Inheritance

While Blake remained silent, it wasn't because of the implications of the words he'd just heard. He was stuck on something else entirely. 

"So, he really did make it? The stasis bomb? I have to say, I never really bought that. I just didn't think it was possible to make something powerful enough to destroy the world."

Ethan looked over at him. 

"It's honestly impressive. Being able to make something like that.", Blake continued.

"Aren't you wondering?"

Blake's eyes met his.

"About what?"

"If your father was one of my problems?"

After such a heavy question, Ethan expected an intense reaction, but he got nothing of the sort. Instead, Blake simply moved onto his next locker before speaking again.

"You already know I was never really close with him, so whether or not you killed him doesn't mean anything to me."

"Then aren't you bothered at all? The fact someone related to you is responsible for endangering the entire world. That he may be the reason you don't wake up tomorrow. Does that also mean nothing to you?"

No response.

Ethan couldn't help but scoff.

"...The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh?"

Blake's grip tightened around the rails of the ladder. 

"You know, just a couple of months ago, I would've hated being compared to him. I can't even remember the last time he was around. Never coming home, leaving me with mom, letting someone else raise me... I hated him."

Ethan said nothing.

"But I sort of get it now. Because he found something special. Something he was actually interested in for once, and he pursued it. I have no right to judge him for that."

Ethan said nothing.

"The things you enjoy doing, what you find fulfilling, the choices you make. All of that is up to you. What I do, or think is my business and I'm tired of others acting like it's any of theirs. So, don't lecture me on how I should feel. I can figure that out on my own."

Despite his insistence however, Blake loosened his grip on the ladder's side rail. 

Silence filled the room again as their argument had ended. Blake spent a good while thinking about what he said, before remembering the task at hand. 

He brought his key ring up to his face and read the labels on each one before opening up yet another locker.

And inside was just a small piece of paper, which looked like it was haphazardly torn out of a notebook. Blake held onto his key ring with his mouth, then reached out to it with his only free hand. 

It was dark, so he had to squint, but one look was all he needed to figure out what it was. He climbed down the ladder quickly to share what he'd found. 

"S.B. Four, two, and... one.", Ethan recited. 

The letters and numbers written there.

"S.B. has to mean stasis bomb, right?", Blake asked.

"Probably. I can't imagine anything else it could be."

"How about the numbers? Do they mean anything to you?"

Ethan took a moment to think about it before responding.

"No. Nothing comes to mind immediately at least. My only guess is it's some sort of pin."

"Would it only be three digits long though?"

"Hmm... That's a good point."

The two fell into silence yet again, each of them trying to think of some other possibilities.

"...A safety deposit box number."

Blake looked up at him.

"Why do you say that?"

"For some reason, he started visiting the bank daily after work. At the time, I thought nothing of it, but not I wonder if..."

"...Well, it's definitely worth looking into."

"You think it'd be in such an obvious place?"

"Even if it's obvious, it doesn't change the fact it's a secure area that's hard to get into."

"Then if it is there, how do we get it?"

"Did you forget? I'm his son. All I have to do is ask for a withdrawal and the key's ours."

Ethan looked at him briefly then looked to the side.

"Guess that's as good a plan as any."

After hearing that, Blake pushed his hands into his pockets with confidence before moving towards the elevator. When he looked back though, Blake wasn't there anymore. Instead, a man in a trench coat stared back at him. 

"You're already finished for the day, aren't you? So, what are you doing back here?", Ethan asked him.

No response. The man simply made his way for the exit.

"And that thing you were cradling in your hand?", Ethan inquired further.

The man stopped in his tracks. The two were right beside each other now but staring in opposite directions.

"So, you finished..."

"...No. Not yet."

Ethan turned his head to look at him.

The man clutched onto the stasis bomb tightly.

"I still... I still have work to do.", he muttered.

"...And your family?"

No response. The man began walking again. And back in the present, Blake did the same.

"Wait a second.", Ethan called out.

Before he could even get halfway across the room, Blake stopped in his tracks. He turned slightly to show he was listening.

"One thing before we go."

He made his way over to Blake and dug into his pockets as he did. Then, he raised his closed fist as if waiting to dump whatever was in it onto Blake.

Surprisingly, what Blake felt in his right hand was smooth, glass-like even. And by pulling his hand away, Ethan revealed what was now sitting squarely in Blake's palm. The crystal-clear stasis bomb. Needless to say, Blake was utterly dumbfounded by this.

"...Is this some sort of trick?"

"No trick. You can have it. Without any of the keys, it's a useless hunk of junk anyway."

Blake took a while to examine the device now that he had it back again. For some reason, it felt like it fit perfectly in his hand.

"Your father... I didn't actually kill him. I couldn't."

Somewhat ignoring what Ethan was saying, Blake turned over the device in his hand to see it from all angles.

"But it didn't matter at the end of the day..."

Once again, it seemed like Blake wasn't really paying attention. He was fully captivated by the device.

"Because he did it himself."

Blake's eyes widened in response to this. He stopped his movements suddenly. He looked up slowly.

For some reason, the room was getting whiter and whiter. But that wasn’t the only thing that was changing. 

"I can't be completely sure why but learning about these keys gave me some idea." 

The layout, the desks, all of the texture, and all of the things that gave it a sense of shape or form were disappearing as well, leaving only Blake and Ethan behind.

"He probably couldn't live with what he'd done then created those locks and took his own life as a way of atoning. Or maybe, he never made that thing in the first place and went crazy trying to figure out a way to contain it."

Blake looked back down at the device sitting in his hand as Ethan continued.

"Either way, his obsession with it led him somewhere he could never go back from. So maybe you're right. Maybe I don't have any right to judge you or tell you how to feel. But I figured you should at least know the whole story before you start sympathizing with that moron..."

Having finished, Ethan made his way to the elevator and tapped Blake on the shoulder as he passed him.

"Let the stasis bomb be a reminder of that."

Ethan continued walking away, leaving Blake alone with his thoughts. He stared down at the stasis bomb with a pained look on his face. He then raised his left hand to wipe his forehead but noticed something before he could.

Something strapped to his left wrist. The watch Lena had given him on his birthday. He'd almost forgotten he was wearing it. With both his arms raised, Blake stared at the two items beside one another, unable to decide between the two lives they represented.