The Marionette - Part II

9th March

En route, Singapore-Auckland

After arriving at Singapore, I headed immediately for the airport. I would've liked to stop by at the DELOS offices here, after all I used to be in charge of them, but I can't wait for that. I need to find Alexander Acland, Frank's son, as quickly as possible. So that Frank can move ahead, and continue onwards with his plan.

When I get to the airport, I tell the pilot to head for Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, for the time being. At a guess, that seems like the most likely place Alexander Acland would've ran to. The flight to Auckland will take about two hours. That surprises me, it's about half what I expected, but apparently flight technology has been improving greatly in recent years, the pilot told me enthusiastically. The most recent aeroplanes are powered by either hydrogen or helium battery. And of course, the batteries allow for the planes to be modeled in a more aerodynamic way, as there is no need for large engines with which to propel the craft. And that, especially when the winds are favourable, allows for much faster travel by air than was previously possible.

So now, to find Alexander Acland, and all I have to go on is a phone number. But in the age of the super-state, a New Zealand phone number is all that is needed for a Singaporean government official to track someone down. Three years ago, all the member states of ASEAN accepted an agreement which allowed for closer security and intelligence gathering across borders. This gives me, an official in the Singaporean government, access to New Zealand's intelligence network. Usually I might have had to apply for this level of access, but I was granted this access years ago during my searches for Aria, and therefore can access the New Zealand network immediately.

After a quick five-minute search, I've already gathered a great deal more information. The phone number is registered to one Alexander Giovanna, and was bought in a small second-hand tech store in Christchurch four months ago. I was also able to track the current location of the phone to within a three-kilometre radius in the eastern suburbs of the city. Next, I guess I should search him up on social media. If I can find a profile on Cheep or Alichat, then I will have practically found him before I even reach New Zealand.

Ten minutes of searching later, however, and I haven't come up with anything. Does he not have any social media at all? I guess it's possible. If your trying to hide yourself, I suppose that's a pretty good way not to be found. I'd even branched out to try other less well known or older sites, but had found no luck. Well, I might as well inform the pilot that our destination is now Christchurch... but what are the odds? In fact, this is all too much of a coincidence for me to believe this is entirely the work of fate. After all, Christchurch is where both myself and Frank were born. Is it really a coincidence that Alexander decided to come here when he was running away? And this pseudonym of his... Alexander Giovanna. I somehow doubt that was picked at random either. Frank would do something like this too, I'm sure. I haven't even met him yet, nor do I know anything about him really, but he really does seem like Frank's son.

I can reminisce later though. For now, I need to find some other way of tracking him down. He might not be on the net, but he must leave a trace of some kind. He must be sleeping somewhere at night. He must be working to earn a living. Think, what else do teenagers do? They hang out with friends, they play sports, they go to school. School... I wonder, does he still go to school? I think being a teenager, and not going to school would be pretty boring, wouldn't it? Even if he has a job. I'm sure Alexander must be going to school somewhere.

And so, once again using the intelligence sharing of ASEAN, I searched for school records. I scrutinised all the local schools, searching for a student who matched the description of Alexander Acland. It was easier than I thought it would be. The third school I looked at had a student named Alexander Giovanna. The photo on his file looked so much like Frank, I didn't have to check with the photo he had given me. He looked just like Frank from twenty years ago, only his hair was dyed blonde rather than black.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, that school was Frank's old school. It's been a long time since we talked about high school, but that's what I remember. I know he lived in that part of the city, at least. Well, maybe I can ask one of the two later.

I check to make sure that I'm at the right address. Alexander Giovanna's school record led me to this place. It's a small rental property on the corner of a street, across from a church. It doesn't look very appealing. I suppose he probably isn't making enough money to afford any better, especially since he's still going to school. But then again, he does have a phone, even if it is second-hand. Maybe he just thought nobody would come looking for him in a place like this. Due to the travel and time difference, it's about nine now. The sun's been down for hours, even though it had still been maybe an hour from setting when I left Singapore.

Alexander must be home, due to the fact that there's a light on in one of the rooms. I can remember Alexander from when he was a little kid. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure how I had forgotten about him earlier. I've known Frank for about twenty years, and for almost half that time, Alexander was the most important thing in his life. But then everything went so wrong. I lost all three of them in the space of a month. Aria disappeared, Frank went to the moon, and Alexander went to live in Wellington. I remember now, that I was the one who saw Alexander off at the airport.

If Frank went to the moon after Aria disappeared, then he surely could've stayed with Alexander instead of leaving. But maybe I'm remembering wrong. My memory of that far back is hazy, after all. Frank wouldn't have done something that cruel, would he? Or did he choose his dream over his reality? Wouldn't I remember if Frank did something like that? Why am I only thinking of all this now? How frustrating. Right now, I need to simply focus on the job at hand. Which is to convince Alexander Acland to come to the moon by any means necessary. I wonder if he remembers me at all?

I walk over the lawn (there's no clear path) up to the front door. There isn't any doorbell that I can see. I knock on the door loudly. The door feels frailer than I expected, even considering the derelict state of the house. I'm worried now that I might've broken it. Then, I hear footsteps approaching from the other side of the door. For some reason I feel slightly nervous. Why should I? He's just a kid after all. I straighten myself up, as the door lurches open with a creak.

A young man stands in front of me, but one look in his eyes tells you he knows much more than most people his age. Those are the same eyes Frank had back then, when I first met him. In fact, this man looks so much like Frank that I'm speechless. The same lanky, skinny frame, green eyes, long fingers. The only noticeable difference is the dyed, long blonde hair (Frank used to dye his black and always kept it short), and perhaps his demeanour. Whereas Frank is always relaxed and laid back, this kid has some way of looking at you with incredible intensity.

"So, who are you?"