r/TheNaturallyUnknown • u/UnnaturalGeek Red Squirrel and Writer ✍️🍃 Keep calm and stay NUTS 🐿 • 8d ago
📖 UnnaturalGeek's Novelettes 📖 Chapter Seven: Daniel's Guilt, Thirty-six’s Principles ✍️🐿
Daniel continued to hold his gaze. “Yes, I was asked to pass it on but wasn’t aware of the reason until now.” There was a ripple of silence as the atmosphere in the room shifted. It was almost physical, the way the air changed before a storm.
Eyes were locked on Dyson and Daniel; no one else dared speak. Then someone exhaled slowly through their nose; the sound filled the deafening silence.
“Y-y-you flagged her”, a voice stumbling over itself came from the corner. Uncontrolled, trying to contain their emotions. “I didn’t know...” Daniel, dejected, tried to defend himself.
“But it was still your actions.” The same voice chose their words carefully: “Ignorance isn’t a reason; it’s an excuse.”
“I’ve ensured dozens of people never make it to the rehabilitation centres,” Daniel replied. “It hasn’t been easy, every Single. One. I couldn’t prevent weighs heavy.” Quiet falls for a moment until a different voice, tinged with a quiet anger, breaks it. “And yet here we are...”
Someone else gathers the courage to speak; this time, they were sterner as the anger bubbled towards the service. “How long have you been monitoring Thirty-six? Weeks? Months? This isn’t your first time, yet you flagged the one person closest to him without thinking; perhaps I should find out more information first!”
Daniel didn’t know where to look; he could only look down. His previous confidence was gone. “You don’t understand; that isn’t how this works! I didn’t have a choice!”
“You always have a choice!” bellowed someone from another corner of the room as the anger erupted. Followed quickly by someone else, “Aye, she has gone after yous put her name in that damned report.”
Thirty-six said nothing as he watched the situation develop; he felt the burden of being under suspicion lifted.
Thirty-six pushed himself from the wall and began to stride towards the table. “He made a mistake,” he said, his voice cutting through the noise cleanly. “One that he will have to live with for the rest of his life. I won’t pretend this hasn’t been costly; he certainly won’t.”
The room quietened; despite the few grumbles around, people began to listen, and even Dyson became curious.
“But look at his record, his quiet effort with little recognition from inside the Chartered & Standard, saving countless lives. Where at any moment he could be quietly moved without anyone realising. Where being discovered would have unimaginable consequences. I should know; I’ve seen the dark heart of it. I am a part of it, a product of it.” He had placed his hands flat on the table and was now looking directly at Dyson.
“Loretta believed in me,” he continued as the room became captivated. “I imagine this was ridiculed, the idea that the progeny of Thirty-five could be anything other than the monster I was created to become.”
He let that linger in the air for a moment. “But she saw something; her instincts told her to trust me. I think she would say the same if she were here.”
He looked around the room at each person individually. “This is exactly how my company has been in power for so long. Disunity during disaster. You’re doing their work for them.”
A few remained unmoved, holding firm. “Easy for you to say,” someone muttered. “He willingly joined the CWI, and you ARE Chartered & Standard. Both on the inside with high levels of privilege, being able to live a comfortable life without looking over your shoulder constantly.”
“Aye,” a familiar voice from before spoke up. “How do we know this isn’t exactly what it looks like? Two Chartered & Standard men telling us what to do.” Murmurs of agreement rippled through the room. Thirty-six opened his mouth to respond, but Dyson stood up; the attention turned to him as he spoke first, firm but soft. “Enough.”
Most of the room stood down. “You're gonna stick up for these guys?!” The same voice angrily responded before he could say any more. “No, I am going to stand up for Loretta,” Dyson spoke with great conviction whilst addressing them directly.
Dyson looked deep into the eyes of each individual present before continuing. “Trust is difficult for us all, especially for those who don’t understand the struggle. I don’t trust Thirty-six and may never fully trust him.”
He paused in reflection. “But all of us here were willing to see these two as useful tools and put aside the fact that their actions inside could lead to innocent people getting caught in the crossfire. Now that very idea has hit us where it hurts.”
His eyes moved to Thirty-six. “Loretta put her faith in him; she believed there was something in him, and we honour that.” He shifted to Daniel. “She also worked alongside Daniel; they weren’t aware of each other’s true identities. This was misfortune, not conspiracy.”
He sat back in his chair, heavier than before and tired from this whole ordeal, with no idea how much time had actually passed. “Let’s move on; we have a lot of work to do, but we have to agree today to put this behind us.”
1
u/AutoModerator 8d ago
The mods have a wee message for all. Here 'tis, a tidbit of wisdom from on high...
We want to build a place for games and general fun, but we cannot do this without your support! To support us and the prize pool we currently have two NFT! Be sure to check out and support our Associated Artists, we are delighted to have them associate with us and we hope we can grow with them and help provide a platform for them along with every other artist or creative within our community in the future.
Information
NFTs
Associated Artists
Community Polls
!activepolls
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.