The Vanishing Complex

Chapter 13

The Susan B. Anthony School for Girls was pretty busy on a Friday morning. The girls all seemed to be in high spirits as they flooded into their campus through the wide opening of the metal gates. Teachers stood on either side, welcoming them in. Tom spotted their COS bands and averted his eyes as he walked on through to the office. Inside a few students were talking with faculty members or dropping off paperwork to the clerk behind the diner-style counter. No one seemed to notice his presence, which made him happy, but also made him wonder how one man among a sea of women could get ignored. He'd thought too soon, of course, for his moments of obscurity were short-lived.

A clerk seated behind the counter looked up from her computer and asked him to state his business. Suddenly all attention was on him. A blush crept up on his face. He hadn't expected this turn of events. Tom walked up to the counter, allowing a smile to spread across his lips and kindly asked to speak to the Vanishing Complex Liaison. He realized after that he probably shouldn't have been smiling when he made the request. Very few could be happy when discussing Vanishing Complex. The clerk nodded and lifted up the handset of a corded desk phone. While he waited, he let his eyes run over the posters covering most of the walls of the small office.

His stomach churned when he recognized it all to be Vanishing Complex propaganda, encouraging people to report the signs to the appropriate authorities. Everywhere he looked he was assaulted by the COS logo. It made him sick to think he'd allowed a young girl to willingly fall into their hands. He knew nothing about this Sofia Mondragon, other than what he'd learned from Tara not twenty minutes earlier, but somehow, he felt obligated now to fix this. The clerk hung up the handset and directed Tom to an office just a few feet down a narrow hall. He thanked her with a nod then went over his story one last time before knocking on the door. A plaque reading Carlos Cisneros: Vanishing Complex Liaison hung in the center.

A voice invited him in. He tentatively opened the office door. The first thing he saw, of course, was the COS poster plastered over every inch of all four walls. If it wasn't for the window behind the desk, he'd thought he'd walked into a different dimension. He tried to keep a neutral face, but his attempts betrayed him immediately. Carlos Cisneros welcomed him the school and asked him to sit down. Tom turned his attention to the older man seated on the opposite end of the desk and did as he was told. Carlos was aging well, but his eyes told of a man who had seen some things in his days. Tom introduced himself with a handshake and fake name, Dale Thomas. For a moment he thought he should have given the name Valdez. He soon discredited his own idea. He hardly ever left his basement and when he did, little was exposed to the sun. He was as pale as he could possibly be without being albino. He grimaced at himself, promising he'd leave the house more. Maybe he'd make friends, find a girlfriend. Baby steps, maybe he'd get a fish first.

Carlos Cisneros' voice cut into his pity party and returned him to the present. His business? Tom blanked for a moment, still trying to wrap his mind around why this man had called him Dale. Right! His fake name.

"I-we, um. My wife and I have not heard from our niece, Lily Valdez. She started here a few days ago." He said.

"Lily Valdez." Carlos repeated, typing the name into his computer.

Tom watched his eyes, trying to find any suspicion. None.

"She was taken to taken to a VC Sanatorium, the headquarters to be exact."

The next few seconds were critical. It would make or break his performance. Tom mentally braced himself and dove right in. With furrowed brows and a creased expression, he demanded to know why she had been taken. Carlos didn't seem to register the reaction and instead spoke in a gentle, understanding tone. Tom was starting to believe he was a concerned family member and grew angry at the neutral expression the counselor carried.