Two of the five gang members went to the living quarters in the factory, while the other three kept watch on those outside. They were keeping a close eye for two reasons: to see if anyone would suddenly act out or run away, or if anyone looked suspicious.
'Shit, shit, shit!' Gary thought in his head, while his face on the outside was cool as a cucumber. 'They're having this inspection because of me. They realised that the amount of crystals they were getting were less.
'What type of advanced technology are they using in those machines? The damn factory can't afford to install cameras but they can do that.'
It made Gary realise that the equipment must be from the backers, rather than the gang itself, and perhaps only the outer shell of the factory belonged to the gang known as the scavengers.
'It will be okay, right? They said that it could all just be a coincidence, so if they don't find anything, then that means it's going to be alright.'
Inside the living area, the three scavenger members were going through everything. They were chucking up the mattresses on the floor, throwing sheets in the corner, not caring about anyone's equipment.
They would pull every cupboard and drawer, moving the food that they all had brought, or just chucking it out and leaving it on the floor.
They were making a big mess in every room they went in, and from the outside, everyone could hear it as well. There was pain in their eyes each time they all heard a loud noise.
The people were wondering if their items, food, all of it was going to be fine. Some of them even had their hands together as if they were praying.
Gary wanted to say something, but Elijah's words went through his head, causing him to bite his tongue.
"Are you going to replace everything that's broken in there?" A voice said.
Gary thought that the words had come out of his own mouth, but when looking, he realised that they had actually come from Elijah, the very person that told him not to act. On a closer look, a large vein could be seen at the side of his head.
'I guess I wasn't the only one that was angered by these guys' actions.'
The man who had been doing the inspections was named Dazza and seemed to be in charge of this small group of gang members. He smiled, revealing a small diamond on his canine. It looked tacky to most, but perhaps to him, he was very proud of this. So much so that the man smiled in a certain way that would reveal his tooth.
Some guessed this was how he got his nickname Dazza in the first place.
"Everything that was bought in there or that is in there is because of us in the first place," Dazza answered. "We are the ones that pay them, so all in all, it all belongs to us. If you don't like it, then you are free to complain. Let me just check with HR what they say about that... Oh wait, that's me as well, and I don't give a shit!"
Elijah's whole body looked like it was tensing up, and at that moment, Gary had in his head that if he went in on him, then Gary would go in and back the person up a hundred percent... but Elijah took a deep breath and managed to calm down. In the end, nothing happened.
Inside the rooms, the inspections were done, and Dazza had been called over to the other three to give him the news.
"You mean there was nothing?" Dazza said. "Not even one speck of dust, a rock, or anything!"
"No, sir," one of the men answered. "Everyone already knows our reputation after the first few cases we had. I guess everyone is too scared to do something like that."
The answer clearly wasn't what Dazza was looking for as he went and kicked a mattress, flinging it onto the wall. The mattresses were light and thin in the first place; otherwise, a regular human wouldn't be able to do such a thing.
"We need something big, a big catch to show we're doing our job, and then Hadie will give us one of the Altered solutions he got his hands on lately."
"Well, if there's nothing here, there's nothing we can bring them in for."
A light bulb clicked in Dazza's head as he went and pulled a crystal out from the side of his pocket, one that he had picked up earlier and dropped onto the ground. He started to laugh at himself as he saw it.
Then he knelt down and went ahead to pick it up.
"Well, well, look what we have here. It looks like someone has been hiding a crystal here, after all."
Dazza, along with all the others, came out, and the big smile on his face didn't instil confidence in the people.
"Alright, everyone who was in room 9, come forward now!" Dazza shouted.
The mumbling from the other workers already started. It was clear as day that Dazza had found something. It had been a while since there was such an incident, and they were starting to imagine what was going to happen next.
As for which room was room 9, Earny, Gary, Elijah, and the five other men that were with them all stepped forward; they were part of room 9.
"Now look at this crystal I have in my hand," Dazza said. "It appears that it was found in room 9, so you know what that means. One of you guys has attempted to hide crystals. Now, it's simple. I can either punish just one of you guys if the culprit comes forward, or all of you will be punished from room 9."
Inwardly, Dazza was smiling because he knew, of course, that no one would come forward because none of them had the crystal. At the same time, this would pit them against each other.
"Just come forward," one of the men said. "We all understand why you might steal the crystals. We're all in the same situation, but there is no need to come forward, so just do it."
However, none of them came forward, and soon they were starting to suspect each other.
"Hey, if anything, it has to be one of the new guys, right? We've all seen the type of punishment we can get into. The day the new guys come in, they just happen to find a crystal. It can't be a coincidence."
Gary could see where this was going. He had no clue where the crystal had come from, but if he needed to take the blame compared to the others, then he would be happy to.
"I-"
"It was me." The older man stood forward, Earny, who had shared his food with the others. "I was the one who hid the crystal."
*****
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