"Hey, Lexy are you alright?"
Gemini put a hand on his shoulder and inspected his face. Rather slowly, Lexo snaps back to reality. The two were now sitting on his bed, and the software update on his console was finished... but, that was the least of his worries. He seemed frantic at first, looking around in a panic as he got a grip on where he was... And then it all sets in.
"..."
A small tear flows freely from his left eyes, and glides gently down his cheek...
She wipes it away with her sleeve.
"What did he do to you?"
"I don't know... If I can talk about it at all..." He speaks.
His voice is a little shaky, and soft. It was unclear if he meant the information was secretive, or if it just bothered him to the point he physically and emotionally could not handle bringing it up, or maybe even... both.
"I didn't absorb my twin. That's my cover story. Syphon, or his lackies anyway, they… designed me. Some donor offered Syphon Industries billions for a genetically designed bride. They selected sequences from like a dozen animals to try to make me small and obedient. The cat ears and the tails were just his fetish. I only exist to be a slave for this rich asshole. Brett was willing to let me live a life of abuse, just to line his pockets. I can only imagine what he did to you."
"... So, it's true then?"
He lays his face in his palms.
"He's never been genuine. Nothing's changed... His money? All it leads to is more control -and, no one sees it! . . No one knows what he's really doing, and even if they do, they're all too scared to speak up..."
His composure thresholds begin to cave like a broken dam. And through the dam, a sea of emotion flows through.
"... Inara.. Oh my God... Inara..."
His words pursue through a heavily weighted tone of pure agony. Escaping through clenched teeth and flowing tears. He begins to sob.
"Oh god lexy what happened to Inara?"
She squeezed his shoulder.
"He... He-"
Lex breaks down into another sobbing fit, uncontrolled.
"She's gone... and so is her family, all because of him!... all because of me!"
Lexo's body tightens up. Every muscle fiber in his body clenches down with rage, sadness, and most importantly... pain.
"I can't... Let this keep happening..."
He shakes violently.
"I thought I was the only one… I thought… I was the only one..."
"There's me and the nine before me, probably dozens of others he's killed or threatened. We-we need to do something about this. There has to be a way to get to him."
Her voice carries lightly through the room, as if not to further disturb him. Lexo remained silent for a bit, as all of his suppressed memories rushed back to him. Images of Inara... Sprawled out in front of him. The chill of the scene set in on him, riddling his skin with goosebumps. It all bothered him more than he would've liked to admit. Sitting there, eating away at his subconscious, but he kept it hidden, kept it buried deep. Because, it all happened in the first place due to him speaking up. He couldn't imagine what Brett would do to him now... Now he's the very face of Petrichor City.
"Ugh sorry I'm getting way too ambitious… I'm so sorry that happened to you Lex."
She sat down again beside him and put an arm around him to try to sooth him as best she could.
"No... You're right."
His crying begins to stop, as he takes deep breaths, regaining his composure slowly.
"We... We do need to find a way… He can't continue doing this... I only stayed quiet because I thought maybe it was just me... I thought that after he gained all this money… fame… power, that he'd stop when he had what he wanted. He'll never have what he wants. It will never be enough for him! I'm so naive!" He sighed.
"You're not naive. That belief protected you."
She wiped the last tears from his face.
"I'm sure there are others. He must keep a record of it somewhere."
Lex finally locked eyes with her for a while, as she comforted him. For once, he could see himself in someone else, another person who's life was changed permanently, or in this case... made entirely by the shady actions of Brett Syphon.
"Yeah, but, I don't think something like that would be able to be accessed by the public… We'd need to start at the source..."
He looked down at his phone, with Gem's gaze also following his… To no one's surprise, it also had the industrial branding logo of...
"Syphon Industries!" Gem exclaims.
"... Yeah?"
His gaze shifts towards the window of his dorm. Through it, they had a clear view of the Skyline of Petrichor city. The tallest building there, of course, was Syphon Industries. A technological corporate masterpiece of wonder and dominance. It stuck out like a sore thumb from the rest of the city, piercing the clouds above with its height alone. A truly dystopian structure.
"I haven't dreamed of coming even a city block away from that... Thing."
"No, you wouldn't have to, because I can! I can't even imagine the dirt on those servers! Once they give my IP access to the company servers, bypassing the internal security would be a breeze."
She spoke a little too fast and abundantly for Lex to get a proper grip on what she was saying.
"Wait, wait... How would you even know how to do all that...? Oh yeah! You're pretty good with computers, right? That should make things way easier."
"But... I don't think they'd just let you do that, would they?"
"It's a massive company. They're always hiring, and I have like eleven years of tech support experience. I'll have no problem getting hired to work there."
"Hmm... You might be onto something."
He picks up his phone, and makes sure it's powered off. But, luckily for him it was already bone dead. Battery drained.
"... This could be bigger than we think it is. Don't you think it's a bit dangerous?"
"Are you kidding!? It's crazy dangerous! We're talking about going up against the most powerful man in the city, probably the state too, if not the whole country."
Her fingers beat on Lexo's shoulder as she thinks.
"We're going to need a really good plan. What do you bring to the table?"
"Uhh..."
He thinks for a bit, trying to figure out how he could make himself useful.
"Yeah, I got nothing… I could be watching out maybe? Or, I could distract him if I get the chance..."
"Really? That's all you got?"
She poked his cheek.
"You smell more special than that."
He jolts a little from her playful gesture.
"No, really... I'm not all that special."
He pauses for a bit in thought.
"... Well, I do know the streets that surround the building like the back of my hand. If we need a quick way out, you can leave that to me."
"That's something I can work with! You need a way to contact me don't you… I can jailbreak your phone so it isn't on Syphon's OS. That and a VPN will make sure he has no access to it."
"Woah, really? That would be so incredibly helpful!"
She grabbed the messenger bag she had left on his chair and pulled out a laptop covered in cutesy stickers and a charger for his phone.
"Hand 'er over."
"Huh? Oh- Right..."
He reaches to his side and grabs his phone, then handing it over to Gem. He had no idea how this whole process would work, so he watched in curiosity.
She plugs it into her laptop.
"Trust this device? Yeup!"
She opens the phone's files on her laptop.
"Just have to delete this OS and install my own, and my favorite VPN… and all done. Well, not quite it's going to take a second to download, but it's pretty simple when you know what you're doing, honestly"
"Wow... You really are good with tech stuff, huh? You've got your own operating system and everything..." He said.
He was unable to grasp the amount of difficulty it would have taken to get that done, if any at all. Truthfully, he's never been all that skilled when it came to computers. Aside from the occasional "unplug it and plug it back in".
"It's really all I did for like seven years. I lived out of internet cafes until I could afford an apartment."
The phone lit back up.
"The front end should all look the same, but under the hood it's on my OS instead of the Syphon Industries.' There's also a virtual private network installed that encrypts all your data so your internet service provider can't track any activity, like the websites you visit, any info you enter in those websites, anyone you contact using wifi, all those kinda things."
"Holy shmoly!"
He watches the phone boot back up in disbelief... That quick? A simple plug, a few clicks, and that's it? This girl knew her stuff pretty well. He was honestly amazed. Seeing this, he had full confidence in her abilities to infiltrate, and quite possibly get her hands on some compromising files locked away behind the doors of Syphon Industries.
"So... How do I contact you?"
"I went ahead and added my contact info already. My phone and laptop are both protected, so it's safe to send me anything."
She snapped her laptop closed.
"Well, I should get back home to feed Castor and Pollux. They probably wanted breakfast a couple hours ago… and as much as I like spending time with you it's best if we aren't seen together in public too often. Two people that have a history with Brett hanging around together is bound to draw his attention."
"Oh- Right..."
He wanted to ask her more questions, like who's Castor and Pollux, where would they meet again, and so much more… However, he figured he'd leave them for later, or, for any time for that matter, since he'd gotten her contact information now. He did a double check to make sure it was there. This was the first time he's had a girl's number in his phone in years. He glanced back up at her.
"Thank you."
"Thank you."
She put her laptop away in her bag and threw the bag over her shoulder.
"We'll be in contact. If anyone asks why I was here I just fixed your internet and left. I'll apply to the Syphon Industries jobs and let you know as soon as they get back to me."
Lexo got up from the bed, and dusted himself off. He sighed, whether out of relief or stress, it was unsure. But, one thing was for certain... He felt a lot of weight lift from his shoulders, or rather, it was being lifted as they spoke.
"Right, sounds like a plan. I'll let you know if anything comes up on my end... Since, I literally attend the school he teaches at."
"Sounds good. I'll.. see you around Lexy."
She gave him a sweet and genuine smile. There was a wavering of uncertainty being hidden in her voice. He watches her leave, and a bittersweet emotion clouds his head. For what reason, he couldn't entirely tell.
"Lexy? I haven't heard that nickname in so long. . . Seeya, Gem."
She closes the door gently behind herself as she leaves, an indescribable emptiness was left in her wake. After Lex has given himself some time to process what has just happened, he turns away from the door and rag dolls himself into bed.
"... ughhhh this is gonna be a long week."