Miami, Florida
Thylonius- 22
"I didn't know I could be happy until I saw you"
I bolt straight up in a cold sweat. Been having those nightmares about Ni and her "death angel" again. I wish she hadn't told me about that honestly. Fear has been something I've used effectively over the years. It's kind of essential when you're an international assassin. However, the fear your subconsious can imagine up in your sleep is eerie. I don't like being afraid in my sleep. Mainly because there is absolutely nothing you can do when you watch your sister taken away by Death when you're unconscious. The only thing I truly fear is watching her die. For a long time thought that was the only thing I feared. I sat up in my personal loft apartment that was right next door to my sisters. I started thinking and reviewing about all things that has happened the previous six years as I did almost every day. Our first phase of the mission was pretty much complete. We have changed the world. The war in the East and Europe is still raging but if it ends even a little like the one in the West, then Ni and I can call our mission a success. The overall treatment of citizens and placement of power in the West was different and amazingly positive. The hierarchy cared about those below, thus those below were happier, healthier and the country thrived. That was the main reason we moved back here after I finished my Bachelor's in England. Ni wanted to finish her medical degree there as well but the destabilization was too much. Honestly, after Nala… Well I didn't see the appeal in Jolly ole England as much as I once did. So, it seemed the time was ripe to move on. I found a job opportunity, CniDaria found a great school, and we started again. At least we tried too.
I get up and start to make breakfast. I'm wondering if Nick finally "ran into" my sister yet. I've been trying to get him to suck it up and take her to breakfast for a few months. Hopefully he did. I checked my phone.
"She's following me to a breakfast spot now. =)"
I can't help but smile at that. But then I think a little more and my smile fades. I start to think about how difficult it was for us to leave. How difficult it was for me to graduate. You see after we caused so much chaos in Russia and China. I saw signs that the Organization was still trying to operate. So, I took it upon myself (with a lot of help from Ni) to eradicate it. I traveled all over the world. Africa, Central America, Southwestern Europe, Asia. We took all known agents from the information we obtained from the KGB and the Chinese. I would be gone for weeks at a time so even for me the make-up work was difficult. But the results were more illuminating than my homework. The Company had a battery put in their back because someone in the International law enforcement was focused on eradicating a perceived mutual threat. Their purpose was to find who was destabilizing the world. Namely someone in the U.N is being tasked with finding my sister and I. We saw the signs that someone was tracking us and trying to track our movements. So, when we decided to leave, the same freedoms to maneuver were taken away from us. Whoever was chasing us made it an imprisonable offense to privatize charter flights internationally. Now we had to fly more conventionally, more documentation of our movements, more visibility of our movements. I mean it was smarter to make sure we garnered no suspicion. However, it also meant we had to leave our weapons behind and a lot of the tech I developed over the years. My sister and I had acquired quite a number of weapons over the years so to part with it was difficult but the money we got on the black market was nothing to scoff at and it helped us get set up back in Miami. The tech I had to give up was a lot trickier. The idea wasn't to sell this either; the tech I developed was more advanced and dangerous than this world had ever seen. I may be underestimating what the rest of the world was capable of but using my powers I have honed as a power source I've been able to develop devices you only see in fantasy novels. Not only the phasing device I developed, but neurological control, telepathy between two individuals, a master hacking key, EMP bombs strong enough to bring an entire blocks power and communication down for a week. These were devices that I had to be smuggled to a better hiding place. Keeping the blueprints and destroying the original devices would have been best. With the materials I needed becoming more and more rare in Europe and the Americas to be safe I decided against it. Until we could freely move around the world again, I would just have to hide it in London. Ni told me she had the perfect place, so she took care of it. If everything went according to plan, then we wouldn't need it anytime soon. The resources we needed would be in vast abundance if our mission was finished in the way we wanted.
Miami, Florida, U.S.A is not really home but it's a place we were comfortable all the same. Whatever way you look at it. We were back in the place where all this started. All because of a rather cunning and dangerous adversary whom we haven't yet identified. I'm glad we have the chance to lay low now. Before long we would attract way too much attention.
I start to get ready for work. Putting that unsettling thought out of my mind. I focus on my day ahead. I work at one of the many Cruise Ship companies working on telecommunications on the ships. It's corporate America the way it's supposed to be. The employee does a job well and he's given fair compensation. They want citizens to flourish. The work and life balance is way better than it was before. My coworkers are happier and more willing to work than they were before. People want to be here rather than needing to be here. It's rather satisfying to see how I affected everyday life. It wasn't what I thought I was going to do with my electrical engineering and economics degrees, but seeing firsthand that I helped people brought a smile to my face.
On the side when I can, I help people further invest and learn financial literacy. Help people the way we intended when my sister and I started this mission all those years ago. I helped a young couple develop a sizable nest egg from their parents. They were so happy and excited to start their life together. They wouldn't stop thanking me. Their families had been affected by the "Attack" that's how they described my sister and I destroying the American Government as we knew it. Both of their families had been poor and shitted on by the establishment but after the wars they came out much more secure. You would think I would be prouder of my accomplishment. There are stories like this from every person, couple and family I help. I should be happy. Ni and I, we help people. We... we should be happier. I'm starting to realize I was right all those years ago. I left happiness behind when I decided the best way to help the world was to kill the people I thought were destroying it.
I go back home from work. Nick is walking from the direction of Ni's loft. I paused and he smiled.
"Nothing happened. We just talked and then she pretty much ran from me." He said
"About?" I inquired very puzzled by her response.
"Honestly… Her job and how she feels about it. She feels like her happiness is too much tied to helping people and she feels selfish for that. I know, I know." I had opened my mouth to say something "That's ridiculous I was just ensuring her as much. But I know finding purpose is a difficult process." He paused he didn't want to say her name because he knew it would hurt me but I nodded basically saying without words it was ok. "After Nala and you fell apart, you've been more closed than ever before. I sensed with NiDaria that y'all haven't been as close as y'all used to be either."
"I've had no desire to date anyone else and I didn't want to burden Ni anymore than I already have."
Nick shakes his head "Ty I know it hurts. Truly falling in…"
I had had enough. Even though he hadn't said much. "Don't. Don't say that word. The fact of the matter is I fucked up. I let myself believe I could have everything. I believed that I could have her and not let her have me. That's not fair to her. I put my sister's accident in front of Nala's well-being. In front of her peace of mind. I understand that she just needed reassurance. She needed security and I couldn't give it to her. So honestly how could I say I loved her when I couldn't give her what she wanted?"