Chapter 53: Replacement Property
Marek looked at the map. This municipal learning center was no longer where it should have been. He discovered this after walking almost three kilometers.
Beside a fenced construction site... this should be the place where the old route should have ended. Instead, there was a row of unfamiliar stone buildings now that occupied the area. Looking at one after the other, the windows were strangely narrow. Some dark material covered the edges of the roof as well. In his memories, he could not recall seeing anything similar in Linden City before the Awakening happened.
’Another part of the city that doesn’t belong here.’
Someone had tied blue tape around a lamp post nearby.
LEARNING CENTER MOVED EAST — FOLLOW WHITE MARKERS.
Marek looked east. The first white marker was attached to a storefront selling travel bags.
He stopped.
The insulated grocery bag had already been cutting into his fingers for the last twenty minutes. One of the handles was also beginning to stretch where the fabric met the seam.
’Maybe this is a sign. At least, good things still happen when you endure.’
Marek entered the store.
The front display had obviously been disturbed, but fortunately most of the merchandise remained. Apparently, people had more important things to take than suitcases and travel bags. Food, water, and even cigarettes probably ranked higher during the end of normal geography. Well, that was something else.
He picked a plain black backpack with reinforced shoulder straps.
Then, he found the price tag.
Marek looked toward the empty cashier’s counter. "This is getting expensive."
"You haven’t actually paid for anything since the first store," Celeste said.
"I left money."
"That isn’t the same thing if nobody receives it."
Marek placed several bills beneath the register regardless. "Then whoever comes back someday can own several increasingly useless pieces of paper. I’d bet my entire fortune that these pieces of paper are going to be useless sooner anyway."
He transferred his supplies into the backpack. The twelve noodle packets occupied almost half of it.
Marek considered removing four.
’Eight should still be enough.’
Then, he remembered what happened to the previous twelve, so he closed the backpack instead.
The white route markers continued beyond the store. Marek followed them through two intersections before hearing several engines from the next road.
A government convoy was moving north.
Marek immediately stepped behind an abandoned pharmacy and waited for the vehicles to pass.
The alert about Dr. Mercer had apparently changed things quickly. Checkpoints had appeared along routes that had still been open during the previous dark period. Officers stopped civilian vehicles more often, while portable radios repeated instructions about unfamiliar Prime personnel, escaped detainees, and unauthorized usage of abilities.
Marek was not sure which category the government would put him under if the Exhibition Center had already reported his absence.
’Probably something bad if I’m unlucky, but I have a feeling that something even bigger is going to happen that Earth authorities will all become useless.’
There was a small parking area behind the pharmacy. Most of the vehicles had already been damaged or stripped of fuel, but Marek checked several anyway.
The third was an old utility sedan with the driver’s door unlocked. He checked inside and found the keys underneath a folded receipt near the center console.
Marek stared at them.
’This somehow feels suspiciously convenient.’
He sat behind the wheel nonetheless.
The fuel gauge remained above one quarter after he started the engine. It made an unpleasant sound for several seconds before eventually settling.
Before moving, Marek checked what still worked. Headlights. One brake light. Meanwhile, the left mirror refused to stay in position until he wedged a piece of cardboard behind it.
The glove compartment contained an expired registration card, two receipts, and a photograph of a dog. He left all of them where they were, because the owner might return.
Well, the possibility of the owner returning did not sound convincing, but it was still someone else’s car.
Marek wrote the plate number in his notebook.
"You are planning to steal this car?" Celeste asked.
"Correction, not stealing... but borrowing," Marek defended.
"You’re just gaslighting yourself. Just say what you’re doing is stealing in substance."
Marek did not respond, while Celeste became quiet.
’This really does sound like I’m gaslighting myself.’
"You killed someone several hours ago," Celeste remarked.
Marek placed both hands on the steering wheel. "This and that... they are separate problems."
Celeste just kept silent.
Marek started driving. Fortunately, they had a car at home before, where he could practice driving the moment he hit his sweet eighteen years of existence. Well, it’s still debatable whether it was sweet.
He kept his speed low. Roads that looked normal could suddenly end against black ridges, water, or buildings that had never existed in Linden before. The old map remained open on his phone, but he only used it to know what should have been nearby.
Whenever the road did not align with the map anymore, Marek would just follow the road and find some signs as his guide.
The car reduced almost an hour of walking to less than twenty minutes. Unfortunately, it also made him easier to notice. Whenever he saw portable lights, government flags, or a large group of civilians ahead, he parked several streets away and continued on foot. After that, he’d go back to the car and would go on another route, avoiding getting recognized by authorities.
The first stabilization facility had received no Gemini minors. The second had received six, but none of the six were Mara.
The third had already closed after an unstable manifestation blocked the main entrance from the inside. Nobody outside seemed injured, so Marek followed the handwritten sign directing people somewhere else.
He continued his search.
Near the beginning of the next light period, Marek finally found the municipal learning center. It now occupied a building that had once been a private review school. Paper notices covered several windows.
GEMINI STABILIZATION — ACTIVE
Marek parked three streets away and carried the new backpack with him. He felt much better bringing this new one.
’Feels very handy.’
Inside, paired desks occupied the hallways. Several mirrors had been covered with cloth, while some rooms contained Gemini bearers practicing repeated movements under supervision.
Marek went directly to registration and showed Mara’s photograph.
The woman behind the desk recognized her immediately.
Marek felt his body become still.
"She was here," the woman said.
"When?"
"Previous light period."
’Damn.’
"Where did she go?" he asked.
The woman checked the record, then frowned. "She left with the same woman who brought her here."
"Destination?"
"None listed."
"Why?"
"Because that woman didn’t ask permission."
Marek’s grip tightened slightly around his notebook.
The registrar noticed. "Your sister wasn’t dragged out. She walked with her."
Marek loosened his hand. "What did she say before leaving?"
The woman thought for several seconds and said, "She asked if somebody named Marek had registered here."
"What did you tell her?" Marek quickly asked.
"That nobody by that name had registered."
"And then?"
The woman looked at Mara’s photograph again. "She said, ’Good.’"
Marek did not speak.
A Gemini teenager nearby repeated a nurse’s instructions using a voice that clearly did not belong to him. Someone dropped a metal tray farther down the hallway.
Marek barely paid attention.
He looked at Mara’s photograph on his phone. ’Why were you relieved?’
Mara knew he could be looking for her. She had even asked about him directly. And when she learned he had not reached the facility yet, she had said good.
Marek slowly lowered the phone.
’What did you get yourself into, Mara?’