“Weren’t you part of the plan?” Ariane burst into laughter as she saw how Shin’s expression almost crumbled.

“I must’ve missed the ballet thing during planning,” Shin gave her a deadpan glance, immediately recovering.

“You will get used to far stranger things if you work with him long enough,” Ariane dismissed the remark, “Though introductions are in place, aren’t they? Everyone, albeit a bit late, Dante here is being added into your little group. From the left they are Julian,” she pointed at the blonde boy, “Andrew,” she pointed at a timid looking dark-haired boy, “And Katerin. You would do well to remember them,” next came a redheaded girl, staring absentmindedly, apparently still deeply startled by the previous events “Of course, lastly Shin, my right-hand man,” naturally, she also introduced the eldest of the bunch, “He is going to show you around and explain your situation. The fun is over, return to your rooms,” she gave the teens a glance and they quickly nodded and skited out of the room through both the doors, leaving only Dante and the two people in charge behind.

“So, what happens now?” Null asked. His situation was uncertain at best.

“Welcome to the Zoo,” Shin stood up with his completely blank expression and approached Dante, “A project to gather teens with certain talents and then develop them. Follow me,” he said and left through the door Damien had previously used. Dante went after him, sparing one last glance to Ariane which remained in the room, once again inspecting him with a firm stare.

“What do you mean by develop?” Dante immediately asked as they walked down a short and thin hallway, doors occasionally placed on both sides.

“That depends on the person,” Shin replied, “The girl Damien took away, Melusine, had a prodigious talent for tinkering with computers. That is after all why she thought she might’ve gotten away with bugging our machines. Had she not betrayed us, she could’ve received safe experience as well as advice from some of the best hackers under Damien’s employ,” they reached the end of the hallway and walked down a stairway, “Julian has wit and charisma combined with moral ambiguity, he could become a sleeper agent or choose any other vocation dependant on persuasive deception. Andrew is an exceptional accountant, already better at hiding dirty money than most with a decade of experience. Katerin has a passion for studying the law and finding loopholes, clear potential for a capable lawyer. Each has the potential to become an important cog in the machine of Damien's empire.

“And me?” the duo went along another hallway of scattered rooms until Shin stopped and opened the door to one numbered 25.

“Sit down,” the tiny room only had a simple bed and a drawer in it, otherwise it was completely hollow. Shin waited for Dante to lay on the bed before he continued, “You are a pickpocket and a very impressive one at that, maybe the only one who ever got one over Damien. Though whatever you were getting on your own is small in comparison to what you can manage as a part of an organised group. People are carrying valuable things on them: Phones containing priceless information, flash drives with schematics word millions on the black market or heirlooms they are more than willing to buy back. So, you are probably going to learn how to work with others for starters. With the people who identify the targets and then properly exploit the gains. Perhaps discover another talent or two along the way.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“How long will that take and more importantly where,” Dante followed up. Did that mean he was not allowed the leave whatever facility they were in or perhaps the supervision on him might be limited. He had to tell Pete that he was alive and make up some excuse to Lucy for why he didn’t show up for dinner.

“The others came completely voluntarily, with nowhere else to go, this place became their home,” Shin said, his expression still deadpan, “Though your case is a bit different. Although you can technically go wherever you want, you are going to be under much stricter scrutiny and I will discourage you from leaving at all for the time being, just to avoid any suspicion. Traitors are not treated kindly.”

“I can imagine,” Dante stopped the gulp. Perhaps that was Damien’s intention all along. He knew about the traitor and could’ve secretly removed her but instead he had shown everyone else in the group that beating him in a game of wits would be difficult. Two birds with one stone, he removed the hidden threat and intimidated anyone who might consider following in her steps.

“Can I at least have my phone back, to send a message?” Null sighed. Shin didn't appear to be the man to just randomly 'heavily discourage' something.

“Phones are far from secure if you don’t know how to use them and unsupervised devices raise suspicion” Shin glared at him. Or at least appeared to, it was difficult to tell from his emotionless face, “However, I heard you are close with Pete and the old fox. I could deliver a message.”

“I am surprised you would know about them,” Dante raised an eyebrow. Perhaps Shin could’ve investigated him beforehand in the little time between his capture and forced recruitment but the familiarity with which he spoke of the two was off. Even the nickname ‘old fox’ Pete was so keen off was used.

“My task is to know things. As many as possible,” Shin gave a vague reply, “You should sleep or I can get you a book if you can’t.”

“Something about magic?” Dante tried, not actually hoping for a positive answer.

"Are you a mage?" Shin asked, though not sounding actually curious.

“No, but Ariane said I might have the talent,” looking back, how exactly had she come to that conclusion? In fact, she even figured out his chaotic nature, something he barely understood. Thought it was hardly something Null would dare ask.

“So you want to give it a knack," Shin didn't doubt how Dante came to be aware of magic in the first place, "You are not the first, nor the last, though most give up midway. I can bring you exactly what you have in mind, though you shouldn’t stay up for too long,” Shin said and quickly left the room.

Dante sat on the bed and then lied on his back. In the past few hours, he had been nearly killed, kidnapped, threatened, heard of what was basically a terror attack and saw someone dragged off towards certain death. Yet even in that situation he still found the silver lining. Damien seemed volatile, however, Ariane who would be the one really handling Null for the foreseeable future seemed reasonable enough. If it allowed him to learn the magic of which he could not find even a proper trace before, it would be well worth a few months or years of working for them. And who knew what would come once years passed. Magic could change his life after all.