Quentin's body slumped to the floor, seemingly dead.
"Oh dear," Otto said in a deadpan voice "Is he dead?"
I walked over and leaned closer, poking him in the face to see if I could get a reaction. Unfortunately, his eyes fluttered. He was alive.
"No, no he's not dead."
"Shit, I really thought that last blast would end it."
I put aside the fact that Otto seemed to want to kill Quentin, and not just use him as a target. I pushed the thought aside. Quentin could rot in hell and I couldn't care less.
I absent-mindedly kicked Quentin in the side until he sputtered back to life.
Hallelujah. I revived him.
"Alright, I that'll be enough for right now, I have everything I need. Tiny?" Otto said, gesturing to the stairwell and elevator to above. I shrugged.
"Alright then."
Quentin, still on the floor, cried out,
"You're just going to leave me here?"
To which Otto and Tony both responded with,
"Absolutely."
The elevator ride up was quiet. Otto wanted to say something, I was sure of it. But he just kept opening and closing his mouth like a codfish. "Something on your mind," I said "you seem out of it."
Otto cleared his throat, slightly caught off guard, he was usually better at hiding these sorts of things.
"Yeah, I was just thinking. Look I now we just got rid of the kid but-" I cut Otto off before he could finish his sentence.
"Do not tell me you want him back. Do you miss him or something?"
"Oh god no. It's just, though annoying, he was smart, and slightly helpful."
"And louder than all of hell." I grumbled.
"Yes," Otto said "but if we take him back now, I bet he won't be so obnoxious."
I furrowed my eyebrows. There is no solution on God's green earth that could keep that kid from being annoying.
"Elaborate Otto."
"Well, the thing is, the kid's already going around the foster system, and hating every moment," Otto said after clearing his throat. "So if we take him back, have him do stuff, maybe it'll click in his empty head that 'oh, if I do something wrong, they'll send me away again'. Therefore, Peter won't be all... Peter-y."
"Huh," I said, scratching my head "solid plan. It's worth a try."
"Yeah, we could give him a trial period or something so he doesn't get too comfortable too soon."
I nodded along. This could seriously work. Otto held up the prototype so it was now eye level. "And, you know," he said with a sigh "if it fails, we just get a new test dummy."
