We know you're hiding here.

Well, mother fucker. I tucked my personal tech interface device into my topknot and glanced around the semi occupied park I stood in. I'd been back on Terra a whole twelve measly hours and already they had tracked me down. This was beyond harassment. I knew there was a reason I hadn't stayed here after everything on Proxima went down.

My eyes scanned the sparse throngs of people as every set of eyes around me glanced up from their cell phone with a mixture of confused and curious expressions.

"Big brother's watching!" A man shouted before he cackled to himself and went on his way.

The wheels in my head turned just as quickly as my feet carried me away from the park I'd occupied. Was it just a mass broadcast? The further I wove myself through the bodies on the street, my suspicion became concerted in fact. Almost every person I crossed paths with whispered of a strange looped message on their device. This appeared to be a blanket transmission. 

A small sigh of relief departed me followed by another wave of paranoia. They know.

"Shit," I hissed under my breath as I reached up for my P.E.R.T.I.D. How did they find me? I wasn't sure how they found out but that didn't mean I wouldn't be able to locate an answer. Once I slipped into a narrow alleyway I doubled my speed and darted into a dark abandoned building before hunkering down on the cool concrete. With a single extension of the object in my hand, a holographic keyboard and screen sprouted from the thin pen-like item, a soft red glow warming the dark space.

Once upon a while ago, I conducted my 'business' from a laptop but that seemed like another lifetime, though two years were all that passed. In a time when I had only thought the stargates were out there and didn't know they were our reality. God, life was a hell of a lot simpler back then.

Nothing solved mysteries better than retracing your steps.

With a few clicks, I slipped past their security code, entering their system with ease. Their tech design had always been deeply flawed and that hadn't changed since my previous visit. I could get in and out within minutes, retrieving the data I needed or planting their next big problem. Getting in wasn't going to be the issue though. What I sought was concealed somewhere within their coding, well enough that I hadn't noticed, it was the only place it could be.

I mentally kicked myself in the ass for being so reckless in my previous gig. The money should have been a massive indicator that something else was at play. Who would pay over a hundred thousand credits for a simple retrieval? Either I was set up or they neglected to tell me what I was dealing with.

"You have to be shitting me..." I muttered to myself as my search came to an abrupt end. Sure enough, buried within the security code's code was a single functioning tracker thread. I quickly copied the code before pulling out and shutting my system down leaving only basic communication accessible. I was officially up shit creek without a paddle.

My eyes fixated on the wall in front of me as I went through my options. Priority numero uno was to get off this damn rock first. There was no way I could stay here while remaining under the radar, that ship had long since sailed. The government would locate me in a heartbeat, that was if the one's who tracked me down didn't snatch me by then.

I slammed my head back against the stone wall in frustration. Being backed into a fucking corner ranked high on my list of phobias and the tightness that crawled over my chest spread with ease. I had next to zero options. I required a starship or at the very least someone with access to one. My stomach sunk causing a nauseous feeling to sweep over me. It was the last thing I wanted to do but I wasn't sure there was another way. He was the only person I knew who would drop what they were doing to help me out. It also helped that he piloted his own ship.

With great reluctance, I raised my P.E.R.T.I.D. to my ear and muttered the two words I had dread ever having to utter again in this lifetime.

"Call Isaac."

We hadn't spoken since he forced me to go back to Terra almost two years ago. Too bad that hadn't gone the way he envisioned. I didn't understand then and I sure as hell didn't now. Quite frankly I harbored an astronomical amount of resentment about a lot of shit he pulled on me back then. Like the fact that he was my long lost Uncle or that he too, was searching for my mother at the time. Even after two years I still loathed him with every shred of my being, even if we were related by blood.

"Logan?"

His familiar drawl filled my ear within seconds of placing the broadcast and just like I predicted the mere sound spread a deep-rooted aggravation throughout me.

"MIB," I acknowledged in a dull tone to make sure my displeasure at our current communication would be taken note of. Our last encounter hadn't been a pleasant one.

"Ex MIB," Isaac corrected with a half chortle under his breath. Some people never seemed to change and he unquestionably hadn't, not even a fraction. Still, the same arrogant, detached and oh so superior man my memory perceived him to be.

"As I recall you were pretty chummy with those guys. Or has that changed?" I grumbled with resentment prominent in my statement. It couldn't be helped though, he never did apologize for his dishonesty or for manipulating me the way that he did. He never will.

A condescending laugh echoed in my ear, one that said 'still as immature as I remember'. That's okay, be a dick. Jokes on you buddy. Twenty-four hours of dishonesty was all I needed to get off Terra and disappear out of his life once again. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat otherwise known as my pride. My distaste towards him was one-sided, I knew it was. All my life I had never known of his existence, my mother never spoke of him but he knew of mine. Now more than ever I needed his claim to safeguard me from a distance all these years to be authentic. I required it to survive.

"They know I'm on Terra."

"Damn it, Logan, I told you to lay low," Isaac swore in irritation through the receiver. It wasn't often he let any sort of anger slip through the cracks of his rough front. I too wasn't thrilled with the recent turn of events, however, his reaction still managed to provoke me further. It meant my screw up ranked higher on the 'oh for fuck sakes' scale than I thought.

"Maybe if someone hadn't ditched me on the one rock I didn't want to go back to none of this would be happening," I snapped back at him.

We knew where my mother was, even how long she'd been there, and yet he'd chosen to drop me on Terra rather than head in her direction. For me, it didn't matter whether or not we made waves on Proxima or not. She was our family for Christ's sake and that meant we needed to help her, no matter the cost. Isaac didn't understand this and he probably never would.

Isaac let out a long breath of air. "Logan, you know why I had to, not that it mattered. You left anyway."

Once again we were at an impasse, the same one we always came to. He believed his strategy was the best course of action and I thought he was a traitorous snake. For now, I needed to bite my tongue. Our continual back and forth would get us nowhere, experience had proven that. The line went pin-drop quiet while Isaac waited for my rebuttal and I declined to provide one.

"You remember where we first met?" He inquired eventually.

An involuntary snort weaseled its way out of me. "How could I forget, Useless damn near shit himself."

Isaac chuckled, no doubt in response to his recollection of the night's events through his own perspective. When their ship fell from the sky the look on my classmate's face was priceless and the nefarious bully turned to sand. It took him close to a week to snap out of his fearful state. Not that you could tell by the way he strut around nowadays. He would be the next step in my vanishing act, so long as Isaac played his role the way I predicted.

"One-thirty, south side. Try not to get arrested before then."

"Roger that," I muttered before severing the call. Step one, complete.

word count - 1407
written 02/02/2020
last edited 05/04/2020