Meliora - Extricate - 09

[lady_mab]

Zoné Altair

"This line is soooooo looooooong." I slump against the wall, legs stretching out into the hall. "I'm so booooored."

"I promise it was not like this last time," Jun says. She's crouched before me, arms hugging her arms to her chest. Every time the line shuffles forward, she side-steps with expert balance, and I have to practically drag myself across the ugly carpeting.

"That doesn't make me feel any better. In fact, it makes me feel worse. I'm bored and I'm hungry. I hope they have food."

Jun opens her mouth to say something but I shake my head. "Nope. No more comparing it to the last meeting. I will just be disappointed."

So she huffs and scratches her cheek idly. Her hair is pulled back into two bright pink pom poms today, and I enjoy trying to find all the little clips in her hair that hold the strands at bay. "I hope we get in soon."

I groan and sink lower against the wall.

From how slow we're moving, I would have to guess that they are letting the teams in one person at a time, waiting for them to find a seat, and then sending in the next person. Like, not even both team members. Just one person.

I completely lose track of time, starting to debate the pros and cons of starting to roll down the hall instead of dragging myself along. There's legs constantly passing back and forth before my line of vision, but two pairs come to a stop right behind Jun.

"Hey, Zoné."

My head swivels up at the sound of the voice and a grin immediately springs to place. I scramble to my feet, ignoring Jun's curious glance. "Lio! Heya, did you just get here?"

"I've been here a bit," he says. "Just had to find Rhys."

I glance at the man standing behind Lio, his eyes cautious behind his glasses. He matches my stare with a slight nod in greeting.

"Here." Lio pulls my attention back to him and holds out a laptop that looks far sleeker than my school model. I can see how the visual comparison alone would be irritating to someone like him, who is surrounded by fancy computer stuff all the time. "It's not much, but it will suffice."

I reach for it and test its weight in my hands. "Thanks, man! Just let me know what I can do for you, yeah?" I don't really know what I will do with such a fancy computer, but I take it as a good sign that Lio would at least be willing to help me out.

Lio's gaze focuses on Jun, and she returns it with silent consideration. "This your teammate?"

Tucking the laptop under one arm, I wave a hand in her direction. "Yep! This is Jun. Met her like, two whole weeks ago at the start of summer school. She just moved here. From China!"

She's used to me introducing her like this, even though it hasn't been to that many people. Jun holds out a hand and gives Lio's a polite shake. "It is very nice to meet you."

"Lianel Lions," he says, indicating to himself, and I realize that is why I couldn't find his name on the list. "Rhys Darcy." Lio glances at his brother over his shoulder and adds, "They're the ones that Lysander is an Informant for."

"Oh, that's right. He mentioned that he had found someone on the list when I showed it to him." Rhys nudges his glasses up his nose and glances between me and Jun. "I take it you're his students?"

"I am!" I raise my hand. "Nice to meet you. Hey, where's your sister?"

There's a few stuttering beats of silence before Lio groans. "Dude. Will you stop asking about her? It's kind of creepy. Also, I'd rather you not mention that here."

Rhys puts his hand on Lio's shoulder. "Be nice."

While I don't see what the problem is, I let out a little laugh and hold up my hand to defend myself. "Sorry. I'm just so used to seeing the two of you together. But Lianel, huh?"

"That's who was invited."

I open my mouth, ready to comment, to ask how he came up with the name, to keep the conversation going. But then Jun reaches out and puts her hand on my elbow.

When I look at her, she shakes her head ever so slightly.

Guess that's only fair.

We move forward with the line, and to my surprise, Rhys and Lio move with us.

"I looked into that person for you," Lio says suddenly. "Every route I could think to take, and everything checks out so I'm not too sure what you wanted me to look for."

To be honest, I didn't really know either. I just hoped for some sort of path to follow on my search.

"I pulled his work address and some places that he frequents. It's all on the laptop."

I fumble the laptop open and find the document sitting serenely on the desktop. It really isn't much at all, but it at least gives me a start.

I feel Jun's hands land on my arms and she guides me before her. I can't look away from the address -- the library in the northern end of the second district. So close to school, and yet I have never had a reason to go there.

Before I know it, Jun reaches out and pushes the laptop down. I find myself suddenly staring at her instead of the screen. "Put that away," she scolds gently.

"What?" I look around. We've moved a few more feet down the hall, and Lio and Rhys are gone. I hadn't even noticed their departure.

"You are going to hurt yourself. I keep envisioning you tripping over your feet and the new laptop going flying. And then it hits a potted plant and it breaks and everyone is sad." She doesn't quite wrestle it from my hands, but guides mine to close it.

I tuck the laptop under my arm and shove my hands into my pockets. "Okay, I'll wait."

She gives me a glance I don't really know how to interpret, and I wonder if she thinks I'm keeping something from her. I'm not, because I want to approach this with as much honesty as I can muster.

Jun doesn't say anything though, and so I let her silence pass without question and focus on the line before us.

Before too long, we're standing in front of a huge, hulking mass of a man who stands in the middle of the path. His head is completely devoid of any hair -- from the crown to the eyebrows to the chin. Nothing. But it also looks like he has muscles everywhere. Like he sacrificed hair for muscles.

Both of the doors are thrown open, and he manages to fill practically the entire space that leads into the meeting room.

"Holy cow," I mutter despite myself, craning my neck back to try and take this man all in at once. "You're huge."

He doesn't respond to my curiosity. Probably pretty used to people commenting that by now. Instead, he steps to the side and waves us in. "You will proceed directly to the table on your left. Register your team there, then take a seat when you are finished."

And with that, we're let into the dimly lit room. The tables are already half filled, and, far more disappointingly, I see no hint of food.

What is the point of having a meeting at a restaurant if you're not going to serve any food?!

Jun tugs me along, and I stumble as I regain my footing. There's a table on the far side of the room, illuminated far more than the others, and a man sits there in what looks like a serious state of exhaustion. He's massaging his forehead with the tips of his fingers, sunglasses pushed up into the mess of dirty blond hair.

Why he's wearing sunglasses inside is a complete mystery, but the man at the door was too, so I wonder if it is part of their dress code. No wonder he looks so distressed.

He lets the sunglasses fall back into place and a professional demeanor settles into his posture. "Names?" he asks as we approach.

"Jun Zhou."

"Zoné Altair."

He pauses long enough to type something in. Probably cross referencing the list of people they invited. "And your Informant's name?"

"Lysander Stavros," I provide. Jun still hasn't met him yet, at least not formally. I'll have to figure that part out later, but they'll probably give us some team bonding exercises to do.

The man looks up after he finishes typing. Our gazes meet as I wait for the next set of instructions that never come. Instead, his mouth hanging open and the unfinished thought trickling to a stop, we stare at each other in silence.

So I take it upon myself to ask a very important question. "Is there going to be any food here?"

This throws him off, and he looks visibly startled by the question. "I'm... sorry, what?"

"Food. Is there going to be any served here."

"No, there isn't. Are you related to anyone participating in this game?"

The transition between topics happens so suddenly that I barely catch it. My stomach does a funny sort of lurch as the words settle in, and Jun turns towards me with a sharp look.

Still, I put on a grin and tilt my head to the side. "Nope. Why? You got any other Altairs signed up?" Unconsciously, I rub the tattoo beneath my eye. Both my brother and sister have a star tattoo, too. We got them together a few years ago. "Some long lost brother I don't know about?"

Jun makes a soft sound at my side, but the man behind the table doesn't react beyond a slight frown.

After a pause that ends with him heaving a sigh, he taps his fingers on his desk and says, "I am sending instructions to your phones now. Please inform us if you need to change numbers at any point during Meliora. Your Informant will be sent an invitation of their own." His words are flat and devoid of any sort of energy. I wonder how he got pulled into this mess. Registering so many people must wear off after like five go by. "Remember that you cannot involve others beyond your Informant that have not been invited. This includes coworkers, classmates, and even family. Until then, take a seat. The Program Manager will be here shortly."

He waves his hand in the direction of the tables. That's our dismissal.

I try not to groan and drag my feet as Jun leads the way to a table with one other team seated at it. "And now we gotta wait with no food."

"I can make you something when we're done here?" she prompts, though I can tell from her expression that this isn't what she wants to talk about.

Which is too bad for her, because I definitely don't want to think about that conversation just now.

I set the laptop down on the table before me and cross my arms over my chest. It's a clear enough signal that she doesn't press the topic.

Admittedly, I do feel a little guilty about not discussing it, but I also need time to think.

I'm not completely unaware of the lack of people of Indian heritage within Eminence. And while I'm only half, my skin tone gives me away and makes me very noticeable. A cursory glance around the line we waited in let me know that there weren't many other people that could claim some kind of minority tick-box on a form.

Which means the clues I had only half-hoped would lead me to my brother are actually paying off. A closer look at this Fletcher Oswin will answer any remaining questions I might have.

And that terrifies me more than I thought it would.

In little to no time at all, Lio and Rhys take a seat at our table. "Glad you could join us," Jun says.

I stretch out my arms to drop my fingers over the top of the laptop. I let my frustration come out just a bit. "I'm hungry and apparently there's no food here. So I'm hungry and a little upset." Of course, me being upset has less to do with food and more to do with the idea that I could very well find someone I thought I would never see again.

"You did not have any trouble, did you?" Jun asks, attempting to pass of her question as casual. I want to nudge her, to get her to knock it off, but it's too late now.

Lio and Rhys hesitate, exchanging a quick glance. "No..." Lio says, drawing out the sound. "Did you?"

I glance at her at the same time she looks at me, and I will her not to mention what the man at the desk asked me. Otherwise, it sounded more like the typical set of rules that he gave us than any individualized warning.

She allows me to answer, dropping her gaze away with a slight frown.

So I wave a hand to dismiss the gloomy atmosphere both from myself and from the table. "Naw."

Before anyone else can bring up another topic or my half-hearted rejection of the previous conversation, the already dim lights on the tables dim even further. The hint of light that indicated the hallway vanishes, and soon it's very dark.

Across the table, a screen lights up as Rhys pulls out a tablet. Probably to take notes.

The darkness is immediately erased as spotlights illuminate a stage on the far side of the room. A man stands in the middle, and I wonder when he managed to get up there.

He's also bald, but in a more refined way than the man blocking the door. He smiles at us, and I'm thrown off by how cheerful it is considering how gloomy everyone else looks.

"My fellow citizens," he says, a posh and polished accent echoing through the room. "You are here because you have made the difficult choice put before you. To get to the bottom of the truth is no small task. We would wish to congratulate you on your role here in Meliora, and to the unknown future that waits for us."

I prop my head up on my fist, already having a hard time concentrating on his words. They're poetic and designed to try and charm people into listening, but they're also difficult to understand.

"The fact that you are here lets my team and I know what sort of people we will be working with over the next few months. As I speak, my assistant is already evaluating and categorizing your teams."

Ooh? So it's a contest and not a game?

Lio catches my gaze from around Jun's head. I arch an eyebrow and he gives me an equally confused look in return.

The Program Manager continues to speak. "As my assistant mentioned when you registered, your Informants will receive an invitation to a meeting of their own. We are here now because I want to answer any remaining questions you might have before we start.

Well that's a dumb reason for a meeting.

However, Lio's hand goes up and he starts talking almost as soon as his fingers reach for the ceiling. "Why rank us before this game begins?"

The man smiles, clearly pleased. "Straight and to the point. Well, my boy, I will admit with equal candor that not everyone will receive the same information or the same sort of events to participate in."

Lio's frown is already in place before the answer is finished.

Jun calls out next. "Why not?"

He folds his hands behind his back and responds without hesitation. "Because the playing field will not be fair, and it is up to you to make it so. That is how we will decide who is worthy of a way out of this city. You must prove to us that you deserve this spot more than others, and so some of you must work harder for that attention if another team outperforms you."

Jun turns to me, jaw working in frustration. "What is that all about?"

"Well, I mean, do you want a way out of this city?" I ask her, voice dropped to a low whisper as I lean closer to her chair. "I kind of just want information."

"Same here, but I feel like even that will be difficult to get."

"How do you think they're going to share information? That sounds like a lot of work to divide it up between teams..."

She shrugs, but doesn't get a chance to work through the idea before the Program Manager is speaking again.

"Silence, now. Please. We are almost done here."

Wow this really is a waste of an evening.

"From here on out," he says once the room is completely silent, "I shall no longer be the one sending out messages. Any information that needs to be relayed will be sent to your Informants from my assistant."

I glance at where he's indicating, but the table in the corner of the room is as dark as ours and I can't see a trace of the man from earlier.

"Any final questions should be given to your Informants." The man on the stage glances around the room at large, probably studying the faces of those he can see. "They can, in turn, bring them to their meeting. We will monitor you closely, but do not expect much by means of direct contact in either direction with myself or my team."

He turns to leave without saying goodbye, which is rather rude, but hesitates before reaching the edge of the stage. He pauses, thinking, and then looks back at us. "I would like to wish you all the best of luck, and I look forward to the following months." He smiles, the same sort of benign expression he had through the whole meeting. "Work hard: The truth is at stake."

The room goes dark once again and people around us shout in surprise. As the overhead lights slowly start to rise, the stage is empty.

The other people sitting at our table rise and work their way out of the meeting between all of the other departing teams. Jun has her lips pressed into a thin line, and I once again let the unease from earlier settle back into place in my stomach.

"We're going to head out," I say once I notice Lio watching us. "School tomorrow and all that." I attempt a grin as I scoop up the laptop and tuck it under my arm.

He raises a hand in parting as Jun catches onto my sleeve. She follows behind me as I weave my way through the crowd, out of the restaurant and all the delicious food and onto the sidewalk and the heavy late summer evening.

I pick a direction at random, just wanting to put some distance between myself and that meeting -- even if only physically. This is all happening so fast, though admittedly, it only feels like a brisk pace because it's all very last minute for me.

Suddenly I'm participating in a game for information, suddenly I'm faced with a clue to find my brother, and suddenly I have a lot of questions that don't want to cooperate.

Jun tugs me to a stop and waits as I take far too long to bring myself to look her in the eyes. "Do you want to talk about this?"

Nothing forms itself into words, including my thoughts. So I frown and shake my head.

She accepts this without further questioning. "Do you want to have dinner at my uncle's restaurant?"

My stomach grumbles at the offer and she grins, because that is answer enough.

"Okay. Come on." Jun turns and heads off down the sidewalk in a different direction than I had been heading. I silently thank her for being willing enough to wait for me to figure out how I want to process things before pushing me to discuss it.

And food will be a decent enough chance for me to try and mull over all this new information. I need to work it all out before any more surprises are dropped into my lap.

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