The Boy from the Bunker - Season 8

Episode Two, Part 5:

Episode Two, Part 5:
Neptunum

I was born in a thunderstorm. I grew up overnight. 
I played alone; I played on my own. But I survived. 

"Hey, there you are," a sharp voice called out from behind Ammon and Xander. They turned around to see Leander pulling off his mask, stepping out onto the cold, evening air. "I've been looking everywhere for you," he complained.

"What's this about?" Xander asked.

"Not you," Leander rolled his eyes, swiftly moving his attention to Ammon. "Athena's been waiting to talk to you. She's in the control room."

"T-talk to me? Why?" Ammon stuttered, nervously glancing over to Xander in fear about what it could be.

"I don't know," Leander shrugged. "About the two prisoners you left the mess hall with earlier, I presume. Whatever," he sighed, clearly agitated with the questions. "Can you just go find her? I've already wasted a good part of my night on you."

"Okay," Ammon answered, barely having a moment to say anything else before Leander headed back inside.

He grabbed onto his mask, beginning to bring it over his face as he turned to face Xander. "On a scale of 1-10, how bad do you think this is going to go?" He let out an anxious laugh, unable to confide in his friend about how worried he was, let alone why.

"Why are you worrying?" Xander frowned. "You're one of Athena's favourites. You'll be fine. She probably just wants you to pick the next candidate for the trials - the two guys you took from the mess hall. Something like that."

Ammon gulped, relieved that Xander couldn't see his terrified expression under his mask. "Thanks. You're right," he shook his head, trying to conceal away his doubt. "I'll see you in the dorm later. If I'm not back by the morning, send out a search party."

Xander laughed at his comment, not realising that there was some truth behind Ammon's words. There was a terrible, terrible fear tearing deep inside of his heart - one he couldn't even admit to himself. All that he needed to do was make sure that the two prisoners he had escorted to a cell were not taken to the trials... If they already had, not only would everything that he had been planning fall apart, but he would be killed without so much as a chance to explain himself to his superiors at Neptunum...

Minutes later, Ammon found himself pacing outside of the control room door, convincing himself that Athena had a team of guards lined up inside, ready to escort him to his death. Knowing he couldn't escape Athena or avoid the conversation that was waiting, Ammon braved his fear, turning the handle of the door and heading inside.

Athena turned around at the noise, beaming in amusement as she saw him enter. "Took you long enough to come in!" She laughed.

"Huh?" Ammon frowned, his nerves getting the better of him, despite coming to the realisation that they were the only two in the room.

"I've the cameras up from the hallway on the monitor," she said, nodding to the row of screens behind her. "I've been trying to find you all evening. I could see you pacing around out there for a while. What were you doing?" She shook her head, nothing cruel or judgemental behind her questioning.

"Uh, I was just... Just worried that I had done something wrong," Ammon confessed, trying to allow himself to relax a little now that he realised he wasn't brought in as a result of everyone figuring out his secret...

"You're a strange one," Athena laughed, moving over to one of the counters and leaning up against it. "But no, you haven't done anything wrong as far as I'm aware. I just wanted to talk to you about what happened in the mess hall tonight?"

"What happened?" Ammon removed his helmet, scratching at the back of his neck.

"Mmh hmm," Athena hummed, nodding her confirmation. "You took two boys back to... Cell 112," she recalled, peering at the clipboard beside her. "Why was that?"

"One of them left their seat and approached me," Ammon said. "He was just questioning what was happening around here. I didn't want another riot to start, so I escorted him and his cellmate back to their cell."

Athena squinted her eyes and tilted her head, staring straight at Ammon as if trying to look for a hole in his story; trying to figure out what he didn't want her to know.

"...You prevented another riot," she said, still not offering him much of a hint as to what she was feeling.

He nodded, waiting desperately to see if she believed him.

"Good work, Ammon," she smirked. "I knew I was right to trust you."

Ammon let out a breath of relief, managing to smile back at her, finally thinking that all his fears had been for nothing until she made another announcement.

"Perhaps we should use those two as the next candidates for the trial considering they were trying to cause more trouble-"

"No!" Ammon cut her off, surprising himself with how demanding his voice came out.

Athena raised an eyebrow, suddenly concerned by his explosive behaviour. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"I-I don't think that's a good idea."

"What do you mean?" Athena pushed. "You've already identified these two as troublemakers. If we send them to the trials, that'll give the rest of their people a chance to have a calm, uninterrupted meal and allow their trust for us to grow."

"They're not strong enough for the trials," Ammon stated, using all of his courage he had hidden inside of him to keep up his act. "I escorted them from the mess hall before they had any rations. Without any food in them, they won't have the energy to survive the tests and that contradicts what we agreed on earlier: that we need to keep these people at their strongest. Besides," he said, "Leander mentioned that we're so close to finding the death combination this time around because of the number of people we brought in from the two bunkers. We shouldn't try and jeopardise this by being careless and allowing the trials to kill them. It doesn't matter if we take our time because this is going to work. We're going to get the combination, Athena."

"I'm glad we found you," she said, smiling sincerely over at him. "You've got a rational way of thinking that I sometimes wish I had; natural leader instincts rooted so deep inside... You're truly an asset to Neptunum and our mission."

Ammon dropped his head and let a smile raise the corner of his lips, not knowing what to say.

"I've been considering this for a while, but I think it's time now."

"Think what's time?" Ammon asked, suddenly feeling all his anxiety return to him again.

"In promoting you in your responsibilities," she said. "I've discussed with some of the head guards and there's a position available for you as a Level 2 Guard, one rank above Leander - who I know has felt a very strong sense of competition between the two of you."

Ammon chuckled, trying to suppress the amusement that was taking over his face. He couldn't wait to tell Xander that he was now Leander's superior and that he was the one who had the authority amongst them; that they wouldn't have to put up with Leander's relentless nagging and complaining all the time.

"Thank you, Athena," he said. "You don't understand how much this news means to me."

"Don't thank me," she said. "You've earned it. I'm sure you already know the duties of a Level 2 guard, but just as a refresher, you'll now have unlimited access to all areas of the ship as well as access to the weaponry room, should you need it... You can also upgrade your own weapon, should you feel like it which I recommend just to piss off Leander a little more, if you want." 

Two // Part Five
Natural leader instincts.

I love the dynamic between Ammon and Athena in this chapter! I am also really loving writing Athena! Plenty more to come between these two!

What do you think about Ammon? What do you think his intentions are? Do you trust him?

07/11/20.