029#
Andy awoke with a pounding headache, the sour aftertaste of too much wine still thick on his tongue. His eyes fluttered open to the dim, icy light of the isolation zone, and he found Luxter standing directly in front of him, snow-white hair catching the faint glow, red eyes fixed on him with cold intensity.
"Good morning, Mr. Number One," Luxter said smoothly, voice calm and mocking.
Andy tried to move, but his body didn't respond the way it should. His feet dangled above the frozen floor—he was suspended, arms stretched overhead, wrists bound tightly with rough rope to a thick iron hook in the ceiling. The chain from his slave collar hung loose, clinking softly with every shallow breath.
"What the hell is going on?!" Andy demanded, voice cracking with sudden panic as the reality sank in.
Luxter tilted his head slightly, almost amused. "As you've probably noticed… you're my prisoner now. And I'm going to kill you."
Fear and confusion exploded in Andy's chest. He jerked against the ropes, but they held fast.
"I don't understand—why?!" Andy asked, voice trembling despite his effort to sound steady.
Luxter stepped closer, the knife glinting in his hand. "It's simple," he said. "I need out of the isolation zone—and fast. Ilugin's gang is hunting me, and if I stay down here any longer, I'm dead." He sneered. "The only way out is being ranked number one. Last month, that was me. Untouchable. Now you show up—the shiny new alien—and I drop to second place. You're in my way. And I can't afford that."
Andy's mind raced. Kevin's words echoed back: Luxter… the guy who used to own the top spot. The rankings weren't just popularity—they were power, survival, everything in this hellhole.
"I don't even want to be number one!" Andy protested, panic rising. "I never asked for this!"
Luxter's smile faded into something colder. "Doesn't matter what you want. You're number one now, so get out of my way. I've already got enough problems with Ilugin breathing down my neck."
He raised the knife, blade catching the faint light as he closed the distance, ready to end it.
90
Before delivering the final blow, Luxter asked, "I heard from you while you were drunk and asleep that you're here planning to escape by doing."
"Huh?"
"Yesterday, while you were drunk, you mentioned something about running away," Luxter said, placing his knife to Andy's neck, making him swallow saliva in fear. "You'd better tell all and not play dumb, or you'll die a second time."
With no other options and feeling the pressure of the sharp blade, Andy cursed his recklessness and told Luxter his plan to escape with Kevin by building a tunnel.
As Luxter listened to every detail, he was surprised and commented, "That's a good plan, Mr. Alien, I never would have thought of that." He removed the knife from Andy's neck and continued, "I want in on it too."
"What?" said Andy, surprised.
"Think of it as a positive thing. I know this place like I was born here," Luxter added, revealing a new dynamic in the strange alliance being forged in the shadows of the brothel.
He placed the knife back near Andy's neck and in a menacing voice, continued, "You don't have a choice, buddy. I can kill you right now and find another way out, or we can work together and make sure we both get out of this place. The choice is yours, but remember that death is always an option."
With the threat looming, Andy, feeling the knife edge on his skin, nodded nervously and said, "Okay deal." Desperation and the need to survive drove him to accept Luxter's proposed alliance, albeit with a mixture of fear and caution in his eyes.
As he removed the knife from Andy's neck, the rope linking his arms to the ceiling was severed by the knife, leaving Andy free.
In that tense moment, a strange bond was born between two prisoners, each with their own motives and secrets, united by the grim prospect of escaping the brothel.