Chapter 23

The insurance robots of the hotel franchise demanded to negotiate with my insurance company. I whispered to Angela, "Can you also take care of this? I don't have insurance." She said yes, but I could tell she had questions to ask me. The whole thing was a boring blur. They came, exchanged info, and left. Angela called us a cab and paid for it. I thanked her over and over again; some impression I pulled off for my first and only love interest.

After a few minutes, a bright yellow-orange colored car drove up to us. We opened the door ourselves and sat down on the stiff, cushioned seats. I'm getting too old for this. The door closed and the driver...actually there was no driver. The automated steering wheel started to turn and drive off.

Few minutes of awkward silence occurred. We both stared off into opposite windows. Although, I was secretly watching her through the reflection on the window. Okay, I'm starting to sound like a creep. And an old one at that. Out of nowhere, Angela broke the silence, "How come you don't have insurance?"

"Well, I do. Sixteen tons of gold buried in the desert somewhere."

She giggled, "You're funny." She didn't believe it. Well, I didn't expect her to. Even for a trillionaire, the idea sounds kind of ridiculous. She continued, "You know when I first met you, I thought you would be like all the other people at the company."

"What do you mean by 'other people'?" I asked.

"Like the people that abuse their power."

This was a shocking revelation to me. People abusing their power? At my company? Well, it wasn't that surprising since I saw the nudist beach on the nine hundredth floor populated by a bunch of junkies. But, still. "How do they...abuse their power?"

She looked at me like I was a clueless child, "Bribes, nepotism, sexual favors, money laundering, threats, rape, embezzlement. And the list goes on."

I looked at myself in the front mirror. That was my company? How the hell did that happen? She continued to talk, "People like me who are from the middle sector or some who are even from the outer sector can't fight back, so we have to be subservient and comply with all their demands. If we don't then they could scar us on our records. We would never ever get a job, and we would be sent back to where we came from."

My jaw dropped. All of this was happening right under my nose? I asked her, "Do you have a list of names?" She shook her head and brought out a piece of paper. She started to write in tiny letters. I understood why after she finished. There were several hundred names. "You sure there are this many?" I lifted the paper.

She shook her head. I asked her, "Can I borrow your phone for a second?"

She hesitated and asked me, "You're not going to chuck it out the window, are you?"

I had flashbacks of her car keys, "No, I won't." She still didn't look convinced, so I added, "I promise." She reluctantly handed over her phone. I snapped a picture of all the names and sent it to Flin. I texted him: 'Knock'em dead.'

I then realized that he would actually kill them. Shit! I grabbed the phone back and texted: 'Don't actually kill them, just...do your thing without the blood. For now...'

My mouth curved into an evil smile, but then I quickly reverted it back. I mean, Angela was watching. I scrutinized the phone a few seconds when Angela said, "Don't even think about it." I rolled down the window. "Micheal!" I lifted the phone, so it was level to the gap. Angela reached out to grab the phone but was apprehended by her seatbelt. "Micheal! Micheal, no!" I tossed it out the window. We both could hear it shatter and crack beneath a tire behind us.

Angela turned around to face the other window. I think she was...crying. "Angela, why are you crying over the phone?" I tried to use my best soothing voice.

Angela turned around and angrily slash sadly said, "The phone wasn't backed. I just lost seven years of photos. All because of you!"

Well, damn! It's a good thing that I didn't actually throw her phone out. "Angela?"

"Leave me alone!" she yelled softly. I tossed her phone on her lap. She looked down at it and exclaimed, "How did you get it back?"

"I hired a professional fetch-partner that could fetch the phone when I threw it out the window at a hundred miles an hour. Then, he biked up close to me when you weren't looking and gave it back to me," I said sarcastically. I don't think she got it.

She said in a soft whisper, "Really?"

"No! You idio-woman," I almost slipped up there, "I found someone else's phone in between the seats to toss." I shrugged my shoulders.

"..."

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Vincent POV:

The twins and I finally made it far enough where we could see a central plaza. Our feet hurt after walking so long, so we sat down on a bench near a stop sign.

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Micheal POV:

We continued to ride down the road towards the hotel when he neared a stop sign. The car slowed down. "Yo! Auto-car thing? Why did you stop? There's literally no one there!"

An automated voice answered, "According to protocol when there are living organisms heavier than ten pounds, all traffic must wait for at least five minutes to let that organism have a choice." I looked around and saw no one.

I was about to say something when Angela excitedly yelled, "Look there are three children over there." She pointed to a bench.

I replied to her happy remark, "We're not supposed to be happy about that remember?"

Angela ignored me, "Could you pull up over there by the bench?" The car started to move diagonally towards the sidewalk before it parallels parked right next to the wooden bench.

I said, "Angela, what are you doing?"

Angela absentmindedly said, "Look at them, they're all from the outer sector! We've got to help them."

I shook my head, "They're probably just drug addicts roaming around in the wrong parts of the city. If you offer them money, they'll probably ask for more."

She glanced back at me, "You said 'probably, so you don't actually know, right?" I internally slapped my forehead.

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Vincent POV:

A yellow cab pulled up to where we were sitting. George suggested that we walk away quickly before we got shot. We agreed. We got up and slowly walked away.

A female voice rang out from the taxi, "Where are you guys going? Don't you need some help?" We all looked back at the woman. She was beautiful, like an angel. We also looked around to take in our surroundings. The road was completely empty. There was grass that went on as far as the eye could see. No trees, I mean, no places to duck and cover.

George answered back. His voice felt a little far away. I looked back, and he was already standing next to the taxi. He said, "We honestly thought that you would shoot us."

I walked myself over but stayed out of sight. The woman's face was filled with confusion. Bill explained, "So far, almost everyone's been trying to kill us! Throwing things at us, chasing out of a library, trying to run us over."

The woman's face was full of shock; she said, "You were chased out of a library?"

George covered, "Forget we said that." His awkward laugh made it worse.

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Micheal Grey POV:

So the kids weren't addicts. But, watch them take all of her money! Angela reached into her purse and pulled out a couple of thousand credits. I gawked. Does she know the value of money? We weren't a fucking charity! One of the twins reached in to grab the money. I knew it!

*Slap*

The twin's hand was slapped away. Another voice entered the scene, "We don't need money, Miss. If you could give us some food or a place to stay, we would be grateful."

I heard some whispers: "Why didn't you take their money? They were giving it to US."

The same voice that asked for food said, "We've finally found a person willing to talk to us instead of wanting us dead! Why would we take advantage of their kindness?"

I was surprised. This was...different. Angela asked them a question, "Can't you buy food with this money? and a place to stay?"

One of the twins, I think the one without the scar, said, "It doesn't matter if we've got money or not. None of the places would serve us anything or give us a bed."

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Vincent POV:

I showed my face this time while I said, "So, that's why we were wondering if you could give us directions or something along those lines?"

George looked past the women and spotted something or someone. He happily talked, "Look! Guys, it's Micheal Grey! Or at least I think it's him; he could be one of those dupes."

We all looked through the car.

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Micheal Grey POV:

Me a fake! What insolence! I spoke up, "Yes, it is I, Micheal Grey."

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Vincent POV:

George looked at me and said, "I don't think it's him. He didn't talk funny in the interview.

I nodded my head and responded, "Yeah, I agree with you."

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Micheal Grey POV:

What the HELL? "No, no it's me. See." I talked in my regular voice. "You guys saw my interview? How was it?"

The scar-faced twin answered, "It was great. We loved how you dealt with that noisy interviewer dude!"

A smug sense of satisfaction came over me. "Well, thank you!"

He continued, "We also want to thank you for giving extra aid for the people who want to play in the games!"

"Wait, you guys are playing the Evolution Games?" Angela asked, "Aren't you a little too young for that? You're supposed to be at least seventeen."

The righteous guy answered, "The person who signed us is didn't say anything about it, so we assumed it was fine."

I also chimed in, "Angela, an infant could participate in the games. Seventeen is just a...suggestion."

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Vincent POV:

Angela, the lady, asked us, "Didn't the person who signed you up to tell you that there were reduced-priced hotels for the outer sector participants?"

Bill dropped his bag and said, "If we knew that, then we wouldn't have to sleep under a bridge."

Angela had a horrified expression on her face. "Well, let me write down the directions." She shuffled things around in her bag.

I told her, "You can just say them, I can remember it."

Angela asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

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Micheal Grey POV:

What a cocky kid. Angela told them the directions and the transports that they could take. To be honest, I think she was being way too generous. Angela moved on to the pricing, "So if one night costs thirteen point seven nine credits and you need it for five nights, give me a sec..." She reached into her bag to get her calculator.

I answered, "Sixty-eight point eight."

"...point eight." What was that? The righteous voiced kid assured Angela that he got the right answer and that there was no need to double-check.

He answered at the same time as I did. But, how?

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Vincent POV:

Angela looked at me with amazement. She said, "You're almost like Micheal!"

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Micheal Grey POV:

I went closer to her window and saw who she was talking to. What does she mean he looks ALMOST like me? He looked EXACTLY like me! Especially his eyes. Those jade-green, piercing eyes. They were mine.

I scooted back to my seat and thought about this. How?

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Vincent POV:

I wrapped up the conversation with Angela, and we all said our goodbyes. She even gave us her business card in case we needed anything. I looked at the back of the taxi as it drove off. What nice people.

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Micheal Grey POV:

How! How! How! HOW! Is that possible. Is he my son? no. Well, maybe. But, to look exactly like me, how? Is he a clone? Impossible. How would anyone perfect a clone to such an extent! I laughed at myself. What funny tho-wait. It couldn't be, right?