The Silver Seer

Chapter 9: Light a Flame

I retract my fist from the wall, the pain letting me know my knuckles are probably bleeding. Just like my other hand. Great. Time to bandage this one too.

Spinning around, I walk over to my desk and sit in my chair, putting my hand atop the first aid kit. But my eyes wander to the items Reko tried to steal from my office.

Why would he steal? He's never been the type of person to do such; there are other, far worse things he has done, so stealing is pretty low on the list of severity.

Still, to steal from my office, from the drawer that I keep locked, because a majority of those items come from Russia. The medals my father taunted me with, the tape recorder of him discussing an event I would never dare tell anyone, and even the notebooks- one is filled with his observations of me during my torture, and the other is my experience with the torture; a journal filled with pain, tears, and despair.

The large notebook contains sensitive information, and I would have disproved of Reko taking it without my permission. But, if he did happen to ask what was inside, I would have shown him. It holds both Kirsi's observations about mechanical soldiers and Reko, and also my own, which I still add to every once in a while, if I discover something new about him.

Was Reko going to ask Thilo about what he found? Thilo would take interest in the information about the mechanical soldiers, but he would be clueless about everything else; even he does not know about my time serving the Russian military, nor my true origins.

To him, I was born in Forchheim, Germany. My parents died in a tragic accident when I was thirteen, and I joined the military two years later. He was actually the person General Heilewis assigned to show me around Berlin's base when I first arrived there before being stationed in the capital city.

I tried my best to hide my Russian accent from Thilo until it was able to be overridden by the German accent I hoped to acquire while serving. Thankfully, even today, my voice holds a strong German accent, though I know, if I ever do go back to Russia...that accent will slip right back out.

I close my eyes and focus my attention back on treating my hand. As I open the kit yet again, I hear a knock at my door. It's rather soft, as though someone knows of my current situation and emotional state. Nonetheless, I answer. "Yes?"

"Felix, is everything alright? I saw Reko walking with Sigfried towards the discipline chamber." Thilo's voice comes from the other side, and I raise from my chair, walk over to the door, open it, and allow Thilo to come inside.

"I caught him stealing from my office. Apparently far more things than that notebook you probably saw." I gesture over to the items, gathered on the right side of my desk, but I catch the officer staring at my left hand instead.

"Let me help bandage your hand. I want to talk to you about something, anyway. Of course, if you don't mind." Thilo offers, and I force myself to give him a small smile while nodding.

"Sure. Thank you." I sit back in my desk chair as Thilo pulls over an extra chair to my left side, grabs some items from the first-aid kit, and begins to treat my minor wound.

There is a bit of silence before Thilo speaks. "What are the items Reko attempted to steal?"

I take a moment to consider how much I should say to him. I don't want to lie- I trust him, and I know he trusts me, so the last thing I want to do is risk shattering that trust. I suppose the only option, since avoiding the subject is something Thilo won't let slide, is to give him a vague answer. "Things from Germany. Some medals and a few notebooks."

Okay, maybe the first statement is a lie. None of the medals are from Germany- those are up on the wall to our left, nine in total. I have a notebook that I filled while in Germany, treating it like a journal, containing mostly happy memories and moments, to contrast what is in the notebooks Reko tried to take.