Chapter 62

Inside the room, Kaufman hummed, causing the curtains to flow like water, cluttering for no one to see.

“It certainly reminds me of many things.” He said to himself. “Where does the truth lie, and where do the lies start? What has that pair initiated, or what had they left? Did they leave the boy away for his own good, while never giving him a second chance? No. What have they planned if that's what was so important to them? Viktor... I think you made a tremendous mistake and it came back. Or was it always been around and waiting for a comeback? How far did that Incursion come to its fix, or what had it hidden? Hell... where have I even been back then?”

Those were the wonders he couldn't ask William. There was probably nobody who knew them anyway unless he would try really hard. Unfortunately, Kaufman didn't like tough work. Not anymore. He was too old for that crap. At least with people, one had to think twice about their feelings, and what he should be doing was not going too quickly, or running into nasty conclusions.

Glancing at Anna, who was furiously drawing countless spheres into a single page, mumbling, and making circles inside of them, he wondered if she was of some use. Surrounded by these spheres, there was a single creepy eye that looked over her and into her, drawn all in black.

“You might want to take a breath, missy,” he suggested and Anna breathed.

“Too wondrous! So much depth!”

“Your talent is surprising and also nauseous. No wonder you ended up in the Emblem Association. You fit right in.”

“Thank you very much,” she said fervently without looking at him,

“That wasn't a praise.”

“Oh,” She didn't stop drawing. No. She couldn't stop anymore. Her pen was decreasing, and whatever was before her couldn't fit into a single double-spread page of her notebook. She was making a mess. Kaufman was curious about what would end up creeping out of the physical paper, but there was not much space left. She was turning into a horror as well, making her eyes cloudy, her voice murmuring some nonsense, and her drawing started to deteriorate.

“Stop.”

Anna stopped and glanced at him. Kaufman leaned forward and patted her head, shimmering something within his Emblem.

“Now, tell me everything you know about William Gale. His story, what you've seen, and met. Leave no details untouched, including Luke, for as long as something matters, one thing could always see a thing or two in hundreds of pages of trash.”

Anna's pupils changed into white spherical lights. Her breathing calmed, her hands stopped quivering and even her pen dropped. She started reciting everything she knew about the past week, leaving nothing intact, while still holding onto her notebook that still had its eye surrounded by countless lines and little orbs.

Kaufman very much liked this little gift. It was too bad he couldn't do the same thing with Luke or William, though he wished to do it.

“This will be amusing. Might as well stay here until the Examination and deal with everything that is bound to happen. Is it owed, or karmic? Have Viktor foreseen this, or hoped for nothing? Nah. They wouldn't leave that boy to go through what he did. Not like that. No parents would do that... or... they had a choice. Amongst many.”

Kaufman was lost in thoughts as he listened to Anna's story that might go through things he didn't want, or couldn't care less about.

But he listed anyway because there was no stopping her mouth today.

***

Walking back to the staircase, William released his hands and tried to relax. It was surprisingly easier when he left the room because he didn't even realize his tensed-up arms came off as anxious. As he talked to Kaufman face to face, it left many things stressed.

Luke led him through the same hall and reception, where the lady didn't even bother them and let them leave. Luke didn't forget his papers and left the building. Outside, he took a deep breath and hated how Mi-Yung handled this matter. How could she leave this matter with Kaufman of all people? Something was very fishy about this; Luke was nearly certain that Kaufman forced it.

He would scold her later, or could he even do that after everything that she had done? Luke doubted that. There was nothing better to do than accept these circuses no matter how shitty they made him feel. He will go away and wait for her return.

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“What now?” William asked.

“It seems like I am forced to take care of you. For the time being and regardless of Kaufman of all people. Remember this. I am a soldier foremost and not some caretaker. I am a busy man, so you will have to look out for yourself in the Federation and discover this place. It's not my business to meddle with your kind. That is something others forgot... to include. Damn, Mi-Yung. I bet she knew this would happen and pushed it to me alone.”

William hummed, walking as they left the place. “I have no problem with figuring this place by myself. I got used to life Outside, camp after camp, or people after people, or... well, places. I traveled a lot. Some city like this won't stop me so you don't have to force yourself to help me.”

“Bold words. This is no city. It's like many countries put together. However, it would be best that you are right. Don't get lost though. I have to check my team first and see if they did what they had to do. Follow me. I want this to be over before the sunset.”

“Alright. By the way, who is Mi-Yung to you?” William nodded and asked one question that had been on his mind for a while. It seemed there was much more to her name after listening to him and Kaufman. She might be very important and the one who looked for him for a decade. Was it related to his family? He wasn't Korean; he was rather white.

“She is my wife...” Luke said plainly.

“Wife? A Walker?”

“Yes? Is it a problem? Who else? Oh, wait... You don't know. You will see her soon, so don't have your hopes high with me. When you see her, you will get it. Now, let's go.”

William found satisfaction with his answer and watched orange clouds over the closest horizon. There was a nice breeze and the sky was rather clear. This was unlike the Canadian weather for sure, even when summer was coming better than ever.

A Federation, huh? William wondered, realizing he knew no one in this place. I guess I shouldn't sweat too much about anything and do it as planned. Learn, grow, and become a proper Walker, right? Danny would be proud of that more than myself, wouldn't he? Well... how to think of my parents? I should've asked Kaufman more about them.

That old guy appears very important and curious. Like, what the hell did he want from me and that offer of his? Perhaps a barter of words would have been a good idea. I wouldn't talk for free since that old man was strange and wanted me for something. What? Did I even make it out in one piece? I even talked about some things without realizing it. I feel like meeting him again might not be great. Oh, and there is also Anna left, isn't that right? Where is she?

As he pondered further, he was already far from that building where Anna would keep talking. William spent the next hour walking and checking the military base with Luke. During that time, there was nothing bothersome besides dealing with Melia who half-assed her task. By some miracle, she managed to deal with Marcus and his group, sending them to some place where officials dealt with them.

It shocked Luke if was honest with himself. He expected to deal with something worse upon his return, yet nothing worse than some grunting superiors appeared. Zep was the only one who was glad over his return and that nothing weird happened to him or William. He cheered he was in one piece.

No one troubled Luke's team, which was surprising, considering what they stole, or was it more about that weird timing that multiple people already mentioned? Luke was yet to know about it, while no scolding happened to them about anything either. It seemed the storm calmed, or that black-clothed man from Academy pushed it under a rag.

Again, the whole timing might be a good disaster that changed multiple interesting parties.

Luke wasn't entirely honest with his team about this mission, but they knew how these could go, come with unnecessary fits, and conditions, or they might as well stay hidden. And that was a story that not everyone needed to know. Luke had known.

Mi-Yung's intervention and outstanding task assumed interesting imposition that meant more obscurity than this, but Luke was forced to give her away. There was no other choice. Priorities were where they had to remain and there was even some officer from the Central Side of the Emblem Academy. That suggested Principal. A big shot that Luke didn't want to piss off.

William walked until the sun hid under a sight that shocked his core. There, among the flat lands of the military base, the cloudy sky was full of pink and orange clouds, unlike the place with more buildings. The sunlight beamed from those clouds, painting the sky in a stunning picture as night approached.

Night touched on rather sensitive objectification of darkness, colors, and dangers. A lot of Darks became more active when nighttime arrived. Still, be it that or day, it meant nothing more than calling calamity a cataclysm.

Slowly, they moved away from the military bases, leaving it and ascending a path onto a defensive hill that hid this base from the rest of the Federation. There, over a simple elevated hill, he saw highlighted Federation thanks to the night, stars, crimson moon, and many lights. That sight followed the clouds, shocking William until his mouth gasped and his feet stopped moving.

“Is it that bad?” Luke asked him, almost trying to make a joke.

William watched the Central District at first, which was the core of the Federation that held the highest buildings. He could see South, East, West, and North Districts as well, stretching from the Central District and making one coherent piece of land that was at some point a small island about fifty square miles large.

This is bigger. Much bigger. This place is almost thirty years old.

Where? How did they manage it? There were high-rise buildings and a view like the pictures from the older world. Well, that was false. He saw New York City a while ago and that massive place was enormous and impressive, almost dwarfing this place if it weren't for Corruption and overall doom.

William couldn't see anything bad or right. The military base was poor in comparison as well. He saw streets full of modern buildings, numerous residential, and business streets, and lights from lamps or buildings created a great picture.

There was almost no proper ground, though some greenery was here and there, coming from trees. A lot of buildings reached hundreds of feet into the sky, and he counted at least a hundred of them at first glance.