Lex did not know exactly what to expect when he returned. A part of him expected to land in the middle of a war-torn battleground, with buildings half destroyed and bullets flying in the air. Maybe he expected the city to be under lockdown. Maybe he was thinking he would see soldiers pushing innocent civilians around, and a band of resistance fighters made up from civilians fighting back.
The fanciful stories he had filled his head with were many, but the one thing he was not expecting at all was for everything to be normal. Though it was early in the day, people could be seen walking around the streets casually. Some were walking their dogs, others were sitting on benches and reading books. The wind raised a few skirts, a few men slammed cabs and yelled ‘I’m walking here’ and a few other, completely standard and not at all stereotypical everyday things happened.
At first, Lex was amazed. Then he frowned. War was definitely happening – the system had confirmed it and so many guests had confirmed it, so how was everything so normal? Completely underwhelmed, Lex walked into a cafe and tried to eavesdrop on nearby conversations. If anything significant had happened, the people would be talking about it.
Significant news there was, just not what Lex was expecting. The people were talking about the unusual internet outage that was apparently affecting everyone. News channels were not reporting on it and no official statement was being released. Just a single hour of blocked internet access could send various companies into massive loss in this city, yet somehow everyone was okay with it.
Lex took out his phone and turned it on to see if he was getting any signals. He didn’t know how else he would contact Larry, or anyone else, for that matter. Contrary to what Lex expected, his phone was working just fine. He was about to try an international call to his family when he started receiving messages.
The first was from Bluebird:
Until further notice, the Bluebird portal will not be available. Please contact your nearby Bluebird office if you need any help.
The second, again, was from Bluebird:.
A curfew is now in effect. All cultivators must remain home unless provided a pass. Any cultivator discovered breaking curfew, or without their Bluebird token, will be detained pending a treason trial.
The third was from Larry:
Your phone is powered off, but you should get this if you turn your phone back on. Things are not as they seem. Be safe. Contact me if you need help.
Subtly, Lex nodded. The suspicious behavior was more inline with what he expected. Based on what he had heard so far, the ICPAs were locking down their regions of control and were a part of the war. Since all of New York was so thoroughly under Bluebirds control, they probably didn’t need to use soldiers to snatch control. They just needed to maintain as much normalcy as they could manage until the global situation stabilizes.
Lex tried calling his family, but the call would not connect. He tried calling Larry, and the phone was off. He tried calling Larry again, but this time on a second number he had given Lex to use in case of emergencies.
The call went through, but after it was picked up, there was complete silence. No one on the other side said anything.
“Is anyone there?” Lex asked hesitantly.
“Lex? Is that you?” Larry asked, his voice easily identifiable. But before Lex could answer, he said, “Don’t say anything. I’m sending you a location. Come alone. Don’t bring your token.”
After receiving the text, Lex followed the directions only to find himself standing before a dollar store in uptown. He explored the store and could not find Larry, so he tried calling again, but the phone was powered off.
At this point, Lex frowned. It was dangerous to randomly roam around the city, especially since he did not have his token. He could still recall how his previous boss had immediately identified him as a cultivator. They had to get extremely close for her to notice, but then again, she wasn’t actively searching for anyone, either.
Just as he was wondering what to do, a man in a hoodie with the hood down approached him.
“Hey Lex, follow me,” Larry said in a hushed voice, and quickly led him to an apartment building nearby. Silently climbing up seven flights of stairs, they reached the room where Larry was hiding. As soon as they entered, Larry activated some formation he had in the room and let out an audible sigh of relief.
“Damn, this thing is so hot,” he said as he took off his hoodie.
“What’s with all the drama?” Lex asked casually. As per usual, Larry’s face was covered in bruises – probably from working in that club where he fought people.
“Yeah, I have some bad news for you, buddy. By the way, turn your phone off while we talk. I’m carrying a signal jammer on me, so no one could have followed us through tracking your phone, but better safe than sorry.”
“Is your bad news about the war?”
Larry paused, clearly surprised to hear Lex.
“You already know?”
“A little. What do you know?”
“Not much, but… a lot of people I know got ‘picked up’ by Bluebird. I haven’t heard from them since. Then a contact of mine, an old… associate of my family, told me about the war. I don’t even know who is fighting who, but it must be pretty bad. All markets, like the one that I took you to last time, have been shut down. Considering the shutdown in communication and the curfew… I’ve never seen it this bad. I’ve tried a hundred things, but I haven’t been able to connect to the net.”
As Lex followed Larry into the apartment, he realized it was nothing like the beat-up and worn down building it was hiding in. There were computers EVERYWHERE! Wires crisscrossed the apartment, though bolted to the floor or walls so as to not get in the way. There were at least a dozen different monitors, all showing different things.
Lex was not a tech illiterate person, but this… was even beyond him.
“Listen, do you have any way of contacting anyone abroad?”
“Currently, no. The moment I’m able to connect to the net, I’ll be able to. But god knows when that’ll be.”
Lex took a look at things and finally felt a sense of relief. At least his friend was okay. He spent a couple hours chatting with Larry, finding out as much as he could about Bluebirds actions. They had been very discreet, but certain forces had been targeted by them as far as Larry knew. If any fights broke out, they were handled swiftly and efficiently, so that no news had spread so far. They were keeping the peace for the general public right now, but who knew how long this would go on.
“Well, I’m glad you’re safe Larry, I just came to check up on you. You’re doing a good job staying low-key, but if you get in trouble, use this.”
Lex handed him a golden key, preparing to explain to him how to use it, but Larry froze when he laid eyes on it.
“That… that’s… that’s the golden key!” he exclaimed. “It’s the key that’s been all over the net! There have been so many conspiracy theories in such a short time… don’t tell me they’re real?”
“Conspiracy theories?” Lex asked, confused.
“Yes, if the net were working, I’d show you. They say that such keys have been passing around top government officials and high leveled cultivators recently. No one knows for sure what they do, but those conspiracy theorists claim the keys can take you to a secret society that only the rich and powerful are a part of. They claim that our world is ruled by families, hidden in the dark, who have been using these keys to signify members of their secret society. Don’t… don’t tell me this is real!”
Lex chuckled, and despite all that was happening, suddenly felt amused. He did not realize that one day he would become a source of conspiracy theories. The funny thing was, those theorists were remarkably close to the truth about many things.
“I don’t know about all of that, but if you get into trouble with Bluebird or anyone else, break the key.
Despite Larry asking multiple times, Lex didn’t say what the key did. At this point, it wasn’t for safety or secrecy purposes, he just wanted to see the surprised look on Larrys face when he used the key for the first time. Of course, he would still not tell anyone he was the Innkeeper. But now that the keys were circulating on Earth, it was much safer for him to hand them out to people.
As he walked out of Larry’s building, chuckling as he thought about how Larry would react, he did not notice two men staring at him.
“The variable has left. The target is alone in the building. What are your orders?” one of them said into an earpiece. After getting the reply, the man nodded to his partner and the two of them entered Larry’s building, each carrying a gun.