A knock on the door.
Anthony opened his eyes, abruptly waking up. Still drowsy, he looked around with difficulty before reaching the desk lamp on the floor.
Another knock.
The historian stood up from his sleeping bag before quickly dressing up. "Who's there?" He asked as his mind started to finally wake up.
"Nyx", a familiar voice echoed with its usual out-of-this-world accent. Anthony immediately smiled before the context hit back.
"Oh- h-hey Nyx! What do you want? I get the lights are still up in the corridors, but it's technically night for u-" The historian tried to ask with a trembling tone before getting interrupted by the alien.
"You weren't in dormitories." They retorted, still struggling to speak fluent French. "Can I come in?"
"You— Huh—" Anthony stammered, looking around his office, only to be met with an unholy mess composed of work papers, books, food, and cutlery, all in a circle around his sleeping bag, itself near his equally as chaotic desk.
"I'd… rather not." He blushed, ashamed about the lack of order. Nobody has entered his office for days at this point, and seeing the lack of order, that may have been for the best. His research of the ancient city of Hoofstad consumed most of his life at this point. The sheer passion he put into his research paper quickly outgrew the need for proper hygiene and social interactions, making the historian barely leave his space at this point, even to eat and sleep.
Anthony would already have felt immense embarrassment if Katya or Charlie came in, but Nyx? Them seeing him in such a state would make further research and interactions immensely.
Yes, awkward research. That was definitely what he feared.
As he slipped his hand around his untrimmed designer stubble, the historian heard the door handle shake, making him jump in surprise before pulling himself together.
Good thing he locks the door every time. At least his fear of the outside saved the day for once.
"Door broken." Nyx simply noted, seemingly disappointed, as Anthony finished loosely dressing up before reaching for the door, slightly opening it.
"You don't remember anything about that privacy explanation I gave you, do you?" He rhetorically asked as he got his head within the door interstice.
"Loiseau said it wasn't real, I think." They retorted with their usual mix of genuineness and curiosity.
The historian sighed. Of course HR would eventually disturb him by sending the only close person he had who didn't already hate the guy.
"Maximillien? What does he want in the middle of the night?" Anthony groaned, still holding the door semi-closed to make sure the alien didn't see his work mess.
"He said it wasn't night in 11. It's the time, right? So he asked for you and the others."
"Nyx, this is not—" Anthony sighed. "Loiseau meant that it's not the night in the Endless City, but that's because the sun never sets there. M.E.G. Standard Time still applies."
Nyx looked flabbergasted, as if the concept of different time zones was more complicated than whatever rocket science they were working on back on their home planet. Realizing they didn't want to add anything, the historian finally conceded. "Forget it. Just give me five minutes to put on my full uniform; I can't find my jacket.
"Loiseau said it was urgent." Nyx precised, making Anthony sigh in response. Nyx's lack of understanding of human language expression was the exact reason Maximillien sent them to disturb the obviously sleep-deprived historian at half past midnight.
That and the fact that both Katya and Charlie were extroverted enough to stand their ground against him.
Conceding he would have to attend a team meeting looking as if he was a new wanderer lost in the Habitable Zone, Anthony cleared through the door, finally standing in front of the Alien.
"… I bet you a sweater he's gonna get mad I'm not fully in unform." Anthony groaned, trying to mask his embarrassment from the otherworldly wanderer.
. . .
"You're not in full uniform, Kelvin." Maximillien noted as soon as Anthony and Nyx entered the meeting room, much to his disappointment.
The historian repressed a groan. He wished he had the courage to slap the human resource manager in the face, before yelling at him about exploiting clueless aliens to wake him up at midnight. Yet, all he could do was stutter:
"B-but sir, you asked—"
"Hey, Max, being the boss doesn't give you the right to complain about people being unprepared when you forced them to come unprepared." A familiar female voice rose from a few chairs away, making the HR manager sigh.
"Miss Hall… Nevermind. You two just go take a seat. You were the last two," he conceded, before going back to the front, near the projector.
Repressing a smile, the historian followed the alien to the oval table, taking a seat right next to Katya and Charlie.
"Thanks for that." He whispered to the scout before waving at Charlie, grateful for his friend speaking up to defend him.
"You really need to work on your self-confidence, man." Katya whispered back, her serious stance nonetheless showing an ounce of compassion. "Oh hold on, the meeting's starting." She cut, with everyone turning to face Maximillien Loiseau next to the board.
"So, as you all know, since we recruited "Nyx" here as an external collaborator, there have been voices raising within other teams of the Circle, complaining about our collaboration with a non-human entity, despite it being confirmed to not be a backborn entity. These concerns have only increased in the last few weeks, with Team Thanatos raising concerns about potential dangers."
Immediately, the room started to explode with many comments:
"I'm baffled we're not listening to them," said one. "Just because the M.E.G. does that with that Faceling and that Satyr doesn't mean we should as well."
"Of course the gun cops would tell us what we should do." Said another. "Why are we listening to these clowns?"
"Why are we talking about this with the subject here?" said yet another. "Isn't it sorta dangerous?"
"How the hell does this warrant discussing at midnight?" added yet another. "Are we really that incompetent?"
"Silence!" Loiseau shouted with a force that surprised Anthony. While him getting fed up was gradually getting more common, the historian still wasn't used to hearing the boss act this way.
"Thanatos never sleeps. We got reports that they were working on a potential elimination protocol for "Nyx," which, although only rumors, would violate the Level 4 accords if proven corr-"
"It's all her fault!" Another scout angrily pointed toward Nyx. "We're fighting for humanity, yet we're recruiting monsters here? She doesn't even care about etiquette!"
"Etiquette?" Charlie suddenly rose from his chair, outraged. "You were the one purposely making THEM trip three days ago at the cafeteria, Caroline!"
"You're the one talking of monsters!" Katya added. "But as soon as the opportunity presents itself, you're always here to bully people!"
Looking at both his friends defending Nyx, Anthony shook. He wished he had the guts to join them, to voice his acceptance of the alien as a collaborator; he wished he could explain all the progress they made, all the knowledge they gave him.
Yet here he was, on his chair, letting his friends defend the one he was supposed to take care of. The historian sighed in shame before turning towards Nyx, who was slowly opening their mandible in a defiant rictus.
"Don't do that… It's gonna make it worse," he whispered to the alien, who looked at him with surprise as the argument kept escalating around them.
"How are you two defending whatever this is? Caroline is right! She almost fucked up everything in Silk Road!" Another scout stood up.
"YOU WEREN'T HERE, IDIOT!" Katya shouted. "I WAS! AND I—"
"SILENCE!" Maximillien bawled with a strength that took the whole meeting by surprise. Anthony started shaking as the other four members sat down, anxiety rising up. Suddenly, the historian felt a warm feeling in his hand. Looking on his right, Anthony saw Nyx hold his hand, the symbols on their skin looking almost glowing.
The historian blushed, not being used to physical contact. Trying to hide himself, his left hand only met his blank shirt, making him regret not taking more time to find that jacket.
"Isn't that what humans do when scared?" The alien asked with a genuine tone that made the historian blush further.
Anthony tried to respond but got cut in his gesture by Loiseau, now heavily breathing.
"We're already yelling at each other between teams. Are we really now yelling at each other in our own? Is this how low we are going now?" The man looked tired and stressed, a state that surprised everyone in the room.
Never before had Anthony witnessed Maximillien in such a state. In some aspect, he found himself relating to the HR manager. Stress was in overall growth in the group, and the higher-ups were no exception. The surprise almost made the historian forget about Nyx, the thought of Loiseau witnessing human feelings taking him off guard.
"We might have our own allies plotting behind our back, and that's what Team Hermes is doing? Yelling at each other?" The manager took a deep breath. "I'm disappointed in you all. Our mission is and has always been to make the Backrooms a secure place, to help wanderers who cannot defend themselves. This is what the Ariane Circle is striving for, and this is what Team Hermes is working for."
Maximillien started walking around. Immediately, Anthony noticed the manager's hand slightly shaking.
He definitely didn't feel like the strong, cold leader he thought he knew.
"We specialize in exploring and mapping levels. Thanatos specializes in armed conflicts. Normally, our paths wouldn't cross. Yet, here we have a unique situation where threats toward our activities might be rising. This is unlike anything we've had in recent years, far beyond the grudges we hold against Team Hippocrates. I called you people in at midnight because all of you have at least once interacted with Thanatos. We are not here to vote Nyx in or out. We're here to debate on what might be going on based on our previous experiences. Did I make myself clear?"
This time, the room went silent, with not even Charlie or Katya daring to add anything.