[Center][b][u]An Undisclosed Location - One Month Ago[/u][/b][/Center] [i]Cough...[/i] Eyes slowly managing to open, Desmond felt sick to his stomach as he sat up on the bed he was in. The area around him... It was dark; Dimly lit by dull lights above, and the whole place had a metallic appearance to it. What was this? Some sort of jail? He couldn't remember doing any sort of crime... Actually, now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember much at all. Who was he, exactly? And what had he been doing here? The lack of information in his head was startling; Honestly scaring him a bit. What had he gotten himself into? He was a bit worried, though there was also an odd feeling of annoyance in his head as well. He took a moment to simply contemplate his situation, before hearing something to his left. Turning his head, Desmond witnessed an automatic door opening. He stood up as a tall individual stepped through the doorway, cloaked in blue and wearing shades. Why would you wear shades in the dark like this? No-- There wasn't time to think about stupid things; He needed answers. Now. "Who are you?" Desmond questioned, tone marking how startled he was. For a moment, the man in blue simply stared. This was unnerving for Desmond, who simply glared at the man as he approached. Desmond tensed up as a hand was placed on his shoulder, the man in blue having a grin across his face. "It's good to see you have recovered." The man said, in a monotone voice. Throwing Desmond for a loop, honestly; He was safe here? This guy knew him? This place didn't give him any good vibes, but he had nothing else to go on at the moment. "That doesn't answer my question." Desmond spoke, eyes narrowing. Hand leaving Desmond's shoulder, the man took a step back. "You honestly do not remember?" Desmond shook his head. "I see..." The man in blue said, sounding displeased. "How very unfortunate. A side effect of the incident, I suppose." "Incident?" Desmond questioned. The man nodded. "You had taken a rather heavy blow to the back of your head. I never expected amnesia from that injury." The man sighed, sounding defeated. He turned, walking towards the door. He gestured for Desmond to follow. "Come with me. Perhaps I can help you remember, if I explain it fully..." Desmond rubbed the back of his head, wincing from the pain. He had been hit pretty hard... What the hell happened? He had to get answers, and this man seemed to be the only one able to offer him anything. Without hesitation, Desmond followed the man out into a hallway; Noting the screens on the walls, the men and women in odd uniforms running back and forth. This was a busy place. He could hear people behind them; Not much before they left earshot, [i]"Hey, look! He's awake...!" "After his injury, he got back up!"[/i] Were they talking about him? He assumed so. Was he known here? Everything was so confusing. "You were injured in a rather large battle." The man in blue explained, as they walked along. "As hard as you fought for me, it unfortunately had not been enough. We recovered as many of you as we could after the events. You're lucky they hadn't finished you off before we arrived." "A large battle? What were we fighting for?" Desmond asked. The man waved a hand, a door in front of them opening. Once they passed through, he stopped; Looking ahead quietly. They seemed to be in an office of some kind, though Desmond didn't have much time to look before the man started speaking again. "Science. Money. Power." He explained truthfully, turning to look down at the boy. "Our organization seeks to care for itself, and only itself. The residents of the Orre region, followed by the rest of this world, are all inferior to our organization." The man raised his arms, looking up towards the ceiling. "We are Cipher. The rightful masters of this world. And we will prove it through any means necessary. Do you still sense the pride in your superiority?" Desmond was taken aback by it all; He was apart of a big organization like that? One that used power, and science, to overcome all to prove their superiority...? This was the cause he supported? [i]No way--[/i] At that moment, Desmond clutched his chest. Sweat slowly poured down his face as he felt a pain inside; Something abnormal, he could tell that much. He hissed from the pain, and took a moment to regain himself. Though, when he did... "If I'm superior, I'd want to prove it." Desmond replied, firmly. Being powerful, superior; A strong kick of pride motivated him to say those words, and any concern he had seemed to fade away deep inside. He stared firmly at the man in front of him, standing straight. "Wonderful..." The man said, lowing his arms. He extended a hand out to Desmond; Grin remaining. "It's good to have you back. If you require it, feel free to take some time to regain yourself here. Though, when you're able... There's much work to be done for the sake of our organization." Staring at the hand in front of him, Desmond took a moment to actually extend his own hand to shake. "I will require a bit of time, I'm sorry. This is a lot to take in, sir-" "Ardos." The man in blue introduced himself, firming gripping the boy's hand. "If you need any assistance, do let me know. Our organization does look after our own. Do not be afraid to require assistance." Ardos... Desmond would keep that name in mind. The boy nodded. "Yes... Thank you, Ardos." [Center][b][u]Pyrite Town - Present[/u][/b] [/Center] What a mess of a town. Hands in his pockets, and shades over his eyes to block out the sun; It had been nice to be given that Hover Moped to get around this desert without stressing. Now that he was here, it was time to commence his first operation: One that wouldn't be easy, by his assumption. The Under... A lawless town buried under Pyrite. The idiots here didn't think to scavenge anything before blocking out the entrances; Apparently there was valuable information for Cipher left there as operatives fled in order to not be buried alive; And now Desmond was supposed to find a way down there to get the disks inside the hotel below. It sounded overly difficult... But he was going to try his best. No point in going back empty handed at this point, right? That scientist back at the base had given Desmond what little information on the town he could. Thankfully he had a fairly detailed map of the area for Desmond to reference. The boy was heading towards the residence of Duking, the apparent head-honcho of Pyrite. If anyone could get him into The Under at this point, it'd be him. And if that failed... Well, it was back to the drawing board to try and figure out what to do to get down there. As he walked, he stepped past the slower people without much concern, trying to keep himself on track with his map. This caused him to unintentionally shoulder-bump a red-haired girl, though he didn't stop because of it. Rather, she just got a muttered [i]"Pardon me."[/i] As he kept going, having no time to waste.