Metanoia

City: Chapter 11

"Hello ma'am."
A young woman, most likely in her mid twenties glanced up from her phone. Her visage displayed how bothered she had looked which made Renjun internally flinch. However upon laying her fuchsia eyes on the shy blond her reaction softened. Straightening up, she smiled kindly and brushed some of her platinum blue hair from her face.
"Hi, how can I help you?"
"Oh," This had been the first approachable response he had gotten since starting. "I'm a student and I need to do a survey. It's about people's opinions on most profitable jobs, legal or not."
The phrase hit the air once again as he repeated his scripted question. In his mind, Renjun was silently hoping that she would respond with some useful answer. Because the other few times, where he had asked some other citizens, they had either declined; ignored him; or flat out gave a rude answer. (To which he would have loved to have said a rude reply back.)
Both him and Jeno had decided to act on their plan and so here the older teen was. The top floor was not what he had expected. Of course the first thoughts that came to mind when looking at the building was law firms and other office jobs. Never did he expect that there would be an indoor garden at the highest level. In all honesty is was quite awing to think about. It really did show off how dimensional this city was compared to his old town.
"Hmmmm," The woman crossed her leg and the hem of her skirt rose slightly. "I don't know." She didn't seem to notice her attire riding up her leg and continued to think. "This is a really interesting question..."
'Not really.' Renjun stifled an exasperated sigh at the woman suggestive behaviour. Jeno was right. There was a ton of different people in this city. Some worse than others. "If you don't know, that can also be an answer."
"Well if it was any company I'd say one of those big companies we have." She stared up at him through her long, fake eyelashes. It was obvious she was expecting an answer or reaction to her statement.
Forcing a tight lipped smile onto his face, the runaway nodded thankfully and pretended to type it into his walkie talkie. Thank his lucky stars no one had noticed the outdated piece of technology. "Thank you miss, you're answer is greatly appreciated." He bowed slightly before turning away to find another person.
"You can come visit me here anytime!" She called, voice getting farther the more Renjun walked on.
He sneered and spared a discreet look backward to see her on her device again. She was just like everyone back home, glued to their devices.
Lifting up large leaves and weaving around the large flowerbeds and tropical plants, the blond spotted another figure crouching near one of the ponds. They wore a large trench coat covering most of their figure. Looking small in their attire, the person was peering over the edge most likely spectating the koi fish swimming about.
Renjun took a deep breath in and pushed himself to approach the peaceful citizen. As he walked forward, he noticed how exceedingly normal this person was compared to the others he had questioned before. Upon closer inspection, he found that the man had fairly dark hair with only few dark red streaks combing through. Nothing about him seemed rather unique or showy. No extreme tattoos decorating his skin. No extravagant piercings woven into his ears. No large jewels or odd items of clothing. Everything about this man was. Bland.
There was a larger amount of nervousness rising in his chest since this was the first person to actually seem out of place from the flamboyant citizens he had seen so far. Nevertheless, Renjun gathered the shreds of courage he had and tapped the man on the shoulder.
In turning around, he saw how handsome the guy was and the blond struggled even more to spit out his question.
However the other was not phased in the least, instead he stood up to confront the runaway with a calm manner.
"Can I help you?" His voice was rather deep, contrasting extremely to how babyfaced he looked.
"Uh......" Renjun momentarily forgot what he was supposed to say. "Uh...... I'm a student... and I'm doing a survey on peoples opinions... of most profitable jobs... legal or not...."
The other raised an eyebrow making the blond panic a bit.
"It's a psychology course I'm taking and I need to deduce why people said certain things..." It was another lie, made up on the spot. But it served well in hiding any suspicious behaviour. Or that's what Renjun had hoped.
Silence dawned on the two for a second as the dark haired man simply stared in thought. However his eyes, a dark orange, stayed locked onto Renjun's dark brown ones. It was as if a staring contest was in motion or opinions were being transferred between the two. And for a moment the blond's blood ran cold at the thought that maybe everyone here did have that type of technology. There was a chance he could have just outed himself.
"Scientists have an important job."
Renjun near visibly relaxed once he heard an answer and was hardly able to pretend to type it into his walkie talkie. "Thank you sir, I gladly appreciate your answer, you have helped me a lot in my project." With yet another nod, he dashed off, not really caring about the man's answer or acknowledgment. All he wanted was to get out of that awkward situation and leave that man alone with his intense stare.
'He has such a cold atmosphere.....'
There was a blinking yellow light coming from the black box and Renjun made quick work of exiting the floor and enter the separate staircase. Pressing the small button on the side he raised it up to his face.
"HELLO?"
A loud booming sound came out of the speaker and the blond flinched pulling the walkie talkie away from his face. "Jeno you don't have to yell, I can hear you just fine." He growled, checking if his ear was bleeding. "But if your goal was to make me go deaf I say you should make your voice an octave higher."
"Sorry." The raven haired boys voice came out from the device once more. This time it had a sheepish, embarrassed tone to it and Renjun could almost see his companion rubbing the back of his neck, face probably red. "I just. The shops are really noisy and I thought you would hear it."
"Where are you?" He started to move down the stairs and to the next floor to conduct another stream of interviews. Their voices bounced around the long stairwell and the blond only hoped no one was coming in and hearing their conversation.
"Ummmm well right now I'm in the washrooms."
    "Wow how discreet." Renjun deadpanned, hovering his hand over the handle to the floor below the garden. "If you yell any louder I'm sure everyone will know."
    "I said I was sorry." Jeno whined, a bit quieter than he was talking before.
    Smiling, the older teen hummed out in response. "Ok now let's keep going, don't chat unless you got potent information that needs sharing right away."
    Without listening to the raven haired boys answer, Renjun closed the line and turned the knob to enter. The floor, unlike the garden, was rather closed off with multiple walls. It appeared that there were a multitude of cubicles around the area as workers sat in front of their computers- all with a look of concentration plastered on their faces. There were large stacks of paper everywhere, and large filing cabinets were scattered around. He was probably in an accounting office of some sort.
    Walking up to the front desk, he considered to ask the receptionist if he could walk around to continue his survey or if he should just ask the receptionist only. He hadn't made up his mind by the time he walked up to the desk. And holy hell did that receptionist give the impression of a worker absolutely done with their work.
    "H-hello...." Renjun swallowed the lump of nerves and internally cursed at his stammer. "Would you mind if I asked you a question? It's for a survey at school."
    There was a mirror right behind the man at the desk, the runaway was ridiculously puny and pitiful in the way he presented himself. However that wasn't the only thing. Behind him, nearly marching towards Renjun, was the man he had just talked to. But it didn't feel like it.
    The trench coat was long gone, revealing a physically fit figure covered in a white shirt. His sleeves were rolled up and his hands were gloved. Several harnesses covered his body and an array of weapons seemed to be hidden in every single place Renjun gazed at. But the one that grabbed his attention the most was the slick, small pistol the man was twirling around.
    'Oh shit.' The blond's heart dropped and he saw his own face pale in terror. 'Oh fuck no please not again. Just turn the other way.'
    But it didn't seem like fate wanted to play his game today as the man made eye contact once more and stopped the gun mid spiral.
    'Oh fuck. OH FUCK.'
    Ignoring the large yells of protest, Renjun made a running start into the large maze of workers.
    There was the sound of a whizz as something sharp passed by his face. Next thing he knew there was a body on the floor. Papers were scattered on the ground and he made quick work in avoiding all the slipping hazards. He leaped over the person, collapsed onto the ground. People were screaming.
    His breathing was quick and short. His eyes could only start to register figures moving around and coloured blobs. Something was coming towards him fast. Feeling the slippery texture of a cubicle wall, he slid past. Another whizz. Another body. Renjun couldn't believe it.
    Looking back to see what was happening. The man was there. Walking. Calm. Cold. Glowing dark orange eyes.
    A hard surface hit the side of his face. There was a grunt. The blond backtracked a bit seeing one of the workers in the flurry of paperwork. But he couldn't waste time. Brushing past he made a sudden turn right. The world around him grew in size as he ducked down. He could hear the loud noise of something reloading. He had to move on.
    Something came out from one of the cubicles and he rammed into the persons knees. They buckled and fell onto the ground in shock. Renjun was forced to ignore it all make a mad dash. There was a stream of wind going by the back of his head. He could see the door. Turn left. Turn right.
    The frame was getting closer. He forced himself to pick up speed, breathing as best as he could. Shoes losing a bit of grip on the floor he slid. And slammed into the wall. Leaning forward to recuperate. Than leaning back. A slight pop sounded off and a dart landed mere inches from his face.
    He near couldn't contain his scream. Instead he focused all his fear onto fumbling with the handle and exiting the floor. The air was cold and another set of stairs presented itself to him. More yelling was dawning on Renjun's ears. Five large men came out of a door from two floors below. They were already advancing up the stairs.
    In a panic, the blond pretty much tripped down and nearly ripped the door open, entering the next floor. No time for looking. No time for seeing where he would end up going. He needed to get away.
    Multiple people standing. He wove around. One person passed. Two people passed. Three. Four. Five. Six. There was a large slam.
    Renjun was terrified, a bile rising in his throat. He dived down under a desk and started crawling for his life.
    Several shots and whizzes went around, he could see the people around starting to duck or collapse. A thud came from beside him. He forced himself to move on.
    'Don't stare at the dart in their neck. Don't stare at the dart in their neck. Don't stare at the dart..... in their neck.' He stumbled back onto his feet and continued to run. Using desks. Using walls. Anything was becoming a useful shield. Staring at all the bodies on the ground made his stomach churn. Another needle passed his ear. He dropped on instinct and moved on.
    Renjun was hoping all of these darts weren't lethal. As he kept his head low to the ground. Trying not to make too much sound. He hoped that for their sake. And for his.
    In no time he was finding the way to the door on the other side. He stood up. Someone grabbed his wrist.
    "GET THE FUCK OFF ME." He screamed out wildly, shaking his arm. He tugged. There was a shot. The grip disappeared. The blond couldn't stare in horror. He sprinted toward the door, running in a wave like line. Diving, his hand reached the doorknob and he practically slid down the stairs to the next floor. He prayed that Jeno wasn't experiencing this as well.