Chapter 3: Chapter 3

Robert Alloway is David Oswald’s newest recruit and he is also trying his hardest to be noticed more by him and considered part of, if not the defining member, of the team. He knows in his heart of hearts this will never happen – at least not while Alice and Belinda are there. Or Robert and Edward for that matter.

One of the problems he is currently having – a problem that all of the members had to face with the exception of one – is that he cannot come to terms with his normal everyday life outside of his new line of work.

He used to try and go out with his friends every night (money willing) just because he didn’t want to lose touch with the people that he grew up with. He had managed to do this all the way through University (which had been tougher than he thought) and had realised that it would probably be easier to do it in a work situation too.

He has been very wrong on that count.

A lot of people stop seeing friends so much when they start working because they are simply too tired. Friendships simply cease because the people change, getting used to going to bed that bit earlier because of the stress they had to induce during that day of work. They still acknowledge each other in the street and say, “We really have to meet up soon”, but it just doesn’t happen.

Robert has a different problem. Work is just so cool. He has seen so much in the short time that he has been in David Oswald’s employ. The people he works with are cool, especially David Oswald, who seems like he can do anything. He also really likes Gary Ingalls, who is simply a frame of reference. He can’t be like David Oswald – why not try to be like Gary?

He still remembers the exhilaration when Gary handed him a gun. Everyone looked so comfortable holding one with the exception of Edward. David never seems to carry one but Robert was sure on that first night that he was packing one. There was no way that you could walk into the situations they did and not have more backup than your bare fists.

But, boy, he has seen David improvise.

They had gone to a warehouse that first night. Apparently there was a lot of activity in a collection of abandoned buildings around this way. Robert had first thought that they were a secret crime-fighting organisation. He wasn’t really that far wrong when it came down to it.

He found out later on that he had taken the gun with a lot less fuss than Gary and Edward had. He had been proud of this fact for a little while until he thought more about it. Surely that made Gary and Edward better people than he was. He would have to work on that

He doesn’t like thinking about things like that for too long and puts it to the back of his mind. This is not the type of work that let you get away with self-doubt.

They had gone into the warehouse. Things seemed to be very quiet. Robert was not a great fan of clichés but things did seem to be too quiet.

That was when the trouble started. A group of cloaked figures came in wielding knives. Their stances seemed to denote that they were guarding something and were willing to die for it.

Fair enough.

Robert raised his gun. Nobody else did.

David looked at him and coldly said, “Put it down.”

Gary helpfully told him “they might be human.”

Of course they were human, what else could they be?

David ran forward and started to fight with them. There were too many for him and the other joined the fray. Robert did not like the idea of fighting armed people with his fists when he had access to a gun.

David seemed to be doing the best. He managed to disarm a few of them and knock them into unconsciousness. Alice and Belinda also seemed to be quite skilled in this. Robert, to his disgrace, did not manage to subdue any of the cloaked figures. He looked a little ashamed.

Once the fight was over, David made sure that none of them were going to wake up any time soon. He removed their knives from them and put them in a bag that Alice was carrying.

“Why didn’t we threaten to shoot them?” Robert asked confused as to what was happening.

“It’s an empty threat!” Edward answered for him.

“They don’t respond to it. They’re willing to die for what they are protecting.”

“And what are they protecting?”

Nobody answered. They were obviously not willing to spoil the surprised for Robert. Why should they? Nobody had spoiled it for them.

“So can somebody clear something up for me?”

“What?” Belinda asked.

“Just why do we carry guns then?”

She smiled but didn’t answer.

Robert found out what the guns were for a short time later.

Going out with your friends after you have done some of the things that he has been a part of recently seems really boring. If anything, Robert has even more energy since he started. But he simply cannot be bothered with the hassle of pretending to be interested in his friends’ lives any more.

He thought this way for a little while but, of course, he eventually noticed that working for Progression Software had turned him into nothing more than an arrogant fool. It was good that he was able to notice such things and it was better that he noticed now instead of when it was too late to change what he had become.

This was what made him decide that tonight was the night to organise a night out with his friends while he still had some. Luckily it had not reached that awkward stage and all of them came with the exception of a friend who had arranged to go on Holiday.

He was very surprised that he managed to really enjoy himself in the bar; despite the raw adrenaline he felt fighting alongside David and the others. He has had quite a bit to drink but it is allowed – he cannot remember the last time he has done this.

It is just so good to chill a little sometimes and he is pretty sure that he needs it. Already the relaxation has been enough to make his body realise he is really tired and the aching has begun. He welcomes this, knowing that it is a sign that he has taken things too far of late and has simply blocked out the pain he has been feeling because there simply wasn’t enough time to feel it.

He vows to do this more often. But, like the “I’ll never drink again after that”, hangover vow, he doesn’t manage to keep to it. Of course, there is a story to why he doesn’t but this will come later.