Troy spent the rest of his time at the fitness centre stretching out. Or said in more casual words, he found one of the large bouncy balls and sat on it for two hours straight. It was great fun for him, and Adam somehow got the law of entropy proven with Troy’s help. The young man was still not sure how any proof was created by continually bouncing on fitness equipment, but was there really a need to know? If he was told something happened by an entity known for despising lies, there wasn't any good reason to not take the words for truth.
Even if his location had been static, Troy had seen many things unfold around him. After having gotten over the nosebleed, Charlie has somehow decided that it was only the core muscles where he fell behind Zep. A series of contests had therefore unfolded, where the extremely muscle-bound man would fail miserably to somebody half his weight. The eyes filled with despair with every failure was a great thing to see. The expressions made had helped pass the time for everybody in the room, and had certainly helped Troy with his acting training. It had been something to do when he was bored at first, but his skill of impassiveness was growing quick. Within a few days, he expected to be able to ignore jabs made by the less liked people around him. Troy also predicted that it would not be long before he could reasonably predict future progress.
Things there did come to an end quickly though when all the possible muscle groups had been tested out. A few had been left behind due to too much overlap, and it had been getting late. As Zep had not yet eaten lunch, she had seen no reason to miss dinner as well. And as Charlie, therefore, didn't have anybody to have strength contests with, his appetite for the fitness centre had similarly fallen. Troy had been ready to leave several hours ago by then and had followed along.
As Zep usually resided in a different part of the facility, and that she already had plans for some reason, Troy and Charlie had wandered to the cafeteria by themselves. Since neither had any idea of what to do after dinner, it was decided that it would be enjoyed. And the muscular man had reminded the younger one to up the calorie intake. Losing weight was not something that was desired.
Much to the two's wonderment, there was one familiar face to see, as they entered the cafeteria. One stuck to a tall body in fact.
“What are you doing here, now?” Charlie asked Darlow, as they sat down at the table. The dinner of the day was partly a larger version of the standardized rice, resembling oversized basmati. It tasted the same if only a bit more salty. On top of that was fabricated meat, meant to resemble the meat of some of the larger birds, mixed in with a black sauce, made from a whole variety of ingredients, one of them definitely Worcestershire sauce.
Altogether, it tasted perfect, better than anything Troy could have ever dreamt of. It nearly reminded him of the homemade recipes that were usually made back when he was young. Those times had been one the memorable moments of his life, ones that he wished he could one day revisit. It all depended on him getting the recipes, however, for there was no possibility of him guessing them. While he wasn't terrible in the kitchen, he was only good at following the detailed guidance.
“I work close by, you know,” Darlow answered. “It's only because I eat at my workplace, that you normally don't see me here. And I was feeling a little adventurous today, so I decided to see if I remembered the taste of heated dishes. Surprisingly, I don't. You will be seeing more of me for the next few days, that fact has set itself in stone.”
“Oh, the despair I feel!” Charlie exclaimed with a not-so-heavy heart. In reality, nobody at the table minded at all, more than happy to have another distraction added into the usual repertoire. “I feel my lungs not letting me breathe, for the terror they feel is not within this world! Even the eldritch beings fear in this universal change, for even they can't perceive the reason the change to occur!”
“Then those things need to grow some more eyes, cause they are more blind than a stereotypical bat,” Darlow answered, only playing into the act by a small amount. While it was fun to do, there was no reason to let it get out of hand. It had been several months, but there were still memories of the last great battle. The tall man was still unsure, how Charlie procured historically accurate swords in such a short time.
“Wait, bats aren't blind,” Troy said, the sudden objection causing the forkful of rice to fall back onto the plate. The action was weirdly nostalgic, but the feeling was quickly thrown away, the current problem being much more important. “Darlow, you work with animals. You know that they can see perfectly fine, don't you?”
The tall man briefly had a moment, where he had to contain himself, lest he would say something which was not allowed to be said. It was not because they were rude, but because saying such would be a breach of contract, and cause a large part of the people in the room to be terminated, for the sake of not causing an information-leak. Another good reason for why he usually ate out of plain sight. Darlow had a loose tongue than one his position was allowed to have. While his main project was allowed to be spouted about as much as he wished, mentioning his side-projects in any capacity was not allowed. He even had a governmentally-required bug on him at all times, making sure he said nothing about it. It was even a requirement to wear it when sleeping. That had caused a need for a necklace, which had been hard to explain away to Charlie. 'A ring wasn't okay but a necklace was?` Really, that man needed to get himself a higher security clearance quickly.
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“Don't worry your hat off, Troy. I do know about the biology of bats good enough to realise that, even if they aren't my area of expertise,” Darlow assured Troy, being sure not to say anything more about the animal. When it came to the subject of not being able to see, there were a few points which did not need to be made in front of open ears.
“I didn't know that, actually,” Charlie said. The man sounded close to having had his world turned two degrees to the left, not really grasping the worth of materialism anymore. “Don't they scream loudly to find stuff? You know, echolocation?”
“They do. But, they can still see perfectly. A few can even see ultraviolet light,” Darlow confirmed, now feeling a strong need not to say anything more about that. “Going away from that impromptu biology lesson, have your goals for today found success? Visited all the other places, saw how their work-days worked, learned the truth about life, the universe, and everything, maybe?”
“Something close to that,” Troy answered, feeling like answering that one.
Also, the look on Charlie’s face as he was once again stopped from proclaiming his love of number-based references was a joy he would not let go. It only came into the world a few times in one's life, and the need for it to be taken was instant. The slightest of hesitation would let it slip away. Only true passion and impetuous wit would allow those who thought themselves to be funny to be quiet instead.
“Oh? Do explain,” Darlow requested, using the momentary pause to shovel food into his mouth. The group of three was eating and drinking after all. When sitting in a nearly filled cafeteria, there was an expectation to be quick about it.
Charlie looked ready to take over the conversation yet again but therein laid the faults. If Troy could see the exact moment the muscular man wanted to speak, he could say something the moment before, effectively stopping the other through the use of common courtesy. Was it childish? Very. Was it worth it? Definitely. Would Troy get repayment in some form or another? The younger man did not doubt it. He could only prepare himself for the inevitable backlash.
“It was very fun, starting with your place first. A bit of an appetizer if you will. Large enough to get the curiosity going, but not enough to really set off any alarms in the head. Daring but not frightening. Not that your place was bad in any way, of course,” Troy quickly added, not wanting to sound rude by telling the truth. Even if there had been ulterior reasons for visiting the tall man, it had still been a very enjoyable experience. Petting the tiger had certainly been one of his high-points in life.
“No need for that. I know where my strengths are,” Darlow just as quickly replied, the tall man not minding the comment at all. He had gotten it before, and he would get it in the future. “Do continue.”
Glad to not have offended somebody with a reasonably cutting remark, Troy did continue his summary of the day. It would be best not to half-ass it then after all. That would have made him seem bashful still, which he was admittedly. But, there was no need for others to peruse his mind so easily.
“Happy to know,” Troy said, getting back into where he had left off. “As Esme’s place was closest after yours, Charlie dragged me to her place first. After then scaring her, and causing a large amount of valuable data to be destroyed, we spent a long time helping her come back to the earlier state. I actually learned Charlie was very quick at manual labour with that. Who would have guessed that was one of his strengths. Extremely quick with those fingers of his, yet still soft enough that he wouldn't ruin any of the delicate equipment. Did you know that he had such a talent?”
“To an extent,” Darlow said agreeing, feeling a small bit of humour about the innocence of youth. Being able to say such things with nought but thought of humour. The kid had a talent that would fall to waste in so little time. “I'm guessing you saw some weird things in there?”
“Like you wouldn't believe,” Troy said, still thinking himself to have dreamt the whole thing up. Who would have thought that people of such a professional level could dead-pan say that they were trying to make their potions glow better? It just had to be some sick dream that Troy had gotten while being under the effects of the mixture. It just had to be, or he would be asking some questions to Esme later. “I honestly hate how little I can say about what I saw in there, but I am not sure I want to know about it now. It's just so… weird. I cannot understand how it exists. They use a term for something that is fictional like its non-fiction, and then I get shown something I have only seen in fantasy stories. I have no idea what Esme thinks she is doing, and at this point, I would have been better off not having the slightest clue. I know just enough to be irritated about not knowing more.”
Charlie had trouble not laughing at that, seeing the expression that Darlow was giving off. To the passive observer, not a single muscle had switched on the man’s face. But Charlie knew how to read between the lines, into what was known as the soul, the core, or generally just the mind. The irony was folding in on itself, as Darlow was stopping himself from asking more into detail about it. The man likely knew the inability to know about it, due to the lowered security clearance that he possessed, but just could not help but want to know more. Charlie could understand how enticing it might have sounded, with how vaguely Troy had talked about it.
In reality, there wasn't much to be said about Esme’s project. Really, was temporary immortality really that interesting? It was just invulnerability! No laser sharks were in sight of that drink. The fact that Troy was still talking about it told much about his ignorance. This failure would be fixed with time. He had much to learn.
“Sounds like a terrible state to be in,” Darlow acknowledged, not trusting himself to say much more about it. “Going away from that which we must not speak about, did you do anything else after visiting dear old Esme.”
Troy decided to ignore the very familiar way Esme was talked about, thinking it better to ignore the fact. The woman certainly did not look old, so there likely was some backstory for the remark. Bluntness, maybe? It didn't matter.
“Of course,” Troy answered. “After having a very brief message sent to us by Francis, spurred on by planned pyromancy, we continued on towards-”
“Hold up,” Darlow said. “Pyromancy?”
“It's the act of lighting things on fire,” Troy quickly explained, feeling it peculiar that he had to explain it at all. “Anyway, we continued on towards-”
“I know what pyromancy means. I just don't understand how that relates to messaging Francis,” Darlow cut in once again, this time making a bit more sense. So much sense, in fact, that Troy felt grateful enough to let Charlie explain it. With a nod towards the muscular man, the younger one leaned back, ready to see the fruits of his short labour.
“Have you ever heard of the almighty Fire god, he who we praise by burning in his name?” Charlie asked bluntly, having already pulled out two handheld lighters. Troy felt that the show was going to be a good one.