fortuitous odds

[4] reflection of self

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The Katharós' committee were pulled from their engrossed discussion when the door to their office was shoved open, a bleary eyed older man stepping in with a stern glare.

"Elias we're not doing this again."

"Just one trip." Pleaded the aforementioned, approaching the end of the table and dropping his fists to the surface. His scarred cheeks were pulled tight in a grimace as he fought the decision for the third time that week. "That's all I want. One trip, half a dozen people, it would be less than a day there and back." Elias' scruffy demeanour did him no favours. The group looked up at him with grim disappointment. "Please... he's still a kid! We need to send someone out to find him!"

"Elias, you need to take a deep breath and step away from the table." Warned one of the older committee members. She had heavy wrinkles and melanoma scars, one eye scarred over from an untimely removal. "You made the decision to send him into the field, knowing very well what our agreement is on soldiers who get injured or go missing. I am not going to keep repeating this to you. If you come to us again, I will have to rescind your place on our projects until you can demonstrate more self control."

"Self control?!" Elias snarked back in disbelief, eyes burning with an exasperated fury as he let his fingernails soothe the adrenaline attempting to pull him into a fight. "You are all heartless assholes if you are going to let a child be left out there."

"You said yourself, he couldn't be found at the site. That was your own conclusion. Now respect that and go find something to keep yourself busy." She finalised with a steady tone, stoic eyes shifting away to review the agenda for the committee's next meeting. "I said go." She added a few minutes later when she realised Elias was still standing there. "And Elias," the man stopped, tilting his head but keeping his back to the group of old friends. "Don't do anything stupid. He's just a kid, he's not worth your life too."

"You're wrong." Whispered Elias angrily. "He's worth my life a million times over."

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Laid out upon the cracked desert ground was a lush green jungle of climbing silver dollar vines and flourishing red geraniums. The plants looked meticulously cared for, watered right on schedule and monitored daily for pests. The greenery enveloped a series of scrap houses made of old timber, tin sheets and plywood. All of the boring materials had been beautified using spray paints in bright neon orange and pink, moss and mold that grew over the decaying wood just an added detail.

The sight of bright creativity in the town didn't surprise Jungkook, he was in awe of the intricacies each creation had, how unique every area was. It had become a routine for him to go out for a walk every day at lunchtime, rarely speaking to anyone since most gave him distasteful glances. Maybe he should've stopped wearing his Katharós backpack, the lotus that blossomed into the wings of a dove clearly not a symbol that bode well in this group. But the bag had all his belongings in it, there was no chance he was going to just leave it somewhere for anyone to find.

What did surprise him as he wandered the dusty paths was a weird shelter that had been built in isolation, not matching any of the other creations around it. The paint was a deep grey, frame made of rigid steel, and finished with red spray paint on the trim of the roof that dripped down to resemble blood.

As he approached, sounds of unintelligible yelling could be heard echoing within. Jungkook couldn't help it, he wanted to know what was going on within the contrasting space. So he decided to go inside.

Except the door at the entrance was bolted shut and when he shoved against the lock it didn't budge. Through the crack in the door he could see a small section of room lit by fractal light. Movement flickered in and out of view, the wordless shouting coming from whoever it was within.