Theo Ashenfall's Story

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Koba S. Graesson

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Utopia, one of the cities that blossomed after The end. Or perhaps it is the only city out there, because no one alive in there can truly say if there is anything else out there but scavengers. Because all you could ever know it what you have seen with your own eyes, all else is speculations. Those that sought salvation at the laboratory all got what they wanted, a place to sleep and food to eat. A safe haven. But some safer than others, some was left outside with the gazing sun and bandits. There are no one else but themselves that can save them, because those underground wouldn't risk their own lives for those that could be replaced. It's sad but true.

Staying alive was the priority for everyone. Under ground or over, everyone wanted to survive. But truly, just being alive wasn't enough when the danger became natural. It was a part of the usual life, people die by some point anyway. So a thought spread, if we are just going to die in the end anyway there are so much more we could do to fulfill our lives. Freedom. That was what they wanted. Those out there, those that caused the ruckus down in the white alleys of the blooming core of Utopia.

But was that really something new? Something that had just spread from nothing, an idea people had gotten after The end? No. People from all ages had always strived towards freedom, a beautified ideal. Something to bring hope into the darkest moments, to make people rebel against each other. One group shouting one thing while the other group shouted something else. No one was wrong, everyone believed they were right. It had always been like that and would probably continue to be like this for all eternity as well. Because not even The End could unify the survivors.

And truly this was just proof of that. How people sat around the long table and shouted towards each other’s, those that weren’t a considered a part of the highest levels in the hierarchy stood around the table and argued as well. But it was not like Koba couldn't understand or sympathize with what people argued with - their loss truly was a setback. The research had been lost. Life’s as well but people seemed to have forgotten about that, because it was the research that was important. The plants. The quest to bring life back to the dying Earth.

"We still have the research, we can just start anew," The oldest one of the supreme leaders called out, Xanto was his name.

Even though he was considered important people still had a tendency to completely run him over when it came to these occasions. This was something they did this time as well, people protested all over the room. The one that sounded the loudest was however the second supreme leader. Probably the only one that considered himself "supreme" - Bjorn, "That's the problem! We need to start from the beginning! Who knows how long that will take! No, we must seek out those who stole it and get the plants back! It's the only way, something else would take far too long to do!"

Agreeing nods appeared in the room, but other voices rose as well that didn't agree with such a solution. But one thing was clear, that this conversation or screaming contest wasn't nearly done yet. And there were still people that tried to get their voice heard in the matter. If no one would step up and take control over the situation the conversation probably could continue for all eternity - or at least until people dropped down on the floor by exhaustion or starvation.

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Perrine C. Demetri

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It had been a success, a true success. A first small victory amongst many. At least that was what they pictured for themselves, or hopes for. Prayed for. But even if it only was one victory, the first one, it was still something to bring light into their hearts. Something to let that craving that had made them form an alliance in the first place to burn brighter. Even if they didn't have everyone on their side it didn't matter, because everything they needed was some that would want to fight for what was right. Equality.

Truly everyone was born equal and it shouldn't be so that just because of life choices some would be granted to stand above others. At least that was what Perrine believed herself, it was something she thought everyone in their little group believed in. Because if they didn't, why was they here in that case? No they must have the same burning desire to get back what was rightfully theirs like she and Bad Request wanted as well.

"This is just one victory amongst many! Now friends, now we have the ability to actually fight back. What will they do, starve us? They won't be able to do it. But no, no we won't leave this place, even if we could. Because there are still many other's that needs our help, just think about everyone out there. On the streets, in the power plant, all those that work. Because they are forced to work, while those down there just sits on their lazy buns all day and watches us while we struggle." The rough voice of Bad Request echoed in the room, sounding almost electric because of the gasmask he wore. Like everyone on the outside wore.

As he paused one more static sounding voice spoke up, this one as smooth as velvet behind the gasmask, "They just sit there and watches as we one by one wither. Just this past month the death count has gone up dramatic, people die out here. And there is nothing I can do about it. Because they won't let us get the resources we need to save them! They don't care about us as long as they can stay down there, but we won't let them. Not anymore, not now. Now we can finally do something and it's all thanks to everyone here. We will save all these lives out there from dying too early. From dying without a purpose, from dying without even experiencing life! You all know what I mean, what we are enduring here is not being alive! We are just robots! And I am no goddamn robot!"

As the woman took a deep breath the leader of the group placed a large glow dressed hand on her shoulder, because even if it was evening right now people still kept their clothes on to keep the sun from damaging their skin. Perrine calmed down the moment he did so and turned quiet once more, because this was not her speech, it was the leaders, "You are right, we are no robots. And that is what we have been treated as. But no more. It will end soon enough, now we just need to think about our next move."

"Lindon, how much setback did the theft brought us?" She entered the research division confidently and the scientists there immediately straightened their act in her presence. There was not a dull moment or was it even allowed when she was in work mode as one would say. "We can still continue with our research though the matured samples taken did give us roughly 32% down in our estimated finished rate." Krisalis looked through the glass pane which gave her a perfect view of the greenhouse where the plant samples were placed and taken with such care.

"I see. We'll just have to fare even better." She noted as another personnel approached her and handed some documents detailing reports. "How did the meeting go, your Highness?" Lindon queried as he now stood beside the illustrious leader of the Science Department. He was one of the researchers present at the establishment of Utopia, but gave his position to the Princess after assessing her character after a few exchange of words. She did not remove her eyes on the documents in hand. "Childish squabble." He gave a hearty laugh at that before settling himself down. "But, that is the nature of humanity. I do hope you weren't too harsh with them your Highness."

At this point, Krisalis removed her eyes from the document and looked at Lindon who was an elderly man with his graying hair and wrinkled skin. He was old, but anyone could tell that in his younger years, he was quite a specimen to look at, but that wasn't her concern at all. "I simply reminded them what they should do. We all have roles and that is all." He could see well, that she had been strictly raised in a world solely meant of order and rule. Well, she was meant to be if this man-made tragedy did not occur. "Of course." He had a smile on his face as he bowed his head, then he remembered something. "Ah yes, he is here waiting at your office, your Highness." There were no need for any further descriptions. "No one is to disturb me then. Handle things here Lindon." She then went to her office.

"It's always a delight to see you, my lovely Highness." His voice filled with playfulness and just barely a hint of respect, but this was to be expected from someone like him. Those blue eyes of his landed on Krisalis' form the moment she entered, like stalking a prey. "Let us cut to the chase." She got to the point as she walked behind her desk and took a seat. "You do know, it won't hurt to flirt at times. Guys dig that especially coming from a pretty face like yours." This remark earned him a glare that if it was possible would have shot holes on his body right now. "Fine! I was just saying." He said with his arms raised to the air, an act of surrender, but his face still had that playful humor.

"Find these rebels and the ones responsible for the breech." Well, that was not much of a different from his other missions so far. "All right, that won't be too hard, but isn't finding the rat within Utopia, is now that musclehead's job? It's a security breech now after all." She leaned on her chair and answered it without any formation of doubt. "It is however, he is useless in this situation." He shook his head and laugh at her words, because she was basically saying, "You're saying he's an idiot, aren't you?" There it was again another glare as he settled down. "Anyway, I'll report once I get the information you want so, those grunts can swoop down for the kill." He never took a seat as he went towards the door, but before he could, she spoke again.

"As for the breech, I want that traitor dead." This was interesting, he looked over his shoulder to assess her expression and turned to face her. "Well, we did crush other rebels in the past, but that would always be in self-defense and a trial is present. Also, that would be the Military's jurisdiction. But, it's different for this spy?" She looked at him with an eerie calm. "Traitors have no place in Utopia and a virus must be eliminated immediately." He has that amused smile on his face and the shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I'm no assassin. I just feed information." She answered in retort to that. "You are no saint either. Do it." She was rather bossy, isn't she? He released a sigh and turned his back at her. "I'll see what I can do." He then left the room.

Krisalis closed her eyes for a moment and felt the swirl of emotions inside of her. She was keeping them all at bay, never allowing a crack on be seen on her. She opened her eyes and reached for her pills. She took a pair and then also retrieved her pocket watch which originally belonged to her grandfather, King Wilfred. "I will not disappoint you. I'll revive this world. I promise." She muttered under her breath as she kept the pocket watch. That is why she will be relentless and stern with her beliefs, because it would be the only way that things can be done. As for the rebels, she was not keen on making them understand. They have their own faith and she would not change it. This would simply be a battle of the wills, and she has no intention of losing in anyway.

On the other hand, the man given the directive to retrieve information meshed himself well with the crowd, even with his striking appearance. He was able to downplay it and go under the radar. He soon reached the gates to the outside world and was actually wearing an ensemble befitting of someone working in the power plants. "Whoever said that paradise doesn't have any problems?" He said under his breath as he went to the power plant he would be working on, while on the way he lighted a cigarette and took in the nicotine smoke with such pleasure. "Time for work."

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Perrine C. Demetri

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The meeting carried on until the sun almost could be seen at the horizon, it was not because they celebrated that much - not hey talked about where to strike next or how to continue. People came with different opinions and clearly people believed their own idea was the best one. But one thing they all agreed on was that the power plant had to continue to work. They couldn't just starve the rest of the Workers that wasn't a part of their exclusive group. And they simply couldn't start to give out ransoms on their own either since that would make people wonder where they got the food from. Something like that was simply too risky.

One thing they did agree on, however, was the fact that they didn't have a chance against the Elite's gun power. The Elite had everything that could be considered a weapon basically. Well of course they had one gun or two, but that was all. Something like that was hard to find, and even harder to find one that worked and ammunition to it. So a head on attack would never work. They would end up being slaughtered. But what if they got their hands on some of the Elite's weaponry? That would be perfect. The question was only how. That was what they had been discussing by the end of the night, and as people headed over to their beds that was still the thought that kept them awake for a while longer. Ideas popping up, fears revealing themselves, there was so much emotions that got uncovered.

The following day everybody got back to the routine, went back to how things was, reality. The sun gazed down on the dry ground as people hurried to their usual businesses which mostly meant heading over to the power plant. But there was other ones that still got to do different things than others, well Perrine for example. She never even had to leave her home in the morning, well not until someone got and fetched her because they needed her help. Unlike a real or how doctors acted before the apocalypse she didn't have a schedule when it came to appointments, she took what she got every day. Somedays nothing happened and she ended up just walking around the office while waiting for people to get sick or hurt themselves.

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Solomon deMause

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It was hard being new. Or the first couple of days were the hard ones. Those that followed was just simply annoying. Solomon wasn't used to working, he had never worked in his entire life and he simply didn't believe he would be forced to work after The end. To him it felt ridiculous. Like a play. People pretended that they had gone back to what was normal, people lived in homes, abandoned buildings surrounding the lab and walked to work in the morning. But they didn't get paid in money. They got paid in food. In his eyes it was all a big imagination country, like people was stuck in a dream.

And he was stuck in there to. If it wasn't because of the fact that his stomach had been hurting so bad from not having anything to eat for more than a couple of days he would never had stopped in a place like this. But sometimes you had to sacrifice you believes and pride to just simply be able to carry on. Because he couldn't die now. He had stayed alive for so long. It would be such a waste. But he hated it here. Not only the power plant itself, which looked as if it could fall apart at any moment, but the whole city.

He hated it all.

He could leave if he wanted. He knew it. But did he really want to? If he really wanted to he would already have done it. But here he stood and watched as the older coughing man tried to show him once more how to handle the control panel of this part of the plant. The man wasn't enjoying himself and neither was Solomon. People were probably giving up on him at this point because he never seemed to learn anything - he didn't want to learn. But in the end if he didn't he knew he would end up in the group of people that was forced to fetch the dried wood from around the city. That if something was heavy work. Most of the time they worked at night as well since it was too hot during the day.

So he tried to care about what the buttons did while the man explained, but the only thing Solomon could think about was the man’s coughing. Wondering how bad it was. And if it was contagious - he doubted that but you never know. The last thing he needed was to get sick and weak.

"That seemed to be getting worse, Char." His identity this time was known as Jerry Hilt as he approached the coughing old man and one of the new power plant workers who he knows as Solomon deMause. It's a simple thing to know the names since, it is his job to gather information. "You should get that checked." He removed the lit cigarette from his mouth and then looked at Solomon. "I'll take care of this one, okay?" He offered a friendly smile and a wink towards the old man. "You better go and see the doc, we wouldn't want those so-called top of the food chain, yanking us down."

He then looked back at Solomon. "So, you're good with this?" He pointed at the contraption. "Just think of it as some kind of brick game." He noted while pushing some of the buttons. "Don't sweat the details." He noted while showing Solomon a pack of cigarettes. "The name is Jerry, though, you can call me whatever flies your drift. Do you smoke?" He queried as he waited for Solomon to take some or refuse it, either way, it's fine with him. "Anyway, after work if you just want, I can show you around."

He was friendly and was quite the easy-going guy. "All work and no play makes people very dull. I can show you some fun places. Just because the world out there is gloomy and all, doesn't mean we have to be one." Then, there was a voice calling out a name, and that would be... "Jer! Jer! Need some help with the wiring again!" He looked at the direction where it came from. "Coming!" He looked back at Solomon. "Well, see you later, pal!" He placed his cigarette back on his mouth and left to help fixing some faulty wiring. It wasn't bad and that's part of his work here in the power plant.

Speaking of which, there was also her highness' order about carrying out an execution. Well, he'll work something out eventually. For now, one step at a time.

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Solomon deMause

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Strange new people seemed to pop up from everywhere or it was more like Solomon hadn't even had a chance to meet or see everyone that lived outside of the laboratory, so he wasn't surprised when he had no idea who the strange man that approached was. No name came to mind and he couldn’t even tell if he had seen the man before. But he guessed that he would remember such a unique face if he had.

But the old man seemed to know who the man was however, since he only nodded as an answer before patting Solomon's shoulder to show that he believed he would be able to handle this by himself know. And with that Solomon just watched hos the old man started to walk away from the both of them, still coughing just as much as before. In the depths of his mind Solomon wondered if the man even would be able to get to the doctor by himself at this state or if he would collapse on the ground just outside of the factory. That would probably not happen but after The end Solomon just couldn't help his pessimistic thoughts. They surfaced all of the time, even when he didn't want them too.

"So, you're good with this?"

Before the man had just spoken to the older one and honestly Solomon had thought that he wouldn't even bother to talk with him afterwards so when the man stayed behind it came as a surprise. It caught him off guard and he didn't really know what to say, leaving him speechless and awkwardly staring at him before looking away while dragging his right hand through his hair in embarrassment, "Uh... Oh, yeah sure. I can totally handle this by myself."

The following explanation was not much of a help, but Solomon guessed he wouldn't be able to screw up the whole power plant by pressing the wrong button and that was what he meant. But he could be wrong of course, but this guy seemed to know what he was doing with the station without even being stationed here himself. So somewhere that built some sort of confidence for Solomon.

"The name is Jerry, though, you can call me whatever flies your drift. Do you smoke?"

"Uh... No," He had done in his teens but after the apocalypse that suddenly didn't seem so relevant anymore. And he had just gotten a bit more concerned about his own wellbeing, but he would try to stash the name Jerry inside his head.

Anyway, after work if you just want, I can show you around."

For the first time in a while Solomon's curved upward in a playful smirk, "Yeah sure, I could use a guide. As it is now I can barely find my way here in the mornings." The fact that the man left shortly after was not a surprise either, they were at work and Solomon understood. But now left alone with the controls did make the young man hesitate, wondering what he was supposed to do. Staring at the controls at one time and then after staring up at the part of the power plant he worked in, wondering if he was supposed to do anything or not. After a while of just standing around and doing nothing he started to press some of the buttons at random, figuring nothing bad could happen from doing something like that.

Perhaps he had been a bit too optimistic since he was able to stop one of the machines in the back, hearing shouts coming from there and once more panicking since he had no idea what he had done wrong or how he was supposed to fix it again. So once again he started to just press some random buttons hoping to find the right one and fix the problem.

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Koba S. Greasson and Gaia von Piagen

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Because of their great leaders excellent judgement the two who didn't go together at got paired up with each other. One of them being extremely patriotic even if it was for his own personal interest while the other one tried to make the same government the other one tried to become a part of crash and burn. But neither of them talked about what they strived towards, in fact they didn't talk at all.

Not when they were getting ready to go out there and neither when they was out. Both of them just walked silently beside each other, probably because they had never even tried to speak with each other before. They knew about each other, but no more than that. But Koba had never liked to be on the outside - it was hot, he felt sweaty, the mask smelled and everywhere he looked it was just a dead city surrounded by a just as dead landscape. And then the people, you couldn't see anyone outside at this time of the day but you knew that they hide away in the buildings, peeking down at what happened on the outside from the windows. It was a ghost city.

But they had their mission, to just have a look around to see if they found something suspicious going on. Something that could lead them to the stolen plants and the thieves. Koba had hope but Gaia didn't. She would just try to keep him away from it all. But she had no idea where the plants had been taken actually. She didn't need to know either. They had no meaning to her.

Their first stop was the power plant, not because neither one of them could see the relevance in it. But Bjorn did. And Koba trusted Bjorn while Gaia just didn't protest since she knew nothing would be found there. But the plan was to just stay in the background and listen on what was said. No, Bjorn wasn't the cleverest person you could find inside of Utopia. But people didn't dare to question his ideas anyway. And somehow he believed this rebellion was something people talked about openly, as if everyone was a part of it. Perhaps he hoped it was like that. It would just make things simpler.

For now, the research was now once again back on track. It was a concern that was now addressed and alleviated the worries of her subordinates as well. There are no foreseeable problems as far as she could calculate, unless those rebels once again try something to disorient Utopia. That was an idea she was certain would come to fruition as soon as possible. After all, those ruffians had managed to enter the secure facility which meant someone helped them.

Krisalis has no doubts that there was a traitor in their midst. This angered her. She did not care if that traitor wanted to destroy some other part of Utopia. That person earned her scorn when the plant samples were taken. Her eyes narrowed reflecting her anger as the grip she has over the glass she held tightened. Security measures were never her responsibility as that is Bjorn's expertise, however, she knew well enough that the man was not the sharpest tool in the shed. That's why she had that man locate the rebels and traitor.

She raised the glass to her lips and drank the cold water. She could feel a migraine coming up as she placed down the glass on her desk and then pinched the bridge of her nose. This is probably from the sudden discord which revealed that the form of leadership they have within Utopia was no longer applicable. She could say that with confidence. Bjorn and even Xanto are men of the past and tradition. One, driven of traditional superiority yet lacks the skill to really rise to the top. The other, plagued by the softness carried by aging.

"Just take them all out..." Her eyes widened in horror as her reaction as she pushed the glass on her desk aside making it fall to the floor. It didn't take long as a knock came from her door. "Your Highness, is everything all right?" It was the worried voice of one of her assistants. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. "I am fine. Leave me. I do not want to be disturbed." She could feel even through the walls the hesitation of her assistant. "Yes, your Highness." She then took another set of her pills.

"All done here pops!" Jerry as he is known said outloud. "Thanks man! You're a lifesaver!" He smile at the older guy with confidence and cheerfulness. It comes easy to him. It is his job after all. "Catch you later then, I'll just check up on old man Char at Doc, kay?" he said while wiping his hands on a nearby cloth as he had made some repairs and earned some grease and dirt. "No prob! I'll cover for ya!" He gave the guy a thumbs up sign. "Thanks!" He then left as he made his way to where the only available doctor in this godforsaken place could be found.

He soon arrived and knocked on the door. "Doc, is Char here?" He asked as he opened the door to see if the doctor was in and if Char was there also. To anyone, he seemed to be a pretty easy-going guy and a good one too. That's because he cared. In truth, he couldn't care about the old man choking or dying on his face. There was nothing he could gain in his death and that was the simple fact. He simply needed a reason to come and that's because, he has other underlying means in coming here after all. That is to gather intelligence.

"His coughing has gotten worse and I sent him over here." He continued to say as he soon found the Doctor Perrine Demetri. His attention was a bit short to those who knew him around the power plant. He quickly shifted his focus on the doctor and into another different topic. "Hi ya Doc!" His smile was bright without any ulterior motive behind it. "You're looking lovely as always!" There he was again making his flirtatious moves. "So, have you changed your mind in having a date with me?" He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her that toothy grin of his.

"I swear you won't regret it. So, what do you say? Yes?" He did actually ask the good doctor to a date the very first time they met and it did not end that very well, but a man could not give up easily, right? At the same time, it's not like he ever gave up on anything. He is a survivor and he would continue to do so, even if it was at the expense of the others. Of course, no one knew that, because he never show or tell it. The beauty of acting and a mask.

---

Solomon deMause, Koba S. Greasson and Gaia von Piagen

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What greeted them on the inside of the power plant was not something they had suspected. The moment the door slid open the thing that greeted them was chaos, people walking around while talking with loud voices. Basically the same scenario they had seen in the underground facility just a moment ago. But these people weren’t arguing about some plant samples or anything like that. In the back of his head Koba had almost whished for an outcome like that.

But the two of them let the door slid back again, closing the facility once more while they started to walk downwards, following the walls. Staying out of it all while watching how some of the older men walked over to the power station and smacked one of the younger ones over the back of his head while continuing to yell on him.

"What are they arguing about?" Koba had already stopped his pacing, instead he stood with arms folded while leaning against the wall. Gazing over at the whole situation unfolding before them.

"One of the stations power was shut down because the kid pressed the wrong button," It was pretty obvious which one of them was the one who patrolled the outside regularly and which just occasionally went outside. The only times Koba went outside was because Bjorn had something specific he needed to be done on the outside, otherwise he just relaxed behind the closed doors. There, he was spared the scorching sun and the warmth that made him think he was about to go nuts.

The both of them continued to watch how the power once more returned and things got quiet once more. Or so quiet it could be inside here. You could hear the machines working and conversations being held without shouting, no one had been forced to tell everyone to be quiet. Everyone just went back to normal once the problem was fixed. It puzzled Koba a little, he had always seen the Workers as the more primitive people. But right now they almost seemed more civilized. But he guessed it was just a coincidence.

One more thing that could be heard inside the power plant was the distinct noise of Gaia's feet’s hitting the ground. It was a distinct metal noise, unlike those who could already be heard inside the building. Probably well known by the workers as well since many of them glanced over their shoulders while she walked pass them. She truly was more a robot than a woman, the prostheses she had wasn't even done to resemble that of a human. How anyone would want to look like that was not something Koba could understand, looking at her gave him this disturbing feeling in his stomach. He felt sick if he looked for too long.

"Aren't we supposed to continue our search, take a look around the power plant to see if we can find it?"

The commotion earlier had made Koba forget about the mission already, that they weren't just supposed to listen to what was said but was supposed to actively search for the plants as well, just listening was fun enough. But he unfolded his arms with a sigh and followed the robot woman as she continued to lead the way.

---

Perrine C. Demetri

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The moment the old man walked through the doorway Perrine was there to support him over to the bed, not because she felt like he was in such a bad condition but simply because she liked to care for people. But when they started to whine she stopped to care. Or it was more like it ticked her off, she got angry or irritated because of it. But it wasn't the first time she had been visited by this man and he had never whined about the coughing before. He just lied there on the bed and coughed while she tried to make it better. But there wasn't really anything she could do for him. Something the Elite's didn't share was their medicine or even anything like that. So Perrine couldn't hand out things like this. And her stack of savaged bottles had run out a long time ago.

The worst thing was the man's fever, he was burning up. She didn't really know how many more trips it would take before the man wouldn't be able to do it anymore. Before he would collapse for one last time like so many others before him. She had lost count by now. But she did what she could at least, gave him something to drink to sooth the throat and tried to cool him down. She would probably keep him here over the night and the day tomorrow, by the look of it she guessed he was too weak for work in the morning.

As someone knocked on the door her first thought was of course that someone else needed a checkup, but as the one who had knocked walked into the room her facial impression went from serious to uninhibited irritation. How her brows got furrowed in an overall grumpy expression as the man addressed his concerns for the man, "He's not dying yet so there is no need for you to check up on him."

"You're looking lovely as always!" Perrine simply snorted at the remark while she turned around towards the old man again, "And you're looking average as always Jerry."

"So, have you changed your mind in having a date with me? I swear you won't regret it. So, what do you say? Yes?"

"This again?" With light hands she removed the cloth from the man’s forehead to dip it in the bowl of water she had placed beside him, once done she placed the now cool cloth onto his forehead once more. "Well, if you are so keen on going on a date with me why don't you go and ask my big bro for my hand? You seem desperate enough to do it at this point. At least I will find it amusing to watch you do it, perhaps I'll consider it afterwards."

No, Perrine didn't have some big brother. But she did consider Bad Request to be it either way since he had been the one to take care of her for many years now and also been the one to bring her here. His true name was not something she knew of, neither did anyone else here. He was simply known as Bad Request, one of the scavengers that could travel the wastelands with his group trying to find things useful for Utopia. Both the outside and the inside. He could be gone for a week, but at the moment his team was at home, resting before they would need to head out once more next week.

"You're a master at retorts there, Doc." He noted with a playful smile as he went towards where the old man now lay. His eyes didn't show anything other than that of concern. It was fact that he was sure the old man was going to keel over, this place has no means of helping him and he didn't need to ask the doctor lady beside him to make sure of that. The only help that could save this old man's life is inside Utopia, it's something he could provide as well, but, the man was of no use to him, really. Technically speaking, this man has outlive his purpose, so let death take its course.

"Really? Your brother?" His eyes glanced at her with curiosity. "If I make your big brother say yes, then you'll be my wife, right?" Those eyes turned into that of big puppy eyes. It was like a child had found a mountain of candy under the bed. It was even possible to see that he had sprouted the dog ears and tail wagging in delight, but it was all in the imagination in the end. "Sweet!" He has the big toothed grin that had been said by many at the power plant as infectious. He was a natural in brightening things up and that also included his line of work mostly.

"Show me the way, where I can find him!? He'll be my big brother soon!" He was also blissfully confident, not in a bad way though. This is how Jerry is. "Did you hear that Char?" He looked back at the old man with a gentle smile. It was really amazing how easy it was for him to have such emotions and expressions, even if it was but a mirror illusion. "You better get well soon! I'll make you one of my groomsmen!" He gave a hearty chuckle before leaning towards Perrine and whispered something into her ear.

"How is he really, Doc?" His words reflected serious concern, but at hushed tone to avoid being heard by anyone else. Those eyes of his looked at hers. She did say that he shouldn't concern himself, but he was not blind, and there was nothing wrong playing this role, just a little bit further, because right now, he was extracting certain things he wanted to have.

---

Perrine C. Demetri

---

She could protest. She could tell him that it wasn't what she had said at all but she didn't. She just sighed once more while continuing taking care of the old man. It was crystal clear that the man wouldn't listen even if she told him he had made his own assumptions, because clearly he only heard what he wanted to hear. So protesting wouldn't actually lead anywhere, she guessed it would only lead to other's even more ridiculous assumptions from his side. And she clearly didn't have the patient for something like that at the moment.

But did she think that he really meant what he said? No, not really. She saw it as a joke coming from him, it was hard taking someone like him serious. And did anyone actually do that? It felt like everything he said was a joke. But that was probably why people liked him, it was probably nice for them to have someone to cheer them up. She knew without them even meeting yet that he was someone that Bad Request would like. Someone who genuinely cared for people.

However, the moment he got closer, the moment those words he whispered to her tickled her ear her hand shoot upwards placing itself between those two like a wall, "You are invading my personal space Jerry, please step back or I will give you a real reason to be here. And no I'm not joking."

It was for a nice cause, she knew that, he was concerned, but all he got from her was a harsh glare before she walked over to the door and opened it, "He needs rest, so I'll advice you to follow me instead of bothering him here. I'll talk with you on the way if there is anything you feel obligated to know about his condition," she took a short break while folding her arms, thinking it through once more before continuing," I have a feeling that Bad Request would like to meet you for that conversation anyway. He usually hangs out in the abandoned convenient store down the street with the rest of the scavengers. I need to go and talk to them anyway to see if they've found anything useful lately."

"I won't mind staying here so, that I could get treated by you." He actually has that bright smile and his eyes were all shiny from his self-induced scenario in his head on how Perrine and him would be spending time together in the clinic. "That would be the best! Char, you don't mind me hogging the doc's attention for a while, right?" He threw that playful wink as the old man chuckled as best as he could, because of his antics.

He looked at Perrine who went to the door and asked him to leave, he would have pouted but, when she said follow her, everything was A-ok! "Sure! Anywhere with you Doc!" He then looked back at Char. "You hang on there buddy, okay?" He then went to where Perrine is and his smile got even bigger when he heard that he was going to talk to her Big Brother. "Got it! I'll be finally asking him for your hand. I wonder if I should have brought a ring." He clicked his tongue, condoning his state of unpreparedness. "I should have worn something nicer, do I look okay to you?" He asked her. "As for you, you always do!"

He then smoothly changed the topic to that of Char. "So, how is Char? I don't think rest would be enough for him. I'll cover his shifts if that's all he needs, but, that's not it, huh." His voice that was always filled with cheer had changed into that of solemn concern. It was during this moment that he actually looked serious and not as the carefree guy that the power plants knew. "Do you think your brother, could help him?"

That was just conversation, since he could do that on his own without much fuss, but as he had decided on. The old guy was obsolete in his grand scale of schemes. In the end, everyone around him was but a stepping stone who he would not hesitate to step on and even destroy if they got in his way, but the truth of his purpose was hidden in such a place and the only one revealed on the surface is the man Jerry.

---

Perrine C. Demetri

---

Jokes, they just came coming, making Perrine click her tongue as they walked. She had a hard time taking Jerry seriously even when the topics and the whole atmosphere surely was extremely dull. But she still clicked her tongue at him, thinking this was just him going on with his clown act. Carefree and cheerful. Extremely hard for to have a decent conversation with since jokes wasn't something she usually got herself involved in. And even if she did it was mostly just her being grumpy without even trying to hide it.

Talking about rings and nice clothes, making her wonder how he even could come to think of such things. It sure was a long time since she had spent energy on such things, now she was just happy if they fitted her. A guess from her side was that everyone out here only cared about how they felt and fitted, not how nice they looked. Perhaps they could find something else in the abandoned buildings sometimes, a little nicer looking but that was rarely the case and even if they did how would you be able to decide who would get it? Or if everyone was supposed to share the item amongst themselves? Truth is that the Elite probably would snatch it in the end anyways. Like they always did. Taking everything from them. Just thinking about it made her clench her hands in frustration and anger.

"Well, since you want to now I'm going to be frank with you. He's dying. I don't know how many days he has left actually, I don't have any antibiotics to give him so there isn't anything I can do at this point. His lung is blocked by mucus so he can't breathe properly, as you can see on the bluish lips and fingers. It's just Pneumonia but I don't have anything to treat it with, above that he has a high fever because of the reduced immune system," With that she paused once again, sighing, not because she felt sorry for the man but because she felt bad for not being able to do anything to help him. It would have been so easy to help him before, to get him up on his feet’s and moving, but now she felt helpless. Like she couldn't do anything at all just because she lacked the resources.

"I don't know how long before he will not be able to breathe at all because of it and all I can do is just try to get the fever down. But maybe, it's a slim shot, maybe they have found some antibiotics on the last trip. I can at least ask them."

Once they were in front of the old convenient store, now acting as a big common storage for all of the Workers, Perrine held the door open for the man before heading inside herself. Once inside the darkened room you could see three individuals sitting at a table, playing cards. When not out searching for new useful things those who had that assignment usually guarded the small amounts they had.

One of the men located at the table stood up the moment the door had been closed, arms stretched out widely, "Perrine! Are you here to keep us company?" While talking the man approached the two, still holding out his arms while smiling brightly. His face was obscured by the cap placed onto the long dreadlocks that fell over his shoulders. This was the man without a proper name, the one that gave himself a new one, Bad Request.

But instead of getting that loving embrace from what he considered family he just got a hand shoved right into his face, keeping him distanced from her, "No. That's not going to happen."

The man lowered his arms once more with a disappointed sound while the two still sitting at the table chuckled to themselves, "Alright then, what's up? Why are you visiting us down here and who is this?"

"He can introduce himself, I thought you would find him interesting. I'm here for antibiotics, do you have any?"

Bad Request only shrugged in response, gesturing her to pass him and search by herself while the other two stood up as well to aid in the search. Once she had passed the man lowered his hand once more while tilting his head to the side, making the dreads move downwards as he inspected the younger man, "And you are?"

The words that Perrine said passed through his ears without sticking into him. He already knew what the old man was going to face, if the right medical resources are not given. It was just a good conversation topic, it was the only point, he had wasted time on discussing such a useless thing for him. There was not even an ounce of remorse deep inside of him, but that did not show, his persona, was flawless.

"I hope they did manage to find one." He muttered under his breath as he looked away from her and instead lowered his gaze. He seemed to be in deep thought which is very rare for him to be seen in as stated by those who knew him in the power plants. He was only lifted from his thoughts when he noticed that Perrine stopped. He lifted his head to see that they were at the convenience store, this was the place that she was talking about earlier. She opened the door and followed inside.

There were three men present and one of them knew Perrine in a very amicable way as a greeting embrace was about to be done when Perrine rejected it. He cannot help but chuckle, but he wouldn't want to make a bad impression, whoever her brother is and tried to hold it in. He even covered his mouth so, no sounds could be heard. Then, the attention shifted to him as Perrine left him on his own to search for the antibiotics. He looked at the one in front of him and showed an expression of slight intimidation.

"Uhh.. Hi! The name is Jerry Hilt." He said with a small smile. "Nice to meet ya... I mean.. you." It was obvious he was a bit nervous as he placed a hand at the back of his head. "By any chance, are you the Doc's brother?" He asked in the most polite way he could. He then took a deep breath and smiled awkwardly. "If you are, I would like to ask for Perrine's hand in marriage."

Yes, he was very serious about this as his face did not reflect and humor or halfheartedness. "I would do my very best to make her happy."

---

Perrine C. Demetri

---

The room fell in silence when the man was done talking, all three of those who had been placed at the table a little while ago paused in what they did to stare at the poor man. The only one who was untouched by the subject and didn't seem to care the slightest was the topic itself, Perrine, she continued to make a mess on the shelves while she searched for the antibiotics. While the silence still roamed inside the room you could even hear a faint snort from her direction, still seeing the whole thing as a big joke. The men probably thought so too since they glanced towards each other before turning their gazes toward the newcomer once more, finding it utterly strange that he would want to marry someone as the said person. They knew many who were friendlier and probably just easier to handle, but here he was, saying things like these.

And strangely enough the silence was broken in the most unexpected ways, shocking the other two as well, when Bad Request simply started laughing. Not in a mean mannered way, it was a warm kind of laughter, one that made you want to join in on it. But no one did this time, everyone was too stunned to do so and Perrine simply didn't laugh.

Once the laughter had surrendered to the seriousness of the situation Bad Request wiped his eyes while still continuing to smile, "Marriage? In these times? With our little dearie Perrine? You sure have a strange tas--," A razor sharp glare was sent his way from the one he spoke of and the moment he noticed it he ended the sentence, smiling even more towards her. She only answered with another snort before turning her back towards them once more, "Well, who am I to crush dreams? Of course I want to support the wellbeing and happiness of my dear sister."

He paused and turned towards his fellow mates, exchanging silent gazes between each other, "But!" The right pointer finger rose upwards as if he just got an idea, he turned around to face the new face one more. He was still smiling but this time it wasn't the same cheerful expression that had curved his lips like just a moment ago, this time the smile was so much darker. Sinister. "Before I agree to something like that I want you to prove to me that you would keep that promise. That you would do you’re very best to make her happy whatever it would take… So, I've heard about from my colleagues, you're supposed to be well liked and all that. So I want you to find out if anyone of those who works in the power plant has a map of the whole building. If anyone has it, convince him that you need to lend it. You know… a simple quest. You should be able to do it, right? It's not much to ask of you I believe. And just for the record… I will know if you didn't do you’re very best."

Somehow, she could feel serenity coming to her senses. That was a good thing as she leaned on her chair and looked at the ceiling. She would need to restock her pills to ensure that this episodes of hers are contained and controlled. She cannot have this during work hours especially when she in a meeting. It would be troublesome and would have her lack in proper judgment of the situation.

She took a deep breath and looked at the broken pieces of glass on her floor. That would need some cleaning up as she released a sigh before pressing on the intercom at her desk. "Have someone come to my office to clean up broken pieces of glass." There was an instant answer to that order of hers. "At once, your Highness." She ended it at that and began to read through the research data compiled for her by Lindon. Everything does appear to be proceeding smoothly despite the large setback due to the infiltration, but she was not content with the statistics on this one plant, the corn.'

There are some factors that won't allow it to grow, and because of its sensitivity to the outside atmosphere, it had lead for a harder survival rate. According to this date in her hands, the corn can grow outside provided that ample nitrogen tincture are inserted and a net would cover it. That one is quite treacherous as it requires high maintenance and having the populace eat chemically grown ones, is not on her preference. It's enough that she has the need to generate and fine-tune the genome of these plants, but aiding its growth with chemicals was not her cup of tea.

A knock alerted her to reality. "Come in." The door opened revealing an elderly janitor as he spoke his purpose. She simply nodded and continued on her reading. "Your Highness, I'm done. I'll take my leave." She raised her eyes to look at the man who bowed in adamant respect, but she believed it was out of fear of her authority. "Go. Tell my assistant to bring me another tea." That's right. she's a leader, isn't she.

His nervousness ebbed away as the man before him laughed. He continued smiling, but there was a light reddish tint present on his cheeks, whether it was due to embarrassment or something more intimate. Only, he could tell. He continued to scratch the back of his head and waited for the Doc's brother to settle down from his laughing and when he did his eyes twinkle when it sounded like Bad Request as he is called sounded favorable to the arrangement. "Really!? Awesome! I assure yo---" His sentence was cut when Bad Request intervened with a but. That warm atmosphere changed into something that of mischief and sinister with just a smile.

"The whole building?" He had a thoughtful expression. There was nothing odd about it, but deep inside his curiosity was piqued. Why would this man require a map of this building? Unless, there is something he has in mind of. There was no problem really for him to obtain it. The issue would be if he has the right to hand it as that would be technically giving information to those who should not have it. Then again, the ever strict princess had instructed him to rat out the rebels and condone them, except for the traitor of course, that's death penalty.

"Okay! I agree! I would do my best to get this map!" Nothing beneath the determined and carefree Jerry persona could define that he was a completely different person. "I'll do everything to get your blessing, Sir!" He even straightened his posture to prove the sincerity of his words, though, it appeared to be a bit too stiff. "I have to go now! I have to get it as soon as possible!" He told himself and then looked at where Perrine is. "Don't worry Doc! I won't return empty-handed!"

He was obviously carefree confident that he would get it with clear cut determination and a positive outlook. "Well, later! Oh, Doc! I'll leave Char to you!" He was then outside of the door on the trail of finding that map. He could procure it easily without the need of looking for the person who has it here. But, Bad Request specifically wanted him to have his hands get dirty, figuratively of course. "Where could that map be...?"

---

Perrine C. Demetri

---

The moment the man left the building the three men sat down at the table once again before they were accompanied by Perrine as well after a while. She had taken a walk around the whole store in search of something useful without much of a success, she had found some minor things she could use in her office but no antibiotics. When the topic was brought up as a conversation starter she just shrugged because there was nothing to feel bad about, she had looked but found nothing. There was nothing else for her to do because asking those underground was out of the picture. She had tried it before, many months ago when she was new around here, but nothing.

"So... marriage?" After some small talk from the men the topic was brought up once more, by Bad Request without a glance towards Perrine. Instead he focused on the cards in front of him, acting as if he didn't care the slightest.

The topic was greeted by just another shrug from her side, "Apparently. That wasn't what he was talking about from the beginning though, it went from being talk about one date to marriage pretty fast. But since people seem to like him I guessed you would want to meet him so I just brought him here instead, but the map really? We already have one?"

"Yeah," A paus was made as he scratched the dry and cracked skin on his cheek, "My intention is to just take a look at it too see if they have changed anything and give it back to him immediately. If they've made any changes I'm just going to edit that on our own map so we'll know. I just want to see if he will do what we ask him to do for your hand, even if he doesn't know why."

"So you intend to let him inside the group? Even if you don't know if he can be trusted?"

Once more Bad Request cracked up, smiling and chuckling at the question, "No. My intension is just to test him. After that it's your mission to get to know him and decide if we can trust him. Because if he complete the task I promised him to give him my blessing. And who other than his own wife would be able to discover if he's trustworthy or not?"

As he spoke Perrine snorted once more while rolling her eyes, clearly annoyed by the plan showing off her disapproval as well. But she wasn't questioning him or disagreeing, because she could see the potential in the idea. And she was more surprised when she thought he would greet someone he had just met with open arms and let him inside their small bunt of people. But that was never his intention, but the fact that it was her who had to get to know him and judge whatever they would do with him was not something she was happy about.

After a while of more pouting from her she just stood up once more while sending the man a toxic gaze, "Fine!" He just smiled as an answer as she made her way to the door again and started to make her way back towards the office to check up on the old man.

After a few rounds of asking around and doing small (big) favors and all, he was able to find the guy who had the map. He was ecstatic of hearing that, but there was of course an exchange for that, since it was classified information and all. Really? He was laughing inwardly at that word. For someone like him? There was nothing classified. Sometimes, he had often wonder when the system would turn on him, since he knew so many dirty secrets. They must be plotting to eliminate him at some point.

Because, one can keep a secret if everyone else is dead, right?

Well, now, he focused on the task at hand. Roberto as he is called wanted his help on something before giving the map. This help of course would require him to do Roberto's workload and entertain his wife of 20 years while he coddles with a new one. Right... He would have fun entertaining the wife if the woman didn't look like Stalin crossbred with Moby Dick, but hey that's the work isn't it? Plus, he was enjoying the information gathering. It allows him more access than he had ever anticipated.

Anyway, he accepted the deal and did his part. Who knew Roberto's wife was good in baccarat. That was an awesome thing to take note if he fancies gambling, but then again, isn't he always gambling with his life. In any case, he had done what was needed and managed to get the map. Roberto wanted more help, but he does have an ace up his sleeves for such events and that shushed him up good. Wives do tell everything when you get them drunk and pampered.

Now in his hands was the map that Bad Request wanted. He had no trouble or any sort of guilt handing it over. If a small map could debunk the entire governing system of Utopia, he would have a hysteria as he imagined what that Princess would look like. Alas, for now, he shall do what he has been asked to do. "Time to get that blessing!" He said cheerfully as he made his way. Thinking about it, a great deal time, had passed isn't it?

It may be true that the day was coming close by making way to the night. This was not apparently applied to the scientists of Utopia. They really do not keep hours, especially the one that governs them all. Krisalis was still every busy reading reports, analyzing them, creating solutions, and formulating certain protocols to achieve the necessary goal. Her mind was similar to a computer that does not know rest and she wanted it to be, because if she did... Those things would come to haunt her.

She stopped typing into her laptop and leaned back on her chair. It seemed her eyes demanded to be closed even for a few seconds, even if she deemed that unneeded. She pinched her nose bridge between her eyes and released a soft sigh out of the obvious strain she was placing on her body. "Your Highness." The sound of the intercom echoing inside her office was enough sigh to indicate that there was really no need for her to rest. "Speak your purpose." She answered back with a push of a button.

There was silence on the other end which made Krisalis suspicious that something they knew she would find unpleasant has occurred. "Don't waste my time. Speak." There was a sound of fearful understanding as an apology had been offered. "I'm sorry Your Highness... There had been an incident." Her eyes narrowed considerably as those green eyes of hers sharpened in hue. Were the plant samples stolen once more? What are the security department doing? Is Bjorn really a useless brute!? Adding to that, what was that spy doing allowing that so-called traitor to live.

"Where is Lindon? Have him meet me at my office now." Her voice did not trickle any sort of kindness in it. It was stern and firm. It was also downright cold, meaning that she was angry. "Give me the full details of the incident." The voice on the other line, agreed with great revere. "At once, your Highness!" The conversation ended at that as she stood from her seat and gathered her coat and wore it. "I really hate interruptions." Bjorn would certainly be hearing from her soon. He was starting to be unfitting of his current reign.

Finally making his way back to the store, he knocked on the door, for politeness. He can't be all rude since, this will be his future brother-in-law. He has to make the best impression as much as possible. "Hello, excuse me?" He announced his presence. "Jerry here? Uhm... Mr. Bad Request?" He looked around the area. He was of course able to procure the needed map. It did take some time for him, since he had to do it in the old fashion way, since he did have an inkling it was sort of a test. He couldn't pull out what he's really capable of. It would incur suspicion and that was something he could not have at this moment.

"Yo-hoo... I got what you asked for." He said as he showed the map in his hands. Actually, he had many ideas what this could be used for. But, it would be very terrible of him to assume on that. His work had been noted to be invaluable, because he always make it to a point that his information are always concrete and true. That's why he would be very friendly and keep his cover intact. This is his job, more of like his lifestyle. It was the very essence that he used to survive in this godforsaken world, and he would continue to do so, even if he has to destroy others.

He looked around and wondered if anyone is here. He could have come to the clinic first and ask the Doc. It would also make him another reason to check on Char being the good Samaritan that he is even if that was not true deep inside. Anyway, he continued with his search and kept looking around. Perhaps, he should go there right now. He looked around him one more time. He shrugged his shoulders and was about to leave the store. The Doc did tell him that they were scavengers, so maybe they had left or something already.

That was disappointing, but there was always another day, and he was in no hurry. He has the time he needed, but then again, it does depend on that princess.

It was a beautiful morning, that is how Jerry would describe the rustic wasteland that he had been assigned to. The things he does to live, well, it was the trick to being alive, isn't it? A knowing smile appeared on his lips as he prepared himself for the day. He had to look like a million bucks even with just the raggedy clothes he has and all. That's because he was going to present this map to the Doc's brother, Bad Request.

He has no idea why that man had taken to the liking of being called by that alias. It was really odd, especially not the best tag name for being scavenger, though it was a bad-a*s name, that's for sure. Of course, for a deeper contemplation, he had a lot of suspicions and ideas that could be attached to that man, but without any solid proof, they were nothing more floating rumors. That's not how he works at all. He was soon done and grabbed the map, he had to work out his charm and a bit of resourceful thinking to get a lead before being entrapped in a mountain of favors. There was at some point a limit and he did have to deliver this before he works his shift.

He got out of the rickety apartment he had to further acclimate himself to the world on the outside, the world of those people that the people from Utopia had termed as rebels. It was clearly a dump and far different from the crib he has back at Utopia, but hell, he was used to living in such meager conditions long before this apocalypse or this new type of system had been integrated. It was nothing he could take, though, it was not wrong to compare now is it?

He allowed those thoughts circle his mind as he walked towards the clinic first. Well, he could get a better lead there if Bad Request was out or not. He remembered she said that the man goes out, so who knows if he went out or was laying back. That's why it was better to ask the sister, right? He soon reached the clinic as he knocked first. "Excuse me? Doc? Good morning to you!" Bright and cheery as always, he had never changed. "I got the map! We can get married soon!" He announced wonderfully, then recalled another topic. "Oh, Doc, how's Char?"

---

Perrine C. Demetri

---

She was placed beside her table, writing in the log she kept about those who visited her. Silence surrounded her inside the room, the coughing had stopped. Which also was the reason to why she was writing at the moment, about one hour ago the man had passed on. She knew that it would happen sooner rather than later but it had been a bit sudden, she hadn't planned for it to happen today. She had been inside the room when it had happened, she had seen it with her own eyes, and how the man had trouble breathing properly and in the end fell to sleep.

There wasn't much for her to do, of course she had tried to make him breath once again. But it had been in vain. She knew that if she had the proper drugs she would've been able to save him. She knew that she would be able to save him if she had the right equipment as well. But she didn't have those things. And if she would she wouldn't have the electricity to keep them running either. There were many things wrong with this place. And if she would count them it would only lead to her having an extremely bad day because of her bad mood. But this day was bad already.

As she heard the knocking on the door she had just started to think for herself about how Utopia took care of their sick and elderly. She had never seen anyone get thrown out before, neither heard any stories about it. So they must have some way to deal with it. But what about those that got so sick or so old that they wouldn't be able to contribute to the community anymore? What happened with them, Utopia cared so much about people being able to do something for the community and pull their own weight, but what happened after that? Five years, no one had gotten thrown out yet. But Perrine had a feeling that elderly people soon would start to walk out that door because they had done theirs and had nothing left to give. Because that was her pitch black view on Utopia, in her opinion it was a terrible place.

But the moment the door opened up she close her book and put down the pen to great the one that needed her help or at least that was what she had been suspected. The one that walked through the door was not someone like that, like every other time she saw him walk through the door she immediately got a grumpy look on her face. Knowing he didn't come here because he was sick.

With a small gesture she swept her hand towards the far end of the room, where a cover that once had been white covered what resembled a body underneath it, "He didn't make it. Since I couldn't do anything about his sickness he wasn't able to recover this time. But everyone knew it would happen sooner or later so no one will be surprised when they hear the news."

The joviality he exuded just a moment ago, dampened down into that of sadness. His eyes of blue reflected grief and disappointment, not towards the Doc. More of, he felt sorry that there was really not much he could do about Char's dire condition. "Yeah... No surprise there..." His voice trailed off at that as he looked at the direction where the Doc pointed. "Death is normal, isn't it..." He walked towards the covered body and then offered a short yet silent prayer.

Of course, he really doesn't believe in what he is doing. It was just only an act to complete his persona and after all, it would be what Jerry would do in this situation, and not even a sliver of his truest intentions showed. He then went back to the Doc. "But, that doesn't mean we should be used to it, right?" He released a sigh at this and looked at the Doc closely, his face rather closed to hers. "Are you all right?" His voice echoed his concern and for once, his expression was not that of hilarity, but of worry.

"I'll handle the burial." He moved his face away from hers and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You seemed tired. You should get rest. We couldn't have the Doctor getting sick now." He rebounded there with his cheerfulness coming back on. That's when he remembered about the map. "Oh yeah! I was wondering if your brother is back at the convenience store. I have the map he wanted!" He declared with pride and obvious happiness. There was not even a hint of deception there.

"I need to give him this! That way we can get married, right?" He showed her the map and then looked back at where Char is. That's right he had told Char that he would be a best man, right? Well, that won't happen now, is it? He really didn't care really, but he had to keep up face, right? "It would have been fun, if Char was there." He took a deep breath and then looked back at Perrine. "I wonder.. why Utopia don't give proper medical supplies here.. We are working for them, right?"

---

Perrine C. Demetri

---

It was something with people and a lack of understanding that some people needed their space, and with people she meant herself. Having the man’s face so close to hers was disturbing, she fought the urges to place her hand over his mouth and shove him away. But she didn't because of what he asked about, showing concerns about how she was feeling. And she appreciated it somewhat, most people didn't care about how she was feeling, most people only cared about themselves here. The only one that actually cared for other people here was Bad Request and apparently this Jerry as well.

"Yeah, Bad Request should be in the convenience store if he isn't in there he live in the building next to it. The one with the red bricks, the third floor. He won't be out on a new trip until the last group has returned or gone missing, they should be back tomorrow and if not something has probably gone wrong."

While she spoke she had opened her book once more and started to scribble, writing down the promise Jerry had done. That he would be the one to take care of the burial. She never did that, it wasn't her task to arrange some way for those who knew the dead person to say goodbye. If she knew them - sure, but she didn't consider most of the workers to be friends of hers. Bad Request was one of them and probably some of the others in their group. But not even all of them.

"I wonder.. why Utopia don't give proper medical supplies here.. We are working for them, right?"

"I was thinking about that a lot when I first came here but after a while I came to the conclusion that we aren't considered important. Those in there think they will cure the earth and therefor they are "useful" and "needed" while we here on the outside are easily replaced by newbies. From time to time new people find their way here and they can take the ones that dies place. While those in there are unique because of their intellect, knowledge or just experience."

"We're useless, huh..." He scratched the back of his head and have this expression that he doesn't want to believe that, but also a mixture that it does make sense. "That's unfair. It's not like we wanted to be born so insignificant in their eyes... We just wanted to live." His voice trailed of with keen sadness and a relatively deep sigh. "I think we have the right to be treated as a human than expendable tools." He noted while crossing his arms over his chest.

In truth, he was well-aware on how the system works. It had always been like that ever since humanity existed. There was always this hierarchy even if everyone else denies it. There will always be a person who is noted to be better, to be superior, to be on top of everyone else. Then, there would be people like the Doc here, who gets by or probably try to claw their way to the top. Then, there is also someone like him, who wades in between., or more like just wants to do whatever he likes without thinking about the others.

"I'll be looking for your brother then." He removed his arms from the crossed position and dropped them to his sides. "I'll also make the arrangements along the way for Char." He then went towards the door, but then stopped for a while, as he looked over his shoulder. "Thanks. You did your best for Char even with this kind of circumstances." This time his smile was not that of flirtations or that goofy smile he always has on. It was warm and genuine appreciation.

"You should rest up, okay?" He added and then returned to his silly self while blowing a kiss towards her, "Love you lots!" He even winked and left the clinic. Along the way, he talked to some of the guys about the burial site and making a marker and even a coffin. They were all cooperative and even one proposed to do a small mass, apparently the guy was a pastor before the world went to sh*t.

After that, he was back at the convenience store. "Mr. Bad Request? It's Jerry! I have your map!""

---

Bad Request

---

When the door creaked open, making those inside aware of its condition heads seemed to pop up a little here and where. The table was left alone this time, the chairs was put neatly underneath it. The second scavenger group was counting their resources, making small lines in their notebooks and small notes on what they would need to search for. But just because they needed those supplies didn't mean they would actually be able to find them - which was something they were very much aware of. But it was always good to know what was needed because then they would know what sort of places they would look a little extra inside.

And when the stranger announced his errand most heads popped back down to continue with their counting while the one that had gotten addressed made his way over from the back of the store, "Jerry!" The smile was just as big as it had been before, arms stretched out as if he was going to give the man a hug. But he didn't, instead he just roughly patted his shoulders with a laugh.

"The map you say? Already? Well, aren't you a busy bee. To tell you the truth, I didn't expect you to be able to get it for me. And even if you would I never thought it would be this soon," With a laugh he smacked the man’s shoulder in what was supposed to be a friendly matter, but the amount of force told otherwise, "Good work."

The eyes started to wander over the man’s body, searching for something resembling a map, "So will you let me see it? I've always wondered how the power plant works, never been there myself. Machines isn't my type of things, never really understood them." If anything was a lie this was it, the biggest one of all. Bad Request new very well how most machines worked, technology was if anything his forte. Being a former hacker and all, which is also where his alias was created.

That was an interesting to see. It seemed that what Perrine told him about the second scavenger team had returned. Could this be the last team? If so, he wished that he would be lucky to still have Bad Request around here. He looked around at the unknown faces, but waved at them with a friendly smile. It was not bad to be friendly, right? That's when he literally perked up when he heard his name.

He got lucky!

"Mr. Bad Request!" If dog ears could be seen and possible, his would be standing up in happiness. Though, his shoulders were rather getting quite the attention from the older man. Then, this was changed into a smack. It was quite strong and he wasn't certain whether that was friendly or not, but yeah, he's Jerry, so all smiles. "Well, I wanted to get your permission quickly!" Yes, optimistic and positive always. He really wanted inwardly to puke at that.

"Of course! Here it is!" He produced the map with the very innocent gesture of his as if he was sold on what Bad Request told him, but of course, the truth... He wasn't. He knew well enough what the map could be used for, but he would not act on that. "Oh, you don't? Well, I'm the Electrician around here and mechanic, so if you need help you can count on me!" He was rather proud of that as he handed the map to Bad Request.

"Uh... So, what do you think?" He looked at Bad Request excitedly, like a child in a candy store. Then, he suddenly remembered. "Oh, Mr. Bad Request, I just wanted to ask... Is there no way we can get basic medicine supplies here?" He looked at the group of scavengers. "Scavenging doesn't get us much... and the Doc said Utopia doesn't care." He scratched the back of his head and released a heavy sigh. "It just doesn't sit well with me..."

---

Bad Request

---

Once the map was in his hands Bad Request quickly started to scan the map with his eyes, doing it methodically. Scanning every inch of the map for changes, if he discovered one he made a small mental note of it so he could change it on their own. Because he wouldn't take this one, people would in the end notice that it had gone missing when it was needed. When he was done he handed the map back with a smile, "It sure looks like the real deal! Impressing."

The Electrician and a mechanic as well, something like that could be useful. He would have more knowledge about those sort of things than most of the others in that case, it could be incredible useful. But it was not the time to get hasty and make errors, they still would need to know if he could be trusted. Just the fact that he seemed to get liked by everyone that he met didn't prove anything.

"Medicine huh? Well, we try to find something while we're out there but most houses are already emptied by people. Those supplies and food is the things people always grab first. As you can see we mainly find other things by now, even if we travel pretty far from here by now to see if we can find anything in some other town. We will try a new town tomorrow by trying out the wood gas car the researches from Utopia designed, have you seen it? They just picked out parts and replaced them with other parts, I have no idea how they did it. But it's cool, we get to drive a car again! No more walking!"

From the back of the room a female voice could be heard with some agreeing humming afterwards, "If it works."

"Yeah, yeah! But just the idea of us being able to drive a car instead of walking is incredible." After the happy ramble about the news Bad Request seemed to start thinking about more serious things as a wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows. While scratching the beard he looked back at Jerry, "But that was not what you meant when you asked if there was some other way, right?"

He took back the map and was pleased that he had managed to impress the Doc's brother. Thinking about it, they really don't look alike at all. But, he shouldn't judge after all, it's not only blood that could determine that. There are those bonds which he twists and sever with such efficiency. He uses people and throw them away, and really that is what he was doing to continue being alive. This was strictly business as always, but of course these people have no way knowing that and he was the best in what he does.

"All right! Glad I could be of some assistance!" He even did a salute and had a cheerful smile on his face. While doing so, his mind was calculating every detail of this area at the same time the details about the people around them and even this Bad Request himself. "I'll be returning this to Roberto then!" He kept the map once more and listened to Bad Request's explanation about the scarce medicine supplies. He lit up when he heard about a car. "A car!? Really!? That would be awesome!" He agreed with the older man's enthusiasm, because he was also excited about it.

"I wanna drive one!" His eyes shining like stars and he was pumped up. But his attention was taken from that when Bad Request changed the subject into something serious. He nodded. "Like you, I know what's the situation outside. This place may not be much, but it's far better than being out there." He looked down as if remembering his time outside this place. "But can we ask for Utopia to pay attention to our needs? Doc told me we're like spare parts to them, but we're humans like them. We just want to live."

His hand turned into a fist as he closed them tightly and his eyes held a determination mixed with melancholy. "It's not fair..." He looked at Bad Request. "Because we didn't have the medicine, Char died... I know it might be childish of me to put someone to blame. Because death comes to those who are meant to die, but still. It's just not right."

---

Bad Request

---

As the conversation kept on going it reminded Bad Request of so many others he had been a part of since arriving at Utopia. He believed that many thought of it but most of them kept their mouths shut just because they got fed by those underground. But there was some, one in particularly that spoke their mind about this topic all of the time. That really had a burning passion about it all, the doctor that had to experience all the deaths on the front row. She saw it all. And Bad Request could only imagine how hard it must be for her, even if she by now had put on that emotionless mask over her face. Taking it all with a shrug of the shoulders, declaring that it wasn't anything they could do about it.

Hearing the young man speak the same words she did make Bad Request smile for a little while, laughing to himself inside his head, "I can see why you find our dear doctor so interesting. She shares those beliefs with you, she fought pretty hard for the people here to get the same care that those down there get. But sadly they wouldn't budge at all and well Perrine have never been that good at... talking with people. So she probably scared them off instead."

He chuckled to himself thinking of it, if he remembered right that had probably been two or three years ago. They had truly been here for a long time by now, if this wouldn't succeed perhaps it was time to move on. Or not. They had no idea what was out there by now, if there even was other places like this where people had gathered.

"After a while of failed attempts she stopped trying though, one person can just do that much. It was probably hard enough to just take care of the sick, but to fight with the "government" as well... I don't know how she could do that for so long. I wouldn't be able to do it. Too stressful. And I believe most people share these thoughts with me, we can survive here but to be able to live I guess that's a luxury we can't afford. But you can always try to talk sense with them if you want to, you can always ask her how she did it. But I guess they just listened to her since she is the doctor out here, if it wasn't for the fact that she decided to help the poor that couldn't afford to seek out proper health care without a proper license before The End she would probably be down there with their doctors as well."

"Like me?" He looked at Bad Request with a vivid show of his curiosity. He never expected that the Doc was saying the same things as he was right now. That was unexpected that only meant one thing. "This is a sign. We are definitely meant for each other. We are soul mates." In the end, no one is sure if he is taking the situation seriously as he was also expressing a show of great determination on that part and even an unbelievable focus.

"Well, she does have that no-nonsense attitude, but I think that's what really attractive about her you know!" He stated with a bright smile on his face as those blue eyes of his lit with it as well while scratching the back of his head as his cheeks were reddish, just a little bit though. "She tried talking to them.. huh..." He quickly reverted back to serious mode or more of a the serious topic on hand. So, there had been talks about this matter. That was an interesting thing to know.

As for this man, he stated that he has no interest in fighting the government, so to speak. That it was just stressful and that he is content with this kind of lifestyle. Now... that is simply a complete and utter... BULLSH*T. That much he could tell. It was already said that the Doc was like him in caring for the people outside Utopia and literally the Doc apparently worships this guy. He would bet that it was not simply because of Bad Request's roguish humor.

The reason was probably the line of having same beliefs.

"But... that's like giving up... I'll.. try to talk to them!" His eyes of blue blazing with a fiery determination and a new found purpose. "I'm not sure if I could be much help, but I will do my best on that matter. We can't just be satisfied like this? This is not living at all." He looked away and clenched his fists. "We are not tools they can dispose."

---

Bad Request

---

"Good luck with that, you probably need that," Once again hums of agreement could be heard inside the room. It was rare that people from the outside got to talk with people down there even if they tried. That gate was guarded and those guards wouldn't let anyone just pass because they had something important to say. It could take days before a decision got delivered, and most of the time that decision was a simple "No, you are not welcome to discuss your concern with us". But sometimes the decision was different, sometimes they came to fetch you. To lead you don there to their leaders. And then it was theirs decision. Most of the time it was a rejection. Even if you got inside it was still a big No that got shoved into your face.

But who was Bad Request to decide on such things? He himself had never actually been inside of Utopia. He didn't even know how it looked like in there. He had only heard the tales from those that had been pushed back outside again and looked through the blueprints. He had not even been a part of the group that went inside when the plants was brought out of there. He had just instructed them on what they were supposed to do. He lied to himself while claiming that it was because someone needed to be the leader that monitored the mission but the truth was that he had been scared. He had never been on the true "battle field", he had always worked from the shadows, far from the danger.

If he had owned a working clock, and people actually used those things once more he would've been looking down on it to point out how much time that had went by since Jerry had arrived in here. But no one used clocks anymore. Instead he nodded towards the window that showed a much harsher light now than before, "Perhaps it's time for you to head over to the power plant. We don't want you to get late for work because you are chatting with us. But nice work with that," He nodded towards the folded paper and smiled once more, "It's exciting how complicated things can be, right?"

He then had that expression as if he was splashed suddenly by an ice cold bucket of water. "Eh!? You're right! I can't be late!" He was panicking in a rather comedic way as he ran towards the exit, but the stopped briefly to look back at Bad Request. "Ah, I'll do the best I can!" There was his ever present and relentless bright smile. He was not going to give up without even trying, of course that was the mindset for Jerry, but as for the one manipulating it all...

It would be pretty easy to get the consent of Utopia to his demands at this point, but if he did that, it would bring suspicions on him. That's why he would have to be careful on how to further impress these people without gaining any suspicions. The path to do that, is to do it in the old way. He was fine with that as he exited and then opened the door as he forget one thing why he even went to the trouble of getting the map and all. "Mr. Bad Request! Did I pass? Did I get your blessing of me and the Doc?" He asked with those blue eyes of his in great expectation much like a child waiting for Santa Claus.

The only downside for him was when a far off sound of an alarm echoed... "Ah, wait work! I'll see you later, Mr. Bad Request!" This time, he was finally off as he returned to his daily assignments but not before returning the map along the way. After that, he began his rounds, and remembered that after his shift, there would be that wake to attend to. The things he does to survive in this world, which reminded him. The Princess/Scientist would be waiting for his report.

There was only one problem about that. He can't go to Utopia so easily. He did say that he would try speaking to them, but being granted easy access would not supply his cover persona. He would have to think of another way to call out to the Princess and also a way to alleviate a bit of the living conditions here by medicine supply.

That would be a good start as he continued to work his way through the day with his jolly expression.

---

Bad Request

---

As the man started to leave the room Bad Request walked towards the rear wall, but as the conversation carried on with a question from the younger male he only looked back on him with a, "Sure, why not?" as an answer before continuing his stroll. He could hear the door closing shortly after, the man had left the building. Now it was only the scavengers left. A quiet buzzing of voices could be heard shortly after, whispering between the members on this strange topic. Gossip was always fun, that was something they could do without harming anyone else or causing some sort of mayor problem.

While the others continued to talk about this and that Bad Request opened one of the drawers, at first glance it seemed to contain ordinary newspapers and magazines. Old news about things that happened before The End, things that had been important before, covers of pretty ladies and such things. There was nothing strange with it, it just seemed like the one who had placed them there were some nostalgic lonely dude.

But the first glance could trick you, Bad Request picked up one of the old newspapers and folded it open on the counter. Inside of it a white paper appeared, it was in the same dirty color as the newspaper itself but it didn't contain news about some sort of disaster in the world or who had won the newest contest. But it wasn't blank either. It was a map over the power plant, scribbled down by someone that hadn't had the right equipment when doing it. It was amateurish, but Bad Request started to scribble on it once more. Making small changes in it. The changes he had detected in the one that Jerry just had showed him.

When he was done he folded the newspaper once more and placed it inside the drawer again before closing it. By now everyone had stopped with their small talk and had gotten back to their counting. But the moment he cleared his throat to get their attention they quickly put down the things they held and gathered around him.

"Do you think we can trust him?" The voice could be heard from the background, people looked back and stepped out of the way to give Matt the room he needed to join the circle.

Talking more to himself than anybody else Bad Request mumbled quietly, "It would've been great if he wasn't an electrician. If he was something less needed in the power plant. That way we could've brought him with us out there. That way we would be able to watch how he behave and test how trustworthy he is..."

People started to voice their agreement on the matter while some other just nodded, everyone thought it was a good thing to do. That way they really would be able to get to know the person in their opinion. It was easy to test someone out there, just the environment itself were wearisome. But the frustration when not finding anything and then also how you had to work as a team and help each other at times. That was how most of them had been recruited.

In the end of the discussion before everyone returned to their counting once more they all agreed on that someone at least would talk with Jerry about it. Because even if he now already had his position they could at least ask, claim that someone had gotten sick and wasn't able to follow so they were one man short.

It was already morning. She was well aware how exhausted her body was at this point, but sleeping was never an option for her as she leaned on her chair and rub the bridge of her nose, pinching it on the occasion. She had been up for the entire length of the night and for a brief moment, she closed her eyes. It was the moment of rest she could grant those weary eyes of hers, but her consciousness was wide awake.

There were still a lot of work to be done on the fundamental genome of the plants, if they are required to live outside the conditioned environment of the laboratory's greenhouses. It is also true that they have broken some problems that accosted them on the recent years and was much closer to reviving the plant life outside this underground city known as Utopia. Once that was done, she was pretty sure that she could finally be free.

"It's all your fault! All your fault!"

She jolted from her seat as her emerald eyes were filled with horror. An expression that no one has seen on her ever. Her breathing was fast and and ragged, and she could feel her reality merging with the illusions of her memories. She quickly grab a bottle of her pills inside her desk drawer and took a couple of them to steady her mind, while doing so, she held her head as the madness was clearly seen on her form. She was seeing them... the things... that she should never see.

"Just leave me alone... It's not my fault... I---" Her voice receded to that of a child as she drawn herself into a fetal position as she fell back to her chair. Her body was trembling, but soon enough, it stopped, the pills taking effect. She removed her hands from her head and her eyes regaining a sense of focus. It was at that moment she heard the ringing of her phone, the personal one as she opened the holographic screen. There was a message, and that alone returned her to reality with a heavy anchor.

On the other hand, Jerry as he is called was now on a break. He was still far from his work with a lot of electrical conduits and wiring falling apart. What did those Utopia guys think about the power plant? It would be able to patch itself up? That would be hilarious. Somehow, he had a feeling that he was providing an additional service that shouldn't be in his line of job, but unfortunately, it was part of his cover. He will be sure to charge them with the additional labor.

For now, he relaxed himself while drinking a bottle of water. There were a lot of work for someone of his profession, which was due to him being literally one of the three for such a large power plant. He released a sigh and then remembered the new guy. He wondered how that one was faring. Then, there was the Doc, he should be able to drop by later and see if she wanted to go to the wake and also the burial of Char. He was not really fond of that idea, but hey it was a good thing to do to further incorporate himself into these community and get more information from the hapless and unwitting fools, so to say.

"Hey Jerry! I heard you're getting married!" He looked at the one who spoke and he instantly had the bright smile, so flawless it was. "Hey Ronnie, my man! Yeah, I am!" Ronnie shook his head in disbelief and then there was a sudden sadness. "I heard about the old Char... Sorry.." The joyful moment changed into a sad one. "Yeah... me too. He had no family. Somehow, that's sad in it's own." Ronnie agreed to that. "Yeah, but you organized a wake for him. That's cool man." There was a pat on his shoulder. "I wasn't doing it because it was cool though. It was just the right thing."

"I know. That's a start." He nodded at that thoughtfully and brightened up again. "So, I'll see you there! Oh, at my wedding too, right?" Ronnie laughed at the latter part. "I will if that happens. Good luck with the Doc!" He pouted at that. "Of course it will! I had her brother's blessing!" And there was just laughter at Ronnie's end.

---

Solomon deMause

---

A disappointed and somewhat grumpy teenager had been eavesdropped on the conversation the older men had been having, glaring at one of them. In his mind he had been sending death rays at him, but apparently they weren't working since he was just as alive as before. Not even noticing it. But it could been because of the fact that Solomon was hiding behind a wall, glancing from behind it from now and then. Just like them he was on a break as well. But he didn't spend it being social with people - because he didn't know anyone. And no one had done anything about it like they had promised.

He had been waiting yesterday, by the end of the day. Like this Jerry had asked him to do. But had Jerry showed up like he said he would? No. And Solomon was not happy about it. While he had been standing there and waited for the other male to show up he had started to feel like a fool as time passed by. It was clear to him that it all had been a trick and he had fallen for it.

The moment the two he was spying on was laughing he glared even more intensely at them, believing it was him they were laughing at. And he didn't appreciate it at all. Their attitude and tricks, thinking he was some sort of joke. Because clearly the world revolves around him and him only.

So with his hands placed on his back he simply strolled out and passed them slowly, eyes set at the ceiling, acting like he didn't notice them. But the moment he had passed them he simply turned around and looked down at them, glaring more intensely at Jerry for a short while before smiling, "Oh, I didn't notice you... Uh... Jeremy? Sorry. I think I've forgotten your name. Well, I was just passing by because I have other places to be now. So many things to do on my break you know. Well, ciao!"

Who said anything about being childish? Solomon was the most grown up man in Utopia. Clearly. The satisfying feeling he had in his chest after the whole charade was clearly something a grown up would experience as well.

At that point, he stopped laughing and looked at the one who spoke. Instantly, he was hit with that one dialogue yesterday. That's right this was the newcomer that Char was training. "I'll see ya later, Ronnie!" He ran after the newbie and forgot it completely that he was supposed to show him around, but things kinda got busy, and yeah that just slipped his mind. That was a poor thing for him to do. He could have at least tell him that it was off or something.

"Hey, wait up!" He ran after the kid and managed to do so. "I wanna talk to you about something." He started and blocked the guy's path for a while. He could tell that this kid was pissed, well he would be if there was not much of a word about it. "I wanna say sorry about not showing up. Things kinda got out of control... and you know Char? The old man training you. He's dead."

There was a distinct sadness around his words as he scratched the back of his head. "I should have tried to contact you, but yeah.. it's my fault, sorry man." Somehow, it felt like he was apologizing to a lover or something from what he was sensing here, but hey, it was part of the cover, right? "I'll try and make it up to ya! If you want, there's a wake going on later for Char and then I'll introduce to you to my future wife, how about that?"

He then remembered that this one was a kid and was not into such things. "Or, I could take you to some hang-out spots after all of this blows off." He offered in his utmost sincerity. "Well, you had a lot of thing to do so, I won't be in your way. Okay, see ya around." He then moved away and returned to where Ronnie was. He released a sigh and somehow it felt like he left a problem just to dive in another.

But oh well, this was how life is for him at the moment. It is a job and he's not going to complain.

---

Solomon deMause

---

If it surprised him when the man stepped up in front of him? No, not really. He would have been more surprised if the man hadn't apologized for yesterday actually. But to block his path was perhaps a little drastic, he would have been satisfied with him just walking beside him while declaring that he was sorry. And with that sorry Solomon's grump thrown disappeared once more, it was just about to turn into his usual grin when the news about his supervisor death was brought up.

Sure, he had been thinking about it himself. That it probably was going to happen any day. But that it actually had happened still came as a shock, like a cold shower of reality was dumped onto his head. He didn't know what to say, he just stared blankly at Jerry as he continued to talk.

It was like his head tried to process the information, the cogwheels turned slowly until the realization suddenly hit him, "Oh shit, he died? Damn... What am I supposed to do now? Like who are going to train me? Oh--," An awkward paus was added as his face got a red color, realizing how egocentric he sounded, "I mean that's sad to hear. Yeah, totally."

And then it continued, something about a future wife and an invitation to the wake. It was not like Solomon actually cared for the old man - he nearly knew him. But at the same time there wasn't anything else to do in this dump. Sadly a wake seemed like the funniest thing that could happen at the moment, his childish belief was that he at least would meet people there. Perhaps get to know some more of them. And then he wouldn't need to attend any more wakes of people he didn't know to have something to do or people to hang out with.

But even before Solomon had a chance to ask when it was supposed to take place or when Jerry would have some time to show him around the man had already left. Solomon just looked at the mas as he returned to his original conversation partner with a sigh before starting to walk once more, hands in his pockets while kicking a lonely piece of cement that had fallen off the wall before him. He guessed he would be able to ask someone else about the time or just stalk the outside to be able to follow Jerry around until it was going to take place.

Yeah, it had to be one of those options. And one of them clearly sounded funnier than the other in a place where nearly nothing happened for those that wasn't a part of the bigger puzzle.

It didn't take long to have his break over, but that was when he remembered something vital. "Hey Ronnie, there's the new guy that Char has been training. Who's in-charge of him now?" He should have asked that earlier. "We can't have him running around on his own." Ronnie nodded at that and had a thoughtful moment. "Yeah, we can't have him running around blind. I got an idea!" Ronnie had a big grin on his face and then pointed at none other than Jerry with complete confidence. "You'll take over! The kid is in your charge now!"

"Eh!? Wait a moment, is that even possible for that to happen as of now?!" Ronnie shook his head and shrugged his shoulders with no care. "Come on Jerry. We're not that formal as those big wigs inside their closed-off Utopia. We make do with what we can scrap for and if possible, help those around us." He nodded at that and scratched the back of his head. "I ain't complaining at all. It just sucks how we're treated like this..." He took a deep breath and then sighed. "Okay, I'll take care of him with pleasure!" He said with a smile, but in truth, he was rather not fond of the idea, but then again, it could also be a good cover.

"I'll see you later then, kay?" Ronnie nodded as Jerry went on his way looking for the new guy who he soon found. "Oi! I'm back!" He waved at the kid. "I guess, I'll be in-charge of training you around here, until you can get by on your own." He scratched the back of his head again and had a sheepish smile. "I hope you don't mind hanging around me for a while." Then, he remembered something. "Oh yea, I never got your name. So what do you want to called?"

"for now... Let's get to work?" He smiled at the kid and lead the way. "Have you gotten used in pushing the buttons? Or should we do a retake at it?" It was not bad doing some mentoring. It would help with his cover, though, he was rather not fond of having to take care of someone. Because, he didn't had that kind of privilege.

---

Solomon deMause

---

So much for being busy and having many things to do, when Solomon was found he didn't exactly do anything at all. He was just standing around in the back while leaning against the wall, watching everyone else work while he simply was being lazy. At first it was because he had been waiting for the old man to show up and take command once more but then after he got to know about what had happened he still didn't make any attempt to actually do anything. No one seemed to care about it either after yesterday’s fiasco.

Well, that was until someone actually found him by paying attention to him. When Jerry announced he was going to be his new coach Solomon didn't actually know how to respond, he just stared quietly at him before letting out a small a protracted, "Uh..." It was not because he was disappointed when it came to who turned out to be his new coach (or perhaps a little bit) but mostly because the fact that he got a new one meant he had to work once more.

"Oh yea, I never got your name. So what do you want to called?"

"Solomon..." You could clearly hear how he hesitated heard in his voice as he spoke. You could even see it on his face, how he distanced himself from the other male.

"Have you gotten used in pushing the buttons? Or should we do a retake at it?"

"No I got it yesterday... the old men scolded me about it, it's pretty stuck in there by now. But they won't let me near those again anyway so I guess I have to move on to other things to do in here? Or something like that," He shrugged, "I don't know. Do what you usually do and I watch or something."

The most enthusiastic person alive, he didn't even look at Jerry as he speak. The gaze was set somewhere up in space instead. Daydreaming of other things. Funnier things to do than to follow someone around like some mindless puppy.

"Okay, Solomon it is! Welcome to the slums of Utopia, I think.." He offered his hand for a handshake and smiled at Solomon with brightness. "Oh, so you're the guy that caused that little trouble in power lines." He laughed at that and shook his head. It seemed this kid was completely unmotivated and had an inherent gene for clumsiness which he believed to be quite useful. At the end, every person was just another tool for him to use and to exploit whenever he sees necessary.

"It seems you're destined for bigger things. Okay, follow me." He said before leading the way. There were still some things he needed to check on the power lines and after that in the power grid. "This is mainly job, making sure that the flow of power is sufficient and without interruptions" He explained while checking the panel to ensure the levels were stable. "If we can't keep this part up, then... sucks for everyone I guess." He shrugged his shoulders and then went to the next site.

"I also do odd jobs here and there." This time, he was fixing a platform which is used as an elevator for the upper levels. "And... hit it!" He pushed the button and heard the machine coming alive. "All right! We're back in business!" He looked at Solomon after he stepped on the platform and motioned for the kid to follow "Come on! I'll show you something amazing!" Once, they were on the platform, he pushed the button to go up. When they reached the highest point, he lead the way to an abandoned satellite tower.

"Be careful okay?" He climbed out on one of the broken windows which was nearby a ladder which he climbed up, and soon, he reached the top. "You all right Solomon, buddy?" He asked looking down if the Kid followed fine. When he settled down, they were on the roof deck of that decrepit tower with the best view of the outlaying lands and right in time to see the sunset. "Come on, you'll miss this view. It's the best one I have to offer at the moment." He smiled at Solomon before looking back at the sky now of orange and violet hues.

---

Solomon deMause

---

It felt more like he was given a tour around the power plant than an actual lecture, there was some walking an there was some talking about the different things they had to do at the different stations. But Solomon didn't really get any of it. He looked at the panels that Jerry showed him, furrowed his forehead while trying to figure out what they were supposed to show and how he would know that they weren't working correctly.

As the tour continued that feeling of him not being able to do this grew stronger, putting more weight on his shoulders. Because if you didn't do your part of the work you wouldn't be given any food. And after his screw up yesterday he hadn't been granted that days ration so by now he was starving, which also inhibited his willingness to make efforts today. Leading to people thinking that he wouldn't be worthy of this days ration either. It was a bad loop he had gotten himself into. In the end it would probably mean that he would be degraded and get some other task outside of the power plant. He wasn't looking forward to something like that.

If he was lucky this Jerry would tell those handing out the rations that he had been following him the whole afternoon and therefor had continued his training. Or something like that. He could only hope.

But when they arrived at the elevator Solomon was starting to wonder what this tour really was about, because he already doubted that he would remember any of it tomorrow. But he couldn't see why he would need to go up there. He had always only worked on the bottom floor, but he stepped inside it anyways. Furrowing his brows once more as the word amazing was mentioned, what was amazing whit this power plant? It was old, nasty and smelt funny. Solomon wouldn't describe anything of it as amazing, if he would say one nice thing about he would probably use the word fine. It was fine. Nothing better was available at the moment.

Once up there Solomon was even more confused to what was going on, watching the man climbed up onto the roof. And apparently Solomon was supposed to follow the crazy man since he called out to him. With a deep breath before he actually moved his body over to the ladder he let out an exhausted, "Totally." Trying to cover his nervousness.

But he followed Jerry up there, convincing himself that if Jerry could do it so could he. But it was scary any way. But once up there he could see what the fuss was about, for the first time since being locked underground being separated from his family, Solomon could see the beauty in this new world. It was different from the old one, but breathtaking in its own special way.

He looked at Solomon and nodded in approval of the kid's expression. There were little things to really see inside the power plant and really it was more of a scrappy place, but as the saying goes, there is always something amazing even if people say there is only trash there. One could still find something worthwhile in that dumpster. Isn't that rather sentimental? He wanted to vomit at that thought, but that is a line of thought needed for this persona of his.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He noted while looking at the sunset again and then getting something inside his jacket. "Here. You must be hungry following me all around." He handed Solomon a rather large piece of bread and then a thermos of hot chocolate. "I heard about the rations and told the guys, I'll handle your training for now." He smiled and then patted Solomon's back. "You'll get your cut, later. We guys need to take each other out here."

"Well, don't think you're in a rush or anything." He noted while smiling at Solomon and then looked back at the sunset that soon would be replaced by the darkness of the night. "You can learn at your own pace. " This was a form of encouragement and all. It was also his way of telling him that it's okay to take everything slow. "I'll watch your back until then, okay?" He then released a sigh before stretching his arms and even moving his head side to side.

"Shift ends here. So, I still have that little mass thing and I still have to introduce you to the Doc." That was his schedule for the night. "If you got nothing better to do, wanna come?" He asked Solomon and he was not going to force the guy if he didn't want to. "I'm not forcing you anything." He added for good measures.

It would be a good thing for Solomon to come and meet the other guys. It wouldn't bad for the kid to know some people other than him.

---

Solomon deMause

---

Solomon had never been a fan of other's taking care of him or helping him, he had always believed that he was the only one that he could count on to have his back. But as the stomach growled once more he couldn't help but snatch the bread out of the hand of Jerry, stuffing it into his mouth as fast as he could. Even though it was bread it still tasted so good, when you're hungry most things tastes good. Before he had even swallowed he formed his gratitude, "Thank you so much! I was so hungry! I hate these stupid rules. So annoying."

Once done with stuffing his mouth until the brink were it actually hurt to chew and swallow he continued to listen to what Jerry said, he wasn't pouty anymore. The bread was enough to make him forgive him for yesterday and the whole making him wait and not showing up. To offer him some of his food without a clear reason, Solomon could see why people liked this person. He was nice. Solomon liked him too. It was hard not to like him when he was so friendly without a reason.

"Yeah sure, I can visit that thing. It could be fun, uh... Or sad? I don't exactly have anything else to do so why not? It could be something, it's something to do. Still better than being all alone and nothing to do at all. I guess some will show up so that would give me a chance to get to know some others as well. I don't think I have even introduced myself to more than five different people since arriving here, you know, it's hard to fit in when it was so long since I tried to do that."

He laughed at Solomon's words of hating the rules. "Don't worry, I feel the same way. But, it doesn't mean we can't do it in our own way, you know." He nodded to himself. "If I'm going to do something, I'll be doing it my way, you know." He smiled at the kid. It's true that within his deepest facets, he hated rules or was not even fond of them. That is why he became what he is and who he is now. He never had the taste for rules, even though he does have orders to consider, but hey really, it wasn't as restrictive as one would think and even with a chain around his neck, he would make it look awfully sexy and an asset. That is how he lives and shall always be.

"Okay then, let's go." He finally said as he motioned for Solomon to follow him down. "You don't have to worry about fitting in. We are each to our own you know." He started while continuing to lead the way. He would stop by the Doc's first and tell about the burial rites and all. "Just be yourself. Don't take crap from anybody and act how you want to act. We already have enough of those labels and society rankings, don't we?" He placed a hand on Solomon's shoulder.

"We're all humans here. I'm here because I want to. Well, technically because the outside world sucks a bit, but, hey we're living aren't we?" He took back his hand and had that thoughtful expression with a mix of sincerity. "As long as we're kicking, things will be different and we can make our own way, one at a time. So, don't worry about being rushed or pressured. Stick it to the man. All that matters is how you want to live your life."

Well, there was a mixture of play in those words which would be something that Jerry would say, but there was also some of it of his really. Anyways, he soon led him and Solomon to the clinic as he knocked and then opened the doors while announcing his presence. "Doc! It's your fiance! I want to introduce someone to you!" He entered and gestured for Solomon to do the same with that trademarked smile of his.

---

Solomon deMause and Perrine C. Demetri

---

When you had been alone for so long, without someone to talk to, someone that listened, it felt so good to actually have a real conversation. And the fact that that person felt the same way and understood, had been through the same thing but still found their place in this strange new world felt even better. For the first time in an extremely long time Solomon felt like he actually would be able to live here and find the place where he belonged. And he liked it, he couldn't help but grin as he followed Jerry to where he was going.

The burial of that guy who had trained him and the doctor. If something of those two were good information it was surely the location of the doctors place, if he got sick he needed to know that. And right now he had no clue. He had no clue on anything, he knew where the power plant was, in which building he spent his nights and where he got the food rations. But more than that? Nope. He had no clue which places he should avoid and where he could get help with things.

To find out where the doctor hanged out was a good first step in the right direction, that way he wouldn't need someone to guide him there in case he got sick or hurt himself while working.

As they made their way into the building Solomon was actually a little astounded, he thought this place would be completely different. Fresh, white, whole, clean and doctorish? Something like that. But this place was just as dirty and old as everything else. He had actually believed that the doctor would be someone from Utopia, someone from down there. Someone above them, which was strange since Jerry did tell him that he apparently was engaged to the doctor. Why would someone from utopia be engaged to someone working at the power plant? How stupid of him.

But even if the outside was falling apart like everything else, the inside was still the cleanest place he had seen since The end. He was actually a bit impressed that someone was so dedicated that they would do something like cleaning a hopeless building for the sake of the patients. Which was exactly was the doctor was doing when Jerry opened the door to the office.

The moment she heard the voice of the one who entered Perrine let out a sigh and continued to dust the room, "Oh it's you again. Let me guess you're not sick are you?" When he mentioned that he had brought another one she glanced backwards at them just to check if the second one needed her help, but no that one seemed fine as well. "And your friend doesn't seem to need me either, so both of you are just here to bother me while working? How nice of you. Are you perhaps teaching the young one what not to do?"

"You are adorable as ever!" He said with the obvious sincerity and the clear fact that he was totally enamored with the doctor. There was not even a hint of sarcasm in his tone or even a condescending one. "Come here." He motioned to Solomon to come closer to him and when the kid did, he started the introductions. "This is Solomon, he's new here and I'll be looking after him." He introduced Solomon with a definitive showing of pride, not because he was being responsible over someone, or rather he was proud of having Solomon be entrusted to him.

"And this lovely woman, is the resident doctor and my fiancée, Perrine C. Demetri." This time he was sound prouder than before. He even added a bright smile at the end of his sentence. "If you ever need help and I'm not around or you got hurt, don't hesitate to come here. She will hook you up!" He then leaned towards Solomon as he covered one side of his mouth as he whispered to the kid's ear. "Don't let her heated glares and icy words stop you, she's a really sweet girl." He then pulled away and gave Solomon a wink.

That's right he also needed to inform her about the ceremony being held in memory of Char. "Ah, remember what I said I'll do for Char? Some of the guys helped out and wanted to give Char a funeral rite." It was really an odd thing to do considering that the dead mostly are just thrown away, like garbage. Let's just say, it had been a long time since anyone took the moment or chance to do something humane even if the person is already dead... a show of last respect.

"Do you want to come? I''ll also invite Big Brother if he's still around and not out already." That right, he has yet to introduce that big guy to Solomon. That was another thing to look forward to. "Oh, yeah, I'll have to introduce you too to Big Brother! He's a cool guy, I'm sure you'll like him!" He added energetically. He was really that Bad Request and Solomon would definitely get along.

---

Solomon deMause and Perrine C. Demetri

---

Funerals, it wasn't something Perrine would consider fun. Especially those which belonged to people she barely knew. But even if she was about to say no, she had even opened her mouth to decline she closed it again. Turning her gaze downwards while her whole appearance radiated "I am thinking right now" . And she thought for a while, if Bad Request would be invited she probably knew what topic would be brought up. She thought about the conversation they had before, it was pretty clear what she would need to do.

So with a sigh she broke the silence and nodded, "Fine. I will be there, where will it take place? What's left of the church or somewhere inside instead?"

More news for Solomon, he didn't even know that somewhere among these pieces of a previous world that once existed. Well, he hadn't really checked the place out yet. Too easy to get lost by yourself. And he wouldn't want to get late to his shift and then no rations because of it. And he was probably not interested enough to care about it. He pushed it in front of him, every time he thought that perhaps this day would be the day he would start to care about this place he just took it with a Nah, I'll do it tomorrow instead. And it was like that every day. One day he would probably regret it.

"About my brother, you will still find him in the convenient store. The next trip will be tomorrow at dawn, so it's just to go there and ask for him. He seems to like you so I can't see why he wouldn't join in on this whole wake thing, if you're lucky perhaps some of the others scavengers will be interested as well. The more the merrier? Or perhaps that's only appropriate in other situations, I don't know. Anyway, if that was all perhaps you should be going? I will turn up anyway, I guess it starts when the stars begin to show on the sky?"

Since the sun had already begun to set that couldn't be the mark for the beginning and she couldn't come up with any other way to show the time. It was not like they had clocks out here, they didn't have batteries for them at least. And she hadn't seen a working clock for ages.

"Yup! It would be at the church ruins! The guys will be setting up there." He confirmed the location of the wake and was rather glad that she would be coming. It was a start of something at least, as he recalled what Bad Request told him about Perrine, about them being similar in views. It's just that she got fed up with the system. He would need to do something about that eventually.

"I'll see you around when the stars are up then!" He smiled happily and then looked at Solomon. "Let's go buddy, I'll introduce you to someone cool!" That was definitive trait that he would attached to the person who calls himself Bad Request. "I'll go check with Big Bro then, see you later love!" At this point, he was now at the entrance and blew the good doctor a kiss. He was absolutely certain they were lovers and that the doctor was simply playing hard to get. But by his actions, there was not even a hint of deceit in there.

He then led the way to the place where Bad Request should be. "You'd like this guy Solomon! He's a really nice guy and has this badass name!" He chattered on as they soon arrived at the said place. This was definitely it. The Doctor said that they should still be hanging around here, since they were scheduled to leave at dawn which would be tomorrow. He knocked a few times before opening the door and announced their presence.

"Hello, is Big Bro Bad Request here?" He peeked through the door and then entered while motioning to Solomon to do the same. "I just want to tell him something and also introduce someone." In the end, all he was doing was starting up connections. That is part of his job description, it might not make sense right now, but eventually it would be. Everything around him would be a useful tool in what he needs to do. That was already a given and that was something he has no qualms of doing, this mask of his called Jerry, will still be in place until he decides otherwise.

---

Solomon deMause

---

Solomon couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed over his company, looking away as he blew the doctor a kiss. Solomon had never seen adults do such things, hey it was a long time since he had even experienced people showing affection towards each other! He wasn't used to it, it made him slightly uncomfortable to be in their presence. But what made it all worse was the fact that he felt guilty for feeling that way, he felt childish and stupid. This was normal things, good things, wasn't it great that people could find love in a place like this at a time like this? He should be glad for them instead.

As he looked away as they walked out of the door he couldn't help but notice the doctors snort in response of the loving gesture. It was a funny response, funny couple, strange perhaps. Solomon didn't know. He didn't know these two well enough to decide something like that. But he still found the dynamic between those two a bit funny.

As they walked to the next place Solomon didn't speak much, it was hard to get a say in a conversation with Jerry. He had so much to say all of the time. The mouth went on and on. At one point Solomon had even stopped listening, feeling as if nothing of worth would be mentioned either. He heard something about cool and badass, those things did get him wondering what sort of person they would be meeting. He pictured in his mind that it probably was someone with a lot of tattoos and a shaved head, a skin head. Leather and spikes, someone that looked as if they would beat you up into a pulp if you got on their bad side. Why he thought something like that? He had no clue.

Instead he got a bearded man with dreadlocks, Solomon could however glimpse some tattoos hiding underneath those long sleeves. The man was smiling, a huge smile, arms stretched out as if he would hug Jerry. Instead he smacked Jerrys shoulders, still grinning as widely. This was not what Solomon had pictured at all.

"Jerry! If it isn't my favorite brother-in-law!" His greeting was followed by a heartfelt laughter, Bad Request apparently believed he was a comedian, "Any way, what is it that you came here to tell me?"

The man he was looking for did not take long to make an appearance. It even included that ever jovial greeting which only served to make him more happy than usual, especially with being called brother-in-law. It was totally awesome. He can't wait to make the wedding preparations. This was supposed to be done by the girl, but hey, he'll save Perrine the trouble of getting tired with it all. He will do all the work so, that she wouldn't be tired and all!

"Big bro! Well, I want to introduce you to Solomon here!" He was quicker to this point. He was filled with pride at introducing his seemingly new ward. Well, he was very glad of having the kid around. It was good to know new people in his personal opinion, but that was for different purposes. Jerry was sociable. Him? The other side of all things? It was profitable in a way that people are information which is his livelihood, and his sort of interest in this seemingly stark world.

"He's new around here and I'm showing him the ropes around the place." He glanced at Solomon and gave a thumbs up gesture. "He's a good kid." He then returned his attention towards Bad Request and went to the next conversational topic. "Well, Char one of the workers recently passed. So the other guys and me, prepared a wake for him. You know, a proper burial at the very least." His tone of voice delivered a sadness that was not overbearing, but was not also casual. There was something empathetic about it and also something accepting to the fact.

"If you want to come and the guys here, please do. But, it's not mandatory or anything!" He implied with great sincerity in those words. "It was the least I could do for him." He ended that sad thought there and once again, he had a brilliant smile on his face. "So, we'll be at the church ruins." He then waved at Bad Request and those present there later and then motioned for Solomon to follow him again. This time, they were on their way to the where the wake would be.

---

Solomon deMause

---

With the same cheer and joy Bad Request turned around towards the other male and bumped one of his shoulder as well, "Oh, oh, oh! A new face! That's great man, glad you found your way over here, it's tough out there by yourself. I'm just glad I don't have to go there by myself, these guys always has my back." He swept with his hand and some approving humming could be heard from the background.

Solomon just stood there awkwardly while stroking his hand over the area that Bad request had hit, it hurt more than he thought it would. It made him wonder if the man was angry at him or something or if he just was violent man. "Uh, yeah... of course."

Neither of them could continue the conversation, not that Solomon wanted to. Bad Request perhaps, but not Solomon. He was so done with the man, it wasn't his type of person. Too old as well. Made him think off his parents. That was not something he felt like doing at the moment. But Jerry seemed to be ignorant to the other male’s whishes since he butted in and continued to talk by himself, like always.

Talking about the dead guy again, inviting people that didn't even know who he was. Solomon thought the whole thing was a stupid idea, thinking that the guys would laugh at the idea. Think it was all just a joke. Say no. But apparently Solomon was extremely bad at guessing, or had no idea what sort of people lived here, because that was not what happened at all. Instead Bad Request smile widened again, spreading his arms outwards as if he would hug them but stopped in the motion, "Of course we will come! The church ruins, huh? Yeah, we will be there. It's always sad when one of us dies. Bad things happen all the time but that... that's just sad. What's even worse is that most of them don't get a funeral or even a grave in this god forsaken place."

That's true. He did hear that those who died around here are just thrown somewhere like trash. No one would care anyway. No graves. No coffins. No funerals. Well, they were expendable as far as he could see and heard from others. Those who are inside their walls don't even shed a drop of concern for the people outside working to make sure they live a comfortable life.

Of course, he was well-aware of this. To him, it really didn't matter, but to build connections and to create an environment where people might be willing to share information, even if at first it was nothing more gibberish. Somewhere, it would all connect and it would make sense. To him, everything is with a reason, and a means for him to use. No matter how disconnected it may be, he would be able to use it. That is simply how he is. He didn't became what he is because he doesn't know how to do the talk and do the walk.

"All right then! We'll be seeing you there!" He said to Bad Request before finally leaving. He looked at Solomon who had been silent for most of the part. The Kid was rather not the social type and was not also talkative, but that was fine. "So, Solomon? How do you think things are here?" He asked him as they finally arrived at the site where some of the guys were still preparing and all.

"It's not the best, but it's home for now. You know, and these people. They're kinda family." He smiled at him and motioned for Solomon to take a seat. "I'll just talk to guys and see if there's anything else or when do we actually start, kay?" He was about to leave the Kid's side when he remembered something else. "That's right! If you see the Doc or Bad Request would you be a buddy, and tell me? I'll look at it as a favor!" he said with all smiles before leaving towards the others.

There was after all a wake to be done and he soon met with one of the guys that would be officiating, a priest back in the olden days.

---

Solomon deMause

---

Solomon hadn't expected something extravagant, something fancy. He knew that they had described the place as the demolished church, or what was left of it. But he happened to stop and stare at the lonely walls that greeted them. Only three of them stood up, or it was more two and a half. It looked worse than most buildings actually, those were only empty shells, something that still stood there and reminded everyone of what once was. But this, this was somehow even more tragic, the building had fallen apart.

As he stood there and stared Jerry actually asked him something, while opening his mouth to answer the man continued to talk instead. Talking sweetly of the place, calling it home and the people here family. It was probably a good thing that he had interrupted Solomon, because he didn't exactly agree. He was about to say that this place was shitty. Now, he was actually glad he hadn’t. Thinking that it could had come of wrong and perhaps made the man angry or something. Like... you don't tell people their homes look shitty to their face even if they do. Solomon knew that much.

"It's okay, I'm still getting used to it. Better than traveling alone I guess, like... here at least you know that you get something to eat if you make an effort. Or something like that. Yeah... Well, you don't have to search for it at least, or eat outdated moldy pieces left in some pile of garbage. I'm so glad that I'm done with that part of my life now. I don't want to do it again!"

At the remark about him getting in touch with Jerry when the doctor and that weird dude arrived Solomon just nodded, placing himself on the ground. It was not like Jerry had asked him to do anything. So he didn't see any reason to do anything to help. He thought it was a great moment to rest his back and close his eyes for a while. And that was what he did.

Until he could hear footsteps getting closer, some of the guys from the power plant were approaching. He wasn't exactly surprised because people seemed to make the old man’s death into a celebration, or holiday, something other than the usual to participate in. Behind them another pair of faces he recognized approached, talking to each other. About something. Solomon didn't care about what.

He just stood up and brushed off the dust from his pants before heading after Jerry, "Uh... People are arriving now. The doc, that dude and those others from that store as well."

There were conversations about doing this kind of stuff as a regular thing for anyone who would die among them. It was like at the very least getting a semblance of society, a semblance of something normal, a sense of something was not completely taken by the world's almost death sentence. As Jerry, he was supportive of that suggestion. He was even volunteering of taking care of the affairs and all. Basically, he would be like the coordinator and slash messenger boy. But, it was a sense of camaraderie.

As for the other side, he would have laughed outloud. The dead has no business of having such ceremonies anymore. The person was already dead anyway. Dump the body somewhere, who really cares in the end? Attachment and everything else related to that are nothing more but obstacles or an excuse of not surviving. That is what he really believes. That is his principle and as to why he is still walking on this ridiculous earth and, yeah, doing what he does best, to keep on walking.

The conversation was only interrupted when Solomon approached him to say that the Doc and Bad Request had arrived. He smiled at the kid happily and of course, with gratitude. "Thanks!" He excused himself for awhile from the other guys and then gestured for Solomon to come with him. He then proceeded to greet the Doc and his so-called Big Brother with that big smile of his. "Big Brother! Doc!!" He waved at them with such an energy that the other onlookers couldn't help but smile at the sight. After all, such energy is really rare to see nowadays even if the event is supposedly to be sad.

"Glad to know you could come!" He then pointed to some vacant seats, that was prepared earlier. "Really happy to see you both! Uhmm... You could take your seats over there. We should be starting soon." He then looked at the Doctor for a moment. "Are you feeling fine?" He just remembered the serious conversation they had before. There was also the snippets from Bad Request. "I didn't want anyone else to feel that they're trash." He stated in an off-handed manner.

---

Solomon deMause and Perrine C. Demetri

---

As they small talked a friendly voice met their ears, perhaps the wrong one opened his arms and smiled brightly towards the other male, because shouldn't it be the fiancé who greets him that way? But she didn't. She just watched as her so called brother walked over to the other one, greeting him the same way he always did. An observant eye could catch the small sigh that slipped through her lips and the shake of the head, finding the whole act ridiculous. And bad Request only laughed at this, finding her response hilarious.

As the attention was directed towards her she blanked out for a moment, just watching Jerry as if she didn't know what to answer until Bad Request slightly bumped her arm with his. She broke out into a smile, looking almost friendly and happy for the first time, instead of that usual frown and glare, "I'm fine. It was a quiet day, nothing serious happened. Everything went smoothly... This looks nice. It was kind of you to fix this for him."

"Yeah, this looks really nice, you are a good guy Jerry," Bad Request was smiling even brighter, "After the ceremony I want to discuss something with you if that's alright?"

Perrine knew what he was talking about, but she felt a bit hesitated towards it all still. She couldn't describe why, but she had a feeling that Bad Request was moving too fast. But she wasn't about to question him, she knew he was a much better judge at characters than her. She believed everyone was hiding something, evil, bad people. And most were, but not that bad, but everyone had some skeletons in their closet.

Bad Request looked around quietly, searching for someone, when he had found who he was looking for he continued with a smirk, "You can bring your young friend as well if you want to, he seems like a good kid."

Bad Request was as jolly and friendly as much as he did before. Jerry was really glad for that and welcomed the greeting with a big smile. It was rather out of place of course for the ceremony, but hey, there was nothing bad of fining happiness even in the odd times. Then as if lightning had struck him. His eyes widen in surprise which was of course caused by no one else but the Doc, because this would be literally the first time or.... was there another one.... No, he can't remember and he would not have forgotten it. The doctor was smiling at him, there was no frown or a glare at all.

But, he was simply a dunce when it comes to the doctor so it seems, instead of he's rather confident lines of adoration or the silly smile. He was left in a heap because of that unexpected expression as he couldn't help but blush and scratched the back of his head. "Uh... Thanks!" He couldn't help but have that giddy smile on his face. Even the others who were witnessing to it couldn't help but find his reaction rather adorable and genuine. It was clear that he was caught up in the moment that he was startled when Bad request began to talk to him again.

"Eh!? Oh! Yeah!" He laughed a bit awkwardly at that blank moment of his. He kept nodding his head as if agreement, but he seemed unable to recall what Bad Request said. "Uhm, come again?" Yup, that smile of the doctor was more effective than any other drug apparently. It was then he remembered that Bad Request was saying that they should have a discussion after the ceremony. He has no problems with that really. "Sure, I don't mind!" This man was going to be his brother-in-law so he doesn't see really any reason not to trust him.

Then, he mentioned about taking someone along. He smiled proudly at that. "Solomon? Of course! I'll ask him to come along! It's wonderful!" He waved for Solomon to come over and when the kid did, he quickly asked. "Solomon, Bad Request wants to talk to us after all of this. Are you free?" It was a good question and before any answer could be said. The ceremony was announced to start. "Let's talk about this later. It's starting" And like on cue, the ceremony finally started.

---

Solomon deMause and Perrine C. Demetri

---

The ceremony itself was simple, nothing fancy. It was just the priest who spoke, some of those who knew the man spoke as well. No flowers, where would they get those flowers from? No extravagant coffin to have the body in. Pictures of him. To be precise, there was nothing at all but people gathered. But Perrine didn't exactly know what people usually did on occasions like this, this was actually her first time visiting such an event. She didn't have any expectations, not under these circumstances. But it was sort of pretty anyway, a nice thought.

She didn't feel much for the man, no sorrow nor did anger occupy her chest. It was just empty. She didn't care about his passing, neither did Solomon. Even if he had known the man some. But they had never really bounded with each other, too much of an age gap. Different personalities and ideas. Even if you try you will always end up butting heads with such people.

When the ceremony was over Solomon followed Jerry around like a tail, why? Well... why not? He didn't know what else to do. That was however until the "cool" guy came around once more, placing his arm onto Solomon shoulder as if he was trying to prevent him from running away as he addressed Jerry, "Hey, about that I was going to ask you. Do you think you can skip work in the power plant and follow my crew out tomorrow? We lost one of the guys the last time we went out, he went into a very suspect looking building no one else wanted to enter. It looked dangerous, but he didn't listen and yeah... we are a man short now. It's sad yeah... but we can't mop around forever. But we do need someone to take his place while we wait for someone new to join our team."

He looked down at Solomon with what was supposed to be a friendly smile, but it gave Solomon chills running down his spine just because of the things he said, "You can join us as well if you want to. We're always looking for new guys, heard some birds whisper about the newbie that's not really fit inside the power plant. What do you say?"

"Uh... No thanks... I think... I don't like the heat and stuff..." A lame excuse, still the truth, but Solomon knew that he couldn't say things like that and think he actually would get away because of it. Bad Request only laughed at the response, seemingly taking it as a joke.

Jerry finally said his goodbyes to the old man Char and just like so, the ceremony was over. He came towards those who attended and thanked them, especially the ones who helped him to make this possible. It's true that there was not much of a bond for other people, but to him, even if it was just short. It had been meaningful. Well, that has a lot of different meanings for him really. For one, it had given him a lot of connections.

After that, he went towards Bad Request and the Doc. Solomon was of course following him and he had no problems with that. He would even engage Solomon into small talks with the others, to build rapport and if he was not around or something, the boy won't feel bored or out of place. This is more like giving him a place in this community even if it's not that wonderful and all, but this is all they have for now.

The topic about joining the scavengers outside was brought to Solomon who answered in his rather usual carefree way, but he knew that the boy was not interested at the moment. "Aw, that's too bad! I was looking forward having you come alone. It would be an adventure!" He said with that ever cheerful and very excited tone. He was like a child that was given a bag full of sweet treats.

In reality, he really didn't care if the boy came or not. Yet, he does have to take up on certain initiatives once in a while. "Uhm, when do we leave, Big Brother?" He asked Bad Request and then nodded in attention when he did receive the answer. He then looked back at Solomon. "You sure, you're not coming?" He wasn't trying to be pushy, but conforming things won't be bad and all.

His attention then shifted to the Doc. "Doc! I hope you would wait for us! I promise I would be back so that we can prepare for our wedding!" He was really sure about that and if it was possible he would have those heart-shaped eyes. "So, please wait for me!"

---

Solomon deMause and Perrine C. Demetri

---

When the ever so carefree Jerry answered Solomon furrowed his forehead in disbelief while Bad Request broke out into laughter, " I take that as an yes then? Great! Good to have you onboard! We will look after you, and your little friend if he decides to tag along, so that you will be returned to your fiancé without even a scratch!"

The power plant would definitively be boring without Jerry there, and confusing. And more boring. So boring that Solomon would have to talk with the old grandpas in that place or something for some sort of entertainment. He didn't feel like doing something like that so with a sigh he nodded before adding, "Sure... I'll come with you and see what I can do." Probably nothing useful. It would be so warm and sweaty out there, he remembered it from before arriving at this place. Disgusting.

Bad Request didn't seem even the slightest surprised by the answer, he just continued his merry laughter. "Great! We'll leave tomorrow before sunrise so go to bed early, being tired and sleepy when working is not something I would recommend. That's how we've lost many of our team members in the past. You can be pretty reckless and stupid at times when your brain isn't working properly."

"Uh..." Solomon suddenly regretted his decision to follow Jerry around this time.

"Doc! I hope you would wait for us! I promise I would be back so that we can prepare for our wedding! So, please wait for me!"

Perrine couldn't really see what she would do in case she "didn't" wait, it wasn't like she would pack her things and move from this place while they were gone. She didn't have any reason to do so. And it wasn't like she had planned to just grab someone off the street and wed just because why not in a matter of seconds after they had left either. She didn't see any reasons to why he would be "worried", it sounded more like paranoia in her opinion.

But she shrugged anyway while promising to be faithful, "Yeah, sure, I'll wait." So extremely loving as always.

---

Koba S. Graesson

---

It had taken them the whole day to finish that report, not that they had rushed or anything. Nope. The little princess could wait. Koba believed that they could've forced her to wait longer. Why did she need that piece of paper today? They could deliver it tomorrow instead. Like a childish revenge. But Bjorn was suddenly a "bigger man" than that and thought that it needed to be delivered today, right now. But he didn't feel like doing it himself. Nope. He sent Koba to deliver it. And like an idiot Koba accepted the request.

He walked down the halls while sighing, being irritated of himself. Why did he even bother to do these useless things? They didn't help him even the slightest. Even if he tricked himself to believe so. But in reality? He seemed to be stuck in one place. Even if he tried. And tried.

Once inside the laboratory he walked over to the princess office once more and knocked on the door. But this time he didn't wait for her response at all, he just opened it and walked inside, "I have the report you requested yesterday."

"Clearly, you need to learn manners." The voice was still yet held a dangerous edge to it. Her eyes did not gaze on Koba, but was rather focused on the holographic screen before her. "At the same time, lack punctuality." At that point, she closed the screen and looked at Koba. It's clear in her expression that she was displeased, but whatever the reason behind it might not be just the late report. She stood behind her desk and then grabbed her lab coat.

"I would need security assistance. I would go outside of Utopia." Krisalis then took the report and exited the room, before looking over her shoulder. "I prefer that no one is in my office when I am not present. Mr. Graesson." She continued on her way while reading the submitted report. It seemed they still yet to find the perpetrator of this all. She was starting to have a great deal of belief that they were bums, useless, or that the one responsible for the incident are smarter than they are. That's something she could not permit.

She motioned for her assistant who approached her. "Tell Dr. Edelweiss to handle the proceedings of the laboratory while I am out." Her assistant answered instantly. "Of course, my Lady. But, is it really wise to go outside?" She did not spare the assistant another look, declaring that the concern by her actions was not needed. "The only concern you should have is if the security department could do their job." It was clear for anyone that she was not in the best of moods as sarcasm and daggers were present in every word she speaks.

She was soon out of the laboratories and had only one destination in mind. She would need to see this one personally. The experiments were still going at a slower pace then she would like. They indeed have made some progress but it was not going to be enough. That's why she must do things by her own hands. She was not just a Queen Heiress Apparent, she is able to handle herself more than anyone could think.

Jerry smiled happily and then looked back at Solomon as he patted the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll be fine!" He was filled with assurance and confidence. He knew that the boy was concerned when Bad Request gave them a warning of the dangers outside through the message of 'losing men'. "There's no way we're not getting back, we still have some fun to do." There was also the fact that there was no way he would be harmed or die. He has no intentions of giving his life that so easily. He would survive no matter what and that's what he has been doing ever since.

"Well then, we'll see you tomorrow Big Bro!" He happily waved at Big Request and then looked at the good doctor. "Uhm, well, do you want me to escort you home?" He asked while scratching the back oh his head, an obvious show of embarrassment. He was even blushing a bit. There was not an ounce of insincerity in him. He was awkwardly in-love with the doctor from who was ever observing. "I'm not forcing you or anything! I'm not also saying you can't take care of yourself! I just... yeah.."

It was as always a flawless delivery from him. This identity of his won't falter as long as he doesn't want it to. He does wonder if he would need to consider other matters to be interjected. There is also the order of the princess of him becoming an assassin. He really has no objections about the act of killing. He had done that many times before. It was them or him and at any given day he would always choose himself no matter. The only problem he has about that is it would be a bit messy.

Espionage is all about stealth and not attracting attention if he does both. There could be a chance that his peaceful way of collecting information won't get breezy as he liked. It would certain depend on who is the insider. He would decide on how to go about it once he gets his details straight. He can't dally much as it would be bad to make the princess wait. He is well aware of that girl's temper. He couldn't help but laugh inwardly at that thought before returning himself to the reality of his situation. "If you don't like, it's fine! Uh, good night! Let's go Solomon-Buddy!" He quickly wrapped an arm around Solomon's neck and left in a somewhat hurry in embarrassment.

---

Bad Request and Solomon

---

The night hadn't let go of it grip it had on the world just yet. The sunrise just painted on corner of the sky reddish. The rest of the world was still pitch black. And even if that was the case people still moved around in the darkness. A door creaked open over here and another over there. Muffled footsteps could be heard outside the window, and on the local town "square" of Utopia dark figures gathered. It was simply just the middle part of the old city and a place that wasn't over taken by all the rubble.

That group of dark figures was the scavengers, waiting for the last ones to arrive for their little trip to the next town. The car itself was waiting in its "garage". And well, everyone looked forward to be able to leave in it. Nothing was as exciting as that. It felt new but at the same time familiar. Bad Request especially loved it.

As always he was laughing at almost everything everyone said, standing there in the middle. Teeth’s seemed to be hinted at times, smiling. Chukling. Solomon felt a bit annoyed at the man where he stood behind a wall and glanced on the men and women. It was not the happiness that annoyed him, it was the fact that the man seemed to be so energetic. Why wasn't he tired? Solomon was so tired that he felt like lying down on the ground and go back to sleep. But no, that man didn't seem to mind anything at all.

No one of them seemed to mind it at all. It was while grumbling that he walked over to them, lifting the hand awkwardly, "Hi..."

Everyone greeted him, some more enthusiastic than others. Well, that was Bad Request. All the others seemed to be a bit taken aback by the new face. They didn't seem to be aware of the fact that he was supposed to be here. But Solomon didn't really care, he wasn't here to please them. He just didn't feel like working in the power plant right now. And really after a while of consideration, even if the temperature would become really hot in the middle of the day they would be working on such a huge area. No one would notice if he stopped working and just worked on the tan, joke, he would just be lazy and rest for most of the time. That was something he looked forward to. That seemed awesome!

It was about time for him to get a move on. There are a lot of things needed to be done after all. t was still dark outside but that doesn't mean that it wasn't a new day. He stretched his limbs and stood outside of the rickety place he was staying at for the moment. He would have want his place inside that of Utopia, but hey work is work. It reminded him of a certain information that last night that the little princess has act out on herself.

It was really not his problem as that has nothing to do with him. He only hoped that his employment status won't be affected by temperaments of Her Royal Highness. Then again, it would be interesting to see an inner power turmoil of all times. Who could really say that there are no trouble in this so-called Utopia, this false paradise that everyone just made for their selfish wishes. Well, he could not criticize that for it is also the same for someone like him.

Anyway, he should be going now. Jerry which is him has some salvaging work to do outside the illustrious life of Utopia. It was not a big deal for him to be out of there really. He was rather curious as to what it would be like nowadays. It had been a while since he had been out and about at those territories. Oh well, they will be using that vehicle, isn't it? That would make a lot of things really interesting and with that thought, he made his way towards the meeting place.

It didn't take him long to make his ever cheerful greetings to the ones present there. "Hey! Good morning everyone! Hey Kid! Hey Big Brother!" He waved at them with a smile and noticed that Solomon was already there, ahead of him. That was a good sign but, apparently, he seemed to be the only left. That somehow made him felt a bit bad. "Sorry, if I made you guys wait on me! I really didn't mean it!" He quickly made his apologies. "So, let's go! This would be exciting!" There was no dull moment in his excitement as he approached Bad Request and even gave Solomon a thumb's up.

---

Bad Request and Solomon deMause

---

They didn't have to wait too long for the last person to join the part and somehow, the moment he appeared in front of the group the mood suddenly lightened up. Solomon wasn't sure he had really experienced that, but it really felt like someone had walked around inside the group and replaced the serious faces with smiles. Not really the same response he got. Not that he was surprised. It was not like he had the same charisma Jerry had. People probably didn't even remember who he was, everyone seemed to know who Jerry was. If it was Bad Request fault? It seemed quite likely.

Like always he was the one that seemed to be the greatest mood, putting his arm over Jerry's shoulder, "You are here! Great! We started to think that you had abandoned us! Such sad minutes, right guys?"

Solomon wasn't sure because of the darkness, but when he glanced towards the one standing next to him, it almost seemed as if the woman was rolling her eyes at the comment. When thinking about it, most of the probably did it, because some chuckling could be heard from the group.

Bad Request cleared his throat after the lame comment from his side and the non-existing answer from his group before continuing, "Anyway! Let's head over to the garage. We have some busy days before us. I hope that everyone follows the security protocols and don't slack of." Somehow Solomon felt that the comment was directed towards him, but it couldn't be like that. Because what did he know! Nah, the old man couldn't know anything. If he wasn't a mind reader, was he? God dammit no, no one can read minds. It was too early to be thinking, Solomon felt stupider than usual: Like his brain cells was dying or sleeping perhaps.

As the group started too moving he approached Jerry, walking right behind the man as always. Stalking him like a prey. No not really, he probably looked more like a lost kid that followed his parent. Even if Solomon almost was just as tall as Jerry, but with the whole way he carried himself didn't really give him the whole "adult" aura.

When they had arrived at the rundown building Bad Request entered, all other followed after him. In the middle of the open area you could see something covered with a plastic sheet, Bad Request placed himself behind it, grinning wildly as always. You could almost hint a childlike glow from his eyes, the others from the team showed it as well. And Solomon knew what was under that sheet so even he got riled up by the thought. He pictured something awesome, something shiny, and something that would be so totally cool after seeing everyone’s faces.

The actual revile was a huge let down. The vehicle under the plastic sheet was nothing like Solomon had imagined. It was plain. Looked like it would fall to pieces any minute now. Home built, he knew it was but still! Was this really what everyone looked forward to so much? It was stupid.

Bad Request that was still riled up sat down by the wheel and waved for the others to take a seat as well, "Jump in guys. We're going to travel far this time. Further than we've ever done by foot. To unexplored landscapes!"

"No way, I'm missing out on this!" Jerry declared to Bad Request's commentary even if the others have the strong intentions to ignore the older male. "I keep my promises!" But, he wasn't that type of person, well at least how he wanted to portray himself on that matter. Anyway, after a few words, they were on the move. They were told not to slack off and he nodded in agreement. He was really excited on the prospect of going out, well at least that's how it was for now.

Then, he noticed Solomon as he smiled brightly at the younger male. "Hey! Top of the morning to ya!" He friendly tapped Solomon on the shoulder. It could really be seen on Jerry's expression that he was glad to see the youth here. "I was late, aren't I?" He laughed at that in his own blunder before cheerfully looking at Solomon. "I'm glad to see you here buddy!" He then motioned for Solomon for them to walk a bit faster as his had a rather excited skip to it. He was like a child going to the toy store for the first time really.

That's really not the entirety of it of course. He was actually in contemplation of what to do about the spoiled princess. He wouldn't be a spymaster if he didn't know his Mistress' movements even if he was on the field. There were plenty ways of getting information without doing all the legwork after all. It also reminded him of that person she wanted to be erased from this world. It's not like he had not killed people before, so taking lives was not something he would feel all shriveled up. It's all natural for him. He only stopped with his thoughts when Bad Request revealed the vehicle and he certainly clapped his hands in sheer amusement.

"So cool!" That's certainly Jerry's impression as he inspected it happily. "Come on Solomon! Let's get inside, we should get the best seats! Exploration!" He motioned for the youth energetically as he entered in with such a big smile as if there was nothing wrong in the world. "This feels like we're some Indiana Jones! So cool!"

---

Bad Request and Solomon deMause

---

It was a bumpy ride and a noisy one. Smelly as well because of the fumes from the car. This car or thing wasn't anything like the cars from when everything was fine. According to Solomon this couldn't even be called a car, it was a sorry excuse of a car. A toy. Ugly thing. His rear had even started to hurt because of all the bumps in the road, or non-existing road. Everywhere they looked it was a wasteland. There was nothing to be seen. It was like they were driving around in a desert, well a desert of dead trees and things like that. It was a sad scene, gave Solomon a slight shill down his spine because it made him remember how lonely it could get out here.

But he wasn't alone, everyone else seemed to be excited about this adventure even Jerry seemed exited. And it wasn't like Solomon forced the corner of his mouth upwards just to look like he smiled like the other ones. And he did say some things now and then when the others had interesting discussions. And after a long drive, it felt like hours and the sun up there in the sky was so hot it was ridiculous Bad Request finally slowed down and stopped the car. They were in the middle of a ghost town and judging by the others this was the first time they had been able to travel this far. So it was new for everyone.

Once everyone had stretched out Bad Request called for their attention once more, "Alright everyone! Gather around me. You all know our safety protocols, be safe out there and avoid any sort of trouble. I don't want to lose one more of you. We'll gather around the car once the sun goes down again. And you," He pointed towards two of the men, "gather wood for the car and night time."

Everyone started to turn their backs towards Bad Request and walk off, so Solomon thought he would too. That he would find a nice spot somewhere in the shadow where he could lay down and take a nap, but no. Just when he was about to walk off he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, that hand belonged to Bad Request, "No, not you two. You aren't allowed to leave yet because you don't know our rules. So listen now, we work in pairs. No one are allowed to walk into a building on their own, and avoid those that look like they are ready to crumble to the ground. Even if you see something really useful inside, leave it be. We've lost enough people because of things like that. And since you're both new you will be in my team. So I will keep my eyes on the both of you."

It was not the smooth ride that anyone could expect. It was more like that of a roller coaster with all of its tracks having rocks at every section. It was bad for the back. It's a good thing that he has a sturdy backbone and he wasn't that old yet. He simply thought of it as a hardcore type of massage, though it was fun as the others were enjoying each other's company. Well, it was a road trip in the most basic of definitions. People do have the simplest form of happiness and that's why it's easy to worm into their existences without much difficulty.

That's what he does best, and so he is Jerry in this persona, the cheerful man who seemed so inherently good. Anyways, he joined in the conversations even pulling Solomon into some of them. That's why probably the ride had been more on the noisy side then the bumpy one, well there were a lot of bumps, of course. They soon arrived at one of the abandoned towns. It had indeed been a while since he had seen landscapes like that, though this would be a familiar scene nowadays. More like, the scene like Utopia are the rare ones. It was both ironic and nostalgic.

They soon exited the car and were round up. Others were all paired up and seemed aware of what they needed to do and all. It made him wonder if there was something to find it such a rundown place, but then again sometimes, the most important clues are in those forgotten areas. "This place is like a ruin, huh... I wonder what we could find! Maybe we can find treasure or something! This is exciting, right buddy?" He said with such enthusiasm and gave Solomon a cheerful pat on the shoulders, before they were approached by Bad Request. Both of them were going to be on the team together.

"Okay got it Big Brother! This will be fun, huh Solomon? We can go exploring!" He was really hyper, like a child who had eaten a lot of sweets. "So, where are we off to? What do we need to know?" He looked at Bad Request with those ever determined and sparkling eyes. He was really interested in what they were about to do, well, that's for Jerry of course.

---

Bad Request and Solomon deMause

---

A treasure huh, Solomon wasn't too sure about that. This place looked more like it could give them some sort of nasty decease. Or a sunburn. Solomon just wanted to go and search for some shadow, this place was worse than the power plant, Solomon felt drenched. The clothes stuck to his body like he just had jumped down into a lake and gotten out with them still on, the heat out here made him sweat like crazy. If he wasn't such a manly man he would probably fan his face with his own hand in an attempt to cool down.

"So, where are we off to? What do we need to know?"

Bad Request gave them a small wave to indicate that they should follow him, "We're heading north to see what's there. And no we're not going to walk that far since we're supposed to gather around the car once the sun sets again. The roles are basic, stay alive. Don't leave your teammates side if there isn't an absolute must and don't enter buildings that looks too unstable. Like that one," He pointed towards a building that seemed to move or shiver with each gust of wind that hit it. It had definitively seen better days.

As he spoke he had already started to walk down the street that pointed in the direction they should be heading. The town was silent, the only thing that could be heard was their shoes hitting the ground. But this was the usual, the world had gotten silent. Utopia was different, there attenuated voices could be heard from all around you. Noise from the power plant filled the air. But here, it felt like they were the only people left in the world because of the silence. It was so empty.

"Let's check out this place," Bad Request nodded towards a pretty decent looking building, at least it didn't look like it had been hit by an earthquake. None of the buildings around it looked like that either, but the reason Bad Request choose that building was because you could still hint the lettering over the door, it had once been a store. A long time ago, these shelves had been filled with things and if they were lucky perhaps they still were. Solomon doubted that though.

"If you find anything let me know and I will store it in my backpack since you don't have any of your own, if you find one please keep it. It’s always good to have something like that with you."