Since everyone else seemed to into their own minds, and Fredrick wouldn't trust anyone else in this group driving him anyway, Fredrick climbed into the front seat of the car.
"I can't wait to start this adventure. I've never been to Alabama before-- this is the state with the peaches, right?"
And the moment those words made their way into Fredrick's ears, he grasped the bridge of his nose in frustration. This was going to be a long ride. Realizing this, Fredrick stuck out his hand in the direction of the bag he placed on the passenger's seat, since no one had elected to sit there. The bag moved slightly, with seemingly nothing causing it to do so, then an outdated iPod Shuffle and a set of earphones rose from inside the bag, and into Fredrick's hand. He placed each earphone into an ear, pumped up the volume on the music played, and put the keys into the ignition. And a long drive it was. All the way to fucking Alabama! Maybe Fredrick might meet Lynyrd Skynyrd while he's inevitably waiting for one of the other team members to go to the toilet at a truck stop, and they can tell him just what's so great about their Sweet Home, because he had no clue what it could possibly be. And Fredrick drove through the countrysides and along highways, he looped through his playlist exactly 2 times. It definitely wasn't as if he calculated how long it would take so he could have the playlist end perfectly. Too bad he didn't see Johnny Van Zant anywhere.
While Queen was flowing into his ears, and there was nothing to look at but the rough asphalt of the road, Fredrick went over his role again. He was supposed to assess the damage the Yellow King had done. Easy, assessing things was basically Fredrick's entire life. Unfortunately, while he was doing all of this, Fredrick would have to act like a groupie for one of the other members. Fredrick resented this idea, and even though he requested to be given an invisibility device so he could research without looking suspicious, the bosses refused. Instead, he was forced into an acting role. Acting was not Fredrick's style, and in fact, the mere though of him wearing a silly costume and putting on a different accent got Fredrick feeling nauseous. His stoner hippie parents would have been perfect for the role, but absolutely not him. The only positive from this would be that Fredrick had an excuse to use a fake name.
When the group arrived at their location of Billsville, all the passengers immediately hopped out, without any recognition of Fredrick. A thank you would have been nice, but Fredrick was used to being ignored. He justified it through the excuse that they had been cramped inside the car for hours on end. Everyone piled into the lobby of the hotel they we staying at, and Sophia immediately got to work, acting - overacting - with a blatantly stereotypical southern accent. Nevertheless, she and Mr. Ryan got their rooms sorted, and Mr. Ryan handed Fredrick some room keys. "Thank you. You seem like the only other decent person in our little group." One of the tween-looking girls then made an incredibly offensive remark about taint or something, and gave a rather bitchy look at the group. One that sort of said: "Can you believe this place?"
Fredrick leant over to Mr. Ryan. "Case in point."
Fredrick made his way upstairs, ignoring any further remarks those girls made, and entered the room specified for him. Fredrick scanned it as he entered, and while he really didn't want to call it dumpy... It looked fucking dumpy. A musty pink bed, decrepit brown bedside table and dresser, and not to mention the floral wallpaper, all made this place looked like it was ripped out of a 60s neighborhood. Fredrick tossed his bag onto the bed, and opened his curtains. Much like this room, the whole landscape of the town Fredrick could see looked like it was stuck in the past too. But while the room was supposed to look nice, the town in general just looked like an old mining town. Which was what it was anyway. The file for the mission report said a mine was the only redeemable, ever so slightly important thing in the town. So, Fredrick sat down at an old table in the corner of the room, and began to read the file, gathering all information he could about the mine and the Yellow King that inhabited it, as well as now the town.