District 42-Chapter 82: The principal’s interest

Casper was dragged until the lockdown. It had been a while since he last visited that local. He was not for so long inside Halden, but for him, it seemed like years. When you are confined somewhere, feeling every day that your freedom was stolen from you, the time passes too slowly.

No matter how many things Casper made, and how many hours he spent planning his escape, the result was the same. A day that didn’t appear to be a day, without even the artificial sunlight of the Castle. No matter how long you walked, you would always be faced with another wall, just to be remembered that you could not run away anywhere.

The soldier had passed for times like that, but just a crazy man would get used to losing the only special thing that every human is born with. That was why he had somewhat empathy for every person in that district, and also the grudge he was holding against the Jarls.

They were born without knowing what was free will, and it was just sad. In the end, the expression in their masks wasn’t just a lie or something artificial at all. They all had that feeling inside their hearts, even though they could not realize this.

At times, think about that matter made Casper feel something deep inside him. An idea... Maybe a plan. He would think about what would happen... if all those masks fell from their faces someday, and they all had the opportunity to smile at each other, to show anger, sadness, and whatever they wanted to show, do what they wanted to do, and say what they had in their minds.

And it would get stronger whenever he remembered what Sionnach said, that she never could see the smile on her brother’s face. Or Alfar, saying that he wasn’t able to differ what was forced on him by the masks and what was not.

"That’s a pitiful way to live, huh?" He thought, sitting on the cold floor of concrete in the lockdown and closing his eyes. That was one of these days where he would think about it and dream with that impossible day when everything would change.

"I am always thinking in this world... But it’s been a while since I don’t think in my world. Did I get used to it already? Or, maybe, am I so attached with the issues I need to solve here that I can’t get some time to look to my past?"

Casper remained in that room quietly. For now, he could do nothing but wait. In the end, it was a test of patience. If he lost his cool, he would be getting into their trap. The objective of the lockdown was to drive someone to the edge of their sanity after all.

The soldier hardly had free time to reflect on something that was not related to troubles, so he appreciated that time, every second of it.

For the first time in Halden, the hour passed quickly, soon he was ready to sleep, and it showed to him that the day came to an end.

...

It has been some minutes since the end of the action inside the canteen of Block F and B. The scientists were looking to the big screen with surprised faces, some in disbelief.

The results of most of the experiments were better than they expected at that point. Their efforts were paying off, and it was clearly showed after those huge battles that took place at the canteens. So far, they had progress in their researches that easily could beat the predictions that the superiors stipulated.

At the same time that they were so happy with the results, inside their minds nothing but confusion remains.

They were sure of the potential that their guinea pigs had. The destructive, tactical, and supportive power of those projects was more than satisfying. They were amazed particularly with the improvement they had in the project Svartalfheim. The Dark elf was a truly monster.... but not unbeatable as they thought he could be.

The Principal was the more flabbergasted with the outcome of that action. After all the guesses, the calculations, statistics, and so on, who won that conflict was the only prisoner in Halden that was still to be studied and had no kind of project attached to him.

The man was cleaning the lenses of his glasses, never avoiding his eyes from the screen. He put the glasses again, but no matter how many times he said for them to replay the recording, the results were always the same.

"That man... He could beat that huge monster made o pure strength and musculature, with an infinity amount of energy and endlessly anger. And after this, he made the same thing with the guinea pig that I had the highest standards! That’s frustrating... That’s terrifying! And... amazing, interesting!" The Principal was not thinking this. While still sitting on his chair, and without taking his eyes off the loops showing on the big screen of Casper’s feats, the man said it all loudly and clearly.

The other scientists stared at him, trying to figure out his line of thought, but don’t understand completely in the end. Their Principal was an eccentric person when he was faced with something that he did not comprehend entirely.

They could just imagine how hellish Casper’s life would be from now on if he did not pay more attention to the laboratory, because this time the Principal would not let them use the excuse of insanity or whichever mental harm. Everyone saw in his eyes that he was ready to burn Halden entirely just to make what he want with Casper.

"I see... I see... So that’s what they saw of interesting in this man, that’s why they were keeping an eye on him... Catrina, you mischievous leader.... You were all this time presenting me a relic, a treasure!" The Principal laughed, amused, holding his huge belly.

"Come back more, once more! I want to see every action that this man made, I want to investigate it deeply. There is something that differs him from the others and I want to know what it is, and if I can replicate as well."

The assistant near the controller replayed the cameras’ records, and let it from the point where Casper was leaving Block D and heading to Block F.

"Ok, now put on the upper left corner, the recording of the Camera from Block D.

"Also, return the videos at least 30 minutes in relation to the one from the cameras of the Block F. Yeah! That’s it!" The fat Principal got up from his chair, getting excited and looking like a fascinated kid to the screen, paying attention to all the recordings of cameras from different places at the same time. The Principal didn’t hold that title just for show, he was indeed a very intelligent person, and was always struggling every day with his studies and researches. He was particularly good at multi-tasking.

He kept looking intently at the screen. Sometimes, he would ask his employees to take some notes and respond to some questions for him. He seemed to be so concentrated, that he did not want to stop to think or stare at those records before he could finish his reasoning.

"Please, take note of it: Anton, guinea pig number 245. 7:02 pm." He ordered, and one of the scientists rapidly moved to search for a paper while mumbling the information to himself, trying to not forget.

The Principal was always saying basically the same thing from time to time, saying a name, the number of the person, and an hour.

For a long time, he kept absorbed by his calculations, walking around, thinking, mumbling, and saying for them to take notes.

At some point, he started to search for new recordings from different dates, hours, and places, always aiming at Casper.

Soon, the entire laboratory had created sort of a researching group, collecting as much relevant data as they could, related to the soldier.

After this, a laborious job of organizing all that data and notes started, and it took several hours as well.

When they finished it, the day has been gone. They had just the time to prepare themselves quickly for the Dark zone for that day. As the Principal didn’t need to participate in the process of that time, he would just stay at the laboratory thinking on that matter. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

In truth, he already had come to an interesting conclusion, but he didn’t felt like sharing it with the other scientists. At least, not yet. After all, he was not sure about it, although he had concrete proofs.

He was alone at the laboratory. It was more silent than normal. His thoughts seemed to echo through the place. Before what he had discovered, the man narrowed his eyes and smiled behind the sad mask.

"So that’s what you are hiding from us, huh?" He crouched down, approaching the notes even more. "You really are interesting, White warrior."