An invisible wave washed over Wade as the word Calm hit his ears; he immediately felt more serene. Similarly, others also fell entirely silent. Although Wade's mind raced with the confirmation of other gods' existence, his newfound serenity allowed him to put those away for now.
"Sigh." Seeing everyone quiet down, Klaus relaxes a bit. "As you can tell, that was my [command] skill. Regrettably, I had to use that one you, but I had to return the order so we could continue." Klaus paused, seemingly waiting for anyone to object. When none came, he nodded and continued. "When the screens first arrived, I was picked by Father Time to be his priest. In a move of kindness, Father Time slowed time for government buildings worldwide, allowing governments to reorganize and have a chance to survive the chaos that will happen." Although no one seemed to start whispering again, many people showed concern at Klaus's mention of chaos. "For now, as I do not want to overload everyone with information, we will take an hour recess before continuing. Please talk amongst yourselves. Once the time is up, we will continue the discussion." Klaus started to walk away from the podium; as soon as he finished, Klaus was once more barraged with questions, but he refused to answer any of them, quickly leaving the scene.
"Gods?" one whispered.
"Heretic! There is only one true god!" Another spoke.
"Can't you see the world is different now? Fool, shut your blabbing; there is proof that was a lie." A third rebutted the second. Throughout the hall, similar conversations were being held. Wade almost thought there would be a brawl if not for the agents breaking it apart before things came to blows. Wade was finding it hard to believe but maintained his composure. For some reason, Wade felt an odd numbness from within. It felt as if he was supposed to feel more but wasn't. Shaking himself, he left that line of thought and started for the exit to the hall.
"Sir, One moment!" An agent walked over to Wade. "I understand this may inconvenience you, but may I ask why you are leaving?" This new agent stood tall and somewhat imposing.
"Am I not allowed to leave?" Wade said, tilting his head to the side curiously.
"Of course you are, Sir." The agent grimaced slightly. "I would kindly ask you to stay, though, unless there is an emergency." Wade glanced around, finding that he was starting to grab some attention.
"There is no need to worry; there is no emergency. I just can't think with all the loud sounds here." Some tension left the oversized agent's shoulders.
"Of course." The bulky agent started for the door. "I'll follow you out." Wade looked around once more before following. Once both men left the hall, the muscular agent slumped onto a wall. "Sorry." He took a deep breath and continued, "I don't mean to disturb you. It's just.." The agent fell silent. "I'm Darel, by the way." Darel raised his hand for a shake. Wade shook Darel's hand before reciprocating an introduction.
"Wade." Leaning his shoulder on a wall, Wade looked toward Darel appraisingly. "If.. you don't mind me asking. What exactly is going on?" Darel's shoulders sag, and he looks at the ground.
"I... Don't know." Darel looked into Wade's eyes, and Wade noticed that Darel was barely keeping things together. "For me, it's been 4 days. I was one of the few lucky enough to be in the base during the 'incident'. Some of the agents who got classes started to throw their weight around. Before anyone got hurt, Mr. Anderson calmed them down with his [Command] skill, and the rogues were detained, but...." Darel paused in the middle of his frantic speech. "Mr. Anderson slowed down time on day 1; on day 2, we were debriefed just enough to get a grip and start working again. The day we tried to do some damage control, we contacted news anchors and stopped riots before they got too big. All while maintaining surveillance on social media and public places for signs of classed." Silenced passed over the two men at the end of Darel's speech. "Sorry. I didn't mean to monologue. It's just I feel like I can trust you."
Wade raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"It's the eyes." Darel stopped leaning on the wall, standing up straight. "Fierce but calm, they stare with a weird intensity. Like a curious cat, one with claws." Darel stared at Wade for a moment before turning toward a hallway. "Come one! I'll take you to the break-room. We'll get some snacks during the intermission."
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