31.3:《A|?》 are you the one who overlooks and fails to overlook?

「page vi」

°

「

“I once had a friend who had a straw doll,
that lived with a straw doll family,
inside a miniature straw doll house.
She  command her straw dolls with vigor,
leading them through their vibrant straw lives. 
However, I never accepted the offer to command in her stead,
because if I did I would see the smallness of their straw world.”

」

°

“The transportation system here is rather advanced.”

Atienna looked over at Alice. They were currently on the bus bound to the outer edges of the Kola Nut District. Alice was seated by the window, Atienna right beside her, and Sefu at the aisle seat.  In the aisle across from him sat Nico and another guidance officer. The rest of the bus was full of other commuters bound to destinations Atienna could only wonder about. 

“It’s fascinatingly detailed,” Alice stated. “Ndoto.”

Atienna nodded. “It does make you wonder to some degree…. doesn’t it—about how exactly something like this can be so real?”

“As you said, ‘to some degree,’” Alice replied. After a pause, she said, “We shouldn’t doubt the capabilities of an individual.”

Atienna paused in thought. What did she mean by that? The serial killer? Or…?

“It’s unnerving, don’t you think?” Atienna tested the waters. 

Alice turned to her. “In war, there are casualties every day, every week, every month. The psychological processes that go on in a soldier’s head during wartime is complex in the context of killing. There is a heavy emphasis on group identity and less of a highlight on individual responsibility. The same applies to cult-like entities.”

“Which makes those acts easier on the conscience,” Atienna drew, thinking of both Jericho and Werner, “for an individual in a group like that to commit.”

Alice nodded. “That is something to be taken into consideration. However, in addition to that, in war, murder is often viewed as a necessity. Even with that in mind, some soldiers can take years to recover from the trauma of taking a life and the stress of combat in general.” 

Atienna tried to stop her thoughts from straying again.

They passed under a bridge.

“In a civilian setting without the need to defend yourself or fight for your life, do you know what it takes for an individual to kill someone? To dismember their bodies—not once, not twice, but a multitude of times? The lust for control, the self-justification. There’s a line that normal people cannot or don’t dare to cross.”

A line. Like the threshold. 

“That line is what separates saint candidates from normal people and what separates members of terrorist organizations like ELPIS from normal people.”  

 “But we can understand them—there’s a rationality behind their actions—unlike serial killers, like you mentioned the other day,” Atienna added. “With the exception of anomalies like Alpha.”

There was a stretch of silence.

“From their perspective—in other words to them—there is a logic behind their actions,” Alice seemed to agree. “However, from the perspective of a normal person, the reasoning behind their actions is irrational. The boundary between right and wrong for these individuals is blurred.” She added after a minute pause, “Don’t you find their reasoning irrational, Miss Imamu?”

Atienna wasn’t certain if it was that black-and-white, but she understood how others might. “It is rather curious…” 

Alice’s gaze bore into her.  “‘Curious’? Don’t you find what Scorpio did to Jericho and Werner during the Week of Blindness wrong?”

Atienna was thrown off by the question and felt a pang at the mention of the two. It seemed as if she was being interrogated once again. “Yes, of course.” Her mind strayed to the image of chlorowheat smoke curling in a dark room and a torn painting. “I’m sure you understand… with what Scorpio did Talib as well.”

Much to Atienna’s surprise, Alice nodded. “Out of pure curiosity, since you’ve brought up Talib, do you feel inclined to Talib similarly? Those two were close. I’ve always wondered.”

She was being rather personal, wasn’t she? Were they on such good terms to be speaking like this? No, it wasn’t about being on good terms. Alice was trying to dissect and analyze her. 

Atienna nodded back. “I do care for him. I care for everyone close to them.” She chuckled. “It feels a bit strange to be talking about it like this.”

“I apologize if I’m being too forward.”

A way out.

Atienna allowed a lengthy silence to pass before she said, “Oh, it’s no worry.”

 “Then, if you don’t mind me probing further, do you care for them because the people who are close to you care for them or do you care for them with your own feelings?”

“Ah, so is this how you talk to Jericho sometimes?”—the words spilled out from Atienna’s mouth before she could stop them.

Alice paused. “Have I upset you?”

“It is rather personal,” Atienna finally agreed.

The bus finally pulled out from under the bridge, letting in light through the windows.

“I apologize for that. It wasn’t my intention.”

Atienna wondered if they were opposites in that sense. Or perhaps she was getting too much inside her own head.

“It’s alright—”

“Do you think they have food there?” Sefu interjected. “I mean, since we are interviewing people, shouldn’t we provide them with…. amenities?” He glanced at Nico. “And since the amenities are there, should we not enjoy some ourselves?”

Atienna answered him by reaching into the bag she’d brought along with her. She procured and apple for him which he happily accepted and finished off in five bites. She would have pulled out her journal too to look over some of the notes she’d taken but she didn’t quite feel comfortable doing so under Alice’s watchful gaze. The trust that Jericho and Werner felt in the woman. Even though the feelings of the two men should have been her own, Atienna couldn’t help but feel a sort of apprehension towards Alice—especially given the recent display.

It was rather insipid of her, she knew. She’d been the one who had requested Alice, after all. Admittedly, however, she’d requested Alice more out of curiosity than anything else. Curiosity on her perspective of things, yes, but also curiosity over how this Alice compared to the Alice she’d seen on the screen at the ELPIS meeting. This Alice gave no indication of being aware of that instance. This hadn’t come as surprising to Atienna. However, it did make her think.

Was the Alice sitting beside her really the Alice she knew? Or was she different in some way, shape, or form in a manner more subtle than everything else here?

To an outsider, Atienna knew the answer would be clear. ‘The Alice on the screen is obviously the fake, a hallucination, a red herring,’ they would say.  

Atienna glanced at Alice’s hands and noticed that she was holding a small journal. A piece of colorful paper was folded into its midsection.

Alice seemed to notice her stare. “It’s a flier for a presentation by P.D. Oran. I picked it up while I was on the campus of that one university in the Child of the World District.” She opened it up and showed Atienna. “I’m curious as to whether this Oran is the one we’re familiar with, so I’ll be asking Gabrielle to see if she’s interested in looking into it.”

Sefu leaned forward. “You went to that school, Miss Alice?”

“Yes, purely by accident,” Alice replied. “Fortunately, I was able to get where I needed to go with Jericho’s assistance. He was there for the day.”

“Did you see the exhibit?” Atienna inquired. “Ah, I mean the presentations they had there—since you were with Jericho?”

“Yes, I did. Jericho toured me the other day.” Alice glanced at her. “Did he contact you regarding that?”

Atienna shook her head. “Bachiru mentioned it briefly when we spoke over the phone.”

“I see. Well, I hope you get the chance to see the displays. They are rather fascinating.”

Atienna thought for a moment.  “I imagine they are.”

An intense heaviness abruptly clutched her chest and held tight. It dragged down her heart to the pit of her stomach and squeezed tighter.  The world drained of color, and she became conscious of the chatter around her.

Loneliness. 

She wondered why it was now that she was feeling this emotion so intensely. She tried to distance herself from the feeling but the effort made her tired. Briefly, she considered swinging by the Wibele while Werner was actually there. It was hypocritical, she knew. Just the other day, she’d been speaking of how being around the five here was uncomfortable.

You’ll never be satisfied, Scorpio had assured her. It seemed like such an important thing—being satisfied.

* * *

Atienna herself had never been the one to speak directly to people—both in her profession and her everyday life. Her job was to educate her diplomat on the cultures, customs, and policies of specific governing bodies. It was their job to use that information to deal with and interact with others.

Atienna imagined that she would do rather poorly in Cadence’s and Jericho’s professions because of this. 

For this reason, she was glad when Nico took the lead once they arrived at the place they were to do interviews. It was a small but long brick building—half tan, half white. The sign at the door was the only indicator that it was a guidance officer office, and it was nested right beside an agreeable wooden sign that read WELCOME! The floors inside were checkerboarded, the desks placed in a staggered formation beside the reception desk. 

Nico spoke to the receptionist briefly and flashed his identification to her. They conversed a bit more, and Atienna caught onto something about ‘two being here, and the third over there.’ It seemed they would be doing some traveling today. 

Nico led them to the side of the building and down a hallway dotted with guidance officers. They seemed rather preoccupied—divided between refiling through thick files and guiding men and women dressed in subdued clothing up and down the building.

Eventually, they bypassed a guidance officer guarding a door that was padlocked shut. Beyond that door was a hall lined with locked doors with glass windows. Peering through them, Atienna spied gray rooms occupied by long gray tables. There were paintings hanging on the back walls and artificial plants in the corners. Somehow it was more personable and less personable than the Black Constellation Detention Center. 

They stopped at a door at the end of the hall. Nico turned to them.

“So, you read the case notes,” Nico said. “I read the case notes you left for me the day you left .” He pointed at Alice. “You read all the case notes combined. Before I let you go in there gung-ho, is there anything I should know?”

Hm?

“If we’re not all on the same page, we should have a meeting,” Alice responded. “I’m not familiar with the way investigations are handled in Ndoto, so I’ll take your lead, Mr. Fabriz—”

“Hey, you’re not sure because that’s my job to be sure not yours,” Nico interjected. After a pause, he muttered, “We have weekly stand ups within the districts, but we usually have those at the end of the week. What do you know?”

Alice studied him. “I didn’t mean to offend you—”

“Who said I was offended?”

Alice glanced at Atienna. “Of course. I apologize for the assumption.” After a pause, she said, “We recently were discussing the possibility of there being more than one murderer.”

“More than one murderer?” Nico pulled out his notepad from his belt. “How’s that?”

“There’s a discrepancy between the homicides that have taken place in the past few weeks and the most recent display.”

Nico grunted, scribbling his notes down. Atienna wondered why he was jotting down notes into his journal instead of transmuting the notes onto the paper.  Nico paused, frowning. “Discrepancy how? There were flowers at all scenes of the crime.”

“That is true,” Alice agreed. “However, none of the previous cases featured the victim’s bodies dismembered like the most recent case. An individual with a goal in mind may have used the modus operandi of one of the murderers responsible.” 

Nico stared. “Meaning?”

Alice studied him for a moment. “Meaning, this most recent case could potentially be a copycat killer.”

“Copy. Cat.” Nico scribbled it down.

“Out of curiosity, how did you come to the conclusion that it was one murderer to begin with?”

Nico stared blankly at her again. “I don’t get what you mean.”

“When the second murder happened, why did the investigation think that the same person was responsible?”

“Because the murderer… ‘murderers’ wore a raincoat and left flowers on their victim’s body.”

“The case notes say that the flower discovery wasn’t made until after the fourth victim was found,” Alice said. “For the second case, there were no eyewitnesses so the connection with the raincoat is null in this case. How was the conclusion they were one and the same made?” 

Alice was rather forward and clever, wasn’t she?

Nico frowned. “I don’t know. I wasn’t part of that investigation.”

Alice regarded him for a moment. “Is this the first time we’ve met, Mr. Fabrizzio?”

“We literally saw each other at the Foxman’s mansion,” Nico replied, suddenly looking very unimpressed.

Atienna thought on it. Alice and Nico—the one who was Werner’s left-hand man—had both chanced the Twin Cities during the ELPIS upheaval. They were both in the Capricornian capital during the Week of Blindness too. And yet—they had never physically crossed paths. As she thought about it some more, she realized that many of the lives of those close to the other five had crossed in one way, shape, or form. They were intertwined without realizing it. That was—aside from those Atienna herself was close to. With the exception of Sefu and the recent events that had transpired following Alpha’s attack on the Serpens Establishment, Atienna’s world had barely touched the others’. Perhaps, there was the Week of Blindness. However, Atienna wondered if she could consider Dimka and the tribesmen that guarded him as part of her world. 

“Anywho—how about you?” Nico nodded at Atienna. “Do you have anything?”

“Alice put everything very succinctly,” Atienna replied. Not wanting to linger on the subject any longer, she added,  “Thank you for taking us the other day by the way.”

Nico arched a brow. “What are you talking about?”

Atienna paused and regarded him. “When you took us to the crime scene—thank you for that—”

“And when was this?” Nico frowned again.

“Around… three days ago, wasn’t it?”

“Three days ago?” He made a face. “Yeah, that didn’t happen.”

Atienna paused.

“I missed my bus that day. Second bus I tried broke down. I was stuck in a different district for half the day.” Nico clicked his tongue. “Forgot my lunch too so I was starving all day.”

Atienna paused in thought before glancing over her shoulder at Sefu. His brow was arched and he was looking back and forth between them.

“I saw you,” Sefu said. “You were excited about lunch. You ate finger sandwiches.”

Nico scoffed and waved them off. “If you think that happened, it’s just VNW.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out his notepad, and scribbled something down.

No transmutation? It was different.

“Ok. We’re ready to go. I’ll do introductions, you ask your questions, then you leave and I ask mine.” He pointed to Sefu. “You’re out. Only Kingsley and Atienna have the authorization to come in right now.”

Sefu lifted his hands in protest but glanced at Atienna and ultimately decided to resign.

“Will we have access to your portion of the interview?” Alice asked. “Since we’ll be sitting out of yours?”

Nico frowned at her. “That’s pushy. I say interview, but I’m going to be having a personal one-on-one with her.” He grimaced for a moment. “See how she’s doing. It would be weird for her if you sat in. Not a good jive.”

“Counseling,” Alice concluded. “I understand. I’m impressed you offer services like this in situations like this.”

“That’s what it means to be a guidance officer,” Nico said with a shrug. “You guide people.”

He pushed open the door and waved them inside. 

There was already a woman sitting in the room when they entered. She was dressed in a subdued blouse and long skirt. A brown shawl was thrown over her head. Unlike almost every other Ndotoan Atienna had come across, the woman did not exude joy, confidence, nor flamboyance.

Atienna had read the casefile notes about this particular woman. She was a mother with four children. Three daughters and one son. Her husband had just recently gotten a KM-level 1 job in the Market District, but the small blip of fortune had been overshadowed by the disappearance of their eldest daughter. The daughter, Parvana, had gone missing about a week and a half ago. She had been sent by her mother to go to the Harvest District to buy specialty manakish from a bakery on the outskirts there. She had left the home a week ago on Thursday around 1:15 pm. She was seen at the ‘Ant Bakery around 4:20 pm and was reported leaving at approximately 4:30 pm. That was the last time anyone had seen her. 

There was a rather large time gap between when she left the house to when she’d been seen at the bakery. Atienna pondered the meaning and also the ramifications of this time gap—and then she pondered the meaning and ramifications of the time gap that Alice’s group said that Atienna’s own group were allegedly experiencing. 

Nico smiled warmly as he reached over the table and shook the woman’s hand. “I’m Nico Fabizzio, a guidance officer with the Harvest District. Ma’am”—he gestured to Alice and then Atienna— “this is Atienna Imamu, a policy maker, and Doctor Alice Kingsley. They’re here to help us.”

Atienna was rather startled at Nico’s sudden show of amiability. This was more like the Nico of Signum that she knew.

“Have you found anything else?” the woman pressed, holding onto his hand. “My daughter—” She looked to Atienna. “What do you know about her? What I’ve been hearing on the news about this Raincoat Killer person—I… Please, don’t tell me—” 

Atienna offered her a light, tight sympathetic smile.

The woman turned to Alice then and Atienna did too. Alice was studying Atienna with an unreadable expression. Or maybe Atienna was merely imagining it because Alice’s gaze was focused on the mother when she replied— “We’re going to do the best we can.”

Nico eyed Alice before he assured the woman with a smile. He gestured to Alice and Atienna again before pulling out seats at the table for them. “These two have some questions for you to help us with our investigation, okay?”

The mother nodded.

Alice smiled. Atienna thought it looked unnatural. They sat together at the table across from the woman.

“So, according to your previous statement, the last time you saw Parvana was on Thursday around 1pm. However, she wasn’t sighted at the bakery until around 4. From what I’ve seen, it takes only an hour to get from here to that area by bus. Do you know what Parvana was doing during that time period? Did she immediately leave for the bakery after 1?”

Ah, of course Alice had noticed that too.

“Her siblings saw her off at the bus stop,” the mother answered. “They saw her get in.” She shook her head. “Are you saying someone here did something to her? No, no one here would do anything like that. After all we’ve sacrificed to get to Ndoto…”

“I understand,” Alice assured her.

“Perhaps, do you know if there was anything in the district that Parvana was interested in seeing?” Atienna tried next.

The mother took in a breath. “I don’t know… Parvana has many interests.” She inclined her head at Nico. “There are many things in Ndoto that we did not have outside of the gates—nor in our country. This ‘disco’ and ‘rollerblading’ and fashion. She’s like all girls her age.”

It didn’t sound like her mother was too close to her.

“Did Parvana have any close friends she might’ve said something to?” Alice inquired.

The mother quieted for a moment. “Parvana is a very studious and introverted girl. She’s always been focused on her studies. She hopes to attend Ndoto University one day. She looked back to Alice. “She’s very interested in studying under a professor there. I think his name is P.D. Oran.”

The name gave Atienna pause. Alice showed no indication that the name had affected her.

“He gives free lectures in different districts and radio talks, Parvana says.” The mother rubbed her hands together before clasping them together above the table. “She always brings home the flyers of his talks that the university hangs around… She likes the look of them.” 

Nico scribbled away in his notebook.

Atienna offered her a sympathetic smile and reached over the table to place her hand over the woman’s. “Did Parvana mention wanting to go to any of those talks recently?” 

The mother looked up, opened her mouth, closed it. “I… I don’t know. She may have.” She clenched her hands together again. “But she would have told me, wouldn’t she?” A stricken look crossed her face. “Those… those hands that were on the television.” She put a hand to her mouth. “Parvana—none of those were Parvana… were they? They were saying that there were no body parts missing from those poor people who were murdered.” Her eyes became desperate. “If she’s… I don’t know what I’d do if she was…”

Atienna felt sorry for her.

Alice glanced over her shoulder at Nico. “Are we able to get our hands on a list of places where Professor Oran holds his lectures within the Harvest District?”

“I’ll look around,” Nico responded to her curtly. 

* * *

The second interview was held in an adjacent room. The person to be interviewed was a man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties. He appeared well-kept with a clean-shaven face and chestnut hair combed back into tamed waves. He wore a fresh white blouse and a pair of patterned slacks.  He looked like he belonged in one of the many posters Atienna had seen strung up in random places in Cadence’s mansion.

“Hi,” Nico greeted the man with a smile and a firm handshake. “Thank you for coming on such short notice—”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” the man said quickly. “I am always happy to help. I mean, I’m an Ndotoan now.” He tapped his chest. “One love.”

Oh dear. He reeked of desperation—which made Atienna wonder since Ndoto touted itself as the pinnacle of equity. The version of the Kaiser that lived here didn’t believe in the equity of Ndoto, however, so perhaps his desperation was understandable. Or maybe it was just that people were not born the same— a positive in one night. However, that unique quality about each individual also meant that no one was equal. And because no one was the same and no one could be equal, no one was satisfied when in the presence of another. 

Nico smiled. “Of course.”

The man reflected the smile back.

According to the reports, this man lived in an apartment complex with 10 other immigrants. He came into Ndoto with no dependents and was not registered under any particular family name. He shared his apartment with one another immigrant named Domingo Flores who he’d reported missing approximately a week and a half ago. The report didn’t delve into much detail about anything else. 

“Was Domingo close to anyone else at your complex?” Alice asked once they’d situated themselves. “Does he have any relatives that entered Ndoto with him or maybe relatives who are already living here?”

“Domingo always kept to himself,” the man said, “so I can’t say I know. I was the only one who reported him missing. It’s important for people to keep an eye out for each other. We’re a community here.”

“Of course.” Nico nodded.

“I see….” Alice drew.

 Both Alice and Nico jotted something down.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Atienna tried next, “how long had it been since you’d seen Domingo when you reported him?”

“A couple days, I think,” the man replied. 

“A couple days…?”

“He’s always in and out,” the man replied, shaking his head. “I can’t really say…”

It appeared as if the two people who’d gone missing were not extremely close to anyone in particular. Reclusive and introverted. Were they targeted perhaps because of this? That would mean that the person who had disappeared them could have stalked them for some time in order to glean this information. 

The silence appeared to make the man nervous because he quickly added, “We always do keep an eye out on each other out here in our community, but….”

“Would you consider,” Atienna drew slowly after offering the man a smile in acknowledgement, “that Domingo was someone who was somewhat reclusive?”

The man nodded—almost eagerly. “Like I said, he always kept to himself even when we’d try to get him involved in the community.”

Alice glanced at Atienna and continued, “I understand. Was there anyone Domingo was particularly close to? Perhaps outside of this community?”

The man cleared his throat, glanced at Nico, and then at Atienna. He straightened his shirt and, after thrumming his fingers on the table, he replied, “Well, you see, I’m not one to get into other people’s business….”

Atienna waited.

“But…” The man leaned forward. “A couple weeks ago, he was in a rush leaving the complex. I was worried so I tried to ask him what was up. He was getting all freaky deaky so he didn’t say much, but I did see that he had one of those P.D. Oran posters with…” He looked back and forth between them. “Y’know… ELPIS.”

* * *

Nico drove them to their next destination located in one of the many identical apartments that were squeezed together in tight rows and separated only by white picket fences. There was no identifying descriptor marking the house—no mailbox, no number—the vehicle pulled in front of, so Atienna wondered how exactly Nico was able to discern which house was which. 

Sefu was again left behind inside the vehicle as Nico led them up to the front porch which was decorated with a flamingo flower just like all the other porches were. The color of this flower drew Atienna’s curiosity. It was a yellow hue. A mutation of some kind?

Nico knocked on the door three times without answer before the door creaked open just a few centimeters. A woman was barely visible in the crack.

“What?” she asked.

Nico flashed his ID at her. “Guidance officer. We have some questions for you about Sachi.”

The woman grunted before pulling the door open and letting them in. As Atienna passed through the door frame, she realized that there was no lock on the door. She wondered if all the other houses and complexes here were the same.

The woman settled them in a small kitchen with only enough space for one person to maneuver to the stovetop and central circular table at a time. With difficulty, the four of them squeezed around the small table.  The wallpaper of the kitchen was a familiar dull green and was bare of any decorations save for one photograph containing the woman, a younger man, two young girls, and an older couple.

“So what do you want to know about my mother?” the woman asked.

The files for this particular case had both piqued and smothered Atienna’s curiosity. The missing person in question was the woman’s mother, Abe Sachi. The older couple in the photo on the wall was most likely the woman’s parents and the younger children the woman’s siblings. It was a rather familiar family tree. In fact, the woman sitting across from Atienna appeared around her age as well.

Nico nodded at Alice, but before Alice could promptly begin her questioning, pounding from the ceiling above resounded.

“My siblings,” the woman explained. “I told them to go play. Sometimes they’re loud.” 

Alice glanced at the photograph on the wall. “And your father?”

“Is at work.”

“Are you the one who usually looks after them then?” Alice inquired.

In response, the woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. She lit one herself from a pocket lighter and then offered one to Alice who declined. Atienna also declined it. When Nico was offered, he accepted it.

The woman took a drag before she said, “Whatever information you want for me, I’ve already told the other guidance officers that came yesterday.”

“The guidance officers that came yesterday?” Nico frowned. “What do you mean? No one should’ve been by yesterday.”

The woman shrugged. 

“Are you concerned about your mother?” Alice probed.

The woman shrugged again. “She had her own beliefs and followed through with them. Wherever those beliefs got her…”

Curious.

“What do you mean by having her own beliefs if you don’t mind me asking?” Atienna inquired. “Do you mean… beliefs political in nature?”

The woman twirled her cigarette between her fingertips and stared at it.

“Was she perhaps involved with ELPIS…?” Atienna pressed further. “Was she interested in P.D. Oran’s lectures?”

The woman looked up at her, twirling the cigarette. “So, you do already know everything.”

Atienna froze.

“We’re starting to get out of your perspective.” 

The smoke curled up to the ceiling as the woman twirled the cigarette.

“You already heard everything from your guidance officers you sent yesterday,” the woman clarified. “So are you trying to get a different perspective out of me or what?”

Nico interjected, “We didn’t—what were the names of the officers?”

The woman shrugged.

Nico scowled, mask slipping, before he recomposed himself. “We’ll deal with that later. So your mother Sachi—did she mention being interested in attending a talk hosted by P.D. Oran?”

The woman sneered briefly, looking up at the photograph on the wall. Then, she nodded. “She talked about it a lot a day before I last saw her.”

Nico scribbled something in his notebook.

“You didn’t agree with her,” Alice concluded. “You don’t agree with your mother’s political inclinations?”

“People who are obsessed with progress and change think they’re so righteous and morally superior to everyone else,” the woman muttered. “Even though they unknowingly throw away 

Atienna supposed the woman wasn’t wrong but she knew others would view the woman’s ideologies as selfish and narrow-minded.

“Back in my home country, I lived in the countryside.” The woman gestured to them. “Have you lived in the countryside?”

“My nonno did,” Nico replied. “A lot of animals.”

The woman nodded. “The marketplace was far from us so we would often make do with what we had. Sometimes we would set traps for the wild animals. Protein.” She  took a drag of her cigarette.  “Have you ever seen a boar caught in a noose trap?”

A very specific memory came to Atienna’s mind. When she was younger, just a year or so after Kamaria was born, she’d been taken on a school trip alongside Bachiru and several other children in the tribe. Usian had headed the trip, guiding them through to the very corners of the Tenbo region.  It was there that they came across a small village led by and old woman who was dedicated to the old ways of living off the land. This included catching wild animals in snares and traps. On that particular day, right in front of the village, there had been a lone boar caught in an iron snare. All the other children had looked away in horror and empathy, but Atienna couldn’t avert her eyes.

“The more it struggles, the tighter the noose gets. If it just stays still, it’ll eventually be found by the hunters and die.” She flicked the ash of her bud and then extinguished the cigarette into the table. “Better to just stay and die instead of struggle and die.”

* * *

“So, it’s down to ELPIS. Our culprit is a member of ELPIS.”

Alice was jotting down notes into a notepad on their car ride back to the bus station. Nico had been muttering to himself about the interviews as he drove them to the station but had responded with single-worded answers whenever Alice had tried to engage with him. He’d even gone so far as to turn on the radio of the car, allowing that vibrant, odd music to fill in the beats of silence.

Atienna found it amusing in the beginning, although as he went on, she began to find his thoughts rather too organized. 

“I wonder…” Atienna murmured in response.

“I wouldn’t draw such a hasty conclusion,” Alice seemed to agree. “It may be that the culprit is an outsider who merely targets a specific type of individual attracted to ELPIS.”

“So you’re saying that the hippies are the victim,” Nico said, glancing back at her through the rearview mirror. “Even though they caused a mess at the border…” He thrummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “You sure you’re not being a little bit biased?”

The radio crackled and  the singer who had been humming with a squeaky, high-pitched voice delved into a chorus—

“Oh, you think you don’t know a thing,
but you know enough to sing,
that a victim like you,
can kick it to the shoe,
and become a villain too.
It’s all in the eye of the beholder.
Oh, you think you don’t know a thing—”

Sefu, who was seated in the passenger seat beside Nico, reached over and turned the radio down. Nico sent him a glare and didn’t return to the topic.

They departed with Nico at the station and were each surprised with a small gift basket full of chocolates.

“It’s not from me,” Nico clarified before leaving. 

The bus ride home saw to Sefu eating handfuls from the basket. Atienna hoped for him to probe a bit into the investigation to kickstart a conversation but he seemed rather content with the silence.

In the end, it was Alice who spoke first—“You have some awareness of the investigations Jericho is involved with, am I correct?”

Atienna hesitated for a moment before she conceded, “Perhaps I saw a curious moment or two.” 

“Then you know that investigations—whether they’re handled by us or by the local law enforcers—rarely are laid out this clearly. The facts always tend to be obscured.”

Even though Atienna knew what Alice was implying, she asked, “I’m sorry—what do you mean by that?”

“I mean that it’s almost as if someone is leaving us a trail of breadcrumbs.”

mbili

---

“Capitana…”

Maria Gloria-Fernandez turned away from her window that oversaw the lively Baobab Tree District and the Great Tree that illuminated it. Behind her desk sat Lita. In the girl’s hands was a picture frame that usually sat at the corner of the desk. 

Maria was surprised that out of all the statues, artifacts, maps, and souvenirs that decorated her office, Lita had chosen this one to admire and bide her time. Then again, this particular item was near and dear to Maria so Maria was happy that Lita found it interesting.

“Yes, dear Lita?” Maria approached her. 

Lita continued to stare at the frame. 

Maria smiled as she stared down at it too. “Those were memorable times for me, yes? I am sure you will have memorable times just like that one too.”

“Simon said that you had VNW when this picture was taken,” Lita murmured. “These other people had VNW with you…”

Maria nodded. “That is true. I thought I was a pirate, yes?  A captain who never lost any treasure or battle—that is, until I lost, yes?”

Lita opened her mouth but then closed it.

“You were about to say ‘but you did not lose, Maria,’ no?” Maria smiled when Lita stiffened. “Losing is a better teacher than winning, no?”

Lita looked up at her with wide eyes and then looked back at the frame. “How much do—”

“How much do I remember?” Maria smiled. 

“How do—”

“How do I know what you are going to ask?” Maria laughed. “Because Simon asked me those very same questions before he recovered from his VNW, yes? Atienna too.”

Lita’s face folded.

Maria placed a hand on her head. “I understand how you feel, Lita, but Simon is fine. He is better now, yes? Now, he is just worried about you.” After a pause, she added sincerely, “I am too. I want you to be happy, dear Lita. I do not want you to worry.”

The girl’s brows met. She ran her fingers along the frame of the picture.

“I heard Simon say there were a lot of people who caught VNW recently,” she finally said. “I saw them on… TV. Are they… okay?”

Maria sank to a crouch and beamed at the work. “Yes, of course, dear Lita! Of course they’re okay! They are better than okay! We sent them home safe and sound.”

“Could any of them… do you know if any of them were able to conduct with a conductor…?”

Maria tilted her head. “Ah! You mean like in your VNW?” She popped back up to a stand. “You know, dear Lita, those things only exist in your VNW—but that does not make them not important, yes? It is normal to ‘conduct without a conductor’ like you say.”

“But I shouldn’t be able to conduct without a conductor,” Lita murmured. “I shouldn’t be able to see, Maria.” She squeezed the woman’s hand before releasing it.

“It is overwhelming, I know.” Maria again placed a comforting hand on the girl’s head. “I understand, Lita. Having things you didn’t have before. You are not wrong in how you feel.”

Lita’s brows met and she gave Maria an unreadable look. “I know you mean well, Maria. But… if I can see, if I can conduct without a conductor…” She swallowed and looked towards her own chest. “… that means I’m like everyone else here.”

After a pause, Maria asked, “Is that a bad thing, dear Lita?”

“I don’t know…”

* * *

Maria exited her office and began her mid-week afternoon rounds. These rounds usually consisted of checking in with the guidance officers who oversaw the different districts of Ndoto. However, with everything that had unfolded around Ndoto recently, there hadn’t been too many of those officers around these past few weeks. It was good to keep busy though. Those who didn’t find something too busy themselves were usually bored and those who were bored usually caused trouble.

The glow of the tree was seeping through the windows of the main hall and lit up the large disco ball and tinsel hanging at the center of the ceiling. Some of the other guidance officers had put up the decorations earlier this week in anticipation for the tree festival.

The tree festival. The most fun and exciting festival of the year. There had never been a dull tree festival. But—was it safe practice to let her fellow Ndotoans do such activities when there was a dangerous person on the loose? 

Maria’s thoughts were drawn away from this as a steady beat resounded down the hall. She followed the sound, nodding her head to the upbeat rhythm. She could hear an energetic voice shouting between the beats— 

“Keep moving! Don’t let up now!”

Maria trailed the sound until she turned a corner and stepped out onto a wide, open balcony guarded by white rails. The balcony was bare of furniture save for a table along the railings that hosted a small radio and a large rubber mat placed at the center. On top of that mat bounced a man wearing a full body yellow spandex.  He threw his hands up, clapped, jumped on par with the beat, and performed several push-ups that exploded up to jumps. All the while, a shadow circled above his head.

Only when the man did a turning jump, did Maria see his face and did he register Maria. After grinding to an immediate halt, he whipped off his yellow sweatband and wiped his face with a towel that was resting beside the radio. He turned the dial down on the device just as the radio host finished with—

“Thank you for listening to Ndoto Morning Aerobics!”

The shadow that had been circling overhead grew larger and larger. Ariete extended his arm out towards the sky, and a moment later, a great dark bird perched itself on his arm. It spread its wings, let out a high-pitched cry, and peered down at Maria.

Maria smiled at it.

It soon settled itself on its perch.

“Do you need something from me, Maria?” Ariete asked, sounding somewhat breathless.

“I need you to ask me to join you next time, yes?” Maria laughed.

Ariete chuckled in return. “If there is a next time. My district is promoting a health and wellness program and this just so happens to be a part of it. Frankly, I’m not too entirely convinced of its effectiveness. Sometimes the policymakers and people have good ideas. Other times, not so much.”

“Then it is good that they value your opinion, no?”

Ariete nodded. “I suppose I can’t complain.”

Maria nodded. “So, things are going well in your district? That is my real need from you—to hear how it is going, yes?”

“Yes.” Ariete hummed. He ran his fingers through the bird’s feathers. “My district hasn’t been touched by any of the murders so I can’t complain.” He half-scoffed. “It feels absurd and cruel of me to feel relief at the fact.” He stared into the bird’s eyes. “Just how did something like that slip into Ndoto…”

“It is not just a ‘that,’” Maria said, “but someone who also deserves their own cut of utopia in Ndoto, no?”

“We can’t guide those who refuse to be guided.” Ariete’s gaze darkened. “What would it mean for the happiness of the people this intruder wronged if the intruder was allowed happiness?”

Maria tapped her temple. “By giving them an even greater happiness, no? Achieving that life goal, yes?”

“What if their life goal becomes getting revenge on the intruder?”

Maria put a hand to her chin in thought. Ariete always thought very deeply when it came to these types of things—which was a very good thing! That was why he was a guidance officer.

Ariete sighed and turned his attention back to his bird which had hopped off of his arm and was now perched on top of the radio. “Oros has been feeling nervous recently. When something becomes the first of its kind, there . And you know how I’m worried—”

“Taking advice from a bird is a bit bird-brained, Ariete,”  a voice interjected from behind. “I was wondering where you were. I was hoping you’d join me for some tea on lunch break, but I can see that you’re…. preoccupied. Groovy fit.” 

Ariete looked past Maria’s shoulder. “Stella, perhaps you should take a pointer from your brother and not insult the person you want to have lunch with you.”

Maria looked back to see a young woman standing at the archway leading to the hall behind her. She was dressed in a khaki uniform and had a blue badge on her chest which indicated that she was in-training. Maria loved when new guidance officers would come to work in the office

Maria turned back to Ariete. “Your worries are warranted, dear Ariete. I will definitely be bringing your concerns to the guidance council, yes? We can talk about it with the policymakers too.”

Ariete nodded before his gaze drifted over Maria’s shoulder. Maria followed his gaze and immediately brightened—

“Morandi!”

Her adoptive father stood at the threshold with a stack of files tucked under his arms. He arched a brow at Ariete before nodding at Maria. “The guidance council asked to meet you.”

* * *

Maria followed Morandi through the decorated halls of the building and then up several flights of stairs that hosted windows which oversaw the tree. The higher they went, the more Maria could see how extensive the branches of the tree were, how large they were.

As they neared their destination, Morandi fell into step beside Maria. “How is work, Maria?”

“It is as exciting as it normally is, yes?” Maria replied with a grin. “How is your work?” 

“As you can imagine, that Stella is quite a handful. She’s a bit of a spoiled girl, but she does listen to her brother who’s part of the training program, and he’s a good one.”

Maria half-smiled. “You can rest, you know, Morandi. Retire. You do not have to work so hard all the time for me, yes?” She joked, “I am not holding you captive.”

“Oh, I know—at least, that’s the case with you. With Ndoto on the other hand…” Morandi rubbed his beard and reflected the smile back at her. “But I do enjoy working with you, Maria. That or perhaps I merely have Stockholm syndrome.” His smile waned. “You have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, Maria.”

Maria looked past him towards the tree. “When you enjoy what you are doing, it is not responsibility, no?”

“That certainly is true.” Morandi hummed. “But overseeing a country is much more complicated than commanding a ship. Don’t overexert yourself.”

Maria chuckled. “A ship? What is this about a ship, dear Morandi?” She thought for a moment and laughed again. “Oh! Like a metaphor! Like a capitana and a crew! I do like the sound of that!”

Morandi studied her for a moment before chuckling. Maria stopped short and watched as he paced two steps ahead and then swiveled to look back at her.

“Or were you referring to a pirate and a crew? Or an adventurer and a crew?” 

Morandi stared at her. The light from the tree had illuminated his entire face, so there were no shadows that she could see. He could hide nothing from her. 

“I certainly wouldn’t tease you about a past VNW bout,” Morandi clarified.

Maria laughed as she joined his side. “It is hard to tease me, no?” She rounded him and stood three steps above him. “That time was important too, no?” Turning to look at him, she said, “Morandi, you know I wouldn’t be here with you.”

Morandi took in a breath. “Oh, do I know it.”

“If you didn’t look after me and Conta, we would have had a harder time finding an opportunity to be a part of Ndoto, yes?” She reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “You helped us along on our path.”

After a pause, Morandi said, “I’m certain you’d both be just as accomplished even without my help.”

Maria laughed. “Oh, Morandi, we would not be anywhere without the help of another person. Let us not be too prideful nor too humble, no?”

Morandi hesitated again before he conceded, “The middle path, I see.”

They continued their walk up the stairs and past long halls. Eventually they reached a hall that led only to a large green door. In front of that door stood a familiar pair. Araceli, dressed in her usual guidance officer attire, and Ambrose, dressed in a pale yellow suit. Araceli nodded while Ambrose waved. 

“The two of us were summoned?” Maria wondered, brows rising. “The guidance council must be very worried about something, no?”

“That’s unusually pessimistic of you to say,” Araceli noted. “It could be that they merely miss us or require our insight.”

“If there is a problem,” Ambrose interjected, “with the both of you there, I’m really positive that it’ll be over and done with it”—he snapped his fingers— “like that!”

Araceli let out a sigh. “You shouldn’t have too much faith in people, Ambrose.” She nodded at Maria. “Let’s go.”

Maria joined Araceli’s side, and they pushed the doors open together. Before Maria entered, she turned and called out to Morandi who was just descending the stairs with Ambrose, “We are still on for dinner tonight with Conta, right?”

Morandi paused before he smiled and nodded. “Of course, Capitana.” 

After waving the man off and following Araceli through the doors, Maria was greeted with a large chamber that was lit only by an opening at the ceiling that let in light from the tree. Twelve great ivory pillars crafted to look like trunks rose up to the ceiling where they sprouted into stone branches—or maybe the were roots—that met each other at the lip of the ceiling’s opening. Along the walls of the chamber hung wooden masks, brightly painted images of a feminine figure planting a tree, and psychedelic tapestries.

Beneath the sole source of light gathered a large group of men and women. Some were dressed in lovely silk robes and furs while more were dressed in Ndoto’s typical bright, floral blouses and suit pants. The group there were so engrossed in conversation that they did not notice Maria and Araceli approaching.

Maria opened her mouth to speak but Araceli put a hand on her wrist and held up a finger. After some thought, Maria entertained her and remained silent. It was about after five minutes of animating shouting that one of the young men finally noticed them.

“Araceli, Maria!” The man, Diallo, waved furiously and sent his fanged earrings jingling. Maria thought those earrings paired quite well with his zigzag-patterned blouse and wondered if he’d lend her a pair if she asked nicely enough.  “There you are!”

The chattering group slowly turned towards them and then parted a path for them to come on through. Maria and Araceli soon found themselves at the center of the guidance council’s ring. Not a second after they’d situated themselves, the guidance council members immediately began to chatter 

“Enough!” a young woman interjected, her face echoing loudly through the chamber above all the other voices. Only when everyone quieted, did she continue,  “Thank you for coming on such short notice, you two.” She wore wore a silk dress embroidered with beads that had a tiered lower half. On her head was a elegant cone-shaped headdress painted blue.

“Of course, Ayanda.” Araceli acknowledged the woman with a deep nod. 

Ayanda gestured to a man behind her. “Azizi, since you were the one to request Araceli and Maria here and call this meeting, you should go first.”

“We have concerns about the events that took place at the gates over the weekend,” the acknowledged man spoke. He was dressed in a loose striped suit that barely hid the intricate tattoos that spiraled up his neck. 

Azizi was very involved with the different districts in Ndoto which is one of the reasons Maria was very fond of him.

“I figured that this meeting was regarding that event,” Araceli acknowledged. “I intended to have Ambrose write up a report to send to all of you this evening.”

“We appreciate that, Araceli,” Ayanda replied in kind.

Azizi nodded in agreement before he continued. “But these people who come from Signum—”

“You mean the people who think they are from Signum,” Araceli corrected.

Azizi exchanged a look with Ayanda beside him. “Yes, exactly. Are they… have they been violent?” 

Maria laughed lightly, earning stares. “Of course not! I would not allow such a thing in Ndoto, yes? At least not the violent that hurts people and makes people unhappy, no?”

There was murmuring.

“I heard Safiyah and Bachiru were also involved with the incident at the walls,” Diallo drew, “Is this true?”

Maria nodded. 

Whispering flooded the room. 

“Atienna was there too!” Maria added.

The room slowly drifted into silence.

Maria exchanged a look with Aracelli who seemed to be frowning a bit.

“Atienna…?” Diallo whispered. He looked to a woman behind him. “I heard she had… returned and had VNW, but… Do you know why she was at the gates?”

Maria pondered it. “Maybe she wanted to see what was there?”

“Of course it’s the ones from the Tenbo region who are causing a ruckus,” someone from the crowd muttered. 

This agitated a few in the crowd and harsh whispering began again.

Diallo turned to the man who had spoken and frowned. “Don’t point fingers immaturely. This has nothing to do with regions.”

“And yet—”

“Enough!” Ayanda cut through the chatter once more and held up her hand. “What we should be concerned with is the recent cases of VNW that… all center around the same delusion.”

“Signum…” Azizi muttered.

“This has never happened before,” Ayanda continued. She crossed her arms and looked up the ceiling, bathing her skin silver with the light. “This… concerns me.”

“If you would like,” Maria drew, “I could ask Atienna to come, yes? I have a feeling she’s been wanting to meet with you all, and you all seem to want to meet with her too, no?” 

The room fell dead quiet—the silence this time more abrupt than before.

moja/mbili

---

“Eat up, honey. It’s your favorite!”

“You’re just skin and bones, son. She’s right. It’s your first day back to school today, so you don’t want your stomach to be grumbling during your first classes.”

Albatross found himself seated between a middle-aged man and a middle-aged woman. Both had peppered hair and smile lines lining the corners of their lips. The man was dressed in a suit that looked two sizes too big and the woman in a pink apron with frilled straps.

They said they were his parents. If it weren’t for their doting eyes and sweet words, Albatross would have believed it. His parents who sold him for three hundred cens probably wouldn’t even recognize him now. Albatross didn’t trust his real parents nor did he trust these ones. But they were nice.

Three nights ago when a ‘guidance officer’ dropped him off at this small yellow house at the corner of a cul-de-sac, Albatross had tried to escape in the middle of the night. The man who claimed he was his father caught him just as Albatross had one foot out of the door. Instead of throwing in some closest and locking him like Albatross had thought he would though, the man had sat Albatross down at a table, opened a photo album, and began talking through old memories. His ‘mother’ had woken not soon after that and had cooked him a warm bowl of pasta. 

But who cared about that. Albatross had Maria, Lita, Giorgio, Simon, and the rest of the crew now. He did have Morandi too before that. Morandi… 

The last few months had been a whirlwind for Albatross. The kids who’d left Theta, the ones who’d run under Alpha, the battle at Ophiuchus, Morandi’s passing, and the weird calm that had followed afterwards. Maria had left through one of the Theta’s gates after that to Virgo. She’d taken Simon and Lita with her and delegated Giorgio to man the ship and Albatross to act as second-in command. Albatross was eager to show Maria and Lita what he could do so he’d taken his job very seriously. But they hadn’t come back. The gates stopped working.

Albatross and the crew had then made their way to the Twin Cities on foot and scoured the uncomfortably familiar city for answers. At some point, Albatross found himself staying with the Foxmans and the Romanos—what was left of them—alongside some of the other younger crew members. Giorgio and the other adults headed off on some mission and Albatross had been rather sour about the fact even though Giorgio had promised him he’d return quickly.

Days turned to weeks to months. Then one day, out of the blue, Albatross found himself surrounded by Aquarian soldiers, Capricornian soldiers, all the above soldiers.  He was thrown onto a motorbike and had the ride of his life before he was suddenly in front of a weird version of Cadence and an even weirder Theta.

The adults were chaotic the entire time. Arguing, shouting at each other, trying to talk over each other. Then the guidance officer’s had swept and had made him go here and there before finally taking him here.

Albatross found it easy to ‘catch up’ on and learn all the new technologies Ndoto had to offer. The television, the radio, cassette tapes. He found it strange that even with all the fancy gadgets Ndoto had, they still chose to drive in vehicles. Albatross never went to school himself, but he’d learned briefly from Theta that vehicles were an outdated thing and not always the most reliable. Only countries that were unable to harvest vitae resorted to them. And… everyone here could conduct without a conductor.

Even Maria.

Albatross had seen Maria on the television screens. She smiled the same, her eyes glittered the same, he wanted to follow her, impress her, prove himself to her the same. 

It was hard to think about: the seemingly impossible idea that Maria had somehow lost to this place versus the alternative idea that the person on the screen was not Maria and had somehow gotten every detail of her down to perfection.

* * *

Albatross didn’t know what he’d been expecting ‘school’ was. He’d never gotten the chance to experience it himself. His friends who had gone with Theta had told him about the ‘lessons’ and ‘classes’ they’d have to attend while staying with him and the Foxmans. It had all sounded boring so Albatross. He had to try his best not to brag to the younger ones about the adventures he’d been on with Maria while they were stuck in lessons. He couldn’t look like a jerk in front of Lita.

Long story short—Albatross had been expecting a bunch of kids dressed up in button-ups and slacks walking in straight lines led by teachers dressed in turtleneck sweaters. Instead he was greeted by waves of kids and adolescents flooding into a large flat building with east and west wings.

They were dressed as weirdly as he was, so he felt less self-conscious about the fact that he was in an oversized floral-patterned shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. Some rode in on bikes, others on flat boards with wheels on them. One almost ran him over.

Albatross tried scanning their faces for something familiar but found nothing. A group of kids dressed similarly to him nodded at him and waved at him. He waved back at them but didn’t join them even when they started waving him over. 

Just before letting him off here, Albatross’s ‘parents’ had told him to go to the principal’s office, hand the woman a paper that they’d sent with him, and request a ‘volunteer youth guidance counselor’ to guide him through his first day. Obviously, he wasn’t going to do any of that. He needed to find the others, to find Lita, to find Maria. On the TV, he’d heard that the ‘Baobab Tree District’ was where Maria usually worked, so that was the X on the map. He was a one man crew right now, but that also meant that he was captain.

So, following his own command, he stopped short on his walk, turned on his heels, and began walking in the direction he’d originally come from. He was just passing the gate when a hand on the shoulder pulled him backwards.

Albatross whipped around, tense. His heart immediately leapt into his throat. The face that greeted him was when he hadn’t seen since his days of living in the Twin Cities. 

“Kovich…?”

“Albatross?” Kovich asked. “Where are you going?” He pointed back to the school building. “Class is that way.”

Albatross had never been close to Kovich during their mutual stay beneath the Campana family but he also hadn’t been distant from him either. They had sometimes sat and slept beside each other but had never talked that much to each other. Albatross had actually thought that Kovich was rather weird back then since Kovich had actually chosen to name himself—though now Albatross wondered if Kovich had set the trend instead. He had heard about Kovich’s death from Maria in passing. He hadn’t really known what sort of trouble Kovich had gotten himself in, but he’d always wondered if Kovich would have liked being a part of Maria’s crew.

“I… heard from my parents that you…”—he looked around and whispered— “got VNW recently. I can help you around—”

Albatross pulled away from Kovich and gave him a quick look over before turning back to the gates and walking briskly. He kept walking and walking until he could no longer see the school building, until he could no longer see Kovich. The walk had taken him a bit far, so now he was standing on a bright white sidewalk beside some open road dotted with parked vehicles. There was a red bricked wall to his left and behind that some trees. Not much to tell where he was at—but that wasn’t a bad thing. All he needed to know was where the Baobab Tree District was.

First, he needed to get his hands on a map.

He paused.

Where would he get a map…? Wait. Schools had maps, didn’t they? Damn it. Could he go back and get a map in one of those fancy classroom buildings and then sneak out again? Wait—what if they’d noticed that he was gone? What if they were on high alert now? 

Shoot.

Wait—there had to be some store here that sold maps of the place. He just needed to find it—

“What’s a kid like you doing wandering around at this time?”

“Shouldn’t you be in school?”

Albatross looked up. A duo stood leaning against the hood of one of the vehicles. A man with a wooden guitar slung on his back and a young woman wearing a headband and large, circular glasses. They both had on flared out pants with flower-shaped patches sewn onto them.

“School’s a prison, deary,” the woman drew, approaching him and then looking him up and down. “Locked doors, teachers telling you how to think, what to do with your future, doing the same thing over and over again…”

“Boring!” the man chimed.

Again, Albatross found himself remembering those months and years he’d been shuffled from warehouse to warehouse beneath the eyes of the Campana family. He hadn’t even spared a single thought to what his future would look like during that time. ‘Future’ hadn’t even been a real word to him.

“Hey, don’t sweat it kid.” The man thumbed the vehicle behind him. “We won’t turn you in. How about you come with us? We can have a fun day.”

These two reminded Albatross of the typical Twin Cities residents, so Albatross was immediately turned off. He took a step back and began thinking of an an escape route. It was better not to break away running. They were probably faster than him. He had to be sneaky.

The woman tutted her tongue and slapped the man’s shoulder. “Honey, you’re scaring him.” She turned back to Albatross and said sweetly, “You’re heading somewhere, right? You need a ride?”

Wait. These were locals. Meaning—  

“Do you know where the Baobab Tree District is?” he tried innocently. He had no intention of getting caught up with them but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try to get something from them. Now he knew he wasn’t Cadence but he knew a thing or two about handling people.

The man and woman exchanged a look. “Yeah… we know where the district is. In fact, we can take you there? Why don’t you come with us?”

“I… can’t,” Albatross drew slowly. “I’m meeting up with a friend… to go to the Baobab Tree District.”

“A friend?” the man arched a brow. “A friend your age? Well, we can take the both of you. Where’s your friend at?”

The woman peered at him. “Is your friend actually coming?”

Albatross froze, mind racing. “Actually—”

“There you are, Alby!” 

Albatross whipped around and found Kovich running up behind him.

“Kovich…?”

Kovich clapped a hand on his shoulder and shook him. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you. Are you ready to go?” He eyed the couple nervously.

“Where are you two going?” the man called out. “I can help you both, you know.”

“Well, that sounds suspicious,” came a call from behind. 

The voice sent a chill up Albatross’s spine this time just as it had the last time he’d heard it. Upon turning, Albatross found an older adolescent with jet black hair and wearing a pair of sunglasses. He had on a light blue t-shirt patterned with cartoon clouds.

Yuseong Haneul, Sagittarian prince of the Seong clan.

Albatross hadn’t seen what had happened to him during Alpha’s attack on the Serpens Establishment, but he’d seen the aftermath of the fallout. The papers had detailed the country of Sagittarius’s mourning for weeks. The obituary had been the highlight of nearly all the newspapers because—

Prince Yuseong Haneul had died.

“Bit weird for people your age to be picking up random kids, isn’t it?” another voice called out. “Should we call the guidance officer’s, Claire?”

Prince Olivier Chance, dressed in a crimson blazer, stepped into place beside the Sagittarian prince and rested his elbow on the latter’s shoulder. Behind him was Princess Yuseong Eunji, a dark-haired girl Albatross didn’t recognize, and a tall Aquarian-looking man.

Albatross immediately felt intimidated just as he’d felt the night he’d first arrived here, but he tried to keep a mask of calm on.

The older couple exchanged a look before the man took a swaggering step forward. “You’re the ones out here looking suspicious not—ow!”

Olive had flicked out a lazy finger and sent a crimson spark popping along the ground. That spark had met with the man’s left shoe which was left smoking upon contact.

The man bristled. “Why you—”

Olive snapped his finger and sent out another small ember that nipped at the man’s feet.

“Ow! Stop!”

Another flick, another ember.

“Ow! Enough already!” 

The man had stumbled a considerable distance back with the woman. They muttered to themselves for a while before swiftly pacing in the opposite direction and loading into the vehicle parked by the sidewalk. A moment later they were speeding away. 

Olive and Claire snickered together.

“They’re probably harmless.” Olive slapped a hand on his pocket and nodded at Albatross. “They probably just want to use your ID to get into some KM-level restricted place. If you told them you had VNW they’d probably leave you alone.”

Claire approached Albatross and Kovich, peering at Albatross. “What are you doing skipping class? You’re the kid who was at the Foxman mansion with all the other VNWs, right? You know the guidance officers are only going to bother you more if they find out.”

Albatross felt his stomach do flip flops. 

Claire leaned forward and whispered, “Still surprised about people who can conduct without a conductor?” He tapped his temple “What about the people who should be able to conduct with a conductor, but can’t?”

“Stop being weird, Claire.”

Claire straightened and looked over his shoulder. “Chill out, Lavi. I’m just messing around. No need to get hotheaded.” When Olive joined him, he asked Albatross casually, “So, where are you headed to?”

Albatross stared at him and swallowed before he answered, “The… Baobab Tree District.”

Claire’s brows rose.

“Why do you want to go there?” Kovich asked beside him. He eyed Claire and Olive hesitantly. “Alby, we… shouldn’t be here. We should go back to school. I’ll make something up and cover for you—”

“Well, I mean you already left….” Olive interjected, eyes glinting. “I know the student council guy who works with the youth guidance officers to enforce rules in school—Trystan—and he probably wouldn’t let this slide, so you might as well go with it.” He nodded at Albatross. “I know where that district is. I can take you there if you want.”

Albatross considered this. He’d worked briefly alongside the Ariesian prince before and trusted the prince, but he doubted whether the adolescent standing in front of him was actually the prince. But if this person wasn’t the prince, then wouldn’t that mean that the Maria Albatross had seen on the TV wasn’t actually Maria…?

Kovich was shaking his head.

Suddenly, Yuseong Eunji locked eyes with him and nodded.

“Alright,” Albatross conceded, glancing nervously at Claire while trying to keep his voice even.

Olive grinned. “Awesome.”

As Olive led them down the street, they were soon joined by more adolescents whom Claire and Olive seemed to be familiar with. They were rather rowdy, reminding Albatross of some of the other kids of the Twin Cities who had opted to join Alpha during that chaotic time. Eventually, as more and more joined their walk, two distinct groups began to form. The leading group contained Olive, Claire, Lavi, and their rambunctious friends, and the following group contained Albatross himself, Kovich, Eunji, and the Aquarian.

Eunji soon fell into pace beside him.

“Y-You’re a princess, aren’t you?” Albatross asked Eunji as he studied Claire ahead of them. He immediately felt dumb for asking.

Kovich stared at him.

Eunji stared at him too for a moment before she straightened herself and nodded with a slightly raised chin. “Yes, I am, but we shouldn’t talk about that here. I’m trying to keep a low profile.”

Albatross stammered. “Oh—right. Sorry.” Wait, no. Why was he getting flustered over a girl that wasn’t Lita? He cleared his throat and collected himself before he returned his attention to Claire. “I’m not sure where you’ve been the past two months, Miss Princess—”

Eunji flushed. “Please just call me Eunji.”

“Right—Eunji—” Albatross coughed, feeling his cheeks redden before he shivered upon lookin at Claire again. “But… Prince Yuseong Haneul… in the papers… his obituary…. there was a picture—”

Eunji tensed.

Before Albatross could reluctantly finish his sentence, a loud retching sound to his left caught him off guard. He stopped short and turned to find a dimly lit alleyway opening to his left. He could barely make a figure leaning half-bent over against the wall and another figure patting the former on the back. The former retched again and a splattering sound followed.

Albatross grimaced.

A drunk?

Not a rare sight in the Twin Cities, but…

Albatross squinted into the darkness before his heart skipped a beat. Those two figures—he recognized them. At least, he thought he did. They were a welcome familiarity. “Andres,” he called out. “El…?”

tatu

---

Cvetka Akulova sat at a fountain at the center of a small square beside Teodoro Cocci who was wolffing down a pretzel beside her. He was almost done with his snack, although she had barely touched any of hers. 

They’d been talking for the past half hour about his recent success at his job. He was something of a mix between a consultant and a recruiter—and he was very skilled at his job. That was his love—making connections between people. This was so much so that he had picked up a moniker here just as he’d picked up a moniker in Signum. Astante. Bystander. Observer. A fitting descriptor. 

Cvetka smiled at Astante warmly as he dove into a recent success story of his involving connecting a certain PR manager with a certain policymaker. This innocence was both befitting and unbecoming of him, she thought. When he was halfway through his tale, Cvetka noticed something out of the corner of her eye. This something immediately made the corner of her lips twitch uncontrollably. 

“Cvetka?” Astante asked with concern. “Is something the matter?”

She smiled at her warmly again in turn and placed a hand over his. “Teodoro, you go ahead to that bistro we were talking about first okay? Please? Would you go quickly for me?”

Astante appeared bewildered for a moment before he conceded and left. It was only a minute or so after he departed that Cvetka was joined by another. The fountain behind her turned on then, splashing the newly arrived Atienna Imamu lightly with a cool mist.

“Atienna,” Cvetka greeted the woman calmly. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here…”

“I’ve been looking for you,” Atienna drew slowly. “Ah, I meant that I was looking for the book that my mother leant you…” She stared over Cvetka’s shoulder towards Astante’s retreating figure. 

“You won’t find it with him,” Cvetka said, pulling a thick book from her purse and setting it onto her lap. “I’m quite possessive when it comes to books, I’m embarrassed to say.”

Atienna let out a breath upon seeing the book.

Cvetka rain her fingers along the book’s spine. “I remember we spoke before about the antagonists in this book series, but I’m embarrassed to say that I… wasn’t even able to pinpoint a villain in this one. The murderer, the politicians, the council—they all seem to be secondary players. I feel wrong even calling them secondary antagonists.”

Atienna regarded her silently, perhaps dissecting the information Cvetka had just provided for her. Eventually, the woman said, “Perhaps the fifth book doesn’t have an antagonist.”

Cvetka let out a breathy chuckle. “All books need an antagonist. It could be a person, an idea, or the character’s own personal demons—either way, it’s an antagonist that defines a book.”

“Does it?” Atienna wondered. 

Cvetka offered a thin smile. “I’m sure you know much more about what needs to go into a book than I.” She ran her finger down the book’s spine. “Like it mentioned the last time we spoke, the antagonist of each of these books is an interesting reflection of the titular protagonist. I think they fit the protagonist and the themes of each book quite well. Perhaps it’s a bit hamfisted at times, but there’s also a rustic charm to it.”

“Oh?”

“So, for the titular character of this fifth book here…” Cvetka folded one of the pages of the book and side glanced at Atienna—most likely looking for a reaction. “I was… trying to do a rather silly thing earlier—I was trying to determine what type of antagonist would be suitable for this protagonist.”

“Ah, that is a rather silly thing to do.”

Cvetka folded another page and side-glanced at her. “Given the pattern of the antagonists compared to the protagonists so far… my theory is that the antagonist of this fifth part here is the protagonist’s own mother.”

Atienna felt her own smile thin. She stared out into the plaza. It was emptying now “You think a mother would actively go out of their way to torture her child?”

“I don’t mean to be rude but the mothers in this series don’t always seem to fall into the gold standard. Given that fiction is a reflection of reality, it’s not too outlandish a theory, is it?” Cvetka folded another page. She paused, gaze monetarily becoming distant before it sharpened like stone again. “But… I do think that—given the pattern of the previous antagonists and mothers in this series—the villain may not even consider themselves a villain.” She chuckled lightly before staring at her hands in mock sheepishness. “I suppose antagonists never do. I don’t consider myself one even though you probably think otherwise…”

“They don’t,” Atienna agreed as she turned to Cvetka, “do they?” 

Cvetka stopped folding the pages and stared at her. She then looked back down at the book. The corners of her lips twitched. “This series has had normal human antagonists, ELPIS Leader antagonists, and saint candidate antagonists.”

Atienna nodded. “Why do you mention it?” 

Cvetka’s gaze flicked back to Atienna. “I’m thinking… what antagonist haven’t we seen?”

“What do you mean?”

Cvetka tightened her grip on the book and felt her heart begin to race.

“What do you mean, Cvetka?”

moja—

---