Answers or Questions

I felt my heart catch in my throat. I couldn’t sense him at all as he approached; sure, I was lost in thought, but he moved too silently. The fading sunlight began to cast a shadow over his eyes, causing the slits in the mask to look like gaping black holes. A smile was still etched on his face as he sat next to me.

“If you know our name,” he began, leaning back onto his hands, “then someone told you about us. Who was it?”

His tone wasn’t hostile in the slightest, nor was his demeanor. It seemed like a carefree question, but it simultaneously felt incredibly weighted. It felt like if I said the wrong name, said someone he didn’t like, then our interaction wouldn’t end well. Because of the mask, I couldn’t get a read on the man. Based off voice alone, he was probably still young: mid to late-twenties. His attitude made him seem that age as well. But I was never one for guessing ages. With the majority of his face covered, my Lens couldn’t read him either. I swallowed hard and simply took a risk, the neighborhood knew of Dolion and liked him so I hoped that Inveigler did too.

“James Dolion, a scientist I know.”

The strange man hummed before replying, “I see. James, huh? Haven’t seen him in a while. How is he doing?”

I mimicked his demeanor, hoping to look as relaxed as possible despite my nerves, “I think well.”

“Cain.”

I looked over at him to see his hand being held out for a handshake. I grasped his hand in mine, “Von.”

“Von, huh? James did mention you before.”

I cocked my head, “Really?” It felt strange to be known by these people I had never heard about until recently.

Cain nodded, “He said he’d tell you to come visit, but I didn’t expect you to come alone.”

I let out a dry chuckle, “I guess you can say I didn’t expect to either. I didn’t expect any of this.”

He paused, considering his words before continuing, “You work with James, right?”

I weighed the possibilities of answering truthfully. It seemed like it would be okay to be honest, but fear was scratching at the back of my mind. Just because I couldn’t see his face to figure out exactly who this man was didn’t mean I couldn’t get into his thoughts. But it would have to be quick, not to let the lull in the conversation last for too long.

If he works with James, then he might know what happened.

I don’t know why I thought I’d get a clear answer of Cain’s intentions, but my curiosity of what he meant by “what happened” overrode any concern I was feeling.

“I do, he’s my boss.”

Cain balled up his hands, grasping at the air, “He didn’t go into work today, did he?”

The silence that grew between us served as the answer. Inside his mind, his thoughts were jumbled. Despite his laid-back persona, he seemed to be quite the anxious person. All the what-if’s ran through his head: what if Mr. Dolion was taken, what if he was already dead, or what if he betrayed them. It was hard to keep up with all of his concerns and questions. After a deep sigh, he turned to fully face me, disregarding his private anxieties, “Would you like to meet everyone? They’d be glad to meet the Von that James talked so highly of.”

I agreed, “That’d be great.”

“Just a heads up,” Cain stood to his feet, offering his hand to help me to mine, “Don’t be surprised if no one shows you their face.” His hand reached out, tapping a finger below my eye, “It’s not you we don’t trust, but this.”

I shrugged, “From what I can tell so far, that’s understandable.”

It wasn’t a long walk at all. The group wasn’t conspicuously hiding in a dark alley or underground like I expected, but were right in the open a few doors down from the orphanage I had seen Max at. No one was casually hanging around outside at least. Rather, everyone was hidden away from prying eyes and Lenses.

“Mask up.” Cain announced before we entered. As I walked into the door, all heads turned my way. Various animals adorned their faces, some halfway like Cain and others were completely hidden. “Everyone, say hi to Von.”

He ushered me forward, presenting me to the room. I quickly scanned my surroundings. With the way tables were sprawled across the room, this seemed to be more of a restaurant than a home. There was an absence of anything that would make this place feel like a home. The stairwell leading to the second floor was blocked off with a gate clearly installed by the homeowner post construction. Twenty-seven people total, plus Cain making twenty-eight. Majority seemed to be young men, but there were a handful of women as well from what I could tell. After my name was announced, most of them dropped their guard. I didn’t know yet what kind of influence Dolion had on this group nor what they had heard about me, but it seemed to work in my favor for now.

“Von works under James and has the tech, so still be careful not to get him or James into trouble, got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

I brought my attention back to Cain, “Seems like you’re in charge here?”

He stood tall and proud, “While James is away, I’m next in command.”

“So Mr. Dolion is in charge?”

Cain brought me farther into the room as we talked, finding a seat at a makeshift bar, “I guess no one is really in charge, but we all listen to what he has to say. He knows the most out of all of us thanks to his status. Oh, I guess there is one more person we always listen to, but he’s getting a bit older and hasn’t been out in a while. He’s not up to date on current events like James is.”

A drink was handed to me, whisky according to my Lens. And nothing else was put in. I took a sip before gesturing to the gate, “Is that older guy wholed up on the second floor?”

Cain chuckled, “Observant, aren’t you? Your guess is actually correct, Lumen stays up there most of the time in his office. The gate was James’ suggestion, to keep people away from his research that could leak it.”

“Just a gate? That won’t do much.”

He shrugged, “That’s what I said. But apparently all his research is on paper only, and a lot of it is so old I can’t even read it. Someone would need to know his location and then get their hands on his papers to know what’s up. So James said this was to keep just any old person from finding Lumen or his research, not so much those in charge, if you know what I mean.”

“And why are you telling me all of this?”

“James said I could. As long as I avoid key words that would be a flag in the system, we should be safe.”

Key words. Words that would be flagged by the Lenses and security devices in a given area if they were heard and then reviewed for slander, defamation, or illegal activities. I had been subconsciously avoiding them as well when I spoke out loud, but not when I was thinking. If my Lens wasn’t noticing them and if this is a group of people without Lenses, then this may be the safest place for me to sort through my information as well. I could also get new information if I hung around here.

“Then am I allowed to ask what exactly you do?”

He hummed, “We don’t like the way things are, there’s some discrepancies between the two classes. We want to change that. I’m sure you’ve seen these issues at work, haven’t you?”

I shook my head, “I’ve only ever worked with Mr. Dolion and don’t talk a lot with others, so I haven’t noticed much.” Beside the things I’ve overheard and the solution I discovered, that is. But it felt safer to keep that to myself for now.

“James did say you were a quiet one that kept to yourself. But, we’re having a nice conversation which I didn’t expect to be able to have when we met!” Cain fiercely patted my back and poured some more whiskey, “Don’t hold back, we’ve got plenty.”

I stared into the glass as it was filled, “I haven’t had a conversation this long in a while, it’s actually quite nice. But it is tiring.”

“Seems like there’s a story behind that. We can save that for another time if you want. Until then, stay here as long as you like. And ask whatever you want. Things we can answer, we will. I’ve got to get home soon, got work to get to in the morning, but enjoy your time here.”

“Thanks.”

With the conversation continuously flowing, it was hard to get a read on his thoughts, but now that it was quiet around me, I could hear the conversations and thoughts of those in the room. They were surprisingly mundane. Topics varied from food, weather, and music to work and family. Thanks to the worries that were on their minds, I was able to confirm that everyone in the room was at least twenty or older, making me the youngest in the room, but it didn’t seem like anyone was older than thirty. It was no wonder they followed Dolion, not only an Arbiter, but also elder.

“Talk to the new kid.”

“Why should I?”

“Cain left, someone should go chat with him.”

“He is one of us, and if he was invited here then he probably agrees with us.”

“Are you scared that James would bring in a rat?”

“He hasn’t been here in a while and did say something might be going down at his office, how can we be sure this kid’s not involved?”

“Come on, he is just a kid.”

I laughed to myself at the conversations I could pick up on concerning me. I did have questions on what exactly this change they were working towards was, but there was no rush for now. One thing at a time. I still didn’t know what to do with the information I had on my cure and now I have learned of a whole secret organization that seems to believe there is more than just this one discrepancy concerning medicine available to the Arbiters. I placed my glass on the counter in front of me and brought my hands to massage my temples. My eyes had begun aching the more I sat in this room and listened in on their thoughts. Perhaps I just discovered that there is a limit to my glitch? Can it get overwhelmed?

“You okay, newbie?”

“Yeah, just a headache I think.”

“I didn’t know people still got those.”

“Me either.”

I let my head rest on the counter and tried to stop listening to the conversations around me, which was proving to be difficult.

Do you think he’d be okay with this plan?

He looks young, too young.

I don’t think he’d be able to kill anyone.

But James does like him.

Maybe we should keep him behind the scenes, you know? And maybe in the dark about certain things.

I think it’ll be fine.

But what if it’s not?

A shiver went down my spine as I continued to listen in despite the aching in my eyes persevering even when they were closed. They were planning on killing people in order to achieve the change they wanted.

Of course, I was upset about the medicine being hidden away from the Ergasia, but to the point of killing? They’re probably right, I couldn’t do it. Unless there is more to this than what I’m aware of.

“Are you worrying over the conversations around you?”

I lifted my head and greeted the owner of the new voice, an older man, maybe not as old as Dolion though, returned my greeting with a large smile. “A little bit, it’s not like I can hear everything they’re saying though, so I’m wondering if I’m just mishearing it.” A lie, there was no way I was mishearing or only hearing parts of it.

“They’re a bit wayward right now and thinking in extremes. But they have a good vision.”

“If you’re here, aren’t you with them too? How come you’re not wearing a mask?”

The corner of his eyes wrinkled as he smiled wider, “No need. I’m a bit of a special case.” “And James told me you were too.” He finished the rest internally, fully aware that I could hear him.

“Special case? I’m still trying to figure out exactly how special this case is, though.”

“Do you trust me?”

I shrugged, “Don’t know yet.” The shooting pain returned, causing me to wince. It didn’t last long, but it was long enough for the man next to me to notice my reaction to it.

“What happened?”

“I,” I paused before finishing my answer and decided to not answer just yet, “How much did Mr. Dolion tell you?”

The man hummed, “Good answer. Stay wary, Von.”

“Why?”

“Do you want to disappear like James did?”

“He disappeared?” I said, a small gasp escaping my lips before I spoke.

“Why else do you think he didn’t turn up to work today? He’s not one to skip, and you know that. I’m afraid we can classify him as missing.”