Primal instinct

As Duke entered the living room, he noticed a figure hunched over on the couch, typing away with intense focus. As he drew closer, he realized it was the young man who had witnessed his impressive car-jumping feat earlier. 

Duke's curiosity got the better of him, and he crept closer to see what had captured the young man's attention. His eyes widened in astonishment as he realized the kid was engrossed in a game - the very same game Duke had been searching for, the one he had always coveted.

Without hesitation, Duke sat down beside him, his eyes glued to the screen. The young man didn't flinch, too focused on his gameplay. Duke's gaze followed the characters, his mind absorbing every detail.

"Go away, Ryker," the young man muttered, not looking up, assuming it was Ryker talking to him.

But when the person beside him didn't move, he paused his game and turned to look. His eyes widened when they landed on Duke. He jumped up from his seat and pointed to Duke.

"It's you!" he exclaimed.

Tyler's eyes sparkled with excitement as he introduced himself. "Hey, I'm Tyler! We met briefly earlier, but I didn't think I'd see you again so soon. That jump you pulled off was incredible! How did you even do that?"

Duke nodded, his gaze still fixed on the screen. His eyes didn't even flicker towards Tyler, his attention completely absorbed in the game. Tyler's enthusiasm didn't seem to faze him.

Tyler didn't let that deter him. He continued, his curiosity getting the better of him. "I mean, I've seen some crazy things in this place, but that was on a whole other level. I've never seen anyone move like that before. And Nadia mentioned something about an injured guest... was that you? What happened? How did you end up here?" Tyler stepped back to take a look at Duke. "You don't look injured at all."

"I was," Duke's response was short, his focus remaining on the game. His fingers moved slowly toward the screen. He was too engrossed in the virtual world to acknowledge any more of Tyler's questions.

Tyler's gaze drifted to what Duke was so engrossed in, and his brows furrowed in slight confusion. 

'Why is he looking at the game like it was the finest set he had laid his eyes on?' Tyler wondered.

Tyler sat down and tossed him a pad. "Wanna play? I've been working on this level of story mode for ages, maybe you can help me beat it?"

And for the first time since Tyler started talking, Duke turned to look at him.

The first thing that caught Duke's attention was the scar above Tyler's eyebrow. Duke couldn't check it out fully because Tyler's messy white hair was sticking out in every direction, partially covering the scar. He wondered how Tyler got the scar, but his curiosity was quickly overshadowed by the excitement of playing the game together.

As Duke reached out to collect the pad, his primal instinct suddenly kicked in. 'What if this is another trap?' his subconscious warned. 'What if all of this is just a ruse to subdue me?'

 Duke's hand hesitated, then withdrew.

The more he thought about it, the more he saw reason to believe that this was all a setup to get to him. Nadia appeared out of nowhere. Sure she had tended to his wounds, but what if she was just playing a role? She might have discussed with the Ryker guy to pretend he couldn't get the prisoner to talk, to see what he was capable of. Maybe that's why she seemed so angry when he killed him.

Because how can her sister go missing after he had helped her find her? 

And now, his favorite game was within reach.

"Hey, Man,  are you good?" Tyler's voice cut through Duke's train of thought. Duke stood up and nodded to the kid. "Yes, I just need to be somewhere. But hey, maybe some other time."

The boy looked confused, mumbling an "Oh," as Duke skidded past him, trying to navigate his way out. 

Just then, Nadia and Ryker emerged from different rooms. 

Ryker spoke first. "The body- The body mysteriously disappeared while I was trying to wrap it." he Informed.

Nadia looked perplexed at that information but her gaze was focused on Duke who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. "I told you to get the others-" she started, but Duke cut her off.

"Yeah, uhm, change of plans, but I've got to go." he said curtly, earning surprised glances from all of them.

"But your wounds-" Tyler started to say from behind but Duke dismissed him with a brief "All good" 

There was tense silence for a second or two before Ryker broke it. "What are you waiting for? A goodbye hug? Get gone, the fuck?"

"Ryker," Nadia chided.

"What? If the fucker wants to leave, let him."

Nadia rolled her eyes before she turned to Duke. "Duke, please-"

"I can't." Duke cut her off. "I appreciate the help on my wounds, and I'd be more than happy to stitch you up if I come across you wounded too, but I'm not going to wait for that time to come, to pay you back. And I honestly care less about any of you or whatever situations you've got yourself locked with."

"Unlike you, we have souls. It's what makes us human." Ryker rebuffed.

"Using that to defend yourself is pure stupidity, but you look the part so keep at it." Duke mused.

Ryker folded his arms around his chest as he questioned Duke curiously. "How'd you get like this? Your daddy didn't give you enough hugs or something?"

"Ryker!" Nadia scolded.

Duke shrugged, " I don't know, did your mum give you enough?"

Nadia darted her gaze to Duke in shock, not expecting him to use a sensitive topic like that.

"Well he started it," Duke defended himself on noticing Nadia's disappointed expression.

If Ryker thought talking about his parents was a weak point, he was certainly kidding himself. Duke had learned over the years to school his features and make sure to not show he was affected when people talked about his parents, visibly. 

"There's the door." Nadia pointed at the exit.

And Duke took it.