"Now. Where the fuck do we begin, Boss?"
Thaddeus and Towa stood close to each other as they rambled on with each other about their ideas and plans for how to correct the mess that they were observing.
Towa: "Thaddeus, I've never seen this happen with [The Observer]. It should show exactly what will happen in real time." Towa paused, then spoke.
Towa: "It showed events an hour and thirteen minutes before the present, as I told you yesterday. Someone or something has worked on disrupting the space-time around our station and hacked us to make complete reassurance that we would not notice, but we did. We noticed, and then what? Clocked out of the job?"
Towa spoke in a calm, mocking tone, sounding like a father telling off their kid for an event that they could obviously predict.
Thaddeus stood and looked at Towa with thoughts of spite and annoyance that Towa could interpret through mere glances. Annoyed was a common word that could somewhat describe the slow boil of anger at his co-worker and boss, Towa Ufushimi.
Thaddeus: "I clocked out at eleven past midnight. You're. Right. Long days and stress lead to carelessness, such as when I took tests on [The Observer] and [The White Echo] yesterday. Pleassseeee. Kick me out of this hard-working job, because I cannot fit the qualifications to be here."
Thaddeus spoke more mockingly and annoyingly at his boss, in an attempt to disrupt his mood and make him snap into taking it out on him, which he is not allowed to do, due to Thaddeus being a proper member and pillar of the [CELESTICA FOUNDATION].
Towa: "YOU. You, Thaddeus, are doing this stupid and rude attitude again? You seemed pretty disturbed earlier when you woke me up. Nothing Sir Stanley did could've made that reaction happen, so tell me right now your thoughts, Mr Wei."
While speaking more calmly and formally, Towa did his usual mannerisms of big hand signals and head movements to match his words.
Thaddeus: "Well, Mr Ufushimi. I made a bet with another member, and I lost. That is what made me so annoyed and shocked." Thaddeus's tone rose at the end of his sentence, highlighting his discomfort towards the previous event.
Towa had spotted an opportunity to be a prick and took it.
Towa: "Thaddeus Wei, proud Antharian and human, one of the most creative individuals I know and 'blessed' with luck, lost a bet. What could be the bet?"
Towa teased and pushed his buttons once again, pushing his luck against a luckier individual than himself.
Thaddeus: "Well, Boss. I lost five hundred thousand Rouves — that would be all you need to know."
Thaddeus picked up his thick, dense, black jacket from the coat hanger on the wall a hundred centimetres from him and started speed-walking towards the exit while Towa followed him and laughed like a maniac, poking fun at him and pointing with his right arm and index finger.
Towa: "AAAHHHHAHAHHHAHHHAHAHAHAHHH!!! SHITTY LUCK BLESSES YOU WHENEVER YOU LEAST NEED IT, LIKE YOUR [GRAND CANYON INCIDENT], THADDEUS! AHAHAHHAAHAHA!"
Towa's facial expressions got more humane and colourful with every second. Thaddeus tried walking away from him in annoyance at the semi-tall man trailing behind him.
They both walked while Towa was slandering his name until they reached the main exit of the monitor room.
{EXIT ON THE LEFT: RE-SCAN YOUR TOTEM BEFORE LEAVING AS A SIGN OF ATTENDANCE IN THIS ROOM}
Towa: "And you still lost? All that confidence for wh—" Thaddeus put his arm tensely on Towa's shoulder and pointed to the metal sign close to the security check machine. "Stupid old man," Thaddeus whispered this out loud as he walked past his annoyed boss and put his finger inside a hologram square. Opaque lasers and lights were shown briefly, even for Thaddeus's reaction time, and the light above the door shone his name and the date together, and a click was heard behind the door.
Thaddeus: "I am going to head back first, then I'll try to make contact, as it looks like he will run into us later if something is tampering with destiny," Thaddeus said this as Towa stood with his arms crossed, standing in a comfortable position, while he went through the door and soared downwards, mumbling, "Anomaly. Resonant. Over. Final."
{Gosh, I sounded cringe. "Destiny?" I am not a medieval knight. I am a protector and helping hand of many unfortunate. Wait, I made a bet with him for ten Rouves.}
Thaddeus flew back, rough, through the open door into the room while his boss smirked.
"You promised me money if Stanley would be happy on the outskirts of the empire. Didn't seem too happy, did he?"
Thaddeus called this out while regaining his footing from shooting back inside.
Towa: "Yep. Your broke self needs money, so take this before you go back to Sara."
Towa bent down, his shadow coating Thaddeus's, and took out a ten-Rouve note and passive-aggressively put it in his front pocket in his coat. He aggressively patted his back.
"BE BLESSED!" Towa shouted with energy and glee, then helped Thaddeus up to his feet.
Thaddeus: "I appreciate every note and review, mate. This goes a long w—"
He couldn't even finish before Towa pushed him out of the room and flew extremely fast down long distances into the Everlasting Garden of West District Foundation grounds.
{pf ff.}
Towa: "Yeah. He landed safely."
Towa turned to scan his "Totem" and put his elbow on it, and got the same message as Thaddeus, with the exception of his name.
{Click.}
Towa almost instantaneously zoomed out of the door, closing it behind him after shouting at the machine, "Anomaly, Curse, Zen, Tyrant," and flew out like a flying squirrel, barreling at 220 km/s.
4:43 PM, CLIFFORD, SOLA Frechia
Stanley sits on a crate in the back room of a bakery, inside a city which he does not know, on a planet unknown to him, whilst being inside a solar system that he travelled to from a faraway, distant land.
The door opened fast, and Ahnel stepped out of the back door to have a conversation.
{Is—is he stressed? Why is he making such a face of annoyance at me? I don't think we have a problem, but did he find something out about me?}
Ahnel: "Now, Stanley, I am going to give you the communication device, and on the other side of this tool is my boss. He wants to have a word with you before you meet later."
Ahnel sat across from Stanley on a cardboard box surrounded by more boxes and crates of food. The bakery backroom was a tight area that only fit food crates, mainly containing fresh goods and cleaning supplies, tiled ceramic pastel floors, and two doors. One for exiting back and forth, and the kitchen next door. The loud buzzing of the lights made this environment slightly comfortable for Stanley, who liked white noise.
Stanley: "Before that, how much do you know about how I got here?"
Ahnel: "Nothing besides you walked through a door in an abandoned building in far, far awayyyyy."
Ahnel's tone was mocking, like a narrator, and childish.
{Seems like it got drilled into him the way he mocked my comment. It wasn't even mock-worthy.}
The device Stanley received was two earbuds that were deep black and commercial-looking. Then he rolled them around his hands before putting them in each ear. {Anyone at a local Graham's could buy these. Cheap-ass earbuds.}
"Hey. Can you hear me, Mr Kleitos?"
Stanley: "Uh, yeah?"
"Right. I know how you got here, and that concerns me a bit, but I am by no means going to hurt you. No worries from anyone here, by the way, because your secret is safe with trusted people."
Stanley's rapid heartbeat dropped back down to a normal rate after getting his main concern out of the way, but his 'second' concern still lingered immensely in the front of his mind.
"Now I will get this done quickly, because I'm coming towards Clifford. I'm not really a talk-over-phone guy, so you'll get a better talk after introductions."
{Introductions? I really am getting kidnapped formally. This shit is bad. Bad. Bad. The way he talks is so calm and smooth, but I know what he is. A trafficker. I am getting trafficked. I am getting trafficked. I am getting trafficked. Am I getting trafficked?}
Stanley's face tensed up with stress and doubt clouding his mind. He avoided eye contact with Ahnel as he stared with curiosity, waiting for something.
Stanley: "Can I speak?" He bluntly interrupted the mystery man.
Stanley: "Now I know what you want from me. I won't let you have shit, you motherfucker!" Stanley threw out the earbuds and dashed towards the doors to the exit rooms, but was forcefully stopped. Slammed onto the ground was Stanley's torso and head, roughly coming next.
Ahnel: "You really never fail expectations, buddy." Ahnel looked at the back of his head with annoyance and disgust. What happened was Stanley getting shoved towards the tiled floor with ease. Too easy. Stanley, grabbed by the armpits, was placed back on top of the crate he had dashed from, and Ahnel sat down, his calm face returning with glee.
{Shit. Shit. Shit!! I made a fool of myself. I don't know what to do — run again, or listen and get sent off as a slave. I got myself into this situation. I can't get out.}
A few seconds of silence passed for the two of them and the other guy. For Stanley, it was unbearable, and he needed to do something, not sit around. Ahnel was intimidating Stanley and was now enjoying it.
Ahnel: "Put 'em on. This man gave us good money to get you to a location and information today, and you're gonna receive that 'information' now." Ahnel then put his right calf on top of his thigh, resting it there as a 'comfort' position.
Stanley: "HM." "You will get me out of this safe and sound, right?"
Ahnel: "Your time with my group will be safe. Can't guarantee after that, because you're going to take care of yourself after this."
Stanley: "....." "Not promising, here."
He then put back on the earbuds and took deep breaths to calm himself after getting his adrenaline up.
"Are you ready now? Ready to hear me out?"
Stanley: "Yeah, I suppose."
"Now you obviously knew you encountered an anomaly of space-time and mass and still decided to use it for whatever dumb idea. So I gotta ask questions and talk with you, who accidentally discovered a new means of travel by testing it yourself."
The tone of the man's voice was full of energy and seemed confident with every word, oozing with a 'good vibes' tone and making himself seem less terrifying than the monster of a guy Stanley imagined.
"Look, Stanley. You're not comfortable with this, and you'll be even more so after I tell you that I'm using a voice changer."
Stanley: "Voice changer. Who the fuck are you, Mysterious trafficker?" {I cannot deal with this man properly. Is he a war criminal? A paedophile scared of someone finding his identity?}
He quickly mutes his microphone on the earbuds by double-tapping the big, singular button on the right ear to speak with Ahnel, sitting across with caution and calmness.
Stanley: "Sir, do you believe this guy is really what he says he is? I know we don't talk much, but I fucking don't trust him."
Ahnel: "No comment. I don't talk about the privacy of the people who need our services. End of conversation."
"I'm literally arriving on the surface of Clifford right now. Give me a sec. That bakery shouldn't be too far away…"
The mysterious man hummed his words with a tune and surprising jollity for a "trafficker."
"Look, tell Ahnel that he should really keep you in place for when I come to talk."
{No way I trust him. Too trustworthy a voice. No wonder he needs a voice changer.}
Stanley unmutes himself to speak once again with Mr Mystery for one more time before he comes to his location.
Stanley: "Yeah, why?"
{Who could he POSSIBLY be? The President of Andromeda? "Mr Important over here."}
"Because I don't think I would be a calm reaction for you. Ahnel knows who I am, obviously, but not you yet. No, I won't tell you over a call."
{D-did he just pre-fire my thoughts?}
Stanley: "Yeah, right. Sir?"
Ahnel's attention was drawn from his phone by Stanley, making him a tad bit annoyed.
Ahnel: "What?" His face became more symmetrical and angled while staring at Stanley, who also realised this.
Stanley: "He told me you have to hold me in place because of his face." "I'm just as confused."
Ahnel: "I'm not confused. It's just weird." The look of caution Ahnel had all over his body language and face spilled into Stanley's mind, which is now even more confused than before.
{What's weird? Has HE even seen his face? Can't be that ugly. Maybe there's something more. Obviously, Stupid. Ahnel looks annoyed, scrunched up like he swallowed spicy food to some degree he couldn't handle. He didn't have spicy food, I think. The mystery man told him something that made him react like that to me. His reactions seem like he's watching something carefully. It's probably me, but what for?}
5:01 PM, CLIFFORD, SOLA Frechia
{How long will it take? How far was he from coming here? Does he know where he needs to be? He's wasting my time here…. Ahnel might know. He has direct communication with him; I am sure he knows where "Mr Rapist" is.}
Stanley: "Sir. How long would I have to be here? Can't you give me up already since I feel like he isn't coming?"
Ahnel: "Shut up. He's coming. Haven't you waited for someone before? Spoiled man."
He muttered that last comment to himself so Stanley wouldn't hear. Ahnel has slowly changed his posture due to the waiting time being a tad bit short for him. Going from a "hands behind the head, leg on top of thigh" position to more of an "arms crossed, legs flared, back leaned to the crates" posture. He is slowly getting bored monitoring a young adult man inside a cold bakery room with workers coming in and out.
Stanley: "Well, please tell me if he is trustworthy enough for me to be fine around him."
Stanley's eyebrows squeezed together, getting bolder with concern, and his facial expression simplified to one emotion: concern for this situation.
Stanley: "Lemme get this straight for myself: your group so happened to find me, who you needed because someone random from 'who knows where' hired you to track me down, so he can take me somewhere? I also so happened to be wanting to get out of this place that I travelled to, and this perfectly happened in my favour? I don't really think it is, sadly, in my favour, though."
Ahnel: "Give me one question first, stupid man." Ahnel's face once again contorted into annoyance.
Stanley: "Ah, my fault. Is he trustworthy enough for me to be fine around him and feel safe?"
Ahnel: "Well, you are from Suran, which is located in Andromeda, so probably not. I'm sure he will be fine if I give little hints for you to guess."
Stanley's insides slowly melted in anxiety. The way Ahnel mentioned his GALAXY as a comparison means that this person can easily be a trillionaire or one of the few quadrillionaires in the Celestial Empire. A multi-solar-system-level terrorist leader? A rich CEO of a high-valued company? Government officials of high standing, like Coalition Presidents inside Andromeda? These guesses left Stanley with more questions than answers, and confused him even more in the process.
Ahnel: "You'll recognise him probably easily. His distinct face, body, and voice will give it away to you."
Ahnel stared at Stanley while saying this comment, leaving Stanley more curious as he was holding the smallest grin a man like him could put on his face. His eye bags were making it obvious that he hadn't had sleep for a long time.
5:07 PM, CLIFFORD, SOLA FRECHIA
Outside of the back room of the bakery, the normally loud chatter became softer. Abnormally quieter, with brief moments of pure silence mixed in with talking of certain individuals Stanley could not hear or recognise.
{Yep. Quiet room, awkwardness, I can literally feel it from here. It's so awkward also in this room. He's just looking around the door, checking everything outside using that tinted glass on the double doors. I—is he worried? Too much tension on his skin, face, posture, and shit like that. Take a paracetamol, dude. Maybe I should be more worried than I already am. Shit, I feel like vomiting, with saliva building up in my glands.}
Ahnel and Stanley both stare at the double doors near them, looking for any detail or sign of who is out there, and their character traits like hand movements and vocal use. Ahnel doesn't care too much about himself at the moment, just monitoring the outside room and the little details he was given.
Stanley, however, stopped having a comfortable posture unconsciously due to the subtle words that were fed to him. His arms were now crossed, legs closer together but not touching, unlike his feet, which were squished together. His neck is slightly out of symmetry because of long staring to his right, eyebrows even more cramped than before, eyes wide with caution, sweat mildly building up down his lower back, soaking his long-sleeve white shirt.
{I just might take off this jacket. Is it too much for me to even put on a jacket in this heat?}
Stanley now just took off his yellow puffer jacket, still dusty and worn down to fit him perfectly.
Footsteps became easily noticeable from the outside room and the front counter at the main door.
{He's coming, I think.}
The double doors opened slowly, and a man stepped in gently and calmly. He'd walked right in with composure and confidence.
Stanley: "Uh-uh-OH SHIT!" Stanley became alarmed, as expected from the hints, but not to this degree. He stood up and moved to the left of the room, away from the "Guest."
"Hey, Stanley, Ahnel. I knew you'd be surprised. You want an explanation now or later inside my Dynexis Ship?"
Stanley: "....." "Y-you caused my planet's economic crisis with your words. I had to live in poverty for 6 years until we got a lucky chance to move upwards to join the middle class. What am I even saying… THERE IS NO MIDDLE CLASS because you made a fool of Surane people."
"Yeah, it's my fault. And still your planet's 'leader's' fault for corruption against the Silth race. I won that case for their right to live. Suran people should be moving on from the slave case. Your global sale of Paradoxine changes whole solar systems. Focus more on that — I mean it as a tip for a future job, if you don't accept my offer that I'll give later."
The man who was arguing with Stanley with concise, clear advice was a lawyer, leader, and representative of the title of "THE FACT", as his nickname for winning 96% of his cases. More than most ever could think about, given the scale of how many cases he took on.
Stanley: "Fucking hell, Tallurre. You and your family—Ughhhhh…."
Stanley did not like Tallurre Ufushimi. He made a mockery of an entire government at the cost of his life as punishment. He also convinced many fellow Surane-blooded individuals that he was right. They were wrong. Stanley tried to comprehend that the friendliness he gave to Silth was not friendliness, but racism, which he couldn't. Upbringing in a Type 2 Civilisation (being able to fully use the power of a star with their own technology) gave poor Stanley the wrong signals about wealth, joy, and value.
Tallurre Ufushimi stood near Stanley, head-on, with his body facing towards him. He is a semi-tall man, with an eerie and elegant vibe. His long coat is worn open over a simple light navy shirt; his trousers are relaxed but still perfectly cut; and his sleeves are slightly rolled, but neatly.
His outfit colour tone is mixed mostly with muted colours — Beige, Grey, Black — but mixed in with the navy long-sleeved shirt. A great standout detail about him is his puffy hair, being Turquoise, with a few hairs at the front mixed in with Cinnabar Orange perfectly, so that it matches. His eyebrows also happen to be Turquoise. Another detail would be his gloves and ring. Aeroweave black gloves were worn on both hands, custom-made for a high price on a far-away planet. Finally, his shoes were rather simple — Noctra-branded sneakers were pretty common amongst the trends in this galaxy. A simple squiggle and pattern for the shoes made sure people knew this brand, and it stayed true to one pattern and squiggle.
Tallurre: "Stanley. I have somewhere to be. You also have a family. What the hell are we still doing here? We weren't meant to be here long. Worlds developed in the time that you were on the outskirts of the eight galaxies. I need to take you to CELESTICA quarters."
Mr Ufushimi spoke calmly, fast but slow on the important words. "The Fact" was known for being one of the calmest, unmoving authorities in the law world.
Then he turned to Ahnel.
Tallurre: "By the way, Ahnel, I brought it."
A sealed, plastic-wrapped object in the shape of a band of money was taken out of Tallurre's coat pocket and lightly tossed to Ahnel.
Ahnel: "Pleasure doing business, Sir."
Ahnel genuinely looked happy when the object entered his hands. He looked back and forth at Tallurre and the object.
Ahnel: "You two have a place to be, obviously. Go on. My team members send their gratitude."
Ahnel stood up from the crates and shook Tallurre's gloved left hand with both hands very excitedly.
{So, even scary people who look unhappy get happy with 'money' payment, I'm guessing. I wonder how much he was paid to look for me.}
Tallurre: "Thanks. Stanley, I know what you feel about me, but life moves forward. It never stays back there. Come on already."
Stanley: "So why am I going again? I have rights. My choice to go."
Stanley fixed up his posture and stood around two meters from Tallurre with his hands in his pockets, maintaining deep eye contact.
Tallurre: "You don't have a right when it comes to anomalies. This was taught to everyone born from Generation XXF to XXP. They are risky to your body, mental state, and emotional state, because we don't know much about this burst of anomalies coming out these past couple of years. You come follow me, or else I will make you unconscious for the ride back."
{Ah, shit. I could be in a whole bunch of mess. My reputation and record will take a hit either way because of my contact with the "door anomaly." I still like what I did. I enjoyed it. My family still is looking for me, I guess. Maybe going with him will help. Then again, most anomaly survivors end up with a negative trait from it, or trauma due to CELESTICA interviews.}
Stanley: "Sure, I guess."
Tallurre: "Follow me now. My vehicle's parked near O'Donnell Street."
He ushered him forward by using his right hand while walking out the door of the bakery backroom.
Ahnel: "Why are you acting so nonchalant? You were shitting your pants with me, but not with the guy who did those things to your childhood?"
Stanley: "That never happened. Shush."
Stanley's fun personality slipped for a second and made an appearance on his body whilst walking a few steps behind Tallurre.
{I sure don't miss this place. He was right about me 'shitting myself.' This place is not it for me. Though it may be worse in CELESTICA quarters due to them not being comfortable for a normal person.}
Stanley: "I'm coming, Sir."