Chapter 3: Hierarchy

~ Jaden stood in front of his rented locker toweling himself off. Andrew sat on one of the benches to the side, already fully dressed. He was always done before Jaden, and Jaden wasn't completely sure how.

He turned self consciously to his locker, painfully aware of his scarred back. Jaden had plenty of scars, but those were different. Most of the rest he'd gotten in the Live-ulator. The ones on his back though, those he hated. Those he had reason to hate. Andrew broke into his thoughts with a chuckle.

"Dude, you look so manly with all those scars." He put special emphasis on the word "manly", deepening his voice considerably and grinning in a singularly admiring way. Jaden quickly pulled a clean shirt over his head and turned to face Andrew.

"They're all from mistakes Andrew. They're not something to be proud of." Andrew shook his head and, putting the subject aside, stood.

"Ready to hit the cafeteria then? Takyle will join us there." Jaden snatched up his jacket.

"Yeah, let's go." At the door he faced Andrew.

"Hey can I bum five bucks from ya?" Andrew let out his deep, and Jaden thought, sincere, laugh and kept going. Jaden took three running steps to catch up with him outside.

"What am I going to do if I ever really need money from you?" Andrew's face got comically serious.

"You'll beg," he informed Jaden. "Or give me some type of sexual favor. If you were good I'd pay you for that."

"Oh gee whiz, thanks a lot. Good to know that I've got options. Incidentally," Jaden added after a pause. "You act like I've never serviced a man before." Andrew quickly raised one finger to stop him.

"Ok, that's just awkward." Jaden grinned again, and this time it seemed a bit more natural on his face.

"Awkward is what I do best Andrew."

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Takyle was already at the cafeteria and had claimed a table by the time Andrew and Jaden made it through the line. Jaden approached her confidently, at least on the outside.

"Hello again Takyle." She nodded curtly in response. He sank into a seat across from her. Not out of the line of fire yet.

Takyle Carlyle (and Jaden knew for a fact that she cursed her parents every day for saddling her with that name) was as tall as Jaden with a commanding eye and black hair. Next to her, Jaden's hair looked dirty brown. It was so black that it looked a little blue sometimes. Jaden always had the urge to touch it whenever he saw her. He had suppressed that desire successfully thus far. He wondered briefly what exactly would happen to him if he did do that. He looked up from his sandwich when she addressed him a moment later.

"So today was a bust...again."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Sorry about that," he added as an afterthought by way of repentance. Takyle remained cool.

"I have to leave for a meeting with the Wellcraft Association in less than an hour. Are you going to run the simulation again this afternoon?" It was worded like a question, but her tone suggested otherwise. Jaden shared a split second look with Andrew. The latter cleared his throat quietly.

"If I may Takyle? Being in the live-sim for very long stretches of time is tiring at the least, and possibly damaging, as well you know. Are you sure it's a good idea for us to give it another run today?" Takyle's eyes were fixed on Andrew but Jaden got the distinct impression that she was not addressing him alone. Quite the contrary.

"Of course I know the dangers. I also know that we are nowhere near ready. I can only afford to rent the Live-ulation lab for another week. It's not cheap you know. We have to get as much time in with it as we can. Any risks you take in it will not be greater than what we'll experience in the real thing. But if you're having second thoughts...?" Andrew never blinked. He gazed back into her eyes and in Jaden's mind the image of a mongoose and a viper, mutually locked in a stare rose to the forefront. Andrew spoke with more seriousness than Jaden had thought him capable of.

"Of course boss. We'll try it again and see if we can get farther this time. Of course that'll be hard without your skills though." He cracked a tiny smile and Takyle turned her gaze on Jaden. He silently nodded his assent to his dish of applesauce and once again wondered why he put up with this. Once again he reminded himself.

"For the profits." ~