NEW LIFE : A SECOND CHANCE

"DAMN IT!!" a voice cursed out. Sounds of things being smashed were heard reverting within the room.

Nitocris stood silently as he observed his boss throwing a tantrum.

The computer was smashed on the ground, its screen broken and keyboard twisted. Everything that he had on his desk had either been thrown against the wall or pushed off the desk.

Finally, after 30 minutes, the man calmed down. He plopped himself on his chair and lighted up a cigar.

"What the fuck happened?!" he demanded, "How is it that he's not a pancake?!"

"We are still investigating the matter, Sir," replied Nitocris politely, hardly fazed by the outburst of his boss. He was the only one who was unaffected while everyone else outside the office was trembling with fear.

"I saw him! He was still in the lift when it fell!! What?! Is he Houdini?!" he bellowed, chomping on his cigar. It wasn't calming him down like it normally did.

"We are still investigating the matter, Sir," repeated Nitocris politely.

"Still investigating. Still investigating!" roared the man, "Is that all you can say?!"

Nitocris raised an eyebrow and looked at him straight in the eye, "Then what do you want me to say, Sir? That he ghosted out of the lift?"

"You sure have guts to speak to me like that," the man snarled.

"Someone has to," Nitocris replied, unfazed, "And you know it."

The unknown figure took a deep puff from his cigar, blew a circle of smoke and leaned back on his chair.

"That boy hid himself deeply," he muttered, "I underestimated him. I won't do it again."

"Yes, Sir," responded Nitocris.

"I want the report on my desk by tomorrow," demanded the man.

"A report will be submitted," Nitocris said, "But it may not be satisfactory. Even now, the team is having difficulty getting through the firewall."

The man's eyes narrowed, "It was easy enough yesterday."

He tapped his finger on the table impatiently, "Fine. Whatever you got, give it to me tomorrow but continue investigating."

"Understood, Sir," Nitocris replied and was about turn when he was stopped.

"Get May in here."

Nitocris nodded, but warned, "Please try to contain yourself a bit this time, Sir. The carpet was just changed from the last time."

"Don't worry," said the man with an evil grin, "So long as she satisfies me, she'll live."

"For how long, Sir?"

"As long as Kyle is alive," the man muttered, taking another puff of his cigar.

"Understood, Sir," Nitocris replied and walked out. He made a mental note to inform the team to handle May's disappearance so that it would not lead the police to them.

As he closed the door, he saw the trembling young secretary, May, looking at him with these doe-eyes of innocence. He sighed, knowing that such an innocent look would soon be gone, to be replaced by emptiness or fear. No matter how he pitied her, though, it didn't mean he would save her. That was why she was chosen anyway.

The boss has a violent side that, if left alone, would create a huge mess. The only way to avoid that and appease him is to let him satiate his lust on young, innocent girls. He enjoyed breaking them, seeing that innocence being smashed by his own hands. When he got tired of them, he would just squeeze their throats and enjoy their vain struggles to live, choking and gasping for air as their eyes bulged.

"The boss called for you," Nitocris said, "He needs you to take some dictation."

May nodded and took her notepad and pen. Although nervous and scared, she still went in as it was her job. Nitocris closed the door and taking out a key from his pocket, locked it and walked out. His feet had hardly taken a few steps before screams and loud laughter was heard inside the room.

Nitocris's steps faltered for a second before he quickened his steps.

.:*?°☆...:*? HOSPITAL .:*?°☆...:*?

Kay had just called and inform her mum about Kyle. As expected, she went crazy with panic.

"I don't know, Mum," Kay said, "He's still not back yet from the tests."

Kay walked back towards Sam, sitting down with a sigh, "Yes, I'll let you know as soon as I know. Yes. Hospital Jx, Ruby Room."

As soon as Kay put down the phone, Sam patted his shoulder and Kay leaned on it. He wrapped his arms around her shoulder and continued to rub her arm to calm her down.

"He'll be fine," Sam said soothingly, the same thing Kay had said to Xing Han.

Just then, the doctor came out and asked, "Who's the relative of Kyle Smith?"

Kay stood up immediately, "Me! I'm his sister!"

"What about your parents?"

"They're on their way, doctor. Please, how's my brother?" Kay asked

"Generally, he's fine. He sprained his ankle and there's a slight swelling in his head. Most likely caused by severe impact on his skull with a hard surface. We'll need to keep him here for a few days for observation," the doctor commented.

"What the worst-case scenario, doctor?" Kay asked.

The doctor frowned a bit at that and tried to say soothingly, "Injuries like this normally is not serious. The swelling should subside normally within a few days."

Kay frowned in return as well.

She asked a direct question and he was avoiding it. She wanted to know the worst case scenario so as to be mentally prepared for it. She didn't want any sugar coating or words of comfort. She would rather know the full truth rather than be sprung with bad news when she thought everything was fine.

"What if it doesn't?" Kay pressed again.

The doctor just smiled and said, "It will, don't worry."

Kay gnashed her teeth and wished she could kick the doctor. She held back and knew that the doctor meant well. Didn't mean she liked it when he wouldn't answer her question and kept giving placating comments.

"Where is Kyle now?" asked Sam, to break the tension. He could see that Kay was ready to snap.

"He should be in his room by now," the doctor commented.

"Thank you, doctor," Sam said politely and pulled Kay. At the same time, Sam texted Ali and Xing Han about Kyle's room number, saying that they'll meet up there.

Once they arrived, Kay rushed through the door.

She saw Kyle sitting up on the bed, his head bandaged. He was in a hospital gown, and his face lit up when he saw Kay. The nurses were busy hovering around Kyle, setting up the bed and ensuring the IV drip was secure.

Kay wheedled her way around the nurses to reach Kyle's bedside.

She gingerly touched his bandaged head and he smiled, saying, "I'm okay. The morphine works wonders."

Kyle then pulled her onto the bed. Kay kicked off her shoes and immediately snuggled to Kyle. She was careful not to hit his injured leg, wrapped her arm across his waist and placed her head on his chest. Kyle kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back comfortingly.

The nurses, who were unaware of their sibling relationship, quickly went out for their single hearts could not handle such lovey-dovey scenes.

"I ... guess you guys have a lot of questions, huh?" Kyle said as the last nurse walked out.

The three guys stood there at the foot of his bed, each with their own version of 'Well, duh' expression.

"Fire away then," Kyle said.

"What's with Team Zero?" Ali was the first to ask.

"Nothing," Kyle replied, "They are what I told you they are ... but they have one additional function."

"No shit," Xing Han said, "First, they were like this group busy calculating market projection, accounts stuff and whatever management stuff and then BOOM! Transformed into totally kick-ass secret agents."

"Secret agents?" Kyle said, looking at Xing Han and his choice of words. It was pretty accurate, in a way.

"Yeah. It was so cool. Zero going all serious and said," Xing Han was saying excitedly and mimicked Zero's voice, "What you see is not happening".

"I was like whoaaaaa .... so top secret!" Xing Han continued, his hands waving about animatedly.

Kyle laughed a bit, then said, "They are, in a way. You know how dirty the business world is like, right? How your competitors would resort to all sorts of methods to undermine you, find out your secrets and so forth?"

Xing Han and Ali nodded.

"So Team Zero is both designed for offence and defence. They have the skills to turn a company around ... and also the skills to protect the company from harm," Kyle explained, "They work on internal and external factors."

"So why the secrecy?" Ali asked.

"The enemies can't know what cards you have in your hand, right?" Kyle pointed out.

"By the way," Kay said as she leaned on Kyle, "Even our parents don't know about Team Zero's true capabilities. There are too many moles within the company and even though we trust our parents, we don't trust the people around our parents."

Sam, Xing Han, and Ali were grinning like idiots (yes, even Sam). Kyle and Kay trusted them to this extent that they were more than willing to reveal all?

"What are you going to tell them about how you got out of the lift?" Sam asked.

"Nothing," Kyle said, looking at them then suddenly had a puzzled and confused expression, "I - I - I don't know. I can't remember a thing. The last thing I remember was being trapped in a lift and then, suddenly, I'm here."

Xing Han's eyes bulged wide open and he was about to rush over to Kyle when Ali whacked him at the back of his head.

"He's pretending, Xing Han," Ali said, "He's showing you what he's going to say to anyone who asks."

"Ooooo," Xing Han said with a smile, "Nice one. Great cover! Just say you don't know and no one will know anything, right? An unsolved mystery indeed."

"Then what about you?" Ali pressed on.

"Me?" Kyle said

"The fact that you can pick locks?"

Kyle waved his hand in front of him, "Pshaw. Basics. Even Kay can do it. We're the Smith Twins, probably targets of many enemies in the future. Kidnapping attempts are quite common. So it's added insurance for any escape attempts."

Ali shook his head, "Your life is quite complicated. And I thought mine was!"

"With great powers, comes great responsibilities," Kyle quoted, "and greater enemies."

They all nodded in agreement.

"Too bad about my trenchcoat though. I liked that trenchcoat," Kyle said with a sigh.