"Thank you for inviting me over," Pat said on the sofa while drinking his coffee from his mug.
"After everything you did for me at the refugee centre, this feels overdue," Felix replied.
He sat across from Pat on the other sofa. Between them, his coffee mug rested untouched on the table.
Pat scanned the condo, visibly impressed. "You definitely moved up in the world since the refugee centre. Seriously, Felix, how are you affording a place like this?"
"Oh… I've been working for Jacob Kennedy."
Pat nearly spilled his coffee. "Jacob Kennedy? You're serious?" He laughed in disbelief. "That's insane. People would kill for that kind of opportunity."
"Yeah..." Felix stared into his mug. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something. Do you still talk to Nova?"
"Nova..." Pat squinted, searching his memory. "Doesn't ring a bell."
"She used to stay at the centre. Quiet girl."
"Oh—right, her." Pat nodded slowly. "No, I haven't heard anything from her, but I did run into Jared recently at the grocery store, if you want an update on him."
Felix's expression tightened. "I'm good," he muttered. "I was just hoping you'd heard from Nova."
"Why don't you reach out to her yourself?"
Felix hesitated. "I tried texting her. She never replied." His voice dropped. "I don't think she wants to hear from me anymore. But I still care about her."
Pat sighed. "I can't help you—she wasn't at the centre long enough for me to know her." He sipped his coffee before he continued. "The centre has been at capacity for weeks, and we're not taking in new intakes. The Cascadian refugee wave has been overwhelming."
"Cascadia?" Felix frowned. "That's where Jared's from. I didn't realize things had gotten that bad."
Pat nodded grimly. "It's been deteriorating fast ever since Osa took the throne. The news has been full of it—Yesmin even sent emergency food supplies, but it hasn't been enough. Osa's been exploiting the situation, using aid shipments to drive up food prices across the country."
"Who is Osa?" Felix scratched his head. "I have met Yesmin with Jacob."
Pat hesitated, then lowered his voice slightly. "Osa is… not a man I'm comfortable describing in church language." He glanced down at the gold cross necklace around his neck. "After all, I'm a pastor."
Felix gave a faint, tired half-smile. "It's fine. I've heard plenty worse from Jared."
Pat's expression darkened. "He's a son of a bitch, Felix. Ever since he took power, he's been trying to erase Cascadia's history—banning books, rewriting records… even Milton Sudan's biography!"
"Who is Milton Sudan?"
"He was the previous ruler," Pat said grimly. "I don't think Osa took power cleanly—he likely had him removed."
"How would he have done that?"
Pat exhaled. "Osa ran a drug cartel," he said grimly. "Violence, trafficking—everything you'd expect from them. I visited Cascadia once, hoping to stay longer, but it became an emergency evacuation. Our church group had to leave early after reports that cartels were kidnapping anyone who didn't speak Zo-Pak."
"Why were they kidnapping people?"
Pat's jaw tightened. "Because Osa wanted Zo-Pak to become the dominant language," he said. "There were arrests, intimidation… even reports of people being detained simply for speaking Aka-Pak in public."
Pat set his coffee on the white porcelain plate. "Jared was one of them," he said quietly. "He was detained while he was with his sister at a grocery store, speaking Aka-Pak."
"But you don't speak Aka-pak, so you would've been safe from the authorities-"
"Felix," Pat said firmly. "They were arresting people on suspicion alone. That's why he had to leave before the airports shut down."
"So if the airports are shut down, then how are people leaving Cascadia?"
"By crossing the border into Anua," Pat said, "and then taking a direct flight from there to Technate. But it's dangerous now—Osa's outlawed leaving the country."
"Why would Osa ban people from leaving the country?"
"Because Osa doesn't want Aka-Pak speakers escaping the camps," Pat said grimly. "He's turned the country into a controlled region. He calls it justice—payback for how Zo-Pak speakers were treated in the past."
"Were Zo-Pak speakers treated that badly?" Felix asked.
Pat let out a slow breath. "They were discriminated against, yes. For the language they spoke. But what Osa is doing now isn't justice—it's cruelty."
Pat glanced at his wristwatch. "I should return to the refugee centre and see if anyone has managed to secure themselves a place," he said, rising from the sofa. "If spots open up, we can accept more intakes."
"Alright. I'll let you go. I appreciate you coming by."
"Any time," Pat said, already stepping into his shoes on the black mat.
The door shut behind him.
Felix snatched his coffee mug from the table. It had gone lukewarm.
Maybe he'd judged Jared too quickly… after everything he'd been through in Cascadia.