It was not the most tranquil of moments, as Troy sat down at the table. Dr Hale was on the other side, the arrangement having set itself in stone during the last few days. He tried to just stare down at this food. Yet, he knew that her eyes were boring into him. A grandiose achievement, as his own were nearly closed, not letting him see his surroundings. Yet closed eyes did not stop him from hearing the clatter of a plate hitting the table next to him.
Charlie was certainly not one to skimp out on grand entrances, bringing out his beefy servings of eggs and sausages for all to see. The man certainly did not know how to handle it with care, the plate having been broken if it was anything other than hard plastic. Maybe that was the reason why that material was chosen in the first place, though? Who knows.
“Brilliant day we’re having. Isn't it?” Charlie asked the two others at the table. Nobody seemed in the mood to answer immediately, but that only seemed to make the muscle-bound giant feel more encouraged. It was certainly a dangerous mix, when paired together with two people who were not on the most solid of grounds with each other. “The sun is probably shining outside, perhaps a few birds are chirping, and there might just be a few people being more open than you two sad sacks of flesh. Is the coffee not working yet?”
“Some of us seem to be dreading work, for whatever reason they might have made inside their heads,” Dr Hale answered for a change. Neither of the other two had expected this. Troy even brought his eyes up for a second, only to put them right back down the very second that her eyes came into his peripheral.
“Dreading work is the sign of a healthy mind,” Charlie countered smoothly, even if the initial reaction had been a mild expression of shock. “Anything else would be some straight out denial. And last I checked, things like that were not acceptable in society.”
“I agree. However, there are some clear boundaries on what dread should allow,” Dr Hale answered calmly. Yet no matter how calm she may have sounded, her indifferent tone made her seem so much angrier. Or would furious be more fitting? Troy could not be sure without taking another look at those eyes of hers. And no way was that going to happen if he got a word in about that.
“Oh? What would those be?” Charlie politely inquired. The man just seemed happy to have some conversation up and going. The youngest at the table could only dread the second that the other end would hit the floor. And with the momentum that was building up, it would definitely shake more than a few of them up.
“While people may dread any act that they do, if it has already been agreed on, there is nothing that should stop them from completing it,” Dr Hale answered, those eyes of hers bringing more pressure by each second.
“What if it's something immoral, then? If I got turned over in an agreement, there is no reason for me to uphold it,” Charlie debated. He seemed weirdly focused on keeping the talk going. Or was it an attempt to draw attention away from the woman’s seeming target? “Would you not say the same, Mara?”
“Please be professional and call me by my last name. This is a workplace, no matter how much you dislike that fact.”
“Sure, Dr Hale,” Charlie stated, putting extra emphasis on the changed name. It was more than likely meant as a jab, yet it did not connect in an intended way. “Do answer my question, though. Would you agree with me on it? Do people cheated into immoral deals not deserve to get out of them?”
“... Yes. They do deserve to be justified in their actions. If they were tricked, there should not be expectations for them not to do the same back,” the doctor answered after a second of deliberation. “However, when there is nothing other than the already agreed-upon terms and conditions, I personally feel that everything should be upheld to the letter. This is also confirmed on meeting times and locations. Is there anything you have against that, Dr Freeman?”
“No arguments for that at all,” Charlie said, making a circle in the air using the sharp end of his fork. There were still bits of scrambled eggs on it. Some of it hit the table, making Troy inwardly wince from the need to clean up. “But… I do have a question that I needed to ask you. It's nothing too important. Just… something that I had been wondering about.”
“And? What would that question of yours be?”
“Why exactly do you have to follow Troy to the cafeteria every day now? Are you afraid he can't find the way here or something?”
Troy almost choked once his coffee, a painful endeavour with how utterly hot it was. He was sure to have more than a couple of burn-marks by the end of the day. Already, he could feel the pain bubbling up from beneath.
There was a need to say something out loud about it all. Maybe an exclamation of pain, a comment about the ongoing situation, or just a reminder that he could hear everything being said between the other two. The young man was feeling ten again, hearing all the shouting from the house next to him. And he knew from experience that keeping his mouth shut during those times were the best for his continued survival. Including himself in the trouble of others would only cause more chaos in his life. Nothing remained stagnant, yet staying neutral did at least help in slowing it all down by a notch.
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“Do you find a problem with it?” Dr Hale challenged, not answering the question. Really, there was no good way to answer it, making the only real strategy that of one who was on the offensive. Charlie should have realised that, before throwing out that question of his. Did he not realise how it was going to end up?
“Not particularly, no,” Charlie mysteriously answered, putting his hands up briefly to show that he meant no offence. “You can do whatever you want. He is your subordinate after all. Yet… it just seems a little strange to me. The two of you live in opposite directions of the cafeteria. You have to physically pass this place on your way to him. Doesn't that seem a little… counterproductive?
“I had not thought you to be one thinking about potential productivity.”
“Getting a little personal here, aren't we? Who was it again that wanted us to be professional in the workplace?”
“If you desire to be one who tries to-”
“Please, just keep both of your mouths shut,” Troy said, not being able to handle it. Charlie had perhaps not desired to make it into a battle from the start, yet the responses had turned over the mood to another kind. From there, everything should have been stopped, only the actual result from continuing being yet another shouting match. The young man even predicted it to have come on within a few seconds. He just didn't want that today. “I am trying to enjoy my breakfast after a long time spent with an empty stomach. While I would normally allow the two of you to blabber on until one of you leaves the room, either with or without me in tow, I have a glorious new idea. How about the both of you shut the fuck up, put your asses down on your seats, and then act like civilised human beings for ten fucking minutes? You are both adults! I should not be the one asking this of you. Sit down, shut up, and eat your bloody breakfast."
His words had not been the kindest in the world. Troy understood that. In any other situation, he might even have apologised for them. This time, however, he did no such thing, instead just going back to his oatmeal and coffee, as if he had not just shouted at two people that were able to ruin him in every way possible.
To most’s surprise, there was a large silence after the outburst. Those sitting near them had certainly stopped their own chatting, ears piqued towards a very familiar direction. Nearly everybody was holding an ear out, actually, wanting to be the first for the new piece of news on the gossip group.
Charlie was the first to just sigh, sit down again, and just begin to eat his eggs again. The man did seem disgruntled as if he wanted something out in the air. Yet, nothing ever came out of him, as if the side never before seen from Troy was enough of a dampener. And it made sense. In a way, the man had been trying to defend him in some way, questioning Dr Hale about her constant focus on him. Like many other gestures done, the action itself was appreciated, yet the results were not as well-liked.
Another sip of coffee allowed the young man to witness Dr Hale’s way of processing his words. She had stopped her killer-stare, looking down at her own food as well. There was no emotion coming out of her, but that was no different than the usual. Troy could guess that she was still angry, however. And she had every right in the world for that as well. She had stressed again and again the importance of their meeting up early.
Troy messing it up had likely ruined something, at the very least. Was it important? Possibly. He had no real way of knowing. From her reaction to his absence, there was a good chance of it at least. That she had answered in such a way as well… it did not speak well for the future.
As requested, the rest of breakfast was a quiet endeavour. Troy finished his food, got another cup of liquid luck, and was generally filled up by the time that the clock said they needed to leave. Charlie himself was still being quiet as they walked away. He did wave, which the young man mirrored back, but that was the end of it.
There hadn't even been any real communication about when they would leave. He had just copied Dr Hale when she began to leave, the woman never outright stating the need for him to follow.
Nevertheless, the lack of talking didn't stop anybody from moving out of the cafeteria, much less did either of the two need to talk as they walked down the halls. The number of people seen slowly began diminishing as they walked through the facility. Their starting point of the cafeteria helped keep the amount high for the first minute or two, with everybody in their right mind wanting to have something to eat before going to work. Yet, when they got more removed from the surrounding area of the cafeteria, almost nobody was around. Troy knew that they still had the chance of meeting others, yet the chances were close to none.
He never thought about this fact much, really. There was no reason to, that fact being constant throughout his stay. Yet that lack of people around them was beginning to be extra noticeable, as he realised how few would know what was to come of him soon. That judgement might have intially been dumped on him assuming the worst, yet the look beginning to appear on Dr Hale’s room spoke of other facts indeed.
“Would you mind enlightening me, why you were not in your room this morning?” Dr Hale asked, stopping in the hallway. They had been walking the wrong way for some time. Troy assumed that they had someplace they needed to go to. In actuality, she had just been making sure they were as far away from everything as possible.
“I was watching movies with Charlie last night, and I just fell asleep at the wrong time,” Troy confessed instantly, knowing it foolish to try hiding the embarrassing truth.
“You could have still made it time,” Dr Hale stated, no budging in that damned stare. “Look at me, Troy. Why did you fail in the only task that I expected of you?”
“I… I just slept over. There was no alarm to wake me up. That’s all,” Troy said, not knowing what else to say.
Dr Hale looked at him for five seconds straight, as if expecting him to be in the process of having a screwed up joke. When she realised that he was actually being serious, there was some hair pulled and a head being hit into the wall a small bit.
“You just had to be a mess of a person on today of all days! You don't even realise what you've done, have you?” Dr Hale spit out. “Don't even answer that. I know you don't. You don't know anything!”
“That's because you haven't told me anything!” Troy objected, knowing it would go on deaf ears.
“And it will stay that way, as you have ruined the minutes where I could enlighten you on the truth of the world!” Dr Hale said.
She lunged at him. Literally. Her body was catapulted before Troy even realised she had begun moving. Out of nowhere, a needle had appeared in her hand. His eyes honed in on the object, yet there was nothing he could do about it. The tip hit his skin before he could blink, and the contents were injected before the brain could even sense the impact.
“What the fuck was that?” Troy exclaimed, taking steps backwards until he hit the other wall. Dr Hale didn't stop him, only watching him move. She even looked a little… apologetic. What? No, her face was not standing still. It was moving around. Her mouth was on top, the eyes juggling around. “What is… “
Troy got a first-row view as his body fell to the side, his head hitting the floor with a thud. There were a few seconds where he could see. It was just enough to see Dr Hale’s shoes walk over to him. He didn't understand. And he wasn't getting time to understand it, as the darkness enveloped him before he even realised it.