District 42-Chapter 146: Friends?

Casper was trying to sort out what were the first movements he should do to initiate his plan. Since he got out from the General Court, he was scouted to that hotel in the middle of the city (for some reason it was the same giant hotel he destroyed one part with that beam he used to dig that hole in the ceiling of the floor).

"Maybe that princess just wanted me to learn my lesson. Or she was planning to hide us in a place where we wouldn’t draw too much attention. After all, news spread really fast here inside the Castle. They have a good communication network, and one can know everything that’s happening on another floor in a matter of seconds. That is, the news about our escape is still on the citizens’ ears, and everyone thinks that there are people from Halden inside the city. If they saw Alfar and Olaf with their black masks, we would be in danger, and a ruckus would start."

His two partners were sharing that room with him. That hotel had rooms for up to 4 people. It was huge, and a reference point in the city.

"What’s the name of this hotel? I never had seen something like this in my entire life..." Alfar commented, getting out of the kitchen with some food for him. He didn’t seem to be the type to eat much, so he just kept snacking all the time. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"What? Are you sure you are a chemical from Halden? I mean, every city here has, at least, one of these." Olaf was laying on his bed, resting his left leg and arm, since they were very swollen and tired because of the amount of effort he made that day.

"I don’t know if you remember, but not all the scientists have a White mask, and even less when they are from Halden. Because of it, they have two choices: Sleep in the laboratory and stay there all day without even seeing sunlight, or get out of the Castle every time they want to go home. We couldn’t keep strolling around here."

Olaf grimaced, hearing the killer routine of the scientists from the Third Lab.

"I didn’t know that it was so bad... ugh... I probably would die..."

"Some of them died, it’s inevitable." The Dark elf shrugged as if it was nothing too much concerning, but now even Casper was giving a strange look to him.

"Well, when I worked at the Main Lab, we had a lot of White masked people, just the newbies had brown ones, but even them got theirs in no time."

"That’s something I am curious about, Casper. Why do you were working at the Main Lab? Don’t come to me saying that you are a scientist as well, because you are not, I am sure. With those skills you showed in Halden, I would need to strive to believe that it is true."

The soldier thought for a while on those words. He didn’t know exactly what type of risks he would be taking when saying a bit about his true skills and identity to those two. Pondering very quickly, he did not find anything, but he wasn’t sure.

"Ah, don’t be the mysterious one now. I am pretty sure that you are, at least, a General from a certain army, Casper." Alfar commented, stopping to wander around and sitting on his bed, still eating whatever snack he got in the kitchen.

The White warrior still couldn’t let anybody else other than the princess and some people know that he was from another world. In truth, he never admitted to her this fact about him, but she was a clever person and had a lot of proofs showing that he wasn’t from there. Anyway, the soldier was trying to hide at all costs that secret.

"Yeah, I was a General." He decided that, as long as he pretended to be from that world, it was okay. Until now he lied that he was from far away from District 42, and it was working, so he would maintain that facade until he could sort out the risks of letting anyone know what he was and what brought him to that world.

"I will need to admit it at some point, but I can’t let the number of people knowing this about me increase even more. Let’s be calm and rational here..."

"Well, yeah, I had supposed to as well..." Spoke Olaf. "But I think that there is something more on it. I mean, you beat an Aesir, and that’s no small thing.

"He wasn’t in his full power there. He gave me a clear advantage during the combat." Casper tried to be as humble as possible and lessen the attention that befell him.

"Well, it can even be, but facts are facts, and he was just careless for underestimate you." Olaf could be right, but it didn’t mean much to Casper. In the end, he couldn’t fight with Freygar and defeat him just in time to save his comrades, and that was a frustration itself.

They kept talking casually like that for a good while. They didn’t have too much in common, but they could get along really well. Maybe it was because of the difficulties they needed to pass through together, and the cooperation that it all needed.

Now, they couldn’t take away their synergy anymore. Most likely they would become friends and stay like that for a long time.

Vick said to them to take the rest of that day, and the whole next day to relax and heal. Some nurses came to treat them at some point and they would come back again.

The group had their meals, could take a shower, and even change clothes.

After all the harsh times inside Halden, that was a luxury.

Conversing like that, they passed for the rest of the day quickly. They had get used to sleeping at the time as in Halden’s schedule, and they had one hour remaining after that long interaction.

They got silent for some time, enjoying that peaceful moment, the three thinking how unbelievable it was for them to have finally escaped from Halden. It was like a dream, Olaf and Alfar indeed had dreamed with that day for a long time. They didn’t want to go to sleep at all, because they feared waking up with the alarms of the prison again, indicating that it was time for breakfast.

They feared from the bottom of their hearts that, in the middle of that one hour they had left, they would discover that they just had taken a quick nap before the outdoor activities from the afternoon and that in just some time the Dark Zone would arrive again.

In the end, they could run away from that prison, but the scars left carved in their skin by that place would never be gone, probably.

"What will you do now? I mean, after all of this came to an end? I think that Casper probably has something in mind since he isn’t inside Halden for too long, but what about us two?" That question Olaf asked seemed to be for both himself and Alfar, but more for himself.

When the soldier looked in his eyes, he saw how lost that man was. Their freedom had finally arrived, but they completely forgot what to do with it. If all that present situation was already unreal, a perspective of the future was even more intangible for them.

"I have something in mind..." To the surprise of everyone there, Alfar was the first one to respond.

Casper expected, at least, to see insecurity inside his eyes, but he found just determination. That man had made his mind up and was decided to do something.

Both Alfar’s friends got very curious about his motivations and waited until he stated it.

"I will find a way to reverse my condition. To get rid of this monster inside me, and then really free everyone inside Halden. Each prisoner there will have these scars vanished completely. I will find a way to overcome all Halden’s experiment effects. Of course, just after we finish our work here."

Olaf and Casper glanced at each other.

"That’s... a good objective..." Olaf got pensive as well. "I think... That I will return among the Frelsi again. I will help them." He looked at Casper. "I am sorry."

"Don’t worry. I don’t have sides here. Fight with the ones you believe that are right." Olaf nodded to him.

"I will not saying anything else, Casper, but the Frelsi aren’t as bad as they say. I would give my life for their ideals."

The soldier noted that quote down, ending the subject there. Probably it wouldn’t be good to bring politics there, and the effects of Casper’s hacking in the mask passed a long time ago, so they weren’t as free to express themselves as they were before in the escape.

They fell silent again. Even if Casper thought before that they were becoming kind of friends, now he had realized: soon, they would part ways.