BLOODLINES: ANGELO MARKADO

THE ARENA

1300 Anno Bhiasti.  At the border of Zapad and Xego, Ehud’s stomach is grumbling in hunger for a fresh human heart directly harvested from a warm living body.

From a distance, he and his men saw the vehicles approaching them discreetly.  The border patrol left them alone in exchange for a bribe they couldn't refuse.

"How many?"   Ehud asked Achmed as the cargos were being unloaded.

"A hundred and counting, enough to supply you for a week,"  Achmed motioned to his men where to transfer the load. 

Unlike Ehud’s miniature stature, Achmed is towering at 6’7 feet tall, yet Ehud looked more menacing.  A well-known human trafficker before mutating into a konxelada, his expertise in various criminal undertakings came in handy. 

Ehud looked at the boxes being loaded to his trucks.  Human corpses are supposed to be cremated.  This is the new law following the division of the world into three continents. Kein mandated the cremation of all human carcasses to prevent the konxelada demons from desecrating graves.

As far as humans are concerned, the law is being implemented to the letter. In truth, though, human corpses were delivered to meat markets in Zapad while the mourners took home sealed urns with synthetic ashes.

Ehud took a bite in one of the frozen corpses.  Disgusted, it’s difficult for him to swallow the rotting meat.

"Sorry, that one had a long wake," Achmed patted Ehud on the shoulder, sympathizing with how he feels.

"Humans! If I could just get my hand in one of them," Ehud growled.

"Huh! You wish!" Achmed smiled meaningfully.  Only Achmed, Ehud, and a few of his men remained when the cargo loading and unloading were done.

"Lord Kein is grateful for your cooperation.  He said to keep Zapad in order until the humans repopulate and then you will be rewarded greatly,"  Achmed said after all the trucks are dispatched on their way to Zapad.

"Yeah sure!”  Ehud heard such a promise before; in the end, he has no one but himself to rely on for a reward.

“Now, show me," Ehud said impatiently.

Achmed nodded and motioned for another smaller cargo truck to move forward. When Ehud opened the back, he smiled in satisfaction.  Amidst the dozens of fresh naked female corpses with no heart, there’s a human tied up inside, alive and kicking.   

"Help! Help!" The man has loosened the gag on his mouth.

Ehud took out his gadget and airdropped koine points to Achmed’s account.  Cintru awarded Ehud the contract to smuggle dead humans to Zapad.  He has been following Kein’s order to the letter for hundreds of years, scared of his curse.  

However, konxeladas in Zapad are fed up with eating rotten human flesh.  They are also tired of waiting for Kein’s empty curse, so he thought of a different scheme on the side to get himself some fresh, if not alive, human meat.  

What Kein doesn’t know won’t hurt him.  An occasional human stray is a reward Ehud gives himself for a job well done.  They will not declare war against humans, alright, but who says they can’t kill some of them for fun?

“Enjoy,”  Achmed smiled upon confirming the receipt of Ehud’s payment.  Satisfied, Ehud entered the vehicle and went for the man's beating heart.

******

1921 Anno Bhiasti.  “Ben, hit me!”  Hiro sat next to Hendrix after the bar fight was over, and business resumed.  It was a slow weeknight as Cindy and Zonia pole danced in seductive music, wearing nothing but high-heeled boots.

Ben served Hiro’s usual drink.  Hendrix drank straight from the beer bottle while waiting for Nzo to come back from roving the place, checking for suspicious konxeladas loitering nearby.

“So, there’s still a fight left in you huh?”  Hiro said sarcastically after drinking a shot of whiskey.

"Let’s talk," Hendrix said after gulping the last of his beer.  He then got up to leave without even looking at Hiro.

"I prefer to fight though,"  Hiro motioned Ben for another round, knowing Hendrix heard him.

"Alright," Hendrix sighed as he opened the door to leave.

"Just keep Lumen safe kid, I got this," Hendrix bumped into Nzo, who was on his way inside the bar.

“‘bout time,”  Nzo saw Hiro following Hendrix behind.

The two konxeladas ended up in the arena where they bonded deeply, not just as friends and colleagues but as brothers too.  

Ah, how long has it been? A couple of centuries or so?  Hendrix and Hiro both wondered, still remembering the taste of each other’s blood.

******

1521 Anno Bhiasti.  "Hisao!  Finally! In flesh and blood,"  Hiro greeted Hendrix, thrilled.

"Zovio, the man himself!"  Hendrix took Hiro’s hand, equally delighted.

After tapping each other’s shoulder on a brief man’s hug, they proceeded to the VIP lounge of Hajji Towers, the tallest and most modern cylindrical designed multistoried structure ever built in the City of Ruinae.  

Hendrix and Hiro introduced both their teams of gamers, coders, and technical support to one another.  Together, they will develop and produce world-class Role Play Games (RPG) for the booming market.

“This, my friend, is your gaming cave,”  Hiro brought Hendrix to the Hajji Olympus Interactive Headquarters, a massive structural wing connected to the Hajji tower via a colonnade.  Hajji Inc. is a conglomerate with a legacy brand on its own.  Investing in the gaming industry is just one of its newest ventures.  

Hendrix whistled when he saw the state-of-the-art facilities and the advanced technologies Hajji Inc. built and acquired just for him.  Even his team was blown away and instantly impressed.  Hiro went full blast in investing billions of Koine just to indulge Hendrix.

“F*ck!  I thought I’d be working from home,”  Hendrix joked while checking out the technical ecosystem he will use in developing his games.  Even his programming platform has an update that is yet to be released in the market.  

“Sweeeet!”  Joreel, one of Hendrix’s team members, exclaimed in delight.

"Craig, tour everybody around and give us a minute,”  Hiro waited for the others to leave before confronting Hendrix.

“You can’t work from home, Hizz.  F*ck!  I built all of this for you!”  Hiro couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“I know... appreciate it Zov.  Really, this is… wow,”  Hendrix tinkered around one of the gaming consoles that he has not seen before.

“So?”  Hiro asked impatiently.

“Of course, I'll work here.  Hell! I’ll probably crash here more often than I should,”  Hendrix laughed, settling himself on his gaming chair.

“Great! Remember, these are all yours, but the brilliant games your head will produce are all mine,”  Hiro said in his businessman tone.

Hendrix and Hiro met online more than a century ago as Hisao and Zovio.  Until today, they have known and seen each other only through their famous avatars.  Though Zovio is a prominent gamer, Hisao has met far greater high-ranking players in the online world.  Zovio plays for fun while Hisao plays like his life depends on it; that’s why he is legendary.

Hendrix prided himself for establishing his ‘alter’ in the new world while keeping his true identity private.  Except for a few close friends who know him by his first name, the public knew the brand and the avatar of Hisao, but the legend that Hendrix became didn’t have his face.

When Hisao's RPGs flooded the gaming market and became consistently in demand, Zovio took notice and persuaded Hendrix to be a subsidiary of Hajji Inc. 

“Your products are great Hizz, but your business model sucks!”  Zovio would often remind Hisao even when they’re just playing.

“Let me manage the business side for you so you can focus on just being creative, which is what you do best,”  Hiro would propose to Hendrix relentlessly.

It took a while before Hendrix was convinced, but Hiro, being a ruthless businessman, was persistent.  He became interested in Hisao’s brilliance and decided to buy him out before other competitors took notice.  

What started as a random teaming up during online games turned into a century of acquaintanceship.  Hiro found Hendrix a compelling character who doesn’t really like fame or wealth yet a magnet to both.  Before Hiro knew it, he was pulled into Hendrix’s world and became a fanatic. 

Though Hendrix doesn’t see Zovio as a worthy gaming opponent,  their conversations always lead him to make brilliant business decisions which he hates to do.  Among those who approached to buy him out, Hiro was the only one who made an effort to love the game and understand Hisao’s passion before dwelling into the business of it.

“Join me Hizz, you're good at developing products not selling them.  Let Hajji Inc. do it for you in exchange for your creative freedom,”  Hiro would nag him constantly when they would meet online.

When Hendrix finally gave in, he left the negotiation table a very wealthy konxelada. Now, all he has to do is develop games -- which is his sole purpose in life -- and enjoy his immortality.  He has to give up his nomadic lifestyle, though, because Hiro wanted him in Xego for good.

"How’s Xego so far?" Hiro was busy configuring the wall of Hendrix’s massive gaming cave.

“Not bad, it’s brighter and cleaner than Zapad,”  Hendrix shrugged, equally busy with synchronizing and encrypting his accounts on the server. 

“Cleaner? Hah! Zapad is a dark hellhole compared with Xego,”  Hiro said smugly.  With most radical, crazy, and violent konxeladas living in Zapad, the place has no decent infrastructures, sanitation, and lighting.  There’s not much progress in the continent whose residents are addicted to s*x, drugs, and violence.

Hendrix agreed, Zapad is not a place for a weak stomach.  It is a dark and deadly warzone, a perfect reflection of its citizens.  ‘Be tough or get f*cked’ was his mantra when he was a resident.

“Have you met anyone interesting?  Konxeladas here are generally nice,”  Hiro’s back was on Hendrix, facing the wall.

"Hah!” Hendrix chuckled, remembering the channak who almost ruined his stay in Xego. But, despite that, the diner became his usual hangout.  Not only is the food tasty, the humans he met there are warm and friendly.  Nzo, though, is truly a character that Hendrix is the most fascinated with.

“Oh yeah, the kid.  He is popular in this part of town.  He’s alright though, don’t worry about him,”  Hiro laughed hard when he heard what happened to Hendrix during an encounter with Nzo.

"So! Ready to tell me the secret why gamers go crazy with your RPGs?" Hiro asked, finally looking at Hendrix after obsessing with the wall.

Sizing up Hendrix, Hiro found nothing spectacular about Hisao’s appearance.  They are almost the same age, except Hendrix is taller, toner, and tanner than Hiro, but he has met more charming and better-looking konxeladas.  Up close, though, Hiro felt something different about Hendrix that he couldn’t put his finger on.

Maybe it’s his philtrum; it’s not as smooth and flat, Hiro thought.  At a quick glance, he could have mistaken Hendrix for a human.

"What about my request?" Hendrix asked back, remembering another provision in his contract.

"I thought you’d never ask," Hiro smiled before tapping on the wall, and Hendrix found himself looking at the gigantic in-door arena, complete with all the facilities he requested.

It looks exactly, if not better, than the open field in Zapad, where konxeladas hold their deadly gladiator fights.  Hendrix patterned most of his RPG’s simulated games from actual bloodbaths that he watched or participated in when he was still a resident.

Hendrix shook his head in amazement.  The gaming cave became nothing but a recording booth when the wall opened, and the monstrous empty floodlit arena was revealed.  The night sky was inviting when Hiro activated a voice command, and the dome covering the arena disappeared.

"Now you’re talking,"  Hendrix said excitedly, removing his jacket.