Robert Hughes' eyes crinkled open as a ray of light shined into his face.
"Mr. Hughes." A voice spoke in front of him. "So, I heard you won the lottery. Again. What is this now, the third time?"
"L— listen, I can, um…" Squinting past the harsh brightness, all Robert could see was a silhouette, its hand on the lamp pointed at him. "I can pay you!" This wasn't his first rodeo. It's amazing, really, the number of people who tried to kidnap one of the richest people in the country. "Any amount you want. I— I could even give you all my winnings if you really want them!" He stalled, wriggling his cuffed hands around behind the cold, metal chair.
"I'm not interested in money, Mr. Hughes, I'm interested in you."
Robert paused.
"Well, I'm gonna be honest, I'm not really into this, so if you're trying to seduce—"
"Stop. I mean I'm interested in your abilities."
A pit opened in Robert's stomach. "My… se—"
"Don't finish that sentence. You know exactly what I mean. No normal person could win the lottery three times in a row."
"But, um, if I weren't normal, then wouldn't I have been able to escape by now?"
"Yes. So we made precautions. You can stop reaching for the paperclip in your… sleeve pocket? Did you really sew a pocket into the sleeve of your shirt?"
Robert shrugged his shoulders as he quickly grabbed the clip, jamming it into the keyhole of his handcuffs. His right cuff fell loose. "What can I say? I'm kinda used to this."
"Robert."
"Yes?"
"You're locked in a top secret facility in the middle of the desert."
"Mmhmm."
"There's a guard on the other side of the door, which is behind me, someone who was specially trained to catch you."
"Okay."
"And even if, by some miracle, you managed to escape, I'd be able to call a team to hunt you down and get you right back in here."
"Right."
"Whatever you're planning, I suggest you don't follow through, because you'll end up right back in here with me again."
"Cool."
"So. What are you going to do? Sit in that chair and answer my questions?"
"Nah. I'm gonna execute my plan flawlessly." Robert smirked.
"I'd like to see you—"
Incident 6249-01
Date: 12/03/2019
Incident Report: POI-7342 (Robert Hughes) subdued Agent Pines, who had been conducting an interrogation. Using Agent Pines' keycard and uniform, he gained access to a Foundation vehicle, which he used to escape the Site. Security has been unable to locate him as of yet.
Agent Pines held an ice pack up to the bump on their head, clicking the Submit button on the incident report with their other hand.
"I swear, I'll catch you next time," he muttered. "Lucky bastard…"
