"Well, if there is not anything else I will be going," the Director gets up.
"And if THERE IS anything else, anything you might have forgot, perhaps. Let us know right away."
Benedict approaches the Director, shaking his hand, and telling their goodbyes. Meanwhile, was still firmly in his seat.
"Agent Isaac," the old Director greets him for the last time before heading for the door. Sebastian simply shoos him away to which the Director just smiles and laughs.
Benedict rushes over to his office's exit to open the door for his boss and escort him out of the facility to which the Director firmly declines.
"I'm getting him next time," says Sebastian as the Director was at the door.
The director smiles. "I'm sure you will, Agent Isaac."
Benedict promptly returns behind his desk to resume work after the Director's departure.
"That went surprisingly well," says Sebastian who was expecting an hour-long scolding from the Director.
"You don't say."
"You know what," still sitting, Sebastian grabs a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and takes one out. "I don't buy it."
"Buy what? And I told you a thousand times you can't smoke in here."
Sebastian still proceeds to light up the stick of nicotine.
"What the old man said," the stubborn Sebastian answers after exhaling a cloud of smoke.
"About Crowe?" Benedict was trying to fan away the smoke with his hands.
"About everything," he reaches out the pack to Benedict.
"I don't smoke anymore. And what 'everything'"
"You know what Crowe told me last night? That I'm just you people's pawns. WE are just your pawns. And I hate to say that the guy who was a Nazi is right, but the guy who was a Nazi is right."
"The old man is still hiding a lot of shit. Even YOU'RE still hiding a lot of shit," Sebastian added.
"Oh am I," Benedict says mockingly.
"You even knew about the void fragment crap."
"And you're salty because I didn't tell you?"
"Some brief mention would've been nice."
"Okay, here's the thing," Benedict shifts his gaze from his computer screen to Sebastian.
"One, I had no reason to tell you about the void fragments because what would be the point? Now you know about it, now what? What changed? Nothing. Two, I'm not obligated to tell you about every piece of information I get and three, even if I was there wouldn't be much to tell."
Benedict returns focusing his attention on the computer in front of him. "I'm not the Director, I don't know every single thing that goes on everywhere."
"Oh fuck you, 'not the director'. You're basically the director of this place and you're telling me you don't know shit?"
"Surprisingly enough, I don't. I know MORE than you, yes, but I don't know EVERYTHING. The same way YOU now know more than the other agents."
"What are you going on about anyway?" asks Benedict. "You never once cared about this stuff."
"I don't know. It's just Crowe made it sound like I'm just some stupid puppet and it didn't sit well with me at all," says Sebastian, looking for a garbage bin to throw the butt of his cigarette.
"It's what Crowe does, he fucks with people. Just let it go."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Sebastian throws the cigarette butt on the bin across the room.
"Anyway, anyone using the training room?"
"Not that I know of, no. Why?"
"I was just gonna test some things out."
"Should I get Eva?"
"Nah, I'm just trying some new stuff out."
"I'll get Eva, then."
"It's gonna be fine, jeez."
"When are you going"
"I don't know. I'm gonna grab something for breakfast first, I'm starving," Sebastian was about to leave.
"It's 9 'o clock, what time did you get up? Did you go from bed straight to here?"
"What are you, my mom," he gets up, about to warp out.
"Oh, wait. I forgot," Benedict had a follow-up concern.
"I received a memo to only assign you A-rank missions and below for a week. Punishment, probably."
"WHAT?! You're kidding," Sebastian couldn't believe it.
"Want me to show it to you?" Benedict shifts his gaze away from his computer and to Sebastian to signify that he was serious.
"I thought the old man was on my side???"
"He is. The rest of the higher-ups aren't and they're really pissed at you."
"'The rest of the higher-ups', the old man's the highest of the higher-ups, his decision overwrites the rest!"
"No, it does not. Now go away and enjoy your breakfast," says Benedict as he shoos him away. Sebastian groans.
SHHOOM
Sebastian teleports in the pantry, warping near Eva who was walking back to the table holding a bowl of cereal, startled and nearly dropping the bowl.
"Yo."
"Can't you just walk around like a normal person??" complains the startled Eva.
"Nope," he heads straight for the half-empty coffee maker.
Izzy who was also in the room, having just witnessed what happened thought of a good question, "Hypothetically, what happens if you teleport right to a spot where a person is?"
Sebastian who was looking for a mug stops for a second. He'd never thought of that before.
"Or not even a person, just anything in general. A table, a chair, anything," Izzy elaborates on the question.
"Huh," Sebastian had no clue either. "I honestly don't know."
"Never happened before?" asks Izzy.
"Nope."
"Ever?"
"Yep."
He's had some dangerous close calls with his warps, especially coordinate jumps ever since he first learned how to use this ability 12 years ago. But luckily enough, he has not been in a situation where his warp led him directly in between or IN someone or something.
"By the way, you guys seen Harley?" he asks, pouring himself a glass full of hot coffee.
"Think I saw him go in the training room," asks Eva, taking a spoonful of cereal. "Why?"
"I'm being punished and have to take only A-ranks for the week. I'm thinking of working out a deal with him."
"Wait, how is doing A-ranks punishment for you?" Izzy was confused at the so-called "punishment". "Isn't that better because you get to do easier missions?"
"It's punishment for his fragile little ego," Eva answers for him. "He doesn't do B-ranks and only picks some occassional A-ranks because he thinks he's too good for them."
Eva's answer was spot-on. Everyone in the Circle, even the higher-ups knew of Sebastian's nasty habit. But even they couldn't do anything about it. And at the end of the day, it was still somewhat a fair exchange. They let their best agent cherry pick missions and he completes even insanely difficult ones with relative ease. Both sides throw each other a bone.
This time, the higher-ups were angry at him and were intent on teaching him a lesson. A lesson he couldn't care less about. The only reason he was going to comply was to avoid getting fined because he knew he would be if he didn't. And this was also an opportunity to test out some new techniques.
"I don't 'think' I'm too good for those," Sebastian takes a sip of from the mug he's holding, "I AM too good."
"What's the 'deal' you're making with Harley?" asks Izzy.
"He does his job for him," Eva answers.
"Is that allowed?"
"Really no reason why it shouldn't be. And Harley still goes anyway, it's just this this moron does all the job while Harley sits back and watch. They've done this plenty of times."
"It's like printing your own money," Sebastian leaves his empty coffee mug at the sink.
"Later, turds."
SHHOOM
"How long have you guys known each other?" Izzy asks Eva.
Eva looks at him, brows furrowed. Confused by the seemingly random question. "What do you mean?"
"No, it's just that you seem to know a lot about him. I didn't mean anything weird," Izzy was slightly defensive.
"I've known that idiot since we were kids," Eva answers, still eating spoonfuls of milk and cereal.
"We grew up on the same orphanage, five of us are now here at Eden," she added.
"Really?"
"Yep. Me, that idiot, Ben, Casey, and Cade. Cade was always some weird loner. But the rest of the three have always been really close with each other."
"Casey?" Izzy repeats the unfamiliar name. "I haven't heard of him, OR her, before."
"Is Casey also an agent?" he asks.
"'Was' an agent," Eva, done with her breakfast, gets up and takes the empty bowl to the sink. "He's dead."
SHHOOM
Sebastian warps outside the training room and bumps into Harley who had just come out, sweating and wearing a white tank top, tattoos on both arms and even on his chest.
"Morning exercise?" says Sebastian.
"Gotta get back in shape," answers Harley.
"You goin' in?" he starts walking away, Sebastian right behind.
"Later, maybe. I was looking for you, it's contract season."
The two agents started working as Circle agents around the same time, albeit Sebastian was earlier by a month. A year later, the two agents started making "contracts" with each other. Around this time, Sebastian was still pretty much a rookie and still didn't have the habit nor leverage to handpick missions. Although he was still being assigned to S-rank missions occasionally, he was mainly doing B and A-ranks like the rest of the Inner Circle agents.
Their first contract started when the two were assigned on a mission together. The day before was Sean's birthday and the guys of the Inner Circle decided to go out for drinks on the same night. Everyone was hungover, most especially Harley who could barely stand and walk. Unfortunately, this wasn't an excuse and he still had to go on missions.
Him and Sebastian were assigned on a mission an hour of a helicopter ride away. At this point in time, Sebastian was also still actively riding vehicular transportations. During the ride, Harley was complaining nonstop and desperately pleading for Sebastian to do all the work for this mission as he was not at all in the right state do anything. Sebastian eventually agreed when they landed but on the condition that he pays him. Harley, incredibly desperate, took the offer in a heartbeat. The hungover agent proceeds to go to sleep as soon as his partner left the chopper. Only a short time has passed when he was woken up by Sebastian slapping him in the face and telling him that the mission was done and that they were heading back, also reiterating his payment.
Initially, the contract only took effect when Harley was feeling lazy. A few weeks passed and the occasional contract became full-time and whenever the two were in missions together, Sebastian would do everything while Harley sits back lazily. This lasted for about three months until the head of operations at the time found out about it. A year later, Benedict was assigned as the new head of operations and contract season once again opened but this time, not for very long as it was around this time when Sebastian slowly started developing his habit and they were no longer working on missions together.
Now, contract season is back for a very limited period.
"I don't know, I kinda need the practice," Harley who was just returning to doing missions after a short break following the Redwood mission declines.
"What, come on," Sebastian was disappointed.
"Why are you even bringing it up," asks Harley who was surprised at Sebastian's sudden offer.
"The idiots at upper management are punishing me."
"Hah. About time."
"Just tell me if you want to do it, I'll ask Ben to put me on it."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
SHHOOM