Elira

Debate

    Elira heard muffled voices nearby. He groaned, opening his eyes. He'd fallen asleep. He raised his head and looked around.

    The room was the same as before, only now it was painfully obvious there was room on the other side of the wall he was facing. Whoever was with Amber (Jamie?), was arguing, loudly.

    Elira decided to tune that out, he needed to get a hold of himself and the situation. Whoever this group was, they weren't with S.P.E.C.T.O.R., that much was obvious. They were severely disorganized, it was clear that when he'd met Amber in the store it wasn't preplanned. In contrast, the coffee shop definitely was. This group likely knew of S.P.E.C.T.O.R., given how quickly they'd tracked him down and did a background check, and it made the most sense for them to be against them although he'd need more evidence on that front.

    It seemed that whoever made up this 'organization' didn't like him very much, which would be a problem if he planned on getting out of there. The only reason he hadn't attempted to escape before was because he didn't have any energy, he wasn't capable of covering himself in his usual illusions, much less perform a high stake mission with so many unknown variables. Even now, he wanted to believe that he was in a low-quality holding cell and that the group was actually disorganized, but it could all be fake, a set-up. He wouldn't be able to escape anytime soon, energy or no. He needed answers, he needed to talk to someone, he needed to know why they'd saved him from the Robot and why they were so interested in him to begin with.

    The voices began to swell and Elira realized the door was slightly ajar. If he heard what they were debating about he'd have a better understanding of them, maybe even leverage if they didn't know something he did. He focused on the sounds each of them made, the shake of their voices, how rough or high pitched it was, picking them apart until he was finally able to hear them individually.

    "You don't know that!"

    "The hell I don't!" Shouted a strained voice. Amber. "Did you see him? He was terrified, Atlas. There's no way I'm doing that, if you thought otherwise you're more stupid than I thought." They were talking about him. Right outside is room. This had to be a trap, there was no way they were this incompetent. Elira sighed, pushing that out of his mind for now, what were they trying to get Amber to do?

    "It's the only way! We don't know anything about him, do you know how hard it was to find out he worked at that coffee shop? He's an expert at this, it's obvious this is far beyond our ability to handle. He's only here because he doesn't know anything about us, if he did he'd be gone like that," said a different voice snapping her fingers.

    Someone else laughed, it was hard and rough. "Please, it wasn't that hard, Astrophel. If it'd been impossible to find They'd only have found him sooner, it would have been a dead give away."

    The implication and emphasis on the word "They'd," sent a shiver down Eliras spine. They knew.

    The room fell silent for a moment before the voice continued. "It's obvious he's on the run from them, we all saw how he reacted to that bot."

    "How quickly he evacuated the civilians, how prepared he was when he was charging up," chimed in a different, higher pitched, voice.

    "How quickly he assessed the situation and came up with that strategy," said another.

    "His reaction to..." Ambers voice trailed off and there was a lapse in the conversation, though with a completely different energy than before. Eliras face heated up with embarrassment. He couldn't believe they'd seen how stupid he'd been, how he'd let himself pass out in that bubble without a scratch on him. No wonder he was being held there, they must've thought-