"Let him go, Dumbledore."
The words rang out from behind, and Everlearn finally got released from the death hold, collapsing on his back as his hands scrubbed his creaking bones.
He had almost been folded into himself by this person.
"Boss Ash!?"
The man said out loud before he straightened himself up, his expression turning dignified, and he bowed, his upper body a smooth 45 degrees, saying,
"Boss Ash."
The same call, but this time, it held a more respectful feel.
Boss Ash nodded, picking up a cigarette to her lips, and her hands reached for the lighter in her pocket, only stopping when she found Dumbledore before her with an already lit lighter in his hands.
"If I may, Boss Ash?"
He said respectfully as Boss Ash lowered her cigarette.
Placing the flame beneath it, he lit it up before calmly stepping aside.
Everlearn only just felt the ache in his lower back recede, and he tumbled up to his feet, his teeth still grinding in pain and annoyance.
"Everlearn, meet Dumbledore." Bosh Ash introduced, "One of the most competent men we've got on Nvidia."
Everlearn finally got a good look at the man.
He was short.
About 1.5 meters in height, a dwarf, but he was a man, seemingly in his forties, with tiny strands of white mixed in with his pitch-black hair.
His brows were full and equally dark, with faint lines at the sides of his face that gave him a naturally smiling look.
Though Everlearn knew he wasn't smiling, as when he does, a dimple appears, just as it was appearing now as Dumbledore walked to him.
"It's an honor to meet the recruit recommended by Boss Ash herself," the man said, stretching out his hand for a handshake.
Naturally, Everlearn took it, but in the next instant, his face changed.
CREAAAK
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
A shrill scream echoed through the air as Dumbledore grinned in wickedness, squeezing Everlearn's hand tightly.
Huuuuuuuu
"Let him go, Dumbledore," Boss Ash said with another exhale of smoke, and Dumbledore released his hold, sending Everlearn flying back and landing his butt on the ground.
"Yes, Boss Ash!" Dumbledore said, regaining his dignified expression.
Everlearn looked at his hands; they had swelled up, turning completely crimson.
"Tch," he turned, scoffing at Dumbledore's dignified expression that almost made him seem as if he hadn't just brutally tried to crush his hand a few seconds ago.
A glint passed through Dumbledore's gaze, and he turned to look at Ash.
"Boss Ash, the Base's got a new command for you," he said, and his hands dipped into his coat, bringing out a folded letter before presenting it with both hands.
Ash raised an eyebrow at the envelope.
If the Base wanted to send info, they could have just sent it to her device.
If they were using paper, then...
She opened up the letter, her cold eyes surveying it, and she paused for about 10 seconds before she exhaled her cigarette once more.
"Here," she said, turning to Dumbledore and bringing the serum.
Immediately, Dumbledore's hands reached into his coat, and out came a briefcase.
It left Everlearn speechless.
How did a briefcase even manage to fit under there?
Opening up the suitcase, Dumbledore presented it before her, and Boss Ash planted the test tube into the briefcase before he took it back and shut it.
"I'll trust you'll deliver them both back safely to base."
"On my life," Dumbledore responded, but Everlearn's brows creased.
"Both?" he asked, and Ash turned to him.
"Something important came up, so I won't be following you back to base."
"You'll be fine with Dumbledore, though," she said, exhaling a puff of cigarette as Everlearn's eyebrows quivered, turning to look at the smiling man.
"No way I..."
"Trust me, Everlearn," Boss Ash said before he could continue.
"Dumbledore will get you back to base safely," she said confidently, and he could only sigh it off in the end.
"Come with me, Everlearn," Dumbledore said with a beaming smile, continuing up into the helicopter, though Everlearn remained where he was.
"This wasn't how we planned things. You said we'd both be returning to base," he said, as she exhaled, replying,
"Change of plans."
Everlearn fell silent for a while before saying,
"You'll be back to base soon, right?"
"I don't make promi—"
"Promise?" Everlearn added as Ash paused, her brows creasing.
She turned to look at him, finding his eyes brimming with a type of quiet conviction, and in the end, she exhaled tiredly, responding,
"I promise."
He turned after, entering the hatch.
Boss Ash remained watching as the helicopter rose into the air and quietly disappeared into the dark of night.
She reached for the cigarette, but paused, letting her hand fall to her side as she exhaled deeply, a faint smile curling across her lips.
"Dumb kid."
Her voice echoed through the top of the mansion, carried over by the breeze and disappearing into the sky.
_______
"You know, Everlearn," the boisterous words rang out through the rotor jet cabin.
"I don't even know," Everlearn whispered tiredly.
"Back in the base, amongst the High Rankers, Boss Ash was the only one who had never recommended anyone."
"Even after having been given dozens of chances for personal recommendations, she had ignored all of them, some even with promises of millions of Nvdollars."
"Yet, here you are, joining the base under her recommendation."
"Tell me, how do you feel?"
Dumbledore said loudly as Everlearn rolled his eyes.
"What is this, some press interview?" he said tiredly.
The man had asked a million and one questions now, his mouth never stopping for even one second through the entire time, and Everlearn had already gotten tired of speaking.
"Ha, Everlearn, you know..."
'Here he goes again,'
For the next three hours, Dumbledore was an unendingly irritating chatterbox, going on and on about Boss Ash, himself, his mighty quests, his mighty adventures, his mighty battles in the base.
It was unending and annoying, but then, he suddenly fell silent, and Everlearn hummed as he turned to look at the man.
'Finally tired?' He thought, but when he turned to look at Dumbledore, he found his eyes narrowed at the dashboard.
"What's wrong?" Everlearn called out as he turned to look at the dashboard, which currently held a radar identification, and both watched its signal for a while before Everlearn's face changed slightly upon realization:
"They're coming for us."