Come Join Me 

Arthur smiled with satisfaction as he returned to his car. Lukas, who was waiting for him in the car, clicked his tongue when he saw Arthur's smiling face.

"So, how was the show?" Lukas asked.

"It was entertaining. I think I'll return to this place again," Arthur replied. "What about meeting you and Rayden?"

Lukas shook his head. "Everything went well. He'll see you at the office tomorrow. Didn't you see him earlier?"

"I saw him. But he didn't seem to notice because he was walking with his face down," Arthur said. "We're meeting tomorrow anyway. Hurry back to Longbark."

The driver of the car in which Arthur and Lukas were riding quickly drove the vehicle forward. Arthur stared at the neon sign molded into the name Bad Roses, written in block letters with a red rose at the end. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. One step away, the team he wanted would be formed, and he would be able to uncover the mastermind behind the bomb attack that happened two years ago.

***

The next day at Maple corp headquarters, Rayden stepped out reluctantly. He hadn't slept all night thinking about what he would say to Arthur. Should he admit what he had done to the Maple server? Or should he be evasive? What if what Ramona said was true, and Arthur asked him to join him?

All these thoughts made Rayden uneasy, and he eventually chose to leave early because he couldn't sleep either. Once in his office, Rayden was surprised to find someone sitting in his chair. The person seemed to be using his computer and didn't realize that Rayden had entered. He walked slowly and approached his desk.

Just as Rayden stood behind his chair, the person who was sitting there turned his chair around and looked at Rayden with a smile on his face. "I didn't expect you to come this early."

Rayden stared at Arthur, who was sitting in his chair. The man's face looked very calm compared to Rayden's restless self from last night. He cleared his throat, which was dry.

"Good morning, sir," Rayden said with a slight stammer.

Arthur stood up from where Rayden was sitting. He put his hands in his pockets and glanced at the two monitors on Rayden's desk and spoke to him. "I see you have quite a lot of work here. Is the pay you receive commensurate with your workload?"

Rayden sighed. "I get paid enough for my living expenses."

"But-" Arthur interrupted. He looked at Rayden with a probing gaze.

"You've met my sister. I'm sure you know what kind of trouble we're in, and to be honest, I deliberately attacked those servers to get my bonus," Rayden admitted. He babbled in one breath, and it left him breathless once he finished all his sentences.

Arthur fell silent after Rayden finished his words. "Take a deep breath, and exhale slowly," he told Rayden while practicing what he said.

Rayden unconsciously followed what Arthur said. After his breathing normalized, he spoke to Arthur again. "I don't mind if I have to be fired from this company because of my cheating. It was my fault."

"I guess you don't belong here if you want more money," Arthur said. "Unless..."

"Keep your offer. Mona told me what you talked about last night. I don't want to get involved," Rayden said quickly.

"You haven't listened to my offer," snapped Arthur.

"I already know what you want to offer me. You want me to join the group formed to investigate the bomb explosion two years ago, right?" snapped Rayden.

Arthur was silent as he watched Rayden. Dealing with Ramona was much easier than dealing with Rayden. It could be seen from Rayden's aggressive expression and demeanor. In contrast to Ramona, who was much calmer than him. "I can report what you did to the company to the authorities."

Rayden gasped. While Arthur continued his words. "What you've done is a criminal offense. I can process it if that's what you want."

"You're threatening me?" exclaimed Rayden.

"I'm just saying what I can do for you. You have indirectly caused me a loss," Arthur said calmly.

Rayden clenched his fists as Arthur approached him. Meanwhile, Arthur placed his right hand on Rayden's shoulder. He squeezed it slightly as he looked intently at Rayden. "What I will give you is far greater than what you receive from the company. No system will limit your work, and I'll ensure you get everything you need to do your skill."

"I'm not interested. I prefer to work within a clear system," Rayden said.

"What I'm offering still needs to be clarified to you? Great pay, avant-garde equipment, and the freedom to develop your own applications. I won't claim what you create while I give you the freedom to use my resources."

Rayden swallowed. For a tech geek like him, Arthur's offer must have been very tempting. All this time, he had to save up if he wanted to buy the equipment he needed to develop the applications he was making. Even to build a low-capacity server, he had to borrow money from Ramona, and in return, he made his brother a chip that he could use to hack into his customers' credit cards.

It's not like he never thought about hacking into banks, financial institutions, or anything like that to steal money from them. He had thought about it. He had even worked out what kind of attack he would carry out. But at the last second, before doing so, he decided against it because he heard the news about a hacker being arrested for money theft. He didn't want to end up in jail. Because if he was caught like the hacker, Ramona would be in even more trouble.

"Would you consider my offer?"

Arthur's question snapped Rayden out of his reverie. "Why do you want me to join you so badly?"

"You're talented. Plus, we both have a burden from the past that makes our lives a mess," Arthur replied.

Rayden quickly responded to Arthur's words. "You look fine with all the wealth you have."

"My real wealth is not this. What is most precious to me has been taken away from me. I am just as devastated as you and the people who were victims of the explosion." Arthur let out a long sigh after he finished his sentence. He then noticed Rayden's silent expression. "Why do you think I'm here so early?"

Rayden glanced at Arthur while shrugging his shoulders.

"I didn't sleep well after my outburst. The image of that day comes to mind every time I close my eyes. I was there with many people whose names are now inscribed on the memorial, including your parents."

"Why are you telling me?" asked Rayden. He tried to act nonchalant after hearing what Arthur said.

It is true what people say, doesn't trust the water surface that looks calm. From the look in his eyes, Rayden could see the anger and resentment burning inside Arthur. Who knows what the man would do if he really found out who was behind the explosion at Onyx square.

"Because I'm just as devastated as you are. That explosion destroyed the lives of many people. Some may have let go of what happened, but I'm sure they can't really forget what happened," Arthur replied.

"I'm over it," Rayden said.

"If you had forgotten about it, you wouldn't have used the date of the explosion as a password on your work computer," Arthur said.

Rayden was silent again. He had a hard time forgetting what happened. There was something he regretted that even Ramona didn't know about. Rayden chose to keep his regrets to himself and not show them to Ramona, even though he always went to his sister when he was in a bad mood. He didn't want Ramona to hate him if she knew what he did before the explosion.

From the change in Rayden's expression, Arthur suspected that the man was now thinking about the offer he had made. Not giving up, Arthur spoke to Rayden again. "I don't know what made you hesitate to join me, but at least think of your sister. She must be wishing you could help her too."

"So you're going to fire me?" Rayden finally said.

Arthur shook his head. "It's my loss to fire a talented man like you. I'm just transferring you to my other place. Think of it as you resigning from Maple and working somewhere more fun."