The Liberal Assassin

"I don't think it's going to work," Cass stated after Khronos had explained the plan. All eyes were now on the tall black haired manager.

"Do you have something in mind?" the scientist asked. Clearly, he wasn't too pleased being told his carefully formulated plan was headed towards failure.

The manager nodded and glanced at Sable briefly. They seemed to communicate silently before Sable smiled and requested to be escorted back. Rush who had regained consciousness in the infirmary offered to send her back.

Only Nash, Khronos and I were left in the room when Cass spoke.

"I don't work only for Arvin. I was an agent in the special force that Rion trained personally. Much like the legacy that Arvin hired three hundred years ago, Rion picked us from the Slums to carve us into skilled fighters and killers if necessary."

"Us?" I looked over to Khronos who was equally curious.

"I'm the remaining survivor of a minority tribe that no one wanted. It was easy for Rion to take me away and nobody would have noticed. A bunch of us were trained to become Rion's special agents. We tie up loose ends for him."

That's simply sad. Rion was training people to be killers for his personal use. These special agents didn't sound like they had any will or freedom. The hatred for Arvin and Rion only increased at his tale.

"There was no leaving the group unless it is death huh? That's terrible."

Cass gave me a strange look, one I couldn't decipher. Nash chuckled and there was this nagging feeling in me that said he was laughing at me instead.

"You still have a long way to go, brat. Besides, I doubt Rion trained them to become killers like what you were thinking. There are many ways to tie loose ends. Rion trained a batch of spies. Combat is merely one area of their training."

Spy? Is this even happening? Then again, that explains the hair colour difference and all.

"Does Sable know? She doesn't seem fazed by your change in appearance."

Cass blushed lightly and it was interesting to watch.

"This was how I looked when I met her before becoming her manager. Lisa said I needed to brighten up my grave looks and coordinated the colours."

That was definitely a way to put it. If looks could kill, many would have died by looking into his sharp glare. Those obsidian eyes were no joke.

"Which minority tribe were you from? Rush was also the last of his kind."

The manager eyed Khronos and I sighed. Of course, he would think the scientist was of similar circ.u.mstances. If maroon hair was natural, why wouldn't green be?

"Don't look at me," the scientist scowled. "I'm a different case."

"I don't know much about my tribe except that we came from the north before the Great Explosion. That's what my parents told me before they fell into coma. Pantiumite wasn't exactly common in the Slums back then so it wasn't surprising that happened. Rion found me and offered me Pantiumite for my parents in exchange for my services. I've been with him since."

"What are your parents' names? I could still find them for you after we take the Parliament down."

Cass smiled at me mysteriously. "They're no longer alive. There was no way Arvin would keep his promise. When I got assigned to work for Arvin and kept tabs on his daughter I went to investigate it secretly. I'm thinking all the other agents were also at Rion's mercy."

Nash shook his head. "Why do you still working for Rion or Arvin? Nothing good will come out of this. You have the ability to escape and lie low."

Nodding, the black haired man looked into forest green eyes. "I would have left. However, Sable is someone who needed protection. If it weren't for her I would have lost myself a long time ago. Arvin would stop at nothing for his motives either. Immortality is something that won't come true. When there is life, there will be death."

"Why's that man so obsessed with immortality anyway?"

Cass stared at Khronos as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Nobody truly wants to die."

"But I do!"

"Khronos, enough. It's not important why he's obsessed but we know for sure he is as crazy as you are. The issue at hand is how we track him down. I'm sure questioning Kalifa or Rion at this point won't help since Cass had pointed it out. What other plans do you have?"

Cass patted his c.h.e.s.t twice with a smug look on his face. "This is when you'll need your double headed snake. I may not know where Arvin is hiding but I might have a way to contact him."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Sable receives pills and gifts from Arvin via a delivery bot. It can be possible to trace Arvin's location if we can get hold of the bot. It isn't known exactly when the bot arrives but it comes regularly so Sable won't run out of supplies."

Nash grunted. "Well, we could do that or we could take his daughter hostage to make him come out."

The manager leapt to his feet, ready to attack at that comment but Khronos was faster. Less than a second later, the manager writhed on the ground in pain and the scientist sighed. As strong as Cass was, he wasn't a monster who had high pain tolerance. Spinning the taser pen, Khronos looked over to the spy.

"Take it easy. That was the worst case scenario. Besides, why are you obsessed with Sable's safety? Surely gratitude is not all there is to it. Are you in love with her or something? There won't be any harm to the lass even if you aren't there to protect her. Her daddy isn't going to harm her from how he dotes on her with those gifts."

"Those gifts are for show. Arvin needs me to report Sable's status to him regularly on the effects of the supplement pills he gives her. Sable doesn't quite know it but she is a test subject for his immortality project."

Soft gasps from Khronos could be heard while Nash frowned deeper. I was in too much of a shock to think straight, much less react. What kind of father would willingly use his daughter to satisfy his greed? Janon may have abandoned me but he was doing it to protect me. Death would be too easy for Arvin.

"You didn't think to throw them away?" I nearly growled but Cass seemed unfazed.

"I couldn't do that, Arvin would find out and Rion will have me replaced. No one will be there to protect Sable. I always test the new batch on myself before I let Sable take them. I wouldn't do anything that will put her in danger."

Disbelief was the only thing I had for the man before me. I know what dedication was but I also knew idiocy when I saw it. This man was a perfect combination of both.

"I would like to have some of those pills and examine the gifts if you don't mind," Khronos smiled at Cass.

"I'll inform Sable and let you know as soon as I can bring them over."

The discussion wrapped up quickly and we let Cass 'transform' in private. It was a little creepy to watch someone put in coloured contact lenses after all. Nash gave Khronos and I a stern look clearly disapproving of the decision.

"I don't trust him," I told Nash lowly.

Khronos shook his head. "I don't either but we need to take this gamble. We don't have a chance now that Kalifa is a no go. Rion is not going to be of any help and kidnapping Sable while managing this trained spy is not going to benefit us. We will be too diverted to focus on more important things. I can't afford to spend all my time babysitting two captives."

"Nash can do it," I pointed out. The old man nodded but Khronos disagreed.

"He's also human. We need to watch them in shifts while assisting you on your nightly rounds. I can't handle that much and Rush is definitely not able to leave when he has to oversee that stupid construction project. Ignacio is holding the fort in your company as we speak."

Even though it was unanimous that none of us liked the idea, there was an unspoken agreement of sorts.

The door opened and Cass was back to his platinum grey hair. I was about to escort him when Nash stopped me.

"I'll escort him. Get yourself checked in the infirmary. Don't think I didn't see you trying to hide that limp. Regeneration or not, if you aren't fixed by the time I get back you're in deep trouble."

Oops? It's just a small sprain when I landed on the spy from the second floor but that was enough to trigger Nash's dad mode. Seriously, he shouldn't be fussing over this when he saved me from getting shot by a laser gun.

"Yes, Dad," I sighed, feeling my shoulders slump as he shut the door behind. Khronos was snorting with unrestrained laughter much to my embarrassment.

"Come on," he slapped me joyfully on the back. "Let's get that ouchy checked out before Daddy comes home."

I glared at him with the best I've got, hoping it would fry his brain cells. One day, just one day, I'll invent a way to kill with my glares.