BLACK INK SOCIETY {Sci-Fi Thriller} #Wattys2016

Part 10,3: Let's not vanish yet.

The motel balcony was about as derelict as the rest of the building. Lupin briefly wondered whether or not it would collapse completely if his foot only touched it; but eventually he pushed his doubts aside and took a step out of the glass door.

Dante stood there, smoking. Since Irene had declared the interiors of the motel a non-smoking area, he preferably made use of the small, creaking balcony that served as an entrance platform to the office. Lupin approached. He couldn't help analysing human behaviour, and he was pretty sure that cigarettes were Dante's individual stress reaction. Sometimes he didn't smoke for days, and then, when a particulary risky job was on their agenda, a whole pack on one evening. There are so many ways to deal with stress, he thought, but nothing ever really seems to work. Lupin himself had developed the inglorious habit of humming songs in stressful situations, which (as he was pretty certain) would someday lead to his discovery during one of the break-ins.

The sun was rising over the rooftops, a small ribbon of pink under a cloudy, dark-grey night sky. It had rained through the night, rinsing the air clean from dust. Little drops of rainwater still clung to the handrail, shivering in the breeze. Lupin cleared his throat to make his presence clear.

"Strategy break?" Dante didn't turn his head, he continued to watch the traffic pass beneath them. "Something like that," replied Lupin. "Eugene Nnamani showed up personally to deliver the construction plans, he refused to show them to anyone but Irene. Seems to be quite important to him." He leaned on the balustrade, looking down. A gust of wind tugged at his hair.

Dante held out his pack, silently offering him a cigarette.

"No thanks, I don't..." Ah, to hell with it, Lupin thought and took one, I might die tomorrow.

"I take it there's not much hope then?" Dante passed him the lighter. "When abstentious Lupin turns to the earthly sins?"

"Shall I be honest for once?" He didn't wait for an answer. "No hope at all."

"Why don't you drop out then? We could leave at any time."

"I don't know." Lupin shrugged."Why don't you?" He clicked the lighter, once, twice... a tiny flame emerged from the metal, and the night breeze made it dance.

Dante laughed quietly. "It's not like I have anywhere else to be."

"Yes. Me neither. Actually, I think Irene's recruitment choices were quite deliberate." Lupin saw the smoke vanishing into thin air. "She chose people with skills, but without purpose. People who wanted to change society, but had no place in it. People just like herself." He smiled. "The thief, the outcast, the psychopath. We make quite the team, don't we?"

"We do. Here's to the band of misfits."

They stayed in silence for a while, watching cars and pedestrians go by. Lupin wanted to say something, but he felt it would ruin the solemnity of the moment.

"You know, whenever I look at these people I feel like I missed a very good life in ignorant happiness, even back when I wasn't a thief," He eventually began, "Did you know I studied art? I was a responsible citizen, I spent all my time earning money for an education they told me was vital to my worth as a person. I was so focused on earning this education that I forgot the passion behind it. That this education was really just a certificate for something I could already do."

Lupin caught a raindrop from the handrail and let it run down his index finger, watching it with newfound fascination. "I took on all sorts of jobs, and when that wasn't enough I started stealing things for other people. I quit art school and I told myself that I would continue as soon as I had enough money, but guess what."

"You didn't," Dante answered his question. "Society is the deadliest menace for dreams, my friend. You are told that you can achieve anything if you stick to the rules, but eventually you just become part of the machinery like everyone else."

Lupin nodded. "I thought about going back. But as soon as you know how the system works, it looses its appeal. Like a very elaborate forgery. It looks real, but you know it's fake." He caught another drop. "What about you? I've never seen you going home. Do you even live anywhere?"

Dante snorted. "It's hard to rent a flat when you don't exist."

A couple of drunks passed by down below, laughing and singing terribly. People turned around to them, shook their heads, and went on.

"I remember, you said you never were in the registration system. How is that possible?"

"Even if I like to think that, I didn't turn away from society by my own free will. To be honest, I was never a part of it. My parents came here after they closed the border, illegally, so my birth was never recorded anywhere. I am," He snapped his fingers, "What's the correct term these days... an unregistered resident."

"You're an invisible?" Lupin repeated, surprised.

"Exactly." He blew out some smoke. "I mean, there are relief organisations that help people like me, but I had enough of laying low. Staying in one place too long, with the same faces, it drives me insane."

"I always had that feeling." Lupin smiled thinly. "That one day me and Irene will turn up at the office, and you won't be there. You'll just vanish."

"I don't like being pinned down." He looked uncomfortable saying that. Like he knew it was the truth, but even he himself didn't want to admit it. "I'm really glad Irene picked me up that day. This, the Society - it feels good being part of something, you know? But you and her have things to go back to, lives to continue. You'll go to art school. Irene will redeem herself, she will be a hero or she'll go to jail. Or both. Probably both." Dante paused, extinguished the cigarette and flipped it over the balustrade.

"What's your plan then?" Lupin enquired.

He shrugged. "I'll manage."

"Considering the opinion you voiced on the topic of dreams, that sounds awfully pessimistic."

"You're right. I'll have to figure out something proper first."

"Let's not vanish yet."

"Nah, let's not."