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She heard footsteps echoing against the concrete floor. Funny to think it took her less than a few hours to recognize them, albeit it's not that she has many visitors to begin with.
This time they weren't rushed, but neither were they in the normal tempo. It sounded almost… sluggish? Average pace for a tired worker after a full shift, not a powerful parautilitarian. As if she was aware how they worked exactly.
Zoe waited before her desk, not turning around just yet. She shuffled around, trailed her hand across some loose papers, awkwardly looping into that weird state where she wanted to continue her work, but fumbled once being actively watched. In the train of crossing thoughts she decided to just organize the mess she had there.
"Hi, Zoe."
She looked up, giving Dylan a side stare, as she sorted the papers into a neat pile and set it aside. "Hi Dylan."
He sounded a little more quieter than usual, which became even more apparent when she fully stood up to face him. Under the scruffed hair that covered the sides of his face, she noticed that the shadows under his eyes were much darker than before. Lightning does not change in the Central ever since the patterning affected the sky, so it wasn't a whim of shadows.
There was no night ever since the AWE took over. It was annoying to get used to, especially when you stop having any sense of time. For those few… hours, days? since she took responsibility of watching over Dylan, she hadn't really seen him rest.
"Do parautilitarians even sleep?"
The question came out of her before she even attempted to think about it. She read some of the files, sure, but none so far mentioned his sleep patterns. Then again, she specifically tried to avoid those that pried into such details. It wouldn't even cross her mind to open them in the first place, if not by morbid curiosity alone.
The lack of immediate answer was… worrying. As first he took a breath to respond, but quickly recoiled. A moment of silence followed and even if a short one, it felt like eternity. Zoe could swear she saw a flash of need on his face, maybe a question or request, that just died down in the face of probable shame.
After nervously shuffling around and looking to the side, Dylan reached into his pocket with a sigh and gently threw a few polariod photos. Zoe hadn't even looked at them, keeping her gaze etched onto him.
"I… cleared a few more of those places." He muttered, looking only partially at Zoe. There was that pause again.
They stood motionless, tense in a weird display of awkwardness, as if Dylan physically brought the altered camera and placed it next to them. Zoe couldn't quite decide whether she should inquire or leave the question hanging in the air.
"I should get going."
Zoe hadn't stopped him. She just watched through the opened walls of the building as he's dashing through the floor. He even bumped into the support beam mid jump, chipping away the concrete in a puff of dust. She couldn't help but chuckle internally, albeit it quickly hit her that the reason for his fumble was physical.
She dived back into rummaging through the files. There wasn't anything good waiting for her, that she knew, but at least it was giving her a different outlook at someone who needed to be as much human as her. Parautilitarian or not. She needed to know.
The rooftop above the patterned chimney was warm in a way too comfortable manner. Hell below that spewed straight fire at every step was contained within the building and its insides. Everything above was just mildly heated.
Dylan hated the thought of stopping at any point. Each minute all the way to its mere second counted. There was no place to take a break, not now nor ever.
Yet the world fell silent, calm as ever. It was overwhelming at first - spacious, constantly shifting and changing, bright and loud at once. Walls of the Oldest House shared similar characteristics, but not to this degree. There, it was a predictable environment, stressful yet closed, which brought despair as equally as comfort. The outside world was terrifying in its vastness and complexity.
He wanted to rest, mentally. His body was screaming at him to lay down, basically forcing him to squeeze into a crevice on the rooftop for protection. He pressed his head against the warm bricks, slowly letting his eyes close. He felt a vague sense of safety in an elevated area, but he still was vary, flinching at every little sound.
It was weird. Anxiety was creeping up his spine, the world was slowly shifting to the side, as if he could sense its rotation in a way. Or he was just dizzy. Could've been both. He persisted, without opening his eyes. Sleep had to arrive sooner or later.
"Everything alright there? It's been a while since you moved."
Dylan coiled at the sudden sound of the communicator, letting out a quiet, almost unpickable groan of pain. "I'm fine."
"Hah. I was getting scared I'll need to file a death report or something."
Dylan lightly scoffed, but it held no emotion. He wasn't even sure the radio picked it up. "At least you wouldn't need to worry about me anymore."
There was a rather long pause, followed by a firm "Don't say that" from Zoe.
Wind hummed between the buildings. He felt a cold gust brushing against his face, contrasting with the warmth underneath. Once settled, he really didn't want to move.
"I'm starting to miss the night. This constant sunlight is driving me crazy already." Zoe continued, filling the stillness of the outside. It was grounding in a way. As if everything was just a simulation and test administered through a speaker.
Being outside was still unsettling.
"I've never-" Dylan cut himself off, reminding himself of his past life, before the FBC. "It's been a while since I saw a sunset."
He heard a loud click of a tongue, followed by a very silent sound, probably a curse. Cackle of the radio suggested movement, somewhat frantic if he were to guess. "They really did keep you locked up, huh?" Zoe muttered after a while. Dylan hear a heavy sigh after that.
The fatigue managed to reach a high enough level, that he wasn't able to really take much action anymore, apart from curling more into the wall. He expected some shouts and scoldings that would follow, maybe even usage of the MCD if he won't move soon, but he was too tired to care. Even guilt wouldn't make him budge at this point.
However, instead of anger, from the radio he heard a faint melody. He didn't know what it was, but it was peaceful, sounding like… well, he hadn't seen much of the world, so all he could think about was the sky. Maybe stardotted, maybe a clear blue one, or one patterned by milky white clouds.
He wanted to see the stars, or make out shapes in the clouds. Even if fate let him go, it still kept him locked up, just in a bigger cage.
Maybe it was for the better.
Eventually, he managed to drift off. Zoe couldn't quite catch the sight Dylan from the field cameras, but she knew she succeeded by looking at the marker. Time was a delicate matter, but not short enough to stint the sleep for him.
She found some more information. Her question was answered in the most twisted and depraved way. Reading it made her feel sick, so she couldn't even begin to imagine how those "tests" affected Dylan.
The music was the least she could do in this situation.