The Time Hopper

Evacuation And Trust

"Dr Omega is Consequences right hand man! There's no way he hasn't already told him where we are, he's just lying to you!" I cried out, feeling panic beginning to rise. It felt like he had wrapped an iron band around my chest and was pulling it so tight I could barely breath. He held up his hands, smiling gently. 

"I was just passing on the information. He seemed happy to wait there, and he does seem to be alone. What you chose to do is up to you, of course." He reassured me, not that it worked. All my anger and hurt forgotten, it was replaced by panic, and I knew that I needed to go and find the others. 

"I- sorry, I need to go. Thank you for telling me!" I called over my shoulder as I left, running through the monastery. I needed to find the others- and I needed to do it fast. Luckily, it seemed like both Alice and Riley were out looking for me. I rounded a corner and almost bowled her over. 

"Listen, what Took said was entirely out of line, and I promise that none of us believe a word he said-" She said immediately, wasting no time before clapping both her hands on my shoulders and speaking so firmly I half felt like I was being scolded rather than comforted. But I didn't have time for it anyway, so I cut her off. 

"Dr Omega is in the valley. He came alone, he knows we're here, he says that he's working independently from Consequences, and he wants to speak with me." I blurted out. For one of the few times in my life, I saw Alice stunned. She blinked at me, mouth open but no sounds coming out. And then she snapped out of it, mouth closing and a determined, calculating look coming over her face. 

"Alright, we need to gather everyone up and leave at once. There is no way in hell you're going to see him, we're all just going to leave." She said firmly. And then Riley rounded the corner, coming over to me and wrapping me in a warm hug. It was very pleasant, but also not really the time for it. 

"Oh, we've moved on from Took being a dick. Dr Omega is here and he wants to see me and he claims he's working alone." I said in a rush, bringing him up to date as quickly as I could, hoping to be able to counter Alice before he processed it. Unfortunately, Riley took it all in stride immediately, snorting and shaking his head. 

"Well that's the most obvious trap I've ever seen. No way in hell you're going- we just need to pack the others up and get away as quickly as possible." He decided logically. Alice looked at him with a newfound respect in her eyes. 

"I never realised how sensible you were." Alice said admiringly. Riley grinned at her and jerked his head at me. 

"Well, one of us had to have an ounce of common sense, or we'd both have been dead for years now." He answered. 

"Hey! I'm not that dumb- I just get a little impulsive sometimes. Anyway, that's not important right now. I think that all of you should pack up and move out, and that we should decide where we'll meet again, because I am going to go and talk to him." I concluded. Both of them looked at me like I'd just grown a second head. 

"Under no circumstances!" Alice cried out. 

"I literally just said it was the most obvious trap I've ever seen, and you want to stroll right into it?" Riley asked in disbelief. I couldn't help but feel a little insulted. I thought after all of this, I would have earned the right to get the benefit of the doubt by now. I scowled at them before continuing. 

"Alright, alright, hear me out, will ya? At the end of the day, so long as I keep an eye on my surroundings, I can just dip out the moment things get weird or I get bad vibes. There are two reasons he's here; to capture us, or because he genuinely wants to talk. If it's the first one, he won't be able to grab me anyway and I can buy you all some time to escape, and if it's the second, we should be able to get some new info, or maybe even a new ally, out of this! What is there to lose?" I asked them, a smile on my face because I felt quite proud of my reasoning. But they didn't seem to share the sentiment, judging by the looks on their faces, and I felt my own smile drop.