“I’m telling you, this is easy money. Easiest you’ll make with your abilities,” Pendergast said, juggling two smoke bombs in one hand.
“Are you sure it’s safe, though? You said they put you up against Apex.” James wrung his hands, looking at the dilapidated building leaning over ahead of him.
“One time thing. They haven’t sent me anywhere that bad since. They’re stupid simple smash and grab jobs, where half the time the ‘grab’ is optional. I still haven’t figured out what it’s for though. You should ask around, since you’ll be fresh.”
James flinched, spinning to Pendergast. “I don’t even know that I want to be part of this and you want me to ask a bunch of criminals stuff!”
Pendergast scratched his cheek under his black goggles, undisturbed. “Look, you have a record. HUE and all those background-check orgs aren’t gonna take you. What are you gonna do with your power?”
James twisted his lips uncertainly, glancing back up. The bitter smells of Indus filled his nose, further soured by the noon-day sun.
One of the largest standing buildings in Indus leaned over, threatening to crumble under its own weight. Dark black scars of old flames stretched up to the top of the building and the windows were either too dirty to see within or broken. At its base, a wild chicken pecked around for crumbs. A small kiosk stood at the bottom, settled in front of the blackened entrance with two individuals inside. One stood vigilant, watching James and Pendergast closely while the other was lounging and leaning back in her chair. Both wore black goggles.
“At least talk to them, then you can make the decision. The Underground’s great, you’ll see,” Pendergast said, leading the way. “Just ask them any questions you can about the organization, they won’t mind answering someone new.”
Reluctantly, James followed his acquaintance. He barely knew Pendergast, meeting him only a few weeks prior, but he met him at a desperate time. Strapped for cash, James was closing in on eviction, even though he lived in the cheapest area of Indus that still had running water and electricity. Pendergast made the Underground seem like a sure way to get money, but the closer they got, the more nervous James became. He had half a mind to turn and run before he got himself involved.
James pulled out his black swimming goggles and held them tightly as he approached the counter. Thick glass with a window at the bottom separated him from the two inside.
“Hey. I’m looking to join.”
The man who had been watching diligently leaned down to get a better view of James. His goggles were in fact large sunglasses, and he was built like a bodybuilder, barely fitting into the booth that the Underground had placed him in. He wore a leather jacket and a mix of black and ruby rings on his fingers. James swallowed hard when he saw the man’s hands and arms were covered in some white waxy substance. Cheese?
The high school aged girl next to him looked disheveled, like a teen left to take care of herself while her parents were away for a week. Her hair blonde spilled over her shoulders in several split ends and she wore a Hammerton City College sweater, with the Hammy the Hammer logo sewed into the front. Her goggles were placed up on her forehead and she was entirely focused on a gaming handheld, playing Nightbloom Canyon by Zalasif Studios.
“Motivation for joining?” The man typed on a keyboard just out of view.
James stared at the man’s hands, mesmerized by the strange consistency.
“Look, I know it’s distracting, but can we pay attention?” The man looked up with eyes unamused.
“I, uh, come from a rough neighborhood. In Indus. My house randomly caught fire while I was out with my family one day. It just exploded. A gas leak, they tell us, but I’m pretty sure some other foul play was involved. My parents tried getting justice, but no one would take our case on account of us being from Indus. Not enough money in it for them. So, now, I want to get back at the system that failed me.”
“Power?” The man continued typing dutifully, hardly lifting his head up.
The odd arms distracted James again as he watched them leave light smudges on the keys.
“He can grind through rocks like a fine chainsaw with his hands,” Pendergast jumped in, leaning on the counter.
“Pen, he’s going to speak for himself,” the man said.
“Go easy on him Joe, he’s nervous. Plus, when did you get a second person in the booth? Must be nice for the quiet hours. Also, I thought you were in prison, what happened there?”
“They can’t keep people like me behind bars.”
“But how exactly did you get out?”
“Pen. Shut up.”
Pendergast frowned, but stepped away from the booth. Joe stared at James with no encouragement. James swallowed hard.
“If I activate the power, I can grind through stones. It’s gradual, like a fine jackhammer instead of slicing like a sword.” James raised his arms to show the two in the booth. Neither were interested, the girl remaining focused on her game.
“Demonstrate,” Joe said, nodding to the ground behind James.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“You mean, here?” James asked, looking at the precarious building above them.
“Here.”
“You aren’t concerned about damaging the foundation?”
Joe’s eyebrows descended a fraction. “My time does not like to be wasted.”
“Sure! Right here, no problem!” James held up his hands and backed away two large steps.
Quickly, he set his goggles on, their angle off-center in the assault on his face. Swiping one hand over the other arm, it began revving lightly like a quiet chainsaw. Looking up to make sure Joe was watching, he lowered himself to the cracked concrete. The ground shrieked as James made contact with it, small shards of earth whipping up and clicking against James’s goggles and face. Lowering his hand until his entire forearm had sliced into the ground, he looked up, depowering his arm. Joe nodded, his lips set in a slightly impressed curve.
Folding his arms, he turned to the teenager that had not looked up once. “It’s not bad. Iris?”
Lost in her game, Iris’s thumbs tapped across the screen; the quiet booth filled with the gentle beeps and melodic tunes of her game. Uncertain, James stood up and slinked his way to the counter again. Pendergast put a confident arm around him and James shrugged him off uncomfortably.
“He’s great, right?” Pendergast asked, adjusting James’s goggles to sit straight on his nose.
Joe’s head remained turned to Iris, ignoring the world beyond the booth.
“Joe. Hey. Can we head in?” Pendergast waved then knocked on the glass. James recoiled, cringing.
Joe remained silent. Iris continued playing her game. A loud chime rang from Iris’s device and she frowned, failure music playing. Sighing through her nose, she lowered the device and gave half a glance at James before looking back at her game.
“Newbie’s cool. Other guy’s a cop, though,” Iris said, eyes on her device.
“Shame.”
“What?”
Without emoting, Joe flicked a switch under the counter and launched a net that snapped Pendergast into the air and pinned him to the ground. James watched with horrified eyes as Pendergast thrashed, throwing smoke bombs rapidly, but none leaving a five-foot radius from the trap.
“Greetings! You have been captured. Would you like to donate to The Cause?” the net asked.
Pendergast coughed on his own smoke. “Let me go! I’m not a cop! Joe, you know me!”
“We’re not friends. Never knew you.”
“James! Cut me out of here! Quick, these guys are crazy!”
Eyes bouncing between the booth and Pendergast, James took two small steps away from his acquaintance.
“Smart move,” Joe told him flatly as he pulled on a microphone in the booth. “Heads up, Pendergast was a cop trying to infiltrate. Sending him down for interrogation.”
Flipping another switch, the net dragged itself like a hole-ridden slug pulling its way to the building.
“I told you I’m not a cop! Joe, come on, who is this girl? James! Please! Someone! Get me out!”
A door opened to the building, and the net continued to drag itself and its contents down stairs that led to complete darkness. Pendergast shrieked down every step until the door closed behind him, muffling his screams.
James stood frozen, his body stiff and his heart a booming drum in his ears. Joe typed on a laptop under the counter and Iris continued to play her game, smiling as she made some progress. Wiggling the tiniest bit of his toe, James regained the bravery to move. If he could just turn around and walk away, maybe they would forget all about him and his association with Pendergast. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, James rotated himself away from the booth, angling himself to a distant escape
“This is a one-way phone. We call you. Calls should never go out except in emergencies.” Joe placed a phone on the counter in the booth and slid it through the window. A small white square of cheese stuck to the phone.
James winced, feeling like he’d been caught by guards during a heist, but realized he wasn’t being attacked, even verbally. With the same effort as before, he turned back toward the booth as Joe slid more items between the glass.
Sighing with the energy of a man already ready to be done with his shift, Joe tapped on a wad of cash. “This is a retainer. We expect you to be available for three jobs a week, but you get five sick days a month. You can use them to rest up after an especially taxing job. We don’t actually check if you’re sick.”
With baby steps, James approached the booth and looked between the flip phone, a charger, and the money. Eight thousand dollars in cash. Hesitantly, he reached out, but stopped himself. Pendergast’s screams still rang in his head.
“Is there like… A catch?”
“Yeah, be on time and don’t ask too many questions.”
James remembered how interested Pendergast was in asking more questions about the Underground. Maybe he really was a cop. But even if he couldn’t ask about it, he stared at Joe’s hands and what little he could see of the forearms under the jacket. There was a greasy aesthetic to it and it smelled of something fresh baked.
Joe rolled his eyes. “Fine, go ahead and ask.”
James felt like he had just been uncuffed. “What’s wrong with your arms?”
“They’re pizza.”
James swallowed hard, feeling like he misheard.
“Pizza?”
“Yeah, they’re made of pizza, okay?”
James felt an increase of several hundred questions in his mind.
“Is that your power? Pizza hands?”
“No, that’s not my power!” Joe snapped. “Someone else turned my hands into pizza. Inoperable. It’s what happens these days. No hazard pay, unfortunately.”
James turned his eyes from Joe to the door to the building behind him.
“The Underground didn’t do that to him. It was some schmuck. Not even a HUE member, he was beat by some loser,” Iris said, chuckling into her game as she spoke.
“Iris!” Joe said in disappointment, pointing a threatening pizza finger at her and dropping it limply. “Nevermind. Any questions?”
James opened his mouth slowly.
“Any questions about the job?” Joe clarified quickly.
James closed his mouth, embarrassed. Looking over the phone and money, he raised the wad of cash.
“How many jobs does this cover?”
“That’s just a retainer. Every job gets its own additional pay, minimum five thousand.”
James shook his head slightly. “You’re gonna pay me five grand for three jobs a week?”
“Yeah, don’t try to negotiate, that’s plenty for the work you’ll be asked to do.”
“Fifteen thousand a week is plenty for any work!” James agreed, tucking the money away and already imagining himself living away from Indus.
“Good. Keep that phone charged. You can go downstairs and meet some other people in the Underground if you want, but it’s not required. Any other questions?”
James couldn’t help but slide his eyes over the pizza hands again.
“Get out of here,” Joe said, tucking his hands away into his jacket pockets.
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