Chapter 10: Job

Zack was forced to crawl on the floor like a worm.

“Come on, you can do it, honey.”

The female jailer... No, the torturer urged him to crawl on the floor like a worm, and that vile woman smiled at him, enjoying the humiliation he suffered.

Five hundred days had passed in this mortal prison and if he had to highlight anything from all this time, then it would be that he had managed to control his temper.

Now, being forced to crawl on the floor didn’t compare to when he soiled his diapers without even controlling his body.

Humiliating though it was, he obeyed and crawled until he fell down, exhausted.

Thanks to the male jailer, his body was getting better and at this point, his magnificent head would not crush his body.

However, he needed to continue to develop this prison, and that meant moving.

The barbaric woman sought to humiliate him, watching him crawl on the floor like a worm, but inside he was laughing at her.

That barbaric woman didn’t realize that he could use this torture for training.

“You did it perfectly,” the jailer said, taking him in her arms with ease.

That woman lifted him in her arms and moved to embrace him, crushing him with that barbaric force she could exert.

He refrained from grunting or uttering a sound and focused his mind, concentrating.

Those drug-filled meat bags were close, and he had to exert his overwhelming control to calm himself.

“Ma’am, I’ve prepared everything.”

The babysitter’s voice came from the living room and the woman set him down on the floor as she went to the living room.

Zack sat down as he extended a mental wave, trying to establish a connection with the babysitter and succeeded, allowing him to look and feel through the babysitter’s senses.

The babysitter had prepared several pictures he had taken of him and was giving them to the jailer.

Some photos were while he was sleeping or meditating and even while he was eating.

The babysitter would ask him if he could take the picture before taking it and he had allowed it.

He didn’t know what torture the barbaric woman was planning to practice in those photos, but anything was better than her torturing him directly.

“Thanks, Jon... I want to get several pictures of him. Lately, I’ve been too busy and so has my husband,” the jailer murmured.

Through the connection, Zack could sense the babysitter’s goodwill, and he shook his head at the poor man’s stupidity.

The jailer had been busy and the only reason she wanted to be here was to torture him.

It was good for him that this woman was gone, and it was more, he wanted this woman gone.

The longer he was left alone, the more time he had without torture of any kind.

“The responsibility on your shoulders is high. I’m sure Zack will understand,” the babysitter said in an honest tone.

“I wonder if he does,” the jailer muttered, and after putting the pictures away, she revealed. “I’ll be gone for a few days. It’s nothing to worry about, it’s a code gray threat. I’ll be back in a few days when I take care of everything.”

Being followed by the babysitter, the woman returned to where he was and Zack cut the connection to the babysitter.

“Take care of Zack. His father is busy in the lab as usual, but will come visit him at his available times. Make him drink milk I left in the fridge. Don’t forget to send messages and videos,” the jailer said, in reminder.

Did she want the babysitter to record his torture? Even when she was going to go a few days without torturing him, she still wanted videos to watch him suffer.

Zack kept his stoic countenance, letting her see that he would not give up, no matter how much they tortured him and, as if the jailer wanted to test his will, she picked him up and hugged him.

She used some kind of evil and painful grappling technique as she crushed him by force, then reached over and gave him a kiss of death on the forehead.

Leaving him in the babysitter’s arms, that barbaric woman left, and Zack waited until he heard the booming sound that woman made every time she flew.

“She’s gone now, young master. You need not be so tense,” the babysitter said softly and, smiling subtly at him, he asked. “Don’t you want to know where your mother has gone?”

Did the babysitter want to tell him and explain the meaning of what that woman was talking about? Zack let out a snort as he straightened his head with telekinesis.

His neck could hold his head, but it was exhausting him too much physically.

—Let’s get ready. We have to go to the auction too. We have jobs to do. —Zack said in a determined tone.

The old merchant agreed when he mentioned that he didn’t have that much time available and that he would let him know the days he had to work.

The jailer had schedules when she was in the house to torture him and days she was out of the house, which meant he had to use the free time to move around.

That was one of his requests when it came to working for the old merchant and the old man had accepted it, arranging the auction days for the times he had available.

The old merchant understood that he was going to have excellent security with him, keeping an eye on everything, so he agreed to his demands.

“Today is a normal auction, so you don’t have to get excited,” the babysitter muttered as he picked up a bag and placed it on the kitchen table.

Zack ignored him and started moving objects with his telekinesis to fill the bag with what he needed today.

He didn’t care that today’s auction had nothing he was interested in, as the old merchant had promised him that he was preparing a new auction with items he was looking for.

Which meant...

—We have to work well. The more money we earn; the more medicines we can buy. —Zack muttered as he stuffed some snacks into the bag as well.

According to the boy’s words, the old merchant paid well, which meant they would have more medicine.

He had heard that medicines had distinct qualities and types, so he needed to be prepared to buy several medicines until he found the one he was looking for.

He needed to do a good job to get paid to buy medicines.

A simple plan worthy of his brilliance.

“I understand... But what if your father...”

—He won’t know. They don’t have to know. —Zack said, pausing.

Zack gave the babysitter a look to make him realize he was talking seriously and this time, he didn't have to tilt his head to the side in threat when the babysitter nodded and sighed.

It was a sigh of resignation.

It was going to be difficult to remove that dependence of the babysitter on those jailers, but it was slow work that he would eventually accomplish.

The poor babysitter lived for several months being paid what was a pittance, and he was so naïve that he believed the payment the jailers were giving him was worth it and he was grateful for it.

“Won’t you take some baby bottles?” the babysitter asked, taking a bottle from the refrigerator.

Those bottles were in a part of the fridge where time was frozen and while Zack praised those contraptions, he gave an ugly expression when he saw the whitish contents of the bottles.

—That drug? No, thanks. —He said in a disgusted tone and shaking his head, he ordered. —We’ll have to throw away several each day or the jailer will find out I’m not drinking it and force me.

He shuddered at the thought of being drugged again.

It happened several times a day and he... He didn’t want to think about it.

Those times were the worst, so he wasn’t going to drink those drugs, let alone willingly.

“I think you’re overreacting, young master,” the babysitter muttered.

The babysitter was becoming more and more open to speak freely and gave his comments without fully accepting his words and while some would take it as disrespectful, he as a merciful transcendental allowed him to speak with freely.

—I won’t recommend you try it. It’s a potent drug, but if you want to try it so badly, go ahead. —He answered magnanimously.

Mortals were of this kind.

Curious by nature and ignorant, they could not comprehend the knowledge he gave, no matter how he explained it to them.

However, the truth would eventually surprise him, and having the babysitter drink that liquid was the best way he would understand.

“Better not,” the babysitter replied immediately.

Zack gave him a smile.

Of course, the babysitter didn’t dare, but it was for the best, as it was hard to tell if the babysitter could handle that drug.

—Good. It’s all set. Let’s get to work. —He said as he closed the bag with the telekinesis.

Today, the auction would not be important, so it was going to be a quick job, but that meant he could take some time to teach the boy.

After all, the more the boy got improved, the better it would be when he controlled the body.

******

A car floated between the giant buildings of the city and a young woman inside looked out at the city excitedly.

Alix was somewhat surprised to see people on the ground in the distance.

She was a country girl and had never imagined that when she came to Blue City and was registered as a super, she could have this view.

The cars that floated around the city were rare and mostly used by rich people to reach the tall buildings hundreds of stories high in the center of the city.

It was a fully automated system that was built by several of the city’s brightest minds.

The cars were tough enough to withstand supervillain attacks should such an event occur.

Alix still couldn’t assume she was moving in one of these cars and while she could fly, the feeling of looking down from high in a car that few could afford was unique.

For a country girl like her, this sight totally fascinated her.

She had never expected that a renowned superhero would recruit her and, after seeing her capabilities, take her under his wings.

It didn’t matter if others called her a rookie or a country girl. She didn’t want to disappoint her master, and more so when they were about to get involved in a job together.

“Three minutes to arrival.”

The mechanical voice from the car startled her and she, realizing that she would soon see her master, noticed herself in the reflection of the car window.

Her freckles that had accompanied her through her nineteen years of life were still on either side of her cheeks.

She worked in the fields with her grandparents and the sun had given her a healthy tanned skin that none of the city folk had, at least not as naturally as she did.

She was proud of it, even though at her height taller than women her age, it sometimes caused her some teasing.

Her fellow rookies would insult her and treat her like a country girl trying to make it in the city... They were pathetic, but she forgave them.

Even though the trainers, when they saw her practice with her teammates, said otherwise.

Sitting up straight in the car that was parking in one of the tallest buildings in town, she watched as the door opened and a man walked in.

The man’s dark skin was smooth and taut, so flawless it should be on the covers of skin care magazines.

The man was bald, and his yellow eyebrows stood out and matched the man’s yellow eyes.

The City Sun.

Nathaniel Arsenault, the superhero known as the Sun and also known as the defender of the city.

He had the features of a middle-aged man and the physique of a trained fighter.

“I don’t understand why you’re still tense, even though you’ve been by my side for some time,” the man said as he closed the door.

“I’m sorry sir, I’m still not used to it, sir!”

Her response was perfect and stoic, worthy of a soldier who was about to go to war and...

“I’m regretting bringing you,” the man muttered and, seeing her tense up, he added. “At least you came formal.”

Alix smiled proudly.

Actually, she didn’t have good fashion sense and for such a reason she hadn’t yet designed her superheroine uniform, but her robotic assistant at home helped her.

Nathaniel commanded the car’s artificial intelligence to move and gave her a look.

“Tell me what we’re going to do,” the man requested, watching her intently.

It was a test and Alix, tensing up, remembered the descriptions of this job.

“It’s a reconnaissance and scouting mission. We will infiltrate as guests of the Thorn Auction House and act as potential buyers. Our target is Wayne Donovan,” Alix revealed and raising her eyebrow as she reminisced, she detailed. “Ever since the Supervillain Big Monkey was weakened by the Last Defender there have been conflicts. Among those supervillains that have emerged, Nightmare Donovan has stood out for conflict against the Big Monkey and for becoming a partner in the city’s largest auction house.”

She tried to abbreviate as much as she could, as her master was asking for a summary.

It wasn’t often that heavyweights like the Last Defender acted directly, but such a superheroine was no joke.

This time, the attack was light, mostly to crush and weaken the organization, avoiding a battle that could cause further destruction.

Her actions weakened the organization of the former master of the city’s underworld and other supervillains questioned the leadership.

The Donovan Nightmare was one of many contenders to overthrow the Big Monkey, at least that’s what the rumors said.

“The authorities have classified the Big Monkey as a code red... I don’t understand how the Donovan Nightmare can threaten him when he’s a code orange,” she muttered inescapably.

The trainers teaching her also explained the threat system the heroes used to classify certain events or supervillains.

The city used Code Red to classify individuals who could destroy entire cities and Code Orange were those who could destroy entire neighborhoods.

“Threat levels do not define the specific strength of the individual. A so-called Code Orange may be working with others who can destroy the city or may have weapons that can destroy the city,” Nathaniel said with a smile. “That system is also not used to classify people. A Code Black is a planetary threat, but a Code Grey is also about a planetary threat.”

Alix nodded as she pulled out a notepad.

The Code Black dealt with a planetary threat, but was used to classify entities that could cause such destruction, while the Code Grey focused on natural planetary threats.

The former dealt with extremely strong gods or aliens and the latter with asteroids or volcanoes that could cause planetary devastation.

It was all theory, and it was obvious that her master had different ideas on the subject.

“Before you categorize any threat, you have to look at it with your own eyes. Sometimes things are not what they seem,” the man muttered, observing the city.

Alix swallowed, feeling the tension.

The City Sun was a legend in the Blue City and one of the most powerful superheroes and had a lot of experience.

Perhaps some are more difficult than others.