Leave The Monster Alone

Mark entered the room, his back straight and face pulled up in an easy smile. Behind him stood Luna, a little deep in thoughts.

Mark waited for the other to enter, even providing him with space but the other did not care much for it. He did not come in, but rather chose to leave and the door closed behind Mark who held Kuro in his arms.

As soon as it closed he collapsed and held Kuro close.

His body was shaking, his vision blurry and he was sweating.

Not only had the situation been tough, but Mark had been at fault somewhat. More so, he was waiting for the system to make itself known for punishment. Even if it had authorized Luna to know, Mark was not sure how much he could have told the other.

But it seemed like he had lucked out and not spoiled too much. He had made it out safely and gained an ally in the meantime.

"It was so stressful Kuro" His voice was not all clear but it was understandable. The feline did not wake up but her comforting purr was more than welcomed.

Mark spent some time collecting himself before he had to leave for the shop. It was nearing the evening time which meant that he would be needed at the booth soon.

He did not change and hurried away to the booth. There was a small crowd near the booth which was not unusual to see.

But the liveliness of the crowd was an obvious sign that this was not a normal crowd at all. Something new must have come into the shop for the whole space to be in such a lively mood.

It did make Mark wonder what it could be.

"Do we have something new shipped in?" It was the kid from yesterday behind the counter, the creepy one. Mark did not know his name since he was sure he had not asked for it yet and he had no intention of asking for it anytime soon.

The teen had a bored expression on his face which changed back to that creepy smile Mark hated. The other had to be doing it on purpose but what? What had Mark done to the other to be treated as such.

"Mark, welcome back. Here for the shift change? I'm tired anyway so can we change now?" The teen did not wait for Mark to confirm, he left his place as soon as he saw him which caused a surge of protest from the customers.

"What are we selling anyway? People seem far too inventive to buy these" Mark commented as he made his way to the counter. The thing inside the box was a small tube filled with electric blue liquid which shined clearly.

There was something hypnotic about it's various shades of blue and Mark found himself leaving closer to the tube to have a better look.

"It's from the research lab. They say it will help make you stronger by giving you the power of the monsters but you can control it if you try. I think it's all a marketing strategy though and they are using these people as test subjects" Mark almost dropped the tube he had in his hand, far too shocked at the proclamation.

Dual cores

These were the finished Dual cores which were not supposed to come out for some time. This was an unfinished product and most likely a test, just like the teen said.

It made Mark go cold inside.

"These things are? Did Liam give us a go to sell these?" Mark's eyes narrowed as he carefully let the tube back into the box and closed it carefully. These things could not be sold right now.

"Of course not but the research department made the announcement anyway and some people already bought it. What are you going to do? Not going to sell the rest?" the teen pointed toward the angry mob who just seemed to be getting angrier by the second.

It was obvious that they would not be willing to listen to anything he had to say on this matter and if he did not sell these then there would be riots.

So Mark did the only thing he could, send an emergency message to Liam and hope that the other sees this immediately.

It seemed to work since the very next second the speakers rang out.

'I'm sorry to inform everyone but there was a mix-up and the samples in the shop are not for sale. I repeat, the samples in the shop are not for sale and anyone who bought it is advised to return them. There will be a check later and anyone who is found with one will be made to leave the base'

Liam's voice was clear and it could be heard even above the loud voice of the herd.

It caused everyone to go quiet before an uproar started. It ranged from complaints to disappointment which did not concern Mark at all.

Since no one came to ask him for anything else, he considered it as an absolute win for the time being.

"Wow, they really did back away. Thanks for the help, they were really irritating" Mark ignored the teen and looked on at the thinning crowd instead.

Many of these people had bought the tube but none came out to return it at all.

"How many people bought this before I came? Did you keep a record?" Mark asked the teen who seemed to think before he shook his head.

"I sold about a dozen but I have no record of who bought it. I'm sorry" well, Mark could not fault the teen for that. There was no rule about keeping a record and people generally brought here by proxy of someone else anyway.

There was no way they would be caught as easily.

"It's fine. You can go now and make sure you don't sell such things without permission from now on" the teen did not reply and Mark took it as a sign that he agreed with him.

That night, seven people came back separately to hand their bought tubes back but the other five did not make it back which meant some people were still keeping them to themselves.

There was a message on his system from Liam which he wanted to ignore but could not.

__________________

That sample is still in development stages. Rika did not approve it's sale so we can't be sure how it got out to the shops but it's unstable right now.

Those who took it are at the risk of losing their sanity so be careful. The drug is addictive and acts almost instantly so be careful. You are the one at the most risk right now.

__________________

Mark read the message and then re-read it again to be clear. It did not change which made him groan but then pause.

He had not been the only one who operated this shop, the teen did too. If Mark was at risk then so was that teen.

He had to warn the teen and protect him too.

__________________

What about the teen who works the morning shift? Did you arrange anything for him?

__________________

Mark sent back before he made plans to help the ten himself.

The first thing he had to do was to find out where the teen lived in the base and then do his best to always have someone shadow the other.

But the reply he got back made him question everything he knew about this place and the people he knew.

__________________

What teen? The people working the shift haven't changed since you started working here. I do not know of any teen who applied for such a post.

__________________

There wasn't? But Mark had seen the other so many times now.

He had been there in the morning to replace him and...….wasn't that it? He had only seen the teen today for the first time but somehow he had a feeling that this was not their first meeting.

Or maybe it was because the day had been so long?

But it did make something very clear to him, the teen had to have been involved in all this incident. What the other wanted to do with all this, Mark could not be even close to sure.

What would one achieve by spreading such mass panic? It would bring no profit to the teen in any sense and would even jeopardize the safety of this base.

Plus, this had not happened in the original story-line which meant that it was likely a change which was influenced by nothing at all.

And now the situation went from bad to worse in a matter of a few hours and likely for the next few days. The night passed in a tense silence which kept Keito on the edge for the whole time.

The morning came and Keito waited for the teen to come back to the post but he did not arrive.. Instead, the previous shopkeeper made his way back, his eyes a little dazed and Keito knew that the teen had escaped them.