I needed that! I think we all needed that! The whole saying about "being asleep before your head hitting the pillow" definitely applied last night. Actually, I was probably already asleep before actually being in bed properly, I was that tired! I slept soundly all night, and still managed to wake up before everyone else. Well, almost everyone. After having something to eat, I went to the lab to check on OROTHO; he's almost always there early in the morning, and I was a little surprised to find him not there at all. Instead I found AMPHIS sitting behind the desk, staring at the papers stacked before him. As I got closer though I could tell he wasn't studying them; he had the long, vacant stare of someone in deep thought. Not wanting to disturb him, and being pretty sure he hadn't seen me yet, I went to tiptoe out of the lab and back into my room.
"He's not awake yet... No-one is..."
I stopped, turning around slowly to face AMPHIS. He was now watching me from behind the desk, but maintaining the same stance as before.
"You're up early. Thought you needed the sleep?"
I could say the same about AMPHIS! He looked exhausted yesterday, and spending hours in a baking hot room performing a dangerous and repetitive task as smelting iron, I'm surprised he wasn't in bed like the others.
"I couldn't sleep... I couldn't get the thought of seeing SERVERE out of my head... I know what I saw, Syeonyx... My eyes have never deceived me yet... It was him, standing there clear as crystal. I saw his face beneath the helm he was wearing. It was definitely SERVERE!"
I stood there in silence for a few moments, trying to think of something to say to break the tension. I wanted to believe AMPHIS, I really did, but none of it made sense. The logical part of me wouldn't let my heart win on this. SERVERE was dead...
"You don't believe me... Do you...? I know it's hard to believe, but it's true... I've never steered anyone wrong whilst being part of this group. Never... Why would I start now...? I would have nothing to gain. SERVERE is alive, and I know it..."
I approached AMPHIS and did the only thing I could think of doing. I placed my hand on his shoulder, blocked out my brain and said the three words I never thought I would say.
"You're just saying that... Trying to calm me down, or something, but it won't work. I know what you really think. You're like the others; you think I've suffered too much stress and I've finally snapped! Maybe I'm not the one with the problem. Maybe you're all in denial. You've already put to rest the idea that SERVERE isn't coming back, and now with that being a possibility it's hard for you to contemplate..."
AMPHIS was right. We all had put that idea out of our minds. SERVERE was gone and was never going to come back. So of course it was hard for them to hear that someone had seen him alive and well... And possibly stalking us! I was in the same pool as Amie and Joe; I could feel and understand the points from both parties, but without actually knowing SERVERE ourselves, we didn't really have a place in this... COLUS had to try and keep a level head by ensuring that no-one started speculating. He was concentrating on dealing with the things we could prove or see. AMPHIS was the only one claiming to have seen him, so it was essentially five against one.
"Maybe they're right... Maybe I have gone insane... It's just so hard to put to rest what was staring me in the face! How can I cast that from my mind or just assume it was due to an overactive imagination brought on by stress..."
I was a little confused by AMPHIS's almost complete reversal of opinion, but from the sounds of it, he had been battling against himself all night. He was tormenting himself, trying to deduce a logical explanation against what he had seen. And with only one logical conclusion he could draw from, he was having issues accepting it. He set his head on the table, arms crossed in front of him.
"I think I need to be alone again..."
I left the lab, and went to the kitchen area where COLUS and THEXIS were eating breakfast. I informed COLUS about AMPHIS, and what he had just said, and he just nodded to me.
"Don't worry, we'll look after him. You go and finish that tunnel, it's nearly finished."
Me, THEXIS, UOPETA and THEROS had been working on the tunnel for an hour or so now, and it seemed that the long sleep had done us all some good. The morale was back, along with the energy and determination to have this tunnel finished by tomorrow at the latest! However, throughout I couldn't help but think about what AMPHIS had said, and what must be going through his mind right now. None of us could relate to his situation, myself least of all. But it was hard to see someone so close to you tear themselves apart about something even they're not entirely sure of. With AMPHIS being way ahead on smelting iron anyway, I think COLUS will stop him from working today. We have enough to be getting on with, but a small part of me thinks that AMPHIS just needs something to distract himself with. It must be worse for him during the night, when the only things for company he has are his own thoughts.
"We've all known AMPHIS more or less from the start. Out of all of us, he's always been the most level headed. It's probably why he does the job he was assigned. He's the most logical out of all of us; he thinks through clearly, and examines every detail. I suppose those parts of his character are wreaking havoc in his head about now..."
"To be honest... I'm beginning to believe him..."
"What? Why?"
"Well like you say, AMPHIS has always been the level headed one. He's never done anything extreme or over the top to make us worry about him before, so why would he start now...? I reckon he did see someone down there, but no necessarily SERVERE. Maybe someone who looked like him... Who knows, HoN Co. are a huge company, and are likely to hire people with similar appearances..."
"We never knew they were part of HoN Co. though..."
"Well who else would it be...? Who else would have access to a tunnel that overlooked our base? HoN Co., plain and simple..."
"SERVERE could... If he wasn't dead... Which we're pretty sure he is, unfortunately..."
Or both... Everyone stopped working, and turned to face me as though I had insulted someone's mother, and I begun to sense the tension mounting in the air....
"What do you mean 'both'...?"
Trying to think of the right words to use without becoming the enemy, I eventually came out with SERVERE possibly being found by HoN Co., and instead of being put to work as a scout... Or a spy... I used the word 'possibly' so many times I lost count, but it was evident on everyone's face that I had overstepped a mark...
"Are you saying that SERVERE is a traitor? That he betrayed us to HoN Co.? Is that it?"
I had to break down in such a way that it took away the focus of my initial statement. I felt like I was a few words away from having a slightly flatter face! If we were put into SERVERS's position, being faced with imprisonment or even death is something we would do anything to get out of. Maybe SERVERE had offered us his services to HoN Co. and help them locate the Lone 7.
"So you ARE saying that he's a traitor?!?!"
I quickly followed with a line that I think saved myself entirely, and silenced everyone for quite some time. I said that maybe SERVERE had done this initially to save himself, but then use it to his advantage. Maybe working for HoN Co. was a front to ensure they never found out that he was still allied with the Lone 7, and had spent many months distracting them from our true position with false links and connections. Maybe he had been hiding us all of this time, and was close by, watching us, to ensure we weren't ever found by HoN Co. ... The silence seemed to stretch on for a long time, and it was difficult to gauge whether they were considering this as a possibility. After some time, UOPETA spoke up, piecing what I had said together.
"So you're saying that if whoever had been spying on us was SERVERE, he did it to protect us? He was working with HoN Co. only to prevent them from ever finding us...?"
That was the long and short of it. It seemed like the most logical explanation now at this point about what had been going on, but we still had no proof of this at all. It still could have just been a HoN Co. spy, watching our every move. Although, judging from the age of the tunnels and cliff access, it didn't make sense for HoN Co. to wait so long.
"I think we should ask COLUS a few questions. He knew SERVERE the best, and he would know from the start whether SERVERE would ever expose us..."
Putting my pickaxe down and following the others out of the tunnel, I felt like I had just jumped out of the proverbial fire, over the frying pan into a pool of ice cold water! I don't think I should make my strong opinions like that known again!
Syeonyx signing off
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