A Hacker with a Secret

Crackers and Truths

Castor looked at me and held Bix out to me, "I'll trade you. You can have your pet if you give me the necklace. I just need to look at the bullet for a little while. I'll give it back to you in an hour or two, I'm just making sure it's not a threat."

I looked at him, then Blaze, and lastly Bix who was trembling. I slowly undid the clasp of the warm necklace for the first time in a long time and handed it over to Castor who took it from me while letting Bix jump back onto my shoulder. He nuzzled me, but I just stared at Castor as he observed the bullet. He walked off and Blaze sat next to me. "Good choice." I looked over at him startled by his words. 

"What?"

"Cap woulda taken it if you'd said no anyways, at least you got that lavarat back. How'd you find him anyways? I thought they were all killed."

"I- um," I couldn't tell him the whole truth, so I settled on telling him what little I could without raising suspicion "I took him out of the laboratory before it blew up." Bix was an expirement gone wrong. Scientists wanted to make rats weapons and they succeeded, but the instincts to survive had disappeared in the tests with out them noticing. When the rats were released, they quickly died off from starvation and predation. The scientists quickly adjusted their formula and fixed the problem, Bix was the result. However, before the formula could get out, the lab blew up mysteriously. Fortunately for Bix, I was curious and spent a lot of time in the lab and had taken him out to play the day of the explosion. I've kept him hidden since then.

"Oh awesome! He got a name?" Blaze didn't see anything wrong and I was thankful that he didn't ask any other questions about how Bix was alive and not ashes.

"Bix," I responded as he popped his head out from behind my hair. Blaze pulled a cracker out from his pocket and held it out for him. Bix took it and started to devour it while Blaze pulled out some more.

"You want one?" He asked as he held the sleeve towards me.

"No thanks," I responded as he shoved a few in his mouth before giving Bix another. "Are the other two really siblings?" It seemed like it was; they both had the same black hair and had similar facial features, but Castor's clearly once pale skin had been darkened slightly by the sun while Val's remained very pale. Blaze clearly wasn't related though; he was much taller than the other two, naturally tan, and blond.

He swallowed before answering me. "Valkyrie and Castor act like it since they were raised together, and they are adopted siblings I suppose, but blood-wise they're only cousins. They're moms were sisters, but Cap's parents were taken hostage by the Imperium when he was very little. It's been so long, but Cap still holds hope that their alive."

"Why'd they take them?" I wondered how much info I could get from Blaze.

He and Bix, who now sat on the arm rest next to the crackers, ate a few more. Blaze soon looked up before responding, "They were TA scientists working on some high level project."

"What project?"

"I dunno, Cast won't say. Not even Val knows. No one does except him. The other scientists on the project were shot."

"How long have you and Val known him?"

"Val's know him all her life since he's only a year older than her. I've known him since we were seven cause that's when he moved in with Val. My parents were friends with hers so I've known Val since I was about three." Blaze looked over at me. "You're awfully curious about us... How about you tell me about you?" 

I was stunned for a minute. He can't find out who I was. I needed a lie and fast too.