Year E3029

Ocea

A loud knock echoed around my room. I tried to ignore it as I researched more about the chips. The Saviors had zero information on them or the origin point. They had spent so much time surviving while taking down the headquarters. So, my research was pointless when nobody had information on the chips.

"Ocea!" a deep voice yelled while another knock banged on my door.

I slammed my laptop shut, tossing it to the bed. It bounced before barely falling off, landing on my dirty pile of clothes.

"Hold your beetles, buddy," I said before opening the door.

A male pink safforian with his rose eyes glared at me. "I have been knocking for a while."

"I have been ignoring you for a while," I replied, leaning against the door frame.

"Ocea, please," he said, placing his hand above my shoulder, putting all his weight on one foot while bringing his face closer. "Chester would like to see you in his office."

I pushed off the door frame, shutting my door and ducking under his arm. "Thank you," I said, getting away from him.

The hallway masked a dark glow as the bedrock walls tinted everything black with lines of orange. A woman in a lab coat hugged her tablet, racing by me with her head down. I watched her run around a corner, guiding my eyes back to the lightning bolt design on the walls. The orange sparked in areas as I brushed my hand over it. The touch of my fingers shocked me with yellow and pink colors, like the wall was alive, feeling my every move. I always loved visiting the basement offices of the bunker. Amazed by the rock patterns, I would sit down here for hours when I was younger.

"Ugh." A voice had me looking up at Fin. He opened his gross mouth. His cheeks swelled as the bruising around his nose caused his eyes to look red. "Way to make my day shitty."

I pushed by Fin, opening Chester's office door. There was zero time for Fin's drama today. The door slowly shut behind me but quickly opened as Fin walked in.

"Why are you following me?" I asked.

"As much as you think Safforia revolves around you, Ocea," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "It doesn't." He pointed over at Chester at his office desk. "Chester called me in."

I mocked him, making faces and crossing my arms as he did. "Chester called me in," I said, taunting in a girly voice.

"Okay, you two can stop." Chester walked up next to us. "A bunch of children, if you ask me."

I smiled cheesily at Fin, then walked to the wood rocking chair in the corner. I leaned against it, using the chair as an unstable wall. My purple hair fell over my face as I pulled at it nervously. Why would Chester want Fin and me in his office? Maybe the bruised-up face Fin was sporting might have something to do with it.

I glanced over at Fin, seeing he was already watching me. He had an irritated expression, as if he might explode in this room.

"I brought you two in here because we need to stop this fighting." Chester shook his head while brushing his fingers through his beard.

"She started it!" Fin yelled.

He is a child in a man's body. I would feed him to the skin eaters if I could. There would be zero evidence. He would disappear, and nobody would know.

"And you call yourself a man," I said calmly, pushing off the rocking chair.

"Okay, I did not bring you two here to fight." Chester walked over to his desk. "You two need to work together."

"I'd eat org rocks before that," I responded, wanting to leave. I looked at the door, contemplating if running was an option. Chester would probably take me off the mission for Thomas, so listening to his request was the least I could do.

"You don't have a choice." Chester eyed me. "We have a job, and you two will work together."

"What?" Fin and I said simultaneously, walking over to Chester's desk.

I put my hands on his workspace, leaning over with enormous eyes. "Please don't do this," I begged.

"Yes, sir, this would end up terrible," Fin added.

I looked over at Fin with a nod in agreement, then back at Chester. He would not cave in as he grabbed a rocklock from his desk and handed it to me. I opened the rock while memory cards floated, assigned to a different person for the mission. I saw mine with my name splattered on the card, ready to be plugged into my computer.

"We have good evidence that the leader of the Men Of Suits will be at the yearly marriage banquet this evening," Chester said.

The leader of the stiffs. A person with zero identity and hidden away for nobody to know. The Savior's crucial information was to destroy the corrupt government. But why would they be at the yearly party? After so many years, why now?

"What do you want us to do?" Fin asked, deciding to put our differences to the side for now.

"You two are on the list as a new couple to be married." Chester closed the rocklock, tapping the box. "Dylan will be outside in a surveillance van while Stopper and Wyatt are on the list to be servers."

I shook my head. "This won't work," I said, looking over at Fin and his awful face.

"Why?" Chester asked, giving an annoyed expression, but I didn't blame him.

"I get you are trying to punish us for fighting. But look at Fin's face." I pointed over at the blue douchebag next to me.

"And whose fault is that?" Fin added with an attitude.

"Yours," I responded quickly. Fin was about to reply, but I palmed his face and looked at Chester. "They would watch him like a hawk going into that party with a bruised face," I said, removing my hand from Fin.

Chester crossed his arms, looking up at the ceiling, trying to think. "Okay, Stopper will be your new husband."

I knew he would assign Stopper, given he was the only safforian on the list of Saviors helping with this mission. Stopper would be much better for this task than Fin, since he was great with small talk and distracting people as I snooped around the banquet hall.

"Fin will be a server, causing a little visual distraction for the stiffs," Chester said.

Chester grabbed the rocklock from me and strolled around his desk. He placed his hand on my back and motioned for us to leave. We stepped into the hallway. Chester grabbed my wrist and put the box into my palm.

"Good luck," he said, shutting the door.

The hallway was empty as we looked over at one another. I hated working with Fin, but at least he wasn't my pretend date now. I opened the box, watching the flashcards hover above the rocklock. Gripping the one that said Stopper, I handed it to Fin, knowing they had switched their missions.

"Here," I said. "Meet at the sewer exit in a couple of hours with everything you need for your mission." Fin was about to leave, but I grabbed his arm. "Could you bring these to the other guys, too?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said without protest while I took my card and handed him the box.

Niceness was difficult regarding Fin, but faking it for this was worth it. He gave me a forced smile, then walked away. I watched him turn the corner before I started playing with my mission card. My invitation to the party slipped out of the card and fell, floating across the hall. Quickly, I picked it up, seeing I needed to be in black tie attire for this.

I let out a huff, tucking the card into my pocket. It looked like a visit to Stopper's older sister was on my schedule today. Melody was head of the disguise department for the Saviors. She had everything from wedding dresses to stripper attire. Being a Savior in the city meant you needed to blend into anything to snoop around for information.

Loud music blared down the hallway as I quickly approached Melody's office. The heart-shaped decoration hanging on the door shook with every bass drop. Melody's voice screamed through the walls as she sang at the top of her lungs.

The door swung open as I stepped in, covering my ears with the palms of my hands. Melody danced in a circle, stopping when she set her eyes on me. Her face lit up as her green pixie-style hair looked like she got electrocuted.

"Ocea!" she yelled over the music, making Jackson pop his head up from under a desk in the corner.

Jackson beamed at me, shifting his glasses up his nose. His dark red eyes magnified larger, prompting the rest of his face to look smaller. He pulled at his long maroon hair, shifting to see if anyone was behind me. By anyone, I mean Dylan.

Melody turned off her music, setting down her needle and thread. "What can we help you with?" she asked.

"Anyone else with you?" Jackson added.

Melody tilted her head while playing with her dress. "He means Dylan," she said.

"Oh, I know what he means," I said back, handing my invite to Melody. "I need a dress."

Jackson glared at us, dropping the clothing materials in his hand. He scrambled to the ground before looking back at me. "I-I—" he stuttered out, standing up straight.

Melody patted Jackson's back, sending him stumbling forward. "Someone here isn't over a cute human and should go talk to that said man, but won't."

He shook his head. "I'll be in the back," he said, running away from the conversation.

Melody took a better look at my invitation, as her eyes lit up with excitement. "Black tie attire," she said. "I have the perfect dress for you."

"Okay, that would be great," I said, watching Jackson pace back and forth in the back of the room.

"Did you need me to do your hair?" she asked, hoping I would say yes.

I glanced back at her. "Nope, just the dress, please," I said, tapping my foot, wanting to get out of there before she insisted on it.

Melody's shoulders dropped as she walked away. She slowly strolled to another room, humming to herself. When she was out of eyesight, I skipped on my toes to Jackson, leaning against the desk next to him.

"So, you have any plans tonight?" I asked him with a devilish grin.

He stood up straight, playing with his glasses. "No," he responded.

"Perfect," I replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Could you meet me by the sewer exit in about an hour?" I asked him, trying to set up Dylan and Jackson for surprise alone time. "I think we will need you for our mission tonight."

Jackson tilted his head. "I'm not dumb, Ocea," he said back, causing me to remove my hand. "I know Dylan will be there."

"Damn, Jackson." I stepped back from him. "I guess. Think about it. Maybe forced alone time could help you two work things out."

"We don't need forced alone time." Jackson rolled his eyes. "I broke it off with Dylan, and that's that." He stomped to the storage closet, slamming the door behind him.

"Shit," I said under my breath.

"You could say that again," Melody said from behind me.

I spun around as she handed over a navy blue dress to me. The silk fabric brushed my fingers while she set a pair of high heels on top of it.

"I was—" I tried to say.

"I know." Melody guided me to the door. "Moments like these make me think you and Stopper should be together." She opened the door, shoving me out into the hallway. "He came here talking to Jackson about Dylan, too." She placed her hands on her hips while leaning against the door frame. "Dylan is your friend, but Jackson is mine, so you two need to back off," she said, protecting her best friend.

I huffed out, knowing she was right. I didn't know how to respond, but Melody always had a way of reading body language.

She smiled at me. "I agree. They should talk it out, but let them do it themselves." She pointed at the dress. "Leave your hair down with this one," she said, shutting the door and leaving me in the hallway.

Thank you for reading. Please share, comment, and push that beautiful star.