Hannah responds to a knock on the door. In her right arm, she held her son who was preoccupied on his tablet.
She swings the door open with a rather dissatisfied expression.
"Uh... Hello?"
Lexo was surprised. He didn't know who this was at all, and she definitely wasn't...
"... Uhm, sorry I think I have the wrong address..."
He turns around.
Hannah's expression shifts to one of concern, after seeing the boy at the door. One thing's for certain, he definitely isn't who she was expecting.
"This poor boy... He's gonna get eaten up alive out here."
She sets her son down, and taps on the boy's shoulder before he walks away.
"Who ya' looking for?"
She asks, with a tilt in her head. Hoping that she could help him out in any way.
This part of the city is rather dangerous. And by the looks of him, Lexo seemed to be quite a normal, preppy kid.
"Oh, uh."
He turns around, looking a little bit deflated.
"I was looking for some people who used to live here... Joseph and Leah Xavier..."
Hannah pauses. For a moment, nothing came to mind. But then, it all came back to her.
Her eyes widen with realization, as she matches up the boy's facial features with the... Couple that lived here before her. She was certain, even though she'd only seen them on the cover of a newspaper, that this child was their son.
And that he had no idea what happened to them.
"Oh God..."
Lex tilts his head in confusion, his eyes locked with Hannah as he does so. He could tell that something was up.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
Hannah steps to the side, motioning Lexo to step inside.
"Here, why don't you step inside for a bit. There's a few things... I need to tell you."
Lex pauses. For a second, he considered saying no. But, once he could get a glance of the inside, he noticed that the apartment's layout has stayed the same throughout all the years... Against his better judgement, he enters with a mixture of heavy emotions.
Whatever purpose he had before... Was long lost to his own curiosity.
– SYPHON INDUSTRIES –
'Stella' arrived at work for her Monday morning shift, heart pounding. She found her desk quickly and waited until everyone had settled in their cubicles for the day.
Once everyone was settled at their desks, Gemini headed to the elevator. The server room was at the lowest level and needed a key card to access it. She closed the elevator doors and removed the card slot from the pad so she could manually complete the circuit.
The elevator shifted and began to move downwards.
As the Elevator drifted downwards, metal clinging and shifting echoed throughout the shaft. For a billion dollar company, there didn't seem to be much of its budget going towards maintenance.
"For a man with so many secrets he doesn't seem to be putting all that much effort into keeping them safe…"
She paced impatiently.
As Gemini makes her way toward the server room, the signs lead her there. Pasted against the silver, metallic walls were directive signs. Obviously, this lower level was fool proof. And strangely....
Empty.
The temperature drops lower and lower the deeper she goes. Partnered by lights getting less prominent, eventually replaced by the dim red emergency power lights completely.
"Agh I hate this I hate this I hate this…"
Her footsteps echo throughout the hallways, as she rounds a corner and finally comes face to face with the server room. However, from here she could see a group of people dressed in lab coats heading deeper into the floorplan.
She pressed herself against a wall, hiding herself in shadow. Her tails were swishing intensely enough to pop out from hiding. The fur on them was standing on end. Seeing the people almost made her whimper, but she managed to reduce it to just a quivering in her lip before it left her mouth and gave her away.
She slowly and carefully took her shoes off and tucked them into her bag before continuing forward. The padding of her sock feet were totally silent.
Gemini proceeds into the server room. The atmosphere was eerily empty, only filled by the low growl of mechanical processes, and the bone chilling temperature the room was naturally kept at.
Lights were faint. More potent lighting comes from the blinking yellow lights on every separate computer racked within the rigs.
Computers she could handle, scientists not so much, though curiosity had started eating at the back of her brain.
She approached one of the rigs and plugged in an inconspicuous SD card, altered to download all files with certain keywords she had selected. The download would take forever… she might as well try to see what was happening deeper in the facility.
Gem left the card in the computer and, against her better judgment, followed the people in lab coats deeper into the complex.
As she continues through the halls she'd seen the men go down, she reaches yet another elevator. This one was more expensive in design. Reinforced glass panels replace all four walls. Completely see through on all sides.
"Oh you're fucking kidding..."
She was bound to get spotted in a glass elevator. She tried to look around for other ways to get where the elevator was going that didn't leave her so exposed.
Her search was met with almost nothing. However, next to the elevator is where more of the lab coats are similar to the group from before were hanging. Possibly where the workers dropped their coats after clocking out, or in for that matter.
Her curious nature and an undeniable fear both showed prominently in her facial expressions and her eyes fell on the lab coat.
"Agghh what if I fuck this up… lex is counting on me! I can't just indulge my own curiosity like this -... But what if I could get pictures of something incriminating?"
She picked up a lab coat and inspected it, looking it over and smelling it for chemicals.
It was clean, with only the subtle hint of some random scientists' must.
... However, her time was running out. Another group of voices could be heard echoing down the halls, coming towards her. All of them were male, and they spoke with authority.
If she wanted to go deeper into Syphon's secrets, it was now or never.
If she wanted to go deeper into Syphon's secrets, it was now or never.
Gem glanced behind her then called the elevator and headed deeper into the labyrinth. She threw on the lab coat and made herself look as official as possible.
The elevator doors swing open, revealing a large underground facility.
Mechanical whines and the bustling of small vehicles clouds the air, almost louder than Gemini's own thoughts.
This place was a secluded metropolis, filled with high priority technology and... Experiments.
The people passing by and talking in groups don't pay much attention to Gemini at all. Everyone here seemed to be busy in their own way.
Immediately, Gemini is met with the feeling that she's just stumbled across something way bigger than she initially thought.
– HANNAH'S APARTMENT –
A door opens with a screaming creak, and light from the floor above seeks its way down into the basement. Shortly followed by Hannah's voice.
"... When they passed, the landlord immediately sold the apartment before anyone came and moved their stuff out..."
"He thought they didn't have any immediate family."
She walks down the wobbly wooden basement stairs, followed closely by Lexo.
The boy had been rather silent the whole time. Receiving the late information of his parents this late felt almost criminal. He felt as though, maybe, they had changed their ways before they moved on.
But now, he'll never know.
"..."
It was a heavy feeling to process.
Hannah directs him to a portion of the basement where random decorative and storage items are piled up sky high.
"This is what's left of it... I'm sorry I had to be the one to break the news to you."
She glances back at the man.
"No, it's fine... I wasn't close with them anyways."
His words weren't met with much support by his body language. The shake in his voice, and low volume of his tone gave away that this... Broke his heart, for lack of better words.
He walks past Hannah, and approaches a small green storage container. Taking one knee to the dust packed basement floor, as he released the clasps with two sequential clicks.
Once open, both he and Hannah are met with a collection of childhood drawings and costumes. Dimly lit by the natural lighting from the stairway.
"... Leo? Is that your name, hun?"
She asks, glancing at one of the drawings. From what she could see, it portrayed a small black haired boy in what looked to be a superhero outfit. The caption above?
"... Super Leo."
He releases a subtle chuckle. A bittersweet reaction to a painfully simple memory.
"No, I... I go by Lexo now."
He laid the artwork down, and next to it was a small costume. Crudely stitched and held together by patchwork fabric. At the center of the chest, there was a large 'L' symbol.
Nearly identical to the drawing from earlier.
"Awh... That's adorable."
She says with a reassuring tone.
"Did you make that when you were a kid?"
"No. My mom used to make me costumes... Before all the --"
His arms go limp as he lowers the costume back into the container. Clearly, he didn't want to continue the sentence.
... He felt like sobbing, but no tears were being formed. He was unsure how to feel. Trapped in emotional confusion.
"Oh, well that's lovely..!"
She noticed his mood was let down. So, she walks up next to him and crouches down low. Laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sure she loved you, Lexo. Sometimes life puts good people in bad places..."
She gazes at him with an expression full of motherly concern.
At that moment, however, a knock is heard on the door.
"Mommy! Mommy!"
Clayton comes running across the house, looking for Hannah.
"Hm?"
Lexo looks up towards the basement stairwell.
"Oh, my."
She stands up.
"Yes sweetie? What is it?"
She approaches the stairs, shouting up to Clayton.
"Daddy's here!"
He jumps up and down with excitement.
Lexo stands up, with his old costume in hand. He motions towards Hannah.
"Should I uhm... Leave?"
Lex wanted to avoid any misconceptions possible.
"Oh, no honey... You're fine, you're just here collecting your old family stuff!"
She gives him a reassuring smile.
"Actually, maybe you should introduce yourself to him?"
She suggests.
The knocking persists. Getting more aggressive this time around.
Lex shrugs. He honestly didn't mind either way.
"Sure."