ENNUI

DEFINITION

A feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.

"he succumbed to ennui and despair."

-

DATE - JULY 5TH 2015

-

The auditorium was small as it was old fashioned. It had only been used a hand full of times after 2000. Mostly it was used with briefings on the Virus retrieval project, procedures on how to deal with rogue Virus, and the scarce occasion to need to hold meetings with other precincts. That, however, was once in a blue moon.

Today's reception notes were jotted in the Warden's notepad; it was evident that this conference heavily relied on Fritz and what her assessment was. The room was almost filled with soldiers, and Fritz had her notes written over the Virus' files, with points that pertained to each teen.

Around two minutes until when the assemblage was to start, Tabby hopped over to the Warden with a type of urgency, "Warden!" she sounded like she was trying to whisper, "I gotta show you something!" She tugged on his leg, "You're gonna love it, trust me!"

His hand swatted her back, "Later." despite Tabby's screen for a face, I could almost see her cheeks puff up in annoyance. But of course, she accepted it and marched into the corner, before she climbed onto a chair. She crossed her arms and pouted.

The room was filled with enough soldiers and a few scientists, so the Warden stepped up to the podium and tapped the mic. Veronica gave a thumbs up from the front line of chairs. Warden cleared his throat before he spoke. "I called you all here this morning to discuss the avid changes within the Moth Mound," The man placed his notebook across the flat slate, "There has been a spike of in-mound deaths, from one Virus particular who we have little to no data on," The Warden took a breath. He was aware of how useless his input was, "So we have called a specialist in... Child behavioral sciences to assist in an approach."

The various scientists and soldiers were unimpressed. These weren't children by default. They just looked like it and were aged like children. Warden looked to Fritz, who seemed slightly taken aback by how quickly she was being called to speak. She kept her papers close to herself as she walked up to the podium.

The Warden stepped back and faced the crowd now, but his gaze remained stagnant on the psych. Fritz turned to the back page of her papers. "Good morning," She muttered as she took a moment to find her place on the form. "I only spent about a half-hour one on one with Naya; the rest, unfortunately, are; as promised, completely uncooperative for understandable reasons," She somewhat muttered the end, "However, I did figure a few things out; Naya seems to lack any form of... Sadness, guilt, or grievance." She flipped to Naya's page, "Naya was easily distracted by her surroundings, but not in a sign of trauma," She cleared her throat, "She knows where she is and is content with it," Fritz struggled to read, the room likely getting to her. "Despite her abduction being traumatic, her spirits are bizarrely high, and for that, I have no answer."

Before Fritz could continue, Veronica raised her hand before she stood, "You appear to be ill-informed," She started. She gave a look to the Warden, before continuing, "That's the point," She had a bite behind her words, "The Virus gene's causes the host have abnormally stable brain chemicals like dopamine or monoamine oxidase," Fritz picked up her clipboard from behind her, pen attached, "Are you saying this Virus was abnormally content with her situation?"

Fritz took a long second before she gave a hesitant nod, "Y-yes, she was extremely content; Ms. Zhao seemed like she was any normal girl on any normal day," This was met with a flurry of scribbles from the scientists. "She wasn't disconnected or anything, she expressed if anything, an almost abnormal love of family for a young girl her age," after a second, it seemed to click with Fritz, "I also suppose it was the same as the other Virus, they managed to be collectively very well stable... Sort of."

"Sort of?" Warden chimed in before further pressing, "You said they were uncooperative."

"Yes, yes, they were when... When they thought I was present," Fritz cleared her throat. "I did an experiment where I pretended to leave the room to see if they were to become vocal without my presence," She explained before she nodded, "It proved successful; the group in the cells have a trust with each other and very much no trust with any of the staff."

This seemed to all be well-known info, which made Fritz coil slightly before she cleared her throat, "So I am proposing an idea..." She shuffled her papers slightly, "The Virus are more than likely to show behavioral signs when in an open environment," She looked at Naya's photo before she continued, "Naya admitted to using her... Disease in her daily life before her abduction; in baseball," She then turned to Dex's page, "As for Dexter, he has an arrest record but no convictions due to lack of or missing evidence," She looked up. She noted the gears turn for everyone in the room, "They use their diseases daily in daily freeform tasks so I... I think you see where I'm going." Fritz trailed up when she saw the Warden's brazen glare.

His voice started low, "You're recommending we let them free reign over the Mound?" His brow arched, "The deaths have spiked since they arrived and you-"

"A common re-occurring behavior to being contained is outward violence!" Fritz panicked out before she saw her error in how she phrased that, "These children were indeed kidnapped, contained, and labeled as freaks in what I can best describe as a maximum security... prison!" She forced out before she huffed, "I don't know how you assumed they would act, but given the fact that they have superpowers, I am astonished this facility isn't already ash!"

The Warden's glare only grew, "I think that's enough from the professor for now-"

"Wait, wait, Warden!" Tabby had hopped over to the podium without stepping up onto the small stage, "She's kinda right!" The Warden's glare went to the TV, who didn't bother to give him the benefit of acting scared, "Alvis has logged everything from the past few days with the Virus, and I mean everything!" Her screen loaded up the scans of my writing, "They've been in the halls overnight, and they haven't killed each other or caused any extreme damage..."

Warden shifted his body towards Tabby, "You didn't tell me this earlier, Tabitha."

"Screw you, dude, you didn't wanna hear it!" Tabby threw her hands up, "And I was dead until like three hours ago, thanks butt-wipe!" She then proceeded. to pull up other logs, "Also, I pulled up the chips records; Virus seven has been using his disease with other Virus, and even talks with Virus six like... semi-normally?" She huffed slightly, "It's a shit chance, but it's the best lead we've got."

Warden took in these words, and it seemed to make him get lost in his own thoughts for a moment. His eyes returned to Tabby's screen once he saw she had zoomed in on one word 'Reece,' which she had circled. Warden's brows furrowed in; Reece was still out, and he hadn't told any soldiers to prevent hysteria and tension.

Fritz cleared her throat, "Is there a section of this Uhm... Mound that is rarely used?" She held the papers close.

Before the Warden could answer her, Tabby butted in again, "The third floor is pretty unused for the most part!"

The Warden grumbled and let off a tongue click before he thought, "I'll review it," was all he murmured on that, suddenly eager to leave the room, "Any parting advice in regards to Virus-seven?"

Fritz let off an 'uhh' to realize that she was still in the room with all of the soldiers, "Just... Stay out of his way, I haven't met them yet so.-"

"Yes, you have." Tabby corked her head, as her screen flipped to the fourth of July's earlier hours, "You thought he was the tour guide, silly!" She chuckled and stepped over so Warden

Warden read it with squinted eyes "You believed we hired children?" He asked as he looked to her.

It seemed her face was flustered, "You abducted eight and killed one, what was I supposed to think?!" Fritz hissed through her teeth, purposely leaning away from the mic, "And he had the uniform too!"

The Warden blinked, stunned, and the bite back, "It's hideously oversized on it!" Warden hissed back.

"Stop saying it, he's a child, it's not his fault Iraq bombed a city!"

The back and forth was eagerly observed with the Soldiers and scientists, a few of them held chuckles, and the rest had sunk back into the seats as they waited for the Warden to blow up.

"It's killed thirty-eight soldiers in my precinct!" He started to raise his voice.

"He's just scared and confused, he didn't want to get abducted!" Her voice was still hushed but was very much audible to the room.

Tabby stepped in front of them, still on. the ground as opposed to the small podium stage, "Wait, you both know he's in the room, right?" The two quit bickering as they eyed the computer who pointed to the right hand of the auditorium. Halfway up the stairs, Toby was calmly sat on the staircase, head rested in his hand, his smirk grew slightly.

"He's been here like- the whole time, I just assumed you let him in on purpose," She shrugged, looking between Toby and the Warden. Warden didn't say a word. He only eyed the Virus who was smugly sat on the steps of the auditorium, the soldiers around him had all their eyes glued to him.

"What in the..." Tabby turned around completely, "Did no one see him?!" She threw her arms up, "You've been seeing the exact same people every day for like twenty-five years and you-!" Tabby lost her words, looking to the Warden, her entire body just emitted confusion and frustration.

Warden finally let off a strong inhale before he stepped to the mic, Fritz stepped away in unison, "Unless anyone has any questions or ideas, I will call this conference adjourned," Nobody raised their hand or said a word. Hence, the Warden nodded, "Good, be on your way, then."

The room was still for a few long seconds as everyone just darted their eyes between Toby and the Warden. No one wanted to risk being the first person to move and be subjected to an unknown disease. Eventually, Toby just chortled and stood up with a stretch.

"Alright, alright," He forced his hands into his pockets, "I know when I'm not wanted." He proceeded to step down the stairs, a slight skip in his step as he stepped past the podium. Everyone watched him leave without a raised voice or moving even in the slightest.

Tabby's gears shifted to face him better after stepped past her, "See ya later, Toby!" She purposely emphasized his name. Toby stopped walking, hand on the push door. The name processed for the Warden, and he looked to Tabby, who proudly posed back.

After a content chuckle, Toby shifted slightly to face back, "Yes, I suppose I will, Amelia." He then left the room, with Tabby making confused sounds.

"That's not even my name!" Tabby threw her hands up, looking to Warden, "What does that even-" She stopped talking once it processed that Warden's expression told more. His brows were arched in from thought, and his maw slightly agape. Amelia wasn't Tabby's name, but it was someones.

-

In the back kitchen, Reece and Naya humbly enjoyed some toast and chips while Charlo was taking a fruit basket from the refrigeration section. Naya was still sat upon the flour bags, her legs crossed. Reece was stood up, leaned against a wall.

"Yesterday was the fourth of July, do you guys celebrate here?" Naya asked out of nowhere as Charlo picked up a box of bagged pears.

"No, no, we don't really celebrate holidays here," Charlo answered, rather quietly.

"Really?" Naya's brow raised, and placed her toast down, "I figured you guys are pretty... America!" Naya forced a gruff voice and flexed with a puffed-out chest. Reece looked over with a slight smile, lightly amused.

Charlo however, chuckled for the first time I could recall, "Sorry to shock you but, nobody's feeling particularly patriotic these days," Naya let off a hum and glanced down slightly.

"Y-Yuh-yeah, I ima-imag-gine child abduc-ction isn't exactly great for m-morale..." Reece muttered slightly, his smile died somewhat as he seemed to recall something. He had a hand pressed to the outline of one of his seared flesh patches.

At that moment, the door opened, and someone stepped in. As soon as Reece saw the camo, he flinched back slightly. Naya jolted and stood upon the flour bags to get a better look. Charlo gazed over. "No soldiers back, he-" He took one look at Toby, who was already minding his own business, likely looking for a juice box. Toby looked up at Charlo for a second before he just sighed, "As you were."

Charlo went back to what he was doing. Reece hissed under his breath, "What do we do?!" He looked to Naya, who just ate as she watched the blonde.

She almost said something in response until she recognized the glasses that peered back, "Oh, hey Toby!" She called out.

"Juggernaut," Toby shrugged and returned his attention back at the fruit boxes for a moment.

Naya jumped down from the flour bags and grabbed Reece, who immediately flinched away, "W-Wait, wait!" He panicked, "Th-That's Tuh-Toby?!"

She continued to drag Reece over, "Yeah!" She exclaimed, "He's harmless... Save for the staff, of course," She shrugged before she hauled Reece around, "Yo, Bagel-boy, check it!"

Toby glanced over, seeing Reece only for a second before he decided he was disinterested, "Wow, you stole a whole person, congrats."

"Thank you!" Naya let go of Reece, who stayed in place, glaring suspiciously at the blonde.

"There's no more orange juice, it's still frozen!" Charlo called out, and Toby made a slightly annoyed mumble.

Naya noticed Reece's suspicion-filled glare. She started to shift her gaze between the two, "You know him?"

"Yuh-You... He c-came in t-t-to see me," Reece continued to look at Toby skeptically, making a slight effort to point at him. Toby grumbled and moved over to snatch a small milk carton from a long box of them.

"Oh, that's nice of him!" Naya smiled, blissfully unaware of Toby, who had crawled into the boxes in the corner of the room.

Reece shook his head, frustrated as he prepared himself to explain, "N-nuh-no, li-like he used the conv-v-v-veyer belt, looked a-at me for like fuh-five seconds, and then luh-left," Reece was highly aware of Toby, who began to crawl through boxes in the background, unlike Naya who contently smiled, "H-huh-he did-didn't say anyth-thing- and what is he doing?"

"I dunno, never do really," Naya looked to Toby, who was back up with a screwdriver, "Toby, what're you doing?"

Toby proceeded to stab the tiny carton with the screwdriver, "Just getting a drink." He never took his eyes off the carton as he stabbed a few more times. He successfully shanked the carton.

The two just watched, Naya with a slightly stunned smile and Reece with concerned disgust. Naya scoffed, "He's just getting a drink," Naya nodded slightly, "You get used to it." Toby paid them no mind.

Toby then seemed to notice something on the carton, "Oh, hey," He chuckled slightly, looking to the box of mini cartoons, "That's fun."

"What's fun?" Naya had a bright smile, as she stepped forward slightly, "Is it one of those cartons with the mazes?"

Toby went through the cartons for a moment, "Hm close.." The milk carton was still impaled on the screwdriver was rather aggressively flung towards the two, making Naya flinch.

Reece made a few steps over, "That's gr-gross, dude!" Naya put her arm out to stop him from stepping over. She kicked the carton slightly and saw a child's face staring back at her. Naya's eyebrows drew in as she knelt down and picked up the carton, "Nuh-Naya, that's g-g-!" Naya raised a hand to keep Reece quiet.

Finally, Reece noticed, and his eyes widened, "I thuh-thought they st-st-stopped put-ting mis-missing kids photos on cartons ages ago..."

Toby picked one up and stopped, and his grin grew slightly, "I'm sure they did," He showed off the photo on the one he was holding. It was Reece, but unlike the other child's photo, he took up the whole side of the carton, "Musta been a spike of child abductions," He shrugged, throwing the carton to Reece, "Or milk carton investors."

Reece failed to catch it and fumbled for a moment before it fell on the ground. Naya hurried over to where Toby was; she even pushed the blonde, which he barely reacted to. Naya scrambled through the cartons, her usual smile replaced with a furrowed brow and a determined look in her eye.

Soon enough, Reece followed over, going through the cartons as well, "Is that Sky's?" Reece pointed to one a little far away from him. Toby hummed, reaching over before Reece spoke again, "Why're you wearing gloves?" Toby stopped and glared at Reece with drawn-in eyebrows, "It's-s T-Tuh-Texas... an-n-nd summer, wh-why're you in a j-juh-jacket, turtle neck, and gl-gloves?"

There was a prolonged silence as Toby had drawn his hand back. He defensively rubbed his wrist. Toby silently started to back away, eyed on Reece Reece intensively as he supported himself against a wall. Naya was too focused on the cartons to bother with Toby acting abnormally, even by his standards. Toby kicked his boot into the vent beside him. As expected, he crawled away through the small space.

"Is th-tha-hat nuh-norm-mal?" Reece pointed to the vent and looked to Naya, who paid no attention to Charlo, "Is that normal?" he repeated.

Charlo wasn't watching intently, but he saw the broken vent and drew the lines himself, "Listen, no good ever came from a creepy white kid," He explained, "but a whole lotta bad comes from messing with a creepy white kid." He then started to move the food tray trolly over to the door, "Best to leave him to do his creepy shit and not bother 'em."

Charlo noticed Naya searching through the cartons, "Kid, I'll keep a lookout for your carton," He promised, "you'd best get out of here."

She stopped, looking over her shoulder, then to Reece, "What about Reece."

"No soldiers are allowed back here," He vaguely put at first, "Consider me an alibi." He then left the room, trolly pushing the door open.

Naya, with two cartons in hand, sighed, as she furrowed her eyebrows as she looked down at the two she held. Reece hesitated before he patted Naya's shoulder, "H-huh-hey, li-listen, I'm in he-here all d-day, I'll ke-keep an eye out, o-kuh-kay?"

"I'm... I'm not worried about me," Naya placed the cartons down, "If this Virus thing is genetic, then... What if my brother was taken too?"

Reece seemed to think for a moment, "What's your brother's name?"

"Thomas."

"O-Ok c-cuh-cool, I'll l-look out fo-for any vaguely A-ah-Asian kuh-kids named Th-Thomas." Reece pet Naya's shoulder, this made Naya chuckle and snort, "S-suh-sound g-g-good?"

"Yeah... Thanks, Reece," She pursed a smile up at him and looked to the carton lineups again before she left, she gave Reece a two-fingered salute.

As Naya left the front kitchen, she let off a shallow sigh. A moment before, she pushed her way out into the hallway. Naya stepped out, leaned against the door. She checked both sides of her; and met a gaze with a soldier who was just passing through.

They held eye contact until Naya just walked away, watching the soldier who continued to give a confused stare.

-

I reviewed the logs I had just written. I shuffled them all under my mattress again before I picked up a piece of paper. I re-wrote the scene, this time, Reece was not present, and there was no mention of him.

Thankfully Tabby was in a meeting with the Warden and Fritz, who was going through the logs. I knew my work was sloppy, and I had no experience in deceit either, so I knew that some parts wouldn't align. I just had to hope the Warden trusted me or at least considered me hive-minded enough to not know how to lie.

Just as I was a quarter way done with the fake scene, the door handle to my quarters jimmied a little. I gargled and flicked through my vision to see who it could be, The Warden? No, and it couldn't be Tabby since she was with him in that meeting still.

A loud clank interrupted my thinking. The doorknob snapped from its place and tinked against the ground. Before it fully registered, Toby kicked the door open; his hand was a pistol with a silencer. He aimed it to my head, and my only response was to gargle and hunch my body down.

My eyes dart in all directions; the room was barely an arms-length, and there was nowhere to escape. All I could do is level myself to the ground and observe Toby. His typical smile wasn't present, and his glasses made his expression unreadable.

I couldn't negotiate, flee or fight back, so I just hoped for it to be over or for some miracle. Toby hadn't spared any of the soldiers, which made it all the more confusing when he lowered his gun. I still remained hunched down but stayed focused on his expression for any sign of a change of mind.

The second his lip twitched, the gun started to rise again. In a panic, I swooped my tail at his feet. He jumped up, but it, regardless, took off his balance. He stumbled slightly, focusing on the ground, so I took that moment to swoop again. This time it hit the back of his ankles.

He fell back with a hiss. He hit the back of his head on the door frame, which made him flick the trigger on the gun. The bullet lodged itself into a spot in the mattress. Though it was silent, soldiers would recognize that distinct sound. I lunged myself at Toby, throwing both of us out of the small room.

Toby hit the ground, and I scurried to snatch the gun while he was recuperated himself. I held the weapon and rushed back. Guns were always a challenge to maintain with my clawed, elongated fingers, so shooting it was absolutely not an option. But it's better that I had it than him.

When I finally turned my attention to Toby fully, he was without his glasses. His eyes were forced shut as his hand traveled to try and find them. He knew that the first chance I get to see his eyes, it's over. My eyes darted for the glasses as well. They were above where his head landed. So I took a moment to actually observe the blonde.

What concerned me the most was around the base of the turtle neck was creeping charcoal. What Adrien described as a shitty neck tattoo looked more like the blackness of hypothermia. I gargle and raise my arm to my vision. I compared the two; rougher texture, a dusty charcoal color, and pattern.

The sound of soldiers approaching caused Toby to make a slight noise, but he still refused to open his eyes. In a quick of the moment decision, I shuffled around the panicked blonde who had become frantic.

With my tail, I kick the glasses closer to Toby's reach. He heard the skid of the glasses and immediately snatched them off the ground, planted them over his eyes, and stood up. He glanced to me, a snarl quick to form.

He shoved me, and I let off a screech as I hit the wall. Toby sped into the small room, kicked up the mattress, and grabbed the hidden logs. He hurried out of the room, giving me an intense glare before he dodged around the corner.

In that glare alone, I heard him threaten me. If you say a word of this, I will gouge out each of your beady red eyes, string them up and deck the halls like it's Christmas. It was an oddly specific threat for me to just feel.

As the soldiers came into the hall, they looked to me with the gun and quickly drew their own conclusions. I drop the weapon and scurry to my quarters. The lack of doorknob made it awkward to close the door, so I used the scrap metal as a doorstop instead.

My mattress was turned over, and the old logs were gone. Only then did the obsceneness of what just happened began to sink in. Toby knew a lot more than anticipated.