056 Observation
Richard had long known that persuading Kali to join them wouldn't be easy. She had her own painful experiences, and it wasn't something a few words from him could change. Moreover, she wasn't alone; she had her own crew, and all her actions were tempered by her own concerns.
Eleven's mother, Terry Ives, had used her own abilities to find Eleven hidden in the Hawkins Lab a few years after giving birth. Terry had once snuck into The Lab and found the young Eleven, but unfortunately, before she could take the child out, she was discovered by The Lab personnel and dragged away. Afterward, Eleven was hidden away in secret.
It was at that time that Number Eight, who happened to grow up with Eleven and played in the same room, witnessed it all. At the time, she was older and already had the ability to distinguish right from wrong. After she saw the strange woman being dragged away, a moment later, Eleven was also moved elsewhere by those Lab personnel who would use shock therapy and isolation on their test subjects at the slightest provocation.
Finding that her playmate hadn't returned for several days, the young Kali—then still Number Eight—was left with lingering fears. Realizing that The Lab was definitely not a place to stay, she silently developed her abilities and escaped The Lab one day. During her flight, she was fortunately taken in by a family. After learning about young Kali's ordeal, those people wanted to use legal means to negotiate with The Lab.
But as one might expect, the people at The Lab would never allow a test subject to remain free, let alone let news of The Lab leak out. The family that took Kali in met with tragedy. After escaping again and enduring a period of pain, Kali suddenly had a 'revelation.' She decided to use her abilities to fight back against The Lab, thus embarking on a path of revenge while 'recruiting' and taking in other homeless people who had also suffered mental trauma.
Such a tragic and profound experience is not something ordinary people go through. Kali had her own determination and her own obsession. Ever since she formally decided on revenge, she had lived this way; the obsession was deeply rooted.
Richard knew well that unless she experienced something else, her mindset would likely not change.
"Are there still more natural ability users out there?" Richard thought to himself. According to the data he obtained from The Lab, before Number One went berserk and slaughtered the test subjects, many ability users had already escaped. During that time, a nervous security guard's gun went off and killed one.
"I'll find them eventually," Richard thought. In this era, even relying on his hacking skills, finding people wasn't guaranteed.
After all, in this land of the free, there weren't that many surveillance cameras around. Finding people who had been missing for years—especially teenagers whose features hadn't even fully developed back then—was clearly not going to be easy.
When Richard returned to the hotel where they were staying, he found Steve, who had been dead drunk last night, still snoring loudly in his room. He guessed Steve didn't even know if Richard had been in the room next door all night.
By the time Steve woke up naturally, it was already noon.
"Morning, Richard." Steve knocked on Richard's door while clutching his pounding head. Seeing Richard's teasing gaze, he ignored it out of habit and gave a greeting.
"It's high noon, princess." Richard let him into the room.
Steve rubbed his temples and grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge in Richard's room, chugging it down. Once his thirst was quenched and his body felt a bit better, he plopped down on the floor and said, "Hangovers are the worst. I'm definitely not touching a drop of alcohol tonight."
"If you can't hold your liquor, don't push it," Richard said, sitting in front of the room's vanity mirror, feeling a bit amused.
Steve rolled his eyes. "Can't hold my liquor? Please, not everyone is a machine like you. A dozen shots of whiskey and you're still standing."
Richard shrugged.
"We still have two days to kill. Any idea where to go?" Steve changed the subject.
"You decide. Let's try to buy some cool souvenirs to take back these next two days." Richard spoke as Robin's pouty face flashed through his mind, and he couldn't help but smile knowingly. "We'll ask the hotel later if there are any places worth checking out nearby. It's better to ask a local than to wander around aimlessly ourselves."
"Makes sense." Steve seemed to think of Nancy. He smiled warmly, as if his hangover headache no longer mattered. "Hey, I have to bring back something special for my Nancy."
Richard couldn't help but shake his head upon hearing this. This guy was showing off his relationship even while they were away.
After having lunch at the hotel restaurant, Richard and Steve went downstairs, preparing to drive out for a look around.
Passing through the fancy hotel lobby, Richard's sensitive ears caught the Black manager at the front desk just hanging up the phone, muttering helplessly, "These days, why are there still people who won't give up and want to go to Room 1408?"
[The Eldritch exists when observed.]
[Anomaly observed: dimensional overlap.]
Richard suddenly felt the hair on his neck stand up and couldn't help but touch the back of his neck. Looking back, there was nothing, only the hotel manager who seemed to have noticed Richard's odd behavior and was watching him.
The hotel manager asked with a calm, patient, and polite expression, "Is there anything I can help you with, sir?"
Hearing this, Steve beat Richard to it, stepping forward with a smile to chat with the manager. As Richard had mentioned before, he began asking about local tourist spots, and the manager smiled patiently while answering his questions.
Stepping out of the hotel, the two o'clock afternoon sun was blazing hot, but Richard didn't feel any warmth. Looking back at the hotel sign, it had transformed at some point into 'The Dolphin Hotel.'
"Are we in New York?" Richard asked Steve after getting into the car.
Steve thought he had misheard. Seeing Richard's confused look, he burst out laughing. "I thought you had a high tolerance, but it turns out your hangover just kicks in late. How could this be New York? This is Illinois."
Richard fell into silence.
That evening, Richard and Steve returned to the hotel carrying bags of gifts. They noticed the hotel manager arguing with a middle-aged guy. After a short while, the manager felt the scene was bad for business and led the man into a conference room.
Steve was also curious but didn't notice what happened next. He only knew that after the elevator they had been waiting for finally reached the first floor, the hotel manager walked out of the conference room with a heavy expression, following the triumphant and smug-looking guy.
The man, slinging a messenger bag, shouted loudly at them as they were about to enter the elevator, "Wait, wait! We want to get on the elevator too."
A moment later, the elevator started. Richard, squeezed into a corner by the crowd, kept his eyes on the middle-aged guy's actions. Without hesitation, the man pressed the button for the 14th floor.
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