“Again, where were you and Troy during lunch? Dr Hale, I would appreciate it if you answered me,” Dr Fidelis said, repeating his question again. The woman in question looked unresponsive, and nobody blamed her for it.

“... Due to personal conflicts that I do not feel it necessary to bring up, I decided to eat lunch in another of the cafeterias. We went to the one in the northern quadrant instead,” Dr Hale answered after a few seconds of deliberation. For all intents and purposes, she looked as nonchalant as ever, as if they were not discussing the possibility of lying to one’s superior.

Troy understood that there was a lack of desire for revealing where they had actually been up to, yet could she not have said something more convincing? It would not take too much effort to figure out that Dr Hale had been lying. The doctor would need to, what, send a message to the security about reviewing security tapes. With the high rank, it would take less than a phone-call.

Dr Fidelis stared the woman down for a few seconds, before looking to have found the answer satisfactory. It seemed that the lack of work-ethic had saved them. And there was of course also a more important issue to take on hand.

“There you have it, then. As I have personally instructed, Dr Hale is in charge of keeping Troy on schedule for the first few weeks. This means that she controls where and when what happens while they are on break. While it might have been annoying to be stood up on a lunch-appointment, this does not mean you are allowed to enter this section of the facility,” Dr Fidelis said, the professional time right back on. It reminded Troy of the time he was being given a raise for wearing that terrible skin-suit. And that was not meant as a positive thing.

Charlie had been getting back into his own groove, momentarily suffering a setback when hearing Troy and Dr Hale’s apparent success in getting lunch without him, but getting right back into the sweet spot without much hardship. Personally, the young man did not know anything about the northern quadrant or anything like it. He had not seen any form of a compass for years, and now was not the time he would begin.

“Of course. It will not happen again,” Charlie said, giving Troy a clap on the back as he ended it off. The response was a wry smile, but it did not sit on for long. The serious faces on the two doctors were not helping the playful atmosphere, even if the muscular man was doing his damned best to make it stick.

“That is actually a problem I had with this whole escapade of yours,” Dr Fidelis said, the temperature taking a hit from his face alone. “As I said before, this is a place for a project high above your clearance level. You should not be in the circle that knows where this place is. However, from what I am seeing it does look like you are. Would you be so kind so as to tell me why this is?”

There it was. The final twist, the final question, the final everything. Now would be the time where they would all get an answer to something that they had all been wondering about. Just how was Charlie here?

“Oh, that's easy,” Charlie answered proudly as if they weren't talking about an important topic with a hard severity. “When I get bored, I usually wander around the facility, just staring at the walls for entertainment. This area is particularly popular to walk around since there is pretty much nothing here and nobody has any reason to be here. It was pretty damn surprising when I turned a corner one night and saw Dr Hale here typing in the code on an invisible Numpad before a hidden door popped open. That was a couple of weeks ago if I remember it right. Might actually be a few months, but that is not important to anybody here. I can guess that much.”

“That is the only reason why you know where the entrance was hidden? You saw Dr Hale entering once several months ago?” Dr Fidelis asked, questioning that more than one of the much more questions answers made not a minute or two ago.

“Yeah,” Charlie confirmed like it was weird that he had to repeat himself, going so as to put one eyebrow up in confusion. “I mentally noted down the location and didn't do anything special with it up until now. Not like it does me any good to know where the place is when I don't know the code to get in. Kinda weird that you have a code for it, actually. I do recommend getting a card reader instead.”

The large doctor seemed to deflate slightly at the answer as if Dr Fidelis could not have hoped for anything better. That was how it was for Troy at the very least. He could not have expected a better answer to come out of that man’s mouth. It did sound a little far-fetched by the end, and the suggestion was not without some hidden agendas, but it was an answer worth a top grade. If only that could be given. Instead, the young man had to stand stock-still, just as if it was any other down-to-earth conversation.

“Well, then things might not be as dire as I had previously assumed. While I do expect you to report your knowledge of where we reside, it is clear to me that everything else is blank for you,” Dr Fidelis said, sounding as if a burden had been taken off the man’s shoulders.

“So there is no trouble at all about me coming here?” Charlie asked curiously.

“There is no problem at all,” Dr Fidelis confirmed with a smile, back to his usual way of speaking. It was casual, just the way Troy hated for it to be. “While the documentation for this incident will take a while to be completed, I feel that we can all look back at this event and laugh.”

“Does that mean I can come back some other time?”

“Fuck no.”

“Should have expected that,” Charlie said, laughing as he put his hands up in the air. The air was getting warmer by the second. That man certainly knew how to control a crowd when he wanted to. Troy liked to think of it all as Charlie just acting natural, but he understood fully that it had all been done a thousand times before.

A talent was a gift, but the skill was earned. Many thought that being a natural at anything meant that no work would be needed to reach success. Even more, people dreamed of themselves being in that position, wanting to have everything handed to them on a silver platter. Few ever realised that it took more than a little effort to get to the top. Charlie might have repeatedly said that he had it easier than others, but that did not mean he had anything handed to him. That man had worked for everything, and he had achieved more than most could hope to, gaining proficiency in many skills. The young man was sure there were too many to count.

“You can come back when you raise yourself a few levels in the facility. This place here is way out of your comfort zone, buddy,” Dr Fidelis said, getting a grin on that face of his. Troy could only stare as the doctor was so thoroughly manipulated. “With that attitude of yours, I am sure it will not take too long.”

“Oh, you will be surprised,” Charlie said with a grin of his own, giving a nice little double-meaning to his words. From what Troy could remember, the man had no intention of growing past what he had already reached.

Honestly, the last advancement made had been made solely out of spite using technology already developed years ago. If that man had continued working on his craft, the young man was sure that he could have gotten one or two more promotions instantly.

“I am sure that I will,” Dr Fidelis heartily agreed before beginning to wave the muscular man away. “Now, do go over to whatever laboratory you are a part of, and let us do our work. Oh, and please forget ever coming here. We do not appreciate surprises.”

How fun the verbal language was, making itself able to be used in so creative ways. Dr Fidelis could with his tone sound so carefree, while also making some very prominent threats using the words themselves. As had been revealed not long ago, the reason Charlie was not in any trouble was due to the doctor's lack of desire for more paperwork. If the muscular man decided to show up again, who knew if Dr Fidelis decided to just get it over with once and for all.

“Message received,” Charlie amended, putting his hands up in the air and bowing his head in respect. Smile still on his face, the man turned on his heel and began to walk towards the entrance. “Uh, would you be so kind as to open the door? I am not seeing a lever or anything.”

Dr Fidelis' question went over to the screen and pressed a few buttons. Nobody paid much attention to exactly which it was, attention still on the muscular man trying to get out. When the door finally did open, Charlie looked back over his shoulder.

“Hey, Troy.”

“Yes?” Troy answered.

“Will you be back for dinner?”

“Maybe. No promises this time.”

The three remaining people in the room could hear a bark of laughter, as the door closed once again. A silence went over them, the light in the dark disappearing with Charlie leaving. Not to criticize the darkness or anything. It had its usefulness and whatnot. Made for a perfect atmosphere for work.

And work was definitely on the table, as Dr Fidelis clapped once to get the attention of the two others, Troy and Dr Hale briefly being allowed into their own worlds. That would not do at all! They were in the work-place after all, and it had to live up to its namesake somehow.

“That was certainly a… surprising surprise. Now, I really am sure we all had a laugh about it, but we cannot enjoy this cup of tea without a guilty conscience. We have been letting Adam wait patiently for over ten minutes now. How can we call ourselves good people, if we let this buddy of ours spend so long being disappointed? Troy, do hurry in getting on the suit. The test is already loaded up, so we just need you to be in the right position.”

Rolling his shoulders in an attempt to just rid himself of that experience, the young man moved away from it all. With the suit in hand, he had a job to do. A job with clear expectations, where he only needed to meet them to know that he had done it well. Putting on the suit was a part of that, and so he would do it.

Going over and drawing the curtain before doing so was but a small trifle, to help disguise his body from view. Normally, it would have been done to help whatever point of pride he had in him live on, but the goal had shifted in the past hours.

The bandage was holding up pretty well, as it happened. It did constrict his movements a bit, and it was clear that the fabric would break if he overdid it. However, the bandage served its task of hiding the liquid. Truly, Troy was not sure if that was even occurring anymore, no signs of it showing up. That could be looked at as a good thing no matter what, though, so he paid it no mind.

With the suit on, no issues found on it, the young man moved back into the game, walking over to the doctors with a purpose.

“Here is the earpiece,” Dr Fidelis said, handing the device overhastily. “Do me a favour this time. Could you put it on after you walk into the puzzle room? While I have nothing against the little guy seeing the outside world, I am afraid that he will be able to see what we have on the screen. Even if you do not understand it yourself, it is not outside the realm of possibility for Adam to learn it independently.”

Don't leak data when he can stop it. Troy got the message perfectly, nodding to the doctor as he took the earpiece. Going back to the puzzle room, the young man went up the few steps to get inside. It was the moment that he entered with his head, that he began putting on the earpiece.

Coincidentally, it was also the moment that he began falling down a set of concrete stairs. How mysterious the world was.