What exactly was a favour? Troy already understood it was about accepting another person's request, without there being any real specifics on what it could be. There could be restrictions on what could be asked, as word-based agreement could always be broken.

What boundaries did Charlie set up when he tried to concede by offering a favour to Troy? Could the young man ask for anything? Could he demand monetary recompense? There was not any chance in hell that he would do something like that, yet it did help set up one single fact. Troy could not ask for anything.

It had to be something reasonable. Something that any old person could ask for, and have at least a one in twenty chance of getting anyway. When it came to buying a coffee or just making the person do an embarrassing act, it was easy to find the line on if it was acceptable.

But, would Troy asking for one of Charlie’s devices be acceptable? Could he ask for something that could make conversation secret, and make sure that the man would not tell anybody about it? There were many ways to look at it, and he wondered if any of them really mattered.

This was not something he could decide not to do. The man had to get it done quickly, without remorse, and without anything holding him back. Even if it was socially unacceptable, he had to try. If the current approach did not work, then he would just have to do another. If worse came to worst, he could always do something that he would forever regret.

“Premise sounds good enough,” Troy amended, trying not to sound too excited about the prospect of a favour. “What restrictions do apply?”

In the short time where the younger one tried to play it cool, Charlie had seemingly gotten back his energy, seeming to outright feed at getting a preemptive upper hand. Troy could not understand how that man had the mentality for such alterations but did not have the spare time to question it. The game was only beginning, and he had to look around with a cool eye.

“I thought you would never ask. Personally, I am a person against having any rules about the favours that I can grant. Always hated those genies that just put rules on everything, so that I wouldn't be able to wish for infinite wishes when I met one of them. However, I have nothing against the monkey's paw, twisting the wishes of others into something terrible. It's always a fun time to ruin others lives, all for the sake of granting their wish. Nearly makes me want to owe favours more, if not for the chance of people making over-complicated wishes,” Charlie looked ready to babble on and one, but seemingly remembered that he wasn't just talking to an unthinking brick wall.

Troy didn't especially mind that idea of him. One could not blame a brick wall for being stupid. A human though… there was more than enough blame to give, giving extra attention to all the right parts.

Giving a good glance to the cabinets to the side, the young man could not help but be temporarily stopped, something in his mind trying to make him stand back. Just asking for something stupid would be so much better, and it would not potentially ruin any kind of relationship the two had to go with. Charlie was being a good friend, and Troy did not want to ruin that.

Yet he also didn't want to ruin Dr Hale’s plan. The thought of making years of work fall apart due to his own sensibilities made his fingers clench on the table. It was a good thing they were mostly hidden on the underside, or there would undoubtedly be comments on their lack of blood.

Was his head hurting? Troy felt a little lightheaded, trying to hold up his eyes. The head was fine, but the mind was not in it. He needed to get into it now. Charlie was beginning to notice the passing seconds as much as himself, and something needed to be said.

“I… “

Nothing more came out of him, his throat choking on him the moment he tried to speak. Even the air was being stopped, his lungs desperately trying to get something in. Yet he was still trying to press it out, to make himself able to vocalise the one request that he needed to make a reality.

His body was fighting him. His fingers were clenched into fists, sitting on his legs. The few with the nails long enough were able to dig into the skin, making his palms bleed a little. Troy could barely even notice the pain. He could barely even notice any sensation.

The eyes were beginning to get unresponsive, or it might have been his mind beginning to ignore whatever was sent it's way. It was all beginning to get a little darker. Yet the ears were not following along, a high pitch beginning to be heard, reminding him of a wailing siren in the distance. It went up and down in the frequencies, never laying still, never letting Troy adapt to the high tones.

He needed to say those words. Troy needed to get it out, or he would not be able to make the needed outcome happen. If he failed here, there were doubts that the chance would ever emerge again.

Without his notice, Charlie had gotten up from the seat opposite of him. Troy did not notice this through sight or sound. It was the warmth enveloping that spurred on the realization, the large man having noticed instantly what was going on.

Charlie was hugging him, likely concerned for him, and caring for him in the only way that could ever really help. He was giving Troy comfort, and it felt terrible to be given it. He did not deserve that warmth, better to be left on the floor like the piece of trash that he was.

Here Troy was, mentally preparing himself to blackmail his friend while that same friend was helping him get himself back together. He really was a massive piece of shit. Maybe he needed another hit in the stomach. That would probably fix more things than it would destroy.

“... I'm sorry,” Troy got out, as his throat began to relax. It came out as more of a blubber of stammering, hard enough to understand when being the one to say it. Yet, Charlie seemed to understand it perfectly, holding him just a little tighter after the words were released. He really was a good friend.

It was a good thing that the tears had already appeared, for that thought would have made him go over the edge. Now, it just made him stay where he was for even longer, not being able to move from his state of inadequacy.

“It's fine. Nothing to be ashamed about. You don't have to ask for anything if you do not want to. You are the one making decisions here. Not me,” Charlie said calmly. The words were given out fluently, yet not at a pace where Troy would have to think to understand them. It was the perfect speed for his mind, currently doing its best to implode.

The man did not know the situation, because he was not allowed to know of it. There was nothing Troy could say to make Charlie understand it, without ruining everything that Dr Hale had dedicated so long to create. Days upon days of work would be destroyed, just so that he could skip out on such a basic task. If Troy could not do such an easy thing right, could he ever be trusted with anything else? It made Dr Fidelis’ ideas about making him obsolete in the tests make so much more sense.

“I don't have a choice. I have to do this,” Troy muttered, trying to stop the tears by holding his eyes open. Made it harder to hide from the gaze, and there were worries if it even made a difference in the original goal.

“Says who?” Charlie questioned, the playful tone making it clear that it was rhetorical. Not like that needed any questioning, to begin with, both having a good idea on just who would want something out of Troy. “Nobody controls your life more than yourself. If you don't want to do something, then just don't do it. It all comes down to what you want to do. Not anybody else. Those people shouldn't even try to control your life.”

“But, it's a simple thing to do. I should just be able to say it and get it over with, but I just can't get myself to do it,” Troy stammered out, finally able to go with longer sentences. That man was a treasure.

Why couldn't he be an asshole? It would have stopped the guilt, stopped everything from coming out of him. He had earlier prided himself on not showing off such a pitiful side of himself, yet he had already failed in doing that twice now. If not for Charlie, more people would have seen it.

“We all have it hard with different things. Sometimes, we just need a helping hand,” Charlie said, before making a somewhat defeated sight. It was incredible just how much an exhale of air could hurt him. “Something tells me you aren't going to back down on this, no matter how much I want that from you. Troy, you might look a bit of a wimp but you do have some form of resolve attached.”

And… right back to his normal attitude, his words both humorous and comforting in a way. Troy was a little happy he had returned to the usual state, not being too serious or too playful. It was a line that Charlie could walk so much better than anybody else he had ever met.

“I try my best,” Troy said, trying to match the attitude sent his way. He felt it terribly done, yet Charlie took no heed to those imperfections, grinning broadly like he always did at the best of times. It even made the younger one give a small smile as well. “Would have been better if I could just say it straight out.”

“Again, don't be too hard on yourself for failing. Even somebody as perfect as myself fail sometimes, though I am very skilled at hiding it,” Charlie said, these words bringing to notice the lack of buns on the table. Troy noted this, before being stopped by the next few words. “And, it is not like I need for you to say that you want one of my beautiful inventions. Though I have still not been able to figure out which of them you want. Or maybe it is one which you merely hope that I have? Am I right so far?”

With such a broad questioning, there would be no difference between saying no or yes. However, Troy still nodded. Even if he was crying like a so-called wimp, he was still a polite wimp.

Through the power of a gentle push, Charlie guided Troy over to one of the cabinets, opening it up for him. There had been an expectation see fantastical things inside, mechanical wonders that he would not be able to comprehend. Instead, there was a piece of paper, looking to have been written neatly on.

“While I would love to play twenty questions, I am one who always employs the brightest of resources,” Charlie stated, grabbing a hold of the paper and handing it over to Troy. The younger one took it more out of reflex, like a toddler not really understanding what was going on but still going along with it out of pure curiosity. “This here is a finely detailed list of what I can lend you. It has a basic description of the abilities, but not how to really use it. I’ll do that part myself. Can't trust such vital things to something so easily stolen.”

… Charlie was helping him along, more than Troy had ever expected. He took one look at the situation, the limits that Troy had on what he could do, and immediately found a way to work around it. If he was not so shocked by it all, he might have sung the man his praises. Instead, he just began to silently read through the paper, going over the inventions now at his disposal.

It was incredible, surprising, and a creator of so many questions. Some of these things listed made sense, such as the standard ray-gun that could shoot thin-mints, or the miniature roller-coaster that had all the parts attached. Then there was the addon knuckle taser which was apparently able to give people a heart-attack if pressed against their chest. There was also a long section dedicated to the various utility augmentations which had gone unused. Some of them were not for a younger audience, and Troy was left to wonder if that one could even be called human with some of them.

These miscellaneous inventions were mostly skipped over, until the moment where he finally found what he was looking for. It was not the 'Bender` which he had thought it would be. Instead, it was a very familiar description of some small black bugs.

“If it might be possible, could I loan one of these?” Troy asked, pointing at the item’s description. Charlie looked perfectly happy with the younger man browsing the list, yet that face had changed the moment the decision was made.

“Troy. Should I ask why you would need this?” Charlie asked, his voice growing more serious by the millisecond.

“I would prefer that you don't,” Troy said. There was the omnipresent dread of being recorded, and it did not need to be spelt out on what the younger man wanted. Charlie stared back at this answer with a calculating gaze, before just seemingly giving up.

“These only work for a temporary time, before blowing out due to heating issues. I have a bigger, better version that can handle the stress repeatedly. Though, it only works for a few minutes before needing time to repair the circuits by itself. I'm guessing that's fine by you?”

Troy nodded, but it was not like that mattered at all, the muscular man already walking over to get it for him. The device was in fact less than ten centimetres wide, circular in shape with a total height of about seven centimetres, and that one was mostly topped off by the overly big red button on top. Charlie clearly had never had much of a desire for fashion design.

“This should work just fine then. Use it for whatever you need, and then just give it back to me when you are done. Does Not have to be within a day or anything, just as long as I get it at some point in time,” Charlie stated, to which Troy nodded. He could work with that. He could work with anything, really. He had gotten the device and had fulfilled the order Dr Hale had given him. “Good to know you understand. And remember this thing only words for a few minutes at a time. When the light goes out on this circle-thingy, then it means that anything that was turned off will be turned back on.”

He didn't need to be reminded. Troy now just needed to wait until the next time he and Dr Hale could meet back up.