“Oh my god!” Hitomi gasped.
“What is it?” Nami replied.
“Look at this! Ten charges of sexually motivated murder completely swept under the rug by the courts. If the judges weren’t paid off, the victim’s families were, if they had any. Look at these victims! All of the murder victims were usually either homeless or delinquent in some way,” Hitomi said.
“There’s more. More than twenty-five high profile complaints of sexual harassment were reported at his place of employment by women he worked with. These women were on the up n’ up; high level grads, groundbreaking scientists. They reported everything from being groped to being flashed with his newly perverse augmentations. Ew! Some reports show he forced himself on them with the promise of them one day becoming the head of his research division.” Nami read. This guy reminded them of the monsters who paid big money to take advantage of them while they were prisoners at The LoveMaars.
“I can’t read any more of this. Check out his contract documents,” Hitomi’s voice began to shake.
“Look here. This is strange,” Nami said.
It was a four-thousand-page document. The filename was ‘The Adriel Project’. Nami clicked it open and to their dismay, the entire four-thousand-page document was digitally redacted. The twins did a quick scroll through the entire file hoping to find a page that wasn’t tampered with. The only page that had any visible information was the very last page; it was a signature page.
“Dr. Stein Volda of Zonos Incorporated Government & Sciences. Check this out! The names are redacted, but look at the other companies who signed off on this,” Nami stated.
“C.E.L.L. and Quantum Corporation?” Hitomi read aloud.
“Why in the world would these groups be collaborating?” Nami asked.
These three companies were known as the ‘Big Three’ in Neon District, and worldwide. Each spent billions of Creds each year in smear campaigns against one another. So, it was strange to see them working so closely together via the contract that the twins uncovered. They wondered what project could be so important that it would make the companies put their differences aside. With these revelations, the twins concluded their search by compiling and encrypting all of their findings. Mission accomplished.
CHAPTER 13
---usr/systems/server-x/PARTY TIME---
A loud series of knocks on the door startled Caiden awake.
“Yo! Yo, Caide! You alive in there?” the voice called out.
“Uh, yeah. Come in” a disoriented Caiden responded.
It was Vantz. “Time to get up princess. I see that rest did you a shit ton of good. You actually look human now,” Vantz joked.
“Huh? What the hell?” Caiden said, cobwebs still clouding his mind. He looked at his holo-watch and the time was forty-seven minutes past ten in the evening.
“Almost time to head out! Dress to impress buddy!” Vantz said, rubbing his hands excitedly. He was thrilled that his best friend was finally hanging out with him in what seemed like ages.
“Yeah, sure,” Caiden said as his voice cracked a little.
He slowly sat up, turned to the side, and put his feet on the floor. He rested his elbows on his thighs and his hands ran up and down his face before he finally snapped out of his daze. He looked at his phone and saw four missed calls, all from the twins. Shit, I really was knocked out. I don’t even know how it happened. Let me see what they want, he thought. He prompted his holo-watch for a video call.
“Hey, guys.”
“Caide! We’ve been calling you all day,” a worried Nami said.
“I know, I’m sorry. I fell asleep. I was exhausted,” Caiden replied.
“Did you check our messages?” she asked.
“Naw, I called you just as soon as I woke up. You find anything?”
“OMG, yes! This Stein guy is a real dirt bag. Scum of the earth type of human being, if you wanna even call him one at that,” she replied.
“Oh shit. I knew there was something off about this dude. I just knew it!” he said.
“No kidding. He gave us the creeps just looking at his file. But there was one thing that really stood out. I think you definitely need to take a look. Some strange redacted contract. He signed off on behalf of Zonos, but Quantum Corp and C.E.L.L. were also included in the document,” Nami said.
“That’s interesting. Looks like checking into his file was the right thing to do. Cool. Send me everything you have. I’ll take a quick look before I head out,” Caiden said.
“Okay, party animal,” Nami replied in jest.
“Whatever,” Caiden scoffed.
“Hey, seriously, be safe, okay?”
“Okay, I’ll call you guys later,” Caiden replied.
He stood up and stretched, yawning as he felt excess stress leave his body. He was fully recharged. He even felt the slightest bit of excitement at the prospect of doing something different for a change. Caiden showered and got ready to go. Per Vantz’s request, he was dressed to the nines, but he mostly did it because the club had a strict dress code. Looking sharp as ever, Caiden was decked out in a white button up shirt tucked into dark metallic slim fitted dress pants, and a slim tie held by a glimmering gold tie clip. He also wore a blazer and shiny, rustic colored cap-toe dress shoes.
After fixing his hair, he dabbed on his favorite cologne, ‘Galactic Mist’. He made one final check of his attire, then briefly opened the holo-display on his holo-watch to review the data the twins sent him. Like Slavo, this guy literally got away with murder and rape, time and time again. Wizard wasn’t lying about this guy. Skimming through the documents, he came across the contract the twins told him about.
“What is this? Quantum and C.E.L.L. working in tandem with Zonos? Never thought I’d see the day,” Caiden said confusedly. “But this contract was signed and
