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	After enjoying Bliss’ cooking, Max set his sights on the study. He had thought to review a bit of intelligence that would help him in this killing game. ‘This is the last time someone turns up dead under my watch’ is what he told himself while strolling towards the study. Upon reaching the doors, he took hold of the doorknob before letting go. For a second he stood there before knocking on the door three times and entering.
After scanning the room, he immediately spotted [i]another[/i] kid. How cruel of Davis to have so many kids participate in this game. Intent on introducing himself to the boy, Max walked up to him with an approachable stance.

	[color=0076a3]“Greetings, are you enjoying the literature here?”[/color]

	Max’s inquiry seemed to have fallen on deaf ears at first. Thomas’s stature remained exactly the same as it was prior to the infinites greeting, hunched over his book and writing. After a short period of inactivity though, Thomas started to move. As his position had the doorway facing his back, he had to turn around to see who his visitor was.

    	As Thomas shifted his head back to see Max, he raised one arm into the air, the other one pushing back on the others elbow, closing his eyes and yawning in the process. There was a resounding crack as he stretched his arms, he must have been sitting there for a while. His head faced Max completely now, and he started to lower his arms as he opened his eyes.

    	Once again there was a pause. Thomas’s arms stopped moving and he gazed blankly at Max. After a second though, recognition looked to have dawned on his face. He lowered his arms onto the side of the chair he was sitting in, draping his hands off the armrests so they hung loosely off the edge. His notebook lay in his lap, open to the forty-eighth page.

    	[color=ADD278]“Infinite Police Officer. I don’t think we’ve met in person before.”[/color] he stated, rather than answering Max. He raised himself out of his seat, sliding his hands up and pushing off out of his chair. The notebook slid down his lap, and was caught by Thomas’s right hand just before it could fall off. He held it to his side, but awkward positioning caused the notebooks cover to face his leg. With his other hand, he extended it towards Max, twisting his shoulder back to reach out a little further, as a gesture of greeting.

    	[color=0076a3]“I see you’ve done your homework.”[/color] He said as he firmly took hold of Thomas’ hand, maybe squeezing a bit too hard. [color=0076a3]“So might you be Thomas?”[/color] after a few shakes, Max leisurely let go.

    	Max’s firm grip caught Thomas off guard, and he shook his hand in the air a few times as he returned it to his side. [color=ADD278]“Herringson. My name’s Thomas Herringson.”[/color] Thomas said, diverting his gaze to Max’s eyes, having to tilt his head further upwards in the process. His gaze was inquisitive, as if he were searching for something in the ocean of blue which comprised Max’s eyes.

	[color=0076a3]“Nice to meet you”[/color] Said Max as he noticed Thomas’ stare, for being in the situation that they were, the boy was sure calm and absent-minded. Maybe what he was still thinking about what he was reading.

	[color=0076a3]“So what were you reading? Something informative?”[/color]
Thomas seemed satisfied with what he saw, and looked away from Max’s eyes and to his notebook.[color=ADD278]”You could say it’s informative, but it’s not a book, nor was I reading. This is just a collection of thoughts, thoughts of being caught in a [i]strange[/i] and [i]frightening[/i] situation.” [/color]. His voice wavered at the end, giving his words an unconvincing tone.

	[color=0076a3]“So it’s a notebook. That’s-”[/color] A sense of curiosity and caution took hold of him as he spotted his own name in the notebook. While Max didn’t believe that Thomas would pose a threat, he knew better then to trust anyone on first sight. [color=0076a3]“So how [i]strange[/i] and [i]frightening[/i] am I, according to that?”[/color] He pointed towards Thomas’ notebook; despite his attempts to stay comfortable, Max clearly sounded a bit on guard.

    	[color=ADD278][i]Tch![/i][/color] Thomas shot a glance towards his side, where his book was facing outwards. He called himself the Infinite Biomechanic, but he couldn’t even prevent such a rudimentary error. He didn’t want to explain what was in the notebook - he couldn't, not to the Infinite Police Officer - and in fact had planned on diverting these conversation to another topic. [color=ADD278][i]Foolish[/i][/color]. His mistake had cost him.  Although Thomas was mentally berating himself, his outward expression remained every bit as neutral as he has been known to portray. The only hint to his distress was his glance to his side, and even that was more of an acknowledgement than a signal. 

	He raised his right hand holding the book in front of him and snapped it shut with his fingers, resulting in a resounding [i]crack[/i] throughout the study, he took this moment of silence to think about his situation and calm down. There was no issue here, surely someone like him could diffuse this situation into something palatable to his agenda. After all, even if he did make mistakes sometimes, he wasn’t made an infinite for nothing.

	[color=ADD278]“You know, when I spoke to some of the other individuals in this killing game, there was a pretense of coordination. Some degree of unspoken trust between us; the infinites in the same dire predicament.”[/color] Thomas took a step towards Max, sliding his notebook into his pocket then clasping his hands together in a single swift motion. His expression was the same, the ever present paragon of neutrality. At this point it was almost eerie how devoid his face was. 

	[color=ADD278]“Th- You see, When we conduct simple studies, we call the strays an outlier. There’s all sorts of reasons for them, such as a heavy tailed distribution or malfunctions. The thing is: there is always a reason for the outlier. I don’t think there’s any reason to think that it’s odd for everyone to get along. That’s generally what people in these strange situations do, you know.”[/color] Thomas paused for a second, mulling over his next words, then continued speaking.

	[color=ADD278]“I wonder what could make someone so suspicious of a sixteen year old boy, so [i]skittish[/i] in a situation that presents no harm to you. Perhaps I did mention your name whilst writing. I may have mentioned several others, or even all of the infinites in Axis Mundi.” [/color]Thomas leaned in even closer, until he was right in front of (below), Max’s head. [color=ADD278]“However, It would be a shame if someone like you were to succumb to the killing game, [i]Infinite Police Officer[/i], so trust me. You don’t have to worry about what’s in here.”[/color] Thomas patted his pocket with the notebook, then turned away swiftly and took two steps back from Max. [color=ADD278]”I mean, you’ve seen two trials already.”[/color] Thomas turned back around so his was facing max, a comfortable distance away. [color=ADD278]“You’ve seen what happens to outliers here.”[/color]

	[color=0076a3]“Are you sure you should be saying such things to others? To a Police officer no less. Whatever it is that you are hiding in that notebook of yours, it’s not worth antagonizing me.”[/color] While Max was not exactly intimidated by Thomas attempts, a small evil gnawed in the the back of his mind. Kids like him may look completely harmless, but as Shaun had shown, even [i]they[/i] couldn’t be trusted entirely. As Thomas clearly showed, he was very protective of his notebook, going as far as to passively attack him. While young aggressive punks were never a match for Max, the rare sophisticated and tactical among them always gave him cold feet. As Max’s police instincts kicked in, he did not only want to scold this kid, but also ensure that the notebook held no danger to the group.

	[color=0076a3]“Listen kid, if you repel everyone like this, I am going to have trouble keeping you safe from potential murderers, much less those crazy robots. So how about you show that notebook, and I can decide if it holds any interest.”[/color] Said Max as he reached out his hand. [color=0076a3]“If it’s something personal, I vow to keep it a secret...you have nothing to fear.”[/color] While his last words were supposed to be comforting, his face showed that he was in fact warning Thomas to take this serious.

	Reprimandation. Someone like Max, standing above Thomas, telling him what to do. In that same god damn tone. Who the hell did he think he was? What gave Max the right to speak like that, to demand to see his notebook. He was almost like…

	[color=ADD278]“[b]Shut up![/b]”[/color] Thomas nearly screamed at Max. His face contorted and broke his illusion of neutrality, morphing into a expression of animosity and… fear? 

	Thomas tilted his head down and hunched his shoulders, he was shaking and his hands were now balled into fists. His hair fell over his forehead, hiding his face from Max.

	...Then after just a moment of silence, Thomas looked back up. There was no trace of his outburst except for the shade of red that adorned his cheeks. His eyes settled back on Max, and his arms loosened back into the neutral pose he was in prior to clasping his hands together. Even though his face was neutral, his hands continued to shake even after he regained composure.

	[color=ADD278]“My apologies… that was improper.”[/color] Thomas relaxed his hands and turned towards the door, away from Max [color=ADD278]”I’m sorry; but you’re not going to see what’s in this Notebook, neither should you delude yourself with thoughts of being my guardian. When we meet again, I hope it will be on more pleasant terms.”[/color] he stated, beginning to walk away from Max and out of the study.

	Troublesome. Thomas completely disregarded Max, but instead of anger, Max felt guilt. He went too far, again. If only Max took a more humane approach, he could have avoided this awkward situation. Now all he could do was watch him leave, and ponder about their next meeting.