The house was exactly as Setsuna had described. Shops littered the area around the house, and a bar stood at the middle of them with a counter and chairs scattered around the premises. Among the many miners included some farmers as well, even steelworkers from the place Luke had come from. As Luke walked towards the bar in his new-ish coat, Setsuna sat next to the grassy area where the house was on a bench, newspaper open. The bench was also under a street lamp, giving Luke easy sight of the older man. Luke sat down with a few of the noisier miners and bought a few drinks, something he hadn’t done in quite a few years, at least according to his mind’s clock. It tasted like water and alcohol, but he kept it coming. He didn’t want to get drunk, but he wanted to seem innocent enough to the other miners in order to gain their trust. After that he could get them to trip the alarm…

Thus he joined ranks with a large laughing man and a small hunched man sitting near the back of the bar area closest to the alarm.

“Atta boy! Drink em down!”

“Who’s the new guy Slick?”

“Dunno, just joined up.”

“Jeff, my name is Jeff.”

The name that they had decided on was tacky, but normal enough to not be noticed.

“So Jeff, what brings yeh down here? Workin’ in the mines?”

“Nah I just heard this was a great place and all! Looking at the grass over there I’d agree!”

Slick and the small man simply smiled and looked over at the grass.

“Workin in the mines all day makes ya really wanna see some green, so course we come here.”

“Yeah, this is the probably the only place with grass in the area.”

Luke nodded.

“You ever been over there before?”

“The grass? Ain’t there something up with it?”

“It’s tripped isn’t it?”

Slick took another large swig, calling for another drink.

“Now that ya mention it Barb I think it is.”

It sounded like the smaller man's name was Barb, but it was probably a nickname. They likely didn’t even know each other’s names, and it was something to talk about. He needed to keep the beer and the conversation going.

“So why are you called Barb?”

“Barb? He’s called Barb cuz he’s a little man! Gahaha!”

“Am not! It’s cuz I fell on a rose bush one time dammit!”

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

“Ahaha, then why are you called Slick?”

Barb choked on his drink and slammed the drink down on the table.

“Pfft ahaha! He slipped on a damn sponge and fell on the conveyer belt! Almost got crushed up ‘fore someone saved him!”

Slick looked over at Barb and punched him on the shoulder lightly.

“I ain’t done nothing of the sort…”

They had started to get tipsy at this point, and Luke had already poured out two beers, actually having had one. This must be the time to jump on the gun. They had to be at the point of no return, he could get them to do something as small as stepping over the line and tripping an alarm. He definitely could. Luke steeled himself and spoke up.

“Hey, you guys really like the grass huh?”

“Is nice…”

“So go o’er there and feel it!”

“Buh the alarm!”

“Nahh is fine, jus go over and touch it quick, trus me!”

“Ahh fine fine, I’m goin!”

Slick got up from his seat, Barb having fallen asleep, and walked unsteadily over to the border. Setsuna had been watching, and stood up immediately. This was it, phase one was about to work. Slick looked at the grass and smiled, stepping one foot on the lawn. As soon as he did, Luke ducked past him and behind a small tree out of Slick’s vision. There he stopped, hearing the alarms start. Slick giggled and ran away, mumbling about the soft grass, trying to find his friend Jeff. But Jeff was gone, and in his place was a still mentally sharp Luke, who made a run for the house, seeing Setsuna in the doorway.

“C’mon Luke! We made it!”

“That was scary…”

“Oh come now, be a man. We’re in after all!”

Setsuna gestured to the entire house with both arms a full smile.

“Looks just like the last time I was here! Not a thing was moved!”

Luke looked around. It appeared to be a pretty normal house, though quite messy. Papers sat on every single counter, and strange machines were propped up with pencils and stones as if moving one thing would cause it all to come crashing down.

“Ahh let’s see…We should probably check the basement first.”

“Basement?”

“Strange isn’t it? Not many folks have basements anymore, but old Thickton never listened. Build me a damned basement he said, heh heh.”

Setsuna felt around the walls of the dark house, looking for some sort of switch.

“Hey don’t you think turning lights on would be a bad idea?!”

“Lights? No, I’m looking for the switch to open the… aha!”

Luke heard a small noise, and seconds later felt the ground move right from underneath his feet. Hopping to the side, he heard Setsuna chuckle.

“Heh, watch out Luke. This house isn’t all that safe.”

“I can see that…”

Setsuna simply smiled and descended into the darkness. Luckily down here, however, the duo felt a bit safer about having lights on, and Setsuna quickly found a mounted bulb, illuminating the area in a bright light.

“That man never stopped working…”

In front of them were all manner of machines and diagrams, theories on how black holes worked, a diagram on how the old man thought time flowed, everything. Even on the south wall there seemed to be some sort of murder wall. A picture of a hawkish man was stuck in the middle, surrounded by strings connecting him to others. As Setsuna walked around he put his hand to his chin and picked things up, muttering to himself.

“So I wonder where the copy is?”

“No shit…”

“You find it?”

“I found the only file around here with the name Myon Sayuri on it. I’m fairly certain this is it.”

“So strange they didn’t take all this stuff when they raided his house.”

“Oh they didn’t raid it. They moved him out and set the perimeter up.”

“Oh really. Well… let’s just get started on the file.”

Setsuna smiled and looked to the papers.

“To Myon, my friend…”