Chapter Text
2099,
London - England,
RR headquarters,
Sebastian.M
it was late at night and Sebastian was heading through the top floor of the RR headquarters to hunt down Richard Rook the owner of the company to check on him. although this was done more so on the pretence of friends then it was as his bodyguard. when he did find Richard he found him slumped over working at his desk on a laptop clicking away aggressively as if everything he had planned for was crumbling and braking apart.
Richard for as long as Sebastian had known him was joyful and eccentric although sometimes he could be a little too compulsive at times but everyone had their pitfalls. and if anything that was something Sebastian had come to love about him although in recent weeks the compulsiveness had became borderline obsessive and concerning-ly more erratic and nonsensical. Richard would mutter and state that there was something wrong and that the code didn't look right, so there must be a virus somewhere causing all the code to look odd. he also kept telling Sebastian that he was not insane every time he Sebastian to drag him back to bed or get him to eat food instead of starving to death. but unfortunately it got worse and worse, the AI Richard was working on called AI MORRTY gave some helpful inputs like saying that if Richards food and water percentage got too low the he would die. Sebastian normally wouldn't mind such comments from the AI but unfortunately with the current pressure that he was under to keep Richard alive and aware was becoming a uphill battle, the closer it got to the reveal of the first fully humanoid and free roaming AI body and mind, the more it seemed to be destroying both Richard and him.
No matter how he offered to help or convince him everything was fine the more panicked and worried that Richard got and the more Richard tried to push him away. Sebastian got close to no hours sleep in the two weeks to the announcement of the new tech, especially in the last three days where Richard was extra skittish and jumpy, he was convinced that whatever was wrong was going to destroy everything he had and built over the years. and this was the night that Richard had been dreading the last couple of weeks, but regardless Sebastian was here to drag him to his sleeping quarters so as he could get sleep and be awake at 6 am to get ready for his speech at 9:30 am. so in routine with the same thing he did for the last couple of weeks which was try to coerce Richard to go sleep and if that didn't work then he would carry him to his sleeping quarters and make sure he fell asleep before he left to then go to his own sleeping area.
so he approached Richard and sat against the counter where he was slouched over and gently tapped on the table to get his attention, this only got a slight turn to his head from Richard but that was enough to know that he had his attention.
"Richard its almost midnight, you have to be up at 6 you need sleep otherwise your going to be exhausted and you wont be able to prepare your speech correctly. Please if not for the speech, for me?"
Sebastian didn't sound too sure about that last comment but he stared at him with nothing but hurt as Richard did nothing but huff at him before going back to his work. that meant Sebastian was going to have to use force to pick him up and move him which he really didn't like doing. so he carefully pulled the computer away from him, the changes that Richard had made were already saved so he just had to switch the laptop off and then carry him to bed. which he did, first putting the laptop away in the draw of the desk while Richard sulked about having to find what is wrong with the code and before he could say anything he was quickly lifted up by Sebastian and carefully carried to his room at the end of the hall.
Sebastian struggled slightly as he unhooked his Id card without dropping Richard. As the door opened there was a nice breeze that followed from the slightly open window. Sebastian gently placed him down on the bed before moving to his closet to get out the suit for him tomorrow and putting it on the back of the chair and then his underwear, shoes and socks on the seat part of the chair. luckily he didn't have to get Richard to change as he had spent the last couple of days in nothing but a dressing gound unable to focus on wearing new clothes as he had more pressing matters. and with that Sebastian walked to the other side of the room to grab the hologram disk with his script on it so he can look over it in the morning. and sat that next to Richards shoes. Sebastian looked over at Richard to see that he was already fast asleep and that all the work he did must have tired him out completely, at least he would be fully rested for tomorrow and he wouldn't be too grumpy. although given the fact that Sebastian had taken the laptop away he was still going to be grumpy at him in the morning. and with that Sebastian took that as his sign to leave. he glanced at him over his shoulder as he left. the headquarters were quiet and on a night like this but unfortunately for Sebastian it felt like there were eyes crawling down his back a couple months back he would have been able to ignore it but something felt worse then it normally did, like he was being dissected without any touch. he just dismissed it as the security had increased as it was the day before the big event and walked towards the elevator.
the trip down to the gound floor of the tower was slow , although Sebastian thought it was just going slow because of all the stress he was under and that feeling of dread that he felt on the top floor had followed him into the elevator but still he brushed it off. the first floor was cool as the air from outside blew through the vents. the rain was still pouring heavily outside like it had the last 5 days, although it was a welcome change to the dry air that England had before the rain. Sebastian took the back door on the ground floor to get out to his motorbike that was parked in the towers garage so it didn't get soaked or stolen. the garage was a much more eerie place then the building itself, the sounds rattle and bounce off the wall so when the animals get in they sound more like beasts then animals trying to survive the world.
Sebastian put his helmet on and as he looked back to the entrance of the building, he then patted his pockets down to check that he had everything that he needed and he hadn't left anything in the building but luckily he hadn't so he hopped onto his bike and started it up before driving out of the garage.
Sebastian knew he was going to hit traffic of people starting or leaving their 5 to 12 jobs closer to his home so he decided to stop off at the Bohemia club which sat halfway between his house and the tower but it would allow him to skip the bigger part of traffic until it calms down and its less of a hassle to get home, plus what would be wrong with blowing off a little bit of steam?
and now there he sat at the bar waiting to be served a drink, nothing alcoholic for him tonight though he had enough reasons to stay sober as is. while he was waiting a tall figure stood beside him at the bar the figure was close to 7 foot tall. he turned to look and was met with the sight of Perry the owner of the club and known ex enforcer.
"where is your friend, normally he is here with you. its odd to see you alone"
Perry spoke as they looked down at him with that creepy slime they always had when greeting guests.
"are you staying for part two of the magic show by Mystique?"
Perry asked with a tilt of their head to which Sebastian shook his head and sighed softly.
"unfortunately I only popped in to get a drink or two so I could avoid the work traffic as me and Richard have a very big day tomorrow, so I cant stay up too late as I need to be aware and vigilant tomorrow."
Perry raised an eyebrow to that before nodding and signalling the bartender over to take both theirs and Sebastian's order as he had been sat waiting for a while. once they had both ordered Perry had kindly put it on their tab. they stood next to each other in silence until the drinks came. when they did Perry glanced at Sebastian before taking a sip of their drink, then putting it back down again.
"so where is Richard? it isn't like him to miss the opportunity for a drink and a bit of social."
Sebastian hesitated for a second, he wasn't sure how to respond or what to say, he could just dump everything on Perry and tell them how everything over the last couple of weeks has been hell and how Richard had gone almost insane trying to perfect everything and get rid of a virus that didn't exist and that he himself actually had very little sleep the last couple of weeks because of it, so instated of that he responded with.
"He is fine, he just wore himself out practicing and getting ready for tomorrow and he has gone bed early as he need the sleep for the speech tomorrow."
Perry stared at him almost staring through him with how hard they were looking at him, it was a long 20 seconds before they nodded and took another sip of their drink. Sebastian was practically downing his drink with the speed he was consuming it, that caused Perry to chuckle slightly as they both put their finished drinks down .
"Well safe travels back home Mr Moran."
Sebastian nodded as he stood up and walked away leaving Perry by themself, although it wasn't long as a lady dressed in a suit walked up and looked at Perry. she looked at them puzzled before tilting her head.
"so what was that about? he seemed more tense then normal."
Perry looked towards the door before they responded to the lady.
"I do believe it is a strain on their relationship Miss Adler."
Sebastian was already back on his bike and driving to his apartment, he preferred drives like this when everything was so much more peaceful and quiet it allowed him time to think and allowed him time to breathe.
as he opened the door to his house he let out a sigh of relief and stepped into the home and looked over to his massive snake enclosure. he closed the door and locked it before he walked over to where his pet Persian Horned Viper snake sat in her home.
"hi tiger, i missed you so much i hope you didn't cause too much trouble while I was away."
he chuckled and walked to his kitchen area and turned the light on before getting a glass of water and headache tablets and then walking to his bedroom where he sat on the edge of the bed and put his glass and the pills down before taking his shoes and socks off before getting his clothes out of his draw to change .
after he changed he lay there on the bed for a while taking in the noise before he detached his ear gear from his ears, then everything became quiet and muffled. Sebastian didn't like the silent muffle, it is the type of silence that was too loud followed by the persistent ringing in in his ears made it hard to relax enough to sleep sometimes but he was just grateful that Richard gave him a way to hear again after losing it in the war, sometimes that man was too kind for his own good.
it didn't take long for Sebastian to fall asleep with all the stress he was under. he slept through the whole night not waking up a single time unlike he normally did until he felt a heavy vibration through his bed frame which was his alarm going off to wake him up from his dreamless night.
he sat up in bed and reached over to his table to turn his alarm off and to also grab his ear gear so he could hear properly again and then he walked to his cupboard and unhooked the suit hanging off the side of the side of it and then he got changed into it before taking a sip of his water and taking a tablet, putting his hearing devices back in always left him with a little bit of a headache in the morning and so he has learned over the years to prepare for that buy always having pain meds and water on his side table when he woke up to reduce the pain.
he then headed to the kitchen where he then took his morning vitamins while he waited for his toast he was making to pop out at a level he deemed toasted enough which was almost coated in charcoal to then spread butter over it and consume it whole like no one was watching which technically tiger was watching him from her enclosure. after he ate his toast he finished off the rest of his water then picked his keys up but not before he said goodbye to tiger.
"see you later buddy!"
he spoke as he waved before he shut and locked the door, now it was time to drive to the RR tower. luckily the traffic isn't ass bad as it is when the people come out of work at midnight, so it is so much easier to get to work then it is to get home which Sebastian was grateful for because it meant he would only take one hour maximum to get there and its not like he hated driving so in a way it was good for him.
the drive went as he expected, smooth and not too busy, he also surprisingly got berley any red lights. and like always the garage was empty. he took his helmet off and left it on top of his bike before he walked into the building and walked to the elevator, he had that same feeling again like he did last night while he was in the building, although when the doors to the top floor opened that weird feeling left so yet again he just added it up to it being extra security levels being turned on.
he walked to Richards room to make sure he was up as he wasn't the type to get up straight away and on some accounts Sebastian had to coax him out of bed but instead he was met with a tidy bed and the clothing taken off the chair along with the hologram disk that had the script on it. because Richard wasn't there he decided to check the lab room, top see if he was in there instead.
as he entered the computer lab he was met with both the robot bodies gone which he just assumed they had ben moved and taken ready for the speech already which must mean Richard was in the kitchen already which was odd but not expected as it was a big event for him.
in the kitchen Richard was sat by the coffee machine with, two cups? that was odd Richard normally only ever made himself a coffee and never offered him one but whatever. before Sebastian could even say anything Richard turned around to face him and held out a coffee.
"good morning Sebastian, are you all prepared for the speech in two hours?"
well he certainly still spoke the same although his first name isn't something he had herd from Richard before but it wasn't anything unwelcome, in fact Sebastian quite liked hearing him say his first name. he took the coffee off him and they both drank them, Richard took Sebastian's cup and put it in the sink before turning to him and smiling at him.
Richard seemed off but at the same time the exact same as he normally was, it was odd in a way that Sebastian couldn't explain.
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