Theodore could feel the ash from Chester’s cigarette falling down the back of his neck. His bright shining teeth were engulfed in a cloud of smoke as he stared at Doctor Crown. His gaze started at her ankles and traveled up to her face and back down again. His left hand had cemented a firm grip on Theodore’s shoulder, digging into the fibers of his jacket. Theodore could feel the firm cold metal of the pistol he kept holstered under his fine pressed suit. Chester flicked the cigarette into Crown’s ash tray. It bounced and rolled to the floor, still smoldering.

“Where is it?” He said, clicking his teeth at her.

“Where is what Chester?” She responded, not looking at him.

“The large cake you jumped out of…and here it’s not even my birthday.”

She pinched her cigarette filter tight in her lips.

“That was earlier. We made sure to do it before you arrived,” she said annoyed.

“Come on Lily don’t be mean. I am just being playful. When you look that good it shouldn’t be hidden under that coat,” he grinned.

“Sorry Chester, Mama always said avoid boys with big smiles or no futures and you have both.”

Chester snapped his teeth again and still continued to smile uncontrollably.

“We’ll see doll,” he said in a less playful tone. “Right now, me and Teddy have something to discuss about his car. Don’t we Teddy?”

“Well I was assisting Doctor Crown in-” Theodore started.

Chester pulled Theodore close, nearly cracking their heads together.

“Trust me Teddy, you don’t want to do this here,” he whispered in his intense sharp tone.

He loosened his grip on Theodore and winked at Doctor Crown.

“Don’t go anywhere gorgeous, I want to watch you walk away.”

Crown rolled her eyes and Chester pulled Theodore away from her. He led Theodore roughly to a back door and out into a different hallway than the one they had come in. Theodore glanced back at Chester’s face. The bright toothy smile that he wore like a tie had faded to a stern scowl. They started down the hallway. He turned his eyes to the ceiling, refusing to look at Theodore. Normally he would be grateful for Chester’s piercing eyes to be looking somewhere else, but now he needed his attention. He turned back and grabbed Chester’s wrist.

“Chester, I promise you I only-”

Chester clapped his hand over Theodore’s mouth and shook his head.

“Not here Theodore. Just keep walking.”

Theodore nodded and the two continued their travel. Theodore wept on the inside, Eollx was in some lab, and he was on his way out. The walk through the clear white hallway seemed like an eternity. Like the first hallway this one seemed to fluctuate in length and width with each step. Theodore passed a firm gray door on his left. When he was not more than three steps away from the door, Chester caught his collar and dragged him through it. The door burst open to an outdoor fenced-in parking lot. The size was no bigger than a city basketball court yet with the fencing it seemed smaller. The fencing was at least twelve feet tall with the same tight razor wire that surrounded the whole complex. Chester clicked over to the Plymouth which rested on the right side of the facility. The car had been cleaned nearly all the way down to the tires. The cleanness was so through that Theodore briefly didn’t recognize it as his.

Chester pulled the door open and to Theodore’s shock the car was completely empty. Chester reached into the floor and pulled the gray blanket that Eollx was sleeping in. He took it over to Theodore and showed it to him.

“It’s always the quiet ones. You see what I see?” He said coldly.

Theodore wasn’t sure what to say. The whereabouts of Eollx or Chester’s odd fascination with a blanket was quite confusing.

“No…I can’t say that I do Chester.”

“Really,” Chester said sternly.

He pinched the blanket and pulled up some of Eollx’s hair.

“Have the words now Teddy?”

“I-” Theodore started, doing his best not to say anything he would regret.

“You having a little fun in backseat of your government issued vehicle? Pick up one of these wasteland broads who wants to try something exotic?”

Theodore held his breath, doing his best to seem caught without letting on that he was beyond relieved.

“Yes, Chester that is true,” he said sheepishly.

Chester’s stern face flipped back to his normal wide grin and burst into laughter tossing the blanket on the ground.

“I always knew you had it in you. You do your best with this entire poin-dexter look you got going on, but I knew there was an African tiger in you. I am impressed.”

He clicked open his cigarette case and twirled one into his mouth; flicking open his lighter, he lit the cigarette and in same swinging motion lit the blanket on fire, startling Theodore.

“She must have been quite the dirty little whore given that she got down in a back seat with a darky. Most folks around here don’t even like their steak to touch their potatoes. Let me guess-the waitress from the diner, she was all sorts of scrumptious.”

Theodore nodded. He didn’t like Chester lewd game, but it was better than going to prison. Chester reached into the car and pulled out small bits of dried cherry syrup. He held it up to Theodore with a grin. Theodore struggled.

“The deviants even exist all the way out here. Can’t say that I don’t mind sampling from the chocolate fountain when it suits me but you gotta be careful with that stuff. What if it wasn’t me who caught you? What if it was her pot belly daddy? We all get screwed then. How do you think that’d make me look? Not well my friend. Good god almighty this syrup is everywhere, you lucky, lucky devil.”

Chester slammed the door and hopped up on the hood and returned to his glare. He removed his fedora and ran his hand deep through his blonde hair.

“Teddy, I am beatnik at heart, don’t get me wrong I am no pinko, but a little carnal fun never hurt anyone, but I can’t promise everyone in the facility will be so accommodating. Did you know the old man is in Wyoming? Yeah, he never leaves Nevada and yet for some reason he is here? So, we all need to be on our best behavior. You understand. No more desert hussies.”

Theodore nodded, refusing to make eye contact with him. Chester hopped off the hood and slapped Theodore on the back.

“You’re good Teddy, alright, I’ll take care of this, why? Cause we both got the same weakness and we need to look out for each other. You understand what I am saying?”

“Yes Chester,” he said regrettably

“Head back in. Doctor legs wants a meeting with you before we send you out tomorrow.”

Chester patted Theodore hard on the back and turned back to the car. Theodore heart raced. He was still free. As soon as the joy filled his heart, it left him, as he was quickly reminded that if she wasn’t in the car, she was alone in the wasteland. Chester led him back through the door. Once they were in the hallway, they were greeted by Doctor Crown.

“Is everything satisfactory Chester?”

Chester bit down on his cigarette.

“Teddy and I came to an understanding. Man talk,” he smirked.

Doctor Crown grimaced and extended her hand.

“Dance is waiting for us.”

“Wouldn’t want to make the bureaucrat wait that would be the end of life as we know it,” Chester said mockingly.

Crown ushered Theodore down the hall. Chester clicked his heels up and returned through the gray door. Doctor Crown sighed as he left.

“Arrogant prick,” she mumbled to herself.

Theodore smiled weakly, which she noticed as they continued to walk.

“Sorry, I know he’s your friend,” she said, trying to sound sincere.

Theodore shook his head.

“We’re not friends,” he said firmly.

“Not from what he’d say,” she mumbled under her breath.

They reached the end of the hall. Theodore looked over his shoulder and noticed the gray door was gone. He spun back to Doctor Crown.

“Did we take a turn I can’t see? I might be tired, but it feels like these walls keep moving on me.”

She let out a slight laugh.

“I could see why it would feel that way.”

Theodore slid his hands in his pockets and waited for her to tell him more.

“Do you feel that way?” He asked.

“No,” she said quickly, continuing to seem pleasant.

She reached out for a door that Theodore was certain was not there a few seconds ago. She opened it to a large furnished office. The floor was red wood as was the ceiling. The walls were a pale red oak with thick black rimmed photos of several excavation teams and workers. The office had two fur rugs. One brown and one black, both were affixed under two black leather chairs facing a large ebony desk. Behind the desk was a man in a black suit. Like Chester’s, it was freshly ironed with his tie perfectly placed in the center of his frame. His face was perfectly symmetrical, with nothing distinguishing about it save that it was quite thin. This was only noticeable because his eyes were so far apart it almost like they were on the right and left side of his face. Adding to the oddity were his ears, which were quite large, jutting from his temple up and outward. Like his face, they were quite thin, almost to coming to a point.

As they approached the desk Theodore noticed that it was perfectly even on each side. Everything was flush with the corners. The pens and pencils were lined perfectly vertical. Three on his left and three on his right. His had a cup of tea in front of him. The string of the tea was wound tightly around the handle of the sparkling white cup. The spoon set right next to the saucer aligned as with the pencils perfectly vertically. Doctor Crown pointed to the left chair. Theodore was about to sit in it when the man lifted his right hand. His fingers were nestled together create a completely sold hand with no gaps. 

“Sir are you right or left-handed?” Ge said sternly.

“Right,” Theodore said quickly.

“Then tell me why, sir, would you choose to sit in a chair to which your dominate hand would be in conflict with the person to your right?” He snipped.

“I hadn’t thought about it. I am sorry sir.”

“As a scientist you should take even the simplest of actions into an account. The smallest fragment of dust, the smallest drop of rain can be the difference in right and wrong. Handle yourself better. Sit.”

Theodore was starting to get exhausted with the constant grilling of the people around him. He didn’t much care for the head games. He obliged though and sat in the chair on the right. Doctor Crown sat in the chair to the left, heavily crossing her legs.

“Harry, I told him to sit-” she began.

“In this office you will address me as Mr. Dance and nothing more. Do you understand Doctor Crown? The familiar language has no place in a room structured to work to a common goal.”

“Yes Mr. Dance,” she responded regretfully.

“Uncross your legs and sit up straight when you are in those chairs,” he snapped.

She obeyed as did Theodore. Mr. Dance picked up one pen with his thumb, index, and middle finger. He arched it in his fingers until the end of the pencil was perfectly vertical to the ceiling. He wrote two letters on the file in front of him with clean hard lines. He placed the pen gently back where it was before in the exact same location, perfect in order. He stared at Theodore.

“Doctor Piller your work is missing several important details. Your math needs to be more thorough. Your scouting needs to be more sufficient and your summaries need to be longer. Your notice of the radiation is surprising seeing these missing details. Yet in comparison to rest of the surveyors in the department you have the best work. By a very low standard.”

It took all of Theodore’s strength to not leap over the table and attack him. His months of hard work he had spent in the wasteland. Studying the land, the weather, and the wind pressure, not to mention the work he had done to keep Eollx out of the report. He nodded.

“My apologizes Mr. Dance I will do better in my next report.”

“That not a discussion point because you will naturally do better because that is the only option. I want to know about your work in the canyon. The math was moderate. The summary was adequate. However, your survey was missing a key detail. Subject 39.”

Theodore began to sweat from his brow. He thought that everything involving his extraction of Eollx had gone smoothly. The Widow had assured him that no one had seen him. He swallowed.

“I am sorry sir, I am afraid I don’t know what you mean.”

“Exactly, your poor work allowed its theft to happen from one of our facilities.”

“Theft sir?” Theodore asked, trying to sound confused.

“My goodness you really are stupider than they say,” Dance snapped.

Doctor Crown lifted her hand and looked to Theodore.

“One of our facilities had a theft where an important subject was stolen. We believe The Rose Project had something to do with this. Have you heard from Clinton?”

He had not heard that name since he started working for the agency. He had thought he would eventually fade into oblivion.

“I haven’t spoke to Clinton in years,” he said sternly.

Mr. Dance stood from his desk revealing he only stood about five feet tall.

“The loss of this asset is going to call every aspect of your work into question. I will comb every inch of it until I am certain it is irrefutable,” he said sharply.

Theodore shook his head, finding words too difficult to speak.

“Doctor Piller. Do you have anything you need to add?” Dance questioned.

“No,” he said hoarsely, wondering if his sweat and fear was more than enough to tip them off.

“You’re dismissed. Your next survey will be outside of Idaho Springs. Research the area beforehand so there are less mistakes. I don’t want to report any more critical errors to him, understand? Goodbye.”

He sat back at his desk. Theodore stood up and started to walk out of the room. Doctor Crown followed him back into the hall. She took his hand and shook it softly.

“I’m sure it will be fine. You’re a good surveyor, Harry is just being overly dramatic.”

“Is he always like that?”

“More or less,” she said, biting into her cigarette filter.

“Is there a phone I can use?” he asked trying to change the subject.

She blew a thin ring of smoke and hummed.

“Sure, just down the hall on the left.”

Theodore nodded and began hurrying down the hall. He rushed down to the end of the hall and made a quick left. Sure enough, there sat a telephone cemented into the wall. He took handset off the receiver and placed it to his ear.

“Yes, operator connect me with zone 6781. Thank you.”

He waited as the rings echoed back and forth till the eerie sound of a mangled voice landed on the phone.

“Hyesss,” the voice gurgled.

“Bill this is Doctor Piller. Tell her that I lost the thing she needed, and I will get it back but there has been a bit of trouble and I need her to meet at the last gas station in Casper can you give her that message Bill?”

There was dead silence on the other end of the phone when a slow slobbering breath breathed into the microphone.

“hyess cer”

“Thank you, Bill,” he said setting the phone back on the receiver.

“What did you lose?” asked the soft voice of Doctor Crown.

Theodore turned to see her softly puffing on the end of her filter.