"Excuse me? No contact for 7 years?" Bigshot asked, baffled.
"Yes, you heard me, no contact for 7 years. Accept this condition or no deal. Got that?" Aster replied in a pissed-off tone, now clearly displaying his hostility.
"Mind your language, Dr. Crimsonwhite. Know that you will be killed if you back out of this deal now." The bigshot replied in a threatening tone, clearly expressing his dislike.
"Oh yeah? Then good luck finding someone as good as me. I'm pretty sure that I'm your first choice." Aster said arrogantly. After living for 40 years, he knows that confidence goes a long way.
"Dr. Crimsonwhite, are you displaying us this hostility because of your opinion that we are not treating him like a normal kid?"
"No shit, Sherlock."
"Well, I recommend that you put a brake on those naive thoughts once and for all. Havien is not a child, he is a 'weapon' the Sanctum has 'created' and 'developed' to combat the recently rampaging terrorists. Getting emotionally attached to him will do you more harm than good in the long run." The bigshot replied in a slightly softer voice. He understood Aster's concerns and empathized with him. Perhaps, he too did not want to do this to a child.
Aster glanced at the child in question, who has till now not uttered even a single word during this argument. He just blankly stared at both Aster and the bigshot. Looking at this, Aster gritted his teeth and said,
"All I see is a child deprived of his childhood. I don't care how you frame it, I want to give him a childhood. And that will not be possible if you guys keep hovering around in sight."
The bigshot went silent after seeing Aster's sincere eyes. After a few seconds, he let out a big sigh and said,
"I'll contact the higher-ups, this condition is out of my jurisdiction." Saying that, he took out his phone and relayed the condition Aster presented on a call. After a few seconds of "yes sir", "of course", and " I will do my best.", the call ended.
"The condition has been approved. You can start your job right away." Bigshot replied in a defeated voice.
"See? What did I tell you, I'm one of the best out there. They gotta make some concessions from their side."
"Yeah yeah, just take the kid and get out of here now." The bigshot brushed him off and started reading the documents which were lying on his table.
"Hey kid, follow me." Aster said as he turned around and started walking away. Havien, without saying anything, followed him out.
Time went by, and Havien, after a long 18-hour journey, was now standing inside Aster's house. It was not very grandiose or elegant, but rather modest with a nice aesthetic. Aster was sitting on the sofa facing Havien, and Havien was staring blankly at Aster.
"Why don't you sit down for now?"
Havien wordlessly sat down across the sofa.
"Why did you not say a single word throughout the journey?"
"There was no reason for me to speak." Havien said in an emotionless voice.
"...*Sigh*. Then why did you not even look around at places while traveling half of the world?"
"It was not required of me to do so." Havien replied back.
"... This is gonna be tough..." Aster said in an exhausted tone, holding his face with his hands.
"Please do not worry, I have a very fast learning capability and a perfect memory, so you can rest assured that whatever you teach will never be forgotten by me." Havien replied in a reassuring way, but it felt like he was reciting another person's words.
"Are you telling me this or is the Sanctum saying this?"
"... I do not understand your question. The following words were spoken by me." Havien replied after a few moments of silence.
Hearing this, Aster muttered "Well then", got up, and went to his room. Havien stayed where he was because he wasn't told to follow him. Still, he could hear the rummaging sounds leaking out of his room.
When Aster got back, he was carrying a heavy cardboard box. He looked at Havien for a brief moment and set the box directly in front of him.
"So Mr. Genius, can you tell what this is?"
"I believe these are what you call video games, they are a medium of entertainment used by people as a hobby or stress relief."
"Well, at least you know some stuff..." Aster replied as he started fixing a PS8 on the television.
"You know, these things were all the craze during my father's time. Now, you got those VR pods or whatever, but it can't replace the feeling of holding a controller and smashing it when things don't go your way."
"..." Havien silently listened to Aster rambling about video games, not being able to figure out his intentions by saying this stuff. By now, he had no idea about the purpose of this person, something which rarely happened with Havien back at the Sanctum.
"Here.. we.. go. Now it's all set up. Havien, as your teacher I am now issuing your first task."
"I await your orders, sir." Havien said in an emotionless, machine-like tone, and from his smooth fluency in this way of speaking, you can infer that he is pretty used to saying this particular sentence.
"Beat me in Mortal Kombat."
"...huh?" Havien asked, for the first time since forever, with an expression of surprise and bafflement on his face.
Seeing this, Aster grinned.
"If you beat me in mortal combat, only then you will be issued your next instructions. Don't tell me... Is your so-called genius brain unable to beat this old man? You chicken?" Aster said in a provoking way.
Havien's eyebrows twitched. He did not know why, but he really felt a sudden urge to wipe that smirk off that old man's face. He did not realize that this was the first time in ages that he felt 'provoked'.
"Fine then, I will defeat you in this video game as you wish."
****3 hours later****
"Looks like I won again." Aster said while chilling on the sofa, looking over Havien who still had disbelief written all over his face.
"Once more. I will defeat you now for sure." Said Havien for like the 46th time.