capeandcowl | seventeen. text.

Once upon a time, there were two kings who lived in two separate kingdoms and sat upon two separate thrones; one kingdom was in a valley bathed in light and had bountiful harvests and green, green grass for all the livestock to live on, whereas the other was on a mountain bathed in darkness and suffered drought and famine and so forth, and many of the animals were sickly and the residents were poor. One day, after many weeks of rainfall, a powerful storm hung on the horizon, and the king in the dark kingdom offered the other king and his residents shelter on the mountain with them, for while life was difficult there, their height lent them protection from the dangerous flow of the river below, the same river that allowed the light kingdom to flourish so easily in better times.

"And why should I do that!" cried the king. "We are so comfortable where we are. How could you ask us to give that up, to live life in suffering like you?"

And when storm came, the river overflowed and swallowed the light kingdom, choking the life out of all those bountiful harvests and green, green grasses, and those who didn't drown succumbed to illness and starvation soon after.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

To be honest, not that great.

Mm. You're typing.

It's understandable, though...given the circumstances.

The hospital wants to know what I've been doing for the last week.

That is an interesting question. We'll need a good story to match it, I'll see what I can do on that end.

You didn't have any appointments you missed, did you? Other than the one Eddie didn't show up for, I mean. They shouldn't blame you for that.

Back in May, I missed an appointment. I missed it because I left the City without telling anyone. It put me on probation, and then I was fitted with a tracking anklet.

Edward took it off before I went to Greenland. Illegally.

Are you still not wearing it? If they've already found out, I'm wondering how wise it would be to let him take the fall, but he'd probably turn against you in that case.

It doesn't seem like a great way to return a favor. But it's probably better for both of us, if we convince them that he took it off in a fit of irrationality. That he wasn't thinking.

Vulcanus has infiltrated NOHoPE.

I'm still uneasy about it. If we could hold onto that one in case we can't come up with a better solution, that'd be preferable. If they try to corroborate the story with him, well, it could go badly.

What does this mean to the patients there? Could Vulcanus start harvesting samples from them right under our noses?

I don't know. Edward thinks they could be using it for recruiting. Like me and Keith.

Or scouting, at least. We can't be sure who might be with them, especially if you're being assigned a new counselor. Who might be able to make the connection between your missing anklet and the timing.

That's what I'm afraid of.

We'll just have to make sure the alibi's airtight, then. The thing is, if this is going to work to any degree, we'll have to owe Eddie a favor.

I'm going to talk with him. This afternoon.

Do you think it's safe to tell the police?

We'll discuss that after we hear his take, know what he's willing to do and what he might expect in return.

...Though I can't help worrying about that part, either.

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