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"What did you see?" I gasp as the fragile reality of things reasserts itself. My body feels foreign. Uno is only inches away from my face as he grips my collar. "What did you see down there? Answer me!"
"I-I think I saw myself. It was me down there. Hanging." The words are choked out. You find your voice in time.
He looks at you with an indeterminate look, searching for anything but the answer you've given. A scream is building up in his throat.
"Stupid fucking bitch." With a rough shove, the Agent knocks you back into your seat and strides to the telescope station. He peers through. <span class="mu-r">He's made a terrible mistake.</span>
The anger and manic energy drain from his body. His entire posture slackens and his breathing becomes quick and shallow. You feel a strange surge of aggression as the Agent disappears. All that remains is a pathetic jumped up little tool who's gotten into something far over his head.
He steps away from the telescope in a daze and sits next to his waiting compatriots. His hands desperately clutch at his head. You watch quietly as the scenario unfolds.
"The deal's off, Tres," Uno says in a very quiet, scared voice to the man with the suitcase. Tres stares for a moment then stands up, absolutely apoplectic.
"Bullshit, sinner! I've had enough of these fucking excuses! Dragging me along like a pup only for you to jump out at the last moment!" Tres slams the suitcase against the table. "We've gone this far already. We can't go back to District S without-"
"He's dead, Tres. He's worse than dead. Whatever got Cinq got our contact at OTXO too."
There's a deathly silence. Uno's head hangs forward as if he had read aloud the date of his own execution.
"T-Then they'll retaliate." Dos finds his voice, trembling but sure. "OTXO, F Company, Bolverk, Lateralis. A-A-All of them will pin the blame on u-us, then each other."
"We can't go forward. We can't go back unless we make the deal either." Tres grits his teeth. "So what the Hell do we do now?"
"Gentlemen, this is where we part ways," the cleaning Agent intones. He carefully inspects the pieces of his rifle as he places them into his coat. "You will not stop me. You will not follow me. Farewell. For your sake, I hope we do not meet again..."
He stands up and walks off, into the rain, into the dark, into the City.
"Whu-" Uno chokes. His entire body seems to jolt to a semblance of before with a paroxysm of pure indignation. "CUARTRO, YOU FUCKING RAT! GET BACK HERE!"
"Bark all you like, Uno. He's good, he's gone." Tres snickers, then devolves into hateful laughter. The cuff chain rattles as he slams his hand down on the table. "Looks like it's a one way trip for us, boys! We all make it sooner or later."
Uno looks like he's about to tear Tres a new one, but he starts laughing too. Dos too. There's nothing else to be done. "None of this is funny. That's why you should laugh."
>LAUGH verb acquired.