Upon nothing

Ch 19

"Search for X-1 and X-2."

Amidst the darkness of the alleyway, a familiar silver haired man leaned against the brick wall. It was night out, making the backstreet darker than it would be during the day. It was places like these where the man would often use to travel through or to check for the locations of his two designations.

As he waited for a response from the device in his hands, he glanced at both sides of the alleyways, checking to see if anyone was spying on him. While he dimmed his device's brightness down, he knew he could be seen from within the passageway due to its light. He was also aware that places like these tended to be risky spots, especially in this world. From drug dealing to robberies, he knew the threats that could occur in such places. He had yet to encounter such a thing, and even if he did, as long as it didn't involve him, he wouldn't care.

Eventually, the device came back with a response, which was the same as always. The holographic world began glitching, showing that it couldn't locate his targets. He sighed as he had expected it to happen, but he could only keep trying as he ventured around, hoping that maybe the next time, he may get a different response. With the disappointing results from the device, he put it away and remained there.

While he wasn't fond of staying in one place for very long, he was currently waiting for a call from his partner. It had been about a week since they last talked with each other, both of them currently searching different areas of the planet. Last time he checked, his partner was still in the northern regions, seeking the same targets he was after.

Communication wasn't a huge problem between their devices, but they had chosen to limit their calls. This was following a minor incident where, through reason they couldn't explain, someone had somehow connected to one of their calls. The last thing they had expected was for what sounded like a child asking if he was speaking with someone named 'Santa Claus'.

The man simply pretended to be the individual until the caller had hung up. After that incident, his partner added security to their devices to prevent it from happening again. However, just to play it safe, they spaced out their conversations and only called each other during those times. Of course, they would also call each other if a crucial emergency occurred, or if one of them found what they were looking for.

As the man waited, he looked at the time to see that a few minutes had passed since his partner was supposed to call. It was unusual since both of them were good at making it on time. Assuming that something small might've come up, he would wait a few more minutes for a response.

'Click! Clack! Click! Clack!'

The man's attention on his phone disappeared as his ears could pick up something approaching.

He looked down the alleyway to his right and noticed an individual approaching him. He couldn't make out the individual's face due to both the hood and the darkness within the passage. However, noticing how the person was approaching him and their hands in their pockets told the man that it wasn't just a coincidence the man was traveling through here.

Just as he was about to turn around and head the other way, he stopped as he noticed another individual approaching from the other passage. This other individual had the same appearance as the prior one, likely meaning that they were together. The man did nothing as the two strangers walked towards him, stopping a few feet away from him.

"Whatcha doin 'out here this late at night?" The individual to his right asked in an arrogant tone.

"I'm waiting for a call from someone." The man responded as he glanced at the one that just spoke. "Can I help you with something?"