Cut Yourself Free

ハグルマ - Haguruma

Max stared at the shadow that had just appeared at the window. Her heart slowly began to beat faster as anxiety filled her body. She didn't know who it was, but if they so much as made a move to harm Josh, she'd kill them without hesitation. Her eyes watched them cautiously as they knocked on the glass in a rhythmic fashion. 

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Then a pause.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

S, S, that's what the knocks said. There wasn't any danger, it was just "Otacon".

She sighed and shifted in the bed, causing Josh's eyes to flutter open.

"What's wrong...?" He mumbled, his arms wrapping around the female.

"It's nothing, cutie." She told him, a sweet smile on her face as she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Just go back to sleep..." Josh's eyes closed seconds later. Max softly pulled out Josh's earbuds from his jacket pocket and placed them into his ears, hoping it would muffle the sound of her movements.

She slowly got out of bed and walked over to the window, unlocking it as quietly as possible and slipping out onto the balcony. "Otacon" wasn't in his normal FBI uniform, but instead was wearing civilian clothing. He had on a brown bomber jacket with a red and white striped shirt underneath, along with semi-faded blue jeans.

"What's going on, Otacon?" She asked.

"We don't need to go by codenames right now," He mentioned. "we're fellow assassins. Let's go by our real names."

"Oh uh, alright then. I'm Max Thurman."

"I'm Kennedy Moss." The two shook hands before staring down at the nearly empty streets below. The bright streetlamps illuminated the roads, which had no cars. It was so quiet outside, the only thing they could hear was each other's breathing. It was eerie. Max had never seen the city so quiet before. Something felt... Wrong.

Kennedy cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "The Templars and Prime_Eight are getting serious now."

"Is that why they've been silent?"

"Yeah. They're planning something big. Their plans are locked up tight. Not even your program was able to penetrate the code, however, I did get a small bit of what is to come from some members I passed by on the street."

"What'd you find?" Kennedy hesitated before sighing deeply.

"...They're planning systematic killings of DedSec members. An entire mass murdering of the gang until there's no one left. It's sickening seeing some of the emails they've sent each other about the plans."

"W-wh... What?!" Max was in complete disbelief. That's so despicable, so violent. It's something way too fucked up for a rival hacker gang to pull off. "Th-there's no fucking way they'd do that."

"I told you I have the emails of them saying it."

"So why haven't you shown your FBI buddies the emails?"

"I have, but we only have the plans and nothing else. It doesn't seem like enough evidence to warrant the arrest of every Prime_Eight member."

"The hell?! Kennedy, they're gonna commit mass murder!"

"I know!" He said, biting his lip with frustration. "The best we can do is slow their plans down. I've recruited a team of assassins for a risky mission to find enough evidence to arrest the Prime_Eight members, maybe even stop their plans entirely."

"Who's in the team?"

"You, me, Aiden Pearce and the Raven, Courtney Thurman."

"Wait, you recruited my Mom?"