Bridging Destinies

Chapter 4: And So We Gather

Dana and I walked along the city pathway, shops and restaurants to our left as we walked towards our destination. Earlier, we took a car into the city, parked and decided to walk the rest of the way. It was easier to read the energy around us, when not moving quickly. Though not actually that difficult, walking was a better pace than driving, and we had some time. Of all places, our contact was going to be at a concert. Some Korean group called BTS, as it was named to make it easier for International fans to recognize the band, or Bangtan Sonyeondan as it was known in Korea. When I heard the name, earlier, I had given a small snort of laughter, "Bulletproof Boy Scouts", I had said, as I translated the name, "Really?" I had looked at Dana with a diverted expression after he had informed me of the detail. He had simply shrugged and continued, explaining the mission.

I had decided that it was a funny name, but spunky, and I found it mildly entertaining. I didn't exactly care, one way or another, after all, humans were but a breeze on the wind, gone so quickly, but the name sat inside my mind mulling with spicy humor. The band didn't matter to me, nor did I care too much about the location we would meet our contact, but I did care about the crowds. Crowds meant increased danger, because of the uncertainty of following every mind and potential path that might occur with so many minds poised on the decisions implied within each individual path, making up the whole. I didn't like a crowded venue for meeting someone and we were on high alert.

For an inexplicable reason that I could not immediately fathom, an advertisement caught my eye, and I suddenly stopped short and looked at it. It was the man from the Louvre, posed, with sultry, dragon-like eyes and an intense gaze. He was obviously wearing make-up, but the look was flawless. The advertisement announced the brand, Fila. The moment was a fraction of a second, as I gazed at the image, before turning back to the sidewalk to resume our journey.

Dana had felt my surprise and turned back towards me from a few feet away, 'What is it?' He thought to my mind, looking in the direction I had been looking. I shook my head and responded, 'Nothing. It's nothing. Just something I saw when I was in Paris.' I explained, communicating directly to his mind. He said out loud, "Shall we go, then?" And he gestured in the direction of the venue.

~~~

We arrived at the locale to crowds of girls, women and some men, the occasional child dotted within the crowd. We sent our senses out to gauge the potentials, communicating with each other silently. We knew we would be given access from a backdoor that was to be left open, but we still wanted to approach cautiously. While reading the energies in the mass of humanity, I also looked for visual cues, within it, as I had a fine tuned sense of detail that allowed me to understand body language and other movements to discern a pattern and determine the potential outcome. This often assisted me when I looked at potential paths within the moments of an action.

I looked up and searched for possible CCTV cameras. Our glamor had already long been put into place to assist us in hiding our inhuman appearance, but modern camera technologies were able to see through the glamor. We had to be more careful when cameras were around and had kept our heads down and our ears covered while walking to the venue. Now, forced to keep our gazes on the crowd, we were more exposed. Dana subtly pointed to a few cameras at the entrance of the building, which was far enough away that details wouldn't be noticeable, and we did not see any others.

Dana moved to a merchandise table and bought a couple of baseball hats and light sticks to assist us in blending in. I gestured to a hoodie, as well, and he paid for it and handed it to me. We donned the merchandise, and I put the handle of the light stick in my back pocket to get it out of my way, then moved the hood of the hoodie over my head to assist in hiding my ears. Dana turned the light stick he was holding onto and waved it at me with a teasing grin. I rolled my eyes and gestured towards the back of the building, as a suggestion to get moving.

We moved around and then through the crowd, avoiding looking directly towards the cameras to hide our faces. We pretended to be just another fan going to a concert as we maneuvered through. I sent out a shot of Light to help clear our way, sending a faint sense of urgency into the minds of those in front of us, with the idea that they needed to move out of our way, but not notice us. Most minds were supple and yielded easily to the suggestion. Other minds were not so malleable, and we occasionally deviated from the straight shot we wanted to make towards the back entrance.

~~~

Making it through and around the crowds to the back of the building, Dana and I stopped and looked around us to make sure we hadn't been followed and that we were the only ones in the vicinity. Assuring that we were alone, we looked again for cameras. There was only one that we could see guarding the back door, and I sent a zap of energy towards the camera, short circuiting its wires so that it went dark. One bad camera might not send security into a frenzy, so we considered it a negligible risk.

As anticipated, the door was propped open with a wooden wedge, and we quietly entered the building, walking through a hallway where a door was also propped open. This was the expected janitor closet Dana explained would be opened for us and we entered. On a box were two long t-shirts with 'Staff' written on them in English and Korean with the BigHit, Hybe label on the front of the material. I discarded the hoodie and hat, along with the light stick and pulled the t-shirt over my head, as Dana joined me in changing costumes. From there, we moved out of the closet and into the bowels of the concert hall.

As we walked through the hallways, a woman approached us. She was wearing a t-shirt that proclaimed she was security and carried a flashlight, with a walkie-talkie attached at her waist. Pinned to her shirt was a little green ribbon, and Dana nodded to her as she stopped a few yards away from us. "Hey." The woman said in Korean, "Is the back door secure?" She asked, making the assumption that we were both coming from that direction.

The woman looked between the two of us, and Dana responded in Korean, "Yes. The door is shut."

Glowered mildly the woman retorted, "The camera is out. I was supposed to go check the door." She explained, "But it's shut now?"

Dana nodded in response and glanced at the ribbon pinned to her shirt. "Did you bring the milk?" He asked, his words nonsensical.

The woman frowned at his question and then her eyes quickly grew wide, "Oh. Right." She said slowly, "No. The turmeric milk is this way." Dana nodded in response, and I prepared to follow. This was our contact.