"Do I have to remind you that I don't give final warnings, Acutissima?"

Bordeaux's loud voice jolted Quercus out of yet another thought train filled with wonder. He sounded just like Tepal had not more than a few hours earlier, the sole difference being that the only emotion in the former's voice was satisfaction while the latter's had held annoyance, disappointment, concern and care. Both of them were effective, however, as Quercus' attention had quickly snapped back to his duty.

He couldn't remember that there was any other supervisor before the evil-eyed and blue-haired bag of muscles in front of him. He still felt an instinctive wariness about him that wasn't enough to hold him back from blurting out, "You just did."

A smirk spread across the supervisor's face as he pulled out a device from his pocket and waved it about in front of the boy's face, "You seem to have forgotten what this does, boy. Showcase that intelligence again and I'd love to show you what this does by using this on you."

Quercus gulped before returning to his job, carefully packing the packages exactly as he felt he had been told to recently only he couldn't remember who had told him. The time wasn't right, however, to wonder about it as he could've sworn he could hear Bordeaux breathing down his neck and he hastily tossed all of his attention into his work even though that went against his very being.

Putting the gadget back in its place, Bordeaux turned around to return to his cabin but not before he turned in the direction of Regia's designated workstation and yelled at her to get back to work and quit spying on others. He even threw in a few choice words that neither Quercus nor Regia nor most of the employees in the room would use unless they were so angry that fumes billowed out their ears.

Regia had been listening intently to what he had been telling Quercus, while peeking out the corner and mentally slapped herself for not realizing that the man could spot someone peeking from miles away. Her aim had to be to stay away from trouble with him first and then to get her dense friend and neighbour out of trouble as that was what she had been doing since he had been hired.

Sighing, she realized she sorely missed the year she had been working without having to babysit him before he had joined. The place went through a whole lot of supervisor and senior officers changes and, even though most of the employees either didn't remember or didn't care, she remembered every single one of their physical appearances and dominant traits.

It wasn't the first time Bordeaux had taken charge as she had encountered him several times over the course of the past year and a half. It had been two months since he had last come, leading her to take relief in the thought that he was gone for good. Now that he was back and for good, as he had felt the necessity to remind Quercus a minimum of five times in two minutes, she feared for all the employees.

She wondered if she would forget all the other helpful seniors who had been a major part of her professional success just like everyone else. While she convinced herself she didn't want that to happen, a small part of her wished she could so she wouldn't be haunted by her thoughts and wonders, which never seemed to fare well for anyone, Quercus being a primary example.

Several beads of sweat dotted her skin as she remembered the reign of terror that Bordeaux's previous arrival had preceded and ended with his injury caused by the new boy. The new boy was the only one, except for Regia herself of course, who had realized just what it was that he was upto and attempted to resist. She hadn't set eyes on the boy after that day, which had led to her fear of harm being thrown his way amplifying. What if it was Quercus who disappeared this time around?

While the thought of harm being inflicted on the devil spawn did bring her joy and she would've been mighty proud of Quercus had he ever attempted to perform the deed, she couldn't bring herself to imagine Zephyr without her friend as she had gotten far too close to him. She was determined this time around and wouldn't let anybody else get taken away without getting through her. While she probably would've been blazed through by those in power had she stepped in between them and their prey, she would figure out something to stop them.

Squaring her shoulders, Regia wiped her face clean of all the conflicting emotions that had overwhelmed her earlier and set to work before she could get any more distracted. She would–

"Aha, my chance has already come, you're a good one for my temper, boy!" Bordeaux's enthusiastic scream pulled her out of her thoughts like uncharged metal to a magnet as she leapt to her feet to survey the situation.

Quercus had one hand directly in front of his face in a defensive stance. His other hand tightly encircled a light gray metal rod that he had hidden behind his back and away from the vision of the man in front of him who struggled to reach into his pocket. The moment was ripe as Bordeaux was distracted and Quercus began to bring the rod to his side.

The signs registered in Regina's mind as she realized Quercus had long since been the new version of the boy who had disappeared. He had only hidden his knowledge, masking it with curiosity and foolhardiness. She scrambled for the weak link in the connection to all the cameras and watching automatons in the room. She had just broken the connection when she heard the sickening sound of impact. Severely praying to the Zephyr stratosphere that it wasn't Quercus who had been at the receiving end of the blow, Regia rose to her feet. Her mind was already coming up with excuses she could use to explain why she had severed the connection that she had hidden her knowledge of for far too long for her to be pardoned easily.

Her thoughts, however, came to a complete standstill as she observed the metal rod making repeated contact with the supervisor's cranium until he lost consciousness. His gray eyes wide, Quercus immediately raised his head to survey the surroundings, panicking when he realized Regia Juglans, his neighbour, had witnessed the entire scene. She looked around before she raced towards him, his feet shifting back a few inches when she approached.

"Quercus, well done, but now, you've got to go on the run if you want any chance of surviving. I tell you, these people have no sense of forgiveness or understanding and they would whisk you away from here in a jiffy if they got their hands on you. Come quick, we've got to run!" she whispered to him urgently as she quickly slipped out of her work boots and into her suit. She planned to get rid of the conspicuous neon pink jacket on the way and get moving with her more neutral camouflage print outfit on that all the citizens wore so she couldn't be spotted easily.

A dazed Quercus followed suit and followed her out as she made sure not to leave a trace of either of their identities. He wondered how they were going to get out without being detected, unaware of all the knowledge his comrade possessed. She knew the building and the area inside and out. She easily led him out and into a safe place, well, for the moment at least, in a matter of a few minutes.

"What now?" Quercus asked her.

Sticking the velcro portions of her outfit together as securely as she could, she replied in a neutral tone that was far from matching her neighbour's stumped and frightened expression, "Now we run, and we go right through the centre of the headquarters of the people we're running from."

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Hi there! Thank you for reading and I hope you liked this! I finished up this chapter a bit early and I couldn't wait to share it so here we are! If this chapter is a tad too confusing, let me know so I can attempt to fix it. Love, XO

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