Number One Apprentice - Dimitri Allen

The time that Luke spent with the scientists could be summed up as an examination of background noise. It wasn't as if there was total silence in the room, but any sound that did occur came from the clang of machinery or the grunt of someone trying to figure out a particularly difficult equation. No one spoke to anyone else unless it was absolutely necessary and certainly no one bothered to speak to Luke.

He didn't doubt that the scientists would have told him to leave if Dimitri hadn't ordered them not to. And he also didn't doubt that Dimitri would have told to leave if, in turn, Clive hadn't made it very clear how important Luke was to their plan and therefore he shouldn't be dismissed unless the dismissal came from Clive personally.

Luke's importance was something that Dimitri doubted, which was obvious every time he looked at the boy. Most of the time, Luke was perfectly fine with this, because he didn't really like being around Dimitri anyway. Everything Clive had told him about how Dimitri was one of the people responsible for the explosion ten years ago had led Luke not to trust him.

But at the same time, the scientists were working on a real time machine. And although Clive had told Luke that this was just a project to distract them from the truth, the fact remained that somehow they'd managed to bring a lady forwards in time by ten years. Luke didn't know a lot about the lady, because the others very decidedly didn't talk about her and he'd been told that him talking to her might upset the plan, but she seemed to be very important and had a kind-looking face.

So sometimes, despite knowing better, Luke found that he went to the laboratory during moment when the plan didn't require him to travel with Layton.

On this such occasion he was watching Dimitri work on something that was beyond Luke's understanding. As usual, Dimitri was ignoring him unless he couldn't avoid doing so.

Sometimes Luke took advantage of the fact that Clive's restrictions prevented Dimitri from outright not replying to his questions though. This was one of those times.

“The time machine isn't working yet, right?” he asked.

Dimitri grunted, and then muttered, “No, it isn't quite finished.”

“So then how did the lady get here?” said Luke, voicing a question that Dimitri had known was coming.

“She came here because of another time machine; one from the past,” Dimitri confirmed.

“Not this one?”

“No.”

“Did you work on the other time machine, too?”

“Yes.”

“But you can't get this one to work?”

“Don't you have other places to be right now?” Dimitri snapped, “There are only a few days left until we bring Layton here.”

Bill Hawks had already been kidnapped. Even knowing what that man had done, Luke felt nervous about knowing they had the Prime Minister held against his will somewhere in the underground city. He tried his best to not think about it.

“The Professor hasn't got Clive's letter yet. That's tomorrow,” replied Luke, wanting Dimitri to know that he was as knowledgeable about the plan as anyone else was.

“Very well,” Dimitri mumbled.

He then tried to go back to work, but Luke wasn't about to let him off the hook just yet.

“If you could make a time machine back then, why can't you do it now?” he questioned.

“Back then I had a different team,” said Dimitri, not directly saying 'a better team' within the earshot of the other scientists, “Before Bill fell back onto the softer sciences, the man was a genius. And Claire even more so. She was the driving force behind everything.”

“Is Claire the lady who travelled through time?” checked Luke.

There was a brief silence in which Dimitri had probably realised he'd said too much, but then figured there was no point in lying about such an obvious point; “Yes, she is.”

“Then why don't you get her to help you?” Luke replied.

“She's already left. And besides, she would never agree to being involved in such a scheme,” Dimitri said, a sense of regret definitely creeping into his tone.

“But if you explained to her everything that's happened, surely she'd want to help,” Luke insisted.

“Claire doesn't... see things the way that we do,” Dimitri argued, “She has a different opinion about what is right.”

This confused Luke greatly. Surely, stopping the bad guy was the right thing to do. Although, according to Clive, Dimitri was also one of the bad guys and was only working with them because they needed to keep him close. But then, if Dimitri wanted the same things that they want, surely that meant he was... good?

It was all a little confusing.

“Um, Dimitri?”

“What is it now?”

“Why are you doing all of this? What do you want to happen after we've shown everyone that Bill Hawks is an awful person?”

They both looked at each other, each trying to decide how much the other had been told by Clive about what was happening and how much it would be sensible to not let the other know they knew. Luke was aware that it was important to keep it a secret from Dimitri that they were using him, but he also knew very little about what Clive was planning to do to Bill Hawks and felt that Dimitri was more informed about that.

Eventually, Dimitri answered, “I want to complete the time machine so that I can save her- ...I mean, save everyone who was hurt by the explosion.”

“That's a very nice thing to do,” Luke agreed, “But, um, if you stop that from happening, won't a lot of stuff change about the world. I mean, you and Clive wouldn't be here doing this.”

Dimitri snorted; “Will you miss having to be here?”

“No really,” Luke admitted.

He knew that what he was doing for the plan was right and he was glad to help save London in any way that he could. But at the same time, if none of this had happened he could maybe be the Professor's apprentice for real and go on lots of adventures with him without it being just an act. And Clive would be happier too, because he'd be with his parents. Even Dimitri would be happy, because his friend wouldn't die and then he'd have no reason to become a bad person. The more he thought about it, the better he thought that completing the time machine would be.

And yet, at the same time he couldn't help but feel that Layton would tell him doing this was very wrong. Not only that, but the nice lady had seemed to think it was wrong as well. He wished he could know why they felt this way. The conflict of viewpoints was making him feel unsettled.

Especially when, at the end of the day, Clive had told him that the time machine was only a distraction to keep Dimitri busy.

Did that mean that Clive didn't want to stop all the bad things that had happened?

So where did that put Clive? Not on Dimitri's side, that much was clear. But probably not on Layton's side either, despite him insisting that Layton's help was very important to their plan.

Once again, Luke was forced to accept that Clive had his own agenda and that perhaps it wasn't what Luke had initially thought that it was.

But Luke just wanted to help people.

And Dimitri said that the time machine would help everyone...

“Are you all right?” Dimitri enquired. It was the first time he'd ever shown any consideration towards Luke outside of answering his questions as formally and dismissively as he could.

“Yes, I was just trying to make sense of all the stuff that's happening,” Luke replied.

“Good luck with that,” Dimitri murmured.

“Dimitri?”

“What?”

“If everything goes okay with stopping Bill Hawks then, um, can I help you work on your time machine? I want to help people,” Luke asked, his voice verging on pleading.

There was a moment in which Dimitri looked as if he pitied Luke, but it was gone in the next second.

“Very well. If all happens as we intend it to, then you can help me work on the time machine. We can save everyone together,” he answered.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, for Luke, this was one apprenticeship that was fated never to come to pass.