Archive of Our Own ^beta

Okay, to put it simply, Arin was having a bit of a weird day.

It started off fine, in fact, better than fine!

It started a few days ago when he was going on an adventure with Lloyd to find a dragon core on the bounty. They were flying off to the Mother Garden, and everything was great!

Well, until Arin broke the engine because of his object spinjitzu. Yikes, sorry Lloyd. 

Obviously he thought it couldn’t get any worse, (Ha!) But then when they thought they were getting help, they got attacked by a giant crab and a merlopian gang. Geez.

Then, they had to train some other people to take on said giant crab and merlopian gang in order to get their ship fixed, and eventually, they arrived at the mother garden! Which brought us to today. Arin and Lloyd successfully got the core that they were searching for, only to find out that Rapton was there.

Ugh. Rapton.

Lloyd then insisted on saving Rapton–Rapton! Of all people!--from slugs planning on destroying him, by walking an impossible death trap.

Oh, yay! Thanks, Lloyd! That totally wasn’t stressful at all! Watching as your teacher goes off into a super mysterious path that everyone who attempted it died walking on, just to save Rapton! You know, that one guy who tried to kill the two of them several times!

And of course, Lloyd was fine, which was very relieving. Arin and Lloyd saved Rapton, only for–no surprise, Rapton tried to steal the core from them. And, that’d be bad enough, but then these… guys, showed up. In a portal.

They took the energy core, so Lloyd and Arin had to follow them into some super weird place that they figured was called The Administration.

After following some cryptic clues, they found Zane for some reason, who had been kidnapped? Yeah, Arin was still pretty confused about that one. Zane suggested using these random tube thingies to escape,

And that brings us to now, because Arin is screaming going through these strange tubes, and he swears that Lloyd was just in front of him, but now he’s–

Suddenly, Arin landed on a hard surface, finally out of that dark tube.

He sits up, and squints, suddenly realizing he’s on some sort of conveyor belt. He looks ahead of him and sees a set of skeletons– just.. Standing there. It’s almost creepy. Behind them, he can see–Hey, wait, are those people from the cloud kingdom?

They’re heading towards some kind of blue portal on the conveyor, which Arin should probably get off of.

He turns to the left and spots a pair of administration workers on some huge computer with several monitors.

One of them presses a button, and the conveyor moves forward, causing the people from the Cloud Kingdom to be moved into the portal, and with a quick flash of light, they disappear.

“There,” One of them says. At that, Arin quickly moves off the conveyor and slowly starts to approach.

“We’ve ported them off to wake up in the lands formerly known as the Cursed Realm, which is where they’re originally from!”

Arin pauses. The cursed realm? The realm that Lloyd told him about filled with ghosts and evil and cursed spirits? That cursed realm?

“...Probably.” The worker finishes, 

Arin shudders at the thought of the cursed realm, and approaches them. He  had no clue what they were doing.

“Excuse me,” Arin begins. “What–What is this place?”

“Department of Reassignment.” The Administration agent replies, and Arin’s actually pleasantly surprised he got a proper answer. “We deal with interstitial space bubbles.” He finishes, like that’s a totally normal thing to say.

“ Space bubbles?” Arin repeats. The guy doesn’t even turn to look at him. Only continuing to press buttons on his keyboard.

“A form of stasis,” The worker begins, turning towards the two skeletons that Arin spotted earlier on the conveyor. “During the Merge, some people were shuffled into the pockets of the nothing-space between what used to be the realms.”

Arin pauses, he didn’t know that was a thing. That was a thing?

“And, you find these people?” Arin says, turning to him. and he feels a familiar feeling of guilt and hope bubble in his stomach. That happened to people? Anyone? And they just get stuck in stasis forever if not found? But, if they are found, then what about–

“Not intentionally,” The worker shrugs. “But when teleporting, Administration Agents sometimes bump into pockets of these nothing-space merge refugees.” He says. “It becomes our department's job to send them back where they originally came from.”

Arin swallows, turning to look back towards the skeletons for a moment. “How do you know where they came from?”

“Well, best guesses. It’s all fine… probably. We keep records.” The Administration agent says, watching the skeletons as they move towards the portal. With a flash, they disappear.

“Off to the cloud kingdom! Which is, probably, most definitely, their home!”

Arin stares at them, completely dumbfounded. These guys, they knew what the cloud kingdom was, right? It was full of writers who, from what Arin could tell, pretty much all wore the same exact outfit.

Skeletons most certainly did not come from the cloud kingdom.

Arin looked to them, so–the people from the cloud kingdom he saw, did they get sent to the cursed realm?

“Okay! Finishes up that bubble.” The worker says, continuing his work.

That stupid feeling gnaws in his stomach again. …These agents find people. Missing people, and send them off to whatever realm they think they belong too.

Arin looks back at the portal and the now empty conveyor. If his parents were there, were they assigned somewhere? Was there a chance they were assigned to–

To the cursed realm? He remembers Lloyd’s description from Lloyd’s brief visit.

He can’t imagine his mom or dad there, in a dark gloomy place, where everything felt freezing and slowly ate at you, ghosts and cursed souls scatter about, and dark things around each corner–

Arin lets out a shaky breath.

“Wait, my–” Arin pauses, “My mom and dad went missing in the merge.” He says, quieter. “Did you find them and assign them somewhere?”

The worker sighs, “Young man, we’ve found so many people that it’s very delicate work trying to find any specific two people.” He says, “Besides, the amount of paperwork to gain access to any of those files would be preposterous.” 

Arin stares at them, and watches as they continue typing away at their keyboards. He turns his gaze to search the room, spotting a door directly behind them and also one to his left.

He then turns back towards the conveyor.

These administration agents… they really didn’t know what they were doing. They could’ve sent anyone anywhere. His parents could be anywhere. They could be in the cursed realm, or the wyldness, or–or–

He really needs to get out of here now.


One, because he obviously needs to find Lloyd and Zane,

And two, because he feels his eyes watering and he really doesn’t want to deal with these stupid emotions right now.

He looks around quickly again, and decides to take the door directly behind him.

He quickly goes up to it and opens it, closing the door behind him as quickly as possible. He leans against it, and hears that administration worker talk again.

“Alright, now it’s time to open the next bub–Hey, wait a minute, do you know who that kid was?” 

A pause.

“Uh oh.” The worker says.

Arin swallows. Yeah, he’s glad he left when he did. Now it’s time to see if he can get out from here.

He turns around and takes a deep breath, and doesn’t like the way that he can feel himself shaking.

He takes a step. The footsteps of his shoes against the concrete floor sounds awfully loud, like glass shattering against his ears.

He takes another step. It’s fine. He doesn’t know why he’s being so dramatic. Sure, he just found out that people sometimes go into pockets of nothing-space and go into stasis, and are only sometimes found, and those who are, are reassigned by complete idiots.

And if his parents were some of those people, then they could either be lost somewhere in a place completely unreachable, or they were assigned somewhere so far away that Arin will never ever find them, whether they’re across the world and living happily without him, or they’re stuck in the cursed realm, or they’re dead.

He sniffles, looking around the room he’s in with blurry eyes. This is stupid. He wants to get out of here. He wants to go home.

He wants to go home.

He wants his mom’s hugs, he wants to hear his dad’s laugh, he wants his parents. He misses them, so so much–

Ah! Nope! Nope nope nope, not today! Nope, no more of that thinking. Focus on the situation at hand. Lloyd told him that. Lloyd told him to stay focused.

He takes a deep breath, and, oh gosh, was it always so hot in here? Arin feels suddenly like he has a really bad headache, and his head feels irritatingly warm and fuzzy like a computer overheating and sparking.

But that’s fine! He can handle that, he’s a ninja-in-training! Now is not the time to cry.  He wipes his eyes with his sleeve. He tries to breathe again and promptly ignores how difficult it is.

Okay, okay. He attempts to breathe again. He sways from side to side, looking around briefly. What’s the best thing to do right now?

Probably figure out where he is. Yeah, he thinks he remembered Lloyd saying something like that. He remembered a conversation that he and Lloyd had on what to do if he got lost. He almost laughs at that, it sounds like a tired parent trying to give their kid instructions at a grocery store.

Maybe that’s what he was, right now. A dumb kid lost in a place too big to understand.

Arin tenses, and he can feel that feeling reach and hold onto his heart with such a tight grip that it makes him freeze.

He remembers getting lost once when he was out shopping with his mom. He had seen something interesting on TV, though he can’t remember what it was anymore.

He remembered turning around, only to see that his mom wasn’t next to him. It was like everything froze, he could feel panic rising in his chest as his eyes darted around, trying to find her.

He remembered taking off in the direction that they were going, trying to convince himself that she just went on ahead. There were people around who looked down at him, which didn’t at all help. There were suddenly too many noises and too many eyes . He felt like he couldn’t stop running, his heart was racing, and he couldn’t focus because of the horrifying thought of being alone.

But he found her, or, she found him. She was heading back towards him, relief clear in her face as she saw him. He ran up to her and gave her a huge hug. She laughed, warm, comforting, soft. And she held him, and she smiled and looked at him and said,

“ It’s okay, you’re with me now, aren’t you?

It’s going to be okay Arin, we’re safe.

You’re not going to lose me again, just stick close, okay?

I was scared too. I thought I had lost you! But nothing bad can happen if we’re together. And we won’t be lost again.”

He lost them, he lost the two people that meant the world to him.

Would they even forgive him? Why hasn’t he found them yet? He’s tried to find them, but maybe he never tried hard enough. He just wants them back. He misses them so much that it hurts.

And now he’s lost. He’s lost in every sense of the word. And he’s never going to be found, he’s lost and he’s–

Suddenly, Arin realizes that his breathing has quickened. He looks down and his hands are trembling, and there are suddenly tears on his cheeks. He tries to swallow down the lump in his throat.

Nope, nope, nope! This is bad. Super bad. He doesn’t want to be crying, not here, not now!  Calm down Arin!

He wipes his eyes on his already wet sleeves and sniffles. Compared to his thoughts, the room is eerily quiet.

The room. Right. He’s in a room. That he doesn’t recognize. Lloyd told him to always figure out where you are, then go from there. Okay, Arin can do that. He just needs… some kind of map! Or sign! Or… something.

…

Where is he?

Focus!

Okay! He’s in what looks like an office, There's a desk to his left with an overly large monitor and some kind of console setup.

The monitor is on some games paused screen, But the controller, weirdly, is completely fried. He squints, and spots several gaming controllers that are also burnt piled in the trash. Curious, he steps over to inspect it.

“Who the hell are you?” A voice says from the other side of the room, causing Arin to jump.

A man stands there, new controller in hand, with a stern expression staring down at him. 

Arin quickly notes that he’s not wearing the typical administration agent outfit. Instead, he’s wearing some kind of suit. He also looks kind of familiar, but can't place it.

Arin stammers, “Ah-um-I mean no harm! I uh-” he takes a step back, and his eyes quickly dart around the room to find an exit.

“Are you crying ?” The man asks, his face and tone softens, and his voice gets slightly quieter.

Arin opens his mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. His voice reminds him of his mom again, and now he’s crying again.

The man frowns, startled by Arin’s sudden outburst. “Hey, hey–! Uh, It’s okay, it’s okay,” He stutters, clearly taken aback.

He attempts to make a gesture towards Arin, before seeing his controller. He looks at it and sets his controller slowly on the ground like he’s disposing a weapon, then he raises his hands in a gesture of surrender and takes a cautious step forward,

“What’s your name, kid?” His voice is gentle and soft, and yet it cuts through Arin like a knife.

“Arin.” He manages to choke out, he starts wiping his tears as quickly as he can. Arin wasn’t sure what Lloyd’s rules were on crying in front of a potentially dangerous person, but he doubts it's a very favored tactic.

“Okay, Arin.” The man replies, visibly relieved he got a response. “Are you hurt?”

Arin shakes his head, It’s mostly true. Truthfully, his back feels awful from falling on it earlier, and emotionally, it feels like a pit of his own horrible emotions are attempting to eat him whole. But it’s not like he’s going to die or anything,

The man nods and his shoulders relax, relieved. “Good,” he says. “That’s–, yep, that’s good.” He mumbles awkwardly. 

Even in this state, Arin can tell that this guy was not prepared for this. He taps his fingers and hums for a moment,clearly a little bit uncomfortable. Arin finds it kind of funny how poorly he seems to be handling Arin’s breakdown compared to Arin himself.

The man looks up then turns to his door and clicks his tongue, seemingly debating his next move. “How’d you get here, Arin?” He asks slowly.

Arin isn’t completely sure if this guy is dangerous or not, and it seems like he’s trying to calm him down, which, while appreciated, is also very confusing. Administration agents really don’t seem like the type. Arin wouldn’t be surprised if you needed forms to legally cry in peoples offices.

Well, this guy could be putting on the act to get Arin to admit why he’s here and then arrest him. But then again, if Arin stayed silent, that might make it more likely he gets arrested..

“I-I ran in here from the other room,” Arin says, wincing at his scratchy voice. He makes a rough gesture from the door he came in. “But I came through from the-the mail tube thingies.”

“Okay.” The man mumbles, almost to himself. “Well–”

“Hey, Manager! We’ve got a bit of a situation!” The worker from earlier calls, and the man curses quietly. He shoots Arin a quick apologetic glance before turning towards the door.

He mumbles something under his breath then he swings open the door, stepping through and, conveniently–or was that on purpose?--hiding Arin.

“What is it, Sub-Agent Prentis?” the man asks, his voice suddenly switching to one that was actually pretty intimidating.

“Sir, a strange kid was in here asking strange questions! He just ran off, we don’t know where he went.”

The man listens carefully, and tilts his head. He glances back at Arin for a moment, seemingly connecting the dots, before sighing heavily.

He turns back to the worker, Apparently named Sub-Agent Prentis, and asks, “Did he need realm reassignment?”

“Ah, uh–No.” Sub-Agent Prentis replies nervously.

The man sighs again, frustration clear in his voice. “Then does this sound like our department's problem?”

“I… no, Agent Walker.”

Agent Walker? Huh. That last name sounded familiar. Arin’s mind starts racing. Where had he heard that before? He looks back up to him nervously. 

“Then bothering me was?”

“Was a.. waste of your time?”

“Correct, now excuse me, I’ve got…” Agent Walker’s gaze quickly darts over to Arin for a moment. Arin shifts uncomfortably. Agent Walker almost looks away, before pausing. He stares at Arin, and something that Arin can only describe as recognition comes over his eyes.

“...things to do, paperwork to file.” Agent Walker finishes, finally looking away.

Arin swallows nervously, he still had no idea if this guy was gonna help him or not. This situation is already a mess, whether or not Agent Walker tries to help or not. Then it finally clicks for Arin. This guy is the manager here… Yeah, Arin’s screwed.

Agent Walker closes the door behind him with a click, closing it tightly and then looking at Arin.

“Please don’t report me.” Arin says, voice trembling.

Agent Walker seems surprised, but his expression quickly gives way to a frown.

“Look, I-I’m sure you’re aware of the kind of place this is,” Agent Walker begins, his voice back to soft and gentle. Arin winces, realizing that Agent Walker is trying to let him down gently. Seems like he is a good guy, but not good enough to help Arin. Arin’s screwed.

Agent Walker falters at that, but presses on, “And I could get in really big trouble If I don’t report you,” He says, then pauses. “However, I’ve already lied to my agents, and I’m probably breaking a ton of rules by just talking to you.” Agent Walker says, and Arin perks up.

A faint grin tugs at Agent Walker’s lips. “So, talk to me, kid. What’s going on?”

Arin opens his mouth, then closes it again. He… doesn’t know what to say.

Agent Walker seems to recognize this, and he smiles softly. "Easier if I ask you questions?" He asks. Arin shrugs. That would be easier, actually. Then he wouldn't have to decide what he should and shouldn't say.

"Kay, well, first off then. Do you wanna sit down?"

Arin nods. "Uh-yes, please.  Thank you." He says, remembering he has a voice. He really hopes that Lloyd’s on his way to get the Dragon core. Arin, truthfully, doesn't think that he’d be very useful right now. Has he ever been useful?

That train of thought is cut off as Agent Walker smiles and pushes his chair towards Arin.

Arin smiles, before suddenly pausing. He looks at Agent Walker curiously. “Where.. Where are you going to sit?”

Agent Walker blinks, looking around like a spare chair was going to grow from the ground. Then, with a shrug and a grin, he sits down on the floor.

Arin laughs. “Seriously?” He says, a real smile pulling on his lips.

Agent Walker grins back, seemingly glad that he was able to lighten the mood. “What? Nothing wrong with sitting on the floor.” He says, smiling with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

Arin laughs once more. “Oh, yeah?” He asks, then joins Agent Walker on the floor, discarding the office chair.

Arin can’t help but find this really funny. Agent Walker sounds so serious. He’s in a suit, and he’d seemed super-serious not two minutes ago to his workers, and now here he is. Sitting on the floor like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

Agent Walker gives him a lopsided grin. “Nice.”

“Well, I think there's a few things I need to ask.” He says, he leans back, sitting criss-crossed like they were at a picnic. “So, first, I can tell that you aren’t from The Administration, so, where are you from?” He asks.

Arin smiles, relieved that he’s not asking any complicated questions first. “I come from Ninjago.” He says, the answer comes smoothly.

Agent Walker nods, accepting the answer. “Nice. Well, next question, did you come by yourself, or were you separated from someone? I mean, how old are you, seven?” He teases, a playful smirk on his lips.

Arin scoffs, “Fifteen.” He replies, jokingly offended. “And, um, I was here with my teacher, and we found one of his friends here. We got separated in those.. tubes. “ Arin’s shoulders slump back slightly.

Agent Walker nods again. “Tubes, huh?” He says, tilting his head. He clicks his tongue. “Always causing trouble.” He chuckles to himself. "Navigating the tubes is like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube blindfolded—except the cube is on fire and the blindfold's made of spaghetti. But hey, at least it keeps life interesting, right?"

Arin laughs, another real, genuine, laugh that Agent Walker seems to be excellent at getting. “You say that like this sort of thing happens a lot?” Arin asks, smiling. It’s honestly amazing how light the mood is.

Agent Walker shrugs in response. “It’s the merged lands, everything’s chaos here anyway.”

Agent Walker hums and taps his fingers against the floor, before falling silent for a moment, seemingly putting pieces together in his brain. “Well, don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.” He says, smiling.  “So, any idea on where your teacher might be?”

Arin shakes his head. “No, we uh, we were separated. I don’t know where he is but.. If he’s not lost, then he’s probably going.. towards the incinerator room.” Arin mumbles that last part. He’s still not a hundred percent sure about if this guy’s nice or not. Sure, he’s breaking the rules for Arin, but Arin’s not sure how far he’ll go. If he finds out that he’s a ninja trying to steal something, then…

Agent Walker narrows his eyes for a moment, before relaxing again. “What's he going there for? Roasting marshmallows?” He asks, his voice is light and he keeps a friendly smile.

Arin laughs softly. “I wish. He’s going there to get an.. object. We were trying to find something, but then some administration agents took it. We were trying to find it again, only to find out it was gonna be destroyed, so we thought we could use the tubes to get there quicker.” Arin explains, he looks down at his hands.

He’s shaking again, Arin realizes. Gosh, why does this matter so much to him? He’s only known this guy for like five minutes, and now the thought of Arin trying to fight him seems impossible.

Agent Walker nods, satisfied with that answer. “Huh, you should tell him to bring marshmallows next time.” He says with a grin. Arin smiles. This guy seems so nice, but… what if it’s all just a trick? Lloyd said that everything was a trick like, two thirds of the time. What if he’s actually going to arrest Arin anyway? What if–

“I have a question.” Arin says, his voice slightly quieter.

“Fire away.” Agent Walker says.

Arin shifts, looking down at his hands and tugging at his sleeves. “Why… Why are you helping me?” He says slowly and softly.

Agent Walker tenses a little bit, he tilts his head and smiles. “Truthfully?” He asks, sitting up straighter and looking at Arin, keeping his friendly gaze. “You remind me of someone I think I used to know.”

That.. wasn’t what Arin was expecting. “Who?” Arin asks, the only question he really could ask right now.

“I don’t remember.” Agent Walker replies simply. “I looked at you earlier, and I could swear that I met someone just like you. And everytime I look at you, I feel like his face, his voice, his name is just on the tip of my tongue. It’s just out of my reach.” Agent Walker sighs, his smile turns somber for a moment, eyes falling down towards the floor.

“But…  I still can’t remember him.”  He finishes, before perking back up.“Anyway, I saw you earlier and something inside me just knew to help. Who knows, maybe it has to do with my weird memory, maybe it doesn’t. You just seem like the kind of kid who needs the help anyway.”

“Oh.” Arin mumbles, his mind was reeling with questions. Any general idea that he had on what this guy’s intentions were were suddenly thrown out the window. Arin looked up at him curiously. “And you.. don’t remember him at all?”  Arin asked, trying to learn more. 

Agent Walker shrugs. “I feel like I remember certain things, but it’s hard to name them.” He admits.

Arin’s silent for a second longer. “Can you try?” He asks quietly, desperate to know more. He doesn’t know why he wants to know so bad. Maybe it’s because Arin wants to know more about Agent Walker, because Arin can feel something tugging at his brain, that he seems familiar. And apparently, Agent Walker feels something like that too.

Maybe they’re connected? Maybe they had met before? Maybe they were supposed to meet. Maybe–

“Okay, well, let’s see.” Agent Walker sees, he stares intently at Arin, but keeps a smile. “I think he was younger than you. And you’re, what, eight, you said? He was probably six or something.”

Arin huffs, “Fifteen.” He repeats from earlier.

Agent Walker laughs again. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Basically the same thing. Anyway, I… I think he might’ve…” He trails off, squinting.

They’re silent for a moment.

“Blond hair.” Agent Walker says, “I think he probably had blond hair. Either that or just.. Light. And for some reason, I can see him wearing all black clothes.”

Arin laughs, running a hand through his black hair and his bright orange hoodie. “Yeah?” Arin says. “He sounds nothing like me.”

Agent Walker only shrugs. “You feel similar, though.” He mumbles.

“How so?”

Agent Walker tilts his head. “You’re… stressed.” He begins quietly. “You talk and you act like… almost like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.” He explains slowly, straightening his posture and resting his hand on his knee.

“I think he was like that too. When I saw you, and you were scared, and you didn’t know who you could trust or if you were safe or– … Anyway, I just… feel like he was like that too. And I just felt like it had to be me. He, you, whoever, I just needed to be the one that he felt safe with, the one he could trust and rely on… Whoever he is, if I knew him or not, I feel like I need to do him right. I can’t explain why I’m helping you exactly, but I just feel like it's the right  thing to do.”

Arin was silent, slowly processing Agent Walker’s words.

It seemed like he was honest, at least. Arin looked down. Arin tried not to believe too much in destiny, but after all the strange coincidences he’s had in his life, he can’t help but feel like maybe there was a reason he met this guy. Arin looks up at him and smiles. “Well, you’ve done a great job, then.” He replies.

Agent Walker shrugs. “No problem, kid.” He says, “Now, I–I have to ask.” He says quietly. He leans forward slightly, his gaze is soft and full of concern.

Arin recoils slightly, knowing exactly what he’s going to ask.

“Why were you crying?” He asks softly, “If you don’t want to talk about it, then that’s completely fine. But I–I sort of want the full picture here, I guess.”

Arin nods slowly, a little hesitant. “It’s embarrassing.” He says first.

Agent Walker only shakes his head, “It’s not embarrassing, kid, whatever it is. Emotions can be stupid sometimes, but you don’t have to be ashamed of ‘em. I’m just glad I could help you when I did.”

Arin nods, swallowing and straightening his posture.

“Well, I was separated from my teacher,” he begins. “And I ended up in the other room and I saw all these people on conveyors going into a portal, and there were some workers there. The–the ones you talked to.” Arin clarifies.

Agent Walker nods along, listening carefully.

“Well, I asked them how it worked, where the people were going and stuff, because I was curious. And… They told me about how people can go into stasis after the merge, and how they find them and send them where they’re supposed to go. I-I’m assuming that that's the stuff you do, right?”

Agent Walker nodded, and Arin suddenly felt something twist in his chest. He was in charge of the department that was sending people to the wrong place…

Arin pushes forward, “I don’t mean to be rude, or anything! But… I’ve traveled around a few realms myself, and there were some people I recognized from the Cloud Kingdom, and, and I saw as they teleported them to the Cursed realm…. And–”

“They what? ” Agent Walker interrupts, he seems angry now. “Are you sure?”

Arin swallows. “Yeah. Pretty sure.”

Agent Walker looks down, then towards the department. He’s silent for a moment, before sighing, then he turns back towards Arin.

“I am so sorry.” He says, “That was never supposed to happen, I swear, they’re not taking their jobs seriously and that’s coming from me. ” He says, and Arin smiles a little at the joke. “I’ve told them hundreds of times that they aren’t supposed to send people to the cursed realm lightly, and they keep doing it. I-I am so sorry. I’m going to have a talk with them after this, and I’ll make sure it won’t happen again.” He says quickly, then he sighs again. “Sorry, continue, just– yeah. Continue.”

Arin nods, and he feels a little better, but worse at the same time. On one hand, Agent Walker is actually a good person who apparently doesn’t want people sent to the cursed realm, and is upset to learn that his agents are doing so.

On the other hand, this has happened at least several times before, which is not helping Arin’s odds about his parents.

“Well, I-I was upset, because I didn’t really want to see people get sent there, but… I lost my parents in the merge.” Arin admits quietly. “They went missing, and I’ve been trying to find them since. Finding out that there are people who find people out there and try to put them in the right place made me have hope for the first time in a while, but then after seeing that I–I was so scared that maybe–”

“That maybe your parents were sent to the cursed realm.”  Agent Walker finishes.

Arin nods. “I was.. so worried, and I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, so I ran in here. Ever since I lost my parents I’ve been… really lonely. I have a friend, she’s fantastic, and I have my teacher, but… it’s not the same. I think about my mom and dad all the time, and I just miss them so much. I want them back and I hate not knowing.”

Arin looks to the side. “I never really told anyone how much it really bothers me,” Arin says softly. “But I can’t sleep at night because I’m too busy wondering if they’re okay or not. I miss them so much, and just finding out that that could’ve happened was enough to make me just.. Break down, I guess. That, along with being separated from my teacher was just.. too much.”

Agent Walker nods, and he looks at Arin with a sympathetic expression. “I’m so sorry.” He says slowly, and he says it like he means it. “I get it, well I don’t get it, get it, but I lost my family to the merge too. That’s not embarrassing and it’s not something you need to be ashamed of, it’s normal to miss them. It’s normal to wonder. And I’m so sorry that happened to you in the first place.”

Agent Walker moves forward, setting his hand on Arin’s shoulder. “And I’m going to go through the records, and I will make sure that anyone that was sent to the cursed realm will be returned to where they’re supposed to be, no matter what. And, maybe you should tell someone, your teacher, maybe, about how you really feel. Who knows? Maybe it'll help.”

Arin sniffles, leaning into the touch and covering his face with his hands, trying to stop himself from crying. Though, it’s not like Agent Walker hasn’t seen him cry before.

“Thank you,” Arin mumbles, muffled by his sleeve. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“Anytime, kid.” Agent Walker responds. “Thank you for telling me, I know it was probably really nerve racking. I hope you find them.”

Arin takes a deep breath, removing his hands and looking up at Agent Walker. “How, um.. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you lose your family?” He asks.

Agent Walker falters for a second, smile dropping and tensing, before he smiles softly again. “Funny story, actually, but I don’t remember.” He says quietly. He leans back, swallows, and continues.

“I don’t remember anything before the merge. That’s why seeing you is such a huge deal.” Agent Walker admits with a slight laugh. “I’m the only one who I’ve ever heard about losing their memory, so it’s sort of a me thing. Anyway, I.. don’t remember my family, or friends, or any loved ones I might’ve had before the merge”

“I just woke up in The Administration, and that’s all I’ve ever done. I’m pretty sure I had a life before then, because I get these little fractions of memories from time to time, but other than that, there's nothing. It’s actually amazing that I’ve been able to name anything about that boy I mentioned earlier. That never happens.”

Agent Walker shoots Arin a sympathetic grin. “So I get it, I guess. I get the feeling of not knowing.” 

“I-I’m so sorry.” Arin says, unsure of what else to say. He suddenly realizes how important that conversation was a moment ago, and exactly why he’s helping Arin.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why haven’t you left The Administration? I mean, no offense, but it doesn’t seem very great here.” Arin says sheepishly.

Agent Walker laughs. “I don’t know, to be completely honest. I’ve just always sort of hoped that if I did have a family, then I’d better stay in one place so they could find me.” He admits, a small smile on his face. “Plus, it might be illegal to leave my job, so..”

Arin laughs, “There’s no way that they could do that, could they?” he starts off joking, before realizing that they might’ve.

Agent Walker only shrugs. “No idea.”

“Well, you know… there’s more out there. I grew up in the same place all my life, and these past few months are really how I’ve been getting out into the world. I think you might find that there’s more than rules and paperwork and lines. ”

Agent Walker is quiet for a moment, like he’s considering something. “Maybe.” He whispers, before looking back up. “Well, either way, we better get you back to your teacher.” He says. He stands up, then reaches a hand out for Arin to take it.

“I can make you a quick map on how to leave and get to the main halls, that way you could get to the incinerator from there. I can make a distraction for you.”

Arin pauses. “Really? You’d do that?”

Agent Walker laughs, “I mean, yeah. What are they gonna do if they find out? Fire me? I can only hope so.”

Arin laughs in response, watching him as Agent Walker turns and grabs some random form. He grabs a pencil, then proceeds to start sketching something out.

Agent Walker turns back around, handing the paper to Arin. “Alright, I’ll open the door for you, but you better run once I start talking to them. They’ll be too distracted to notice.”

“Okay,” Arin says, before pausing. “Do you think I’ll ever see you again?” He asks.

Agent Walker shrugs slightly, smiling. “I hope so. You seem like a smart kid, I bet your teacher’s proud. And your parents would be, too. I hope you find them,”

Arin smiles widely, and a little sheepishly. “I hope we do meet again,” He says. “You seem really nice and I hope you find your family too.”

Agent Walker smiles and approaches the door.

“And you could run too.” Arin whispers. Agent Walker turns to him.

“What do you mean?”

“Away.” Arin explains. “You could run away from this place. Explore the lands, go searching, you know? You could run if you wanted too.”

Agent Walker smiles. “I’ll think about it.” He whispers, “Thank you, Arin.”

Arin nods, “No problem.” He replies, and watches as Agent Walker opens the door again.

Arin sprints for the door ahead of him, a little to the left.  He hears Agent Walker begin to talk, saying something about a new report and paperwork they needed to get done.

Arin looks down at the map, memorizing the directions before stuffing it into his pocket. 

He hopes he sees him again.

—-

Lloyd smiled fondly down at Arin, and then chuckled softly. “You’ve learned a lot,” he comments, turning back towards the training course. “It’s times like these when I actually feel really proud.”

“Proud?” Arin repeats curiously, hoping he’d elaborate.

“Yeah, of course.” Lloyd says. “Proud of you, a little proud of myself, and proud of my teachers that in a way helped teach you.”

Arin smiles, “Master Wu?” He asks, trying to stop himself from smiling too much from Lloyd’s compliment.

To his surprise, Lloyd shakes his head. “No, well, yes, but also the other ninja.” He says. “When I was a kid, a bit younger than you actually, the other ninja trained me a lot. Taught me so many things that they had learned, and I find myself repeating their own lessons.”

Arin giggled, “I can’t imagine a younger version of you getting trained. To me you’ve just always been a really skilled ninja.”

Lloyd laughs. “Oh boy, thanks, but the other ninja would have something to say about that. I was the worst. You know, I might as well tell you to save myself from embarrassment later, but I had a bit of a dark phase. I wanted to be a villain.”

Arin looks at him in surprise, a smile on his face. “ You? No way.” 

Lloyd nods his head, smiling. “Yes, me. I wore all black clothes, and I had a black hoodie with a skeleton rib cage on it. I thought I was so cool. You know, before Nya became a ninja, I thought that she and Kai were the worst because of how brightly they wore red. I thought that red was super serious and they were making a mockery of the color.”

Arin bursts out laughing. “That’s absolutely ridiculous!” He says. “I cannot imagine you thinking something like that–”

Suddenly Arin looks over and sees Nya approach the two of them, having just finished training and going for a break.

She walks over with a smile on her face. “Hey guys, whatcha talkin about?” She asks, Lloyd goes red and silently looks over at Arin with a pleading look not to tell her.

Arin shoots him a grin. “Lloyd was just telling me about how he was the worst at training when he was younger.” He explains. Lloyd lets out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, yeah?” Nya lets out a small chuckle. “Yeah, I’m glad I wasn’t forced to train you til later. I have no idea how the others did it. Actually, I remember Kai complaining to me a lot about you before he went all ‘older brother’ on you.”

Lloyd snorts. “Sounds about right.” He says simply. 

“Actually,” Nya begins, looking up like she was trying to remember something. “I actually think that everyone complained in their own way about you, except for Jay.”

Lloyd tilts his head. “Really? Pfft, I would’ve imagined him complain most or second to Kai.”

Nya shakes her head, “No, actually, I think it was Jay who got you to listen to the others too.” She says, looking down at Lloyd curiously.

“Oh yeah. ” Lloyd said, looking like he had a realization. “I remember that now!” He exclaims. ‘This one time–”

“Nya?” Sora calls from the other side of the course, “Sorry, can you tell me about that balance thing again?” She says.

“Sure!” Nya responds, she glances back towards Lloyd. “Alright, I’m gonna be back in a few. Tell me later, Lloyd.” She says, before walking away back towards Sora.

Arin and Lloyd wave as she walks away, before Arin turns back towards him. “Continue?” He asks, Lloyd nods.

“So, I was very stressed when I learned I was the green ninja,” Lloyd begins. “I was still sort of in my ‘i want to be a villain’ phase. So learning that I was actually going to be the green ninja was very stressful and I didn’t want to train and was very uncooperative.” Lloyd explains, Arin nods, listening intently.

“Well, this one time, I was really upset and Jay came to talk to me. I was really upset and crying, and I felt like all the ninja had somehow betrayed me by forcing me to train or whatever.” Lloyd says sheepishly, clearly embarrassed.

Arin nods again, not really sure what to say to that.

“Well, Jay just had this way of talking to me that made me instantly calm down. To this day, I don’t know how he did it. It seemed like he was just so easily able to understand, then he made everything sound like a joke, like all my worries were just such a small thing.” Lloyd smiles fondly, looking to the side and humming.

“He’d always follow up anything that seemed so scary with a story or a joke. He made everything sound so simple,or like a puzzle with an easy solution, and would say everything in such a calm voice. Like he didn’t have a care in the world.” Lloyd laughs softly. “And I know now that he was trying to calm me down and just get me to listen, but he did it in such a convincing way that he became my idol for a little bit.”

Arin smiles. “That’s… really sweet.” Arin comments. Lloyd nods his head. “It was.”

They both fell into silence, Lloyd seemingly getting lost in the memory.

Arin, meanwhile, he remembered that guy he met at The Administration some time back. He had done something similar for Arin, too.

It was sort of weird to admit, but Arin kind of missed him. It was like getting into a quick glimpse of someone elses life, but Arin just felt lke he probably wasn’t ever going to see him again. It’s not like Arin was planning a trip to go back there. Ha, no.

Either way, he sort of hoped that that guy, agent… walker, was his name? Maybe? He hoped that he left the administration, or that he’s making changes there. He seemed nice.

Maybe him and Lloyd should meet, that could be kind of funny. Arin hadn’t told Lloyd about him, but it would definitely be an interesting conversation.

He looked over at Lloyd, who was staring off with a bittersweet look. Whatever he was thinking about, probably the story he had told Arin, it seemed to matter a lot to him.

—

“Lloyd–” Kai said, voice trailing off as he sighed. He was standing on the edge of the deck, hand resting on his head. Clearly annoyed.

Jay stepped up from behind him. “What happened?” he asked, staring at Kai, he knew that Kai was supposed to be training him, but there was a very obviously annoyed Kai, and a very evidently missing Lloyd.

“I tried to get him to start training, and I thought that I was making progress, but then he got all upset and ran off.” Kai said, then sighed. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.” He mumbles.

Jay places a hand on Kai’s shoulder. “He’s probably just stressed,” Jay says. “I mean, wouldn’t you be? If you were ten and you had to train to become a ninja for some destiny?”

Kai frowned. “Yeah..I-I would be, I get it, it just doesn’t change the fact that he does need to train, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.” Jay mumbles. “He ran off in the hall?” Jay questions, Kai nods.

“Yeah, but I doubt he’d want to talk.” Kai grumbles.

Jay shrugs. “I’ll try my best. I think he might want to talk more than you think. Just to someone…. easier to talk to.”  Jay explains.

Kai hums curiously. “What do you mean?” He asks.

“Well, if you were ten and some guy who was pretty good at training, and was strong, but also pretty dangerous wanted you to be as good as him, and you weren’t, would you talk to him about it? Or, would you talk to the local joker who could never keep a straight face and dorks around with comics and robots?”

Kai sighs, “Surprisingly.. I can see where you’re coming from.” Kai groans.

“Pfft–wait, why are you surprised?!” Jay exclaims. 

Kai laughs, “Nothing, nothing! It’s just not like you to talk sense.”

“I talk sense all the time, thank you very much!” Jay huffs. Kai rolls his eyes.

“But seriously, Kai. Change your approach. Don’t treat him like the green ninja, or like the son of Garmadon, treat him like… like he’s a kid.” Jay looks up at Kai, smiling softly. “Treat him like you would your baby brother, I’ve seen the way you talk about Nya sometimes. He needs a family. I think we’re the most he has.” Jay says quietly, before walking off towards where he assumed Lloyd went off to.

He walked through the halls, and it didn’t take him long to find that Lloyd’s door was closed shut, compared to everyone else's which were slightly open.

Jay knocked quietly on his door, listening closely for Lloyd.

“Kai, don’t come in! I told you I just–”

“Hey buddy, it’s me, Jay.” Jay interrupted. He kept his voice soft, he didn’t shout or yell. He knew that Lloyd could hear him fine.

“What do you want?” replied Lloyd’s squeaky voice. Jay winced slightly. It sounded like he’d been crying.

“Can I come in?” He asked gently.

Quiet shuffling noises were heard from the other side of the door, before it opened slowly to Lloyd. His eyes were a bit red and puffy, and he looked like he was on the verge of tears.

Jay smiled down at him softly, taking a step through his door and closing it behind him. 

Lloyd sat down on his bed. Jay knew he was trying to look serious, but it just looked like he was pouting.

“So,” Jay said, “Are you doing okay?” He asked.

Lloyd shook his head. “No! Kai was like, trying to train me or whatever, but he was going way too hard on me! It wasn’t fair! I told him that I couldn’t do that, and he was all ‘no lloyd i believe in you!’ but that wasn't what I was talking about at all! He’s not listening!” Lloyd complained.

Jay groaned, sitting down next to him, rolling his eyes. “Ugh, Kai’s super annoying like that sometimes,” Jay said, he kept his voice soft, but made sure to match Lloyd’s tone. “I get it. Sometimes it’s just hard for him to understand what other people are talking about. Once he gets an idea in his head, it’s hard for him to get what other people are talking about.” Jay explains, slowly losing the fake annoyance in his voice.

He turns to Lloyd. “You know, one time when we were all still getting used to each other, Kai and Cole got in a bit of a fight. I don’t really remember what it was about, but I think it was something about their training. Kai was insisting that something was done a specific way, and Cole insisted it was done a different way. Cole kept saying that he had been training longer, so obviously he was right, and it made Kai really angry.”

Lloyd looked up at Jay, invested. “Who was right?” He asked quietly.

Jay shrugged. “Both of them were.” He said, causing Lloyd’s eyes to widen further with interest. Jay had to suppress the smile that threatened to grow on his face. Sometimes with all this green ninja business it was easy to forget that Lloyd was really just a kid, but it’s moments like these, watching as Lloyd gets so interested in a story–that Jay always wants to remember.

“Anyway, they both got really angry and stopped talking to each other. I asked both Cole and Kai about it separately, only to learn that they were both talking about completely different things! In their heads, they both called completely different moves the same thing!” Jay said with a huff, rolling his eyes and clicking his tongue like he was lecturing children.

Lloyd giggled. “Of course they did!” He said in response. “What’d you do?” Lloyd asked.

“ Well, It seemed like both of them were waiting for the other to get over it and apologize. But neither were, since they’re both pretty stubborn. So, I talked to Kai. He didn’t want to listen to me at first, before I told him that they were both wrong and both right. Kai was right about Kai’s move, and Cole was right about his. They both apologized to each other, but Kai was still pretty angry.”

Lloyd tilted his head. “Why was he angry? They both apologized.”

Jay nodded. “Kai wasn’t angry with Cole, he was angry at himself. You see, despite what it might seem, Kai hates arguing. He hates fighting and misunderstandings, he hates it more than anything! More than skeletons and snakes, if you can believe it. He was really angry that it took Cole getting upset and me stepping in for him to understand that he was wrong.”

“That makes sense.” Lloyd mumbles in agreement. “I’d be upset too.”

Jay hums. “Mhm. Yeah. And since then, Kai’s trying to understand other people more easily, but sometimes if he thinks he’s right, it’s hard for him to understand why people aren’t listening to him, not the other way around.”

Jay looks down at Lloyd, and lowers his voice to a soft and gentle whisper. “And don’t tell him this–but I think he’s feeling the same way right now. He thinks he knows what you’re talking about, like how he thought him and Cole were talking about the same move, but you aren’t. And I think he feels really bad for making you upset, so he’s upset too, and it’s only making things worse.”

Lloyd looks down, frowning. “You think so?” he asks quietly.

Jay nods. “I do. But I mean, maybe he’ll get over it.” Jay says with a shrug.

Lloyd frowned again, and shook his head. “But you said he’s really stubborn,” Lloyd added quietly. “And that he wouldn’t get over it.”

Jay hummed. “You’re right,” he said. “I didn’t think about that.” Jay said softly. Truthfully, he had thought about that.

He had been thinking of this conversation the past hour. He knew that Kai was trying his best with Lloyd, but Kai’s a little hard to get used to. He also knew that Lloyd was a little hard to get used to, and both were incredibly stubborn. He knew that their training together was going nowhere and he had this whole thing planned to get them to get over it.

Jay internally laughs to himself, it’s funny how often this sort of thing happens where Jay has to get involved in other people being stubborn and dumb. Wow, everyone here is really dumb sometimes. Jay’s sure that he’s included in that too, but… eh.

Lloyd looked up. “Do you think I should talk to him about it?” Lloyd asks, “I don’t know what I should say.”

Jay hums. “Well you feel like he’s not listening to you, and I’ll bet that he thinks that you aren’t listening to him. Maybe you should try and talk to him, try your best to not get angry–trust me, I know it’s hard– and try your best to explain what you mean.”

“Then he’ll understand?”

“Yeah! I think so.” Jay said, smiling. “See, you’re so smart. How old are you, five?”

Lloyd huffed. “I’m ten. ”

Jay rolls his eyes. “Yeah right, how bout we compromise at eight?”

Lloyd pushes Jay off the bed, and Jay yelps before hitting the floor.

“Ten then.” Jay says, sitting back up, slightly out of breath. 

Lloyd smiles. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Jay laughs and sits back up onto Lloyd’s bed.

“But you know, Lloyd, I wasn’t only asking about Kai’s training when I asked how you were earlier.”

“You weren’t?”

Jay shakes his head. “Nope, I wasn’t. You know, I’m actually really good at spotting when people are upset.” Jay says like it’s a superpower. “And I think you might’ve been crying before I came in.”

Lloyd shuffles next to him awkwardly. Jay tried to make it seem like only he knew that, but in reality, everyone could probably tell at first glance.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Jay asks softly.

Lloyd looks up at him. “I don’t think you’d understand.” Lloyd mumbles.

Jay shrugs. “Maybe not, but maybe I understand more than you think.” Jay says gently, he wraps his arm around Lloyd and pulls him close. “And if I don’t understand, then, well maybe I’d like to try.”

Lloyd shuffles closer to Jay, and starts sniffling again.

“I’m just–I’m so scared. ” He begins. “I have to train, and Kai said that all this stuff that’s really hard I’m gonna master one day, but i–I don't want to. I thought I wanted to be evil, but that was to prove to my dad that I could be. It was to prove to those–those stupid jerks at darkleys that always told me I couldn’t!”

“But I don’t want to prove anything anymore, I don’t want to have to do all this, I just–I just want to.. I don’t know what I want.” Lloyd said, crying softly into Jay’s shoulder.

Jay felt guilt twist in his stomach. All of it was true, and that was the worst part. Lloyd was going to have to master all those skills, Lloyd was going to have to defeat his father, all of it was true, and Lloyd wanted nothing to do with it.

But one part of it stood out to Jay.

‘To prove to those stupid jerks at darkleys!’

Jay hums again, resting his head onto Lloyd’s.

“That sounds really awful.” Jay says honestly. “And really stressful. But you know, back at where I grew up there were some kids that would visit the junkyard sometimes because they knew my mom.” Jay began, still holding Lloyd close.

“And I always tried to talk to them, but they never seemed interested. And I found out that it was because of my clothes and how I lived in a junkyard.”

“What?” Lloyd asks in disbelief. “Really?”

Jay nods. “Yeah! And instead of thinking that people who look down on people like that weren’t worth talking to, I got all caught up on proving that I was more than someone from a junkyard, and so I started inventing and kept trying to show them to make them think I was cool. Which didn’t work, obviously.” Jay says with a short laugh.

“Anyway, they stopped showing up one day, and I felt like I completely missed my chance for friends! Then I became a ninja, and I was in a fancy ninja outfit, and I thought ‘Okay, Jay, this is your chance! They don’t know that you came from a junkyard, so don’t let them know and maybe you could be friends!’ And I spent awhile being scared that they would find out.”

Lloyd frowned. “But they did found out.”

Jay nodded. “They did, and you know, they laughed. And I thought that they didn’t wanna be friends anymore! But they did. And they actually didn’t care at all. They even met my parents and it went really well! And I wasn’t ashamed anymore, and I realized that me being more than a kid from a junkyard wasn’t what I was trying to prove at all.”

Lloyd looked up at Jay with sparkling eyes. “What were you trying to prove?”

Jay looked down, a soft smile on his face. “I was trying to prove that I was worthy of a friend.” Jay gave Lloyd a soft squeeze. “And turns out, that’s not something that you’re supposed to prove at all. Its other people that have to prove that they’re worth being your friend.”

Lloyd sniffled. “Really?” He asks softly.

Jay nods. “Yeah. And Lloyd, I don’t think you were ever trying to prove that you could be evil if you wanted to. I think I know what you’ve always wanted. But, I could be wrong.”

“Tell me, please–I mean, what.. What do you think it is?”

Jay smiled, giving Lloyd another squeeze.

“I think you were trying to prove that you were worthy of a family. And I think that’s really all you’ve ever wanted. But you don’t have to prove yourself to a family. I think other people have to show you that they’re trusting enough to be a family, first.”

Lloyd didn’t reply, but he did start crying again. Jay held him tighter, feeling that he was probably right.

“And you know, Lloyd. I never saw those kids I was trying to prove myself to again. And once I realized that I didn’t really care about them anymore, I made room to grow again. And I think they’d be really jealous of me now. And I think other people would be jealous of you, too. But that’s only if you let yourself grow.”

Lloyd only nodded, sniffling and trying to breathe. 

Jay continued. “And, just like how you have the chance to grow, so do families. I think that Kai, Cole, Zane, Nya, Wu maybe–I think they’re sort of like a family to me, And maybe, if you’d let me, I could try and prove myself to you that I could be part of your family.”

Lloyd held onto Jay tighter. “Y-You already are.” Lloyd said. His voice was muffled, but Jay felt a warm feeling rush through him. Jay had never had any siblings before, but Lloyd felt like his little brother, and according to Lloyd, he was.

Jay smiled, probably the widest smile he’s ever had before, and brought Lloyd into a giant hug. “Thank you.” Jay said.  “Now, you can cry for however long you want, that’s completely fine. But maybe before dinner you can talk to Kai, and you can tell me how it goes. And don’t worry, I’ll help if you need me too.”

Lloyd nodded and mumbled a quick thank you, before continuing to hug him.

Jay was so, so lucky.

Jay was pretty confident that Lloyd wouldn’t remember this when he was older, but Jay? This was something that Jay wanted to remember forever.

—-

Jay stood in his office, staring down at the floor.

Things had been pretty crazy in The Administration lately, first, it had been nonstop work for Jay. He’d been looking through the reports for the people that Arin had spoken of who’d been sent to the cursed realm, plus all the others that had been wrongfully sent.

Jay also had a very long talk with his agents and made them redo their entire training with notes about who goes where, and that had taken a pretty long time to do and to organize.

Then, The Merge happened. Again. Everything was mixed around to who knows where, more people missing, before everything was stabilized again.

Jay, quite frankly, was completely done with his job. He’d gotten notices that there would be many new meetings about how people would handle any more developments from the merge, and Jay was not interested.

All these rules were stupid and completely overly complicated. He’d heard word of some equipment or something called Z.A.N.E that increased some peoples efficiency by nine percent, which at this point, was a miracle. If only he could learn how that happened so he could start making things better himself.

He was just so tired of his job.

Jay groaned, rubbing at his face, reminded of his new paperwork.

You could run, if you wanted to.

You know, there’s more out there.

Arin showing up was an important development in Jay’s life. He didn’t know anything about the kid other than what he was told, and while he couldn’t exactly remember that boy that he talked about anymore, it made him remember a little bit of who he was.

He helped people. Helping Arin felt right.

Who was Jay helping with paperwork?

You could run, if you wanted to.

There’s more out there.

You could run.

Jay was going to find his family.