“What I was going to say,” Tiffany said, “before Jaiden interrupted, was that I have the address to only one of the other Naturals. To be more specific, he’s my son.”
“Who’s your son?” Chelsa asked.
“My son is one of the Naturals,” Tiffany said. “And he happens to be in Charleston right now.” She checked her watch. “He’s still in school, but should be out in four hours or so. His name is Troop.”
“So that means once we find Troop, all we have to do is find the last Natural who is somewhere in the South Region,” Kristi said. “Then we can unlock this electro-slate and find out why the four of us were needed to survive.”
Tiffany nodded.
“Why don’t you have the address of all the Naturals if it is your responsibility to ensure their safety?” Jaiden said.
“I was keeping close tabs on them. However, funds got tight and all the members of the Revealers had to work double. It wasn’t until three years ago when the Revealers were financially more stable was I given the chance to check up on the four Naturals. Unfortunately, by that time I had lost contact with Kristi, Chelsa and Finn’s family. Finn’s the name of the fourth Natural, in case you’re wondering.”
“Do you remember the last address where Finn lived at?” Chelsa asked.
“He has probably changed addresses during the twelve years I lost contact with him,” Tiffany said. “But, I do have the name of the town where he last lived in. It’s Oppidum.”
Chelsa typed “Oppidum” into her electro-slate. “Is there any other information you can provide us about the whereabouts of Troop and Finn?”
“Troop goes to Ludus High School, which is about ten blocks from here. Regrettably, I don’t have any more information about the location of Finn.” Tiffany exhaled and took a sip from her water.
Chelsa entered “Ludus High School” into her electro-slate as well.
“Are you going to come with us to meet Troop?” she asked.
“No. I’m much too busy with work. Finding Troop shouldn’t be too hard though.”
“Will Troop even come with us once we find him? After all, we’re just strangers to him and we’re asking him to come with us on cross-country trip across the United Regions,” Kristi said.
“Don’t worry about that,” Tiffany said. “I already sent him an instafication telling him you guys are going to meet him after school today.” She looked at the time once more. “I really need to get back to work. Are there any more questions?”
Jaiden and Kristi shook their heads.
Chelsa said, “Yes. Do you think the Revealers can provide us plane tickets for Oppidum? Traveling by air will take only a fraction of the time it takes to travel by road.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible for a number of reasons. First of all, airport security is very hard to fool. With Jaiden and Kristi both as wanted persons, the risk of having you guys travel by plane is too high. Second of all, the Revealers don’t have enough points to buy four—possibly five plane tickets.” Tiffany glanced at Ghost, who was cleaning his paws. “We have been trying to recruit more members and followers for the Revealers, and all of this underground promotion and recruitment requires a fair amount of points from our funds.”
“Fair enough, I just thought it was worth asking for.” Chelsa stood up from her chair and Jaiden followed her lead. “I guess we’ll be on our way.”
“Wait,” Kristi said. “Didn’t you say you had some questions for us, Tiffany?”
“Yes, indeed I did. Thank you for reminding me. I was wondering if any of you have seen any bandit activity going on? The Revealers suspect that the government is somehow involved with the increased bandit attacks occurring.”
“Shouldn’t the government be trying to stop the raids?” Kristi frowned.
“The world’s a messed up place,” Tiffany said.
“We did encounter some bandits on the way here,” Chelsa said.
“Tell me about it.”
Chelsa described their narrow escape on the droid-horses after the narrow encounter with the bandits along Route 56. Then Kristi also told Tiffany about the electro-slate thieves that, in a way, were the reason why she met Chelsa in the first place. Last but not least, Kristi informed Tiffany of the suspicious merchant she eavesdropped on at Troll’s Tavern.
“You say this merchant has a fish-shaped birth mark and looked wealthy?” Tiffany asked.
“Yes,” Kristi said. “And the two travelers I saw him talking to ended up being murdered a few days later. I have strong feelings that it was the merchant who committed the murder.”
“I agree with you,” said Tiffany. “The Revealers have been after this merchant for a while. He is, in fact, one of the leaders of a large band of bandits. His name is Malik, and he has recently taken to posing as a trader, merchant or businessman at pubs in order to lure some drunks into a secluded place where he kills them and takes their valuables.”
I was right, Kristi thought. Chelsa didn’t murder those two sailors.
“Thank you for the information. Is there anything I can do to return the favor?” Tiffany looked at Kristi, awaiting an answer.
Kristi thought for a second. “I used to have a droid-horse named Flurry. However, I think the police seized Flurry when they arrested Shelly and Kyle. I would really like to have Flurry back.”
“I will see what I can do.”
“We’ll get going now. I don’t want to distract you from your work anymore,” Chelsa said.
The three of them headed for the door.
“Hold on a second.” Tiffany sprung up from her seat. “I need you to take the Oath.”
“The Oath?” Jaiden asked.
“You didn’t think I was going to let you leave with all this top-secret information without making sure you wouldn’t share it, did you?”
“You never said anything about taking an oath of secrecy.” Kristi crossed her arms.
“I’m not going to be able to let you guys leave unless you take it,” Tiffany said. “All you have to do is promise you will never tell anyone who isn’t part of the Revealers anything we talked about in my office today. Also, by taking the Oath, you are agreeing you are a member of the Revealers and must abide to our rules.”
“I don’t want to be part of some type of spy group,” Jaiden said. “Look at what happened to Shelly and Kyle.”
Kristi had to admit Jaiden had a point; she didn’t plan on dying anytime soon.
“The Revealers isn’t just a spy group,” Tiffany said. “It’s much more than that. The Revealers is also an organization dedicated to uncovering the truth to many corruptions of the world. We are a dedicated group in bringing more justice to the world.”
Jaiden rolled his eyes. “That’s what they all say.”
Tiffany gave him a frosty glare. “You are so naïve, young man.”
Chelsa sighed. “Fine, just tell me what to say or whatever I have to do.”
“Jaiden and Kristi, are you going to be reasonable like Chelsa and agree to become a member of the Revealers?”
“Fine,” Kristi complied. “But I don’t like how you sprung this on us unexpectedly.”
“Jaiden?”
Kristi could almost see Jaiden’s brain struggle to decide whether or not he should be part of an organization that his parents were part of and died as a result of. The silence dragged out. Defiance burned bright in Jaiden’s eyes. The silence continued on.
“Okay, but only because you two are taking the Oath too,” he muttered, shooting Chelsa a glance.
Chelsa’s cheeks reddened and Kristi got a funny feeling about her brother and Chelsa, which she decided to ignore for now.
“Wonderful.” Tiffany beamed at them. “Now I just need you to hold up your right hand and repeat after me: