After meeting Hallmaster Delta in his office, Benjamin didn't hear from the man for a few days. But today he received a call. He was to come to the exhaust district that evening.
Benjamin's bodyguards were still in the hospital. He didn't feel entirely confident going to the exhaust district alone. But now that he had already agreed to join Hallmaster Delta, he didn't back down now. His car landed in a fenced off parking lot and he stepped out, pulling a scarf in front of his nose. The air in this part of the exhaust district was even worse than elsewhere.
Benjamin scanned his surroundings for any dangers when the noise of footstep reached him.
"You're here, brother!"
Benjamin frowned. He stared at Louis, who still looked like a gangster boss in his torn clothes.
"What did you just call me, street rat?"
"Why that hostility? Now that you about to join us, we will naturally become brothers. Bender, let me give you an advice. You would do good to suppress your arrogance from now on. You have no idea how influential we are."
"Hm."
Benjamin remained noncommittal. He would see with his own eyes whether Louis was blindly confident or not.
"Come, brother. The hallmaster asked me to guide you."
Louis turned around, smirking. Benjamin didn't feel like talking further to him. He silent followed behind the gangster boss as they made their way through the streets, passing dilapidated buildings. Benjamin could feel eyes watching them but obviously no one dared to approach Louis. Well, almost…
Suddenly a door was bashed open and a person rolled out. Benjamin instantly looked over. He noticed that the door belonged to a shop which was actually still operational. They had heavily armoured, burly security who looked as if they never laughed at a joke in their lives.
The person who had been thrown out rolled for a few seconds before coming to a stop. With a surprisingly agile move they quickly jumped back on their feet. They were a scrawny man with ragged clothes and a dirty face covered in scars. His long, unkempt black hair loosely hung over his shoulder.
"You are closing your eyes now! You are closing your eyes before the truth! But he will come! I am only warning you out of the kindness of my heart. He will come, do you hear? And he will liberate all those pure of heart. I am giving you a chance!"
The ragged man was fuming as he shouted in the direction of the shop. An annoyed voice replied:
"Shut up, Doyle! I don't buy your sh*t! The next time you come to steal, I will break your hands! And now piss off!"
The door was shut with a bang. Doyle grumbled something and turned around, immediately spotting Louis. His eyes lit up as he approached swiftly.
"Louis! Haha, if it isn't my favourite brother! Did you hear that just now? They close their ears to my preaching. Could you maybe give it a try?"
"Doyle. Do you think now is the time?"
"Hm? Always is the time! No, it is always time? Words are confusing sometimes. Wait, where was I? Right, right. Preaching. Louis, those poor fools are ignorant of the great truth. Please, help me as I try to reach them. Their souls deserve to be liberated. This shop is one of the few spots of light in this sh*thole!"
Louis rolled his eyes.
"Doyle! Did you already forget that the hallmaster gathered all the brothers for a new initiation?!"
"Oh, that was today? Ahh and I was already wondering why I didn't see any of the brothers and sisters. There was no one to help me preaching. Oh, preaching. I still need to preach. No! Not preaching, hallmaster! Louis, the hallmaster is waiting."
Benjamin watched the interaction from the side, his expression increasingly frowning. He couldn't help but ask:
"What happened to him?"
"Doyle? You should rather ask what didn't happen to him."
"Woah!", suddenly Doyle let out a startled shout and jumped backwards. "When did you sneak up on us? Who are you? Louis, be careful, there is someone following you!"
Louis let out a sigh. Obviously even he was losing his patience. He started to get moving again.
"Let's go."
Benjamin nodded and followed behind Louis. Doyle froze in place with a bewildered expression. But only for a moment before he ran after them.
The trio arrogantly sauntered down the street and everyone made way for Louis. Finally, they arrived in front of a slightly larger building. Benjamin recognized it as a communal building, housing part of the administration, overseeing the north of the exhaust district. Benjmain looked at Louis with some confusion. Other than all the abandoned buildings elsewhere, this building belonged to the city and was fully staffed. Wasn't this exactly the kind of place a secret organization would want to avoid?
But Louis didn't give Benjamin an answer. He directly entered the building. The interior was by no means luxurious, but it stood in stark contrast to the rest of the exhaust district. There were a few signs pointing towards different offices. Louis led them into a hallway to the left, entering a room labelled 'building permits'.
The office was as desolate as one would expect. After all, who would want to build something in the exhaust district? There was only a sloppy middle-aged man sitting behind a single desk. When the trio arrived, the man looked up with drooping eyes, not even offering a greeting.
Louis wasn't deterred. He approached the desk, saying:
"Hello. I am here to sign application form 19141115."
"Sure…"
The clerk tabbed on his table and an inlaid screen immediately produced the relevant document. Louis took a special pen. With great familiarity he filled the form in one fluid motion. Benjamin peeked over the gangster's shoulder, realizing that whatever Louis was writing had nothing to do with the form. It was more like a secret code.
After a few seconds Louis put the pen away. The screen went out. The clerk nodded lightly and pointed at the wall. Suddenly a sliding door opened without any sound. It was perfectly integrated into the wall and if it didn't move no one would have been able to discover it. Benjamin nodded inwardly. This was what he expected from some secret organization, cult, or whatever. However, compared to the Café of Dreams, their methods were not quite mysterious enough.
Louis didn't know Benjamin's thoughts. He entered the secret door, followed by the two other men. It had to be said that ever since entering the administration building Doyle became awfully quiet, holding his head low the entire time.
Benjamin found himself on a stairway. To the left and right red-orange torches shrouded the surroundings in a dim light, especially when the door closed behind him. Their footsteps echoed for a long time. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs there was a small room. With walls made of stone and another, seemingly heavy, stone door, this room looked like it didn't belong to this era.
To the left there were a few metal hooks. Louis took a cherry-red robe hanging from one of the hooks and handed it to Benjamin.
"Here, put this on. This is the robe of a new initiate. Depending on the position the hallmaster deems suitable for you, you might soon get a new one."
Since he had already come here, Benjamin didn't hesitate. He draped the robe over his head. It was quite lose, reaching down to the floor, white wide sleeves for his arms. There were almost no embellishments except for a few black patterns on his upper arms, resembling scales. While Benjamin put the robe on, Louis and Doyle did the same. Louis was covered in a black robe with the symbol of two daggers at the height of his chest. Meanwhile Doyle wore a greyish robe decorated with a pair of hands clasped in prayer on his back.
Just from the robes Benjamin couldn't tell whose standing in the secret organisation was higher, but judging from how Doyle seemed obedient towards Louis, he guessed the latter should be of more importance.
After donning the robes, Louis also took three masks from the hooks. Those masks all were a blank white and in the form of a face, with holes for eyes, and one's nose. Also, there was a cloth hood attached to hide the hair. After putting on the masks the members wouldn't be able to tell each other's identities.
"Let's go."
Louis's voice was slightly muffled from behind the mask. He stepped towards the big stone door and pushed with all his might. Benjamin could tell that it wasn't easy but with the way Louise stood, he probably didn't expect help. The grating sound echoed through the basement as the door slowly opened. Benjamin could hear some murmurs but those quickly stopped.
Slowly, a large hall got revealed. It was filled with people. Benjamin could see at least three dozen. They wore similar robes. Most of them were of a dark green colour. There were only two others with a red robe like Benjamin and maybe five people with a black robe like the one Louis was wearing. However, surprisingly there was not a single grey one.