Connor was already laughing with his friend over a couple cups of drinks by the time Dorian arrived and they welcomed him warmly.Connor asked how he found work today and Dorian said it was good, chuckling nervously at the fact that Connor had chosen to specifically ask him about work. Something about it was fishy, and when Connor finally pulled out a video that had gone viral on the internet and the city’s social media space today, Dorian finally took the drink they offered him and gave it a shy sip to mask his expression. That was the car alright.That was Connor’s car, the car he had lent Dorian for regular Uber jobs but which Dorian had now used to engage in a high-speed chase and even got on video.“The police are never gonna find that car.” Dorian choked on his drink slightly and pounded his chest as he asked, “W… what?”Connor’s friend who had made the comment chuckled and gestured to the video, “The car. The police are never gonna find it. The license plate has been blurred
Dave bid them goodbye with a slightly wizened smile on his face and Connor booed him out of the bar and into a cab because it was obvious Dave couldn’t keep his drinks in.As Dorian chuckled, Connor grinned and wore a slight smile on his face, “Dave’s never been much of a drinker, but I guess that’s good. He needs his concentration for school and it’s better he knows resorting to alcohol will give him a killer headache.”Dorian chuckled bitterly as he commented, “Been there.”He and Connor began walking down a path and they spoke casually. Connor asked if he had made up with his girlfriend yet but Dorian scoffed and gritted his teeth in anger, “I’d rather kiss my father’s shoes than get back with her. She called the freaking cops on my Maybach, still don’t know how I'll get that car back.”Connor laughed lightly and swaggered forward with a slight bounce in his step, “Don’t worry, Conny’s got ya covered. You’ll get the car back.”Dorian nodded because for some reason he believed that.
“Good morning, welcome to KYC news channel and I am Nadia Helio, thank you for tuning in. This is the morning news at 6. For the daily headlines, a man was found brutally battered in an alleyway of the bustling Torin neighborhood last night.Police say his nose was brutally broken, his jaw smashed in and several teeth missing. Speculation is that he was involved in a gang altercation. Further inspection of the unconscious male identified him as a member of the neighborhood gang popularly known as the “Blacktips” and inside sources say he is a high-ranking member, different from most low-level goons. Further investigations are still ongoing but our specialists say it is possible the injured man might face jail time after he’s been treated.Some…”Dorian cut off the video feed from his phone immediately and groaned loudly. He messed up. He messed up bad!The system commented from the bed it was seated on as that weird cat, ~I’m sure they won’t kill you so fast Dorian, they’ll probably
~This is bad. You know that right?~Dorian scoffed and backed his car into the parking lot, “You didn’t complain when I used it to make money before.”~Because you were in danger of death. It was fine then because you didn’t want to die, now it’s not because you’re just gonna make sure there are more drunk dolts like you roaming the city~Dorian kept his eyes on his approaching patron and judged the man’s outfit and his general demeanor. He didn’t look drunk, but drunk people barely ever looked drunk when they were suffering from a hangover and this guy looked like he was suffering from one of those.He opened the car door, plopped into the backseat, and gave only one command, “Drive.”Dorian nodded and obeyed because as the saying goes in the business world, “The customer is always right.”The system sneered and shook its head while glaring at Dorian in its mental space, ~Have you imagined what the world would say if they found out you’re doing this Dorian?~ Dorian chuckled and scoff
The system was right.“What the hell could they want?”Dorian watched the black car steadily following him from his windscreen. All his attempts to get rid of the car had proved futile so far because no matter how many twists and turns he took, cutting tight corners just to veer off onto a hidden street or confusing alleyway that actually had an exit, the car would still follow him, hot on his tail, and almost mockingly persistent.Dorian released a low groan from his lips as he stepped on the pedal and sped the car up. There was nothing he could think of right now that would get him out of this fix because everything he could think of was already being steadily exhausted.Every option he had taken so far had proven to be ineffective in stopping the car from following him, “Do you think they’re following us?”The system chortled derisively and Dorian shook his head, clearing his thoughts and trying again, “Of course they’re following us. I mean do you think they have a tracker on us,
Dorian didn’t crash the car.How could he crash the car? This wasn’t even his own car! This was Dave’s.Dave would still need to sell this car if he wanted to raise enough money to start school with and how would he do that if the person he gave the car to for the day crashed it?Connor would never trust him again. Dave would never trust him again. The two people he had spent such a fun time with yesterday would barely look at him again and was that what he really wanted? To become a loner because his crazy system wouldn’t make him trustworthy around a car?Dorian turned to look at the car and asked, “I’m not crashing the car. Is there a second option?”The system refused to give him a reply, so Dorian gritted his teeth and decided he would do nothing.Yeah, he would do nothing about the people who were following him and trying to track him. He would do nothing about the fact that his and the system’s life could very well be in danger right now. He would do nothing because the system
*******************Mercury Skyscraper.Inside a lavishly furnished office-like room sat an old man. His eyes were sharp, his hair was slicked back, each and every movement he executed let those around him stand on edge like attendants at a high-risk event, yet anyone looking could see the tiredness in the man’s eyes.There was a weariness to his sharp gray eyes, something sapping the man of energy and which generally extended to his soul as well.The old fox of the Mercury Conglomerate was searching for someone, someone he had loved once but whom he had rejected at the start of their careers.Then his company had meant everything to him. His business had meant everything to him. His success had been the only thing he could think of.But years down the line he only wanted one thing back, one thing that had been waiting for him before but which he had turned down and which he would give anything for nowHis voice was still strong as he read the morning papers and asked, “Has he been lo
Dorian frowned as he stared at the time go by on his watch. The letter he opened wasn’t from his father. It had been from the police station.His father had sent him a warrant, or something that he didn’t really know the name to. The basis of it was that he would be arrested if he didn’t come back home. The old man had given him 24 hours to come back, crawling on his knees, or he would be thrown in jail for the rest of his life.“Is he even allowed to do that?”Dorian let out a depressed sigh as he nodded. “The neighborhood police are in his pockets. He can do anything he wants and no one will say a thing. I’m sure he has some cubicle he’s planning to put me in at the back of the house.I don’t know why he hates me so much.”Connor was on the phone with him and Dorian felt thankful for that. The fact that he had someone who could be with him during these times felt… soothing a bit. This was nothing compared to some of the things he knew his father could really do.“How come he’s neve