District 42-Chapter 103: Anticipating

Casper excitedly retrieved back, feeling more hope filling his heart when he saw that his two partners were finally waking up. He walked towards them and put himself in front of them.

Differently from what he expected before, they weren’t dizzy or confused. Instead, they seemed to be as on alert as the soldier, which was a totally strange scenario.

After passing for a near-death situation, Casper was hoping to see more confusion and disturbance in Alfar. And because Olaf was knocked out with a strong blow in his head, it was more than reasonable to him to be stunned or slow. However, they were completely fine, as if they just woke up after a good sleep.

Both looked towards him, then to the sleeping nurses. They took note of where they were. Of course, those two knew that it was the infirmary.

"Do you remember what happened?" Casper guessed that, if their situation was like that, they probably also recalled what kinds of events took part before they passed out.

Alfar and Olaf glanced at each other. They remembered perfectly of all the action at that wide corridor leading to the laboratory.

Olaf remembered how worthless he felt for not being able to do something of much help. And Alfar could still taste the bitterness that the blood running inside his mouth had.

Casper saw before his eyes those two switching from a nonchalantly face, to a dejected one. Whatever that they experienced before, wasn’t something easy to take.

"We remember," Alfar spoke, supposing that Olaf was the same as him. "We were trying to rescue you, and a lot of things happened." He afforded himself just to say that much, and Olaf seemed to be completely fine with that.

The soldier patted them briefly on their shoulders, not knowing exactly what to say. Without being told about the details, he couldn’t just guess what kind of thing he should do or speak to console them.

"Either way, there is no time for consolation. They are adults, so it can be possible to hand it alone. After all, they were alone until now in this crap of a prison." Casper was about to say something but got interrupted by Alfar.

"Before you say something... Just how did you surpass that situation?" The Dark elf seemed to be more confused and frustrated than curious about what happened. "I mean, you don’t have anything... you aren’t a Lab rat totally modified, you aren’t as well equipped as a Ridire, nor a strong Aesir... You are nearly less than a commoner when it comes to power. So, how did you...?"

Casper understood completely his question and the sadness behind his words. The soldier already had felt that frustration in his heart, that confusion in his mind.

There was nothing so overwhelmingly angering than having power but can’t achieve your goals.

"I did what I could, just it. I wanted to survive, then I give my all because of that. In the end, it was enough. Just this." Looking at his eyes, Casper spoke bluntly and slowly to Alfar, who lowered his head after each word, and when he realized he was gazing at the floor.

Olaf, beside him, was doing the same. That man wasn’t so affected because of the previous events, but he still felt very bad for not being able to rescue Casper.

"C’mon, you two. It’s not time to be sweating on these things. The plan is starting right now, we don’t have the time to be dejected." The White warrior scolded, pulling them out of the bed and making both stood on their feet.

"See? You two are okay again. So instead of low your heads after a defeat, keep going and do it again!"

Alfar giggled, partly with disdain, but finding it funny as well.

"What are you? A coach or something?" His usual dead eyes substituted that dejected expression and a nearly invisible smile was there as well.

Olaf’s mood also raised, particularly when he heard that the plan was about to start.

"Hey, you mentioned the plan but... How it can be? Why now?"

Casper was waiting for that question and promptly answered him.

"Yeah, we are anticipating the plan by now. I wasn’t expecting that the laboratory would do such a movement as risking my life to rush things with the procedure to put a mask on me, so the deadline was shorter than I thought.

"Since we have all we need in our hands, and now that even the people I wanted are working with us, there is no point in risk our only advantage here. As you know, if they steal my freedom, then everything is ruined."

Alfar and Olaf looked at each other. Both had something in mind that they always wanted to talk about with Casper, but the last never responded, or he didn’t give a straightforward answer.

"So... What do you have in mind, White warrior?" Olaf began to follow Casper, who was heading outside the room they were in. Alfar stayed, the Dark elf knew that Casper probably trusted more the ex-Jarl since they were more time together and he was a person very easy to read and get along with.

Because of it, he just sat again on the bed and let them talk alone.

"Hmm, what I have in mind? Well, you see, sneak outside Halden is impossible. Even more now that the Ridires are giving chase at me, and that fat scientist probably will not stop until he gets me again. But that’s not a problem at all. Since the start, I was planning something different..."

Olaf stayed quiet, looking at him with apprehensive eyes. He felt somewhat anxiety dominating him, pressuring him, at the exact moment he stared at Casper and saw the expression he was making.

He was always interested in look at the real features of someone. And Casper was like a research object for him. But now he just felt that he preferred that the soldier put the mask again.

That same look was in Casper’s face once when he was talking to Anton.

"After these things that I saw in this prison, Olaf, I will destroy every single thing here. I will break Halden, and play with the wreckage!" He clenched his fists. That would be his first big feat on District 42, and his ticket to freedom and innocence by the law.

"H-how will you do such thing...?"

"First, I will make a rebellion in this prison. I will make the prisoners fight back, I will guide them outside here while destroying its structure. Second, I will use the influence of people I know inside and outside Halden to destroy its system."

Olaf stopped to talk for a while, just absorbing what he said.

At some point, was quite obvious that what Casper wanted to escape that place was something related to that, because of the guns and the number of people he got together.

Nonetheless, nobody knew how he could overcome the masks. And they had no idea that he could communicate outside Halden with prestigious people.

"This guy is smart and ambitious, but also a surprise box. It’s quite difficult to know what he really intends to do..."

He got pensive for a while, bit cut the silence asking one more thing.

"Who is this influent person you are acquaintanced with inside here? I mean, there is Alfar, but you didn’t seem to be talking about him at all..."

Casper stayed silent, walking around the infirmary and looking to all the places he could until they found the head nurse, which Olaf had already seen a couple of times.

"She is the one." He pointed discreetly at her. "It can’t seem at first, but actually she has a lot of influence inside the prison." He looked to her again changing the subject. "And you, Amelia? Why did you take so long?"

The woman looked annoyed to him, clicking her tongue and averting her eyes from him.

"Are they really working together!?" Olaf thought, confused by her behavior.

"I was calibrating it for you, so don’t hurry me, you dog." She was with a screwdriver in her hand, calibrating a circular metallic piece with a hole in its center, that had several pins around it. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Will this help with my ankle?"

"Yeah, it will." Without asking she pulled Casper’s leg with strength, nearly making him fall to the floor. The soldier was already pondering in give her a slug in the head.

She equipped that thing in his ankle, which fit perfectly. Amelia activated it, and the pins entered Casper’s flesh. He had to pass for a brief moment of pain, followed by an undetermined time of discomfort.

"It will firm your ankle and support your bones, also helping with the articulation, preventing you to hurt yourself more or have a bad performance."

Casper nodded, thanking her.

"Now, when will you guys start?" She sat in a random box from that room that seemed some sort of storage of metallic machines like Casper’s.

"Do you have any doubts? The escape starts now!"