Chapter Twenty-Four: I Don’t Like Surprises

The conversation wraps up pretty quickly after Angus’s report. It seems that everyone wanted the chance to stew in the new information for a while or take a closer look at the Forum to confirm it themselves.

I am no different, but when I head back over to my bed, Vince stops me.

“Let’s take a walk Sebastian.”

Before I have the chance to say anything else, Vince is already walking toward the door heading outside, and I reluctantly follow him. We don’t end up going too far from the building, and Vince stops at a nearby bench but doesn’t sit down.

“I think this goes without saying, but I don’t trust you.”

I am slightly caught off guard by the bluntness in which he tells me, but overall, not surprised. I don’t say anything though, and Vince continues to look me in the eye while he goes on.

“It was pretty obvious you were holding back information when you told us about how you cleared Floor One. I’m not going to force you to tell me about it though. If what you and Wade say is true, then I think you deserve the benefit of the doubt. I can let that stuff go, including your stunt with the room earlier. I will even give you leeway from here on, as I know you didn’t start with the group, so it is probably tough to acclimate. We both don’t know squat about each other either, so I’m sure I have come off as a controlling asshole thus far. Think about me however you want, but beyond everything, I need to know one thing before I feel comfortable letting the rest of the group be around you.”

He stands up straighter for a moment and crosses his arms while staring at me.

“Can I trust you?”

“Yes.”

My quick answer seems to throw him off a little bit.

“I know it sounds dumb, but I don’t feel the need to lie. Doing this whole thing alone sounds boring. You don’t know what kind of person I am, but when I decide that something doesn’t matter to me, then you can be sure I mean it. What you all did in the cave doesn’t matter to me. Even if you all left me for dead again in the future; if you weren’t the one to put the nail in the coffin, I would probably forgive you if I survived. That’s just the way I am.”

We both sit there for a few beats while I wait for Vince to work out his own thoughts. I imagine it is difficult for a normal person to accept that I am so forgiving about something that would usually be a betrayal back on Earth. Finally, he seems to make a decision.

“In that case, my starting skills are <Harden> and <Empower>. One lets me make my skin and things I hold more durable and the other allows me to strengthen my body. You don’t have to tell me your skills, but I hope that we can gain your trust enough for you to tell us anything we need to know. I don’t need a squad that doesn’t trust each other, so if you say you are with us, then I will trust you.”

Vince begins walking back to the barracks building while I stay behind.

Is this guy completely insane?

I turn around and watch as Vince marches back to where the rest of the group is. He doesn’t even bother checking behind his back like when we first walked together. Not only did this guy just give me some very valuable and personal information, but he almost seemed happy to do so. The enigma even looks kind of relieved, as I see his shoulders drop a bit from the previously stiff position he had held the entire time we were talking.

Maybe the people here aren’t as normal as I had thought.

That might not be a bad thing though. If I were a betting man, I would guess that DIC difficulty isn’t made for the normies of the world. To survive, you probably need a couple of screws loose.

*****

With my weird heart-to-heart done with Vince, everyone settles down and breaks off to do their own thing. Currently, I am sitting with Wade and Pawl while I absently practice trying to control my radiation. Despite my usual stiffness and anti-social behavior, I find it easy talking to my old friend. In fact, I had just finished explaining to him the conversation I had with Vince, and Wade seems to know what I’m talking about instantly.

“Yeah, he is pretty straightforward like that. It reminds me of you a bit, don’t you think? When we were kids, you used to just tell it how it is to people, good or bad.”

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I give him a non committed shrug and continue focusing <Emit> on my stomach to make a nice, heated bed for Pawl.

“I like to be blunt when it comes to things that are annoying so I don’t have to bother with them. What he did was different. In the end, I guess I didn’t mind though. Hopefully, it will take care of everyone trying to walk on eggshells around me in the future.”

“I don’t think that would’ve happened much anyway. You might not know it, but you have an excellent best friend that was repping for you earlier.”

“I guess I missed the class where they taught that leaving someone for dead means that they are your best friend.”