The Green Man

Evony was hardly aware of anything happening around her, barely able to feel her legs moving beneath her body, making sluggish walking motions as an unknown stranger guided her through the woods, her arm draped and held tightly around his shoulders now.

Her head spun, her vision entirely distorted as trees and night shifted past either side of her bleary gaze, trying to force herself out of shock and mostly failing. At some point, a tall, viny tree came into view across a small clearing amid the woods, a weeping willow draping over a small wooden shack nestled far from the heart of town. Evony just managed to raise her head, watching as she somehow lumbered closer to the shack, one with a single splintery door and a rectangular darkened window.

She heard and saw the door unlock—as the free arm of the stranger reached out, pushing the door open and briefly bringing the bizarre neon scars back into her view. Instantly, despite her fogged state of mind, she knew for certain that everything she'd seen was legitimate.

The green man was real—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

Aldric stepped inside, pulling Evony in and closing the door behind them.

The interior was tiny and cozy, though considerably warmer than the outside despite it being warmed only by a single space heater in the corner. Directly left was a wooden countertop filled with numerous random items, aligned perfectly with the window, and to the right was a shelf of similarly miscellaneous belongings. Straight ahead was a pile of slightly mismatched mattresses stacked on top of one another, covered with several layers of blankets and a few pillows, the wall above the bed complete with clipped newspaper articles, a poster, and a target that seemed to be heavily destroyed with several bolts from a crossbow, many of them still protruding from the wall.

Hurriedly, Aldric scooted several of his items away from the edge of the counter, then grasped Evony by the arms and leaned her steadily against it, giving her an investigative once-over.

"Oy," Aldric exhaled, his big green eyes studying her closely as he gently raised her head. "Y'all right? Y'okay…?"

"I…" Evony mumbled, blinking several times and meeting his stare. "Yeah, I… jus…"

"Just in shock," Aldric figured, and she nodded tiredly in agreement.

The two were silent for a moment, Evony straightening out her vision and giving him a thoughtful, bewildered stare, her eyes narrowing in utter fascination.

Aldric straightened up in front of her, his narrow face harboring a hint of perturbation as he returned her investigative look, his pine green hair and his thin, bright scars now fully in view beneath the dim hanging light bulbs.

Neither of them spoke for seconds that felt like hours passing by, though they both understood the situation in full—that the mindboggling anomaly of the green man was being witnessed by someone who had never seen such oddities before, and it took a moment for the new, baffling information to sink in.

Aldric felt a familiarly uncomfortable sense of misplacement as her eyes scanned over him, feeling the same way he always did whenever someone laid eyes on him for the first time—as if he might be met with fright or disdain at any given second.

Evony, however, felt no fear or reprehension; more than anything, a deep curiosity and an overwhelming sense of disbelief were both dominating her now. She simply couldn't believe her eyes; the green man, the media-hyped legend and the online conspiracy theory, was as real as she herself was. And not only was the impossible man real—but she, Evony Ackerman, of all people, was able to meet him in person.

"Er… sorry," Aldric murmured, withdrawing his hands from her and taking a mild step back. "I know I… I can be a bit… much to take…"

"No, no," Evony replied quickly, shaking her head. "You're fine, I just… I'm just… I'm totally floored right now, to be honest."

Aldric breathed out a laugh. "I'd be astonished if you weren't."

Evony paused and gulped, swiping her hairs aside and giving him another examining stare. "I don't even… I don't even know where to start…"

"M'kay… then I'll start," Aldric offered, folding his arms and cocking his head at her. "What in the hell're you 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 way out here?"

"I don't know… I saw somebody following you," Evony shrugged. "Guy looked like he was trying not to be noticed, and it looked shady, so… I just got nosy, I guess…"

"Oh." Aldric nodded. "Okay. Right. That makes a lot more sense now…"

"What is that accent?" Evony wondered. "Where're you from?"

"Originally? The British Empire," Aldric smirked. "But I've been all over."

"Holy hell," Evony muttered. "You're a 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 way from home."

Aldric narrowed his eyes at her, his smirk now coyer. "I feel like there're way bigger questions on your mind than that."

"Well, yeah… but I'm trying not to be rude…"

"Go ahead and ask. I won't take offense. Cross my heart."

Evony stared at him and sighed, her mind still racing, though she felt much more at ease now that she'd heard him speak. The green man seemed friendly and whimsical, not at all mean or dangerous.

"How did…" Evony pointed him up and down, mostly fixating on his scarred arms. "How did all that… happen?"

"How did I end up being a faintly-green super-powered mutant man, y'mean," Aldric chuckled. "My father worked for the British Military tinkering with DNA and genetics and whatnot. But then… when Cevron City was bombed, everything in the room shattered, cut my arms to shreds and ended up dosing me with a lotta my pop's chemicals. Reckon I mutated. I'm a one-of-a-kind."

"Oh, man… that is 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥," Evony marveled.

"Yeah. Yeah… lotta stuff's happened since then," Aldric mumbled, tapping his chin and gazing off to the side, seeming to lose himself to his thoughts for a moment. "Lotta stuff has…"

There was a pause, Evony observing him intently.

"So… you're human," she uttered.

Aldric nodded and faced her again. "Oh, yeah, completely—just slightly mutated. Humans and reptoids can't breed with each other, despite what everyone thinks of me. Hah."

"Okay…" Evony glimpsed around. "And you… you just live out here…?"

"Well, yeah… for now," Aldric replied. "I dunno whose shack this was, but I'm glad they haven't come 'round in the past year or so. Probably give 'em a ruddy heart attack if they did."

Evony nodded quietly, biting her lip and pondering on the frightful event that transpired a short while ago. She gave him a long, uncertain stare before deciding to ask.

"How does it work?" Evony inquired. "I mean, you… you have crazy power. I saw… I swear, I saw 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 go into you."

"Oh yeah," Aldric affirmed nonchalantly. "I don't totally understand it myself, but… it's all about energy. I can use it, manipulate it, absorb it—and I can do loads of crazy stuff with it. But I'm still human, y'know… if I get too tired, then that power flickers out, just like any regular person overexerting themselves. I'm not all that different from any regular bloke. My energy's just… quite a bit louder than everyone else's. As you saw…"

"Dude… that's amazing," Evony grinned with fascination. "I had no idea you could do that. My dad doesn't even know that, and he used to write about you all the time."

"Yeah, well…" Aldric shrugged and nodded sideways. "I tend to stay outta the limelight most of the time. Especially nowadays."

"Why?" Evony asked genuinely.

"Ah… it's… trouble," Aldric sighed, his smile waning. "It's kinda… well, what happened to you is a good example."

Evony shot him a questioning look.

Aldric let out a stressed cloud of breath.

"I used to know a few sects of reptilians… and I was kinda hoping I could help with some peace arrangement between them and us," Aldric explained, gazing downward and now wearing a downtrodden visage. "But, in order to do that, I had to meet the extremists… and they ended up thinking I was a bad spy. So, yeah… no hope of building any trust there. Eventually, they chased me off. I end up in fights with them sometimes, and I don't wanna bring that kinda trouble into town…"

"Wow," Evony breathed. "But you… you'd be safer in town, wouldn't you?"

Aldric squinted at her.

"I mean—reptilian extremists won't just walk into a human territory," Evony explained. "You'd be fine in Silverhollow."

"I dunno," Aldric murmured. "I don't put much stock in the way they'd treat me, either. A lot of 'em think I'm some reptoid hybrid. I don't think I'd be welcomed by many."

Evony paused, thinking of Bellura and sighing.

"But you're not…" she mumbled, squinting intently at him. "You're not even that 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯."

Aldric blinked, looking himself up and down. His hair was pine-dark, his eyes and scars a brilliant emerald, but his skin was such a faint hint of green, it would likely go unnoticed in many lightings.

"Well, yeah… but the scars would scare the livin' hell out of people," Aldric laughed. "I can explain the rest away as a skin disease or something… but I can't explain away the scars."

Evony stared at him coyly. "They make long sleeves, man. And long sleeves are a good idea here in winter hell."

Aldric chuckled and nodded. "Hah… you're funny. I like you."

Evony smirked, and the two of them went quiet for a moment.

Aldric cleared his throat and looked away. "Well, ah… anyhow… y'want me to walk you home? Where d'you live?"

Evony hesitated, surveying him closely and feeling more enamored than she ever had before. She stood nearby the shack's door, briefly glancing at it before meeting Aldric's eyes again.

She knew for certain her father and her uncles would probably be worrying right about now, wondering where she was and why she hadn't returned to the house before nightfall—yet still, despite the dangers she'd faced during the longest and strangest day of her life, she felt no longing whatsoever to walk out the door and go home.

Any other day of her life, she'd be happy to walk away from stress and return to her quiet and antisocial lifestyle—but here in Silverhollow, as she began completely anew, everything felt different.

Especially now, as she gazed into the legendary green man, someone who piqued her interest more than anyone else ever had. And beyond her own curiosity, she also couldn't help but notice that the green man was entirely alone out here, apparently carrying on with no friends or family, no help or support. His life and his story were a complete mystery, and he seemed to have no one in the world to talk to.

In fact, it sounded as if he'd even lost a parent to the human-reptilian war, a tragedy that Evony could unfortunately relate to.

With all of this in mind, simply walking away hardly seemed like an option now.

"Who are you?" Evony asked.

Aldric returned her stare, hesitating before replying. "The green m—"

"No… what's your 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦?" Evony clarified.

Aldric's brows raised. "Oh. That's… that's not usually one of the things people ask me."

"Well, I wanna know."

"Ah… okay... my name's Aldric. Nice to meetcha."

He straightened up and offered his hand, Evony graciously returning the handshake, only just realizing he was about half a head taller than her. Standing a little closer now, she scanned him up and down, seeing that he was surprisingly slender despite the immense power he held. And now, she was also able to see another scar on his person, a faint, tiny scar just on the side of his cheek, the same neon green as all the ones on his arms, though this one was considerably smaller and less noticeable.

"You too," Evony replied. "I'm Evony. And… ahm… thanks for not letting me get set on fire."

Aldric let out a chuckle, giving her a nod.

Evony sighed and glanced past him, examining the interior of his shack home more closely.

Her eyes fixated on the far wall, where the newspaper clippings hung above his bed alongside a propaganda poster from the British Empire, depicting a soldier pointing directly forward, the headline of the poster reading JOIN THE BM NOW, THE EMPIRE NEEDS YOU!

Without thinking, Evony stepped past him, squinting at the newspaper articles and seeing that most of them depicted stories and images of several reptilian encounters—a couple of small attacks, numerous sightings, and a single story about the online conspiracy theories regarding the whereabouts of Alazar.

Aldric turned to face her from behind, pocketing his hands and watching as she read everything on the wall, his expression now intense.

Once she finished reading, she spun around to face him again. "What do you do with this stuff?"

Aldric released a heavy sigh. "I just… keep track."

"Keep track," Evony muttered. "Of what?"

"Of what they're doing," Aldric replied seriously. "Not all of 'em are terrorists… but I know the ones that are."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Like I said, I… tried to connect with them before. It was years ago. I found a hurt reptilian kid out on the icelands way southwest of here, and I rescued him. He led me to his people's underground hideout… and they actually welcomed me in. I took the opportunity to learn all I could about 'em. Made a couple friends in there, too. Especially the kid. But, about a year later… their leader showed up with his men. Alazar and his resistance. After Alazar showed up, I wasn't welcome anymore. He's the one who got everyone believing I was a poorly-made spy, and the rest turned on me, threw me out. When that happened… I had a pretty good idea of which ones were the bad guys. Alazar and his little team of terrorists have a huge prejudice against humanity… and his prejudice includes me."

"You lived in a reptilian hideout for a year?" Evony exhaled. "Holy hell…"

"Yeah… I've been all over. But that year was the wildest one so far, for sure," Aldric remarked. "Well… until now."

Evony's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, until now?"

Aldric stared into her, giving the wall of newspaper clippings a faint nod.

"That wall, there," he said softly. "And every story on it… it's all got one major theme that should raise some major red flags. Something everyone seems to be failing to notice."

Evony stared at him, then turned to the wall again, skimming over all the stories a second time.

"They're all from here," Aldric stated. "They're all stories from the south."

Then, a spark of realization ignited in her mind—and she whirled around to face him.

"Why're they all in the south?" Evony uttered. "How could so many reptilians pop up in this kind of climate? They're all cold-blooded, aren't they?"

Aldric made an affirming nod. "And that's the big main theme—the 𝘣𝘪𝘨 ol' obvious red flag. Up until this year, they've only been organizing their little attacks in the warmer areas of Concordia. But now, allova sudden—a bunch of 'em are popping up all over the place around Silverhollow. Their underground hideout, the one I lived in—it wasn't just a hideout. It was a full-blown society beneath the surface. Humanity's not just looking for an underground terrorist organization—it's looking for an 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 terrorist organization."

"So, what… you think their hideouts aren't just hideouts?" Evony figured. "You think they have like… tunnels and labyrinths down there?"

"They must have," Aldric shrugged. "At least a few. Either that, or they're hitching rides here with humans—but that would mean there's a big smuggling conspiracy, and it would also mean that some humans have an agenda to enact that involves reptoid-smuggling somehow."

Evony almost replied right away—but then, another question struck her mind, and she gave him a peculiar stare.

"Why do you do this?" she asked honestly. "Are you being paid to look into this, or…?"

"No," Aldric shrugged again. "I'm on my own. Mostly…"

"Then why…?"

"Because. Somebody has to."

Evony ogled him in befuddlement.

"How could you…" she murmured. "How could you do all this on your own?"

Aldric sighed and held his arms upright. "I'm the only one who 𝘤𝘢𝘯 do it on his own."

"I don't mean that," Evony said, stepping toward him. "I know you're strong enough to… I saw that much loud and clear. I'm just wondering how you stay 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦 doing it alone."

Aldric returned her stare profoundly, taking a deep breath and feeling suddenly thrown off. This girl didn't seem perturbed by him in the slightest, and she asked the types of questions that everyone else overlooked—the ones regarding him as a person rather than an anomaly, as if she just understood, as if the lifestyle of a lonely misfit was nothing new to her at all.

Then, his eyes fixed more firmly onto her, only just spotting the fresh, crooked scar marked across her left eye, halfway hidden by her combed-over bangs.

"Oh," he breathed, inching closer and gently reaching toward her face.

Evony stiffened up as he moved close, inhaling sharply as her heart gave a jump.

Aldric blinked and lowered his hand. "Sorry, I… didn't see that before."

Evony didn't reply right away. She let out a cloud of breath and slid her hands into her leather jacket, pausing to think for a moment before responding.

"I had a couple friends back home… but they didn't care," she mumbled. "They were just… people I knew from school. People to shop with and gossip with. Everyone else kinda hated me… and it seems like they hate me more here. So I get it."

Aldric gave her a look. "Get what…?"

"I just… I get it," Evony told him. "I get being accosted for no reason. Granted, I don't feel it at the same 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 as you, but… I still get it."

"Oh," Aldric uttered with a nod. "I thought you would've been… I mean, I thought it would've been because of the scar. No, ah… no offense. That's just my experience. Scars make people treat you weird…"

"I've only had it for a day," Evony informed, combing her hairs aside. "It's not even really a scar yet… it's a fresh wound. People here just hate me for being new here. And people back home just hated me for being different. People suck."

"Right, well… you don't have glowing green wounds all up and down you. How different could you have been? Honestly…"

"I'm a martial arts master," Evony smirked. "And that's not a 'girly' thing to be. It makes girls hate me, and it makes guys not want to date me. And, if I'm honest… I'm kinda mean, and standoffish, and antisocial… I mean, there's a whole list..."

Aldric laughed. "Oh. Don't I know it? 'Course with me, you can see the reasons all over me. I don't 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 a ruddy list."

"No, you sure as hell don't. But I bet mine's bigger."

They both snickered and fell silent, meeting eyes again as a solemn quietness overtook the atmosphere of the old shack.

"'Course," Aldric added, his tone softening. "I dunno how mean you could really be."

Evony took back, giving him a questioning look.

"Considerin' you followed a perfect stranger out to the middle of nowhere, just on a hunch that he mighta been in danger," Aldric elaborated. "That's not mean—that's really just sweet."

Evony swallowed, trying to respond and suddenly failing to find the words.

"Thank you," Aldric said sincerely, flashing a smooth, charming half-smile. "Honestly… if you didn't call him out like you did, he might've caught me more off-guard. Not to mention you gave him a hell of an ass-kicking before he pulled his piece on you."

Evony's mouth drifted open, a strange static-like sensation spreading throughout her as her mind remained a blank. She fought to think of a decent reply, but then, a different sort of response came to her—another question that popped into her thoughts.

"Why… why was he coming after you?" she wondered. "Do they know where you are? Do they send killers after you or something?"

Aldric's smile faded.

"Well, ah… to be honest," he sighed. "I do more than keep track of 'em."

Evony surveyed him. "What do you mean?"

Aldric stared downward for several seconds. When his eyes flickered back up to her, they shone with a sense of severity that sent a shudder down her spine.

"I stop 'em, too," he told her intensely. "Whenever I can… I do."

Evony gnawed her bottom lip. "Stop them from what…?"

Aldric gave a mild shrug. "Hurting folks. I don't run into that very much, but… whenever I manage to piece together the right info, I can pinpoint when and where they'll meet, and I can go and mess up their plans. I only managed to do that a couple times, but…"

"You need help," Evony blurted without thinking.

There was another pause, the two of them gazing into one another thoughtfully.

"I…" Aldric started, though he wasn't sure how to reply. "Well, I jus… ahm…"

"Lemme ask you something," Evony insisted, taking a step closer and eyeing him intently. "Can't you work with the cops or the military to do this stuff? And why—why're you so insistent on doing this?"

Aldric slid his hands into the pockets of his worn pants, his expression softening.

"I've tried," he uttered, his tone darkening. "Authority doesn't tend to like me much—and I don't much care for them, either. But doing nothing really isn't an option. I hate to sound like some cliché from an old-world action movie, but here it is. They killed my father. They killed my father, and therefore, I plan on stopping 'em. It's not revenge, it's just right to do. Hell—there's no reason for all the fighting in the first place. Most people and reptilians don't have a problem with each other. It's just the pockets of extremists that cause all the problems. And nippin' them in the bud will nip the whole bloody 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 in the bud. Hopefully."

He ran a hand down his face, leaning on the wall and looking away for a moment—Evony observing him with a troubled, empathetic expression.

"Then I'll help you," she stated impulsively, not knowing why she'd volunteered for such a thing, though she didn't regret it.

Aldric turned his head, his eyes narrowing at her, looking both touched and confused.

"If you… want," Evony added.

Once more, they shared a deep stare.

Aldric slowly gulped, reading her face and seeing no hint of deceit amidst it. "Yeah…?"

Evony nodded. "Yeah."

Aldric continued to survey her as if he'd never seen anything quite like her before.

"Why?" he breathed.

Evony stopped, pondering on this for a second, then shrugging and nodding sideways.

"Why not?" she replied firmly.

Yet again, they stared into one another—Evony feeling determined and insistent while Aldric remained somewhat stunned.

"No one's ever done that before," Aldric mumbled.

"Then you've never met any decent people before," Evony responded curtly. "If nobody's ever offered to help you, then who have you been talking to?"

"Well, I… I mean… I get 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱," Aldric said, making a shrug and a wincing sort of face. "I just don't… I just don't get help with 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴."

"Why not?"

"'Cause it's dangerous."

"So?"

"So… people… people don't 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 dangerous."

"Yeah, but it… it's necessary to deal with."

"Yeah, well… yeah…"

Aldric leaned on the wall, studying her closely, Evony returning the look just the same.

"Why d'you wanna get involved?" he wondered.

Evony stopped to think again, her few and far-gone memories of her mother replaying briefly through her mind.

"I…" she muttered. "I don't really know. It just seems like I should. Whenever you're at a crossroad… y'know… you don't wanna choose the wrong thing. Helping's the right thing to do, so… like I said… why not?"

Aldric's eyes shone with a hint of gratitude, and he flashed a calm half-smile. "Yeah, see… I told ya' you're sweet."

Evony managed a smile, her heart giving a slight jump.

"Are you really sure?" Aldric inquired, sauntering closer. "It's a… I don't wanna lie… it's a lot. Especially now."

"Why especially now?"

"Well, it just… it just seems like… based on their movements and sightings in the south… it seems like they're all converging on this one region right now. I've never seen anything like it before, and I dunno what it means… but having all them extremists lingering around this area can't mean anything good. I dunno what's gonna happen, but… it could…"

Aldric paused and cleared his throat, sighing and giving her a conflicted look.

"It could…" he mumbled. "Really turn out… bad."

Evony stared at him, a sense of seriousness emerging in the atmosphere, her most recent memories suddenly returning to her—riding home with her father, the two of them stepping out of their old car, walking forward, just in time for the earth to quake and the apartment complex to explode into a million pieces before their eyes, a deafening blast and a burst of debris, something striking her in the face before she fell to the pavement.

Hardly any time had passed since that event—the bombing that destroyed her home, her car, and her entire life in Starrylake—yet nevertheless, here she stood, feeling as if she was years away from it, as if the event had taken place a decade ago or in another life, as if danger simply couldn't phase her at all.

"So?" she finally replied. "For me, it already has."

Aldric's mouth drifted agape. He hesitated, then gave her a few light nods.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Yeah… I get that… me too…"

"So… let's be friends," Evony said, offering her hand.

Aldric smirked and returned the handshake. "Okay. Friends."

"Why don't you come into town?" Evony asked. "Seriously, you don't look different enough to turn everybody's heads. Aside from the arms."

"Eeeeeh." Aldric made a face, scanning his arms up and down. "I dunno. Think I need some long sleeves first."

Evony examined him. "Do you have a phone?"

Aldric shook his head. "Nope."

They paused, Evony pocketing her hands and giving him another thoughtful squint. She still had her savings, and she was certain she'd seen the necessary shops in the town.

"I can get that stuff for you," Evony figured. "We can keep in touch, and you can come hang out in Silverhollow whenever you want."

Aldric narrowed his eyes at her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Evony affirmed. "Just… be careful if you end up meeting my dad. He's really protective, and he's kind of a hermit."

"Oh!" Aldric suddenly gasped, jumping in place and jabbing a finger at her. "Oh, oh, oh—hey, have you got a gun?"

Evony took back. "No. My dad does, but he wouldn't let me run off with it… why?"

"'Cause," Aldric replied, revealing a grin. "I'd rather you be armed if you're gonna get involved—and I know exactly where you can get one."

"You do?"

"Ye'ap. I've got a friend in town who can hook ya' up."

"Okay. Well… when do you wanna go see him?"

"Whenever I can walk through town…"

"So… after I get you something to cover up your arms with."

"Pretty much, yeah."

"All right." Evony thought on this for a moment. "I have to help my family with the house a little bit tomorrow, but I'll try to break away and meet you out here."

"Sounds good," Aldric replied with a smile.

Evony lingered by the door, preparing to leave, though both of them seemed a touch hesitant.

Aldric sighed, stepping forward and offering his hand.

"Thank you," he said sincerely, his warm grasp encompassing her hand as he gave it a gentle shake, his eyes more genuine than any she'd seen of him thus far.

"Thank you more," Evony replied smoothly, returning the handshake and turning the doorknob. "Seeya later."

"Bye."

She opened the door, a gust of blistering air invading the shack, and Evony slipped outside, the door creaking shut and leaving Aldric by his lonesome inside as she vanished into the night.

Aldric stood still for a moment thereafter, gazing distantly into the door and feeling numerous thoughts battling his emotions for his attention, releasing a heavy cloud of breath and sauntering mindlessly over to the door as she left.

He pressed his back to it, slid down to the floor, and sat there, stroking thoughtfully along his chin and flashing a small, contented half-smile.

And as Evony trekked through the deep blanket of snow, marching through the darkened trees and heading back toward the town—far above her, and beyond her line of sight, a tiny round figure hovered high on the night air, floating near the canopies of treetops above.

The robot monitored her every move, his screen aimed at her in the distance—his camera delivering a perfect live stream of her actions directly back to the office of Osric Azarias.

And—after watching the entire scenario play out, from the reptilian fight to the meet-up in the shack—Osric sat slacked crookedly back in the comfort of his big armchair, one leg propped up as his fingers tapped lightly against his mouth, his profound silver eyes now uncovered by his odd goggles, his gaze resting intently on the live feed from his computer's screen, pondering deeply on everything he'd seen.

"Oooh," he murmured with an ominous intrigue, mouth curling into a faint little smirk. "You are quite the anomaly. This is… most assuredly… gonna be very, 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 fun."