a breath. He would never be able to afford that. Now he actually didn't feel too bad about not getting back the credits the guard stole (it was like 8 credits).
"I don't have money, but I can do something else. I could do something for you, steal, follow, pick up, anything."
Jamie spoke quickly when he saw Beck frown. He NEEDED that medicine. Beck rubbed his chin for a moment before speaking.
"...Anything?"
"Anything."
"Why do you want it so badly?"
"...My brother."
"I see. Now, if I said I would give your brother an unlimited supply of medicine, would you kill yourself here and now?"
"..."
"So, not anything then."
"Almost anything."
Jamie was getting annoyed, but he bit his tongue to stop himself from saying anything that could prevent him from getting Aiden that medicine.
"Tell you what," Beck clapped his hands, turning to Jamie. "I'll give you 'almost anything'. But first, why should I trust you? What makes you different from the people that already work for me?"
"I'm skilled." Jamie kept a straight face. "I'm sure you'll find I have qualities that the people that work for you don't. Just test me or something, let me prove it."
Beck chuckled.
"Okay then, here's your test."
The man reached into his desk and pulled out a folder, tossing it to Jamie, who caught it. Opening the folder, Jamie saw printouts of a map of the slums with 3 spots encircled, along with photographs of 3 different men.
"You see those men, and that map?"
Jamie looked at the folder then back at Beck, nodding. He didn't like where this was headed…
"I want you to kill those men and wreck their shops. No witnesses, no getting caught. If you can do that… I'll give you a medicine pack for free, and even throw in some credits and anything else you want."
