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CHAPTER 26: Between Heart And Words

REICH
The conversation continued far after the food had been wiped clean. Poland seemed to have an endless stock of Arizona Fruit Punch stacked up from god knows where and exhausted every single can after Germany banned them from drinking.

They had eagerly also exhausted every topic there was to tackle. South showed the group Kaylie's instagram handle, and JE took some time to fawn over the quality of her pictures. There was a lengthy conversation about if anyone had seen any prior signs before UN's crafted layers of security had come crashing down; even years before now.

Turns out there were. Large gaps in the timeline resources during research projects. Weird disappearances of people, just for them to return a few days later, not even aware that they had been gone. Feeling that you couldn't remember what you had for lunch the other day, no matter how hard you tried: small, little malfunctions in daily life. China also explained proudly how they managed to escape to the United States — which, he would admit, was rather genius.

On the contrary, the trio had done it all with everything at entirely high stakes. It was one thing that sent them all toppling down into this rabbit hole like dominoes; nothing to lose, but significantly much to gain, including the solace that was the getaway. They had ran into UN's office with no planning beforehand whatsoever except for a map they had easily retrieved from an emergency packet in the school nurse's office. It hung on the side of the wall with instructions for every building just in case there was a fire, and lunch break was a gracious opportunity to steal just one slip of A4 paper. Even though the facial identification near the Portal Path was a roadblock, JE had printed a photo of NATO using the printer in the room and it had somehow worked.

To be honest, Reich thought the fates were on their side that day. It had only gotten better through the next few months: a new world where none of the other bothers at Neo were there, significant lacks of UN-worker ambushes, and the sunrises of the real world every day to wake up to.

Now, unfortunately so, there were bothers. Many of them. But he had always returned to what JE had said to him before. If we turn reality around, we'll show ourselves, if not Neo, that we aren't who they paint us to be. He was annoyingly right about most things.

"Anyways... it's getting late," America was saying when he returned to the present. "Don't you think we should get to the items in your bag now?"

"Of course," Reich said just in time, and China rose from his seat, using his hand to gesture the group to the couches in the living room. On the way out, Italy slung the bag over his shoulder.

They arrived empty handed, spare for the glass of Arizona that Poland still clutched tightly with dread. The chatter settled immediately, so Reich unzipped the bag and it opened with a quiet, rubbery buzz. Silence enveloped quickly.

He could see Russia out of the corner of his eye very obviously holding in a breath. From the bag spilled three items. A key. A book. And a small slip of paper.

South had the fastest reaction. "The box," he said, whipping his head around. "The box needs a key."

"Hold on," JE said cuttingly. "Read what's in the others first. It may surprise you." He handed them the slip of paper first.

It was old; the ink used to write the text out was fading away more by the very minute. Barely visible against foxed coffee parchment, cursive handwriting adorned the lines, printed neat and tidy like the ones in official documents. The writer often twirled their I's and Y's too — making the curlicue tips look like ribbons meandering off to the edges of the page.

The text was even more so peculiar. In drastic circumstances you take drastic measures, it said. Somewhere in the static, I think I can see past the haze. It is leaving me more and more these days. Will it be too much to leave the importance in something as simple and unguarded as this? There was easy avoidance and we lost the chance...