“Why is there such a massive gap between the poor and the rich? This system enslaves the bottom feeders so the big wigs can sit fat and pretty, hogging all of the equity, resources, and luxuries for themselves in an overly hedonistic fashion. They manipulate and bend the rules of the law in their favor to unparalleled levels. They propagate lies, hatred, and force feed negative images of those they deem the perfect scapegoats; targets for ultimate systemic oppression. They force an endless cycle of nonsensical violence to further their political agenda and sway citizens into believing that their way is the only way to ensure peace and freedom. It’s complete and utter brainwashing. A ruthless reminder of the downsides of the human condition.
“Zonos, Inc. is at the precipice of nearly everything negative and downright putrid about this city. Your brilliant posts on CWR highlight these brutal truths, educating your millions of followers and awakening them to the nightmarish reality that they live in so that they could become the change that they long to see. You and I, Caiden, no, Rez Fayte, are kindred spirits! Swords of justice! Blades of vengeance meant to strike down the wicked and eradicate it! That is why I elected to reach out to you!” Knight-1 emphatically replied.
Caiden stood motionless, deciding on whether he should be moved by the electrifying soliloquy of Knight-1 or not. His expression said it all.
“Cai, what’re you gonna do?” Nami asked.
He remained still, with laser sharp focus on the screen facing Knight-1. “I will go and meet with Wizard, but make no mistake; I still don’t trust you. I will not take orders from you. And if I get even the slightest inkling that your contact is plotting something, I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in that person's brain. And the same goes for you. If it comes to it, I will hunt you down myself,” Caiden said in a menacingly calm tone. His eyes harbored a sinister golden glow to them.
“Oh? You needn’t worry about such trivial things when it comes to me or Wizard, but I like your fighting spirit. Think of me as an advisor of sorts,” Knight-1 responded.
“I’d rather not,” he coldly countered.
“Ha, snappy response. But you’ll soon come to understand me in due time. I will be in touch,” Knight-1 replied, unaffected as the transmission cut.
“Phew! Man, you can be downright scary sometimes,” Hitomi remarked.
“You think so?” Caiden asked with a sudden, and totally relaxed temperament.
“It was pretty funny though how you threatened to shoot that Wizard person. It sounded pretty badass,” Nami joked.
“I really meant that,” Caiden casually responded.
“You serious? You’d really shoot someone just like that? Do you have a gun stashed somewhere? I wanna see it!” Nami requested.
“I only shoot to protect. That’s it. And yes, I do have a gun. It’s a modification based on a standard Psi-Corp 222 large semi-automatic pistol. It’s nowhere near done yet; it’s only about twenty-five percent finished. But it’s functioning,” Caiden remarked.
He went to his utility closet to pull out the pistol. It was a shade lighter than a full-fledged jet-black color. It had a large fifteen-inch barrel, with the total height of the gun approximately eight and a half inches. It had a trigger guard that extended to the bottom of the grip. In the middle of the barrel was a thin slot, that upon activation would glow neon blue. Behind the thin blue light, were three, short blue vertical lights.
“Wow! This gun is huge! Why did you start making something like this in the first place?” Nami asked.
“I dunno. I figured with the kind of work that I do, that someday I would need something to protect myself with, though I never actually planned on having this craziness happen to me. It’s a good thing I thought well ahead, ’cause now this’ll prove to be a worthy investment of my time,” Caiden replied.
“It’s really heavy! How do you expect anyone to lift that thing properly, let alone shoot it?” Hitomi asked.
“Really? You think so? It’s only like six and a half or seven pounds. I have a lot more I want to add to it,” he said as he picked the gun up single handedly, waving it around as if it were a piece of paper. He pulled out a data codec of the gun’s blueprints and initiated a holo-display for everyone to see. “As it is now, this is nothing more than an ordinary oversized gun. It holds twenty bullets in the clip. If you look here, I plan on adding multi-functionality to the gun.” Caiden said as he pointed to the hologram.
“Like what?” Hitomi asked.
“Watch and learn,” he said excitedly.
He manipulated the display and used both hands to enlarge it. He then pointed his finger to a button on the display and the hologram enabled a GIF function showing the gun’s planned transformation.
“What’s that?” they asked.
“I’m working on plans to give this gun a variety of different firing modes, but I’ve always wanted to make it into a transformable blade too,” Caiden replied.
“Jeez, it’s like you’re preparing for war or something,” Nami said.
“Maybe I am. Now, at least,” Caiden said with an ominous undertone.
It was as if Nami’s small comment encapsulated his life in one meager sentence. Is this all that I’m really meant for? Why am I so hellbent on taking down a massive corporation like Zonos? Will it even solve anything at all? Am I truly a
