Chapter 2: The Cost of Living
"Ow!" Kenji softly exclaimed as he was poked by a strange-looking device.
"Don't be such a baby." A light brown young lady said as she rolled away on her office chair, heading over to an even stranger-looking device.
"You have horrible bedside manners for a Doctor," Kenji growled as he rotated his left arm that was just stabbed by said doctor.
He tried to make light of the situation, as he took several deep breaths to center himself. Kenji was already surprised that the situation didn't send himself into a full panic. He was just on his way back to his apartment a few hours ago. In that span he had his life threatened and then was basically kidnapped. However, he was more alert, rather than disoriented or afraid.
"I suppose it's a good thing I'm not a certified physician then, isn't it?" She chuckled as she continued her work.
"Wait, what? You said your name was Dr. Varma!" Kenji responded, confused. He looked to be in a doctor's office, fancier than any doctor's office he'd ever seen. Still, apparently, this woman wasn't even a doctor! Now he began to panic a little bit. Why was she taking blood samples?
"I did say that, didn't I? Anyway, everything looks as expected; just sit still. Devin and Zac should be here any second now."
"Zac and Devin… wait, you think you can just gloss over the fact that you're not a licensed physician?!"
"Can, will, and did." The young lady said, ignoring Kenji.
"Oh God, oh god!" Kenji silently panicked as he began to look around for anything to use to help him escape.
Before Kenji could formulate anything close to a plan of escape, the door opened, relieving 2 individuals. One of which Kenji was very familiar with, Devin. Last night he wore a hooded cloak and a very dour expression, but today he had a smile plastered on his face.
"I'm telling you, it was the biggest dumper I've ever seen." Zac, a young black male, with honey bronze-skin, said while laughing. He was just as animated in person as he was over communications.
"So, did you try to talk to them?"
"No, because I'm not gay, Devin."
"They were a man?"
"I never said they weren't. I'm just saying they had a huge ass!"
As the two of them laughed, Kenji just stared at them. These were the two responsible for saving his life last night; they were far less intimidating than he had imagined. He found himself naturally relaxing at the sound of their laughter. However, he recalled what Devin had done just hours ago to his would-be killers, and a shiver ran down his spine.
"So if they were a woman, you would've tried?" The young doctor asked as she got up and handed a tablet to Zac. A sly smile stretched across his face,
"A man needs to keep his options open, right?" Zac joked,
"We're still on for tonight?" She let out a soft giggle.
"Yeah, got something big planned. See ya later."
"Bye, Devin." Dr. Varma said dismissively to Devin. She gave Zac a soft slap across the face before leaving.
"Since when are you and Shaila a thing?" Devin asked curiously,
"Since a year and a half ago." Zac shrugged.
Devin stared at Zac in shock, both in how he hadn't known his best friend was in a relationship for over a year, and how he wasn't able to figure it out.
"You were hiding it? You know, the office fraternization rules don't really apply to you." Devin chided.
"I know. We weren't sure if it was going anywhere at first, then we just enjoyed other people not knowing. Now we wanna see the look on peoples faces as they find out. Like the one you have right now." Zac chuckled, at Devin's look of complete confusion.
"Anyway, check out his chart." Zac handed over the pad to Devin who glanced over it before looking at Kenji, who was still at a loss for words.
In Kenji's eyes, both Devin and Zac looked like the epitome of successful businessmen. Both wore expensive fine tailored suits, with everything from head to toe perfectly in place. But they acted like,
"It's weird, right?" Devin asked Zac with a curious expression.
"Weird? Really? That's all you got? Weird? How are you, the boss again?"
"White privilege?" Devin said with a joking smile. Both of them began to laugh once again.
"Um, what's going on?" Kenji finally spoke.
"You are exactly what we thought you'd be," Zac said, giving Kenji a dismissive glance.
"And that could be a good thing or a bad thing. Follow us." Devin motioned towards Kenji.
Kenji slowly got out of his seat, and they made their way through the hallway. There was nothing around that could give an accurate indication of where they were. Just plain white walls, tiled floors, and a long hallway with doors.
"Where are we?" Kenji said. His calm was becoming more unnerved by the moment. Everything was too artificial, to the point he wondered if even this happy go lucky appearance of Zac and Devin was staged.
"You are in the basement of our new Japan branch," Zac said as he continued to look through the tablet.
"Japan branch?"
"Yes, we are a relatively new worldwide tech-based company, Renegade Technologies founded around 3 years ago, March of 2044 to be exact. Or, at least that's what we are to the outside world. What we're really about, you'll find out soon. You'll be diving headfirst into it." Zac said in a solemn tone.
Kenji's eyes widened when he heard of Renegade Technologies. Everyone was aware of that name. In a time period of technological leaps, Renegade Technologies came out of nowhere 3 years ago and now stood at the forefront. They now lead the industry in several technological fields, being most prominent in Machine Learning technologies, robotics, and true Artificial Intelligence research. If they came out with a real hovercraft tomorrow, people would be more upset that it took so long rather than be surprised that it's here.
"I'll be diving headfirst?" Kenji asked, confused.
"Yeah, you didn't think we saved you for free, did you?" Devin looked over his shoulder and chuckled at Kenji.
"You said you knew my dad, so…."
"You dad works for us, and is one of the very best in the biz. However, you'll learn very soon that everything has a price. Your life happens to be very expensive. Our friendship with your father nor his considerable talents would be nearly enough to cover that bill." Zac didn't spare Kenji a glance as he continued to pour through the data on the pad. Zac then started to mumble something under his breath as he seemed visibly annoyed.
"What exactly are you expecting from me?" Kenji spoke after what felt like an hour's long silence.
"We expect the same thing we expect from all our recruits," Devin smirked.
"Recruits? Do you want me to be like one of those people from last night? No way!" Kenji stopped walking and stood there stubbornly. He had no desire for power, monetarily or otherwise. He just wanted a nice calm life. He just needed three more years to be set down the path he had envisioned for himself. As he stood there, Zac groaned,
"Don't tell me you're one of those types? The 'I just want a normal life' type? The 'I don't want to have superpowers and just be a boring regular-ass human' type?" Zac said with disgust tinged in his voice.
"What's wrong with being normal?"
"Do you have so little ambition that you'd rather stay the way you are? When the chance to be someone, something better is presented to you?" Zac asked Kenji.
"Maybe you ARE a 'Suzuki'. You sure as hell ain't anything like a Cheong."
"How would I have the chance to be? He was never around to teach me how?!" Kenji snapped back at Zac against his better judgment. He flinched as he caught himself looking at Zac who was about to respond.
"That's enough, Zac." Devin finally stopped Zac before he could go any further.
Kenji stared at Zac with rage in his eyes. Kenji had more he wanted to say, but held his tongue because he was sure that he wouldn't live to see the next moment with either one of them if something started. Devin let out a sigh,
"Look, you have 2 choices. Either go through the process of becoming a trainee or… well…"
"Die," Zac added, since it seemed like Devin was reluctant to say it.
"What?! What was the point of saving me if you're going to kill me?"
"It's better this way." Zac answered.
Seeing the confused look on his face, Devin continued,
"Think about it, kid. Do you think you can just go back to a normal life after last night? We don't want to kill you, and even if we wipe your memory and you go back, you'll be untrained and incapable of defending yourself. What do you think will happen?"
"I don't know," Kenji answered.
"You'll be 'Chased' again by those groups. They'll take you and poke and prod you like a lab rat for the rest of your not-so-normal life." Zac said while still looking at the tablet in his hand.
"Well, what are you guys going to do to me?"
"Us? Well… we're going to poke and prod you like a lab rat for the rest of your not-so-normal life. But we'll pay you and give you cool powers. I'd say that's fair." This time Devin answered, while Zac just chuckled to himself.
Kenji had no choice in the matter. He also realized that they didn't need to tell him any of this. If they were really out to get him, they could have just started with their experimentation. From the way the groups from the night before were, he was confident that even this level of courtesy would not have been given to him.
"So, what exactly do you need me to do, and where is my father?"
"We just need you to act as a recruit and let us observe you for a while. And your father is away on a mission; he'll be back around the time your recruit process is over, so a couple weeks." Devin answered, to Kenji's dismay.
"Typical, not here when I need him." Kenji mumbled to himself.
"The only reason you're alive is because of your old man. And I don't mean in a, he knocked up your mom type of way." Zac heard Kenji's remark and got visibly upset.
Kenji was curious about what he meant, but that curiosity was stuffed almost as quickly as he formed. In his mind there was no redemption for his father, so why even pretend to care. What was more concerning for him was this time frame. A couple weeks was far too long. Kenji had to go to classes, not to mention he had to go to work as well. He couldn't juggle this on top of all of that. Zac glanced up from his tablet for a moment to see the look on Kenji's face. He rolled his eyes and then said,
"You are free to do what you need during the day; we have Chasers trailing all recruits on their downtime. You also don't need to worry about going to work anymore. I just had your first payment sent to your account, and we'll pay your tuition for the next 3 years. Congrats on being the first winner of the Renegade Technologies Scholarship Program." Zac put the tablet underneath his arm as he began to clap. Devin joined in soon after.
The two of them stood there deadpanned as they clapped for an obnoxiously long time. During which Kenji took this time to check his bank account and almost fainted. They had transferred more money into his account than he would have made in two years at his job. He looked up at Devin and Zac,
"Is this a one-time thing?"
"That is the standard payment for all recruits. If you become a trainee, the payment will vary based on your performance. But at the very least, it will be 3 times that paid out monthly, and for you, the recruitment process should be just a formality." Devin answered as he turned around and started walking once again, motioning for Kenji to follow him.
Kenji said nothing and followed along with an extra pep in his step. He didn't want to get involved in this line of work, but he'd have to be a fool to pass up this money-making opportunity, especially since he didn't have much choice to begin with. He wanted to know what made him so special, to have all these people after him. However, he was more than positive that those answers in some form would stem from his father. The two of them had a lot to talk about. But he wasn't sure he really wanted to know.
"How long are you planning on staying in Japan?" Kenji asked.
"Staying? Kid, we come and go as we please, you know where I was 2 hours ago? Seattle, Washington." Zac said somewhat mockingly. However, Kenji didn't seem upset about Zac's attitude; he was more fascinated by what he meant.
"He was halfway across the world 2 hours ago? How?" Kenji thought to himself as he looked at Zac's back. The group stopped in front of a pair of metal doors. Those doors slide open on their own, revealing a sizable indoor training field. To simply call it a field would be an understatement. There was a large track and field area with several large off white parametric buildings surrounding the track. Kenji felt like he was dropped into an alien training facility. He saw several people walking out one of the buildings and when he looked inside he saw several humanoid robots performing maintenance. They looked far more advanced than anything currently on the market. This place was large enough to train several nations' worth of elite Olympic athletes. It was more like a small futuristic underground town than anything else.
"What is this place?" Kenji asked, mesmerized by the sheer size of it all. As he looked up to see them covered by a dome, that emitted artificial sunlight, and a holographic image of the cloudy sky.
"Even if this was underground, how could they hide something this huge from the government? Were they hiding it at all?" Kenji's mind wandered through all the possibilities. The more his mind wandered, the more he came to realize just how screwed he was if he defied these two goofballs in front of him.
"This is where we test new recruits and train. Go join the others." Devin said as he pointed to the group of people in the middle of the field.
Kenji walked towards the group of recruits. He looked over his shoulder every now and then to see what Devin and Zac were doing. Devin turned his attention to Zac.
"You've been looking at that tablet for a while now. Is it really that interesting?"
"Yes, if I'm reading this right. We might be able to solve my problem with the help of Isuel." Zac said as he continued to look at the tablet.
"He prefers Kenji, Zac."
"His daddy named him Isuel; I'm calling him Isuel. Besides, if he goes into this line of work, he'll need an alias anyway, I'm just getting a head start." Zac continued to mull over the data in front of him.
Devin shrugged his shoulders in defeat. Zac had a point, Kenji would need an alias, he'd be better off as a Cheong than a Suzuki. Zac scratched the top of his head, showing a bit of concern.
"But this data doesn't exactly put my mind at ease. He might end up like me, and then we'll be back at square one with 2 burdens."
"Zac, you're not a burden," Devin interjected.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm special and provide blah, blah, blah. Let's just see what the kid can do." Zac quickly changed the subject and began to walk towards the group of recruits.