[Original Fiction] 1hr impromptu challenge fic.
So in chat, somebody declared a one hour fic challenge. The theme was supposed to be horror, but I don't do horror, so I just wrote whatever came to mind.
The boy in this was recycled in November 2003 as Neil, in Kite.
--
"Sir. We found somebody trying to sneak into the compound. We're bringing him in now." There was a click as the radio switched off.
Somebody sneaking in? he wondered. That was unusual. Top secret facilities like this tended to be so secret nobody even knew they existed.
When he made his way to the room they cleared out for the interrogation, he found himself somewhat surprised to see that the intruder was a teenaged boy.
"Well," he said, assuming his best 'annoyed parent' tone of voice, "I hope you have an explanation for yourself, young man."
The boy looked up at him. "I wanted to know what this place was," he said, matter-of-factly. "Nobody in the town knew." The boy's eyes flicked to the insigna on his uniform. "Sir."
"We've already searched him," said one of the guards. "We didn't find anything on him."
He pursed his lips in thought. "I'm afraid you've trespassed on private grounds. You will be escorted to the town and I must ask you never to approach this area again."
The boy looked around him. There was intelligence in those eyes, and curiosity. This, he thought, could not be good. "You could at least tell me what you do here."
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to do that."
"You've gone to a lot of trouble to make sure nobody even suspects that you're here, so whatever you're doing is obviously important enough that it warrants complete privacy. So, I want to know what it is."
"I'm afraid..."
"I'm not leaving until you tell me."
"Then I'm afraid we're going to have to force you to leave."
"You'd have to knock me out. And then when I wake I'd have to go to the police and report you for assault. And they'd have to investigate, and I'd have to show them where this facility is."
No empty threat. The mere suggestion of a top-secret research facility right next to the townsite would undoubtedly cause trouble for them.
He put a hand to his forehead, where he felt a headache forming. "I do not appreciate being threatened, young man."
"Then tell me what's going on here. I promise I won't tell anybody else."
He regarded the boy with no small amount of irritation at his arrogance.
The boy folded his arms and gave him a patient look. "I'm waiting."
With a great show of giving in, he began to speak. "We're reasearching an alternative fuel supply. We operate under secrecy so that nobody will be able to steal the formula before it is ready and undermine our hard work," he said, in a more friendly tone of voice.
The boy gave him a long look. "Plausible. It may even be true. But you gave in too quickly. I want to know what you're REALLY doing here, not your cute cover story."
Oh, yes. Definitely trouble. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You got what you wanted, kid," said one of the guards. "Now come with us."
"No," said the boy. "I didn't get what I want, and I'm not leaving."
"Listen to me, boy," he said, trying to keep a handle on his temper. "YOU have illegally broken into a top-secret, high security facility. There were very clear signs warning you to keep out. If the police are involved, the ones getting in trouble with the law will not be us."
"There weren't any signs. Not that I could see," retorted the boy. "'Private property, trespassers prosecuted', yes. But nothing to say I'd be forcibly escorted into the compound and interrogated."
He had had enough. "Guards, take this boy and lock him in one of the cells for a few hours. Maybe after that he'll see reason." He was quite ready to keep the boy overnight, and damned be the consequences.
The boy smiled politely. "Do whatever you like. You won't be able to keep me here."
It was a strange thing to say, but he turned his back and marched back into the corridor.
Several hours later, he was once again disturbed by the radio crackling to life. "Sir. That boy you ordered locked up? He's escaped."
He was in front of the cells in a few minutes. "What happened?" he demanded.
"We have no idea. He was in the cell, but the next time we checked on him he was gone."
"And you didn't leave your posts for the whole time?"
"No, sir. We were on full alert."
"Put the base on intruder alert. We have to find that boy."
~ * ~
The boy in question was long gone. He was at that moment, in fact, curling up in front of a fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate.
"So, where were you?" asked his companion, curiously.
"I broke into that weird place I told you about," said the boy, with a comfortable stretch. "It was easy."
"Of course it was," said the man. "What did you find out?"
"Well," said the boy, "I allowed myself to be captured. But the people there refused to tell me anything. Real secret stuff, apparently."
"What happened?"
The boy shrugged. "I was interrogated for a bit, then they gave up and threw me in a cell."
"So you teleported out."
The boy nodded.
"That was risky."
"Not really. I took good note of the room they interrogated me in, so I had a good image of the place I wanted to move to."
The man gasped. "What if there had been somebody in there!"
"It was a disused storage room, by the looks of it. Everything was dusty. There was no chance anybody would be there."
"Still. It's an unacceptable risk."
"I would have explored a bit more, but I knew any minute they'd notice I was gone and raise the alarm. But now I've seen the place, I can 'port in there anytime I like."
"Why are you so desperate to know what's going on in there, anyway?"
"Well," said the boy, "I thought it could have something to do with... you know us. Secret government experiments. That sort of thing."
"In that case, teleporting out was the absolute worst thing you could do!"
"Calm down! I had a look around. It didn't seem like that sort of place from the inside. Sciencey. Like they were trying to discover something. It didn't feel like they were keeping humans in there."
"Still..."
"I know it's nothing compared to some, but my intuition isn't bad, you know."
"You take too many risks. What if they had a camera in the cell?"
"They didn't. Their "cells" also looked like converted storerooms. Another reason I figure they can't be experimenting on humans."
The boy in this was recycled in November 2003 as Neil, in Kite.
--
"Sir. We found somebody trying to sneak into the compound. We're bringing him in now." There was a click as the radio switched off.
Somebody sneaking in? he wondered. That was unusual. Top secret facilities like this tended to be so secret nobody even knew they existed.
When he made his way to the room they cleared out for the interrogation, he found himself somewhat surprised to see that the intruder was a teenaged boy.
"Well," he said, assuming his best 'annoyed parent' tone of voice, "I hope you have an explanation for yourself, young man."
The boy looked up at him. "I wanted to know what this place was," he said, matter-of-factly. "Nobody in the town knew." The boy's eyes flicked to the insigna on his uniform. "Sir."
"We've already searched him," said one of the guards. "We didn't find anything on him."
He pursed his lips in thought. "I'm afraid you've trespassed on private grounds. You will be escorted to the town and I must ask you never to approach this area again."
The boy looked around him. There was intelligence in those eyes, and curiosity. This, he thought, could not be good. "You could at least tell me what you do here."
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to do that."
"You've gone to a lot of trouble to make sure nobody even suspects that you're here, so whatever you're doing is obviously important enough that it warrants complete privacy. So, I want to know what it is."
"I'm afraid..."
"I'm not leaving until you tell me."
"Then I'm afraid we're going to have to force you to leave."
"You'd have to knock me out. And then when I wake I'd have to go to the police and report you for assault. And they'd have to investigate, and I'd have to show them where this facility is."
No empty threat. The mere suggestion of a top-secret research facility right next to the townsite would undoubtedly cause trouble for them.
He put a hand to his forehead, where he felt a headache forming. "I do not appreciate being threatened, young man."
"Then tell me what's going on here. I promise I won't tell anybody else."
He regarded the boy with no small amount of irritation at his arrogance.
The boy folded his arms and gave him a patient look. "I'm waiting."
With a great show of giving in, he began to speak. "We're reasearching an alternative fuel supply. We operate under secrecy so that nobody will be able to steal the formula before it is ready and undermine our hard work," he said, in a more friendly tone of voice.
The boy gave him a long look. "Plausible. It may even be true. But you gave in too quickly. I want to know what you're REALLY doing here, not your cute cover story."
Oh, yes. Definitely trouble. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You got what you wanted, kid," said one of the guards. "Now come with us."
"No," said the boy. "I didn't get what I want, and I'm not leaving."
"Listen to me, boy," he said, trying to keep a handle on his temper. "YOU have illegally broken into a top-secret, high security facility. There were very clear signs warning you to keep out. If the police are involved, the ones getting in trouble with the law will not be us."
"There weren't any signs. Not that I could see," retorted the boy. "'Private property, trespassers prosecuted', yes. But nothing to say I'd be forcibly escorted into the compound and interrogated."
He had had enough. "Guards, take this boy and lock him in one of the cells for a few hours. Maybe after that he'll see reason." He was quite ready to keep the boy overnight, and damned be the consequences.
The boy smiled politely. "Do whatever you like. You won't be able to keep me here."
It was a strange thing to say, but he turned his back and marched back into the corridor.
Several hours later, he was once again disturbed by the radio crackling to life. "Sir. That boy you ordered locked up? He's escaped."
He was in front of the cells in a few minutes. "What happened?" he demanded.
"We have no idea. He was in the cell, but the next time we checked on him he was gone."
"And you didn't leave your posts for the whole time?"
"No, sir. We were on full alert."
"Put the base on intruder alert. We have to find that boy."
~ * ~
The boy in question was long gone. He was at that moment, in fact, curling up in front of a fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate.
"So, where were you?" asked his companion, curiously.
"I broke into that weird place I told you about," said the boy, with a comfortable stretch. "It was easy."
"Of course it was," said the man. "What did you find out?"
"Well," said the boy, "I allowed myself to be captured. But the people there refused to tell me anything. Real secret stuff, apparently."
"What happened?"
The boy shrugged. "I was interrogated for a bit, then they gave up and threw me in a cell."
"So you teleported out."
The boy nodded.
"That was risky."
"Not really. I took good note of the room they interrogated me in, so I had a good image of the place I wanted to move to."
The man gasped. "What if there had been somebody in there!"
"It was a disused storage room, by the looks of it. Everything was dusty. There was no chance anybody would be there."
"Still. It's an unacceptable risk."
"I would have explored a bit more, but I knew any minute they'd notice I was gone and raise the alarm. But now I've seen the place, I can 'port in there anytime I like."
"Why are you so desperate to know what's going on in there, anyway?"
"Well," said the boy, "I thought it could have something to do with... you know us. Secret government experiments. That sort of thing."
"In that case, teleporting out was the absolute worst thing you could do!"
"Calm down! I had a look around. It didn't seem like that sort of place from the inside. Sciencey. Like they were trying to discover something. It didn't feel like they were keeping humans in there."
"Still..."
"I know it's nothing compared to some, but my intuition isn't bad, you know."
"You take too many risks. What if they had a camera in the cell?"
"They didn't. Their "cells" also looked like converted storerooms. Another reason I figure they can't be experimenting on humans."