chapter 7

'aghh'

half conscious rylan opened half his eye with a pained groan. He discovered himself restrained to a chair in an empty room, lit only by a single lightbulb. In front of him, the silhouette of two men conversing became discernible.

"Decrypt his chip and search for useful info. It's not that difficult; you've done it multiple times," one of them instructed.

"That was my intention, but this guy doesn't even have a chip," the other replied.

"What are you talking about? That can't be right. Let me check."

Approaching Rylan, the man stood behind him and examined the back of his head.

"Huh, he really doesn't have one. What a weird bastard have we caught this time?"

"I told you. So, what do we do? I've never met someone without a chip."

"There's nothing we can do. We need to report this to the leader."

***

Back at the Jinn Gang's hideout, the six gangsters returned from a job.

"That was an easy job, ain't it?" said Duke.

"Yeah, an easy job, but you still managed to get shot," responded Tia.

"Ehh, I'm fine. So, we need to celebrate with beer!"

"Sigh, pass me one."

With the sounds of gangsters celebrating and conversing, the voice of the young mechanic interrupted their joyous celebration.

"Derrick, the kid disappeared."

The garage turned silent, and then the middle-aged doctor spoke up.

"It was obvious that he ran away. The kid was too suspicious. He didn't even have a chip."

derrick had a disappointed look on his face but then sighed.

"Sigh, then there's no helping it. Not like we forced him to stay."

"No, he didn't run away."

The young man approached the leader with a holographic paper.

"What's wrong, Hajin?"

"There's trouble. Look at this."

Hajin passed the paper to Derrick, and the man's face contracted.

[We got your boy. Come to our hideout if you want to get his remains, Jinn Gang bastards.]

"Shit, that anarchy sign. It's the Toxin Gang."

Duke stood up, picked up his shotgun, and yelled at the others.

"What are you waiting for? Let's get moving!"

The other members looked at Derrick, waiting for their leader's orders.

"Derrick, let's not. It's obviously a trap. You know how dirty the Toxin Gang is," said Tina.

After being silent for a while, the old man finally spoke up.

"They kidnapped him thinking he's one of us, and I'm responsible for bringing him here. I'm going to stay. If you want, I'm not forcing anyone."

***

Back in the dark, empty room, Rylan finally regained consciousness, contemplating the walls and pondering on how unlucky he is . There was little chance of freeing himself from these chains, especially with a frail and run-down body like his.

"Is anyone there? There's a misunderstanding!"

Attempting to explain his situation to the people who kidnapped him and clarify that he's not part of the Jinn gang, he received no response. After a while, three men entered the room – the two from last time and a new addition, an imposing figure with robotic arms larger than Rylan's entire torso.

"Ho-"

The imposing figure was about to speak when Rylan cut him off.

"Hello, sir. I swear this is a misunderstanding. I'm not part of the other guys- ughh."

One of the two men punched Rylan's stomach, yelling at him, 

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE CUTTING OFF THE LEADER ? DO YOU WANT TO DIE?"

Barely able to breathe from the punch, Rylan tried to talk, but words wouldn't come out. Still gazing at him , the leader spoke again.

"How is it that you don't have a chip?"

Not knowing what this chip they're talking about is, Rylan responded, still breathing heavily,

 "I don't… even know what… is this chip supposed… to be."

Leaning towards him, the imposing leader's figure became clear to Rylan, half of his head scarred from a burn, glaring straight into his eyes.

"Do you take me for a dumbass? Everyone has one and is cured by it from birth. So HOW. THE. HELL. DO YOU NOT HAVE ONE?"

Rylan realized that he couldn't explain anything to them. Searching through his brain to find a believable lie as fast as possible, and hope.

"I... I was just born really far from here, and my parents died right after I was born, so I didn't get one."

The leader looked at him for a second, then got up, smiling.

Feeling relieved, he thought .

'Did he believe me?'

Rylan was about to let out a sigh of relief when he got cut off.

"HA… This guy really takes me for a dumbass."

'Fuck.'

Not saying another word, the leader kicked Rylan in the chest, sending him to the other side of the room, hitting the wall, breaking the chair attached to him, and probably some bones too, making him lose consciousness instantly.