District 42-Chapter 166: Realization
Casper was looking to his own hands while standing in front of that old man, with Astrid on the side, working in whatever the thing she got into. The room was silent, which helped him to keep immersed in his thoughts.
"The only one that can change everything, huh...?" He closed his hands, making a tight fist, feeling a different kind of energy now. It was something he didn’t feel for a long time since he retired from the army.
"Without even knowing, that’s what I was wanting to do since I left that bed and saw the world I was into, or when I faced those sad masks for the first time... I have been always willing to do something for this place..." Casper was finally understanding his actions, his thoughts, and reorganizing his perspective of things.
He cleared completely his mind. It was even easier to stand on his feet, as though he just gained strength again in his legs. Now, he wasn’t feeling lost, but with a new path, a direction he could take to achieve something bigger.
"There is no way that I will keep like this. A scientist, a guinea pig, prisoner, just a foreigner... The thing I can label myself as is only soldier, nothing more. And I will do what a soldier is supposed to do here." The White warrior untied the black mask that was in his waist, putting it in front of his face and looking at it intently. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
The soldier frowned hard, suddenly feeling what he was aiming towards, what he wanted to do.
"I remember very well that, when I was inside the prison, I was rambling about something... An image passed through my mind, an image of the day when all these people of the district would take off their masks. I could barely touch that image, as it was so real..." His heart throbbed once he remembered of that.
"Ok, now it’s time to come back to work. Let’s focus." He muttered.
Astrid looked at him, thinking if he had called her.
"Did you say something?"
"Y-yes... Well, I was wanting to know more about what you did here. My lunchtime is gone, but I want you to explain."
Astrid seemed excited with his question, and promptly took some papers and got beside him. For more than an hour, she kept explaining to him about both the procedure and the artificial organ itself.
...
Casper was coming back to his table into the section, looking forward to going help Adam with whatever he was needing at the time.
The soldier was feeling a bit guilty for having left the scientist alone, even though Adam was the type of guy who could handle his work very well.
However, after what Astrid said, and also the realization he had, Casper couldn’t help but stay restless and wanting to know more about the results of her hard work.
Even at that point, the White warrior was still thinking about what he would do. He had a big goal in his mind, and it wouldn’t be easy to accomplish it. Also, to have the certainty to start taking action, he needed to back to square one and pursue information again.
His concerns about his plan were so many, that he barely noticed that a man had bumped into him just when he was passing through the corridor.
The scientist was running, which wasn’t something uncommon inside the Main Lab, but it was still a bit strange.
As far as Casper knew, the deadline for the ongoing projects was still far away, so they had plenty of time to get things done. Also, there was something really suspicious about that scientist because Casper was sure to see that his face didn’t look too well.
The soldier instinctively got on alert. His senses were sharpening and his hair stood to the end.
He first looked to the ground. There were some drops of blood there.
"The man was bleeding... Or, then, something that was with him had blood on it. However, he didn’t seem too much of a guy who would commit a crime, and he was stumbling as well."
Casper looked at the turn to the corridor where the scientist had just arrived. He narrowed his eyes, walking towards there slowly. He stopped suddenly, though, just after some steps. He heard a conversation there.
"He didn’t know a thing." A familiar voice sounded, which made the soldier frown hard, and his desire to take a look into there was arising.
"How do you know? He seemed to be really brief..." The next voice wasn’t as familiar as the previous one. However, the person who was talking certainly had something covering their mouth other than the mask.
"Will you distrust my judge now? That’s not reasonable to say. You know how cunning and perceptive I can be..."
"Yes, yes, I know. You always do a good job. Anyway, make sure to shut his mouth as soon as you can, and keep an eye on these guys. For sure, they are planning something."
They exchanged some more brief words, and then one of them seemed to just vanish. Casper didn’t see anyone appearing into the corridor, nor step noises, anything.
The only one person that remained there got out of the corridor, looking carefully to the sides.
Casper pretended to be walking casually, and that he just had arrived at that place.
"Ah!! Adam!" He approached the man, that first gave an empty and, somewhat, threatening look, but then changed his expression and voice for the extremely sleepy and exhausted one from usual.
"I was starting to think that you wouldn’t come anymore. I was looking for you. Is there any problem?" Adam seemed to be ok. He wasn’t showing to be upset because of that matter or not. Indeed, with those eyes, anyone could feel that he couldn’t care less.
"Sorry about that. I was strolling a bit into the laboratory and lost track of time. Both MMA and Astrid had a lot of different things to show to me, and the scientists always come with some new question, so I got a bit busy." He apologized, rubbing his neck.
Adam waved with his hand, brushing off that matter.
"Don’t worry. You know that I can go through my work alone. I just got a bit concerned, and I took advantage of my pause to smoke to come to look after you." He put his hands inside the lab coat, but before he did it, Casper could see that his knuckles were slightly hurt.
"I see... That’s a good thing. Were you able to relax?" He asked, for a moment squinting his eyes towards Adam’s hurt hands. "I mean, your shoulders seem to be a bit stiff."
The scientist giggled at that question.
"What are you saying, buddy? You know that this herb just serves to make me more energetic."
Casper nodded slowly.
"And you took some of higher quality and more intense effect? Because I’ve never seen you so agitated before..."
The scientist shook his head quickly, denying. Casper was looking at all his body, analyzing it discreetly, but he noticed that Adam was staring directly into his eyes and wasn’t looking away no matter what.
"I just got more energetic than usual. Is there something wrong, Casper?" His question was friendly, too friendly, and the soldier felt the will to gulp, but he held it.
"No. I was just wondering... How could you get so energetic with the same drug as you usually smoke, even though you are almost a week without sleeping properly? I have been having bad nights of sleep since Halden, and I think that this drug can help me as well, you know?"
Casper also tried to maintain his facade, being the most friendly he could.
"... Maybe one day I will teach you the technique. Now, let’s go to our section, there is a lot of work to do and Katarina will castrate us if we delay too much."
"Sure. Since you can handle your work all alone, she wouldn’t get the excuse of you getting out to look after someone."
Adam didn’t seem to hear what Casper said, but the soldier was sure that he was just pretending.
As they walked towards their section, they crossed the corridor that Adam once was. Casper remembered well that the block in the final of that corridor was the one where they were working on the Project Jomurgand.
"I don’t know what’s happening here, to be honest. But, again, I am finding myself facing something that can be really dangerous... Now, I am wondering what the heck does Adam have to do with this? And who was that person talking to him before?" Casper could record that voice in his memory and he passed that conversation again and again in his mind, trying to conclude something.
"Well, I will keep that brief talk in mind, and the voice of that individual. Depending on how things will go, there is a chance that it can help... And if this problem has something to do with the laboratory, then it can be something bigger than I imagine."
