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The ignorant fools thought him a murderer, an assassin. How could they be so blind? Gambino had almost killed them all back in October. Some of them were still infected with the virus that left them as nothing more then zombies. Yet still the masses had given him mountains of gold. They had willingly and cheerfully funded the return of a madman.

He placed the gun against the wall of his small home. For a moment he felt guilt. He did not regret shooting Gambino, oh no. If he had thought of it himself, he would have done it for free. But the guilt was there. He felt bad for Gino. It was never fair for a kid to become an orphan, and that's just what he had helped Gino become. He had taken a boy's last living family member.

The people cried murder. He looked out his window. All across Gaia, the picket signs were put away in respect of the 'tragedy.' The only tragedy was the building falling on those sisters. The people didn't need to understand. He was protecting them from a threat they couldn't see for themselves. He had protected them before from Gambino, and soon they would know he had protected them again.

The phone rang, distracting him from his thoughts. "X here."

"Mr. X, do you know who this is?"

Labtech X went stiff. "Yes," he hissed.

The voice on the other end did not sound pleased. "I saw something very curious while I was hitting on Sasha today, Mr. X. Do you know what it was?"

"No, what did you see?" he growled. God, he hated his employer.

"I saw a boy in his teens silence a brawling mob and then go off to play on the beach with a few friends."

"So?"

"It was Gino."

The tech's eyes widened. "He survived the fall? Good for him. About my payment..."

"PAYMENT?" The voice on the other end screamed. Labtech X was forced to hold the phone away from his head. "You aren't done yet. The agreement was to kill the Gambinos! As in Johnny and Gino! Not just one. You get nothing until both are dead. If you ever hope to rid yourself of that debt at the casino, you'll need my money. To get that, kill the boy. He's with his Harem in Barton." Labtech X cursed. "What's the mater Mr. X? Don't know where the Harem is? Well, some of the members live right there in Durem. Ask Moria, she can tell which houses they live in, but be careful with your words. If Moria knows what you're after, she won't help you."

Lebtech X didn't wait for him to finish. He hated him employer. With every fiber of his being, Lebtech X hated Gambino, but never once in all his years had he ever had reason to hate Gino. In fact, Lebtech X rather liked Gino. He was a good boy, egger to please and very polite.

He had said that Gino was with his Harem. X knew nothing about the Harem except they were extremely protective of Gino and many were crazy enough to fight to the death if it meant Gino's safety.

A disguise would be needed.

~

Moria looked up from her music catalog as the bell chimed, announcing a customer. A young man of moderate attractiveness stood in the door, looking quite nervous. Moria smiled at him. By his attitude and manner of dress, she got the impression he had never been in a gothic store before. He was probably the time to run at the sight of a Hot Topic in a mall. "Hello, how can I help you?"

"Um, well, you see, I had a question.?

"And what would that be?"

Labtech X looked down. It had been so long since he had removed his lab coat the devices that hid his face, but if he kept them, it would be a sure give away of whom he was and at the moment, he was the most suspected man in Gaia. Everyone knew in their hearts that it had been he who shot Gambino. "I was thinking about joining Gino's Harem. I heard they took girls and guy and that it was really just for his support, but I don't-"

"But you don't know where it is?" Labtech X nodded. Sometimes he hated himself. "And you want someone to show you?" He nodded again. Moria smiled and made the man feel worse about what he was doing. Not only was he hunting someone he didn't want to kill, he was using such a nice lady to do it. "I can't show you myself, but there's a real nice girl that lives in those house with the green roof near the church. She's a member of the Harem. There's a sign outside her door that says EvilAuthor on it. Go ask her. She normally heads off to the Harem about this time. If she hasn't left yet, I'm sure she'll show you."

Labtech X thanked her and left.

~

The house was just where Moria had said, but no lights were shining out from the window like with the other homes of Durem. Had she left? Stepping carefully over the vast amounts of purple flowers that surrounded the small home, Labtech X looked in the window. The house was not empty, as he had originally thought. The room was only partly lit by the dull light of a computer screen. In the center of the room was a blonde girl in nothing but black underclothes and candy stripped stockings was dancing with a plushie as she sang.

"We're from Sardinia! Family Tortuga. Three loving brothers, not with each other! First there's D'Angelo, he thinks he's Romeo-"

Labtech X yelped as a cane came down hard on his head. "PERVERT!" The young tech turned to see a furious Edmund standing there, his cane raised to strike again. "Looking in the windows of young women, you disgust me!" Labtech X turned to run, but Edmund grabbed him by the back of the neck. Edmund was a tall man with broad shoulders. He was a very powerful looking man and he knew it. The younger of the two gasped in pain and shock as he was lifted off the ground. "You aren't going anywhere," the shopkeeper growled.

It might have seemed strange for Edmund to take such interest in a peeping Tom, but Labtech X had been peeking into a house well known to Edmund. He loved all of his regular customers, but Jenna was among the few he considered to be his favorites. She visited him everyday to look at a coat she couldn't afford and every time she brought him a slice of pie for him to eat on his lunch break. Edmund didn't want anyone disrespecting the strange young woman.

He dragged Labtech X to the door where Edmund knocked.

"Then there is Raphael! He sword fights-" The singing stopped. "Who is it?"

"Edmund."

The purple wooden door was kicked open and the young woman flew out, wrapping her arms tightly around Edmund's waist. She was still in just her underclothes and stockings, she hadn't bothered to dress. "Edmund! Come in, come in! Do you want some pie?"

Edmund gently pushed the girl back with the hand not in a death grip around Labtech X's neck. "I'm afraid I'm not here for a visit. I caught this ruffian peering through your bedroom windows. Do you know him?"

The delighted expression that had been on the woman's face at seeing Edmund turned to rage as she looked at the tech. He suddenly feared her more the Edmund. "HE WAS WHAT?" she screamed. She disappeared back into her house only to return holding a long sharp sword. "PERVERT!"

"Jenna!" Edmund held up a hand, clearly thinking the sword was far too drastic.

"I wasn't peeking!" Labtech X cried. "I just wanted to see if anyone was home! Moria said to come talk to EvilAuthor!" He lifted his arms to cover his head. "Don't kill me!"

"Oh! I'm EvilAuthor!" She lowered her cutlass. "You know? I just realized I'm not wearing any clothes and I'm standing outside." Jenna smiled sweetly at them a moment before screaming as what she said finally dawned on her. She disappeared into her house once again.

With the young woman out of site, Edmund gave Labtech X another blow with the cane. He was whistling innocently when the blonde returned with a kilt and boots on over the underwear and stocking set. X didn?t see why it made such a difference since she still wasn't wearing a shirt. She handed Edmund a small paper plate with a slice of pie on it. "Thank you from bring this poor misguided soul to my attention. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll have that coat ready for you when you get there," Edmund dropped the tech and walked away.

~

After giving the young woman his lie about wanting to join the Harem, she had cheerfully jerked him towards Barton. While her face showed cheerfulness, the tight grip on his wrist and the occasional sharp jerks told him she wasn't going to forgive his peeping.

The Harem was much nicer then Labtech X had expected. Barton had many drab and plain buildings, but near the arched gates that lead to Isle De Gambino was a small white mansion. On a large polished wood sign near the double doors read "Gino's Harem: Est March 15, 2005"

Jenna opened the door and led him in with another sharp pull. "Welcome to my favorite Home Away From Home! If you're serious about joining, you'll need to talk to Rychi."

Labtech X nodded, but he hadn't heard a word she had said. His attention was too focused on the main entrance hall of the Harem. The ceiling was high and he had to strain to look at it, the walls shined as if they had been coated in crystal, but most of all, the Harem was alive. A group of girls sat on a large pile of pillows laughing with a green haired boy. On the other side of the room, a young man was trying his hardest to get his pants on, but kept failing as he was mocked by a red headed girl wearing VonHelson pins.

That snapped him back to reality. VonHelson pins? He looked at Jenna. Proudly displayed on her chest was a Gambino pin. The attention on the pin was mistaken as attention on something else, which made the blonde steam. "What's the big idea, pervert?"

"I, what? NO! I was looking at you G-pin!" The fact Jenna wore a G-pin didn't make Labtech X very found of her. "It's just that girl over there is wearing the right and left V-pins. Doesn't that cause problems?"

"Nonsense!" Rychi laughed from behind the tech. "We welcome people from both sides! Officially, the Harem is neutral." Rychi smiled warmly, but allowed her gaze to take in those whom were present in the Harem. "They all come and they get along because we all love Gino in our own ways. As for Evil and Alice, well, they were friends before Alice even moved here to Gaia."

Deep inside Labtech X, he felt a tug on his heart strings. The Harem had done what he longed for all of Gaia to do. They had peace. He opened his mouth to speak, but the doors on the far side of the room opened and Gino stepped out of what looked like a staircase. "Oh, a new member?" Gino crossed to them and offered his hand. "Thank you so much for your support."

Labtech X could only stare at Gino's hand.

"Hey, you look very familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?"

In his head, the young tech had a flashback of when G-Corp was still in the process of being bought by Gambino, back when they didn't do tests on the employees. A five-year-old Gino trailed after his father, gripping the cloak as Gambino praised an intern who would later become Labtech X. Gino had been only a child then, but he remembered the meeting. He might not have yet placed it in his mind, but he remembered.

Labtech X turned and ran for the building.