[Havok, Piasu, Ryomania, 2:35 PM, May 7th, Tuesday 2025]
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Havok, Carrion Murata and Broc Saeger were driving into the city after Carrion had recovered the relic 'Primordia' from the remains of The Daniels Estate.
"Tch, can you go any faster? It's not like we're underground anymore!" Carrion turned to his left, looking at Broc as he drove the taxi through the roads and streets of Havok.
Broc sighed and tipped his hat to him. "Buddy, look… I'm a taxi driver. Not a race car driver. There's a difference."
Carrion mimicked him in a higher pitch. "There's a difference! There's a difference!—You keep saying that shit, but it's obvious. Course there's a fuckin' difference, it's like saying water's a liquid… What, am I an alien to you? You think I see fluffy clouds and unicorn crap wherever I look? Shit… Just focus on driving. You're going to give me a headache."
"Are you like this with everyone or just us 'newbies'?" Broc asked.
Carrion sighed and rubbed his temple, setting down The Primordia on the dashboard of the taxi, knocking over a hula hoop girl ornament in the process. "Sorry, it's just the after-effects of using Nill, it makes you a bit… negative. Nah man, we're cool."
Broc shot him a side-glance, feeling a bit irritated. "Are you going to pick her up?"
"Who?"
"Janine."
"Is that the new recruit on floor two? Damn, now that I think about it, she was kind of cute—"
Broc slammed his foot on a special pedal on the car floor, causing the car to submerge under the road. He moved quickly, pulling out a Beretta pistol from his right pocket and pointing it at Carrion.
"The hula hoop girl—Janine—pick her up, now." His tone didn't leave much room for negotiation, and the look in his eyes was fully serious. He clicked off the safety.
Carrion chuckled and reached over The Primordia to pick up the ornament, putting the hula hoop girl back on her feet. "Calm down… I'm just messing with you! I told you, I feel a little weird after using Nill right after Flow. You really can't combine the two… Sorry, I know how you like to keep things tidy."
Broc rolled his eyes and clicked the safety back on the gun, putting it back in his pocket. He pressed the special pedal on the car again, causing it to emerge from the ground like nothing happened. Nobody noticed.
"Don't do it again… And it's not just my OCD… You know what Janine means to me."
Carrion reached over, patting his shoulder. "I know, you'll be okay. You helped get a relic! This counts as an official promotion—well, kind of. We'll see what The Overseer says."
"Right, that freak."
"Wow, you're ballsy! Calling your own boss a freak? Damn son, I didn't know you had it in you!" He cackled and patted his shoulder more aggressively. Broc shook his hand off.
"He's not Jinn, that's for sure… He's just meant to be in charge of the Havok team. He's like a manager."
"Wow, you've clearly not worked a day in your life… Managers are basically like a boss. If you ain't listening, you're getting shit-canned."
"I'm a Taxmatrian, and you just told me I've never worked a day in my life…" Broc looked over at him incredulously, feeling irritatingly exhausted. "This is why Henry is above you in rank, he's actually a good person—"
"—And I'm not?! Fuck's that supposed to mean?! Do you know how much I've sacrificed for Jinn?! Do you know how many missions I've been on?!" Carrion stood up in the car seat, shouting at Broc. He turned and firmly put his foot down on the handbrake, almost causing the car to crash.
Broc acted quickly and pressed the special pedal, submerging the taxi.
"Are you trying to piss me off?! We almost crashed, you dumb—"
"Don't you ever talk to me about my rank again. We're not buddies, buddy." Carrion's eyes glowed a deep, menacing purple as he stared at Broc.
Broc was stunned. He felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead, turned forward again, and pressed the special pedal, emerging back onto the road.
"Won't happen again, sir."
Carrion plopped back into his seat, kicking his feet up onto the dashboard of the taxi above The Primordia. "No, it's my fault… I told you, I shouldn't have used 'The Black Bull's Lamentation'. I'm barely even used to 'White Serpent' yet."
"Right… Why does Nill cause you to get all negative?"
Carrion chuckled and held up his left hand, a white glow covering it. "Flow's positive. Nill is negative. It's as simple as it gets, right? If Flow is life energy, then Nill is basically death energy, hence the negativity…"
"Right, but then why use it at all?"
Carrion's expression became serious for a second. He looked out the window to his right, watching the cars go by, the people going about their day. The Ariston Industries Center in Havok drew closer.
"Some people just want to watch the world burn… I don't know. That's why we have to stop The Syndicate."
"I don't think we have to do anything. We could just live our lives—"
"If that were the case, then I would've died at birth and you'd be stuck in Taxmatria, hated, despised, and known as the worst taxi-driver of all time… And then The Syndicate would win. Shit's hard. This is destiny, a road we're all meant to walk upon…" Carrion paused, pulling out the gun from the holster on his right and the katana on his back. "There's both right… And wrong."
"Why did you name them that?"
Carrion scoffed, holstering his weapons. "Not me, my father did. A long time ago. They're relics, remember?"
"Relics… Right, sorry… Oh, speaking of, you never really told me what happened—"
"Drop it. We're here." The Ariston Industries Center was just before them. Broc didn't argue further. He pulled the car into the parking lot.
"Okay, so let's go over the plan again—"
Broc turned to him, grabbing a pack of cigarettes from the glove compartment and lighting one, blowing smoke out of the left-hand side window. "There's a plan?"
Carrion snatched the cigarette from his hand, activating Flow and burning it up completely in his palm. Not even ash was left; it completely disintegrated.
"Of course there's a fuckin' plan. The plan is I talk, you shut up and look formal, we get the job done, and then you can fuck off and do as many missions with Henry as you'd like. Okay?!"
Broc glanced between his palm and his face before calmly pulling out another cigarette, lighting it, and blowing smoke in Carrion's face.
"If you fight me out here, the Overseer will notice. There are around five specialized agents in the building besides us, and over thirty normal agents. Plus workers, staff, and civilians. I recommend you calm down unless you want new retinas, sage." He chuckled, putting the cigarette in Carrion's still-outstretched palm, watching as it dissipated into the Flow.
Carrion shut his eyes, grinning, and turned off the Flow from his hand.
"I knew I liked you, Saeger. This shit's hard… huh? Fine, we can finish this later. Let's go deliver The Primordia."
"Heard you loud and clear."
Carrion quickly slipped The Primordia onto his right hand. They both got out of the car and made their way to the building's front doors.