"Well, there goes May Long Weekend," Reed groans. "Thanks, Lydia."

"What are you blaming me for?" Lydia barks.

"For making us all sick."

"Like that's my fault!"

It's breakfast time before school, and everyone is sitting around the table either arguing or eating. Most notably, Illia has finally rejoined the land of the living, though other diminishing symptoms, such as a lingering cough and runny nose, still ail her. This makes her the last one with any remaining symptoms.

"I'm sure we can find something to do over the weekend," Mabel reassures.

Once breakfast is eaten, Niel is joined by Louise out in the living room, though Illia is kept away to not get their teacher sick. There is much to catch up on after an entire week off, and after the day's classes conclude, they're left with multiple sheets of homework each to complete over the long weekend. Niel isn't phased by this development, but Illia looks glum.

"Oof, rough. Homework," Reed says once he hears the news in the living room. "Well, good luck."

"And where's your homework, huh?" Lydia questions snakily.

"What do you mean?"

"You got homework?" Gabriel questions.

"...At school."

"No games over the weekend for you, then."

"What!?"

Mabel sighs as she stands up from the couch and walks to the door. "Come on, Reed."

"Where are we going?"

"To the school to get that homework."

Reed groans as he follows his guardian out to the car, but he doesn't dare talk back to her.

The four kids sit around the table after supper to all work on their homework together, though some are having an easier time than others.

"Lydia, what does this say?" Reed asks, referring to a French worksheet.

"Reed. How can you not read that?" she scowls, annoyed that her train of thought was interrupted.

"I don't know French!"

"You were taught how to speak French in junior high!"

"I forgot it all!"

"Then why did you take French now!?"

"I didn't choose to!"

To keep the peace (and prevent Niel from getting upset again), Gabriel makes the journey from the living room to give Reed a hand.

"Let's see... 'Qui a été le premier Canadien francophone à devenir premier ministre du Canada?', so, who was the first French Canadian to become Prime Minister of Canada?" Gabriel translates.

"Oh, uhh... Wilfrid Laurier."

"Bingo."

This is the first time Niel's properly heard someone speak a language other than English. He was supposed to be taught different languages after his Dust, but, of course, that never came to be. At least he gets to hear Reed try—and fail—to speak it. Niel needs to focus on his work, though, and he soon ends up becoming so engrossed in his reading that when Reed gets fed up and goes to the fridge to get a drink, Niel's severely delayed assistance nearly hits Reed in the face with the door. Reed staggers back from this surprise near-miss, causing everyone to look up in his direction.

"Oh, sorry," Niel apologizes flatly.

"You did that?" Reed questions. He isn't angry, just still recoiling mentally.

"Yes. I tried opening the door for you, but I didn't pay enough attention."

"Oh, it's fine."

Niel returns to his reading after this minor kerfuffle. It's a few paragraphs talking about a well-known biologist and chemist by the name of Francis Mendelv, who made significant development in the understanding of modern Mutes. There are questions at the end relating to the article, of course, but they aren't hard to answer as the questions themselves are practically lifted straight out of the text. It sounds like Reed would appreciate such an assignment. Niel writes down the answers, like how Mendelv died not too long ago, how he had eight children, and how he classified the Mute archetypes, connected Mute elements to the periodic table, and discovered that Phase shifts the wielder into the element of their Mute.

With significant progress made on their homework (and Lydia finishing hers), Mabel calls for them to pack it up for the night. Niel has a quick and uncomfortable shower, and he lies down in bed. He wonders about Callum from the day prior—what he's doing, and if he's okay. Callum mentioned before that the alley was a moneymaker for him. A gut feeling makes him consider otherwise, but Niel hopes he hasn't returned. If he gets the chance, he should check the alleyway tomorrow.

>>>>>>

Niel feels bad about breaking his promise to Illia, but he slips out of the house without telling her. His destination is the alley, with the objective being to satiate his curiosity if Callum is there or not. He's on the highest alert for police officers after what happened two days ago, and his guard only grows further as he reaches the side of the alley closest to home. A deployed scan draws a map of the alley and its inhabitants in his mind, and one such person is revealed to be wearing a large coat and backpack. Time to go in.

"I thought you said you weren't coming back," Niel says to Callum on his approach.

"Neil? The hell are you doing here?" the gruff man responds in surprise.

"Uh, it's Niel... Shouldn't you be worried about the police, or being attacked again?"

"Yeah, uh... Shouldn't you be worried about the police?"

"You're avoiding my question."

"And now you're avoiding mine."

"I've been watching my surroundings. The reason why I'm here is to see if you came back," Niel explains.

"Why?"

"Just felt like it."

"Well, like I said before, this place is a good spot, and I need the money."

"If you need money, then why don't you get a job?"

"Man, I would if I could! Every place is full up so no one's hiring!"

"Oh."

"...So, why'd you really come back to check on me?"

This question confuses Niel. "I told you already."

"We're strangers in a city where talking to the wrong stranger can get you killed. You don't go back to someone you don't know just to check on them. So what's the real reason?"

Now Niel is even more confused, but not at the question this time. It was on a whim that he decided to come out here. He has nothing to gain, either. So why did he?

"If there is an answer, not even I know it."

"I can't tell if you're brave or stupid, then."

"Whichever one it may be, no ordinary person will take me down."

"That's big talk. Can't write it off either, considering you brutalized someone with a knife and didn't even take a scratch."

Niel doesn't like that descriptor of the fight, as true as it may be.

"Well, you don't seem like a bad person, and I do owe you for that kerfuckle on Thursday," Callum continues. "I'll see if I can fix something up for you tomorrow."

"That isn't necessary," Niel protests modestly.

"Nah, it is. I'd be fucked if that money got stolen. I'll be here again tomorrow, so drop by whenever you've got time."

"Alright, then."

With business concluded here for today, Niel turns around and goes back home the way he came. Upon arrival, he finds Lydia, Mabel, and Gabriel on the couch watching TV, and a scan upstairs shows Reed and Illia in their rooms.

"Welcome back," Mabel says as soon as Niel walks through the front door.

"Hey," Gabriel welcomes as well. Lydia, however, gives Niel another sharp glare. Why is she so upset with him? Niel ignores it and goes upstairs to his room to relax.

When he lies down on his bed to browse his phone, he notices a familiar-sounding news article. It tells of a 36-year-old Invictus gang member in police custody suffering a broken arm from an unknown assailant. The man in question looks identical to the one who attacked Callum. There isn't a description of the assailant listed, nor a request or reward for information, so Niel assumes the police aren't even bothering to investigate, thus leaving him in the clear. Niel scrolls through the dozen other articles written today for any useful information, but he finds none that stands out. Investigating suspects and bringing the info to the police for a cash reward wells up as a faint idea in his head, but never goes any further than that.

Niel, Reed and Illia continue their homework after supper with Mabel's help and oversight. Niel is steady and consistent, Illia is slow but diligent, and Reed is all over the place. Because of this, Mabel hovers over his shoulder near-constantly to help him at every turn. It keeps him moving so he'll be done before the month's end, but Niel now has a question, and he's hesitant to take Mabel away. Niel considers just keeping quiet and trying to figure it out on his own, but his time with Mavrick is telling him otherwise. If he went against help now, he'd be rejecting the lesson he instilled in Mavrick before. When she gets a moment's break from Reed, he bucks up and calls her to his side of the table.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

>>>>>>

"There you are. I was wondering if you'd show," Callum says to an approaching Niel.

"I got caught up with something," Niel responds. He had to bide his time and wait for Illia to become distracted so he could slip out of the house without her knowing.

Niel's guard is up. He doesn't think Callum bears any ill-intent, but being requested to a location for some kind of reward has earned him a victim of barbaric traps back at the lab. He's put a considerable amount of Dust out to scan the alleyway and the surrounding buildings for potential ambushes, along with scanning Callum's coat and bag for weapons, but nothing comes up. Niel has to remind himself he's likely just being paranoid.

"Do you smoke?" Callum asks.

"No."

"Oh, uhh..." Callum rummages around in his bag between his feet, looking for something. "I was gonna give you a few grams of weed for Thursday, but if you don't smoke..."

"You don't have to give me anything," Niel says.

"I gotta give you something. Like I said yesterday, I'd be fucked if that money got stolen." Callum pulls out a tiny roll of dollar bills. "Here."

"If you need the money, then why are you giving it to me?"

"Man, you don't need to be so difficult."

"You're the one who's being difficult. I already told you, I don't need compensation." He takes the money against his word, though instead of pocketing it, he tosses it back into Callum's bag. Callum audibly sighs at this.

"Alright, you win," Callum groans as he zips his bag back up. He's just about to tell Niel that he can go when an idea pops into his head. "Actually, I got some stuff I need to do. Wanna come with?"

Niel shrugs. "Might as well. I've got nothing better to do."

Niel follows Callum off of his post and the two venture out to the Heartstone Market and nearby stores. Niel isn't sure what Callum is doing among the shops as it looks like he's simply wandering, but Niel doesn't say anything. Even more confusingly, Callum keeps talking highly about random items, like he's trying to drum up interest in Niel so he can buy it for him. The day drags on slowly and awkwardly as nothing does, and one tension shifts to another when Callum realizes he needs to get somewhere fast.

"I gotta go," Callum says as he runs off without giving Niel a chance to say goodbye.

This whole situation has been very confusing, to say the least, so instead of going home, Niel decides to tail Callum to make sure nothing is wrong. Following him is easy enough with a Dust marker and Shadow Dive. They travel East from the centre of the city and across the river to somewhere near the outskirts, where Niel finds Callum entering an unsuspecting house. He's just about to go in after him when he sees him re-emerge, now with a small girl by his side. She's less than half his height with shoulder-length hair a similar shade of dirty blonde to his, similarly light skin, and dressed in worn-out pink and blue clothing. Niel decides to find a place to come out of hiding and confront Callum about this.

"What are you doing?" Niel asks, causing Callum to nearly jump out of his skin and the girl to shyly cower behind him.

"The hell? Why are you here?" Callum retorts.

"You've been acting strangely all day and you took off so suddenly, so I came to look for answers."

"So you followed me."

"Yes."

"Daddy? Who is he?" the little girl whimpers from behind Callum's leg.

"He's just a friend, sweetie," he says gently to calm her down.

Niel feels very out of place now.

"Look... Sorry for taking off on you," Callum apologizes to Niel.

"What are you doing here?" Niel asks again.

"I came to..." Callum is picking his words carefully. "I came to pick up my daughter from daycare." He's slow with his words, but his tone radiates honesty.

"Oh."

"Daddy? I'm hungry..." the little girl begs.

"I'm hungry too, but we'll get something to eat later, okay?"

"I want something nooww!"

"Are you not eating well?" Niel questions.

"No, we are..."

Niel goes over what he knows so far. Callum's source of income is dealing, despite the risk. He must also not have much money to spare if a single day's worth of revenue being stolen would result in him being 'fucked'. Now he knows that he has a young child to look after, and a hungry one at that. Niel saw a fast food place not far from here, and he confirms its location on his phone's map. He's thankful he takes his wallet with him whenever he leaves the home.

"Here. Follow me," Niel requests.

"Huh? Where?" Callum questions in objection.

"Just follow me. It's a public place not far from here."

Callum is wary and skeptical, but he trails behind Niel nonetheless with his daughter in his arms. He sees the tall sign for the fast food place after a few minutes of walking, and while he suspects Niel's motive for taking them here, he keeps quiet and enters the building behind him.

"What do you want?" Niel asks as they stand just outside of the line's reach. This is the second time he's been to a place like this—the first was with Reed a week ago.

"What? No, you're not buying us anything," Callum protests.

"You either tell me what you want, or I'm buying something for you."

Niel's seriousness is iron-clad; Callum won't be able to talk his way out of this. He browses the overhead menu and picks out something cheap (relative to the rest of the menu) for himself and his daughter. With the order in mind, Niel steps into line and places it, though they'll have to wait amongst the busyness for it to be ready. Callum catches a seat for them while they wait.

"Why are you doing this?" Callum asks Niel.

"You two are hungry."

"Doesn't mean you need to buy us food."

"Funny, coming from the man who's been trying to spend money on me all day."

"Daddy? Can I go play?" Callum's daughter asks, pointing to a nearby playroom with a large slide.

"Sure. Just be careful," he says. Much like Niel, Callum can tell a serious conversation is about to happen. His daughter happily runs off.

"I didn't know you had a daughter," Niel says.

"You didn't need to know, so I didn't tell you. The fewer people that know about her, the safer she is," Callum responds matter-of-factly.

"So then why are you leaving her in a place like that?"

"It's not a bad place. There are a lot of bad people out there, but the good ones—like the ladies running the daycare—they're trying to band together and get us all through this shit."

"You mean the inflation?"

"Yeah. Prices are so fucked nowadays, it's ridiculous. And there being no jobs left? My wife and I could hardly raise Alanna together. It's impossible to do it now on my own."

So his daughter's name is Alanna... and, he has a wife? Or... had?

"This may be too personal, but where is your wife?"

A long streak of silence lingers between the two before Callum answers.

"She's... She's not around anymore. She died last fall."

"I'm sorry..."

"It ain't your fault—don't be." Callum takes another long pause before he speaks again. "Breanne was smart, beautiful... cunning. She worked a nine-to-five but hustled on the side. She knew the streets, knew how to make a good deal. All she was missing was a way to defend herself. She had a knife and a Phase Mute, but that don't stop bullets. She was ambushed one night, and..."

He's stopped by sharp tears clogging his throat.

"You can guess the rest."

Niel decides to shift the subject. "If you need money this badly, why did you try so hard to spend it on me, rather than scam me out of it?" Niel questions.

"I... just don't have the heart to. And, I don't know who killed Breanne, but I know they're watching me, too."

"You thought I was them?"

"Yeah, or one of them. No point pissing off someone who might be watching you. Better to play it safe..."

One of them? There are multiple? Is Callum just being paranoid, or are there really people after him?

"Playing salesman is a strange way to 'play it safe.'"

"Yeah, I know it's weird."

Niel has been asking a lot of questions, so he pauses to reorganize his thoughts. It looks like Callum has more to say, anyway.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep looking out for her. Dealing barely makes enough to keep food on the table, so with other expenses or a bad day of selling, sometimes we have to skip eating for a day. It fucking tears me apart to see Alanna go hungry. Food drives are all empty, and shelters are all full. We've got no help out here."

Callum takes a breath and checks over his shoulder to see if Alanna can hear him. She's still running around in the playroom. He leans in a little closer to keep his next words from reaching anyone's ears but Niel's.

"I've been thinking about putting her up for adoption."

To Niel, Callum is still little more than a stranger, yet this hits his chest with painful familiarity.

"Why?" is all Niel can gasp out.

"She's better off without me. I can barely feed her, I don't have the money for new clothes, and I can't even send her to school. I'm just not good enough for her. If she were with another family, she wouldn't have any of that to worry about."

"And you think she'll just accept living without you?" While Niel is mostly keeping his calm, there's a shred of anger and exasperation in his voice.

"It'll be tough at first, but we'll both manage. Eventually."

"Eventually," Niel says sarcastically. He leans in a little closer, too, with some words of his own. "Listen. While I now have people taking care of me, I was taken away from my parents a long time ago. That pain doesn't go away. Your daughter needs her father—now more than ever since her mother isn't around anymore."

"You don't have a kid. You don't know how tough this has been on us. I don't want to—"

"I've lived on the streets for a long time before coming to Soul—running from city to city, stealing what I can in order to survive. It may not be exactly what you're going through now, but I know pain."

Niel takes a deep breath to steady himself and his emotions as Callum slowly calms from his own agitation. Niel pulls his phone from his pocket and lays it on the table.

"You said before you didn't have any help. Take my number. If you need anything, let me know, and I'll do what I can. Just... reconsider."

Callum looks at Niel's phone, then Niel, and then he brings his phone out as well.

"Can you pay my phone bill?"

"If you need me to."

"That was a joke," Callum says as he jots down Niel's phone number. Once he's done, Niel retrieves his phone and does the same with Callum's number. "You probably shouldn't let people walk over you like that."

"I'm careful with who I listen to."

"Doesn't sound like it."

"Are you insinuating you're untrustworthy?"

"No, no. But for real, using my phone isn't free, so let's keep this to emergencies only."

"Alright."

"And, seriously. Thank you."

Niel can hear his order number being called from the front.

"Convenient timing," Niel says as he gets up.

Callum stands as well to call his daughter from the playroom.

"Ace!"

"Coming!" she calls back from the top of the equipment.

The trio all sit together, though Niel doesn't eat since he didn't order anything for himself. At least he gets to enjoy watching the other two. Callum greedily scarfs the shabby-looking burger he chose, and Alanna appears to be having fun dunking her chicken nuggets in a small package of sauce. She even gets a toy with her food. Another painful familiarity irks him as he views her smiling face. He glances over to Callum and discovers that the man has noticed him looking at his daughter, and Callum's gaze sinks. Niel hopes he reconsiders. They don't linger in the restaurant once the pair finish eating.

"Thanks for doing this," Callum says to Niel as the pair shake hands.

"You're welcome," Niel responds honestly, albeit emotionlessly. He isn't sure why he did this, but seeing Alanna smiling and clutching her new toy makes his actions feel a weight of worth.

Niel's need to return home is being prompted by the growing shadows beneath their feet. A wave goodbye separates the two parties so he can begin his journey back. Niel's higher spirits embolden him as he walks, and he decides to take a small shortcut through an alley. His spirits don't make him any less cautious, though. He scans his surroundings as he travels through for trouble—at first there's no one around, but he soon discovers that someone is tailing him. It's a male figure shorter than him, so it isn't Callum, and within his sleeve is a handle concealing a knife's blade. This figure means business, but Niel ignores him and keeps walking.

The stranger is hiding his footsteps well by walking in tandem with Niel, and he's closing the gap between them by walking in longer strides. Niel watches through his Dust as the figure’s blade falls into place with the release of a latch. It seems Niel shouldn't ignore this threat any longer. To correct an error he made on Thursday, Niel pulls over his sweater's hood and raises his shirt with his Dust to hide the lower half of his face.

"What are you trying to do?" Niel says as he turns around abruptly, causing the stranger to stop as fast as he does.

It's a kid. Shorter and likely younger than him with golden and dirty medium-length hair, tan skin under tattered clothing, and brandishing a gravity knife with a mostly metallic handle. Despite his young and rough appearance, the boy is airing a high level of aggression.

"Wallet. Now," the boy growls as he slinks closer. Niel can hear a crackle coming from his direction. "Don't think about calling for help."

"No."

The boy draws within arm's reach upon hearing this refusal, and Niel instinctively reaches for the knife hand to disarm him. When he grabs it, however, a strong surge of electricity jolts through his left arm and forces him to let go. Niel grits his teeth and winces from the shock. His anger flares sharply from the pain, and Niel is forced to turn away to hide the dark veins he knows are cropping up on his face. He puts all of his experiences at the home together to try and suppress that reawakening fury.

"I'm not playing with you," the boy growls.

"So you're that thief with the Electric Mute," Niel says as he shakes the remaining vestiges of pain from his arm.

"Then you know what happens if you don't listen."

Niel tries again to grab the thief's arm, this time utilizing his Dust in tandem. The boy allows this, again expecting to shock Niel, but now there's no reaction. There's a gap of air too small to notice between Niel's skin and his Dust, allowing him to 'grab' the boy's arm without being zapped. Realizing this isn't working, the thief cranks up the voltage and swaps his knife from his right hand to his left, but an unfazed Niel winds up and punches the boy in the jaw with Dust knuckles, knocking him flat on the ground and making him drop the knife.

As the boy lies dazed, Niel picks up a long metal bar and bends it into a 'U' shape utilizing his Dust and uses it to pin the boy against a large nearby dumpster. He then reaches into the dumpster to bend the ends and prevent escape. Lastly, he forms a pistol and fires off three shots with a loud report to draw in calls to 911 so the police will find him. With this problem taken care of, Niel disappears to the top of a nearby building. He wants to watch what he hopes will happen next.

It takes only minutes for the police to arrive, and they quickly discover the boy thief. It takes a hefty cutting tool and several officers to muscle through the electricity, but they eventually place the zap-happy suspect in cuffs. Niel is content, so while the boy is kicking and screaming down below, he makes himself scarce before he's discovered. He's hungry now, too.