“So, what are your plans for today?” Troy asked, trying to get the last bits of oatmeal out of his bowl. Technically, he could have just gone up and grabbed some more. It would have been much faster than whatever amalgamation of actions he was trying to succeed at doing. But then again, one could also give up on every other dream in their life, and never have anything to show for the time that they have existed on this plane of existence. Just a thought. More specifically thought about how quickly oatmeal could harden itself on the sides of a goddamn bowl. What was that stuff made of? Cement? It had to be, with how close it was to bending his damn spoon.

Charlie had been in the process of devouring his third pastry of the morning when he heard Troy’s inquest. The muscular man put his head slightly back in thought as if he was not too sure what exactly was planned for him that day. Troy could relate strongly.

“Today might just be one of my more serious days,” Charlie summed up, nodding to himself in satisfaction. The strawberry-flavoured pastry was bitten into again before the real explanation began. Troy had looked ready to inquire for more information, and the other had looked more than ready to answer before he had the chance to do so. “That little cretin named Greg finally catched up to me yesterday. I had sworn that I had memorized his schedule correctly, but the bastard saw through my damn ploy. I personally think that he got outside assistance for that part, because there is no way in hell that that ass outsmarted me. I refuse to acknowledge the slightest possibility of it!

Anyway, the prime example of why humanity is a mistake basically cornered me in my workspace, demanding why I had come right back. Apparently, my resignation as project leader has not been registered yet, so I had kinda been skipping out on things I really shouldn't have skipped out on. Would have been good to know a little earlier, but nobody apparently has the time to tell little old me. Why? Is it the frequent threats of death that I make? They should not take those too seriously. I mean them in jests. Not like they can't understand my perfect political reasoning.

After a little bit of unwillingly hashing out some details, Greg finally rescinded his claims and decided to take up the role of project leader. I still have to be involved with the thing at some level, because I am technically the hypothetical patent owner. Removing me from the project completely would just set off way too many automatic alarms. Stealing others' work was kinda running rampant a few years back. After a quick little revolution, which had many improvised pitchforks, we got some systems so that prevented such things from happening easily. They still undoubtedly happen, but people have to work a bit harder if they want to do it successfully.

With that bit of haggling out of the way, most of my responsibilities were moved over to dear old Greg. I still have my old ones of course, but they are pretty much non-existent. As in, I can get away with not doing them.

The only real obligation I have left now, which I can't just ignore as normal, would be a few meetings I have to attend. Disciplinary hearings, I think they were called. I didn't listen to it too clearly. The promise of breakfast drawing near was just too captivating.

How about yours then? Got any interesting things to add to your memory of worthless experiences?”

Troy quietly ate the last possible scrapes of oatmeal, as Charlie ended off his explanation. It was long, it was disjointed, and it was exactly what he had been looking for. Hearing people talk about their lives helped that perfect part of his brain off, that let him both hear and not hear the world around him. It felt like turning a switch halfway, so it balanced on the medium between focus and unfocus. A hard thing to really explain. It was like being able to stare right ahead while having no idea what stood before one. Where their eyes were definitely open, sending the raw inputs straight into the brain. And the brain certainly scanned through it all, yet it took care of whatever it got from it, not using it for anything other than putting it into the endless archives. Troy could remember it all if he thought back on it, but no real mind had been put on it while it actually happened. That really was the best description of how it felt. Not much more could be said about the thing.

“Not really,” Troy answered honestly. “I don't have anything nearly as interesting as yours, to be honest.”

“Well, then what do you have on for today?” Charlie asked, not deterred by his non-comical answer in the slightest. If anything, it let the man press forward harder. “A schedule of nothing appealing in any meaningful way can still be interesting if looked at in the right way.”

What if there was no schedule at all? Had the man ever thought of that? Troy truly doubted it.

“That is the thing,” Troy pointed out with mirth to his eyes. “I do not have anything at all planned for today. My calendar is a blank slate, ready to be filled with whatever I bloody, please. If I had anything on my mind, that is. I honestly cannot think of anything.”

Charlie looked at him, mid-motion of shoving the last half of the pastry into his mouth. Troy noted the flakes of it falling onto his shirt. That would certainly be an bitch to clean up. Was he ever so lucky to have already discoloured his own, or he would have been forced to actually worry about it?

The gaze given to Troy was one of doubtful seriousness. He could quite easily see Charlie trying to hold his act together, as he put down his pasty gently. The man leaned back in his seat, clapping his hand together in the meanwhile.

“So…“ Charlie began it off with. “You are telling me… that you have nothing planned for today at all? No paperwork needing to be filed or anything?”

“No paperwork at all. I don't even do that normally,” Troy acknowledged with a small shrug. The additional comment drew a few jealous looks from the people sitting close to them. “Apparently, I have something called a 'day off'. A very rare commodity, if my eyes don't deceive me.”

The reaction gotten was one of the comical levels of shock. Very nice acting. Troy wondered if he got classes on that stuff.

“Oh, how cruel a world this is!” Charlie proclaimed. He slammed the table with a clenched fist. As a natural reaction, he had looked at the empty seat next to Troy, ready to be scolded for his higher volumes generated.

“Do you know how long I have worked here? Wait, no, don't answer that. I really do not want to be reminded. It was rhetorical. In the last year, I have gotten seven, full days off. Do you know what I have been doing on those days? Lying in a hospital, most likely in some kind of deranged physical state. This place does not like people slacking off. And, it has a very specific idea of what slacking off means to it. Days off do not happen in this place.

If you do not want to work, you schedule all the important stuff for the next day and just relax in your office. You don't get paid time off. It will take near-lethal injuries before the law forces that to happen. How in the everliving duck-beaks did you get your boss to grant you that? Even the blatant threats don't scare mine enough for that to happen!”

Was it bad that Troy liked being the odd one out? Just… getting some privileges others could only dream of. Getting paid to do absolutely nothing, while others had to put at least some effort into it.

“It was not intentional or anything,” Troy said, feeling a strong need to make that clear. “My boss just gave it to me. Yes, he did make it expressly clear to me that he did not enjoy doing it. Taking any pause on that project of ours was not in favour of anybody there. But, without the normal person there to assist him, he would apparently not have enough time to prepare a new batch for today.”

Troy did not want to mention that it was Dr Hale being injured that was the reason for it. However, Charlie felt no such inhibitions.

“Freeloading off another’s work, huh? That takes something alright. If the drinker herself was awake to hear it, she might even have commended you for it,” Charlie expressed with mock respect, a sitting salute to accompany the improvised bit.

“How is she looking, by the way? I have not heard too much about how she is doing.”

If that wound had already been opened up again, it wouldn't do for Troy not to stick the knife back in! Had to get the money's worth. Up with those blood spurts!

“She is doing dandy, I assure you. If not for the very short dance with death, no problems at all were noted,” Charlie casually stated. Briefly dead… Troy had not been told that. What else had happened exactly? These bits of information were things which should not have been skimmed over, during Adam’s retelling. But, maybe it had happened during the night. Would explain a few words said earlier.

“Could you go a bit more into detail?” Troy said encouragingly. The need for more was there.

Charlie looked around, giving a few people some direct eye contact. The one sitting on the other side of the table had obviously not the only one wanting more information. Even with the average age in the facility being over forty-five, the rumour-train held more strongly than many other things in the facility. If anybody heard anything anywhere that might have the chance of being slightly interesting later on, every person worth a damn would know about it in minutes. With brain implants, it took less than thought before a whole essay was made about possible outcomes. This rapid spread of rumours was the reason few relationships ever lasted more than a few weeks. Jealous people made jealous jerks. It took the perfect kind of people for the thing to last. Few stood the test. Even fewer let other people know of its continued existence. The muscular man knew how badly being revealed could be. It was only through impossible odds that he had not suffered from it.

“Can't say I want to be around this flock of do-gooders,” Charlie answered honestly. If Troy pressured on, he would have likely been forced to spout more nonsensical wisdom. It was fun when used to mess around, but the subject was one of the more serious matters. Jokes had to be withheld to a minimum. There still was room for them of course, but they had to only be used at very special moments. And special moments were entirely subjective and based on whatever excuses could be made at the time.

Troy latched on to the words of Charlie. That was not a rejection to offer information. It was an underlined offer of offering information elsewhere. It was a proposal to do some activities together. In other words, it was the perfect plan for the day! For him at least.

“If not here then where?” Troy inquired, following the conversation smoothly. In his own subjective opinion only. Charlie had half a mind to request a hasty entrance to the point.

“Anywhere,” Charlie said, before immediately retracting his point. “Ok well, not anywhere. We still have something we need to do today. We have a certain sprout to meet today if you remember our much earlier arrangements? I hope that you do because I nearly forgot about it earlier this morning. Had to scramble around rapidly, to get a few things mashed together. If I hadn't, we would have gone into it barehanded. Not the smartest thing to do in this place, If you get what I am saying.”

It took a moment before understanding picked itself into his thick skull. His schedule might not have been as empty as he thought it.

'Information about Dr Hale is indeed important. What is more important however is to come to agreements. Please refrain from breaking your current one.`

Troy was not going to break anything, but now that Adam had to make sure he didn't, there was a sudden want to do just that. Child-like maybe, but it was fully worth it when seeing that incredibly annoying expression on another. If he wasn't in dire need of something to occupy himself with, that momentary feeling of satisfaction might just have been worth it.

“I completely forgot about it.”

“And I expected nothing less from you.”

“Nice to see you believing in me,” Troy shot back. “When are we doing that anyway? It would be bad if we go over the time where you are supposed to be at the disciplinary meetings.”

Charlie cracked a wry smile.

“What disciplinary meetings? I have never heard of it. Maybe Greg said it or something, but I certainly wasn't listening to him at that point. A regular mistake for me you know. Just nodding along while thinking of oysters. I see that you are done with your breakfast. Would you like to go right now?”

Not waiting for any kind of answer, the muscular of the two stood right up. If not for him swiftly catching it, the chair would have ended down on the floor.

“Would it not be extremely bad if you miss those hearings?” Troy said, trying to protest Charlie’s current action. While he certainly did want to get to the fun part quickly, he did not want him to get in trouble. That would not be kind of him!

Charlie only smiled back, already moving to the cafeteria exit.

“Troy, there is something important that you have to understand early on,” Charlie stated sagely, gliding his fingers through an imaginary beard. “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience.”

“Oh, don't you dare quote Roosevelt in my face!”

Troy had trouble not laughing, as he followed the other man. This day was turning into a world of surprises. He hoped it would stay that way.