Rise and Grind

Some hours later, Adrian woke up, finding Max still asleep. Careful to not wake the sleeping boy, he carefully eased himself out of bed. Clad in boxer briefs and a thin t shirt, he made his way to the kitchen to make himself a coffee and get some food.

He was half way through a bagel when Max trudged out, yawning. His eyes widened slightly at the smell of the toasted bagel.

"C-can I have some?"

Adrian fished a bagel out of the bag, holding it out to the boy.

"You want it toas-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Max grabbed the bagel, eating it voraciously.

"...or not.

Max looked at Adrain sheepishly.

"Sorry."

"Its fine, you're probably starving."

As if on cue, Max's stomach grumbled loudly.

"Ha. There's food in the fridge and pantry. I wont be here for lunch, but I'll get us something for dinner."

"You don't have to do that. I-I don't want to be a bother."

"Please, it's nothing. I doubt you'll eat more than some of the girls I've had stay the night."

Max half chuckled at the comment before going back to picking at his bagel. A short while later, Adrian piled the few dishes into the sink and got dressed for work. Fortunately, that was just jeans, a plain white tee, and a CompanionCorp branded jacket. And his gun, of course.

"Hey Max, I'll be back around 7. Don't burn the place down."

"I won't sir."

Adrian elected not to correct him, instead locking the door behind him. He checked his watch, which read 21:11. At least he had time to stop for coffee.

He pulled in the the CompanionCorp parking lot about 40 minutes later, coffee and a doughnut with him. He had already eaten breakfast, but a doughnut never killed anyone. He entered the building, swiping his card and walking into the R&D wing.

A short hispanic woman greeted him at the door, her face breaking into a toothy grin.

"ay, bossman, what's up"

Adrian chuckled at her immaculate sense of professionalism.

"Not much, Maria, you?"

"same here. I do have a question for you though"

"Ask away."

"what happened yesterday? i was barely here for an hour and we get sent home?"

"No clue, they don't tell me anything."

Before Maria could respond, loud footsteps echoed from across the room. A group of men, all with massive builds, clad in bullet proof vests and carrying heavy weaponry, marched out of the room, never once looking at Adrian or Maria.

"...Who are they?"

Maria's eyes narrowed at the door they had just passed through.

"day shift. guess the higher ups wanted better security"

"Gomez is gone?"

"nah, his team was transferred to new mexico"

"Something weird is going on here. Something big."

"i dunno, but i heard that companion corp is trending"

"That's never good."

Just then, Ms. Robinson, like the emotionless predator she was, seemed to appear beside them.

"Mr. Durrell, a word."

She walked away before he could respond.

"We'll talk later. Tell Luke I said hi."

"good luck man"

Adrian jogged after the scientist, who led him through the lab and into a conference room, where Jack Marceau himself was sitting, reading from a tablet.

"Adrian, hey, sit down."

The man grinned at him like he was a good friend, but his smile didn't reach his eyes.

Adrian pulled out a plush leather chair, taking a seat hesitantly.

"So, last night, a truck full of-"

"Have you ever sold merchandise?"

Jack took a pause, processing the sudden question.

"I believe so. We have a line of branded pet accessories."

"What about tee shirts?"

"Tee shirts? No, we have not. The only branded clothes we have are for employees."

"Right, I understand."

*"So where did max get the shirt, you sleasy asshat?"

"Moving on, your task here as CompanionCorp has... Altered."

"Pardon, sir?"

"You no doubt heard that we unveiled our new line of hybrid pets, right?"

"I- what?"

"Really? Just this morning we announced that we were now selling human-animal hybrid pets. Anyway, so far the roll out has been a complete success, but there was something of a hitch. You see, the night before the unveil, we were attempting to... dispose of some of the unsuccessful products. Most of them arent dangerous, just aren't healthy or fit for sale. But these 5 are dangerous. Your new job is to find them and bring them back here. Preferably alive."

Marceau slid the tablet over to Adrian, who was currently sick to his stomach. He almost lost it when he read the contents of the list. Five numbers. 142, 077, 102, 007, and 019.

Max.