A bright light flashed outside of the cantina as Alex reappeared on the teleporter plate. He sighed in relief knowing that at least now he was somewhere he was more familiar with, even if that familiarity was a begrudging one. How long has it been? His thoughts whispered. Has to have been a few hours at least, and you still haven’t accomplished anything. The boy wished he could shut down his brain sometimes the way you can switch a radio off, but unfortunately, there seemed to be a constant frequency going into his head. Gritting his teeth he walked inside the familiar bar, hoping to find his friends there waiting for him.
Alex was surprised to see that Neil was sitting over at that bar, but he was even more shocked to see that he was still talking to someone. Their eyes locked when they noticed one another, even from a distance Alex could tell that his friend was relieved to see him. “And?” WaldAcker questioned as his conversation partner went silent. “Don’t keep me in suspense! Did they execute you?”
“Oh, um, no they didn’t.” Neil caught himself. “Sophia stopped them by yelling… well, actually I think you get the drift.” He stood up to leave.
“That’s a terrible place to end a story!” WaldAcker cried, crossing his arms.
Neil didn’t want to continue his conversation, in fact, if given the option he would have never had it in the first place. “Fine, quick version is they take us up to the mountain, tell her to complete the prophecy or whatever, coincidentally the planet wakes up and starts screaming, then we leave.”
“…What?”
“Sorry man, I’ve got to go! I have… business?” He gave an awkward smile before turning on his heel and walking away without further explanation.
As Neil walked over, Alex took a seat at their usual booth. He noted how the cantina was getting empty, it was clear that Pollum Mock was already cleaning glasses- closing time was soon. The boy in the tattered coat slid into his seat and plopped his head on the counter, almost mirroring John-John. “You have no clue how glad I am to see you.” He spoke even though his voice was muffled. “I thought I was going to have to write my entire autography there for a second.”
As if on cue, Sophia strolled through the door. Alex’s eyes narrowed as he saw her, noticing her reddish eyes. She took a seat next to Neil who scooted over to give her space. “Well, we’re all still alive, that’s a start.”
“I guess miracles do happen.” Remarked Neil as he shoved his hands down the pockets of his coat. “Hey, are you okay?”
The girl rolled her eyes. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Nothing, I just saw that-” A glance from Alex told him to drop it, so he did. “What did you guys find out?”
The three all lent in as they exchanged all the information they had gathered. Everyone did their best to pay attention, but they couldn’t help but feel their eyelids drooping as they relayed their stories one by one. Sophia mostly skipped to the important bits, leaving out the parts where she and Jenny had chatted about her ‘crew’ and also the reason why her eyes were so red. Neil tried his best to remember what John-John and WaldAcker has said exactly, doing a fairly decent job. Going last, Alex recounted his story rather plainly like he was reading a report. His friends thought this was odd, they had seen him tell stories before and he was nothing if not enthusiastic and exaggerated in his tales. But now wasn’t the time to question him on his storytelling.
“What do you guys think?” Sophia asked, tapping her fingers on the booth.
You think that you’ve been searching for answers and now all you’ve found are more questions. Thought Alex. What’s the point of all this? Do you really think that you’re capable of cracking it? Are you that much of a fool?
“I don’t know,” Neil admitted, sinking into his oversized coat. “Honestly anyone of them could have done it, but we already knew that.”
“At least we know it isn’t Tim now,” Sophia said, her voice sounding pointed as she gave the boys an angry glance.
Neil glanced away, hoping no one saw how much he doubted that suggestion. “Maybe it was all of them?” He thought out loud. “They all could be in on it together, like that one Agatha Christie movie!”
Alex rolled his eyes, “you know that was a book first, right?” He couldn’t help but correct. “I wish we could just say it’s the butler or something and get it over with, but it’s only ever that simple in the movies.” How he wished that this was a film where he could just skip to the end to see if the detective solved the case. But of course, this was real life, he wasn’t a detective and there wasn’t a script he could follow. If Timothy was going to live to see another day, then they would have to do the work themselves.
A spark erupted in the ceiling as the busted screens lit up again. Instead of the familiar metal face of ARI-47, there was instead there was an oily and scrunchy face. “Hello, hello, people of the Ring. I’m sure you know who I am, but to remind some of the lesser-minded of you my name is Vander Extemorst. Recently, as you should be aware, the annual Extemorst Lottery announced its winner. Traditionally, the timeframe for turning in a winning lottery ticket is a few weeks, however, due to particular circumstances beyond our control, this time frame has been reduced to today. My assistant will be at the Extemorst Casino awaiting the winner at all hours, we would hate for our Lucky-Fortune seeker to miss out on their prize! However, if the prize is not claimed by tomorrow night, there shall, unfortunately, be no prize given. I would like to give my most sincere apology due to this change on behave of all those involved.” There was an awkward pause, followed by the sound of things clanging and shuffling around as Vander moved out of frame. “How does the stupid robot turn this bloody thing off? God, how’d I end up here, stupid piece of shit junkpile… ah, there it is!” The screens shut off.
“Jesus, are the announcements all they use those screens for?” Neil asked, his neck straining as he looked up.
Alex’s eyes flashed as he stood up from his seat. “Guys, do you know what this means?”
“Vander’s an asshole?” Sophia guessed with a roll of her eyes.
“No!” The boy cried, almost giddy. “This is the best thing that could have happened to us!”
Neil and Sophia traded looks before both uttering a mutual, “huh?”
“Don’t you see? Whoever has the ticket has to go to the casino to claim their prize by tomorrow night! Meaning, the real killer has to act now if they want the 40 million credits!” Alex slid back into his seat; things were finally looking up. “Since Timothy is in his holding cell, he can’t possibly be able to do anything- so if that ticket gets claimed we’d have irrefutable evidence that he didn’t kill Corpus Rex!”
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“If they claim the ticket.” Neil reminded softly. “I don’t know about you, but that announcement sounds sketchy. Vander doesn’t seem like he would welcome someone who’s about to bankrupt him into the ground, something has to be up!”
“It could be that he’s got the ticket and is just trying to close the case as quickly as possible,” Sophia added. “It would be a bad look for him if his ‘daddy’ found out he had let this all drag on for as long as it has.”
“In any case, this is still progress guys!” Alex smiled, but he could help but feel a flutter behind his words as if they were fragile and liable to break.
From his corner, Neil’s old habits kicked in. “What if no one does come to claim the ticket?” He spoke, almost regretting opening his mouth. “What if…”
“If?” Sophia eyed him carefully.
“Soph… what if Timothy-”
“Shut up.” She said bluntly, trying not to scream. “Neil, not everyone out there has some secret evil plot or motive, you’ve got to stop being so damn paranoid!”
Neil scoffed. “Look around us! Everyone here has a secret motive, Soph! The people around here aren’t exactly trying to become priests! What makes Timothy any different? We basically know him just as well as we know anybody else here!”
“Timothy isn’t a part of this place!” Sophia shouted, garnering a look from the very few remaining patrons. “He’s just someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, alright?”
“That seems to be a theme with him, isn’t it?” Neil barked back. “He just so happens to be sent one of the triangles, he just so happens to be able to make the Lavender start, and he just so happens to walk right into a murder scene? Sophia, you think I’m being paranoid but I’m just pointing out the obvious!”
The girl slammed her fists down on the table. “You don’t know him!”
“Neither do you!” Neil’s head twitched as he took a deep breath. “Soph, I just want you to be prepared for the worse, alright? I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Sophia’s face had gone red, and she was breathing heavily. She wanted to throw something but there was nothing around to grab. Instead, she fell back into her seat, turning her face away as her fingers buried into her palms. Again, Neil’s head twitched, he didn’t remember having that tick before his time on the Lavender but now he had gotten used to it whenever he was particularly upset.
Alex felt himself release a breath, “guys, I think we need to find someplace for tonight, we all need a break.” His friends only gave him two silent nods. “I know Pollum said we couldn’t stay another night but if we double our bribe, I think he’ll be fine. Sophia, can you give me the credit chip so I can talk to him?”
The girl grunted a yes as she slid her hand down the pocket of her green pants, her face nearly turned a similar color when she realized there was nothing there. Sophia turned and faced her friends- her expression was all that was needed to tell what was going on. Alex’s shoulders slumped, “no!”
“It’s gone.” She spoke, her heart sinking.
Neil’s face nearly went as pale as paper. “Where did you leave it?”
“If I knew that this wouldn’t be a problem, would it?” Hastily the girl fumbled her hands around her pockets like she was searching for some secret hidden compartment. “I don’t have it.”
“Damn it, what do we do?” Neil asked.
As if on cue, Pollum Mock strolled over to the booth. “We’re closing, time to get out.”
Alex stammered, “wait! Can we please just stay another night? We can pay you, just not right now, but I promise you we will!”
The bartender laughed, “kid, I said you got one night and one night only, no loitering remember?” He pointed two of his hands to the door. “Now if you’ll kindly remove yourselves from my place of business so I can close up shop in peace?”
The boy opened his mouth to protest but clamped it shut, he had nothing to bargain with. Sophia didn’t care about that though, “look, sir, our friend is in danger! Is it that difficult to just let us stay here for one more night?”
Pollum Mock now pointed two more hands to the door. “This isn’t a hotel, scraper! Now get lost before I call Mr. Ham!”
The three exchanged looks of despair as they slowly stood from their seats. Pollum watched as they slowly made their way out of the door. The one in green turned back to say something but was only greeted by the final two of Pollum’s hands pointing at the exit. Alex heard the sound of a lock being bolted as he stepped out into the street, it was an uncomfortably familiar feeling.
“Guys, I’m getting really sick and tired of seeing this street.” Sophia coughed as a bit of dust flew into her mouth.
Alex looked around like he was lost, if only there was a sign that would point him to where to go next. “Feeling’s mutual.”
To everyone’s surprise, including his own, Neil started walking away, making his way down the grungy lane with purpose. “Follow me.” He spoke- his friends didn’t have a reason not to listen.
…
A sign lay on the ground, dirt and sludge had already covered most of it by now but the words ‘H. P. Loadouts’ were just barely viable. Neil nudged it with his shoe as he came to a stop in front of the abandoned shop. “Remember this place?” He muttered with his hands deep in his pockets.
The outside of the little shop was the same as it had been before, run down, beat up, and just barely standing out in the lane of other buildings. Remnant pieces of an old AutoBlazer still sat in front of the door like hidden clues in an event that had long since been forgotten. As Neil tried the door, he realized that it wasn’t locked and pushed it open.
“How could we forget?” Sophia looked around the spot where she stood, the ‘pieces’ of the old shopkeeper had been removed from the street- or perhaps stolen. “Do you think it’s safe?”
Neil gave her a look, “of course I don’t think it’s safe.”
“But it’s probably safer than wandering out here all night.” Alex reasoned, stepping up to the door. “It’s a decent bet.”
Together the boys stepped through the open door, Sophia was quick to follow them. The inside was, to be frank, underwhelming. It looked like a gas station, but instead of peanuts and sodas, they sold laser pistols- cheap laser pistols at that. In the cramped space, shelves sat aligned with guns and knives in strange shapes and sizes. Neil took in all the objects like a mouse takes in a room full of cats. In a corner sat a weapon that appeared to be several jawbones strapped together in the shape of the musket, a leaning shelf had knives with no blades but a red button denoting some sort of ‘on’ switch, and then a section with gloves that were entirely made out of needles- like seriously, insides and all. Sophia shut the door behind her, hopefully, they could go unnoticed in here for the night, though she doubted a free business location would go unclaimed for long.
Neil found a spot in a corner of the room that was decently far enough from the more ‘distinguished’ looking items. He slid down to the floor and right as he hit the ground, he felt his body practically go limp. Sophia walked over and joined him, a similar feeling washed over her as well, it felt like she hadn’t slept in ages. “I’m sorry I yelled.” She said softly.
Neil sighed. “I am too.”
“You’re wrong about him though, you know?”
He looked down at his feet. “I hope you’re right.”
Alex hadn’t sat down, instead, he was doing what he did best- pacing. His friends gave him a questioning stare. “You guys go to sleep; we need someone on watch.” He spoke, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration.
“You can’t stay up all night, we’ll take turns on watch.” Suggested Neil.
The boy shook his head, “I’m fine, I need to think.”
Sophia watched as her friend walked up and down the thin isle of the hut, “you’re trying to solve it, aren’t you?”
“What else can I do?” Alex pleaded. “He’s got hours to live, I can’t afford to waste any!”
Neil and Sophia exchanged worried glances, “well, if you do decide to rest, just wake one of us up and we’ll take over for you, alright?”
Alex simply nodded in response. The truth was that he didn’t think that he could sleep even if he tried. The pressure was building in his chest as his mind raced to see if he could pick up on some forgotten clue. He knew that if luck was on his side then the murderer would reveal themselves when they claimed the winning lottery ticket, but that just seemed too easy. If life had taught him anything it was that luck was certainly not on his side and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong. Keep thinking Alex, go ahead. Maybe you’ll be able to convince yourself you did all that you could after he dies.