Are You Awake?

Prologue

Machavelian Dukes was just your typical university student, living alone in a condotech, situated in a tech-suburban city. Sure, he was an orphan, and inherited his parents' wealth upon their death. Life was affordable, but he knew that money doesn't last forever. He was just a typical young man who knew enough about life to want to search for his own means to live.

A man with light blonde hair and dazzling golden eyes. People naturally flock to him, man or woman. But he knew nothing about the kind of love his parents had. He could see it, back when they were still alive. But it was a different thing when it comes to feeling it. So, however much he was surrounded, loved and lusted over - he never went into a relationship with such half-baked feelings. In short, he never had a girlfriend, much less a boyfriend - ever.

"Vel! Wanna hang out with us tonight?" one of his female fans called out hopefully. Though she and her group knew he never usually accepts those kinds of social invitations.

"I'm sorry. I have to work on my requirements on Professor Locke's subject. It's due in three days, after all," he bowed out with a smile, a mere mask for pleasantries.

"Shit, for real?" a male classmate who was among those planning to loosen up tonight, cried in disbelief. "I'm only half-way done!"

Just with those few words from Machavelian, the planned partying was dispensed, as many among the group were in the same class and still haven't finished their papers. Another day, and another successful escape for one Machavelian Dukes. He turned his back on them and swiftly walked away. The smile that was threatening to crack only fell off once he exited the main gates of the prestigious university.

He was sick of being fawned over. Those attentions garnered him a lot of enemies out of jealousy. The bruise on his stomach still hadn't fully healed yet. Well at least the other guy was much worse. Vel wouldn't just take a beating lying down. He took the hoverbus to downtown. It was only a lie about the requirements. He had already finished his long before and had turned it in earlier that day.

He hopped off when he reached his destination and walked the rest of the way to his part-time job. No one in that area knows about his background or he would have long been dead on the sidewalk, robbed to the bones. He took out a transparent card and had it scanned before entering the establishment. It was a repair shop, run by a couple, Jeremy Mech and his girlfriend and childhood sweetheart, Mei Lin Wang.

"Hey, Vel! Just in time," Mei welcomed him with a smile on her face that had a streak of glowing synthetic bio-fuel on her cheek.

"Hi, Mei. Jeremy still under?" Machiavelian stowed his bag and slipped on his work overalls in the changing room.

"You know it. He's been impatiently waiting for your time-in all afternoon. Says the prototype is almost finished."

"Cool! I'm heading down."

"I'll drop by with some snacks. Get him to take a break for me, will ya?"

"Gotcha!" He made his way to the very back of the shop, to a nondescript shelf in the storage room. With a series of hand gestures, a section of the wall swung inwards to reveal a small room the size of an elevator. He went in and waited for the wall to swing shut before the elevator went down a few floors.

In actual fact, the repair show was merely a front. It still functions as a repair shop legally. But deep down, the couple operated on their hobby - inventions. You name it, they'll make it. By hook or by crook. They don't take just any kind of job though. An invention can either save or destroy. And to know that something they made would bring about tragedy, was not something the couple would want to experience. But this hidden business was their real bread and butter. 

The patents belong to clients. But the blueprint and all pertaining details into making the requested equipment, all belong to Jeremy and Mei. It was a condition that the only ones allowed to produce and reproduce any equipment that they make were them. As precaution, they built in a little device and planted a little bit of program in all of their works that make it impossible for outsiders to study and duplicate. A little tinkering and the insides would shift and render the whole thing inoperable. A little hacking and the whole thing will self-destruct. That is to say, the programming inside would delete itself and self-destruct for good measure.

There's only one person in the world who can successfully hack their inventions, and that person wouldn't even consider it. And there was only one person outside of the couple who could break their machines apart and put it back together again, good as new - he was already working for them. The one called Machiavelian Dukes, part-timer to Mech-Wang Repair Shop.

"Vel!! Been waiting for you, buddy," he was suddenly engulfed and swung around like a kid as soon as he stepped out. 

"Rem, you're making me sick," Vel protested faintly. Thankfully, he was let down and ushered to their latest project. "Mei says the prototype's almost done?"

"Yup!" Jeremy licked his lips and rubbed his hands in excitement.

Vel looked at the thing on the worktable and sighed. "But seriously, why the hell are we making a pastry machine?" A machine that can make any and all types of pastries like cakes and pies, even sweets. Just put in the necessary ingredients and choose the dessert, and the machine does the rest.

"Jeremy looked back at him and tossed a wink, mouth in a wide grin. "Kids."

A few hours later, Machiavelian crossed the threshold of his unit, exhausted and beyond full from testing the machine and sampling the pastries it produced. He took a warm bath then read a little for classes the next day, and then a bit of fiction to wind down. He left the curtains off, staring outside at the crescent moons in place before slipping into dreamland.

static

...............

Hello?

static

Is anyone there?

................

.................

Are you awake?

Machiavelian sat up frantically, heart beating fast and sweat drying from the wind coming in through the open window. Window...? He looked to his window only to be pushed down roughly and the front of his shirt was fisted in trembling hands.

Someone broke into his home. The man was gasping, like he had been on the run or something. Breathing heavily, purple eyes reflecting the moonlight looked down into his own. "-wake?"

Vel felt confusion blend in with his panic.

"Are... Are you awake...?" the intruder asked him with difficulty. Somehow that question... sent a chill down his spine.

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A/N: Cover photo by 尘琊 taken from huaban.com and photo of building taken from Instragram, not sure who, probably an architecture company.