Gunnar stowed those thoughts away for later, softly opening the door to Ulysses' room. The entire house was cloaked in a kind of reverent silence, and for some reason, Gunnar didn't want to disturb it.
Peeking inside, Gunnar was shocked to discover that someone was actually sleeping in the room's only bed. Walking closer, Gunnar froze when the sleeper rolled over so that he was facing Gunnar. Gunnar blinked twice, seeing the face of someone he thought he'd never see again. Ulysses Carter? I - I thought he was dead.
As Ulysses' started to open his eyes, Gunnar nearly panicked, instantly turning himself invisible. Ulysses sat up, and Gunnar started to slowly back up. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get back through the door, since it would be sure to give him away by moving, if only slightly, when he ducked back through it.
Ulysses blinked, staring around at the walls of his room. Someone was in there with him. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew that there was another person standing somewhere in his room. He could sense it.
Gunnar stood against the wall, waiting for Ulysses to go lay down and go back to sleep. Instead of doing that, though, Ulysses flipped the covers off his legs and stood up. Gunnar wondered if he was thirsty or something. But when Ulysses started to prowl around the room like he was looking for something, Gunnar knew he was in trouble.
After he had checked the other three corners of the room, Ulysses came to the corner on the right-hand side of the door. This was it, whoever was in his room was standing right here. By this time, Gunnar was starting to wonder if he should just forget about subtlety and get out while he could.
"I know there's someone here, so why don't you just come out where I can see you?"
Gunnar lowered his head; Ulysses couldn't know how much he wanted to do that. But he had his orders, and revealing himself to Ulysses would probably preclude following them. But, since Darkon had never read his mind, maybe he wouldn't know.
Gunnar slowly faded back into visibility, keeping his eyes on his feet. He didn't want to look Ulysses in the eye, especially since his eyes were so obviously not human anymore.
"Fritz?"
"No," Gunnar said, hoping that his blonde bangs still shaded his red eyes.
Ulysses put his hand under Fritz's chin, forcing the blonde boy to look him in the eyes. Gunnar was just about to close his eyes, when he saw the look on the older man's face. Ulysses' expression wasn't one of shock or horror, like Gunnar had expected. It was actually one of pity.
Gunnar turned away, forcefully yanking his chin out of Ulysses' hand. Pity was the one thing he hadn't expected, and it was also the one emotion that neither Gunnar or Fritz could handle. He'd had more than his share of pity when his father had died. Gunnar hated pity, it made him feel helpless.
Ulysses put his arm around Fritz's waist, steering him toward the king-sized mattress that Ulysses had been sleeping in until just recently. Ulysses was determined to get Fritz Wallace, or whoever he was now, to tell him what was wrong. Aside from the obvious, Ulysses thought with a trace of bitterness.
Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, Ulysses sat down on the bed. Gunnar, his eyes at less than half-mast, felt something bump against his knees. Seeing that it was a bed, Gunnar let himself fall, burying himself face-first in the sheets. Someone, Gunnar knew it had to be Ulysses, was softly stroking his back just between his shoulder blades.
It felt… comforting.
"Fritz, what's wrong?"
I'm not Fritz. Didn't I make that obvious?
"All right then, what should I call you?"
Gunnar. Teknoman Gunnar. Whatever strikes your fancy, I guess.
"Teknoman?"
Yeah, that's what I am now. You had a run-in with the Radam, same as the rest of us. You should know what a Teknoman is.
Ulysses sighed. He did, in fact, know what a Teknoman was. He had gone through the same 'training' as Fritz and the others had. Teknomen were soldiers, slave warriors for Radam's cause. But, he also knew that Teknomen didn't remember what they had been before becoming Radam slaves.
"I know what a Teknoman is, Fri-Gunnar. But what I want to know is, how do you know who I am? Aren't Teknomen supposed to forget all about what they were?"
Apparently, our planet is completely new to the Radam Empire. So Darkon needs someone to show him around. You know, take him out to dinner, maybe catch a movie, tell him what the weakest targets are so he can attack them first. That kind of thing.
"So he chose you?"
Yeah. I get to be the one who betrays my entire planet. Isn't that a happy thought?
Ulysses knew that Fritz, or Gunnar as he insisted on being called now, tended to make jokes, especially when he was dangerously close to falling apart. Gunnar must have been very close to collapsing, if he was being this sarcastic.
"I'm sorry," Ulysses said, not sure what else he could say.
Yeah, Gunnar thought back, sounding drained.
"So what happened? Why did Darkon send you here?"
Ness left.
"Left?" Ulysses asked, incredulous.
Well, to put it correctly, he was taken. Or at least that's what I think.
"Why do you think that?"
Just… a feeling I have.
Gunnar rolled over on his side, tired of trying to breathe through the sheets covering his face. Resting his head on his right arm, Gunnar took a deep breath of fresh air and let it out slowly. Ulysses had moved his hand to Gunnar's shoulder when the boy had turned, and was now just resting his hand there.
"Why did you come here?" Ulysses asked.
"Really? I'm not exactly sure anymore."
Ulysses didn't know what to say to that.
"I should really be going now," Gunnar said, rolling off the bed.
"Why?"
Gunnar shrugged, looking away from Ulysses. "I have to report back to Darkon, tell him I haven't found anything."
"Why don't you just stay here, with me?"
"Because I can't. Darkon would know where I was. And believe me, getting him angry is like jumping in front of an onrushing semi, only a lot more painful."
Ulysses had nothing to say to that, and Gunnar started to walk away.
Look, Gunnar started, not turning around or stopping. I'll come back and talk to you again, if I can. But I'm not sure when that's going to be, or for how long. Darkon keeps a pretty close watch on me.
Gunnar left, and Ulysses shook his head. None of this should have happened.
