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After an embarrassing amount of back and forth I’d have to erase from the security footage before anyone dared to see it, I allowed Kaleo a chance to rest for the night. Though my eagerness almost overtook my common sense, the smartest option would be to give the young man time to gather himself. Time to recall everything of importance regarding SoX, and time to prepare myself to analyze his words. That way the next meeting of the Saturni Specialty Division would be fair and even for us all with as little repetition as possible. In addition, I’d like to be prepared in case Kaleo’s testimony showed holes—you never knew.

That, and I couldn’t possibly recover from such a humiliating show…

I meant—heroes. Amazing. Cool. Coolness rested in my soul. We all knew already. I was the greatest, wasn’t I? Reasoning with even the most violent of souls, nary a bead of sweat on my forehead.

When morning came, someone knocked on my office door to deliver a handwritten note.

As I thought, due to that stupid news report my friends didn’t inform me of, Bella left me a message so I knew Sunny and her would be late by a couple days (and of course, no mention as to WHY). Hopefully I could take some measure of control over the case before those two could overrule me—they did take the issue to the Delta Six first, alas. For the sake of convenience, I registered Kaleo as a member of my personal division, as a protected witness—which, by all technicality, I had as his official designation while in our custody. A witness. Who I protected. His crimes were to be handled after all loose ends were tied up.

For now, I would keep the team reassured, connected, and steady. To ensure we performed at optimal condition, it appeared some team bonding was in order! Now that I felt certain our team remained, a new problem to pursue with my capable combatants.

Once I dressed and prepared, I stepped outside my office after I meticulously updated my case notes for hours and checked my email. I sent out a mass message requesting a one-on-one meeting with everyone in the SSD earlier that morning. Optional, of course, but surely everyone would be eager to converse with a legend such as I. People longed for the chance to learn about history, no?

No, it didn’t seem so.

Barely a peep, even by late afternoon. I received one reply from Charya, which said nothing but: ‘omgIWTBITSLS 6 PM?’.

Gods forsaken, I possessed little clue as to what she said, but…6 PM. At headquarters? I did leave everyone instructions to speak to the receptionist when they arrived, so I assumed she would come to me and moved on. Otherwise I needed to consult someone closer to Charya’s age, and I knew a project to crack such modern riddles would occupy my mind until late at night.

After all, I had many other important matters to attend to. I finally figured out a problem with my old office mini fridge! Now that its cooling capabilities were functional, I intended to make good use of it by visiting the local convenience store to stock up on as many energy elixirs (Coffee was simply not a good enough word for such miracles) as my phone could carry.

The closest one displayed various neon signs, which read: ‘INSERT EYEBALLS IN MOUTH’, ‘You got bills? We have ducks’, and my favorite: ‘U STORE IT WE SELL IT’. What entertainingly vague marketing schemes. This time, though, a crowd gathered in front of it, and at the very center of the storm, a face I least of all expected to see.

“Okay, one more,” Dori said. “Twenty more bucks and I’ll go five out of six.”

Cool and unaffected as always, in his hand he held a pistol. A top hat laid at his feet, upside down and filled with money. As an onlooker tossed a bundle of coins in, Dori slid a bullet into the chamber and snapped it shut. He turned the barrel to his head and nodded to the crowd.

“If I die, drag my body down the street in an epic street race ‘till my face is like, a pancake,” he said—wait, why was I simply standing here!?

I ran forward and vaulted over the crowd with a leap, a flip, and another flip until I landed in front of Dori. His eyes only widened slightly as I grabbed his gun holding wrist and made damn sure I pointed it at the ground.

“All of you, get out!” I yelled at the onlookers, who didn’t need me to say anything at all if the sound of a fleeing stampede meant anything. A half-minute passed by the time most stragglers cleared out. From there, I put pressure on Dori’s wrist until he let go of the gun.

I pushed him off and grabbed it before it hit the ground. “Now what was that? Were you trying to kill yourself for the entertainment of strangers?”

When I looked him in the eye, he looked away.

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“No,” he mumbled and shoved his hands in his pockets, “Was bored, so…I just didn’t think you’d show up. Would’ve been fine.”

Rather than speak, I opened the chamber and poured out the bullets. Five out of six slots were filled with real bullets, not a trick or a twist in sight.

“…Probably,” he moved to rub the back of his neck, “sorry if I worried you. It’s like—okay, I had a trick in mind. The gun’s modified to stop any bullet coming out. Fixed it up myself. ‘S pretty cool, actually, but I wouldn’t, uh…mess with it yourself. It’s finicky. Sometimes fails, but that’s what makes it fun.”

I crossed my arms. If he wanted to command a battle of wills, then I had more than enough to best any foe. Him included, if his continued chatter to justify himself was evident enough.

“I mean—okay, fine, was…sorry,” he said again and sighed. “If I buy ice cream for us, pretend it never happened?”

“I can barely understand what you mean when you only say half a sentence,” I said, and smacked him on the shoulder. “Do you truly think ice cream is going to get me to overlook your suicidal thrill seeker actions I just bore witness to?”

Wait a second…

“Is that why you agreed to be the bait? For the excitement of it all?” I said in a lower voice. He shrugged and narrowed his eyes at me.

“Listen—I’m not suicidal,” he said. “Swear it. Just get bored. Life is boring, the same thing constantly, so sometimes I like to do something…fun? Dangerous, I guess, but we all die someday. If it comes tomorrow, or in years, who cares. What’s the saying? C’est la vie.”

I clenched my teeth. Did he utter some other slang term I never heard of?

Dori jolted and pulled on his scarf so it muffled his mouth.

“I mean—I made that up,” he said. His mouth curved into the smalled frown I’d ever seen. “…Please, just forget this happened. By the way, I, uh, got your email…Forgot to reply, but if you really wanna hang out, I’ll say whatever you want. Just don’t call emergency services and put me on a list, that stuff is so lame.”

I wouldn’t describe being under suicide watch as lame, but I lacked the time to handle this among all the other issues I had to account for. Oh, such as the dangerous illegal weapons slash trafficking trade I mobilized this group towards stopping. We all made our concessions, and in his case, I would need to personally keep a close eye on him.

Another mystery—I truly chose the oddest people.

“Fine,” I said, “But if I see anymore dangerous street stunts, I will intervene.” I handed him back his pistol, and he took it and put it in his pocket.

“Great,” he said, face immediately slipping back to a disaffected look, “but I still want ice cream, so let’s go.”

A long time passed since I indulged in some sweets. Almost as long as the last time I saw street performers taking up Amieres Roulette as a desperate way to earn money. Luckily it’d been outlawed for centuries, but those in the depths of misery would do anything to toil for a living.

Or…those like Dori.

Oddly enough, Dori had his own nickname for it…Russ-inn? He didn’t elaborate when I prodded, so I let it go. Someone likely concocted a slang term for the game’s resurgence I only learned of now. That must had been it! Nothing evaded Erna Dee Belmonte.

After small bouts of conversation followed by our sundae feasts, my bowl grew empty, and I chose to breech our earlier topic of conversation again. We relaxed at a table outside of the sweets store, so I had no better moment to ask than now, before he escaped.

“Do you engage in these sort of dangerous behaviors often?” I said. Dori was in-between bites when he dropped his spoon and looked back at me.

“Depends on who’s gonna hear about this,” he said.

“No one but I,” I said and put a hand to my heart. “Leader’s vow.”

“Not sure how that holds up in court, but I’ll roll with it,” he said. He picked his spoon out of his cup and pushed around the half-melted remnants of his ice cream.

“Soooo…I used to work as an English professor,” he began. “But some stuff happened. Got a divorce, and then I kinda sorta had an early mid-life crisis where I realized I was both extremely boring, and really bored. I quit my job, sold my car since my wife took the house, realized I wasn’t into women, then decided I’m gonna joyride with my spendings doing whatever I wanted. Almost died a few times, ran out of money, decided to get a job which’d let me do something fun for once.”

He pointed his spoon at me. “Bam. And before you think ‘m only here for the thrill of it, I’m not. You’re all about being a hero and stuff, right?…Helping people. I’m cool with it. Like seeing people happy…”

“That’s nice of you to say,” I said. I leaned back in my seat, my mouth running ahead of my brain as I continued.

“There are too many people in this world who think of themselves first,” I began, “and it pains my heart to see such disregard. Not everyone has the will to throw themselves in the line of fire. I fought precisely so no one should have to, but a simple act of generosity is all that is needed from people—yet many refuse. I hope, whatever kindness you have, you keep those embers of care kindled so they warm those around you.”

“…’k,” he mumbled, and hid his face in his scarf once more. Still, I caught the faintest smile before he did. “Thanks. I mean…I don’t care about putting myself in trouble, but back when I offered to be bait, it wasn’t ‘cause of that. Didn’t wanna see anyone else get hurt. So.”

“I understand,” I said. “I think you’re a good man.”

“…Mmmmmph,” he said, though he pressed his scarf to his mouth to obscure the words until he removed it. “You’re cool too. I guess.”

I truly meant what I told him. He may had befuddled me with his risky stunts and his distant demeanor, but it would be my responsibility to make sure the chaotic fires of life didn’t absorb his tiny flame of kindness.

Yes, I possessed yet another goal to pursue for the team—keep them all from getting themselves killed.

It couldn’t be hard. I’d died many times, I was an expert!

Dori still acted odd to me—but the feelings my expertise could just barely identify shone of nothing but a desire to be believed, and so I would. It was a skill many told me before I lacked (especially Bella), but it came in handy where my own knowledge failed—which was…

Often.

Very often.

If nothing else, the truth of a person lied not with their words or feelings, but with what they’d done. He protected me before. In turn, I promised to protect him.