The funeral was a silent and sparsely visited event, Three thought while handing his assistant his umbrella and entering the building. He didn't expect many people, but he was surprised that not even a fifth of the chairs were occupied. He had only known Two, or to be precise O4-2 "The Paranoid", for a couple months, during which he understood why everyone was more shocked than sad about his assassination, but he was surprised by such a level of grieflessness.
"I am not, what loss is there to mourn?"
It was pouring outside, which would perfectly accentuate the mood if the attendees were sad. But the truth was that none of those present were actually sad. Not Two's secretary, assistant, guards, not even his few chosen favorites within the workforce, the projects of whom were supported by his endorsement. Two was an unpleasant person to put it mildly and his company no pleasure to anyone. He had no friends and frightened the majority away with his character, the rest tried to kill him. Whether he was right with his paranoia or he drove them to this behavior with his paranoia, who knows?
"It was a mixture of both. Many I could expose and eliminate before their planned assault, but I am not infallible and responsible for the deaths of too many innocent people. One innocent weighs more than a thousand guilty in Justizia's scale and many wanted to restore balance with my death."
The absence of the majority of Two's family was a displeasing fact, tactfully ignored by everyone. To his family and all non-Foundation personnel, the deceased was known as Johann Krai, member of the department for state security in Germany, in accordance with Foundation cover records. A position whose supposed stress perfectly coincided with the irritable nature of the deceased. Neither his two daughters nor his wife or sisters were present. The only remaining family member who attended was the youngest, his son Henry. But even his sad appearance seemed to be forced. Of his direct colleagues, the O4s, only the kindest came and those who couldn't find a valid reason to reconcile their absence with their conscience.
"Can you blame them? Her father was never there and when he was, a nightmare that made her life a living hell erupted."
O4-1, "The Director", stood relatively apart from the other guests next to her security detail and played with her hair while enjoying a cigarette, despite the smoking ban. Three grinned at the thought that someone would dare to reprimand her for that. He was somewhat surprised to see her and not "the correct one", normally he would be the one to lead such things and she the silent force in the background. One stubbed her cigarette in an ashtray provided by her assistant and went over to Henry: "My condolences, Henry, I know you and your father have never been close, but he often talked about you and your sisters. He loved you, really." Henry nodded and thanked her, but Three could see the boy rolling his eyes after his supervisor had turned around.
"Sabine, my best girlfriend, the only one who ever understood or defended me, and how I did thank her? I treated her badly so many times under the impression that she would attempt to get me out of the way. She knew everything about me, I thought it would only be a matter of time. I would have done it in her place. She has always been the better human of us two. No wonder O5 made her an O4-1."
O4-10, "The Conscience", as on every occasion, he behaved in a quiet and forced manner, as if this would not be the last burial he'd had to visit. He spoke with almost no one at the funeral, a short nodding here, an appreciation of Two's dedication there. He only lost more than one sentence towards Henry: "My condolences, my boy, I know your father was no pleasant man, but many humans owe their lives to his actions." Henry thanked Ten and nodded, as if he knew which men he talked about.
"Jens has always been the only one who attempted to talk sense into me: 'Not everyone who targets you is an enemy. If you always assume the worst of everything, you will only see the worst.' How right he was, had I only listened to him"
O4-5, "The Nobleman", was a man almost unmissable with his mighty stature. His tailor-made-suit fitted immaculately and his golden wristwatch and hairpin allowed everyone to immediately suspect which O4 it was. He made small talk with the other guests and didn't even pretend to miss or ever have liked Two in the future. When he expressed his condolences towards Henry, Three had thought that the eyes of the attendees would fall out: "Your father was a piece of shit and I always disliked him, but he knew how to do his job. I could respect that, I like the thought that he might have respected me and my way of doing things, too. He once asked me to ensure that you and your sisters wouldn't be left empty-handed in case of a premature death. It was one of the few moments in which we talked without screaming at each other. It was a short moment. Call this number if you and your sisters ever need help with a problem." Five left Henry with these words and his assistant gave Henry a richly filled envelope and a card he gracefully accepted.
"He was one of the few I respected. He knew how to put me in my place when I accused everyone of treason again. He was a man of his word and the only one I trusted enough to ask if he could help my children in the event of my death."
O4-14, "The Angel", the unofficial arbitrator of the council, was without doubt the most liked O4. Even Two seemed to have gotten along with her at one point. Three was a person who loved rumors and always lent an ear to them. But even he had doubts about the rumors that "the Angel" and "the Paranoid" ever got along "more than just well". He was all the more surprised when Fourteen expressed her condolences towards Henry who just stared at her. You could hear the sound of a falling needle within the unnerving silence.
"Of course, he knew … I'm so sorry Henry …"
O4-9, "The Inquisitor", probably the most charismatic O4, contrary to his name, and the O4 who had worked with the deceased most closely. Three was kind of surprised to see him, as the head of the investigation into the murder of O4-2, in the open and not hidden in the background. Nine was involved in an intense conversation with One when Three noted him and appeared somewhat embarrassed towards "the Director". Three attempted to eavesdrop on the conversation without attracting attention but, apart from Henry's name, couldn't make out anything concrete without revealing himself. When Nine and One ended their conversation, "the Inquisitor" went over to Henry. "Henry, I would like to offer you my most sincere condolences. Me and your father worked together very closely and I can relate to how you feel. Your father was … quite unpleasant and our cooperation often turned out to be difficult, but he also had his good days and will be missed by many. I promise you that we will all do our best to solve his murder." Henry thanked him, slightly irritably, before walking away from O4-9.
"…"
O4-11, "Unknown", was probably the most adequately dressed, with a stylish long black dress paired with a wide black hat featuring a heavy veil covering her face. Eleven did nothing without planning and it was with such a frame that he entered the room, with his glaring black tie and violet pulsating handkerchief distracting from his face, not that the thick sunglasses he wore would reveal much of his face. You wouldn't notice if you weren't paying attention, but it was harder to look directly at them, you couldn't. He walked over to the coffin and seemingly had to hold himself back from not opening the coffin and spit on Two's corpse. To Three's surprise, however, the reluctance won and she produced a single green rose from a pocket and placed it on the casket. Eleven didn't stay long and left the room as fast as he had entered it. Three could have sworn to have heard suppressed laughter.
"The paranoid who trusted no one and had to know everything about everyone, and the unknown who knows everything about everyone and wasn't trusted by anyone … Ha … We really were the perfect rivals."
O4-2, "The Librarian", was a scrawny and grumpy man who seemed as if he had only arrived because of threats of violence. No one got along well with Two, least of all his numerical colleagues. Of all the O4 numbers shared, Two was the one that was shared the most. The disputes from the conference room in the O4-2 wing could be heard throughout the whole site at times. Three was, like the rest of the O4 council, positively surprised when the inquisition exonerated every O4-2 from any suspicion. The librarian seemed to take the wisdom "If you have nothing kind to say, then say nothing" to heart and exchanged not one word with the other guests, even Ten looked like a chatterbox in comparison. Even Henry was no exception, the only interaction came when he handed him his envelope. Henry seemed to have already guessed its contents when he opened and closed it after just one gaze. Tree racked his brain about the content of the envelope quite a while, before deciding to express his condolences to the boy in person.
"At least one of my numerical colleagues who could show up, not that I would miss her presence."
O4-3, "The Heir", the newest member of the director council, didn't have much to say to Henry. He had only known the deceased for a few months and only briefly, and that was a generous estimate. "My condolences for your loss." Henry thanked him, but looked at Three perplexed.
"So he noticed it too, I knew it wasn't my imagination."
O4-13, "The Seabear", went over to the desk next to the coffin and enabled the microphone. The few guests took a seat and the sea dog began to give one last speech for his deceased colleague.
"I would like to thank all of you for your attendance. I know we all had no easy relation to the deceased and I will not keep you here needlessly with exaggerated stories about Johan. Johan was a very peculiar and eccentric person to put it tactful, but he was a conscientious person. He was the one you could always trust to do immaculate, flawless and reliable work. His picky nature, albeit discomforting, had saved the lives of many and no one can deny that he didn't always give his best."
"Concerning my work, yes. But everything else …"
"What I want to say is, despite his … nature, Johan always tried to give his-"
A loud distinctive laugh rang through the room. It was Henry's laughter, higher than one would expect and sounded like the laugh someone has when they can't get a joke off their lips. Thirteen, unshaken, durable and like a rock in the surf, waited unimpressed until Henry regained his composure.
"Is there something you want to say, young man?"
"I'm sorry, I know you try to give your best at biding farewell to my father, but we all know he was a bastard, no need to talk like he wasn't."
"Would you like to deliver his eulogy instead of me?"
"No, thanks. My father knew how I felt of him and the image others had of him was created through his own actions. He was a bad husband, father, human, friend and god knows what. He is dead and nothing can change that, and we all are no poorer for his loss of good company."
Henry stood up from his seat and appeared to have to force himself to maintain a calm tone.
"I for one will not miss him and am thankful for what his murderer has done."
Henry turned around and left the room without waiting for just one answer.
"Henry …"
Thirteen waited until Henry had left the building and, after a frustrated shake of his head, continued his speech where it was interrupted. But most only listened out of courtesy and left the building after just a few minutes after he finished his speech.
"I am so sorry, Henry. You and your sisters deserve better. I wish I could change it and have been a better father to you. I'm so sorry."