Laz returned to his room, not knowing what it was that was really going on when them. But after giving it some thought, he realized he didn’t really care. This wasn’t something he had to be involved in nor was it something he should worry about. Although the doctor did save his life or at least prevent him from being stuck in cold storage for who knew how many years, Laz didn’t even know how he had been found. So while Laz might have lent a hand to the good doctor for what he had done for him, no one else was of his concern.

’Have I become that cold?’ Laz asked himself after realizing his own train of thought.

Looking at his own reflection in the small mirror in his room, Laz couldn’t help but wonder where the young boy from all those years had gone. Thinking about it, he wasn’t even sure he knew his own age any more as it had been a while since he celebrated his birthday. Sure, the day had come and gone, but it didn’t exactly concern him anymore. It’s not like he ever had anywhere to be nor appointments to make. Looking at a dusty desk calendar, it said it was January of 2022... but he knew that was wrong and couldn’t help but think that his life was like this desk calendar, useless for the reason it was made. Even when he was asked about the last time he had disappeared, he wasn’t sure the summer of 2022 was even acerate, it could have been a different time. But he didn’t think that even mattered much.

For the next several days, Laz didn’t write anything down. When the captain asked about it, Laz used the excuse of a stabbing head pain whenever he tried thinking about it and test conducted by Dr. Anton proved that there were irregularities with his pulse and heart rate whenever he tried to recall things. While the good doctor wasn’t a psychiatrist, he had studied many different things in med school before focusing on biology so therefore when he told everyone that such a thing was common when memory lost was present, no one questioned it.

Despite that, the captain was in a bad mood about it all the same although he wasn’t sure why.

"So you’re saying he might never remember?" The captain questioned the doctor as they all gathered for a meeting that Laz wasn’t invited to.

"No. I’m saying I have no idea why his memories are blocked. Look, I took those classes back when I was pre med so forgive me if I don’t remember it from over twenty years ago. But I’ve been researching with the limited number of books and references I have on the subject and all I can say is that this is less like a, injury and more like a sub-conscious block," Dr. Anton said as the captain kept rubbing his forehead while trying to understand.

"Make this easy for me?" The captain finally responded.

"His brain doesn’t want him to remember and it’s most likely due to trauma. There is no telling what kind of hell he experienced at the other end of the gate. Think about everything we’ve heard happening from when the gate burst out? How would a normal human even survive that mess? And if he is telling the truth, to then be frozen in a block of ice afterwards? Is it any wonder why his head is a mess right now?" Anton said back, trying to dumb everything down for this idiot.

"And is there anyway to fix it?" He then asked, still not convinced by what he had heard but wanting answers.

"He needs to understand he is no longer in that place, that he no longer needs to fight for survival. He needs to feel safe and secure and connect with people again. Or, at least, connect with someone. That’s what most texts say is a the long term solution. Of course, if you’re looking for something faster, there are drugs available that could render him unconscious and you could then question him in a state where his brain is half asleep and half awake..." Dr. Anton said with a half grin.

"That’s good then. Why don’t we..."

"We don’t have those kinds of drugs and doing such a thing breaks several international codes and laws. I can’t believe you’d even consider that route," the doctor interrupted him before almost spitting out his words. He was giving him an extreme, last hail Mary of an idea and that’s the first thing the man wanted to go with. Dr. Anton couldn’t help but side eye his Sven, but the man silently shook his head. The doctor then knew that he shouldn’t say anything else.

The captain looked like he wanted to hit the doctor, but his husband wasn’t someone the captain wanted to fight if he could avoid it. As for the women present, Shelly looked confused, Jun looked her normal, neutral self and Saanvi looked like she almost wanted to laugh, but she held it back. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Then what should we do... Doctor?"

"We need to start building the bridge with him like I suggested first," Anton replied.

"Fine. You and Sven will..."

"That won’t work. While my husband is quite the social character, I am not. While the boy is amusing and built like a rock.. eh hem... I mean, while he is young still, he isn’t an idiot. Knowing that I and my husband are who we are, he would only ever feel like a third wheel. He needs someone else to connect to him to try to coax him back to being in this world."

"Then I guess I will..."

"Don’t even go there. You can barely stand the sight of him. How the hell would you honestly connect with him?"

"Then you mean to say..." The captain had a very dark look in his eyes right now as he looked over at the doctor, but Sven move himself into the captain’s line of sight and broke the tension.

"He means the boy needs to probably connect somewhat with one of the women folk who are currently here. If only to engage him in a more welcoming and homey environment. That is... if you ever expect to get anything useful out of him," Sven said, again acting as the shield for the good doctor.

The captain glared at both of them, but while Anton shrunk back, Sven did not and instead returned an ice cold glare at the man. It was only at this moment that the captain was reminded again about the warnings the upper management had said about this guy named Sven. The captain stopped glaring and thought for a moment before turning the Saanvi.

"Saanvi, this seems like a decent job for you. While the man is young, he isn’t too young. perhaps you can take on the role of older sister for him and see if you can guide him out of his shell?" The captain asked, glancing over at the dark haired, exotic woman.

"I fail to see how this should be my duty. I am only here for my research and nothing more. I am a scientist, not a baby sitter," Saanvi said, shooting a glare back at the captain. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and slap her, but knew that such a thing wouldn’t be good in this environment.

’One day I will crack that shell of yours and the only thing you will be doing is begging me for more bitch. Hmm... truly only a man of taste such as myself can enjoy a milf like her.... Even though, technically speaking, she doesn’t have any kids with her husband. But so what? Perhaps her first will be mine. I would love to hear her explain that to her husband when she gets home,’ the captain said to himself while keeping his cool.

"Please, Saanvi, for the good of the mission and the team. Shelly isn’t... interested enough to try and tasks such as these are not Jun’s strong suit. Saanvi knew all this, but she still couldn’t believe that in the end, even she thought she would be the right call for this. After all, outside base cameras and sensors were haywire for a bit and should could barely get a reading through the storm so there wasn’t going to be much she could do for the next few days.

"Fine. I’ll try, Saanvi said though gnashed teeth while the captain was feeling like he had just sent his wife into the arms of another man, completely ignoring that she wasn’t even his wife in the first place.

Laz smiled as he listened in. While he was being careful, he also needed to know what their real feelings were for him. And it turns out they sent an unwilling sacrifice to the slaughter. As a god among men, Las felt it was time to test his own powers.