Thief's Theme: A Love Story

Sharia and Ji stand together in a random alley, Sharia looking annoyed and Ji looking like his usual self, grinning like an idiot. Sharia has her Keeper robes on and Ji has on a black undershirt tank top with dark blue shorts and black sneakers on his feet. He is also wrapped up in the strange black chains with a white glow that only belong to Keepers, chains that allow no movement and keep him constricted. Despite the uncomfortability of the restraints, Ji still smiles, awaiting his capture. It doesn’t take long for the Keepers to come once Sharia calls them in (albeit hesitantly), using the new tech on the back of her hand, and soon enough they show up, secure the prisoner (Ji), and take both Ji and Sharia in a sleek looking black vehicle that almost seems to blend in with the environment.

To say that the car ride is short would be an understatement, lasting only a few seconds, thirty at most, but still Sharia holds Ji’s hand as they’re moved, patting his hand to keep him calm. In reality the action was done to keep herself calm as Ji is always calm or ‘chill’ as he says, no matter the situation. This irked her to no end in situations like this. Why can’t everyone be rationally afraid like normal people? Her thoughts are interrupted by their arrival at some secret, secure location. Sharia remains silent as they roughly take Ji out of the car, through the doors, and into the building that looks like the lab of an evil scientist. She’s not sure what to think and is still worried about Ji and what these men will do to him. One of the three other Keepers with her seems to sense her thoughts and offers an attempt at some reassuring words.

“Don’t worry Sharia, we’re just taking him into his holding cell. Nothing sinister is going down.” He says in his distorted voice. She nods, not really paying much heed to his words. Evil people always insisted that they weren’t as evil as they seemed or that their intentions were for the good of everyone. It didn’t make them less evil. She walks with the Keepers, stealing glances at Ji to make sure he’s OK, but he’s still grinning like he’s going on a trip to Disneyland or something. She shakes her head at the stupidity of his demeanor, yet at the same time admires his ability to remain composed in the face of danger and what is likely sudden doom. They continue through the facility, one that seems much larger on the inside than it does on the outside, and Sharia is in wonder at all the strange sights she witnesses. From strange machines to other sleek, future-looking vehicles, to strange sci-fi looking weapons and technology, the entire place seems overwhelming.

“Where are we?” She asks, speaking her first words since she caught Ji, in a distorted voice that surprises her when it leaves her mouth. The Keeper leading Ji throughout the facility answers her without slowing down.

“We are in the Keeper’s Crypt, Sharia, where we hold those who are too powerful or…evasive to hold in our normal prisons.” He looks towards Ji and continues. “Merc here qualifies for such protocol wouldn’t you say?” Sharia nods in agreement with that statement. From what she could see and tell, Ji might even be overqualified to be here. The way he just appeared and disappeared at will, how he easily escaped the Keeper’s chains (which she learned earlier were supposed to stop those with powers of any kind from using them), how he was easily able to steal…cities and such? It all still didn’t make sense to her, but if you take it all at face value, then Ji is definitely dangerous to the naked eye and definitely belongs here.

Finally they reach a room that’s larger than the others and throw Ji in as they begin the lockdown procedure. First, they remove the chains momentarily, just long enough to fit Ji with a straitjacket underneath and then place them back on. In addition to that, they tie the chains to what looks to be a generator of some kind. Not done yet, the Keepers move like clockwork and flip a few switches which generates a force field of energy, likely to keep Ji in. Looking at the spectacle in amazement, Sharia can’t keep it in.

“Wow! I didn’t even know we had this kind of technology.” She says aloud in wonderment, internally flinching at her distorted voice, not used to it just yet. The Keeper next to her looks at her for a moment before turning back to what he’s doing.

“You don’t.” He replies, and Sharia’s taken aback. ‘What does that mean?’ She wonders. ‘Just how secret IS this organization.’ She then turns her attention back to Ji, wondering if he’ll be fine. ‘He likely will, or at least he thinks he will. The dummy hasn’t stopped smiling since we got here. But still…I can’t help but worry.’ She thinks to herself.

“OK, we’re done with the preliminary constraints. Now do your thing, we’ll be out here waiting.” Instructs the Keeper closest to her. She nods and walks in the room, slowly, taking it all in as she makes her way to Ji.

“Ji, are you…are you OK?” She asks, unable to help herself, going straight to the source to ease her worrying, though she knows deep down that he would never admit if he wasn’t.

“I’m good, thanks for asking.” He replies nonchalantly with a nod, the only movement he can make since everything from the neck down is restrained. “How are you holding up?” He asks, noticing her constant state of worry since she captured him in her chains. Sharia hesitates, looking at the ground.

“I…I’m not sure.” Sharia begins. “This is all so new to me, and so weird. And to see you like that…it almost seems like it isn’t right.” She clarifies.

“Nonsense.” Says Ji without a care in the world. “I steal things, and you hate stealing. So naturally, you want to see me locked up at least on some level.” He reasons. Sharia nods slowly. ‘it’s true’ she thinks to herself.

“But not like this.” She says almost in a pleading voice. “It just looks so…restricting. I know you can eat but…how will you use the bathroom? Or bathe? Or…or sleep?” She questions, rattling off life essentials that he definitely couldn’t do restrained as he was. To his credit, Ji doesn’t seem to be fazed by these thoughts or restrictions.

“I probably won’t.” He replies with a shrug. He then grins, a thought coming to his mind. “Unless you want to help me with those.” He speaks in a suggestive tone as he licks his lips. Sharia isn’t amused by his antics.

“Be serious, Ji! Now’s not the time for jokes!” She yells at him.

“I was.” He mutters to himself. Sharia ignores him.

“I think…I think you should go ahead and give these men what they want.” She says with a shaky voice that sounds odd with the distortion caused by her new Keeper status, clearly scared for Ji’s wellbeing.

“Never.” He exclaims with an intense tone. He then softens it as he continues. “I’ll only give you what you want.” He says, looking her in the eyes, staring deep into her heart and soul. “What do you want, Sharia.”

‘You.’ She thinks for a moment, the word on the tip of her tongue, much to her own surprise. She shakes her head to rid herself of such thoughts. Now was not the time. ‘You to be free, not so helpless.’ She thinks once she reformulates her thoughts.

“I want…” She stops to take a deep breath, contemplating saying what she was thinking. She decides against it. “Never mind, just return Hawaii. Please?” She begs him. Ji twitches.

“OK, done.” He says. Sharia looks back at the other Keepers and nods. They take that as the signal and immediately get on the phone and check the tech on the back of their hands to make sure. The men nod and speak amongst themselves, confirming the results and that Hawaii is in fact back in its correct place. After that, one of the Keepers comes into the room, beckoning her to leave.

“Excellent work Miss Sharia. Now, it’s time to finish applying the restraints so we’ll need to leave the room.” He informs her. She nods in affirmation and takes one last longing look at Ji, almost unwilling to leave him in here to be subject to the whims of these men. Ji gives her a grin and a wink which calms her down some, allowing her to confidently leave the room with knowledge that he would be OK. She then turns and follows the Keeper out of the room as they get back to the controls from before. As soon as they exit the room, the Keeper with her speaks her praises once more.

“Again, great work Agent Ihuwaki.” He addresses her more formally this time. She nods once more and looks back at the room where Ji was constricted.

“Thank you.” She says in a tone just above a whisper, barely audible with the voice distortion. The Keeper then turns to the other Keeper, the one at the controls and issues a command.

“Put the room in level twelve lockdown.” This clearly surprises the other Keeper who turns his head sharply and asks for clarification.

“Level twelve sir?” He asks, making sure he heard correctly and that they really wanted to go this far. The Keeper with Sharia doesn’t even move his gaze from the room and Ji’s person.

“I didn’t stutter.” He says in a stern voice. The other Keeper nods and gets back to work.

“Yes sir, right away.” He complies as he hits several buttons in a row. The question is now nagging in the back of Sharia’s mind and she has to know, to know exactly what they were going to subject Ji to.

“What’s level twelve?” She asks, turning to the Keeper. Again he doesn’t take his eyes off of the room and the prisoner inside.

“It’s a special kind of lockdown that no one or thing can escape from.” He begins. “Special energy fields, powerful and unbreakable walls, force fields on top of force fields, electrical locks on the nerves in the body, laser fields, the whole works.” He describes, clearly proud of the level twelve lockdown and all the features it contain. “You’d have to bend time and space to escape.” He adds on, finishing his statement. This only makes Sharia worry even more.

“Will he be alright?” She questions aloud. Again, the Keeper doesn’t look at her when he answers.

“He’ll be fine Miss Sharia— no, Agent Iwuhaki. Don’t worry so much.” She nods in understanding, but thinks otherwise to herself. ‘I don’t believe him in the way he means it, but I know Ji will be fine.’ She thinks. ‘I just do.’

“Level twelve lockdown complete sir. He won’t be getting out of there.” Confirms the Keeper at the controls. The Keeper next to Sharia smiles in relief.

“Good. We’ve finally—“ Before he can say much, the alarm rings, a loud siren flowing throughout the building with as a red light shines over the place. As the siren wails, a robotic voice speaks over it.

“Breach in level twelve containment! Breach in level twelve containment!” States the voice over and over again on constant repeat. Sharia is startled by the initial alarm but calms herself down. The other Keepers don’t have as much luck.

“What? What’s happening!” Asks the Keeper nearest to her, yelling loudly at the Keeper at the controls.

“I…I don’t know sir. It seems like he’s broken through level twelve lockdown.” Explains the Keeper.

“Impossible!” Exclaims the Keeper closest to her. “No one has ever—!”

“Well he did sir. I don’t know how, but he did.” Explains the Keeper at the controls.

“Sonics failed to stop target! Use of teleporters permitted!” Comes the robotic voice accompanying the alarm. “Teleporters failed!”

“What’s happening?” Asks Sharia looking around, though she has an idea based on the words stringing out from the alarm system.

“He escaped.” Says the Keeper closest to her, breathing it out in disbelief. “He really escaped.”

She nods meekly at the declaration, but then looks away with a small smile. ‘I knew you’d be fine.’ She thinks, relieved at the turn of events.