บท 22: Photograph (2)
As Zaen left the place, he failed to notice the man who was standing next to Chris's corpse. It was none other than the chief of special force, Tom Killen. This wasn't a place he would ever go to, but this case was... special. Next to him, were half a dozen scientists wearing lab coats. All of them carefully analysed the corpse but had no emotion on their faces. If someone saw them like that, they'd think it was a daily occurrence for them, despite the popular belief that the special forces existed to warm their seats in the HQ.
"He was supposed to be one of our strongest, yet he was killed within a few moments. Mere moments. The others were lucky to be left alive." The head of the science division, Mary Langford told the chief.
Tom turned to face her. Standing at 5'6", Mary had a mysterious background. Not even Tom knew much about her as the Fist kind of forced Tom to recruit her. She was quite young, only 23, and in comparison to the rest of her colleagues was considered a child. Yet, she was the most knowledgeable among them.
Appearance-wise, she looked more like a biker than a scientist. She had short, curly, black hair that she wore as a mohawk. Her triangular face was covered with a green dragon tattoo on the left side which went all the way from her left chin to the back of her head. Under the lab coat, she wore a tight black crop top and a black short skirt, which left a little to imagine about her modest chest and curvy figure. She had a piercing around her navel. Her narrow hips and broad torso made her look more like an MMA fighter and a model rather than a scientist.
"As for the cause of death-"
"Arrogance," Tom mocked the female scientist while pointing to his head, "Doesn't look like he was strong up here either."
It didn't require Tom much time to decipher what had conspired there. The sharp cut on Chris's throat was screaming at Tom, it almost felt like he was talking to the corpse. The wound on his neck was indicating that Chris died because of his foolishness, not because his enemy was stronger.
Mary just stood there pouting as Tom kept bashing Chris for his foolishness. The augmentations Chris had gone through almost made him a superhuman. His strength, reaction time, agility, all of it, were boosted beyond human comprehension. However, just like any other thing, these augmentations came at a price. The longer Chris went through the augmentations, the more unstable his mind became. A time came when he attacked one of the scientists just because he wanted to get 'stronger' but the scientist refused to put him through a half-researched augmentation, as it would have made Chris even more unstable.
Still, even with his loose screws, he was a capable warrior. After all, he was a mercenary with a record of more than a thousand successful missions. Chris went on suicidal missions every once in a while, so this wasn't the first time he had a date with death. But it was by far the most embarrassing one.
"Oye, Fatty, Gameboy!" Mary yelled at her two assistants, "Take this idiot back and put him in the rejuvenation pod. I swear if you mess it up this time, I'm gonna stomp on your useless balls with my spiked boots till they burst open like water balloons, you got it!?"
"Ma'am... please stomp on them now!" Fatty exclaimed, trying to unbuckle his pants right then and there. Only to receive a kick to the face and went flying, courtesy of Mary.
As his nickname suggested, Fatty had... too much fat in his body to put it nicely. His flabby body made it next to impossible for him to do much physical work but his brain was top tier. His analytical skills as well as his academic background came second only to Mary and no one else. Hence why he was her assistant... and a masochist.
Gameboy on the other hand was a typical geek. Skinny and wearing glasses as thick as Fatty's man breasts. He'd rather put his brain in completing the latest games and protecting his 2D girls rather than put it to a better use. However, thanks to having a boss as ravishing as Mary, this geek had even left his 2D to pursue a 3D one.
"How dare you exhibit such vile behaviour in front of princess!?" Gameboy yelled at the fallen hippo, "You want someone to stomp your balls? Well, here you go! How do you like this or that huh?"
Fatty, rather than having a pained expression, was lost in pure ecstasy and moaned every time Gameboy kicked him. While Mary cheered on for Gameboy.
Tom couldn't take it anymore and shook his head, "How did I end up recruiting such weirdos..."
***
Far away from the alleyway, a trio was in their car, driving at top speed in a residential area. Then suddenly the skies decided to open fire on the people below.
Jack, the youngest one among the trio, looked out the window. The sky was tar-black and the large clouds were crawling towards them. He could hear the tapping sound on the window before it became a pitter-patter. People on the roads ran for cover and umbrellas were opened as the clouds spat out their beads of water. Puddles began plinking as the rainfall became heavier. The roof of the car danced with a spray of raindrops and he could hear the murmuring of the rain through the window. It sounded like the buzzing of angry hornets.
All three of them were pretty drunk. Drinking and driving was a serious crime in Astran. If caught they could get into serious trouble. Unlike the other countries of the world, Astran had pretty strict rules in place against drunk driving.
If someone was caught driving drunk, not only that person would have to pay the fine of about a third of their monthly income, but could also be jailed for 6 to 12 months. Also, anyone else within the car would be punished similarly along with the vendor/bar/hotel owner that provided the alcohol to them. Oh, and you will almost certainly lose your job because none of the companies there had any tolerance when it came to legal matters. To summarise things, you get caught driving while being drunk, and you'll lose everything you have.
Jack was the only one who opposed the other two but in the company of beautiful hostesses and escorts... even his firm resolve wavered and there we was sitting in the back seat, intoxicated out of his mind. The other two were in a similar situation. So much so, none of them realised the man walking right ahead of them and ran him over.
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
AkshatArpit
AkshatArpit My sincere apologies for not updating the story. I got caught up with my job. Either way, here's the next chapter and I hope you'll enjoy reading it as you have till now. Thank you for sticking around.
If you have any doubts/queries/suggestions then please feel free to comment down below.
Criticism is also appreciated!
If you liked the chapter, then don't forget to vote!
Like it? Add to the library!
Thanks for the support!
My Instagram handle: @akshat._.arpit
ของขวัญ
-- ได้รับของขวัญแล้ว สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง