The Unseen, Chapter 5: Leadliner Intermission

A particular feeling washed over the human and dragon pair. One they hadn't felt in a long time.

The stale air of the hotel room felt thick enough that one could not walk through it. The open windows did little to help, nor did the sweltering evening sun pouring in from them. The hotel was just well off enough to keep good rooms at good prices, although this came at a cost of a lack of entertainment in them. Kris and Susie laid upon separate beds, staring at the white stucco ceiling, the only diversity provided by a slowly rotating ceiling fan. Eyes half lidded, lips ever so slightly ajar, the feeling ever present.

Boredom.

The organization had always kept them busy. Even on off days they were waiting for a call to action. But today, no such call would come to save them from the indecisive air of indifference. They only had that evening and the day after left, and then they would be back to work. Sure, they could have travelled to someplace, but anomalies seemed to only give them solace in the relative safety of the hotels they stayed in. Sometimes, even that was untrue, such as in the case of the infinite stairwell incident. Though that was a story for another time.

Nevertheless, there they lay at nine in the evening, the withering sun dipping below the horizon. That would solve the heat issue at least, but not much else.

“Kris.” Susie croaked, her face putting in the least amount of effort it could to make words emerge from her lips.
“Yeah?” Kris replied in much the same way, his usual deadpanned demeanour seeming more prevalent than ever.
“I hate this.”
“... Yeah.”
“If we don't do something, anything, I'm gonna explode.”
“Well, we have to train tomorrow to get back into working shape. So... We have tonight to do whatever we want.”
“Wanna go anywhere?”
“Not really. Not unless you're driving.”
“I'll put us in a damn ditch at this hour. You know me.”
“Hm.”

The two stayed unmoving for a while before Susie sighed in exasperation. She tore herself from her bed and sat on the side of it. Her face bore an expression of lifelessness as she cast her gaze to a small wooden bedside cabinet. Gathering just enough strength to stretch her arm to open it, she found a fairly generic card deck inside. A small amount of life filled her face, turning her expression from that of a corpse into... someone about five minutes away from being one. What mattered is that it was an improvement.

“Hey, a deck of cards.” Susie mentioned. “Wanna play something?”
“With just the two of us? Wouldn't that be a bit boring?” Kris replied, still stuck in his near comatose state.
“More boring than what we're doing? Doubt it.” Susie scoffed.
“Still.”
“Yeah, I get it. Sucks we don't have friends.”
“It's not like it's our fault. Nature of the job, and whatever.” Nihilism almost dripped from each word the human spoke.

The momentary silence was soon broken by a strange proposition.

“What about Berdly?” Kris asked.
“What about him?” Susie replied, her brows furrowing a bit.
“We could call him and see if he could come out after his shift.”
Susie's brow furrowed further.
“Can we... do that? Like, can organization members just... hang out?”
“Don't see why not.”
“Well his shift ends like, thirty minutes after midnight.”
“You and I both know we'll still be up by then.” Kris in a tone that sounded like a representation of an eye roll.
“Yeah... hell, we woke up at one in the afternoon.”

Susie pondered for a moment before shrugging and reaching for her phone, the deck of cards still in her hand. Susie dialed Berdly’s number and waited for the avian monster to pick up.

Silence came from the other end of the line after the proposition was struck.
“... Y-you know my shift ends at like-” Berdly stammered
.
“Yeah, like, twelve thirty, I know.” Susie rushed. “And I know this is probably super weird to ask, but it's just... so, so boring here. And, hell, when's the last time we've even been able to do anything outside of work shit? When's the next time an opportunity like this'll ever happen?”

The silence from the other end returned, but only for a moment.
“I'm... I mean, I'd like to. I-it's not like I have anything to do after my shift ends, but... you sure?” Berdly asked, his shy nature palpable even through the phone. Susie sighed as a look of understanding crossed her face.
“Let me rephrase, then. Berdly, please come hang out with us.”

The last moment of silence was the longest one.

“... A-Alright.” Berdly replied. “Where are you guys at?”
“Leadliner. You know where that is?”
“I have an idea. I'll be there as soon as I finish up.”
“Thanks, dude. We'll be in the dining room.” Susie replied, a humble smile stretching across her face.

They still had a few hours to go, but having something to look forward to was what mattered.

Three hours and forty five minutes later, a faded blue car pulled up to the driveway of the hotel. Out of it stepped a tired blue bird monster, dressed in a plain black sweater. Kris and Susie waved from the windows of the dining room at him, as he waved back with a smile.

“It's weird seeing the bottom half of him. I was starting to wonder if there was anything behind that desk at all.” Susie remarked with a smile. She turned from the window to Kris, who smiled back and shook his head, a single snort of laughter flaring his nostrils.

The dining area was generic at best, like any other middle budget hotel in the province. Wooden and metal tables and chairs dotted the floor, the only break from monotony being a small counter where there was coffee, tea, and other hot beverages waiting to be made. It was free to make for anyone with a room, or at least, Kris and Susie assumed that's how it worked. The place was silent, save for the human janitor who occasionally passed by as he worked through the night shift. He was an older man, at least in his early sixties. Both Susie and Kris hadn't a reason to interact with him during all their stays at the Leadliner. The most the pair got out of him was a content nod, and as far as they were concerned, that was all either of them needed.

The ring of the front doors being opened announced Berdly’s arrival, walking calmly toward the table where Susie and Kris sat. An extra chair was reserved for him, which he proceeded to sit on.

“Hey, guys. Th-Thanks for inviting me out here.” Berdly spoke, a soft smile upon his face.
“Hey, thanks for coming. Don't sweat it, dude.” Susie replied, her excitement evident. “I'd ask how work was, but I'd guess it was the same as ever.”
“Heh, basically, yeah.”
“There's coffee up there if you want some.” Kris said, pointing towards the counter at the other side of the room.
“Nah, I don't drink that stuff. Thanks though.”
“Well, there's tea and shit up there too.” Susie added.

Berdly looked to start saying something, but paused, his eyes looking diagonally in thought.
“I... do drink that stuff.” He replied with a smile, leaving his seat just as fast as he had taken it, and walked to the counter, perusing the selections on display.

“This place is pretty nice. Quiet.” Berdly started, talking a bit louder to cover the distance between them. His voice echoed a little off the empty dining room walls.
“Yeah. It is pretty late, though.” Susie replied.
“Y-You think we'll bother anyone?” Berdly said with a tinge of worry in his voice.
“Nah, this place usually doesn't have a lot of people here anyway.”
Berdly sighed in relief.
“Oh, that's good!”

A few seconds passed before Berdly returned to the table, setting his steaming mug of mint herbal tea down to join the Susie’s and Kris’s mugs of coffee.

“Never took you for a tea person.” Kris said with a little surprise in his voice.
“R-Really? What'd ya take me for?” Berdly questioned.
“Uhh... I don't know, water, I guess.”
“Well, water's good and all, but it doesn't really... take the edge off, y'know?”
“Huh. That makes perfect sense, actually.”
“Hm? How so?” Said Berdly, raising an eyebrow.
“I mean, all you do at your job is sift through disturbing stuff. Makes sense you'd want something to simmer down after.” Susie remarked.
“Heh, i-it's not all that bad, actually. A good amount is kinda boring, really. Well, as boring as things can get around there.”
“I guess there'd have to be some padding between the cosmic horrors somewhere.” Susie concluded, taking a sip of her coffee.
“I thought you liked chocolate stuff though, Kris?” Berdly observed, reclining in his seat a little.
“I do. Why?”
“Dunno, thought you would've gone for the hot chocolate up there.” Berdly posited, gesturing backwards with his wing to the drink counter.

Kris' eyes furrowed a bit, looking down at his coffee.
“Hm. I guess it's the caffeine in this? Helps me stay awake.”
“Ah, yeah, makes sense.” Berdly replied, nodding before taking a few sips of his tea.

Susie thought for a moment. She used to like hot chocolate a lot as well, back when she was a teenager. It was like chalk to her, to an extent. A source of comfort. Now that she thought about it though, she realized she hadn't been having chalk nearly as much lately. There was a familiar craving that she was used to having, and the absence of such a craving going unnoticed made her sort of uncomfortable. She shook these thoughts from her head, taking another sip of her coffee.

“Any cases worth talking about for today? We've been a bit out of the loop as you might imagine.” Susie asked, clearing her throat a bit before speaking. Before letting Berdly answer, though, she quickly turned to Kris.
“We're allowed to ask that, right?” She asked.
“Yeah, as long as it's not any classified stuff, which I don't think we have access to anyway?” Kris affirmed.
“Y-Yeah, it'd mostly just be stuff from different divisions, like area and object investigation.” Berdly added.
“I always thought area investigation would be kinda boring.” Susie pondered aloud, resting her chin on her hand, supported by her elbow on the table. “I mean, I gotta imagine most of it is just mulling over the same place over and over. Can't be that interesting.”
“Ehh, there's been some standout ones over the years.” Berdly contended. “Remember Blood Rock? That was a big one.”
“Yeah, it was.” Kris agreed. “I think that might have been before Susie's time, though.”
“Yeah, no idea what you're talking about.” Susie confirmed with a chuckle. “Sounds gross, though.”
“I-it actually kinda was.” Berdly started. “There was this huge chunk of land that started, just, floating upwards one day. I think it was really far east though, outside of the province maybe? Anyway, this thing was the size of a small town, and they had to, like, keep it from floating off into space. They made huge chains and cables that kept it floating just above the ground, but never going further. When they drilled into it, though, the holes started bleeding this gross, dark red mud. Hence the name.”

“Geez. That seems pretty major, was it widespread?” Susie asked.
“Nah, luckily it was secluded enough that the public never really caught wind of it. The AIB made outposts both surrounding and on top of the rock though, and started mining into it.”
“Huh.” Susie said, a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes. “Wait, you said 'remember' Blood Rock. What happened to it?”
Berdly, shot a glance to Kris, who shrugged, a neutral look upon his face. Berdly then looked to his feet nervously, replying soon after.
“It uh... Broke free.”
“It what?”
“It... gathered lots of force and just... boom. Shot up into the air. Never to be seen again. Broke a satellite on its way out, too. Apparently it was a real pain to figure out who had to pay for that. Anyways, yeah, the thing just went to space and didn't come back. Took millions of dollars worth of mining and measuring equipment with it.”
Berdly shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“And... a couple dozen researchers.”


“... Damn.” Susie replied, her eyebrows high and her eyes wide with shock..
“Yeah... Th-That wasn't a good day for the organization. Apparently, all the important data was kept off the rock, so they prepared for that at least. That data is classified, by the way. Dunno what they actually found. I just know it happened. The AIB had to bribe a good few astrologists into saying that they totally did not just see a rock with buildings on it fly into space, too. It's a wonder how the company even recovered. Y'know how hard it is to bribe people who're looking for extraterrestrial life? It's one heck of an investment!”
“Geez, I bet. Kris, you never told me about that?” Susie looked to Kris, dumbfounded. He shrugged in response.
“I guess it never seemed too important.”
“Guess not. Still, though.”
“Oh!” Berdly exclaimed. “Th-There was something cool that happened today, a report from one of the object investigators. We got a report of an unusual amount of anomalous activity coming from this guy's shack in the woods. Turns out the guy had a hunting bow he used to practice shooting, just for like, a hobby sorta thing. He woke up that day and started using it, and it... changed. If you drew it with an arrow knocked, it would start to glow with this weird white light. If you fired the arrow, the bow would shoot out, like, a dozen spectral copies of it in a spray. If you were focusing on a specific target, the barrage would hone in on it. Really cool stuff. Guy looked really sad when they said they were confiscating it.”

“I'd imagine. That sounds like something a few of the higher level hunters here would use.” Kris said, a bit more interested now.
“Well, it wouldn't be the first time. Hey speaking of higher ups, I heard you guys got Glare t-to talk to ya.”
“Just him.” Susie nodded towards Kris. “I was too busy getting eaten alive.”
“Yeah...” Kris affirmed, scratching his head with a bit of a nervous expression. “Didn't say much, though. Just 'good work.'”
“Wow.” Berdly raised his eyebrows. “High praise from a guy like him”
“Guess so.” Kris deadpanned.
“Man.” Susie started. “If you were even a little enthusiastic about it, I might feel jealous.” The dragon teased.
Kris breathed a laugh. “Well I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking 'Wow this dude is a big deal and he's talking to me.' It was more like 'Wow, that gun probably weighs more than three of me and I'm about to be reprimanded by the scariest person on the planet.'.”

Berdly and Susie both chuckled. Kris just shook his head, a smile too genuine to hide upon his face as he took a few swigs of his coffee.
“Worked out fine though.” He concluded.
“Y'know they have a betting pool set up for around guessing what his real name is?” The bird monster asked at the tail end of his laugh.
“Shit, really?” Susie replied, eyes wide.
“Yeah, it's like, a hundred or so bucks at this point. Every time someone guesses, they gotta chip in some money, and whoever guesses it gets the whole pot. Glare doesn't seem to mind, but he's probably just waiting to see how many people will waste their money.”
“Heh. It kinda doesn't occur to me often that Glare is like a real living thing with emotions and thoughts and stuff.” Susie realized.
“Yeah. I mean, one of the only things we know about him is that he used to run a bar. Or was it just a restaurant?”

“I could imagine him as a bartender.” Kris added. “He's real good at listening.”
“Yeah, but like, he's also real good at killing stuff. Dunno, something about that laid back lifestyle doesn't fit him for me.” Berdly spoke.
“All walks of life come to the organization. Besides, people are complicated things.” Kris stated.
“Seems so.” Berdly replied.

The room fell silent for a while. Not an awkward silence, but one of contentment. For the first time in a while for Kris and Susie, and longer for Berdly, they all felt at some level of relative peace.

Berdly watched a few cars drive down the road beyond the parking lot, and as he watched the lights from those cars flicker past, he felt sincere relaxation overcome him. He knew it wouldn't last. All three of them did. What mattered though, is that it happened at all.

“I'm really glad I came.” Berdly said, mostly directed towards himself.
“We're glad you came, too.” Kris added.

A moment of silence.

“But... as great as this was, I-I should be on my way. I've got work, you've got training, all that.”
“Yeah, and it's really late.” Susie noted.
“Yeah. Thanks, though. This was nice, a-and I hope we find the time to do it again. It's something to look forward to, y'know?”
“We'll figure something out. It was great having you.”

The trio got up from their seats. As they were packing their things up, Kris offered Berdly a handshake. A moment of subtly being taken aback passed before he accepted, smiling and nodding at Kris. The process repeated with Susie. Their goodbyes were said, and the trio was a duo once more. Kris and Susie returned to their rooms, a restful night in preparation for the day ahead.

Berdly drove down a dark street at the edge of town, lit by a scant few flickering lamp posts. His path took him down a street most people and monsters had forgotten, even the city itself seemed to have lost track of it.

Dogs barked once in a while in each direction, their owners as obscured as themselves, as if trying to reach out to anywhere, to be remembered. Yet nearly the only thing that travelled those roads was the chilled wind passing through without a thought. On the street sat a tall brick apartment building, congruent with the many other near identical ones in the surrounding area. The hum of the old blue car ceased as Berdly stepped out of the vehicle and walked to the front entrance, the handle of a black organization suitcase in his hand. The key slid into the door and, as expected, opened to the rest of the complex. Up the stairs he walked, passing floors filled with people and monsters of all sorts, until he reached the seventh floor, just one below the top.

Into his apartment he walked, not bothering to turn the lights on. As dishevelled as his surroundings were, they were also nothing if not memorized in the back of Berdly's brain. Clothes gathered on the floor in nests of uncleanliness. No time to clean or organize with the amount of work he did, and any time off he did have was spent doing nothing of note. His mind was tricked into believing that if he did anything productive, the day would feel like a waste, even considering how the productiveness would likely benefit him. Despite being a potential source of time wasting, the small flat screen television that sat parallel to a clothes-covered couch hadn't been turned on in months.

He passed the spare bedroom, filled with old furniture and mattresses he had no use for, and past the bathroom into his room. The room was in a state similar to the rest of the domicile, aside from a bed kept mostly free of debris, and a small desk which had his still operational laptop plugged into a wall outlet behind it. The screen still showed upon it a chat log. He set his suitcase down next to his bed and took his sweater off, throwing it next to where he intended to sleep on the bed that night. But that night, there was a break in the routine.

Berdly walked back out into his living room, then out the sliding glass doors that led to the balcony. He let the cold breeze rustle through his feathers, and set his glasses aside as he leaned on the railing. A horizon of golden windows upon tall black monoliths met his gaze. Something he'd never taken the time to appreciate. Perhaps this place was forgotten, but it was not lost. Not yet. He smiled, the first genuine smile he had felt that wasn't from conversing with his brother. He took a deep breath of the outside air and rubbed his eyes.

“Something to look forward to.” He muttered under his breath.

Retrieving his glasses, he stepped back into his home and shut the city out once again, yet another day of work in his near future.