In the end, maybe it was a good thing that Troy had learned to act. To skillfully deflect anything sent his way, with that silent smile on his face. There had been times where he was not able to contain himself, but those could be looked past.

Breakfast continued for a gruelling ten more minutes, in which not a single person at the table talked. Charlie put his smile back on his face, but Troy was more than certain that it disappeared the minute he looked away. Even worse was it that the upwards curve never reached the eyes. It was obvious the man was looking for any weaknesses. Not to exploit them for his own gain, but to keep them safe from what could come at them.

He was misunderstanding everything happening, and it was gut-wrenching to look at. Troy could easily see how much Charlie cared for his well-being. The man had confessed how he had dedicated his life to helping those not having it easy. To see such exploitation of an innocent goal… it almost made him spill his secrets. The glaring being given to Dr Hale, for something that she had not done for the purpose of cruelty.

Troy had spent a good time thinking about it all. The thinking was probably the only thing he could really do at the table, as speaking would incur the wrath of who-bloody-knows. Dr Hale had apologised for the actions before she had even done them! There had been a plan to do them from the start.

The sudden change in attitude hinted at a need to hide the original one. Hiding from who? Whoever was listening to them talk. With the emergency recorders being mentioned, it might even have included video recording. As Troy was not made to act like he had been punched, that was likely more true than anything else. It was clear that some level of realism was needed.

Yet… could some other act not have been made? Maybe something that didn't require him to have continual bouts of pain? Troy didn't understand the game being played, but he had no intentions for that to continue.

For the first time since the final words by Charlie, Dr Hale looked up from her food, towards the digital clock mounted on the wall. Troy did the same, as he had nothing better to do, and saw they still had about ten minutes before they would be leaving. That meant another damned ten minutes of awkward silence. He had begun relating it to one of those messed up love-triangles, with the love part of it ripped out. It was a little disturbing how that mental image gave him some level of comfort. Maybe it was the weird sense of familiarity, which gave his chemically unbalanced brain a weird phase of security. Yet it could also have been due to the massive-

"It's time to move. Get up," Dr Hale ordered coldly, moving up from her sitting position herself. Her face was impassive, with not a single glance given to Charlie, who was not looking happy with the current situation. Troy did his best to ignore this unsatisfied expression while getting up from his seating arrangements, but a hand on his shoulder held him down. To nobody's surprise, it was the man he sat beside that was the owner of the hand.

"Isn't it a little early for the two of you?" Charlie questioned, suspicion clear in his words. It was an obvious delay-tactic. "The two of you normally spend your time here for as long as you can. Maybe it would be best if you sat down, and enjoyed a second serving your choice. I do hear the pastries are great."

"Pastries are not of my concern. If my superiors dictate an earlier start on the day, then they will get their earlier start of the day. This does require that Troy had the ability to move from his position, of which you are restraining him. I think it would be best if you released him from your grasp," Dr Hale answered, eyes turning into metaphorical daggers. Yet with how much Troy was stopping himself from flinching, it might as well have been real ones.

Charlie did not seem sold on the idea, the man’s fingers momentarily tensing. It put pressure on Troy’s skin, being on the border of being uncomfortable. The pressure stopped before it could though, as he likely realised what he was doing. Any person around could see the protectiveness shown, and not a single one of them could blame them. Troy could not understand how the act was being kept up by the other head player. He had only remained sane due to his more passive role in the scheme. Being in the background was always the easiest part to play, and there was a feeling of gained skill because of it.

"Well, I don't think we have talked enough, to be honest," Charlie informed them as if it was a sad fact of their circumstances.

How the man had not let go of the thread, even with that glare of hers growing by the second. Troy may have had slight trouble noticing it in the days prior, but the sense of mortal dread was getting more real by the second. Even if he was not the target, it worked more than well enough. There was little doubt he would have crumbled in that storm, making it even more impressive how Charlie was still sitting calmly. Negotiation with Satan herself was a conversation best left up to the atheist, and there was no doubt that the man was anything but a believer.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Your opinion doesn't matter. We will be going now," Dr Hale stated, turning her glare momentarily towards Troy. Side-exposure may have felt dreadful, yet being the target was much worse. Knowing it was fake did not help in the slightest. If not for the direction wanted by the woman, he did not know if he could have kept his cool. She wanted to leave, and his restricted seating was the only thing stopping it. "Troy. Get up from there."

Another attempt was made to get up, to the point where he tried to remove the hand from his shoulder. It seemed successful at first, but the mass difference between him and Charlie was too great. The moment the larger man put pressure on the shoulder, there was nothing that could be done. The struggling ceased after that, as it was as pointless as ever. Troy felt ashamed even more, knowing that Charlie was just trying to help him out of what was looking like an actual house. But it wasn't like that. Or… Troy didn't think it was like that. Only unstable speculation had really been made.

What proof did Dr Hale even have? A piece of metal that vaguely resembles recording equipment seen before? For all Troy knew, such things could have been in every single alarm clock in the whole facility. WIth how fancy everything needed to be, there was no doubt that vocal snooze buttons existed, even if he had never used it himself.

Was it really all just one scheme, orchestrated by a messed up person? Troy needed answers, and he needed it quick. But, he just couldn't ask away immediately, else there would be the potential of screwing up by an extreme margin. The silence was intended unless it was said that it was okay. If it turned out not to be a sadistic lie, ruining it all because of baseless suspicion would not be looked at favourably.

"Maybe those superiors of yours can’t be questioned, but that doesn't mean our talk has to end," Charlie acknowledged with a twist. "I could walk with the two of you to your laboratory. You know, just to talk a bit more."

Or to make sure that they were going, where Dr Hale was saying they were going. It was a reasonable thing to plan for, and Charlie was just making sure nothing immoral happened.

"You aren't allowed to follow us anywhere, with your inferior level of clearance. Any attempts will be looked at as an attempt to commit treason and will be reported," Dr Hale informed the muscular man. The abuser threatened legal action. There was some cynical view in that, with how perfectly okay it was.

One last glare happened between the two power-houses before Charlie finally looked to give up. Troy was happy with that, as the man should have known when he was beating. She was superior in terms of security level, and the trust that came with the position was not to be questioned. One always trusted seniority, no matter the history that was with the person. Even if she broke a man’s fingers, there was nothing on her divulging information. In the eye of the government, that had to be a pristine sheet.

"Troy, do remember that you are only hired to work here," Charlie told the young man. "Anything else is pure free will."

"I will remember that," Troy promised, getting up to follow the woman that had already begun walking away. There was a minor reluctance to hurry after her, but the act, unfortunately, called for it. Nevertheless, there was not any looking back now. Forward was the only acceptable choice. Else, the consequences would be more than doubled.

The two left the cafeteria in a hurry, going towards the intended room by the first step. Only… that direction did not continue being the correct one. As time progressed, only two minutes but more than enough to realise something was wrong, Troy began feeling worried about what was going on.

Three turns had been taken by then, in a route that customarily only took two. Likewise, they had walked for far too long, going to places that had never been walked on before by him. He couldn't even recognize the paintings on the wall, as they continued becoming more and more abstract in sense.

It was at the high point of nonsensical paints, being more in line with somebody aimlessly doodling, that Dr Hale finally stopped in her tracks. Troy mirrored this action, silently observing the woman while wondering just what was going on. It took another couple of seconds before anything truly remarkable occurred, as Dr Hale lined her fingers against several parts of the largest of the doodles, before pressing the digits onto the wall hard. Contrary to any expectation that had been had, the wall took it with glee, letting the fingers pass through cleanly.

A loud clicking sound was heard, as Dr Hale removed her fingers again. Slowly but surely, a hidden door appeared, looking much older than anything else in the facility. Iron parts could be plainly seen, not hidden by standardized protection padding. If one’s hand was put in the wrong place, there was no question about it being cleanly removed through sheer pressure. The danger posed by these mechanics did not look to frighten the woman in any way, however, as she walked down the steps-

Wait. Steps?

"Follow along now," Dr Hale instructed. "I don't expect you will be able to repeat the access key."

With the encouragement of potentially being left behind, Troy followed the woman down the steps. From the first breath of air, it was obvious that no cleaners ventured down there, the air being dreadfully stale. If there had not been light at the end of the staircase, there would have been gambles on just going up again, no matter the wrath which would happen from it.

They quickly reached the end, happening upon what Troy could only call an outdated version of the facility. The walls were certainly meant to the same colours as what was only a story higher up, yet age had caused erosion to begin. The floor was grainy to the touch, travelled on for one too many years. No doors were in sight, only the hallway stretching out to both sides. The only real form able to be located was the staircase they had come from.

"Where are we?" Troy finally asked, curiosity finally taking over. And it was like it broke any walls to ask such a thing.

"We are standing at one of the oldest locations that we could possibly find in this place," Dr Hale answered calmly, taking a slow look around. "It's so old that much of the equipment here is unusable, the connections too unstable. It has been given up on, making this what we can safely call a void, nothing said being recorded in any meaningful way."

A digital void…

"Does that mean…?" Troy began asking, not wanting to say it directly yet.

"Yes, that means we have time to talk about just why this is happening."

"Great, because you have some fucking things to explain before you think I am ever going to forgive for that shit you just pulled."

Troy might have regretted a few words said, in those first few seconds. Honesty was a vile weapon when used improperly.