[Remedy]

Aeron - Bex

Soft clicking of a keyboard echoed through an empty loft. The room was loosely packed with bare necessities; twin inflatable mattresses with sheets, two duffle bags, and a dual-monitor computer on a desk against the wall. It was clearly not a forever home for whoever was staying there.

The young man sitting at the computer paused and leaned back with a sigh. He ran his fingers through his dark hair, carefully looking over the lines of code he'd just entered on the desktop. Just as he leaned forward to begin typing again, the front door was loudly kicked open.

"Hey, Aeron! I got coffee!" Bex called out as he burst into the room.
"Gahh, Bex! I was almost done, you nearly gave me a heart attack-" Aeron addressed his brother with a look of frustration as he checked his own pulse.

"Relaaax, have a drink. What do we got so far? You about to send the next message?" The white-haired brother walked over to the computer setup and handed Aeron his coffee. Leaning against the desk, he stared at the lines of symbols on the computer screen. "Looks good, looks good."
"You don't even know what it means," Aeron mumbled as he took a sip. "I was just about to send it. He'll definitely break pretty soon. Are you ready to track him down tomorrow?"

They continued their conversation, moving into the details of their master plan. As they spoke, a notification came up on Aeron's computer screen. "Wait, what? I got a message..."
"I thought no one could reach you on this computer, they're supposed to call the burner cell."
"Yeah, no one should be able to reach me here... I don't think this is one of our targets."

[ShoppingCartEngineer]

Clay Valverde

With a sigh and the pounding of a fist on a wooden desk, there was a disturbance in the Public Archives of Aldrect. God, this was frustrating. Clay's periodic experimentation with time travel usually went smoothly. This time, not as much. It had been a psychedelic experience, the travel here. Usually its only a slight jolt, not much to see. But this time, it had felt his conscious was ripped from his body and thrown into something else. The body looked the exact same, sure, but it took adjustment. Clay was supposed to see decimation of Earth in 5 billion years, as some sort of morbid action film. But things went awry. Bad calculations, incorrect coordinates, perhaps extending his technology too far, whatever it was. He found himself in a place beyond the reach of the standard space-time coordinates- which was outside the observable universe.

It'd been about a week since the drop in. Clay was able to mooch off some shoddy hotel on the city outskirts. From what was observed, the civilization here was most closely comparable to the 21st century in human history. Turns out your average civilian is scared of a gun that can vaporize you. It had it's differences, though. Many buildings in 'Aldrect', as it was called, were intricate and sculpted masterfully out of marble. If Clay was going to find out anything, research was needed. And luckily, the Archives had loads and loads of information. Scrolls and books, it was tantalizing.

But of course, the engineer stuck with a trusty computer. Everything in this world was similar to his own, which was surprising. Or not. If this had something to do with world lines, development in this reality could mirror home. With espionage and hardwiring of the PC to his omniwatch made figuring out the coding language easy.

... And, done. Access to the intranet, and all incoming and outgoing messages to and from the Archives. It was creepy as all hell, but he wasn't going to be staying too long. Who needs consequences? With a rub of his chin and some squinting, a gem was found in the logs. It appears in that these past few days the head of the library has been getting some suspicious messages... Harassment to get something out of him. Clay couldn't decipher what it was they wanted. Perhaps some valuable information or texts to sell. But this person seemed good at what they did... A useful asset in these unusual circumstances.

Clay had earlier gotten a drink with some dropped change he found in the archives... It was very bizarre. Sweet, yet also a bit tangy. A bit funky. It was better warm, but at room temperature it wasn't bad either. He wanted a real coffee more than anything. Clay had his feet on the table, reclined so far back in the chair that his head touched the corner in the bottom and back of the chair. He was thinking to himself how to draft this letter. Make it seem convincing that he knew what they were doing, and how to swindle information out of them. Clay adjusts himself and begins to type.

Hello, there. I've taken a liking to your form of swindling. I know what you're doing, and I know who you are. You're wanted felons. I could reveal your location and information to law enforcement. Don't play with me. Now, you're probably wondering who I am, and what I want with your particular services. Your recent escapades in the Archives have been my focus. I'd like to meet with you. Come to the Rosewood Hotel on 15th Street. Ask for "that crazy guy with the gun" at the reception desk. I'll be waiting.

... Good enough. With hopes high, Clay left the Archives and took a stroll around the foreign city.

[Remedy]

After running a quick virus check, Aeron felt confident that opening the message probably wouldn't fry his computer. Hesitating with the pointer arrow over the notification, he took a deep breath and clicked on it. Both he and Bex leaned forward with their eyes glued to the screen. About halfway through, they could feel their stomachs drop.

"He... he wants to meet with us?" Aeron's voice was almost a whimper. It was normally his brother who did the social interactions, while he got to safely stay in hiding.
"How did he get all that information?" Bex questioned, standing upright and taking another sip of his coffee. "I thought you kept things pretty locked down..."

"I do! This has never happened before, I don't know-"
"Relax, sorry, I didn't mean to stress you out. It's not your fault, this guy's just good, I guess."
"Do you think he's bluffing?"
Bex took another close look at the message. "I don't think we should take that chance."

They both paused in close consideration. "He wants to see both of us?"
"Looks that way. Don't worry, we'll be fine. Just have to figure out what he wants. If he could find us this time we have to assume he'd be able to track us down if we ran. Let's get ready and get this over with as soon as possible. Just let me do the talking." Bex seemed calm as he spoke, which was greatly reassuring to his anxious brother. Despite his fear, Aeron agreed.
"Okay. What time should we go? He didn't really specify..."
"Well, we don't want to keep him waiting. Let's get everything organized here and go. Lock down your computer and get your shoes on."

While Aeron worked on shutting down the computer, Bex walked over to his duffle bag and reached inside. He pulled out a small handgun, checked the clip and the safety, and slipped it into the hem of his pants. Pulling his shirt over to hide it, he turned back to his brother. There was no need to get Aeron worked up about the idea of a conflict, but the guy already implied in his message that he had a gun and was crazy. Bex wasn't about to take any chances with his brother on the line.

When Aeron was ready to go, they stepped outside and locked the door. Looking up directions to the hotel, Bex found it would take them about thirty minutes to get there by taxi given the likelihood of traffic. "We better get going."

[ShoppingCartEngineer]

The star above was descending, making the sky a tinge of orange and pink. Clay had his hands stuffed in his pockets, whistling a tune one could recognize as "Moonlight Sonata". His strut gave off a cocky aura, seemingly in a good mood. The parks here were definitely a sight to see- a visitor wouldn't want to miss it. The flora was typical for temperate climates with water, but many of them had quirks. Glowing blue veins and vacuoles, to name one.

As he approached his temporary residence, a sudden realization was bestowed to the engineer- he should've gave the pair more specific instructions. For all he knew, they could have arrived and looted the place already. But the guy at the front wouldn't let them do that. He was a nice guy, it seemed. He seemed to be less weary of his presence- especially after the first night with the pistol in his face.

Clay pushed through the revolving door, and waved at the receptionist. He smiled sheepishly and replied with a greeting, shortly followed by something along the lines of 'don't hurt me'. Clay chuckled, but he knew the man was serious. He walked up 4 flights of stairs to get to his room. Whilst digging through his pockets to find the key, the thought of being foolish and allowing himself to be robbed was intimidating. He closed his eyes and held his breath as he swept the card and opened the door. He let his chest fall as the reveal went in his favor. Everything seemed intact. Clay let out a sigh and collapsed onto his mattress.

The engineer had taken an old coat hanger and some computer parts he had collected (from the trash) on his stroll through the city to disable the signals through cable and instead use a satellite receiver. All of the regular channels were boring him to death. Instead he would listen to encrypted messages from the planet's governments. Many of them were in foreign languages- which he had no experience with. But it was more interesting than this world's version of "Galactic Cake Wars". And if his client actually decided to show today, it would make him seem more professional and intimidating. All Clay had to do now was wait.

[Remedy]

It took the two a little longer than expected to hail a taxi, but they eventually flagged one down and were on their way. As they sat in the backseat of the car, Aeron shuffled nervously and began biting his nails. When anxious, he had a bad habit of chewing his fingers until they bled.
"Hey, quit that," his brother swatted his hands away. "It'll be fine. Stand a little bit behind me when we get there. I'm sure it won't take very long, he probably just wants money - you know, blackmail the blackmailers. We can bounce back from that."

They sat in contemplative silence the rest of the way. Bex gazed out the window of the moving cab while Aeron played with a cell phone. It didn't have any signal, but he'd completely jailbroken it to have multiple other uses. Perfecting the device was an ongoing project that he liked to work on in his free time. Eventually the taxi coasted to a stop in front of the Rosewood Hotel. Bex quickly paid the fee and exited the cab, Aeron following closely behind. They hurried through the door of the large building.

Aeron fell slightly behind while his brother approached the receptionist's desk. Bex, ever the charmer, wasted no time getting to the point. Despite the odd description they were given, he was very nonchalant about expressing who they were there to see. "We're here to see our friend, 'the crazy man with the gun.' He said you'd be able to direct us to his room. I presume that won't be a problem?"

Judging from the worker's reaction, it was no problem at all.  Wide-eyed, he blurted out the room number and gestured to the elevator. "Fourth floor?" Bex clarified, receiving a hurried nod in response. "Thanks!"
Together, he and his brother rode to the fourth floor and in no time at all found themselves outside of the odd man's room. Not one for dramatic pauses, Bex knocked on the door as soon as he stepped in front of it.

[ShoppingCartEngineer]

Clay was busy scrawling at one of those complimentary notebooks given out of courtesy. Simple calculations. The trip here had fried his omniwatch. He needed energy to get back. Immense energy, which only nuclear (fusion, most likely) could provide. Jumping from home to... Well, wherever was here- cost Clay all of his supply of nuclear elements, and then some. This is where his new patrons came in.

The engineer slid back in a rolling chair with his arms up. He had done enough for today. The desk in the hotel room was surprisingly nice- a chestnut colored wood made up most of it's contents. A satisfying thump emanated from it when a pen was tapped against it. Many small notes were scattered about the face of the desk after an hour of scribbles. Organized in a way only decipherable to Clay.

He needed a drink. There had to be a vending machine outside. If there was, he would be filing a complaint for the room he wasn't paying for. Clay grumbled and got up from the chair, making his way out the door and to the end of the hall. There it was, thankfully. He put his index finger and his thumb on his chin, rubbing it while scanning the items. All bizarre names, and flavors he'd never heard of. What the hell was Ocleowesh? After a minute of long and hard thinking, Clay chose the Cecrine Soda. It was blue, which was cool. Clay slumped himself on the bed in his room, cracking the can open. The foreigner took a sip and smacked his mouth, trying to get a good taste... Banana and honeydew was the closest way to describe it. It wasn't bad, not at all. He'd have to get another! He'd just have to finish this one firs- Knock, knock, knock.

Shit, it was the guy. He'd actually decided to come by today. Clay scrambled to organize things, and briskly walked up to the door, deciding they'd waited long enough. He opened the door to reveal... a pair?

[Remedy]

The air caught in Aeron's throat when the door was thrust open. Perhaps it wasn't thrust, per say, but everything in that moment seemed to be moving simultaneously fast and slow. He was so anxious he could hear his own heartbeat, the blood was rushing through his head so quickly that his vision started to fade at the edges and sounds were growing distorted.

Bex had just opened his mouth to greet the man when he heard the loud thud behind him. Aeron had fainted. It wasn't an unheard of occurrence by any means, given his long-running history of anxiety and panic attacks, but it had been a long while since the last time it happened. Bex usually found humor in the situation after he determined that Aeron was safe and would wake up. In this given moment, however, it took him by a considerable amount of surprise.

"Ah, um," he looked at his brother, then back to the odd man who had opened the door. "Hello, we've been summoned..?" He paused, again looking at his brother who was still on the floor. Perhaps he'd hit his head? It would be best to check. Bex stepped backwards over the body, taking care not to turn his back on the stranger. He bent down and checked his brothers pulse, which he determined was returning to normal. He looked up at the man once more. "Sorry, I had a more eloquent introduction planned, but my brother here is having some technical difficulties. Would you mind if we came in?" He posed this question as he hoisted his brother off the ground, slinging one of Aeron's arms around his shoulder so he could hold him up.

[ShoppingCartEngineer]

The presence of the one who'd called them didn't seem very threatening. In fact, he looked disorganized and a little bit childish. Before Clay could raise his finger and greet them, one had fainted. Christ, was he alright? Clay looked to him, and back at the concious figure. He tried to smile, sheepishly and awkwardly.

"Yeah, I kinda need you guys for something. I'll explain when... er- he's up." Clay said, and pointed towards Bex's collapsed colleague.

"A- and please, come in."

The engineer seemed relieved as Bex was able take Aeron's pulse and wake him up from his period of unconsciousness. Clay stood out of the way of the door and ushered them in. He let them get settled for a second or two, getting them both a wooden seat. Clearing his throat, Clay points to an atlas of the world, with a location marked with an X. It looked to be on the continent Lambastia... Medicai was the city name.

"Long story short, I'm going to need you to help me obtain materials from a nuclear testing facility. I don't know jack shit about anything here, so that's why I need people with your specific talents."

[Remedy]

Thankfully, Aeron was quick to come to. Bex hurriedly walked him into the room and helped him sit down on one of the wooden chairs. Bleary-eyed, Aeron looked around at his surroundings. He seemed confused. "Jeez, Aeron, you gotta get a hold of yourself. You nearly gave me a heart attack..." Bex scolded gently as he sat near his brother on another chair. He looked back up to their host.

"You want us to... what?" It was Bex's turn to be confused now, as this whole interaction took a turn for the unexpected. First of all, this fellow didn't seem hardly threatening at all... and he wanted their help to rob a place? That didn't quite sound like a normal blackmail operation. He looked at the spot on the map that the man was pointing to. "In Medicai? That's quite a hop-skip-and-a-jump away. Who are you, anyway?" He sounded incredulous.

While Bex was talking to the man, Aeron was starting to piece together exactly what was going on. He had already calculated the distance, time to travel, and money they would have to spend to get there if they were to do this operation in person. There was no way he could hack into a building's security from so far away. The whole idea of this expedition was somewhat overwhelming, but Aeron felt confident in his ability to talk Bex into letting him sit in a dark room and play his part from behind the scenes.

[ShoppingCartEngineer]

After explaining himself, the engineer looked at the pair. He was sweating a little bit, nervous. If these guys couldn't help him, there was little chance to go back home. The expression on the man's face- not Aeron's- showed much skepticism. He had yet to hear the steel-nerved one's name. With an eyebrow raised, he exclaimed his uncertainty. Clay swallowed hard and tried to reply.

"I- I want you two to help me retrieve radioactive materials from your engineering capital. And, uh..."

And then the man also inquired about his identity. Shit. What was he to say? A man from another reality? No way he would believe that. That being said, Clay hadn't even calculated for travel time and cost and such. No information on the transportation here. Or currency. Anything important, for that matter. But from the way the buildings cast shadows, an experiment similar to Eratosthenes' calculations was made (with the difference being the extremely precise measurements). The internet showed a unit of measurement he'd never heard of. This planet was at least similar in circumference to Earth. Anyway, back to how to identify himself. Clay pulls at his collar and looks to the ceiling, trying to come up with a convincible alibi.

"Er- Where I'm from and what I want isn't important. I just need this material to conduct... Experiments. All of the leftover shit I will give to you to sell. And call me Clay."

[Remedy]

Aeron and Bex exchanged glances. This whole situation was certainly bizarre, far beyond what either of them were expecting. Bex noticed a slight change in Clay's demeanor that helped him relax a bit. He was certainly giving off all the body-language cues of someone who was very uncertain of what they're doing. It seemed this guy didn't mean them any harm, but with his brother there, Bex wasn't going to take any chances of underestimating the man.

"Alright alright. I'm sure we can work something out," Bex assured him. He turned to his brother to check how he was doing with all of this. Aeron looked contemplative as he considered everything going on. He looked up at Bex and nodded, showing his acceptance of the task at hand.

"It's possible," Aeron stated nervously. "I'll need blueprints of the facility, and it will have to be an in-person job... You'll probably have to go in there, Bex."

Bex scoffed at this idea. "Me? Look, I know I do the in-person stuff but... it's usually like casual conversation, not a full-on undercover operation." Aeron simply stared at him with a look that said "who else?"
Bex sighed. "Alright. But we're going to have to go to Medicai for this, right? What about our operation with the library guy?"

"I think this takes precedence..." Aeron replied with a serious tone. They both knew they were stuck with this task; it wasn't like their usual operation, where they chose their targets and did things voluntarily. This was the real deal.

Bex turned his attention back to the man who pulled them into this mess. "Clay, right? I'm Bex, this is Aeron. We can probably help... But only under one condition," he began, trying to bluff his way through some negotiations. The guy was already blackmailing them, so there wasn't a whole lot of leverage to be had, but it seemed Clay desperately needed them for this task. "You'll have to finance the trip to Medicai. You... have money, right? I mean, this is a nice hotel..."

[ShoppingCartEngineer]

As the pair sat on Clay's proposition, the engineer fiddled with his thumbs. They seemed rational. And usually, a rational person wouldn't embark on something like this with a complete stranger. But they seemed intrigued, at least. Perhaps out of the blackmail threat. Truth be told, Clay was incredibly relieved that they hadn't just walked up and shot him, tying to protect their identity or something. As they talked, more holes in Clay's plans began to pop up. Being a supergenius engineer was one thing. Having common sense... Well, it wasn't a perk of Clay's intelligence.

The quiet one brought up a very important piece of this puzzle of increasing difficulty. Blueprints and schematics, he already had. But funds was an entirely different issue. Shit. Clay put a balled fist up to his mouth and coughed twice, before furrowing his brow.

"Oh, I've got the floor plans. They're in that drawer."

With that statement, Clay pointed towards the cabinet in between the two beds in the room. He dropped the arm to his side after a couple seconds.

"But in terms of funds, I thought that would come easier. If you don't have the funds, I have no idea how to get there..."

The man began to trail off as he slumped in the desk chair. He had no money. Nothing to sell, nothing to his name here. All of his belongings were essentials. He only had gotten the hotel through threatening... With his gun. Clay's dreary expression soon turned into one of uncertainty and worry. It seemed this was the only option. Clay's hand slipped down to his holster, and with a hand motion he took it and fitted it into his palms.

"I may not have money, but I've got a weapon..."

With every second, the sinister idea began to condensate into a dark cloud above his head. As long as nobody died, it was okay, right? Building destruction is no big deal. Fuck, this was going to be tough.

"Would you two be willing to conduct a bank heist?"

[Remedy]

Aeron moved toward the desk drawer as soon as Clay pointed it out, eager to see the schematics of the undoubtedly advanced building. He had always been fascinated by architecture; the exactness of each design and measurement, the creativity required to construct something functional and grand. It was never in his skill set to do so, but he understood the mathematical side of it and could appreciate the art as a spectator.

Meanwhile, Bex hung on to every word Clay said. He was anxious to learn the next step, as the journey they were preparing to embark on would be quite extraordinary. When Clay brought up a bank heist, though, he about choked on the air he was breathing. "Wh- you want us to rob a bank?" He sounded bewildered, albeit intrigued. That was a next-level kind of robbery, much more hands-on than the brothers' expertise. However, it had always been a childish fantasy of his - likely spurred on by the old country movies that he watched when he was in foster care.

He glanced over at Aeron, who at this moment was pouring over the schematics and not listening to a word they said. Rubbing his forehead with one hand, he turned back to Clay. "I mean, I'm down, but... I don't want anyone to get hurt. That's a high risk situation, and while we certainly aren't saints... Well, I'd just prefer if we go in with unloaded guns, you know? Eliminate room for that kind of slip-up. Bluffing is kind of my expertise, so I'm sure we'll be fine..." He cringed internally, mentally berating himself for pointing out his propensity for fluffing up the truth. Hopefully Clay wouldn't start getting suspicious of him; at this point, Bex wasn't even planning anything underhand. He was much more inclined to see how it all played out, as long as Aeron wasn't directly in harm's way.

"I guess if we went after one of the smaller banks, and just got enough for the trip... I don't want to overdo it, you know. It wouldn't do us any good to be on "Lambastia's Most Wanted" list. We could probably hit up Alabaster Bank over on 4th... We blackmailed the manager there once, he used to embezzle money until Aeron got into his email account. We found out a lot about the inner workings of the place, though that guy isn't there anymore." He started tossing out ideas, still somewhat incredulous that he was even going along with this suggestion.

[ShoppingCartEngineer]

Clay didn't seem so apt about a bank heist either. His eyes were focused on his pistol, now being twirled around his finger. The engineer had many little idiosyncrasies. Fidgeting was one of them. He ran a couple situations in his head, each ending up in at least one casualty. Clay always liked to assume the worst. Although it never stopped him from rushing into a situation and doing the moronic option.

"I mean, I'm not asking you to rob a bank. I'm asking you to forcefully remove capital from a secured building."

The pair disregarded his foolish comment, and Bex continued voicing his concerns. Clay nodded as he listed them, coming to a consensus. Nobody innocent should be harmed... If Bex was skilled with honeyed words, as he said he was, it shouldn't be impossible. And it seemed he's already got a connection to a bank. This might flow easier than expected. Clay looked up to look at his new accomplice.

"I'm with you on the no-violence thing. I prefer the flavor of anti-hero more than neutral. Now, if you know where that bank is..." Clay slurred the end of his word and raised an eyebrow.

"- It shouldn't be too hard to pay them a visit and conduct our activities there."