he nodded and took the dishes, already the other could be trusted to walk behind him, he wondered if the man was a head-case, his papers said no such thing though. he frowned.

Samuel watched Echo do the dishes. "I htought you said you weren't my nanny." He commented to keep himself from laughing at the image Echo created.

he stopped mid-scrub. this ended here and now. he tossed the plate into the sink and marched over to the other, grabbing him by the shirt he backed him into the nearest thing to a wall "listen to me, listen good you will stop this nonsense now" he shook the other to dig his message in a little deeper

Samuel just grinned at the other. "What nonsense?" He asked as he though of how fun it was to rile the other up.

he could not tell if the other was seriously cracked or trying to get under his skin, by now all the people he had ever kidnapped executed or held hostage would be cowed and cowering but this man seemed to be enjoying it immensely. he wondered if it was all the sedatives, they were known to cause mental disturbances in large enough doses and the other was sensitive. he tried to keep his cool, there was no need to beat the man for being a little abnormal. he let his feelings go. outside however he kept his face stern. "i don't know your game but i am not playing it" he kept one hand on the man and the other he used to reach into his pocket for another tranq, he figured if he only used a little he could get the other back up the stair and into his chair before anything happened that would result in the untimely loss of the only survivor. he broke the package and put the syringe together, he preferred doing this with his other hand but it did not matter as long as he found a vein. he went to inject it but the other flinched and grabbed at his wrist. reflexively he pulled free and aimed it for the other man's eye he stopped just close enough that if the other blinked he could touch the tip with his eye-lashes. he growled but the other interrupted before he could threaten 'you keep doing it wrong, if you are going to stab me at least try not to keep doing it in the same place" the technician gingerly reached up and took his hand guiding the syringe to an unused vain. the other squeezed lightly when he stuck it in but he accounted it to a reflexive gesture. he only used a very small amount hoping it would be enough to make the other less aware without actually making him pass out.

The feeling of the drig was not as bad as before and Samuel had time to properly enjoy it as he walked behind Echo. His mind was filled with a pleasant hum even as they took the elevator back up to the top floor. "And what makes you think I treat you like a game?" He asked as they rode to the top floor.

he was not sure if it was the sedative or the man's natural insanity that prompted the question but it was one he had an answer for "your blatant disregard for the natural order of things is one, and your mental instability is two. both are valid reasons to think you are still not grasping the implications of your current position" he looked over his shoulder to the other " since i have untied you there have been eight opportunities for you to either attack me or try to escape, you have made no move to do either, that is unnatural"

Samuel grinned, "I follow the natural order of things, there are none! And I'm not insane because when I was still on Earth I got myself tested, I have a certificate of sanity." It had been required to have one before he could be sent to Mars so he knew it was on record. "And you siad yourself that any attempts to escape would be thawarted." He was rambling now and he was okay with that. "So I was for once listening and did not attempt to escape, I guess I could try though."

though the sentences were a little muddled the information they provided was sound. he huffed to himself and led the other back to the chair. he checked the box and the dashboard and made sure he had plenty of sedatives left. he was a bit surprised the other had not contacted him yet but he did not try to make the first move, it was unprofessional. he finished his inventory check in silence. he did his best to ignore the other.

Samuel settled down back on his chair and watched the other walk around. "Your agitated about something." He said simply after observing the other for some time. "What is it?" He wanted to know what made his captor tick.

he ignored the question "the dose was too small, you are much to perceptive right now to be properly drugged"

Samuel rolled his eyes, "Either that or not drugging me the full way makes me more perceptive and more talkitive." He gave his captor another one of his smiles, "And as fun as riding on cloud three is when you gonna take me down?"

never "when i think you can be trusted to not cause problems, or i run out" he made a face "you are too violent sober and i don't like your attitude"

Samuel adopted a hurt look, "Why would you run out? The air outside is dangerous when you don't weat the correct gear." He actually knew what Echo was talking about, running out of the tranqu but admitting that would be too easy. "And I'm not excessivly violent, your fingers just taste good." Not true, he just did not like other people fingers in his mouth.

for just a moment he thought that the tranq had finally kicked in but the clarity of the other's eyes gave away the game. he ignored the comment and went over to the chair where the syringe lay, he picked it up and turned to the other

Samuel eyed the syringe in Echo's hand. "You will take my advice to heart and stab me in another place, right?" Samuel hated being stabbed period but if he could not escape he would have to grin annd bear it.

he looked at the other, face flat and without emotion "say please"

Samuel gave the other an incrudulous expression, "You want me to say 'please'?"

he ignored the look and swapped hands, he deftly stuck i back into the man's arm making sure he got as close to the old spot as he could without the bruises to show him where to stick.

Samuel gave the other a half hearted glare. "I said 'please' not in proper context but I still said it."

he ignored the other and dosed just a little, it was harder doing it by ear when most took to the standard doses, he hadn't needed to make an effort to be careful in years. he pulled out and put the syringe back down, he had nothing else to do now until he was called so he sat down in the middle of the room to meditate, he needed to calm down

Sameul stayed seated and felt just a bit sleepier. He laced his arms over the back of the chair for support and watched the other from the corner of his eye.

he pulled himself into lotus and took a deep breath out, expelling the negative energy. blinding himself to the world he drowned out all but his own pulse, he focused on that until he was focusing on nothing

Samuel woundered what Echo was doing but he did not have enough energy to actually ask. Whatever it was, it was boring to watch.

he was only allotted a couple minutes before the expected beep of the box came his eyes popped open and he unfolded himself gracefully. standing up he went to the panel and resumed the transmission. he looked to the camera 'theodore, the taps are all in and negotiations have begun' he sighed in relief 'we will be given face time with the council in two days, they have not said anything yet on what they think of our requests but they put emphasis on making sure none of the technicians die. we may be getting these damn towers down yet!' the transmission died abruptly and he ended it. inside he was all but ecstatic, prompt negotiations and to the heads, everything he had spent this last year working for was paying off. he was so please he could not help the small smile adorning his face. he turned to his captive "someone just lucked out"

Samuel gave his captor a bored stare, "You or me?" He had heard the transmission but it had only made half sence to him.

he ignored the question "though i suppose i cannot sedate you anymore, though i will have to go back to tying you up if you get violent again" he did a quick rundown of the building in his head "if we go to the inventory stock-room we can get back by the time the last of it wears off, but we'd do bed to hurry" he grabbed the duffel from the floor and pulled out the contents, he piled everything up in tidy little rows and zipped closed the now empty bag. "come on, wet's go" he stood and walked over to the other taking him gently by the forearm, he did not pull roughly this time for there was no need. they headed for the fifth floor

"M'kay." Samuel said as he followed the other. "What will we need from storage?" He could not think of too much actually in the sotrage that Echo could use.

"binding or rope, spare batteries, containers, a few things"

Samuel gave the other a look that clearly siad he thought the other was insane. "And what do you plan on doing with that stuff?"

he spared the other a glance "i cannot sedate you anymore lest i risk hurting you" he tugged on the other's arm to keep him going at a steady pace

"So you'll tie me up instead?" Samuel asked vaugly interested. "And what will you do with the other stuff?" Because either Samuel's missing something or tieing him up isn't all Echo has planned.

"surely you did not think we'd leave the control-room every time you wanted to eat?" he was glad to get back into the normal realm of things, he was happy to hear the same questions out of this man's mouth as any normal person. "i am stocking up for the next four days, we have two plus today plus the day after, i may try fr more but it would be practical to wait until i am more sure before toting all that stuff." they were on the seventh floor by now

Samuel gave the other a bland stare. "Why can't one walk? It makes for good extercise?" Then Samuel frowned, "Four days until your finally get to killing me?"

"you were violent, who is to say sober you will not become so again? tranquilizers do just that, they make you tranquil" he huffed a bit "and no, there is little chance of you dieing now, the man from before was my 'brother' the un is agreeing to negotiate with us to get you and the others back alive"

"I told you, your fingers taste good." Samuel explained telling a complete falsehood. "And I disagree Tranquilizers make me loopy and sleepy." Samuel pounted when he heard the last part though. "You won't rip my heart out and eat it?" Samuek snorted, "And what will the UN do with me on Mars?"

the man was asking too many questions most of which were ridiculous, he wheedled out the one valid one though and replied simply so the other could understand in his addled state "your boss's boss is the l un, their boss is the un, if we talk them into pulling the plug this entire endeavor dies no matter how many investors have their hands in it." they hit the landing for the fifth floor and went through the door. "kill the head and the snake dies" he flipped a switch, the room was manual he noted, should anything go wrong this room would be a point of interest. he looked around reading all of the labels "ah!" he pulled down a boxit had both long and short zip-ties he was pleased, they were rougher on the captive but less stress-inducing over-all and less wasteful as well. he grinned and stuffed several into the duffel. he then continued looking for more of his items, forgetting for a few moments about his charge

Samuel noticed that the otehr was not really paying attention to him and grinned. He turned around and stared wa;ling down to the shuttle bay, some of the things the other needed would be down there.

he shifted through the tub until he found the correct box, the tinkling of all the little jars were music to his ears, he was growing incompetent in his progressing delirium and had already made so many rookie mistakes it was almost a joke that the other had yet to escape.it make him nervous to think the other might take- he stopped mid-thought and looked around. shit he quickly pocketed the adrenaline vial and shot out of the room, he could just see a flicker of movement to his left and so he tore off that way too, he turned the next corner and crashed into the other taking them both down. he felt a momentary sense of dejavu as he ground his palm into the others back.

Samuel gave a yelp that he would forever deny when Echo ran into him. He was silent from both pain and dejavu. Sameul was sure there was a whole mixture of things that where responsible for his thought that the other should eat more as not to be so light.