Absent Elements

Chapter 1 - Inquiring Mind

 "Hey!" Neo yells over to Isaac, "I found another!" waving a small cross with an image of two people and their initials engraved into it.

 Isaac walks over and takes the cross from him, he looks at it while shaking his head. "Why do people have all these problems with war and greed, why can't they just be peaceful. The entire world is fighting over the most stupid reasons and tearing apart families doing so."

 Neo replies "We were people once too, you know, we weren't any different." Isaac opens a small bag and places the cross into there along with the other items that the Sifters had collected that day. He then looks at Neo and says, "We should go, we are always the last ones out here and it's starting to make the Overseer think that we are stealing items. It is sad how many people sign up for the most important job and only use it to steal. Then again it doesn't surprise me seeing as this is where they came from."

 Neo and Isaac begin to walk back to the Cathedral where they place the bag onto the table. Neo looks to the Overseer and awaits for his instructions while Isaac, sits down and starts to stare out the window at yet another girl that he lusts for.

 The Overseer looks towards Isaac and scratches the gray hairs on his head. Reaching for his chair he pulls it up to the desk and sits down bringing him to eye level with Neo and Isaac. The Overseer is a very tall man with a slight hunch in his back, very long slender fingers, and a grey robe signifying his elderly status amongst the angels.

 Isaac gets up and excuses himself and goes outside to chase after the girl. He begins to talk to her but gets distracted by her playing with her purple hair.

 She addresses herself as Zelda and he plays the name over and over in his head to not forget it. Zelda is short, very curvy, and speaks very intelligently. She is somewhat self respecting and hates when people look at her body in a devious way. This however doesn't always stop her from using it to get things

 Isaac tries to keep up but gets lost in her words and ends up staring at her body. "What do you think i am just another girl that you want to have sex with and leave!" Zelda yells at him. She reaches back for her sweater and walks away very rapidly.

 Isaac yells after her, "What did i do wrong? It isn't my fault that you are very attractive!"

 Isaac returns to the Cathedral where Neo and the Overseer are patiently waiting. 

 "Nice work today, more items than you boys usually get, i was starting to think that you were up to no good." the Overseer says to both of them.

 "Yeah, we finished off quadrant three of L23." Neo says as he dumps the items out onto the table and looks at the mess of blood covered items.

 "You would thinkbeing angels would mean we could snap our fingers and make anything just, happen." Isaac says sarcastically, still looking where Zelda was standing.

 The Overseer looks at Isaac and teases, "I remember when i first got here, took me about two years before i realized that the angel girls are all beautiful, lusting for one is a waste as you could easily do so for all of them. Try getting to know one for a while, it might surprise you how amazing falling in love with someone is."

 Isaac returns his attention back to the Overseer and laughs, "Last time i tried that they ended up dead."

 Worryingly the Overseer asks very quickly in a rushed tone, "What are you talking about?"

 Isaac amusingly responds, "It is a joke don't be so serious."

 The Overseer looks at both of them, "Anyways all tangents aside, lets focus on the amazing work that you guys did. This is a lot of items which can be returned to the loved ones of the deceased by the messengers."

 Neo responds, "I always wondered what you guys did with all of these."

 The Overseer exclaims, "Did you think we did this for no reason?! We return the items back to their loved ones so that they have something to remember them by. It helps them and gives them some piece of their family to remember them by."

 Understandingly Neo replies, "Yes sir, that would give me closure if i ever lost someone. I just for some reason cannot remember anything from my past life. Part of me is glad, but the other, just really wants to know."

 "Certain people do not for some reason and we have no idea why. They seem to find their way around here well and hardly ever run into any trouble." says the Overseer in a reassuring tone. "You two are excused for the day."

 As Neo and Isaac leave the Overseer pulls out a folder that reads Sifters. He opens it slowly and pulls out a paper setting it gently on the desk.

 With a seemingly old pen he scans down through the names and finds Neo and Isaac. Reading them in a quiet tone to himself he goes over the paper, "Day's quota...check....honest work...check....memory dissipated...check....ite-"

 Just then Neo walks in and asks him if he could take another look at the items.

 The Overseer quickly puts away the paper and the folder and in a nervous tone says, "Yes."

 Neo sifts through the items and finds the same cross that he had found at the end of the day. He begins to read the initials out loud, "NW + ZD" Neo then picks up another item and reads out the same initials.

 The Overseer, a little more calm now tells Neo, "Those two items belong to the same person and we only give one item to them, if you would like to keep one you may, but keep it between you and me because we do not need everyone asking for items."

 Neo takes the cross and puts it in his pocket followed by a mumbled, "Thank you." and leaves the Cathedral.