When Simon checked on the Void that morning it was still asleep. The Void mumbled in its sleep Simon noticed. Most of it was unintelligible but he did manage to hear the name Hazel come up quite a few times. Yes, Hazel. Perhaps the person Simon had the most conflicted feelings on. When he'd first captured the Void Simon had considered sending out a manhunt for that null and wheeling her just to push the Void toward it's breaking point but ultimately he'd chosen not to.
After all, Hazel was under the care of that stooge of the false conductor and he had no doubt that the old woman had plenty of tricks up her sleeve along with a general distaste for him so it wasn't worth the risk. Besides, that would have been a low blow even by his standards, he had better methods of hurting the Void. But, being reminded of the null that had been under his and the Void's care ignited something in Simon. The Void was likely worried about Hazel and was desperate for information about her. Simon weighed his options in this effect. Ultimately, he was envious of the null despite her less than human status. In only a few weeks of traveling with them Hazel had managed to unravel what he and the Void had spent eight years building.
In addition Simon was also perhaps a little jealous of the child. After all it had been her who'd driven a wedge between him and the Void in the first place; her who had stolen the place beside the Void that he'd once held. Though considering the Void's true nature perhaps that was something he should have been grateful for. Simon all things considered did desperately miss the connection he and the Void had once had. He'd truly felt once that the Void was the only person who he could ever love. Maybe he still felt that way. But Simon was uninterested in that train of thought at least for now.
And besides that thinking about Hazel and the events she'd set in motion once again brought his mind to that stooge of the false conductor. She'd had the highest number Simon had ever seen but he was sure he'd surpassed it by now. Numbers were power and he was no doubt more powerful than her. Perhaps now he'd be able acquire some of her technology, and maybe some information on Hazel as well. Getting information on the fate of the null the Void had attached itself to would either please or upset the Void. At this point either was useful to Simon. The Void would likely be asleep for quite a while longer, long enough for him to make a quick trip out a few cars to try and find Amelia and get back without much trouble. Simon ascended the escalator and addressed his loyal followers.
"Apex, I have an announcement to make. I will have to depart the car and will be gone for the next two days. In the meantime all of the rules still apply and if I find that they were broken there will be consequences." he announced. The children murmured to themselves below him some confused and most excited at the prospect of two full days of peace within the car lacking the tension that Simon brought to it. "As for the Void," he continued, "I will be selecting a trusted member to be responsible for it's food while I'm gone." He looked over the crowd and selected a member. "You." he said, gesturing to a girl with red hair. "Can you recite the rules in regards to the Void?" he asked. The girl nodded.
"No talking to the Void, no using the Void's false name, no entering the Void's prison." she recited from memory. Simon nodded.
"While I am away you are responsible for the Void's food. Is that understood?" He asked. The girl nodded. He didn't bother to try and remember her name. There were so many Apex kids and he was never good with faces alone. That had been the Void's responsibility when it had been in power. Simon went to his room to collect the necessary items for his short journey to gather information and hopefully some of the old woman's technical know how. After he'd finished he addressed the children one more time. "Don't disappoint me." he said, both a reminder and a warning. And with that he set off towards the direction he'd seen the old woman and Hazel head off in.
Checking his tracker based on how high the woman's number was when he'd last interacted with her Simon had determined that she wasn't too far away, which had made him confident about this whole trip in the first place. If he was correct she would only be a few cars away and hopefully along with her the null who had managed to destroy years of work without even trying. As Simon traveled he considered the fact that he was doing this and questioned himself. He didn't need to go see the old woman and learn the secrets of her technology. He was doing this almost exclusively for the Void. Simon believed that in a way he loved the Void despite it being far less than human.
He was constantly conflicted between wanting to make the Void care about him like it used to and wanting to hurt it. Perhaps that was why he'd chosen to keep the Void alive rather than wheel it. He wanted the Void to feel how he felt, to both hate and need him. That after all was likely a fate worse than death, to be desperately in love with someone who you wanted to see dead. "If the Void was here it would probably tell me that what I'm describing isn't healthy." Simon mused to himself. He did enjoy his conversations with the Void even if most of them consisted of the Void hating them. He could accept that; he could live with the Void hating him if it meant he still took up space in it's mind. Simon found that his train of thought about the Void was quickly cut off when after entering another car he found himself face to face with that Amelia woman.
"Looking for me?" she asked annoyed.
"How did you-" Simon began before being cut off.
"After the incident with you tracking me last time I added a feature to my device that let's me know when I'm being followed. Now, what do you want with me you little puke?" she asked annoyed. Simon looked at the woman frustrated. How dare she treat him like an inconvenience when he had the highest number on the train.
"Listen, I want two things from you; your sound shield, and information about Hazel." he said seriously. Amelia stared at him before bursting into laughter.
"Are you kidding me? You want my sound shield. No. I made this thing to protect myself from ghoms and evidently, little pukes like yourself. And as for Hazel, according to her you spent the entirety of your time together being indifferent to her at best and actively hateful at worst so I find it hard to imagine you want information on her status for anything good. Please give me one good reason I should listen to you instead of blasting you back to whatever godforsaken car you came from." Amelia said. Simon smirked, at the very least he'd had a response prepared for this.
"My number is higher than yours and therefore I'm more powerful than you. Really it's in your own best interest to listen to me." he said casually. Amelia looked at him, seemingly noticing how high his number had gotten at that moment. She stared at him in shock but not in fear.
"My god, and here I thought you were just behaving the regular level of shitty for a teenager. If that number is anything to go by you would have had to do something truly awful." she said to herself now seemingly ignoring Simon in favor of trying to decide what he could have done to get his number to jump that high. "I mean in all my time on the train my number increased gradually, a build up over a thirty year carrer of doing things I really shouldn't have but you, it's only been a little over a month since I last saw you and it's gone up that much." Simon looked around awkwardly as Amelia scribbled something in her notes.
"Are you going to give me what I asked for?" he asked perplexed as Amelia continued ignoring him in favor of writing notes. Amelia looked back up at him and laughed again.
"No. Why would I do that? Though I have deduced that the only way you could have gotten a number that high that quickly was sustained awfulness likely to a person you really shouldn't have been awful to. Considering the fact that the girl you were with; Grace I think, seemed to be the only person close to you I'd have to conclude that it has something to do with her." she said, finishing up her notes. "So, what horrific thing did you do that poor girl." Simon denied her claim.
"Nothing, at the very least nothing that's any of your business. I went to go find you because she wanted to know about Hazel." he said.
"I call bullshit, you were mad at her when I took Hazel, and if you're as volatile as you seem to be I have no doubt you're capable of doing something horrific so I'll ask you again. What did you do to that poor girl." Amelia asked again, seriously. Simon rolled his eyes.
"Nothing that wasn't warranted. Besides I love Grace, I wouldn't hurt her for no reason." he responded. Amelia gave him a dark look.
"I am quite sure whatever version of love you think you feel is some warped combination of entitlement and unhealthy attachment. Hazel is fine, you're not getting anything else out of me. And now that I'm sure you're up to something I don't doubt I'll have to come and put a stop to it." Amelia sighed. "I'd really love to just kick the sense into you now but I do have a job to do so if you could stop wasting my time and go take your issues elsewhere." she said packing up her things and heading for the car exit.
"Wait! You can't just leave, I have a higher number than you, I outrank you." Simon explained. Amelia rolled her eyes.
"Numbers aren't power dipshit there issues and you've got a lot of them." and with that Amelia was gone leaving Simon in an empty car and with a day's journey back to the Apex. He'd disregard everything she'd said of course. Who was she to try and lecture him about what constituted love when according to her she'd spent years of her life creating a weird clone of her dead boyfriend. He grabbed his things and began trudging back towards the mall car still frustrated at Amelia's comments about him. Loving people was all about looking past their flaws and Simon still loved the Void despite it being a horrible blight on the train so that had to count for something. He just had to remind himself that everything he'd done had been justified considering the circumstances. The fact that he wanted to break the Void's mind was something that was necessary. In his opinion, deeply despising the person you were in love with wasn't a contradiction, it was a bonus.