"Alright, have we drawn any conclusions?" Arthur asked.

Judith lit another cigarette. "We've got three options. Free John and hope he doesn’t turn on us, leave him for the cops and hope he doesn’t turn on them, or..." she held up a finger. "Keep him locked up indefinitely until we can contact our boss."

"That last option is actually not a bad idea," Arthur said. "Any other options?"

"We could always just kill him."

"Judith!"

She coughed through a laugh. "What?! I was kidding! Although I wouldn't turn it down. He's a real piece of work."

"I don't think he's that bad," Arthur offered, "He's just frightened, and fear makes people act strangely."

"I think he's full of shit, and he's playing you like a fiddle," Judith retorted.
"I don't know," He shrugged. "He doesn't feel like a manipulator. Our ‘friend’ tied up in

that chair feels like a manipulator. John just feels... inconsistent."

"Maybe he’s an inconsistent manipulator," Judith sat in one of the chairs. "I overheard your conversation with him. He's trying to play both sides. He plays hard to get with me because I don't take any of his shit and plays Mr. Clueless with you because he can tell you're a softie."

"Shouldn't it be the inverse, though?" Arthur thought aloud. "If I were locked up and someone who had the potential to free me was suspicious of me, I'd try to appeal to their better nature. Conversely, if I thought someone was softer or easy to push around, I might try and leverage my freedom."

"Maybe he's just an idiot, and we're idiots too because we've been letting him run marathon laps around us for the past two hours. Look, I'll shoot the agency a call to see what they recommend we do."

Judith walked around the corner of the left hall opposite the wall leading to John's room, pulling out her phone. A whistle caught Arthur's attention, and he looked at the Old Man.

“I'm happy to watch you two squirm as you try to decide, but it doesn't matter. No matter what you do, we win. You either release him into the world or leave him here, where he will meet his destiny alongside me."

Arthur flared up. "Don't you dare hurt John. You've caused enough trouble tonight."

"John,” He scoffed at the name. “Relax, I'm not going to hurt him. But his apotheosis will happen with or without you. One way or another, he'll leave that room."

"If he hasn't gotten out by now, I doubt he actually can," Arthur said. "Unfortunately for you, you’re tied to a chair and he’s chained to the wall, so any collaboration you think you’ll have will most certainly fall through. I don’t even think he likes you all that much, to be honest.”

The Man said nothing, which only agitated Arthur more. He paced as he continued. “I mean, if John’s supposedly so powerful, what'd be the point of him sitting in a room talking to two imbeciles trying to get them to decide whether they trust him or not? Why would he need us to let him out?"

The Old Man tilted his head back, letting out a long, exasperated sound. "It's like I said before! He will not leave until he is meant to! Until we decide for him to leave!"

Arthur sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Judith may humor you, but I've already discounted your opinions in all of this."

"Are you sure about that?" he retorted, "Or are you just saying that because you have no clue what you're doing and want to bully the Man tied up in a chair because needling me relieves some pent-up frustration? Oh, but I can tell. You want to know him."

"I-"

"It's tearing you up inside, isn't it? I may not know you, but I can tell that you're a man who's very used to trusting his judgment, and this situation is like a puzzle you can't solve. You want to know more about what he is, don't you?"

Arthur was silent for a beat. "Yes."

"It's frustrating, isn't it? The lure of forbidden knowledge?" The Old Man spoke with a tone of pity that Arthur may have fallen for if he could not see his true nature. “Just do the right thing, the thing you want to do, and let him out. Put all of your faith in him and trust that it’s what must be done.”

Arthur clenched his jaw as he thought, his verdant eyes flickering from the table to the Man to the hall Judith disappeared into. "I can’t do that."

The Man's smile dropped. "Pity."

Judith walked back in, her boots clicking loudly as she cussed under her breath after hanging up. "Okay, so everyone apparently has better stuff to do than deal with some guy in a room, but Socket did get back to me. She says that if we can't figure something out, we'll have some of the higher ranks come and collect him, probably put him somewhere where he can be observed more closely."

"Wait, so," Arthur said. "They intend to place him in a special containment unit? For how long?"

"How should I know?"

Arthur pursed his lips as he leaned on a chair. "Fantastic. So, we're just going to take him from one prison to another. That's cruelty, Judith. We don't even know if he actually has anything unnatural about him or if you and that maniac in the chair are in agreement about your weird hunches. I made a promise to help him get out of this place."

"And whose fault is that?" Judith cocked her head.

Arthur said nothing, so she continued. "You should have known better than to make promises to a stranger we're investigating. Look, I think there's definitely something up his sleeve, and you think he's an innocent cherub with puppy eyes, and nothing we've seen and heard has convinced us of the other person's perspective. Clearly, we're both not as equipped to handle this as we thought."

Arthur looked at his feet. Judith's scowl melted. She sighed. "Arthur, I'm sorry. I know you hate leaving things unfinished."

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry." Arthur looked to the side, avoiding her gaze. "You're right. I haven't been as professional about this as I should have. It's just there’s... something about John that I can't quite piece together, and it's kind of driving me up the wall."

"Welp," She shrugged, plopping her arms by her sides. "Should I make the call?"
"Talk to him," Arthur said. "Just ask any more questions to see if you change your mind."

"Arthur-"

"Talk to him just one more time. Just once. And if you still think he's suspicious after that, we make the call and I won’t complain for the rest of the night. I promise."