Heroes and Villains

XX

It was 3 o'clock in the morning. I couldn't sleep

Roman was right, the test was fine. I could do everything on it

However, I hadn't been entirely there all day. My memory of today's events was in pieces, and my head was pounding

My room was in half darkness. I had left my desk lamp on

There was a small package sitting in the middle of my desk, a small note next to it

It had been my birthday last week

Of course, only Jenners and I knew that. And Patton...

Looking at the note, the handwriting was unmistakably his. I recognised it from old notes that we used to talk to each other with in classes and from all of the times I had seen him write

I hadn't touched the box. Only read the note

It wasn't signed, and it appeared at my room door on my birthday when I woke up

The note wished me a happy birthday and told me to look after myself

I had convinced myself that it was a sick joke. Perhaps a ruse from Jenners to motivate me

Patton was dead. Raven and I had searched near endlessly for him to no avail.

I still occasionally go and look around town when I'm on patrol, still looking for him

I sighed and stood up, walking over to the desk and looking at the parcel on the desk

It had been a week and I still hadn't opened it

And I wasn't going to.

If I ever found Patton, I would open it. But not today. I wasn't ready

I looked at the clock in my room and sighed. It was quarter past three

If I'm awake, I might as well go on patrol

I pressed a small button on the side of my glasses that sent a signal to Jenners that I was going on patrol

Walking out of my room, I walked to the stairs and started walking down them, trying to warm myself up for wandering the streets on the cold winter night

Reaching the bottom floor, I immediately went into the supply room and put my gear on.

My glasses folded into my mask when I put it on so that I could still see. The mask itself had face masking tech in it so that I wouldn't be recognised

I was wearing a pair of black trousers, a white shirt with a royal blue tie and a matching waistcoat

Jenners designed my outfit. He said that it was to match the name he gave me. 'Logic'. I had to be the one who knew what was going on at all times. I had to plan everything I did. I had to be meticulous and perfect in every conceivable way so that I lived up to the image that he had put out into the world

I was supposed to take the logical course of action. My colleagues took the other paths. I was supposed to maximise issues resolved and minimise injuries and deaths. I couldn't deviate from the most logical solution. No matter the injuries