(hoooo boy sorry for the wait, work really kicked my butt there TvT)
Oscar's eyes were glazed over, and he didn't move or respond to Honor's voice. His head had stopped bleeding, but was still a clotted mess of red that was turning the grit on the floor into mud.
"He can't hear you." It was the voice from above again—an older man's, clipped and cold. "And he won't be waking up for a while either." A mechanical whine, and the owner of the voice dropped down into view, tethered to the ceiling by some kind of grapple. He landed between Honor and the exit, tugging the tether to disconnect it. His face was hidden by a dark-colored military mask.
"Honor Kingsley, yeah? My name is Jack O'Connell, of Goldenrod's Hunter Unit. You're under arrest for obstruction and evasion of the law and for sheltering a dangerous fugitive—a non-human one, even. You're coming with me."
Honor started to panic when Oscar didn’t respond, and without thinking, she dropped her arms, worried more about her friend than the consequences of doing so.
“What did you do to him?” She questioned, a wobble of worry in her voice.
Looking to the man that descended from the ceiling, her fear, anxiety and nerves were clear in her eyes, but she screwed up the courage to scowl at him, albeit being a weaker scowl. This man wasn’t clearly going to let her go, so the best she could do was defend Oscar how she could, by fighting back.
“I have not once obstructed the law, Jack, and I’ll have you know, Oscar is not dangerous.” She spoke with new courage in her voice, but her hands shook, and she grabbed onto her clothes to stop them from doing so. “He’s a sweet, curious being, and I won’t go anywhere with you until you tell me what you did to him and you let him go.”
"We're not letting him go, and you're going to cooperate," Jack replied matter-of-factly. "I suggest you call yourself a lawyer if you're so sure you're innocent, ma'am. As for what I did to your buddy, he's just sedated. He can't hurt anybody right now, fortunately for our bait over there." He jerked his head at the thin, long-haired man, who was still curled in the corner with his arms protecting his head. "You really wanna tell me this Level Three—Oscar, you say—isn't dangerous, when you just watched him almost swallow somebody whole?"
"He-" She started to protest, scowling at Jack, trying to show him that Oscar wasn't a threat while also not letting out anything about their plan to find the Level Five. Honor had a feeling that Goldenrod wouldn't take kindly to her trying to find a way to get Oscar home. "He's not dangerous," She finally said, looking towards the person, then back at Jack, "At least not as dangerous as others."
Jack seemed to tire of the conversation. "Well if you're trying to appeal on his behalf, I'm not the person to talk to. You'll probably be having an interview with our higher-ups once we get to HQ anyway, so you can take it up with them." He gestured with his gun, leaving no room for further argument. "Come with me, and please do your best not to cause trouble. Your buddy will be right behind you in the other van, rest assured."
Honor glanced at Oscar as Jack spoke, wishing she could make sure he was alright. "I want to know what will happen to him if I go with you." She crossed her arms over her chest, shifting where she stood and kicking up another small could of dust from the floor. Whatever they were going to do with Oscar, it wasn't going to be good, but maybe if she could promise that she would go with him in exchange for better treatment, it could be her way of apologizing for the whole mess and getting him caught.
Eying her, Jack gave a sigh and spoke into his radio. "Squad, clear for entry. Let's get this cleaned up and moved out. You too, Agent Jenkins, you can come collect the Level One now." To Honor, he said, "We'll contain the Level Three where he can't hurt himself or anybody else. They take good care of his type, I'm told. Listen, you're riding with Jenkins on the way back so quiz him. He works with Level Threes all the time."
As he was talking to her, a group of six other military-clad people filed into the silo, starting the carefully coordinated process of moving Oscar onto a stretcher. Following behind them, more cautiously, was a man about Honor's age with neat black dreadlocks, wearing a protective vest and civilian clothes. Presumably this was Agent Jenkins. His expression and movements were less brisk than the others, and he glanced at Honor with no hostility before hurrying over to the Level One.
"Hey Tanner," he said softly. "It's okay, it's asleep. You did a great job, and now we can go back to the van, okay? You don't have to be near it anymore."
The Level One—Tanner—was still clearly terrified but let the young man help him up without objection. Together they made their way outside, with Jenkins continuing to give words of encouragement.
"Follow him and do what he says," Jack told Honor. "And don't mess with him, he might look doe-eyed but he's armed just like all of us."
Honor didn't even want to know what goldenrod's version of 'taking good care' of something was, but she had no other choice. All she could do was bite her tongue and watch as more heavily armored people entered the silo and approached Oscar.
"Be careful with him, please." She finally said, her eyes following them as they moved him onto a stretcher.
Her gaze then turned to the other person, who Jack had called Agent Jenkins. Even with his less hostile appearance, she still didn't trust him. She made up her mind that she wouldn't trust any of these people until they stopped calling Oscar an 'it'. Even so, she reluctantly followed Jenkins, glancing over at Oscar one last time, wishing she could say sorry for the whole situation.
Outside again, Honor blinked as she readjusted to the light, a new, worrying thought crossing her mind. Not only were they taking Oscar, but she was going to have to leave her truck here. If she had to ride with the goldenrod agents, there was no way they were going to let her bring it.
Honor's truck was at this moment being inspected by two agents who resembled a forensics team. They were scanning the interior with what looked like modified Geiger counters and packing away all of Oscar and Honor's belongings into plastic bags. Beyond them, more armored agents were setting up police tape around the gravel lot, as if they planned to be there a while.
"Um….Miss Kingsley?" Agent Jenkins had led his charge over to a dark blue Goldenrod van and helped him inside. Now he was watching Honor with cautious politeness. "Come with me, please. They're taking us back to headquarters now."
Honor stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw the agents, a look of shock registering on her face. She knew logically that it made sense for them to be taking her things, but she still hated it. Those were her belongings, and several of them held meaning for her.
Turning to face Agent Jenkins, she didn't move, just simply asked, "What's going to happen to my things? What's going to happen to Oscar?"
She stayed almost stock still, waiting for his answer as she flew through her other questions internally. Honor already knew the consequences of helping Oscar, she wasn't worried about her own fate, only the idea that Oscar would never get to go home, of that he could be killed.
"I don't know for sure," Agent Jenkins replied almost apologetically. "Right now this is an investigation, but there will probably be some way to apply for the retrieval of your belongings at a later date. As for your friend, my guess is that he'll become a resident at HQ while we learn more about him and determine whether he's a threat." He paused, then added, "I know you're worried, but there's nothing to be scared of. We're not a prison. We'll take good care of him and you both until this gets sorted out, I promise. And if you have more questions, someone will be able to answer them in full once we get to HQ. Fair enough?"
She paused for a moment before biting the inside of her cheek and nodding. "Can I take anything to bring with?" Honor asked one more time, just to see. There were a few things she wanted from there, but she had a sinking feeling that they weren't going to let her grab anything. "He's not going to be hurt at all, is he?" She asked, looking back towards the silo at Oscar.
"The last thing anybody wants is to hurt him," Agent Jenkins promised. "And I'm really sorry, but I don't think they'll let you take anything with you right now. Whatever items you need will be supplied once we get you set up at the HQ."
A pale, frightened face appeared in the entrance to the back of the van. "Rashawn…..why aren't we leaving? I want to go home. The Level Three is still looking at me even though it's asleep."
Agent Jenkins turned his attention back to his charge and spoke soothingly. "Don't worry Tanner, we're almost finished. This nice person will be sitting with us, all right? Her name is Honor." He glanced at Honor politely, but pointedly. "Are you ready to go, ma'am?"
Honor nodded her head, confirming what she had already guessed about her belongings. She shifted her weight to her other foot as she stood, listening to Tanner speak. Before she could hold back her emotions, she scowled at Tanner, opening her mouth to speak before the Agent cut her off.
She released a long breath and nodded, adding on before anyone could interrupt her. "The Level Three has a name. Oscar. Don't refer to him as just the Level Three, and do not call him it."
Satisfied with her words, she finally took a longing glance at her truck but started towards the van with the Agent, worried for whatever awaited them at the Goldenrod HQ.
Agent Jenkins waited for Honor to get inside the van, then followed her and shut the doors. The interior was spacious, with long seats on either side and a partition between the front and back. There was even a small fridge, which Tanner scooted up against in an attempt to get away from Honor. He opened it up and pulled out a package of animal crackers, but didn't eat any, just lined them up on the seat beside them and made patterns out of them.
Rashawn tapped the glass to get the driver's attention, and soon the van started moving. With no windows in the back, there was no way to see where they were going. Rashawn sat next to Tanner and checked his phone briefly, then glanced at Honor sidelong as if debating whether to make conversation.
After several minutes, he went for it. "So…..how did Oscar get his name, then? Did you choose it for him?"
Honor watched the doors close, looking down at her lap as they stated on their way, settling down a polite distance away from the Agent and quite far away from Tanner. As she had nothing to do, she simply stared at her lap while they drove, picking at the skin around her nails nervously. The silence was enough to make her want to start a conversation, but she decided against it, waiting for one of the others to make the first move. "He chose it himself," She replied in a much softer tone than she had before, "What about Tanner, did you choose it?"
Tanner merely cast her a sullen look, but Rashawn was happy to answer. "We chose it together, when Tanner first arrived at the HQ. I've been taking care of him ever since. My branch works with Level Ones like him mostly—we teach them how to help us detect other Erased Ones in the field. The bravest ones help us draw them out of hiding, too. Tanner did that today, didn't you Tanner? I told you everything would be all right."
Tanner nodded, calming down just slightly.
"They also brought me along because I'm learning to rehabilitate Level Threes as part of my special training," Rashawn continued. "I've never met one like Oscar before though. Usually by the time we find them they're just mindless monsters and their bodies are severely deteriorated. Oscar seemed upset, yes, but still very clear-headed and healthy. I bet that was your doing. How long exactly have you known each other?"
"Not quite sure, at least a week," She answered, shrugging and keeping her head down, "I didn't do anything special to help him, just let him read and ask questions. He's not dangerous, just curious. And he wants to go home, he doesn't need rehabilitation." Honor knew speaking about Oscar was just going to make her feel worse about the whole situation, but there wasn't much else to talk about, and Rashawn seemed to genuinely care about the wellbeing of beings like Oscar.
(Shoot, I missed this somehow, sorry!)
"They all want to go home, in my experience," Rashawn said. "But Oscar seems…..different." He glanced at Tanner and lowered his voice. "Based on our observations, Level Ones are the natural prey of Level Threes. We fully expected Oscar to attack immediately. But instead he tried to communicate with Tanner, and even asked about his own true nature. It seems to me you should give yourself more credit for his behavior. I think your guidance was crucial to helping him adapt to life on Earth."
Tanner shivered. "It still—" He flinched and looked at Honor. "He still wanted to eat me. Just later, after the questions. If the man hadn't shot him……I'd be gone by now." A flicker of hesitation crossed his face, and he added, "I heard you telling 'Oscar' not to hurt me. I….didn't think you'd do that. Rashawn's usually the only one that cares."
(No worries!)
Honor looked up when Rashawn spoke to her about Oscar, curious but confused. She hadn't done that much to help him, or at least she didn't think she did. "Do other Level Threes not try to communicate?" She shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around the idea that something she had done had helped Oscar, "I really didn't do anything special to help him. If anything, I suppose I just answered the questions he had about how things worked, or what things were. Everything else was him, maybe reading helped him?"
She turned to look at Tanner as he spoke, nodding gently, "Truthfully, I'm not sure if he would've listened to me, but I do care. Eating people, or other level beings isn't something I will sit by and watch happen, Oscar being my friend or not." Honor paused, thinking over what could've happened if Oscar hadn't been shot, "I don't think shooting him was the right thing to do, and I don't think using someone as a lure is right either, but without him being stopped, I don't think my words would've been able to stop him." Glancing around the truck, she sighed and leaned back on the seat, trying to decide what had happened and what she was truly processing from the moment.
Rashawn glanced from Honor to Tanner and back. "All I know is this," he said eventually. "The first few hours and days after an Erased One arrives on Earth are a key moment. Whatever happens in that time will shape the personality and danger levels of the Erased One permanently. If our agents manage to track them down in time, we can work to minimize their discomfort and confusion until they're used to their new bodies. These Erased Ones are usually calm, cooperative, and even friendly. But if we miss that opportunity, their first experiences will likely be filled with fear and pain, especially if they encounter panicked civilians. These Erased Ones are usually violent, unpredictable, and almost impossible to negotiate with. So Honor, when I say you helped Oscar a lot by taking him in…..I'm saying you probably saved lives. Including your own." He looked quite serious as he spoke. "I know you've been convicted for helping him avoid us, and I can't endorse breaking the law, but setting that aside—I think you did really well for someone with no training. And in the end, you made our job a lot easier, so thank-you. I'm glad no one got hurt."
She looked over at him curiously while he spoke. Honor knew nothing about the Erased Ones other than what she had been told, or had found on her own, and nothing spoke about human encounters shaping their personality. "I would've been a bit of a bad person if I didn't help the person that I almost ran over," She replied, a small hint of humor in her voice, "But I do have to ask, would it have been better if I just left him there? If the eyes of the law of course. I would've never been convicted of helping an Erased one, but many more people would've been hurt, or possibly killed."
It made very little sense to her why keeping people safe by helping Oscar, was thanked by the current situation. Law or not. It didn't sit well with her.
Rashawn considered. "What we tell people to do, when they find an Erased One or think one is nearby, is to contact us as soon as possible and then hide or evacuate if they can. It's a bit like reporting a serious crime or calling in a natural disaster. Legally speaking, it's much better if a Goldenrod agent like me gets hurt while doing their job, rather than an ordinary civilian. So even if simply leaving Oscar where he lay might have been riskier, as long as you told someone about him, you would not have gotten in trouble for helping him." He sighed. "It's in the past now, though. You did what you thought was best. Oh, and by the way, the reason it's illegal to shelter an Erased One is because sometimes people do it to try and use the Erased One to commit other crimes. We've dealt with everything from small-time theft or murder to organized terrorist attacks. And that's not even mentioning the accidents that happen when the criminals can't actually control the Erased One. At the moment, there's no system in place for convicting an Erased One in court, or for proving they committed a crime with DNA samples, for example. You can see why we'd want to play it safe and avoid those problems if we can."
(this is very late, and I apologize immensely)
Honor had never looked into the logistics of how the Goldenrod agency worked, but from how Rashawn described it to her, she could easily understand why they had such rules in place. Not that she was any more fond of the organization. "That does make sense…but I still don't like what is happening. Clearly Goldenrod has thought of a fair amount of work to keep humans mostly safe, but - and please don't take this wrong - I don't believe the organization has any plans on trying to help the Erased Ones come back to wherever they're from. If it's possible to get them there." She shrugged, turning to look at Tanner before asking, "Tanner, do you remember anything before you appeared on Earth?"
(Its ok fam ^^)
Tanner shook his head, after glancing at Rashawn to make sure he was allowed to answer. "I don't remember anything. I was just….here all of a sudden. In a body. Rashawn says I was really scared at first, but I don't remember that either."
"Level Ones have fairly poor long-term memories," Rashawn informed Honor distractedly. Her outspoken objection to Goldenrod's practices seemed to have left him in doubt of how to respond.
"At the moment, it's considered impossible to return Erased Ones to their home," he admitted finally. "So little is still known about them, and the Erased Ones themselves can't help us at all. But if they allow it, you should talk to my colleague from the dapartment of field research. His name's Agent Abbot, and he might know more about what we're doing to reverse-engineer the Manifestations that bring those like Oscar and Tanner to Earth."
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