CODE X 777

C O D E 1 0 K I L L E R

Jimmy was bleeding at a pretty high rate. He had already lost a lot of blood. Lupin tore Jimmy's shirt. Some part of his flesh was chucked away from his body, leaving behind bite marks. "This is crazy..." Slaine looked at Jimmy's wound.

"This is the same place where that X-DROID bit Asselyum," Axel said. He ran towards Asselyum's room while Lupin laid Jimmy on the carpet.

Slaine sat beside him. Lupin covered the wound with his torn shirt to slow down the blood flow and give it some time to clot. He brought a medical kit from his room and began stitching his wounds. Slaine looked at Jimmy. He was clearly in a lot of pain—Thanks to a b****y robot! 

Meanwhile, Axel had fixed Asselyum's wound which had erupted skin on her shoulders.

"We'll need some spare skin to cover this part," Axel told her.

"It's fine. I'll cover it with a shirt when I go out."

"Don't you have spare skin with you?"

"I told my comrades to get the spares. We'll have to wait until they arrive."

Jimmy now lay on the bed with two stitches on his collar bone.

"You're surprisingly good at this, Lupin. Have you studied medical?" Slaine asked and Lupin nodded. "Will he be able to use his shoulder again."

Lupin picked up a notepad and wrote something. Slaine read it "It will take a lot of time to heal though."

"Yeah, I know. Why didn't she tell us before? That f*****g bitch." He got up and walked towards Asselyum's room. Lupin followed him.

"What is the meaning of this s**t?!" Slaine shouted. Asselyum and Axel stood at the balcony. Slaine grabbed her collar "Why is Jimmy so badly hurt?!"

"Because I'm badly hurt. An android and its coordinator are connected-- Mentally and physically. If I get hurt, he will too. If I damage some major part, he will too. I can be rebuilt for I am a machine, but he'll die if something major happens to me during a fight." Asselyum said.

"Then, why are putting our lives on the line like that?!" Slaine shouted.

"Your future is on the line," Asselyum said.

"It's because if you!"

"Pardon—I didn't create any of this. You, humans, created me to fix the mess you created and put the blame on me. And I promised I'd carry your throne if you trust me—The problem with you people is that you're indifferent and ignorant. Ignorant people deserve to die. All humans deserve death!" Asselyum said.

"I'm honestly disgusted that you are what humanity created after so much effort." He walked out of the room and slammed the door. Lupin and Axel were left in an awkward situation. Asselyum touched her chest "How is this my fault? I'm only doing what I'm told to," She said.

"Erm, Asselyum... Is there a cure to that Antex virus?" Axel asked.

"Once you're infected, your only cure is death—The faster, the better"

"Wait- Is Jimmy gonna die?"

"No, you're only infected if their blood or saliva comes in direct contact with your blood. Jimmy didn't have direct contact with him so he is safe."

Slaine went out with his skateboard. He was angry and irritable and went past the driveway straight to the skatepark. Suddenly, a pebble hit his way and fell on the ground. He got up and threw his board at least three to four times. Then, he sat on the ground. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulders. He turned back—It was Lupin.

"Why did you come here? You ran after me?"

Lupin pointed at his ear. Slaine touched his ears and the headset popped out. "You can track me with this too?"

Lupin nodded.

They sat on the empty street under a dim streetlight surrounded by moths.

"I don't understand... How is she so—She didn't even explain half of the stuff we're supposed to do and expects to get results. She herself isn't interested anymore."

Lupin took out his notepad wrote something. "Give her a break—She seems to have gone through a lot" It read.

"You mean her old team? I bet she f****d up and they died because of her. If she cares so much she shouldn't make a new team before she was over them."

Lupin wrote something again "I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a choice. She needs to follow orders not her feelings."

"Feelings? That s**t doesn't suit robots. She's being so entitled. Like, be grateful you're working with me! And that all humans deserve death—What does she know? Has she ever seen people that are actually nice?"

Lupin wrote, "Have you ever?"

"No, I guess I haven't but what if?"

"Slaine, she's a robot. You're hurting because you raised your expectations." Lupin wrote.

"... You really look though people."

"It shows in their eyes."

"It feels so weird when I'm the only one talking."

Lupin looked at him and then wrote: "I'm sorry."

"Nah, I'm not blaming you... You know what, you should really leave drugs. They are making you suffer so much—You're barely human anymore."

Lupin chuckled as he wrote.

"I'm serious!" Lupin passed the notepad to Slaine. It read:

"When you're attracted to something, you are not in control. You don't realize how bad that something could be until it completely destroys you. And at one point, you want to go back but it truly wouldn't change anything, because by then it has completely destroyed you. And you cannot be you anymore without it ever again. Your heart, your mind your everything tells you that you need to have it or you'll die."

"Well," Slaine scratched his head "You might be the first blonde I might actually like."

Lupin took his notepad from Slaine and wrote something "Glad to make a difference,"

Riley stood at the skatepark as all others were skateboarding. Frank came towards him.

"Slaine has got friends." He said and Riley looked at him with surprise 

"How do you know?" He asked.

"I saw him with an albino guy, sitting on the footpath near Street 11."

"Now, this is a piece of news." Riley got upon his skateboard and went down the slope.

"What to do?"

"You're asking me?" Riley snapped his board into two, "Alright then. Get the guy here. Let's teach him how to skate."

"And?"

"Just don't kill him."

-To be continued