Chapter 3: The Village Legend
"The sandman's coming in his train of cars. With moonlit windows and wheels of stars. So hush little ones, and have no fear, the man in the moon, he is the engineer." A child outside of Lady Flor en Flor's tent sung a nursery rhyme in Spanish. The full moon rose in the sky like it always did, taking the place of the bright sun that blossomed ever since the golden tree emerged from the ground.
"How could a gigantic, and golden tree at that, grow from your saliva? How was all of that possible, eh?" Lyla munched on an apple, staring at the small platypus next to her. Perry gazed up at her, trying not to fall asleep due to his digesting stomach.
"That is a good question." Lady Flor en Flor petted a child's head, and fed them one of the apples that grew from Perry's tree. "Your platypus is a gifted one."
"Could you elaborate, eh?" Lyla raised an eyebrow at the old woman and Perry snuggled close to her, asleep.
"You must not be from here, then. A lot of things happen here in our village that we can't quite explain. But you must let not your mind guide what you see, instead you should feel the moment. It makes for a better experience." Lady Flor en Flor smiled gently.
"Tell them the story, Grandma!"
"Yeah, tell them about the ol' hermit!"
"Calm down, young tykes. Speak when spoken to." The old woman stared at the lamp Lyla brought out from her supply. "Why does the fire burn within glass?"
"Because it's insulated. The gas is kept inside of the space within so when the fire burns out, it doesn't get everywhere." Lyla answered, pointing at the lamp.
"The fire has boundaries, and it can't always reach outside of them. True people with true potential tend to go beyond the walls of common sense."
"The hermit in the west was like that." Said a child. Lady Flor en Flor chuckled.
"He was?" Lyla asked.
"According to the tale, a-"
"Let me tell the tale, Johnny!"
"No, me! I can make it entertaining!"
"Quiet!" Lady Flor en Flor silenced the children. Turning to Lyla and Perry, who was already asleep, she ruffled her thin white dress. The children crowded around the fire, eager to hear what she has to say next. Lyla tucked an arm around Perry's sleeping form and nodded to the old lady in acknowledgment.
"I shall tell the tale myself." Lady Flor en Flor began.
Bannister opened the door to Subject 12. The rabbit was restless, as always. His generic eye color was blood-shot instead of the baby blue, and his body was in pieces. Large syringes of antihistamines protruded out of his body, a vain attempt in calming the savage beast. The metal arms that were installed into his body were protruding out of his severed arms and limbs as a measure of cybernetic engineering. The rabbit had on a large mask that covered the majority of his face, and a staple-remover mouthpiece protruded two very sharp teeth.
The professor pulled the syringes from their place. The doses of antihistamines were empty, and the syringe cases were shattered. Blood circles remained where the needle was once placed, some even bled. Bannister needed the patient awake in order to communicate with him.
He gazed upon the scene in front of him. It was something straight out of a horror movie; blood decorated the walls in ominous markings depicting several instances of pain and torture, and sometimes, the reoccurring P-symbol Bannister sometimes found on Subject 12's blood art pieces. Bannister had analyzed several of the cyborg's behaviors, but the symbol could not be explained because it was something he could not understand. Even his analyzers and therapy treatment droids could not determine a plausible reason for why they were painted on the wall. The symbol was a stone unturned, but with nothing underneath.
Dennis the Rabbit sprung from his calm state and with savage reflexes, he shrieked in his mechanical vocal chords that could not, fortunately, conjure words. He lashed his hideous protruding arms at Bannister, attempting to strangle him, but the restraints in his long iron arms prevented him otherwise.
"I suggest that you're satisfied with your care." Bannister greeted him. Dennis growled and coughed blood out of his mouth. This was Bannister's idea of "powerful", thought the rabbit.
"I understand the circumstances you've been put through. I pity you, but I assure you, you will become the death of Perry the Platypus. He doesn't stand a chance. You will see the day of OWCA's demise, and later, the world. You will be by my side, and I will honor your place." Bannister spoke in a calm voice. Dennis took pride upon that remark, smirking behind his breather mask. Oh, he has no idea…
"My probe droids from the Loco Village reports that they have seen the agents. You will find Perry the Platypus in the old village. He is not alone, but that isn't the issue. Kill him, and wipe out the village. Then, we will destroy OWCA." Bannister ordered. Dennis, the obedient rabbit he was, who only deployed this act as a ruse, nodded his head. But how will the rabbit get used to his new body and limbs? What was he to gain from slaughtering the village? Bannister must have some connection to that village, thought the rabbit. Dennis planted this thought behind his head, and contemplated the creativity in Bannister's downfall. Bannister's time was running out, and Dennis was going to become the new leader of Bannister Evil Enterprises. He took small satisfaction in this thought as he bowed down to his master.
I will do as you command.
"Very good, my apprentice." Bannister petted the rabbit's head, a sign of respect between their partnership.
"He goes by the name C. O. Bannister. He never really liked other names, and couldn't decide between the two." Lady Flor en Flor began.
"Bannister?" Lyla called out, interrupting Lady Flor en Flor's story. "He's my-"
"The enemy you seek. But behind the scenes, there is a tale to tell. Bannister is not a one to mistrust."
"He's a scoundrel and a thief. Nothing more." Lyla crossed her arms.
"That's what you see. But remember, your eyes deceive you. Look beyond what you can see, and you might just understand."
Perry snorted. He was interested in what the old lady had to say. It was a better alternative to sleeping.
"Bannister was a man of his word. He would always bring the village something good from the trade. Everyone loved him."
"He's a great guy!"
"Yeah, really!"
"And he was a good friend." Lady Flor en Flor grinned slightly and crossed her arms. "But one day he changed. He grew tired of watching the village be left in the dust. He wanted something more in life. He wanted something different than all of us."
"Isn't different a good thing?" Lyla asked.
"Change is good, but not always for the best. Bannister left the village, looking for a job. He came across a sales market; people from the north trading shiny solids for fresh fruit like the apple tree." The old woman nodded at Perry, who was beginning to awaken, interested in the old woman's story.
"He brought home the shiny solids. Called them gold, iron, platinum… All from this 'periodic table', he says. But the elders thought otherwise."
"That's the bad part!"
"Shut up!" The old woman silenced the child who spoke.
"Sorry." The child apologized.
"Bannister's discovery had alienated our village, thought the elders. Indeed the village had gone different after his arrival. People were constantly interested in the North and South trade and many had left and never returned to their families."
"Meeting a person from the border isn't always the safest thing to do, eh?" Lyla said to Perry, who nodded in reply. Lady Flor en Flor stared at her for a moment, then continued.
"The elders had ordered the village to ignore his influence. An outcast, he became. Bannister's friends have gone distant and harder to reach."
"So sad!"
"So bad!"
"Damn those old hags!"
"Don't say those things. It's not very nice!"
"Cold as ice, you are! Have sympathy for them who shun!"
"SILENCE!" Lady Flor en Flor slammed a stick on the ground, nearly hitting the child sitting next to her. Everyone grew quiet.
"Lo siento, child." Lady Flor en Flor patted the child's head. The child next to her whimpered quietly.
"Continue." Lyla beckoned, her voice shaky as if she was afraid that she might be yelled at too.
"Bannister noticed the change of events. He blamed the elders. The village started to like him less. Then he left, one day and didn't return. The people started to wonder where he went. Killed off by a rabbit was a common belief, but surely there were people with common sense. 2 years had gone, and he hadn't returned. The village returned to their tradition.
But then after those 2 years, he came back. He became a different man. He was no longer the oddball of the village, nor the child that had a dream to create something fantastic. Instead, there was vengeance. He became a madman, the man of our destruction. Bannister hated people who were different from him; he killed whoever spoke differently. The elders realized Bannister's assault, and banished him to the north. Bannister was broken and confused, no longer seeing the life-long dream he had, and had only one thing on his mind- to make the world his, and to make the people follow him." Lady Flor en Flor stopped. A dark thought passed through her mind, and Lyla noticed. The circle around the fire grew quiet.
"How do you know so much about Bannister, eh?" Lyla asked, breaking the silence that was started.
"Many people spoke of him. Many people remembered him, telling their experience to us. I just put their stories into one."
"Lady Flor en Flor, you spoke of the elders in a mutual respect. You must know more about them than what you tell us." Lyla thought about Lady Flor en Flor's expression whenever she mentioned the 'elders' or silenced the children that spoke sourly of them. There must be some connection between her and the elders, if her behavior justifies.
Lady Flor en Flor said nothing. The lamp fire started to grow weak. Perry's eyes began to close. The children murmured upon each other. Finally, the old woman spoke.
"My name, 'Flor en Flor', means 'Flower in Bloom'. The flower blooms when the sunlight is upon it, and I sense there's no fooling you." Lady Flor en Flor stared at Lyla.
"I was the daughter of the lead elder. I believed what the child believed. I disliked what he disliked. I never saw any flaws in his ways. Then the event of his banishment came forth and my faith in him had faltered. I liked Bannister. He was a great spirit. Although I pitied the way he used it. He was naïve, and too overconfident. He had gone the path I had feared, and would solely regret to see carry out. Bannister took upon a new nationality and a new company, removing any ties he had with his original family." Lady Flor en Flor admitted.
Perry chattered, bringing everyone's attention. With a stick, the platypus drew a rectangle with a circle on the left interior. Lines divided the rectangle and the circle.
"The Greenland flag, eh…" Lyla suddenly remembered what Bannister had said to them from their last mission.
"Do I? You think that just because I'm polite, smell like pine needles, and overemphasize me T's, I'm Canadian? Well, you'd be wrong! Because I'm from Greenland!"
"A common belief Bannister wanted others to believe, but it's not true. Bannister only promotes Greenland because of its lack of self-reliance. People there are easy to control, because there aren't a lot of them. Bannister makes sure his dictatorship hoards their sorry souls and believed that people cannot be independent; they will always need someone to dictate their decisions for them. It's like a flower cannot bloom without the assistance of water and soil."
"And he sounded so convincing. He even owned a Greenland flag." Lyla sighed, staring at Perry's drawing.
"You must find him. Your quest is set. Didn't this 'OWCA' tell you to find Bannister and bring him to justice? Isn't that why you're called 'agents'?" Lady Flor en Flor asked.
"How do you know that?" Lyla asked, perplexed over the lady's knowledge.
"Where you came from shows from your point of view." Lady Flor en Flor answered. The little children started to laugh.
"I guess you have to be a little more observant, because that's not exactly what we came here for." Lyla said.
"What's the point? Lady's belief is justified!" A little boy sneered.
"I was told that we needed to go to South America, a.k.a. just over the border." Lyla answered.
"…Which means you're here to find Bannister." Lady Flor en Flor finished.
Perry stared at her. How could a lady so old and of a primitive lifestyle know exactly who they were after, and know this person as well? Perhaps it was the strange nature of the Loco Village.
"I wasn't told." Lyla noticed Perry's realization.
"The train comes in the morning. Be ready on your feet. Find Bannister, and you might just find what you were looking for after all." Lady Flor en Flor said.
"I guess that's why we're here then." Lyla turned to her partner, "More justice to deliver, eh?"
Meanwhile, in the outskirts of the village, two probe droids came up to a hulking creature in the trees, reporting its data it had stored earlier. Dennis the Rogue Agent nodded and one of the probe droids extracted an identity chip. The rabbit took the chip and scanned it with his mechanical eye. Nodding his head, he snapped it in two and ordered the probe droids to keep spying on the village. The droids acknowledged his order and floated back to the village.
Through his view, Dennis observed the behaviors of the people. There were no signs of the OWCA agents Bannister had told him about. However, the rogue agent knew they were there. If the agents tried to make themselves shelter, it would be here. Making himself at home in the tree top, Dennis awaited his chance to pounce, contemplating on the many ways of digging his staple remover-like jaws into his nemesis' flesh. He would enjoy it, and would see Perry the Platypus die before his eyes. It was either the platypus' death or Dennis' downfall.