Dead Clouds

Chapter 11 (2/3): Truth or Lie? Tkese's Offer (1/2)

First place medals, sparkling with golden light, clanked against the walls that hoisted them. A slight gust of wind worked its way through the window of Radius's bedroom and blew into the medals. Their sounds added much needed noise to a room suffocating in silence.

Radius sat at his computer desk observing a diagram displaying the five different taxonomies and their relationships to each other. It was a complex five-circle Venn diagram. The ghost and human circles were stuffed with information written in a tiny font. These two sections were easy for Radius to fill, since he himself was human and his partner was a ghost. The other three sections were noticeably bereft of information.

The cloud section included data he compiled from his encounter with the stratus and cirrus clouds. He tracked their different abilities and ranked them in heaven's hierarchy. It was obvious to him that cumulonimbus clouds were at the top even if he had yet to encounter one.

The skeleton section was recently bolstered with new information. Neat lines of text described his recent discovery that Gold could disrupt their Skeleton Man transformation. Radius still struggled with the "why," however. He also wondered if he could terminate or activate the transformation on his own. Was a fistbump still a prerequisite?

Finally, the Fog section was largely empty aside from two or three sentences. The genius aimed for his primary notes to only include observations supported by evidence. He also wanted those notes to include questions. It wasn't necessarily a dearth of information about Fogs that prevented Radius from diligently filling the circle. It was his desire for the information that Tkese promised.

Radius wrestled with this desire as he worked. The Venn diagram on his computer screen shifted between three-dimensions and two-dimensions, rotated at different ninety-degree angles, and zoomed close to and away from the screen. The position he chose was inconsequential. His data set was still incomplete.

Darkening the brightness on his screen, Radius watched Gold's reflection become more visible. The ghost stared out the window with his head tilted against one open hand for balance. Cooling fans from the computer began to buzz, which reminded the genius of their silence.

Radius knew that Gold was waiting for his decision. Tkese's offer was on the table: meet with him at the Waste Management facility. The most important caveat was that Gold must not accompany him. His eyes switched between Gold's reflection and the vacant Fog circle on his diagram. He stood before a cross-road.

Radius focused on Gold's reflection on his screen as he considered the risks. Confronting Tkese alone placed him in immediate danger, if the invitation was merely a trap. Leaving Gold behind was equivalent to leaving the Skeleton Man behind. There was also the possibility that Gold would refuse to leave his side. His partner's life was directly bound to his own.

His eyes traveled to the empty Venn diagram section. The interrogation of Kiri only excited his curiosity further. There were clear overlaps in the narratives told by both Fogs. Only through the juxtaposition of their narratives would he distinguish the facts from the fibs. This was why relying on one Fog was precarious. It threatened to yield unbalanced and biased research. He needed to stick to the scientific method. He needed to remain as objective as possible. He needed to use the Fogs as sieves trapping the solid lies and straining the liquid truth that passed through both of their accounts.

Another incentive to attend the meeting also enticed the genius.

His relationship with Gold was at stake. He needed to determine if Tkese knew the truth about what happened in the alley. A sinking feeling seemed to empty his stomach of its contents.

Radius pushed his chair away from the computer desk. His face appeared rigid as stone. Mulling over the issue any longer was gratuitous. Priority number one for the genius was ensuring that Gold never knew the truth. No matter how big the grave he dug grew.