The Core 1

I am not the type to shy away or run from a storm, I face it.

So I picked the call.

I so wanted to know what had given them courage again.

"Adnell..." the voice at the other end said.

"We know that you burnt the lab but not the core. We have the rings..."

**********

 "Sir, we lost him."

Two men in Black overalls over black pants reported back to their boss, sitting beside the fireplace in an old research facility.

"He's just a boy, one tiny boy at that. How could he outsmart three idiots in a car?" The boss roared.

The other men trembled, not only those being scolded at, but everyone else present in the room and beyond under the sound of his voice.

"Sir, we'll get it right next time." One of the men defended.

"And who says they'll be next time. I don't fuck'in entertain failures." The boss spoke, exercising authority as he stood up from the rocking chair he'd been sitting on. His back was facing the room. They all knew what happens when the boss faces anyone, especially in this state.

They all silently prayed not to be a victim of his wrath this time.

"Make the call." The boss ordered without facing the other people in the room. 

He returned to his seat.

"One fuck'in chance! That's all you three are getting." He ordered.

"Thank you sir." All three of them said in unison, slightly bowing their heads down.

"But not without some refreshments." The boss added, with a mechanically smile on his face no one saw. "Rowan?" He called one of the additional men in the room. "Make them feel comfortable." He said, accompanied by a diabolical chuckle.

 "You wanna play huh Neon? " The boss said while tapping his cigar on the ashtray on the side stool to his left.

"I really underestimated you," he said in a crooked voice. As soon as the three guys were dragged out of his presence.

xxxxxxxxxx

"We have the rings." The call hung up from the other end.

I stared at the phone for a split second, I walked out of the room and shut the door behind me. I felt my brothers gaze linger at my back just before shutting the door.

Walking down the hallway, I took the elevator down to the basement, well basement to everyone but below the basement was my lab.

Technically, nobody knew about my underground sanctuary except for one of my sisters, Nasi.

My parents thought of it as a petit inner garage. Well, that is what I made the world see.

Nasi has always been the most educationally conscious one amongst the six of us, so I always filled her in, in most of the dealings. She was responsible too, a good partner.

Walking to my pretext workspace, I casually sat down and place my fingers on the armrest, tapping a particular spot thrice, the chair gradually descended to reveal a blue illuminated room accommodating my works, engines, both car and plane, empty motor cabins held by a solid metal string hung up at angles above me, plane parts scattered to my left as I walked to a door at the south-west corner of the room. Pushing in, I saw my robot Flint writing stuff on the whiteboard glued to the wall.

Shutting the door silently, I leaned on the closed-door watching it write, a proof I assumed to be linked to Boltzmann's Theory. I was surprised because we seldom go into the depth of thermodynamics, just the bases. Yes, mechanics and electronics was our fort, but with sciences, you find yourself blending it all, even biology.

The core's existence is my inspiration from a variety of plants. Radioactivity of course.

"What are you up to this time Flinty?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Check this out,'' he said, pointing towards the board.

'Yes, he...' I created Flint at the start of my science adventure, he was just a robot, like a normal robot until I found a way to transfer subconsciousness to a machine using a cephalo machine I created called cephalolex. That kind of thing has long been termed impossible, but I did it and now Flint portrays human emotions and he self-upgrades.

Do not border it's not a modern-day terminator. I created a security auto-destroy mechanism, just in case he goes berserk someday, which so far, all theories have proven that impossible.

I walked and stood behind him.

"The Firm has the rings," I said before he could start explaining whatever it was that he was doing.

Flint turned and faced me with a robotic look saying nothing at first.

"What did they say again? " Flint asked.

"They said, they know that the core still exists," I replied, taking a seat at the working slab opposite the board.

"What do you wanna do?" Flint asked, staring at me.

"I don't know if they have it or it's just the whispers fueling it up." "And if they have it, do they have some or all the seven rings, and how many do they have as of now? if they do not have all, where are the rest? What the hell happened to Dr Murphy that the rings are on the loose."

 "Those are the questions we ought to be asking now Flint," I said 

"I don't want to verify myself because I know that they'll be keeping tabs on me right now. Plus, I do not want to bother my father. So, you do it."

"And I am days away from launching my next motor prototype, so I don't want to jeopardize anything."

Flint just nodded and headed for the door.

"Reuben is with them, so be careful," I warned.

"When have I ever been reckless?" Flint asked

"The question should be-: when have you EVER NOT been reckless?" He said, raising my brow challengingly.

He just chuckled a robot-like chuckle as he stepped out.

I took out my phone and left Stacy a goodnight message.

Yes, we do communicate with each other but nothing intimate yet. Though I am planning on confessing before this week runs out. That is the reason why I need to deal with the firm and their madness as soon as possible.

Putting my phone in my pocket, I walked towards what looked like a deep freezer beside the slab. I opened it to reveal packets of frozen meat, lifting the third packet to my left, I was presented with neat glass stairs.

I took the glass stairs which led me into this beautiful all-white room. I stared at my reflection on the glass walls, and I could not help but admire the beauty of my long ink-black hair. I could not admire my beauty for long because my eyes met with the piece of art everybody is willing to die for.

Looks like history is about to repeat itself. The difference now is that I am no longer that broke hungry kid back then who was naïve and vulnerable. Now Neon Adnell, the world's youngest self-made billionaire and most successful engineer.

I stayed in my sanctuary for a couple more hours, just putting things in order. Even though I knew that The Firm was no match against me, there's no harm in triple-preparing.

When I was satisfied with my layout plan, I matched back up to my room.

Well not exactly, because my dad was waiting for me on the couch in the living room upstairs. I was tired to stupor, but I could not snob my dad.

"Sit down son," Dad said

I sat opposite him.

He switched off the Tv with the remote before turning to face me.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked.

Silence...;

"You can tell me, anything son, you know I'll always support you right. I'm your father." He added.

Silence...

"Well, I've got all night, until you talk.

silence still."

Dad stared at me while sipping his coffee, or tea I presume.

I just kept on circling my watch with my fingers.

He shifted his gaze back to the now switched-off TV.

"The Firm is back," I said after what felt like an eternity.

"They came after me on my way back from Nathan's," I added. 

He did not turn to look at me, but I knew that he heard every word,

I silently waited for him to respond.

Well, he did, by sipping from his cup once more.

"I won't ask you what they want from you, '' I heard him say. But I'd like to know what you plan to do."

"Remember that they know your real Identity now, which implies that you have a lot to lose now." He added.

"Yeah," I agreed. 

"They want the core," I said.