Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

With that said, I didn't think that I'd spend close to two hours condensing my two weeks plus of travel with the whole gang and telling it without pause to Mr. Cuervo who listened very intently to everything I said like an old grandpa would listen to their grandchild showing off. Granted it was a little wholesome how focused he was on my ventures but his expression turned somber when I mentioned I hadn't been to the Garcia, Alvarez, and the Castillo's domains.

"Something wrong?"

"Haa… I actually thought you squeezed all that time to get to know everyone… That's why only Sal called me after you drove from them and also relayed Mauro's message through her…"

"Did you want me to visit everybody?"

"Forget about it… The Garcias are closer compared to the other two but it's fine… You'll have the chance to visit them soon after but if we're being completely honest here, I wanted you to see the ugly side of our organization so you could see it as a whole."

"Makes sense..."

"You said the academy and your university had flaws but guess what? We have more. Way~ more. As much as I wanted to keep my friends and people I've known this long, I'll admit that we've done more fucked up shit than we'd care to admit and we're just looking for the good guys to fuck up once so that we could put them in the same level as us. Because at the end of the day, we're still criminals. Through and through."

"Right…"

"I mean, I'm not trying to wash my hands of the deeds I've done because I'm probably not able to but—"

"I understand you, Mr. Cuervo. You're doing the right thing right now, I think, and that's what matters."

Mr. Cuervo chuckled, "I dunno about that, hermano, but I am trying to do my best."

"Uh-huh… Kinda the same thing but okay. I still get this urge to lop someone's head off when they're abusing drugs but let's just say I'm trying to be the better person whilst at the same time lying to myself about my feelings. It's a little complicated, sure, but not everything's cut and dried…"

"Hah… That's true— Kinda deep too, y'know? But yeah~ Then what's our plan now? We already bailed on blowing up half the org so I'm assuming we're gonna need to have a workaround that, y'know? Again, I would've loved for you to see everything in your eyes so that there won't be any biases compared to when I just tell you the shit everyone else has been doing but when are you able to come back here? Realistically speaking?"

"Honestly? I'm not exactly sure because we have new players— probably a while but aside from missing the hospitality of Mr. Alvarez, Mary, and Castro, I missed the chance to visit one of my uncles and his farm. He's a few hours away but driving over there now will be a little impossible because of the ruckus caused by my group…"

"Ah… I've heard, is he perchance in that same town?"

"No, a few more hours in but that's the main road we're talking about. We're better off using the ship again depending on what went down on Artem's end."

"Hmm… I'm not sure about the exact details but they kept saying that their guy's mind has been fucked with and he just needed a few things to remember— Don't they come in with a codeword or something?"

"Pfft… You and Johnny watch too many movies—"

He cut me off as he leaned in with crazy eyes, "I'm just saying, hermano… That side chick of yours might be a sleeper agent too and even she's a champion in my games—"

"I'm a nobody, Mr. Cuervo— why would they plant a whole gang of—"

"Cut that shit out! You're YOU and I'm ME! Also! What if they're also after me?! What if they just used you to get to me and I'll just wake up one of these days with a knife to my throat! Hermano! We should be really careful!"

"..."

"Why are you so silent?! You're supposed to be with me on this!"

Then I had another sinister thought, "What if I'm the sleeper agent? Did you think about that?"

"Hahaha— You— Tell me you're joking— Wait… You're fucking with me— A-Are you? Is this how it ends?! Aiyaya~ Mi amor— OW! WHAT THE FUCK, HERMANO?!"

"You think I would just smack you in the head if I wanted to kill you?! Think, Mr. Cuervo, think!"

"I am thinking! What if you're just playing the long game and you're just waiting for the perfect time to round us up and take us one by one?! Oh god, dios mio…"

"I'm… Ha… I thought it'd be more fun than this but I think I'm gonna go…"

"Wait! Give me an assurance that you're not a government spy!"

"..."

"Hermano! Please! My wife and kids are out there! I should just lock you down here and take you down with me!"

"Bitch— My wife is out there too, d'you want me to stay with you until kingdom come?! I'd kill myself first and bet on reincarnation! You try to make yourself look good but I'm not into dudes, alright?!"

"HEY! I don't try to look good, alright?! I look good ALL the FUCKING time! I just look good! ALWAYS! D'you wanna die?!"

"Not with you! So, are you gonna ring us up or what?!"

"Haa… Fine… You passed… I can't actually lock you here because you have the same permissions as my keycard."

"Oh? That's flattering?"

"What if I lose mine? I can't bother Jericho all the time!"

"Oof. Alright, alright… Where is he anyway? I believe I left him a project of sorts before we drove away?"

"Ah, shit… He never left his workshop ever since you guys went away. He's probably still in there… Come with me…"

With that said, Mr. Cuervo brought us to the surface level before leading me to one of the doors shut tight in his basement gym. He started knocking on it profusely for quite some time, but once he gave me the go signal to use my thieving tools, the radios on our person buzzed before we heard Jericho's voice:

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*bzzt*

[BRO, I KNOW YOU CAN PICK THAT LOCK BUT THAT DOOR'S WIRED TO 'EXPLODE'! GIVE ME A~ TEN MINUTES— NO, FIVE— AHHHH! A MINUTE AND I'LL DISABLE IT! DON'T PUSH IT, ALRIGHT?!]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"WHY'D YOU WIRE IT THEN?!"

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Because I wanted to?]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"Fuck, I don't have an answer to that… Then get on it! We'll wait for ya!"

*bzzt*

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