OBLIVIOUS

Chapter 22

Baron and I decided to come back to the hollow tree thru the tunnel that we used to get back to the facility. It was a challenging task to get to the tunnel and avoiding the quicksand at the same time, but we managed to do it anyway. On the walk back, we were already discussing about our next move. Baron had insisted on going back to the facility another time and push through our original plan of abducting someone from the White Shadows.

But I objected. "Baron, I understand why you still want to interrogate a White Shadow but I think the next time we set our foot there, we will be caught for sure."

"We still lack information, Axis," he countered, and I know that he was right. Very, very right. "We haven't even asked that nasty woman how our abilities work. We still don't know how to harness our powers voluntarily. We can't rely on chance too much."

"But Baron, going back there the second time is also relying on chance. Don't forget how they adjusted with our abilities. Their protective suits can resist my electric shocks. They can also absorb brute force. And right now they will be making more adjustments. What if they'll develop something that will enable them to see you even if you are invisible? How the hell can we fight them the next time around with that? We only even escaped because of that quicksand monster."

Baron did not reply to that, because he knew that I was right too. Very, very right. When we reached the fog-domed forest Baron was already irritable. He must have been so frustrated about what happened, even though we knew that not everything will happen base on our plan. Things change in the actual scenes. I didn't even think that that the massive mud crab would help us escape our nemesis. The White Shadows clearly did not know its existence, as they were all shocked to see it. Guilt aside, that deserved to be the highlight of that journey.

"I don't expect them to know everything about this place, but at least they should have known something lived in that cave," Baron commented when I brought that up.

"Maybe they didn't know about the cave in the first place. Bridgette did not look comfortable when we were there."

"Maybe... Axis, do you think that woman told us the truth?" he suddenly asked, when we reached the edge of the ravine where we have to cover our faces when we pass by because of the presence of the thick fog here. "That was a traitorous piece of an excuse for a human. She acted like she was already befriending us... and maybe that was just to make us trust her. And then she switched back to her true self when her reinforcements arrived."

"Well yeah, you might be right. I didn't trust her either. Maybe it's better if we take in everything he told us with a grain of salt. Who knows if she just made up everything that she said."

"She's a good storyteller then, if all of that was a load of crap."

"I know. But I think that she was telling the truth about what happened a hundred years ago. Everything just fits. The lopsided appearance of the moon, the monstrous animals and plants that roam here, the facility and our abilities, they all fit in her story."

"But she was clearly trying to convince us that the White Shadows were purely good people with good intentions. That's where I draw the line between the facts and her fiction. I will never trust anyone who works there on that facility."

"Me too," I replied.

"And that place called Laxus. Do you think that it actually exist?"

"Definitely," I answered truthfully. "It sounded authentic. It has to be real. There has to be a place where all of these things originated from. She said that this facility is overseen by that governing body she kept on mentioning."

"World Government Incorporated."

I nodded. "I don't know why but it sounds dodgy to me."

"Yes. Me too. It doesn't sound good to me. Maybe it's the 'Incorporated.' It gives this business-like concept as an image in my head that doesn't sit well to me."

It did not surprise me that the two of us felt the same way. I think it just confirmed that there is really something fishy to that entity. But we did not dwell on that too much, as we have more pressing problems as of the moment.

"Now that we have confirmed that they can trace our movements, I think we have to proceed to our next move as fast as we can, Baron. I have a bad feeling about what happened. I know they will not like the news that will reach to them. They might even exact revenge on us."

"Yeah. We just killed some of them," he added, but when he saw my face, went on a different route. "Well technically we did not kill them, but they'll blame that on us anyway so we should just accept that. And honestly, I am still itching for a fight with them."

"I don't think that it's a good idea. You already have a bad record with them."

"I don't give a damn," Baron said who was again getting irritable. "I'll strike back if they'll come for my neck. Surely you have noticed how they treated us differently back there. They treat you like someone they need to protect at all cost, while they want to shoot me here and there."

"Bridgette yelled to her men about you not to be hurt."

"But still, you were treated differently. They even helped you get out of the quicksand."

"I've been wondering about that," I admitted. "Bridgette even mentioned about that Madame Robertha possibly getting furious once I get harmed or worse, killed. Their mission was to recapture me alive and only alive and well."

"Maybe you're a son of one of them," Baron suggested and I laughed at the idea he just suggested.

"That's not it. If I was related to one of them they would have told me that first."

"Why do you think that? What if it's all a big secret?"

"Because that kind of information would have made me return to them already," I replied. "They would have used it against me if that was the case."

"Okay fine. Then you must be a very expensive GMO-SS. Maybe you cost them a future with your ability, that's why they want you back."

"Or maybe this is related to your earlier theory," I blurted out.

Baron stared at me, confused more than ever. "What theory?"

"Your theory about us being named in alphabetical order, which means that I am the first in line. Something about that makes me uncomfortable, which can be linked to them wanting me back. Maybe they aren't finished studying my abilities yet. Or they have done something to me and they want to see it for themselves." I know it's a bit of a stretch, but that was possible.

"If only that woman had told us everything directly. She was driving us in circles, trying to prolong her story because she was buying her men time."

"I did not think of that," I said, but right now that I do, that was the obvious thing that Bridgette was doing. She knew that we would just take in everything that she said, so she went into a full-storytelling mode to distract us. But she already knew that the other White Shadows will find us.

"I hope that lessens your guilt because that woman wasn't exactly being honest to us."

That actually made me feel less guilty. What I hate the most ever since I woke up from my coma is being lied to, or being led to a false sense of security or something like that. And Bridgette just did that. I just hate it, because I am vulnerable and I will suck everything up that is shared with me. It's only now that I have started to question everything around me as a result of learning from my experiences.

At last, we arrived on the hollow tree. However the moment Baron stepped inside, he called my name loudly (because I was behind him) so I immediately went in and check what he was yelling about. But I did not see anything dangerous inside. It was actually empty.

"The new guy is gone."

"Oh no! Where is he?" I began searching for him, going outside the hollow tree and look for him in the grass, but he was not there. "Don't call him out. The animals might hear you."

"But what are we going to do? He might get into trouble!"

Baron shook his head. "I don't know. He's not a kid anymore, so I think he'll survive, if he is still alive now."

That made me feel more anxious about that guy. He had only one arm, for freaking' sake. "I expected him to wake up soon, because he looked okay. A lot better than the first time we saw him, to be exact, but he's handicapped. He might get face to face with an animal or worse, White Shadows."

"Let's just pray that he knows what he is doing. I hope he does not return to the facility," Baron added. "And come to think of it, he's like us."

"Like us what?"

"He has an ability too, I bet you on that," Baron said and that calmed me.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that!" The idea that the new guy also possesses some kind of magical powers which is actually backed by science excited me a lot. It just feels so fascinating, even though the White Shadows made it. I hope that the new guy is as strong as Baron physically, because that's the only thing I could think of that would help him survive this place and fend off his enemies. "Baron, we need him! With him, we can be stronger and maybe we can even defeat the monsters here! We can find the shore faster if we have the new guy with us!"

"Axis, we can't look for him, you know that."

"Why not?"

"The chances of him going back to the facility is higher than the probability of him going somewhere else. And you did not want us to return there, right?"

I nodded, the sudden excitement in me ebbing away. "I just thought that he can help us a lot..."

"That's what I think about too," Baron explained. "But we already agreed. We are not coming back to the facility. What we must do, is to finally find the shore. Let's go to The Lair."

I stopped for a moment. Baron's suggestion is our only move going forward. If we really want to get out of this island, then we have to find the shore as quickly as we can.

"W-When our going to go there?"

"Tonight... Let's just take a nap, then we'll go."

I nodded, because going to find that new guy would only complicate our goals. So we took a nap and when night fell we prepared ourselves and started trekking in the gloom. Baron brought two glowing flowers this time to illuminate our way because it was so dark and foggy thanks to our location Baron calls the Fog Dome.

I remembered something about the fog so I asked Baron about it. "Baron, this fog is what makes the Halosphere right? At least according to Bridgette."

"That's what she said." We walked past the huge trees in the dark and I did my best to avoid inhaling the toxic gas. "What about it?"

"I just thought about the Halosphere that she told us. If that's like a storm, then perhaps a storm forms here in the forest? Particularly in this Fog Dome?"

"That's how I understand it too."

"If that's the case, then why did they built the facility here?" I asked curiously. "Wouldn't it be very dangerous?"

"I don't know, and honestly, I don't give a damn. But there could be a reason. Maybe that Halosphere is everywhere and you really can't escape it. Maybe the only way to fight it is to wear those protective suits that they have."

"Or to make modified humans that can resist the poisonous gas."

"That's why they're crazy," Baron suggested. "I will forever hate them for what they did to us. even if this experiment saved our lives, it's not right to turn us into test subjects."

"I agree. It's as if we are not even human to them anymore. And that's probably the case. This Madame Robertha woman, this person who's behind this facility, this is the person responsible for our fate. She's the one we need to talk to."

"We will, if we need more information after our search for the shore," Baron answered. "Let's just hope that we don't need her anymore, because if ever I'll meet that woman again then I would not be kind to her."

"You really despise them that much."

"Because I should. And you should."

I did not respond to that. The difference between me and Baron is that he is impulsive, and I am reflective. Both of our characteristics have their advantages, like how being impulsive makes Baron braver, making us survive this place every time. And me being the anxious person that I am, I think it helps us think about our choices on what to do. That's why I don't try to stop him from getting mad at the White Shadows. Getting angry at them is very valid.

After a very long walk, we finally reached the edge of the foggy forest. In front of us was a vast grassy plain in which we could see silhouettes of houses or buildings scattered on the field. These must be the abandoned buildings that Baron was talking about.

"Here we are."

We stopped for a rest. "We're just going to walk through this field right?"

"Yes, because the real danger is in that forest," he said, pointing at the glowing lights on the horizon in front of us. It was the third portion of the forest, which Baron calls The Lair, where the deadly beasts live.