The school bell rang and I hurried back to the usual spot when Ben, Gwen's cousin, grabbed me by the sleeve to stop me. He was wearing that green jacket I hate. It looks out of place and out of style.
"You cannot trust D'Void!" he whispered harshly so no one would hear.
"I don't!" I replied, "Why do you think that? Your grandpa and my dad want me to go there!"
He eased up a little but he still seemed angry. "I'm telling you ahead of time. Gwen told me about your research paper a month ago when you wrote it-"
I saw the metal soldier outside the door waiting for me. "Sorry, I got to go!" I shouted as I ran towards the door.
"D'Void is Dr. Animo!" Ben shouted at me as I pushed the door open. The words went in one ear and out the other as I leaped up onto the Null Guardian with the soldier and we rode towards the citadel.
How could Dr. Animo be D'Void? The picture I had seen on the internet of Dr. Animo looks nothing like D'Void. Of course, the picture had been taken over ten years ago and he was in his forties. But I highly doubt that Dr. Animo is D'Void. Why would D'Void ask about my knowledge of Dr. Animo? That indicates that he is not Animo. If he is, he's very self-absorbed to be asking about himself.
When we arrived, I decided I wouldn't ask D'Void directly. Ben was most likely lying because he was jealous. The only reason why Ben was still in school was because of Gwen doing his homework for him.
The soldier brought me to the study but D'Void was not there. The door shut behind me and I searched the bookshelves in the dim light of the fire. There were so many science books, I didn't know what to pick. I leafed through several interesting ones that caught my eye before finally sitting down to read a book about sea creatures that lived in the darkest oceans. I soon got used to the smell of the burning mineral as D'Void stepped into the room.
"What are you reading there?" he asked me as he came up to the desk. I flipped the cover over so he could read the title. "Ah very interesting," he said as he walked towards a book case, "Have you ever heard of the Kraken, Maybelle?"
"Oh, yes! It's scary to think that something that big can live under our noses," I told him.
"I heard that Dr. Animo had genetically mutated a squid to grow as big as the legendary Kraken," he turned to me, flashing an evil smile, "Possibly bigger."
"How do you know this? His research was never published or even written down. Dr. Animo kept it all in his mind. He was like a talking book!" I knew I had him now.
"Dr. Animo was a close friend of mine. He told me about his scientific advances sometimes," D'Void grinned and turned away to gaze at his books.
"You knew Dr. Animo!?" my eyes widened. He nodded. "Oh, if I could meet him just once…" I trailed off. Many kids would love to meet their favorite celebrity; I would love to meet my favorite scientist.
D'Void went silent again. He was full of confidence until now. It seems that he does that every time I mention seeing Dr. Animo. Maybe he knew something that I didn't?