#50 Common Ground
Ha! Of all the humorous things I've heard in my life, they think they can keep Ian McCormick locked up in this jail! I am Hardlight! The master of games, a genius beyond comprehension, the champion of champions in countless fields, and I will not be contained, you can count on that, the recently incarcerated villain known as Hardlight aka Ian proclaimed internally as he sat in his cell. He had only been in jail a week and already vowed to himself every day that he would escape, but so far had yet to do it; he reasoned it would be best to know all the ins and outs before he attempted anything to ensure maximum success. Ian's plan would also probably be further along with more certainty if he had his hologram gauntlet and suit, but they had been withheld into his personal effects upon his arrest.
Hmmm, maybe I should look into seeing if one of the prisoners here has any fighting moves they'd be willing to teach me; either that or I need to fashion myself a new sword or some other kind of weapon, but then my problem becomes where to put it, Ian pondered, anxiously tapping his foot and feeling eternally grateful that he didn't have to deal with a cellmate who might make him stop his habit.
A loud alarm blared overhead for a moment, which quickly snapped him out of his thoughts as he swiftly lifted his head in panic before he remembered it was for alerting the inmates it was yard time. Does it need to be at that ear-shattering volume when they blast that thing?! Someone's going to have a heart attack because of it one of these days, I swear, the supervillain internally grumbled as he stood up and crossed his arms, waiting for his cell to be open. It was only thirty seconds after his little complaint that a 6ft tall man with black hair and wearing a beige security suit arrived at the fortified bars. He then unlocked the door for Ian and gestured for him to exit, making the incarcerated man huff but still obeyed nonetheless.
I was going to leave if you just gave me a moment. I'm not a child or dog needing constant guidance, he thought as he practically bit his tongue so as not to say anything. Ian was out of his cell in a matter of steps and turned to the right to start making his trek to the yard, all while being constantly supervised. There were already a handful of prisoners in front of him in a line, spotting a bald, muscular man with tattoos on his arms, a silver-haired woman who gracefully walked ahead and a skinny man with a dark-brown goatee and hair up in a ponytail.
Such an eclectic bunch, Ian remarked to himself while he kept marching forward. When the first prisoner reached the main security gate, there was a brief buzz and a light overhead turned green as it unlocked and slid open, revealing the bright, sunlit courtyard. The group of prisoners then continued single-file through the entryway with Hardlight needing to shield his eyes upon stepping outside. They still traversed through a fenced-in pathway until it ended on the opposite side of the wall, where another door buzzed and granted them access to the wide array of exercise equipment; there were also some benches for sitting on and a basketball court too that currently had a couple people venturing towards it.
Ian didn't follow them though as he opted for walking over to the west wall and stood in the shade, deciding it was a better use of his time to watch the others and decide where to go from there. Those simpletons can work up a sweat if they want, but I prefer not to smell all rank for hours; I may be a noob in their eyes, but let it not be said I don't care about my hygiene. Now, let's see who can help me and my plans, he plotted as his gaze fell upon a group around the weight lifting station. There were two men hanging off to the side of the workout bench with another behind the bar to spot the fourth currently laying down. He then watched as roughly 200lbs were lifted up and down by the forty-something individual a total of three times before he felt the need to stop, earning him a couple high-fives when he sat back up.
Hmmm. Something tells me even getting to talk with them will involve some sort of initiation ritual that's based on physical abilities, which will likely result at best in ridicule and at worse severe injury…yeah, it's not worth it, the former Krei-Tech employee worked out in his head, giving it a small shake before he honed in on a pair of tall prisoners on the opposite end of the grounds. The pair were racing each other between the walls and managing to garner a handful of onlookers who moved a couple benches so they could cheer on their favorite.
Well, they certainly are entertaining and don't seem like they're muscle-headed berserkers like the other group is, so that's a plus; I may even get a few pointers for my agility skills in the process…but would they be receptive to me and my aspirations of escape? They seem to have found contentment within these walls and might question any plan I come up with…maybe I'll wait before approaching them so I have something more concrete that they can't criticize, the tech genius plotted, giving a small head nod to himself. He scanned the area, observing the various clicks that existed from some laying against the wall like him and talking with each other to the basketball players that were deep into their game of three-on-three. When his gaze went past the runners again, Ian had to do a double-take at who was on the outskirts of the spectators; although this person wasn't fully facing him, Ian saw he wore glass, was of a leaner build, medium height, and had wavy dark-brown hair that seemed longer than when he last laid eyes on him.
"Mel?" he said in utter disbelief as he continued to stare, unaware he was getting some funny looks from the people who passed him. Is this where he's been this whole time? Man, I thought he just quit and went to Braggs Tech to be part of a think tank or something. Well, that's…unfortunate, Ian internally remarked.
After staring and pondering for a few moments, it occurred to him he was looking at someone that he finally had a half-decent shot of connecting with. Hmm…Even if I can't convince him to help me personally, he might be able to serve as a middle man since he's been here long enough to know the basic ins and out, the villain worked out, nodding his head as he got more and more excited by this idea. He then began walking across the courtyard, going past a couple guys arm wrestling at a table and being extra careful not to get hit by the basketball that bounced out of bounds when he neared it.
In no time at all, Ian was within range of the cheering inmates, able to hear them more clearly shout things like, "Faster Kenji!" and "Come on Reva!" He spied his target giving a loud whistle and going, "You got this K," as his gaze followed the runners. Now or never, Ian told himself with determination as he extended his arm and tapped the other's shoulder.
The wavy-haired man gave a bit of a startled jump at the sudden touch, but he quickly turned around and uttered, "Oh," with a puzzled face, followed by asking, "Is…is there something I can help you with? I'm not standing in your way, am I?"
The incarcerated supervillain blinked for a moment before he shook his head and replied, "No no, you're good…but um, you wouldn't happen to be named Mel, would you?"
Mel looked taken aback at being addressed by his name, followed by squinting his eyes as he scrutinized the other; a few seconds later, he opened them back up nice and wide as recognition washed over his face.
"Ian?" he half-asked/half-gasped.
"Yep," the other simply said with a satisfied grin and a shrug. Before he realized what was happening though, the gamer found himself being brought into a hug by Mel, temporarily short-circuiting his brain from the sudden action.
"Man, I've got to tell ya, it's so good to see a familiar face around here. I mean, some of these guys like Mike and Raul are pretty nice, but there are definitely plenty of prisoners that just want to kick you in the face," Mel rambled as he finally pulled away, keeping his hands still on Ian's shoulders and smiling brightly when he said so. Before the other could find his voice again, the crowd of cheering prisoners erupted as one of the runners Kenji apparently fell, signaling Reva as the winner and time to start a new round with two new competitors.
"Come on, let's catch up," the eager man urged as he now led Ian over to one of the available benches. The newer inmate shook his head as he found himself sitting at a worn, wooden table opposite of Mel as he chided/reminded himself, Remember, try to cozy up to him and maybe this will all work out; he already seems interested in getting chummy. He then tried to appear relaxed, putting on his best smile and beating his fellow scientist to the punch as he inquired, "So, how have you been Mel? I honestly had no idea you were in here. All we were told is that you were let go." He leaned in closer a moment later like he was sharing a dark secret and added, "There were quite a few rumors though, with the craziest being that you got recruited to help build a spaceship to fight aliens."
The incarcerated inventor's eyes initially went wide before they returned to normal, but an awkward air between them came as he scratched the back of his neck and avoided the other's gaze. "Heh heh. Well, I'm sure if that project exists, Krei will find a way to get a bid on it; he'd probably use my flexible display cloth for it too, which is actually why I'm in here," Mel admitted with a nervous laugh, giving Ian a sideways glance and a sheepish grin.
"Hmm. How so?" the other asked, genuinely curious now thanks to the puzzling response.
Transitioning from scratching his neck to nervously fiddling with his hands, Mel took a moment to collect himself before he apprehensively replied, "Well, I'm not exactly proud of what I did, but you remember those Buddy Guards right?"
"Oh yeah, I know all about thoses. Krei had me working overtime trying to fill this massive order for the police before I got locked up in here; they were counting on them being formidable, but even when in large numbers, they're still no match for a bad guy that has basic evading skills and weapons," Ian groaned, not even attempting to hide his disdain in his voice.
"Really? Well, that sucks given all the work that went into making them; they certainly were a hassle when I had to deal with them. I'm glad though that I haven't heard anymore news about them glitching and attacking people, not that that's much of a consolation," the other former Krei-Tech employee sighed with a small shrug.
"Oh yeah, we got those bugs fixed and had everything insulated with triple non-conductive coating layers just to be safe," the goateed inmate half-bragged as he chimed in. That made Mel give a tiny smile in satisfaction, but it soon dropped when he continued his story a moment later.
"Anyway, it's because my flexible display cloth was being used to make those flying assault bots that I tried to get Krei to remove my material, which maaaay have involved impersonating him and hijacking his date in order to get into the office."
Ian merely blinked as he processed what he just heard, followed by giving an unexpected snort and laughed for a moment, making Mel look perplexed and a tad embarrassed. Eventually, the former stopped though and shook his head as he remarked, "Wow. That is somehow even crazier than the actual rumors flying around; I was partial to the one about you getting an offer from GITT and couldn't wait to leave, so you didn't even bother with a two weeks' notice and instead did a two seconds' notice."
Scratching the back of his neck, Hardlight's former colleague gave a short, nervous laugh and replied, "Yeeeaaah, it certainly felt like it was that quick of a process, but as you can see, my whole plot resulted in me being imprisoned after Big Hero 6 came in to save his date and I from those metal menaces; I've written to his date a few times since then, but by the fifth one, I figured it was time to accept she didn't want to visit." Mel sighed sadly at the end of his statement while Ian looked to be in utter disbelief.
"Wait wait. What?! You wrote to his date after that fiasco? I…I honestly don't know whether that's just insane or bold and insane," the incarcerated villain commented as he rested his head in his hand.
"I would say probably bold and insane, but I figured I'd give it a shot since we were in a high-adrenaline situation and she seemed both tough and attractive, so you know…" Mel trailed off as he avoided the other's gaze, a small blush appearing now.
The sound of the nearby crowd cheering briefly pulled the two out of their conversation, but once they saw it was just the second race ending and not a brawl starting, they faced each other again. Mel then put on a friendly grin and inquired, "Sooo, you heard my story, now I want to know what got you landed in here."
Well, I knew this was coming, but based on what he just told me, being a willing participant is basically out of the question. I guess it's time to use some good old-fashion lying and manipulation and just hope he doesn't know I'm Hardlight, Ian plotted with a smirk.
"What's so funny?"
The supervillain blinked at the inquiry, only realizing now that he let that expression of smugness cross his face. He quickly recovered a minute later though as he shifted in his seat and smoothly replied, "Oh nothing. Just thinking about how I was fired too and thrown into this dump."
"Oh! Was it anything like how I got imprisoned?" the other scientist asked with genuine intrigue, scooching a little closer and looking on expectantly.
"A little yeah, but it definitely didn't involve being chased by rogue Buddy Guards," Ian replied with a small laugh at the end. He then paused for a couple more seconds before he let out a long sigh and tantalizing added, "But it does involve Buddy Guardians."
Mel's eyes went wide as he gripped the table and exclaimed, "Buddy Guardians?! Those things that tried to destroy the city in a robotic uprising?!"
"Yep," the goateed man simply replied, unable to suppress a small grin at having Mel hooked to hear more.
Gesturing exasperatedly, the other inventor stammered out, "So, wh-what happened? Don't leave me hanging!"
Shifting in his seat a little more, Ian inched closer to his former colleague and began with, "Well, way back in March, Krei started going around the offices, picking a few of us seemingly at random until we were assembled and we finally got briefed on his unknown project, but we weren't allowed to tell anyone even within the company. We were then each given a part of the whole robot to build; I was in charge of building the bot's laser arsenal, Chu was the propulsion system, Wicks was shielding, and so on and so forth."
Mel stared with his mouth slightly agape at this information, rather horrified thanks to the fact he had only heard sparse reports about the attack. He then felt compelled to ask with evident concern, "And these were going to be used by the cops?!"
Ian nodded and casually replied, "Uh-huh, but on the Brightside, they didn't use your flexible display cloth, so you don't have to worry about your material contributing to the attempted destruction of the city."
The clean-shaven prisoner blinked at the statement before admitting five seconds later, "I mean, I only feel slightly better, but it's still crazy to think how dangerous those things were and how they were going to be used against people to boot."
"Ain't that the truth," the other man flatly remarked, internally pleased at Mel's investment in his fabricated story. He then shrugged as he continued with, "Anyway, it was only after the Buddy Guardians went on a rampage and were defeated by Big Hero 6 that we learned the plans for them came from that dang robot…or android if you want to get technical."
"I always do," Mel chirped, causing Ian to pause as he stared ahead liked a deer in headlights before he finally processed the remark and smirked.
"Cheeky, but as I was saying, we were all duped into contributing to the robotic uprising, and even though the Buddy Guardians are fine now since they got some new friendlier programming, the police and understandably the public wanted some accountability," the incarcerated supervillain told his former colleague, letting his head sink in solemnness as he insinuated what came next.
The man opposite of him scoffed in disbelief, looking rather enraged as he fumed, "That sounds so wrong! I mean, it's one thing to fire you, which is still completely unfair since you were just doing your job, but to get you arrested too?! What the heck?"
"Hold your horses, Mel. Yes, I did get fired, buuut, the thing that landed me in jail was basically threatening him with the usual 'You can't do this to me!' and trying to go after him only to be stopped by security," Ian added with a raised hand in a slow-down gesture. He then watched his fellow inmate's anger fizzle out as he slacked in his seat and uttered, "Oh."
Mel folded his arms a moment later as he still looked rather miffed and remarked, "It's still a really crummy thing they did to you."
Ian internally smirked at the sympathy he got over multiple lies, but the fact that the other showed interest in what he had to say was a welcomed change, even if on false premises. He couldn't help but smile as he responded, "Well, thank you Mel for being the first person since I got here who actually fancies a chat with me. Everyone else has been giving me, "I want to punch you" vibes or sees the brainiac that I am and just ignores me; granted, the latter is preferable in that situation."
Mel gave a sympathetic look and shrugged as he informed the other, "Yeah, that's pretty standard treatment for a lot of newcomers; unless you're an absolute brute or you've got a massive rap sheet, it's usually about hazing and persevering through it. They at least were nice enough to just do some shoving and take a few of my meals when I first arrived, so basic high school-levels of bullying. I wonder though if it's because of the "Hitting a guy with glasses" thing or they're just worried the guards will react if they do too much."
"Probably the second one," Ian commented in a flat tone. He then let out a long sigh before he asked, "So, how much longer do you have to stay in this pit?"
Looking off to the side, the second man hummed thoughtful for a moment before he answered, "I think I only have another six months or so left. I guess I should count myself lucky it wasn't longer or that my criminal record won't have a big red flag of something like embezzling on there, so hopefully I can find employment at another tech firm; maybe Austinbul or Nueva York or heck, just try something on my own to avoid another Krei Tech situation." The supervillain merely stared blankly now before he blinked, clearly not expecting that long of a response. He's got a pretty bright disposition for someone that's been stuck with a bunch of low-life since last year, he internally commented.
"So, how long do you have to stay in here?"
"Huh?" Ian gave a small start as he was caught off-guard by the question, but he quickly recovered and replied, "Oh, yeah. Uh, I got fifteen months, so not ideal, but I could have gotten worse too." It was in fact ten years that Ian was sentenced to, but that was to remain his secret for now.
Mel seemed to believe him though as he gave a supportive smile and chirped, "That's good to hear." He then let out a long exhale of his own as he turned his gaze to the rest of the courtyard and said to Ian, "Still though, this place certainly isn't the Ritz and a lot of inmates definitely aren't into making friends with people like us, but…it's been manageable once you learn who to avoid and how to keep your nose clean."
And there's my opening, Hardlight thought with glee. Putting on an unassuming front, Ian innocently inquired, "Well hey, if it's not too much to ask, maybe you can tell me all that you've learned from being here? It'd be nice to know everything so I can hopefully stay in one piece while I'm stuck here."
His fellow inmate's eyes lit up as the feeling of being needed filled him with joy and appreciation after so long of mostly just getting by. "Yeah! Sure, I mean, anything to make prison a little easier for someone, especially if that person's someone I've worked with," Mel replied all flustered, now looking a tad self-conscious for answering too quickly.
"Why thank you, Mel. I really don't know how I'll ever make it up to you. Quite frankly, you might wind up being my life-saver with the help you're giving me," Ian told the other, laying on the praise nice and thick.
The optics expert's smile returned at hearing the statement, letting a beat of silence fall between them as they were unsure of what to say next; the decision was taken from them though as a brief but loud alarm blared from the top of the guard's station, signaling the end of their outdoor break. A fair amount of groaning rang out as the scattered inmates had their games and relaxation interrupted, but they all shuffled at varying speeds back to the entryway nonetheless.
Mel stood up first and let out a sigh, but his grin only dipped slightly as he said, "I guess this means any advice is going to have to wait until tomorrow, unless…you want to sit together during dinner; you must have been at the opposite end of the mess hall for me to have never spotted you before."
"Yeah, that and just not expecting to find me here probably played a factor," Ian responded with a shrug as he got out of his seat to begin making his way to join the other prisoners in the proper order.
"See you later then," Mel chirped, albeit a little anxiously, before he broke away to go to his spot in line.
"Until we meet again," his cohort called out to him, turning away just as he let a satisfied grin slip across his face. Ian found himself once again sandwiched between the same felons as earlier, but the supervillain ignored them in favor of reveling in this turn of events. Well, it won't be a cake-walk to keep Mel in the dark, but I can at least enjoy his company in the meantime; I'd prefer to be free of this cinderblock sooner rather than later though, so hopefully I can get him to divulge what I need in a timely manner, he plotted.
As the line finally started to move, Ian smirked as he marched forward and thought, If it winds up taking a little longer than I plan though, I guess it won't be the end of the world now that I have an ally in Mel, and after all, it's not like the city's going anywhere, right? Eventually, they'll all have to bear witness to my greatness. It's only a matter of time.
NOTES
In case you're wondering, yes, that silver-haired woman is Sirque. ;)
I see the potential of the Ian/Mel ship, but I didn't want to have them being a confirmed couple since I don't know if I'll write more about them in the future as well as Mel likely would be off-putted/scared by the levels of chaos/villain Ian was doing, so having a lot of lying going on seemed reasonable for an interaction. / Hopefully you still enjoyed it though despite that not being the main focus.
I'll do my best to have the next one out in 6-weeks, but I've just been struggling lately because of a multitude of factors, so forgive me if the next one doesn't come on time. I'll still keep on writing though, so don't you worry. 333
The next "Cutscenes" will be a flashback to how Momakase's family swords were traded for their safety. O_O