After Don and Ms. Claire both accepted Director Graham's offer, he turned his head to face RedStar before asking her, "Will you be joining us as well?"
RedStar currently had her arms crossed and was looking in the direction Deputy Director Barclay had gone. She glanced at Director Graham out of the corner of her eye without moving her head and refused the offer by simply saying, "No, thank you," in a stern-sounding voice before adding, "I have other plans."
Director Graham wasn't at all surprised by this answer and simply gave her a warm smile. "I see, a sha," he replied with a small nod.
RedStar then turned her attention to Don, looking him over briefly before saying, "You handled that pretty well. Keep training, and I'm sure you will go far." She spoke in a very distant and authoritative voice, making it sound more like praise from a superior than a complint.
Don's expression didn't change, and he gave her a nod, answering with a simple, "Thank you." RedStar just nodded in return to this before turning away from everyone and walking away, saying, "I'll be taking my leave now."
As she walked away, Director Graham turned his attention back to Don.
"You should get changed so we may also take our leave. Will you be needing any dical treatnt?" he asked in a smooth voice that made it seem like he was showing genuine concern.
"I'm alright," Don replied, shaking his head.
With that, Don and everyone else left the arena, and he proceeded to change out of his training bodysuit before they left the training area entirely. To Don's surprise, the place where Director Graham was offering to take them for lunch was right there in the complex. It was located in what was called the comrcial area, which had a fully operational restaurant and so stores.
Don was initially surprised as they reached this place, but when Ms. Claire comnted on it, Director Graham explained that although the stores seed normal, most of the things sold were not sothing that could be easily accessed by the public.
The various stores served more like hubs that the many heroes operating under the agency could use for various tools and supplies. The restaurant was no different, as it served top-quality als made from so of the rarest herbs, fruits, and ats available in the world.
In response to all this information, Ms. Claire, who was walking in slow, elegant steps, gave a small nod before comnting, "It seems I underestimated how much a governnt agency such as this base gets funded."
Director Graham let out a hearty laugh and nodded, replying, "When it cos to the defense of the nation, the governnt spares no expense. The heroes cultivated by the various branches serve as the biggest defense and offense to the nation, and in a world that's getting increasingly dangerous, it is essential for more heroes to arise and fight the good fight."
"I see," Ms. Claire replied in a low tone and didn't ask anything more. Her expression was hard to read, making it difficult to guess what she was thinking.
Don, not knowing much about the world, chose to remain silent for much of the way and listened to the exchange of information, hoping that he would not only gain new knowledge but also get a better understanding of how both Director Graham and Ms. Claire carried themselves.
With his superhuman senses, it was easier to observe the smallest details in her facial expressions when she talked and reacted to information. Unfortunately, this wasn't much at all, and he couldn't reach a concise conclusion about the possible thoughts she was currently having just from observing her.
What he could tell, though, was that every question she asked had aning behind it; she wasn't just making conversation.
But the sa could be said for Director Graham's responses, which also ca across as carefully thought out. Despite showing more expressions than Ms. Claire, from smiling to contemplative, Don also couldn't guess what Director Graham's true thoughts were.
What he did learn from observing the two, though, was that when interacting with them, he needed to mask his true intentions in the sa way they both did and phrase his questions very carefully—sothing that seed easier said than done given how experienced they both seed.
Eventually, they arrived at the restaurant, which was situated on the second floor of the complex. Instead of the bustling and colorful atmosphere one would expect from a normal mall, the area was more empty and formal. The design was incredibly simplistic, with much of the area being a mix of black and white in color.
Once in the restaurant, Director Graham led them to a table set on a balcony that offered quite a view of the surrounding vegetative area. It was enough to make one almost forget that they were in a highly protected and secure facility.
The table they sat at was circular, with everyone seated about 90 degrees apart. The conversation that followed was more to do with the food, as Director Graham suggested they both try certain als.
Looking at the prices on the digital nu that could be seen on tablets present at the table, Don was amazed by how expensive they were. However, seeing how easily Ms. Claire accepted the suggestion, he didn't make a fuss and accepted as well. discover-stories-MVLeMpYr
As an android waitress took their orders and left, Director Graham, who was seated directly opposite Don, struck up another conversation. "What do you think of the facility so far?"
'His focus is now on ,' Don thought. He was nervous, but his unfazed trait helped him maintain a calm expression, and his deep thinker trait allowed him to construct replies quickly.
"So far, so good," he started. "It's a bit too early for to give a full review of the place, but for now, my impression is that it's amazing. I feel lucky to be a part of this." Don found it very easy to make his voice sound sincere, as that was genuinely how he felt.
In situations where lying and half-truths weren't needed, Don felt honesty was the best approach, especially when speaking to people in positions superior to his own.
Director Graham showed Don a warm smile, but Don couldn't really tell whether this was genuine or fake. Regardless, Director Graham replied by saying, "I'm glad to hear that. Like RedStar said, you have a lot of potential, and I see no better place for you to pursue it fully than here.
I assure you, what happened today will not occur again, and if it does, my doors are always open to the mbers of the program."
Once again, Don couldn't tell whether Director Graham was being genuine or not. On one side, maybe he was really a director who cared about the mbers of the program to this extent.
Or maybe he was just a director trying to ensure that his organization didn't suffer any unnecessary losses from negative press and stories. To be completely safe, Don had to assu it was the latter.
However, he still replied honestly, "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you. At the end of the day, we're all people, and people are emotional creatures, so it's only natural for conflict to arise every now and then. I just have to hope it doesn't happen again and be prepared in case it does."
This reply from Don caused both Director Graham and Ms. Claire to smile, Ms. Claire's being far more subtle and less noticeable. Don caught sight of both smiles and took it as a good sign. Director Graham nodded at his words and said, "Those are wise words. I'm glad to see a young man with such a mature mindset.
You will definitely go far."
After Director Graham said this, Ms. Claire nodded in agreent, 'I'm starting to believe so.' Then, surprising everyone, she proceeded to add, "Now, about the matter of my client's compensation for the trauma caused today..."
User Comments
0 comments from readers