Sector B

35

"The girl at your house. The Bracket woman. What's her name again? Lory? Dory?" Jax drummed his fingers on a concrete ledge. He and Decha were stationed high above on a skyscraper next to Kilos.

The tech company's main office was a silver building, with a sharp long design. It was sleek and thinner than most of the skyscrapers in Astell. Along the sides of it were bright light strips that flowed a neon blue when night came.

The windows near the top of it were heavily tinted. For Decha to get a good look at the inside, he was using a special pair of binoculars with thermal lenses. Energy shaped in the form of bodies moved about while he was watching.

"Rory! That was her name! She looked concerned about you. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she has a thing for you. That may sound wild, but I caught it. I've never seen a Bracketer act that way. Her eyes even dilated when she thought you were dead."

Decha had his eyes remained on the building, so Jax decided to take it a step further. Jax nudged the binoculars out of Decha's line of vision. "Aren't you curious?"

"About what?" Decha narrowed his eyes.

"About how Rory may feel about you. Doesn't that make you think?"

"No, it doesn't."

"Let me rephrase my question. Let's say, Rory likes you. What are you gonna do?"

"What else is there do to?" Decha didn't want to talk about Rory while he was trying to dig up information about Kilos. It seemed that most Generals beside him were always distracted. Small talk wasn't something Decha was a fan of.

"I don't know. Acknowledge it? Reject her if you want. You don't seem like you hate her. I can't tell what's your deal. What the heck runs through that intelligent brain of yours?"

"As far as I'm concerned, I don't have to do anything. Whatever Rory does or says is up to her. As long as it's within the law."

"So you're not opposed to her liking you?"

"What does Rory have to do with our work, N9899?"

Jax bit his lip and let out a frustrated sigh. Decha was being impossible to reason with. He was so boring to work with. Why didn't his father assign him to work with someone more lively? Decha has been the most difficult General he's ever had to deal with in his career.

"I'm just gonna be honest. I think you're a coward N96."

"What?" Decha snorted in disbelief. "Do you know how many criminals I've slaughtered in the past year? Way more than you can fathom. If you don't wanna be next on the list, keep your lips shut."

"I bet you've never kissed a woman, or gone to the next level with one before. Or maybe you're scared of women."

"Correction." Decha tossed his binoculars aside and brushed off his pants. "I'm uninterested in unnecessary banter with women. Regarding my experience, that's none of your business."

Decha was very experienced. Before she disappeared, Chai was the woman he wanted to marry. They'd gone all the way before. But he didn't feel the need to tell Jax any of that information.

"You're still a coward." Jax huffed.

"I'm not."

"Prove it."

Decha placed a hand on his waist. How did Jax expect him to prove it? Decha was well aware of how the women in Astell viewed him. They thought of him like he was some sort of immortal with an intellect beyond this world. He knew he had attractive physical attributes, but he wasn't one to pride himself on that.