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Chapter 45: Reading the Notes Left Behind
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Emmet laid on the office floor, curled over into a ball, cradling his broken hand to his chest, with the paper sheet with the copy of Doctor Johnstone's email resting on his head.
The door slammed shut behind Doctor Johnstone, and the room almost felt heavier without her guiding presence, her strict and stern face whenever there was adversity, and her ability to project solidarity, even where there was none.
It was only something small that broke in Emmet's chest, lamenting for what he had said to her, how he had treated her over the years.
He had just offered to give her his job, like one of those predatory managers that only ever showed up in the news whenever something horrible had happened. He had behaved like one of those.
Aunt Minnie would be completely ashamed of him. If she ever found out, she would grab him by the hair, and drag him over a desk with it, as he had seen her do to somebody befo
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Emmet eventually picked himself up off the floor and, with a sad smile, opened the door to let himself out of the lab that he had sequestered himself in. He let Doctor Johnstone's message flutter to the ground and he left it behind, closing the door on it as he entered the corridor outside, where the light wasHe determinedly walked towards the front entrance of the facility, towards his fate, keeping his eyes firmly forward, and refusing to look elsewhere to keep himself from distractions. He let his broken hand fall limply by his side, swinging forwards and backwards as he walked, trying to project a false sense of whimsy.There was no reason for him to be interrupted by anyone, a day off from work for most people to sleep in. Doctor Johnstone probably went back to her own room, which she shared with Alice, the two as thick as thieves.Emmet found that the usual small pang of jealousy and resentment towards her was no
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It felt as if Emmet were holding a lead bar in the palm of his hand, instead of a simple rechargeable battery. It was just about big enough to fit, but he knew that the device, if rather large for the time, was still strong enough to power the room for years, despite its age and multiple uses; it was too effective to bother upgrading.Emmet held the weight close to his chest, in his non broken hand, as the man opened the door to the supply cupboard, casting light onto the cloth which hid the time machine under it, storing it and keeping it safe.The agent simply pulled the door open as if it were made of a single sheet of paper. It only took him a single hand and he moved as if it wasn't even an issue to him, as if it were any other door in the facility, and not made of multiple layers of heavy steel, designed to be deliberately difficult to open, even without power as a deterrent and needing multiple people to be present.
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The agent wasn't breathing.Emmet was sure of it now.He decided to sporadically hold his breath, picking a random number in his ever continuing count to reach, before breathing once more, before repeating the process, after picking another random number.There was no sound in the room other than his own breaths and heartbeat.There was no rustle of clothing from the other side of the room and the agent. There was no scuffing of shoes like before. And there was no breathing.It was almost as if he was completely alone here, left in the dark in a soundproof room, baited inside and then unbeknownst abandoned.A panicky fog began to descend on Emmet's mind, and his legs shook, struggling to keep him standing, as the darkness from all sides began to press down. He didn't know anymore whether his eyes were open or closed, and he suppressed the choke of fear that w
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It was as if an angel had appeared. The golden light he brought washed away Emmet's fears, and a sense of relief and peace descended down upon his mind. He let himself sag a little in more in relief, then steeled himself, facing the agent who was still stood within the shadows, away from the path of light, pouring into the cupboard from the open door.Only the faintest outline of reflected light gave away his location, and the fact that Jasper had no way of seeing him.He had plastered himself to the wall, and Emmet was concerned to see that his plaster cast was the widest part of his body, the amount of flesh clinging onto the bones of his arms and legs looking unsubstantial and unhealthy.Jasper hurriedly threw himself into the room, like he didn't even care what he was doing, dangerously swaying and almost cutting his arm into two, the limb just about passing it through the narrow gap between the door and wall, under
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Emmet was now firmly out of sight and out of mind of the agent. He was now cast out, completely disregarded, and recognised that, at least now, without any intruding eyes on him, analysing his every move and action, deliberating over the harm that they would potentially cause, he was free to take actions to influence the situation, and was finally given a modicum of power to hopefully save Jasper.He was the important one here. He was the one who held all the knowledge that the agent wanted. The agent would only get it if Jasper was willing to give it up.Emmet had to everything he could to prevent an altercation where it was preferable for Jasper to relinquish his position. He needed to keep himself out of danger, out of sight and out of mind, while making sure that the interrogation would proceed how he needed it to.There were only so many things he could do.Emmet knew that now most of his action
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Emmet knew that he couldn't stand still, here all alone now. He needed to do somethin else to support Jasper.The agent shifted his posture slightly, looming slightly taller over Jasper, and tilting his head slightly to look down at him, almost as if he had grown larger, and more powerful, from that mere shred of falsehood, paraded to him as legitimate information.He looked as if he was a satisfied, tyrannical, spiteful cat with claws sharper than knives, and fangs ready to tear through flesh. He wondered if this was just another act to extract more information, and wondered if the man underneath was even human. Or maybe that to become an investigative agent of the Republic, one had to have a predisposition to compulsive lying and sociopathy.Emmet could accept harm barreling towards his way, but he could not accept Jasper getting more injuries than he already had. A broken leg and a burnt back was more than enough for
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Emmet couldn't be sure that the agent was fully knocked out.He couldn't believe that he had been able to force this monster, with strength greater than Alice's, into unconsciousness. He could just be pretending to be asleep. This could be another ploy and strategy to hurt them, to hurt Jasper especially.He needed to verify that the agent wouldn't hurt them anymore. That he was truly incapacitated.He grabbed the battery that he had just placed aside, before he began his venture of knocking the agent unconscious, and slammed it into the port on the wall, next to the door, barely keeping himself from falling into the wall, and hitting his own head on the door.The pure white light of the bulb, above him, flooded the room, and he hissed slightly, squinting as he tried to block out the burning pain. He tried to blink away the dark blue and green floaters in his vision, but quickly gave up, after a few
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Jasper looked silently at Emmet for a moment, his face dawning in horror.Emmet's eyes widened at his expression, beginning to fill with tears as he realised that he had said the wrong thing. He might have even said the worst thing possible in this situation. He had messed up again."How was this the right thing to do!? You just knocked out a man! You hurt him because what! Because of me? How stupid are you?! Why are you doing this!? Why! Why! Why! I'm trying to never hurt anyone again! Why?!" Jasper screamed out at him, through a choked throat which strained with every single word, every single syllable but still capable of spewing out all of Emmet's mistakes back at him, every indictment another slap in the face at his failure.At his insensitivity.At his weakness.All Jasper continued to do was scream and cry. He let his crutches fall to the floor and clatter carelessly. He grabbed Emmet's shirt with his now free hands, the same shirt he had wo
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“Alright, the shop’s free. Why are you actually here?” Lila questioned, crossing her arms and staring down at the tablecloth of Jasper and Emmet’s table.“I’ve got lesson now. I’ll be back in a few hours,” the teenage boy behind Lila announced, picking up a bag that had been hidden behind the counter the entire time and rushing outside.Lila continued to stand there, waiting for a reply.Jasper couldn’t help but notice that she wasn’t meeting either his or Emmet’s eyes.“Are you planning to leave us?” he asked her back.Lila’s fingers dug into the creases of her shirt,” I’m going to be leaving for a trip soon, and I’ll be back as soon as I can. Kai’ll be running the shop and will be looking after things, broadly. He lives here now and I scheduled my leave for when his school term ends so he can take care of things.”“On thi
