People were not good. Neither were they evil. They were but what their position wanted them to be. Beggars would beg, kings would rule, and soldiers would kill. It was what society saw them as, be it killers, scum, or saviours. There was no real force stopping people to act out of this confinement. Only… to not fit into the society would put an exclusion of sociality on the breaker. It was one of the worst faults that could be committed. Staying in line, doing just what was expected, was the best way to walk in life. Anybody could do the unexpected, but it had to fit the role they already had in place.
Still… Esme had not been fair in her words. In fact, Troy had been getting very annoyed by her continuous rejections to speak. According to her, she had already spoken enough. 'Everything needed to be said had already been told.` Wasn't that just perfect? Troy understood nothing of it, and was that not the opposite of what was supposed to be happening? Him getting something out of the whole thing.
That was even the final point Charlie had made in the start. It would be best to comply, so the new guy would learn something about his oh so dear friends. Troy had certainly learned something alright, but it probably was not what had been intended.Those in power had the opportunity to use it. While their actions were most certainly not meant to be cruel, it was obvious that the power had been used only because they had it. To Esme, it was harmless. A joke or something close to it, meant to be taken with mirth. Some people would have taken it as such, but Troy was unfortunately not a part of that group. He was a part of the group who was annoyed by the lack of understandable explanations.
And on the topic of Troy being very annoyed, there was another fact that was increasing that specific emotion by quite a margin. After another twenty minutes of pointless attempts to get more information out of Esme, their stay at the laboratory had concluded itself. Just as Darlow had said earlier, not everybody had the opportunity to jabber on indefinitely. Some people had to work. Troy and Charlie had been told to kindly piss off, and the younger of the two had done just that.
Troy had also thought that Charlie had been in too, but upon looking back found no such thing. The muscular man had quiet footsteps, making him hard to hear normally. And as there had been an atmosphere that required no talking to occur, there had been no reason to look back at all.
Finding nothing but air behind him had been quite the experience. Troy had muttered some swears, Adam had advised him on using such language in front of high-security locations, and a quick apology had been issued to the boring wall. There had been a desire to give it to the AI, but that had been stopped more quickly than he would've guessed. Something about trying to keep their secret quiet, even if nobody looked to be around them to hear any words said. Troy had taken it as paranoia but was following along with the order silently. No point to argue.
After another five minutes of waiting, the door to the hidden entrance opened up again. Out walked Charlie, looking like nothing was amiss.
"What took you so long?" Troy asked, still annoyed at the time he had been left waiting. The face-punching grin on the other man’s face did not help the slightest bit at the emotion still being felt. "Twisted your ankle somewhere?"
"Oh no, nothing was wrong at all," Charlie said, putting any worries about his health away. "I was merely having a quick discussion about the wonders of friendship. Esme was a hard nut to crack, but I do think I succeeded."
The last part was said with no small hint of pride. Troy did not have any reason to imitate cheeriness. However, staying around with a negative disposition for too long would only bring harm. While it was not the best situation to do so in, the matter was dropped from the mind, the only wish left being to continue their round.
"Whatever," Troy said, waving away the last remains of the discussion that would not be had. "Seeing as we have only visited two, who is next? And where do we need to go?"
To this, Charlie grinned like the devil-incarnate that he was. Bringing an old-fashioned lighter out of his jacket, he lit it in a couple of tries. Troy idly wondered how the man had not gotten it taken away with how large a fire danger it was. Maybe special permission? Being smart had its privileges somewhere.
"Troy. My dear, dear Troy. On this day, you will see something that will shock you to the day you wither," Charlie said, getting his dramatics on. Even the tone was put a few pitches deeper than normal like he was trying to emulate the gloomy tones of old narrators. 'It was a dark and stormy evening.` That would fit to be said with such a voice. And If prompted, Troy did not doubt that he would do it.
The seconds passed slowly, neither saying anything. Charlie looked resilient to keep his gloomy look around him, but it really didn't match the way he was trying to look imposing by flexing his shoulder. It would have been better to go for the tall and skinny look instead. That would have held up perfectly for longer periods of time at least.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"... What?" Troy asked. "What will I see?"
"Just wait for a second," Charlie advised sagely. "Another few seconds of silence and this dreary atmosphere will be perfect!"
"The hallway is perfectly lit up, there is a fresh scent of mint, and you are trying to tell me that this is supposed to feel dreary?" Troy questioned, not truly believing that he was hearing the words spoken correctly. "Where is that mint even coming from?"
Charlie crossed his arms slightly, to keep the still-lit lighter away from his clothes. It was not the most natural of positions.
"Well, if you really want to ruin the fun part of our little ritual, I guess I could just explain it normally," Charlie said, being nowhere near as sad as he sounded.
"I would prefer that to anything you have planned previously, yes," Troy answered without any hesitation. The other man decided to ignore the quick answer.
"The next person to see should have been Francis," Charlie continued, acting like Troy had said nothing. "However, I have the trouble of being unable to remember just where his base of operation is. Or if he has a base of operations at all. Or what he really does for a living… so with a heavy heart, I have to say that coming over to him will simply be impossible for us.
But do not falter! For I have long before this day found a counter to this hindrance. If we are not able to come to him, we must simply make him come to us. This does require a bit of hard work, however, so fully trust what I am about to say, no matter how untrustful it may sound."
Troy nodded, not trusting Charlie in any way whatsoever. They were currently outside of another department's doors, being listened into by whoever would be reviewing the security tapes. Or, was there even somebody doing that? It might just be automatic. With how many potential cameras were constantly around, Troy doubted anybody would subject themselves to constantly looking over them, in the excuse of finding anything suspicious. Reports would first have to be made before anybody spared anything more than a glance at the things.
"Sure. What will we be doing?" Troy asked. While he might not trust Charlie currently, he did trust that the next few actions would do something at least. Bring Francis to the two’s current placement though? That might have been a little too far fetched.
"Preparations!" Charlie said, swinging the light around a little. The flame swayed on the end of it. No matter how one looked at it, that thing was a fire-danger not fit for the kind of work they were in. Were there not direct laws against personal lighting-devices being used in laboratory conditions? That deal made had to be good, or else that showing was just another example of how far away from the grip of law people here were. "First, do you have any credits on your person?"
"If I had, you wouldn't get any," Troy answered. A click of the tongue was heard in response.
"That is a shame, but something we can still work with," Charle muttered, before bringing out another lighter with his other hand. "Take this. We shall create a beautiful creation brought from the depths of an inferno!"
Dramatics. Troy could not feel the need for them, in the current moment. While those things were certainly a danger, he had doubts they could create an inferno. Though, with how many things had gone over his head on a single day, maybe there was more in those pockets than he could-
A sharp peck hit Troy’s neck, causing a jolt of motion to come from the younger man. It could have been described as an attempt to hide behind Charlie, before he realised just what he was about to do, and promptly stopping half in place. It did not stop him from moving a minimum of two meters away from his original position, however.
Troy's back had been facing the wall. A purely solid wall, with no chance of having a hidden entrance behind it. There had already been a hidden entrance just from the other side of the hallway, so there would be no reason to have multiple on opposite sides of each other, right? That would just be a security risk.
With the complete incomprehension of what just had hit him, an immediate want to see just what had touched him briefly came around on his mind. With a speedy turn of the head, no person was to be seen. Not surprising, as no person could have come around him without Troy noticing. But… then what had hit him?
"That took Francis longer to answer than I anticipated," Charlie noted, bringing his lighters back in his pocket. "Last time I did this, it took under ten seconds before he replied. Just what has he written for us today, I wonder."
Charlie bent down to his knees, reaching his hand towards the floor. On the ground, right behind where Troy had stood only moments ago, sat a paper aeroplane. It was a rarity to see such a thing, and the young man only recognized it from pictures, but it was most certainly a paper-based creation.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Troy blatantly asked, in a more demanding tone. The suddenly appearing liquid in the jugs could have been explained. Maybe they were just in the roots or something. There was somewhere where it could have come from. Here? It was as if that paper had appeared from clear air.
"From Francis," Charlie answered, feeling like he was stating the obvious. The emotion was sent over to Troy clear as day.
"Care to be more specific?"
"I care not," Charlie answered. "Don't question it or you will forget it, and that will just send you into a loop that neither of us will like you having. Now… let's see what dear old Francis has written for us."
Folding out the paper-aeroplane, words were revealed to them. From the side, Troy was able to read them clearly.
'I accept. You can contact me through standard communication channels. Stop trying to set things on fire in my name.`
"Such a pity," Charlie muttered. "I would have liked it if he was a bit more forceful."
"What did he accept?" Troy asked, deciding to yet again ignore the weird wordings heard.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Charlie said reassuringly. "With that dealt with, it is time for the final piece of the puzzle. Zep! Let us move forth!"
And onwards the muscular marched. Troy, not being french, did the kind thing and followed like the decent person that he was.