The Puppet who Grew a Human Heart - Part II

15th March

Old Settlement, Artemis, Freehold territory

Arriving back on the moon, myself and Alexander go our separate ways, as I hand him over to Jazz. Even now, however, I can't stop myself from thinking about what Alexander said to me. 'Are you sure that you even know him that well?'

I walk into Frank's office to find it in quite a different state than I remember. It seems the mess in the halls and workspaces have spread in here. There's perhaps ten people in here, sitting or standing, frantically typing, and all shouting to be heard over each other. I see Frank sitting behind his desk, but facing the far wall, turned away from the desk and the rest of the room. The windows have been darkened, and Frank is projecting an image up onto them. It seems to be either an article or a report on someone. General Hakeem Al-Ta'if. I don't know who that is. I don't think Frank will tell me either. As I approach, I take a look at Frank's left arm. The entire arm from the shoulder is braced in an exoskeleton, and some more extensive bracing appears to be holding his forearm in place.

I call out to Frank when I'm close enough that I think he'll hear, but he doesn't hear me over everyone in this room. When I arrive in front of his desk, I rap my knuckles on it. He jumps slightly at the noise, then turns around to see me.

"Kyle, it's good to see you. I didn't think you were coming for another hour or so," he says, smiling as usual. That smile, however, doesn't seem as innocent as usual to me. I wonder if that's because of what Alexander said to me, or because of what happened up here.

"Well, I didn't have anything else to do, so I headed straight here from the station."

"I see," Frank seems a little disappointed by that answer, "should we head outside to talk?"

We leave the building and begin walking through the Old Settlement. Out here it isn't as busy as the former DELOS offices, but it's still busy. This area has, after all, been turned into the centre of government for an entire world. Of course there isn't a moment of peace to be found here.

"How's your arm?"

"Horrible," Frank admitted, "I lied to the doctor to get him to let me out. I think he knew what I was doing though. He explained that it might not heal properly if I move around too much, or never completely heal at all. The bone was completely cut in two. They're going to have to open me up again and fuse it together."

"I see."

"So, Alexander had gone to Christchurch?"

"Yes, he's attending Marin High School."

"Isn't that your old school?"

"No, I lived on the other side of town. That's your old school."

"Really?" Frank shakes his head, "I seriously thought it was the other way around. I must be starting to lose it. Or maybe I'm just tired."

"Well... it was twenty years ago. It probably isn't anything to worry about."

The two of us kept walking in silence for a while. Frank closed his eyes as he walked, and tilted his head upward, as if he were smelling something. For some reason, that makes me think of the time we spent together, planning all of this. Back in Singapore, and even before then back in Christchurch. I get the feeling that he used to do that a lot.

"So, what is he like?" Frank asks, smiling with his eyes closed.

"Who?"

"Alexander."

"Oh..." how do I describe him? Alexander is certainly something, but I'm not sure how you explain that to someone.

"He reminds me of you in some ways... but, he's very different in a lot of others. I think... I think he's what you might've become if you'd had a different experience in life. I guess you could say, he has a lot of the same qualities and talents as you, but he uses them in a different way."

"Different how?"

"I guess... he has a similar skill as you when it comes to understanding how people think and work. But he uses it to help the people around him, rather than just for his own gain. Or at least that's the impression I got from talking to him and some of his friends."

I look over at Frank. Would he get mad over something like that? I don't think so.

Frank just smiles, "I didn't know you thought of me like that. You're right though. I'm the lowest of the low, I do everything to further my own desires, but that's why I can do things others can't."

"I wouldn't go that far..." I say. I find what he's saying confusing, however. He thinks that of himself? This man that I had idolised, put up on a pedestal this whole time, thought of himself like that?

Frank continues on, as if he didn't hear me, "uses his abilities to help people, huh? Sounds like someone I used to know."

I'm not sure, but I think Frank's talking about himself when he says that. Was Frank ever like that? Not that I remember. But then again, I only met him when he was twenty. Maybe he was like Alexander when he was his age. Or perhaps he was talking about Aria.

Frank stops walking to look over toward one of the warehouses. From our position, I could see that it was taped off, and appeared to have more security around it than most of the other warehouses.

"Is that where it happened?" I ask.

"Yes," Frank replied. He moves his arm with the help of the exoskeleton, wincing at the pain, and stares down at his forearm.

"It's strange. It didn't feel at all painful until I woke up afterwards. I guess adrenaline kept me going, and I passed out before the pain came."

We both look over towards the warehouse, and continued to look at it for a while. From the outside, you wouldn't know that it was a crime scene inside. Frank turns toward me, pulling his phone out of his pocket.