TWs: Panic attack/crying/hyperventilating, burns/scars, mention of death/killing, needle, and self-deprecation. Stay safe :)
"How is that possible?" Arthur asked himself as he went over the footage again, "So there's no one there?"
"There's nothing to note other than the unexplainable movement of the bushes." His AI answered.
"It was as if I was talking to a ghost..." He muttered, "Do you still know what he looks like?"
"It's all in the hard drive, sir."
"Good." Arthur took his sunglasses off, unscrewing part of the right temple. He felt his way around his desk, grabbing a familiar wire with a USB and inserting it into the sunglasses port. He heard a startup noise as he spoke, "Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, boss." The AI's voice sounded from the computer before him, "Running facial recognition right now."
Arthur nodded, pulling out his phone. He moved slowly as he fiddled with finding his contact list.
"Opening your Contacts," the phone spoke as he eventually found it.
Arthur tapped Matt's icon, typing a message that the AI relayed.
'With luck, we'll figure out just who that guy was...'
"Man, it feels like we come here every day," Edd spoke as he walked across the mansion floor.
Matt nodded, opening the basement door by the stairs, "It's just where all his research is."
As the group got to the bottom of the staircase, they saw Arthur sitting at a desk with about six monitors adorning it.
"What's all this?" Tord couldn't help but ask about it, eyeing the surprisingly neat coordination of the layout.
Arthur hummed, turning toward them, "This is nothing compared to my other research places."
The older stood up, frowning when he noticed how eerily quiet it was.
"What?"
"Your eyes..." Matt muttered, staring at what once was hidden behind tinted glasses.
Dark bags sat under Arthur's bloodshot pale blue eyes, and burn marks lined the edges, scarring his skin permanently.
"Oh, I've been through worse." Arthur chuckled awkwardly, "Or was it better...? Ah, it doesn't matter."
He shook his head as he turned toward his monitor, pressing a few buttons on a keyboard.
"What matters is this footage of the garden yesterday." He brought up a window showing security camera footage of the garden, "Watch closely..."
Arthur took a step back, letting the others see the screen.
The feed showed the side of the gazebo where azalea shrubs and a few trees were planted. There was nothing out of the ordinary at first.
Edd squinted at the screen, "I'm pretty sure that's not how wind works."
Matt glanced at him, then turned to the monitor, leaning in more, "Hey... yeah, those azaleas are moving weirdly."
"Exactly." Arthur nodded, "Someone was here yesterday- I suspect a Black Army soldier."
"What? Are you sure?" Tord inquired.
"92 percent sure." He responded, "My AI is going through the facial recognition right now."
There was a beep as a female voice came from the monitor, "Sir, we appear to have a problem."
Matt tilted his head at the AI's voice, 'She sounds familiar...'
"What is it, C?" Arthur responded.
"There are no matches in the criminal database who match his description."
"So this guy isn't a criminal..." Arthur muttered, "Have you tried news articles that might have a matching description- check within the last few years."
"Checking news articles."
"That should take a while, considering there's been a lot of drama with both armies."
"I found something, sir."
Arthur perked up, "That was fast..."
Everyone turned their attention to the monitor as a news site popped up.
"This article is from two and a half years ago. There is a person who matches the profile, although..." C trailed off, making Arthur quirk an eyebrow.
"What is it, C?"
"The person died, sir."
The group was silent, taking what the AI said in.
"Yet, how...?" Arthur mumbled, "What was his name?"
"Jon Bandini. It says here he was killed by a projected missile." C read aloud, "He was living with former roommates Mark Reynolds and Eduardo Brubaker at the time."
Tord felt his heart drop as his eyes widened. He took a step back, suddenly feeling dizzy and nauseous and everything in between as he swayed on his feet.
'You killed him.'
Edd noticed the look on Tord's face, gently gripping the shorter one's arm so he wouldn't fall over, "Tord?"
He felt underwater again, not able to hear a thing even though he had hearing aids. His breathing was short, leaving him gasping for air while his eyesight was steadily getting blurry with tears. He grabbed onto the thing closest to him, which was Edd.
'You killed Jon.'
Edd took the hearing aids out as he noticed the basement's lights dim. He softly cupped Tord's face and brought him to his chest, wrapping him in a warm embrace.
Tord inhaled sharply as he gripped Edd's hoodie tightly, trying to muffle the sounds of his crying as he tried his best to breathe.
"Take your time, Tord." The taller whispered, "Breathe in... and out."
With a shaky breath, Tord tried again and again. He attempted until he was breathing properly.
"Tord...?" Edd mumbled.
Letting out a shaky sigh, the Norsk looked up, "I killed Jon."
Before anyone could talk, Tord spoke up again.
"So, how is he alive?"
'That is the question, isn't it?' Arthur thought, 'How could he be there, yet not be alive? Unless he really is a ghost...'
Tord buried himself in Edd's hoodie mostly out of embarrassment of showing his vulnerability. Edd ran his fingers through his caramel hair, trying to distract the shorter one.
Tom glanced at the article displayed on the monitor. He had no idea it made headline news; then again, he was too busy moving to his new apartment.
Matt frowned, glancing between his friends and father. He stepped up to the desk, eyeing the papers. He shuffled through the pile, eventually stopping when he saw Dr. John's file that Larry collected for safekeeping.
"What about Dr. John, the Mad Scientist?" Matt picked up the paper, reading through it.
"What about him?" Arthur turned his gaze toward him.
"It says here that he's capable of doing the 'almost impossible,' such as bringing something to life." The ginger read, "It also says he calls himself the 'best doctor in all of England'...? Narcissistic much?"
"That..." Arthur thought for a moment, "You could be on to something."
Turning to the monitor, Arthur typed something in, unplugging his sunglasses from the USB and putting them on.
"It looks like we're going to take a trip to the hospital."
Jon flew through the halls in his ghostly form, navigating quickly through the hospital. He had to be quick.
He stopped once he saw the corresponding room number that matched what he was texted before.
Going through the door, he saw a patient with sandy blonde hair sleeping peacefully on the bed. Jon wondered how he could sleep despite the bright lights.
Slowly floating up to the patient, he turned opaque as his feet touched the ground.
He made sure his respirator mask was on as he shuffled through his pockets, taking out a needle with a mysterious liquid.
Jon didn't know what the liquid did- he was only told he had to be quick when inserting it.
His hand trembled as he stared at the sleeping figure. Somehow, he knew the liquid in the needle was something dire. Maybe that was why he was hesitating right now.
This liquid could kill the guy, which Jon didn't want to have on his conscious.
He had to, though; this was so he could prove he was capable all along.
As he stared at the needle in his hand, he couldn't help but think;
'Is this right?'
'Is what I'm doing right?'
There was a knock on the room door. Jon's eyes widened as he quickly transformed into his ghost form.
The knocking seemed to wake the guy up, as he stirred and opened his eye as the nurse walked into the room.
"You have visitors, Mr. Gilmour."
The guy seemed confused for a second before realizing what she meant, "Oh, they can come in."
Jon huffed, realizing he had been too much of a coward again. Now he had to wait.
He hovered over to the corner of the room, deciding to spy on the guy and his visitors. Jon watched as they walked into the room one by one.
Jon stopped as he analyzed the people who entered. He knew those three, and...
Him.
His eye twitched as he saw a guy with caramel hair and a red hoodie walk into the room, examining the scars that littered half his face.
'What...?'