“In such a state, you can't really expect, that my thoughts were cohesive. They certainly weren't up to the same standard, as they were normally,” Charlie continued in his explanation. Troy was already bored, just wanting him to get to the point. “Yet, as a contradiction of nature, I was able to design something, which I have never really understood, how I did. And, that would be this little bugger in front of you.

Damn. I'm picking up Darlows speaking patterns. If you see him, don't mention I said that.

Anyway. While the shell surrounding the inside is not among the most complicated things you can find in this massive facility, it is definitely in the top thousand. May not sound like a lot, but, trust me, its a bold claim.

Now, it's what is inside, that really makes this such beast, to be feared. Have you heard of cold fusion? I'm not too sure, that its a popular talking point nowadays. It was nearly a century ago, but it was apparently disproven then.

But, now, I've just done a reverse backing and proven the whole thing possible. And, while I was drunk, just to make it even better. Turns out, you just need an unclear head, to understand these things.

Also, just for your personal information, I am only telling you these things, because there is no possible way, that you understand it fully enough. So, don't go telling it further to others. Okay? Okay. Good.

Back to the explanation. When I finally got over my little hangover, which was before those handy hangover tablets were made to be regularly distributed, I got a good look, at the things I had drawn up. After running it through a few simulations, mostly for my own amusement, I was very surprised to see, that it actually worked perfectly. I got myself a little prototype printed out.

I should have probably worked further on it, at that point. But, no. I just put the prototype upon shelf of trophies, right next to the exploding, stuffed ducks, and promptly forgot all about it.

It was when your little, subtle bragging came about, with your high general clearance level. Now, don't call me a competitive guy, or anything. I just could not accept that you had one higher than me.

Yet, I couldn't really figure out anyway, to get it over yours, in any shorter amount of time. So, I had to do the next best thing and get myself something job-related, which I knew about and you didn't.

Having brought forth this old prototype to my boss, I got apprehended for not coming to him sooner, got myself a promotion, and he put me in my own little team, so I could work on this, for the foreseeable future. Honestly, though, its more likely, than I'm just giving another person responsible. This hassle simply stops me, from my current projects.

So, yeah, that's about it. Any questions”

A good four minutes had transpired, with Charlie not stopping to breathe at regular intervals. He must have had lungs of steel, or some other material.

Questions? Troy wasn't sure, he could comprehend, where he needed to begin. He was overflowing with them. Some might have been unrelated, like why he designed while intoxicated, or why he had access to an advanced simulation program, which could simulate previously thought impossible phenomena.

And, the fact, that he was giving up, such high-ranking tasks, just so he could continue his current duties was simply incomprehensive. Troy would never have done such a thing himself.

In essence… He just didn't feel like talking about it.

“No. Not really,” Troy answered, much to the downfall of Charlie's lips. For once, it seemed like he had finally subverted expectations. That was one positive out of this whole ordeal, at least. “You explained it clearly enough.”

“Well, I don't think I did, so I'll invite myself to talk a little more,” Charlie continued, much to Troy's mental objection. Taking a glance at the box of cutlery, he decided that the 'Bender' needed a few more spoons thrown at it.

Reaching over to the now, almost empty case of spoons, he fished them out, putting them between his fingers. Charlie had been about to talk more but stopped before he even had the chance. Which was weird, seeing as Troy hadn't cut in, in any way. Normally, he wouldn't stop for anything other than a physical blockage. Yet, instead of blabbering on, he instead looked at the right side of Troy's face.

“Troy”, Charlie stated, with an overlay of calm, hiding a mild… something. “Are you perhaps listening to music right now?”

What? Why would he be listening to music currently? Furthermore, how in the heck would he even have the- Understanding hit him, like a brick at a window.

Taking his hand up to his ear, he felt a very similar bulge, called the earpiece. An earpiece, which he had apparently forgotten to give back. Troy hoped that this slight would be overlooked. He had done it once before. The first mistake could have been overlooked. It had been a mistake, of his near-first time on the job.

Yet, now, he shouldn't be making mistakes like this. Again, he hoped, that the two above him would look at it differently.

“No”, Troy said. With the tip of his finger, he delicately checked the small device, for anything, which would indicate damages. Just wearing it shouldn't have caused anything major, but it was best, to always be aware. “I don't think this thing can even play anything if I'm being totally honest. Or, maybe it does, and I just haven't figured it out. Can't be too sure. I'm not the one spending too much time on the inner mechanics of this thing.”

Troy was much more focused on another function, which the earpiece had. One, which, for now, remained without use.

“You can never be too sure on, what these things could do. That's a trade secret, in this business. Its always fun, to add some features, which never gets used. Some of my mechanical organs, which I designed, can hard boil an egg to perfection. There's no use for it, yet it is all to the fun,” Charlie answered, going on a little tirade of his. Troy didn't mind it too much, as it gave him plenty of distraction, from the thoughts bubbling up, inside his head, again.

“But, if you aren't using it, to listen to music, might you be showing all this, to that little friend of yours? What was his name again?”

“Adam”, Troy answered, without thinking. His eyes bulged out in shock. He wasn't too sure if he was allowed to give him the name.

“Adam, huh? Fine name to have,” Charlie observed, with a leading tone. “And, might this Adam be listening to my words?”

He wasn't sure, what he needed to answer. Charlie shouldn't know about Adam. He shouldn't know he existed, that Troy could talk with him through the earpiece, or that he could hear everything when he had the device on. Well, he probably couldn't hear their current conversation.

The thought took his stress down a notch, replaced with despondency. He just didn't know, what to do, with this situation.

“No. He isn't to listen to anything, at the moment,” Troy began it off with, deciding to do some tirade of his own. He had listened to Charlie talk for so long. He could do the same, for him. “That's the problem, which caused my early lunch break. Adam has decided to cut off his communication and is actively refusing to talk to any of us. I don't know why he's doing this, and I'm getting a little worried- No. I am getting extremely worried about it. Adam has never done anything like this. And, I just can't seem to figure out the reasons for it. It's not in his behaviour to be so… unlogical about it all. If he had a problem, which he had problem-solving, he would come to us.

That's how our conversation usually goes, you know. Him not really understanding some aspect of his work, and me doing my best in explaining it. I know that I'm utterly terrible at it, yet he just keeps asking me nonetheless. It's like… It's like he doesn't care about that. He just needs an answer, any answer, and he can fix his problem with that. I'm decently sure, that it's gone to the point, were asking me is just a habit, and that could potentially just fix it himself.

Yet, I don't complain about that. I actually like, that he's asking me about it all, no matter how irritating I may act, at the moment. Honestly, it's nearly my job, to fulfil that role. If he didn't, I'm not sure, that I would even be around anymore.

The other things, which I do daily, just seem so basic! Anyone could do them. There isn't even a human required. They could set up one of that automation, from the shopping street, and it would work just as fine. Maybe even better, on some occasions.

I don't know why, but… I really just am worried about Adam. I know something is wrong. We all know something is. But, we don't know what, so we can't help him with it. Yet, even if we knew, we can't even talk to him, because he's locked himself inside his own little world. Only his thoughts occupying him. And, this might sound weird, but he could stay inside there indefinitely. There is no reason for him to come out of there, except for social interaction, which he doesn't even need for!

To tell you the truth, I am not sure, what I need to do right now, and I really just need some sort of-”

Troy stopped himself, the physical sensation causing him to open his eyes. He had been so caught up in his words, that he hadn't even noticed closing them.

His surroundings had changed. They were still in the cafeteria. Troy could clearly recognize the table, the chairs, and the larger amount of spoons on the floor. Yet, beyond just under two meters, things started getting… blurry.

Did he have tears in his eyes? If so, they weren't very good, in obscuring his near surroundings. From what he remembers from last time, they should still be doing that.

Looking to see, what this physical sensation, which he had felt was, he saw Charlie had hugged him and was continuing to do so. Without Troy notice, which hadn't been hard, he had come around the table and fawned his arms around him.

“Thank you”, Troy mumbled, strongly admonishing himself from not having a hold of his emotions. He was in a professional environment. He needed to act like it.

Putting the focus away, from his destabilized ground rules, he looked closer at the blurry distance. It didn't make any sense. While he maybe had a tear, or two, lodged up there, it shouldn't have impeded him from-

Wait. Where was the 'Bender'? Last he saw, it had been whirring its gears while resting on the table. Now, there was no indication of it has ever been up there.

“Charlie”, Troy said, desperately trying to get his voice back in control. His words had hit him harder than they should have. This was what happened when they were articulated. One would become unable to state anything but that partially sore subject.

“Yes, Troy?” Charlie asked, his words showing every part of his age. It was a real reminder, about his actual age. The blonde hair kept him looking younger.

“What happened to your 'Bender'?”

“Look up. It should be obvious there.”

Troy did as instructed, his hair grinding against Charlie's in the process. Why he needed to look up weren't understandable at the beginning. He had initially guessed, that he had accidentally thrown it through the ceiling, by some freak accident.

It was certainly a better excuse, than what he was seeing before his eyes.

Above the two of them was the 'Bender'. It was suspended just a meter or two above them, hovering in place, without any obvious methods of keeping itself upwards. Troy certainly didn't feel any air drifting down upon them, so it wasn't just keeping itself up, with extremely quiet propellers.

“How is it-”, Troy began but was cut off yet again.

“When I said, that I didn't know, how magnets worked, I meant it,” Charlie explained, not giving him anything of value to think. It told him nothing, yet Troy just knew, that he wasn't getting anything better out of him, than what he had already been told.

Back to the floating piece of metal, right over their heads, Troy surmised it to be the source of the blurriness close by. And, it was pretty obvious, by the wave-like patterns, that it was emitting, which travelled down their sides, connecting directly to the near-transparent wall.

“I can't seem to remember you talking about this distinct feature,” Troy noted, bringing himself out of their longer hug. He would have liked to continue, yet he knew that he wouldn't have wanted to let go not long after.

Charlie didn't stop him, getting back to a normal sitting position himself.

“Well, I did mention the possibility of something unexpected happening,” Charlie defended, back to his usual tone of voice. It looked like, they were going to ignore, what had just transpired. Troy didn't mind that at all. He would have hoped to forget it, by the current time tomorrow. “This could have happened if I pressed the wrong button. Which means, that I didn't necessarily lie about anything.”

“Didn't mention you lying. You brought that all on yourself,” Troy said, trying to get back into the conversation mood. Maybe, even more into it, than he had been before. Knowing that Charlie didn't mind seeing him like that, meant a lot.

This didn't mean that he was hoping to repeat such a feat ever again, of course. Once was enough to scar him for a lifetime.

“Oh, don't get smart with, me young boy,” Charlie proclaimed. “And, certainly not, when food was served. Come on. Let me just get this thing down from there, and we'll get ourselves something to eat.”

Troy didn't mind that idea, at all. He had been getting himself a larger appetite, as of lately.