Perk Mage.

I felt completely drained, like every ounce of energy had been sucked out of me. My body felt heavy, my mind foggy, and there was this crushing weight on my chest that made it hard to think straight. I just wanted to lie there, numb, and not deal with anything anymore. Why bother calling for help? What good would it do? I was stuck, and there wasn’t anyone around to save me.

Mr. Drails looked just as worn out, if not worse. He glanced over at me, like he suddenly noticed I was still conscious. His face, as usual, was stoic, but I could tell something was eating at him.

He sighed, the kind of sigh that felt like it came from the depths of frustration. “Why did you do it?” he whispered. “You knew I pulled you off that mission. You didn’t have to go through with it. Look where we are now.”

I wanted to say something, anything, but the words just wouldn’t come out. I just stared at the ceiling, feeling the weight of everything pressing down on me. The blood loss, the disappointment, the guilt—it was all too much.

Mr. Drails shifted a little, probably trying to get comfortable in this uncomfortably cold room. "You could've avoided this, you know. You had the chance to back out when I warned you," he said, voice tinged with frustration. “And now Rocke has a plan to clone his army using the Armonk. All because you didn’t listen.”

I could feel the bitterness in my throat. “I wasn’t trying to mess things up,” I muttered, barely above a whisper. “I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to drag my friends into it, but now they’re all blacklisted because of me. They were supposed to be undercover operatives, but now… now they’re just stuck.”

He sighed again, sounding defeated. "Yeah, they’re part of your team, but they were still your friends. I get it. I really do."

The silence that followed was heavy—almost suffocating. I didn’t know what to say, not because I didn’t have anything to say, but because nothing felt like it could make any of this better.

Finally, Mr. Drails broke the silence again. "Is this all because I didn’t tell you I was your father?" His voice was quieter now, softer, like he wasn’t sure if he even had the right to ask.

My head snapped toward him at that, eyes wide with surprise. “No,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “I’m mad you never told me, yeah, but that’s not the issue. It’s—” I struggled to get the words out. “It’s that I messed everything up for everyone. I didn’t think it through, and now people are suffering.”

He didn’t say anything at first, just nodded slowly. Then, almost as if trying to ease the weight of my words, he gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Well, we can’t change the past, but we can do something about the future."

I looked at him, trying to make sense of everything. “I don’t know how to fix this,” I said, feeling the tears well up in my eyes. I blinked them back, but they were persistent, trickling down my cheeks.

He reached out, placing a hand on my shoulder. “You don’t have to fix everything, Connor. You just need to do what you can. That’s enough.”

I sniffed, wiping my nose with my sleeve, trying to steady myself. “So what now?”

Mr. Drails stood up and walked over to the door, his movements slow, deliberate. “We find Dr. Jones,” he said, voice firming with purpose. “We get the information we need to stop Rocke.”

I nodded, suddenly feeling a spark of resolve in me. “And Nikki? We need to get her out of here too.”

Mr. Drails gave me a small, approving smile. “Exactly. But how do we get out of here first?”

I looked around the room, trying to think. It was small, too small. There was no way out unless we made one. But then I saw it—the ropes. They were hanging in a corner, unused. "If I had a rope, I think I could secure myself. Maybe flip the bed, pull myself out," I said, eyes scanning the room for anything that might help.

He looked at the ropes, and then back at me, his brow furrowing in confusion. “Wait, what are you talking about?”

"Look," I said, frustration creeping into my voice. "We’re trapped in here, right? If I had something to work with, I could at least try to break out."

He shook his head slowly, clearly still not following. "This bed’s got me stuck too. It’s not like I can just roll over and get out of here, Connor."

I stepped forward, examining the bed more closely. The wheels were locked in place, which meant if we moved too much, they’d break. “It’s gonna take a lot to get out, but I think I can make it happen.”

Mr. Drails leaned back in his bed and sighed. "This is ridiculous."

I gritted my teeth. "It’s not ridiculous, it’s our only shot."

I started testing the bed, shaking it gently at first, feeling for any sign of movement. Then, with a burst of frustration, I yanked on one of the straps holding the frame together. It snapped, but it wasn’t enough. The bed tipped, the legs scraping loudly against the floor. I heard Mr. Drails groan from behind me as I kept pulling.

The whole thing collapsed with a loud crash, sending me flying forward onto the floor. The chains that had been keeping me immobilized broke apart with the force, and I scrambled to my feet. "Okay, great," I muttered, out of breath. “You think you can do the same?”

Mr. Drails raised an eyebrow. “You want me to make a mess like that?”

I nodded, stepping back. “You’ve got more experience with this kind of thing. You’re the one who’s been dealing with the mess for longer.”

With a sigh, Mr. Drails leaned forward, adjusting his posture. His movements were slow, but determined. After a moment, he kicked at the side of the bed, and with a bit of effort, it collapsed in a way that mirrored mine.

“Alright, now we’re both free,” I said, feeling a rush of excitement. “But we still need to get out of here.”

We didn’t have much time. We heard footsteps approaching, sharp and quick. I looked around, trying to figure out where we could go next. We were still in a prison, but we had a small window of opportunity.

“Quick, let’s go,” Mr. Drails urged, his voice low but firm.

We ducked around the corner, avoiding the guards we knew were coming. There was no time to waste. I could hear them behind us, their footsteps getting closer and closer.

“What’s the plan now?” I whispered, my heart racing.

"We find Nikki, we find the map, and we get out of here,” Mr. Drails said, his voice steady, but there was a clear urgency behind it.

I nodded. "Let’s do it."

We moved through the dark, winding corridors, trying to stay out of sight. The hallways were silent, save for our quick footsteps and the occasional echo of guards passing by. Every now and then, we stopped to listen, holding our breath, waiting for the danger to pass. We were close, I could feel it.

Finally, we reached a small, deserted hallway. The sound of footsteps came again, and I could hear the low murmurs of voices. My heart pounded as I peered around the corner, and to my relief, there were no guards in sight.

We sprinted forward, and soon, we found what we were looking for—Nikki, standing at the end of the hall, looking like she’d been waiting for us.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” I said, my voice urgent. "We need that map."

Nikki nodded, and together, we rushed down the hallway, our minds focused on one thing: getting out and stopping Rocke.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. It always did. And this time, I wasn't sure we’d make it out in one piece.

But for now, we had a plan, and that was enough.