I figured that either way, I would not see Rutha for a while so I could just as well use some hibiscus to relax. I knew I was not a good caretaker and some part of me felt very relieved. Maybe he would just never call me again. I could return to the life I had built for myself and that would be that. 

I sank into my favorite armchair while the flower-scented chemical dissolved on my tongue. Sweet, sweet release. It was like my mind left my body and all of the pent up stress was left behind with it. My techdevice buzzed in my pocket. An unknown number. How did they even get my contact info? Was there anyone near me that I would have to kill to be safe again?

It was not a small thing. If someone had my number, they could possibly track me. My ship was protected from such trackers, but I often went outside. Avatars don't prevent tracking.

A hologram appeared on my screen. Rutha. Tied up. Bleeding from his mouth. The adrenaline kicked me out of my high back into my body.

I checked the time. It had been less than half an hour since we said goodbye. That kid sure had a neck for trouble. My hands were shaking. 

The next message contained coordinates, somewhere on Chaus. The location did not really help me figure out who might have taken him. I forwarded the messages to KM-13. He was on my ship shortly after. I tried to hold on to it, but he grabbed my techdevice. I had never seen him this mad. I stood up to look closer at what he was doing.

His expression changed from concerned to scared. "It's Hades.", he said, confirming my suspicion.

The drug was making me dizzy while I was trying to be sober and I had to sit down.

His hands turned into fists. For a moment he looked like he was going to yell at me, but he didn't. "Stay here.", he commanded. I wanted to argue, but my mind drifted away before he left.

I tried to get up several times, but I always fell back into the chair. I remembered that I had the antidote somewhere on the ship. "HUBRIS! ANTIDOTE!", I screamed.

The drawer opened immediately but it took me a while to find my balance and figure out the right direction to walk in while my vision was blurry.  

After injecting the antidote, I tried to start the autopilot and fly to the coordinates that I had been given but I did not manage to hit the right buttons. My high was slowly fading and my head clearing up. How much time had passed? I did not know. When the Hubris started moving I assumed that it was probably going to the right location and I fell back into my chair. I slept.

The buzzing of my techdevice woke me up. I saw KM-13, his arms tied up by the cables that were usually inside his throat. "FUCK!", I screamed. I did not have a plan. Nothing.

I looked around the ship. This might be the last time I saw it, so I took a moment to let my head clear up. "It has been a good ride.", I said. I was not sure if I was talking to the ship or myself. I teleported to Chaus, not using any avatar. My physical abilities as an elf might come in handy and I was not foolish enough to believe any avatar would disguise me now.

The avatar I had seen in Nyx's temple welcomed me. His arms opened as if he was going to hug me. He saw my expression and realized that I was absolutely going to slice up his favorite avatar if he came any closer. He didn't insist on the hug.

"Why so hostile?", he joked.

"Where are my friends?", I instantly regretted the words coming out of my mouth. He chuckled a little.

"The boy is at school, where a boy his age should be.", Hades assured me.

I dreaded the idea of Rutha going to the same kind of school I had gone to. He was too naive, he would almost definitely die.

"I want you to let him go with KM-13."

His laughter reverberated. The place we were in looked like some kind of abandoned hospital. This must have been some kind of storage room. Scalpels and scissors, as well as some other instruments that I did not recognize, were lying around on the table and inside the closets.

"You want me to cooperate.", I said. "This can be so easy for both of us."

"Oh, but it is easy for me.", he replied smugly. 

"After all these years..." his sentence trailed off, his eyes watching me dreamily.