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Taking Leave

The warm air relieves us as we enter the roughed-up metal door of the garage. I plop myself onto the big purple sofa located in the corner of the room and sigh. Mac doesn't even sit down and begins to pace around the room while in deep thought continuously. The whole garage falls silent after a couple of seconds, and all that is audible is the gentle hum of the central heating and the subtle 'plip plop' of a water pipe leaking into a conveniently placed bucket underneath. I slump in my comfy seat, and, in retaliation, the couch consumes me.

Mac finishes his slow lap around the room and comes to a halt in front of the couch. I struggle to get my body out of the sofa's clutches and sit upright in a formal manner. My eyes peer up at the mountain of a man standing in front of me.

The silence finally breaks as he takes a deep breath and utters, "Okay. My mind is clear, and I'm ready to start the discussion, Sachi."

This is it: the big talk. I am not sure how I'm going to handle this, but knowing Mac as well as I do, he'll probably try to keep it simple with me to avoid any waterworks. If his tactics fail, then I hope this exchange won't get too emotional.

"Before we begin, I want you to tell me something, and please be honest," He started, "Were you eavesdropping on me and my brother's conversation in the kitchen today?"

I swallow a lump in my throat and mumble, "No."

"Heh," He scoffs, "You are a terrible liar. I saw that long-ass ponytail at the bottom of the window."

I look down at my boots in utter embarrassment.

"Although," he continues, "You are surprisingly difficult to read, you know that? You got yourself one hell of poker face, girl."

"I'm sorry."

Mac sighs, "It's alright - It's fine. I wanted to talk to you about what's going to happen."

"You're leaving."

He lowers himself onto one knee and looks downward, "Yeah, uh... I'm leaving, yes," he pauses but quickly ads, "B-but only temporarily!"

"Where are you going, though?" I ask him.

"I can't really... disclose that information with you, Sachiko."

"But why?"

"It's confidential; I'm not allowed to relay my mission info to outsiders like you."

"Outsiders? What are you talking about?"

"Listen to me," He raised his deep voice, "Where I am going is none of your concern, and I will hear no more questions about it! Understand?"

"Mac!" I finally snap, "Quit being so secretive! Just tell me where you're going, and stop leaving me in the dark here!"

Stolen novel; please report.

He raises his eyebrows upon hearing me shout like that. They drop back down into his natural scowl, and he stands back up to assume authority with his height.

"God damn it," He grumbles, "Fine, I will tell you everything."

"Thank you," I say, crossing my arms and looking off to my right for a brief second.

"I work for Umbra. It's an underground resistance working to expose the government's true intentions to the general public of Altai by any means necessary," Mac says in a slightly hushed voice.

"A resistance against the Altai government?" I ask, "Why are they against the government?"

"Well, to be more precise, Umbra is mainly opposing the Senate as well as the Altai Science Division. Those scientists in that massive tower of theirs are the ones who want your blood."

I shiver at the thought.

"Furthermore," Mac continues, "We've gotten intel that the president of the division, Nilo Xerxes, gave the order to have every flawless apprehended and brought to the facility to be used for medical research. Specifically, to develop a cure for Erado."

"Erado?" I ask, still lost.

"You kiddin' me?" He chuckles, "I can't believe you haven't heard of the lethal, limb-rotting virus that has already infected about half of the city's population."

'Hang on. Erado? A limb-rotting virus?' My brain says to me, 'It sounds so familiar, but I just can't seem to remember where I've heard of it.'

I try to rack my brain about where I've heard of Erado. I press my two index fingers lightly on my temples and attempt to remember. I close my eyes, focus hard, and... Nope, I got nothing. My head began to throb like it did this morning. Erado must be something I forgot when I hit my head.

My headache settles down and Mac clears his throat, "Umbra has just sent me an email going into detail about my new mission. I'm being ordered to leave my post here, and take a ferry to Sobo. I'm supposed to research the Science Division's affairs off-planet; There has been rumors of illegal mining and theft of hazardous materials as of late."

"Hazardous materials like what?"

"We believe it's some sort of otherworldly metal capable of generating infinite electrical energy," he rests his hands on his hips and continues, "But if you ask me, It sounds like a bunch of bull. There's no such thing as a source of infinite energy."

"Oh, I see."

Mac nods then pauses for a couple of minutes. My eyes drift over to the right, and I notice the big silver suitcase he sat next to the door is still open. Inside the case is a neatly folded black jumpsuit similar to Zac's but smaller.

"Hey," I try getting Mac's attention, "What's with that black jumpsuit you have over there? Looks a lot like the thing your brother had on when he came into the diner today."

"Oh, that?" He turns his head, "That's my suit. It's like a uniform Umbra makes us wear."

"Really? It doesn't look like it would fit you."

"One size fits all," He chuckles, "So, believe me, it fits."

Becoming interested, I ask, "Can I try it on before you go?"

He quickly responds with a stern, "No."

"Fair enough," I say pouting.

Mac walks over to his desk and sits down at his computer. I twisted my head towards him from behind the couch to see what he was doing over there, and before I could see what he was doing, he stood up.

"I will leave for Sobo at midnight," He says, "I will keep you company until it's time."

"Alright," I reply, somewhat consoled, "Thank you, Mac."

He smiles, says, "You're welcome," and sits next to me on the sofa.

Mac and I talk for the rest of the night...