Playing The Victims [BL]

Chapter Eighty-Seven | Third World

"Enough!" The Supreme Commander was frowning, an intimidating expression as the older version of Niklas slammed his hands on the metal table in front of them. He looked at the man beside him and held a similar sneer on his face to his son. "You're only here because of the people you whisper your lies to gave you permission. So you sit there, shut the fuck up and don't speak to my kid. Got that?"

Hansel was completely lost. Evidently he was the only one who didn't know what the situation was between them all, because even Roscoe was regarding the stranger with a scowl. He thought he had seen Niklas angry before, but those times had nothing on his current expression. He seemed ready to pounce over the table and rip the man to shreds. So even though Hansel had no idea who the man was, given how distrusting everyone else found him— he decided to happily side with them.

"Of course, Supreme Commander. But I wouldn't be here if you didn't consistently keep key information from me and my team."

"You're lucky you haven't been shot, let alone been kept out of the loop." Niklas spat.

"I said enough; sit down." Mathias ordered and only when the Commander did, did Roscoe and Hansel do the same. Directly opposite Hansel was the stranger, a man who seemed to be watching him more than the other two.

"For the benefit of Hansel, this is Andrei who is in charge of our alternative pharmaceuticals. His belief is that a cure no longer exists and that we should put our time and effort elsewhere." The Supreme Commander couldn't hide his underlining bitterness and Hansel wasn't sure how to respond. But Andrei didn't appear to be bothered by the man's words yet again.

"I'm sure that would unsettle quite a lot of people if that got out." Hansel admitted while thinking back to the anxious questions that had been asked of him when they originally set out on mission. Hansel had believed that people were working towards a cure, but if that wasn't the case then his job in this world was going to be a whole lot more difficult.

As he had spoken honestly about his belief that the cure lay within nature, it could only be made into a viable vaccination by people who actually knew what they were doing. Knowledge that Hansel's old memories most certainly didn't possess. A small ache in the back of his head started to build as he wished the world had some form of Google.

"People are naturally afraid of what they do not understand. Just like how we have continuously adapted as we learned more about Rotters, and now they are nothing more than pests under our feet. The more we evolve, the stronger we become. Our children won't view the creatures outside as something fearsome, but of target-practice instead." Andrei ignored his order to remain quiet.

But the more he spoke, the more ominous Hansel believed him to be. "With all due respect, you don't strike me as someone who lives in this section, so how is it you have seen these children? But even then, I think you have been misinformed. The children I see coming into the hospital are anxious messes because of either what they have seen or the learnt behaviour from their parents. As we stand currently, there is no bigger fear than a single cough. People believe in the medication that they have lived with for so many years. We can't just say we've given up on finding a cure and that Rotter's aren't that bad because of our weapons that only some are coherently trained with."

Even though they were supposed to be talking about the mission, the soldiers didn't interfere at all. They knew what type of person Hansel was, and knew how passionate he got about things he believed in. All had experienced the young man's inspiring lectures. It was also the Supreme Commander and his son who had unanimously received stern words from the handsome man too. Though on separate occasions, it left them both with a good impression of him. Someone they believed would be very well known and trodden carefully around if given a good rank in the military.