Chapter 1
Dedicated to...YOU
*waves*
Jack
Jack crossed his legs on the ugly green couch. He chuckled to himself and looked at the computer in his hands.
“Check these jokers out…” Jack smiled mischievously at the screen.
Whoever they were, they were pretty silly for thinking that they could make a difference. Nichi Botsu furrowed her brow and trotted over to him. She tied her short black hair into a low ponytail and then, she laughed bitterly.
“Cause’ a computer campaign will save millions... Oh... and that girl... “ Nichi pointed to the screen. “She’s crazy. I’ve seen her before.” She walked to beneath the fan and turned it off.
Jack smiled exposing oddly sharp canines. Then, he started to type. Nichi was distracted with getting dressed and paid no attention to him.
You guys are insane. You think the Empress is gonna see this shit? Haha he continued to type under an anonymous profile.
“What are you doing?” Nichi flashed him an irritated glance with her gray eyes.
“It’s anonymous, don’t worry. They won’t be able to track it.” he assured her. She smiled to herself and slipped on her usual checkered tee and camouflage jeans.
“Would you hand me that.. Over there-“ she started.
Jack tossed her, her red army boots and she caught them perfectly. Nichi mouthed “Thank you”
Jack continued to type the message. He was showing them reality. The painful truth.
“I have a question for ya, Foxy,” Jack glanced at her, she was holding some sort of gray marker.
“Why do you always draw that star on your face?” he asked, pointing to his cheek.
“Because, Jack, I like to be unique.” She tossed the marker into a pile of dark clothes in the corner of the apartment.
She glared at him before saying,“And don’t call me Foxy.”
“Where are you going?” Jack smiled, he knew exactly where she was going but he also knew it irritated her when he asked.
“You know what I’m doing,” she smiled and picked up a spray paint can.
“Wanna come with me?” she asked him.
Then the phone rang.
“Incoming call from; Anonymous.” said a voice not quite robot, not quite human.
“Ooh, anonymous,” Jack gestured the phone in attempt to impress her.“Shall we answer it?”he asked. He trotted over to the phone and picked it up.
“Hello,” said the disembodied voice. “If you take value in your life, you will meet us at the given coordinates. 52.479987, 62.185648” Jack looked amused, while Nichi furrowed her brows and her eyes widened.
“Hang up.” She commanded.
“Wait, this actually might be-“
“Hang. Up. The phone. Now“ her tone was harsh and with a glint of fear, shimmering in her eyes, she waited.
“But.. We have nothing better to do.. And, do we really value our lives?” he asked her.
“You and I might not value out own lives, but I do value yours, so we’re not going.” Jack started to get suspicious, she was upset all of a sudden, why?
“It could be fun.” Jack insisted and taunted her. He could convince her. He just knew it. You only live once.
“I said we’re not going.” her face was grim and serious.
Nichi Botsu
“Okay we’re going.” Nichi was turned, but she knew he had a smug look slapped on his face.. She turned around and snatched the phone from him.
“No, we’re not.” She gripped the phone tight, speaking into it, glaring at Jack with all her might. How dare you, how dare you she thought.
“Why are you so afraid?” the phone spoke, it made her infuriated. She ended the phone call.
“Idiot.” She said under her breath. Then her mood quickly changed, and she shook her head and smiled.
“Well, now that that’s out of the way let’s go do your- whatever you’re doing...” Jack gestured the paint can in Nichi’s hand.
She nodded bitterly and unlocked the door, grabbed Jack’s hand, she sneakingly led him through the hallways, down the stairs, to the garage, opened the door, out of the house, and onto the street. Soon they came to a wall, covered in spray paint and drawings of the empress. It had yellow caution tape draped over it and a small sign that said, “No cameras” the wall had a picture of the empress. Nichi shook the red paint can, staring endlessly at the wall. She glanced at Jack, then she looked at the camera that was around her neck. Jack was pacing back and forth, curious, or... amazed.. Maybe, both? She drew large streaks on the wall, it spread red paint over the wall covering the old paint. It eventually wrote, in big, red letters, “We are free”. Jack gave her an odd look. She pulled out her camera and took a picture of her new art. Then, the sounds of sirens beamed in the distance, red and blue lights flickering all around them. Nichi was not in panic, for she knew if she ran, they’d catch her. This was all part of the plan. Jack didn’t seem to take value in this thought and darted in the opposite direction.
“Put your hands on top of your head!” The police screamed. She did as she was told and slowly rested her hands atop her head. She then, smiled. Maybe for pain, or maybe for envy. She didn’t know.
“Drop the paint!” She obeyed and the can clattered to the ground. “Good, now, come with us, this is the last time we pick up another hooligan taking pictures of an area that isn’t allowed to be viewed.” He gestured toward a car she couldn’t see, due to the blue and red lights.
Jack
Jack ran, he wouldn’t look behind him, he wouldn’t dare turn around, he might’ve had wanted to keep the impossible fantasy that Nichi had followed him, or maybe, the painful reality that she didn’t. He turned a corner, then another, making random turns and twists. Then he came upon a dark alley, he turned. Then, two large people with anonymous blackened faces backed him up against a wall. The police. He was sure of it. They covered his puffy, red eyes in a bandana, that he hadn’t questioned or wondered, for he dared not to. Then, they muffled his teary voice in a white rag.
Nichi Botsu
Nichi came up with the most creative line of curses she could think of and then slumped her back against the cold metal walls. Why did Jack dart off like that? “What you did is punishable by death, you know.” Said a guard.
“What do you think I did?” She snarled.
“Well, first, her Majesty doesn’t like teenagers, like you, so that’s one reason, second, you are acting as a traitor to the crown.”
“I didn’t realize vandalizing was such an offense to the Empress.” She closed her eyes in annoyance.
“It isn’t.” Said the voice again. “But, what you wrote was..; We are free. that is an offense that can get you into trouble. We also confiscated your camera and it will be viewed by the royal technicians. How can someone be so stupid that they decide it’s a good idea to take pictures of a ‘no photography’ area?”
Jokes on them, of course. This was all going according to plan, besides Jack getting scared... She also knew that everyone on planet earth was a lie, the Emperor especially, he followed that Empress like a trained dog, holding no power, and no freedoms. Nichi was quickly thrown into a cell and chained to the wall.
“I don’t care.” She said firmly. A long silence was followed shortly after.
“What did you get put in here for?” She asked the man in the cell beneath her.
“Murder.” He said. Nichi didn’t flinch, maybe because she was relating to that, or maybe because she was astonished.
“What do you think she’ll do to you when you’re questioned?” She asked it playfully but the curiosity lingered inside the question just the same.
“Oh, I can’t even begin to imagine. She might cut off my tongue, or burn me alive, maybe slice off my fingers, one by one. You know how creative she is.”
He chuckled. She followed. The loud thumping of boots erupted suddenly in her ears.
“Nichi Botsu, the Empress has requested your presence,” Nichi smirked and tapped on the metal bars.
“Yeah, hi, I’m up here.” She flashed him an undeniable smile. One little smile can make a person as frail and weak as a bird.
Royal Technicians & Jack
The royal technician wasn’t much to look at, with messy brown hair and big glasses, that fogged over from sweat.
“New confiscation.” A guard handed the technician Nichi’s camera.
“Oh, this is a high-tech camera.”
“Yeah, check it, now, we need some sort of proof.” the guard spoke, tossing the camera to him.
“Okay. The guard scrolled through her pictures and froze on one. It was a woman with large breasts, smiling at the camera lustfully. The guard rubbed the back of his head. “Say, could you uh, send that to my computer? It's difficult to get a hold of high-quality porn these days. You understand.”
“Sure, fine, whatever, let me check for a virus.” The technician grabbed the camera and inserted a wire through it. A little file opened up on his computer.
NO VIRUS DETECTED
“Okay, it will be here by the time your lunch break starts.”
