EARTH 5A

Day 452; 0534 (Morning)

Focus: TL7

TL7: "Eeeoouuugh!"

TL7 yawned loudly as he entered a spacious, but well-guarded conference room located somewhere deep within the maze-like structure of the 4th Research Facility.

[Security here is quite excessive.]

He commented to himself while lazily walking to an unoccupied seat towards the back of the room.

[Why am I even here?]

He wondered in a bit of a daze.

Since meeting A4 during the first official group meeting for Operation: 'Prodigal Son', TL7 had become more suspicious of each person he came into contact with. If not for his years of work as a 'cleaner' for the entitled few, prior to working for Project Prometheus, he would not have had such a high level of wariness.

Every unknown was a potential threat; a potential obstacle. Although he wasn't certain why his instincts were telling him to stay alert, he remained vigilant; his instincts had never failed him in the past. As such, his concentration in certain matters waned -- such as the reason for his participation in the yet-to-start event.

[Looks like things will become more difficult going forward...]

Seating himself down, he lightly rubbed his eyelids -- to the point that the greasy oil on his skin made his eyes sting in pain -- then stared at the ceiling in boredom while he waited for his vision to return to normal.

Catching a whiff of his own lingering scent, he grumbled to himself.

TL7: "I should've at least washed my face…"

Due to the 4th Research Facility's recent, but frequent personnel changes, TL7 could only, on average, find three hours of sleep a day; between his normal workload, training greenhorn assistants, carrying out private investigations, and suffering from random bouts of insomnia, TL7 couldn't find much time to rest.

With a diet consisting of mainly coffee and peanut butter-and-honey sandwiches, his overall nutrition wasn't very good either.

TL7: "Ugh. I feel like I'm back in my university days…'sleep is for the weak'...what crock of bullpiss. I'm too old for this shi-"

SC4: "YO!"

Surprised by the sudden, loud interruption of his muttering, TL7 just about leapt out of his seat out of reflex, ready to throw a spinning side-kick towards the origin of the noise.

SC4: "Wow, wow, WOW! Calm down, Mr. Ninjiu Jitsu"

TL7: "What the fuck did you call me?

SC4: "Shhh! Lower your voice! Lower your voooice!"

TL7: "Your louder than me you dumb bastard."

SC4: "Ghahaha!"

TL7: "Laughing it off doesn't...nevermind."

Realizing he wouldn't get anywhere by complaining at the man now seated beside him, he quickly dropped the topic.

TL7: "SC4, is that archivist not following you around these days?"

SC4: "Haha. That...uh...that lady is not allowed to participate in these briefings."

TL7: "Lady, eh? I'm sure you had a better word for her in your mind...anyway, is that what this is? A briefing?"

SC4: "An important briefing."

TL7: "Oh...wooow."

Replied TL7 sarcastically in a monotone voice, while giving SC4 a look of unenthused surprise.

SC4: "Ghahaha! Doing 'jazz hands' doesn't suit your style."

TL7: "Being informative doesn't suit yours."

As the two two men continued their back-and-forth banter, the conference room gradually filled-up with more people.

◊◊◊◊◊◊

Day 452; 0556 (Morning)

Focus: TL7

TL7: "Tell me. Why am I really here? No one else on my pay grade is in attendance."

SC4: "You'll soon find out. Be patient, like a frog."

TL7: "..."

While TL7 was deliberating whether or not SC4's words were sagacious or stupid, a group of ten-or-so expensively dressed people entered the room and seated themselves at the front, where the VIP seats were located.

[Directors?] TL7 questioned inwardly.

He had never seen the top leaders of the organization in person before, so he was curious if his guess was right.

[Wait. Why, of all places, is an oak table there?] He thought, clearly surprised by the appearance of a small wooden table next to the VIP seats. [I don't recall it being there before...]

With the VIPs seated, the doors to the conference room closed shut, locked, then armed themselves with deterrents, before applying a final seal that prevented vibrations from escaping the room. Security personnel within the room then spread out in a wide net and positioned themselves in strategic locations.

When security measures were finished, only a few seconds remained before the start of the event.

◊◊◊◊◊◊

Day 452; 0611 (Morning)

Focus: TL7

[This...this is...an onboarding event?!?...]

Confused and slightly enraged, TL7's face contorted into several fascinating looks as he quietly sat inside the dark room.

Shortly after the event had started, the VIPs introduced themselves individually. At first, TL7 thought the briefing was going to be of utmost importance, based on the position that each VIP held, but as soon as the lights dimmed and a three dimensional hologram appeared in the front of the room, he knew exactly what was happening; he had sat through the same introductory procedure with each and every new hire he was assigned to train, and he absolutely hated it.

Shaking in livid bewilderment, TL7 clenched his teeth and growled.

TL7: "God...fuck...fucking...damnit."

His comment disturbed a few fellows seated near him, but they did not dare reprimand TL7 while SC4 was seated nearby.

As TL7 seethed, SC4 couldn't help but smile widely.

[This fucking dickhead...smiling like...like he has a dick on his head!] TL7 cursed as a flash of light from the hologram momentarily lit up SC4's face, revealing his joyous grin.

[No, no. Calm down. Don't do anything you'll regret. Whine about it later.] TL7 told himself as he steadied his breath and began to meditate.

Not soon after, someone from the VIP section bellowed out a voice of complaint.

VIP: "Enough of this! Brief me on the real situation! Brief me on the true Halios! Brief me on the status of the Beta Subjects!"

The sudden outcry brought the introductory procedure to a halt.

As the lights in the room slowly brightened, murmurs within the crowd began to circulate with speculation.

Looking at SC4, TL7 let out a sigh and spoke in a low voice.

TL7: "Explain."

SC4: "You wanted something different right? Well, here's something different."

◊◊◊◊◊◊

Day 452; 0634 (Morning)

Focus: Briefing Room

After the interruption by the VIP, the situation turned into a forum for questions and answers -- mainly due to the introductory procedure being derailed.

The VIPs, which had largely been kept in the dark regarding the true results of experiments and discoveries found on Halios -- a decision made to prevent leaks and increase work efficiency -- were astounded by the wealth of new information that readily flowed into their ears.

From the types of civilizations -- their varying levels of technology, culture, politics, history -- to the studies on regional flora and fauna, the value of data held by the experts in the crowd was incredibly tantalizing for the VIPs.

When a question regarding the designation of different humanoid races came to a close, a large, muscular man wearing a tuxedo that was clearly too small for his frame cleared his throat and asked a simple question.

Muscle Tuxedo: "Ahem! Have we learned anything new from the Guardian?"

Seeing that the man was the newly assigned assistant director for logistics, SC4 took the incentive to answer.

SC4: "Mr. Ieogis, aside from the original message and supplementary knowledge given to us by the Guardian in 2010, we have received no additional communications, regardless of the number of attempts we try."

Muscle Tuxedo / Mr. Ieogis: "I see. What of the knowledge given to us -- what does it entail?"

SC4: "There were three components that make up the knowledge that the Guardian had given us. The first, a method to produce a capsule that could send our people to the planet Halios. The second, a method to synchronize the flow of time between our planets. The third, two methods of communication with our people -- one for rudimentary messages prior to time synchronization, and the other, for complex communications after time synchronization. Aside from these three components, no other information could be deciphered from the knowledge that was given."

Mr. Ieogis: "Hum, hum. Is there no method of return?"

SC4: "As of now, no. A transfer using the capsule technology is a one-way deal."

Mr. Ieogis: "Regrettable. I fear I must decline the trip then."

SC4: "Pardon?"

Mr Ieogis: "Haha! Don't mind me, I'm just talking to myself."

SC4: "..."

Mr. Ieogis: "By the way, have we found the reasoning behind why the Guardian contacted us?"

SC4: "There are many potential reasons. One is that it was an inevitable meeting -- fate, if you will. I could go on listing a few more, but in truth, we just don't know the reason."

Hearing this, a smile crept up the well-built man's face. After preparing himself, he asked another question in jest.

Mr. Ieogis: "What if...it is a test -- one to test the mettle of our species; to find whether or not we are worth saving?"

SC4: "Mr. Ieogis, I assure you that such a possibility is also being considered."

Replied SC4, solemnly.

Mr. Ieogis: "Oh…"

SC4’s answer had left the man speechless and a little embarrassed. He did not expect such a serious reply.

◊◊◊◊◊◊

Day 452; 0640 (Morning)

Focus: TL7

TL7: "Booo! Booo! Boring. Shut uuup."

TL7 booed during the entire exchange between the VIP and SC4 under his breath, just loud enough to make SC4's eyes twitch uncontrollably.

As TL7 snickered to himself, SC4 wrapped up his exchange of words with Mr. Ieogis, then stared at TL7 in silence.

He waited until TL7 finished chuckling before speaking.

SC4: "Don't worry, I'll return the favor when it's your turn.

TL7: "Do I look important to you? Who would request information from m-"

Just as TL7 was replying to SC4's confident remark, a woman wearing a peacock feathered hat, stood up from her seat located in the VIP section and looked straight at TL7's direction.

Peacock Hat: "Excuse me. Mr. TL7. What have you done to my father? My dad, Bernard Miller?"

As all eyes turned towards his direction, TL7 could only reply with two words.

TL7: "...ah, fuck."

---Chapter End