Hidden Enemies | The Prime Archives #2 ✓

twenty-four

He flashed the boy a sheepish smile while pulling at the curls at the base of his neck. "Yeah, I know. Sorry. I'm just...a bit out of it today."

"I can tell," he replied. "Anything you want to talk about?"

He thought for a second, his fingers still tugging at his black curls. His gaze instinctively shot to the ground, which suddenly looked a lot more interesting than before.

Ever since Crane's rally, he couldn't stop thinking about his role in the entire thing. And he didn't mean his inability to protect his team, which was already slowly eating away at him. No, what he was hung up on was how he was being forced to help Ghost hurt his friends.

He never thought any of this would have happened. If he knew, he might have done things differently.

But it was too late now. And he was way too deep to back out. If Ghost caught wind of him telling Atlas about their deal, she would hurt his family. At the same time, if he told Atlas about what he had been doing, he risked losing his friends. More importantly, he would be risking his freedom. If they decided to arrest him for his deceit, he would lose his family.

There was no scenario where he could win.

A frown pulled at the corners of his lips. His forehead creased as he sunk into his thoughts.

"Earth to Oscar? Anyone home?"

"What?"

"I asked did you want to talk about it."

He quickly shook his head and grinned at Archie. "Nah, I'm good, man. There's nothing to talk about. I'm just a bit tired, you know?"

"Whatever you say, Oz." Archie pointed at the end of the hall. "Now, onward mule!"

Rolling his eyes, Oscar continued to push the boy's wheelchair toward his lab.

#

"How'd you get so smart?" Oscar asked while tossing one of Archie's solved Rubix cubes into the air. He leaned back into one of the many swivel chairs laying around the cluttered room. "You're, like, the smartest kid I know."

"I don't think that's saying much," Archie replied while typing something on his keyboard.

Oscar simply laughed. "No, but seriously. How'd a kid get a job with Atlas? How'd Director Shaw even find you?"

Archie wheeled his chair around to face him. He stared down at his hands, which were now resting in his lap. "My dad was friends with Mr. Shaw and Kane."

Kane...

Just hearing the man's name sent a pang of fear into his heart. Even though he had been dead for a year, he still had the occasional nightmare taking place during the battle on Adak Island.

Oscar arched an eyebrow at Archie upon realizing what he had said. "Wait, your dad was friends with Kane? Who's your dad?"

"Dr. Archimedes Hamilton," Archie replied proudly. "One of the greatest minds of his generation."

"I bet he's real proud of you."

"I'll never know."

"Huh?"

Archie exhaled and wheeled himself over to one of his workstations. "He died of brain cancer a few years back. I was nine, I think. He and my mom were divorced, and she was in no position to take care of me. So, Mr. Shaw—who was good friends with my dad—took me in. That's how I got involved with Atlas."

Oscar blinked twice. He felt all the wind leave his chest. "Oh, man... I'm sorry, dude."

He waved his friend's sympathies off. "It was a long time ago. I used to get sad about it. But I found out that making stuff is what brings me closer to him." He smiled while pushing his glasses up his button nose. "He'd always be building something or tweaking some code or drafting up a formula. I guess he passed it on to me."