Alex POV-------------------
Carrying two people, I landed gracefully.
But that was the last thing I remember. Before waking up inside a hospital, again!
Towards the left was a mummy, completely wrapped up in bandages. It almost scared me.
But my rational mind quickly disposed of my ill thoughts and made me realise it was a person.
I shouldn't call a living person a mummy.
Then I turned to my right. And it scared me more than the mummy.
Crystal clear eyes of Leo were looking at me. His piercing gaze bore through me like a drill.
Ah… What a drag? I almost forgot about where I was. And it was peaceful.
Disappointment could be seen on my face and I was not bothered enough to hide it. Leo might have already noticed it. I knew my good guy act has a short life span. So, I don't plan to live wearing a mask-like usual.
And the last person near me was Thomas Orwin. A fellow police officer and my team leader.
'Oh! He was the one watching over me and Leo! Not Emily.'
A slight sense of disappointment washed over me.
'Ah! It would be nice if it was Emily.' I thought while hiding my emotions.
He has yet to notice that I was awake. But Leo pulled on the team leader's clothes waking him up from his thoughts. He pointed at me to show that I was awake.
Now that the cat's out of the bag. I opened my eyes. For a moment, I truly wished that everything was my dream and I would wake up in my original world.
'Why did it have to be Outerworlds? This was just a novel I read for fun and I don't remember half of it. Now, I have to survive in this cruel harsh world when I don't even know what will happen in the end. And I assume nothing good happens at the end considering how crazy the author was.'
'If I had to live inside a novel. I would have preferred a romantic comedy or modern fiction with themes of making large amounts of money and living lavishly. Why did it have to be so dangerous?'
"You are awake. This is the second time in a month that you have been hospitalised. How does it feel to be so sick all the time?" Said Thomas with a smirk.
"Are you being sarcastic? I know you can do better than that!" I replied promptly.
What does this forty-year-old man take me for? I am not the Alex that he once knew. I am a teenager inside an older guy's body. I was grown in the information age and my toxicity knew no bounds.
My trolling capabilities triumph over trolls seen in fantasy novels. How dare he mess with me?
"Now that's the Alex I know. I thought your personality changed after you lost your memories. But that does not seem to be the case. You are as prickly as ever. It really feels good to get you back!"
Was this guy joking? I feel humiliated being compared to the cannon fodder. But what can I do other than to go along with it?
"Team leader, why was I hospitalised? I don't remember anything after landing on the ground. Is Emily Okay? What about the woman who was with her?" I asked, trying to refresh my mind.
"You don't have to worry about them. You did a good job. I would have been proud of you, If not for the fact that…" Thomas looked at Leo.
"Why did you hide the fact that you have a ten-year-old kid? Did you abandon his mother after making her pregnant you damned fool?" Thomas said while flexing his arm muscles.
Surely he wouldn't hit me, right?
Those muscles were no joke. Thomas Orwin was a strength type superhuman who can tear through a concrete wall with his bare hand. I don't want to be on the receiving end of that.
"No… No… No… Nothing like that. This is Leo from 'Friday'. You know what that means right?" I explained.
"Did you blow up their HQ?"
"What HQ? I just went there to get this kid out. Didn't I say that I will give you more information about Friday and the human trafficking organisations after getting him out? So, why are you asking about blowing up their HQ."
"So, that means you were not the one that blew up their HQ. Then what caused the explosion?"
"How would I know? Everything was okay until I left the premises. If you really want some answers, give me more information. What happened? How do you know the location of the HQ of Friday that was operating in Nova city? I didn't even know the location. Most importantly what happened to the people inside there?" I asked Thomas.
From the brief conversation with Thomas, I could infer that Thomas now knows the location of Friday's HQ and for some reason, the headquarters blew up before they could take action against them.
What might have caused that? It was certainly not me. Even if I wanted to, there was no way that I could do that.
"Let me get the facts straight. Two days ago you informed me about Friday and their hidden dealings. After that, I did some digging and approximately found the location of their HQ by analysing the supply chain with food and water usage in that area. But there was no way to confirm my doubts. So, like a good policeman that I am. I was on a stakeout!"
"Let me just stop you right there. You found the HQ with just some vague information from me! That's surprising! So, if you were on a stakeout, then did you see me going in and out?"
"No, Simply put, I had no idea that you would go in today." Saying that Thomas smacked my head.
"You dumbass, How could you go into a tiger's den alone without any preparation. You might as well have served yourself on a silver platter, you dumb fuck! Don't you know what a team means? We are here to help you. You don't need to do everything alone." I feel eighteen again, getting scolded by an elder.
"First, I dislike silver platters. Second, there were no tigers. And third, if you care so much about teamwork. Why were you on a stakeout alone?" I dismantled the inconsistent argument put forward by my so-called team leader.
For that, as a reward. I was smacked again on the head. What a reasonable team leader! I sense a bright future ahead.
"Okay, then what about the explosion?" I asked, hiding my annoyance.
"I don't know if it was a coincidence or not. The explosion happened right about the time when the deformed demons attacked your home. And even more baffling is the fact that only the human traffickers died during the explosion. It was a precise surgical strike planned to destroy Friday from the inside. It was the work of a master. No, a hero. Only the rooms occupied by human traffickers were bombed. Due to my close proximity to the explosion. Now I had probable cause to search the building. We were able to save a lot of people due to that master. Wish I could see him and thank him myself."
Hearing the vivid description and incessant praises to some master. A thought suddenly popped inside my head. I slowly turned to look at Leo.
He was picking his nose while looking at Thomas.
Don't tell me!
The master who the team leader was praising is this little kid. No way, right? Then again, precision, planting explosives and destroying buildings. All feel like what Leo would do. It was basically his Modus operandi.
In my mind came the image of a zombie-like Leo staring at a crack in the wall. Did he plan so far ahead! To inject dark matter into every nook and cranny precisely and to blow it up. It was an enormous undertaking for a kid. My mind was blown by the realisation.
Looking at my excited team leader. How could have the will to say that the nose-picking ten-year-old kid is the Master and Hero that he was glorifying?
'Poor soul, he might not bear this revelation. Let me bury this in my heart.'
—------Alex POV END—-----
Unknown to even Alex, Leo's contribution was far more than that. Even the deformed demon incident was resolved only due to Leo. Even Alex would not have expected that. What might be his reaction when he finds out about that.