The Ghost

Number Twenty-six

Valko came to the conclusion that in 2 days he would decide whether to head back to New York with us or stay here in the Congo. If he didn't come with us, we would need to work around that and set up base here, but if he did, things go a lot smoother. Valko is, very aggressive, tending to get agitated abnormally quickly, which isn't a safe thing for someone holding limitless power. As of now, I trusted that he had good intentions. Overdrive seemed a little cautious, she wanted to make sure he was an ally. Delta didn't like him at all, he seemed annoyed by the presence of Valko, and he would constantly try to avoid him.

We had to transport all of our things from the blue village to the white one. We said 'thank you' to the blue village chief for letting us spend the night with them, and we headed on to the white village. We had set up a tent near the center of the village, that's where we would get our food delivered. Delta sat on a bench near the tent all the time, probably wondering what Overdrive and Valko were talking about. I decided to sit down with him.

"So, what do you think?" I asked Delta. He looked over at me.

"I think that we have to be very careful around him," Said Delta. "He's a very aggressive person. You saw how mad he got when he figured out people aren't allowed to leave the HQ." I nodded in agreement. Delta looked back.

"I see where he's coming from though," I said as Delta looked back at me. "He thinks the world is unfair, and it is. He thinks we shouldn't have to hide, and he's right, we shouldn't. He's tired of living the way he is, and he doesn't want anybody else to feel that way."

"That I understand," Said Delta, nodding. "That I undoubtedly agree with him on. However, he doesn't understand the consequences that it could bring."

"Yeah, you're right," I responded, looking over at the metal tenet that we were held in yesterday. Overdrive and Valko were talking inside, about how we would work this out.

"What do we do," I said. "If Valko decides to not come with us?"

"That's a question for Overdrive," Said Delta. "Not me."

OVERDRIVE

"I'm not doing that," I said sternly. "You barely even know me." Valko sat back down on his side of the table. I had been here for 10 minutes, and we haven't even gotten to the important issues at hand.

"Just one date?" Asked Valko, again. "I told you, I'll set it up in a treetop! It'll be nice."

"I'm not going on a dinner date with you in the treetops, Valko. I'm not here for that." I said. He was trying to get me to have dinner with him, and as much as I hate to admit it, it was cute.

"Please?" He asked again, but I was done with it.

"Valko, sit your ass down," I said to him as I looked him in the eye. "For someone who has that much power, you 're acting liking a child." Valko, surprised, sat down on his chair.

"Very well," I said. "Now let's discuss the terms you wish to be applied."

"As I said, let the people free," He said. "That's all I want."

"Valko, that's a no," I said. "You know very well why I made that decision. I am not just going to abolish the rule simply because you want powered and normal humans to live in harmony. You're not taking into the account the number of people that could die. We could have a whole world war."

"I'm sorry then," Said Valko. "That's a no then."

"We already let some people free. It's usually an average of about 35 percent of people are set free," I said. "The rest we can't let free because they're too powerful to be out in the world." Valko just shook his head.

"They shouldn't have to hide," He said. "They should be allowed to be free." I nodded.

"I completely agree, I completely agree," I said. "However, most of the countries in the world don't believe that. They don't understand us."

"We have to convince them somehow." Said Valko.

"I know, but it might not be possible," I said. "There's always that one country that wants to rule all others. There's always someone who wants to be on top. That's why we can't trust them. That's why we hide." Valko sat there on his side of the table, thinking. I think I finally got him to understand.

"Can we bring the release rate up to 40 percent?" Asked Valko. "Surely, we can negotiate 40 percent. You understand why I want this, I want them to be free."

"I do, I understand," I responded. "But you also have to understand my perspective. We can't just start a war."

"We can, and we'll win." Said Valko.

"The world will literally be on fire. There will be no order." I responded.

"But we'll be on top," Said Valko. "We'll have complete control."

"But we'll be tyrants," I responded. "And we can't be like that." Valko nodded. He looked outside of the tent, probably wondering about if he should ask me out to dinner again.

"Alright then, that's good." He said. "Tomorrow we'll talk with your other team members."

"Specifically, who?" I asked.

"Your left and right-hand men." Said Valko. He was definitely talking about Michael and Delta. Delta would definitely know how to handle this situation, Michael on the other hand, I'm not so sure. Michael held his ground when he first met Valko. He's learning a lot, but he still has a lot left for him to know.

"Delta and Michael will be here tomorrow," I said, getting up from the table and walking out into the village. Delta and Michael were sitting on a bench near the fare tent.

MICHAEL

I had been sitting next to Delta for a couple of minutes when Overdrive finally walked out of the hut, noticing us and walking towards us.

"Here she comes," Said Delta as he slapped my arm. "She's going to tell us something."

"Yeah, obviously," I responded. Overdrive walked up to us, realizing we weren't eating anything.

"You two are coming with me into the hut," Said Overdrive. "And we're going to negotiate the shit out of that meeting."

"Watch your language," Said Delta. "You have to set an example for the children of tomorrow."

"Delta, shut up." Responded Overdrive.

"Ok." He responded.

"What did he ask you?" Asked Delta. Overdrive looked back at the hut.

"He asked me to raise the release rate to 40 percent." She responded. Delta shook his head.

"Which isn't going to happen." Said Delta, shaking his head.

"I don't know, we might come to an agreement on that topic." Said Overdrive.

"And here you go making a mess." Responded Delta. I felt invisible.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me, Delta?" Said Overdrive sternly. Delta stood right up to Overdrive's face, pissed.

"You're going to regret all of this. When everything goes bad, this will all fall on you." Said Delta as he walked away. Overdrive just stood there net to me, she didn't say a word.