Sector B

48

Her heart almost stopped. Decha and her eyed each other. Rory felt like she was placed in a different dimension. She did it. For the first time ever, she broke a law, and it was in front of an Astellian high-ranked General.

What was next? Was he going to arrest her? Scold her?

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Rory panicked and her adrenaline kicked in.

"I'm waiting to see what other criminal activity you're going to do next."

"Am I... in trouble?"

"Yeah," Decha scoffed playfully. "But we'll discuss your punishment later."

"I should've known you wouldn't let it go." Rory clasped the cuff back into his wrist and began unscrewing the small plastic cover on the side of the device. She placed a new flash drive inside of it and waited for the cuff to turn back on.

Rory's eyes remained focused on her task while Decha watched her intently. Although she committed a crime, he was impressed by her. Whenever she was determined to do something right, it made Decha feel warm inside.

Rory smiled and finished by taking out her flash discs and holding them up for Decha to see. "No one other than you will be able to interfere with your chip. Also, it'll be completed in the next hour or two."

"Thanks," Decha grabbed onto the drive and placed it into his pocket. "You should head to bed—" Decha grunted when Rory tackled him and wrapped her arms around him. He reciprocated carefully, as the two were sitting in an awkward position.

"It'll all be okay, right?" Rory pulled away and gave him two thumbs up. "You're going to win."

The Parallels of Chai and Rory stunned Decha into silence. How could the two be so different, and so similar?

Chai was reserved, but she had a lot of confidence in him. Very similar to Rory.

But Decha realized that he felt more content with Rory's persistence and expressive behavior.

Whatever Chai and he had in the past was great for that time. And it was already too late for Decha to go back. After losing her, he rejected the idea of becoming close with any other woman in the same way.

But for once in a long time, Rory was giving him a sense of hope. He wasn't an affectionate guy. He wasn't a romantic like Jax. But he could envision Rory in the future in better health, and in that daydream, he wanted to be by her side.

"Rory, let's say the borders get fixed. The case is closed and we find the culprit behind everything. Your father gets a fair trial. And you get surgery and get to finish your studies at Grandell. I know you said you wanted to become an Engineer. But, what do you think your plans would be after we go our separate ways?"

Rory was surprised by his question. She knew that if her surgery went well she wanted to go back to Grandell to graduate. But that also meant she had to go back to Sector B and leave Chen's household.

She knew Jessica wanted her and Decha to be together, but that depended on the way Decha felt. Deep down, she wasn't sure what he felt about her. He never confessed and she was terrified to.

"I want to be like you," Rory answered. "Helping people and keeping them safe from harm, just like you do Outside. But I'm also going to work hard to repay every tekel that I owe you. And I'm sure that means we'll get to see each other from time to time."

Rory swung her feet off the gurney and gritted her teeth. "When you're stationed back on the Outside, I wouldn't mind if you came to Sector B to visit me."

"Why do you assume you'll be stuck in Sector B?" Decha snorted. "With your tech and brain power, I'm sure you'll be able to find a job in Astell that allows you to apply to be a permanent resident here."