District 42-Chapter 171: Revealing
Vick had taken the lead and Casper was behind her. He was bringing in his mind each one of the things he should say to her and how he would make it right to make her feel like receiving the best she could take from him.
Casper wasn’t planning to give her everything he was hiding. Instead, he wanted that Vick got satisfied with the minimum he had to offer in their conversation, and maybe try to make a proposal to her that could help the soldier in his objectives.
One another thing was concerning the White warrior once he saw Vick, though, and it wasn’t related to the conversation they would have. In truth, Casper just gave importance to that point because Vick and him, as he realized a long while ago, were beyond just enemies.
"Why is she looking so tired these days? There is something wrong with it... I mean, Vick never was the hard worker type like the scientists, she was a spoiled and wealthy lady that didn’t want even to be a princess and fulfill her role as a political figure. What’s happening with her recently?"
Casper was indeed worrying because of her, but he found in that matter a good way to start a conversation, and so he did.
The soldier gave some longer strides until he got beside Vick. She seemed to be a bit aloof, and about to fall asleep, but was controlling herself with discipline. Casper guessed that she probably had something like a pill to make her stay awake or an energy drink.
"You have been quite tired these days. Are you sure you don’t want to go home to rest?"
Vick turned to the soldier, looking a bit dumbfounded, then giggled a little.
"No need to worry about me, White warrior. It’s been like this since you got in Halden. To be honest, I am getting used to it. Well... But no matter how many time passes, and how much of a monotone routine it turns, it’s always exhaustive..." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
The soldier could understand her at that point very well. Soon, if he wanted to get things done at the Main Lab, he would need to pass a whole night awake.
In truth, Casper was used to passing days without sleep thanks to his intensive training at the army and his activities in the Yanke Forces, so it wasn’t a big deal. But the lazy and spoiled princess from weeks ago had entered in such a harsh time at once, and suddenly.
"So... I am the reason for your hard work ultimately?" He joked, in part finding that to be a pity, and feeling a bit guilty.
"Exactly. I was the only one wanting to take care of you, after all, so all the issues that came with it were thrown on me, and my dad decided that it was time for the eighteen-year-old princess to learn how to be a Queen."
Casper saw there an opportunity to ask more about King Leif. He could try to lead the conversation to that point, but he preferred to let it for later.
"Relax, soldier... Relax... Once you can get along with her and have cooperation, you will be able to get more information more easily. Don’t worry." Casper sometimes needed to control himself. It was easy to mistake hurry by efficiency.
After that, they both kept walking in silence for a while. They would exchange glances at times, but very vague ones. The princess was somewhat cautious now, and the soldier knew very well why: he didn’t say to her his motivations in calling her there, after all. A sudden call could only come off as suspicious.
"Well, that’s something harsh on you... I think you have been passing for a lot because of me. For real, why you pass for this many things for my sake? I am sure that there is a motivation behind it, and I need to admit that this hidden motivation is what makes me the more careful when dealing with you Vick..."
This time, he stared at her intently, but the Princess didn’t give the stare back. As she was so distant that day, she looked to the ground and lasted some seconds just doing so before she answered something.
"You are important for this district in many ways you wouldn’t understand, White warrior. You are someone that I can’t afford to be gone and fall in the hands of somebody who can use you for the wrong motivations." She sighed hard, rubbing the front of her mask with her delicate hands. At that point, even Vick wanted to talk more about that matter, but couldn’t say it all at once.
It was also a duty for her to hide from the soldier everything he was capable to do, and how huge was the power he had in his hands. That was because she didn’t know Casper entirely as well. Just as the soldier doubted her intentions, so she did with him.
"You know that District 42 is passing for harsh times in a lot of different matters. Some things are happening that are barely under our control. And now you appear... Please, keep in mind that you are like a Joker card, Casper. For our district, and probably the entire world, that’s what you are."
The soldier got more questions to make than answers, it was getting him frustrated, but, at least, he got further into what exactly made him so special.
He was sure that it had something to do with the masks, but they weren’t the only thing. For the Princess’s tone and the subjectivity of her statement, Casper could only guess that he was forgetting a crucial element to solve that question.
The soldier breathed in and out, preparing himself for what he would say.
"There are a lot of things I need to sort out, and, honestly, I don’t like to keep blindfolded about all these situations, and I will pursue the truth behind everything again, but this time in the right manner."
After a good while, Vick looked to Casper instead of staring into space.
"Right manner...?"
"Yes. I can’t keep hiding from you all. If I do so, I will never get anything to do anyway. It’s been a while since I arrived here, and I am pretty sure that there are a couple of things that can be revealed, so we can work together for real."
Casper’s heart throbbed once he imagined the scene of the door of the lockdown room opening and a Ridire appearing there, picking his weak body like a potato bag, and carrying it for one more session of suffering.
His hair even stood to the end when he imagined those prisoners running for their lives again, the battle into the canteen, Alfar going crazy, Anton betraying them...
He bit his lips so hard that it got cut, his fists were clenched tightly, so tightly to the point where his fingers seemed to be made of stone.
"You could guess it already, I am sure, but I was a warrior back in the place I came from. Not any ordinary warrior, but one high-ranked. I acted inside an organization in the army turned to special operations, and mostly I did espionage and infiltration."
Vick got quiet for a moment, absorbing all that information. She had already guessed that Casper wasn’t someone normal back in his homeland. With all the things he was capable to do in the Battlefield of the Midwest Battle, the infiltration in the Third Lab, and the escape of Halden, it was even harder to believe that he was just a scientist.
"And I have a proposal to do for you regarding this matter, Princess." She kept hearing him attentively. "I want to help you with what I got for whatever you need. It can be military-related or not. I will do as you please, and hear what you want... But, after this, I want you to bring me to talk with the Forger."
The Princess got into a dilemma there. Just as much as Casper’s proposal was a very good one, it was also dangerous.
If Vick could make Casper have a taste of the cruelty of the Frelsi through missions at the army, then he would make up his mind and maybe go to their side. He would get used to the Ridires as well.
However, meet the Forger was a bold move. She would never expect that he would ask for such a thing.
The problem with it was what Casper would do once he finally conversed with that man. Two people with a huge power interacting was a concerning sight for her because she didn’t know what mess would be made starting from there.
She knew that Casper was smart and that this meet had something major behind it. He probably had bigger objectives, that made whatever help he would do be worth it.
"I am split here... If I let him go, maybe I will never get another chance... And if I accept, I can be putting my folk at risk... What do I do?"
