Dempsey was the first to ascend the stairs before being met with a large imposing makeshift door. It appeared to have been made out of sheet metal which was reinforced with steel building rods. The door itself sat atop the middle floor as it looked down the stairs - ready to deter any potential visitors.
Dempsey frowned upon seeing it and looked around at Takeo. He was sure that this door had not previously been there. In response, Takeo simply shrugged it off as they continued up the stairs. With each step, Dempsey could feel himself becoming more and more agitated. It was so ridiculous for him to think that this Richtofen could be even worse than the one he had come to loathe so dearly.
Both men stood at the door like two schoolboys outside the headmaster's office. It was clear no one wanted to volunteer to knock. Dempsey tried to signal for Takeo to do so before having the task relegated back to him. But after a silent war comprised solely of glares - Dempsey conceeded to Takeo. But, before Dempsey could even rap his knuckles on the door - a voice called out.
"I zhought I distinctly remembered telling jou lot not to dishturb me..." Richtofen hissed from the other side.
Dempsey felt a shiver run down his spine whenever Richtofen did creepy things like that. How on earth did he know they were even there? It seemed like Richtofen always had eyes in the back of his head. Or some kind of supernatural sixth sense!
"VHAT IS IT JOU VANT?!" Richtofen snapped impatiently at Dempsey's lack of response.
"Uh, we just wanna know what our orders are. Maybe we could come in?" Dempsey cringed to himself as he tried to maintain his friendly demeanour.
"Nein! Jour only orders are to leave me be!" Richtofen shouted angrily.
"Richtofen, we need your leadership more than ever. We must press on with the task at hand!" Takeo tried to reason.
"Oh! Takeo! I didn't know jou vere zhere!" Richtofen sang cheerfully.
"Hm, very vell! I suppose I should call a meeting before ve begin tomorrow!" Richtofen announced.
Dempsey looked around at Takeo with a look of suspicion. He was always able to gently nudge Richtofen's behaviour by appealing to his ego. But the marine always found it crazy how Takeo could even try to reason with someone like Richtofen.
The two then quickly moved back down the stairs to make way for Richtofen's appearance. The large steel door grinded hard against the rough floor as the obnoxious screeching jarred on everyone's ears. As it swung towards the room; Richtofen emerged as his towering presence was accentuated even more by the steep incline of the stairs he stood at the top of.
Then, with each step, the weighted boots of Richtofen's spacesuit thudded against the floor. Dempsey and Takeo quickly continued to shuffle backwards out of the way and retreat towards the fire pit as Richtofen lumbered menacingly behind. Nikolai had been leisurely reclining by the fire before he jumped to attention when he saw the others. The others then joined him around the camp fire as Richfofen deliberately towered over them.
"Jou all sheem to be completely incompetent as jou have not made zhe progress I vas exshpecting!" Richtofen began.
"But no matter! Now zhat I am here ve shall finally press forward! I already have a plan as to how ve vill supply Dr Gersch zhe power source he requires", Richtofen continued.
"But how?" Takeo gasped.
"Oh Takeo, it is very shimple. But I have been busy vith mein own... 'vork' shall ve shay -- before I arrived here. Zhat is zhe only reason vhy ve are vaiting until tomorrow to shtart", Richtofen explained.
Richtofen's deliberate vagueness quickly piqued the interests and suspicions of the others. What did he mean by that? Could he be referring to the scene Samantha had shown Kiana? Richtofen was never one to rest - in fact, he always endeavoured to push through the fatigue no matter how bad! What on earth could have happened to require a man who loathed idleness to intentionally delay the execution of his own plan?
"Oh, please. Do jou really zhink such an insignificant task vould require me to have to spend zhe entire evening vorking out?" Richtofen grinned as he seemed to misinterpret everyone's look of shock for awe.
Indeed, everyone looked at each other in surprise that Richtofen had already solved the problem with the casimir mechanism. It had taken Primis weeks and he still had not produced a solution. But it was his vagueness as to where he had been all this time which truly bothered them.
"Sonuvabitch..." Dempsey mumbled under his breath with a smile.
"Vhat vas zhat?!" Richtofen hissed as he glared down at Dempsey.
"Oh, nothin, doc. It's just--you've only been here like a few hours and you've already solved it", Dempsey replied sarcastically - but still trying to maintain his usual demeanour.
"Hmph! Not everyvone is as schtupid as jou, American!" Richtofen spat.
Dempsey could feel his anger beginning to boil as he was now struggling to take Richtofen's insults. Usually by now, Dempsey would have at least tried to take a swipe at him.
"We shall retire for the night now too", Takeo interjected.
"Very vell, I do not vish to be dishturbed again. Do jour patrols und leave me in peace", Richtofen growled before storming back to his office.
"Ugh, he's such a fuckin pain. But he just seems like the usual Richtofen", Dempsey whispered to Takeo as they watched the German disappear from view.
"Yes, but there is something different about him. His demeanour has changed. Something requires Richtofen's contemplation this evening", Takeo replied.
"D'ya think something else happened from what the brat told Kiana?" Dempsey asked.
"Hai, I believe that something very different happened. But also something very dangerous and sinister. Something has badly shaken Richtofen. His eyes cannot hide it", Takeo explained.
"Well, can we at least be certain that it's our Richtofen? Man, it makes me sick even saying 'our Richtofen'!" Dempsey cringed.
"Yes, but there are evil spirits which plague him. I think it wise to contimue to keep Kiana away for now", Takeo replied.
"Geez, I wonder what the hell happened to the prick", Dempsey replied as he rubbed the nape of his neck.
Richtofen made his way up the metal stairs before pushing open the makeshift door to his office. The room itself had already been remodelled to suit his needs. His new quarters had already contained a desk which was now moved closer to the shuttered windows.
And, on inspection of the nearby rooms; Richtofen had found an autopsy trolley in the adjoining building. There was even the decomposing corpse of a monkey still laying on it - to his delight. Of course, Richtofen happily brought it back into his new office to study further. He looked forward to pondering where the monkey had come from and discovering what kinds of experimentation it had been subjected to. This monkey seemed far more interesting than the usual lab testing specimens.
In his office, Richtofen had also fashioned a rather uncomfortable looking bed out of chairs which were placed facing towards each other. He deeply loathed such a downgrade from his chair back in Ragnarök. It had been so long since his aching bones had been able to lay on something so comfortable. Usually, he was reduced to sleeping upright in rigid office chairs.
Richtofen sighed with exhaustion. He had come a long way to get here and it was becoming increasingly harder to ignore. His arms felt heavy and his legs felt worn out by the extra effort required to move around in the spacesuit.
But what was gnawing away in his mind required attention. For now, he would have to rest his body whilst his mind continued to work. Richtofen sat down on one of the chairs before grimacing with the pain as he put his feet up on the other. He could feel his leg muscles ache as they rested against the hard plastic of the seat.
Finally, after finding a somewhat comfortable position; he lay back and rested his eyes. Though, all the while, his mind continued to tick away with all kinds of thoughts and hypotheses.
"Edward", a voice called out.
"Edward, why are you ignoring us?" The voiced persisted.
Richtofen sat in silence as he tried to block the voice from his mind.
"Edward, we have been so very worried about you. You haven't been the same since Ragnarök", another voice asked softly.
"Yes, it's almost like you blame us for the actions of your other self", a dark voice jeered.
"If only we had known-- we could have warned you!" Another voice feigned concern.
"Edward, you know there is no other version of you that is capable of such an important task! We have searched through every universe in order to find the chosen one!" Another voice tried to reason.
"Yes! What happened back at Ragnarök was but a minor hiccup... a hiccup that we knew someone like you could handle!" A gentle voice explained.
Hearing the pathetic excuses from these supposed 'higher beings' angered Richtofen. He knew They had set him up. Yet, now that their plan had failed they had persisted in the incessant grovelling ever since he left the facility.
"Leave me be", Richtofen finally growled.
"Do jou lot really zhink jou can pretend like nozhing happened? Nein, jou cannot dispose of me zhat easily!" Richtofen hissed ferociously.
"I am Doctor Edward Richtofen! Zhe vone und only! Zhere vill only ever be vone of me! No ozher can match up to mein brilliance!" Richtofen snarled viciously.
"Hmph! Suit yourself! You think you are so important. No, you are insane! Insane enough to do our bidding. Only the mind of the truly deranged can bridge the gap between our worlds! You are nothing! We made you everything you ever were!" A malevolent voice cursed.
"N--n--no! He didn't mean that! We are so very grateful for your service Richtofen. We appreciate everything you have done so far -- you're godhood is almost within reach! Please, ignore what he said and do not break this alliance we have spent so many years forging!" A calmer voice countered.
"Jou had no intention of ever allowing mein ascendence! Jou zhought jou could just use me -- like I vas exshpendable! But I'm telling jou zhis now; do not bore me vith jour pathetic grovelling anymore. It vill not vork!" Richtofen snapped angrily.
"Edward, think about what you are doing. Remember the path you chose! You pledged your allegiance to the brotherhood -- and ultimately to Us! You know what the penalty of that is", another voiced warned.
"Hah! I pledge mein allegiance to no vone! Zhe brozherhood! Vhat a pathetic lot! Zhey zhought zhey vere so high und mighty vith zheir power und influence. But zhey vere just puppets -- blindly following orders!" Richtofen spat.
"BUT I SHALL BE MEIN OWN GOD!" Richtofen declared.
But as triumphantly as his grandiose declaration was; Richtofen could help but think back to all the years he had spent working and striving to implement the agendas of the Illuminati - all for nothing...
End of part thirty-four...