The Black Gold Organization

"Ah, Rowan!" The burly man with the scar exclaimed. "Welcome to Black Gold. I will send some coordinates to your comm that will lead you to my office now. Just follow the map all the way. If a guard stops you, just say my name and show them your comm." The holograph flashed off and a map appeared instead. The destination of the map was in one of the restricted areas.

"...Was that... The Director of Black Gold?" Robin stared, wide eyed.

Rowan nodded his head, "I need to go. Uncle Freeman is waiting. I'll explain to you guys later." He promised them with a smile, before getting off his bed and heading out of the room, leaving his roommates stunned and frozen in place.

Rowan walked through the hallways, taking his time as he went. He was absolutely fascinated by the sights that he saw. Back in Willow City, the technology that was available at hand was not the best, and with his mother's distrust for technology, the only times that he had found himself exposed to technology was when he was at school, or went to visit the hospital for a check-up.

Now, he was able to set his eyes on things that he had never come in contact with.

Small robots that rose just up to his hip could be found moving about and cleaning up all the corners and crevices that could be found. They kept the hallways clean and neat, making sure that no dirt had the time to gather and infect the place.

People came and went, passing him like he was not there. They were all mostly busy, and those that were not were engaged in conversation with someone else.

Looking back to the map, Rowan hurried his pace a bit. He did not want to take too much time. He knew that Director Freeman was a busy man, and taking some time out of his busy schedule to meet up with Rowan was something that he had done while delaying his other duties.

Ten minutes into the walk, Rowan finally came across his first checkpoint that was blocked by a sealed blast door. The check point was guarded by four armed guards, and a turret.

The first guard that noticed him frowned, confused over why a commoner that he had never seen was coming in that direction. While there were certain commoners that had been granted access to some areas beyond the checkpoint, but this young man that was approaching was certainly not one of them.

"Halt. Who are you and where are you going?" The other guards finally noticed Rowan, and spoke out, stopping him.

"My name is Rowan, and Director Freeman requested for my presence in his office." Rowan told them and tapped his comm. A holographic message appeared, and after reading, the guards turned to each other to exchange a look. They nodded amongst each other before finally stepping back.

"Alright, kid. Welcome to Black Gold." The first guard that had noticed him said before placing his hand on a scanner. The scanner flashed green before the blast doors opened. They waved Rowan through, and when he had passed, they turned to whisper amongst themselves.

"No way, that's Earl Heart's son? I did not even notice the resemblance at first!"

"Now that you mention it, they do look alike. The only difference is that little Rowan has softer features."

"You're right. I remember that the Earl always had a permanent frown etched onto his face!"

"You couldn't look at him and remain smiling or else you'd feel as though your teeth would fall off!"

As the four kept on exchanging stories about how strict Rowan's father was when he was still around, the boy had already made his way much further.

The first thing that he noticed after passing the checkpoint was that there were much less people walking through the hallways.

He made his way past two more checkpoints before finally coming to a stop before a metal door. That door was the final point that was indicated on the map that his comm was showing him. Before he could even ponder on how to get it open, it suddenly slid open of its own volition.

Rowan stepped into the large office that was revealed to him, and he immediately spotted a familiar face.

"Rowan! How wonderful it is to see you here!" A loud, boisterous voice reached him from across the room, and he responded with a wide smile of his own.

"It's nice to see you too, Uncle Freeman." Rowan said as he approached the burly man that was making his way around the table.

Director Freeman embraced Rowan in a tight hug and patted his shoulder before leading him to the table. That was when Rowan noticed that there was one more person present in the room.

Maxwell, Rowan's team leader looked at the interaction between Rowan and Director Freeman with surprise. He had not expected them to be so close. Now, he understood why he had been requested to make his way to the Director's office as soon as he had dismissed his team.

"Ah, well there is a lot to talk about, but we can do that at another time." Director Freeman said as he retook his seat. He turned to face Maxwell for a moment before turning back to Rowan.

"I'm sure that you both are already familiar with each other. There is not much to be done on the area of introductions, so I will simply get to the point. Maxwell, I hope you can keep an eye on Rowan here. I owe it to his father, and while I would love to do it myself, I am sure you know why I can not." Freeman explained.

Although Maxwell had said that he would not show Rowan any preferential treatment, he did not have a choice a this moment.

"Actually," Rowan suddenly spoke up. "I do not want any preferential treatment, Uncle Freeman. I want you to treat me as you would any random soldier."