Chapter Text
Blackrock was always open to new inventions; it wasn’t a secret. The Korblox Administration was working hard on making up new technologies: they ranged from office workers to mailmen. The robots Administration invented were quite literally everywhere; on the streets, in the headquarters and even in the infantry.
Actually, infantry was one of the first fields to use robots globally. Inphernal mercenaries were a minority, since many of them were replaced with heaps of metal invented by Subspace. One by one, another after another, until there was a mere left. Until there was one left. Hyperlaser was the last soldier in the army, who wasn’t a Biograft. Ever since he was spawned, he was forced to be a mercenary with his only purpose being elimination. How many inphernals did Hyperlaser kill? He himself doesn’t know, moreover he doesn’t want to know that. Every day only drove Hyperlaser insane, and even his own cat Princess couldn’t help to relieve the stress he got from his job, even if he loved her more than himself... But there was one thing that helped him to forget. Well... not a thing, but a certain someone, an acquaintance of his. An inphernal from the Thieves’ Den, named Katana, with whom he met up sometimes for a drink or two. Getting drunk with someone he loved spending time with lightened up his gray days. Even during Phights Hyperlaser was glad to see Katana, fighting along his side, because it meant everything for him. It meant forgetting about his work, it meant forgetting what a terrible inphernal he was, it meant forgetting how much Hyperlaser prayed for this to end.
Sometimes when you really hope for something, it will finally come true: because one day the mercenary woke up to a letter from the Administration, explaining to him the current situation in the infantry. “We don't need your presence anymore.” Hyperlaser had mixed feelings about this. On one side, all he did was just useless, and he is an atrocious inphernal, but on the other side, he was finally free.
Some days later after being “fired” Hyperlaser handled all the documents and came into an agreement with an Administration, allowing him to move out to Crossroads. It was louder than Blackrock was, but Hyperlaser was totally sure about it being better than his homeland. Living in Crossroads meant discovering new things and meant visiting more places. Hyperlaser was curious about many things and how they worked, but he wasn’t allowed to learn, for example, about other cultures, because the Administration found it unnecessary. It also meant visiting Katana more often, since nobody would forbid him to do so: endless possibilities and endless dangers were waiting for him.
When Hyperlaser moved to Crossroads, he settled into a cozy apartment in an apartment building almost on the top floor. For some reason, it felt strange, since everything was different there, the weather was much warmer and the inphernals were much louder there. His apartment wasn’t that big, a living room, a kitchen, a restroom, and a bedroom with a little balcony overlooking a noisy street, full of residents of the city. Hyperlaser decided that he should get comfy in his new home first and look around the Crossroads after. The man looked around, his gaze stopping on the cat-carrier he had with him. Princess was probably scared, since she needed to get used to the new environment. He sat down on the floor, opening the carrier and looking into it.
“Oh my...”, there was a bit of worry in his voice: Hyperlaser loved his cat and always cared for her and hated the moments when she was scared. He reached out his hand to her, stroking her head slowly, hearing a quiet purr as an answer. “Princess, everything is okay... Don’t worry... I’m there...”, Hyperlaser’s voice was unusually quiet and soft, like a soothing song. He smiled under his helmet and got up again: he had so many things to do. It was early morning, so Hyperlaser hoped he could do everything until evening.
He quietly put his things on the shelves, everything he had. Books, pictures (even though he didn’t have many, most of them was Princess) and some gifts from Katana. Sometimes when they met, Katana brought some souvenirs from Thieves’ Den, and Hyperlaser valued every of them like a piece of diamond and smiled every time he looked at the little gifts: he felt valued, respected and like he was melting on the inside... What a strange feeling, but he left that for later.
It was late evening already; Hyperlaser was standing in the kitchen in pajamas, but still with his helmet on, so he could see better. Some music was playing from the streets in the distance, and various voices could be heard. When cooking dinner, Hyperlaser thought about all those inphernals on the street, how they could have fun freely, how they all had their lives... he still had to get used to his new place of residence. After finishing with his cooking, Hyperlaser took his helmet off, so he could have his dinner: simple scrambled eggs and green tea; Hyperlaser couldn’t help but think of Katana anytime he had tea. It would be nice if he could meet him sooner or later...
***
Hyperlaser woke up in the early morning, like he always used to: his face was full of terror, because he had a nightmare about returning to Blackrock, about all his bad deeds and killings. The man put a hand on his forehead, trying to collect all his thoughts, but a minute later turned back to reality, hearing a quiet meowing. Oh, right, it was morning and Princess wanted to eat... Hyperlaser looked at her and laughed quietly, getting up from the bed heading to the kitchen to pour out some cat food and to make some tea for himself right after. The man looked into the window, the sun was just getting up, and the streets were full of inphernals rushing to work. He took a sip from his cup, sighing quietly and already making up plans in his mind for today. After drinking all his tea, he washed the cup and put it back in its place and began his usual routine: washing his face, brushing his teeth and making the bed. Hyperlaser opened his wardrobe, trying to find what to wear for today: his choice landed on a simple black suit, nothing special. After the clock hit 8 in the morning, he put on his helmet and left the house.
The first thought that popped in Hyperlaser’s head was “It’s loud”, but it was millions of times better than Blackrock was. Inphernals there felt more real, more alive, which fascinated Hyperlaser a lot. He was quietly walking around, trying not to attract attention, and somehow, he felt nervous and strange, but the elderly inphernal tried to get into his head that everything would be better here. Hyperlaser looked around, seeing many new faces and hearing many new voices. The further he walked, the more interested he got: in Blackrock everything was mostly the same, everything was gray and soulless, but the city of Crossroads was full of colors, full of life and every bit of it caught his attention. But what caught his attention more was a beautifully decorated blue building that looked like a café. “Thieves’ Rest”, that’s what the sign on the front said. He thought a thousand times whether he should go there or not but decided to take a look anyway.
Opening the doors, Hyperlaser was greeted by a cozy atmosphere, pleasant smell of baking and some familiar faces he saw during Phights, Slingshot, Shuriken and Vine Staff, to be exact. All three of them looked at the "guest" who had entered the building, and their faces showed surprise. Hyperlaser came closer already feeling bad. Did he scare them? He hoped not...
“Good morning. I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t scare you...”, his voice was usually calm with a note of confusion. There was a moment of silence until Slingshot broke it.
“Not at all...”, he cleared his throat to sound more confident, “We are just surprised to see you out of all the inphernals there.”
“I thought you should have been at your job,” Vine Staff joined the conversation, “not in our café...”
“I don't... work in Blackrock anymore,” Hyperlaser answered, a bit of hate could be heard when he said the word ‘Blackrock’, “I live in Crossroads now.” He looked at the menu, as if he was investigating it, “I would like a piece of blueberry cake, and I would like it as a takeaway.”
“Mhm... Anything else?” Slingshot asked, putting on his usual smile. The baker had so many questions, but it was not the time to ask them.
“Yes. I don’t know if this is an appropriate question...”, Hyperlaser thought for a moment, “...but do you know where Katana lives? I believe you know him, right?”
“Oh, we do!”, Shuriken exclaimed joyfully, “I can write it down for you if you want.”
“Thank you.” Hyperlaser turned his head back to Slingshot, “Then I would like to change my order, I want the whole cake as a takeaway if this is possible.” Slingshot nodded. “Perfect. I appreciate it.”
Hyperlaser handed the needed amount of Bux and listened to Shuriken explaining how to get to Katana’s apartment building. “But here, take this paper anyway!” He handed a paper with an address written down on it. Hyperlaser smiled under his helmet and took his order, “Thank you so much. I will visit you often if you don’t mind. Have a good day.”
Hyperlaser didn’t notice how quickly the day went by: he managed to buy himself new clothes, food and toys for Princess. It was 5 in the evening, and he needed to visit Katana. Hyperlaser gave Princess food, took the blueberry cake he ordered in “Thieves’ Rest” and left the house yet again. The streets were much more crowded than they were in the morning, the inphernals were having fun, went on a walk or just spent time together. Inside his head he thought what would be better to tell Katana, since the latter didn’t even know Hyperlaser was there nor that he lived in Crossroads from now on. He stopped in front of an apartment block, looking up at it: he hoped he was in the right place. Hyperlaser opened the front door and walked up the stairs until he found the apartment needed. He didn't even notice that he was nervous, and after taking a couple of breaths, he rang the doorbell and a moment after the door opened.
“Who is on my door so late...” Was the first thing Katana said, standing in the doorway, dressed in his usual clothes. He looked down, taking a step back, not expecting Hyperlaser at all.
“May I come in? I... have a little cake with me?” Hyperlaser asked gently. After getting a positive answer, Hyperlaser came into the apartment, placing the cake on the kitchen table. He quietly washed his hands and sat down in the kitchen. “So, I have little news for you, Tana.”
Katana looked back at the guest, while he was setting plates on the table. “What is it? I sincerely hope something good happened in your life.”
“Actually... you’re right. I don’t work in Blackrock anymore and I moved to Crossroads. To be honest with you, I still don’t know how to feel about that and I am deeply confused.” He looked down at the table, sighing audibly.
“Is that so? I would like to say that I am happy for you. I felt like you didn’t really like your job, so this news are great and I’m glad to hear that something bright happened to you.” Katana smiled under his detailed mask of porcelain, “After confusion comes acceptance. Don’t worry about that too much and give yourself time to get used to the new residency instead.” His voice was soothing, its warmth and tranquility made Hyperlaser calm down a little bit. That’s why he sincerely enjoyed spending time with Katana, it felt like heaven on Inpherno.
“Thank you so much for this kindness, Katana. You can never imagine how much I value everything you say to me. Your words never fail to calm me down and make me think more rationally.” Hyperlaser nodded and looked back at Katana, adjusting the collar of his suit. “I appreciate it so much.”
“And I appreciate that you actually value my advice.” Katana stopped for a moment, letting out a little giggle. “Since you live in Crossroads from now on, will you have the opportunity to show me your little Princess? I remember how you said that me and her are similar, so I am really curious to find that out.”
“Wait, you still remember that?” A slight embarassement could be heard in Hyperlaser’s voice. He wasn’t surprised that Katana didn’t forget it, he always remembered what Hyperlaser said.
“I do, Hyperlaser. So will you pray telling me how?”
“I value you both so much and both of you never fail to lighten up my soulless days... I am forever thankful to you...”
“So this is the effect I have on you? This is wholesome in a way.” Katana laughed quietly and placed two cups of warm green tea on the table, one for him and the other for Hyperlaser.
Sometimes talking to someone one finds important in your life does lighten up drab and colorless existence.