Long ago

Half the people in the room were probably watching as the hand of the clock ticked down the last minute of the hour. Then, four seconds after it reached 3:00 - as usual - the school bell rang out from outside, the metallic gong sounding out every few seconds. A collective sigh ran through the chamber.

"Stand!" The teacher, a serious and obviously overworked woman with hair tied into a ponytail - whom I would in adulthood realize was disliked by the class for reasons which were largely stupid and unfair - declared from her desk.

We stood from our wooden seats, some of the students already starting to pack up the literature textbooks we'd just been reviewing into their bags.

"Veils!" she said next, her voice fatigued.

I pulled my veil from where it had come to rest on the collar of my mostly-black uniform up to cover my face, while the rest of the class did the similar, impatience in the air. The teacher looked over the group, making sure nobody had done it too clumsily, then nodded.

"Alright," she said. "Dismissed."

At once, everyone turned and headed for the doorway, some people breaking out into conversation. I was a little behind the rest, confirming that I had a homework paper for economics class that I'd been worrying I hadn't picked up, then quickly putting my pen back in its case and shoving everything into my shoulder bag, which I hefted up before leaving, stepping out into the crowded and noisy corridor. I caught snippets of the other students speaking as I walked, keeping my head down.

"...god, I can't believe she chewed you out so much for that line reading, what a..."

"...gonna be doing anything in club today? I think I'm gonna have to go home early, but..."

"...I know, it looks so shitty! It's so obvious the team cut the budget for the..."

I passed out of the hallway and into the entrance of the building, which was the larger of the two Saoic parts of the school. Aside from a large board where the staff put up notes for the students, the area was filled with rows of lockers and, at the back, a display by the history club, which was headquartered in this building. It seemed to be focused on New Kingdoms era stuff, with a large map of the old world displayed prominently, showing the various nations from the time, along with the names of the continents in much larger text I could actually read: Asia, Libya, Europa...

I only gave it a passing glance on my way out, heading over to my locker to gather up my clothes from gym class. As I opened it up, I heard footsteps approaching me from behind.

"Shiko, Shiko!" A bubbly girl's voice called out cheerfully.

I turned awkwardly, taken a little off guard. I could only see the barest outline of her face behind the veil, but I knew who this was regardless.

"Oh... Hi, Iwa," I said, as I took up the second bag. "What's up?"

"Have you got time to come along to rehearsal today? Namita is sick, so we need somebody to read her lines!" I could just about tell she was smiling. "You don't need to act or anything."

I was silent and still for a moment, hesitating. "Uh, sorry..." I said. "I think I'm getting kind of a migraine, so..."

"Oh," She frowned. "Again?"

"Y-Yeah," I said, rubbing my brow. "Sorry, I haven't been sleeping well for the past couple of weeks."

"Well... Okay," she said, withdrawing a bit. "I mean-- We can work around it."

I nodded stiltedly as I picked up the other bag and closed the locker door, not knowing what to say.

"Sorry," I repeated. "I'll see you tomorrow, then..."

"Hey, you're doing okay, right?" She asked, her tone troubled. "I know you said it's a migraine, but... You've really seemed out of it lately."

"O-Oh, yeah!" I said, holding up a hand reassuringly. "I'm fine... Just having a weird couple of weeks, I guess?"

"Yeah..." She said, nodding. "Well, let me know if you wanna talk about anything. I mean-- I'm here for you, y'know?"

"Yeah," I repeated, nodding. "Thanks."

"Catch you tomorrow, then," she said, stepping away.

"See you..." I said, holding up a hand weakly.

When she was gone, I stared at the ground for a few moments, wondering what I was trying to accomplish.

I got my things together, and left through the double doors. It was one of those days where the weather was in a strange state of uneasy flux, where it could have gone in any direction in the next hour. Dark, heavy clouds hung over parts of the sky, while others were empty, and sunlight as bright as any summer afternoon shone down even as vapor from rain less than an hour ago hung in the air.

I passed by my fellow students in silence and left through the school gates. Oreskios was a city built among the hills, and we were high enough up them that, when I looked towards the horizon, I could see the inward bend of the Mimikos's bowl towering far, far in the distance - the eastern end of the Elysian Pangaea, most predominantly the flat lands of Mekhi, rising up towards the rim, overlaid with blue from the atmosphere.

I stared at this sight for a moment through the dark shade of my veil, before turning and moving towards the tram station.

The platform, which was a little downhill, was full of other kids when I arrived, as it always was. I touched the logic bridge, which informed me the next tram going to my home district would arrive in about six minutes. I waited, watching as half of the students around me boarded the the one which arrived first, then stepping forward myself when the next came along.

Trams in Oreskios are mostly wooden-- The whole modern city is, aiming for a traditional quaintness that almost feels at odds with its size and importance as both a relatively important port and the terminus of a mountain pass. As a result, the interiors are surprisingly homely. They always helped me relax, for some reason. I went from the jumpy state I was in leaving the school to a muted one where I was half in my own head alone, barely paying attention to my surroundings.

My head lulled back against the window. The logic engine for the tram network in those days was always playing this local news-slash-public interest auditory show that was a very numbing combination of dull and inoffensively vacuous. I let the voices wash over me.

It's vandalism - Vandalism and outright thuggery, no matter what generation you're from, a forgettable female voice said. Harassing public workers just trying to do their jobs, pushing them violently, throwing-- Throwing bottles... There's nothing you can say to defend that sort of behavior in a civil society.

I think that's a little reductive, an equally forgettable male voice replied. It's a politically charged issue. The city council should have considered that there'd be a negative response to begin with.

That's ridiculous.

What do you mean?

We're in a climate right now... Or rather, we've arrived in a climate... Where a group of people can essentially riot violently about the erection of a democratically-approved monument, one commemorating deceased members of the citizenry, and have people excuse that behavior on the basis that it's 'politically charged'. I think that's absurd.

I'm not trying to excuse the behavior.

Really. Then what are you doing?

I'm saying that, if an issue becomes as broad as the civil dispute has, you can't look at it from the perspective of individuals breaking the law. The fact that we're celebrating the Young Militia at all shows that disobedience of this nature can affect change in policy and ultimately achieve legitimacy. If we keep rubbing salt in the wounds of the loyalists like this, obviously some with extreme positions are going to start saying: 'Well, turnabout is fair play, isn't it?'

'Rubbing salt in the wound'-- That's a strange way to put the situation. We're talking about something that was already argued down to a tiny monument - not even a statue, just a plaque on a stand - that was meant to serve as a bullet point on the issue to begin with.

Even so, it only celebrates one side. It's obvious people would interpret it as antagonistic.

How could it have celebrated both? Oreskios didn't send any soldiers for the Alliance-- The only people who died were volunteers for the revolutionaries.

You're missing the point. People don't view this matter from a local perspective, but an international one. Maybe no one from Oreskios was killed, but those same volunteers might have been responsible for the death of someone they knew from Ysara or Rhunbard. People view it all very personally at this point.

This is an absurd argument. You're finding excuses for people trying to tear down, against the will of the city, the sole memorial to local people, mostly very young local people, who died fighting for a cause that the Old Yru Convention has admitted was justified at this point, and which our own government supported--

I'm just saying that the most sensible option would have been to just try and move away from the issue, especially since there's still violence ongoing. It would be better for everyone to just put this down and move on.

And what about their families? Their parents? Should they move on, because a minority is upset about being reminded their children existed?

That's an unfair framing, I think...

Eventually, the tram rolled up to my stop, and despite being tuned-out, I was fortunately attentive enough to notice. I pushed by some people hanging off the handrails, I stepped out onto the street. This was Hierarch's Way, a winding commercial road not far from my house where my family did most of its shopping. There was a grocery distribution center, some restaurants, clothing stores, and a few places selling specialized items like artifices and logic engines... Though you had to go downtown to get a proper selection for that kind of stuff.

Mostly, though, it was dominated by fancy bars and cafés, aiming for a wide range of aesthetics. There was a breakfast place that only sold naturally grown food at obscene rates, a bar that was so traditionally Saoic they didn't even have chairs, and a hyper-modern establishment - where everything was metal and even the furniture looked like abstract shapes - which I hadn't actually been able to determine the purpose of. (It was probably also a wine bar, though. Nine out of every ten places in these kind of neighborhoods are wine bars.)

I passed some food stands and took a turn into a side street right after arriving, where it became much quieter, the roads mostly deserted at this time of the afternoon. Large houses broken up by tall walls stood in a long row, gently curving along with the hillside.

I walked towards my house,

...and then I noticed.

I hadn't been able to tell until it was this quiet, but there was another set of footsteps coming from behind me, slowly rising in pace. I turned my head, frightened for a moment, but saw that the figure some distance behind behind me was another girl in my school uniform - short, almost a head or shorter than me.

I relaxed a bit. She's probably just someone you haven't seen before going home who caught the same tram you did.

I kept walking. But the pace of the girl kept increasing, her footsteps coming closer and closer.

Maybe she's just in a hurry, I thought.

...unfortunately, this idea was overturned quickly.

"Hey," she called out.

I stopped, a prickle running along the back of my neck. I turned my head. "Uh?"

"I wanted to ask you something," she said in a muted tone, taking a few more steps.

At this point, something clicked in my brain, and I realized that I knew who this was.

"Is that... You, Ran?" I asked, warily.

She nodded. "That's right."

I knew Ran of Hoa-Trinh from spending time in the math club, of which she was a member. She seemed nice, if a little quiet, and I remembered us hanging out a few times in the past... But we weren't especially close friends, or anything. So her approaching me like this out of nowhere alone was very strange.

...plus, now that I thought about it, I was pretty sure she didn't live in this area. I remembered it coming up that her home was close to the school, and she walked, not needing the tram at all...

I felt a lump in my throat.

"Um," I said. "...have you been following me?"

She was silent for a moment, her expression more or less invisible behind the veil with the angle of the light.

"I wanted to confirm something," she eventually said, not answering me. "What's your favorite type of bird?"

For a moment, I couldn't even process the question. But then, suddenly making the connection of what could be happening, I probed the inner reaches of my mind for an answer. But...

"I... D-Doves," I said, the word coming out stiffly. "Uh, seriously, what's going on?"

She didn't reply, nor seem move at all. She simply stared ahead, the black fabric of her veil wafting back and forth in the wind. At some point, the storm clouds overhead had covered the sun, and droplets of rain had begun to slowly trickle to the earth, making the pavement with little dark blotches, one by one.

The moment dragged on like that for a whole minute. It was so strange that I didn't know what to do.

"W-Well..." I eventually said, my tone stiff enough to be declared legally dead. "I need to get home, so..."

Gesturing weakly to the street ahead of me, I turned away from her and started to walk. I made it ten steps before I suddenly heard her running towards me. My fight-or-flight response kicked in, and I found myself grinding the heels of my black school shoes into the ground in preparation to take off in a sprint, but just as I was starting to move, she lunged for me and managed to grab the side of my skirt.

I froze, stopping dead even with a foot half off the ground. My heart was racing.

"At the culinary arts day last Friday, I saw you looking around," she said, speaking in a monotone that contrasted sharply with her movements and the obvious tension in her body. "At one of the tables, they had hot sanbeiji. That's your favorite food. Every time the club has gone to a resturaunt and they've had it, you've ordered some. But this time, you didn't even look at it. You picked up a slice of pastitsio from one of the tables doing Inotian food instead."

I didn't say anything, my breath growing heavy.

"Before that," she went on, "in art class on Tuesday, they gave us a choice to pick another student's work and critique it. Whenever that happens, you always choose the person who did it for you the last time. But this time, you didn't do that, and just picked Iwa's instead." She paused for moment. "You've been acting strange around people you know in general. If it were just that you were reserved and didn't want to anyone, I'd assume you were just going through something difficult. But you're more dependent at the same time. Not for emotional things. Day to day things."

I opened my mouth to try and speak. "I... I don't know what you're--"

"You look like Utsushikome of Fusai," she said. "Move and talk like she does. Your handwriting is the same, and you know a lot of the things she should, but... Everything else is different. The things you like and don't like. How you respond to shit. The way you work and what you do in your spare time. Everything..."

Slowly, I turned my head towards her. At this distance, I could finally start to make out her face.

The expression on her face went beyond anger. Though her mouth was neutral, in her eyes, I could perceive a cold but ferocious disgust that I'd never witnessed before in my life.

"What the fuck," she said, barely keeping herself calm, "have you done to her?"

𒊹

Research Tower | 7:26 AM | Third Day

We ascended the elevator.

"We'll be right back," Linos spoke, as we rose up several floors. "Make sure you stay in each others line of sight at all times until then. You too, Anna-- I know you don't like being bossed around, but we really do need to be cautious."

She didn't reply, though Fang did call out: "Don't worry! We'll hold the fort!" Along with a salute.

Linos didn't look particularly soothed by this as the elevator arose to its destination. I wheeled his chair forward, Ran alongside me.

"Actually," I said to her, as we walked. "There was something I did want to clear up a bit... From the account you gave me, I mean. Because there was one discrepancy."

"Really." She looked to me, grunting softly. "What was it?"

"When you were talking about the iron device, you said that it looked like a narrow stick of metal in a glass container," I said. "Is that right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's probably the simplest way to put it."

"That's strange," I said, scratching the side of my head. "When I had the, uh-- Well, in what I saw... It wasn't like that at all. It was more like a complex and mechanical-looking device, with kind of a mystical aura to it." I bit my lip. "I can't even remember seeing anything that could've been iron at all in its composition."

"I don't know what to tell you, Su," she said, shrugging. "I can't account for reality not being in line with your newfound telepathic abilities, or whatever."

"Er." Linos said, glancing upward at us. "I hate to be boorish, but what exactly are the two of you talking about?"

"I-It's sort of hard to explain, sir," I said. This really was going to be a lot less convenient with him here. "To confirm something... The device we saw yesterday evening... That was iron, wasn't it?"

He furrowed his brow, looking downward. "To be frank with you, I'm not completely sure. I suppose the fact that it solved the problem would suggest so, though." He sighed. "I'm no engineer like your grandfather, Su. I only understand the basic principles of how that machine even operates, let alone if such a component would, or would be required to, perfect it."

"Right..." I said, nodding distantly. It really was awkward to try to have this conversation based on second hand information.

"I can tell that you've lost a little faith in me over the course of all this, but in this case, that really is the sum total of my knowledge," he continued. "Perhaps the machine was tweaked by Neferuaten or someone else beforehand, and what we saw with Fang was nothing more than an advanced prop. Or maybe it wasn't iron, but fixed the interfacing issue in some other manner." He shrugged. "It's beyond me."

"Sir," Ran asked, her eyes narrow. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly was your relationship with him? With Su's grandfather."

I frowned a bit at the subject being raised, but at this point, there were much bigger concerns at work then my sensitive points.

Linos looked a little taken aback my the question, his eyes widening for a moment. He blinked a few times, pushing hair away him his eyes. "Well, he was a close friend, I suppose. A mentor in the early days of my career - when he was my professor - then a colleague both here and in academic life. And, well, Utsu knows that I came quite close to being his son-in-law, once upon in a time."

Ran looked to me. "He dated your mother?"

"Uh, no," I said, with a shake of my head. "Aunt."

"Heady days," Linos said, without much wistfulness. "More specifically, I suppose we traded a lot of favors. He was always helping me out of my financial pitfalls in my youth, and in return, I did a lot of work in managing his professional reputation." He sighed to himself. "It wasn't easy to keep his secrets, I'll tell you that. And I only learned a handful over the years."

"I ask, because you didn't seem very thrilled about the completion of his project," Ran said, her tone flat.

"Mm," he hummed, hesitant. "It's--"

"Complicated," she finished.

"...I was going to say 'controversial'," he said, with slight irritation. "You can love and respect someone tremendously while still not agreeing with everything they do, miss Hoa-Trinh. A lot of the order felt that way about him, even those who wanted him removed from the organization. I think even Durvasa probably feels so, even though he'd deny it."

"I don't really understand why it's controversial," I said, as we approached the door. "Rather, I would've thought it accomplished exactly what the order wanted to do."

Linos clicked his tongue. "It's a question of ethics, Utsu."

I blinked. "...it doesn't run on dead babies or something like that, does it?"

He exhaled. "That's not what I mean by ethics," he said, his brow flat. "Let's say that you're looking for a cure for an exotic cancer. You find a formula that does it, but when you inject into someone, they also gain the power to fly at a hundred times the speed of sound, and punch so hard they can smash mountains to pieces, like in an epic hero novel. Would you call that a successful treatment?"

I scratched the side of my head. "You're saying that, even if something fixes the problem for an individual... It might create other problems for the world."

"Exactly," he said, nodding firmly. "That's exactly the issue. Technology that's both that powerful, and that exclusive in nature..." He frowned deeply. "I don't need to explain how it's a dangerous combination."

We passed through the metal doors which slid open at our approach, and arrived at the junction where I'd last seen Balthazar, the white walls and basic furniture unchanged from before. ...and sure enough, there he was, in the same spot I'd seem last, this time reading a magazine. The only difference was that, for some insane reason, he seemed to be wearing a pair of shaded spectacles, which hung loosely from his nose.

The moment I laid eyes on him, I felt a spike of both irritation and anxiety. But I wasn't alone this time, and regardless, push had come to shove.

"Ah," he said, looking up with a gentle smile. "I was wondering if someone was going to come looking for me. Good morning."

"That's a relief," Linos said. "I'm glad to see you're alive on your own up here, master Isan."

The young man chuckled a little. "For the time being, at least. Though I'm grateful for your concern, sir." He turned in our direction. "We meet yet again, Utsushikome. And you've brought your friend this time, too. Good to finally make your acquaintance, Ran."

He said the final sentence as if it were some kind of inside joke. Already, I was struggling not to scowl at him.

Ran looked him up and down, and then asked what was probably the obvious question. "Why are you wearing sunglasses indoors?"

"Oh, I'm planning on going to beach later," he answered, his tone friendly.

A moment passed in silence, the two of them staring at each other.

"No, seriously," she insisted. "Why?"

He turned towards me instead. "Why do you wear glasses, Utsushikome?"

I frowned. "I'm far-sighted."

"Hyperopia can be resolved painlessly in a single appointment with a specialist. You don't even need a Biomancer nowadays." He slowly folded the magazine closed, placing it on his lap. It was a copy of The Psychological Review, the subject matter of which is self-explanatory. "I think it's even a socialized procedure in Oreskios, isn't it? And I don't think you have a religious background."

My frown morphed into a defensive glare. I had a reason for not wanting to change anything about this body, even trivial matters, but I didn't feel like trying to justify myself to him. And it was creepy how we was acting like he knew me. "I'm fine with wearing glasses."

"The reason is that you're clinging to something," he said, his expression relaxed. "Just like everyone here. Hell, just like everyone in this world, really. The Grand Alliance of the Mourning Realms..."

"I just arrived here with the rest of the students a few minutes ago," Linos said. "We were hoping to discuss a means to ensure your safety while also keeping a mind to Ophelia's own needs."

Oh, great, I thought. He's just gonna casually hijack the whole purpose of this, huh.

"Ah, so she's here too now, then," Balthazar said, with a gentle nod. "That's a very kind sentiment of you, Professor Melanthos. But I'm quite fine up here by myself. You needn't worry about me."

Linos frowns. "Don't you know what's going on?"

"The serial murders?" The man raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I saw the message. It certainly is quite a turn of events, but I'm not too concerned. I'm not a part of your group, after all, or even an official guest, so I can't imagine whatever is doing this is out for me in particular. I'm more than content to relax, wait here for the situation to blow over a little..."

"You saw the part where they said they were going to kill everyone in the sanctuary, right?" Ran asked flatly.

"Ah, did they say that...? It must have slipped by me." His eyes wandered towards the window. "Still, I think I'd rather remain here, all the same. It's quite a comfortable seat." He patted the synthetic white cushioning gently.

Linos wheeled himself a little closer to him. "I don't think you understand how serious the situation is, master Isan--"

"On the contrary, I understand perfectly," he said, his tone growing a little more tired and distracted. "But realistically, you can't exactly take me with you, can you?" He smiled. "The uncomfortable truth is that you want to do something, but there's not a lot that can be accomplished without putting the rest of you in greater danger. And in a situation like this, splitting the group only heightens the threat in every sense - reduces your ability to defend yourself, to monitor everyone who could potentially be the culprit..." He shook his head, and held up his arm. "No, this little trinket Lady Anna has gifted me will suffice, I think."

"I think you're being fatalist," Linos said, though didn't sound convinced of his own words. "There are counters to prosognostic events and contact paradoxes. It can be managed."

Balthazar simply shook his head. "Everything is proceeding exactly as it ought to be, right now. Any change made on my part would only complicate matters. You are very kind, but my allotted role is at the sidelines." He let out a soft snort. "Well, for the time being."

Linos opened his mouth to protest, but seemed to not know what to say, perplexed by this last statement. He frowned, worried.

"Now then," Balthazar said. "You said you wanted to ask about something, no?"

Ran looked to me, and I realized that I hadn't even told her exactly what I planned to say, and in fact hadn't considered it deeply myself. There was a particular question on my mind, but asking it outright would come across as... Well, insane.

"Last time we spoke," I eventually settled on saying, "you acted like we knew each other."

"Did I?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

I nodded. "You said that I was an 'unfair person, to the bitter end', even though we'd only just met. And you acted like we had some past experience together. You asked me to forgive you for being immature 'this time'." I decided I would omit the most glaring piece of personal knowledge he'd seemed to possess.

He didn't respond, only facing downward, his hands held together.

"And then at the end, you said that we shouldn't talk until 'everything starts'." I narrowed my eyes. "That's not to even mention what you said a second ago, about everything proceeding as it should be. That was the most suspicious example so far, actually."

"Mm."

"So what did you mean, when you said it?" To my side, I could see Ran's brow slowly furrowing more deeply.

"It sounds to me," he said slowly, taking up a pitcher of water from the table in front of him and slowly pouring a glass, "like you've already reached a conclusion, and are just fishing for evidence in support of it before saying it outloud." This was only half true, but I still visibly flinched a bit. "I think we'd all be best served if you stopped beating around the bush, mm?"

I was silent for a few moments. He took a sip from the glass, then stared at me, while Ran and Linos looked on in expectance and confusion respectively. I took a breath, struggling to believe I was really doing this.

"Over the couple days... I've been experiencing what feel like premonitions."

"Premonitions," he said. His mannerisms died down a bit, his smile fading - not in favor of a more serious expression, but one that was purely neutral. "I hadn't taken you for a believer in the supernatural, Utsushikome."

I frowned at him. "I'm serious."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"I'm seeing visions of things that haven't happened yet," I continued, my voice becoming hesitant in spite of my best efforts "Information I, uh... I shouldn't really have."

"Can you describe the feeling itself?" He asked, looking up at me with those gentle eyes. "The sensation of it rather then the content. In your own words."

I bit my lip.

What was it that Neferuaten had called it, the other day...? Presque vu, the sense of being on the brink of revelation. But even though I'd wanted to accept that mundane explanation at the time, if I had to answer...

"I feel as though..." I hesitated, gulping down a little air. "I feel as though this has happened before."

At this, Balthazar let out a long sigh, closing his eyes, and tensed up a bit, his brow wrinkling.

"What's that face supposed to mean?" Ran asked.

"I'm just thinking about something a little frustrating," he said, his voice quiet. He reopened his eyes, looking directly at me. "Utsushikome, have you had any of these visions recently? Since you were rudely awoken this morning?"

I blinked. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't. They'd been growing in intensity up until the point my memory cut off, but since then, there'd been nothing to speak of. So I shook my head.

He nodded, slowly. "I see. I think I understand." He looked down at his glass of water, nodding to himself. "Professor Melanthos. While again, I'm grateful for your concern for me, would you mind stepping out for a moment?"

Linos blinked in confusion. "What for?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it, but I don't believe I could speak openly with you present. It's a very personal matter between me and miss Fusai, and I'm afraid it would be comfortable for me otherwise." He smiled. "If you wouldn't mind?"

The older man frowned deeply. "Even if you don't have any concern for your own safety, I'm responsible for these two, master Isan. I don't have any reason to distrust you, but leave them would be--"

"I'm not asking you to go all the way back. Just out of immediete earshot. You can even keep an eye on us through the door, if you like, so there shouldn't be any danger."

"It's alright, sir," I said, looking to him. "I'll shout if anything happens."

Linos seemed to contemplate this for a few moments, but eventually nodded, with a small sigh. "I'm not happy about this, but alright."

With that, he wheeled himself over to the entryway of the room, moving his chair up against the open doorway.

"If it's a 'personal matter,'" Ran said suspiciously, "Why am I allowed to be here?"

"Because you're the only trustworthy person here, Ran," he said, but then clicked his tongue. "Although, 'trustworthy' might be the wrong word. It would probably be more correct to say that you're the only sincere person here."

"Enough with the weird allusions, please," she said flatly.

"I'm speaking quite straightforwardly," he said, taking another sip. "Everyone here is hiding something pivotal - misrepresenting themselves - except for you. You're like the eye of the storm." He smirked. "Or maybe the rule card at the back of the deck."

"I can't tell if you're trying to compliment me, or being creepy on purpose," she replied. "Either way, it's kind of pissing me off how you're acting like you know everything."

"I haven't claimed to know everything, though I do know quite a lot. Speaking of which, now that I've caused a fuss about it, I ought to get to the point." He looked in my direction. "You said felt that this had happened before?"

I nodded, scrunching up my brow. I was really starting to regret having this idea, even if it did bear fruit.

"Well," he said casually, "that's exactly right."