The mind is empty. The world around it, mundane.
Slinx stared at the other students around him, they carried large smiles and empty minds. Ignorance is bliss, blessed are those who only see the surface of reality.
How truly nice it is to be a normal person, living a normal life.
Perhaps he should have thought twice before wishing for an abnormal life. The thrill of adventure was nice while it lasted, followed by the immediate realisation that he was out of his depth as the illusion of control quickly crumbles up against an indomitable force.
Slinx couldn't help but laugh remembering how desperate he was to be special just two weeks ago, the things he would try to do just for someone to notice him.
Perhaps this was why God never gave him a sign, he was not fit to be extraordinary. Too feeble to fight back against evil, too fragile to stand back up from failure, too selfish to put others before himself. Slinx was designed to be normal, and this two week long fever dream had been his sign to stop trying and be grateful for the tranquil, prosaic life that he was meant to live.
Slinx reached for Max's crumpled note, he clenched it in his fist as the familiar train of thought emerged: Why are you so useless? Why did you let Walder kill him? Why were you so stupid to trust Walder? Why were you so weak?
'It should have been me,' the finishing blow. Slinx unleashed his frustration in a terrifying bawl.
His wail disrupted the motion of those around him, a startled crowd turned their attention towards Slinx. Some of them started whispering, some continued with their day, some took a few steps back, except for one.
'Hey! You ok? Get a hold of yourself.' Charlie said.
'Are you crying because someone is bullying you? Slinx you need to tell me I'm your best friend!' Charlie stepped forwards and placed his hand on Slinx's back.
'Let me guess, is it that obnoxious guy who's been pestering you? Arven, was it? I always felt that there was something wrong with him.'
'I'm ok thanks,' Slinx sniffed,
'Do you know where he is? I need to talk to him alone if that's ok.' Slinx didn't know how Arven would react seeing him around. But there was no one else he could turn to about this.
'Why are you still trying to talk to him? Slinx that guy is bad influence you need to stay away from him!'
Slinx stood up and approached the door, Charlie leaped forward and blocked his path. He was visibly upset.
'Charlie, please! I need to see Arven. It's very hard for me to talk about this with anyone else.' Slinx said, feeling slightly agitated.
'Why is it so hard to talk about it with me? Slinx why would you trust him more than me? We've known each other for so long and been through so much! Is this person more important to you than me?' Charlie's face turned red, his body shaking.
Slinx did not bother to answer, he made a sudden sprint and bolted out to the hallway. Charlie grabbed his shirt, and proceeded to chase after him down the staircases.
Slinx hurried down the steps, he did not know where he was going, only that he had to lose Charlie. He heard large thumps from behind, he wondered if the staircase would break from the aftershocks of Charlie's massive leaps.
Slinx turned into the hallway, he made another immediate turn onto a footpath leading to the garden, where there were more students gathering.
Then something gripped his collar.
It pulled him back and slammed him into the wall. Charlie ran by, then was also caught by the collar.
The two boys were held by their necks, feat above ground, choking on the wall. Slinx instinctively, reached for hand around his neck, it tightened its grip.
'Why are you still alive?' Arven asked coldly.
Slinx gagged, he was starting to feel dizzy. He dangled his feet but struggled to land a hit on Arven.
'You must think I'm an idiot to be walking in broad daylight here,' Arven said,
'First you try to steal the rings, and now you've blown up the headquarters. I don't know why I ever trusted you, you'll pay for Walder's crimes, for all the suffering you've caused Grandpa Jeffrey and me.'
Slinx frantically reached into his pocket. With what little strength was left in him he held out the note.
Initially unfazed, Arven's expression changed as he saw the contents of the crumpled piece of paper. Without warning, he dropped the two of them and snatched the note.
Paper in hand, Arven stood there silently as Charlie and Slinx grasped for air. Once he caught his breath, Charlie took a deep breath. Arven covered Charlie's mouth before the release.
'Did Max give you anything else?' Arven's tone shifted from rage to sombre. Slinx was surprised how quickly Arven recognised Max's handwriting, but he was relieved that he did.
'No. Look, I'm sorry about the rings. I didn't know Walder was evil and…'
'It's fine, Max's showed me everything.' Arven cut him off, waving the piece of paper.
'Showed you? Is there like a secret code on that paper?'
'He infused his memories into it with ariki, up until the point where he unlocked your drifting curse.'
'Hmmph!!' Charlie's face turned bright red. Arven stared at him and let out a sigh.
'I don't want you involved, but I guess I have no choice. Slinx, I need you to convince Charlie not to scream. We are racing against time and I can't be asked to deal with the principal.'
Slinx was about to speak, but he hesitated.
'I want to trust you,' Slinx said. 'But how am I supposed to do that? In what way are you better than Walder?'
'I asked the same question when I first reached out to you; I thought you had the face of a traitor, but Max said you had a kind heart. I guess we were both right in the end.' Arven offered his hand to Slinx.
'It's a leap of faith. But If you trust Max then you should trust me.'
'What's your plan anyways? The headquarters is destroyed, how do we even find the others? It's impossible!'
Arven shook his head, 'the UDA is much bigger organisation than you imagine. There are academys and intelligence centres across the country.'
'Slinx, Charlie, this is the point of no return. What I am asking of you two is incredibly selfish and will require your full commitment. Your lives will change drastically, you won't be able to come to this school anymore. If you want to, I can wipe your memories clean and you can go back to your normal lives.'
Normal lives.
A jolt of thoughts weaved a clear picture in Slinx's head. Something triggered when Arven mentioned the word 'normal', his brain caught on to that and proceeded to perform sequences of logical and emotional reasoning. He felt a sense of clarity as the sequence produced a set of beliefs that he was determined to live by.
It all seemed too trivial and naive. Slinx had lived a life as a coward, all it took was a few seconds of determination for him to find courage.
'Before I met you and Max, I always thought I was a normal person,' Slinx said,
'Someone who followed the rules, a good samaritan who abides the formalities of society. I thought I was ordinary, another clog in the machine destined to live what I believed was a normal life.'
'But now it hits me, it's not that I'm not special, I was just always too scared to be different. I never tried to be good at anything, at least not to the point where it feels painful to admit your own inability. This time was no different, my initial thought was to run back to comfort.'
'And then I hear Max's voice, I remembered the faith he had in me even when things had gone south. Max never once judged me by my abilities or said he was disappointed in me, and that made me realise this whole time I had been chasing the approval of others, I was allowing them to determine the value of my life.'
The bell rang, Slinx ignored it and saw his friends looking at him with admiration, he smiled and continued.
'From now on, I want to live for myself. I want to have the courage to confront life and take credit for my own accomplishments,' Slinx offers his hand to Arven, Arven shakes it without hesitation.
'I'm taking the leap of faith, I'm committing to this life knowing full well it may devastate me if I fail.'
It was a long trek, made gruelling by the silence. It would have been much quicker if they took a train, but Charlie and Slinx had not a single penny on them and Arven insisted it would be too suspicious for them to ask for pocket change.
They were now in the neighbouring district – Kanton. It was a more prosperous town with decent infrastructure and well lit streets, a stark difference to their hometown.
Arven lead them through the sea of commuters to reach their destination. It was a fancy commercial building equipped with big windows and a eloquent reception. When they entered, the receptionist beamed as she saw Arven.
'Arven, what a lovely surprise!' the receptionist said, 'How is your grandfather? I guess he's doing better if you're here sooner than expected!'
'Hi Mona, it's nice to see you too,' Arven said,
'my grandfather is missing. Last time I saw him was in a liminal space, we were attacked by Walder, I left before I could see what had happened.'
Mona's face faded, her exaggerated expressions made it easy to pick up on her emotions.
'Gosh, I am so sorry about that Arven. Walder is someone who flew under our radar, if only we had better intel on him and his ambitions…'
'Don't be Mona, I do need your help though.' Arven continued,
'I need your help though. Can you check if LS002 is still active?'
'Ah of course,' Mona went to work immediately, connecting her computer to the two liquid chambers behind her. Slinx was shocked that they served more than aesthetic purposes, he watched in disbelief as Mona activated the sci-fi like device in broad daylight with hundreds of commuters passing by outside.
'System shows its inactive,' Mona said.
'But its still there, meaning the creator should still be alive.' Mona smiles softly, visually relieved.
'And LS222-B?'
'Lemme see… yep, also inactive but still there.'
For the first time today, Arven shows signs of relief. He does a little fist bump in the air and grinds his teeth just ever so slightly.
'Thank you Mona, any chance we can talk to Pierre about enrolling? I know it's not the right time but the situation is quite urgent.'
'Right, I don't know much about what happened other than Walder Vixen being at large. Pierre looked so stressed yesterday but I'm sure he'll make room for you Arven.'
With that, Mona jumps from her seat and sprints towards the elevator. She impatiently pushes the button repeatedly, smiling awkwardly and tapping her shoes. After a minute, the elevator comes.
'I'll be back in a minute!' Mona said.
Everyone else knew it would be longer. Slinx stared at Arven, Charlie squints.
'Can I talk now?' Charlie said.
'You clearly can, nothing's been stopping you.' Arven said.
'Oh really? So I won't be strangled this time for 'making a scene'? I don't know what Slinx knows that makes him think any of your actions are justifiable but I am on the verge of calling the cops!'
'Sure, call them.'
Charlie gasped as Arven called his bluff, as if seeking consolation he turns towards Slinx.
'Charlie, I really think you should stay out of this.' Slinx said,
'No! I don't care what you've got yourself into Slinx. We've been there for each other since day one, I won't let you go through this by yourself.'
Charlie leaned forward, squeezing the space between him and Slinx. Slinx smiles but retreats. Charlie steps closer, too close. The two bump heads, laugh and reposition. But once again they fail to agree on what the best distance is as the dance repeats and repeats. Until exhaustion consumes the need for perfection, good enough for now.
Pierre seemed like a decent man, he spoke in a eloquent and restrained manner. He did not attempt to connect his thoughts with errs and maybes, rather, he took his time to pause in silence, reorganise his thoughts until a coherent and concise message could be delivered.
'Headmaster Pierre, we need to act now. A single moment of hesitation risks the lives of not just our fellow coworkers, but millions of innocents.'
'Yes, but we must still act with caution. Do not mistake impulsion as decisiveness.' Pierre said. The forty-three year old man gestured to his clumsy assistant for more tea, the only thing that he reacted promptly to.
'Slinx, you used the port right?' Arven said.
'Yes, but Walder destroyed all the ports.'
'Shit' Arven bit his fingernails, he stood up, walking in circles.
'Arven, shouldn't we be heading to Dreamapolis though? It's close enough to the UDA and that's where Max wants to meet.'
'No you don't get it Slinx, the UDA and Dreamapolis are entire separate spaces, they're virtually boundless. You can't just walk from one space to another, you'll never reach there. The only reason why we were able to travel between them with Max was because of his liminal space. How do you still not know about that we trained for months together!'
'Well… it never came up and I always spawned in Dreamapolis so I just assumed Dreamland was like the size of earth…'
'You were spawning in Dreamapolis since your liminal space takes you there.'
'Does that mean everyone in Dreamapolis has a liminal space that takes them their?' His mind raced towards the woman he adored, savouring her imaginary embrace and the tingling sensation it sparked. Slinx wondered if they would ever see each other again, would their fates intertwine?
'Not necessarily, you can still get to Dreamapolis with a port or with someone who does have a LS connection. Mine connects to somewhere else, so I rely on ports or Max most days.'
Mona brings tea, Pierre thanks her and immediately fills and sips his boiling cup of tea.
'Out of everyone available, I believe me and Slinx are the only ones with an LS that connects to Dreamapolis' Pierre said.
'I'm sorry but all this talk is confusing me' Charlie interrupts, reminding the room of his presence.
'You're all acting like dreams happen in a real place with real consequences, is this code for some sort of underground syndicate or drug ring?' He distanced himself from them and stretched his chest open, the same pose he would make in a standoff against the older kids back in the playground.
'We are not drug lords, Charlie.' Pierre reassured, 'You are welcome to leave anytime, which I think would be the wiser choice.'
Charlie stared at Slinx, but he did not say anything. Instead, he walked towards the office window which connected the office with the glimmering city that it stood above. Charlie placed his palm on the invisible layer of glass, gazing deeply into the outside world.
'The cars and people look so tiny from here, so miniscule and insignificant.' Charlie said.
'Look,' he placed his other palm on the glass wall. 'With my own two hands, I can remove all these peasants from my sight. All that's left is the 'big picture', the beautiful view.'
'What are you trying to say?' Arven said.
'I'm starting to understand the way people like you think.' Charlie said as he turned back to face the group. 'You guys wield power capable of changing the lives of millions with the snap of a finger, you speak of people as if they're numbers and nothing more. I'm just pissed, knowing no matter how hard normal people like me try to live a simple life and minding our own business, it can all be reduced to nothing when people like you screw up.'
Silence lingered in the room, Charlie leaned on the panoramic window and sat on the floor.
'And I'm pissed at you Slinx. All this time you've been playing some weird hero's adventure to satisfy your savior complex. Now you've messed up, you say you want to make things right. But everything you've said has to do with this Max guy, and you're willing to risk the lives of millions for this.' Charlie said.
'I came here because I wanted to help someone I cared about. Now I know they're a selfish asshole who loves themselves more than anything.' He continued to sit. After a few minutes, Charlie stood up and left.
Slinx watched his best friend leave quietly, he didn't know what exactly made Charlie so upset. He was selfish, that he did not deny. But was it that wrong to want to save your friends?
'It's getting late,' Pierre said. 'Get some rest boys, we'll enter dreamland afterwards.'
'Do you think he's right, Arven?' Slinx asked as they walked down the carpeted hallway.
'He's just being childish, Slinx. We don't do this because we can, at the end of the day someone has to step forth and keep things in check.' Arven said. 'He's more of the selfish one, expecting to live a comfortable and carefree life expecting someone else to fight off the evils that threatens our society everyday.'
The two arrive at their designated rooms, a sleek, spacious and modern apartment equipped with every amenity you can ask for. In the centre of the room lies a king-sized bed, its sturdy frame supporting a fluffy white mattress capable of engulfing its user in squishy blissfulness.
'Good night Slinx,' Arven said. 'You're doing the right thing. Doesn't matter what Charlie thinks of you. Remember, you're doing this for yourself.'
'Yes,' Slinx said. 'I'm doing this for myself.'