Syndicate of tyranny

Chapter 4

~Silence is beautiful~

King's POV

I sat on the couch in the empty living room, the sound of my breathing and other appliances running being the only things that pierce this thick veil of silence. It was dark and 2 am, I just wanted to come down here and just sit, I could've easily done such a simple task in my room, but with people always knocking and, unfortunately, talking to me, I had soon realised that my anti-social haven was constantly being infiltrated. At least here I would get some peac- " Hey King", wow I spoke to soon.

Tyro sat in the couch adjacent from me, he sat their quietly and closed his eyes, "what do you want?" I calmly uttered but still quite annoyed that my bubble of peace had now been popped. Tyro sat next to me and touched my hand, I simply flicked it off without a thought, "I don't get it" he mumbled under his breath, "wow that's not something I ever thought I would hear you say" I taunted, quite amused, " So what do you not understand?" I continued, "When Dakari touched Eustace hand she blushed and calmed down from her troubling thoughts about the mission. But you didn't seem to be affected by the same gesture" He responded, I would've laughed, but I didn't, he was being serious. "She likes him, it's quite obvious, not your everyday love story though, lab rat and professional liar" I remarked, he seemed to be thinking but after sometime his face went blank, "I wouldn't know love if it was right in front of me" he professed, I looked at him, into his dark almost black eyes, "you would know, it's just not in front if you yet".

"What is love really though?" He asked, apparently annoyed that he had to ask me for help on the subject even though he clearly prefers being independent, "Want my personal answer or a more general one?", "Both" he shrugged. "Well I think love is a waste of time and a weakness, I do not care for love or feelings and never will, I have learnt the hard way that once you start to feel such strong emotions towards someone or something then it will only cause you pain" I paused to observe he expression, he seemed to be calculating, yet listening attentively, "General term though, love is feeling so sad when your other half leaves you, love is giving your heart to someone else and hoping they will not crush it in their hands or play with it, it's trusting that they will keep it safe and give you theirs. " I breathed out, he looked at me confused, but I suppose that's another aspect of my life I would never talk about. "So love makes you weak?", I hesitated thinking deeply into the question " Not always, sometimes it makes you even stronger" I replied with a distant smile that seemed to faintly show on my face, "I'm going to stick to calculations, love is too risky" he concluded, I nodded and watched him walk away, he was weird. He seemed to be very smart, yet he lacks basic human emotion, kind of like me, but for me it's different, because I remember what it was like to have them but he seems absolutely foreign to it. Lucky him.

I arose suddenly, a loud banging noise at my door, it wasn't locked, they could've come in. I opened my door and barely dodged a knife aimed for my face, "what" I lowly growled, it was 4am. "Blake is coming in an hour" Tyro muttered as if he hadn't almost killed me, "what's with almost slicing me?", he smirked and walked away. Groaning in my tired state, due to having less than 2 hours of sleep, I had a cold shower and got dressed in my outfit provided by Blake. I tucked my weapons away and took all 25 of my throwing knives, I usually don't carry them all, but I have this deep feeling that I'm going to need all I can get. Probably the paranoia, I guess that's what happens when you are ruined as a child and turned into murder machine. Oh well.

I slowly made my way downstairs; the others had already arrived in the living room. I sat next to Domonic as I grabbed a breakfast bar and waited for Blakes imminent arrival. The bell rung and it felt like time froze, I suppose being sent on a suicide mission just hits you hard in the morning. Blake ambled in with his guards, more than last time and particularly gathering closer to me, I rolled my eyes at this clear sign of fear. "Good morning team, your private jet is waiting for you, my men will escort you there. Please remember to stay in constant contact and relay any information that you find, even if it's only little" he paused and clicked his fingers twice, 2 men brought out a map and another brought out a computer and a small portable Wi-Fi box. The map was rolled out, " the places circled are the places of abduction, the date next to it is the date of the abduction. The most recent is right here..." he said gesturing to map, "please do be safe. We don't have any other options, you all are our last hope" Blake pleaded, "Lies" Tyro said under his breath and coughed to cover it up, it was quite obvious that everyone heard but Blake didn't deny Tyro's claim, so I guess the arsonist is actually turning out to be an evil genius after all. "If we die doing this, I'm going to be really pissed" Domonic seethed, Amour looked over at her and nodded, clearly agreeing. I don't think I would mind to much.

The journey to the airfield where our private jet awaits was quite silent, everyone thinking morbid thoughts and possible outcomes to this unpropitious situation we were thrown in. The tension in the air lethargically faded away as we sauntered onto the jet. The luxurious properties and treats that the jet showcased momentarily distracted us from our pitiful reality. "This is epic!" Dakari squealed as he nicked a numerous amount of sweets and assortments from the kitchen located in the back of the jet. I sat by a window and silently wished that I had headphones to block out my teams squeals and sounds of happiness as they distracted themselves with the luxuries of this private aircraft. I wish I was that lucky, to be able to be distracted by the pleasures of life but unfortunately the horrid scenarios that played in my head on repeat kept me focussed at the task at hand. Amour sat opposite me, glaring at me as I stared out the window, "do you have a question?" I observed, "are you scared?" The mad scientist questioned, I shook my head, I wasn't scared. I was ready. "How do you get rid of the nerves?" He continued, "you don't, you focus on everything making you nervous and redirect them, so instead of being scared of the outcome, you are ready for anything", he seemed to appreciate my answer for he smiled and thanked me before walking away more relaxed than he was before and distracted himself with the food and confectionery the jet had to offer. Tyro seemed to be the only other person that didn't busy themselves in pointless distractions. He sat quite far, peering out the window, even though we were still on the ground he glared out of it like the most interesting thing was happening right outside. I stood up and made my way towards him. I sat opposite him, so we were facing each other, he gave me a quick glance as he acknowledged my presence and continued staring out the window. He looked relaxed, like we weren't being sent to an early grave, but to be fair, I looked the same. "They don't expect us to be successful" he muttered, I nodded my head, I knew this by now. The board meeting with Blake to postpone the mission, the fancy jet to distract us from our real problems, the expensive gear and finally the watches that only allowed us to send data back to the HQ, not call or text. They expected us to die but send them back resources for their war. "I know" I whispered back; I was unsure if he heard me, but it didn't matter. There's no turning back now.

We had been on the plane for a short while, 3 hours to be exact. The clutches of sleep had a firm hold on me causing me to fight to keep my eyes open. I was still sitting opposite Tyro and he still seemed to be interested in random birds that flew below us. I stood up and walked toward Eustace and Domonic who were sitting with Dakari, I perched down on the seat next to Dakari which was opposite Eustace and Domonic, "Hey King" Eustace cheered, her happy self-evident once again, "hey Stace" I responded, less enthusiastically, "yo!" Domonic and Dakari chorused, I replied and silence followed, "OK, just me or is Tyro very creepy" Dakari whispered as he shrunk back in his seat, I laughed at this, not because it was funny but because Tyro really was creepy but I've met creepier, Domonic looked over to me inquisitively "you guys seem pretty close, aren't you supposed to be reassuring us that he is harmless" Domonic joked, but I didn't laugh, "Oh, no. He is very harmful and dangerous. Don't mess with him" I candidly responded. Silence fell and suddenly everyone's cheery expression turned to looks of fear, oops.