In Troy’s first moments awake, he felt a weird form of bliss. Perhaps it was his breathing evening out, and becoming the drawl that it usually was during his awoken state. Or was it lights coming through the window, given an aesthetic of peace? Whatever it was, it completely ruined the moment that it was allowed to continue for more than five seconds.

Adam didn't wish him a good morning. Such a simple thing, done every day for the last weeks on end. There hadn't been a single time where the AI had missed it, causing Troy great distress. Bolting up, the man willingly slapped his left ear, to get there faster.

There was no earpiece. There was only his ear, slightly uncomfortable from the sting. Troy did not care about the sting. He cared about the lack of the most important object in the entire room. That is if you ignored-

Troy’s hand gripped at the storage unit on his chest, sighing in relief when he found it untouched, if slightly hot. Was it already hot, or had Adam been speeding himself up in the last hours? That… didn't make sense. The AI frequently talked about the need for time to move faster during Troy’s time spent sleeping.

What was the time? Eyes focused on the light coming from the outside, Troy guessed it to be nearing the afternoon. He had slept through the whole day without realising it, his body having carved slumber too strongly. The young man had even had the weirdest of dreams, one of them impossible to get out of his head. Even if it had been short, the memories inside were so vivid.

Going away from his repressed desires, Troy knew he had to find the earpiece. Could it be that he took it out during his sleeping state? It was one of his worries, but not one which he believed to actualise in reality. Nevertheless, the immediate area around his bedding was combed through, with no success upon completing the task. Where could it be?

That question was momentarily put on hold, sounds from the sofa coming and reaching his ears. Looking over, it seemed that Dr Hale had been awoken by his searching. Or maybe she had been awake from the start. It was hard to tell.

“What exactly do you think you are doing?” Dr Hale asked, with a venom that equalled her volume. She was silent and deadly, and more than enough to make Troy gulp on reflex. “I believe your current duty is to lay down and rest, instead of whatever task you have set for yourself.”

“It’s Adam, Dr Hale,” Troy said, his tone serious. Because it was serious. It was very serious. “The earpiece is gone. It disappeared while I slept.”

He didn't know where the earpiece was. That was the first time in a long time. Yes, he took it off occasionally, but that did not entail leaving it out of his sight. The young man was very conscious about the device, knowing just how valuable it truly was. If he accidentally lost it, there were few things they could do to progress onwards. Troy was unsure if would be able to forgive himself for it.

“You are sick,” Dr Hale plainly answered, as if it was the answer to all his qualms in life. It didn't help that it was deadpan. “Looking for the earpiece is not one of your duties. Lay yourself on your bedding and shut up.”

Troy, being the good person he was, directly disobeyed the woman’s orders, looking through where he slept one more time, just to make sure that he hadn't missed it by mistake. It was important! He needed to find it.

“I need to know where it is,” Troy said. His pulse was beginning to rise now, his body getting ready to move through the house at a rapid pace. He could have sleepwalked, leaving the earpiece in some strange place. “I need to be able to talk to Adam.”

“You are not supposed to talk to him. You are supposed to be resting. Therefore, that job has been allocated to the nearest person apply for the position.”

Oh, how she sounded like somebody from HR, giving answers that were designed to infuriate anybody hearing them. Using buzz-words, the derisive tone, and that look of pure frustration on her face was enough to cause anger in almost anybody. Not Troy, though. Hearing the words, his brain began to gather just what was going on.

Dr Hale wasn't wearing the earpiece, yet it had been stated that somebody was. With three suspects and two of them being proven innocent, there was only one possible perpetrator. And that person was the large man known as Charlie Freeman.

It only strengthened his suspicions, when the sound began emerging from the adjacent room. There were three rooms in the house that they stayed in. The first was the one which they all slept in. The second was the place with toiletries and secret stashes. And the third was Charlie’s workshop, where the man worked at all the times he could. It had been mostly used for having the materials since he liked having Dr Hale within his peripheral at all seconds, but it seemed that his stance on that had changed as of late. Troy wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

“You have to think about user-adaptability. How will it be held while being used? How will it stand on the table? You have to use this information to your advantage. Putting the receiver on the bottom might make the weight distribution more equal, but it will lessen the range on the connection… Yes, that's correct. However, the function should still be balanced with the learning curve. It needs to be easy to use. When done correctly, you can-”

Troy had a small bit of trouble listening, his head throbbing at his sudden ascension to his feet. Had Charlie really done it? Stumbling along the cold floor, he positively opened the door with his body weight. He felt… surprisingly weak.

Which might have been why he fell into Charlie’s lap, the man had grabbed him at the last moment. That was a nice thing to do, the alternative being a surprise concussion. However, there was not much focus on Troy’s own wellbeing, the young man overlooking Charlie instead.

“Just what are you doing?” Charlie asked, settling the young man in a more comfortable position. Troy didn't answer immediately, his eyes searching the man’s body over. The clothes hid a lot of the skin, but the minor trembling of the hands showed a weakening. Charlie wouldn't have blinked at this weight before.

Though, it might have been from exhaustion. Wait, no, scratch that. It was very definitely from physical and mental exhaustion. The red veins in his eyes, the bags under them, and the more-than-normal disgruntled hair told a telling tale of exhaustion clouding him. And it was likely only worsened by having the earpiece on, its placement able to poison most minds.

“You know you shouldn't wear it,” Troy stated, not liking how he sounded. It was accusatory. It was meant to be sympathetic. “You know what it does to you. To everybody.”

“To everybody but you,” Charlie stated, taking out the earpiece. The man was clearly not one to discuss the dangers, having already been told several times. Dr Hale had said it time and time again. Troy understood it word for word. If anybody was to wear it for long, the symptoms would set in quickly. It was the reason he was still here. “Seeing as you're awake, you can have it back.”

The man handed it to him without a second’s hesitation. There seemed to be no attachments to the device. Troy did not understand how that could be but did not press that fact, only happy that he could have it back immediately. Putting it on, that mild pressure on the back of his head once again came back. It was maddening at first, yet he had grown to love it. It was the feeling of somebody there with him, calming him easily. It was what had allowed him to go through so much.

‘Good morning, Troy. Did you sleep well,’ Adam sent immediately, causing another drop in Troy’s pulse, his day returning to what it normally was. Everything was coming back into their respective boxes. Everything was going great.

“I slept well enough, though it is afternoon,” Troy said, correcting the AI’s message. Nothing wrong with the small error, however. The words were great to hear no matter what. After those words were said, the focus was on Charlie.

The large man honed back on his work the moment that Troy began talking to the AI. Still sitting on his lap, the younger one was easily able to see what was being done. In his hands, Charlie had a… device of some kind. There was real speculation on what it was. One side had the appearance of a standard radio, while the other had wires, two circuit boards, and a few innocuous lights hanging on. It was clear that there was no real focus on fashion, though it could apparently stand up by itself.

“Have you slept recently? Like just in the last twenty-four hours?” Troy asked. Truthfully, he already had a reasonable guess on just what the answer was. And the look Charlie gave him was more than just a bit telling, those red eyes being empty in energy.

How long had he been up, carrying himself while having little to no energy? Had he just ignored it? Without pills or anything else, it would have been tortured to remain standing. Yet the man had done just that. What had made it so hard as of late? Charlie had slept before.

“There hasn't been time for that,” Charlie said, his eyes still blank. “I can't. Not with how we’re doing right now.”

“Dr Hale and I just slept through the entire day,” Troy pointed out. “There should be no reason you couldn't do the same.”

“Somebody needs to watch over you. Watch over the house,” Charlie pointed back steadfastly. He was determined. Maybe that was what made it possible for him to remain awake. “Both of you are weak. You need to recover. You should go back and lie down.”

It was hardly a suggestion, but Troy decided to treat it as such when he casually rejected it, deciding to sit on the man’s lap instead. With no deceit attached, it was quite the comfy seat. It was understandable why so many desired it.

“I have recovered enough to move. With the help of some bandages for my feet, I should be able to go out tonight,” Troy stated, looking over at the man. Charlie did not seem to answer, just looking forward at his creation, picking out pieces and replacing it with others. “A quick question for you, though. What is that device there supposed to be? Doesn't look like anything I have seen as of late.”

“It's something that will bring peace, and allow me some minor rest,” Charlie answered, putting the device on the table. It sat there silently, before slowly turning on its lights. They flickered for a moment before being on steadily.

“What does it do?” Troy asked, putting his head closer to the thing. Numbers began being displayed on a small screen to the side. They meant nothing to him, but they must have had something to do with reality. Since it was meant to allow the man to sleep, it could have been an ongoing tranquiliser of some kind. When touched, it would cause the person to sleep for a certain duration of time. Would be cool.

“Scans for abnormalities and alerts me to them,” Charlie said. “With the help of Adam, it has been finished. If you would please get off my lap, I will use it immediately.”

Troy did so, partly due to his curiosity of the device's method of function and otherwise just because he wanted to make sure the man could still walk. The last was immediately fulfilled, Charlie walking better than him. Though, that might have been due to the blisters putting off his balance.

Inside the main room was Dr Hale, looking over them from her couch. She looked mildly interested in what was going on, going as far as to slightly move her eyebrow at the approaching Charlie.

“Are you going to reveal why you were loud the entire day?” Dr Hale asked. In response, she got to see various wires put in her hand, with small sticking pads on each end. The woman looked at it for a moment, before putting on various parts of her body. Charlie helped put some on her back.

“Keep this close. If anything happens, I will be ready to help,” Charlie said after everything had been set in place. Afterwards, he sat down by the couch and immediately fell asleep. Troy put a blanket on him in payment.

It was only fair.