It had been too long since Noah had last contacted Rex.
It was difficult for the boys to communicate outside of Providence-approved meetings since all Rex "owned" was a work phone that was monitored 24/7.
Noah wasn't too keen on the idea of being monitored alongside Rex, so Rex respected Noah's wishes and limited himself to only emailing Noah to ask about the next times Noah was available to hang out.
The last email asking if Noah minded hitting up the arcade had been sent two Thursdays ago.
Normally Noah was busy with school, so it wasn't too unusual for a couple days to pass by between emails, but it had been almost a solid two weeks since Rex had last heard from Noah.
This wasn't the first time that Noah had randomly stood up Rex for two weeks before mysteriously popping back into Rex's life, hence the reason why Rex is currently sneaking out at 2 a.m. in the morning and into the dark halls of Providence.
He needs to find out the reason why his friend keeps acting weird.
Rex swiftly bypasses every locked door that comes his way until he reaches the records room, which should hold Noah's old job files from when Noah was first hired by White Knight to make friends with Rex.
Not bothering with the filing cabinets filled with paper files, Rex sits down at the room's computer and places his hands on the monitor. His tech lines run down his arm, illuminating Rex's surroundings in a gentle blue light, and Rex forces the computer to turn on and bypass the login system.
So much for tight security.
Using a combination of the computer's mouse and Rex's nanites, Rex soon finds himself looking at Noah's old files. He quickly scans the computer screen, intending to find the section of the file with Noah's address so Rex can make a visit to him in person later in the afternoon.
Rex's search comes to a screeching halt when a single unexpected word pops out at him.
Active.
Active.
Active?
Noah's status on his file should have a nice red "Deactivated" sullying it, not a cheery green "Active" status blaring out at Rex.
Noah had promised he'd quit his job at Providence.
He told that to Rex's face after that night.
He had wrapped his arms around Rex and told Rex that he regretted his decision and was going to tell White Knight to stop paying Noah.
Surely Noah still wasn't earning money from hanging out with Rex after that night?
Maybe...maybe Providence had never bothered with changing Noah's employment status.
Yeah.
That was it.
Noah would never do this to Rex.
Rex desperately searches Noah's files for when it says he was last active "in the field" when he comes across Noah's vacation days.
"Agent requested his two weeks of paid vacation. Granted. -12 days ago-"
12 days ago...
Rex slumps in the chair, not quite believing his eyes. However, nothing on the computer screen changes and Rex ever so slowly brings his legs up to his face.
He goes slack and lets his face fall forward into his lap and he presses his eyes hard into his kneecaps.
He's not gonna cry about it.
He won't.
He's not going to…
Tears escape his eyes despite Rex's best efforts, and they flow down Rex's face, staining his pants wet.
Rex can't quite stop the silent sob of fury and betrayal that comes deep within Rex.