Stay Safe: Sequel To Stay Silent

Chapter 12 - Thomas

*Authors Note* Thomas is not a cameo by a friend that I added. He is 100% fictional, because I ran out of YouTubers to add.

Matt snuck through the hallways, dodging the occasional guard.

Turning a corner, he bumped into a younger man. He looked almost nerdy, with those rectangular glasses. He had clean blond hair resting on his head, looking very put together. He carried a clipboard, which he looked up from when he bumped into Matt.

"Oh, hey. Are you Ben?" He asked.

Matt nodded. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Thomas, your instructor." Thomas reached out to shake his hand. Matt shook it cautiously.

"Here, I'll show you the way to the computer room." He motioned for Matt to follow him, which he did.

"You know, we weren't actually planning to take in anyone new, but ever since the police found us, we've had to take on a few new guys." He said, checking the clipboard. "It says here that you have previous experience with computers?"

Matt nodded. "Great! Have you ever livestreamed before?"

"You could say that." Said Matt, not wanting to give him any clues.

"Perfect. Experience is good, we don't have the time to train anyone. You'll be working with me. My job is to fix up the livestream when it goes down. You'll be by my side, helping me out in various areas, like site maintenance, starting up the livestream, and, if you would be so kind, helping me out when it goes down?" Thomas scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "See, this is why we need new guys on board, we're left with only the ones that have no clue how to do their jobs." He chuckled awkwardly, unlocking a padlock on the door, before holding it open for Matt.

Inside the room were two computers. One basic one, with a basic livestream setup, and a second one, a large monitor with many videos, showing the security cameras.

"Security cameras? How do you guys pay for this?" Asked Matt.

"Our financiers. You know, Sara and Richard McEdran. Super rich, those two. Their son apparently wanted this, so Sara tracked down a man on the deep web with a small livestream. They contacted him, willing to finance the service, and after a while, they brought more people in." He explained.

"Alright, while I was looking for you, I missed watching the cameras. So here's your first lesson, I'll show you how to rewind the tapes." He pulled out the chair for Matt and motioned for him to sit down. Matt, cautious yet growing slightly more comfortable, realized that Thomas might not be a huge threat, and sat down.

"Okay, so see the numbers in the corner of each video feed? Those are the camera numbers. They match up with the numbers on the keyboard. But since we're looking at them all, press the blue button. It selects all of them simultaneously." Matt pressed the blue button. "Alright, great. Now just press rewind, then play. Easy!"

Matt, not realizing what the camera feed would show Thomas, foolishly rewinded the videos. While they waited, Matt decided to talk to Thomas a bit.

"So, why are you doing this?" Asked Matt.

"My big brother. He worked here, ended up bringing me with him. he got arrested with everyone else, though. How'd you end up here?" He asked Matt.

"Oh... I needed some extra money." He said.

"I totally get it. It's cool. This shouldn't be a permanent position for either of us. But hey, I get to see my brother once a month, so... It's... Not..." Thomas trailed off, his eyes glued to the security cameras videos.

"What wrong?" Asked Matt. Thomas pointed to the screen, and as soon as Matt turned around, he realized his mistake.

There, on the screen, playing backwards was Liv running away in fear, him shooting the kidnapper, the kidnapper holding the gun to him, and him falling out of the roof. Thomas looked at him utter shock.

"You... You're not Ben."