Isaac looked thoughtfully at the duo in front of him.

"I am Merriam Webster, a private detective, and this is my assistant Oliver Williams," Oliver lightly curtsied at the mentioning of his name, "We're detectives from the capital, but a client has asked us to investigate a certain prisoner in this particular facility; related to a murder,"

Isaac nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer. However, he did lean forward to ask another, final question, "And I'm sure you know that to work in these premises, you need to have written permission from the city lord. I presume you have it in your person?"

"Actually, I have received one from Lord Persei; give me a moment..." she began searching her pockets for the letter.

"Thank you," After receiving the letter, it only took Isaac a few moments to verify its status.

"This is indeed authentic. I apologize if you were offended; it's merely protocol,"

"Not at all! I understand the need for high-grade security in such a... delicate facility,"

"Thank you for understanding. Now then, which prisoner would you like to visit?"

The two looked at one another before Merriam stepped up, "Malkov Dietritsche,"

Isaac frowned, though he was quick to hide it. Still, this didn't go unnoticed by Merriam and Oliver, who were closely observing Isaac.

'Oho? We're lucky this guy doesn't play poker much,' Oliver thought to himself, 'But just in case, let's put a pin on him. Maybe we can use this to our advantage; kill two birds with one stone,'

Back to the conversation:

"Is something the matter?" Merriam raised a brow at his unnatural expression.

"No... No, nothing's wrong; I'm just a bit ill with all the maintaining I had to do since a riot broke out a few days ago," As he spoke, he couldn't help but lightly gulp, another detail that didn't go overlooked by the two, "But yes, you can absolutely visit him; I'll call someone to escort you there,"

-Beep!-

He pressed a small button on his desk, and in a few minutes, the trio heard someone knock on the door.

"Come in!" Turning to see who came in, Oliver and Merriam were surprised to find the same female guard enter.

"This is Amelia; she'll be your guide," He briefly introduced Amelia to the two of them before continuing, "Amelia, take them to C-7000,"

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Yessir! Please follow me,"

-Click!-

The moment they closed the door behind them, Isaac's brow began to furrow as he muttered through gritted teeth, "It seems I've been exposed..."

He opened up a desk drawer— the bottom one, inside was a red button. But just as he was about to press it, he felt a hand press on his shoulder.

He turned to glare, his red irises piercing, "What?"

"Don't, it would cause unnecessary suspicion from Persei," A cloaked figure spoke, his voice metallic and... unalive. If Connor or Mariya were here, they would recognize him in a heartbeat,

"..." They continued their standoff for a few minutes more. In the end, it was Isaac who backed down, "What do you suggest we do?"

"Wait," The answer came, "Wait until they did what they set out to do, then you can press it. You'd have justification, and the bastards breathing down our necks would be none the wiser,"

"Fine... I'll wait..."

----------------------------------------

As they were walking, Amelia spun around to face Oliver and Merrian.

"This is the C-district, and this is the prisoner's room, please go through here," She pointed at a particular door, "you have thirty minutes,"

Merriam nodded and began walking to the door, unaware that Amelia locked the door they had entered from...

'Malkov Dietritsche, who are you really...' This exact thought flashed through his mind of Oliver as he began to look around.

The place didn't look like a prison cell at all; neither dingy nor dirty, quite unlike all the other cells they caught sight of on the way down. Still, they had a job to do, so in they went...

Inside, they saw a lone table, filled to the brim with food and drink. And sitting there, peacefully eating, was a young moustached man.

Seeing as the man had no intention of talking, Merriam initiated conversation, "Malkov?"

The man finally acknowledged their existence, and after wiping his mouth with a napkin, he spoke, "I am, and I take it you're my ticket out of this place?" Seeing her nod, he got up, "Have you told the warden of my existence?"

"Hm? Yes I have; what about it?"

"Then whoever sent you clearly didn't give you enough info; my incarceration here isn't by the books, and only the warden knows I'm here,"

"Fuck,"

"Mn. But we should be fine," He turned to Oliver, "Can I have a look at your watch?"

Oliver was momentarily surprised, but he nodded and handed it to him.

"Yes... Yes... It seemed even he was fooled..." Merriam and Oliver looked at each other, both with large question marks above them.

Merriam mustered the courage to interrupt him, "Um... who was fooled?"

Malkov jumped in his seat, "Ah! Sorry, I was talking to myself. Follow me,"

He didn't say anymore, just walking further into the cell, pocket watch(runebomb) in tow...

Again, the two of them were totally out of the loop, but they followed along anyway; he had just taken away their only escape option...

----------------------------------------

In the warden's office, an exhausted guard reported to Isaac: "Sir! Explosion at cell district C!"

When he heard what the guard said, Isaac fumed, "District C? Send fifty guards to investigate, send fifty more to the courtyard! I'll be there shortly!"

"Yessir!" The soldier hastily saluted before rushing out of the room to relay Isaac's order.

"I thought, given enough time, he would surely fold... Oh, If only you weren't such a free spirit," He took out a cigarette.

"But now, it seems we have no middle ground," And a lighter.

"You have forced my hand with this attempted escape..."

-Click!-

"I will chain myself to you; so you'll never leave me ever... again..." The smoke billowed as he stomped out, the bottom drawer of his desk left open...