We both get up with a new day and head out, checking up on the next two orphanages. We find much of the same results, children missing and others known to have gone to the hollow. We get our lunch and return to our house.
[morgan] “alright I’ll have to make a request on historical records for the orphanages but this is starting to look pretty bad.”
“You wanna run the numbers by me then?” asked as I broke the shell of the cooked seafood I was eating.
[morgan] “we’re looking at a lot of missing kids, easily around a hundred from the hollow and then around fifty from the others once you round things out. What’s odd is there’s almost no loss between the different orphanages.”
“wouldn’t that be when they’re most vulnerable? If it’s criminals abducting them that should be the time it happens right?”
[morgan] “yeah, or that’s when they get recruited. The other oddity is that the ones that go missing seem to be random from the hollow, no real connection with them being new or old, just really favors the boys… no, boys above a certain age… something like fourteen for humans.”
“are the other kinds in line with that?”
[morgan] “not really sure myself. I think so but I’d want to check that.”
“it’s not favoring one type either?”
[morgan] “humans, but nowhere near the favoritism shown for boys. So why? And who would do it. How?”
“would need a way to move them unseen, likely against their will.”
[morgan] “not sure about that, it could be that they dupe or drug the kids to make them manageable… if I wanted an easy way I’d like a boat which would mean using the Bayside orphanage.”
“the hollow is close to the jungle, once under the canopy it’s easy to hide any movement.”
[morgan] “you’d still need some way to get kids out of the wall without being noticed. Or at least having it noticed how many you take out but don’t bring back.”
“underground passage?”
[morgan] “possibly, I’ll have to put that in on my questions.”
“there’s also the orphanage staff. I doubt that there isn’t one of them involved with this.”
[morgan] “yeah I agree, it’d be hard to conceal this without someone helping them… at least I think it would.”
“if they were grabbing the kids off the street it’d have been seen by now and if it was some sort of trap then I doubt it wouldn’t be known for kids disappearing there… they do go missing one by one right?”
[morgan] “yeah, at least half of the time. Alright, knowledge on criminal activity encase they’re responsible, historical info on the orphanages, any tunnels or passages that go out of the wall and could be used near the hollow… anything else?”
“records on the orphans we confirmed missing?”
[morgan] “yeah I guess so. That might help, alright I’ll write it down and then I guess we wait.”
“why would we wait?”
[morgan] “for the info to come to us.”
“we can and should still return to the hollow. If we want to hide why we’re returning to the hollow we can say we’re investigating the kids that have gone missing between orphanages right?”
[morgan] “we can, I’m not sure if that will hold to scrutiny… though maybe they don’t talk to each other enough that it might. Lets visit the one closest to the hollow first I have and idea.”
We finish our meal and she writes up the request before getting it sent off. After that we go back to the orphanages, learning how little information is shared before getting to the hollow. At the hollow we ask about friends of kids that went missing and on what paths those that never arrived would have taken. Gathering up as much information about the missing kids as possible, all of which morgan writes down before late that night we return to our house to eat and talk.
[morgan] “hand me a knife. Thanks, so I think I’ve found a link on the kids. Mhhh I’m famished.”
“my thanks to the monarch when it comes to the food.”
[morgan] “absolutely. Now for the kids they get regularly rated on skills and capabilities. Guess the first time this happens… for humans.”
“… fourteen?”
[morgan] “exactly on point, and the second most common age is seventeen. That’s when they do a second test for capabilities. Now all of the kids taken are on the stron, quick, and hardy side of things. I don’t have the exact ratings but they were all noted for this.”
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“what about the ones that weren’t rated? Or were rated poorly?”
[morgan] “poorly rated ones have been pretty much untouched. Those that are exceptions were all ones that all the others knew would rate well physically. So everyone taken was a kid that should grow up to be very physically capable.”
“wouldn’t the thieves want that?”
[morgan] “if it came with being sly, stealthy, and any other traits they want. But a lot of dumb muscle? Doubt it, some dumb muscle sure but this much? From that young? I don’t think so.”
“alright, that makes them being moved in secret a little more of a question. Why? Why would… hundreds of kids be siphoned off like that?”
[morgan] “yeah that’s what worries me, I can see it being an arcane experiments thing… maybe, if this is the only instance. The other I think would be to raise an army, maybe train them in secret in the jungle?”
“so a long prelude to a possible rebellion… with less than a thousand soldiers? Not to mention the cost since their years away from fighting in some cases.”
[morgan] “yeah it’s not a good sign… maybe someone found a magic item that makes a lot of food and water?”
“would help with secrecy and costs but something, or multiple things that can make that much food and water would be noticeable I think.”
[morgan] “well I guess we have to keep working this all over. I’m gonna sleep on it personally.”
I nod and finish up my meal before going to sleep as well. In the morning we have crate after crate put in our house, sent by the hidden monarch.
[morgan] “ok, well I guess we’ll be staying in for today.”
“it’s overcast anyway.”
She nods, and we get started and open up the crates, looking through all the paperwork inside each. The tens of boxes stacked up to two high and going up to the shoulders on me. Taller than morgan.With enough looking through we realize that only part of them relate to this cities orphanages… roughly 35-40%. the rest are on other orphanages. We spend that day and the two after going through the records, records that gave us exact scores on the orphans tests of physical and mental capability, denoting in their notes what sorts of jobs they’d be good for and in a few the label. {possible scion candidate} appearing.
[morgan] “alright we can break… I’ve got bad news.”
“I’d hoped you’d have good news.”
[morgan] “too bad for you. So nothing on any tunnels in the area plus he left us that little note saying no on the criminal stuff.”
“the fact that he replied no on that so quickly is concerning.”
[morgan] “yeah well we’ve got bigger issues. I was looking through this cities records and having spent so long decided to skim through the other cities and town's records. Doing that I found a real problematic pattern. What’s going on here has happened to town after town throughout the kingdom… it lasts for three months then stops.”
“how-… how many towns at a time, how many have been affected, how did this go unnoticed?”
[morgan] “I can guess on the last but just one place at a time and as far how many so far? Over twenty. Thing is there’s one that’s been having this happen for two months while we’ve had three months in the city here. Easily a hundred kids average each time.”
“th-thousands? That’s not a small problem. We need to alert the monarch.”
[morgan] “agreed, we also need to get to the bottom of this and I think that means we need to leave the city.”
“to the town that’s having the same problem?”
[morgan] “exactly, less possibilities to hide things from us. So I’m going to write up our request.”
“then we’ll get some sleep and head out tomorrow, hopefully teleporting.”
[morgan] “yeah, I think he’ll have us teleport… let’s stick together while we’re out there. I’d rather not be caught alone against whoever might not like us snooping around, we’ll be more noticeable I think.”
I nod, and before long we’re sleeping with our thoughts and concerns.