Attention {Paperhat}

~ Chapter Three ~

Flug rushed down the hall, his inventions tightly held against his chest as he ran. He was racing against the clock at this point, trying to make it to Black Hat's office before the clock struck nine in exactly thirty seconds.

"Go Fluggy, go!" Demencia mockingly cheered as the young man flew past her.

Flug tiredly rolled his eyes and sharply turned to the right, and continued down the ever-dark hallway that led to the stairs, which led up to Black Hat's office, which was darker than the hall. It was as if the man fed off of darkness and saw light as the most deplorable thing in the universe. He stumbled up the red carpeted stairs and skidded to a halt in front of the large doors to his boss' office. With a gulp, he balled his hand into his fist and timidly knocked.

"Come in, Flug," Black Hat growled from inside and taking a, what he hoped wouldn't be his last, breath, Flug turned the knob and pushed the door open.

"S-Sir?"

"You're late."

"O-Only by a second-"

"Shut up."

Flug directed his attention towards the floor and seemed very interested in the dark carpet. He flinched when he heard the sound of Black Hat rising from his large chair and resisted the urge to back away. The paper bag crinkled as his breathing became shallow and rapid.

"...What time did I say to be here, Flug?" Black Hat asked, walking around his desk.

"N-Nine, sir," Flug whispered.

"And what time did you show up?"

Flug gulped and hugged the jar of robotic spiders to his chest. "Nine o'one..."

"Precisely, Dr Flug! Nine. O. One."

Flug felt a whimper building up in his throat and he struggled to keep it down; he felt like he was going to vomit. Scratch that. He wanted to vomit. Maybe if he did, Black Hat would let him go to take care of himself and-

"Flug. Is there something more interesting on your mind?" Black Hat asked, looming over the smaller man.

"Wha- Oh! N-No, sir!" Flug stuttered.

"Really now?" Black Hat circled around the small scientist, taking in his shaking form and his hunched posture. "Hmph. Show me the invention."

"Sir...?"

"The invention, Flug. I'm not going to wait all night."

"Yes, sir!" Flug sat the jars full of robotic spiders down on the floor and unscrewed the one that was holding the fully completed ones. He plucked one out from the batch and stood up straight. Well, as straight as he could with sleep fighting to take over his system. He held the invention out to Black Hat, knowing the man would rather look at it for himself than have Flug go on and on about it.

"What do these come equipped with?" Black Hat asked, picking the bot up and examining it.

"Spy cameras that can activate night vision if needed, motion activated lasers, defense spikes, and acid laced artificial webbing."

"I see you added some detail."

"Yes. I wanted them to be more realistic, just in case the target caught on or spotted them."

Black Hat nodded his head. "Do all of them have acid webbing?"

"Not...exactly. Th-The other jar is full of the bots that d-don't have the webbing in their system."

"Why?"

"I-I ran out of the chemicals needed to make it and I w-won't have any until I get p-paid..."

The eldritch being tsked and dropped the bot back into Flug open hand. He watched the man place it back into it's jar and then make his way back over to his desk. "Leave the finished ones here and take the others back to the lab."

"Y-Yes, sir!" Flug was relieved that he hadn't been yelled at for not completing a second batch, but somehow knew that this was going to be short-lived; Black Hat still needed blueprints for next months inventions.

As Flug was about to run out the door, his boss called out to him.

"Oh, and Doctor Flug..."

"Y-Yes?"

"Get some rest. I don't need my employees dead on their feet."

Black Hat's voice was soft and it scared Flug, who didn't reply. He simply rushed out of the room and ran down the stairs, tripping a couple times and having to hold onto the railing to stop himself from going flying. Why had Black Hat used that tone with him? He'd never heard that from his boss in his years of working here. What the hell was going on?

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I'M A FUCKING FAILURE. I MEANT TO GET THIS UP MONTHS AGO AND I DON'T KNOW HOW OR WHY I NEVER DID. I'M WORKING OVER-TIME ON EVERYTHING ON HERE AND I REGRET MAKING SO MANY STORIES. SORRY IF THERE'S ANY MISTAKES, BUT I DIDN'T REALLY PROOFREAD THIS.