Billy was sat in his office pondering about the respawner when one of his subordinates entered the room holding a letter in his hand. He was holding it as if it was a bomb and there was a fearful look on his face.
"Fuck off, Darren. Ain't in the mood to hear you out," Billy waved him off. "I think this is something you definitely want to see, boss."
Billy looked at the letter and noticed the swastika on it. It was addressed to him by one of the Nazi generals. They had always wanted to make a deal with him, which he had always rejected and was about to tear it up but something held him back. It had been a while since they had sent him an offer. Something was up. Something related to the respawners.
He read it and smiled. He reread it again just to make sure. "Cancel all my appointments," he instructed after reading it.
"But you've got that big deal with the Chinese. And the firm from Prague is coming to present their new augm…"
"You heard me, Darren. Something's come up. Rally all my Enforcers to come to my office. I've got a new meeting now at the border with the Nazi general. Go on, stop staring at my face, I won't ask you twice."
April 28, 2032
"You got another one?" asked Hilario as he entered the cabin. Michael was sitting in one of the beds of the cabin that he shared with some of the workers. He was holding a letter in his hand which was short and brief. The scent of Rose's perfume wafted through the whole room.
Michael had met up with her on a few occasions and each one of them had turned out very similar to the scenes in the book she had given him. What Michael liked most about it was that they didn't even feel forced. She would always start with a line from the book and Michael just followed suit. It was perfectly natural to him and the lines that reflected Petr's love for Violet reflected his love for her.
He still had doubts that nagged him but he shoved them deep down. The moments he shared with Rose were the most happy he had felt since he had regained consciousness. They had even grown physically closer. They had hugged, kissed and even cuddled. The letter he had received detailed the address of the last of their escapades.
Michael knew it was meant to reflect the last scene of the book where Petr and Violet made their final escape from Manus. Michael looked forward to this one in particular. It would mean they could finally get serious with each other. Tonight's was the night, he kept repeating in his mind. Tonight's the night.
The cabin door slammed open and Hicks and Earp entered. Earp was laughing about something while Hicks maintained his always solemn expression. Earp immediately pounced on Hilario and jammed his head in a headlock. He laughed as the little kid tried to escape his bulging, muscular arms then stopped suddenly sniffing the air. Before Michael could hide it, he snatched the letter from his grasp.
"Well, that's pretty romantic," teased Earp nudging him in the side. "So, hmm, she wants to meet up with you, huh?"
Hicks snatched the letter from him and read the letter in silence. Michael saw his nostrils flare up in disgust. He crumpled the letter in his hand and then stormed out of the room. There was an awkward silence before Michael picked up the letter and smoothed it out.
"I'd be careful if I were you Michael," said Earp suddenly turning serious. Michael had never seen him so serious. "Ain't nothing good gonna come out of this."
Michael ignored the warning and felt an anger flare in his heart. Nothing would stop him and Rose.
"And you, kid," said Earp to Hilario yawning and suddenly turning cheerful. "Go on, get to bed, we've gotta wake up early tomorrow."
They turned in for the night as Michael lay in bed awake looking up at the cracking ceiling. The sound of the air conditioner groaning filled the room as if it was doing some really heavy work. Well, it's doing a crappy job because the room is still so hot.
Michael waited for the clock to strike twelve. The snores of everyone in the room along with the soothing groaning of the air conditioner made him want to fall asleep too. But he knew he would not be able to. He was too excited to fall asleep.