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"Just how long do you guys plan on keeping me here?" Gray whispered to himself, as he lay on a bed, staring up at the ceiling. At least half an hour had passed since they locked him in this room, and his patience was running thin.
~It's not like I can't just break down the door,~ he thought, side-eyeing it, before rubbishing the thought. ~I just have to be patient, someone will come talk to me eventually.~
He had assumed that the soldiers were going to take him to their leader, which was the reason he had come without resistance. After all, they were the only ones with the means to help him bring his parents home. But right now, it was starting to look like they had no intention of even talking to him.
~Still, they really don't know much, do they,~ he thought. Their using a normal room as his 'prison' showed that they weren't aware of the existence of champions or the fact they were superhuman.
~I guess the military is just as clueless as everyone else... for now,~ he decided, before getting up from bed.
The room was simple. White walls, brown curtains, and a single-sized bed. It was large enough for him to pace around comfortably, but only a quarter the size of his own room upstairs. He doubted his bed could even fit in this place.
~I bet they'd freak if they saw what we had upstairs,~ he thought to himself. He'd assumed that they were getting something close to the same treatment down here, however it seemed that their alien captors treated champions exceptionally well.
Still, everyone seemed happy enough. He thought they'd be more shaken after all the chaos back on Earth. Though he suspected it was because no one actually knew they were off-world. It would've been hard for them to tell since there were no aliens here.
Or at least, he hadn't seen any as he was being dragged through the streets and made a spectacle out of.
"Fucking bastards," he spat under his breath. Just remembering how they pointed and stared at him made him angry. They were acting as if he was a monkey at the zoo.
~Though I guess appearing out of thin air will do that to people.~
Just then, he heard footsteps outside, they were approaching and fast. He walked towards the door, resting his ear against it. He could hear voices, but they were too hushed for him to make out complete sentences.
The footsteps stopped at his door, and an instant later, the door handle creaked. Gray took a step back.
~Finally,~ he thought, as a man dressed in military uniform stepped through the door.
For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other.
"Douglas Bradley. I would've worn something more casual, but... it makes everyone feel safe. Especially since you decided to visit," he said, holding his hand out.
~Should I give my real name?~ Gray thought to himself, as he reached for Douglas's hand.
"Gray Sullivan," he said after some hesitation. T
hey knew his face, and he had seen a few of his schoolmates in the crowd earlier, so it wouldn't be too hard for them to catch him on his lie. Besides, it was needless right now. If he planned on having them help him, they would need information on not only him but his parent as well.
"Checks out. I was worried you'd lie," Douglas replied with a half-smile.
He was an older man, maybe around 50, with grey short-cut hair, and smile lines around his eyes. His handshake was firm and warm, same with his smile.
"That's quite the grip you have there," Douglas added, pulling his hand back.
"Okay, so, here's the deal. Everyone outside thinks you're an alien, a few of them think you're an alien spy, and me? I don't know what to think yet," he started.
~An alien? What, was it my face?~ Gray thought, nodding instead.
"So, I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you're going to answer them like any human would. And then, we'll talk about why you're here," Douglas said, before looking down at Gray's pants. "And where you got those clothes," he added.
"That's reasonable," Gray replied.
"Great. This may take a while, so let's get comfortable," Douglas said, gesturing towards the bed. He pulled out the chair on the other side of the room and sat it right in front of Gray— who had taken a seat on the bed.
"First question, how old are you?"
"17."
"Where do you school?"
"Saint Vincents."
[...]
Douglas went through a list of basic questions, like what grade Gray was in, when he had joined his current school, who his principal was... It was so obvious that they had collected all this information from his schoolmates that it was getting annoying.
"Okay, we're about done, I just have one last question. How do sunsets make you feel?"
The question caught Gray off guard. Just what the hell was this even about?
Douglas's eyes furrowed as Gray hesitated. Was this guy really going to try something because of such a stupid question?
~How does it make me feel? What kind of question is that? It's a fucking sunset.~
He cleared his throat. "I don't know. Like it's about to be nighttime? Does anyone really feel anything when they see those?" he replied.