Dawn of the third day found the occupants of room 221 rather disoriented. Dex was already up by the time the rest got up. He was out in the balcony, tired eyes staring towards the horizon. Nobody questioned it.
Thomas had gotten up early as well. He was laying on his mattress, fiddling a screwdriver between his fingers. Jon was busy staring at the door.
"Where's your girl? No morning run today?" Bryce asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Guess not. I hope nothing happened to her." Jon muttered. His buddy scoffed.
"Please!" He went. "What could possibly happen to her? This is probably the safest place in the mediterranean right about now."
A small 'crack!', silent but deafening, went out across the room following that last statement. Dex's cigarette holder fell on the ground.
"Something on your mind?" Thomas asked him. Dex sighed, and grunted 'no' under his breath.
"Yeah, I don't know what's up with all of you, but we better get to roll call." Bryce declared, put on his hat, and went out the door of their room. The rest followed suit.
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Renee was already there when they got to the grounds. But they couldn't engage in much conversation, thanks to Larry, who had somehow acquired a gong.
Liam looked on at his brother with horror, while he was going at it with the gong. Eventually, he got tired of the noise, so he grabbed the stick Larry was slamming the gong with and tossed it in the ocean.
"Dude. Uncool." Larry squawked.
"Okay down to business now. Let's see…" Liam said, and took out the list of tasks for the day. He skimmed it over, his face getting progressively more and more scrunched as he went along.
"Who- why- who wrote this!?" He exclaimed, wildly swinging the flyer around. "What kind of jobs are these? Watering the flowers? Polishing the gong – where did it come from? Painting the fence- There is no fence!"
"Oh, I wrote the list." Renee piped up from the crowd. Liam stared at her, then back at the list, then back at her, then at Larry, who snatched the list from him.
"This revelation explains a lot, actually." Larry pointed out. "But hey, I can still do this…"
Larry grabbed a mop he had around and signalled Dex to catch it, which he did.
"What, no bucket this time?" Dex asked, looking around in confusion. Following that, Larry threw a bucket of water at him. And then he tossed the list into the crowd.
"Watering flowers. Tch. What a joke…" He muttered.
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"So… flowers." Jon stated. Himself and Renee were standing over a faucet that was filling up a watering can.
"Well, yeah. My sister pestered Leo to add flowers to the island, which was especially bold of her seeing as he's still pissed at her for the Kane trial." Renee explained.
"How did these things even survive? It's the middle of the winter, and it doesn't rain very often…" Jon pondered. The watering can was done filling up, so the pair of them began making their way to the garden.
"Well, I water them when I come here." Renee shrugged. Jon smirked.
"Is that why you come here every week?" He asked, playfully nudging her.
"Yeah, that's what my dad thinks. Anyway, you can keep the watering can, I'll go look for a hose." Renee gave Jon the watering can, and he saluted at her in response. She went behind one of the bushes, found the hose and came back.
"Y'know, maybe we should get those eggheads to make an automated watering system. It would really save us the trouble." Jon pointed out, as the two of them watered the flowers.
"I say we can't trust those machines too much. Who knows, maybe one day they'll ATTACK US!" Renee put her finger on the end of the hose, and turned it towards Jon, spraying him head to toe with it.
"Oh, you're evil." Jon said, and he tried to push back with the watering can, but the water didn't have enough range.
"Ha! You can't get me!" Renee taunted him, still spraying him with the hose.
"You wanna play like that!? Fine!" Jon took a handful of water from the can, put it in his mouth, and started spraying it in Renee's direction.
"Ah! Stop! That's disgusting! STOP!!" Renee screeched while she tried to run away. The two of them continued chasing each other around the garden, water flying everywhere but the plants they were supposed to be watering.
Eventually, Dex passed by, on his way to the other building, carrying a bucket of soap water with one hand and a mop with the other.
"What are you two doing?" He asked, putting his hands on his hips like a mother scolding a child.
The two of them stopped in their tracks and stared. An awkward silence ensued for a couple seconds, interrupted by Renee blasting Dex in the face with water from the hose, causing herself and Jon to burst out in uncontrollable laughter.
Dex took a deep breath, dropped the mop on the ground, picked up the bucket with both hands, and swung it at them, splashing them away, and covering them with soap. He gave a cruel smirk at the pair of them, and they then decided to team up to attack him with the water instead.
"Not cool! Teamers!!" Dex yelled while running away towards the inside of the building.
"You covered my jacket in soap! I had my wallet in there!" Renee exclaimed.
"Is that the thank you I get for washing your dirty ass clothes!? And stop spitting at me!" Dex shouted. At the end of this whole debacle, around 3 flowers had been watered successfully, and one recruit later slipped and fell on the soap water all over the court.
"You two morons realise that poor kid almost broke his jaw because of your nonsense, right!?" Starman exclaimed, yelling at Jon and Dex in his office.
"Well, the princess-" Dex tried to defend himself, but Starman threw a stapler at him, making him shut up.
"How dare you, Tuscan, come into my office, ruin my carpet, and have the gall to blame this lady for the nonsense you caused, eh?" Starman asked, slamming his hands on his desk.
"I hope you'll come to realise that it was you who called us to your office." Dex claimed, arms crossed. Starman sighed, shook his head in disappointment, and pointed at the door.
"Please leave, I don't have any more staplers to throw at you."
The remainder of the day was rather uneventful. Jon, supposedly done with watering the flowers, spent it being laughed at by Bryce, who was in charge of painting the non-existent fence. Dex, on the other hand, spent it scrubbing toilets, accompanied by one Jet Vasquez, who kept mocking him for losing to girl.
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The following day began with everyone being ushered outside at 8AM by Liam and Larry. Renee was on the stage, hanging around a very sleep deprived Geowar, who was bizarrely wearing sweats instead of his combat uniform or suit.
"Alright! Good morning team!" Renee greeted the crowd when everyone had gathered. "I've taken the liberty to organise you guys' next expedition, a visit to the Sowei City Castle! For breakfast, everyone gets an apple."
Renee turned to stare at Geowar, giving him an expectant smile. He blinked at her.
"Okay so, when Leo asks you to open a portal, it's all fine, but when I-" Renee began scolding him, but he raised a hand up to shush her.
"Okay, okay, fine." Geowar snapped his fingers and a large portal opened above the crowd, apples raining from it down for everyone to pick up. Following that, Renee made Geowar open another portal, and everyone went inside. On the other side, they found the front gate of the castle, elegantly surrounded by marble pillars. The stone structure towered over the crowd, casting a large, imposing shadow.
Everyone slowly got in, with two royal guardsmen checking their belongings to make sure they weren't carrying anything dangerous. Renee was hovering around the back of the pack, as Geowar had taken charge of leading the tour. Jon was the last person to pass the security check, after which he went to rejoin the group, who had already gotten in the foyer.
Before he could leave though, Renee grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him away from the rest.
"Let's ditch the snoozefest, shall we? There's nothing but offices over there anyway…" She said. She led him down the spinning stairs into the basement, claiming to give him the 'exclusive tour'.
"So, how did you get Geowar to be your, uhh, minion?" Jon question, making Renee giggle.
"Oh, I beat him in poker. Guy couldn't believe it. Anyway, we're here." She explained.
The two of them had wandered into the biggest room in the castle, the one housing the Matter Transporter. Its core glowed brightly, a silent hum emitting from it as it pulsed.
"Is that where it all came from? The magic?" Jon asked, mesmerised by the ethereal allure of the machine.
"I wasn't here when it happened, but yes. I don't know what's exactly behind that glowing orb, but it must be something great." Renee commented.
"Why show me this?" Jon wondered. Renee shrugged. The two of them stared at the pulsing sphere for a couple of minutes, before deciding to move to another room.
Jon's exclusive tour was an educating experience. Renee took him to the Grand Database, where they asked all sorts of questions to Holo-Bud there, to the maximum-security cells, where Renee trapped Jon in a cell and he tried to escape, to the broom closet, where the two of the fought a duel with broomsticks for weapons, and the lab, where they set a bunch of Dr. Parr's cockroaches free.
While the others were going from office to office, learning about what wood the table in the meetings room is made of, Jon and Renee had moved to the second floor, where they were playing pool in the lounge, and messing with the pillows in Nick's room.
Jon tried to get to see Renee's room, but that didn't go very well.
"Hold your horsed, compadre. We're not there yet." Renee told him, wagging her index finger at him.
"What, are you hiding a secret diary in there?" Jon teased.
"And why do you wanna go in there, anyway? You wanna see the colour of my walls?" Renee deflected.
"Yes!"
"Well they're purple! Forget my room, I'll take you somewhere better…" Renee exclaimed, and grabbed him by the hand and dragged him up one more floor.
The capstone of their little adventure was the roof of the castle, where the flagpole was still broken from the last time Renee had gotten up there. It was 5PM, and the sunset was nearing.
"Beautiful view, right?" Renee told him. She sat down, her feet dangling above the edge. She patted the ground next to her for Jon to sit.
"Not as beautiful as you." He said, and took his seat next to her.
"Thank you. When we were kids, we would spend hours chilling at the roof of the state. You remember that, don't you?" Renee asked.
"How could I forget?" Jon responded.
"Why did we ever stop doing this?" Renee pondered.
"Well, I did get sent to boarding school for a while. I only came back 3 years ago." Jon clarified.
"Leave it to that father of yours to create issues… We lost so much time." She spoke. The two of them gazed towards the distance.
"After today, I probably won't be able to come visit you at the facility for a while. I'll have to oversee the prisoner transfer over at the new penitentiary. This is part of the reason I actually came to the facility this week. I didn't want you think I was abandoning you." Renee explained.
"Why would I ever think that?" Jon asked, gazing into her eyes.
"I don't know. Many bad things seem to be happening around me lately, I don't want to lose the one good thing I have going on. So please, after you get out of the bootcamp, come see me again. I don't want to lose our relationship for a second time." Renee said.
"I promise." Jon said, grabbing her hand in the process. She smiled.
After that, Bryce found them on the roof, and dragged Jon away, claiming that Dex had accidentally burned one of the curtains, and that Jet and Nikolaoff had stolen one of the water coolers, and that the Prime Minister was pissed, so they all had to go. Jon barely had the time to wave Renee goodbye, before they were all gathered at the front door, ready to be portalled away.
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The cadets were allowed to go rest early that day. The occupants of room 221 hung around their room. Dex was by the window, smoking again. Thomas was reading a book. Bryce spent his time bothering Jon.
"So, were you and the princess going at it over at the roof when I showed up?" Bryce asked, making exaggerated kissing noises.
"You're acting like a charlatan. Please stop." Jon told his friend, but he ignored him.
"Johnny and the princess, sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Bryce went, chanting like a kindergartner.
"Nothing happened on the roof, Bryce." Jon tried to explain, but Bryce slapped the back of his head.
"Well you're an idiot, then! If I had royalty dragging me around and taking me to rooftops for 'alone time' like that, not even God knows what I'd do. Who knows, maybe her sister is single…" Bryce thought out loud. Jon sighed.
"You're disgusting. Now buzz off, I want to sleep." Jon said, making his way to the bathroom.
"Oh yeah, cause you're so tired. I'm sure you gave it your all out there, rummaging with your girl up on the roof, while the rest of us had to deal with that moron over there burning chandeliers up, or something!" Bryce yelled. Jon slammed the bathroom door on him.
"He burned a curtain, Bryce." Thomas corrected, not even bothering to look up from his book.
"Yeah, whatever. What colour were her walls, Johnny!? I bet you got a real good look inside her room, yeah?" Bryce taunted.
"Purple!" Jon shouted.
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Shortly after that, one by one the cadets began going to sleep. At the end of the day, only three people were awake.
Nikolai Nikolaoff swiftly got out of bed, making sure not to wake up his roommates. First, he alerted his partner in crime he was going out. He rushed down the stairs, picked the lock to the courtyard, rushed inside the staff building, snuck around the Generals' rooms and made it downstairs, to the hidden door to the laboratory.
He easily picked that lock as well, and got inside. Strewn across the floor were various mechanical parts, tools, wires. He inspected them. The gigantic suit of armour was laying on the floor nearby; it's chest compartment open.
Only one conclusion could be made.
And then, a message, from his pocket.
"Get out Nik. Bogey inbound." Dex said from the other side. Thomas was on the move, making his way to the lab.
"No way! I can finally confront him." Nik said back.
"Get out! We got what we came from, we can let the-" Dex tried to say, but Nik cut the transmission short. He grabbed a nearby nail gun, and aimed it at the door.
Thomas Gardner walked inside, blank expression hidden behind glasses. Arms folded behind back.
"What's all this, then, Gardner?" Nikolaoff asked, nail gun pointed at Thomas' legs.
No answer.
"Whatcha trying to do here, man? Gonna blow us to smithereens? Is that it? You came here to sabotage this whole operation… I heard about what you did. Jason told me everything!" Nikolaoff continued.
Thomas twitched.
"About Douglas, and you threatening to kill him in the bathroom- that's why he's been so off lately! So!? What's the endgame, bucko? Answer me!" Nikolaoff went off.
No answer.
"Yeah, keep staying silent. I'm going to drag you up to the general myself if I have to. This is treason, y'know… So I'm giving you one chance to back away and forget this ever happened. Because what would your old man think, if his son came back home a traitor and a failure?" Nikolaoff said.
And that was the straw the broke the camel's back.
Tomas lunged forward, and slapped the nail gun out of Nikolaoff's hands. He backed away and got into a defensive position.
"Oh, you wanna go, traitor? Fine! I'll fight you unarmed if I have to! You're just some creepy geek!" Nikolaoff taunted. Blue light came out of Tomas' fingers, forming into the shape of a pistol. He raised his arm and pointed it at Nikolaoff's head
"Ah, the same scare you gave Jason, with the fake weapon. Well, it doesn't matter, I won't fall for cheap tricks like that! COME ON!" Nikolaoff charged straight at Tomas, punch winding up, impact imminent and…
BANG.
"Goodbye."
Thomas Gardner was dead.
So was Nikolai Nikolaoff.