Chapter 3
People walked the mall almost naturally. I just stood and watched, slowly drinking a chocolate shake and checking my watch from time to time. It was hot out, and the air conditioning wasn't really working. Even in a tank top it was annoying. The good news was that if Zechs didn't show up soon I could leave. He was already a half hour late.
"Alex?" a man said as he walked up to me.
I just looked at him a moment. He was short, two inches taller than me as a guess. His hair was black and short and his eyes were dark, I couldn't tell exactly what color. He was the type of guy you'd look over as if he wasn't there, but you'd remember his face if you actually looked at him. He seemed to be almost trying to look normal, when at the same time he was kind of off, though I wouldn't be able to figure out how if I guessed all day.
"Can I help you?" I sounded as bored as I felt.
He nodded. "Actually, yes," the man said, "you most certainly can." He held out his hand while saying, "My name's Hector, Zechs sent me. He couldn't make it." I looked at his hand, then back to his face.
"Hello," I said, not taking his hand. He shrugged and shoved it back into his pocket. "Hector? Never heard of you."
He laughed while shaking his head. "Not surprising, not surprising at all. You probably haven't heard of a lot of stuff, but I'm not here to tell you. I'm just supposed to bring you somewhere so Zechs can meet up with ya."
I glanced at my watch. "He never said anything about someone showing up in his place, and nothing personal, but I don't trust strangers."
Hector nodded, "Perfectly understandable. But will you please just come anyway? We're only in town for a couple of weeks, and Zechs told me to try to not be persuasive, so I'm going to leave it at that."
I raised an eyebrow. "He said that?"
Hector shrugged again. "Don't know if it was verbatim, but that's the idea."
"Well then," I said, "sounds like Zechs to me." Could I trust the guy? I don't know. But something felt right about him, I didn't seem worried about him lying. "Where are we going?"
Hector motioned me to follow him. "My car is right outside, it's a hotel we're staying in tonight. They're supposed to wait for me to get back before going anywhere, but we shouldn't procrastinate just in case."
He turned around and sped off. I followed quickly, skipping every few steps to keep up. He really didn't want to be late, but I think he was walking a little too fast. We passed the stores and left the mall. Hector stopped walking when he reached a little red geo. Somehow he'd managed to get a parking spot close to the entrance.
He pulled out the keys, "Wanna drive? I don't have a license and I don't to take the chance of being pulled over."
I shrugged. "Sure," I answered. Excepting the keys I pulled open the door and slid into the drivers seat. Hector walked around to the other side. I waited until he was buckling his seat belt to say anything else. "Um, for the record, I don't have a license, either. But I've been pulled over a few times before so the officers won't mind me much. I kind of have immunity, sort of."
"Basically you won't have to go to the police station?" Hector asked.
I nodded. "Yep, that about covers it," I replied.
"Mind if I ask why you don't have a license?"
I turned to look at hector. "Mind if I ask why you don't? And why you're driving without one?" I inquired. Hector laughed, not answering, but that was okay. Neither of us had to say anything. And other than Hector giving me directions neither of us did until we got outside of the city limits.
"So when was the last time you saw Duo?" Hector asked.
I glanced at him. He didn't seem to really care, and once again I wasn't worried with him. I answered, "Well, I think I saw him yesterday, but I'm not sure. The last for sure time was roughly three years ago on the space colony Delta421."
"Yeah, I think he said something about that. It was an Oz colony, right?" he asked.
"Yeah. It was," I murmured. Hector looked at me, I didn't look back. Suddenly I was deep in thought. I tried not to think about the colony much, but it came up at times.
Hector asked, "Want to say anything else? You don't have to. I was just wondering what you two were doing there. I think Duo was in jail, but he never talks much about that."
I hesitated. Did he really need to know? But did it matter if he did? I truly didn't care, and the problem was no one else did either. Most people didn't want to hear what had happened. Eventually I sighed. "It was a complicated time period. I don't even know what's up with what he was doing. I know he was planning an escape, but that's it. Before I got to the colony I thought he was dead. But I had joined Oz, kind of as a spy, and only got to see him twice. Once when I got in trouble and was sent to guard duty, and once when a friend took me to see him and ask a few questions. I never figured out how he escaped."
"A friend took you to see him? They did know he was Duo, not just anyone could get in to see him," Hector said, not quite asking me to explain but hinting at it.
"His name was V, Vince, Vince Barton, Mathew Barton's son. He was one of the first guys I met in Oz. I think he was the only real friend I made, not counting Zechs, but we were kind of friends before that."
"You made friends with Barton's son?" Hector asked, then whistled. "You must have fooled everyone. I heard this Vince guy was a psychic. Must have been really weird."
I raised an eyebrow. How'd he know Vince was a psychic? It wasn't common knowledge. And if it wasn't common knowledge he knew more than he was saying. Once again I stared at Hector, examining him. He was gazing out the window, indifferent to my assessment. And I suddenly wanted to know what else he knew.
"Not as weird as you might think," I murmured, "but I doubt you really need me to explain him."
Hector glanced at me, a look of confusion on his face. "Huh?" he asked.
"Nothing, I just figured that if you really wanted to know about him you wouldn't need me, you probably know more than I do, or at least just as much general information," I stated indifferently.
"Why do you think that?" Hector asked as he propped himself up against the car door.
I shrugged, wondering if I should just say I knew he was lying. He was trying to act as if he knew nothing, and I was getting tired of it. "So how many people knew he was psychic, and how would I know that?"
Hector opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it as he thought. "I'm guessing that's a rhetorical question and you really don't want an answer, but I could estimate."
"No need for that," I murmured. I glanced at him again, before continuing. "So what all do you know?"
"Everything I could find on a computer. 'Twas my job to look into the Barton's when we were involved with them, but that was a while ago. I could tell you family, schools, training, positions, but nothing really personal," Hector explained.
I thought a moment before asking my next question. "Family? V never mentioned anyone but his dad."
Hector blinked. "Really?" he said. "That's funny. He had three brothers and two sisters, all had a different mother than him but five siblings would normally come up in a conversation."
I had to agree, and to wonder why he never said anything. Neither of us had been big on talking about family, we had avoided the subject, but I had mentioned my brother, or, as I should say, Conway's brother. When I had joined Oz I had taken the name Thomas Conway. He did exist, somewhere, I don't know exactly where, and neither did Oz. He had one brother and parents. His parents had been blown up on their colony while his brother had been killed in combat. But V had never mentioned his family.
Yet I could still find out. "So, can you explain the family situation?"
Hector just looked at me for a moment before nodding. "Well, Mathew had been married three times, the first time to Meredith Barton. She divorced him four years later, taking her two sons with her. Mathew didn't put up a fight, not seeming to care whether or not she had the boys. Then he married Cassandra, who died about a year after Vince was born, I'm not sure how. They had been in the middle of a divorce and a fight over Vince. Mathew was still married to Susan Barton when he died. She had three kids, obviously, one boy and two girls. Susan didn't seem too upset when Mathew died, but her three children were."
"Not the best choice in wives," I muttered.
Hector laughed, "Nope." We were silent a moment, then he said something. "So, if Vince was your friend, why'd you blow him up with the colony?
I froze, suddenly finding the road very, very interesting. Yet the question hung in my mind. I knew the answer, he had been dead already, but it hurt to be reminded. I could still see him dying, yelling at me to leave. And knowing that there had been nothing I could do. I wanted to kill Mathew a million times over for letting that happen, but I had to settle with once.
"He. he was dead before I left the colony," I told Hector.
Hector blinked. "Oh, well, that explains that question." He thought a moment. "How'd he die?"
I opened my mouth, shut it, and then opened it to answer him. "Mathew killed him, he didn't pull the trigger, but more or less he killed him." My voice sounded harsh, hinting on becoming hoarse. I didn't like talking about the colony, but I had no reason not to. Other than the fact that it hurt, but I would get over that.
"Oh," Hector wasn't sure of what to say. "So you blew up the colony to kill Mathew?" he asked.
My lips twitched as I held in a smile. I had figured out what he was trying to figure out. He wanted to know why I blew up the colony, and he was taking his time in getting the answer. But I would tell him.
"No, Mathew was dead before I left the colony, too." I explained. "I think he was even dead before Vince, but Mathew's death was rather quick."
Hector looked at me with surprise, not expecting the answer, and a little unnerved by it. He was having a hard time thinking of another question, but he found one. "So you didn't blow it up for revenge on Mathew. Were you trying to get revenge on someone else?" he was puzzled, but wanted to know.
My head snapped towards him, not caring about the road anymore. My eyes held anger and I bit my tongue not to let out a full glare on him. "I would never, ever, do that. Not for such a silly, selfish reason," I said coldly. I'm sure Hector didn't mean to tick me off, but that was a pretty accusing question.
"And what good reason do you have?" he snapped, getting angry also. "What reason would justify killing them?"
I turned my glare to the road before Hector could see the rage building up. I didn't want to unnerve him, well I did, but I knew it wouldn't be a good thing. My glares could be very unnerving, and not always good. But I wanted to hit him, and it seemed like a not too good idea. Not when I was driving.
"I said I wouldn't do that for a selfish reason, not that mine was a good one." I muttered.
"Well, no one ever heard your excuse. We were all left to assume."
I laughed gruffly, it sounded almost fake. "Why give excuses?" I asked. "They're dead, I killed them. They would have died anyway, but maybe some could have escaped, even though not many would have, and those who did probably wouldn't have been civilians. The head of Oz would have escaped, ignoring the innocents that they would leave behind," my voice was harsh and angry, but I didn't really care.
Hector's face softened a little, his mask of anger dented by confusion. "Died anyway?" he asked.
Mentally I yelled at myself, while at the same time congratulated myself on not flinching. I wasn't supposed to have said that. I wasn't supposed to hint. Too many stupid people would try to recreate the virus that would have destroyed the colony. Mathew had secretly been working on it, only a select few even knowing about it. All were supposedly killed when the colony was destroyed.
"It's nothing," I murmured at the same time Hector said, "Turn here." And we both were given a break from the conversation as we pulled into the hotel's parking lot.
Alas this is another chapter I don't find too interesting, but I got it out sooner than I expected. In any case I hope you like it, and I forgot to say thanks for the reviews. So thanks, and I'll try to get the next chapter up asap.
~Rave
People walked the mall almost naturally. I just stood and watched, slowly drinking a chocolate shake and checking my watch from time to time. It was hot out, and the air conditioning wasn't really working. Even in a tank top it was annoying. The good news was that if Zechs didn't show up soon I could leave. He was already a half hour late.
"Alex?" a man said as he walked up to me.
I just looked at him a moment. He was short, two inches taller than me as a guess. His hair was black and short and his eyes were dark, I couldn't tell exactly what color. He was the type of guy you'd look over as if he wasn't there, but you'd remember his face if you actually looked at him. He seemed to be almost trying to look normal, when at the same time he was kind of off, though I wouldn't be able to figure out how if I guessed all day.
"Can I help you?" I sounded as bored as I felt.
He nodded. "Actually, yes," the man said, "you most certainly can." He held out his hand while saying, "My name's Hector, Zechs sent me. He couldn't make it." I looked at his hand, then back to his face.
"Hello," I said, not taking his hand. He shrugged and shoved it back into his pocket. "Hector? Never heard of you."
He laughed while shaking his head. "Not surprising, not surprising at all. You probably haven't heard of a lot of stuff, but I'm not here to tell you. I'm just supposed to bring you somewhere so Zechs can meet up with ya."
I glanced at my watch. "He never said anything about someone showing up in his place, and nothing personal, but I don't trust strangers."
Hector nodded, "Perfectly understandable. But will you please just come anyway? We're only in town for a couple of weeks, and Zechs told me to try to not be persuasive, so I'm going to leave it at that."
I raised an eyebrow. "He said that?"
Hector shrugged again. "Don't know if it was verbatim, but that's the idea."
"Well then," I said, "sounds like Zechs to me." Could I trust the guy? I don't know. But something felt right about him, I didn't seem worried about him lying. "Where are we going?"
Hector motioned me to follow him. "My car is right outside, it's a hotel we're staying in tonight. They're supposed to wait for me to get back before going anywhere, but we shouldn't procrastinate just in case."
He turned around and sped off. I followed quickly, skipping every few steps to keep up. He really didn't want to be late, but I think he was walking a little too fast. We passed the stores and left the mall. Hector stopped walking when he reached a little red geo. Somehow he'd managed to get a parking spot close to the entrance.
He pulled out the keys, "Wanna drive? I don't have a license and I don't to take the chance of being pulled over."
I shrugged. "Sure," I answered. Excepting the keys I pulled open the door and slid into the drivers seat. Hector walked around to the other side. I waited until he was buckling his seat belt to say anything else. "Um, for the record, I don't have a license, either. But I've been pulled over a few times before so the officers won't mind me much. I kind of have immunity, sort of."
"Basically you won't have to go to the police station?" Hector asked.
I nodded. "Yep, that about covers it," I replied.
"Mind if I ask why you don't have a license?"
I turned to look at hector. "Mind if I ask why you don't? And why you're driving without one?" I inquired. Hector laughed, not answering, but that was okay. Neither of us had to say anything. And other than Hector giving me directions neither of us did until we got outside of the city limits.
"So when was the last time you saw Duo?" Hector asked.
I glanced at him. He didn't seem to really care, and once again I wasn't worried with him. I answered, "Well, I think I saw him yesterday, but I'm not sure. The last for sure time was roughly three years ago on the space colony Delta421."
"Yeah, I think he said something about that. It was an Oz colony, right?" he asked.
"Yeah. It was," I murmured. Hector looked at me, I didn't look back. Suddenly I was deep in thought. I tried not to think about the colony much, but it came up at times.
Hector asked, "Want to say anything else? You don't have to. I was just wondering what you two were doing there. I think Duo was in jail, but he never talks much about that."
I hesitated. Did he really need to know? But did it matter if he did? I truly didn't care, and the problem was no one else did either. Most people didn't want to hear what had happened. Eventually I sighed. "It was a complicated time period. I don't even know what's up with what he was doing. I know he was planning an escape, but that's it. Before I got to the colony I thought he was dead. But I had joined Oz, kind of as a spy, and only got to see him twice. Once when I got in trouble and was sent to guard duty, and once when a friend took me to see him and ask a few questions. I never figured out how he escaped."
"A friend took you to see him? They did know he was Duo, not just anyone could get in to see him," Hector said, not quite asking me to explain but hinting at it.
"His name was V, Vince, Vince Barton, Mathew Barton's son. He was one of the first guys I met in Oz. I think he was the only real friend I made, not counting Zechs, but we were kind of friends before that."
"You made friends with Barton's son?" Hector asked, then whistled. "You must have fooled everyone. I heard this Vince guy was a psychic. Must have been really weird."
I raised an eyebrow. How'd he know Vince was a psychic? It wasn't common knowledge. And if it wasn't common knowledge he knew more than he was saying. Once again I stared at Hector, examining him. He was gazing out the window, indifferent to my assessment. And I suddenly wanted to know what else he knew.
"Not as weird as you might think," I murmured, "but I doubt you really need me to explain him."
Hector glanced at me, a look of confusion on his face. "Huh?" he asked.
"Nothing, I just figured that if you really wanted to know about him you wouldn't need me, you probably know more than I do, or at least just as much general information," I stated indifferently.
"Why do you think that?" Hector asked as he propped himself up against the car door.
I shrugged, wondering if I should just say I knew he was lying. He was trying to act as if he knew nothing, and I was getting tired of it. "So how many people knew he was psychic, and how would I know that?"
Hector opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it as he thought. "I'm guessing that's a rhetorical question and you really don't want an answer, but I could estimate."
"No need for that," I murmured. I glanced at him again, before continuing. "So what all do you know?"
"Everything I could find on a computer. 'Twas my job to look into the Barton's when we were involved with them, but that was a while ago. I could tell you family, schools, training, positions, but nothing really personal," Hector explained.
I thought a moment before asking my next question. "Family? V never mentioned anyone but his dad."
Hector blinked. "Really?" he said. "That's funny. He had three brothers and two sisters, all had a different mother than him but five siblings would normally come up in a conversation."
I had to agree, and to wonder why he never said anything. Neither of us had been big on talking about family, we had avoided the subject, but I had mentioned my brother, or, as I should say, Conway's brother. When I had joined Oz I had taken the name Thomas Conway. He did exist, somewhere, I don't know exactly where, and neither did Oz. He had one brother and parents. His parents had been blown up on their colony while his brother had been killed in combat. But V had never mentioned his family.
Yet I could still find out. "So, can you explain the family situation?"
Hector just looked at me for a moment before nodding. "Well, Mathew had been married three times, the first time to Meredith Barton. She divorced him four years later, taking her two sons with her. Mathew didn't put up a fight, not seeming to care whether or not she had the boys. Then he married Cassandra, who died about a year after Vince was born, I'm not sure how. They had been in the middle of a divorce and a fight over Vince. Mathew was still married to Susan Barton when he died. She had three kids, obviously, one boy and two girls. Susan didn't seem too upset when Mathew died, but her three children were."
"Not the best choice in wives," I muttered.
Hector laughed, "Nope." We were silent a moment, then he said something. "So, if Vince was your friend, why'd you blow him up with the colony?
I froze, suddenly finding the road very, very interesting. Yet the question hung in my mind. I knew the answer, he had been dead already, but it hurt to be reminded. I could still see him dying, yelling at me to leave. And knowing that there had been nothing I could do. I wanted to kill Mathew a million times over for letting that happen, but I had to settle with once.
"He. he was dead before I left the colony," I told Hector.
Hector blinked. "Oh, well, that explains that question." He thought a moment. "How'd he die?"
I opened my mouth, shut it, and then opened it to answer him. "Mathew killed him, he didn't pull the trigger, but more or less he killed him." My voice sounded harsh, hinting on becoming hoarse. I didn't like talking about the colony, but I had no reason not to. Other than the fact that it hurt, but I would get over that.
"Oh," Hector wasn't sure of what to say. "So you blew up the colony to kill Mathew?" he asked.
My lips twitched as I held in a smile. I had figured out what he was trying to figure out. He wanted to know why I blew up the colony, and he was taking his time in getting the answer. But I would tell him.
"No, Mathew was dead before I left the colony, too." I explained. "I think he was even dead before Vince, but Mathew's death was rather quick."
Hector looked at me with surprise, not expecting the answer, and a little unnerved by it. He was having a hard time thinking of another question, but he found one. "So you didn't blow it up for revenge on Mathew. Were you trying to get revenge on someone else?" he was puzzled, but wanted to know.
My head snapped towards him, not caring about the road anymore. My eyes held anger and I bit my tongue not to let out a full glare on him. "I would never, ever, do that. Not for such a silly, selfish reason," I said coldly. I'm sure Hector didn't mean to tick me off, but that was a pretty accusing question.
"And what good reason do you have?" he snapped, getting angry also. "What reason would justify killing them?"
I turned my glare to the road before Hector could see the rage building up. I didn't want to unnerve him, well I did, but I knew it wouldn't be a good thing. My glares could be very unnerving, and not always good. But I wanted to hit him, and it seemed like a not too good idea. Not when I was driving.
"I said I wouldn't do that for a selfish reason, not that mine was a good one." I muttered.
"Well, no one ever heard your excuse. We were all left to assume."
I laughed gruffly, it sounded almost fake. "Why give excuses?" I asked. "They're dead, I killed them. They would have died anyway, but maybe some could have escaped, even though not many would have, and those who did probably wouldn't have been civilians. The head of Oz would have escaped, ignoring the innocents that they would leave behind," my voice was harsh and angry, but I didn't really care.
Hector's face softened a little, his mask of anger dented by confusion. "Died anyway?" he asked.
Mentally I yelled at myself, while at the same time congratulated myself on not flinching. I wasn't supposed to have said that. I wasn't supposed to hint. Too many stupid people would try to recreate the virus that would have destroyed the colony. Mathew had secretly been working on it, only a select few even knowing about it. All were supposedly killed when the colony was destroyed.
"It's nothing," I murmured at the same time Hector said, "Turn here." And we both were given a break from the conversation as we pulled into the hotel's parking lot.
Alas this is another chapter I don't find too interesting, but I got it out sooner than I expected. In any case I hope you like it, and I forgot to say thanks for the reviews. So thanks, and I'll try to get the next chapter up asap.
~Rave