Quoted By:
Next is Benjamin.
He's carving something into the dust and sand-caked ground with a sharp piece of scrap metal he found somewhere in the facility. A series of nonsensical math equations, chemical formulas and schematics that are clearly just being drawn to pass time more than anything.
"So. What kind of singularity are you tryin' to make?" You ask.
"Oh, if only I could." Benjamin chuckles. "Not like you can just make one."
"We have literal proof you can 'just make one' if you're smart enough." You still have those old schematics in your inventory. You'll probably contact one of your allies that's off-the-clock via the radio. Pawn it off to them so you don't have this hot-potato in L-Corp. "No, but seriously. What's up?
"I suppose it's a bad habit I have from working at a lab all day. When you're not creating something it feels like, you know, wasted time." Benjamin continues to doodle into the sand. "Not to say being with you, Max and the others is wasted time but-"
"I get what you mean." You kneel down next to him. "You had that whole speech about D-Corp about wanting to help people."
Benjamin nods, "Yep." He lets the piece of scrap metal fall to the ground. "I never want to disappoint, you know, and uh. I suppose I want to make sure that, well, I don't make a mistake when I do help people."
A faint smile crosses your face. "Hey, you haven't made any real major mistakes yet."
"That's the issue. I don't want to make them ever. I don't want to be responsible for, you know, falling for a trick. Or..." He vaguely gestures something. "I dunno. Just being dead weight."
"Wow, your wife was saying somethin' like that only a few hours ago." You murmur without really thinking what you were saying.
Benjamin blankly stares at you as if he didn't quite process what you were saying at first.
"Hey, so completely unrelated, do you have any jewelry I could borrow?"
"Oh, blow it up your ass-" You stop yourself. You do have some old pieces of jewelry to give him- No, no, you might need those later. "Pfft. Trust me, as long as I'm here, you won't be."
"Still. You can't blame me for worrying."
"C'mon. Don't worry about it, just keep doing what you're doing and you'll be fine."
Benjamin nods but there's a subtle shift in his attitude now. He seems to be taking things a lot more seriously now. Perhaps the gravity of what he's gotten himself into has fully sank in.
>+MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE to BEN!
----
Max is next. She's not that far from her boyfriend (why would she be), resting in the faint shade of one of the empty square structures. She seems to be doing the same thing he was doing, doodlin' in the sand. Though she's using oil from her finger tips like she's fingerpainting back in pre-school.
There's something different with her eyes now. They're hidden somewhat by the shades she wears but there's a faint yet potent light in her eyes. She looks at you with a shit-eating grin that, for once, actually seems genuine. No more false bravado behind it.
