Post #2680770 in Dream Extraction, a roleplay on RPG

It had taken Benjamin exactly thirty seconds to regret answering his phone. The blocked number had been suspicious, but as soon as he had heard Wilkins voice on the other end of the line, he knew he had made a mistake. He thought Hofn had been far enough away that no one from the extractors program would be able to pinpoint his location; after all most people couldn't pronounce the name, let alone find it on a map. It wasn't exactly remote, per se, but it was small and the main fishing port had such a constant stream of foreigners coming in from the mainlands that Ben melted right into the sea of strange faces. He had been there about four months, just starting to acclimate to the constant cold, when he got the call.

Wilkins spent the first few minutes of the conversation berating him for being such a difficult man to get a hold of. After that it was many questions in regards to where he had been the last few years and how he managed to remain almost undetectable, all of which Ben avoided answering. Then came the reason for the call; Wilkins had another assignment for him.

"No," was Ben's quick and firm reply when Wilkins offered him the mission.

"But—"

"I said no," he repeated, "I've told you before, I am—"

"Yes, yes, retired. We all know," Wilkins had said, his voice laced with irritation. "And you know better than anyone that there's no such thing. You have a responsibility here, Ben, you can't say no to the agency. You can either come back willingly, or we'll send someone to retrieve you."

Ben had considered taking Wilkins up on his threat, but he had already created enough trouble for himself with the agency. He didn't want to give them another reason to be on their radar. He eventually agreed on one condition; Wilkins needed to get a chemist Ben had worked with before, back when he was still extracting. Do that, and he would consider coming back for one more extraction.

That was two days ago. After Wilkins agreed to get Rosemary for the teams chemist, Ben had reluctantly said goodbye to Hofn, took the next flight out of Iceland and rented a car to make the drive to the main lab, per Wilkins instructions. It had been years since he had seen Rosemary, a little over three in fact. That was when Dillinger had still been alive and she was still his apprentice. The three of them had worked together on a few cases and Ben was mesmerized with the duos research ability and synergy. If Ben couldn't have Dillinger again he would have the next best thing: his student. After the accident with his last extraction though, Ben all but disappeared and lost contact with most of his teams. The last time he had talked with Rosemary was two years ago when she informed him of Dillinger's passing. He hadn't been sure if Rosemary still worked with the agency, but he honestly couldn't see her doing much else. He was pleasantly surprised when Wilkins called to confirm that Rosemary had agreed.

Wilkins would also have to find another architect, which would be no easy feat. Ginny had been his number two since he was released from the military and he pitied the person who followed in her gigantic, egotistical filled shoes.

Ben quickly banished thoughts of Ginny as he pulled up to the lab. He didn't need that distraction right now.

He took the flight of stairs up to the main floor, uneasy with how quickly he remembered the way to Dillinger's, now Rosemary's, office. Try as he might, he couldn't forget what is was like being an extractor. It was practically ingrained in him and the sense of nostalgia was overwhelming. As he approached her office door he swore that this was going to be the last time he would extract. This would be the last time he walked though the lab, the last time Wilkins convinced him to do a mission, the last time he would go inside someone else's dream. He would disappear again, this time for good. He'd try America maybe, or Finland, he had always wanted to go there.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the office door a few times before slowly opening it.

Snippet #2680770

located in Dreamscape, a part of Dream Extraction, one of the many universes on RPG.

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