[REND] B2. 3.5 - The Importance of a Corkboard

I leaned back in my seat, calming my breathing so Ramello wouldn’t notice that I was bothered. I reined in my racing brain. Process everything slowly.  

It couldn’t be Tower Cop’s actual intention to turn me into an informant. Spying on possible Adumbrae? Ramello was right—Tower Cop wouldn’t endanger a cute and innocent girl like me in that way. Which means that Tower Cop didn’t believe I was completely innocent. Unlikely that he suspected me to be an actual Adumbrae, or he wouldn’t have bothered approaching me in the first place. Why talk to an Adumbrae, right?

Still, he must think I knew some sketchy stuff about Reo and the others. Something like their group was trying to recruit me. I bet Tower Cop saw us heading to New Hope. Really sketchy.

So… what was Tower Cop’s real intention with me? Wouldn’t talking to me alert our group?

Perhaps that was his plan—get a reaction from us.

After the docks mission, our group decided to keep a low profile. By contacting me, Tower Cop did manage to make us move. He didn’t need to tail any of us all the way to Poblacion Verde Hills. Only a single road led there. He only needed to watch the path branching from the main street. The moment Myra or Reo went down that way, it’d confirm we were meeting at Deen’s place. Reo’s motorcycle was quite recognizable.

Our meeting confirmed we were up to no good, whether we were drug-using youngsters or something worse. If Tower Cop did see Reo do something inhuman, it’d be the ‘something worse’ part.

Does Tower Cop think that we have something to do with the docks thingy? Very possible. He contacted me only three days after it. If he didn’t think we were involved, it would’ve taken some time before he’d wonder why our group was avoiding each other.

I got the feeling that Tower Cop had enough information to arrest us. At least, Reo. If Tower Cop personally saw that ponytailed idiot using superstrength in public or whatever, he could’ve used a bioscanner on him. I expected Tower Cop to have a portable one. There was a jurisprudence ruling that ‘stop and scan’ didn’t violate the Constitution if it was based on ‘reasonable suspicion’. But Tower Cop didn’t do that because—

“Erind, are you alright?” asked Ramello, disturbing my thoughts. “I’m truly, truly sorry about this. I don’t know why my uncle—”

“Let’s listen to the lecture,” I said in an annoyed tone. I was baiting Ramello into ‘making up’ for his uncle’s supposed nonsense that was annoying me. Though I still hadn’t decided on how to use Ramello.

After Professor Bansa had finished reading the list of states, he took off his glasses and set them on his laptop. He cleared his throat as he looked at the class. “But there was a time when the EFIT was used on a large number of people. A dark time that was. 1971… I was a young lad. A Purple Bloom was found under Detroit. It had been a couple of decades since a Purple Bloom had appeared on American soil by then.”

Oh, that Purple Bloom. I couldn’t remember the name they gave it. Steelmother? Something like that. It had merged the automotive factories of Detroit with its biomass, birthing half-metal, half-biological monsters.

One of my granduncles wouldn’t shut up the Steelmother. He wasn’t even anywhere near Detroit at that time, yet he talked about it like he was a survivor. If I do become a Purple Bloom someday—please, please don’t let that happen—I hoped they’d give me a badass name.

“I was a child at that time.” The professor paced in front of us.

I was surprised he was capable of walking during class. I thought this guy was legally required to stay in place until our dismissal because that was what he had been doing since the start of the semester. Did memories of his terrible past bother him that much? The class stirred from our stupor to observe the professor.

“Our family lived in Milford, you see,” said Professor Bansa. “A small town in Oakland County, about an hour away from the heart of Detroit by car. This with the older vehicles, by the way. Well, one can no longer drive a car to Detroit since it is an exclusion zone. It all happened so fast. One day, we had news of an Adumbrae rampaging through a factory in the big city. The next day, two more. A week later, tanks came rolling by. Corebrings and planes flew overhead. The military was evacuating us. I never saw that house again.”

The class didn’t know how to react. It was awkward seeing the normally statue-like Professor Bansa becoming emotional. I also realized how lucky I was to live in such a peaceful time.

Lucky until I became an Adumbrae.

Or maybe I was still getting lucky. This Adumbrae life was quite fun.

“What was our topic again?” Professor Bansa snapped his fingers. “Ah, the Eloyce Field Integrity Test. As the presence of the Purple Bloom of Detroit was confirmed, everyone was suspicious of all survivors fleeing the city. EFIT, a new technology at that time, was used to check each person before they were allowed to pass the blockades. If they had a crumbling link, they were turned away, even if they were completely human. Thousands weren’t allowed to leave the exclusion zone. Our family had forty-three relatives trapped inside. We kept a list.”

Was Professor Bansa’s voice cracking? Getting more awkward now. I didn’t know about other people, but I was personally weirded out if a teacher displayed emotions. The professor must’ve experienced pretty tough times.

What was life back then, with a Purple Bloom hanging around?

I’d probably just get eaten by a monster. Although I thought of myself as the main character, I also wasn’t delusional. Whenever I’d watch zombie movies, I knew I’d be one of the zombies. But given my accomplishments so far, I might’ve been selling myself short. I think I could’ve survived Detroit’s Steelmother.

And I’ll survive Tower Cop too, I thought, giving Ramello a sidelong glance. He was looking at Professor Bansa, who started to tear up.  

“They all died,” said Professor Bansa. “Killed by monsters. Or killed by Corebrings killing the monsters. Collateral damage.” He heaved a huge sigh. “There was a massive backlash against the government’s handling of the situation. The EFIT was shelved. A resurgence came when the Luku Purple Bloom appeared. Many clamored for its use on Hawaiian refugees arriving on the mainland. This is where we have the case of Kalani vs State of California—Mr. Staten had explained its holding about the right against self-incrimination vis-à-vis the EFIT.”

Ramello sat straighter when his name was mentioned and winked at me. Super immature. We were both in our twenties and should act our age. I think he was a few years older than me.

Professor Bansa cleared his throat as he checked his watch. “We still have fourteen minutes, but I suppose we can end the class early and have a rest.”

I hurriedly packed my things and briskly walked out of the classroom, making it seem that I wanted to avoid Ramello. As expected, he chased after me. It made me feel powerful. I was waiting for him to do this—he should want to talk to me, not the other way around. And then, I could ask him for a favor.

“Erind, can we talk?” Ramello held my arm.

I scowled at his hand touching me. It was a genuine reaction.

“Sorry, sorry.” He let go of me. “I just want you to know that I had nothing to do with whatever it is uncle’s doing. I… I shouldn’t have introduced you to him.”

“It all started from there, didn’t it?” Piling the blame on him.

“Ah, yeah. It’s all my fault. If there’s anything I could do to fix this. I’ll talk to my uncle about this and—”

“Do you know what this is?” I held up one of my keychains. “This character with the long nose?”

“Looks familiar.” Ramello frowned. “Uh, isn’t that Pinocchio? His nose grows long when he lies, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t want to get lied to,” I said. “Lying is exactly what your uncle is doing to me. I don’t know his real intentions, but he’s obviously investigating my new friends. Not sure if Myra’s group is really sketchy or not because I’ve known them only recently. But I don’t want to be lied to just the same, and I especially don’t want to be involved in whatever investigation it is your uncle’s doing.”

“I’ll talk to my uncle to stop bothering you.”

“He has already bothered me. And don’t let him know that I was complaining to you. Not a good look, as if I’m trying to cover up something.”

Ramello jerked back. “What? How is this covering something up? You’re innocent, and we have to fix this so that the police will leave you alone. If we can sit down with uncle, I’m sure this’ll all be—”

“No,” I firmly interjected. “How about this? Figure out why he’s investigating Myra and her friends for? Is it something with Kelsey? The fourth Adumbrae thing? If I know what’s up, I can be careful not to incriminate myself. Hmmm, it’s just like our lesson on self-incrimination. Anyway, don’t directly ask Sgt. Hall, alright?”

“Yep, I get it,” Ramello replied with a nod. “I’ll figure it out without him knowing. You can trust me.”

“I hope so.” I squeezed Ramello’s arm before joining the sea of students. With that, he had joined my corkboard.

-----

The cold wind washed over me as I sat on top of the train. The sky was clear, and I could see the stars. This could be a good music video. Too bad I didn’t know how to sing.

It was almost eleven in the evening, and I was headed to Marsh Row. I made sure no one was following me, but I couldn’t avoid getting seen leaving the condo building. The important thing was that they—if anyone was actually keeping watch—wouldn’t know where I was going.

“Could I have left through my window?” I wondered.

I lived on the twenty-second floor, but I wasn’t going to jump straight down and break my neck despite my tough body. Just leap to the roof of the neighboring building and climb down its side. However, if someone observing my room’s window saw me climb out and perform superhuman feats, that was an automatic game over.

I wore a brand-new red hoodie that I ordered online. I bought it along with other colors to disguise the purchase in the off-chance that someone was hacking my device. One could never be too sure when the police were keeping an eye on me.

Am I settled on revealing Blanchette to Overdrive? I reviewed my plan, which might be a bit reckless in favor of exciting drama. I figured that Overdrive’s group would be easier to manage if I didn’t pretend that Red Hood and Blanchette were separate individuals.

Yep. Manage. I wanted to manage a gang.

Since the 2Ms were out of the picture, even if temporarily, I considered moving in to be the top predator of the La Esperanza criminal underground. I had defeated the alpha, so I’d be the alpha. That was how it worked with the social structures of various animal species.

And I should put Red Hood, who could turn into Blanchette, at the top of the hierarchy.

I had wanted to keep the identities separate for a layer of protection, but someone was bound to put two and two together that we were the same person anyway. We both wore fucking red! No point keeping up the charade. Like, I appreciated the drama and misunderstandings that pretending to be different people could produce, but I couldn’t do much manipulating, given that Blanchette couldn’t talk.

Word of what happened at the docks should’ve spread to the dregs skittering around Marsh Row. Overdrive and the gangsters would respect and fear me. Taking over this place should be easy.

Take over… and then what? Take a cut of the drug trade and other illegal stuff?

No. I didn’t want money. I wanted the power.

Why? Because bad guys in movies often sought power, I decided to try it for myself.

Not saying I was a bad guy—just a curious girlie who was a bit innocent with how the world worked. If I didn’t like power, I’d simply walk away. Mom always told me to get my introverted ass out of the house and try new things—just paraphrasing. She should be proud of me right now.

I wandered around the empty roads of Marsh Row, with only my tiny flashlight, the dim half-moon above, and the occasional flickering, but still working streetlights to illuminate my path. This place had always been dark at night, but it seemed darker now for some reason.

Awfully quiet too. I hadn’t encountered any person since I had left the train. It made me doubt my usually reliable memory. Was I going the wrong way?

I didn’t think so. This was Upper East, the part of Marsh Row controlled by Overdrive. And that was the building I had previously climbed to search for his base. I scaled it to survey the area.

“Huh, nothing…” Last time, I had spotted an explosion of lights, signaling the ongoing party at Overdrive’s place. Too bad there was no party tonight to guide my way.

I headed in the general direction which I remembered Overdrive’s base to be, keeping my eyes and ears alert. If Overdrive transferred bases or had died, I’d be really pissed. I bought a new hoodie and spent hours maladaptively daydreaming for our meeting!

A sharp crack disturbed the silence of the night.

I stopped hopping over the squat buildings. The hell was that?

Another echoing pop. More. Guns? Layered gunfire. Several people seemed to be shooting at each other. I did the most sensible thing and headed toward the noise. I needed someone to be my guide.

Finally, people I could question! Reaching the scene of the gunfight, I didn’t jump off the rooftop just yet. I peered down the street to observe.

One group had cornered another in an abandoned bar, its broken sign dangling down over its door. The armed men on the street numbered around a dozen, taking cover behind their pickup trucks while firing at the bar. Two sports cars—a two-seater and a four-seater—were parked in front of the bar. They were riddled with bullets. What a waste. Going by their rides, there should be five or so people inside the bar.

“Teflon, get of there!” shouted a gruff voice who sounded like he chewed rocks. “Surrender if you want to fucking live and live fucking!”

Teflon? That was Tattoo Sleeve! What had he gotten himself into this time?

Time to make my appearance and save them.

(Author's Notes: Small edit to the previous chapter. I shifted the date of the Eloyce Field discovery to 1968, making it older. 1986 is too recent. I also edited the Hawaii Purple Bloom that Overdrive had mentioned to come a decade after the Detroit one. I'm just sprinkling some more world-building tidbits with a bit of personal touch in Bansa's story. And what's Tower Cop's real goal? But for now, we're going back to Marsh Row.

I uploaded this chapter as soon as I finished it because I'm not sure I'll be able to do so later. There's a storm in my country, and power's been knocked out. I have internet on my phone, but just in case, I'm publishing this chapter now. Thank you all for your support!)