𝐢𝐝𝐲𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐜 | 𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐩𝐧

𝟒𝟐| 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚: 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬, 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬.

   𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫.

   Emma's was 'antenna'.

   Ray's, 'sleepy cyclops'.

   'Bean head' was Don and Gilda was 'prissy four eyes'.

   Lannion and Thoma were 'curry chow' and 'pizza topping' respectively.

   And finally, Nat was 'nose'. The others were lucky enough to be free of Mister's names, for now.

   "This sucks..." Thoma and Lani cried, "he's bullying all of us!"

   "That man doesn't want to learn our names... he's so stubborn about it," Gilda said as she comforted the boys.

   "By the way, Nat, why are you looking so proud?" Ray asked.

   "Because my elegant nose line has been recognized!"

   Y/n sighed, "not only is he refusing to learn our names... he's not telling his own name, either! He's dead set on that point, too."

   Emma huffed, "what kind of nickname is antenna, anyways?"

   "He probably doesn't want to grow close," Ray said as he placed down some books, "to us, I mean. He must figure it's better to remain detached."

   The man stood in front of the younger children, "repeat... after... me. Take care of the rooms."

   "Take care of the rooms!"

   "Stay outta my sight."

   "Stay out of your sight!"

   "Don't even walk around to begin with."

   "Don't even walk around to begin with!"

   "If you use something, put it back where we found it."

   "Back where we found it!"

   "Break the rules and you die," he smiled sinisterly. Infronr of him stood Alicia with a teacup in hand, and her arm extended. He feared that she would drop it, "ah! Put that down..!"

   "I think I get what to do now," Ray said, "it's not just this switch that makes him vulnerable. The entire shelter is full of extortion material. Thanks for the report, Alicia!" He patted her head lovingly.

   Turns out that it was just a stunt Ray wanted to pull together more information on the grumpy man. Gilda wasn't happy, "wait! Ray! What sort of dangerous experiments are you making the poor girl do?! You too, Alicia!"

   "No problem! I won't do it again! After all, everything is important to that man," she smiled, "it's not as if he's not listening."

   Eugine and Mark chimed in, "it's a bummer that we can't explore the rooms... and he yells at us to go away, and he gave us these funny nicknames, but... we kept asking his name and he got so angry!"

   "Oh you-" Gilda shouted, "stay away from him!"

   Ray cleared his throat, "anyway, we've managed to drag that man along with us for the Minerva excursion. The rescue, and the escape. We must accomplish both of those goals within two years. Because, if we bring all the kids from Grace Field here... this shelter will simply be over capacity. We have to secure a means of escaping this world as soon as possible, and complete both the rescue and the escape within two years. And we're not even sure Minerva will be there. We can't afford to play around and waste time. Without that man's experience, we got no hands to play. He's absolutely necessary to our goals."

   "And also!" Emma added, "that man is a human being like us, and somehow he managed to go outside and survive for thirteen years! With us going so close together, I'm sure there will be chances to learn how he does it! However you look at it, going out with him is a necessary step. And we've managed that much, I feel a bit relieved."

   Don spoke up, " But... we're still worried about this."

   "And when we say 'until we meet Mr. Minerva,' well, will that man even listen to us? It's not like he couldn't kill us if he wanted to. It's totally possible that he'd just say yes, but wait and watch for a chance to kill us, right?" Gilda questioned.

   Ray nodded, "probably. It's natural that he'd think that way, to be honest. He might just be looking to put 'disgusting shitty kids' like us into danger out there."

   "No..." Don mumbled.

   "And that's fine. Our first priority was just to get him to come with us. At the moment, there's no other way for us to push that man into action. As of yet, we don't know what that guy's true motives are, so... We're about to start a game of gathering intelligence. He's playing this game just like we are. That's the kind of journey we're on."

   Y/n frowned, "I just wish we didn't have to resort to this cloak-and-dagger stuff, and could just help each other. He's an escapee, just like us."

   "He's the one that pointed his gun at us, refusing to tell anyone. He's even rushing our departure from here. We've got three days to read, and prepare. On the fourth day we aim for A 08-63."

   Two days had passed and Y/n was wandering around the shelter when she ran into Mister. He was in a room that Anna and Jemima had found earlier, it was decorated with markings and scribbled on the walls. The most prominent one read, 'poachers'. "Hey," Y/n greeted him from behind, "what's a 'poacher,' Mister?"

   "Stay outta my sight. And quit wandering around."

   "I'm not in your sight," she smiled matter-of-factly, "besides, I need to ask you a few things before we leave. What's a poacher? How far have you gone, Mister? Have you ever made it to A 08-63? Why did you stop looking? And why'd you annihilate them all?"

   "Don't feel like talking about it. It's all a secret," she grumbled when he spoke again, "you guys are a good little family. And I hate good little families. Eyesores. Disgusting. Do you even know what it feels like? Realizing that just one choice can throw everything off the rails. The terror of seeing your ideals, your choices, kill your friends. 'We'll all live in the human world together!' Was that choice really the right one? 'It's not all pointless! There's no way it can all be pointless!' Huh? I can't wait. Will you still be able to spout pretty words like those at the end of this journey, I wonder?" He walked through the door, "follow me. Bring your little boyfriend and Antenna too."

   She did as he said, walking into the room Ray and Emma were in, not without a faint blush, "Mister said to get you guys... he's in the common room."

   Emma nodded and skipped out while Ray walked behind with Y/n, "what's got you all worked up?"

   "It's nothing.." Y/n avoided his question before watching Mister put Nat away from the piano, "hey, wai-" He stepped on the piano and pried off the top. He shoved an umbrella in the gears which seemed to unlock a door.

   "Wha..." the three muttered.

   "This is our final preparation before we're off," he led them down a ladder which presented the armory. Guns of all kinds were propped up against the wall along with compatible bullets. "Time to go find Minerva in hell, eh?"

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𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫

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