"Are you sure I can't come with you?" Proto leaned nervously against Elec's doorframe. Fidgeting with his suit tail, his face twisted in worry. While the break was nice, something had clearly shifted in the Syndicate. Causing waves of panic and mistrust amoungst them. Proto didn't know what exactly but from the grim look on Elec's face said enough. Something had change and whatever it was caused Pharaoh to call a mandatory meeting to discuss security. Digital or not, if security was being amplified that alone was cause for concern.
"I'm sorry dear but you can't this time. I need someone I can trust to man the front desk and make sure all the human workers get here safe and sound." Elec wrapped an arm around Proto's shoulders pulling him close. Holding him as if something in his world shattered and left him clinging onto Proto in a protective shield from the broken world. Proto didn't like this sudden change, he didn't like how tense Elec had become.
"What do you think happened? Is it something about that guy? The one from the recital, What was his name?" Proto inquired meeting Elec's gaze, as the other stare daggers further down. Proto didn't remember much from the incident, but whatever he did remember was in blurry spirts. He did remember meeting a Topman but the young man didn't seem the type to cause problems. At least not on purpose. The last thing he could remember before his concussion and finding Pharaoh was sparse. But he did remember finding Wily again… deciding to stay with Elec in the city. The old man's rambling were delusional at the rate he was going. Topman and him escaped, then he bid the him goodbye as he went to join Dr.Light on some sort of research trip or whatever.
"If you're referring to Ballade, no one knew about him outside the three of us. Rememb- oh right concussive memory lose. Uhm, well Ballade is going to be by later and helping us ramp up security here since the last place he was stationed rejected him. To violent I suppose, but that was all the way out towards Hollywood so I'd take that report with several grains of salt." Elec kissed the top of Proto's head. "Well if I don't leave now I'll be late. Call me when Ballade gets here and don't let anyone in the shouldn't be here. I have all the employee photo ids printed out and their on the desk for you. Don't try to fight scrappers or really anyone if they show up. That's Ballade's job now. I'm trusting you with the front desk today, promise me you'll be there when I get back."
"I won't move an inch." Proto cocked a small grin up at Elec, hoping to quell the little fire in him.
"Good, I gotta run, I promise I'll let you know everything after the meeting." With that Elec jetted off towards the garage, and soon enough the sound of him leave echoed its way back to Proto. Now standing alone in their little hallway, feeling a sense of dread.
The front desk wasn't to much of a hassle at first. Humans came in one by one giving Proto their IDs and going off further into the building. It was almost peaceful, sure one or two humans who were more then unwelcome came knocking on the doors. Asking for money or for Proto's number, but nothing more then drunks, skeezes and druggies. The underground was uncharacteristicly quiet, causing the looming anxiety to build. Proto knew something was up, just not what was up. Proto stared out into the chilly afternoon, threats of blackened ice and more snow passed through the computer's stereo. The white noise tuning out the cluttering of heels on laminate tile followed briefly by the sound of metal clacking against the marbled floors behind him.
"Well hello~ there." A dark seething voice growled into Proto's ear as an ice cold hand clamped his left shoulder. "Who's the cutie at the front desk."
"I'm not interested in anything you have to say, if you don't leave I'll call security to see you out-." The man stepped out from behind Proto making his way around to the front of the desk. Blocking out the light emanating from the doors.
"Relax, I am security. Oh, my apologies, my name's Ballade. It's a pleasure to meet someone as..perfect. As you." He was tall, dressed in his armour a stark and uncomfortable contrast to Fulmen's usual aesthetic. The most notable aspect to him was the modifications to his teeth. Fanged and sharpened to a terrifying degree. His purple, gold, and grey armour was designed to mimic a cross between a samurai and what Proto could only assume is a police drone. Everything looked sharp and only added to the dangerous and uncomfortable feeling Proto had.
"Well nice to meet you too, I'm taken and I'm calling Elec." Proto felt like a rabbit trapped in a cage with a very hungry fox. Frantically grabbing the small desk phone from its place. Never in his life did he type in Elec's phone number as fast as he did then. But being under the scrutiny of Ballade's hungry stare something in Proto panicked.
"Oh dear don't be like that, have some manners at least. What's your name?" Ballade moved closer, practically hovering threateningly over Proto. Blocking his path between him and the computer terminal.
"Proto, as I've made very clear already I'm not interested in… whatever you're thinking." Proto attempted to scoot as far back as he could, phone raised to his ear. Ballade reached over, grabbing Proto by the wrist. His hand squeezing so tight Proto was afraid that he may break his wrist.
"I'm only here to help. What's such a pretty face like yours doing all alone?" Ballade forced Proto's palm to his lips. Giving it a kiss while still maintaining his grip. His lips traveled down to Proto's wrist. A wicked glint crossed his eyes.
"Okay, still calling Elec though. I promised I would and I'm-." Proto attempted to wretch his hand from Ballade in vain. There was no way Proto could fight him. Not alone, not as the Lab bot he was. Proto internally screamed and begged for Elec to pick up.
"Proto, I order you to put that phone down and be quiet." And suddenly he lost any control over his body, forced to become a spectator in his own life. A soon to be victim of whatever Ballade wanted.
"Good~." Proto was stuck in place as Ballade moved closer.
"Elec! Oh thank goodness you arrived as soon as you did." Pharaoh strode over to Elec from the table he was at. Yamato, Shade, and Blade sat in anticipation. Elec saw something akin to fear and worry etched into their faces. "How are you, is Proto doing alright?"
"I'm fine, so's Proto. We're just confused by all this." Elec waved an arm gesturing to everything and everyone around them. "It's just sudden and not really like you to-." Pharaoh sat Elec down at the rather small meeting table, something about his antsyness made the hairs at the back of Elec's neck stand straight.
"Insist, I know but considering what happened at the ballet and Proto's.. design. I thought you should be here to discuss what has been happening these past few weeks." Pharaoh sat down at the head as usual (something that Elec and seemingly everyone else was happy for.) hands clenched tightly together. His usually rich brown skin had a sickly ashened pallor to it. Elec looked next to him, Yamato seemed just as if not more worried than Pharaoh was.
"I'm worried that poor Light-Kun might get kidnapped or worse if we're not careful about how we treat him." Yamato spoke his voice trembling slightly, a hand reaching out to gently caress Pharoah's right shoulder. A contimplative look mirrored on each other's faces.
"What do you mean?" Elec brought himself further to the dark oak table. If Yamato was worried for Proto's safety, and Pharaoh was as well, then it was more than worth hearing. Even if Elec couldn't stomach the thought of what it might be either out of anticipation or a sense of dread.
"Haven't you heard?! People have been finding bots like Proto murdered and dismembered! Along with a fair amount of humans." Shade chimed in from the far corner of the rather small space. His eyes were filled with an anger, nay, a disgust for whomever or whatever did such an act. It was one thing to end the measly life of a scrapper, or take a mad man or two off the streets. It was a completely different thing entirely to take the lives of innocent and defenseless bots, let alone humans. Yamato produced a large stack of folders, all containing different pictures and articles on the victims, the state they were found in, all of it. Every detail laid out before them.
"Not just that, the sicko also fucked the corpse… as far as the police have stated so far." Blade tossed another little factoid into the pile of "what the absolute fuck." Into the mix of already fucked up imagery in Elec's mind. If robots like him could sleep (let alone dream), he was pretty sure he'd have a nightmare or two about Proto being amoungst the many pictures and articles displayed at the table.
"Who do you think is up to this?." Elec swallowed the knot forming in his throat. He desperately wanted this to be a simple case of 'bad guy in town, get bad guy, turn bad guy in.' But everything seemed to not go in that direction the more he looked at the stack of police reports.
"So far, we think it's one of our own." Pharoah's eyes never looked up from the table for a moment, it seemed not even he was immune to the stress that a case like this caused. Proto was tough, sure, but he was still ultimately a lab bot. He wasn't just a target, he was the perfect target for the crazed idiot running amock. Young, male, handsome (much to Elec's combined dismay and amusement), definitely not a combat or even a mafia bot by any stretch of the imagination. Along with Proto's impulsivity this was a disaster waiting to happen.
"A deserter?! In the syndicate?! No, you sure?" Elec noticed the clean expert cuts, the mafia style killing and the expert disposal of the bodies. It didn't help that many of the bodies were so mangled and twisted beyond recognition.
"We're almost certainly positive Elecman. I'm sorry you have to be roped into such drama. But we fear due to the damage that these poor bots sustained before their demise might be linked to a syndicate member." Pharaoh finally piped up, a mutual sickness towards the depravity before them. His eyes mirroring the growing sense of worry and suspicion.
"You don't think it's Proto or I do you?." Elec blinked, hoping Pharoah wasn't insinuating them in something so awful. Pharaoh lowly shaking his head, continued.
"No, but we are worried for the both of you. Especially since, and please take no offence, but Proto whether he likes it or not is still a mere Lab bot. He's not designed to sustain the stress of combat. It be unwise to leave him alone right now."
"I'm aware of that but isn't that why you sent Ballade to us?"
"What?!"
"You sent me a letter addressing the status of Ballade's positioning and that you were sending him to Fulmen Financial to up security."
"Elec, listen to me carefully."
"Okay?…"
"I wouldn't and simply don't trust Ballade to protect a single tortilla chip. Let alone someone as important as Proto. But, If you have him there right now, keep an eye on him. I'm going to look into this supposed letter."
"So stay low and keep those two apart. Got it."
"If he was sent to up security, let him for now. We don't need him to start thinking we know he's here under a false pretence. I may not trust him, but quite frankly he isn't the smartest tool in the shed so he probably doesn't know better. Okay?"
Proto sat helplessly as Ballade came around the desk. Picking the smaller bot up with terrifying ease, Ballade seemed to relish holding Proto so firmly in his arms. Proto's body acted on its own accord, his heart raced and his breathing tensed. Ballade had carried him into an empty office that was supposed to be for security. However what Proto gathered from the war mech's eyes it was about to become the furthest thing from secure.