Spiral of Ants

... Well, better than the alternative

Takes place before Aurora Borealis

Ezra had been high-strung these past few months. Well... more high-strung than usual. Doctor Benjamin Weller worked closer with Ezra than most, and had quickly learned Ezra wasn't your run-of-the-mill soulless scientist that helped run these places. No, Ezra enjoyed it. He loved his job. Massive red flag, to Ben.

Unfortunately with how closely he worked with Ezra, and how... isolating the job was, he was the closest thing Ben had to a friend. After all, he was one of the only people Ben ever interacted with these days... and sometimes, Ezra could even pretend to be a decent friend. He would show interest, once every blue moon. Or he would surprise Ben by buying him lunch. He even remembered his birthday and got him something this year.

It was manipulation, Ben knew. He had seen Ezra do it many times before, to the subjects. He had watched the scientist convince poor creatures he cared and wanted to help them. Only to use them and ignore them after. Ezra was extremely skilled at using people's emotions against them. But it's not like Ben had much else, and someone pretending to care was better than nothing, right?

Ever since Apollo escaped though, Ezra had been too irritated even to pretend to be kind. He hadn't really spoken to Ben except to give orders or to get upset at him for one thing or another.

One day while Ezra was looking over his notes about the gods' religion, the runes, etc., Ben hesitantly spoke up.

"Why can't you just summon him again...?"

The scientist looked at Ben, annoyance written on his face "I had counted on that stupid cult not being nearly as organized or determined as it is. The one I interrogated works at Target for crying out loud. I underestimated them. And now they've actually been able to make a real connection with Apollo. Meaning Apollo seems to actually be capable of logical thought now. And the cult has gotten quite close to him. I can not underestimate them again. Especially considering we have no clue how dangerous Apollo is now that he is aware of us. Several of our hunters had been spotted by him and had to retreat. That never happened before. Things are different now"

"W-where are we getting our intel on them from right now..?"

"Hunters, for now. But Apollo's growing awareness has been causing problems. They've even stopped meeting in the public diner, and have begun meeting in private." Ezra said, irritably tapping a pen on his notes.

Then he suddenly stopped. Ben knew that look. The way Ezra's eyes lit up, and a sly grin slid across his face "We need someone on the inside. Of course hunters aren't working. Freaks know freaks. Apollo knows too much about them. Not you. He never encountered you. You're not a freak"

Ben frowned "What are you saying...?"

"You've wanted to do some work out of the lab for a little while now, right? How would you feel about a little... fieldwork? You join their little cult, learn about them, any new developments with Apollo, and from there we can make a new and improved plan of attack" Ezra said, standing up and pacing. He seemed very excited about this plan.

"I-I've never done anything like that before. I don't think I'm qualified"

"Nonsense! Look at you, Ben. You look absolutely harmless, no one would be none the wiser. You go in with some made-up story about seeing Apollo a few years ago and just finding the religion, and I'm certain they'd welcome you with open arms. You weren't involved with the interrogation of the member we took, and you never came into the room Apollo was being held in. It's not like they can recognize you."

Ben looked to the side "I-I mean this is really more the hunter's forte, I mean I have... wanted to do some field work but this sounds risky"

Ezra put his hands on Ben's shoulders, turning him to look at him "This is the perfect job for you Ben. With your friendly face and demeanor, I'd say this is a near-zero-risk job. Safer than the things we do here daily. I mean I might as well be offering you a vacation"

"I.. fine, yeah. I guess it could be a good chance to start doing more jobs outside of the lab"

Ezra let go of Ben, with a proud grin "I knew you'd come around. Alright, I'll start the paperwork and get you the files you'll need."

Despite everything, Ben couldn't help but relax as he saw the doctors grin. He might be using him, sure... but the validation almost made him feel like it was worth it.