A chubby old man sitting in front of a desk with many bright screens on it, grumbled thoughtfully while scratching his short beard that had started to lose it's pigments due to his old age. He was wearing a white coat with some ink stains and a small doodle of himself on it.
He was inside a room that was lacking a window to the outside. Metal ventilation pipes that weren't hidden in any way were carrying fresh air and the sound of the fan of the ventilation system, filling the room with a subtle humming sound.
The old man got up and walked towards a door that was next to a wide window showing what was in the next room. Just as he was going to enter the room, his hands stopped reaching for the door handle, and instead he went in front of the window and gazed inside the room without entering.
The other room was a mess. Most of the room was filled with cables and electronics. In the center of the room, the only place not crowded by a slightly unorganized mess, was a man with black hair was laying on a bed.
The man looked to be in his late 30s. His head was covered by a helmet that was connected to the messy electronics with cables. Next to his bed was a pack of clear liquid that was connected to his wrist by a thin tube.
The old man sighed, walked back to his desk and sat down. Just then, a robotic male voice reached his ears.
"Time stopped... He lost again."
"That's the second time now... Are you doing the right thing?"
"Of course. I am following the instructions. And, there is about eighteen months for him between the two cases. He always finds himself in trouble he can't handle, so this is expected."
"Sigh~, Whatever. Make sure to bring him back from there, okay? All of this is happening because of his messy work..."
"But just this much is already incredible, isn't it?"
"It is... He is an amazing person. Everyone in this place is just incredibly lucky to have the chance to witness what he did."
"I know!"
"But, this kind of messy work was never his style, you know?"
"Of course. I am the one who knows it the best."
"However, ever since that day... His work became messy."
"...That is to be expected, don't you think?"
"..."
"Not a lot of people would be able to stay standing after something like that. But he is really strong."
"I know, but sometimes, I can't stop but think that we thought he was stronger than he actually was and didn't help him enough when we could."
"Why would you think like that?"
"Don't you see his situation? Isn't this like a perfect way for him to leave everything behind?"
"..."
"I am not saying he must have done it willingly, and to be honest, I wouldn't stop him even if I knew that was the case, but I can't stop myself from thinking sometimes that maybe this whole thing was intentional."
"..."
"Well, there is nothing we can do at this moment except to keep on trying. This place and everyone inside are one way or another indebted to him, so no one will stop us."
"That is true."
"Well, lunch time is coming, so I am heading to the cafeteria. There is an important meeting afternoon, so I wont be able to check on him."
"Okay."
"Please continue searching and bring him back no matter how long it takes."
"Of course I will. Those were the instructions."
"Heh, Thank you. See you later, SAM."
The old man left the room and the door closed with a quiet thud sound. The barely audible robotic male sound talked with in a cold voice.
"Thankfully the instructions didn't include a time limit... Whatever. Commense reload..."
*****
"HAAH!!"
Corvin suddenly sat up while struggling to breath and started checking his body with his hands.
"There are no injuries... I am still alive..."
He looked around and saw nothing, everything was dark around him.
"Ton? Is that you?!"
Remembering a similar situation, he shouted Ton's name, but the only thing he heard was the echo of his own voice.
"Hmm... Corvin... Did you wake up?", asked Kharon, who was the one on guard while they were sleeping.
"Huh?! Kharon?!"
"...Huh? Ah! Sorry! I fell asleep, and the fire is also out too... I am relighting it, don't worry!"
Corvin quickly stood up and walked towards where the sound of rocks hitting came from. The sparks shone briefly as the fuel cought fire. As the fire shone brighter, Corvin stood in front of the bald man with scary muscles and a kind face. He fell on his knees and stared at the ground.
"Hey?! Corvin? What happened?"
Pta Pta
Corvin wiped the couple of tears that flowed down his eyes.
"It's nothing... I just saw a bad dream...", he said with a smile.
*****
After everyone woke up and started working on their tasks, Corvin sat down and started thinking with a troubled face.
'It looks like I am back at when we started making the explosives... How is that possible? It happened once, but is it normal for it to happen again?"
"-n."
'But, it is better to think like that was real, isn't it? Maybe it was like a foresight..."
"-in!"
'So... What should I do... Do we follow the same plan but then I just take everyone with me without fighting the Queen? But, what if I can't carry everyone outside before the mountain collapses again?'
"-vin!"
'Should we all just leave immediately? No, then the monsters would be a problem... What should I do-'
"CORVIN!"
Slap!
"Ouch! Who was that?!"
"Me!", said Noah.
"What is wrong with you?! Can't you see that I am thinking?!"
"Yeah, I can!"
"Then what?!"
"That's the problem!"
"What is?!"
"Only you are thinking! Why do you stop getting help from us right when things look tough and you need help?!"
"Where did that come from?"
"Come on! One look at your face tells me something is really wrong, you know?"
"? How does my face even look like?"
"You look like you are desperate to not die... No, you look like you alredy died!"
"...So what?"
"I am telling you. Don't stop asking for help when things get tough, okay? You are my most important friend, so tell me when your problems get bigger than you can handle, okay?"
"...Sigh~"
Corvin sat down with a sigh and held his head between his hands.
"Can you listen to me for a bit, Noah?"
"Of course!"
Noah sat down and Corvin started to tell him his worries about their current plan.