April 10,2014
Thursday

"Found anyone. " I asked while eating chips . It had been one day since I messaged Zoe .  Today, the packets were supposed to arrive. I was going to recieve it from the gates by 6:00 pm but before that , we were researching into students to see who could be suitable for our membership.

"Well ! There is one . I mean here see for yourself." Selica pointed laptop towards me as I leaned beside her .

"Adrial Wyner . Joined last year!  Quiet boy . Doesn't interact with anyone in class and half a score on most of exams . Not really possible unless he is just doing it on purpose. Quite lethargic and no interest in anything according to teachers. Born in Brixton. Both parents dead at age of ten and was then brought up by adopted ones . Well ! he certainly does sound interesting. I will meet him tomorrow." I remarked.

"Oh!" Selica blinked.

"Well! I can't let anyone else see you . Remember!  By the way Selica , I was wondering. Have you done your homework?" I crossed my arms.

"Well no ! I told you I am not here because of .." She began.

"I know. But if you are not doing your work , then you would attract attention. I want you to stay out of attention as much as possible. Tell you what , I will help you in that while you work on organization work and all." I offered.

"Uhm..." She moved around in her chair thinking.

"Come on ! You said you wanted to work with me . This is the best way to stay for long term here ." 

"Fine ! Thought of a name for our organization?" She looked at me .

"Yeah ! Shadows of Order . It covers everything that I envision." I told her .

"Cool title but not quite original." She bit her lip .

"Well ! In this information age that we are living in , we have covered basically everything so you know. Anyway, it is time now . I have to go and grab my stuff ." I looked at my watch.

Few minutes later

Selica's Pov

It has been barely three or four days since my first meeting with this new him but our coordination has proven to be more compatible than I thought.

"Hey so I got them. Want to try them out?" Max came in room all of sudden panting.

"Did you just run all the way here? " I asked surprised.

"Quite obvious deduction from my panting." Max chuckled as I shook my head  . He brought out two earpieces but when I looked at them closely, they weren't that .

"Yup! They are comms. Comms for communication. After all , if you can't go with me , I would still need to contact you and I can't just risk blowing your cover everytime I want to . So listen, my comms will be switched on most of the time and with me . You can switch yours on  too when you need to contact me or hear my situation like when I am in some secret meeting." His eyes gleamed like a plushy.

"I know how comms work , Max . I am tech wizard remember." I poked him.

"Oh right! Of course. Either way , I am going out tonight to collect information." He announced.

"Tonight! Where ? All the information you want can be accessed easily by me  here only." I asked confused.

"Oh! I know that . I meant information that isn't digitalized. Basically I am going to sneak in Principal's mansion and then use the escape route there to go out of school . Not everything can be done from school." Max explained. The escape route ! Principal's estate!

"Max!  You can't. You will get caught and then expelled." I sternly adviced him.

"Really! I am Max Ryder. I know how to get out of school without being seen . Besides, after today , I would start to look for some other passage to get in and out of school." He patted my head.

"I am going too." I firmly said . If he gets caught, then I would have to follow him again anyway so it would be better if I just go along with him . That way we would be expelled or not expelled together.

"No! Today, you are going to do your homework and then take a good night sleep. Treat it like your break day . You won't get much of those later." Max insisted as I pouted.

"You can still listen to me on comms if you want "  He relented as I sighed. There was no winning against him no matter which version of him I could weave in my mind. No matter what newspapers say , no matter when , you remain ardent all the time , don't you Max?

"Fine! " I agreed.

"Good. See ya." He closed the door going away .

At night

Thoth's eye

It was time for most important part and for him, that wasn't recuirting members or just compiling information but rather doing what he wanted to . He had a hard time avoiding all inconsistencies like stepping out without waking Cistella up and avoiding Principal but he finally managed to get out somehow. Ah ! Fresh air and those flickering lights in the dark were old scent that he had yearned for , even without realizing .

He sat down in a nearby restaraunt as he gaped at wall clock again and again. Waiting was not one of his strong suits after all.

"You must be Max Ryder. Hi ! I am Detective Caroline Bakers." A lady in her early thirties with black overcoat shook his hand.

"Please! Call me Stallion. You see I don't want it to known that I was seen outside of hostel . The situation would put me in a bit of pickle." I said as she sat down .

"Of course. I understand." She smiled

As Selica listened to conversation, she wondered what Max was doing with a detective.

"I heard about several strings of homicide that are happening in Northern London here lately . I think I may be able to help if I could just get to access even one of the files on it ."

"I know. I brought it with me since I was hoping you would ask for it ." Caroline nodded.

"Wow! Good work , mam." He smiled .

"Wait ! So he decided to do police investigation just because he was desperate to find a mystery." Selica sighed. Well guess Max had to find it somehow and what better way to do it !

Au revoir readers! Keep posted for the next chapter