The room was dimly lit, and the faces of those around me would have been nearly invisible if I didn't have my new vision. The atmosphere was heavy, and the silence was deafening. It was only occasionally cut by the sound of ruffling papers. The man who stood at the apex of the semi-circle slowly rifled through his papers before arriving at the one he seemed to want.

After a brief inspection filled with mumbling and humming, he finally seemed to be satisfied. As he looked at me, the expression worn on his face was one of boredom. This was routine to him. Something that had been done before and would be done many times in the future.

Loudly he cleared his throat before addressing me."Benjamin Francis, former Owner of T.J.M ltd and multiple other real estate properties. No history of violence or bad records from former administration or staff and perfect clean internet history." He took a pause as he grabbed a glass of water and drank.

The next couple of minutes was filled with ramblings as he went over what was essentially my perfect record. I had never done anything illegal, ever. At least not what was known to the world. No history of drug addiction, abuse, or anything of that sort. My record was impeccable. Something that they should be well aware of.

Once the ramblings of the man were over, he looked up from his paper and stared at me. His gaze was piercing, but given I had no eyes to look into his own, the effects were minimized.

"The problem we have with you, Mr.Francis, is that your record is perfect.... too perfect. Not a single act that could be considered less than morally good can be found in your history. Whether that be electronic or otherwise. No VPN usage, no racial slurs thrown around. Generally polite. Apart from your use of Marijuana in high school and college, there is nothing wrong with you."

"Thank you?" I wasn't quite sure what to make of the evaluation. This wasn't something that people usually said. I hadn't ever been scrutinized for having a good record before. "I do try to keep myself on the right side of the law."

He nodded. "It would seem so." There was a brief, almost imperceptible exchange of gestures with one of the members to his left before they adjusted themselves and cleared their throats. It was a woman who looked to be in her fifties. With brown hair, grey eyes, and a particularly devilish quality to her face, she was a fascinating sight to behold.

"Mister Francis, we would like to know the purpose of your visit to the Hôpitaux Hospital on November the 13th of 2094." Her voice was sweet and soothing. So much so that I was put on edge. Her question did not help with that.

"Curiosity got the better of me, Miss..."

"Lovelace"

"Of course, miss Lovelace. Given my recent run-in with death in the form of my cancer. I had been contemplating more on death and its meaning. Somewhere in that contemplation, I was urged and tempted to visit the hospital. So I did." I put on the most nonchalant voice I could. In reality, I was already ready to "pretend" and get out of here.

"Is that so, Mr. Francis." This time it was a man who looked to be in his younger years that spoke up. He sat at the left end of the semi-circle table.

"It is." He looked at me, a look of suspicion clearly on his face.

"Then can you perhaps tell us why you didn't take your time and observe or talk to any of the sick inside the hospital..." Dread ran through my body as he spoke. My qi was already racing through my body. This could not lead to anywhere good.

"... instead, you proceeded to walk past all that and walked to the backyard. It is shown on the camera that you reached into the air, grinned, and then walked back into the hospital. For someone looking for answers about death, that seems like a mighty uneventful trip." The look of amusement and confidence on his face was rather annoying. He thought he had trapped me.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"People experience things differently from others. What might look like a meaningless stroll to one person might be a profound moment of realization to another." The eyerolls I received were slight but were noticed.

These people had already made up their minds. They were just going through the formalities. Shame, here I thought I could access this world without any issues.

"That's all quite philosophical of you, Benjamin, but our analysis shows us something different." It was Davinci who spoke this time. He sat at the far right side of the table."Our analysis shows that anomalies 02 and 03 disappeared from existence around the same time you walked into that backyard."

"I think you might have the wrong man. Coincidences can happen."My reply was quick and smooth.

"That's what we thought..." He seemed to glance at the other members before pressing on a button. A holographic image filled with multiple various colors popped up in front of him. It was nearly illegible, and I could not make any sense of it.

A couple seconds later, the colors started to arrange themselves and formed a setting I was all too familiar with. The mountain and the trees created by the holograph were none other than those from the woods near me.

"As you can see, anomaly 02's spiritual particles paint the picture of him sitting in the woods for hours before getting up and entering your cabin." The scened played out as he spoke.

"At the same time, your spiritual energies exploded in quantity. Something that is usually a sign of death." I could only watch in fascination as the images played out in front of my eyes. Yet, I was not unaware of the guard's outside. Nor was I unaware of the shimmering outline of what were seemingly invisible guards within my vision.

Davinci continued on his speech as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, but that was clearly false. They all had guns with them. Underneath their shirts were combat armor, and I could see the turrets whirring as they got activated. "After he cleans up the scene, rather expertly, if I may add. He leaves the mountainside, but then there is a spike in necrotic energy."

He looked away from the hologram and turned his attention to me. "Necrotic energy is used in processes of resurrection, Mr.Francis. You are no natural-born Dullahan. There is no evidence of you even being a Dullahan anywhere within your files. You don't emit the same Spiritual signals as most of you supposed kind." He took a deep breath before continuing onwards.

"Do you have anything to say to that?"

"I'm not quite sure what exactly you expect me to say. You've clearly already made up your minds. The guards are outside, and you're all armed to the teeth. This is all just acting, going through the motions of things."

"And that is where you are wrong." My attention shifted back to the man in the middle."These are but precations. This world is much more dangerous than most realize. Anything less than what is here today would be folly on our part." He leaned forward as he continued his speech.

"Benjamin, we are not looking for enemies. We have enough of those as they are. We are looking for allies in this world. It's not our intention to take you in without due process, but we need to know everything."

"And what's in it for me. Apart from the fact that you don't erase my memories."

"That depends on what you want."

There was a silence as I contemplated what was happening.

They were all calm but ready. Leaving would likely put me on the wanted list.

They would search for me, and I wouldn't have to deal with them and the other two, all while my access to the fulcrum was severely hampered. Making enemies of them wasn't wise, but I wasn't sure how to talk my way out of this.

Any lie I told would hinge on them not asking the two other anomalies questions. Something that likely wouldn't happen. Eventually, I would be found. So, in reality, my options were to either stay and potentially be discovered later after their capture or escape and have them after me nearly immediately.

Neither was tempting.

The silence persisted for a while before I allowed myself to speak.

They all waited patiently. "My actions at the hospital might be strange, but it was for a reason. These souls are tainted. They're not from this realm. The original souls of those two people that died are no longer there. I knew about it because I'm not from this universe, but I don't want to do what they are."

"And what might that be?" Davinci's voice was low. The faces of the others ranged from confusion to curiosity.

"They are scouts."

The man at the head of the table leaned back into his chair and pulled out a cigar from his pockets, and lit it up. "Continue..."